... 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 [or] Song for the Sabbath day.
[It
is] good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing
praises to Your name, Most High, to show forth Your lovingkindness in the
morning, and Your faithfulness every night, on an instrument of ten strings,
and on the psaltery; on the harp with a solemn sound: for You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work. I will triumph in the works of Your hands.
Lord, how great are Your works!
Your thoughts are very deep. A
brutish man knows not; Nor understands a fool.
When the wicked sprout like grass.
When all the workers of iniquity flourish: so that they shall be
destroyed forever. But You, Lord, [are most] high forever:
for, lo, Your enemies, Lord, for, lo, Your enemies shall
perish. All the workers of iniquity
shall be scattered.
But my horn[2] shall You
exalt like a monarch.[3] I shall be Christened with fresh oil. My eye also shall see [my desire] on my enemies. My
ears shall hear [my desire] on the
wicked, who rise up against me.
The righteous shall flourish like the palm
tree. He shall grow like a cedar in
Lebanon. Those who are planted in the
house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old
age. They shall be fat[4] and
flourishing: to show that the Lord [is] upright. [He is]
my rock, and [there is] no
unrighteousness in Him. [5]
[1]This
Psalm is prophetic ballad exalting the king for His lovingkindness as displayed
in His kingly works. In this case, the
king being exalted is Jesus; His kingdom is The Church. Jesus is the One Who brings the Sabbath, or
Rest, of and from God the Father. This
is considered to be a Psalm of the Incarnation.
Chief among Yahweh’s works, are His thoughts, which is a
direct reference to God’ Law, the container of God’s expressed thoughts. It is chiefly the Law that communicates the lovingkindness
of God. However, the Law also
distinguishes those who cry for mercy from those who do not…. In the latter case, the Law condemns the foolish
and wicked, bringing about their everlasting destruction and dispersion. How ironic then that God should need to
punish His people in diaspora (dispersion).
King Jesus is seen as rising above the defeat of Israel in 722
BC and the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC to be exalted as King of the
Universe.
The reference to flourishing growth calls to mind the majesty of
His Incarnation, and the ongoing growth of His Church. In a very real sense the growth of The Church
is a direct extension of Christ’s Incarnation.
“God became flesh, so than man could become god.” As each new believer is baptized by the Holy
Ghost, he or she is joined organically to Jesus, forming His body as living
stones being “built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus
Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20-22).” As Jesus flourishes in our hearts, even so we
flourish, living fruitful and productive lives in old age. The result is a growing, immovable, and
indestructible kingdom (Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45).
[2] In
the poetry of Scripture, kingdoms are often described as animals; the kings of
those kingdoms as horns. Perhaps, there
are two reasons for this: 1. the horns are lifted up or exalted as a king is
exalted; 2. the horns are used to fight, and one of a king's jobs is to fight
for his people. A unicorn is a kingdom
with only one horn.
Horns are symbols of power and majesty. They are symbols, not signs: a sign has no
power. A horn can actually be employed
as a weapon, and thus display power: hence, it is a symbol of power. Horns make an animal stand out above his
fellows in beauty, and thus display beauty and majesty: hence, it is a symbol
of majesty. We commonly note, “Look at
that majestic twelve point buck.” This
is a symbol to us, but by these horns, the buck rules the forest, and dominates
the herd. When we attempt to see Jesus,
do we truly see power and majesty?
[3]
Literally, “like a unicorn”, Jesus Christ, together with the
lesser kings of Judea, are like monarchs, but they are not monarchs, and Judea
is not a monarchy. Both Judea and its
continuing kingdom, The Church, are Theocracies. Judea and The Church both have one king, but
He is a Shepherd King, not an autocrat.
The Shepherd King always rules in the fear of God the Father, hence it
is not possible for Him to be a monarch.
In 586 BC Judea ceased to be a Theocracy. In 33 AD The Church was instituted as a
Theocracy, when her first and only King, Jesus Christ was seated on the throne
of David, by His resurrection from the dead, and proclaimed by the coming of
the Holy Ghost at Pentecost. If Jesus
cannot ever be a monarch, then neither can popes, hierarchs, magistrates, or
human kings ever be monarchs. We would
do well to remember this if we are ever elevated to any office. Offices are places of humiliation and servitude,
they merely appear to be places of rule.
The true officer must see himself as descending to serve in the fear of
God, and not as ascending to reign without God.
[4]
Fat is not fleshly fatness, but rather the certainty of the fullness of the
Holy Ghost.
[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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