/christian/ - Christian Discussion and Fellowship

>>687542

>The trouble I have with this is that i thought hard work, dilligence, and striving after your goals was a part of the Christian life. There are many bible verses about hard work and dillegence.

There's a time and a place for everything. In this instance, He wanted the listener to drop what they were doing and pay attention.

>

This psalm is divided in three parts by the word Selah. The following is its text, mostly according to ESV, but the versification is by me in order to show better the underlying poetry of the Hebrew original (as I see it):

—- At the end

—- On the sons of Korah

—- Song about hidden things

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear

though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved

into the heart of the sea;

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

—- Selah —-

The streams of a river make glad the city of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her;

she shall not be moved;

God will help her

when morning dawns.

The heathens rage,

the kingdoms totter;

He utters His voice,

the earth melts.

Yhwh Tzevaot is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

—- Selah —-

Come, behold the works of Yhwh,

how He has brought astonishmens on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

He breaks the bow

and shatters the spear;

He burns the chariots with fire.

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the heathens,

I will be exalted in the earth!”

Yhwh Tzevaot is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

—- Selah —-

Cont.

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

God permits our invisible enemies to trouble us with internal temptations and external tumults. God does this, so that we can learn that He is our refuge to whom we should run over and He is our strength that makes us defeat our enemies. It is one thing to just read that God "is our refuge and strength" and totally different thing to know this by experience. This is how the things work: God orders us to resist the sin, we try and we fall, maybe 100 or 1000 times, until we learn not to consider us strong even after we have struck down 1000 enemies on our left side and 10000 on our right side.

Therefore we will not fear

though the earth alters itself,

The earth symbolizes the earthly world, populated by earthly people with their earthly cares. When the Christians appear in this world, it alters itself, it reacts. This world rises persecutions and tries to kill the saints. It appoints false teachers in order to change the pure and heavenly Orthodox faith so that it suits better the thinking of the eartly people. However, the good warriors of God will not fear for they know that God is always with them, even unto the end of the world. (Matthew 28:20)

though the mountains be moved

into the heart of the sea;

The mountains symbolize haughty things, in this case the demons. The rough sea with bitter watter is the the world with its cares and temptations, it unceasingly tries to sink us. In this sea we sail on an unsinkable battleship, the Orthodox Church. No demon will frighten us, these demons have been defeated in the heavens once, now it is our turn to defeat them even on the earth where they have fallen.

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

The waters of this world roar and foam when they hear the Orthodox preaching, which is old and yet unknown to the world; always a novelty, always a mystery, the good news about our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.

Cont.

The Christians have to deal with countless enemies, always battling or keeping watch. This is what the psalm has been singing up to this place. But here comes the first Selah, the first interlude. The overtone of the Psalm changes and it starts singing about another aspect of the Christian life: we are not alone in our fight, we are warriors in a great and invicible army. Even when someone is weak and about to fall, his comrades and God are there to help.

The streams of a river make glad the city of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High.

The city of God is the Church, the holy habitation of the Most High. The citizens of this city have been made glad by the streams of a river. The clean living water of this river is the uncreated grace of God; whoever drinks of it shall never thirst again; but the water shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14) This river of eternal divine grace is not like the eartly rivers that flow toward one place, this river divides into multiple streams so that it can reach all places on Earth. These streams are many, but the river is the same; also the local Orthodox Churches are many but everywhere it is the same Church.

God is in the midst of her;

she shall not be moved;

God will help her'

when morning dawns.

Our Lord has promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church. (Matthew 16:18) The Captain of the Church is not a sinful man who claims infallibility, but God himself is in the midst of her. The Church shall not be moved by any heresy because God will help her soon.

The heathens rage,

the kingdoms totter;

Mighty kingdoms set against the Church. Roman Emperors, Caliphs, Mongols, crusaders, Ottomans and communists besiege the Church with persecutions. But the more martyrs the Church has, the stronger she becomes. The mighty kingdoms totter and some of them even become Christian countries. The heathens hear about this and rage.

He utters His voice,

the earth melts.

The voice of God is the voice of the gospel, the good news. Any sensible soul, hearing voice of God, wavers, becomes uncertain, melts and passes from vice to virtue, and from ignorance to knowledge of God.

Yhwh Tzevaot is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Yhwh Tzevaot means "Yhwh (Lord) of the Armies". What armies? Armies of countless Angels that a here to help us. God of Jacob is our fortress. Why is it written "of Jacob" and who is Jacob? Jacob is our forefather who has been suffering during all his life. First he was persecuted by his brother, then by his uncle, then again by his brother, then he lost his beloved son. But in all this Jacob emerged victorious. In the same way we become victorius. God didn't choose the mighty Esau, He chose the weak Jacob. For we see our calling, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are among us; But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. (1 Corinthians 1:26-27) "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:32)

Cont.

And here comes the second Selah, the second interlude of the Psalm. The overtone changes again. The Psalm starts singing about the third aspect of the Christian life, a hidden one, unknown to the world.

Come, behold the works of the Lord,

how He has brought astonishments on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

After much fighting some of the saints achieve a state when they are no longer moved by any sinful movement. The wars cease to the end of the earth. Abba (father) Amun is one such saint. He achieved such spiritual prosperity that because of his goodnes he was no longer able to see the exictence of the evil. This state comes in the soul by means of constant attention, by weeping about own sinfulness, by the work of the hesychastic pray. Such pray fills the heart with tenderness and the tenderness is the feeling of the abundant mercy to oneself and to all humanity.

He breaks the bow

and shatters the spear;

he burns the chariots with fire.

The bow is a weapon that strikes from distance and the spear is a weapon that strikes nearby. These symbolize the bad thoughts that the demons use to tempt us. The Church Father teach us that God is strong to make this happen to all of us. This, however, would not be useful for us because we are not humble. The fearful chariots of the spiritual Pharaoh are burned by the fire of Holy Spirit.

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the heathens,

I will be exalted in the earth!”

I will leave the explanation of these verses to St. Seraphim of Sarov:

"I will explain this point through an example. Imagine that you have invited me to pay you a visit, and at your invitation I come to have a talk with you. But you continue to invite me, saying: "Come in, please. Do come in!" Then I should be obliged to think: "What is the matter with him? Is he out of his mind?"

"So it is with regard to our Lord God the Holy Spirit. That is why it is said: Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathens. I will be exalted in the earth. That is, I will appear and will continue to appear to everyone who believes in Me and calls upon Me, and I will converse with him as once I conversed with Adam in Paradise, with Abraham and Jacob and other servants of Mine, with Moses and Job, and those like them."

"Many explain that this stillness refers only to worldly matters; in other words, that during prayerful converse with God you must "be still" with regard to worldly affairs. But I will tell you in the name of God that not only is it necessary to be dead to them at prayer, but when by the omnipotent power of faith and prayer our Lord God the Holy Spirit condescends to visit us, and comes to us in the plenitude of His unutterable goodness, we must be dead to prayer too."

"The soul speaks and converses during prayer, but at the descent of the Holy Spirit we must remain in complete silence, in order to hear clearly and intelligibly all the words of eternal life which he will then deign to communicate. Complete soberness of soul and spirit, and chaste purity of body is required at the same time. The same demands were made at Mount Horeb, when the Israelites were told not even to touch their wives for three days before the appearance of God on Mount Sinai. "For our God is a fire consuming" everything unclean (Hebrews 12:29), and no one with "filthiness of the flesh and spirit" (2 Corinthians 7:1) can enter into communion with Him."

Yhwh Tzevaot is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

—- Selah —-

Interlude for meditation.