Psalm 69:1-36

... 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 69:1-36[1]

To the chief Musician on Shoshannim, [A Psalm] of David.

Save me, O God: for the waters are come in to [my] soul.  I sink in deep mire, where [there is] no standing.  I am come to deep waters, where the floods overflow me.  I am weary of my crying.  My throat is parched.  My eyes fail, while I wait for my God.

Those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head.  Those who would destroy me, my wrongful enemies, are mighty.  Then I restored, what I took not away.

O God, You know my foolishness.  My sins are not hid from You.  O Lord God of hosts, let not those who wait on You be ashamed for my sake.  Let not those who seek You be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel: because, I have borne reproach for Your sake.  Shame has covered my face.  I am become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s children: for the zeal of Your house has eaten Me up.[2]  The reproaches of those who reproached You are fallen on Me.

When I wept, [and punished] my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.  I made sackcloth also my garment.  I became a proverb to them.  Those who sit in the gate speak against me.  I [was] the song of the drunkards.

But as for me, my prayer [is] to You, Lord, [in] an acceptable time.  O God, in the fullness of Your mercy hear me, in the truth of Your salvation.  Deliver me from the mire.  Let me not sink.  Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and from the deep waters.  Let not the floodwaters overflow me.  Nor let the deep swallow me up.  Let not the pit shut her mouth on me.  Hear me, Lord: for Your lovingkindness [is] good.  Turn to me according to the fullness of Your tender mercies.  Hide not Your face from Your servant: for I am in trouble.  Hear me speedily.  Draw near to my soul.  Redeem it.  Deliver me because of my enemies.

You have known my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor.  My adversaries [are] all before You.  Reproach has broken my heart.  I am full of heaviness.  I looked [for some] to take pity, but [there was] no one; and for comforters, but I found no one.  They gave Me also gall[3] for My food.  In My thirst they gave Me vinegar[4] to drink.

Let their table become a snare before them.  [Let that which should have been] for [their] welfare, [become] a trap.  Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not.  Make their loins continually shake.  Pour out Your indignation on them.  Let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.  Let their dwelling be desolate.  Let no one dwell in their tents: for they persecute [Him] Whom You have struck.  They talk to the grief of those whom You have wounded.  Add iniquity to their iniquity.  Let them not come to Your righteousness.  Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.

But I [am] poor and sorrowful.  Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.  I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.  [This] also shall please the Lord better than an ox [or] bull that has horns and hoofs.

The humble shall see, [and] be glad.  Your heart shall live that seek God: for the Lord hears the poor, and despises not His prisoners.

Let the heaven and earth praise Him, the seas, and everything that moves in them: for God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah.  That they may dwell there, and have it in possession.  The seed also of His servants shall inherit it.  Those who love His name shall dwell in them.[5]

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[1] Psalm 69 is a prophetic Psalm for Holy Week.

The introductory plea fits best against the crucifixion, which causes asphyxiation not unlike drowning.  The screams of pain result in a hoarse and parched throat, followed by delirium.

The multitude demanding crucifixion is large.  Jesus gives life to the ungrateful multitude: the very thing they stole from Him; the very thing He never took from anyone.  Jesus is innocent of the inevitable deaths of mankind.

“The foolishness of God is wiser than men (1 Corinthians 1:18-25).”  It seems foolish to us that Jesus, the sinless lamb should take up and carry our sins for us, which Jesus did for the Father’s sake.  It seems foolish to us that Jesus, the spotless lamb should be alienated from the house of Israel because of this.  The flashback to the temple cleansing shows the reason for the Crucifixion (John 2:17).

David prophesies the mocking of Christ, which David describes as a drunken brawl.  It is not surprising that even tough Roman soldiers would have to get “liquored up” to face something as gory as a crucifixion.

David sees Jesus looking to the Father.  Prayer is Jesus’ constant companionship with the Father.  The acceptable time is throughout His life, but especially in Gethsemane and on the cross.

Jesus has a ruptured heart, death approaches swiftly.

David applies the results of Christ’s Passover and Crucifixion to unrepentant Israelites.  As Christ’s eyes failed, loins shook, He suffered indignation; even so, the unrepentant will face blindness, trembling, indignation … and blotting out of the book of life.

The purpose of bloody sacrifice has ended.  With the dawn of the Resurrection from the dead comes only joy, praise, and thanksgiving.

What the Israelites rejected will be seen by all the poor of the earth.

This is a Cosmic event.  The entire Universe praises God with the Resurrection, Ascension, and Enthronement of Jesus on the throne of David (Acts 2:30-31; Revelation 4).  While this is a heavenly event, there is a hint left that the Israelites and Jews will one day repent as well (Romans 10-11).  Nevertheless, the seed is Christianity.

[2] This relates to the temple cleansing reported in Matthew 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-48; and John 2:3-17.  The difference in time between the Psalm, the synoptic Gospels, and John is more apparent than real.  The purpose of the temple cleansing is to show that the cleansing of God will come as a result of Jesus death, and resurrection; this cleansing will also bring healing to all who believe in Christ.  The Psalm is written from the perspective of the Crucifixion, and flashes back to the temple cleansing to disclose the purpose of the Crucifixion.  The synoptic Gospels present the historical perspective.  John is focused on Holy Week: half of John’s Gospel is devoted to the upper room discourse.  John wishes to provide details of the meaning of the Crucifixion events beginning with Palm Sunday, so the historic sequence is identical to the synoptic Gospels.  John’s theme is the free life brought about by the work of Christ in bringing lives of freedom from sin by His death on the cross and by His resurrection (John 8:36; 10:10; 20:31).  John 2:17 is one of John’s thematic statements.  The seeming historic narrative of John, consists of flashbacks and logical insertions that develop and illustrate John’s theme of free life in Christ.  The opposing theme is remaining in the slavery of sin.

[3] Possibly simply bitter herbs such as those eaten at Passover, the opposite taste of vinegar.  Or equally possible, an opiate or poison (hemlock or wormwood) intended to lessen pain.  If to hasten death, because of the Passover; but postponing death was the more usual point of the crucifixion spectacle.  The Roman’s did this for its public display and entertainment value.

[4] Vinegar, possibly alcoholic vinegar, to quench the thirst, allowing load groans and screams to continue.  If the victim fell silent the spectacle would be over: the twofold objective of entertaining the crowd, while at the same time warning them of the fruit of crime against Rome would be over.

[5] 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.

Psalm 91:1-16

... 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 91:1-16[1]

He who dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God.  I will trust in Him.”

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, from the noisome pestilence.  He shall cover you with His feathers.  You shall trust under His wings.  His truth [is your] shield and buckler.  You shall not be afraid for the terror by night; [nor] for the arrow [that] flies by day;[2] [nor] for the pestilence [that] stalks in darkness; [nor] for the destruction [that] wastes at noonday.  A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand.  It shall not come near you.  Only with your eyes shall you behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Because you have made the Lord, my refuge, the most High, your dwelling.  There shall no evil befall You.  Nor shall any plague come near Your dwelling: For He shall give His angels charge over You, to keep You in all Your ways.  They shall bear You up in [their] hands, lest You dash Your foot against a stone.  You shall tread on the lion and adder.  The young lion and the dragon You shall trample underfoot.

Because He has set His love on Me.  Therefore, I will deliver Him.  I will set Him on high, because He has known My name.  He shall call on Me.  I will answer Him.  I [will be] with Him in trouble.  I will deliver Him, and honor Him.  I will satisfy Him with long life, and show Him My salvation.[3]

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[1] This Psalm is frequently cited as the guarantee of a Christian’s survival in combat, which is not what this Psalm teaches at all.  This Psalm is exclusively prophetic of The Temptation of Christ in Matthew 4:6; 4:11 and records details of intimate conversation between Jesus Christ and the Father.  The lengthy title itself indicates what applications may be made for those who are in Christ.  “He who dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty,” whether in life or in death.  Millions of martyrs, especially the Crucifixion of Christ, testify that Christianity is no amulet or talisman to ward off death.  On the contrary, becoming a Christian is a guarantee of persecution and death.  What this Psalm promises is life in resurrection, and no other.

Jesus salutes His Father, Yahweh, in much the same way as champions or gladiators addressed their king before combat.  “We who are about to die, salute you.”  “My refuge and my fortress, my God.  I will trust in Him.”

The next paragraph shows why Jesus, and we in Him, should set aside fear in battle.  Jesus finds His all sufficient protection in Yahweh’s most holy place in heaven, where the ever attendant Cherubim and Seraphim conduct Him through death to the resurrection.  It is not in battle where we are secure, but under His wings, covered with angelic feathers.  Only Jesus is truly invincible, “trampling down death by death.”

Now that the principle of resurrection is established the specific application to Jesus’ battle with Satan is spelled out in greater detail.  “He shall give His angels charge over You….”  Satan is to be defeated, “trampled underfoot.”

In the closing address, Yahweh the Father addresses, Jesus, God the Son.  The Crucifixion and Resurrection are the final battle.  We live in the aftermath of victory.  He is risen!  The Holy Ghost leads us in the mop-up operation, as we look to the glorious consummation proclamation.  He has returned!

[2] Very possibly a reference to the death of Ahab foretold in 1 Kings 22 (see especially verse 34).  The idea would be that Jesus would not be judged as wicked Ahab was judged, by a randomly launched arrow.  It does not indicate that Jesus would not die at the deliberately launched plot of the wicked Jews and Romans.

[3] 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.

Mark 9:17-31

... 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.

Mark 9:17-31

And one of the multitude answered and said, “Master, I have brought my son to you: for he has a dumb spirit.  Wherever[1] [the spirit] seizes him and tears him, he foams, gnashes with his teeth, and passes out.  I asked your disciples to cast out [the spirit]; but they could not….”

He answers him, and says, “O faithless[2] generation, How long shall I be with you?  How long shall I suffer you?  Bring him to me.”

They brought [the boy] to [Jesus]; as soon as He saw him[3], immediately the spirit tore him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.  So, [Jesus] asked his father, “How long ago is it since this [first] came to him?”  And he said, “Since childhood.  Often it has cast him into the fire, and into the water, to destroy him: but if you can[4] do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.”

Jesus said to him, “If you can[5] believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”[6]

Immediately the child’s father cried out, and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”

When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying to him, “You dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter into him no more.  And the spirit cried, rent him violently, came out of him, and he was [left] as one dead: insomuch that many said, “He is dead!”  But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.

Later, when He came to the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could not we cast him out?”[7]

He said to them, “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.”[8]

And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and He would not that any man should know it: for He taught His disciples, and said to them, “The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him; and after He is killed, He shall rise the third day.”[9]

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[1] Wherever in preference to whenever, because where he fell when he passed out was of critical importance.

[2] Vocative: the crux of the problem is directed to the father, who is told that he is a member of a generation that has no faith.  This may be also obliquely directed at the disciples, who may be members of the same faithless generation.

[3] The antecedents are unclear.  Whether Jesus saw the boy or whether the boy, and hence the demon, saw Jesus is not a grave difficulty.  The incident is illustrative, so its present cause and timing is incidental to the point of the pending miracle, which is about faith, not about the demon’s particular current activity.

[4] If: the father, lacking faith does not understand the problem; he thinks he has come to a great spiritual healer, who can magically make his child well.  The father does not realize that he has come to God, Who alone is able to heal, and had he come to God sooner, he might not have endured such enduring agony.  Such is the nature of prayer: God expects us to pray; prayer is the signal indication of our genuine faith.

[5] If: a powerful play on words; the issue is not whether Jesus is able to heal; but does the father have enough faith to bother with prayer?

[6] The father does not believe.  Had he believed he would not have waited until now to bring his concern to God in prayer.

[7] Even the disciples have come to believe that this is some sort of magical power that resided with them.  They did not understand the gift of God.

[8] Jesus’ lesson is about faith.  Our society wants to make faith into something we conjure up: faith in faith.  You are not healed because your faith is not strong enough.  That almost looks like the point Jesus makes.  However, faith is not some magical talisman, a rabbit’s foot or genie’s lamp we can rub, whenever we don’t have what we think we want.  Faith involves real substance and real evidence (Hebrews 11:1-3).  What is lacking in this picture of faith is evidence and substance.  No sooner has the father asked for help that Jesus criticizes him and the generation around him for their lack of faith.

In Jewish society that would involve temple attendance three times a year, regular synagogue worship, the morning and evening prayers, fasting twice a week.  It is not that these things were to be done in drudgery, as the Pharisees did them: by regulation.  These things were the privileges of being a Jew, the response of gratitude, offered up in joy and love.  Such joy and love expressed in free and willing worship was intended to lift up the entire world to God, calling all to repentance and faith.

This incident indicates that few of this generation including the disciples and the father knew much about God’s spiritual relationship with them.  When the disciples ask, they learn that their faith is lacking in fasting and prayer.  The Jews were supposed to be experts at fasting and prayer, yet there is little evidence that they knew much about either: “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.”  We recall that on another occasion, the disciples had to ask Jesus how to pray (Luke 11:1).  They were anything but experts on the subject: prayer is something that priests and Pharisees do.

Jesus answer seems harsh until we realize that the Old Testament is packed full of lessons in prayer, fasting, and how to worship the Living God.  Neither the father nor the disciples had remembered why they were Jews.  Because of this, the disciples were sent out to them as “the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:6).”  The problem is that this generation wanted faith without putting any sweat into it, a sort of faith without works.  It just doesn’t work that way.

[9] We might ask, What does this have to do with the previous lesson.  Jesus uses the previous lesson as a teaching opportunity.  The defeat of Satan is accomplished by the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ.  No amount of faith or works can measure up to these great accomplishments.  Our task as faithful disciples is to publish these great accomplishments by our joyous and loving worship.  That is the beginning and the ending of my Christian life in Christ.  This defines me as a person.  I am a baptized Christian, a member of the body of Christ; as a member of His body, I naturally participate in it.  That is what faith is and does.  Faith fasts and prays.  Faith enters into spiritual warfare.

Psalm 38:1-22

... 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 38:1-22[1]

[A Psalm] of David, to bring to remembrance.

Lord, rebuke me not in Your fury; nor punish me in Your hot displeasure: for Your arrows stick fast in me, Your hand presses me sore.

 [There is] no soundness in my flesh,[2] because of Your anger.  Nor [is there any] rest in my bones, because of my sin: ⁴ for my iniquities are gone over my head; as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.  ⁵ My wounds stink [and] are corrupt, because of my foolishness.

I am troubled.  I am bowed down greatly.  I go mourning all the day: ⁷ for my loins are filled with a loathsome [disease].

[There is] no soundness in my flesh.²  I am feeble and sore broken.  I have roared by reason of the restlessness of my heart.

Lord, all my desire [is] before You.  My groaning is not hid from You.  My heart pants, My strength fails me.  As for the light of my eyes, it also is gone from me.  My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore.  My family stands at a distance.  They also that seek after my life lay snares [for me].  Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day: but I, as a deaf [man], heard not.  [I was] as a dumb man [that] opens not his mouth.  Thus I was as a man who hears not, and in whose mouth [are] no replies.

For[3] in You, Lord, I hope.  You will hear, O Lord my God.  For I said, “[Hear me], lest [otherwise] they should rejoice over me.  When my foot slips, they magnify [themselves] against me.”  For I [am] ready to stumble, My sorrow is continually before me.  For I will declare my iniquity.  I will be sorry for my sin.

But my enemies [are] lively, They are strong.  Those who hate me wrongfully are multiplied.  They also that render evil for good are my adversaries: because I follow good.

Forsake me not, Lord.  O my God, be not far from me.  Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.

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[1] The Psalm of Christ’s trials, and tortures, the Psalm of the Via Dolorosa.  We do not know what sufferings occasioned this Psalm of David.  Maybe it was occasioned by the death of Uzzah (2 Samuel 6:6-11).  Perhaps this was when David was nearly killed by the Philistines (2 Samuel 21:15-17).  Possibly it remembers the time when David ordered a census which was forbidden by the Law (2 Samuel 24).  David was very sensitive to his responsibilities as the prototypical Shepherd of Israel: and one of these failures could have made him violently ill.  Or it could be something else unknown to us: such as the pains of old age (1 Kings 1:1) which are like extreme sickness and death.

Extreme sickness brings back many memories of prior foolishness that may be the cause.  Since all of us have regrets in life, there is no shortage of suspected causes: many real, and some imaginary.  Sickness distorts reason.  Confessed and absolved sins return to haunt.  Regrets for the victims of ones sins are remembered, because one is uncertain that they have recovered, and forgive.

David is cast into a state of mourning, as if he anticipates his own death, or caused the death of another.

David remembers his absolute dependence on God, Who he addresses in humility, Adonai.  He prefigures the silence of the Crucifixion.  His groanings are public.  His eyes cease to see.  His friends and family have deserted Him.  The remaining witnesses are His enemies.  The Jews plot with Pilate to seal the tomb and hide the murder: if the seal fails, they plan to claim that the disciples stole the body (Matthew 27:62-66).  He can no longer hear or speak.  God has spoken His final answer.

David’s thoughts are only that Yahweh will Glorify Himself in victory.

Alas, the wicked are very strong, corrupt, and numerous.  In the end of days, how can it be possible to see victory?  Will there be “faith on the earth” (Luke 18:8)?

The only answer is, “Forsake me not, Lord.  O my God, be not far from me.  Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.”

[2] Two places, this is an important motif in understanding the Psalm.

[3] We ordinarily treat the word, for, as explanatory.  Here is repeats four times in a row, so we separated it in its own paragraph until further investigation can be made in Hebrew (Aramaic) and Greek.

Psalm 22:1-31

... 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 22:1-31[1]

To the Chief Musician on Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?  [Why are You so] far from helping Me, [and from] the words of My roaring?  O My God, I cry in the day time, but You hear not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

But You [are] holy, Who inhabits the praises of Israel.  Our fathers trusted in You.  They trusted, and You delivered them.  They cried to You, and were delivered.  They trusted in You, and were not confounded.

But I [am] a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.  All those who see Me laugh Me to scorn.  They shoot out the lip, They shake the head, [saying], “He trusted on the Lord [that] He would deliver him.  Let Him deliver him, seeing he delighted in Him.”

But You [are] He Who took Me from the womb.  You made Me hope on My mother’s breasts.  I was cast on You from the womb.  You [are] My God from My mother’s belly.

Be not far from Me: for trouble [is] near, for [there is] no one to help.  Many bulls have circled Me.  Strong [bulls] of Bashan have surrounded Me.  They gaped at Me [with] their mouths, [as] a ravening and a roaring lion.

I am poured out like water, All My bones are out of joint.  My heart is like wax.  It is melted in the heart of My bowels.  My strength is dried up like a potsherd.  My tongue clings to My jaws.  You have brought Me to the dust of death.

Dogs circled Me.  The assembly of the wicked enclosed Me.  They pierced My hands and My feet; I may count all My bones.  They[2] look [and] stare at Me.  They part My garments among them, and cast lots for My vesture.

But be not far from Me, Lord.  My Strength, hasten to help Me.  Deliver My soul from the sword; My darling from the power of the dog.  Save Me from the lion’s mouth.  You have heard Me from the horns of the monarchs.[3]

I will declare Your name to My brothers.  In the middle of the congregation I will praise You.  You who fear the Lord, praise Him.  All you the seed of Jacob, glorify Him.  Fear Him, all you the seed of Israel: for He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted.  Nor has He hid His face from him.  But when he cried to Him, He heard.

My praise [shall be] of You in the great congregation.  I will pay my vows before those who fear Him.  The meek shall eat and be satisfied.  They shall praise the Lord that seek Him.  Your heart shall live forever.  All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord.  All the tribes of the nations shall worship before You: for the kingdom [is] the Lord’s.  He [is] the governor among the nations.

All [those who are] fat on earth shall eat and worship.  All those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him.  No one can keep alive his own soul.  A seed shall serve Him.  It shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.  They shall come, and shall declare His righteousness to a people that shall be born, that He has done [this].

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[1] The Psalm of the Crucifixion, a Victory Hymn

Matthew 27:46, the cry of the ninth hour, around three pm.

God is holy, He casts down all idolatry and sin, for which Jesus is being crucified.  Jesus looks to, and trusts in, this deliverance.

Jesus describes His appearance in the eyes of the people.  These are Israelites and Jews behaving like pagans.  They reproach, despise, laugh, and mock.  Nevertheless, Yahweh, the Father will deliver Him.

He considers God’s parental care for Him since His incarnation.

He prays for God to be near because he is surrounded by a frenzied and insane mob, so wild in their behavior that they act like wild raging bulls and hungry roaring lions.

He considers His physical condition as death approaches.  There is nothing left: life is poured out, melted, dried up, on the brink of returning to dust.

They are like a dog pack.  They close Him in.  They howl over the nails that have ruptured His hands and feet; his bones stick out.  They stare and gloat; they tear and gamble to share His clothing.

He prays again for God to be near, and for deliverance: from the sword (soldiers), dogs, lion, rulers.

I approaching death, He proclaims victory.  The cross is not the defeat of Christ; it is His conquest over Satan.  God delivers from death, “trampling down death by death.”

He proclaims that this Gospel will rule the world and bring the kingdom to all people, everywhere.

He proclaims that “every knee shall bow” before Him (Philippians 2:9-11).

[2] The antecedents are not His bones, which look and stare.  “The assembly of the wicked enclosed, pierced, look and stare, part, and cast lots.”  It is an absurdity to suggest that His bones part and cast lots.  Both sentences have the same antecedent.

[3] Literally, unicorns.  There is no animal, a unicorn.  In the Bible, unicorn indicates a monocratic kingdom.  Here Herod and Pilate are indicated, and possibly Caesar.

Psalm 34:1-22

... 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 34:1-22[1]

[A Psalm] of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.

I will bless the Lord at all times.  His praise [shall] continually [be] in my mouth.  My soul shall make her boast in the Lord.  The humble shall hear, and be glad.  Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.

I sought the Lord, He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.  They looked to Him, and were illumined.  Their faces were not ashamed.  This poor man cried, and the Lord heard, and saved him from all his troubles.  The Angel of the Lord camps around those who fear Him, and delivers them.  Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Blessed [is] the man [that] trusts in Him.  Fear the Lord, His saints: for [there is] no want to those who fear Him.  The young lions lack, and suffer hunger.  But those who seek the Lord shall not want any good.

Come, children, listen to me.  I will teach you the fear of the Lord.  What man desires life, [and] loves days, so that he may see good?  Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile.  Depart from evil, and do good.  Seek peace, and pursue it.

The eyes of the Lord [are] on the righteous, and His ears [are open] to their cry.  The face of the Lord [is] against those who do evil, to cut off their remembrance from the earth.  Cry, and the Lord hears, and delivers them from all their troubles.  The Lord [is] near those who are of a broken heart; and saves such as are of a contrite spirit.

Many [are] the afflictions of the righteous.  The Lord delivers him from them all.  He keeps all His bones.  Not one of them is broken.  Evil shall slay the wicked.  Those who hate the righteous shall be desolate.  The Lord redeems the soul of His servants.  None of those who trust in Him shall be desolate.

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[1] David tried to find an alliance with Abimelech on two different occasions (1 Samuel 21; 27).  Abimelech means father-king: his name was Achish, who was king of Gath.  Why Gath?  Possibly because the Ark of the Covenant was there.  David’s prayers are consumed with the Presence of God’s Glory, Which is most frequently associated with the Ark of the Covenant.  In spite of the fact that God is ubiquitous, in teaching the Israelites about Himself, God proclaims Himself in local Glory, as a Person, a King above all Kings; Who like other kings, displays His dignity by riding around on His portable throne, His sedan chair, the Ark.  So we suspect that the Ark had not yet been sent to Ekron.  In any case David was afraid of Achish; but Achish was also afraid of David and David’s God.

The following prayer seems strange in this location.  David’s invitation extends far beyond the circumference of his little band of fierce soldiers.  This is the prayer of The Church that in lifting up praise to Yahweh, invites the whole world to join in worship together.  This invitation is especially extended to the humble of the world, who are able to listen: but not to the proud, who are made deaf by their pride.  Is David calling Achish and the Philistines to faith?  Eventually, many Philistines will follow David in faith.

David attributes his deliverance, not to his feigning madness, but to Yahweh.  “The Angel of the Lord” is an alternative name for the Person, Who rides on the Ark, the pre-incarnate Christ.  Hence, David sees “The Angel of the Lord” as the “bread of heaven” Who satisfies every human hunger and need.  Man’s need is not food, but a good taste of God.  Is this a message for Achish?

Whoever David addresses, he now likens to children, the children of God.  He has three simple lessons for them.  Lesson one.  Love God’s Law, seek and do it.

Lesson two.  God hears the prayer of those who are broken and contrite: for He sees them as being clothed with righteousness, while evil doers are cut off.

Lesson three.  The humbled, righteous servants of God are always under affliction: this is the believer’s way of life.  Nevertheless, it is these afflicted servants of God, these believers, who will never be desolate; rather, their lives will be filled with a strange joy which seems out of touch with the reality of their afflictions.  David hides a prophecy in the middle of this lesson.  The New Testament informs us that the absence of broken bones applies specifically to the crucifixion of Christ (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; John 19:36).  This is the central message of the call to the humble everywhere in the world, to come and worship.