More Meditations for the Daily Office
What are the best Psalms to consider when you’re depressed, or in trouble, or when the devil’s got you down? As it happens, it really doesn’t matter which you choose; they all fit, especially if you know how to interpret them. I mentioned earlier that I’ve recently gotten back to a project that was on the back burner for several years, namely a second book of meditations for the Daily Office, this one on the Psalter (the first is Every Day Will I Bless Thee, from 1982, of which some are still in stock, if you’re looking for a Christmas present.). Some parts of the Psalter volume are finished, including the season of Advent. Here’s another:
Monday of Populus Zion. the Second Week in Advent
Psalm 50:1-6 A Psalm of Asaph.
1 The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.
5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. [Selah]
[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
The Triune God hath spoken, as the Hebrew indicates here, naming God thrice: mighty, God, and LORD. He, our Lord Christ, who called the earth into being, now calls its citizens to repentance. The Holy Gospel has sounded forth from Jerusalem, out of Zion, as the risen Christ Himself said it should: beginning at Jerusalem. So He came, that is, He rose from the dead, and is therefore beautiful for faith to behold; and thus He did not keep silence, for the grave could not hold Him. Rather, a fire devoured before Him, even the fire of Pentecost, by whose tongues he called to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. And by means of this call to the earth (was there not a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind?) there is indeed a great gathering together of the saints unto Him, that is, of those that have made a covenant with Him by sacrifice. For the covenant made by sacrifice is the Holy Gospel and declaration of peace, made by the sacrifice of Christ. For He Himself calls the Blood which He shed the new testament, of which we drink at the altar, being thereby bound to the acquitting judgment of God. For the heavens hereby indeed declare His righteousness, that it is given to His saints in the giving of Christ to them.