Reflections in Christ

Psalm 88 and at the funeral for a priest

O Lord, why dost Thou cast me off?
 Why dost Thou hide Thy face from me?
Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
 I suffer Thy terrors; I am helpless. ...

The Annunciation
Psalm 87: City of God and Mother of God

Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. ...

This hymn – together with the accompanying rite of venerating the Cross – replaces the usual Trisagion hymn during the Divine Liturgy on the Third Sunday of Great Lent.  According to The Synaxarion of the Lenten Triodion and Pentecostarion...

Psalm 86

All the nations you have made shall come
 and bow down before you, O Lord,

and shall glorify your name. ...

Psalm 85

You have shown favor to Your land, O Lord;
You have turned back the captivity of Jacob! ...

Psalm 84

How lovely is thy dwelling place,
 O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yea, faints 
for the courts of the Lord; ...

Having had the opportunity to sing an operetta with the local symphony orchestra, it’s remarkable to me how wonderfully our Orthodox liturgical progression from Pre-Lent to Lent to Holy Week to…

Psalm 83

O God do not keep silence; do not hold thy peace or be still, O God!
For lo, thy enemies are in tumult; those who hate thee have raised their heads. ...

Psalm 82: Arise, O God and Judge the Earth!

Arise, O God, judge the earth: for to Thee belong all the nations! (Refrain)

God has taken His place in the divine council;  ...

Psalm 81: water in the wilderness

Sing aloud to God our strength;
 shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
Raise a song, sound the timbrel, 
the sweet lyre with the harp. ...