I’ve gotten back to a project that was on the back burner for several years, namely a book of meditations on the Psalter. If I ever finish, it will be a companion volume to my first book of meditations, Every Day Will I Bless Thee, published back in 1982. (We have a few of those in stock, if you’re looking for a Christmas present.) Meanwhile for this companion volume, on the Psalter, I had already completed meditations for the season of Advent, so I thought I might put some up here and there. Here’s one for the First Sunday in Advent.

Ad Te Levavi: The First Sunday in Advent

 Psalm 25:1-5   A Psalm of David.

1    Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.

2    O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.

3    Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.

4    Show me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.

5    Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

[Glory be to the Father and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end.  Amen.]

Meditation

When Jesus lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may also glorify Thee, it was the same prayer as he prays here through David, saying, Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.  For this is the prayer of One who sees Himself surrounded by His enemies, yet He will not lose heart, saying, rather, I trust in thee.  But see, this is also the prayer of the Church, as it is written here, Let none that wait on thee be ashamed.  So ought we to pray at all times, and not lose heart in the face of evil, knowing that our Christ has already won the victory.  Here is an invitation to pray the Psalter as if you were Christ Himself praying.  For everyone who waits on the Lord is living by the Spirit of Christ.  So also, the ways and the paths of the Lord are all Christ, as is the Lord’s truth, and His salvation.  Did not Christ say, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me, thus fulfilling the Psalter?  To pray this Psalm well is to pray for the Spirit of Christ, that you may learn to wait on Him all the day.  So walk in the Day, that is, in Christ, and learn the secret of contentment, that no fear of evil may befall your heart. To lift up your soul unto the Lord is to come unto Christ, yea, to come to His font and His altar, and learn of Him, and so to find rest for your soul.