Wednesday within the Octave of the Feast of the Holy Trinity
Posted on May 29, 2024 by under
Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-13 (NKJV)
6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.”
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 “Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?”
And He answered:
“Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate,
12 “the Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 “But yet a tenth will be in it, and will return and be for consuming, as a terebinth tree or as an oak, whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump.”
Devotion
Our hearts, souls, strength, eyes, and ears do not make us able to understand God’s holy things. We have no right to boast in our own understanding, nor do we have the right to ignore or try correcting the Lord. Only by His Spirit are we able to see, hear, believe, love, and obey. The sacred Law and Gospel of God’s teaching is how He blesses us and makes us His faithful people.
Our worship in the New Testament Church also retains the song of the angels, singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” In addition to connecting our prayers and observance of His Holy Supper with the faithful Old Testament Church, this heavenly song reminds us that it is God’s supreme glory that brings us into His household, to His table. Our own choices, decisions, knowledge, or works do not make us loved by Him. He blesses us according to His gracious promise, fulfilled in Jesus Christ!
Like the prophet, we should be humbly mindful of our unclean lips and the unholy company of rebels and liars. But we also hear from our Lord that He sanctifies and cleanses us. He washes us in Baptism, He feeds us with the Holy Supper, and He teaches us to love, obey, speak, and work according to His Word.
Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hast given unto us, Thy servants, grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity: We beseech Thee, that Thou wouldst keep us steadfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities; Who livest and reignest, 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.
