55. Tuesday after Epiphany.
Verily, God is good to Israel,
even to such as are pure in heart;
Lord, let me be of them.
Isaiah 45, 4-8. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me: I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord do all these things. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I the Lord have created it.
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This is spoken to Cyrus, whom the Lord called to lead his people home from Babylon. Everything that happens in the world is done by the Lord for the sake of his people; this he teaches us clearly in our text. All kings and nobles, all men of rank and learning, all the rich and great, have by the Lord been given the positions that they hold, and been equipped with all that they have, in order that they may serve his church. He is the Lord, and there is none else. Cyrus and Nebuchadnezzar do not know it; Julian and Voltaire refuse to believe it; Alexander and Napoleon regard themselves as lords, and imagine that they can do whatever they like. But all of them are compelled to serve the Babe in the manger, the Man on the cross, the Lord at the right hand of God. Cyrus is also, in his way, a prototype of Christ in making arrangements for the return of God’s people to Canaan. He is also called the anointed of the Lord, for the reason that God made him a mighty ruler, and called him to this work. The counsel of God for the salvation of the world governs the whole history of the world. Christ is the root on which all rests; therefore historic branches, reminding one of him, have been put forth even in the pagan world. — There are not, as the pagans have supposed, two original forces, light and darkness. There is but one God, and all things that come to pass are under his direction. There is, to be sure, a prince of darkness, also called the god of this world, by whom all sin came; but the evil that he does and the mischief that he causes, reach no farther than the Lord permits, and must in the end serve the cause of God’s kingdom. Therefore every Christian shall feel firmly assured that Satan cannot touch us without the permission of God, and that he cannot, through his instruments, accomplish anything but that which God has ordained, as in the case of the Jews who murdered Christ. This is a most important and comforting truth. Hold it fast, and do not let the evil one delude you into the belief that he can do anything to you without permission of your heavenly Father. If you harbor this belief, it is merely a lie by means of which the tempter wants to lure you away from the rock on which you stand. No; Satan is powerless to harm a hair of your head without the permission of the Lord. — That Cyrus is a prototype of Christ is clearly indicated by the closing words of our text: “Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.” This is the blessing in Christ; it shall fill all the earth.
The name of the Lord be praised! Give us for that purpose a firm and childlike faith. Amen.*
All hail the power of Jesus’ name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown him Lord of all!
Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race,
Ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail him who saves you by his grace,
And crown him Lord of all!
[TLH 339, LSB 549, ELH 49; listen here]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.