EVENTS AND TIME A personal lamentation, sung by someone suffering at the prime of his life, who, feeling the burden of sin, stands in silence, contemplates in the vanity of temporal life, and longs to jump over the temporal, to be prepared to exit from the land of his sojourn, to live with God, his Savior and Sanctuary. According to Theodoret and others, this psalm was written at the time of Absalom’s rebellion against his own father David, who perceived the vanity of temporal glory, and the vulnerability of man to unexpected calamities. David committed himself not to grumble, nor to complain before his adversaries; but to pour all his thoughts about the vanity of human life before God alone; For he is a sojourner on earth, like a guest anticipating to abide in the eternal glories. Now, the main question in this psalm is: Why does God chasten a weak and mortal creature like man?! The English church uses verses 4 to 13 of this psalm in the service of burying the dead. The title: To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A psalm of David. I have previously commented on such title, with the exception of the word ‘Jeduthun’, ‘Judithun’, or ‘Iduthun’, who, according to some, there is no credible proof that he is ‘Ethan’, known for his wisdom (1 kings 4: 31). https://coptic-treasures.com/ The prophet David designated Juduthun, Asaph, and Heman, to lead the ministry of singing praises to the Lord (1 Chronicles 16: 41, 42; 25: 1 – 6; 2 Chronicles 5: 12; 35: 15); a ministry continued by their sons, until as late as the days of Nehemiah. It is a special blessing for a leader to disciple his own children – whether his biological children or otherwise – to practice the same ministry to the account of the kingdom of God. The prophet David delivered this personal lamentation to Jeduthun, and another lamentation to Asaph, to put them in tunes. (Psalm 77). According to St. Augustine, the name ‘Jeduthun’ suits this psalm; on account of that his name means (to overlap); while, according to others it means (to cast a stone). + Who is that man who overlaps?; And who are those whom he overlaps? … Those who are attached to the earth; who bow down to the dust; put their hearts in the lowly issues, and place their hope in vain things. + I wish ‘Jeduthun’ would come to us; I wish he would jump over those who find their pleasure in the lowly things; I wish to see him exult in the word of the Lord, and be glad in the law of the Most High. (St. Augustine) The general frame: 1- Man’s weakness and mortality 1 -- 6 a- The wise silence 1 -- 3 b- Mortality of the human life 4 -- 6 2- Prayer and bringing the soul into account 7 -- 13 a- A prayer for the sake of deliverance 7 -- 11 https://coptic-treasures.com/ b- A supplication for the sake of a divine response 12 – 13 The psalm is divided into two main divisions: Man discovering the vanity of temporal life outside of God; And that there is no refuge for the weak man in his sojourn in this world, except in God Himself. 1- MAN’S WEAKNESS AND MORTALITY: (1 – 6) a- The wise silence: (1 – 3) “I said, ‘I will guard my way, lest I sin with my tongue. I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked are before me’” (1) According to St. Ambrose, the psalmist talked to himself, when he was silent with the wicked; The inner silence in the presence of the wicked, has to be accompanied with a secret talk to one’s soul, in the presence of God; or a debate with God Himself. + The prophet David teaches us that we should often wander in our heart as though in a wide place, and to converse with it as though with a confident friend; the way David himself did, as is clear from his words: “I said, ‘I will guard my way’ (1). Solomon, his son said, “Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well” (Proverb 5: 15); namely, follow your own counsel (coming from an inner thinking); on account of that, “Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out” (Proverb 20: 5) https://coptic-treasures.com/ Starting his psalm by saying: “I said”, the psalmist remembers a pledge he made to God, and to himself, not to open his mouth up in the presence of the wicked, lest he would probably be stirred up and sin by his tongue. Fearing to talk to the wicked, he prefers to endure his tribulation in silence; on account of that, logic is never accepted by the wicked, whose way is violence and oppression. … He does not fear the wicked, but he rather fears that he, himself, would probably fall with his tongue, such an unpredictable member of the body, that has to be watched like a wild animal. … He knows for sure, how difficult it is to avoid this sin, particularly in the presence of the wicked, whose main interest is to stir up the children of God. According to the apostle James: “If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body; … but no man can tame the tongue” (James 3:2, 8). David pledged not to accuse his enemies before the wicked; not to defend himself, nor even to utter his godly views. He pledged to keep silent before them, and to talk only to God, who is capable of revealing to him the vanity of the temporal life; and His intervention to realize His divine justice in the proper time. The psalmist often talks about the tongue and its danger; that once it slides, the whole body will slide as well, and the feet will deflect from the royal path. Hence he says: “I said, ‘I will guard my way, lest I sin with my tongue”. And, according to St. Peter the apostle: “He would love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking guile” (1 Peter 3: 10). https://coptic-treasures.com/ + It is not without cause that the tongue is put in a secure place (guarded by both the teeth and the lips); on account of that it easily slips (St. Augustine) + By diligently guarding his tongue, the servant of God will surely destroy the counsel of the wicked. (Father Caesarius, bishop of Arle) “I was silent and still; I held my peace to no avail, my distress grew worse. My heart grew hot within me; While I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue” (2, 3) + Persisting on being mute and silent, David was not disturbed to be called a “bloodthirsty man” 2 Samuel 16: 6, etc.); for he was sure that he is not; and sure of his good deeds. + As long as man enjoys a good conscience, he should not be disturbed by the false accusations; nor affected by the slanders of others, but rather by the testimonies of his own heart. (St. Ambrose) The prophet David was silent, as though utterly mute; he refrained even to utter holy words, before the wicked standing to oppress him, so as not “to give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast his pearls before swine” (Matthew 7: 6); he refrained to utter faith talk, not for fear of the wicked, but for perceiving that words would only increase his violence. However that renewed his pain, and ignited the fire in his heart. As according to https://coptic-treasures.com/ St. Paul, about his own kinsmen who reject faith: “I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart; for I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9: 2, 3). Refraining to talk to the opposing enemy, he mused within himself; and a struggle flared in his heart, between silence, lest he may sin with his tongue, that would increase the evil of the wicked, And an inner longing to testify to the salvation work of God, and His love for the salvation of all men. + Suffering for having reached such a level, and longing to surpass it, the “overlapping” man would say: “I was silent and still”, for fear that I may commit iniquity; “I held my peace”; yet I condemn my decision to be silent. As much as I found comfort in silence, my distress grew worse toward those who oppressed my words, and described them as wrong…. I became more sorrowful for not saying what I should have said. (St. Augustine) His silence caused a fire to burn in his heart; on one aspect because he loves his oppressors, seeks their salvation; and struggles between his decision to hold his peace, and his desire to talk to them; And on another aspect, his silence opened up his heart, as well as his tongue to talk to God. The more his sorrows grew, the more he felt the need to pray to God. Through suffering, we would discover the company of Christ, risen from the dead, talking to us after the long horrible silence of the crucifixion, and of the grave, to say together with the two disciple of Emmaus: “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24: 32) . https://coptic-treasures.com/ Not every silence would bring us forth into an encounter with the One risen from the dead, and to enjoy His fiery talk; but the wise silence that carries inside love even for the oppressors, and a true longing for their salvation, even at the cost of our whole temporal life. Whoever partakes of the silence, working with love, of the Lord Christ, the silence of the cross, would experience the power of His resurrection. b- The mortality of the human life: (4 – 6); As his tongue became silent, not uttering a word to the oppressive wicked enemy, the psalmist’s heart talked to His God, and entered into a debate even with himself; which led him to discover, amid his sufferings, the truth of human life, concerning its weakness and short span. … Although this is a fact well known by all men, yet, there is great difference between the pure mental knowledge, and its acceptance as a divine proclamation, active in man’s inner depths. Hence the psalmist cries out: “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am” (4) A great deal of wisdom is set upon our perception that our life on earth is like a shadow; and that the greatest achievement, if it does not prepare us for the better eternal world, would be of much lower value than the longings of the godly man. Hence the Holy Book often draws our attention to the short span of the temporal life. The apostle Paul says: “The time is short” (1 Corinthians 7: 29), as an important fact that touches our living faith, and our eternal being. … Here, the psalmist David does not seek from God to proclaim to him the time of his departure, but to grant him a perpetual remembrance, a practical knowledge, and a good perception of the short span of his sojourn on earth, in order to become of better and more wisdom. https://coptic-treasures.com/ According to St. Ambrose, the psalmist here, hastens the end of his temporal life, seeking from God to realize His divine promise, and to show him his eternal position, “when all in Christ shall be alive, but each one in his own order: Christ the firsfruit, afterwards those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Corinthians 15: 22, 23). + “Lord, make me know my end”; not to stay here with all the temptations and tribulations; having to endure those who oppress us for the least of reasons; … “make me know my end”, which I still not perceive (death); not the measure of my temporal life, which is already before my eyes. + The end about which he talks, is that on which the apostle Paul has set his eyes in his life, confessing his weakness, and perceiving within himself the changes in things he has already seen (he probably means, that with every new spiritual growth, he gets to perceive the end, in a deeper and more clear way); saying: “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on…”(Philippians 3: 12, 13). (St. Augustine) Getting to know the truth of our life’s end, would prepare us to have a renewable beginning every day; saying. Our perception of the soon coming end of our temporal time on earth; and our recognition of the happy ending when all the promises of God of glories to us are realized, will motivate us to the renewable beginnings, burning with the Spirit, not delivered with despair to sufferings and tribulations. + The knowledge for which the psalmist prays, saying: “Make me know the measures of my days”, is probably very important; I wish. However, to know as well my beginnings. (St. Jerome) https://coptic-treasures.com/ “And the measures of my days”.(4). The psalmist did not seek to know the measure of the night of his life, but “of his days”. For, there are no nights in the life of the godly believer, but they are all days, enlightened by the Sun of Righteousness shining on him. Despite what he suffers of tribulations and temptations, which make his life seem dark, Yet, fellowship with the Lord Christ, the Light of the world, will not give the darkness a place in his heart. “You are all sons of light, and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5: 5). According to St. Augustine, the believer wishes to know the days of his life, he lives in the Lord; which bring him forth into the eternal day, when we abide in Him, and He in us. For the days without a fellowship with Him, are lost from our life, and are not counted as life. The days in which we get united with God who says about Himself: “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3: 14), are the days counted in His eyes, in which we grow and mature; Whereas the days in which we fall into sin, united with the corruption and vanity of sin, are counted as vain, for they pass as though they have not; and they even make us lose the true days. The psalmist goes on to say: “that I may know (what I lack)” (4). + For, while I strive here, that is what I lack (the continuous strife to reach the ultimate end). And as long as I lack, I cannot consider my self perfect, and would say: “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; … I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3: 12, 14). Grant me to gain it as a reward for reaching the end of the race. For there, will be a place for comfort; a city, where there is no sojourn, controversy, nor temptations. … “”Make me know the measure of my days, that I may know (what I lack)”; lest I boast in what I already have; until I perpetually come to be in Him (in Christ), and have no self-righteousness… https://coptic-treasures.com/ (St. Augustine) As long as I am still on earth, make me know the days in which the Sun of Righteousness shine on me, in which I have no darkness or night, which are counted for me,. For by such holy days I would know what I lack, namely, to reach perfection, and to enjoy the perfection of beholding God, and the fellowship of His glories… That is what I truly lack during my strife and my growth in Christ Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, who turns my life into a day with no night. According to the scholar Origen, there will be many amazing situations in the great day of the Lord: Some elders will appear as little children; on account of that their true days-count are few, having lost a great number of them through their practical deprivation of the living fellowship with Christ; While some children will appear as elders, on account of their enjoyment of the fellowship with the Lord. St. John the Baptist has been as though advanced in days, while being still a fetus, when he testified to the Lord shining on him, by leaping for joy in his mother’s womb; While the elders of the Jews, who know the prophesies, have lost their days, when they condemned the Righteous and delivered Him to death. Crying out to God to make him know what he lacks, the psalmist started complaining to him that his days became as handbreadths, and was attacked by old age and calamities. “Indeed You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age as nothing before you” (5) https://coptic-treasures.com/ + For those days are (old days); and I long for (new days) that would never grow old; so as to say: “Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5: 17); he became new in hope, then in actuality. Know that Adam has become (old) in us; while Christ is renewed; “Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4: 16). That is why, concentrating our thought on sin, death, and on time that would soon become as handbreadths, on sorrow, labor, and on the consecutive periods of age that gradually pass from infancy to old age; We would see here, (the old man), the day that grows old, the song that became obsolete, and the old covenant; But if we concentrate our attention on the inner man, on things that are renewed, instead of those that change; we shall find (the new man), (the new day), and (the new song), (the new covenant); Let us then love such renewal (in life), and not fear the old age. Such a man, who seeks the new things, disregarding things that have passed away, would say: “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know (what I lack)” (4). Contemplate in how the psalmist, while still drawing Adam with him, he hastens toward Christ. (St. Augustine) Discovering how his days have become as handbreadths, motivated the psalmist to hasten to pass over, or to jump, in order to enjoy the new life in Christ Jesus, perpetually renewed by His Holy Spirit, never get old, until he comes to encounter the ultimate day with no night, nor weakness of old age. So, the psalmist discovers that his days are as handbreadths, and his essence as nothing before God (5); like a shadow wandering in the world for some time, to exit out of it, not knowing who will gather what he has collected or treasured. https://coptic-treasures.com/ “Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Surely every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them” (5, 6) + Indeed, as what he already said: I have (overlapped) or jumped over all the mortal things, despised the lowly things, treaded by my feet over all the earthly things, soared up high, where the gladness of the Lord’s law is;… I have longed for that end, which, itself, has no end; longed for those days of true being and sound existence( for there are other days without true existence). …I have become someone who actually strongly jump, longing for the things that endure … Yet, as long as I am still in this world, as long as I still bear a mortal body; as long as the life of man is labor and anguish; as long as I groan and moan because of the disturbing things of this existence; … As long as I am as such, while I am up, I fear. Lest I may fall; … And, as long as my good and evil are not sure, “every man at his best state is but vapor, and walks about like a shadow”. (St. Augustine) + Tell me; If we see someone chase the wind, attempting to hold it, Would we not say that he is out of his mind?... If we see someone try hold a shadow, disregarding the actual thing; If we see someone hate his wife, and embrace her shadow; or hate his son, and love his shadow; Would you need further proof for his folly? … Likewise, are those who greedily seek the existing things, that are actually nothing but shadows; Yes, whether glory, power, good life, wealth, luxury, or similar things in this life; according to the words of the prophet: “My days are like a shadow that lengthens, and I wither away like grass” (Psalm 102: 11). (St. John Chrysostom) Here, the psalmist talks about the riches and wealth unjustly gathered, and abused. https://coptic-treasures.com/ + Riches are vain if spent on luxurious life, but are not vain if given to the needy. (St. John Chrysostom) 2- PRAYER, AND BRINGING THE SOUL INTO ACCOUNT: (7 – 13) a- A prayer for the sake of deliverance (7 – 11): The prayer mentioned here is considered among the most amazing and deep prayers. Discovering the vanity of the temporal life, longing to surpass it to reach the day without a night, and the actuality without a shadow; man puts all his hope in the Lord, who, alone, is capable of saving him from the inner enemy, namely, the sin, or his corrupt nature; and from the outer enemies, namely, in his war against the devil and the outer evil, by the spirit of godliness; proclaiming his complete readiness to submit to God, the Creator, the Savior, and the Physician; to treat him with all medications, however bitter they may be. “And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You” (7) Now ‘Jeduthun’ – namely, he who (overlaps) the time – puts all his hope in the Lord; not to be destroyed by time and vanity of the earthly life; waiting for the coming of the Lord, in whom he completely trusts and loves; and whom he ministers, not for the sake of getting any temporal goods, but of having the Grantor of the gifts Himself. + Now, ‘Jeduthun’ says: “Lord, what do I wait for?”, He who provides me with everything; with Himself, He who is above all, “By whom everything was created”, including me. He is waiting for me. https://coptic-treasures.com/ Do you see how ‘Jeduthun’ waits for the Lord?... Therefore, no one here, should call himself perfect, lest he would be deceiving himself; And as long as he will never be perfect here, What will be his benefit, in case he loses his humility? (St. Augustine) Putting his hope in the Lord, and trusting in Him as the Forgiver of sins; the psalmist proclaims his acceptance of God’s chastisement, even If He allows for him to be the reproach of the foolish; saying: “Deliver me from all my transgressions; Do not make me the reproach of the foolish” (8) The psalmist confesses that his sin made him the ridicule and the reproach of the foolish. He wept entreating God, not to restore his honor before the foolish and the wicked, but to purify him from all his transgressions, until he passes through this temporal life to reach the Holy One, in a holy and pure life in the Lord. Indeed, feeling the bitterness of the divine chastisements, the psalmist in his human weakness, seeks from the Lord to remove those plagues from him; for he felt consumed by the blow of His hand. He was mute and did not open his mouth before the oppressing foolish; to talk to his Creator. “I was mute, I did not open my mouth, because it was You who did it. Remove Your plague from me. I am consumed by the blow of Your hand” (9) https://coptic-treasures.com/ + To protect myself from the foolish, I was mute, and did not open my mouth; For whom shall I tell what goes on inside me? I listen to the Lord God’s words within me, “For He will speak peace to His people and to His saints” (Psalm 85: 8) (St. Augustine) The psalmist was mute with the foolish; But with the Lord, He entered into supplication seeking mercy. By being mute, he also means that, having nothing to defend himself before His Creator, he stopped justifying himself, but opens his mouth hoping for His compassion. St. Paul the apostle pleaded three times that the thorn of illness might depart from him; but the Lord’s response was: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12: 9). And having experienced the grace of God and the blessing of the tribulations, the apostle said: “Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12: 9, 10). “When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty melt away like a moth; Surely every man is vapor” (11) + Let Him who created me renew me; Let Him create me anew … This is the foremost gift of God’s grace; to make us confess our shortcomings; that however good we do, and whatever our capabilities are, , yet this is realized in us: “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1: 31); and, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12: 10). (St. Augustine) https://coptic-treasures.com/ Through God’s chastisements because of iniquity, the believer perceives that his life is like the spider’s web; and that it is vain to get disturbed because of temporal issues. + Yes indeed, it is vain for man to get disturbed; for anxiety because of these issues is extremely disturbing and troublesome; But it is not this way in the heavenly places. Here, on earth, some people labor, and some enjoy; While there, everyone gets the crop of his labor; he gets a double reward. b- A supplication for a response to his prayer: (12 – 13) The psalmist ends the psalm with a supplication to God to respond to his prayer, together with tears that would not dry up, and a confession of his sojourn, and his longing to pass through the world, as a land of sojourn, enjoying the forgiveness of his sins. “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears” (12) He began his prayer; and as the tribulation got stronger, his heart got filled with sighs, then with cry-outs; and finally, his tears talked in such a language, unutterable by the tongue. “For I am a stranger on earth, a sojourners as all my fathers were. Turn away Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength, before I depart and am no more” (12, 13) + The saints were strangers and sojourners in this world … Abraham, in all his issues, lived belonging to the enduring city. He showed hospitality, brotherly love, mercy, and longsuffering, with no longing for wealth, nor temporal glory. https://coptic-treasures.com/ + Let us be strangers, so that God would not be ashamed to be called our God; … While being ashamed to be called God of the wicked, He is glorified to be called God of the righteous, the merciful, and those growing in virtue. (St. John Chrysostom) + Notice how David amazingly looked at his forefathers who were known for virtue: “For I am a stranger on earth, a sojourner as all my fathers were”. (St. John Chrysostom) + Hastening to depart from this land of sojourn, David says: “I am (fleeing) before You on earth; a sojourners as all my fathers were”; As a sojourner he was hastening to the home of all saints. But he seeks forgiveness for the transgressions he has committed here, before his departure from this life; lest he would be denied the eternal life; hence he says: Forgive me to get comfort before I go and be no more. (St. Ambrose) + Set me free from my sins before I depart, so as not to go with my iniquities. He refers to that happy home, where the saints have fellowship in the eternal life, in the unchangeable truth. (St. Augustine) ------------------------- AN INSPIRATION FROM PSALM 39 https://coptic-treasures.com/ INSTRUCT ME HOW TO SURPASS THE EVENTS + Teach me, O Lord how to hold my peace before the foolish; So as to talk to You in my depths; + By Your love you have “hedged me up with thorns; and walled me in” (Hosea 2: 6) Gates are closed shut before me by the wicked who unjustly accuse me; I shall return to You, and confess my iniquities to You; I shall forget all about those wicked foolish; by whom, I know, You chasten me; + Instruct me how to surpass events and time; How to the troubles of the wicked and their vain accusations; How to refrain from debating them; nor to defend myself before them; How to surpass the corrupt nature, To live the new resurrected life; How to overcome every lust; and even to surpass my body needs; How to surpass the time and the temporal things; to be able to behold heaven and its Lord; Your Holy Spirit alone can carry me like on the wings of a dove; Can lift me up to fly, and not to be submerged in the mire of sin; Your grace is my support.
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