Read
Psalm 88, Job 19:7-27, Mark 15:25-39 (NLT)
Psalm 88
For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah. A song to be sung to the tune “The Suffering of Affliction.” A psalm of Heman the Ezrahite.
O Lord, God of my salvation,
I cry out to you by day.
I come to you at night.
Now hear my prayer;
listen to my cry.
For my life is full of troubles,
and death draws near.
I am as good as dead,
like a strong man with no strength left.
They have left me among the dead,
and I lie like a corpse in a grave.
I am forgotten,
cut off from your care.
You have thrown me into the lowest pit,
into the darkest depths.
Your anger weighs me down;
with wave after wave you have engulfed me. Interlude
You have driven my friends away
by making me repulsive to them.
I am in a trap with no way of escape.
My eyes are blinded by my tears.
Each day I beg for your help, O Lord;
I lift my hands to you for mercy.
Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead?
Do the dead rise up and praise you? Interlude
Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love?
Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds?
Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness?
O Lord, I cry out to you.
I will keep on pleading day by day.
O Lord, why do you reject me?
Why do you turn your face from me?
I have been sick and close to death since my youth.
I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors.
Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me.
Your terrors have paralyzed me.
They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long.
They have engulfed me completely.
You have taken away my companions and loved ones.
Darkness is my closest friend.
Job 19:7-27
“I cry out, ‘Help!’ but no one answers me.
I protest, but there is no justice.
God has blocked my way so I cannot move.
He has plunged my path into darkness.
He has stripped me of my honor
and removed the crown from my head.
He has demolished me on every side, and I am finished.
He has uprooted my hope like a fallen tree.
His fury burns against me;
he counts me as an enemy.
His troops advance.
They build up roads to attack me.
They camp all around my tent.
“My relatives stay far away,
and my friends have turned against me.
My family is gone,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
My servants and maids consider me a stranger.
I am like a foreigner to them.
When I call my servant, he doesn’t come;
I have to plead with him!
My breath is repulsive to my wife.
I am rejected by my own family.
Even young children despise me.
When I stand to speak, they turn their backs on me.
My close friends detest me.
Those I loved have turned against me.
I have been reduced to skin and bones
and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.
“Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy,
for the hand of God has struck me.
Must you also persecute me, like God does?
Haven’t you chewed me up enough?
“Oh, that my words could be recorded.
Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument,
carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead,
engraved forever in the rock.
“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
and he will stand upon the earth at last.
And after my body has decayed,
yet in my body I will see God!
I will see him for myself.
Yes, I will see him with my own eyes.
I am overwhelmed at the thought!
Mark 15:25-39
It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. A sign announced the charge against him. It read, “The King of the Jews.” Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.
The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.
At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. “Wait!” he said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!”
Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
Jesus Storybook Bible:
The Sun Stops Shining (p.302)
Meditate
But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! (Job 19:25-26)
Pray
Lord Jesus, You are the resurrection and the life. You have tasted the death we deserve and won for us everlasting life. Forgive us for doubting Your goodness and following the path of unbelief. Thank You for Your deep compassion in our pain and sacrificial love toward sinners. Strengthen our faith by Your Spirit so we can cling to Your promises and sing Your praise. In your name, we pray. Amen.
Take a moment to pray for others.
New City Catechism
Question 26: What else does Christ’s death redeem?
Answer: Christ’s death is the beginning of the redemption and renewal of every part of fallen creation, as he powerfully directs all things for his own glory and creation’s good.
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