A Prayer of David

Hear a just cause, O LORD,
Attend to my cry;
Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips.
Let my vindication come from Your presence;
Let Your eyes look on the things that are upright.

You have tested my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
You have tried me and have found nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
Concerning the works of men,
By the word of Your lips,
I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer.
Uphold my steps in Your paths,
That my footsteps may not slip.

I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God;
Incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech.
Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand,
O You who save those who trust in You
From those who rise up against them.
Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,
From the wicked who oppress me,
From my deadly enemies who surround me.

They have closed up their fat hearts;
With their mouths they speak proudly.
They have now surrounded us in our steps;
They have set their eyes, crouching down to the earth,
As a lion is eager to tear his prey,
And like a young lion lurking in secret places.

Arise, O LORD,
Confront him, cast him down;
Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword,
With Your hand from men, O LORD
From men of the world who have their portion in this life,
And whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure.
They are satisfied with children,
And leave the rest of their possession for their babes.

As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness;
I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.

I’ve grown more appreciation for praying the Psalms since journeying home to Orthodoxy. The faith has enriched my reading of their poetry and aided in absorbing their cool waters into the broken cisterns of my heart. Glory to God for the  holy prayers of His Church!

Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips. Our prayers need to be honest and come from our hearts. It does me no good to speak empty and untrue words to a God who already knows what I really think and how I really think. I also have to be honest with myself, though. I have to be honest with what reality is, and shed the lies (both pleasing and depressive). In prayer I need to come before God open and honest, vulnerable and trusting. In that honesty we realize our vindication comes from God, and that God sees us as we truly are; in the light of who He created us to be.

You have tested my heart – It is our heart that is of most concern. May our hearts be created and found in the image of Christ and not in the image of the world or still worse. It is God who must guide our steps. It is His paths alone that lead to life and joy. The path of God is always the path of love, truth, and humility.

Christ comes down from heaven to join Himself to us as the Word of God becomes flesh and dwells among us. Christ preaches to the poor and marginalized; He makes Himself available to sinners and forgives their offences. The path of Christ is one where the Son of Man has no place to lay His head in the world. The path of Christ is the one that leads to Golgotha embracing the Cross and our souls in His love. The path of Christ is the one that leads to Pascha, the empty tomb, the smashing of the gates of hell, victory over death and sin and darkness. Yes, let God guide our steps and lead us through the valley of the shadow of death and through the arid wilderness into the promised land of the Resurrection.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.”

Hide me under the shadow of Your wings, from the wicked who oppress me, from my deadly enemies who surround me. God is our refuge. This much we certainly know, whether we always act accordingly or not. A man once asked Jesus who his neighbor was, though, and I think it might be beneficial to ask who is our enemy (and who is not).

The enemies in my life are not people who dislike me, or say mean things about me, do harm to me, etc. In fact, I’ve come to believe that my enemies are not people at all. God desires all humanity to be saved, and any evil we work among each other is “friendly fire” in a way. As St. Paul tells us, we do not fight against flesh and blood, but powers and principalities.

No, I know my enemies too well. They are the fatness that seeks to close up my heart. They are the proud words that seek to commandeer my speech. They are the passions that lurk in secret places waiting to pounce upon me and lead me into sin. “Your enemy the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

Arise, O LORD, Confront him, cast him down - “Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee from before his face! As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish; as wax melts before the fire, So the sinners will perish before the face of God; but let the righteous be glad. This is the day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and on those in the grave bestowing life.”

 May God arise and cast down the devil and all his wiles from us. May He cast down the passions that assail us. May He cast down the old man, the man I once was and who was buried in death in baptism. May the Good Shepherd protect our hearts from ravenous wolves. May God deliver us from the wicked with the “sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”

As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Before all is over, may I awake and be found in Your likeness, O Lord. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Amen.

Last week I watched a television special on the Shroud of Turin. Parts of it were quite fascinating. Parts of it made my eyes roll. Parts of it irritated my gag-reflex. And still other parts of it made me think.

 First of all, just to get it out of my system quickly, one cannot watch a special on the “History” Channel about anything Christian without hearing mentioned 1) the Gnostics/Gnostic Gospels and/or 2) the Knights Templar. … Lord, have mercy.

 One theory that fascinated me was the “scientific” opinion of what could have caused the image of Christ to appear on the shroud – light. The expert proponents for the shroud’s authenticity propose that the image must have been etched into the fabric by means of an incredible amount of light. How fitting. The resurrection of Christ is the victory of the true Light over darkness as Christ smashes the gates of death and hell, flooding all of existence with His uncreated light.

 Surprisingly, the show concluded largely in favor of the shroud’s authenticity, as well as the resurrection. The show ended by showing an artistically enhanced, computer-generated 3D depiction of Jesus as taken from the image on the shroud. Then the credits rolled. The ending is what made me think the most. These people had just affirmed the relic and resurrection’s historical authenticity, yet they left the most important question completely unaddressed – “so what?” How can we affirm the historical reality of Christ’s resurrection and yet deny the present reality of it? It is absurd, and many of us do it everyday. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!

 I’m sure there is a better way of saying it, but it seems to me that our hearts discern a clear difference between historical fact and present reality. One of the key goals of modernist biblical scholasticism was to find the “historical Jesus.” Modernist scholars analyze the Gospels as archaeological artifacts and assign varying degrees of authenticity to the words of Jesus in an attempt to produce an accurate snapshot photo of what Jesus was actually like to see and hear in ancient Palestine. Yet what does this snapshot mean to someone when their loved one is sick, or when a disaster has claimed one’s home or livelihood? When we are presented with a real crisis, history textbooks are only as valuable as the heat produced when burned. A textbook won’t feed your hungry family when you’re laid off from work.

 And what about the “historical” Jesus? Lots of people heard Jesus preach. Thousands miraculously ate of the fish and bread given by Jesus in the wilderness. Nobody in the Gospels ever denies the miracles of Jesus. Even his enemies don’t question the occurrence of miracles, only the authority by which Jesus performed them. Thousands upon thousands of real historical people witnessed the real historical Jesus first-hand, and yet many of them shouted, “Crucify him! We have no king but Caesar!”

 Knowing and believing the historical fact of the Resurrection doesn’t change anyone’s life. Scripture tells us that even the demons know who Christ is, and they tremble! The problem is that we don’t need Jesus’ resurrection 2,000 years ago on the other side of the world from us. We need Jesus’ resurrection here and now with us. We need Him in our lives, in our sufferings, in the whitewashed tombs of our hearts.

 This is the reality we proclaim at Pascha. Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life! Christ is risen! Indeed, He is risen! The Resurrection is not an occurrence in ancient history, but the reality of the present in which we live. Jesus is not a mere man who lived and died thousands of years ago. He is the I AM, eternally present and now. Christ is not millennia and miles away, but he is journeyed into the very depths of our darkened hearts wishing to set us free from our hell and restore us to the splendor of His Kingdom!

Oh gracious Light, indeed.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” James 1:22-27

For the longest time this passage by St. James stuck out to me in Scripture as a kind of gauntlet of salvation thrown down before me. “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” I knew my deeds to be sinful, questioned the hope of my salvation, and despaired. In doing so, I was as one walking away from a mirror not knowing one’s own image. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a blind and forgetful sinner.

The truth of the matter is that I should never have focused on my works as things in and of themselves. It’s was never about my worthiness. It is about Jesus. It is always about Jesus. The issue at hand is not the legal record of my deeds, but the image and likeness in which I find myself. Jesus is the image of God, and we are to live, grow, and have our being in that image. Our “religion” is to imitate Christ. We are created in His image, and should live accordingly.

How quickly and easily we forget the image in which we were created. St. Paul tells the Church in Corinth:

 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? …Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:1-3,16

It has even been said that choirs of angels go before each human crying, “Make way, make way for the image of God!” How is it we remain deaf and blind to this reality? The truth is that we are created in the image of God, yet we live as though we are created in the image of beasts – or worse yet, demons. You are created to be like God. The word “Christian” means “little Christ.” It’s all about Jesus. Let us remember this and view the world and our lives through this reality.

I feel as if I should be careful as I begin to write about St. James’ exhortation to be slow to speak. Perhaps I will fall victim to irony, yet may God have mercy on me and grant me a spirit of peace and deliberate response.

Many of us could probably stand to speak less. This goes without need for explanation. I’m sure most of us have had moments we wish we had not said what had just escaped from our lips the moment before. In general, however, it’s not difficult to see that we live in a world that talks too much. We live in a loud culture; a culture of noise. We live in a culture of talk shows We live in a culture where people talk over other people who are talking over still others. We live in a culture of soundbites and press statements. We live in a culture of 24-hour news, even when there is no news to report. We live in a culture of paparazzi. We live in a culture driven by entertainment and distraction. We live in the noise so long that true quiet becomes unsettling. Many of us find we need “white noise” to even sleep, and so we leave on our TVs or music or even a fan in the background. We have forgotten the treasure of silence, and have lost our spirit of peace.

I don’t think this is necessarily what St. James was addressing, but it comes into mind as I think of the struggles we have as human in letting our words be few.

This dilemma of noise and distraction even makes its way into our actions. Our lives become hectic and chaotic. We live in a fast-paced world that demands instant action from us. We fall behind in our schedules, rush about our day, lose the time to even eat with our families, and then are unable to sleep a full night before we have to be back up again, rushing about the world, guzzling our coffee or caffeine supply of choice. We rush about for that which is fleeting, chasing after the wind, and in the process of exhausting ourselves we miss the one needful thing of any importance. We strive to gain the world at the risk of our souls.

St. James tells to be swift to hear. When we listen to others we allow ourselves to learn from them and learn about them. We allow ourselves the opportunity to get to know them. We also learn something about ourselves when we listen. We are told to be slow to speak, and again, the advantages to this are quite obvious. We reduce the risk of hurting others or embarrassing ourselves. But James expands upon this teaching with words we may not expect: “let every man be … slow to wrath;  for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

What does wrath have to do with our big mouths? It shows us that there is more to do with our loose lips and loud lives than decibels and words. It is a matter of the heart, and in our rush we too easily miss it.

When I think of wrath here, I think of rash words and actions. I think of emotional flare-ups caused by offended egos. I think of the many knee-jerk reactions we often make under the pressures of worry and stress. Someone cuts us off in traffic, and before we realize it we have cursed them. We find out some bit of news, and before we know it we are buzzing with gossip. We are asked a question, and before we know it we have given more information than we intended. We encounter a moment of fear or temptation, and before we know it we have spoken lies. How often we speak before we’ve had an opportunity to think it over. And so our words and actions are led and guided by the passions, rather than the spirit.

It would do us much good to learn to become deliberate people. Our words should be intentional. Our “yes” needs to be “yes,” and our “no” needs to be “no.” We must learn to speak truth and to speak thoughtfully. If we do this we will naturally listen more, for how can you respond thoughtfully if you don’t understand what it is to which you are responding? We will naturally talk less, because there will be more time and thought invested in our words. Let us be intentional and purposeful beings, and let our intentions and purposes follow after Christ Jesus.

“Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you thousands will be saved.” - St. Seraphim of Sarov

 ”Why should we chase the darkness? We should just switch on the light and the darkness will leave on its own.” - Elder Porphyrios

“The principle thing is to stand before God with the mind in the heart, and to go on standing before him unceasingly day and night, until the end of life.” - St. Theophan the Recluse

Lent is best known as a season of fasting. It is probably most experienced as a season of temptation. In fasting I more easily and more clearly see my spiritual weakness and frailty in its struggle for mastery over the flesh. In attempt to follow stricter discipline for prayer, I am more aware of my laziness. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!

St. James makes some good points while addressing temptation in his epistle. First, he redirects our thinking on temptation from a mindset of condemnation to one that is life-giving. Blessed are you who endure temptation! Even in the midst of our struggle with temptations, we should turn our hearts toward Christ. He is faithful to help us, and rewards us with his life.

Second, James points out the nature of our temptation – that it is rooted in our own desires turned away from God. Because of this, it is easy for us to feel ashamed when tempted and want to hide from God; but that is a lie of the devil which ultimately leads to our destruction. Instead, when we turn towards God in faith and repentance, we find forgiveness, mercy, and help. He is a good God, and loves mankind! We must remember this if we are to persevere through trials.

Finally, James reminds us that God is the source of every blessing in our lives. God is consistent and unchanging in His love and goodness towards us. While we may be drawn away from God by the flaring of the passions and desires of the flesh, God is not drawn away from us. God’s love for us is perfect and everlasting!

The teaching of Elder Porphyrios is perfect for us to remember during this season of fasting, as well as all times in our lives when we encounter temptation. “Why should we chase the darkness? We should just switch on the light and the darkness will leave on its own.” So often we try to avoid sin, and try, and try, and… oops. We set ourselves up to fail by focusing on it.

When a person sets out to climb a mountain or other great height, it is necessary for that one to set his sight and focus on what lies ahead. It is dangerous to stop and look down and focus on the great fall that lies below. Likewise, we must keep looking up, and keep climbing, never looking down at the dangers beneath us. We should not plan to fail, expecting to fall into sin when temptation arises. We must keep our eyes on Christ, and our hearts turned toward God. Give no place for temptation. May God help us as we strive to turn our hearts toward God. May God help us keep focus on his love.

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14

We have a picture of two different men, two different types of hearts. I hear the story, and I want to have the humility of the publican with the good deeds of the pharisee. I know the truth, though. I have few of the pharisee’s good deeds, but much of his arrogant heart. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!

What hope is there for those of us with the arrogant hearts of pharisees? Continuing in the epistle of St. James we read,

“Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.”

At first glance, these are some harsh words for the rich man, the man of pride, the person of the passions and earthly gain. And perhaps they are harsh, but if so they are harsh for our own help. Looking closer, however, something strikes me as funny: James not only instructs the lowly brother to glory in his exaltation, but also for the rich man to glory in his humiliation! Who glories in their humiliation? It just doesn’t seem to fit.

We people of proud hearts, ensnared by the passions, should rejoice in our humiliation, because our humiliation and repentance are also our salvation. Christ has come to heal us of that terrible disease pride. Christ is our sun, and his “burning heat” is his love for us. Upon his resurrection, his love for us will wither the grasses and weeds of the passions that choke our faith. The flower of our pride will wither and fall beneath Christ’s love, and the attractive appearance of its sin will perish. Our humiliation is for our healing. Glory to God!

St. Paul speaks of this in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18,

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

During the upcoming Lenten fast, let us glory in our humiliation and give thanks to God. Let’s remember that we fast from earthly things that do not bring us life in order that we may have place for He who abundantly gives life to all. May the Lord bless you and give you strength of body and heart throughout the fast, and throughout this life. Amen.

It is easy to read the epistle of St. James and be offended. The language is harsh and unyielding. St. James is single-minded and emphatic on the need for Christians to live lives of holiness. Whether he’s exhorting us to exercise self-control over our speech or addressing the need for our faith to produce good works, James never gives us a break and allows us to be “mere humans.” Instead, he continually calls us to resurrected lives transcendent of the world and the flesh, lives where the Holy Spirit is shown manifest – our life in Christ.

Martin Luther is said to have disliked the epistle of St. James because he could not find the Gospel in it. And he is right to a point. You will not find his understanding of the Gospel in James’ letter; however, you will find the Gospel proclaimed by the Church throughout the ages. We find the good news of God’s work of mercy and redemption in us coupled with our call to be active participants in his grace. James is not compromising about the call to Christian perfection, or theosis, nor should he be.

When we read James say that one who doubts “should not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord,” it is easy for us to take offense or become discouraged. Who among us never struggles with doubt? Who among us can merit the favor of such a God? How easily and quickly we forget the preceding verse, “let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” The problem is not with God. God is not an impossible-to-satisfy taskmaster. God gives to all liberally and without reproach. We are the ones who do not receive. We are the ones who doubt. The problem is not with God, but with us.

The person who doubts “is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind… he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” What imagery! Back and forth, back and forth; it’s enough to make one seasick. This is the icon of doubt. A wave has no firm foundation, consistency, nor self-control, and neither do we when we let ourselves to be driven by the winds of the changing world culture, winds of popular opinion, winds of the economy, winds of the passions. If we are to grow in our faith and “work out our salvation with fear and trembling,” then we must turn our attention from the wind and the waves and center our focus upon Christ.

A storm came upon the apostles as they were boating across the Sea of Galilee. The waves crashed against the boat as the winds continued to rise, and the boat was filling with water. The disciples woke Jesus who was asleep in the stern and cried out to him in fear. “Then he arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But he said to them ‘Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

When the winds of the passions stir up the waves of doubt around us, and we feel ourselves tossed about by the storm, let us not be afraid. We too need to go to Christ in prayer and ask for deliverance. He is our rock and sure foundation. If we build our house on him, when the winds and the waves comes against us, we will be unmoved. In turning to Christ, we grow in faith, and we open ourselves to receive the abundant gifts of God’s grace. This is truly good news!

May the love of God the Father made manifest in Jesus Christ calm the storms in your heart and send you His Spirit of peace as you strive towards salvation and holiness. Amen.

Those are some bold words to start a letter with! But they are true. We ought to consider ourselves blessed when we endure hardship. It isn’t pleasant. It isn’t easy. But it helps heal us. Those trials purify us and strengthen our faith. They realign our hearts toward God. They smash the idols of our ego that we have erected in our hearts. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I have erected many idols in my heart and have need of God’s mercy in delivering me from their darkness and death.

Often in times of hardship and trial, times I have called misfortune, and times I must admit I do not understand, I have asked God, “Why?” I have complained, and I have certainly not considered these occasions joyous by any means. What I have learned from these situations, though, is that I need to trust God. I need to have faith and remember that God is good. I need to remember the numerous blessings I have received. I need to remember the times in the past when God has brought redemption and good from the trials I’ve already faced. I need to look beyond myself and my own comfort and towards the love of God that shines light into my darkness.

When we look at the Psalms we see this so beautifully.

LORD, how they have increased who trouble me!
   Many are they who rise up against me.
Many are they who say of me,
   “There is no help for him in God.”   Selah
But You, O LORD, are a shield for me,
   My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
I cried to the LORD with my voice,
   And He heard me from His holy hill.   Selah
I lay down and slept;
   I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
   Who have set themselves against me all around.
Arise, O LORD;
   Save me, O my God!
   For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone;
   You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
Salvation belongs to the LORD.
   Your blessing is upon your people.   Selah   (Psalm 3)

Why count our trials and troubles as joy? St. James continues by instructing us to “let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Responding with patient faith and thanksgiving in hardship loosens the chains of our anxieties. It loosens the chains of our fears. It loosens the chains of our guilt. It loosens the chains of our self-love. It purifies and transfigures us into the image of Christ our God, who counted his suffering as pure joy on account of his love for us. God wills for us to “be perfect, just as [our] Father in heaven is perfect.”

Let us strive to count our struggles and hardships and trials as joy as we approach the great fast of Lent. When Jesus emerged from the waters of baptism, “Immediately, the Spirit drove him into the wilderness.” And so, following our baptism into the Lord, we too are driven into the wilderness. Into the wilderness for God to prepare us. Into the wilderness for God to perfect us.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me. …Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Amen.

“O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus” by Samuel T. Francis

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me,
Is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward
To Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth,
Changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones,
Died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth,
Watcheth o’er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean vast of blessing,
’Tis a haven sweet of rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
’Tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory,
For it lifts me up to Thee!