The Wednesday after the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on October 29, 2025 by under
Scripture: Hosea 14:1-9 (NKJV)
14:1 O Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity;
2 Take words with you, and return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.
3 “Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride on horses, nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’ For in You the fatherless finds mercy.”
4 “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him.
5 “I will be like the dew to Israel; He shall grow like the lily, and lengthen his roots like Lebanon.
6 “His branches shall spread; His beauty shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7 “Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; They shall be revived like grain, and grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 “Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’ I have heard and observed him. I am like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in Me.”
9 Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right; The righteous walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.
Devotion
In this chapter we see the prophet directed by God to take a “wife of whoredom” to signify the adulterous nature of the Israelites. The union produces three “children of whoredom,” which are given names that reflect the sad state of the people of God who have chosen to forsake their beautiful name and prestigious title.
The prophet illustrates true repentance in the words which he places on the lips of his judged and humbled people returning to the Lord their God. Israel, the northern kingdom, is to be judged for its rebellion and idolatry. Only in Hosea is God compared to a tree in the Old Testament—and that tree will no longer bear its fruit of mercy to this people because they have chosen not to be His people. The Israelites have become fruitless due to their unbelief. They have received the fruitfulness from the Lord, but no more. They have abandoned the ways of the LORD and will now face the consequences of that tragic choice of sinful self-will.
The prophet continues his faithful message by offering each reader the alternatives of walking or stumbling—of obedience or rebellion. This text reminds us that every day of the Christian’s life involves making choices; choices which always carry the consequences of walking faithfully or unfaithfully in our sojourn through this fallen, sin-filled world.
Collect: O Almighty and most Merciful God, of Thy bountiful goodness keep us, we beseech Thee, from all things that may hurt us; that we, being ready, both in body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish those things that Thou wouldest have done; 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.
