Thursday Psalms: God's Steadfast Love

For you, these may be days of sadness, they may be filled with laughter.  Today may find you in sickness or in good health.  No matter what, dark & difficult days lie ahead for you; they await all of us.  We've seen them in the past, and as long as we live on this side of heaven, they will eventually return.  Sometimes our days of struggle & suffering seem to go on endlessly.  The four verses from today's psalm brought times like this to mind.  The following verses offer you remedy and hope.

Psalm 143:1-8a

¹ Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy!

        In Your faithfulness answer me, in Your righteousness!

² Enter not into judgment with Your servant,

        for no one living is righteous before You.

³ For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground;

        he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.

⁴ Therefore my spirit faints within me;

        my heart within me is appalled.

⁵ I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that You have done;

        I ponder the work of Your hands.

⁶ I stretch out my hands to You;

        my soul thirsts for You like a parched land.

⁷ Answer me quickly, O Lord!  My spirit fails!

        Hide not Your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit.

^8a Let me hear in the morning of Your steadfast love, for in You I trust.

      

When you are down and out, when the end to your sadness seems to be NEVER, God gives you this advice.  Remember the days of old, think of all that God has done for you.  Focus on God's works in your life, most importantly how God richly & daily forgives you all your sins!  Continue to stretch out your hands to God in prayer, trusting in His steadfast mercy.  He will heal you, the only question is when.  God's love, forgiveness and care for you will be like cool water in the parched land of your suffering!  

You can always trust in God; His steadfast love for you never fails, it never ends!

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Mark

Pilgrim Lutheran Church, LCMS    Burton, Michigan

office:  810.744.1188 

We are Pilgrims with a Purpose:  

     Sharing God’s Love & Mercy with Each Other & the World.

Pilgrim Website       Pilgrim Facebook page

Soli Deo Gloria

"The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble."  Psalm 9:9

Pilgrim Worship Sunday June 1, 2025

 

Pilgrim Lutheran Church

The Seventh Sunday of Easter

June 1, 2025

We're thankful you've come here to watch our service and to worship the one true God!

This was another exciting Sunday at Pilgrim Lutheran Church!  We're now in our Summer Schedule starting with our 9:30 am Worship service.  Afterward, we gathered for food and conversations, while the children enjoyed Sunday School.  These classes are full of activities and teaching, so the children learn how much God loves them!

If you live in the Burton area, please consider joining us on Sunday mornings!  Anyone can watch our services live on Facebook or later on Pilgrim's website.

Here is information about this worship service:

BIBLE READINGS

  First Reading:  Acts 1:12–26

             Psalm:  Psalm 133

    Epistle:  Revelation 22: 1–6, 12–20

   Gospel:  John 17:20–26

THEME FOR WORSHIP

This is a Sunday of waiting.  We’re with Jesus’ disciples, in a 10-day wait between Jesus’ Ascension to heaven and His giving of the promised Holy Spirit on Pentecost.  We pray this in the Collect prayer; we hear the clear promise of Christ’s long-awaited return in the Epistle reading.  Luke tells shares the apostles’ waiting in the same Jerusalem upper room where they first gathered on Maundy Thursday.  They were waiting “in one accord”, they were waiting in unity.  St. John shares Jesus’ prayer to His Father in heaven, that we would wait for His return in unity, the perfect unity which He and His Father live.  How good and pleasant it is when we can dwell together in unity!

To watch the video of today's service, please click HERE.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Mark

Pilgrim Lutheran Church, LCMS    Burton, Michigan

office:  810.744.1188   

We are Pilgrims with a Purpose:  
       Sharing God’s Love & Mercy with Each Other & the World.

Pilgrim Website           Pilgrim Facebook page

Soli Deo Gloria

"The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble."  Psalm 9:9 

Thursday Psalms: Your Battle is God's!

 

The psalm for this Ascension Day is Psalm 47, which you might think is a curious choice after reading it.  

Psalm 47

¹ Clap your hands, all peoples!

     Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

² For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,

     a great King over all the earth.

³ He subdued peoples under us,

     and nations under our feet.

⁴ He chose our heritage for us,

     the pride of Jacob whom He loves.

⁵ God has gone up with a shout,

     the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises!

     Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

⁷ For God is the King of all the earth;

     sing praises with a psalm!

⁸ God reigns over the nations;

     God sits on His holy throne.

⁹ The princes of the peoples gather

     as the people of the God of Abraham.

   For the shields of the earth belong to God;

      He is highly exalted! 

A little context for the original writing of this psalm will help bring us to this Ascension Day.  This psalm was first written to shout out praise for a marvelous victory God gave to His people.  In 850 BC, two nations attacked Jerusalem, the capital of Judah.  King Jehoshaphat knew his armies were outnumbered and he cried out to God:  "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You." [2 Chronicles 20:12].  God sent a prophet who spoke God's words to them: "The battle is not yours, but God's" [v15].  So the nation of Judah went to a hopeless battle with nothing more than singing and praising God with a very loud voice [v19].  God proceeded to keep His promise, causing the two armies to turn on each other until no enemy remained in Jerusalem.  

In Psalm 47, the people praised God their eternal King, who came down to save His people and returned to heaven (v5) , where He reigns over the nations and sits on His holy throne (v8).  This brings us to today, as we remember the Ascension of our Lord.  Jesus, your eternal King, came down to be born one of His created, to battle Satan and save you from your sins.  Today, Your king has ascended, He has gone up with a shout and He still reigns over the nations and sits on His holy throne!

No matter how hopeless or painful your situation is today, remember God's promise to you:  "The battle is not yours, but God's".  Your most important preparation for battle is to pray and trust in God, that He will walk with you through your dark days.  Consider these precious words of God from Psalm 23:  "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

Be comforted today and every day because "The battle is not yours, but God's".  

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Mark

Pilgrim Lutheran Church, LCMS    Burton, Michigan

office:  810.744.1188 

We are Pilgrims with a Purpose:  

     Sharing God’s Love & Mercy with Each Other & the World.

Pilgrim Website       Pilgrim Facebook page

Soli Deo Gloria

"The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble."  Psalm 9:9