Good Friday 29 March

Psalm 31, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9 John 18:1-19:42

A place of refuge

Psalm 31 teaches us how to live and how to die. In trusting his life to God, the psalmist has found a place of refuge, an unshakeable rock, a strong fortress. His whole life depends on God who delivers, turns, comes, saves, leads, guides, frees and redeems. Jesus spoke some of these words from the cross as he died. So did the apostle Stephen and several great saints of the church like Jerome, Martin Luther and John Knox, who died with the words of Psalm 31:5 on their lips. This is a psalm for both living and dying.