Friday after Cantate Sunday
Posted on May 12, 2023 by under
Scripture: Isaiah 52:9-12 (NKJV)
52:9 Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
11 Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; Go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
Devotion
The theme of Cantate is to sing to the Lord a new song—to break forth with joy and singing, rejoicing in the Lord for the salvation He has brought to us through Christ. The sound that echoes throughout the Christian Church of all times and places is a victory cry; not our victory, but Christ’s victory! Where every other helper failed, this One prevailed! God Himself laid bare His holy arm and fought for us on the field of battle.
During the season of Lent, our focus was lament and sorrow because of our sins. But at the Resurrection, our consciences are comforted and our spirits are lifted by the Gospel of our forgiveness. As we say in the Divine Service, “We laud and magnify Thy glorious name, evermore praising Thee and saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy; Lord God of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of Thy glory!’”
Now, the Lord commands us to go out and spread the news of this victory to all the world. But, “Touch no unclean thing… be clean,” the Lord tells us. Let us not taint His triumph by continuing in sin, but show to the world how our God has cleansed us from our sins. May we demonstrate the fruit of the Resurrection in our lives of sanctification.
Prayer: O God, Who makest the minds of the faithful to be of one will: Grant unto Thy people that they may love what Thou commandest, and desire what Thou dost promise; that, among the manifold changes of this world, our hearts may there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
