Loading...Assist us mercifully with your help, O Lord God of our salvation, that we may enter with joy upon the contemplation of those mighty acts, whereby you have given us life and immortality; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Job 14:1-14 ; Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16 ; 1 Peter 4:1-8 ; John 19:38-42
In the midst of life we are in death;
from whom can we seek help?
From you alone, O Lord,
who by our sins are justly angered.
Holy God, Holy and Mighty,
Holy and merciful Savior,
deliver us not into the bitterness of eternal death.
Lord, you know the secrets of our hearts;
shut not your ears to our prayers,
but spare us, O Lord.
Holy God, Holy and Mighty,
Holy and merciful Savior,
deliver us not into the bitterness of eternal death.
O worthy and eternal Judge,
do not let the pains of death
turn us away from you at our last hour.
Holy God, Holy and Mighty,
Holy and merciful Savior,
deliver us not into the bitterness of eternal death.
(Book of Common Prayer, p 492)
Of all the days of Holy Week, this Passover Sabbath, the full day the body of the Crucified Lord rested in the tomb is the most difficult to experience as the Lord’s disciples experienced it. We are busy with meal plans, decorating, putting finishing touches on outfits, and taking care of other details which will add to our celebration of the Resurrection. But in the time we pause to observe this day, we will be blessed. We hear Job testifying to the shortness of life, the psalmist waiting for the Lord’s deliverance, and the admonition to live each day faithfully from 1 Peter.
For resurrection to occur there must be death. For new life to spring forth, old life must end. If a grain of wheat dies and falls into the earth ... From our depths, whatever they may be, the Lord will deliver us. We await the Third Day.
(no hymn on this day)
Let us pray. O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
