... 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.
Psalm 28:1-9[1]
[A Psalm] of
David.
To You I will cry, O Lord my rock. Be not silent to
me. Lest, [if] You are silent to
me, I become like those who go down to the pit.[2] Hear the voice of my supplications, when I
cry to You, when I lift up my hands to Your holy oracle.
Draw me not away with the wicked, with the
workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief [is] in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds, according
to the wickedness of their endeavors. Give
them after the work of their hands. Render
to them their desert, because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of His hands. He shall destroy them, and not build them up.
Blessed [be] the Lord, because He has heard the voice
of my supplications. The Lord [is] my strength and my
shield. My heart trusted in Him, I am
helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song I will praise Him.
The Lord [is] their strength, He [is] the saving strength of His Christ. Save Your people. Bless Your inheritance. Feed them also. Lift them up forever.[3]
[1]
David spills out his prayer in a torrent.
There was considerable temptation to group it in one paragraph: because
one thought rushes onward to the next.
The “Oracle” is the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy place in the
tabernacle and temple of the Israelites.
It is the place where the Ark of the Covenant, the Throne of God, is
kept, it is God’s special residence, the place where the Glory of God sits,
from which He speaks, and where He hears and judges petitions: it was active
among the Israelites for eight hundred sixty years, it is very likely the place
where Samuel slept.
David is painfully aware that it is this presence of The
Living God that separates him from wicked men and not his own behavior.
The entire security of David and his kingdom rests on this
visible Flaming-Smoking Presence of God, the Shekinah: nothing
else. Israel is a tiny country, which
could have been easily overrun by truly powerful empires, like Egypt to the
south; or Syria, Assyria, and Babylonia from the north. Israel exists as a nation for eight hundred
sixty years, for one, and only one reason; the Glory of God, Who calls Himself
God and Jehovah, dwells among them, speaks to them, and listens to them from
the Oracle. There was, at that time, one
place on earth, where the Ubiquity allowed Himself to be seen and heard by
men. Of course, the infinite,
omnipresent God cannot live in a small manmade room: but the living picture was
always there to remind the Israelites that God rules the Universe, God is the
only reason that they exist, the only reason we exist. The fact that God speaks and listens, is
central to this Psalm and all the Psalms.
He hears our prayers and answers.
[2]
David speaks of inspired conversation with Yahweh, as heavenly life; which in
contrast to its absence is like Hell itself.
If God won’t talk to David, he may as well be in the Lake of Fire (the
pit). See Psalm 30:3. Our lives today consist of the Holy Ghost’s
ministry to us (Romans 8:1-17).
[3] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations,
please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish. No rights are reserved. 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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