Meditation for GOOD FRIDAY

A Prayer for Body & Soul *

“Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.” Psalm 6:2

“And here it must be noted that this psalm & others like it will never be thoroughly understood or prayed unless disaster stares man in the face as it does in death & at the final departure. Blessed are they who experience this in life, for every man must finally meet his end. When man thus declines & becomes as nothing in all his power, works, & being, until there is nothing but a lost, condemned, & forsaken sinner, then divine help & strength appear . . . “  

MY MEDITATION

It is not natural for us to suffer illness, injury, personal tragedies, & ultimately death. This was not God’s intention, but through sin entering the world it inevitably leads us all to experience these sorrows. It seems unnatural to find divine help & strength through our hardships, but that’s how the Lord guides us to look to the cross, not as our fate, but as our source of joy. Our hard times can cause us to turn more faithfully to the Lord in Word & prayer & worship & sacraments. That is where we find the strength & divine help that will ultimately usher us into the Lord’s eternal presence.

A Hymn of Prayer **

"May we thirst Your love to know. Lead us in our sin & woe where the healing waters flow:  Hear us, holy Jesus."

* I am posting a meditation for each day of Holy Week, plus Easter MON; I am also continuing to draw insights from Dr. Martin Luther.
** Adapted from:  Lutheran Service Book, "Jesus in Your Dying Woes, #447, St. 2 (CPH, 2006)