INTROIT
I shall not die, but | I shall live,*
and recount the deeds | of the LORD.

I was pushed hard, so that I was | falling,*
but the LORD | helped me.

The LORD is my strength | and my song;*
he has become my sal- | vation.

I shall not die, but | I shall live,*
and recount the deeds | of the LORD.

The LORD has disciplined me se- | verely,*
but he has not given me o- | ver to death.

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for | he is good;*
for his steadfast love endures for- | ever!

Glory be to the Father and | to the Son*
and to the Holy | Spirit;
as it was in the be- | ginning,*
is now, and will be forever. | Amen.

I shall not die, but | I shall live,*
and recount the deeds | of the LORD.

COLLECT
Almighty God, through the resurrection of Your Son You have secured peace for our troubled consciences.  Grant us this peace evermore that trusting in the merit of Your Son we may come at last to the perfect peace of heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

PSALM
Psalm 2:1-12

OLD TESTAMENT
Daniel 3:8-28

EPISTLE
Acts 13:26-33

GOSPEL
Luke 24:36-49

SHORT MEDITATION

Trusting God when life goes badly and seems to be heading towards endless futility is difficult even for the most mature believer in the resurrected Christ.  It is especially difficult when, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abegnego, we are lead there by being faithful to the Word of God.  Yet, that same Word assures us that our lives are not in the hands of men, but the risen Lord will not lose His grip on us.  The guards and Nebuchadnezzar were in awe of the presence of the One who looked like a “son of the gods” in the fiery furnace   We know that in fact it is the Son of God who stood with them and now with us.  He will keep our life for He is risen!

“For how many a soldier in a concentration camp, weak with hunger and smarting under the whip of the torturers; for how many a person huddling in the last extremity of ghastly dread in a bomb shelter; for how many on the endless gray road of a refugee trek was it not the great experience suddenly to know: I am not in the hands of men, despite everything to the contrary; another hand, a higher hand is governing in the midst of all man’s madness and canceling all the logic of my calculations and all the images of my anxious sick imagination?

I am being led to the undreamed-of shore, the harbor, the Father’s house. And always when things grow dark, suddenly that marvelous helping hand is there. If there is anything that is really bombproof, then it is this, that God is there . . . “ -Helmut Thielicke

Helmut Thielicke, The Waiting Father, trans., Robert Doberstein (New York: Harper & Row, 1959), 36.

LORD’S PRAYER

PRAYERS FOR OUR OURSELVES AND OTHERS
Suggested additional prayer for Tuesday: That we not be lead into temptation; for the addicted and despairing; for those struggling with spiritual weakness and sin; that all these will find comfort in the Holy Absolution of Christ Jesus given in His Word and Sacraments.

LUTHER’S MORNING PRAYER

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

-or-

LUTHER’S EVENING PRAYER

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.