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.
To the Chief Musician, [A
Psalm] of David.
The fool has said in his heart, “[There is] no God.” They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. No one does good.
The Lord looked down
from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any that understand, [and] seek God. They are all gone aside, They are altogether
become filthy. No one does good, no, not
one.
Have all the workers of
iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people [as] they eat bread, and call not on the Lord? There were they in great
fear: for God [is] among the
generation of the righteous. You have
shamed the advice of the poor, because the Lord [is] his refuge.
Oh that the salvation of Israel [were come] from Zion! When the Lord brings back
the captivity of His people, Jacob shall rejoice, Israel shall be glad.
[1] David
could be staring at the living, talking, flaming Glory of God for all we
know. He had seen this Glory many times;
being in His Presence was David’s chief joy.
When David says that atheism is foolishness, he is not mincing words: he
knows exactly whereof he speaks.
David turns from his own evaluation to Yahweh’s
evaluation. There is no such thing as a
good person anywhere. It is clear that
whatever David knows about his intimate inner self and about people in general,
he learned from talking with God.
Knowledge is a fundamental element in people’s evil: not that
knowledge isn’t available, but people are mentally defective, neither able to nor
desirous of receiving it. So, they
destroy God’s servants, and think they’ve done God a favor. But God is about to intervene in that
situation, and make the wicked afraid: not because God’s servants are good,
while others are not; that is not the case, all are not good. The righteous are righteous because they have
taken ownership of their lack of goodness; they have sought and found refuge in
God’s forgiving, healing, and justifying mercy; they have received the gift of
God’s goodness.
David concludes that Zion is the center for such hope,
salvation, and worship. Captivity speaks
of the gathering, calling together, congregating of God’s people as one. This may indicate that David is writing
during the first seven years of his reign, before the Israel and Judah tribes
were reunited as one nation, under one king.
However, this unity, or lack of it, is just as true today of heavenly
Zion, and we look for the reality of this united congregation.
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