The
Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity
The
Collect.
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O
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GOD, our refuge and strength, who art the author of all godliness; Be
ready, we beseech thee, to hear the devout prayers of thy Church; and grant
that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain effectually; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
1.God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble. 2.Therefore will not we fear, though
the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the
sea; 3.Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains
shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. 4.There is a river, the streams whereof
shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most
High. 5.God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her,
and that right early. (Psalms
46:1-5)
The inspirational power of this COLLECT is best represented in the five verses
above taken from the 46th Psalm, and also from that great
Reformation Hymn by Luther; A Mighty Fortress is our God.
The consistent testimony of faith is demonstrated between the Psalmist of old
and the latter-day Reformer in observing these two works. The Ramparts of God
are sound and strong and not subject to penetration. In fact the bulwark and
rampart are the early strong defense built outside and beyond the walls of the
fortress as an early defense against the enemy. Isn't that early defense
precisely what we need most in defending our souls against the wiles of the
devil? If we spare our defense until the enemy is ramming the gates of the
fortress, have we not taken the chance of waiting too late to defend the soul
within the fortress? When we open our hearts to risky temptation, have we not
disregarded that early defense that God offers? If we never allow the enemy to
draw near enough the Fortress of our Souls as to seduce us with enfilading
maneuvers, we shall bear a far greater security than by depending upon our own
desultory fires of defense from a weakened position. This COLLECT calls to our
remembrance the continual security we may enjoy in God by living prayerful
faith and living.
Prayer is, to the Fortress of the Church, the same as the communications and
intelligence resource of an Army. Through prayer, we call in the power of God
on the enemy lines, and also reveal to Him our present position. Our logistical
needs and provisions are conveyed by prayer, and we await the response from
that Higher Headquarters as to its supply. If the Church is true to God, it
will be a Fortress in a world of wickedness. Please observe how small is a
Fortress as contrasted with the world for size. Those who seek safety will run
to the fortress as danger approaches. Those who seek only to spoil and plunder
will also run to the fortress to gain entrance by force of fire and intrigue.
God is a SURE defense against every evil seduction. When we depart from the
security of constant prayer, we are defenseless before the enemy. Jesus
says: Heaven and earth shall pass away: but
my words shall not pass away. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any
time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of
this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare
shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch
ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape
all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
(Luke 21:33-36) Pray ALWAYS! How is that possible? Jesus means that not only
with our lips, but with our lives, we must pray. Our living testimony is lie
unto a prayer. We seek the will of God for all that we do – that is an ALWAYS
prayer for the Christian.
O GOD, our refuge and strength, who art the author of all godliness
Yes, God is our refuge and strength, but also the author of `godliness' or
righteousness. All that God has every said, thought, or done has been
altogether righteous and just. We sometimes must remind ourselves that God's
justice makes no distinction of persons. But there is an apparent exception to
this rule (and it is apparent ONLY): those sinners whose condemnation is given
over to Christ through their election and calling in Him are forgiven and
exonerated of their sins. But what, may you ask, of the justice of God? It
holds sure and constant, for God has allowed His son to receive that judgment
that was due to us through His redemptive sacrifice at Calvary.
Be ready, we beseech thee, to hear the devout prayers of thy Church
It is a certain thing that God is ALWAYS ready to hear the prayers of the
devout. Prayers offered in Communion of the Church are multiplied in their
earnestness by the numbers of devout souls praying. If the whole Church pleads
a case with God, it is all the more likely that the petition will be one which
the Lord is disposed to grant. It is a simply thing for the Christian to pray
alone and in the privacy of his closet, but how much more convincing of
righteousness when the whole Church comes together in prayer for the common
need. God is very pleased to hear those prayers of the Church and to grant them
favor.
Grant that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain
effectually It is possible to pray with great faith for a blessing
which it is not the Lord's will to grant. How is this possible? Because we see,
now, through a glass darkly, and do not know what danger may await at the end
of the road which we pray to follow. God does know, indeed, and may forbid our
travel on that road (plan). But praying faithfully for those things which are
clearly righteous and God's desire to grant will result in answered prayer in
the grant of our request. Once prayer has been answered according to our will,
AND the will of God, we must receive the grant effectually. If we have suffered
great financial hardship and pray our father for a gift of cash to cover our
hardship, how wrong of us to take that gift and squander on the cheap treasures
of the world! When God answers our prayers, we must act with sincerity and
devotion upon the favor granted. That is obtaining effectually. We must use His
gifts precisely in accordance with the will of the grantor.
Finally, all that we ask of God, we ask through, and on the behalf, of the One
who bought us with His own blood – the Lord Jesus Christ. If even Christ
Himself prayed that not His will, but the Father's, be done, how much more
should we pray in the same spirit? Do you always make your prayers subject to
the will of God the Father?
