... 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 on Muthlabben, A Psalm of David.
I will praise [You], Lord, with my whole heart. I will
show forth all Your marvelous works. I
will be glad and rejoice in You. I will
sing praise to Your name, O most High.
When my enemies are turned back, they shall
fall and perish at Your Presence: for You have maintained my right and my cause. You sat on the throne judging right. You have rebuked the heathen. You have destroyed the wicked. You have put out their name forever and ever.
O enemy, destructions are come to a
perpetual end. You have destroyed
cities. Their memorial is perished with
them: but the Lord shall endure forever. He has
prepared His throne for judgment. He
shall judge the world in righteousness. He
shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. The Lord also will
be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know Your name will put their trust
in You: for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.
Sing praises to the Lord, Who dwells in Zion. Declare
among the people His doings. When He makes
inquisition for blood,[2] He remembers
them. He forgets not the cry of the
humble.
Have mercy on me, Lord. Consider my trouble from those
who hate me. You lift me up from the
gates of death: so that I may show forth all Your praise in the gates of
daughter Zion. I will rejoice in Your
salvation.
The heathen are sunk down in the pit they
made. In the net,[3] which
they hid, is their own foot taken. The Lord is known [by] the
judgment He executes. The wicked is
snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Consider.
The wicked shall be turned to hell, all the nations that forget God: for
the needy shall not always be forgotten.
The expectation of the poor shall [not]
perish forever.
Arise, Lord. Let not man prevail. Let the heathen be judged in Your sight. Put them in fear, Lord: [so that] the nations
may know themselves [to be but] men. Consider.[4]
[1] Muthlabben:
an unidentified word. It may mean white
(laben) death (muth) or things of (muthlab???) a son (ben). The Psalm may focus on David’s grief over the
death of Bathsheba’s child, or over Absalom’s death. David lost four sons as punishments for the
murder of Uriah, and his enemies may have used any or all of these tragedies as
occasions to rise up against David. Note
that these deaths are not punishments for the children: they are punishments
only for David. As soon as David knows
of the death of Bathsheba’s child he stops mourning, because he knows that the
child is at peace with God. When Absalom
dies, David continues in mourning, probably because he known what judgment
Absalom deserves. All of this is
prophetic of the enemies of Christ, of Judas and the rest, almost all of whom
were from Judah, Israel, and the Hagarenes.
Christ’s enemies have stormed and invaded our churches.
This does not follow the ordinary format for Psalms of Praise,
which usually begin and end with the phrase. “Praise the Lord.” Nevertheless, this is a
Psalm of Praise, but not exclusively so.
This is also a Psalm of spiritual
warfare. It is not David’s military
prowess that leads to victory: for, “they shall fall and perish at Your Presence.” We suspect that David refers to defeat of the
Satanic and demonic forces that motivate his visible enemies. Among men, the spiritual and the physical are
mixed together, since Eden. Every breath
we draw in some way or other is involved in spiritual warfare: it is built into
the warp and woof of our character, we cannot escape it. It is inevitable in this war that we find
ourselves on one side or the other: there is no middle ground; there is only
Victorious Christ or vanquished Satan.
Whose side are we on? It is the
Presence of Yahweh, the Shekinah alone that brings victory. ΙΣ ΧΣ ΝΙΚΑ.
The termination of Satan’s “destructions” among men is in
sight. Satan’s minuscule power is contrasted
to Yahweh’s infinite power. All the
world will be judged by Yahweh. Those who
have trusted in Yahweh will find their refuge in this judgment.
David exhorts the congregation to sing praises. The theme of praise is built on the judgment
of Satan and all his works. Those who
have trusted in Yahweh will find themselves singing with choirs of angels.
Yahweh’s usual means of defeat is to lead the wicked into
their own pit, into their own net.
Yahweh’s judgment is always perfectly fair, His punishments never cruel or
unusual. Those who cling to demons will
keep company with demons. The needy will
find themselves unexpectedly lifted up.
David’s concluding prayer, is a hearty, Amen, Amen, Amen, to the
justice and judgment of God. More than
that, David prays for the humiliation of men; this is a prayer for their
repentance and salvation. Yahweh’s
standard of justice and judgment is always mercy.
[2] Inquisition
for blood: the search for murderers, haters of the Decalogue, the Law of God. Inquisition for blood, my enemies, the
heathen, the wicked all designate the same group of people: these are not
people far off who have never heard the Gospel.
David’s principle enemies were Jews, Israelites, and Hagarenes: close
cousins who grew up with the Gospel, and yet despised it. Today, God’s principal enemies do not all
come from outside of churches or Christian societies. Someone has sowed tares with the wheat.
[3]
The retiarius cannot possibly represent the origins of net fighting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retiarius. Relatively little is known about nets as
weapons: probably because they are overlooked, thought to be inferior or
effeminate, not even thought of as weapons.
The Roman retiarius is obviously patterned after a fishing model, as he
is equipped with a trident, rather than a spear. However, nets were also used for hunting as
an aggressive weapon that was cast over the prey, as a lining for traps, as a
foot snare hidden on the ground, as a device for scaling walls, and as an
instrument of restraint and transport.
Since, the manifold handiness of the net is so easy to grasp, it’s
absurd not to suppose that most of these uses are as old as the net itself,
surely almost as old as man. Any net
fisher or hunter, being set upon by a dangerous adversary, would immediately
grasp the closest thing at hand to defend himself. Escaping with his life, he would immediately
fathom the necessity of developing and improving new combat skills with the
net. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope.
[4] 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.
