Monday, January 20, 2014

Psalm 48:1-14


Salutation

... in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.  Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.  Glory to You, our God, Glory to You.

O Heavenly King: Prayer to the Holy Ghost

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Psalm 48:1-14[i]

A Song [and] Psalm for the sons of Korah.

Great [is] the Lord, Greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, [in] the mountain of His holiness.  Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, [is] mount Zion, [on] the sides of the north, the city of the great King.  God is known in her palaces for a refuge.

For, lo, the kings were assembled, They passed by together.  They saw it, So they marveled.  They were troubled, [and] hasted away.  Fear took hold on them there, pain, as of a woman in travail.  You break the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.

As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God.  God will establish it forever.  Consider.

We have thought of Your lovingkindness, O God, in the heart of Your temple.  According to Your name, O God, [so is] Your praise to the ends of the earth.  Your right hand is full of righteousness.

Let mount Zion rejoice, Let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of Your judgments.  Walk about Zion, Go round about her.  Count her towers.  Mark well her bulwarks, Consider her palaces; so that you may tell the generation following: for this God [is] our God forever and ever.  He will be our guide to death.




[i] The sons of Korah were some kind of choral or liturgical group that continued composing Psalms in times of great trouble, possibly even in 586 at the time of the temple's destruction.  They sing with great hope, looking from earthy to heavenly Zion, from the earthly to the heavenly temple.  The east wind may be a reference to the Holy Ghost in His work of overthrowing the evil kingdoms of this world (the ships of Tarshish).  The details of earthly Zion are to be remembered, for heavenly Zion will be great; even from destruction she shall be resurrected, even in death.
We have come to know that the heavenly temple which Jesus raises is His own body, The Church.  Go round about her: count her towers, bulwarks, and palaces.  “Death is overthrown.  Christ our God is risen.”

No comments:

Post a Comment