Prayer text
This short psalm contains saving teaching. Prayer is read more often than others both in churches and at home. The psalm is considered “eternal” and always relevant, because all people, even the righteous, are prone to sin.
In Church Slavonic
In Russian
About daily reading of the Six Psalms
It is recommended to read the Six Psalms daily, that is, Psalms 3, 37, 62, 87, 102, 142.
Six Psalms (Exapsalms)
Six Psalms
- These are six psalms that are read at the beginning of Matins.
The Six Psalms begins with a doxology: Glory to God in the highest,
and a prayer:
Lord, open my lips.
During the sixth psalm and at the end of it, the Holy Trinity is glorified with threefold
alleluia.
The psalms that make up the sixth psalm are so touching, their content is so close to us (they depict, on the one hand, the greatness of God and the abundance of His benefits to man, on the other, the insignificance and sinfulness of man), that the Holy Church pays special attention to our for this reading. The charter says that during this reading “no one has the power to create whispers, even spit or spit; but more than anything, listen to the words spoken by the psalmist, with his hands bent towards his chest, his heads bowed, and his eyes down (lowered to the ground), with his heart eyes looking towards the east, praying for our sins, remembering death, and future torment, and eternal life.”
To arouse greater attention in the worshipers, when reading the shestop-salmiya, the charter commands to extinguish the candles and remain in the light of the lamps.
Psalm 3
This psalm is the first of the so-called six psalms, which is part of Matins, and its purpose is to give thanks to God for preserving life during the past night with a prayer for the sending of prosperity in the coming day, with which this psalm is in agreement (I go to bed, I sleep, I get up... Arise, Lord! Save me
…)
Psalm 37
This psalm occupies second place in the six psalms. Through the words of this psalm, each believer brings repentance before God of his sinfulness with a confession of complete submission in devotion to His will (v. 16). The man here expresses a desire in the coming day to make amends for the evil deeds he has done (v. 19).
Psalm 62
Psalm 62 occupies third place in the sixth psalm, composing a prayer to God at the coming of the day so that it (the prayer) will be pleasing to God (v. 6
) and that the Lord would accept the one praying under “the shadow of His wings” (v.
8
) throughout the coming day.
Psalm 87
This is the fourth psalm in the sixth psalm. The darkness of the night resembles hell, sleep resembles death. The purpose of this psalm in the morning service: before the onset of the day, the Church reminds a person of the need for effort on his part to avoid rejection from God, which is possible only with the help of God and prayer to Him (vv. 5, 14), so as not to be subjected to eternal night, eternal death.
Psalm 102
The fifth psalm in the sixth psalm shows an image of God’s merciful attitude towards man and is distinguished by its extraordinary touchingness.
Psalm 142
This psalm is the last in the sixth psalm. Having strengthened a person in the hope of receiving salvation (Ps. 102), the Church, on behalf of the believers, prays to God to show him the path of action (v. 8
), teach him to do His will and make him worthy
of the land of righteousness
(v.
10
).
When to read a psalm?
This psalm must be read in church, in the evening, in Old Church Slavonic. However, the prayer can be said at home, in Russian or another convenient language, with icons and lit candles.
The author points out that a just God punishes people according to their deserts. However, the Lord forgives his children. He will have mercy on the individual who asked him for forgiveness, as well as on the entire people as a whole. The psalmist put forward the conviction that the Savior would have mercy on people this time too.
God's forgiveness of any sins helps to awaken fear of Him in honest and faithful people. People change before the Savior, because He forgives, He cannot be upset.
Within the walls of one’s home, prayer is read when there is a need to ask God for the preservation of well-being, and also when a person wants to repent and talk about his sins. There is an opinion that diligent reading of the psalm can help with finding a job.
History of writing
One part of Christian researchers believes that Psalm 129 was written during the Babylonian captivity of the Jews. Other interpreters believe that the text was written after him, during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. The author appeals to God with a prayer for forgiveness of the sins of the people of Israel. The text of Psalm 129 is the prayer of an oppressed people placing their hopes for salvation in God.
Interpretation of Psalm 129
Psalm 129 is considered a prayer request to the Lord. The psalmist asks God to show himself with mercy to all the righteous. The Jews singing the psalm had no doubt that God would forgive them all their sins. In the prayer spoken, one could hear the expressed hope of the Israelis that the time would someday come when the Savior would deliver people from the consequences of their sins, which had grown into the most difficult trials.
Thanks to this psalm, a prayer of repentance occurs. Psalm 129 is one of the seven prayers of repentance. In order to understand the deep meaning of this song, it is necessary to disassemble the psalm into parts:
- Verse 1: The psalmist calls other people from the depths, from captivity, calls all those who have denied God to come to Him.
- Verse 2-3: the captives say a prayer in which they ask the Savior to forgive their sins, because there are sinners on any earth. The lines say that if God punished everyone who had sin in their soul, then no one in the world could escape punishment.
- Verse 4: Here we are talking about the fact that the Savior is able to forgive everyone’s sins, to free them from a heavy burden.
- Verse 5: In these lines the author is waiting for God to show his mercy. His wait is compared and considered even greater than how the guards wait for the end of their shift in the morning.
- Verse 6: In the last part of the psalm the author asks the Lord to deliver Israel from every kind of iniquity.
The only way to redeem yourself is to sincerely ask for forgiveness from the Creator and Savior. The author of the psalm calls the Lord and, hoping to receive salvation, tells him that he, being evil at heart, did not despair and asked for mercy. By his example, the psalmist invites others to also place their hope in the Lord.
Commentaries from the Geneva Bible: Psalm 71 Psalm
Ps. 71 This psalm belongs to the so-called royal psalms. In it, the psalmist asks the Lord to send blessings to the righteous king, on whose success and accomplishments the well-being of his people depends. Certain moments of the psalm are prophetically addressed to the coming Messiah.
71:1 About Solomon. See Introduction: Author. It is considered unlikely that this psalm was composed by Solomon himself, and therefore, following the Septuagint, the name of the king is considered to indicate not the authorship of the psalm, but to whom it was dedicated. However, in the Hebrew text this name is preceded by the same preposition as in all other titles. Thus, it would be more logical to believe that the beginning of this psalm names its author, and not the person to whom it is dedicated.
We advise you to study Prayer to Saint Charbel
Your judgment... Your truth. The psalmist realizes that the source of true justice and righteousness can only be God, the King of Heaven. If the earthly king also possesses these qualities, this means that they were bestowed upon him by the Lord.
71:2 Let him judge thy people righteously. The earthly king is a reflection of the Heavenly King and His vicegerent. He has been entrusted from above with the responsibility of ruling the people of God with justice.
71:3 world. The corresponding Hebrew word can also be translated “abundance” or “fullness.”
71:4 The poor... the sons of the needy... will humble the oppressor. The subject of the king’s special care are the most defenseless of the people entrusted to him by God, for God Himself takes care of them.
71:5 Until the sun and the moon remain. Those. until the end of time.
71:6 it will come down like rain. Those. as gracious, life-giving and expected with hope. The presence of a king among his people is compared in this verse to a beneficial downpour that brings fertility to the fields.
71:7 The righteous shall prosper. With the installation of an ideal monarch in Israel, God's righteous people will prosper. Other psalms (eg 70; 72) speak of the prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous.
71:8 From sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. These words are reminiscent of the Lord’s promise to Moses about the future possessions of the Israelite people (Ex. 23:31). However, while the Lord spoke to Moses about a clearly limited area in the Middle East, this verse is actually talking about the entire earth as the ancient Jews imagined it. Meanwhile, no earthly king has ever owned it, i.e. what is said in this verse is prophetically addressed to the coming Messiah.
71:9 The inhabitants of the desert shall fall before him. The King of Israel will conquer even free and freedom-loving nomads.
71:10 Tarshish... Arabia... Sheba. These areas are located at a very large distance from Palestine: Tarshish is usually associated with a city on the southwestern coast of Spain, and Sheba is placed in the south of the Arabian Peninsula.
71:17 His name will be blessed forever. With these words, the promise of the Lord to Israel (Gen. 12:2.3), which was fully fulfilled in Jesus Christ, is transferred to the king.
71:20 David's prayers are over. In the early stages of the composition of the Psalter, all Davidic psalms were concentrated in its first two books (see Introduction: Characteristics and Themes). However, its composition continued to change throughout Old Testament history, and it was because of these changes that this verse ended up in the wrong place - at the end of the psalm, the composition of which is attributed to Solomon.
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