Holy WeekDay 7
The silence of the grave
Holy Saturday · Psalm 88: Darkness Is My Closest Friend
For today
Psalm 88 ends in darkness, and so does this day. Jesus lies in the tomb. You do not have to make this psalm, or yourself, feel better today; you can simply wait.
Begin with these verses
verse 1O LORD, the God of my salvation, day and night I cry out before You. verse 2May my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry. verse 3For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.
verse 10Do You work wonders for the dead? Do departed spirits rise up to praise You? Selah verse 11Can Your loving devotion be proclaimed in the grave, Your faithfulness in Abaddon? verse 12Will Your wonders be known in the darkness, or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
In Christ
How this psalm points to Jesus
A theme the whole Bible completes in Christ · verse 5
Jesus really died and was laid in a tomb. He did not skip the grave this psalm dreads; he went all the way into it, so that through death he might break the power of death.
verse 59So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, verse 60and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut into the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away. verse 61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
verse 14Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, verse 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
Optional. Kept only on this device, and never counted.