#28 Believing in the Divine Promises, We Rejoice

I will rejoice at Thy words like one who has found great spoil. Our every rejoicing is in the hope of things to come, and not in the reality of things present. For this reason we rejoice, because we believe the divine promises, and we hope for and love the things which He promises. For he does not say “I will rejoice at the riches of the world” but “at Thy words.” And it is the voice of the church living among persecutors. For all persecutors did this to lure the faithful to the vanities of the world and passing joys, so that they would either rejoice with them in the worst things, or at least fear them, if they were unwilling to rejoice. And so they attempted to force to joys through grief, to delights through afflictions, to pleasures through torments. (Luther’s Works, v. 11, p.518-519)