1Samuel 2:1 Then Hannah prayed, and said, “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high.”

After many barren and miserable years, Hannah had been given a son, the baby Samuel. He was destined to be one of the greatest prophets in all of Israel, but his Mom mostly knew that he was destined to be her great joy! She could not contain her vast gratitude and unbounding joy.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus is the source of our peace—a peace which the world cannot give, and which passes all human understanding. We are justified in him alone, and we find that peace in him alone.

Proverbs 26:25 Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.

I wonder if the Apostle Paul thought about this old Jewish proverb as he walked thousands of dusty miles bringing Really Good News from a distant land. The Good News of Jesus Christ would change the whole world, like a cool drink of living water in a parched desert.

Psalm 31:24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

St. Peter says that we should always be ready to give an accounting for the hope that is in us. That hope in the Lord will naturally make us strong, will enable us to take heart in all kinds of situations. Those strong hearts get people wondering where the hope comes from.

Matthew 13:30 Let them both grow together until the harvest.

The farmer has a whole field of baby wheat, with baby weeds growing all in it as well. He sees them both, but he knows that any serious weed-pulling will disturb the new roots of the good grain. Let it all take root, he says, at harvest time we’ll divide it up. Are we in the wheat pile?

Psalm 38:6 I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.

Mourning is the hard work of the human journey—taking in loss, injury, failure, disappointment, death, and somehow continuing on. If we can mourn and rejoice at the same time, Hallelujah! God is with us! If we can only mourn, we know that the living God is still with us.

1Timothy 1:18 Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophesies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight

Timothy’s mother and grandmother were early Christians, and Paul also was a mentor in his faith journey. Although Timothy was young, great things had once been seen in him, and were now coming to fruition. He fulfilled that earlier vision, as he lived out the Gospel of Jesus Christ and became a powerful teacher, leader, and witness.

Proverbs 10:7 The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

I’m not really sure if a name can actually rot, but we get the idea. Slimy, smelly, wormy, disgusting—these are the signs of something rotting away. After we’re gone, may our name be blessed and spoken often, not left out for the garbage!

Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

The believers in the risen Lord Jesus clung to each other in those early days, they were one in prayer and joy and awe and fear. That’s how the Holy Spirit found them and filled them on the day of Pentecost. After that day, it was mostly power that bound them together, and love. And their mission to the world.

Ephesians 6:14 Stand, therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness.

Paul wants all of the believers to be decked out in the full armor of God—shoes, sword, helmet, belt and breastplate. Clothed in truth and righteousness, we are ready to stand tall, ready to confront the enemy without fear. Let the battle begin-- we have on the full armor of God.

Jeremiah 31:33 I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

God longs for a faithful people who are true to him and who love him. We can only hope to be that people now, because he has graciously placed his own Spirit within us, within our hearts. Thank God that God keeps his ancient promises.

Psalm 105:43 So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.

The Hebrew people tell and re-tell and re-tell their amazing tale of deliverance at the Red Sea that day. As they miraculously crossed over on dry land, they must have known in their hearts that future generations would echo their joy and singing forever.

Matthew 8:34 Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood.

These people had witnessed a powerful miracle—a legion of wild demons had been cast out of 2 possessed men (by Jesus), then they entered a herd of pigs, then they threw all the pigs into the ocean. The 2 men were healed and restored to themselves, but the observers were terrified! Can we really blame them?

1 Samuel 16:11 Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.”

One of Jesse’s sons was destined to be the next king of Israel. Surely not David, he must have thought, the shepherd boy, the smallest and youngest. But God saw a mighty ruler and strong warrior out there in the pasture. God saw in David a shepherd for his chosen people.

Matthew 8:15 Jesus touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him.

The woman here with the high fever was Simon Peter’s Mother in law. She was the first sick person that Jesus healed, there in Capernaum. As the next several years unfolded, and her son-in-law became less and less a, “normal, stable fisherman, good provider, etc.,” the Mom had no doubts about him whatsoever. She knew the truth. She knew the Way, the Truth, and the Life—Jesus.

John 17:20-21 I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one.

Jesus is praying here for his disciples, at the last supper as he prepares to leave them. Then, amazingly, he prays for US: for all those who will come to the faith later on. Jesus asks that he and we and they might all be made one. Hallelujah, we are one.

Ephesians 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.

It is our tremendous joy and privilege to live within the family of God—right there in his household, sitting right there at the dinner table. As sons and daughters, we bear his name, claim his inheritance, and learn his words and his ways. We are his, members of him.

Psalm 86:11 Give me an undivided heart to revere your name.

An alternate translation of Psalm 86 says, “To fear your name.” The psalmist knew holy fear of the power in the Name of the One God. It was not a name to be spoken out loud, or to be taken lightly in any way. The name of the One God lives in our own time, unchanged and unchanging. How might we better revere that name?

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and ...

... and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

In this one sentence, Luke gives us the outline of the entire Book of Acts. He might as well have said, “Look out Jerusalem, here we come! Look out Judea and Samaria, look out ends of the earth, Here we come!! They were indeed his witnesses in all of those destinations.

Ephesians 1:5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will.

Much of our service of Holy Baptism comes out of the Letter to the Ephesians. Really, our baptism is the sign of our adoption, our good fortune that it gave God pleasure to graft us onto/into himself.

Leviticus 26:2 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary; I am the LORD.

Our love of the sacred places and sacred words is very ancient. God claims the time of Sabbath as his own, and he claims the house of worship as his own, as well. We enter that time and space as worshipers, as guests, as beloved children.

Colossians 1:9 For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you.

Paul had heard about the Colossians’ great faith, and their, “Love in the Spirit.” He just could not stop thanking God for them and blessing them. I wonder how he kept up all that ceaseless prayer for so many different people? He did it, and even worked for a living AND preached!