... 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).
Glory be to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the
beginning, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
[A Psalm] of
David.
Judge me, Lord: for I have
walked in my integrity. I have trusted
also in the Lord. I shall not slide. Examine me, Lord, Prove
me. Try my reins and my heart: for Your
lovingkindness [is] before my eyes. I
have walked in Your truth. I have not
sat with vain persons, Nor will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers;
[I] will not sit with the
wicked. I will wash my hands in
innocence. So will I circle Your altar, Lord: so that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and count
all Your wondrous works.
Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, the place where Your
Glory dwells. Gather not my soul with
sinners, nor my life with bloody men, in whose hands [is] mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.
But as for me, I will walk in my
integrity. Redeem me, and be merciful to
me. My foot stands in an even
place. In the congregations I will bless
the Lord.[2]
[1] This
Psalm is reminiscent of the wise man who built his house upon the rock. Such righteousness is not built by works: for
David begs to be examined and tried; it rests on God’s lovingkindness and God’s
wondrous works which are found in the most holy place, the Oracle, where the Shekinah Glory of
God resides and speaks to king and priest.
It is only because God calls, heals, justifies, saves and teaches that David
is not counted as unrighteous; in this grace of redemption, David finds integrity
and stability, the ability to bless the LORD with the people of God. This process also separates David and us from
our former lifestyle and friends, even though these sins still cling to us. In lifting up the fallen world to God, we are
separated from the vanity and evil, and do not rejoin it, even though our sins
pull on us to return. In fact, we grow to
hate the fallen world and the evil and wickedness in it, as well as our own
sins. Nevertheless, by walking away from
the fallen world and all its dissembling, by walking toward God in trust and worship,
we gently and respectfully draw people to God.
David also looks forward to the work of Christ, his Greatest Son, Who is
the Shekinah
Glory of God and Who will accomplish all these things for him.
It is in the labor of loving the habitation
of Yahweh’s house that the work of evangelism is truly centered. We need to come to the place where Yahweh’s Glory
dwells to be what we are, The Church. We
need to go forth from The Church to be what we are to the fallen world, The Church,
the body of Christ, which the world can hear, see, and touch (Schmemann, Fr. Alexander). We do not need other training than sincere worship. Such a witness is what we are, not something we
can simply be taught to do. When we continue
in sincere worship throughout the week, we will be able to give the right answers
in due season (1 Peter 3:15; 2 Timothy 4:2).
We will not be gathered with sinners, but will be instruments of the Holy
Ghost, Who draw them to Jesus.
Our task is to be consistently obedient,
especially in worship.
Our task is to be consistently obedient, especially in worship.
[2] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations in Psalms,
please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.
These meditations are not controlled by Creative
Commons or other licenses, such as: copyright, CC, BY, SA, NC, or ND. They are designed and intended for your free participation. They were freely received, and are freely given. No other permission is required for their use.
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