Good Friday Tenebrae Service

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Andrew Rimm, and I'm one of the pastoral interns here at Trinity Cambridge Church.

And tonight, it's my honor and privilege to share the word of God with you all.

Our scripture reading for tonight comes from Psalm 22.

Psalm 22, verse 1 through 18.

Psalms 22:1–18

Let me pray for the reading of the word.

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much that you sent your only son, Jesus, the light of the world, to come into darkness and to die as the propitiation for our sins.

Lord, though we know, though we know in two days, your son will rise again.

Lord, we gather tonight to lament, to remember, to feel the gravity of what it meant for your son to be sacrificed.

And so, Lord, in this reading and preaching of your word, we ask for the power of your Holy Spirit to illuminate your word into our hearts.

To show us the majesty of Jesus.

In all his humility.

In all his being mocked and scorned.

That even as he died on the cross, we look to him in worship.

We pray all this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Please remain standing with me as we read.

Psalm 22.

To the choir master, according to the doe of the dawn, a psalm of David.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning?

Oh, my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer.

And by night, but I find no rest.

Yet you are holy.

Enthroned on the praises of Israel.

In you, our fathers trusted.

They trusted and you delivered them.

To you, they cried and were rescued.

In you, they trusted and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

All who see me mock me.

They make mouths at me.

They wag their heads.

He trusts in the Lord.

Let him deliver him.

Let him rescue him, for he delights in him.

Yet you are he who took me from the womb.

You made me trust you at my mother's breast.

On you was I cast from my birth.

And from my mother's womb, you have been my God.

Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is none to help.

Many bulls encompass me.

Strong bulls of Bashan surround me.

They open wide their mouths at me like a ravening and roaring lion.

I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint.

My heart is like wax.

It is melted within my breast.

My strength is dried up like a pot shirt and my tongue sticks to my jaws.

You lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs encompass me.

A company of evildoers encircles me.

They have pierced my hands and feet.

I can count all my bones.

They stare and gloat over me.

They divide my garments among them.

And for my clothing they cast lots.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

Imagine with me for one moment.

That one day, you suddenly lost one of your five senses.

You wake up one morning.

And upon opening your eyes, you cannot see anything at all.

Just nothingness.

Or one day, you lose your hearing fully.

You can see people's lips moving.

You expect to hear sounds around you.

But instead, there's just sonic void.

Or you suddenly lose the ability to taste or smell things.

The food that you typically enjoy eating has become completely blank, bland in flavor.

Or you lose your sense of touch.

And your motor controls.

Like walking, holding things.

Or embracing your loved ones.

It becomes incredibly difficult, if not impossible.

All your life, you know what you perceive, what you experience through your five senses.

But even if just one of those were to suddenly disappear, were to suddenly be taken away, suddenly deprived,

you would feel disoriented.

You would feel panicked.

You would feel afraid.

We take for granted that sort of familiarity in our lives.

But as soon as we experience that loss of that familiarity, fear, grief, and even pain can begin to creep in.

Tonight, our passage in Psalm 22 is a lament of loss.

David, the king of Israel, a man who's written countless psalms of praise to God,

feels a deprivation of God's presence.

A presence that he's been familiar with and known for all his life.

And so, in this psalm, he expresses his disorientation, his panic, his fear.

But he also remembers who he's crying out to.

The Lord God Almighty.

The God of Israel.

And David turns to the Lord in prayer and supplication.

And this is characteristic of the psalms of lament.

As Pastor Mark Rogop says in his book, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy,

the psalmist's complaints are not cul-de-sacs of sorrow.

Not these dead ends that make you go round and round in despair.

Rather, Godly lament, it builds bridges that leads to trust in God's character.

And so, David's lament will go from groaning to remembering and trusting in God's faithfulness in the psalm.

But Psalm 22 is also a prophetic psalm.

Realized and fulfilled in the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ a thousand years after David's life and reign.

Tonight, on Good Friday, we remember that as Jesus is drawing his final breaths on the cross,

he quotes the first line of the psalm.

Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Jesus, too, experiences the deprivation of God's familiar presence as he is hanged on the tree.

And as he utters this first line of the psalm,

the rest of the psalm cascades out in prophetic fulfillment through the scenes of Jesus' crucifixion

until it is finished and Jesus breathes his last.

And so, our main point for tonight is this.

Jesus was forsaken on the cross by God the Father so that we would not be forsaken.

As we examine this psalm, I'll touch on three points.

First, our groaning to God.

Second, remembering who God is.

And third, be not far from me.

David begins his psalm with the following line,

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

We don't know the specific time and place in which David composed this psalm.

However, with just these first words, we see the great distress that David is in.

He is scorned and despised by those around him,

surrounded and threatened by his opponents,

and to his dismay, seemingly forsaken and abandoned by God.

The repetition of the phrase,

My God, my God, has significant meaning in this opening.

First, repetition in the psalms characterizes intense emotion, intensifying emotion.

It's like when we repeatedly say,

Oh no, oh no, oh no,

more and more urgently when something has gone horribly wrong.

David is not just simply sighing at some mild inconveniences in his life.

He's crying out intensely to his God in extreme agony.

In many cultures, grieving is expressed with that outward intensity.

For example, in the Korean tradition,

there's this type of lamentation called

Shinse tariong

that involves the beating of one's chest,

rhythmic wailing and singing,

grieving over the losses and hardships of life.

And many other cultures have similar emotions of beating the chest,

tearing clothes, singing and wailing as an expression of their grief.

And so in similar fashion,

we can imagine the first lines of Psalm 22,

beginning not with a quiet, introspective murmur,

but with a passionate and zealous cry,

My God!

My God!

Why have you forsaken me?

Second, this repetition shows us

that while David feels forsaken by God,

he does not forget his relationship with God.

This is not a God who David knows vaguely as a mere acquaintance.

This is my God.

My God who I have had a relationship with.

David could have just written,

Oh God of Israel,

why have you forsaken me?

But he cries out to the one who was relationally close to him,

You are my God.

You're who I turn to.

Why have you forsaken me?

And even when it seems like God is far away and not answering him,

David cries out,

day and night,

uttering words of groaning to the Lord.

These weren't grumblings of prideful,

entitled dissatisfaction against God,

but rather groanings of pain and sadness,

pleading to find reprieve from his deep troubles.

And yet David hears no answer,

no inclination of salvation from his woes.

For David, who spent his years communing with God

and enjoying his presence,

this is an unfamiliar and disorienting new reality.

It's excruciating that he receives no answer,

no response to his pleas,

no reason to his why.

David's anguish continues in verse 6.

In the previous verses,

David remembers how his ancestors too

once cried out to the Lord,

and he rescued them out of their troubles.

And yet, here David is,

without an answer from the Lord for his own hardships.

David feels minimized,

less than human,

because God is absent from him,

leaving him to be the object of scorn and disdain from the people.

David was aware,

as we see in many of his other psalms,

that God is great.

God is far greater than humans could ever be.

But in this moment,

David feels his own littleness,

not because of God's greatness,

but because of his absence.

Without God,

David feels subhuman,

the lowest of the created order,

like a worm squirming in the earth,

a worm that spoils and rots everything

from manna to dead bodies,

much to the repulsion of the people.

Picture the scene in verse 7 and 8 for a moment.

David, King David,

a man after God's own heart,

is collapsed on the ground in a heap,

disheveled and broken,

crying out to the Lord for help.

The people surrounding David leer over him.

They mock him with their words.

They insult him with their facial expressions

by making mouths at him

and wagging,

shaking their heads at him in derision.

Look at this joke.

How pathetic.

He says he trusts in the Lord,

then let God deliver him.

Yeah, that's right.

Let God rescue David,

since he says he delights in him.

The mockers jeer at David,

essentially challenging him,

where is your God now, David?

Brothers and sisters,

the reality is that we too

will be on the receiving end of mocking,

belittling, and despising for our faith

if we haven't already.

Have you ever been made fun of

for trusting God?

Have you ever been mocked by your peers

for avoiding drunkenness and debauchery,

being called a prude,

a goody two-shoes,

or a straight-up loser?

Have you ever been reprimanded by your family,

being told that you're wasting your weekend

by going to church on Sundays

when you can be networking

and applying yourself toward your career?

In the moment,

these insults,

the scorn,

it stings and hurts.

But when we remember

why we fight these temptations,

why we gather every Sunday for worship,

and who we do it all for,

we're reminded that we serve a God

who was,

who is,

and who always will be faithful

to his people.

And that's what David does.

Amidst his groaning and his agony,

David remembers who God is

and what he has done

to exemplify his faithfulness.

David pivots his focus

from his present troubles

to God's holiness,

his kingship,

and his praiseworthiness

in verse three.

Yet you are holy,

enthroned on the praises of Israel.

The phrase yet you

indicates that there is

a contrast being made here.

Even though David is not hearing God

answer his cries,

he still remembers

what he knows to be true about God,

that he is holy,

that he is enthroned and sovereign,

and that he is worthy of praise.

David sheds further light on this

in the following verses four and five.

In you our fathers trusted,

they trusted and you delivered them.

To you they cried and were rescued,

in you they trusted

and were not put to shame.

David remembers how his forefathers

trusted in God,

and God heard their cries

and rescued them,

not putting them to shame.

While David doesn't reference

any specific instances

of God's deliverance,

the Exodus narrative

may come to mind

as a prime example

of God rescuing his people.

Exodus chapter two,

23 to 25 says,

the people of Israel groaned

because of their slavery

and cried out for help,

and God heard their groaning,

and God remembered his covenant

with Abraham,

with Isaac,

and with Jacob.

God saw the people of Israel,

and God knew.

God heard the cries

of the Israelites

in their slavery

and rescued them

out of Egypt.

David could probably remember

many other examples

of God's faithfulness

to help his people.

In the wilderness,

on the way to the promised land,

as the Israelites

conquered the promised land,

the judges sent by God

to deliver Israel

from oppression,

the kings he established

to rule and govern

over Israel,

in all these things,

God had revealed himself

as a holy God

set apart from all things,

a sovereign God

ruling over the nations

and dealing with enemies

with justice,

and a praiseworthy God

worthy of worship

and reverence

by his people.

David reminisces

of what God

has done in the past,

and yet,

that is not what he

has been experiencing

in the present.

David's been feeling

the pain,

he's been feeling

the suffering,

and he's been crying out

to God to save him,

but God

is not answering.

While God saved Israel

and was the object

of their praise,

God seems to have

abandoned David

and is the object

of his interrogations.

Why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far

from saving me?

David pivots again

from present despair

to faithful remembrance

in verses 9 and 10.

Yet you are he

who took me from the womb.

You made me trust you

at my mother's breast.

On you was I cast

from my birth,

and from my mother's womb

you have been my God.

This time,

David contrasts

his grieving

over the people's

mockery of him

to remembering

God's care

and provision

for him.

David reflects

on how God

was his caretaker

and providence

since before birth,

and how David

was made to trust

in God

since infancy.

Just as God

was a close

and relational God

to David's fathers,

God has also been

close and relational

to David

for all his life.

And that's what makes

his abandonment

of David now

all the more painful,

all the more confusing.

There's something

so genuine

about David

as he oscillates

between lamenting

over his situation

and remembering

who God is.

He does this

back and forth,

back and forth.

David could have

so easily

written this psalm

in neat,

separate compartments,

a stanza

dedicated to his agony,

a section dedicated

to God's faithfulness,

but instead,

David,

he depicts

the raw emotions,

the real-time

internal dialogue

that he's having,

that he's going through

as he processes

his pain

and grief

juxtaposed

to his memories

of who God is.

He feels forsaken

and abandoned

by God.

But then he remembers

how God

has been so good

and so faithful

to his people

for generations.

But still,

the mockery,

the derision

of his peers

makes him feel

small and weak.

But then he reflects

on how God

has been so close,

has been his help

and his providence

from birth.

How do we lament?

How do we bring

our grievances

to the Lord?

When we bring

our own burdens

to the Lord,

we too will most likely

go back and forth,

back and forth

from groaning

about our circumstances

to remembering

God's character.

Maybe some of you

are currently discouraged

from being

in a long period

of waiting

for job prospects.

Lamenting to the Lord

can look like this.

Lord,

I'm so discouraged

from not being able

to get that job.

Why am I not wanted?

And yet,

I'm reminded

of how you've been

so good to me

amidst my job search.

You've provided

all that I need

plus more,

and I thank you

that I lack nothing.

But still,

each day

that I don't hear back

from job opportunities

feels like a day wasted.

I feel unproductive

and tired,

and I'm not sure

how much longer

I can wait.

Yet you,

Lord,

are my comfort,

and you've brought me

hope and refreshment

through your word

every day,

and I will trust

in that.

Some of you,

maybe,

are hurting

and lamenting

over the loss

of loved ones.

I remember

when my grandma

passed away

a couple years ago.

My grief

came in waves

to the Lord.

I remember

crying for days

when I found out

she passed,

and I felt helpless

that I couldn't

make it out to Korea

to be with my family

to mourn.

But I was reminded

of God's faithfulness

in my grandma's life

and was thankful

that she was a woman

of faith,

constantly praying

for me

and reading,

reciting scripture

even as her memory

started to fade

and even as her body

grew weaker

and weaker.

And yet still,

there would be days

where I dearly missed her,

and I was sad

that I wouldn't be able

to see her anymore.

But I found comfort

in knowing

that I will see her

again one day

when we meet

with the Lord

and that even in death,

God is working

all things together

for good

for those who are called

according to his purpose.

While we don't

always understand

the whys of our griefs

and troubles,

like David,

we can endure the suffering

by clinging to what we know

about our God,

who is eternally unchanging,

who is always good

and forever faithful.

2 Corinthians 1,

3-4 attests,

Blessed be the God

and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of mercies

and God of all comfort,

who comforts us

in all our affliction,

so that we may be able

to comfort those

who are in any affliction

with the comfort

with which we ourselves

are comforted by God.

We can believe

this trustworthy word,

that God will comfort us

in all our afflictions,

no matter how painful

they may be.

And when we trust

in the Lord,

we are able to endure

and we're able

to boldly let our requests

be known to him.

And we see David

do exactly that.

He casts his trust

onto the Lord

and he appeals

to him.

He appeals to God

after remembering

who he is.

David cries out

in verse 11,

Be not far

from me.

This is David's request,

a solution

to his main concern,

his main struggle,

his feeling abandoned

by God.

Be not far from me.

Draw near to me,

O God.

All of this

is bearable,

the mockery

of the people,

the suffering

and rejection

when you

are with me.

David has felt

the comfort

and confidence

of being in God's presence

in the past.

In 1 Samuel 17,

before he fights

and kills Goliath

of the Philistines,

David says

to the doubting

King Saul,

The Lord

who delivered me

from the paw

of the lion

and from the paw

of the bear

will deliver me

from the hand

of the Philistines.

David prevailed

even when it seemed

like the odds

were against him

because God

was with him.

But now,

with God's absence

in his life,

David feels

the fear

of his troubles

assailing him

and he pleads

to God,

Be not far

from me

for trouble

is near

and there is

none to help.

Many bulls

encompass me,

strong bulls

of Bashan

surround me.

Bashan

was a region

that God

had set aside

in the promised land

for the Israelites

to inhabit

in Deuteronomy.

The fertile land

of Bashan

was known

for raising up

healthy cattle,

hence

the strong bulls

of Bashan.

However,

the king

of Bashan,

Og,

fiercely opposed

Israel

in the promised land

and its strength

and its size

made him

a formidable enemy.

And so,

the enemies

who surrounded

David

were like

the strong bulls

of Bashan,

powerful and fearsome,

intimidating David

with their open mouths

like a ravening

and roaring lion.

David compares

his enemies

to other animals

in verse 16.

for dogs

encompass me.

A company

of evil doors

encircles me.

They have pierced

my hands

and feet.

Like ferocious

wild dogs,

David's enemies

circle him,

ready to enact

evil upon him.

In fact,

they've already

done David harm

by piercing

his hands

and his feet

like fangs

that sink

into flesh.

And the effects

of such affliction,

the effects

of these attacks

are described

so vividly.

Verse 14,

I am poured out

like water

and all my bones

are out of joint.

My heart is like wax.

It is melted

within my breast.

David is physically

collapsing

from his afflictions

like water

that cascades down.

When bones

are out of joint,

they have no way

to be held together

and eventually

fall apart.

Wax that is held

to a flame

can no longer

hold itself up.

It's melted.

And all this imagery

shows how weakened

David has become.

My strength

is dried up

like a pot shirt.

My tongue sticks

to my jaws

like a dried up

piece of pottery

that's been sitting

in the oven

for too long.

He's weakened

and frail

to the point

that his tongue

is dehydrated

and parched

and it sticks

to his mouth.

And David says to God,

you lay me

in the dust

of death.

God had formed

Adam

by the dust

of the earth.

And when Adam

and Eve

had sinned

against him

in Genesis 3,

God curses

humanity saying,

for you are dust

and to dust

you shall return.

David is cognizant

that he,

along with all

of humanity,

will suffer

the consequences

of Adam's curse.

He does not

blame God

for this

near-death experience,

but he recognizes

that God

is the sole sovereignty

over life

and death.

And it's by God's will,

by his will,

David has been

laying

in the dust

of death.

And so David,

dried up

and emaciated,

he can count

all his bones

from how thin

he has become.

And rather than pity him,

his tormentors stare

and they gawk

at David

like he's a circus act

or a caged animal.

And they continue

to gloat over him

and mock him

in his tortured state.

And like spoils of war,

his enemies begin

dividing his garments

between themselves,

casting lots

for his clothing

as if David

had already died.

It's truly

a gruesome

and harrowing scene.

And once more,

we see in verse 19

that David cries out

in desperation,

but you,

oh Lord,

do not be far off.

Oh, you,

my help,

come quickly

to my aid.

Psalm 22

at its core

is David's lament

to God

because he felt

forsaken

and abandoned

by him.

He cries out

because he can't

perceive God's presence

amidst suffering

and he desires

for God

to be near

to him

as the comforter

and deliverer

of his troubles.

And if we were

to read the rest

of the psalm,

which we won't do

tonight,

we will see

that God

did not abandon

David.

God delivered

David from his enemies

and tribulations

and David was able

to feel

and enjoy

the presence

of God

and his life

once more.

But like I said

before,

Psalm 22

is not only

a reflection

of David's

experience

of suffering.

Psalm 22

is also

a remarkably

specific

prophetic psalm

fulfilled

through the suffering

and death

of Jesus Christ.

So much

of Psalm 22

was realized

through Jesus'

crucifixion

and the gospel

accounts will

attest to this.

Like David,

Jesus was

scorned

by mankind

and despised

by the people.

As Jesus

was crucified,

Matthew 27

39 says

that those

who passed

by derided

him,

wagging their

heads.

The scribes

and elders

mocked Jesus

in the same

way David

was mocked.

Matthew 27

43,

they said,

he trusts

in God.

Let God

deliver him

now if he

desires him.

Just as

the evildoers

encircled

David

and pierced

his hands

and feet,

our Lord

Jesus was

pierced in

his hands

and feet

to hang

on the cross

as he was

surrounded

by his enemies.

And as he

hung on that

cross,

his body

began to

collapse,

his bones

straining away

from their

joints,

his heart

progressing

to failure,

his mouth

drying up

only to be

fed sour

wine to

slake his

thirst.

Those who

crucified him

cast lots

to divide

his garments,

his robes

among themselves.

And once

Jesus breathed

his last,

they pierced

his side

and he was

poured out

like water.

And finally,

he was buried,

laid in the

dust of death.

Hauntingly

specific.

This could

not have

been premeditated

or staged

and yet

each of

these elements

of Psalm

22 were

precisely

fulfilled

through

Jesus'

death

on the

cross.

And at

the climax

of his

crucifixion,

the cry

of forsakenness

comes to

its fullest

prophetic

realization

in Jesus.

In Psalm

22,

David cried

out,

my God,

my God,

why have

you forsaken

me?

Because he

felt abandoned

by God.

But our

Lord and

Savior,

Jesus,

cried out

the very

same thing,

my God,

my God,

why have

you forsaken

me?

Because on

the cross

he was

truly

forsaken

by God.

And Jesus

was forsaken

by God

on the cross

so that we

would not

be forsaken.

If God

is an

infinitely

holy

and good

God,

then any

transgression

or infraction

against him

is an

abomination

to him.

And if

God

is an

infinitely

just

God,

then any

sin

committed

against

him

will

not

go

unpunished.

That is

why the

consequence

of Adam's

rebellion

was the

curse of

death.

The wages

of sin

is death,

eternal

separation

from God.

And so

all of

humanity

in our

sinful

nature,

we've all

fallen short

of God's

holiness,

his glory,

and we

deserve the

divine wrath

and divine

justice of

God.

But God

in his

great love

and mercy

gave his

one and

only son,

Jesus,

to die

on our

behalf.

Jesus,

the perfect

son of

God,

the perfect

son who

was in

eternal

fellowship

with God

the Father

and the

Holy Spirit,

humbled

himself by

taking on

human flesh

to be

despised

and rejected

by men,

to be

betrayed

by his

closest

friends,

and to

be subjected

to the

most

humiliating

death

of

hanging

on a

cross.

2 Corinthians

5.21

says,

for our

sake,

he made

him to

be sin

who knew

no sin

so that

in him

we might

become

the

righteousness

of God.

This was

the Father's

will.

God's

will.

This was

all part

of the

plan

for

redemption.

Jesus,

the spotless

lamb who

never

sinned,

in perfect

obedience,

carried the

weight of

our sin

upon his

shoulders

and bore

the divine

wrath of

God,

the abandonment

and forsakenness

that we

deserved as

the propitiation

for our

sins.

Ephesians

Ephesians 2:13

chapter 2

verse 13

says,

but now

in Christ

Jesus,

you,

you who

were once

far off

have been

brought near

by the

blood of

Christ.

David's

cry for

help,

for God

to not

be far

off from

him,

is fulfilled

for all

of humanity

through the

blood of

Christ.

We who

are far

off,

we're

alienated

in our

sin and

rebellion,

are brought

near to

the throne

of grace

that we

can be in

God's

presence and

this could

only be

accomplished

by Jesus

being forsaken

by his

father.

How great

the pain

of searing

loss.

The father

turns his

face away.

God

didn't turn

his face

away because

Jesus'

crucifixion

was too

gruesome,

too horrific

to look

at.

This is

a personification

of God

abandoning

and forsaking

his son,

Jesus.

Jesus,

in bearing

that divine

wrath,

was truly

forsaken

by God.

In order

to take

all of

our sins,

past,

present,

and future,

and atone

for them

fully,

the son

of God

had to be

crushed

by the

father.

Jesus

wasn't just

feeling

forsaken

on the

cross,

as David

did in

his

sufferings.

as theologian

Herman

Boving

puts it,

Jesus

experienced

an objective

God

forsakenness

at Calvary.

His

feeling was

not an

illusion,

not based

on a

false

view of

his

situation,

but

corresponded

with

reality.

Jesus

was really

forsaken

by his

father,

and who

Jesus

closely

called

my

father

throughout

the

gospel

of

Matthew

has

now

become

more

distant,

my

God.

Of course,

the relationship

of the

triune

God

was not

severed

on the

cross.

Jesus

continues

to be

the second

person

of the

holy

trinity,

but in

that

moment,

Jesus

truly

experienced

separation

from his

father,

and he

truly died

in his

human

nature,

and in

doing so,

Jesus

both expresses

the

horrors,

the horrors

of the

separation

from God,

and yet

he also

fulfills

the will

of his

father by

crying out,

my God,

my God,

why have

you forsaken

me?

And it's

because Jesus

went through

such forsakenness

on our

behalf that

he is able

to also say

triumphantly

with his

final breath,

it is

finished.

17th century

English

spirit

and

Thomas

Brooks,

he sums

up why

Jesus'

crucifixion

is so

significant

to the

Christian.

He says,

the more

we ascribe

to Christ's

offering,

the less

remains of

ours.

the more

painfully

that he

suffered,

the more

fully

are we

redeemed.

The greater

his sorrow

was,

the greater

our solace.

His

dissolution

is our

consolation,

his cross

our comforts,

his annoy

our endless

joy,

his distress

and soul

our release,

his calamity

our comfort,

his misery

our mercy,

his adversity

our felicity,

and his

hell

our heaven.

Church,

in two

days,

we will

celebrate

Christ's

resurrection,

the triumphant

defeat over

sin and death

in the grave.

But we

cannot feel

the insurmountable

joy of

Easter Sunday

without

understanding,

without

remembering,

without lamenting

over the

overwhelming

agony of

Good Friday.

Good Friday

is only good

because our

Savior was

forsaken.

so that

we would

never

be

forsaken.

What an

incredible

work of

love and

mercy from

our

King.

Let's

pray.

Oh,

Lord,

oh,

Lord,

our rock

and our

Redeemer.

It should

have been

us,

Lord.

It should

have been

us to

bear the

weight of

our sin,

of our

guilt and

shame.

It should

have been

us

to be

forsaken

by our

God,

for our

sinfulness,

for our

rebellion

against

him.

But you,

Lord,

have been

so infinitely

gracious and

kind that you

would send

your son,

Jesus,

to die

for us.

Lord,

we'll never

know how

painful it was

to bear all

that burden.

Lord,

help us to

be a

people who

turn to

you amidst

our lament.

Help us to

look at the

cross as we

remember your

death,

to see the

gravity,

the weight of

your sacrifice

on behalf of

us.

in your

holy and

gracious name

we pray.

Amen.