Good Friday is one of my favorite worship services of the year. I'm not saying I "enjoy" it, but it so moving and focuses me on My Lord and His Passion more than any other service. It reminds me of the cost of my sins and the tragedy those sins cause. It reminds me that alienation from God (in sin, hypocrisy, apathy, disobedience, etc.) is ugly. It's painful. It's downright horrific.
And yet in the crys of pain and suffering; amidst the blood, sweat, and tears; within the thunder, ripping of curtains, and the quaking of the earth; beyond the darkness and death; there is the stillness of His heart, not in death, but in eternal, unfathomable love. For me!
Though the year I forget that level of sacrifice and love. I forget the enormity of the Day that changed history. I lose sight of the paradox of God dying because of a love for sinners.
"Were you there when they cricified my Lord? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble."
The fact is, I was there. The fact is, I am there.
When I sin, I place myself at that Day of Death. When I stumble in following the Lord, it lays me at His proped up, bloodied feet.
I tremble.
I tremble.
Lord, let Sunday come quickley. I need You. I love You. I want only You.
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And
to whom has the arm of the Lord
been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should
look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He
was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him
not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our
sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But
he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon
him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are
healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord
has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He
was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb
that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is
silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By
oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who
considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the
transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with
a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no
deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to
grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring;
he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord
shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and
be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many
to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore
I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with
the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the
transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the
transgressors.
1 My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from
the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest. 3 Yet
you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4 In
you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. 5 To
you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by
mankind and despised by the people. 7 All
who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 “He
trusts in the Lord; let him
deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” 9 Yet
you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s
breasts. 10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my
mother’s womb you have been my God. 11 Be
not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. 12 Many
bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 13 they
open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. 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; 15 my
strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay
me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers
encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— 17 I
can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; 18 they
divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. 19 But
you, O Lord, do not be far off! O
you my help, come quickly to my aid! 20 Deliver
my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! 21 Save
me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild
oxen! 22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the
midst of the congregation I will praise you: 23 You
who fear the Lord, praise him! All
you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring
of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or abhorred the
affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has
heard, when he cried to him. 25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will perform before those who fear him. 26 The
afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever! 27 All
the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship
before you. 28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. 29 All
the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go
down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. 30 Posterity
shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 31 they
shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has
done it.
Thank You, precious Savior.
Thank You.
