Psalm 131-133/132-134; 2 Samuel (Kingdoms) 6-7
With Tone 5 of the Ascent Songs, we arrive at the end of our journey to the heavenly Zion. There are more morning antiphons sung in tones 6 through 8, but these return to the Ascent Psalms that we have already heard, and stress themes already touched upon. The only exception is the final antiphon of the final sequence in Tone 8, which is added as an unusual fourth song, and brings to our mind the penultimate Psalm of Ascent, Psalm 132/3. In Orthodox use for Orthros, we end the Antiphons with this scene of dwelling in harmony, whereas the Old Testament Psalms of Ascent end with an injunction to all God’s people to “bless the Lord, Psalm 133/4. For this episode, we will consider the links between the songs of the fifth tone, plus the final song of Tone 8, as they relate to Psalms 131-133 (MT 132-134). In them, after a long pilgrimage, we find ourselves arriving at our destination, in God’s glorious presence—an arrival that brings harmony both with God and with each other. This arrival is especially poignant as I compose this podcast/blog, since we have arrived at Holy Week, have heard these Psalms of Ascent in their entirety for a final time during the Wednesday Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, and are anticipating the joy of Pascha.
The opening statement for the sequence matches our anticipated vision of glory: “The minds of the ointment-bearing women were dazzled by the angelic scene, and their souls with the divine Resurrection. Wherefore, they spake to the Apostles, saying: ‘Declare in the nations the Resurrection of the Lord who worketh wonders with you, who bestoweth on us the Great Mercy.’”
On that first Pascha, the Myrrh-bearers were not only comforted, but astounded by glory—the glory of the angels, but then also of the risen LORD! Their message to the apostles, entrusted to them by Jesus, was the gospel of His resurrection—a gospel of both wonders and great mercy that must be proclaimed. This opening memory of the Myrrh-bearers is an apt introduction to all three of the Antiphons in tone five, which are based on Psalm 131/132. Here are the three, in sequence:
O my Lord, I sing to thee like David in my sorrow. Save my soul from the deceitful tongues. Verily, the life of the dwellers in the wilderness is a very happy one, for by divine passion are they ever carried up.
Come, my soul, let us ascend the mountain yonder, whence cometh thy help. O Christ let thy raised right hand encompass me, preserving me from all evil deceits.
I have been filled with great joy by those who say to me: “Let us go into the courts of the Lord.” Verily, I have offered a constant prayer. In the house of David dread wonders take place, for there is a burning fire consuming every evil mind.
The themes of these three Antiphons— lifting of sorrow, being carried up to Zion, joy at the prospect of entering God’s presence, and the wonders that take place among God’s people—are culled from the dramatic actions of Psalm 131/132. As with the Psalm, the Antiphons recognize that God’s actions to bring us up require that He (and we) deal with evil: we are called to brave the wilderness with Him, to benefit from His Passion, to be preserved from evil deceit, and to allow the divine fire to consume that which cannot live in God’s holy presence. Here is the Psalm on which these verses are based:
Remember, O LORD, in David’s favor, all the hardships he endured,
how he swore to the LORD and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
“I will not enter my house or get into my bed,
I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids,
until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar:
“Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool!”
Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.
Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let your saints shout for joy.
For the sake of your servant David,
do not turn away the face of your anointed one.The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which He will not turn back
“One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.
If your sons keep my covenant and my testimonies that I shall teach them,
their sons also forever shall sit on your throne.
For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for his dwelling place:
“This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread.
Her priests I will clothe with salvation, and her saints will shout for joy!There I will make a horn to sprout for David;
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.
His enemies I will clothe with shame,
But on him his crown will shine.
This Psalm recalls the events recorded for us in 2 Samuel (2 Kingdoms) chapters 6 and 7, in which David first brings the ark, with some difficulty, to Bethlehem, and then plans to build a temple for God. In chapter 6, the difficulty is seen in the danger of the holy object, the Ark and in the place where David’s own wife objects to his exuberance as the Ark enters the city. Then, in the next chapter, King David decides that it is not dignified for the LORD’s footstool (the Ark) to continue to reside in a tent, when he has a cedar palace. When he tells the prophet Nathan of his plans to build an actual temple for God, Nathan tells him from the LORD that God has no need of a house made by human hands, but that He will make of David’s line a HOUSE, and bless his offspring.
When we look at the Psalm, we can see that the first part of it concerns David’s determination to build a house for God, whereas the second half of the Psalm concentrates on God’s oath to make a holy house, headed by the son of David. During these two movements, we hear about God Himself ascending to His place of rest, and then of the promise that God’s people, headed by the anointed king, will also enjoy rest and prosperity. This they will enjoy when they seek His presence, saying to each other, wherever they live, “let us go up to His dwelling place, and worship at His footstool.” From the historical record we know that it is not in fact David who constructs the Temple, but rather his son, Solomon. From the New Testament we know that the “house” that God promised to come from the line of David is actually the Lord Jesus Himself, who fulfilled all that the Temple was, and who set in motion the blessedness promised by God for His people. The Psalm, then, is complex because it shows a paradox in Scripture—David wanted to do something for God, while God intended to do something for David, and for all humankind. It is also complex because it is not until Jesus comes that God’s people would realize the complete fulfillment of that divine oath.
Throughout the Gospels, especially that of Matthew, we hear how it is that Jesus is the promised “Son of David,” a title that He receives from many who came to Him for help. St. Cyril of Jerusalem also comments on this Christian understanding, referring both to Psalm 131/132, and to other parts of the Old Testament:
“The Lord swore to David a firm promise from which he will not withdraw: ‘Your own offspring I will set on your throne.’ … Once by my holiness I have sworn; I will not be false to David: his posterity shall continue forever, and his throne shall be like the sun before me; like the moon, which remains forever.”12 You see that the words concern Christ, not Solomon, for Solomon’s throne did not endure as the sun.
Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 12.23.
The Orthros Antiphons are also well aware of how the Psalm points forward to Christ, the true Son of David, as seen in this plea: “O Christ let thy raised right hand encompass me, preserving me from all evil deceits.” Besides establishing the New Testament fulfillment of the psalm, they also show what its words can mean to each worshipper, telling us, like those who have heard of the ark in the regions around Bethelehem, to “go to His dwelling place” spiritually, looking to God for help. A fourth century bishop of the Church, Nicetas of Remesiana, Serbia, shows a particular connection with our worship on this Paschal week, which is full of times of watching:
The more I meditate on the mind of the saints, the more I am reminded of something that is high and hard and beyond the powers of human nature. Call to mind what the same psalmist [David] has said: “If I shall go up into the bed wherein I lie; if I shall give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids or rest to my temples; until I find out a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.”… Let us, then, be moved by the example of the saints to love vigils to the utmost of our power. Nicetas of Remesiana, Vigils of the Saints 5.
Just as David purposed not to sleep until he found a place to harbor God’s ark, so we should be determined, says the bishop, to offer ourselves as temples of God’s presence, standing in vigil for Him, and waiting on Him, like David. We see ourselves in the moments of Holy Week, and especially in the Paschal Vigil, waiting to greet the LORD as He comes to be with us, recalling the Myrrh-bearing women’s early morning vigil, and remembering that He has promised to come again. We are during this time like Habakkuk, the watchman, waiting on the LORD. We may not “love” vigils emotionally, but we give ourselves to them, knowing that the LORD will do all that He has promised. As the Psalm puts it, “I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread. Her priests I will clothe with salvation, and her saints will shout for joy.”
We have seen, after all, how God in fact did bring out a horn from David’s line, Jesus Himself, and how He provided John the Forerunner as the lamp to prepare His way, fulfilling the words, “I will make a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed”—that is, for my Christ.
The Psalm is sober, however, recognizing also that not everyone will ascend to worship, but that there are those who oppose God. As the Antiphons remind us, there are deceitful tongues, passions that need to be quenched, and in the house of the LORD “there is a burning fire consuming every evil mind.” Some would rather not have that purifying fire, and for those who refuse, the Psalm says, “His enemies I will clothe with shame (or confusion), while on Him his crown will shine.” St. Augustine, in his commentary on John, reminds us of those who would not receive the LORD when He came, and how rejection of the light can lead only to shame and confusion:
And, because they had shut themselves up against him, by asserting that they did not know what they knew, the Lord did not open up to them because they did not knock. For it has been said, “Knock, and it will be opened to you.” But they not only had not knocked that it might be opened, but by their denial they barricaded the door itself against themselves. And the Lord said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.” And they were confounded … and in them was fulfilled the prophecy, “I have prepared a lamp for my Christ; his enemies I will clothe with confusion.”
Augustine Tractates on the Gospel of John 2.9.2
As we travel through Holy Week, with its recollection of those who betrayed and abandoned Jesus—even his own disciples—it is helpful to take to heart what Augustine says: that the door is there for everyone to knock and that Jesus’ response to those who reject is, in the first place, silence. For He cannot reveal anything to those with blind eyes. Those who take Holy Week as an excuse to point the finger at others who have rejected have missed the point, of course. To play the Pharisee (I thank you, LORD, that I am not like that) is to put ourselves in opposition to God, who wants that all should come to a knowledge and love of Him (1 Tim 2:4). Instead, our stance in recalling those who rejected Him (whether the soldiers or the Jewish leaders and rabble that called for His death) should be that of Jesus Himself.
That blessed One, we are reminded on Holy Thursday, said, “Father, forgive them this sin, that all nations may know my resurrection from the dead!” All nations includes, of course, not only Gentiles, but those descended from Israel as well.
And so we end this study of the Ascent Songs and Psalms with the fourth additional Antiphon from tone eight, which coresponds to Psalm 132/3: “Behold, how good and how beautiful for the brethren to live together, for about this did the LORD promise eternal life.”
Our final glimpse of the beauty of Zion is the dwelling together of siblings in unity, which Christ has provided for us by all that He has done and is doing in our midst through the Holy Spirit. The Antiphon summarizes the extravagant imagery of Psalm 132/3:
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.
We have heard this week about the burial anointing of the feet of the Lord Jesus, first by Mary of Bethany, and then by the unnamed sinful woman. This oil on High Priest Aaron, though, speaks of richness and celebration, plentifully poured upon him, and showing the generosity of the LORD who commands blessing where His people gather in harmony. We are in the Orthodox Church in a time of growth, it seems, where many are seeking and knocking, and coming to the mountain to worship. May this Paschal season be for us a time in which our unity is established and deepened, and in which our celebration is matched by God’s unexpected blessing: a life together that begins now, and continues forevermore, embracing and including even those whom we thought were hardened against Him. For this we are called to pray, remembering the tender mercies of our human-loving God. As we worship together, we have arrived; but we know that an even greater reunion and celebration are in store for us.
Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,
who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the LORD!
May the LORD bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth!
(Psalm 133/4)
Edith M. Humphrey 