TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941; WS = Worship Supplement 2000; LSB = Lutheran Service Book, 2006
Date Hymns Reading Comments
Mar 1 TLH 333 Nahum 1:1-11 Ninevah was the capital of the Assyrian kingdom. Assyria had brought an end to the northern kingdom of Israel. Judah was in trouble too, but Assyria’s end was coming.
Mar 2 TLH 487 Nahum 1:12-15 God would bring about Assyria’s destruction because of its wickedness, but also in order to preserve Judah for the eventual arrival of Jesus Christ.
Mar 3 TLH 659 (LSB 774) John 6:1-15 By the sign of the loaves and fish, the people recognized Jesus as someone great, but they didn’t catch on that He was there to feed their souls, not just their stomachs.
Mar 4 TLH 651 (LSB 752) John 6:16-21 It was miraculous when Jesus suddenly walked on water in the middle of the lake. It was compassionate when He said, “Don’t be afraid.” O Jesus, “Come not in terrors . . . but kind
and good.”
Mar 5 TLH 360 (LSB 528) John 6:22-59 The people wanted bread from heaven for their bodies, but that would only keep them alive for a little while. Faith in Jesus, the true Bread from Heaven, would give life forever.
Mar 6 TLH 376 (LSB 761) John 6:60-71 It was difficult for the crowd to accept that Jesus was truly from heaven. However, if He were not from heaven, He could not give eternal life. May the Spirit keep us in the faith.
Mar 8 TLH 407 Nahum 2:1-13 The greatest things that humans can build (even cities like Ninevah) cannot stand when the Lord is against them. And no one would stop Him from bringing relief to Judah, either.
Mar 9 TLH 577 (LSB 965) 2 Kings 15:1-15 Along with human kings came human problems like disease, conspiracy, and death. Lord, preserve us from leaders who refuse to walk in your ways.
Mar 10 TLH 398 (LSB 704) 2 Kings 16:1-18 Unbelieving Ahaz turned to Assyria for help rather than to the Lord. Then he did what is popular in government today: pandered to every religion except Christianity.
Mar 11 TLH 140 (LSB 440) Nahum 3:1-19 Assyria’s wickedness against the Lord would mean their ultimate destruction. God does not stand for wickedness.
Mar 12 TLH 153 (LSB 451) John 7:1-9 The unbelieving world does not hate the heathen; it hates those who expose its evil deeds. So if unbelievers hate you, you’re probably doing something right.
Mar 13 TLH 132 (LSB 810) John 7:10-36 Jesus taught with authority and power because He was from God, and His teaching was the Word of God.
Mar 15 TLH 412 (LSB 698) 2 Kings 17:6-20 After years of idolatry in Israel, the Lord chose to bring an end to the northern kingdom. They had had the Gospel and they rejected it. Only the tribe of Judah remained.
Mar 16 TLH 461 2 Kings 18:1-8 While the northern kingdom was in upheaval and falling, the Lord blessed Judah with the best king they ever had: Hezekiah. That was no coincidence, was it?
Mar 17 TLH 379 2 Kings 19:14-34 When Assyria threatened Judah, too, Hezekiah took it to the Lord in prayer. God answered that He would defend Judah. Why? Because of the promise He made to David—the promise
of Jesus.
Mar 18 TLH 152 John 7:37-52 The Messiah had come, but people were working through who He was. Jesus’ Word and His Spirit would bring some of them around as they still do today.
Mar 19 TLH 391 John 8:1-11 Jesus did not excuse her sin, He forgave it. There’s a big difference!
Mar 20 TLH 457 (LSB 770) 2 Kings 20:1-11 God answered Hezekiah’s prayer, but not just to save Hezekiah. He had all of Judah in mind, didn’t He? All the world, even.
Mar 22 TLH 283 (LSB 582) 2 Kings 22:1-13 In our day of printed books and the internet, who can imagine the Bible ever being lost? In Josiah’s day, though, it had been. Let’s never forget the blessings of being close to God’s Word!
Mar 23 TLH 265 2 Kings 23:1-30 Martin Luther wasn’t the only one to lead a country in a return to God’s Word. Josiah led the “Reformation” of the Old Testament. What gifts our gracious God gives to His Church!
Mar 24 WS 721 (LSB 428) John 8:12-29 Jesus reveals the Father because He is from the Father and is with the Father.
Mar 25 WS 725 (LSB 444) John 8:30-59 Unbelief is slavery because the unbeliever can do nothing but sin before God. Only the truth, the message of Christ’s forgiveness, can break those chains.
Mar 26 TLH 268 Habakkuk 1:1-11 Though Josiah’s reforms in Judah were good, the need for God’s judgment on their sin remained. Habakkuk cried out for it and God promised it would come via Chaldea (Babylonia).
Mar 27 TLH 162 (LSB 441) Habakkuk 1:12-2:1 But at God’s answer, Habakkuk was concerned. Why would He bring justice this way? Why would a nation even worse than Judah take over the land?
Mar 29 TLH 371 (LSB 563) Habakkuk 2:2-5 The Lord would not reverse the judgment planned for Judah, but there was a way of escape for the faithful: those who trusted in Him for forgiveness would have forgiveness and life.
Mar 30 TLH 160 (LSB 442) 2 Kings 24:1-17 Just as God said, the Babylonians conquered Judea, exiled the best and brightest of the people, and set up a puppet king. The Lord was their only hope for deliverance.
Mar 31 TLH 154 (LSB 437) John 9:1-33 Nobody had ever heard of anyone miraculously healing the blind, but it was a distinguishing mark of the true Messiah (see Isaiah 61:1-2).