Psalm 103
Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits,
Who forgives all your iniquity, Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from the Pit,
Who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
Who satisfies you with good as long as you live
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:1-5 (Divine Liturgy, 1st Antiphon)
We hear Psalm 103 sung at almost every Divine Liturgy (it’s also one of the six psalms at the start of matins). This is a prayer of thanksgiving, which makes it so fitting for the Eucharist, which means “thanksgiving” in Greek. But the psalm is also a reminder that every divine liturgy points us to life in the Resurrection, when diseases, iniquities and the pit of death are destroyed forever.
Right now life is all too fragile.
As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone (Psalm 103:15-16)
Isaiah says almost the same.
All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people is grass. The grass withers, the flower fades (Isaiah 40:6-8)
Of course for believers, and in the Psalm and Isaiah, that’s not the end. “But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting…” (Psalm 103:17). “But the word of our God will stand for ever…” (Isaiah 40:8). Isaiah goes on with words I can never separate from the tender, comforting and hope-filled rendering that Handel gives them in his Messiah, where he combines them with Matthew 11:28-30.
He shall feed His flock like a shepherd, and He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. Come unto Him, all ye that labour, that are heavy laden, and He will give you rest. Take His yoke upon you, and learn of Him, for He is meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Our communion with God and with each other isn’t perfect. We still have iniquities, diseases and death. But in Pascha we have a taste of what is to come, and that keeps us looking for more.
O Christ, great and most holy Pascha.
O Wisdom, Word and Power of God,
grant that we may more perfectly partake of Thee
in the never-ending day of Thy kingdom.
(Ninth Ode, Paschal Canon).
Here is Handel’s version of hope in our eternal Shepherd: www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9rw3RLv9AY.
Update
My wife and I are first-time grandparents and have a granddaughter as of yesterday. It’s hard to express our joy and gratitude.
In recent weeks we discovered a prayer for expectant parents that others may appreciate as well.
Lord Jesus Christ our God, the Creator of the universe and Lover of all mankind, hear our prayers for____ and for the child to be born of them. Let their love for one another grow with the life of this child. If there is any strife, division or enmity between them, cause this to be healed. Let them grow in love and in true Faith, and remove all fear, doubt and uncertainty from their lives. Give this child life and health according to Your will. In due time bring her/him to safe birth, through the prayers of Your own Mother, the Theotokos who bore you. For to You we ascribe glory, together with Your Father and Your all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
(Manual of Occasional Prayers, Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery, Otego, NY
www.holymyrrhbearers.com, based on a prayer book published in Greece by Archimandrite Cherubim of the Monastery of the Paraclete in Attica, Greece.)