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.
A Psalm-Song [at]
the dedication of the house of David.
I will extol You, Lord: for You have lifted me up, and have not made my foes rejoice over
me. O Lord my God, I
cried to You, and You have healed me. Lord, You have brought up my soul from the grave. You have kept me alive, that I should not go
down to the pit.
Sing to the Lord, O His
saints, Give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness: for His anger [is for] a moment. In His favor [is] life. Weeping may endure
for a night, Joy [comes] in the morning.
In my prosperity I said, “I shall never be
moved.” Lord, by Your favor
You have made my mountain stand strong. You
hid Your face, I was troubled. I cried
to You, Lord. To the Lord I made supplication. What
profit [is there] in my blood, when I
go down to the pit? Shall the dust
praise You? Shall it declare Your truth? Hear, Lord, Have mercy
on me. Lord, be my
helper.
You have turned my mourning to dancing. You have put off my sackcloth, and girded me
with gladness: to the end that [my]
glory may sing praise to You, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I
will give thanks to You forever.
[1] In
this Psalm David examines the source of his prosperity: his house
flourishes. David has lived a life of
tribulation. Many people hated him and
wanted him dead: his own wife Michal, his father-in-law Saul, Nabal, many of
the Philistine commanders when he sought refuge with Abimelech (but David
eventually won them over), his son Absalom, the list goes on…. For every friend David had several enemies:
even his allies, Judas like, betrayed him: for example, Joab. David spent many of the best years of his
life, his youth, running from danger, living in a cave, without the benefits of
culture or society, he led a band of itinerant hermits. So, for David to own a house, settle down,
and live with his wives was, indeed, an extraordinary thing: David had less
than thirty-three years of such peace and some of that was lost due to: war, adultery
with Bathsheba, the murder of Uriah, running from Absalom, defeat by the
Edomites, the sin of the unauthorized census taking. David is not exaggerating when he exclaims, “You have brought up my soul from the grave.” He had lived within a hair of death for most
of his life.
David’s reasonable application is that all who believe should
give thanks: for we suffer but a present light affliction (2 Corinthians 4, the
whole chapter, but especially verse 17).
It takes us completely by surprise to discover David
confessing cockiness in his life. God
made David strong enough that David thought he was indestructible, invincible; he
got too big for his britches; he began to think that he himself was the cause
of his prosperity. He stopped bothering to
go out to war, he became captivated by Bathsheba’s beauty. How easily men become fools over female pulchritude. He murdered. Four sons died. He lost the battle (we need to revisit this issue
of war at another place and time). He
was publicly disgraced, humiliated, shamed, and driven into exile away from God’s
ever Present Glory. He got knocked down
a peg or two for his pride. However, he
sees life and death a little differently than we usually do: death can be either
death to dust, to the pit, and eternal silence, or death to life, to
resurrection, to heaven, and eternal praise.
After God heals David of his foolishness and pride, God gives
David gifts of dancing, gladness, and singing.
Even so we, whether we are running with our hair on fire, as
David was, or have found fleeting brief prosperity in this corrupt and sinful
world, we can in humility be led to see the bigger picture of God’s Glory. Nevertheless, God is our faithful Father; so
we can be sure that whenever we get too big for our britches, He will knock us
down a peg or two, as we justly deserve.
Eternal thanks to God for His Glorious fidelity.
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