Psalm 109 (110) «Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου· Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἃν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου» The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies the footstool of Your feet.” This psalm is a prophecy concerning the birth and priestly reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who will triumph over the enemies of evil, sin, and death. Parts of this psalm are read in Church during the Divine Liturgy on Christmas day. The first verse relates God the Father promising the Son that He will place [...]

Bless the LORD, O my soul! - Psalm 102 (103) Εὐλόγει, ἡ ψυχή μου, τὸν Κύριον Psalm 102 (103 in English Bibles) is a poetic prayer read (and sometimes chanted) in the Orthodox Church at the beginning of the service of Vespers. In this Psalm, the Psalmist meditates on the various parts of God’s Creation: the heavens and the earth, the mountains, the valleys and the water which passes through them, the ministering angels, the diversity of plants and animals including the cattle, the cedars of Lebanon, the young lions who snatch their pray, the sparrows and their nests, and [...]

“My soul clings closely behind You, Your right hand has upheld me” (Psalm 63:8 LXX) «ἐκολλήθη ἡ ψυχή μου ὀπίσω σου, ἐμοῦ δὲ ἀντελάβετο ἡ δεξιά σου» King David in this verse describes the natural longing within the human soul to know, follow and be in communion with God. St Augustine at the beginning of his ‘Confessions’ writes: You move us to delight in praising You, for you have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You…For those who seek the Lord will find Him, and those who find Him shall praise Him. [...]

  «Τὸ Πνεῦμά Σου τὸ ἀγαθὸν ὀδηγήσει με ἐν γῇ εὐθείᾳ» Psalm 142 is read at the beginning of every Orthros service as the last of the ‘Six Psalms’, and at every Supplicatory Canon or Paraklesis. More specifically, this verse is chanted at the Orthros of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles. Every reference to the Spirit in the Psalms is a direct reference to the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity. It is the Holy Spirit Who inspired King David to write this Psalm when his son Absalom was in pursuit of his [...]

Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered… Psalm 67 (68) The first use of the opening lines of this Psalm was by the Israelites when the Ark of the Covenant was carried during their wanderings in the desert. The enemies to be scattered were those who fought against Israel on their way to the Chosen Land: the Amalekites, Moabites, Amorites and so forth. The wandering of Israel through the desert was a kind of procession, and so it makes sense that this Psalm was eventually used in Jewish liturgical processions, and later on by Christians for the same purpose. [...]