“Isaiah 63:9. In His love He carried them. Here belong all the stories of Exodus, the Judges, etc., where because of His mercy God carried them and consoled them in every difficulty.
- They, however, provoked Him to wrath. The most ungrateful men have always embittered Him in response to His great blessings. Thus they murmured at the Red Sea, they murmured that they did not have food and water, they were always ungrateful to God. Thus the flesh does nothing good unless it is compelled. Therefore evil conditions of slavery are necessary in the world, and for that reason He always harassed them through the Amorites, etc. Yet always He remembered the days of old, the days of Abraham, Moses, and David, to whom He had given the promise that they should not perish but have peace and a perpetual kingdom. Thence He is moved not so much by our cries as by our reminders of His covenant and His promises. Therefore what He demanded of us is in place, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble” (Ps. 50:15). Hence Scripture always says “for My sake,” in order to exclude boasting. He comes to our aid because of His promise in order to crush our pride.
Since, however, He has heard so many times before, however much they were sinners and embittered Him, yet He always pardons and hears, if only they will acknowledge themselves sinners against their conscience. Then He consoles us that He will come also to our rescue in afflictions, and when we are oppressed, we must cry. But this calls for Christians who must continue to pray for God’s help beyond their sins by which they have angered God. Therefore He urges and places His person in the midst of the Babylonian captivity, where because of their distress people may cry to the Lord for help. But sin contradicts and tries to stop the mouth. However, one must break through beyond the consciousness of sin to implore God for His help, though the Holy Spirit is not with us or, if He is, He is present in secret. So much skill it takes to approach the Lord” (Luther’s Works, v. 17, p. 358).