... 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.
Earthly Life is a Wilderness
Through Which the Holy Ghost Must Lead Us
Psalm 136:1-26[1]
Give thanks to the Lord: for [He is] good, for
His mercy [is] everlasting. Give thanks to the God of gods: for His mercy
[is] everlasting. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: for His
mercy [is] everlasting.
To Him Who alone does great wonders: for
His mercy [is] everlasting. To Him Who by wisdom made the heavens: for
His mercy [is] everlasting. To Him Who stretched out the earth above the
waters: for His mercy [is]
everlasting.
To Him Who made great lights: for His mercy
[is] everlasting. The sun to rule by day: for His mercy [is] everlasting. The moon and stars to rule by night: for His
mercy [is] everlasting.
To Him Who struck Egypt in their firstborn:
for His mercy [is] everlasting. And brought Israel out from among them: for
His mercy [is] everlasting; with a
strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for His mercy [is] everlasting.
To Him Who divided the Red sea in parts:
for His mercy [is] everlasting. And made Israel pass through the middle of
it: for His mercy [is]
everlasting. But overthrew Pharaoh and
his army in the Red sea: for His mercy [is]
everlasting.[2]
To Him Who led His people through the
wilderness: for His mercy [is]
everlasting.[3]
To Him Who struck great kings: for His
mercy [is] everlasting. And slew famous kings: for His mercy [is] everlasting. Sihon king of the Amorites: for His mercy [is] everlasting. Og the king of Bashan: for His mercy [is] everlasting. And gave their land for a heritage: for His
mercy [is] everlasting; a heritage to
Israel His servant: for His mercy [is]
everlasting.[4]
Who remembered us in our low estate: for
His mercy [is] everlasting. And has redeemed us from our enemies: for His
mercy [is] everlasting.
Who gives food to all flesh: for His mercy
[is] everlasting.[5]
[1] This
beautiful antiphonal Psalm reminds us that Psalms are hymns to be sung: this
one, obviously written for two choirs.
The argument of the Psalm rests on God's power, love, and mercy as seen
first in His creation, then in His defeat of the idolatry of Egypt and the
Exodus, and finally in His conquest of the Transjordan East Bank adversaries
who refused Israel passage into the promised land. This gives us a hint that this is probably
the special hymn of the Joseph tribes that inherited the Transjordan East
Bank. However, it looks beyond Israel to
the God of heaven, who brings the defeat of idolatry, slavery, and oppression
to the whole earth: He is the God of heaven, He is the God of all.
Psalm 136 stands or falls on the concrete actuality and
reality of the historic acts remembered in it.
If these acts are not actual, historic and real there is no reason
whatsoever to proclaim the eternal mercies of Yahweh; there is no reason to
believe that Israel ever existed as a nation; there is no reason to suppose
that the God of the Bible exists, presents Himself visibly to people in the Shekinah,
or that anything else found in the Bible is true. The Bible is either true or false, take it or
leave it, you cannot have it both ways.
This Psalm is a review of Torah, and the salvific work of God consists
of the actual, historic, reality of Torah, together with the rest of
Scripture. The attempt to pass this
reality off as unreality is a strong statement of unbelief, firm evidence that
the one making it has left the Faith, to become an unbeliever, a pagan: worse
yet, a servant of Satan. That being
said, these are all the remembrance of concrete, actual, and real historic
acts. In remembering them it helps us to
not take for granted the daily things God does for us. “Now Christ is risen from the dead (1
Corinthians 15:20).” “Eternal are Your
mercies, Lord. Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!”
Eternal things, things which are not ruled by time, and do not
lose their value with age, are made clear by things that are concrete and are
ruled by time. Which then, are the more
concrete? The eternal realities, or the
temporal ones?
We have grouped these antiphonal phrases by their wording into
“Give thanks”, “To Him”, and “Who” segments. The final “Give thanks”
brings the Psalm together into a completed whole.
[2] Every
stanza has a Trinitarian structure up to this point. This cannot be accidental.
[3] This
stanza stands alone, which cannot be accidental either. This stanza captures the central message of
the Psalm, which is that earthly life is a wilderness through which the Holy
Ghost must lead us. Isaac Watts’
magnificent hymn, “Am I a soldier of the cross” captures the sentiment
perfectly.
http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/m/amiasold.htm
http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/m/amiasold.htm
[4] This
stanza has a six part structure, which is about as close as humanity can come
to Divine perfection.
[5] The
final stanza returns to the Trinitarian structure, which has two distinct
emphases. One, the true Israel of God,
The Church is the people who have found mercy and redemption. Two, the task of The Church is to lift the
world up to God; so that the whole world might be nourished, not with mere
earthly bread, but with The True Manna, Which is Christ Himself.
[6] The
final stanza is followed by a single line which envelops the whole Psalm in a
concluding note of thanksgiving, by returning our attention to the first stanza. Earthly life is a wilderness through which
the Holy Ghost must lead us: for which we should be exceedingly grateful; our
hymns of thanksgiving should rend the skies.
[7] 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.
