... 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.
Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs; God,
to whom vengeance belongs, show Yourself.
Lift up Yourself, judge of the earth.
Render a reward to the proud.
Lord, how long shall the wicked; how long shall the wicked triumph? [How
long] shall they utter [and]
speak hard things? [How long shall] all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? They break in pieces Your people, Lord, and afflict Your heritage.
They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. Yet they say, “The Lord shall not see. Nor shall the
God of Jacob regard.”
Understand, you brutish among the
people. Fools, when will you be
wise? He Who planted the ear, shall He
not hear? He Who formed the eye, shall
He not see? He Who chastises the
heathen, shall He not correct? He Who
teaches man knowledge.... The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they [are] vanity.
Blessed [is] the man whom You punish, Lord, and teach
him from Your law: so that You may give him rest from the days of adversity,
until the pit be dug for the wicked: for the Lord will not
cast off His people. Nor will He forsake
His inheritance. But judgment shall
return to righteousness. All the upright
in heart shall follow it.
Who will rise up for me against the
evildoers? Who will stand up for me
against the workers of iniquity? Unless
the Lord [had been] my help, my
soul had almost dwelled in silence. When
I said, “My foot slips.” Your mercy, Lord, held me up. In the
abundance of my thoughts within me, Your comforts delight my soul.
Shall the throne of iniquity have
fellowship with You; they frame mischief by law? They gather themselves together against the
soul of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood. But the Lord is my
defense. My God [is] the rock of my refuge.
And He shall bring on them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in
their own wickedness. The Lord our God shall cut them off. [2]
[1] Many
consider this to be a Psalm of the Incarnation.
The prayer, “show Yourself,” is a cry for Epiphany. God judges the earth solely in the Christ
event. Jesus “knows the thoughts of man.” We see also that the way of victory is the
way of the cross: each of us must bear our cross, and “this present light
affliction” is in reality a blessing (See Hebrews 12:1-21). This path, which Christ has established for
us, flows from His Incarnation. “God
became man, so that man could become god.”
Christ turns the curse of the law into the gift of life by His perfect
obedience. The Psalmist notes that in
the Incarnation, the King has returned to the battlefield to fight for His people,
“trampling down death by death.” As
David faced Goliath; so now, Jesus faces the cross. As Goliath spells certain defeat for David,
so the cross means defeat for Jesus. Surprise
of all surprises, “death is swallowed up in victory.” The Incarnate One is raised. “Death is overthrown.” The wicked are cut off by the cross. The Incarnate One has confronted the wicked
with “their own wickedness.” “On that
very day their plans perish.”
The setting is in the Tabernacle or Temple in God’s Presence,
facing Him in direct conversation. In
the Old Testament, only a handful of priests and Levites had such the privilege
of being directly in God’s Presence; only a few of these were allowed to talk
with God personally: for example, Moses, Samuel, and David, but not Eli. We take the privilege of prayer for granted,
because we receive it so freely, since it was granted to The Church at
Pentecost, 33 AD. This is a gift we
should treasure more, because it was once rare among believers. The honest cry of believers is, “How long shall the wicked triumph?”
How long shall wicked leaders and politicians get away with their
frauds? How long shall an anarchistic
populace get away with their violent rebellion against God? All of these wicked rascals are self-deceived
into believing that they are getting away with their crimes. They get away with nothing.
The psalmist affirms that God knows: God knows
everything. We ought not be tempted to
reduce this poetry to a scientific expression such as omniscience. Except for rare occasions we should neglect
words like omniscience and focus on the poetry and hymnology. It is the rich poetic expression that draws
us close to God and enriches our understanding.
The last question breaks off unexpectedly to force us to think about what
the poetry means. The obvious completion
to, “He Who teaches man knowledge,” is shall He not know? Of course, the answers are all equally
obvious. The point is not to engage us
in triviality. The point we must learn is
that our mere earthly lives are empty, unless God is pleased to fill them. In God’s presence we learn to put the
injustices and unfairnesses of earthly life in perspective. The degree to which these things upset us, indicates
how much we need to spend more time with God.
In God’s presence, we learn the value of punishment
(Hebrews 12:3-11). It is simply
impossible to learn righteousness without suffering. Jesus baptizes with the Holy Ghost and with
fire, never without the fire.
Eventually, we hope to accept trouble as a friend and even give thanks
for it.
The psalmist looks for a Champion, someone to
fight his battles for him: for in life, his enemies are so powerful that he
knows only defeat. Ultimately we find
this Champion in Jesus.
Lest we be tempted to think of this conflict
as the light and dark side, or the yin yang of God, the psalmist directs us
away from such foolish pagan temptations.
In the presence of God, the psalmist beholds only light and beauty, only
righteousness and strength. Darkness has
no fellowship here, and will be cut off completely. What goes around will cease to come around:
for God will put an end to it.
[2] 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.
