Is. 40:24–31
40:24 Indeed, they are barely planted;
yes, they are barely sown;
yes, they barely take root in the earth,
and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up,
and the wind carries them away like straw.
25“To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?”
says the Holy One.
26Look up at the sky!
Who created all these heavenly lights?
He is the one who leads out their ranks;
he calls them all by name.
Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,
not one of them is missing.
27Why do you say, Jacob,
Why do you say, Israel,
“The Lord is not aware of what is happening to me;
my God is not concerned with my vindication”?
28Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an eternal God,
the Creator of the whole earth.
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom.
29He gives strength to those who are tired;
to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.
30Even youths get tired and weary;
even strong young men clumsily stumble.
31But those who wait for the Lord’s help find renewed strength;
they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings,
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired.
(NET Bible)Ps. 21
21:1 For the music director, a psalm of David.
O Lord, the king rejoices in the strength you give;
he takes great delight in the deliverance you provide.
2You grant him his heart’s desire;
you do not refuse his request. (Selah)
3For you bring him rich blessings;
you place a golden crown on his head.
4He asked you to sustain his life,
and you have granted him long life and an enduring dynasty.
5Your deliverance brings him great honor;
you give him majestic splendor.
6For you grant him lasting blessings;
you give him great joy by allowing him into your presence.
7For the king trusts in the Lord,
and because of the Most High’s faithfulness he is not shaken.
8You prevail over all your enemies;
your power is too great for those who hate you.
9You burn them up like a fiery furnace when you appear.
The Lord angrily devours them;
the fire consumes them.
10You destroy their offspring from the earth,
their descendants from among the human race.
11Yes, they intend to do you harm;
they dream up a scheme, but they do not succeed.
12For you make them retreat
when you aim your arrows at them.
13Rise up, O Lord, in strength!
We will sing and praise your power.
(NET Bible)John 9:24–41
9:24 Then they summoned the man who used to be blind a second time and said to him, “Promise before God to tell the truth. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25He replied, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. I do know one thing—that although I was blind, now I can see.” 26Then they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he cause you to see?” 27He answered, “I told you already and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You people don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”
28They heaped insults on him, saying, “You are his disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29We know that God has spoken to Moses! We do not know where this man comes from!” 30The man replied, “This is a remarkable thing that you don’t know where he comes from, and yet he caused me to see! 31We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is devout and does his will, God listens to him. 32Never before has anyone heard of someone causing a man born blind to see. 33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34They replied, “You were born completely in sinfulness, and yet you presume to teach us?” So they threw him out.
35Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, so he found the man and said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36The man replied, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37Jesus told him, “You have seen him; he is the one speaking with you.” [ 38He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39Jesus said,] “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, and the ones who see may become blind.”
40Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and asked him, “We are not blind too, are we?” 41Jesus replied, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, but now because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains.
(NET Bible)
Luther’s Lectures on the Psalms, 1513-1515, contain many declarations concerning the Scriptures. “What pasture is to the beast …, the nest for the birds, the stream for fish, the Scriptures are for believing souls. To the arrogant, of course, they are a stumbling block; he will have nothing to do with them, since they offer him nothing. But to him who approaches the Scriptures with humility they open themselves and themselves produce humility, change man from a desperate sinner into a child of God. They give everything which the soul needs, and it is to tempt God, if anyone will not be satisfied with the Scriptures. They are the fountain from which one must dip. Each word of the same is a source which affords an inexhaustible abundance of water to everyone who thirsts after the saving doctrine. God’s will is completely contained therein, so that we must constantly go back to them. Nothing should be presented which is not confirmed by the authority of both Testaments and agrees with them. It cannot be otherwise, for the Scriptures are divine; in them God speaks and they are His Word.” (13–14)
–Johann Michael Reu, Luther on the Scriptures
This daily Bible reading guide, Reading the Word of God, was conceived and prepared as a result of the ongoing discussions between representatives of three church bodies: Lutheran Church—Canada (LCC), The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). The following individuals have represented their church bodies and approved this introduction and the reading guide: LCC: President Robert Bugbee; NALC: Bishop John Bradosky, Revs. Mark Chavez, James Nestingen, and David Wendel; LCMS: Revs. Albert Collver, Joel Lehenbauer, John Pless, and Larry Vogel.