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 Michtam of David.
Preserve me, O God: for in You I put my
trust.
[My soul],
you have said to the Lord, “You [are] my Lord. My goodness [extends] not to You: [but] to the saints that [are] in the earth, and [to] the excellent, in whom [is] all my delight.”
Their sorrows shall be multiplied [that] hasten [after] another [god]. Their drink offerings of blood will I not
offer, nor take up their names to my lips.
The Lord [is] the portion of my inheritance and of
my cup. You maintain my lot. The lines are fallen to me in pleasant [places].
Yes, I have a good heritage.
I will bless the Lord, Who has advised me. My
reins also instruct me in the night seasons.
I have set the Lord always before me. Because [He
is] at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, My glory rejoices.
My flesh also shall rest in hope: for You
will not leave My soul in hell. Nor will
You suffer Your Holy One see corruption.
You will show me the path of life.
In Your presence [is] fullness
of joy. At Your right hand [there are] pleasures forever.
________
If you have been
blessed or helped by any of these meditations in Psalms, please repost or share
all of them.
[1] We
do not know exactly what a Michtam is.
The Psalm is attributed to the author David and that fixes its date
around 1,000 BC. David begins with a
plea for God’s preserving power. How
much our breath, second by second depends on the mercy of God, without which we
die in a heartbeat. Since death is only
a breath away, what sort of lives should we then live? Fearless lives in the loving service and
worship of God. Since we are already as
good as dead, nothing confined to this earth matters any longer. The only things that matter on earth are the
realities of earth seen in their true light through the eyes of heaven: namely,
faith.
With these realities in mind, David addresses God, then begins
with confession. David is striving with
all his human strength to a good man; but, the best that he has to offer, falls
far short of God’s goodness, and the goodness that God requires of us. Far, far in the distance, David has a dim
idea of the coming goodness of Jesus, Whose excellence meets all of David’s
needs, and ours, as well. This is David’s
delight, and ours.
In this light, idolatry is simply sad, filled with
sorrow. Yet, at the early stages of
David’s reign, there were plenty of folks who wanted to mix the worship of
Yahweh with every other abomination imaginable.
To a great extent, David’s great love of Yahweh saw the defeat of these
abominations. Yet, not long after David’s
repose these demonic evils came roaring back.
Yes, the Israelites were worshipers of idolatrous abominations and
demons: and so, frequently, are we.
David’s only heritage is Yahweh. Himself. David mentions the cup. This motif cannot be accidental.
David blesses: that is, gives thanks and praise to God for His
great goodness. God is his advisor. God is his rock solid foundation. The reins or kidneys, like the heart, are a great
seat of emotions in Hebrew idiom. A blow
to the kidneys causes extreme pain and makes the knees buckle. David experiences great anguish in his
nightly prayers over the conflict over idolatry in his kingdom. That some of his subjects are dying, trapped
in demonism, brings him to his knees with tears: his prayer is marked with
grief. Yahweh is his only hope, his only
fortress in maintaining courage and resolve.
Bolstered by this power, David’s rational heart, the seat of
thought in Hebrew idiom, is able to overcome the crucifying agony of his
emotions. He is enabled to find joy and
hope through his tears. He looks into
the future dimly, to see Jesus, Who will conquer hell, Who will “trample death,
by death, Who will return to live without being tainted by the stench of the
tomb. David rejoices in the fullness and
pleasures of the life to come: not a life of debauchery with foolish virgins; a
life gazing into the beautiful face of God, and singing with the angels and
saints forevermore.
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