CW 862 – Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word
Our hymn for this week is a prayer to the Triune God. Each stanza is a prayer to a member of the trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The content of the prayer is really quite simple. It’s a request for help! But even though the request is simple, that doesn’t make it any less important. We live in a world that hates the Word of God and wants to destroy it forever. This hymn, then, is a request to God to help us by keeping us strong in the Word no matter what happens to us.
Our Gospel lesson for this coming Sunday is from Matthew 21:33-43. In it, Jesus tells a parable about a vineyard and some wicked men who worked that vineyard. In this parable, Jesus first shows us an example of what happens to those who don’t hold to his Word. They become warped and twisted by their own desires. These wicked men are called “wretches who will meet a wretched end.” At the end of the story, Jesus encourages us to not be like those wicked men. Instead, he encourages us to remain in him and to produce fruits of faith. How do we do this? By keeping steadfast in the precious Word of God!
Verse one: Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word; curb those who by deceit or sword, would seek to overthrow your Son, and to destroy what he has done.
The word steadfast means “strong!” Our prayer to God the father is a simple one: God give me strong faith! Because without a strong faith, there’s no way we’ll be able to produce fruits of faith. But there’s another reason we need God’s help in keeping a strong faith. There are people out there who will do anything they can to destroy the work of Jesus. Sometimes they’ll use sneaky methods like trying to trick us into not believing. Sometimes they’ll use more violent methods and threaten our lives because of our faith! The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh will all oppose the Word of God and try and stop us from living out our lives of faith. But we don’t need to be afraid. God will protect us and keep us strong in his Word. All we have to do is ask.
Question 1: What are some ways we can strengthen our faith?
Verse two: Lord Jesus Christ, your power make known, for you are Lord of lords alone; defend your Christendom that we may sing your praise eternally.
We live in a dangerous world that wants to stop us from growing in our faith. We are threatened by some truly scary things out there! The devil wants to eat us like a lion, our sinful nature fights against us every step of the way, and the world we live in will actively try and tell us what we believe is foolish. But we have a strong defender who will protect us from these threats: Jesus, the son of God! He showed his power by dying on the cross then rising again from the grave. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He gives us the promise that he will defend us as we produce fruits of faith. This allows us to have peace, and praise him now and forever.
Question 2: What are some ways we can sing Jesus’ praises eternally?
Verse three: O Comforter of priceless worth, send peace and unity on earth; support us in our final strife and lead us out of death to life.
We already know we are protected from harm by the Father. We know the Son came into this world to free us and save us from our sin. But on top of that, we also have the Holy Spirit’s help! The Bible calls the Holy Spirit “the Comforter.” He’s the one Jesus sends to us to help us when we struggle in our faith. He continues to keep our faith strong with God’s Word so we can keep producing fruits of faith. He gives us peace and unity with God and with our fellow Christians. He will never leave us, no matter how bad things will get. And he will be the one who will lead us out of this world of trouble to our eternal home in heaven. We can have confidence that with the help of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, we will not only survive the hardships we face, but we will thrive in our faith as well.
Question 3: What are some ways the Holy Spirit strengthens our faith in this world?
One thing’s for sure, we have a God who loves us and protects us from harm. This hymn shows us how each person of the Trinity has a unique role in keeping our faith strong so that we can produce fruits of faith. Thanks be to God that he has given us such incredible help! May we always turn to Him in times of need, that we can remain strong in the Word all the days of our lives. Amen.