Daily Devotion for 09 September 2026 (15th Wednesday after Pentecost)

0:00Music Welcome to the Daily Devotions Podcast from Confident Faith. I am Corey J. Moller, a contributor here at Confident Faith and I will be your reader today. This 16th Wednesday after Pentecost, the 9th of September. 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 61, Psalm 59, 2nd Kings, 6 verses 1 through 23. Philippians starting with chapter 1, verse 21, and reading through chapter 2, verse 11,

1:03and paragraphs 1 through 15 of Article 7 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 61st Psalm. Harkened to my petition, attend to my prayer, from the limits of the earth I cried out toward you. When my heart grew slack with weariness, on a rock you lifted me high, you guided me, because you became my hope, a tower of strength from the face of an enemy. I will sojourn in your tent dwelling into the ages. I will be sheltered in the covering of your wings, because you, O God, have harkened to my prayers. You have given an inheritance to those who fear your name. Day upon day you will add the years of a king to a day of generation and generation. He will remain into the age before God, his mercy and his true, who will seek them out.

2:08Thus I will play to your name into the age of the age that I may pay my vows, day by day. Glory be to the Father, and to 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 59th Psalm. Take me out from my enemies, O God, and from those who rise up against me, ransom me, draw me out from those who work lawlessness, and from men of blood save me. For look, they have hunted my soul. Mighty ones have set upon me. Neither my lawlessness nor my sin, O Lord, without lawlessness I ran, and I directed a straight course. Be roused to a meeting with me and see, and you, O Lord, the God of the forces, the God of Israel, give heed to inspect all the nations.

3:13Do not pity all who work the lawlessness. They will turn back toward evening and starve as a dog, and they will circle a city. Look, they will utter forth in their mouth, and a broadsword is in their lips, for who has heard? And you, O Lord, will laugh them out. You will make nothing of all the nations. My might I will keep toward you, for you are God, the one who takes hold in support of me. My God, his mercy will be beforehand with me. My God will show me among my enemies. Do not kill them, lest they forget your law. Scatter them in your power and bring them down. O my shield bearer, Lord, the sin of their mouth, the word of their lips, and let them be caught together in their arrogance. And out of curse and falsehood, completion shall be proclaimed. In wrath of a consummation, and they shall not at all exist. And they shall know that the God of Jacob is master of the limits of the earth. They will turn back toward evening and starve as a dog,

4:16and they will encircle a city. They themselves will be scattered in order to eat, and if they are filled, they will also mutter. But I will sing to your power, and in the morning, I will exult in your mercy. For you have become the one who takes hold in support of me, and a refuge in a day of crushing. My helper to you I will play my God. For you are the one who takes hold in support of me. My God, my mercy. Glory be to the Father, and to 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 Second Kings, and we will be reading the sixth chapter, verses 1-23. And the sons of the prophet said to Elisha, see now the place where we live in your presence is too narrow for us. Do let us go to the Jordan,

5:19and let us take from there one man, one beam, and build for ourselves there to live there. And he said, go, and the one said, kindly come with your slaves. And he said, I will go. And he went with them, and they came to the Jordan and cut down trees, and behold the one was filling the beam, and the iron fell into the water, and he cried out, oh master, and it was borrowed. And the man of God said, where did it fall? And he showed him the place, and he cut off a stick and threw it there, and the iron floated, and he said, raise it for yourself, and he reached out his hand and took it. And the king of Syria was at war with Israel, and he took counsel with his servant, saying, I will encamp at this certain place, Elmoni, and Elisha sent to the king of Israel, saying, take care not to pass by this place, because Syria is hidden there. And the king of Israel sent to the place which Elisha told him, and he avoided it not once or twice. And the mind of the

6:21king of Syria was perturbed about this matter, and he called his servants and said to them, will you not tell me who is betraying me to the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, no one my Lord O king, for Elisha the prophet in Israel tells the king of Israel all the words that you might speak in the chamber of your bedroom. And he said, go, see where this man is, and after I send, I will seize him. And they reported to him, saying, behold, he is in Dothaim. And he sent their horse and chariot in a heavy force, and they came by night and surrounded the city. And the attendant of Elisha rose early in the morning and went out, and behold, a force was all around the city with horse and chariot. And the lad said to him, oh master, what shall we do? And Elisha said, do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed and said, oh Lord, open the eyes of the lad and let him see. And the Lord

7:23opened his eyes and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses. And there were chariots of fire all around Elisha. And they came down against him, and Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, do strike this nation with blindness. And he struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. And Elisha said to them, this is not the city, and this is not the way. Come after me, and I will lead you to the man whom you seek. And he led them to Samaria. And it happened as they entered into Samaria that Elisha said, oh Lord, do open their eyes and let them see. And the Lord opened their eyes and they saw, and behold, they were in the middle of Samaria. And the king of Israel said when he saw them, father, striking shall I strike. And he said, you shall not strike. If you did not capture them with your sword and your bow, would you strike them? Serve up food and water before them and let them eat and drink and let them go to their master.

8:23And he served up before them a great serving and they ate and drank and he sent them and they went to their master. And lightly armed men of Syria no longer continued to come into the land of Israel. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Today's New Testament reading comes from the book of Philippians, and we will be reading from verse 21 of the first chapter through verse 11 of the second chapter. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ

9:24Jesus, because of my coming to you again. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him, but also suffer for His sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look

10:27not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Today's reading from the Book of Concord comes from the apology of the Augsburg confession,

11:28and we will be reading Article 7, Paragraphs 1 through 15. Article 7, The Church They have condemned Article 7 of our confession, in which we said that the Church is the congregation of saints. The adversaries have added a long essay stating that the wicked are not to be separated from the Church, since John the Baptist has compared the Church to a threshing floor, on which wheat are heaped together, Matthew 312, and Christ is compared to a net, in which there are both good and bad fish, Matthew 1347. This is a true saying, there is no remedy against the attacks of this landerer. Nothing can be spoken with such care that it can escape ridicule. For this reason we have added Article 8, let no one think that we separate the wicked and hypocrites from the outward fellowship of the Church, or that we deny power to sacraments administered by hypocrites or wicked men. There is no need here of a long defense against this lander. Article 8 is enough to acquit us.

12:31For we grant that in this life hypocrites and wicked people have been mingled with the Church, and that they are members of the Church, according to the outward fellowship of the signs of the Church, that is, of word, profession, and sacraments, especially if they have not been excommunicated. Neither are the sacraments powerless because they are administered by wicked men. Yes, we can even be right in using the sacraments administered by wicked men. For Paul also predicts the Antichrist takes his seat in the Temple of God, 2 Thessalonians 2.4. In other words, he will rule and bear office in the Church, but the Church is not only the fellowship of outward objects and rights, as other governments, but at its core it is a fellowship of faith and of the Holy Spirit in hearts. Yet this fellowship has outward marks so that it can be recognized. These marks are the pure doctrine of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments in accordance with the gospel of Christ. This Church alone is called Christ's Body, which Christ

13:33renews, sanctifies, and governs by His Spirit. Paul testifies about this when he says, and gave him his head over all things to the Church, which is his Body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all, Ephesians 1, 22-23. Those in whom Christ does not act are not the members of Christ. The adversaries admit this too. The wicked are dead members of the Church. We wonder why the adversaries have found fault with our description that speaks of living members. Neither have we said anything new. Paul has defined the Church precisely in the same way that it should be cleansed in order to be holy. He adds the outward marks, the word, and sacraments, for he says, Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, so that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that She might be holy and without blemish, Ephesians 5, 25-27.

14:35In the confession we have presented this sentence almost word for word, the Church is defined by the third article of the Creed, which teaches us to believe that there is a holy Catholic Church. The wicked indeed are not a holy Church. The words that follow, namely the communion of saints, seem to be added in order to explain what the Church signifies, the congregation of saints, who have with each other the fellowship of the same gospel or doctrine and the same holy spirit, who renews, sanctifies, and governs their hearts. This article has been presented for a necessary reason. We see the infinite dangers that threaten the destruction of the Church. In the Church itself, the number of the wicked who oppress it is too high to count. Therefore, this article in the Creed shows us these consolations in order that we may not despair, but may know that the Church will remain until the end of the world. No matter how great the multitude of the wicked is, we may know that the Church still exists and Christ provides those gifts He has promised to the Church, to forgive

15:40sins, to hear prayer, to give the Holy Spirit. It says Church Catholic, in order that we may not understand the Church to be an outward government of certain nations. Rather, the Church is people scattered throughout the whole world. They agree about the gospel and have the same Christ, the same Holy Spirit, and the same sacraments, whether they have the same or different human traditions. The explanation appearing in the Decree says, the Church in its wide sense embraces good and evil. Likewise, it says that the wicked are in the Church only in name, not in fact. The good are in the Church both in fact and in name. To this effect, there are many passages in the Fathers. For Jerome says, the sinner therefore who has been soiled with any blotch cannot be called a member of Christ's Church. Neither can he be said to be subject to Christ. Hippocrates and wicked people are members of this true Church, according to outward rights. Yet when the Church is defined, it is necessary to define what is the living body of Christ and what is in name and in fact the Church.

16:46There are many reasons for this. We should understand what chiefly makes us members, living members of the Church. If we will define the Church only as an outward political order of the good and wicked, people will not understand that Christ's kingdom is righteousness of heart and the gift of the Holy Spirit. People will conclude that the Church is only the outward observance of certain forms of worship and rights. Likewise, what difference will there be between the people of the law and the Church if the Church is only an outward political order? But Paul distinguishes the Church from the people of the law in this way. The Church is a spiritual people. It has not been distinguished from the pagans by civil rights. Instead, it is God's true people reborn by the Holy Spirit among the people of the law, apart from Christ's promise. Even the earthly seed had promises about bodily things such as government. Even though the wicked among them were called God's people, because God had separated this earthly seed from other nations by certain outward ordinances and promises, the wicked did not please God. But the gospel brings

17:52not merely the shadow of eternal things, but the eternal things themselves, the Holy Spirit and righteousness. By the gospel we are righteous before God. 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. It lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom,

18:56and 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 given you, or tasks set before you, until tomorrow. God be with you.