Lent Readings: Saturday 7 April

If you've got no idea what this is all about, go here. If you're up for the ride, let's read the last of Lent.

LEAVING POWER FOR VULNERABILITY...

Psalm 88 TNIV

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. ^[a] A maskil ^[b] of Heman the Ezrahite.

^{[c] 1} LORD, you are the God who saves me;
day and night I cry out to you.

² May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.

³ I am overwhelmed with troubles
and my life draws near to death.

⁴ I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am like one without strength.

⁵ I am set apart with the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
who are cut off from your care.

⁶ You have put me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.

⁷ Your wrath lies heavily on me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. ^[d]

⁸ You have taken from me my closest friends
and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;

⁹ my eyes are dim with grief.
I call to you, LORD, every day;
I spread out my hands to you.

¹⁰ Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do their spirits rise up and praise you?

¹¹ Is your love declared in the grave,
your faithfulness in Destruction ^[e]?

¹² Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

¹³ But I cry to you for help, LORD;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.

¹⁴ Why, LORD, do you reject me
and hide your face from me?

¹⁵ From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;
I have borne your terrors and am in despair.

¹⁶ Your wrath has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me.

¹⁷ All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me.

¹⁸ You have taken from me friend and neighbor—
darkness is my closest friend.

Job 19:21-27 TNIV

²¹ "Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,
for the hand of God has struck me.

²² Why do you pursue me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?

²³ "Oh, that my words were recorded,
that they were written on a scroll,

²⁴ that they were inscribed with an iron tool on ^[a] lead,
or engraved in rock forever!

²⁵ I know that my redeemer ^[b] lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth. ^[c]

²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet ^[d] in ^[e] my flesh I will see God;

²⁷ I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!

Hebrews 4:1-16 TNIV

A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God

¹ Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. ² For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. ^{[a] 3} Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,
"So I declared on oath in my anger,
'They shall never enter my rest.' " ^[b]
And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. ⁴ For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "On the seventh day God rested from all his work." ^{[c] 5} And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest."

⁶ Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, ⁷ God again set a certain day, calling it "Today." This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts." ^[d]

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. ⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for those who enter God's rest also rest from their own work, just as God did from his. ¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, ^[e] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.