... 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).
Psalm 143:1-12[1]
A Psalm of David.
Hear my prayer, Lord. Give ear to my
supplication. In Your faithfulness
answer me, in Your righteousness…. Enter
not in judgment with Your servant: for in Your sight shall no man living be
justified: for the enemy has persecuted my soul. He has struck down my life to the
ground. He has made me dwell in
darkness, as those who have been long dead.
Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart is desolate within me. I remember the days of old. I meditate on all Your works. I meditate on the work of Your hands. I stretch forth my hands to You. My soul [thirsts]
for You, as thirsty land. Consider.
Hear me speedily, Lord. My spirit fails. Hide not Your face from me, lest I be like
those who go down to the pit.[2] Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the
morning: for in You I trust. Cause me to
know the way where I should walk: for I lift up my soul to You. Deliver me, Lord, from my
enemies. I flee to You to hide me.
Teach me to do Your will:[3] for You [are] my God. Your spirit [is] good. Lead me to the
land of uprightness. Make me alive, Lord, for Your name’s sake. For
Your righteousness’ sake, bring my soul out of trouble. And of Your mercy cut off my enemies. Destroy all those who afflict my soul: for I
[am] Your servant.[4]
[1]
David prays in deep distress. Nowadays,
we are so concerned about being positive, that we have denied ourselves
emotions like distress: when distress comes we cannot cope, we often cannot
even pray. We are told to have nothing
to do with negative people; consequently we develop false ideas about
life. What we really need is Truth. Sometimes the Truth hurts. David is not afraid to explore the full gamut
of his emotions in his prayers. Distress
is one of them. It’s okay to feel
distress. Pray about it. David is not suffering from delusional
paranoia; there really was a madman chasing him around in the wilderness,
trying to kill him: some days the fatigue and fear got to him. Perhaps this is the day that he longed for a
drink from the well of Bethlehem (2 Samuel 23:13-17), which is associated with
David’s dying prayers (2 Samuel 23:1-7), which would explain why these Psalms,
that seem to be out of place, are located here.
David is failing, and as he faces death, he continues to look
for God’s deliverance. He does not want
to die like those who are simply thrown in the grave. David knows that there is more than the
grave; he longs and prays to find his hiding place in God, looking at God’s
face.
David is realistically humble; he knows that none of the good
things of life come from the self. He
can never be so smart, so strong, so wise that he doesn’t need God’s incessant
teaching, God’s unfailing leadership.
Today that leadership is promised in the gift of the Holy Ghost, Who is
freely given to all who ask in sincerity and truth. David sees a new land, “the
land of uprightness,” a place where he is no longer hunted like an animal, is
he looking to heaven? He sees a new
life, is he thinking of the resurrection from the dead? He seeks a place without trouble, without
enemies, without affliction, is he putting his hope in God’s eternal Sabbath
rest? Because David is God’s servant, he
finds all these things in God’s righteousness.
[2] A
whole essay could be written about the many Bible passages, which show that
Jesus Christ did descend into Hell, “trampling down death by death, and bestowing
life on those in the tombs.” As historic
fact there was a partial bodily resurrection immediately after the time of
Jesus’ death and resurrection (Matthew 27:52-53).
The icon “Descent into Hell” is one representation of this
Biblical truth (http://orthodoxwiki.org/Resurrection.
[3]
For David, this is a plea to be directly instructed by God in obedience to
Torah. David understood that such
obedience was the gracious gift of Yahweh, to be received in works of faith,
hope, and love.
[4] 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
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