... 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).
[A Psalm] of David.
Blessed [is] the Lord my strength, Who teaches my
hands to war, my fingers to fight. My Goodness,
my Fortress, my High Tower, my Deliverer, my Shield, in Whom I trust, Who subdues
my people under me.
Lord, what [is] man, that You take
knowledge of him? The son of man, that You
make account of him? Man is like vanity.
His days [are] as a shadow that passes away.
Bow Your heavens, Lord. Come down. Touch the mountains. They shall smoke. Cast forth lightning. Scatter them. Shoot out Your arrows. Destroy them.
Send Your hand from above. Rid me.
Deliver me from great waters, from the
hands of alien children, whose mouths speak vanity, and their right hand [is] a right hand of falsehood.
I will sing a new song to You, O God. I will sing praises to You on a psaltery, an
instrument of ten strings. You give
salvation to kings. You deliver David His
servant from the hurtful sword.
Rid me. Deliver me from the hand of alien children,
whose mouth speaks vanity, and their right hand [is] a right hand of falsehood.
That our sons [may be] as
plants grown up in their youth. Our
daughters [may be] as corner stones,
polished [in] the likeness of a
palace. Our garners [may be] full, affording all manner of
store. Our sheep may bring forth
thousands and ten thousands in our streets.
Our oxen [may be] strong in labor.
[That
there be] no breaking in, nor going out. That [there
be] no complaining in our streets.
Blessed people, who are in such a case. Blessed people, who’s God [is] the Lord.
________
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all of them.
[1] David
dedicates this Psalm to war: yet, this cannot be the kind of war, as man
ordinarily thinks of war. Our battle is
a wrestling “not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12).” This war is about calling the whole world to
repentance and conversion, to salvation in Christ, by the power of the Holy
Ghost. In this war some become so
hardened, through their own fault, that they are cast into the lake of fire;
but, one way or another, all are subdued (Isaiah 45:23-25; Romans 14:11-12;
Philippians 2:10-11).
The unanswered question naturally arises: What is so important about human beings? Why should God be bothered? After all, man is really nothing: nothing of
importance, and nothing with which God should be bothered. David gives no answer. We know the answer: for reasons which we
cannot understand, God loves us.
David contrasts his own deliverance to the giving of the Law
at Sinai (Exodus 19), to salvation from Noah’s flood, and Moses’ crossing at
the Red Sea. David is able to make this
connection, because he can see the Eternal Covenant as one covenant promise, of
which he has been made part.
David breaks out in a new song.
Finally, David sees the kingdom as the result of this war: a
kingdom devoid of empty, lying aliens; a kingdom of sons standing straight and
tall; a kingdom where daughters are the foundations of society; a kingdom of
incredible prosperity; a kingdom without robbery; without war; without
complaining. As with Hebrew poetic
constructs elsewhere, the emphasis is always on the last item in the list: these
six (Proverbs 6:16-19), three and four (Proverbs 30; Amos 1). This is incomprehensible, a kingdom without
complaining, our churches are filled with bickering and complaining. Indeed, David’s complaint is that complaining
needs to end. Truly, this is an
extraordinary kingdom, for David or for us.
“Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.”
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