... 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, A Psalm for the Sons
of Korah.
Lord, You have been favorable to Your land.
You have brought back the captivity of
Jacob. You have forgiven the iniquity of
Your people. You have covered all their
sin. Consider. You have taken away all Your fury. You have turned from the fierceness of Your
anger.
Turn us, O God of our salvation. Cause Your anger with us to cease. Will You be angry with us forever? Will You draw out Your anger to all
generations? Will You not revive us
again: so that Your people may rejoice in You?
Show us Your mercy, Lord. Grant us Your salvation.
I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for He will speak peace to His people, and to His
saints. Let them not turn again to
folly. Surely His salvation is near those
who fear Him: so that Glory may dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed. Truth shall spring from the earth. Righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yes, the Lord shall give
good. Our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before Him; and shall
set in the path of His steps.[2]
[1] In
the year 516, after seventy years of captivity in Babylon, the Judeans began to
return to Jerusalem. They labored hard
to restore the city, its temple, and the people’s confidence. Worship was restored and everyone felt
forgiven.
As the years passed, reality sunk in. Yes, they had a temple, but no Ark, no Urim or
Thummim, remnants of Scripture were recovered to form a Bible; the Glory of God
did not return, and would not return for more than five hundred years. Then when He did return, they did not
recognize Him (John 1:9-14). During this
five hundred year period this prayer cries out, bring us repentance, revival,
rejoicing, mercy, salvation. Around 4
BC, Jesus is born in Bethlehem.
The Sons of Korah are not defeated or discouraged by
this. They realize that their punishment
is just. Perhaps they are supported by
the certainties of Daniel’s prophecies, and know it will be a long time coming. Whether it is one year or one thousand years,
they are confident in God’s faithfulness, and pray that the Judeans will not
lapse into idolatry again. The Glory
will return.
The Sons of Korah sing about the wonderful beauty of His
Glory. All of these expectations are met
in Christ.
[2] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations in
Psalms, please repost or share any of them as you wish.
