Thursday, July 31, 2014

Psalm 142:1-7 rA


... 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.

Psalm 142:1-7[1]

Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave.

I cried to the Lord with my voice.  I made my supplication to the Lord with my voice.  I poured out my complaint before Him.  I showed my trouble before Him.

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path.  In the way where I walked they have secretly laid a snare for me.

I looked on [my] right hand, and beheld, [there was] no man who would know me.  Refuge failed me.  No man cared for my soul.  I cried to You, Lord.  I said,

“You [are] my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.  Attend to my cry: for I am brought very low.  Deliver me from my persecutors: for they are stronger than I.  Bring my soul from prison,[2] so that I may praise Your name.”

The righteous shall circle about me: for You shall deal bountifully with me.[3]



[1] David thinks back upon Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1; 2 Samuel 23:13; 1 Chronicles 11:15); his prayer analyzes the lessons of Adullam.
In the first paragraph David announces his prayer formally: possibly as a Todah.  It was probably delivered aloud and officially, in public.  It is a celebration of victory over his enemies who plagued him when he was camped at Adullam: either Saul, or later the Philistines.
The report of the content of the prayer follows: short, sweet, to the point.  Lord, I’m over my head.  You know the situation.  I can’t leave Adullam without being ambushed.  How appropriate for modern life.  Lord, I’m over my head.  You know the situation.  I can’t leave the house, go to work, church, or the grocery without being ambushed.  I can’t even get a drink from the town well.
David surveys the situation looking for a helping hand, and outside of his little band can’t find anybody willing or strong enough to drive off his enemy.  In his desperation he turns to God for help.  David is being brutally honest here; he pulls no punches; he spares himself no dignity.  When all else fails, we turn to God.  Is David suggesting that he and we would be better off, had we turned to God to begin with: this is very likely the case, in that, David, the man of prayer, is teaching his nation, how and why to pray.  “Lord, Teach us to pray.”
David finishes his prayer in the present tense.  The lessons learned at Adullam have eternal applications.  Wherever David is, probably at Jerusalem now, in the temple, he encounters discouraging depressing times; he still has powerful persecutors; he still feels trapped, as he was at Adullam.  He does not ask for deliverance for personal benefit, but so that he may worship Yahweh.  His life is completely fulfilled in the worship of God, with the congregation worshipping around him.  This is the bounty, the love of his life.  Is that the way we feel about going to church?
[2] This applies primarily to the prayer of Jesus that He be raised from the dead: it is a typology taken from the memory of Joseph’s imprisonment (Genesis 39-41).  On the other hand, we cannot avoid making the association with Peter in Acts 12:1-19.
[3] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  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.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Psalm 141:1-10 rA


... 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.

Psalm 141:1-10[1]

A Psalm of David.

Lord, I cry to You.  Make haste to [help] me.  Give ear to my voice, when I cry to You.  Let my prayer be set forth before You [as] incense; the lifting up of my hands [as] the evening sacrifice.

Set a watch, Lord, before my mouth.  Keep the door of my lips.  Incline not my heart to [any] evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity.  Let me not eat of their dainties.[2]

Let the righteous smite me.  [It is] kindness.  Let him reprove me.  [It is] excellent oil, [that] shall not break my head:[3] for yet my prayer also [is] in the calamities [of the wicked].  When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words: for they are sweet.

Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, as when one cuts and chops in the dirt.  My eyes [are] on You, O God the Lord.  In You is my trust.  Leave not my soul destitute.  Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, the traps of the workers of iniquity.

Let the wicked fall in their own nets, while I escape as well.[4]



[1] I used to think that this Psalm could fit against the backdrop of David’s flight, from either Saul or Absalom: or that it fit best against Absalom.  David writes, “their judges are overthrown in stony places.”  This fits against his instruction to Hushai, “defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.”  (2 Samuel 15:34; 17:14)  In this context, David makes some amazing and profound observations and requests.  Today, I believe that this Psalm looks back at such an historic context from the perspective of the consummation of the kingdom; especially looking forward to the period between the two advents.  People will still be set upon by tribulation (“Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, as when one cuts and chops in the dirt.”) in the crucifixion of Christ; but even in tribulation, anticipate the last judgment (“Let the wicked fall in their own nets, while I escape as well”).  These are things that David is able to see prophetically from God’s instruction in his life experiences.
He asks that his prayer be accepted by God just as if he were standing beside the high priest at the time of the evening sacrifice in Jerusalem, on Zion, in the presence of God’s Glory.  That is how we also pray, secretly in our prayer closets; or in congregational worship.
He realizes what James will later proclaim, the tongue cannot be controlled by man.  So David asks that his prayer, and his life that flows from prayer, may not be defiled by sins of the tongue or thoughts of the heart.  Where does such speech and thought come from?  Largely because we feel compelled to answer the wicked, or imitate them.
David knows that many counselors are available to tell him what he wants to hear.  He prays instead for counselors who will tell him the truth, even if it is a slap in the face.  Truth is what he must follow, no matter the cost.  Truth must prevail.  Truth is the only thing that can save his sorry hide from this predicament.
Now David evaluates his danger.  He is on the brink of being made like the wood chips scattered on the ground, chips that fell from a woodsman’s axe.  That is what David’s bones will look like if Absalom catches him, so he prays accordingly.  What an amazing evaluation of life’s true condition.  It is only God’s protection that keeps us from Satan’s clutches.
David closes by praying, not for his own brand of justice, but for God’s brand of justice.  God’s punishment is always appropriate.  It almost always involves some form of forcing sinners to live with the consequences of their own ambushes, nets, plots, and traps, while the innocent victims are allowed to escape from the impending danger.  “Live by the sword; die by the sword”: which is to say, set an ambush to murder and rob a victim with swords, and God’s idea of justice is that your ambush will fail, and you will be murdered and robbed by ambush.  Hmmm….  I wonder how many of our business plans are really plots to ambush, deceive, and defraud others.
[2] In Psalm 140 David discusses the evil use of speech and writing; here he discusses the blessed use of speech and writing.
[3] Solomon is the Son of Resurrection (2 Samuel 12:1-25).  Nathan’s rebuke was a gentle blessing, that did not break David’s head, that did not kill David.
[4] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  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.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Psalm 140:1-13 rA


... 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.

Psalm 140:1-13[1]

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

Deliver me, Lord, from the evil man.  Preserve me from the violent man, who imagines mischief in [his] heart.  They are gathered together [for] war continually.  They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent.  Adders’ poison [is] under their lips.  Consider.[2]

Keep me, Lord, from the hands of the wicked.  Preserve me from the violent man, who has purposed to overthrow my goings.  The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords.  They have spread a net by the wayside.  They have set traps for me.  Consider.[3]

I said to the Lord, “You [are] my God.”  Hear the voice of my supplication, Lord.  O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle.  Grant not, Lord, the desires of the wicked.  Further not his wicked device.  They exalt themselves.  Consider.

The head of those who circle about me, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.  Let burning coals fall on them.  Let them be cast in the fire, in deep pits, so that they rise not up again.  Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth.  Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow [him].

I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, the right of the poor.  Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name.  The upright shall dwell in Your presence.[4]



[1] David, like many of us, is often concerned with the problem of needing deliverance from evil people, and evil situations.  Most of us have had jobs and family situations where we cried out for deliverance daily.  This subject is so important that it is a major topic in the Lord’s Prayer.  The only difference between evil people and evil situations is: in the first case you’ve identified the person causing evil; in the second case that wicked person remains hidden.  Evil comes from an evil person, either angel or human.  The characteristics of such an evil person are: violence, plotting (imagining mischief), intent to start a fight (war), shrewd and poisonous speech.  When your adversary spends half the day whispering to the boss about your faults; when you are suddenly confronted; when apology is demanded from you, and you don’t even understand what has happened; this Psalm prepares you, and helps you know what has happened and what to do about it.
Having been delivered from the clutches of such evil, David turns to the request that he would be kept free from the grip of such wickedness.  Have you ever been relieved after being fired?  You should feel sad, broken, discouraged; instead you are filled with joy.  Did your termination free you from the clutches of wicked people?  Now you know why you are happy: the harsh burden of oppression was removed.  David adds to the characteristics of evil people: they intend to overthrow, they use snares, ropes, nets, and traps.  All of these devices are intended to capture and kill secretly, stealthily.  There is no intent here to correct a wrong, or even settle a score.  The goal is to overthrow, to bring into a state of subjection and slavery.  The wicked often hides behind platitudes, “We need to be accountable.”  But the wicked are only accountable to themselves.  Such means are how politicians increase their power, not by open debate, but by undermining their opponents.
David’s solution is prayer.  The evil attack is aimed directly at the head.  David recommends the helmet of salvation, which is received in prayer (Ephesians 6:17).  We must trust God to protect us from such devious attacks.
David does not seek retaliation against such enemies.  He pictures such a person or persons as a wolf or pack of wolves circling, waiting for the kill.  Instead David prays that they would receive the exact outcome of their plots.  We would say “hoist with their own petard,” exploded by their own bomb.  Completely fair and just punishment.
David has complete confidence that God’s system of justice will vindicate him in the end, and he will be freed, finally, to thank and dwell with God.  We must not leave this Psalm without noting that it is about Jesus, not about us.  David, being a prophet, foresees the intricate details of Christ’s battle against evil, culminating at the crucifixion.  He sees the resurrection and Pentecost as victory.  David may not have understood what he saw, but this Psalm makes no eternal sense, until we see Jesus in it.
[2] David is more concerned with the warfare of evil speech than with armies coming after him with swords, and rightfully so; evil speech is far more destructive than lethal weapons.  “The pen is mightier than the sword,” either for doing evil or for doing good.  Ambushes, snares, and traps are best set with the silent pen or whispering tongue.
[3] Our thoughts go immediately to Matthew 13:7, 22, 24-30, 36-43.  Our age is heavily snared with “the deceitfulness of riches.”  In such a situation, being fired is a blessing.  From where did this idea that money and wealth are so important come?  Our Lord patiently explains that this is the deception of the Devil himself.  While it is true that we all need to toil productively for our bread: even “the good ground” toils to bring forth fruit.  That being said, how and where we toil makes all the difference.  Some work situations are lethal to spiritual life.  When life becomes filled with seething anger, bitterness, clamor, and worse: perhaps it is time to ask God for a different job; because the goodness of God brings contentment, peace, and tranquility.  Is your job filled with immoral temptations?  Yes!  Is there one other Christian who stands with you on the job to help resist such temptations?  No!  Perhaps it is time to move on.  We must not pull up the tares; they must be harvested and burned.  This is said to me the work of messengers (angels are messengers, either human, or spirit beings) at the end of the age.  It is possible that preaching has a role to play in the deliverance of the people of God from such evil snares, so that the people of God may be fruitful in the kingdom.  “Even so, You delivered us from the evil!”
[4] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  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.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Psalm 139:1-24 rA


... 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.

Psalm 139:1-24[1]

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

Lord, You have searched and known me.  You know my sitting down and my rising up.  You understand my thought from a distance.  You circle my path and my lying down, and are acquainted [with] all my ways: for [there is] not a word in my tongue, behold, Lord, You know it altogether.  You have beset me behind and before, and laid Your hand on me.[2]

 [Such] knowledge [is] too wonderful for me.  It is high.  I cannot [attain] it.  Where shall I go from Your Spirit?  Where shall I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, You [are] there.  If I make my bed in hell, behold, You [are there].  [If] I take the wings of the morning, [and] dwell in the depths of the sea; even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.  If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me;” even the night shall be light about me.

Yes, the darkness hides not from You.  The night shines as the day.  The darkness and the light [are] both alike [to You]: for You have possessed my reins.  You have covered me in my mother’s womb.  I will praise You: for I am fearfully, wonderfully made.  Marvelous [are] Your works.  My soul knows right well.  My substance was not hid from You, when I was made in secret, curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Your eyes saw my substance, yet being imperfect.  In Your book all [my members] were written, [which] in continuance were fashioned, when [as yet there was] none of them.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!  How great is the sum of them!  [If] I should count them, they are more in number than the sand.  When I awake, I am still with You.

Surely You will slay the wicked, O God.  Depart from me therefore, you bloody men: for they speak against You wickedly.  Your enemies take [Your name] in vain.  Do I not hate them, Lord, who hate You?  Am not I grieved with those who rise up against You?  I hate them with perfect hatred.[3]  I count them my enemies.

Search me, O God.  Know my heart.  Try me.  Know my thoughts.  See if [there is any] wicked way in me.  Lead me in the way everlasting.[4]



[1] David begins this Psalm with a personal and practical analysis of God’s omniscience.  It is easy for us to speak of a technical issue like omniscience without understanding or applying it: this Psalm prevents our doing that.  God’s knowledge is near and far at the same; it is all around; it is in our heads and speech; it hunts us from the front and from the back all at once; and it unquestionably touches us.
Now David turns his attention from God to himself; he observes that God’s omniscience is ubiquitous and inescapable: in life and in death, in space or in the abyss God is always there.  Then David discovers a wondrous fact; this is the outworking of God’s great love: there is no place in the Universe where David can be without God’s leadership and holding: these, he notes, are from the operation of the Holy Ghost.  God even makes the darkness bright, which we remember is literally true: for during the plagues on Egypt the Israelites had light when the Egyptians were overwhelmed by felt darkness; and during the Exodus the Israelites were led by a pillar of light on their night marches.  That same light of God’s Glory Presence was resident on the Ark of the Covenant and in the temporary tent, where David was accustomed to seeing Him and speaking with Him regularly.  So, David had intimate personal evidence of God’s flaming capabilities: he is not merely speaking figuratively.
David returns to his observations of God and notes that God’s flaming Glory is so powerful that it overwhelms darkness in every form.  David probably does not know about mysteries like black holes; but, he has experienced the darkness of the womb.  His growth from conception was not merely a process of his mother’s body, but also the product of God’s possession, covering, manufacture, and work.  Moreover, within the mystery of conception, lies a deeper mystery wrought in the depths of the earth: this is a reference to the fact that Adam was made from mud; so that there are aspects of David’s conception, which were already in existence from Adam’s creation.  David sees himself as being already imperfect before he was conceived.
David is overjoyed and overwhelmed by the thoughts God has stirred inside of him.  He begins to consider their quantity, when he realizes that they are a practical infinity: he cannot begin to count them.
David comes to realize that he is merely an observer in a great war between good and evil.  The wars of the Israelites were not about the divinely approved seizure of other people’s property: they were about God’s attack against Satan and demonism.  Ephesians 6 notes that “we wrestle, not against flesh and blood.”  David understands that this is a war he has been caught up in and he has to choose sides, even as an observer.
David concludes that he cannot effectively choose sides or even be an effective observer without God’s intimate probing of his heart (the brain) and his thoughts.  David understands that of all the thousands he personally killed in battle, not one of them had anything to do with his skill with bow, sling, spear, or sword: all of them were the result of God’s direction of David’s thoughts, in the war against Satan and his minions.  The outcome for David is the cleansing of all evil elements from his own person and the gift of everlasting life.
In this Psalm David has led us on a very practical discussion of omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience without getting trapped in technicalities.  One thing this teaches us is that theology is best taught by poetry and hymnology.  Prose is inadequate and inappropriate for the discussion and study of theology.  Think about that as you study your catechism, and ask yourself the question, “Is this study causing me to sing?”  If the answer to that question is, “No,” perhaps you should consider modifying your study habits, and include more Psalms in your study diet.    We can have an intense philosophical and theological discussion of the ubiquity of God, or we can read this Psalm prayerfully and songfully.  We will not understand ubiquity by discussing it.  Praying and singing this Psalm is what we must have.  The prayer and song of Psalm 139, and of all the Psalms is life.  The cold and naked discussion of ubiquity is neither life nor understanding; it is death.
[2] St. Patrick’s Breastplate: http://prayerfoundation.org/st_patricks_breastplate_prayer.htm and Ephesians 6.
[3] Perfect hatred seeks the repentance and conversion of the man and destruction of the demons that propel him.  The demons are cast out of the man and into the swine.  The swine are destroyed as if they were the instruments of God, the scapegoats, whose task is to destroy both the demons and the sin and brokenness, which the demons have caused.  The sins are confessed on the head of the scapegoat, and removed.  The man is healed and restored to his true humanity.  The innocent animal takes the place of guilty man.  Here, I believe, is the true reason we are not to eat swine’s flesh; it is too human like, too much like cannibalism, too much like the body and blood of Christ.
This is not an excuse for bad human behavior: many humans will perish with the demons and the swine.  However, it does show part of the reasons behind bad human behavior.
[4] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  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.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Psalm 138:1-8 rA


... 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.

Psalm 138:1-8[1]

[A Psalm] of David.

I will praise You with my whole heart.  I will sing praise to You before the gods[2].  I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and for Your truth: for You have magnified Your Word above all Your name.  In the day when I cried, You answered me, [and] strengthened me [with] strength in my soul.

All the kings of the earth shall praise You, Lord, when they hear the words of Your mouth.  Yes, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord: for great [is] the Glory of the Lord.

Though the Lord [is] high, yet He has respect for the lowly.  But the proud He knows at a distance.

Though I walk in the heart of trouble, You will revive me.  You shall stretch forth Your hand against the fury of my enemies.  Your right hand shall save me.  The Lord will perfect [that which] concerns me.  Your mercy, Lord, [is] everlasting.  Forsake not the works of Your own hands.[3]



[1] This delightful Psalm, written by David, finds its foundations in the Word of God, where David finds the answers of life.  In 1000 BC, David’s Bible was a good deal smaller than ours.  Certainly, David sees God’s conversation with Moses and Samuel, as well as with other great prophets.  But David himself has the gift of inspiration, that conversation with the Holy Ghost, which was still rare in his day.  Today, it is given to all Christians.  In this Word of God, David sees the kings of earth coming to sing praise to God with him, all due to the greatness of God’s Glory: for this Word is not in abstraction, merely part of a book; it is a living, active conversation with the Glory, Who David sees, and with whom he speaks regularly.  David now turns from the greatness of God’s Glory to the lowliness of his own humility; here he expresses his warm gratitude for God’s revival, salvation, and willingness to perfect his personal life and his kingdom.  He knows that God in His mercy will not forsake him.  He knows from God’s promises that Jesus is coming to make all this into its greatest reality.
[2] In this context, god’s refers to “kings of the earth.”  This could include angels, Israelite judges and tribal leaders, family heads, and other instruments of God, all of whom are called gods.  This is not likely to be a reference to pagan idolatry.
We are reminded that “At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow (Philippians 2:9-11).”  Then all things will be “under His feet” (Psalm 2; Psalm 8; Psalm 110; Acts 2:30-36; 1 Corinthians 15:25, 27; Ephesians 1:22; Hebrews 1:13; 2:8).  Yes, full prostration is in order here.  For more Scripture on this topic see, http://www.openbible.info/labs/cross-references/search?q=Hebrews+2%3A8.
[3] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  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.

Friday, July 25, 2014

Psalm 137:1-9 rA


... 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.

Psalm 137:1-9[1]

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down.  Yes, we wept when we remembered Zion.  We hung our harps on the willows in the middle of it: for there, those who carried us away captive required of us a song.  Those who wasted us [required of us] mirth, [saying], “Sing us the songs of Zion.”

How shall we sing the Lord’s song in an alien land?  If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget.  If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.  Remember, Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, “Raze, raze, to its foundation.”

O daughter Babylon, who are to be destroyed, blessed [is he], who rewards you as you have served us.  Blessed [shall he be], who takes and dashes your little ones against the stones.[2] [3]



[1] Truly, there is a Psalm for every season and emotion of man.  The Psalms of David are set around 1000 BC.  This Psalm is set after 586 BC, after the Babylonian Captivity and Exile.  The psalmist is bathed in anger, bitterness, and grief.  He is able to see and understand the promise of God to Solomon, that God answers all prayer directed to Him, and His Temple in Jerusalem, on Mount Zion: so he prays accordingly.  However, Solomon’s Temple is destroyed, it seems like the end of the world to this psalmist, and he is not yet able to grasp that there is, and always was, a heavenly Jerusalem, a heavenly Zion, and a heavenly Temple, far greater than Solomon’s Temple.  So he clings to his earthly memory through his tears of anger, bitterness, and grief.  In such a state the psalmist lashes out at all around him.  This is a normal part of the grieving process.  In fact we see several aspects of the grieving process in play here: anger (obviously), denial (he can’t quite face the fact that the Temple and everything in it is gone), negotiation (“let my tongue”, etc.), depression (“how shall we sing”, etc.).  The only thing missing is acceptance: the psalmist cannot yet see God’s grace and mercy in his misery, and he cannot yet embrace his captivity as a blessing from God.  So the fact that the psalmist lashes out is to be expected: he utters a wicked and terrifying oath.  “Blessed [shall he be], who takes and dashes your little ones against the stones.”
Before we judge the psalmist harshly, or even at all, perhaps we should consider some harsh realities.
The psalmist has witnessed living babies being killed by hammering them against rocks.  There are people who have witnessed firsthand Dresden, Hiroshima, Tokyo, Oklahoma City, or New York.  These are terrible soul scarring experiences: these witnesses will never fully recover.  It seems as if everything except breath itself has been take away from them: they wait, only to die, and thus, at last, forget.
In grief, the psalmist says things that (s)he would not say or mean, were (s)he in a better, more recovered frame of mind.  The psalmist would be able to embrace the reality, knowing that “what men intended for evil, God intended for good.”  Knowing, (s)he would eventually be able to forgive.  Knowing, we come to realize that these terrible tragedies are not driven by mere human will; but rather by demonic forces far beyond human power.
Grief often takes years for recovery.  We all experience grief at some time or other: all of us die, all of us see death.  We hope for patience and understanding as we struggle with grief.  It’s not something we will just snap out of: we have to endure the experience and its raging gamut of emotions.  We should extend the same patience and understanding to this poor psalmist.
The real beauty of this Psalm is found in the psalmist’s naked honesty: (s)he is just being honest with God.  Would to God that our prayer would achieve such honesty.  This is a Psalm for grief.
In spite of all these things, we must see a strong note of the consummation of the kingdom in this Psalm.  “We wrestle not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12).”  Our adversary is Satan, who deceives and manipulates the leaders of this world.  Consequently, taking vengeance is forbidden to us.  On the other hand, the judgment of Yahweh is coming upon this world.  In Christ, we will participate in that judgment.  “Blessed [shall he be], who takes and dashes your little ones against the stones.”  Blessed is Christ, Who brings the final and just judgment.  In the Consummation, all anguish, bitterness, and sorrow will be swallowed up in victory.  ΙΣ ΧΣ ΝΙΚΑ!
[2] Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45; 5:25, 30; 7:4, 11, 18, 22, 26-27
[3] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  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.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Psalm 136:1-26 rA


... 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.

Psalm 136:1-26[1]

Give thanks to the Lord: for [He is] good, for His mercy [is] everlasting.  Give thanks to the God of gods: for His mercy [is] everlasting.  Give thanks to the Lord of lords: for His mercy [is] everlasting.

To Him Who alone does great wonders: for His mercy [is] everlasting.  To Him Who by wisdom made the heavens: for His mercy [is] everlasting.  To Him Who stretched out the earth above the waters: for His mercy [is] everlasting.

To Him Who made great lights: for His mercy [is] everlasting.  The sun to rule by day: for His mercy [is] everlasting.  The moon and stars to rule by night: for His mercy [is] everlasting.

To Him Who struck Egypt in their firstborn: for His mercy [is] everlasting.  And brought Israel out from among them: for His mercy [is] everlasting; with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for His mercy [is] everlasting.

To Him Who divided the Red sea in parts: for His mercy [is] everlasting.  And made Israel pass through the middle of it: for His mercy [is] everlasting.  But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red sea: for His mercy [is] everlasting.

To Him Who led His people through the wilderness: for His mercy [is] everlasting.

To Him Who struck great kings: for His mercy [is] everlasting.  And slew famous kings: for His mercy [is] everlasting.  Sihon king of the Amorites: for His mercy [is] everlasting.  Og the king of Bashan: for His mercy [is] everlasting.  And gave their land for a heritage: for His mercy [is] everlasting; a heritage to Israel His servant: for His mercy [is] everlasting.

Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy [is] everlasting.  And has redeemed us from our enemies: for His mercy [is] everlasting. 

Who gives food to all flesh: for His mercy [is] everlasting. 

Give thanks to the God of heaven: for His mercy [is] everlasting.[2]



[1] This beautiful antiphonal Psalm reminds us that Psalms are hymns to be sung: this one, obviously written for two choirs.  The argument of the Psalm rests on God's power, love, and mercy as seen first in His creation, then in His defeat of the idolatry of Egypt and the Exodus, and finally in His conquest of the Transjordan East Bank adversaries who refused Israel passage into the promised land.  This gives us a hint that this is probably the special hymn of the Joseph tribes that inherited the Transjordan East Bank.  However, it looks beyond Israel to the God of heaven, who brings the defeat of idolatry, slavery, and oppression to the whole earth: He is the God of heaven, He is the God of all.
Psalm 136 stands or falls on the concrete actuality and reality of the historic acts remembered in it.  If these acts are not actual, historic and real there is no reason whatsoever to proclaim the eternal mercies of Yahweh; there is no reason to believe that Israel ever existed as a nation; there is no reason to suppose that the God of the Bible exists, presents Himself visibly to people in the Shekinah, or that anything else found in the Bible is true.  The Bible is either true or false, take it or leave it, you cannot have it both ways.  This Psalm is a review of Torah, and the salvific work of God consists of the actual, historic, reality of Torah, together with the rest of Scripture.  The attempt to pass this reality off as unreality is a strong statement of unbelief, firm evidence that the one making it has left the Faith, to become an unbeliever, a pagan: worse yet, a servant of Satan.  That being said, these are all the remembrance of concrete, actual, and real historic acts.  In remembering them it helps us to not take for granted the daily things God does for us.  “Now Christ is risen from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20).”  “Eternal are Your mercies, Lord.  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!”
Eternal things, things which are not ruled by time, and do not lose their value with age, are made clear by things that are concrete and are ruled by time.  Which then, are the more concrete?  The eternal realities, or the temporal ones?
We have grouped these antiphonal phrases by their wording into “Give thanks”, “To Him”, and “Who” segments.  The final “Give thanks” brings the Psalm together into a completed whole.
[2] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  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.