July 11, 2026
“Save Your people, And bless Your inheritance; Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever” (Psalm 28:9)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
In Psalm 28:9, David prays that God would save his “people” and bless his “heritage.” He then adds the image of a shepherd and his flock: “Be their shepherd and carry them forever.” Psalm 23 and John 10 immediately come to mind. Yet what about this image of a “heritage” or “inheritance?” How can we, God’s people, be called his inheritance?
Throughout Scripture, “inheritance” typically refers to the gift or portion that God gives to His people—first, the land of promise, and ultimately, eternal life in Christ. God himself is also his chosen people’s inheritance:
“I am your portion and your inheritance” (Numbers
18:20).
“The Lord is my portion” (Lamentations
3:24).
“Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew
25:34).
“In him we have obtained an inheritance” (Ephesians
1:11).
Yet here in Psalm 28:9, the relationship is reversed—God’s people are called his heritage! How can this be? After Moses ascended Mount Sinai a second time to receive the tablets of the Law, he prayed, “Take us for your inheritance.” Likewise, Moses wrote, “The Lord has taken you … to be a people of his own inheritance” (Deuteronomy
4:20). St. Peter takes up this same theme when he declares, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” (1 Peter 2:9), and St. Paul prays that believers may know “the riches of his glorious inheritance
in the saints” (Ephesians
1:18).
Paul also joins this “heritage” and “shepherd” imagery in his charge to the Ephesian elders: “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock … the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood” (Acts
20:28). This is how we become God’s inheritance! He has purchased his flock with his own holy blood! Psalm 74:2 echoes the same truth: “Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage!”
We are God’s heritage—his treasured possession. He has purchased us with his own blood, sealed us with his name, and joined us to his death and resurrection in Holy Baptism. We are his, and he is ours. Where he is, there we shall be also. He is the Vine, and we are the branches. Will God be silent to us? Will he turn his face away and ignore our pleas for mercy? No—“The Lord is my strength and shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped” (Psalm 28:7).
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
He never shall forsake His flock, His chosen generation; He is their refuge and their rock, Their peace and their salvation. As with a mother’s tender hand, He leads His own, His chosen band: To God all praise and glory! (LSB 819:4)
Rev. David Woelmer, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Smithville, Texas.