Daily Devotion for 06 October 2026 (20th Tuesday after Pentecost)

0:00Music Welcome to the Daily Devoteience Podcast from ridden, I am Corey J. Moller, a contributor here at Confident Faith, and I will be your reader today. This 20th Tuesday after Pentecost, the 6th of October. In the year of our Lord, 2026, in the time of the Church. There are no feasts, festivals, or commemorations on the calendar today. Our readings for today are Psalm 91, Psalm 97, Deuteronomy starting with chapter 5, verse 22, and reading through chapter 6, verse 9.

1:00Matthew chapter 9, verses 1 through 17, and paragraph 22 through 30, of Article 15, of the apology of the Augsburg confession. We will close, as always, with the Lord's Prayer. Today's first reading from the Psalter is the 91st Psalm. He who dwells in the help of the Most High will lodge in the covert of the God of the heaven. He will say to the Lord, You are He who takes hold of me, and my refuge, my God, I will hope upon Him, because He Himself will draw me out from a snare of hunters and from a tumultuous word. With His back He will overshadow you, and under His wings You will hope, with His shield His truth will ring you about. You will not fear from a fear of the night, from a dart flying by day, from a thing going through in darkness, from a collapse and a dimonion of midday.

2:02A thousand will fall from your side, and a myriad from your right, but towards you it will not draw near. Only with your eyes you will be hold, and you will see a recompense of sinners, because you will Lord or my hope. You have set the Most High as your refuge, evils will not come towards you, and a scourge will not draw near to your tent dwelling. For He will give charge to His angels concerning you, to guard you through in all your ways, upon hands they will lift you, lest you ever strike your foot against a stone. Upon Aspen Basilisk you will step, and you will trample Lion and Dragon, because He has hoped upon me, and I will draw Him out. I will shelter Him, because He is known my name. He will call upon me, and I will harken to Him. I am with Him in crushing, and I will take Him out, and I will glorify Him. Length of days I will fill Him, and I will show Him my salvation.

3:03Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forevermore. Amen. Today's second reading from the Psalter is the 97th Psalm. The Lord has become king, let the earth exalt, let many islands be glad, cloud and gloom around about Him. Righteousness and judgment are the setting up right of His throne. Fire will go before over against Him, and it will flame round about His enemies, His lightning shone upon the inhabited world. The earth saw and was shaken. The mountains melted like wax from the face of the Lord, from the face of the Lord of all the earth. The heavens announced His righteousness, and all the people saw His glory. Let all who bow down to carve things be put to shame. Those who boast in their images bow down to Him all His angels.

4:08Zion heard and was gladened, and the daughters of Judah exalted, because of your judgment so Lord, for you are Lord the most high over all the earth. You have been lifted exceedingly high over all the gods. You who love the Lord hate evil, the Lord guards the souls of His pious ones. He will draw them out from the hand of sinners. Light has risen for the just man, and gladness for those who are straight in heart. Be glad you just in the Lord, and make open acknowledgment to the memory of His holiness. Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forevermore. Amen. Today's Old Testament reading comes from the Book of Deuteronomy, and we will be reading from verse 22 of the 5th chapter through verse 9 of the 6th chapter.

5:10These words the Lord spoke to your whole gathering at the mountain, from the midst of the fire, darkness, blackness, tempest, allowed voice, and He did not add, and He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. And it happened when you heard the voice from the midst of the fire, and the mountain was burning with fire, that you approached me, all the leaders of your tribes and your council of elders, and you said, Look, the Lord our God has shown us His glory, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. This day we have seen that God will speak to a person and He will live, and now let us not die, for this great fire will consume us. If we continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die. For what flesh which has heard the voice of the living God, when He speaks from the midst of fire as we have shall also live? Go you near, and hear whatever the Lord our God may say, and you shall speak to us all things, whatever the Lord our God may speak to you, and we will hear and do it.

6:15And the Lord heard the sound of your words when you were speaking to me, and the Lord said to me, I have heard the sound of the words of this people, what they have spoken to you, all that they have spoken, they have spoken correctly. Who shall grant that their heart be in them in such a way that they fear me, and keep my commandments in all their days, so that it might go well with them and with their sons forever? Go say to them, return to your houses, but you stand here with me, and I will speak to you the commandments and the statutes and the judgments that you shall teach them, and let them do them in the land that I am giving them as an allotment. And you shall be watchful to do as the Lord your God is commanded, you shall not turn right or left, to go according to all the way that the Lord your God is commanded, so that He may give you rest, and that it may go well with you, and that you may prolong your days upon the land that you shall inherit. And these are the commandments and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord your God commanded to teach you, to do so in the land which you are entering there to inherit, so that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments that I command you today.

7:28You and your sons and your sons, sons, all the days of your life, so that you may be long lived. Now hear O Israel, and be watchful to perform so that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord the God of your fathers has spoken, to give you a land flowing with milk and honey. And these are the statutes and the judgments which the Lord commanded to the sons of Israel in the wilderness as they were coming out from the land of Egypt. Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with the whole of your mind, and with the whole of your soul, and with the whole of your power. And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart and in your soul, and you shall teach them to your sons, and talk on them while sitting at home, and going on the road, and lying down and rising up, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be things unshakeable before your eyes, and you shall write them on the doorposts of your houses, and on your gates.

8:32This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Today's New Testament reading comes from the book of Matthew, and we will be reading the ninth chapter, verses 1 through 17. And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city, and behold some people brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed, and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, take heart my son, your sins are forgiven, and behold some of the scribes said to themselves, this man is blaspheming. But Jesus knowing their thoughts said, why do you think evil in your hearts, for which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or to say rise and walk? But that you may know that the son of man is authority on earth to forgive sins. He then said to the paralytic, rise, pick up your bed and go home. And he rose and went home, when the crowds sought they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

9:38As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, follow me, and he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined a table in the house, behold many tax collectors and sinners came, and were reclining with Jesus in his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? But when he heard it he said, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I came not to call the righteous but sinners. Then the disciples of John came to him saying, why do we in the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, can the wedding guess mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The day will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.

10:43Neither is new wine put into old wine skins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wine skins, and so both are preserved. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Today's reading from the book of Concorde comes from the apology of the Augsburg confession, and we will be reading Article 15, Paragraphs 22-30. Paul writes to the Colossians that traditions have an appearance of wisdom, Chapter 2, verse 23. Indeed they have. Good order is very fitting in the church, and is for this reason necessary. Human reason, because it does not understand the righteousness of faith, naturally imagines that such works justify people, because they reconcile God. Among the Israelites, the common people thought this, and by this opinion increased such ceremonies.

11:48Among us, ceremonies have grown in the monasteries. Human reason also thinks this about bodily exercises, such as fasts, although the purpose of these bodily exercises is to hold the flesh and check. Reason falsely adds that they are services that justify. As Thomas writes, fasting evails for the extinguishing and the prevention of guilt. These are Thomas's words. The look of wisdom and righteousness in such works tricks people. The examples of the saints are added. When people want to imitate these, they imitate, for the most part, the outward exercises, they do not imitate their faith. After this look of wisdom and righteousness has deceived people, then countless evils follow. The gospel about the righteousness of faith in Christ is clouded over, and empty confidence in such works succeeds. Then God's commandments are clouded over. These human works assume the title of a perfect and spiritual life. They are preferred more than the works of God's commandments, works of one's own calling, the administration of the state, the management of a family, married life, and the bringing up of children.

12:56Compared with those ceremonies, the latter are judged to be ungodly, so that they are exercised by many with doubting consciences. For it is known that many have left the administration of the state, and married life, to welcome these human ceremonies as better and holier. Nor is this enough, when the belief is possessed minds that such ceremonies are necessary for justification. Consciouses are in miserable anxiety, because they cannot exactly perform all ceremonies. How many are there who could list all these ceremonies? There are immense books, indeed whole libraries containing not a syllable about Christ, about faith in Christ, about the good works of one's own calling. They only collect the traditions and interpretations by which they are sometimes made quite strict and sometimes relaxed. How that most excellent man, Gerson, is tortured while he searches for the steps and extent to the rules, yet he is not able to fix mitigation, epiocaine, in a definite grade.

13:56Meanwhile, he deeply regrets the dangers to godly consciences that this strict interpretation of the traditions produces. Against this look of wisdom and righteousness in human rights, which tricks people, let us strengthen ourselves by God's word, let us know, first of all, that these rights neither merit the forgiveness of sins or justification before God, nor are they necessary for justification. We have mentioned some testimonies above. Paul is full of them, to the collotions he clearly says. Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival, or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ, chapter 2 verses 16 through 17. Here he welcomes both Moses' law and human traditions at the same time, so that the adversaries may not dodge these testimonies, according to their custom, on the ground that Paul speaks only about Moses' law.

14:57He clearly testifies here that he is speaking of human traditions. However, the adversaries do not see what they are saying. If the gospel says that Moses is ceremonies, which were divinely instituted, do not justify, how much less do human traditions justify. This concludes our reading from the book of Concord. I now invite all of you to join me in reciting the Lord's Prayer, one of the most ancient prayers of the church. I do encourage you to say it aloud if you are somewhere reasonable to do so, but praying it silently is, of course, also fine. The Lord knows what is in your heart. Lord, remember us in your kingdom, and teach us to pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,

16:03and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Go in peace and grace to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in whatever calling has been giving you, or tasks that before you, until tomorrow. God be with you. Amen.

17:15Amen.