40th day of Lent- Holy Saturday- Psalm 3:7

"Rise up, O Lord!
    Deliver me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
    you break the teeth of the wicked." Psalm 3:7

Day 40 of Lent is called Holy Saturday, the day between the cross and resurrection where Jesus lies in the tomb.  It is during this time that Jesus "descended to the dead" as referred to in the Apostle's Creed and alluded to in a  few scriptures such as 1 Peter 3:19-20.  Interpretations vary as to just what this means, including the idea that Jesus preached to the righteous who had died, but who had not yet been taken to heaven.  Others suggest the words mean that Jesus truly died, went to the place of the dead as do all people, to show that in the resurrection he truly overcame death.  So, it is a day of mystery to some extent, but is the day we remember the body of Jesus in the tomb.

The selected Psalm anticipates the resurrection with the words "Rise up!" Today's devotion by Dave Scherer hears the verse first of all as a plea to God to "rise up" and do something about the lack of water in Haiti, forcing families to decide if they will send their children  to collect water, or send them to school.  That's not a fair choice.  "Rise up, God.  Do something!"  But then he writes, "I then realized that God was telling me to do the same thing."  God gives the Holy Spirit to all believers, and God uses us to "rise up" "to bring peace and wholeness to the planet."  Hopefully these devotions over the 40 days of Lent have given us all greater insight into hunger and poverty in the world, and provided inspiration for us to "rise up" and do what we can.  Two more devotions remain, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, as the season of Lent concludes and we celebrate that God, in Christ, does "rise up" in victory over sin and death.