... 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,
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.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy
Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).
Glory be to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the
beginning, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Praise the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord. Praise [Him], O servants of the Lord. You who stand in the house
of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. Praise the Lord: for the Lord [is] good. Sing praises to His name: for [it is] pleasant: for the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His distinctive treasure:[2] for I
know that the Lord [is] great. Our Lord [is]
above all gods.
What the Lord pleased, He
did, in heaven, and on earth, in the seas, and all deep places. He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends
of the earth. He makes lightning for the
rain. He brings the wind from His
treasuries. He struck the firstborn of
Egypt, both of man and beast. [He] sent tokens and wonders to the middle
of you, O Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his servants. He struck great nations, and slew mighty kings:
Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan: and
gave their land [for] a heritage, a heritage
to Israel His people.
Your name, Lord, [is]
eternal, Your memorial, Lord, throughout all generations: for
the Lord will judge His people. He
Himself will relent concerning His servants.
The idols of the heathen [are] silver and gold, the work of men’s
hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not. Nor is there [any] breath in their mouths.[3] Those who make them are like them. [So is]
everyone who trusts in them.
Bless the Lord, O house of
Israel. Bless the Lord, O house of Aaron. Bless the
Lord, O house of Levi. You who
fear the Lord, bless the Lord. Blessed be the Lord from Zion, Who
dwells at Jerusalem.
[1] In
this Psalm of Praise, God compares and contrasts us, His people with a litany
of the most wicked nations and assures us that we will be judged and punished
as surely as they were judged and punished; but mercy will be extended to those
who sincerely serve Him.
Praise centers on God’s house, a specific place in Israel, in
Jerusalem, on a specific hill. We ought
not think that any Israelite really believed that this place was the dwelling
place of God. Rather, God made His
Presence, His Shekinah audible and visible there, and before that in
a tent in the wilderness as well as at Shiloh for the space of eight hundred
sixty years, so that no one could ever raise the irrational excuse that God
does not exist. The fact that this
spectacle was witnessed by millions upon millions of people sets the seal that
it was impossible to fabricate. There is
no other reason for the existence of Israel as a nation, small and easily
overthrown by any of the surrounding nations, other than that Yahweh was audibly
and visibly there and defended them from all enemies. Yahweh alone is worthy of praise.
The evidence for Yahweh’s real existence depends on His
acts. He does what He pleases in heaven
and on earth. We may attempt to explain
away the existence of lightening, rain, and wind as the random functions of the
created earth (a dubious position).
However, when it comes to the death of the “firstborn
of Egypt” we are stumped. Here is
something that cannot be explained by accidental Providence; it is clearly
miraculous. We may attempt to explain
away the defeat of Sihon and Og as battle victories. The reality is that a ragtag bunch of
sheepherders overcame established kingdoms with well-trained militia. The manifold miracles of the Exodus, the
plagues on Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea and Jordan, the giving of the Law,
all of which are brought to mind by the Passover; these miracles cannot be
explained away. They really happened,
and they are the necessary and sufficient evidence of Yahweh’s existence.
Yahweh is eternal. Therefore,
judgment begins at the house of God. God’s
standard of judgment is mercy. “He Himself will relent…” not to all Israel, but only to His sincere
servants. Faith cannot be counterfeited.
Having judged His people Israel, Yahweh now
proceeds to judge the whole pagan world, which is characterized by the absence
of any living sensibility: inert matter (silver and gold), speechless, blind,
deaf, and breathless, “everyone who trusts in them.”
Those who “fear Yahweh” bless Him. Herein lies the real difference, not in
whether they are Israelite or pagan; but in whether they fear God or do not
fear Him. It has often been said that
this means to respect God; but God makes our knees tremble, and that is real
fear, not merely respect. Only after we
have been perfected by His Love is fear cast out (1 John 4:17-19). Such fear and love begins at Jerusalem, wonders
at Bethlehem, and is satiated at Golgotha; nay rather on the day of Pentecost
by the giving of the Holy Ghost, thus guaranteeing that the Lord Jesus Christ is seated on the throne
of David by His glorious resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:29-36). What will we ever do about that?
“Praise the LORD.”
[2]
This choosing is to be a witness to the world.
Israel is not a chosen people because of their exclusive salvation. The choosing of God is a national ordination
to service: namely, the service of evangelism and witnessing. Witness is not an individual effort but the
synchronous work of the whole nation together.
There are individuals with special gifts of prophetic utterance, but
witness is the work of all Israel, of all The Church: it cannot be done by
isolated and separated individuals. It
is meaningless without the unity of Love.
[3] Hidden
in these fervent denials is the strong affirmation that Yahweh is unmade,
speaks, sees, hears, and breathes. These
are not things which any idol is able to do; but Yahweh does them all as an
eternal reality. If we ever needed proof
for the existence of God, here it is in the concrete realty of His prophetic Word,
His watchful eye, His caring ear, and the breath of His Holy Ghost. First the wicked cease to obey His Word. Then the wicked deny that God sees their crimes;
they do not deny that He exists: that only comes later, after much hardening
has taken place.
[4] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations in
Psalms, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.
These meditations are not controlled by
Creative Commons or other licenses, such as: copyright, CC, BY, SA, NC, or ND. They are designed and intended for your free
participation. They were freely
received, and are freely given. No other
permission is required for their use.
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