Thursday Psalms: God Forgives You Every Day!

Blessed Thursday to each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, your Savior!

Our Psalm today is a majestic song, proclaiming the grandeur and majesty of the Lord.  God is Lord over all the earth, among all the nations & all peoples.  The Lord is great, feared above all gods, and full of splendor, majesty, strength and beauty.  Nothing but glory is due His name from everyone and everything He has made!  All the earth should and will tremble before Him.  What a glorious mountain-top view of the Lord who rules over all the earth!

Psalm 96:1-9

¹ Oh sing to the Lord a new song;

     sing to the Lord, all the earth!

² Sing to the Lord, bless His name;

     tell of His salvation from day to day.

³ Declare His glory among the nations,

     His marvelous works among all the peoples!

⁴ For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

     He is to be feared above all gods.

⁵ For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,

     but the Lord made the heavens.

⁶ Splendor and majesty are before Him;

     strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

⁷ Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

     ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!

⁸ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;

     bring an offering, and come into His courts!

⁹ Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;

     tremble before Him, all the earth! 

But there is another powerful and glorious message here.  Check out verse 2 for a promise & gift, given to you, me, and all the people.  The Lord gives you His salvation, day to day!

Day to day, you confess your sins and the Lord saves you from them by forgiving them!   Day to day, the Lord saves you from despair, by loving and caring for you!  Day to day, the Lord saves you from many struggles and hardships and attacks of Satan, the deceiver and liar.  Day to day, God comforts you, because you are a loved and cared-for child of God!  

So, sing to the Lord; you're forgiven day to day, every day!

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

"Blessed be the LORD, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation."  Psalm 68:19

Thursday Psalms: Lift Up Your Head!

Blessed Thursday to each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, your Savior!

Today's psalm is all about God's presence among His people.  The first two verses begin by proclaiming the Lord as Creator, Owner, Founder and Establisher of the earth and everything around us.  In verse three David asks "who can be in the presence of the one true God?"  Certainly we are not deserving of this honor!  However, we find the answer in verses four & five.

Psalm 24     A Psalm of David.

¹ The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,

    the world and those who dwell therein,

² for He has founded it upon the seas

    and established it upon the rivers.

³ Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?

    And who shall stand in His holy place?

⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

    who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

⁵ He will receive blessing from the Lord

    and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

⁶ Such is the generation of those who seek Him,

    who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

⁷ Lift up your heads, O gates!

    And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

⁸ Who is this King of glory?

    The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle!

⁹ Lift up your heads, O gates!

    And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

¹⁰ Who is this King of glory?

    The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory!

Do you meet the standards set in verse four?  If you're like me, the answer is "...sometimes, I think?"  You and I don't like to admit it, but our hands are never really clean, our hearts are never really pure and deception and dishonesty are tools of our daily lives.  Things are really hopeless, if all we have is our own "goodness".

But Jesus has intervened for you!  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior, you receive great blessings (v 5) from the Lord!  Because Jesus took your punishment for all your sins, you have received His righteousness and salvation!  We are the people, we are the "generation" who seek Him by seeking to live lives which glorify Him.  Because Jesus has cleaned our hands and made our hearts pure, we can joyfully ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in His holy place!  

Whatever struggles you're having today, and they may seem rather hopeless, God encourages you to keep your head uplifted as we wait on Him.  And of course we know how all things end;  on the Last Day of God's choosing, the the Lord, strong and mighty, will return for His final judgement of the world, and the bodily resurrection of all believers to eternal life!  Believe in God, and be one of them!

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

"Blessed be the LORD, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation."  Psalm 68:19

Pilgrim Worship Sunday October 4, 2026

 

 Pilgrim Lutheran Church

The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

October 4, 2026

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!  Our Summer Sunday schedule has started with our Worship service beginning at 9:30 am.  Afterwards, around 10:30 or so, please join us and enjoy food and conversations together.

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

Here is information about this worship service:

SCRIPTURE READINGS

  Old Testament:  Isaiah 5:1–7

               Psalm:  Psalm 80:7–19

              Epistle:  Philippians 3:4b–14

              Gospel:  Matthew 21:33–46

THEME FOR WORSHIP

The Isaiah reading and today’s Gospel text are both parables which cut deep and are easy for people to misunderstand.  Jesus gives us stories that reinforce what the world already thinks about God, that He is demanding and punitive.  God wants love from His people and punishes us we disappoint Him.  Paraphrasing Isaiah’s words, God asks, “What more could I have done…for my people and still I receive only wild grapes?”.   

Is this really how God operates, how He treats you and me?

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

"Make me to know Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths."  Psalm 25:4