May 9, 2026

Today's Reading: Introit for Easter 6 - Psalm 66:1-2a, 17, 19-20; antiphon: Isaiah 48:20b

Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 26:21-33, 39-44; Numbers 1:1-2:34; Luke 14:1-24

“Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!” (Psalm 66:20)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia! Amen. Our God is a God who wants to hear our prayers. The psalmist confesses his iniquity and knows that his heart has turned from God. Even in the darkest times, God has heard his cries for help and pleas for mercy. It is not God that is far off; rather, it is man who has abandoned God in his sin. He has turned his back on God and sought after the desires of his sinful heart.

In this world, the attacks from sin, satan, and the world are relentless. The temptation to follow our own desires of the flesh is always before us. Satan does not take a day off or the world a vacation when it comes to pulling us away from the one true God. In sin we seek after the lusts of the flesh. In sin, we want to work out our problems on our own. We rationalize God to be far off and out of touch with the realities that confront us. We meditate on our own wishes and reason our own solutions to the struggles that confront us.

God has not abandoned us. He has not forsaken us. Our God is a God of mercy and compassion. He is a God who desires our prayers. He wants nothing more than for us to lift our prayers and petitions to Him. He hears our prayers. As the Psalmist writes, “...He has not rejected my prayer or removed His steadfast love from me.” In humility and humbleness, we petition our Father that His will may be done through us. He shapes and forms us as the potter shapes the clay. We are His vessels to serve in the vocations that He has equipped us for from before the foundations of the world.

As we journey towards the end of the Easter season, we are comforted by the words of the Psalmist in knowing that our Father in Heaven always hears our prayers. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we are pointed back to our Baptism where we are marked with His word and water. We are drawn to the Communion rail where He feeds us with His healing balm of His Body and Blood. In His Holy Word, the Savior is revealed, and the message of forgiveness is placed upon our ears. In faith, we lift up our prayers to an ever-loving God who does not reject our prayers.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

To God the Holy Spirit let us pray For the true faith needed on our way That He may defend us when life is ending And from exile home we are wending. Lord have mercy (LSB 768:1)

Rev. Timothy Davis, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Athens, GA.