3 April 2010
Psalm 88; Lam. 3:37-58; Heb. 4:1-16

The prophet determines that the Lord is just. He sees that this devastation if punishment for sin, sin that has not been repented of. The best advice anyone ever gave is in this passage, “Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven.” It is in the turning to God with not only raised hands in worship but raised hearts that makes the change. In our worship we call this the Sursum Corda, “Lift up your hearts. We lift them up unto the Lord.” It is in that action that we begin to worship Him for all He has done for us and we look to Him like little birds for sustenance, and then we receive the sacrament of His body and blood, the holy food and drink of new and unending life in Him. It all begins with the realization that sin is the problem and Jesus is the solution. At the end of the passage we have almost a recap of Jonah crying out to the Lord from the belly of the fish and the exclamation that God has acted on his behalf.

This day, Holy Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, God again rested from His work. The body of Jesus lay in the tomb while His disciples fretted and lived in a world without hope. It would be difficult to say which day was the most difficult for them, while Jesus was alive on Friday there was surely at least some glimmer of hope that said, this won’t end this way, but on the Sabbath there was no hope at all and what could they have done and where could they have gone this day? They would be afraid to be in Jerusalem so it seems likely that they made no move out of their location for fear of the Jews, so they were left alone with their shared grief, doubts and fears.

The writer of Hebrews tells of this rest that we now have the possibility of entering, the rest of God. The doorway to rest is Jesus. It does not mean that we will have no pain or fear or doubt in this life. What it does promise is that we are never alone and we can cease striving to enter the rest and can have faith in the fulfillment of the promise of God. Our striving is in vain and our only work is to approach the throne with lifted hearts seeking mercy and love.

O LORD, God of my salvation;
I cry out day and night before you.
Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry!