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6/1 Reading Portions: Deuteronomy 5; Psalm 88; Isaiah 33; Revelation 3
Psalm 88:10
Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah.
FULFILLED
I can’t help to wonder how often Jesus read the psalms as a youth recognizing passages which applied to His death, burial, and resurrection with such detail. In the 88th Psalm we see the Lord’s prayer in Gethsemane on the night He was betrayed (Psa 88:1-3); His anticipation for His condemnation, crucifixion, and burial as well (Psa 88:4-6). Christ’s sufferings upon the cross are also described here (Psa 88:7-9); the Lord’s contemplations for His burial in the tomb (Psa 88:10-12); and finally, the Lord Jesus must consider again the cross to which He was appointed to suffer (Psa 88:13-18).
Is it any wonder Jesus prayed three times in the garden that, if possible, the cup of God’s wrath might pass from Him (Matt 26:39-44)? He who knew intimate fellowship with the heavenly Father like no other human being, before or since, must suffer the terror of God’s full anger against sin. He who is Life and the Light of the world must pray that prayer because, as a Man, He could not rush headlong into death as Adam did before Him. Yet within this psalm is the meditation of hope, trust, and joy eternal! In our verse today, there is even the musical command to pause, Selah, so we might contemplate the blessed truth before us. Will God show wonders to the dead? Certainly, as it is written,
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8, KJV
Shall the dead arise and praise the LORD? Absolutely, for it is written,
“Now I will arise,” says the LORD, “now I will lift Myself up; now I will be exalted.” Isaiah 33:10
Shall God’s faithfulness be declared in the destruction of His Son upon the cross (Psa 88:11b, 16)? Most assuredly, as Jesus Himself has promised,
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Indeed! Jesus has fulfilled what the Father has promised! Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Your Faithfulness is shown to us
When You destroyed Your Son
For sin because You’re good and just:
In Christ, Your glory’s won.