Psalm 141: “Lord I Call” at Vespers
1 Lord, I call upon Thee, hear me. Hear me, O Lord.
Lord, I call upon Thee, hear me.
Receive the voice of my prayer, when I call upon Thee.
Hear me, O Lord.
2 Let my prayer arise, in Thy sight as incense,
and let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice.
Hear me, O Lord.
3 Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord,
keep watch over the door of my lips!
4 Incline not my heart to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with men who work iniquity;
and let me not eat of their dainties!
5 Let a good man strike or rebuke me in kindness,
but let the oil of the wicked never anoint my head;
for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds.
6 When they are given over to those who shall condemn them,
then they shall learn that the word of the Lord is true.
7 As a rock which one cleaves and shatters on the land,
so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.
8 But my eyes are toward Thee, O Lord God;
in Thee I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!
9 Keep me from the trap which they have laid for me,
and from the snares of evildoers!
10 Let the wicked together fall into their own nets,
while I escape.
Psalm 141, followed by Psalms 142, 130 and 117, are the prayers for the great censing and the “Lord I Call” verses that set out the theme of every vespers service. Verse 2 links Psalm 141 to incense and the evening service: “Let my prayer arise in Thy sight as incense, and let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice.” These verses are also part of the beautiful “Let my prayer arise” sung at Presanctified Liturgies during Great Lent.
It’s clear that liturgical worship with all its material dimensions—incense, animal sacrifices, vestments—was at the core of ancient Israel’s life centered on the Temple in Jerusalem. But this particular psalm emphasizes the spiritual. Let my prayer arise, as if it were incense in the temple. Let the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice in the temple.
Of course the spiritual dimension of liturgy always needs to be the focus. It’s all too easy for the externals to take over and become idols. But there is more to this particular psalm. It is a lament. The author is in exile, torn away from the temple and under threat for refusing to participate in pagan rites and banquets. He has no access to the worship he has grown up with, knows well and loves.
There are some difficult passages here for translators (verses 5-7 especially), but the Septuagint and others agree that the broken bones strewn “at the mouth of Sheol”, or hades, the place of the dead, are the bones of the psalmist himself, not his enemies. As Mitchell Dahood writes in the Anchor Bible,
the psalmist likens his desperate situation to that of one who has been dismembered, whose bones have been scattered at the entrance of Sheol from where, however, he still manages to fix his gaze on Yahweh and to await deliverance.
This makes his prayer all the more moving.
Chancery Update
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, returned to the Chancery late yesterday after celebrating the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God at Christ the Savior Mission in Berlin, Maryland (near Ocean City), where Father John Parsells is the pastor. Meanwhile, Father Basil Summer served for the feast in Saint Sergius chapel, while Father Eric Tosi assisted as an altar server and I sang with the choir.
I spent a good part of the day catching up after vacation (there’s still a long list), but I was also happy to finish the last assignments for certification in online teaching required for all faculty in the new Doctor of Ministry program at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary. The DMin Director is Father Sergius Halvorsen and the program promises to be both demanding and stimulating, with a diverse and experienced group of pastors in its first cohort.
Today there will be teleconference of the Archives Advisory Committee, to plan next steps for the future of the archives. Later today, Father David and Matushka Rozanne Rucker, mission specialists for the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) will be stopping by for a visit.
Thank you to all who shared your advice about the “Chancellor’s Diary.” I was encouraged by the response. It’s not too late. If you have suggestions about the content and format going forward for please email me your advice at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Thank you.