... 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.
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
Blessed [is] he who considers the poor. The Lord will
deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive. He shall be blessed on the earth. You will not deliver him to the will of his
enemies. The Lord will strengthen him on the bed of languishing. You will make all his bed in his sickness.
I said, Lord, be
merciful to me. Heal my soul: for I have
sinned against You. My enemies speak
evil of me, “When shall he die, and his name perish?” And if he come to see [me], he speaks vanity. His
heart gathers iniquity to itself. [When] he goes abroad, he counts it. All that hate me whisper together against me.
Against me they devise my hurt. [They
say], “An evil disease clings fast to him. When he lies down he shall rise up no more.” Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I
trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up [his]
heel[2] against
me.
But, Lord, be
merciful to me, Raise me up, that I may repay them.[3] By this I know that You favor me: because my
enemy triumphs not over me. And as for
me, You uphold me in my integrity, and set me before Your face forever.
[1] David
frequently refers to himself as a poor man.
This must indicate our spiritual poverty before God, because of sin: for
David was a wealthy man in terms of this worlds goods. We do not know the occasion of David’s
sickness. He only mentions that he is
sick in bed, plagued by enemies, and looking to Yahweh as the Great Physician.
This is also a confessional and penitential Psalm; but we don’t
know the details. What we do know is
that there are enemies hovering around the bed hoping for, waiting for David to
die. He even has frenemies; this includes
a prophecy casually related to Judas.
David’s response is to pray “that I may repay
them.” Elsewhere, David explains that
this is not about vengeance, but about returning evil with good. “Love your enemies…. Do good to them who hate you…. (Matthew
5:44-45).
[2]
Genesis 3:15, the curse against Satan
[3]
Not by acts of vengeance, but by lifting up of one’s enemies to God. The act of resurrection foils all the plots
of the enemy.
[4] Psalms
is divided into five books, because it is a commentary on Torah. In Jewish literature, both Torah and the
Psalms are called “the five.” Sometimes
it is necessary to be careful about which five is referenced. This Psalm ends Book 1 with the standard
signature, “Amen. Amen.” Because both Torah and Psalms bear the same
nickname, we are tempted to look for a one-to-one correspondence, but it is
probably not there.
[5] 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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