January 2

Before the mountains were brought forth or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God. Psalms 90:2.

These words are the beginning of the oldest psalm in the Bible. They state that God is an eternal God. With Him there is no yesterday and no to-morrow; with Him there is no time. To every other being we attribute a beginning; even the ancient hills had a beginning at the time of creation; the angels had a beginning. Not so God; He is from everlasting to everlasting; without beginning, without end. He never began to be and never will cease to be. He is the King eternal, immortal. He never grows older, never dies.

Therefore in God there never is a change; lapse of days and years and centuries does not affect Him. He lives in an everlasting to-day. He is a God "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," as St. James says. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. Otherwise we see that everything changes in the world, and everything finally comes to an end. "But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end," we read Psalms 102:27. God says of Himself: "I am that I am." God cannot change. Therefore He is our Refuge throughout all generations.

Because God is eternal, also His Word shall remain forever, as He says: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." And therefore it is also true what David sings in the 103d Psalm: "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him and His righteousness unto children's children to such as keep His covenant."

And because God is eternal, we, too, do not hope in vain for the eternal life which He has promised us. The children of God shall partake of the eternal bliss of their God and Father in heaven.

Prayer.

I commit myself this day and all the days of my life to Thee, O God, the eternal Father, who hast created me; to Thee, O God, the eternal Son, who hast redeemed me; and to Thee, O God, the Holy Ghost, who hast sanctified me when I was baptized in Thy name and enlightened me by the Gospel with Thy gifts, so that I know Jesus as my Savior, trust and believe, rejoice and take comfort, in Him. O eternal Holy Trinity, render me fit at all times to enter eternal bliss by keeping me steadfast in the true faith. Amen.

All praise and thanks to God The Father now be given, The Son, and Him who reigns With them in highest heaven —

The one eternal God, Whom earth and heaven adore; For thus it was, is now, And shall be evermore!