Psalm 1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. These words start the book of Psalms. In the words of St Nicodemus the Hagiorite, “It contains a blessing and praise of the pious and righteous, but for the impious and sinful is condemnation and unhappiness.” St Athanasius the Great says that David the prophet and king devotes this first Psalm to Christ, who was anticipated to be born from his lineage. He alone can be considered blessed because he was outside of all of the death and corruption of sin. Through this psalm, however, [...]

Psalm 148 In this psalm of universal praise we see creation presented as a cosmic orchestra, where each of the three individual sections are called to lift up their distinct praise in harmonious melody. The first section praises God from the heavens: the angelic hosts, the sun, moon and stars. In times past they were the objects of worship, but here the psalmist tells us that there is someone higher than all these that deserves praise: the Lord, “for He commanded and they were created” (v 5). This praise is unceasing as the angelic hosts continuously cry out, “Holy, Holy, [...]

The earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness, the world and all who dwell therein (Psalm 23) This Psalm of David is used in preparation for Holy Communion and in many Church services. It is intended for the first day of the week, being Sunday, and is also a reference to the eighth day, being the Resurrection. St Athanasius the Great notes that this Psalm is teaching us about the Ascension of Christ and how the Gentiles can become worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. It starts in verse 1 with recognition that God created the earth and that the [...]

Let God arise and His enemies be scattered - Psalm 67 (68) This Psalm as a whole is a foretelling of the Resurrection, and no verse conveys this more than the first verse: “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: let them also that hate Him flee before Him”. This verse is recited before the chanting of “Christ is Risen” at the midnight Easter service, highlighting how this verse is to be seen within the Orthodox tradition. It is, however, worthwhile to examine this Psalm’s context in order to better understand both it and the Resurrection. The first use [...]

The Psalms   The book of Psalms (Psalter) in the Old Testament consists of 150 psalms. It contains divinely-inspired hymns and poems traditionally ascribed to the Holy Prophet and King David, although many were authored by others such as Moses and temple musicians. The Psalms are the prayer-book of the Church and are used in services more than any other book of Holy Scripture. They form the core of each of the services of the Daily Cycle and the Divine Liturgy. So prevalent are they in Orthodox worship that St John Chrysostom observed that wherever one looks in the Church, [...]