... 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.
Plead [my
cause], Lord, with those who strive with me. Fight against those who fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, Stand up for
my help. Draw out also the spear, Stop [the way] against those who persecute me.
Say to my soul, “I [am] your salvation.”
Let them be confounded and put to shame, who
seek after my soul. Let them be turned
back and brought to confusion, who devise my hurt. Let them be as chaff before the wind. Let the Angel of the Lord chase [them]. Let their way be dark and slippery. Let the Angel of the Lord persecute them: for without cause, they have hid their net [in] a pit for me; without cause, they
have dug for my soul. Let destruction
come on him unawares. Let his net that
he has hid, catch him. To that very
destruction let him fall.
My soul shall be joyful in the Lord. It shall rejoice in His
salvation. 10 All my bones
shall say, Lord, “Who [is] like You, Who delivers
the poor from him who is too strong for him, yes, the poor and the needy from him
who spoils him?”
False witnesses rose up. They laid to my charge [things] that I knew not. They
rewarded me evil for good, the spoiling of my soul. But as for me, when they were sick, my
clothing [was] sackcloth. I humbled my soul with fasting. My prayer returned to my own bosom. I behaved myself as though [he was] my friend [or] brother. I bowed down
heavily, as one that mourns [his]
mother. But in my adversity they
rejoiced, and gathered themselves together. The despicable gathered themselves together
against me, and I knew [it] not. They tore [me], and ceased not. With
hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed at me with their teeth.
Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue my soul from their destructions, my
darling from the lions. I will give You
thanks in the great congregation. I will
praise You among many people. Let not those
who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me. Let them [not]
wink with the eye, who hate me without a cause: for they speak not peace. But they devise deceitful matters against [the] quiet in the land. Yes, they opened their mouth wide against me,
[and] said, “Aha, aha, our eye has
seen it.”
You have seen, Lord. Keep not silence. Lord, be not far from me. Stir Yourself up, Awake to my judgment, to my
cause, my God and my Lord. Judge me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness. Let them not rejoice over me. Let them not say in their hearts, “Ah, so
would we have it.” Let them not say, “We
have swallowed him up.” Let them be
ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at my hurt. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor, who
magnify [themselves] against me.
Let them shout for joy, and be glad, who favor
my righteous cause. Yes, let them say
continually, “Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure
in the prosperity of His servant.” My
tongue shall speak of Your righteousness [and]
of Your praise all the day.
________
If you have been
blessed or helped by any of these meditations in Psalms, please repost or share
all of them.
[1] David
understands redemption in terms of classic battle. Whole armies do not usually go out to fight:
a single hero, a champion stands for the whole nation. Redemption, which is only the first part of
salvation, delivers the whole nation; but, it is no guarantee that all of those
who benefit, will sincerely enter into its fruits through faith hope, and love:
many of the redeemed remain as skeptics, unbelievers, haters of God disguised
as sheep, wolves in sheep’ clothes disturbing the flock. Such clever adversaries have even achieved
the highest ranks of hierarchy in The Church on earth.
David’s prayer is that such traitors be confounded, shamed,
routed (turned back), disordered (confusion), like so much dust in the wind; so
he looks to his champion, the Angel of the Lord to find and
deal with them. Such adversaries do not confront
openly, as armies do in battle; they work in secret with nets and pits, so
David asks that they would be defeated by their own treacherous plans and
inventions. The Angel
of the Lord,
our Champion is Jesus, Who appears here, before His glorious Incarnation, the Messenger
with His message, the Word with His words.
David is grateful for such redemption. Fully aware of its benefits he sincerely enters
into its fruits through faith hope, and love.
The wicked, on the other hand, arise as gainsayers: bringing secret
false charges, rewarding evil for good.
David, not discovering their true character, receives these evil
traitors at his dearest friends; he is faithful in prayer for them and their
troubles; yet, in so doing, he unknowingly heaps coals of burning fire upon
their heads (Proverbs 25:21-22; Romans 12:20-21): thus overcoming despicable evil
with good. Now, in this adversity, the
crucifixion of Christ is unveiled for us to see clearly.
David is wearied by the duration of this affliction and his
words are reminiscent of the cry, “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken me?”
(Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46)
David’s plea is met with the reality that God has seen and is
not silent. God’s last word is
resurrection, which brings life to David and to His Christ, and shame and
defeat to all His enemies. Those who
rejoice at Christ’s suffering in the crucifixion are routed and put to shame.
The faithful have only joy in Yahweh’s magnificent
righteousness, it is all they can talk about, and they speak of it endlessly in
words of glowing praise. Finally, in
Christ’s glorious ascension into heaven, and His seating on the throne of David
(Acts 2:29-33), David looks ahead to an indescribable prosperity.
No comments:
Post a Comment