Midday Devotion

Thursday, January 01, 2026
Lectionary Day: 01 Jan

"What else is it but tempting God when your mouth babbles and the mind wanders to other thoughts? Like the cleric who prayed, 'Deus in adjutorium meum intende.' [Make haste, O God, to deliver me; Ps. 70:1]. 'Farmhand, did you unhitch the horses?' Domine ad adjuvandum me festina. [Make haste to help me, O Lord.] 'Maid, go out and milk the cow.' Gloria patri et filio et spiritui sancto. [Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.] 'Hurry up, boy, I wish the ague take you!'" — Martin Luther

Opening

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The sign of the cross may be made by all in remembrance of their Baptism.

In the name of the Father and of the † Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea;
hear me and answer me.

Evening, morning, and noon
I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.

Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you;
He will never let the righteous fall. Psalm 55:1-2a, 17, 22

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 forever. Amen.

Psalmody

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Psalm 19

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
¹ The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
² Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
³ There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
⁴ Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
⁵ which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
⁶ Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
⁸ the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
⁹ the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
¹² Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
¹³ Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (ESV)

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 forever. Amen.

Reading

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Matthew 13:1-9;18-23

¹ That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.
² And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach.
³ And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.
⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.
⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil,
⁶ but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.
⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
⁹ He who has ears, let him hear.”
¹⁸ “Hear then the parable of the sower:
¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
²⁰ As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,
²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.
²² As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
²³ As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” (ESV)

Old Testament Reading

Isaiah 61:1-11

¹ The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
³ to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.
⁴ They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.
⁵ Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;
⁶ but you shall be called the priests of the LORD; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast.
⁷ Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy.
⁸ For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
⁹ Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed.
¹⁰ I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹ For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations. (ESV)

New Testament Reading

Luke 1:57-80

⁵⁷ Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.
⁵⁸ And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
⁵⁹ And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father,
⁶⁰ but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.”
⁶¹ And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.”
⁶² And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.
⁶³ And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered.
⁶⁴ And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.
⁶⁵ And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea,
⁶⁶ and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.
⁶⁷ And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people
⁶⁹ and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
⁷⁰ as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
⁷¹ that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
⁷² to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
⁷³ the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
⁷⁴ that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,
⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
⁷⁷ to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
⁸⁰ And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. (ESV)

Prayers

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O Lord, have mercy upon us.
O Christ, have mercy upon us.
O Lord, have mercy upon us.

The Lord's Prayer

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;
and 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. Matthew 6:9-13

(You may offer your own prayers at this time)

Concluding Prayer

Almighty God, Heavenly Father, who through Thy Holy Spirit dost govern and sanctify the whole Christian Church, and hast given us the Comforter to be our Advocate and Guide. Vouchsafe, we beseech Thee, to direct, sanctify, and govern both our hearts and bodies in the ways of Thy laws. Enlighten and lead us into all truth and evermore defend us from all adversities, that, being made Thy children by grace, we may daily be renewed by Thy Spirit, and live in the continual comfort and peace of the Gospel. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

Conclusion

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Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.