56. Wednesday after Epiphany.
God hath concluded all in unbelief,
that he might have mercy upon all.
Lord, help us to believe thy word.
Jeremiah 31, 1-4. At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus saith the Lord, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
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Surely, the people of Israel is not in its entirety cast away; there are many prophecies which encourage the hope that many Jews shall be converted. Such conversions are always a cause of great rejoicing to the church of God. It is to this people that the Lord has said: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” Let us labor zealously for the conversion of pagans and Jews, and let us earnestly pray: “Thy kingdom come.” Then “shall they come with weeping, and with supplications will he lead them; he will cause them to walk by the river of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble; for he is a father to Israel, and Ephraim is his firstborn. He will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth.” Is it possible that the people of Israel continue to live only that they may be a curse and a sign of wrath? No, the Lord has loved this people with an everlasting love; his bowels are troubled for Ephraim, and he surely shall continue to perform his saving work upon him.
However, these words are true of you and me also, who by baptism and faith have been made members of Israel. Let this truth come home to you today, and do you never forget it. Your God says to you: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Could anything more glorious than this be spoken to you? Your heart must be harder than stone, if this does not cause it to melt. If you would but hear and believe these words of the Lord to you, it could not fail that you would be unspeakably happy in the midst of the troubles and sorrows of this earthly existence. God holds you in his heart from everlasting to everlasting. Pause in your reading for some moments, and let your mind dwell on this: God loves you with an everlasting love. Verily, this is almost beyond belief; but God is such an one; his love for us is greater than we can understand. — “Therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee,” says he, and brought thee near to me. This I have, indeed, experienced, and do experience every hour. I would never have come to thee, my God, hadst thou not drawn me. This was lovingkindness on thy part; for I had deserved something entirely different. Now, however, I shall surely be saved. God is my God; his love and mercy govern me, he forgives me my sins, he turns my sorrow into joy, gives me rest and happiness, and places songs of gladness on my lips. His eternal love shall obtain victory, and I am eternally saved.
Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his holy name for ever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen.*
Jesus, my truth, my way,
My sure unerring light,
On thee my feeble soul I stay,
Which thou wilt lead aright.
My wisdom and my guide,
My counselor thou art;
O let me never leave thy side,
Nor from thy paths depart.
* 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.