“WE ARE ACCOUNTED AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER” Its occasion: It probably has been a time of tribulation that dwelt upon the whole congregation (9 – 14); not because of an apostasy or falling into heathen worship (17 – 21); but as a test of faith. The psalm represents a cry-out of a suffering people for the sake of righteousness; … a cry-out that endures along the eras since the days of Adam, when Cain killed Abel for no reason, … and its echo remains even in paradise where the martyrs who were killed for the sake of testifying to the Word of God, say: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth; … And it was said to them, that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed” (Revelation 6: 9 – 11). It is the procession of all the generations. This psalm is considered an example of entering into sufferings on the level of the people, not for chastisement, but to partake of the divine love; for us to say: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter” (22) It is also considered as a living example of the collective life of fellowship, together with a practice of a personal relationship with God … For the psalmist often speaks in the name of the congregation, without disregarding his personal talk to the Lord, his king and God; … saying: “You are my king, O God, Command victories for Jacob” (4); crying out to his God for the sake of the whole church (Jacob). The general frame: 1- God’s dealings in the past 1 -- 3 2- A perpetual horn of salvation 4 -- 8 3- A test of the present faith 9 -- 16 4- A word of admonishment 17 -- 22 5- A cry-out for the sake of salvation 23 – 26 https://coptic-treasures.com/ 1- GOD’S DEALINGS IN THE PAST: (1 – 3) This psalm starts by a collective praise, sung by the congregation in the time of tribulation, when all remember God’s dealings in the past; saying: “We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us what deeds You did in their days, in days of old” (1) The whole people bring back to their memory God’s dealings with their fathers in the days of Moses and Joshua the son of Nun, when God set them free of the bondage of Pharaoh, drove nations out before them, and presented to them the promised land; not by their swords, nor by their might, but according to the riches of the promises of God; It was the work of God’s rich grace at the beginning, as well as at the end. The past for us, as children of God, is not just history that passes along, but it is an experience which extends along the time, by which man lives with God, his Savior and Care-Taker. God, for us is the same, yesterday, today, and forever; worked in the past; and still works at present, confirming the truth of His promises with us, until He brings us forth to the fellowship of His glories to come. He says: “We have heard with our ears”; meaning that, what their fathers have told them about God’s dealings with them, is something sure without any doubt. It is the duty of fathers to present to their children the experience of their life with God, being the deposit of the living faith working along the generations. The tradition once delivered to the saints, is lived by the church along the generations, to experience the active evangelic life. It is befitting of the children, as well, to receive such a lived experience, and the practical gospel, to live, as it was by the early generations; according to the words of the prophet Moses: “Ask your father, and he will show you” (Deuteronomy 32: 7). Father Papias, bishop of Herapolis, disciple of St. John the Evangelist, presenting to us his experience, says; https://coptic-treasures.com/ [With no hesitation I add what I have learned and received of interpretations from the elders, which I am sure of their soundness … For I do not believe that what I learn from the books would benefit me as much as what I get from the live voice]. The experience that the psalmist and the people tasted are: “You have drove out the nations with Your hand, but them You planted. Now You afflicted the peoples and cast them out. For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them. But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, because You favored them” (2, 3) 1- The foremost of this experience is that the hand of God drove out heathen nations to plant His own people. That is God’s plan in the life of man; He intends to uproot every corrupt (nation) in the heart, to set His (kingdom) inside it (Luke 17: 21). What is the “hand of God” that uproots, to plant, but the divine Word, “Through whom everything were made, and without whom nothing was made that was made” (John 1: 3); the Word, the Creator, and the Worker, incarnated for our sake, to drive the corrupt nature away from us, and to plant us in Him, members of His holy body. That was known by the demons who recognized the mission of Christ, the incarnate Word, and cried out during His ministry: “Have You come here to torment us?” (8: 29) Yes indeed, He came to destroy their kingdom, and to drive them away from the heart of man, as they were driven away from heaven, to proclaim His heavenly glory in us; hence He said: “I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven” (Luke 10: 18). 2- “For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them”. This is the experience of the children of God along the eras; For his people were not liberated from the bondage of Pharaoh by a human arm, nor a material sword, but by the blood of the Lamb, the Grantor of salvation. Moses said to the people: “Do not be afraid; stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; …The https://coptic-treasures.com/ Lord will fight for you, and you hold your peace” (Exodus 14: 13, 14); Then all of them sang, saying: “The horse and its rider, He has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; …. The Lord is a man of war” (Exodus 15: 1 – 3). Moses did not overcome Amalik by the sword, but by stretching his hands like the cross. And, entering into the promised land, Joshua did not destroy the wall of Jericho by the sword, but by blowing the trumpets of ram’s horns, shouting, and carrying the ark of the covenant (Joshua 6: 4). And the young man David said to the mighty Goliath: You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts” (1 Samuel 17: 45) We do not inherit the promised land, the Higher Jerusalem, by our sword, but by the sword of the Lord, coming out of His mouth (Revelation 1: 16; 19: 15); capable of separating the truth from vanity, and of cutting off everything unclean in us. 3- The secret of conquest is “the right hand of God, His arm, and the light of His countenance” (3) + Your “right hand” is the secret of Your power. Your “arm” is “Your Son” Himself, and “the Light of Your countenance” What does this mean, but that You were present with them by Your miracles. … For when the presence of God appears by any miracle, we do not see Him by our eyes, but through the activity of the miracle. (St. Augustine) The secret of our conquest is the incarnate Word of God, being: https://coptic-treasures.com/ a- “The right hand of the Father”; namely, His power, being the Rational Word of God, or the uttering mind of God. For, according to the scholar Origen: [He was so called, on account of that He made all creation, showing the power of God]. b- “The arm of the Lord”; for every divine gift is “from the Father, by the Son, in the Holy Spirit”; one gift presented by the ordinance of the Father, realized by the Son, the rational Word; hence called, “The hand or arm of God”. When the Holy Book says that God stretched His hand, or bared His arm, it means by this the divine incarnation; when the Son came down to tell us about the plan of the Father, His love, and His work. c- “The light of the countenance of the Father”; or as the apostle call Him: “the brightness of His glory” (Hebrew 1: 3); He is the splendor of His Light, and one with Him; For the Light could not be Light without splendor; and there is no splendor without Light…. Hence, it is also said: “Light from Light”; for He is the splendor that comes eternally from Him, not separate from Him, and of the same essence. 4- Of the most prominent experiences gained by the children of God through His dealings with His believers along history, is that they are the object of God’s pleasure; expressed by the psalmist, saying: “because You favored them” (3). God is in no need of us; For He is the Giving Love, who intends to give us the fellowship of life together with Him; for no other cause than that we are the object of His pleasure. Having sinned to Him, the incarnate Son of God came down to deliver Himself a sacrifice of love and obedience, to be smelt by the Father a fragrance of pleasure and favor. … Being members of His body, we are to be counted as the object of His pleasure and favor, taking the curse of the sin away from us. 2- A PERPETUAL HORN OF SALVATION: (4 – 8) Cherishing the past dealings of God with His people, the psalmist turns this experience into a living present actuality. a- A collective and personal salvation: In God, working in the whole history, he sees his own King and God; And at the same time, through https://coptic-treasures.com/ his personal life of fellowship, the psalmist seeks, in the name of the congregation (Jacob); saying: “You are my King, O God, command victories for Jacob” (4) Through the personal relationship binding the psalmist to God of all mankind, counting Him as His own King and God, he had full daring to seek from God to fulfill His promises; having promised the salvation of His people. How beautiful it is for the believer to use his daring with God, not for his own benefit, but for the edification of the whole congregation, and for the salvation of others; For when we forget about ourselves, and seek for the sake of the others, we shall gain to our account, more than we have ever sought or asked for. b- Daring to hold fast to God’s promises to His people, we bear Him as ‘our strength’; and by Him we gain conquest over the devil who never ceases to complain against us. “Through You we shall push down our enemies. Through Your name we will trample those who rise against us” (5) The psalmist does not discern between “God” and “the name of God”. By God we shall push down our enemies, and by His name we shall trample those who rise against us. For the name of God means the divine presence. Who are our enemies whom we shall push down, but the works of the old man?! And who are those whom we shall trample, but the sins and the evil works?! The true believer who accepts God as his King, will deliver his inner life, body, behavior, and possessions, to the account of the King, to dwell in the kingdom of God, who knows no failure or defeat. https://coptic-treasures.com/ c- We boast in God our Savior, confess His name, and glorify Him for the sake of His works with us “”For I will not trust in my bow, nor shall my sword save me. But You have saved us from our enemies; and have put to shame those who hated us. In God we boast all day long, and praise Your name forever” (6 – 8) Being our King, You save Your people, not by their strength nor by their weapons, but by You, to become the subject of their boast and unceasing praise. + That was the past, … How about the future? By You, there will come the time when our enemies will be (winnowed) like chaff, and like dust they will driven out from the earth (the new, namely the eternal). “I will not trust in my bow, nor shall my sword save me” (6). + What does he mean by “we shall boast”? and “we shall confess?” (8) Saving us from our enemies, and giving us an eternal kingdom, In us the words will be realized: “Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You” (Psalm 84: 4). (St. Augustine) + Intending to catch us in his nets, and finding in us nothing that belongs to him, the devil would depart confused; As for us, we can praise God together with the prophet, saying to Him: “You have saved us from our enemies; and have put to shame those who hated us”. (Father Caesarius, bishop of Arle) 3- A TEST OF THE PRESENT FAITH: (6 – 16) The psalmist describes the present tribulation in a bitter collective lamentation, in which it came: https://coptic-treasures.com/ 1- The psalmist feels that, because God has taken Himself off from the midst of the armies of His people; He cast them off, and put them to shame. “But You have cast us off and put us to shame; and You do not go out with our armies” (9) What came upon the people was not because of the strength of their enemies, as much as because God has cast them off for some time. This time, however, it was not to chasten them for a certain sin they have committed, but for the sake of testing their faith. + “You have put us to shame”, not before our consciences, but in the people’s sight. ,,, Everywhere, Christians were driven out, on account of being ‘Christians’, as though it was some kind of ridicule and reproach. Where then is our God and King?! He who commanded victories for Jacob?! Where is He, who has done all those things that our fathers told us?! Where is He, who has done all those things that He proclaimed to us by His Spirit?! Has He changed?! … Yes, …Those things were done as, “a contemplation of the sons of Korah”…. It is befitting of us to understand the reasons behind all that. Why did He intend for us to suffer all those things at this specific certain time?! We came out to encounter our enemies; And You did not go out with our armies. … We saw them very strong, and we were without strength. … Where is Your might?! … Where is Your right hand?! … Where is that sea that dried up; and in its waves the chasing Egyptians drowned?!... Where is the collapse of the opposition of Amalek by the sign of the cross?! (St. Augustine) God often drew His hands away from us, yet for sometime, not to forsake us, but to train and teach us, that without Him we would never overcome; and to give us the chance to proclaim our love for Him by continuing to strive, even when there are no heavenly comforts. That is what St. (Abba) Anthony made clear in his epistles; saying that God, at https://coptic-treasures.com/ the beginning of the way, gives many comforts that fill the heart with joy, and exhort us with the spirit of strife; But chooses to withdraw His comforts for a certain time, without forsaking us. Then, when we feel an intense draught, we would proclaim our love for Him, for His sake, even if we do not get comforts, through our persistence on strife, and on seeking His free grace. St. John Chrysostom likens God to a mother who takes her hand away from her infant while training him on walking. Even if he falls once and several times; even cries, he will see his mother looking down on him with compassion with her eyes and heart. Seeking his continual maturation, she would never forsake him. It may so seem that God has cast us off from His face, has forsaken us to reproach; does not go out with us during our spiritual strife. Yet, we should have faith that He dwells in us, will never forsake us; and, being members of the body of Christ, He works in us by His Holy Spirit, for our glory, yet in the proper time. 2- Feeling bitter defeat; that would expose the extent of our weakness, helplessness, and dryness. “You make us turn back from the enemy; and those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves. You have given us up like sheep intended for food, and have scattered us among the nations” (10, 11) When the believer gains a series of victories, it so happens that he may fall into pride; Hence God, intends to take off His hand from him for some time, to make him discover his weaknesses. When the Lord did take off His hand, and did not go with the armies of His people, they turned back from the enemy, were taken captives and slaves, and were scattered among the nations. Here the people perceived the extent of their weakness; like helpless sheep before wolves; or even sheep, not fit for production, but only intended for slaughter. https://coptic-treasures.com/ How miserable is he, who thinks of himself as something, and falls into pride, when God grants him consecutive victories, or valuable gifts; For then the divine grace would forsake him, to realize, how his weakness, shame, and the dryness of his nature, make him only fit for slaughter! … Hence the apostle says to the Corinthians, warning against pride: “Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us, not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other. For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?” (1 Corinthians 4: 6, 7). … If all what is in our hands are a gift from God, that we have got for free, so why do you boast on others? 3- God did not allow for the tribulation for His own benefit. “You sell Your people for naught, and are not enriched by their price” (12) Here, the psalmist seems as though he admonishes God for selling His people for naught; that His people became in shame, … God was not glorified, neither in His people, nor in His enemies, who humiliate His people, and insult His name. According to St. Augustine: [During their escape before their heathen enemies, did the Christians hold meetings to celebrate the glory of God?!... Did they praise God in collective harmony in the churches of God, as they used to do in the time of peace?!]. It is an amiable admonishment to God, seeking from Him to lift the tribulation up, and to support His believers, to make them sing His praise together in an atmosphere of peace and security. That could be considered as an admonishment addressed to the people as well; on account of that God seeks no benefit for Himself out of their tribulation; for He did not sell them to their enemies, anticipating price or profit; but seeks their edification, their eternal salvation, and their glory. https://coptic-treasures.com/ 4- In our tribulation we endure the passion of Christ; to be counted as partaking of His crucifixion, as well as in the strength and gladness of His resurrection. Hence the description of the passion came to apply to the Lord Christ in His trial, passion, and crucifixion; and to apply, as well, to His church who partake of His passions. “You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples. My dishonor is continually before me, and the shame of my face has covered me, because the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, because of the enemy and the avenger” (14 – 16) According to St. Augustine: [They spoke with their lips and shook their head; That is what they did with the Lord Jesus and with all his saints, whom they took hold, ridiculed, and slain]. According to some the talk here applies to the people of the old, particularly at the time of the captivity of Jerusalem or Judah, when the surrounding nations ridiculed them, and shook their head, specially the Edomites who shut the ways before the escapees of Judah, to catch and deliver them into the hands of the Chaldeans; and turned the desolate cities of Judah into pastures for sheep.. According to father Onesimus of Jerusalem, shaking the head as a way of ridicule, refers to the work of the heretics, enemies of the church, who intend to shake our faith in the Head -- Jesus Christ, to become in shame and reproach. 5- A WORD OF ADMONISHMENT: (17 – 22) Describing the tribulation through which the people was going through, the psalmist enters with God into a word of admonishment – something that God wishes us to do in such circumstances; to get attached to Him, and to converse with Him. For it often happens in the time of joy, that we tend to get so preoccupied with ourselves, overwhelmed by haughtiness and pride, that God has no place in our hearts. Being His children, let us admonish Him, for He listens, longing to give us in abundance, not just His goods and blessings, but His love, and even Himself.. https://coptic-treasures.com/ In an admonishment of love, the psalmist asks God: Why did he allow for His people to go through such tribulation?! “All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You, nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from Your way” (17, 18) God longs to hear such words, which bear no self-righteousness nor self-defense before Him, but faith in Him, abidance to His way, and a proclamation of our true love for Him. Those were the words of the apostle Peter after his fall: “Lord, You know all things, You know that I love You” (John 21: 16); and were also the words of the apostle Paul: ”Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter” (Romans 8: 35, 36)…. Here the psalmist proclaims; that the people did not do like Lot’s wife who looked backward, and turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19: 26), nor like the Israelites who grumbled in the wilderness, longing for the pots of meat and for eating the bread of bondage (Exodus 16: 3); nor did they put their hands to the plow and looked backward (Luke 9: 62); but, like the apostle Paul they “forgot all things which are behind, and reached forward to those things which are ahead” (Philippians 3: 13). What is “the Way” from which our steps did not depart, but the Lord Christ who says: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14: 6)?. to whom men of the old covenant have put their sight in hope, being “the desire of all nations” (Haggai 2: 7); and in whom they longed to enjoy the new resurrected life… Behold, we, every day wait for His coming on the cloud, and say: “Amen, Come, Lord Christ” (Revelation 22: 20) According to St. Augustine, the psalmist proclaims here that their steps have not departed from the narrow way designated by the Lord for us to reach eternity; the way which, although bitter, yet it does not bring us forth to death, but to the “shadow of death”, saying: “You covered us with the shadow of death” (19). If the temptations with all their strength bring us forth to the death of the body, they bring us forth to the shadow of death [for our death is the shadow of death; whereas the true death is the condemnation of the devil]. https://coptic-treasures.com/ Then the psalmist consummates his admonishment by saying: “If we had forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a foreign god, Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart” (20, 21) In such admonishment, the psalmist proclaims the following: a- I should not talk; for You, O God, know the secrets of the heart; You know that we have not bound ourselves to a foreign god, but to Your Holy Name, not only apparently, but deep in the heart. b- We know You, and will never forget You; and You know us the way the lover knows his beloved, not the knowledge of mind-perception, but that of strong relationship, the knowledge of love (see Mathew &: 23). In His knowledge, the Holy God receives no one but the saints. c- If the tribulation has become too intense, if the enemies have got so stirred up against us, and we were almost on the verge of death, Yet, in all this we have not forgotten You. As according to Pope St. Athanasius the apostolic: [The more the enemies provoke us, the more liberated we shall be; … The more they oppress us, the closer we shall get together; ,,, And the more they intend for us to deflect from goodness, the more we shall get to preach, saying: “All this have come upon us, but we have not forgotten You” ]. Finally the psalmist ends his admonishment by saying: “Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter” (22) That is the voice of the catholic church since Adam till the end of time, testifying to God untill death, accepting the fellowship of the passion of Christ with joy; and longing to be accounted for Him as sheep for the slaughter; the way He Himself has been (See Isaiah 53: 7); … Going https://coptic-treasures.com/ through optional death all day long, if not by shedding blood, it will be by spiritual strife, by giving and delivering to everyone, even to non-believers, for the sake of God, the Lover of all mankind. + In my capacity as a priest to My Lord Jesus Christ, to whom I present a sacrifice every day; I wish I can offer my life to Him a sacrifice; the way He gave His life a sacrifice of love for my sake. + Let all that come over me: Fire, cross, confrontation of vicious beasts; tear and break, … Let all the tortures of the devil come upon me; for the sake of reaching to my Lord Jesus Christ. + Why would I deliver myself to death?! … to fire, to the sword, to the vicious beasts?1 … Whoever is near to the sword, is near to God; and whoever is with the beasts, is with God; on condition that all this happen in the name of Jesus Christ; … I would endure everything to partake of His passion. (St. Agnatius of Antioch) + We could be killed several time a day; For whoever is perpetually ready to die, his reward will be kept to receive it all at once. (St. John Chrysostom) + The saints who offer themselves (a sacrifice) to God, offer themselves alive every day. Let us offer ourselves (sacrifices); Let us bring ourselves to death for the sake of Christ our God. How did they put themselves to death? By not loving the world or the things of the world (1 John 2: 15); About which the apostle says: “Those who are Christ’s have circumcised the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5: 24). That was how the saints put themselves to death. (Father Dorotheos of Gazza) 6- A CRY-OUT FOR THE SAKE OF SALVATION: (23 – 26) https://coptic-treasures.com/ If our love for God motivates us to put ourselves to death for his sake all day long, through continuous strife against sin, and delivering the will to let the free grace of God work in our life; and through testifying to the evangelic life up to the end, … That will be realized, not through a feeling of despair nor of defeat, but through the sure enjoyment of the strength and gladness of the resurrection of the Lord; hence the psalmist says: “Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise, do not cast us off forever. Why do You hide Your face, and forget our affliction and our oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust. Our body clings to the ground. Arise for our help, and redeem us for Your mercies’ sake” (23 – 26) That is the faith of the whole church in the resurrection with the Lord Christ; and that was the cry out of the martyrs during their torture, and of those who strive during their labor. In humility they bow their heads and bellies down to the dust, seeking the strength of His resurrection, saying together with the apostle: “If we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” (Romans 6: 8); and, “He raised us together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 2: 6) What does the psalmist mean by the terms: “Awake”, “sleep”, and, “Arise”? + By the word “sleep” the psalm refers to God’s perseverance and longsuffering on us. (St. John Chrysostom) St. Jerome demands from us to awake the Lord Christ, sleeping in us, namely, to awake our faith in Him by repentance, saying: [In case He sleeps because of our sins; let us say to Him: “Awake, Why do You sleep, O Lord?”. And in case the waves strike our boat, let us awake Him, saying: “Lord, save us, we are perishing” (Matthew 8: 25; Luke 8: 24)]. And according to St. Cyril the Great, awaking the Lord Christ means crying out to Him during the tribulations and the sufferings, together with trusting in Him; saying: [Christ dwells in the midst of His chosen ones, and allows for them, by His holy wisdom, to go through persecutions, https://coptic-treasures.com/ He may seem asleep; but, when the storm reaches its climax, and the people in the belly of their boat cannot anymore endure, they are committed to cry out: “Awake, Why do You sleep, O Lord?” Then, He will wake up and take away all fear without delay]. And according to the scholar Origen: [He is asleep in holy tranquility, watching your perseverance and endurance, anticipating the repentance of sinners and their return to Him]. ------------------------ AN INSPIRATION FRPM PSALM 44 “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL DAY LONG” (Romans 8: 36) + You shone on our life, O Sun of Righteousness; There is no more night in it; It has become all day; You shone on us with Your cross, O Priest and slain One; Qualify us to rise up together with You on Your cross; Partake of Your passion; And rejoice in Your company, O true love. + You are the Lord of history; You have done wonders with our fathers; And Your hand still works in our life; Take the kingdoms of evil away from our hearts; And plant Your kingdom in us. + You work in us; For we are the object of Your pleasure and love; Reign in our hearts by the sword of Your word; By the wounds of Your love. + We counted You as though You have forsaken us; https://coptic-treasures.com/ That You have sold us without price; The enemy is ridiculing and reproaching us; And we, in contrition, worship You; Our bellies attach to the dust; Bring us forth as though from the grave; And grant us Your resurrection working in us. + Glory be to You, O Risen from the dead; Raise us, and make us sit together with You in Your heavens.
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