Dear brothers and sisters in Christ JESUS,

Yesterday was Exaudi, the Sunday between Ascension and Pentecost. Exaudi is the first word of the Introit in Latin, and it means “Hear.” The verses (from Psalm 27) read:

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Thy face, Lord, I will seek. Do not hide Thy face from me.

This is the cry of one afraid. The Psalmist is facing war. Enemy soldiers have set up camp all around him. People have told lies that have led to his condemnation.

In all of this we see a picture of our Lord JESUS and His passion. “False witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence.”

There is one thing to do, and one thing only, when faced with conflict, oppression, fear, despair, trouble, and most especially the condemnation merited through our own sins. That one thing is given to us in yesterday’s Introit. Exaudi! Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!

There are other things, worldly machinations, one can attempt. There are often political solutions, solutions of assertion and power, wiles and plotting. But they are no solution for the Christian. One thing alone is given us: to cry with our voice, cry to the One who has promised to save us, the One who has already risen victorious from the grave and ascended above the heavens to fill all things, who sits at God’s right hand in glory and power.

So let this be your prayer this week: Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Thy face, Lord, I will seek. Do not hide Thy face from me. Our Lord will answer in the way He knows best.

Your unworthy undershepherd,
Pastor Esget+

Sent to Immanuel Church in my weekly letter to the congregation.