Psalms LXX 119-133 (MT 120-134); Hebrews 12:18-29
Orthros is full of snippets of psalms, joined to various hymns and responses. The most well-known may be the “Songs of Ascent” (anabathmoi) that are composed on the foundation of Psalms 119-133 (in the Hebrew 120-134). These fifteen psalms, called “psalms of ascent” in the Psalter, were traditionally sung as Jewish pilgrims drew near to Jerusalem for a feast, and could see it in the distance. They ascended the hills and then the Temple steps in joy, knowing that their pilgrimage was almost over, and finally sang the last psalm in the actual courts of the Temple: “Bless the LORD, all you servants…who stand in the house of the LORD” (133:1).
While there is a push forward into joy, this collection of Psalms runs the gamut of emotions—looking back on the affliction of exile away from God’s holy City, lifting eyes to the LORD for help, contemplating the joy of assembly together, recalling the stability of trust and humility, celebrating the peace of brothers, and finally blessing the LORD.
In Orthros, verses from the psalms are arranged in groups of three songs, with each group matched to the particular liturgical tone sung on that Sunday, with the final tone 8 having 4 hymns. The three songs are sung after a plea for God to hear (called the hypakoē), interspersed antiphonally with phrases well known in our Liturgies, and summed up with a wise observation. For the next five sessions, then, we will consider our Christian adaptation of the Psalms of Ascent in the anabathmoi. Today we consider the first three hymns, sung in tone 1, and compare them with Psalms LXX 119-121 (MT 120-122).
The whole sequence begins with this stunning and hopeful hypkakoē: “The repentance of the thief gained him paradise by stealth; and the sighing of the ointment-bearing women proclaimed the glad tidings that thou wast risen, O Christ, and hadst bestowed upon the world thy Great Mercy.” From the get-go, then, we speak to the LORD concerning His compassion towards the thief on the cross, and the myrrh-bearing women. This is not simply a remembrance of God’s mercy to the thief and the women, but in it we speak to Christ himself, calling attention to His compassion. The implication is that since He heard the thief’s cry “Remember me!” and responded to the confused and inarticulate hopes of the women, that He will hear us as well. It is His delight to bestow mercy on all who call. After all, He has bestowed on the whole world His mercy!
Then, in the first antiphon, we call to God: “O Lord, to thee in my sorrows do I cry. Hear thou my cry of pain. Verily, the divine desire shall be without delay upon the people of the wilderness, for that they have come out of the vain world. “
This antiphon corresponds to Psalm 119, which begins the Psalms of Ascent on a “low note.” We hear about affliction, unjust slander and deceit against the singer, sorrow over exile among a godless people whose aim is to war against God’s people, even when we are trying to remain peaceful. The Psalm is utterly realistic about the likelihood of being persecuted, even though God will eventually condemn those who are violent, using both his “arrows” and “hot coals.” Our antiphon emphasizes the rescue of God, and his desire to help those who are in the wilderness, because of their movement out of that godless world and their cry to him—we are reminded of the LORD’s encouragement of His people to “Come out” of Babylon, in Revelation 18.4.
The antiphon is followed by “Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; Both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.” Finally, there is a word of assurance spoken to those who are worshipping: “Verily, glory and honor become the Holy Spirit, as they become the Father and the Son. Wherefore, do we praise the Triune, One in might.”
The second antiphon is based on Psalm 120 (MT 121): “O God, since thou hast raised me to the hills of thy laws, shed brightly thy light of virtue upon me, that I may praise thee. O Word, hold me fast with thy right hand; keep me and preserve me, lest the fire of sin consume me.”
We may notice that the antiphon goes a step further than the actual Psalm, in which the Psalmist “lifts his eyes” to the hills, knowing that help comes from God. In the antiphon, the worshippers are actually pictured IN those hills, will the light of God around them, and their hands in the hand of God the Son. This is a graphic way of picturing the Psalm, which rejoices:
My help comes from the LORD who made heaven and earth.
Let not your foot be moved, neither let Him who keeps you slumber…
The Lord shall keep you. The Lord is your shelter at your right hand.
The sun shall not burn you by day nor the moon by night.
And the antiphon also applies the imagery to the personal worshipper, reminding us of the fire of sin, not simply of external danger. We are assured that God will keep us in His care, protecting us from dangers inside as well as outside. The Gloria follows again, and then this wonderful conclusion is given: “Verily, all creation together is regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and returns to its former being: for he is co-omnipotent with the Father and the Word.”
It is apt that this conclusion focusses upon the Holy Spirit, that One who is with us in all circumstances, and who preserves our soul from danger. Psalm 120, then, is an occasion to think about the entire Trinity, the One who creates, redeems from sin and death, and protects from all danger. Intensely personal, the antiphon is summarized in such a way that our personal salvation is caught up in the “regeneration” of the entire creation.
For the third antiphon, Psalm 121 (MT 122) is the clear inspiration, in which we have moved from the low point of the first Psalm of Ascent to the anticipation of reaching Jerusalem.
The psalm itself says:
I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
Our feet stand in your courts, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is built as a city whose compactness is complete.
There the tribes went up. The tribes of the LORD, a testimony to Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the LORD.
For thrones sat there for judgment, thrones over the house of David.
Ask now for things regarding the peace of Jerusalem, and there is prosperity for those who love you.
Let there now be peace in your power and prosperity in your citadels.
For the sake of my brothers and neighbors, I indeed spoke peace concerning you:
For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I sought good things for you.
The Psalm then, speaks of going to the Temple, of the strength of Jerusalem, of the witness of the tribes, of righteous judgment, and of the peace that God intends for his “City of Peace”—the literal meaning of the name Jerusalem. Our Antiophon picks up two of these themes—going to the Temple in joy, and the judgment of God: “My soul did rejoice with those who say: ‘Let us go into the courts of the Lord.’ My heart was exceedingly glad. Great fear shall be in the house of David, where the seats shall be set, and all tribes and tongues of the earth shall be judged.”
These two themes, in juxtaposition, are startling. As worshippers we are exceedingly glad, yet we know also great fear, for our God is a righteous judge! After all, in our morning prayer we are not simply approaching a temple built with hands, as were the Jewish people, but heaven itself. We will meet with the very God-Man, as He gives Himself to us in the mysteries! We will join with the angels in heaven, who see Him face-to-face. We may be reminded of the passage in Hebrews 12:18-29, where the apostle speaks of both the glory of the heavenly Jerusalem, and the astounding righteousness and purity of God:
For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
As we begin to read this passage in Hebrews, we might think that the apostle is going to say, “they had cause to be afraid, but we don’t, because Jesus is all-loving.” That is not what we have read, is it? Instead, we too are warned, and promised that things will be shaken, and only the permanent will remain. God gave Himself to us in Christ, and His blood does speak a good word—and yet, our God is a consuming fire!
There is both joy, and suitable awe to be expressed by His people. We are, as the antiphon puts it, “exceedingly glad,” and yet we know that judgment is a real thing, and that God’s righteousness matters. Mercy and justice come together as we meet with the LORD: and so we prepare to meet Him, in all joy, and all reverence.
St. Augustine spoke about this Psalm in the light of the heresies and schisms that were afflicting the Church in his day. He reminded his readers:
Regarding heresy and disunity in the Church… [they] have fought a kind of civil war, setting up our own banners and our own arms against us. [But now] Let them come; “let there be peace in the strength of Jerusalem,” the strength that is charity, as it was said to the holy city: “Let peace be in your strength and abundance in your towers.” Let them not rise up against the motherly anxiety that she had and has to gather them in, and with them so many throngs of people whom they deceive or did deceive. Let them not be proud, because she thus welcomes them.
Augustine Letter 185.46 (FC 30.185, alt.)
It would seem that his attitude towards schismatics might be instructive for us in a time of division. We pray for peace, as the Psalm also does, and continue to hope for God’s righteous judgments. Our prayer for peace should be for the softening of those hearts that are fighting a civil war, trying to change the Church’s teaching, and being swayed by the world. It is easy, when faced with wrong teaching in the areas of, say, sexuality and abortion, to simply pray for the downfall of those powerful ones who are deceiving others, both within and outside the Orthodox community. Instead, let us remember the “motherly anxiety” of the Church and God’s desire both for repentance, and to gather them back in. Let us pray for a change of mind among those who are still within our communities, and, for those who have physically left us, that their pride not hinder them from returning to the strength and love of God’s own people. We can do this while not budging from the Holy Tradition that sustains us, and while speaking the truth. For our feet are in the Holy City, and we have come near to the heavenly Zion: we speak from a place of security, not fear!
The third antiphon closes with the gloria, and with a kind of benediction,
“Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; Both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Verily, it is meet to offer glory, might and power to the Holy Spirit as to the Father and to the Son, for the Trinity is one in substance, not in Person.” With these Psalms, and with the anabathmoi based on them, we have moved from a plaintive calling out to God to a kind of confident joy in our standing. Thanks be to God for His self-revelation to us, and for the nurture that He offers to us within the Church!
Edith M. Humphrey 