Category Archives: A Lamp for Today

Light from the Psalter 17: The Step of Safety, Sanctification, and the Holy Spirit

Psalms LXX 122-124 (MT 123-125); Eph. 6:10-17; 2 Peter 3:9; Romans 8:26-27 On our pilgrimage to the holy abode of God, as we prepare during Matins for the Divine Liturgy, we come to the second step of the climbing songs, based on Psalms 122-4 (MT 123-5). Like the Jewish pilgrims to Jerusalem of old, weContinue reading “Light from the Psalter 17: The Step of Safety, Sanctification, and the Holy Spirit”

Light from the Psalter 16: Ascending to God

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 traditionallyContinue reading “Light from the Psalter 16: Ascending to God”

Light from the Psalter 15: Mercy in the Morning

Psalm 142 (143 MT); Romans 4:8; Philippian 3:12; 2 Samuel/2 Kingdoms 15-18, Rev 20:11, Luke 21:17-18 We come to the last of the six censing Psalms of Orthros.  Psalm 142 (MT 143) retains the petitionary flavor of the other Psalms, but looks forward to the light—to deliverance from enemies, to being lifted from the pit,Continue reading “Light from the Psalter 15: Mercy in the Morning”

Light from the Psalter 14: Bless the Lord, O My Soul!

Psalm 102 (LXX)/ 103 (MT), Hebrews 7:7, Colossians 1:12-13, James 2:13 Someone said to me this week, “I read that it is a mark of intelligence to talk to yourself.”  I’m not sure that I concur, but it was certainly a habit of mine as an only child, and I still engage in it fromContinue reading “Light from the Psalter 14: Bless the Lord, O My Soul!”

Light from the Psalter 13: Showing Wonders To the Dead

Psalm 87 (LXX)/88 (MT); Luke 2:29-35; 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13; John 12:20b-36); Psalm 21(LXX) /22 (MT). In the last episode, when we were supposed to be pursuing the Psalms of Orthros, we made an unwarranted detour into a Psalm of praise (Psalm 86 LXX/ 87 MT), due to my own mistaking of the numberingContinue reading “Light from the Psalter 13: Showing Wonders To the Dead”

Light from the Psalter 12: Glorious Things are Spoken!

Psalm 86 LXX/87 MT; Joshua 2; John 4:14; 7: 37-39; Galatians 4:26-7 My deepest apologies to those who have read an earlier version of this blog, or who have listened to the matching podcast. In a careless moment, I mistook the fourth Psalm for matins (which should be Psalm 87 LXX/88 Hebrew) and took us into anContinue reading “Light from the Psalter 12: Glorious Things are Spoken!”

Matthew’s Matriarchs

A chequered past:That’s what they call it in polite company.In our memories, four portraits last, swaying some to scorn, some to sympathy. First tricksy Tamar, jilted by the “just,”but in the end, through subterfugereceiving seed that would give rise to One who mustalone undo the Fall, the death, the sin-delugethat inundated all. Then Rahab ofContinue reading “Matthew’s Matriarchs”

Light from the Psalter 11: Seeking the LORD

Psalm 62 (LXX), 63 (Hebrew), speaks of David’s longing for God in the wilderness of Judah, and is one of the most perfect psalms upon which to meditate when we are in a dry period.  The psalm begins with seeking God, and ends in rejoicing in God.  It puts before us the pattern of theContinue reading “Light from the Psalter 11: Seeking the LORD”

Light from the Psalter 10: God’s Wrath and God’s Healing

Psalm 37 LXX/38 Hebrew; Job; Hebrews 12:6; Isaiah 53:7-8 Father Patrick Reardon, in describing Psalm 37 LXX (Hebrew 38), which is chanted during the first part of Sunday Matins, calls it “one of the rougher parts of the Psalter” (Reardon, Christ in the Psalms, 2000, 73).  Its main themes, sin and suffering, are not for theContinue reading “Light from the Psalter 10: God’s Wrath and God’s Healing”