Psalm of David 83 in Russian and Church Slavonic

Text of prayer Psalm 83

The prayer is read in Church Slavonic if there is a service in the church. This is done for parishioners who want to get closer to the Kingdom of God. The text in Russian helps you understand the plot (you can read it at home).

In Church Slavonic with accents

In Russian

The sons of Korah sang this psalm; children are not responsible for the sins of their parents:

83:2,3 How desirable are Your dwellings, O Lord of hosts! 3 My soul is weary, longing for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh delight in the living God.

The sons of Korah sang in the abode of Jehovah, their desire languished in the abode of God, the singers dreamed of entering the courts of the House of God, for their hearts delight in Him: for how many are the courtyards of the House of the Lord so desired? How many people dream of staying in His House and listening to His instructions? And the sons of Korah dreamed of this. It is only unknown whether they dreamed of a literal temple of Jehovah or of living in the presence of the Lord forever.

83:4,5 And the bird finds a home for itself, and a swallow finds a nest for itself, where to lay its chicks, at Thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God! 5 Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house: they shall praise Thee continually.

Even for birds, the altar of the house of the Lord is a blessed place for their home and chicks, blessed are all who live in the abodes of God, the King and God of Israel. The sons of Korah knew God Almighty as the King over the entire universe and as their God

83:6,7 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You and whose heart's paths are directed [towards You]. 7 Passing through the valley of mourning, they open springs in it, and rain covers it with blessing;

They know that only that person can be happy who completely trusts in God (his strength is not in himself, but in God), whose heart strives for God and observes the ways of God. And although they pass through the life of this century through the valley of tears, for man in this century is born into suffering, but in it the servants of God find sources of joy for themselves, and in it there is a blessed rain, giving fruits of reinforcement and strength to endure everything that befalls. the path of those going to God.

83:8-10 they come from strength to strength, they appear before God in Zion. 9 O Lord, God of hosts! Hear my prayer, give ear, O God of Jacob! 10 God, our protector! Come close and behold the face of Your anointed.

Those who trust in the Lord are renewed in strength when they come to the Zion of God, to His temple. The sons of Korah ask to hear their prayer for God’s anointed, for the king necessary for Israel to represent the rule of the Lord on earth (most likely we are talking about David, who restored the song of praise to God)

83:11 For one day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be at the threshold of the house of God than to live in the tents of wickedness

. For the sons of Korev, staying one day in the House of God is better than a thousand meaningless days outside it. And it is better to live on the threshold of the House of God in a humiliated position, for example, a Gibeonite, than to live luxuriously in the tents of wickedness. Better is little with God than much in the world of the wicked.

83:12,13 For the Lord God is the sun and the shield, the Lord gives grace and glory; He does not deprive those who walk in integrity of blessings. 13 Lord of hosts! Blessed is the man who trusts in You!

For the Lord is everything to man, and the source of light and protection for those who walk in the integrity of His ways; blessed are all who trust in Him all the days of their lives.

History of writing

Determining the authorship of the psalm poses an additional challenge for researchers. Historians believe that the first performer of the chant was the ancient King David. Also, some researchers believe that the song was written during the uprising of Abbesalom.

However, if you look at the work in detail, the inscription in front can say a lot. For example, that the authorship may belong to one of the descendants of the Levite Korah. In other words, the “Children of Korah” may be the authors of Psalm 83.

Publication by the successors of A.P. Lopukhin. Explanatory Bible. Interpretation of the Psalter

Psalm 83

The inscription attributes the psalm to the sons of Korah, the Levites, in agreement with which are verses 3 and 11, where the writer expresses a desire to be not in the sanctuary itself, where only the priests had access, but in the courtyard of the temple, the care of which lay with the Levites. The psalm indicates the forced removal of God’s anointed one from the temple along with the Levites (v. 10). The latter can be understood as a king, since from the time of Saup’s anointing to the kingdom, the term “anointed” began to be predominantly applied to kings (1 Kings XII: 3, 5; XXVI: 9; 2 Kings I: 14; Ps XVII: 51; Ps XIX: 7). The king, according to the image of the psalm, is pious and belongs to the number of “walkers in integrity” (v. 12). David should be considered such a king, and the circumstances of writing the psalm were his flight from Jerusalem during persecution from Absalom, when David was accompanied by the Levites who loved him and sympathized with him. The latter well understood the state of David in his distance from the tabernacle, which they depicted in the psalm. - “On the instrument of Gath,” i.e., an instrument borrowed from the Philistine city of Gath. The content of the psalm represents the difficult mental state of a righteous man, forced to live outside his usual and beloved sphere of close unity with God in the place of His special presence, that is, in the tabernacle.

How dear are Your dwellings, O Lord, to which my soul longs and which for me are also like a nest for a bird’s chicks (2-4). Blessed are those who live in Your house or those who are heading towards it, strengthening in strength as they approach Zion (5-8). Hear us, O God, and look upon Your anointed one. In Your courts one day is better than a thousand outside them, since the Lord is the sun and shield pouring out good things on the blameless (9-13).

1 To the director of the choir. On the gun of Gath. Korean sons. Psalm. 2 How desirable are Your dwellings, O Lord of hosts! 3 My soul is weary, longing for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh delight in the living God. 4 And the bird finds a home for itself, and a swallow finds a nest for itself, where to lay its chicks, at Your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God! 5 Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house: they shall praise Thee continually.

2-5. “How desirable are Your dwellings”—how dear and pleasant are Your villages to me, O Lord! By villages we mean not only the sanctuary, but also the temple courtyard with all the related buildings. I, says the writer, cry out with my soul and body, I suffer for them (“my soul is tired”). I would like to be where You, Lord, live, and rejoice in my proximity to You. For a bird, its nest serves as a place of peace and protection; the same place of peace for every suffering righteous person is the village of the Lord, where he can draw encouragement and strength through worship, sacrifice and prayer.

6 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You and whose heart is directed toward You. 7 Passing through the valley of mourning, they open springs in it, and rain covers it with blessing; 8 They come from strength to strength, appearing before God in Zion.

6-8. But the one who draws his strength from You will not be deprived of bliss, even if he is far from the temple: from the valley of tears that is assigned to him by God, that is, from the place of his exile, he strives to go out, to climb the mountain, on which stood the Irk of the Covenant, that is, Zion. The Lord will bless such a sincere, heartfelt attraction to the temple: all the exiles will be strengthened and the Lord will appear to them in Zion, that is, they will be returned and their exile will end.

9 O Lord, God of hosts! Hear my prayer, give ear, O God of Jacob! 10 God, our protector! Come close and behold the face of Your anointed. 11 For one day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be at the threshold of the house of God than to live in the tents of wickedness.

11. The consciousness of distance from the temple, the impossibility of taking part in worship was so deeply felt by the exiles that they preferred “one day” at the tabernacle to a thousand outside it, they wanted to be the very last, despised (“at the threshold in the house of God”), but only to be in courtyard of the temple than to live an outwardly happy life among sinful people.

12 For the Lord God is the sun and the shield, the Lord gives grace and glory; He does not deprive those who walk in integrity of blessings. 13 Lord of hosts! Blessed is the man who trusts in You!

12-13. The writer is confident that his desire to return “to the courts of the Lord” will be fulfilled, because the Lord is “the sun and shield,” that is, he rewards (“grace and glory gives”) “those who walk in integrity,” as these involuntary exiles were. The consciousness of one’s innocence and the power of faith in God creates confidence in receiving protection, and therefore the writer calls such people blessed and happy.

Interpretation of Psalm 83

• Verse 1-5. The Kingdom of God is described and what feelings the author burns towards Him. It is said that the House of the Lord is beautiful and bliss is everywhere there. The psalmist desires to find intimacy with God, to feel the joy of the Most High.
• Verse 6-10. The power of the Lord is available to every believer. She is an inexhaustible source of grace. The Lord is open to everyone who has faith in Him. He is a caring shepherd who will forgive the lost and guide them on the true path.
• Verses 11-13. Those who were previously exiled, but unable to live without the Lord, will find mercy if they rush to the temple of God. God is generous to everyone, all people are loved by Him. Secret desires and requests will be heard by the Almighty, who will fulfill them. The stronger the faith, the greater the likelihood of receiving support from the Creator.

We read the Psalter. Psalm 83

Conversation with Archpriest Alexy Ladygin about the Psalter.
Dear brothers and sisters, we continue to study the Psalter and today we will talk about the 83rd Psalm. Like other psalms, it has a pre-writing: at the end, O sharpeners, the son of Kore, Psalm 83. The psalm was written by the psalmist David, but, as we said, he gave them to the sons of Kore to perform, so there is such a pre-writing. We have also already said what “about grindstones” means: grindstones are the name given to the churches that the Lord built on earth and where the salvation of all the faithful to the Lord takes place. This psalm also speaks of those aspirations, those trials that believers in Christ encounter on their path. When we talk about the Christology of the Psalter, this is not surprising, because the psalmist was not just a king who composed wonderful psalms, but he is a prophet-king, and each of his psalms is a prophecy about times, both Old Testament and New Testament: about the time when people were waiting for the Coming of Christ, and about the time when the Lord came and established (or acquired) His Church with His Honest Blood.

“How beloved is Your village, O Lord of hosts!” The psalmist David calls the temples of God, where the human soul longs, beloved villages. We can talk about the great significance of the Church as a special place where God dwells, where a person has special communication with Him, where the sacraments are performed. The human soul always strives for this place. There are difficulties, there is a need, and in the first stages of our spiritual life we ​​go to church so that the Lord will fulfill some of our requests. But when a person has a special love for God, when he lives by this love, he, of course, strives to meet the Lord, to communicate, and this brings him inner satisfaction, a certain spiritual sweetness, inner fulfillment. A person is inspired by this and wants to constantly experience these feelings, just as a person who loves another person strives to find an opportunity to communicate with his loved one. This communication inspires him, lifts his spirits, gives him joy and motivation for life. And a person who loves the Lord also loves the place where the Lord especially dwells, and goes to the temple to communicate with God, to fill himself spiritually. He loves these villages, strives there and only here finds God in full.

This is also stated in the New Testament. The Lord has special favor towards such a person and appears to him. The Lord healed a crumpled woman in the synagogue, who came to the temple not to be healed or to receive some kind of help - she came to the Lord, to communicate with Him - to hear the word of God and fill her soul with the inner joy that the Holy Scriptures and reasoning about the Holy Scriptures give. This is an amazing feeling for many believers who come to church simply to communicate with the Lord, to be filled with special feelings and great joy that the Church of Christ gives. In life we ​​see many people who have the opportunity to find great joy in this life through some earthly objects, through entertainment, and there are a lot of them in the modern world and they suit different tastes and different ages. But still man strives for God. We see grandmothers, elderly people, their infirmity requires peace, a home environment, their infirmity requires consolation, but they, overcoming physical infirmities, overcoming distances, living in urban or rural areas, go to the temple, because what they get in the temple from the Lord, from communion with the Lord, they cannot receive anywhere. It is in the temple that they receive consolation. And the psalmist further expresses these feelings:

“My soul longs and ends for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.” The soul desires - it is exhausted without communication with God, it becomes unwell, it becomes unsuitable for life, because only in the temple does it receive life-giving juices. Only in the temple of God is that grace given that becomes scarce in everyday life and is replenished in the temple of God. And not only the soul in the courts of the Lord, that is, in the Church of Christ, is filled with great grace, but also my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God - the heart is inspired, filled with great joy, when a person visits the temple of the Lord and communicates with the Lord, the flesh is also renewed , becomes completely different, filled with strength. Although we know that church service requires the expenditure of physical strength, at the same time weakness recedes from you, and you feel full.

This happens very often in our lives. When a person is alone or in an everyday environment, he pays attention to his weakness, to his pain, his flesh constantly annoys him. And when a person comes to him, whom he loves very much, has been waiting for, he becomes inspired, his heart is filled, his infirmity recedes, and he begins to jump and jump, set the table, take care, and in his worries, his infirmity recedes from him. Likewise, the Lord gives inner inspiration and grace to a person who communicates with God, so that his heart, soul, and all his flesh are literally renewed.

“For the bird has found a temple for itself, and a turtledove a nest in which to lay its young, Thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house: they will praise You forever and ever.” Indeed, blessed is he who lives with the Lord. The Lord speaks about it in the Beatitudes: a person receives something completely new and different, and the bliss will never end, a person will thank the Lord for what he receives, rejoice in what the Lord gives. Therefore, many people do not leave the temple of God. And only a person who has care for his family has to return to his home and continue to bear his life’s cross. And those who do not have earthly care, like monastics, do not leave the temple of God, do not leave the monastery: they have here constant communion with God, and they already have an internal need for this, since they have experienced high feelings of communion with God , joy, grace that the Lord gives. They no longer want to depart from the Lord, but are in such a state that they want to praise the Lord forever and ever, as the psalmist says about this. Both human experience and Holy Scripture tell us about this: that people who are released from everyday cares and worries begin to go to the temple of God every day, while others generally settle at the temple.

And in my life there have been cases when people who raised their children and no longer had care for their grandchildren went to church and worked at the temple. But in fact, they do not work, but serve - in the temple there is no opportunity to work and earn some huge money, they serve: for them it is a great joy to be in the temple, to carry out some kind of obedience, and when they are completely freed, some come to monasteries, take monasticism and no longer want to return to their comfortable apartments. Children begin to come to them, join the church, grandchildren come and see in what blissful state their grandfathers and grandmothers who have accepted monasticism are. Such a tradition has always existed, and this tradition is taken not from some customs of life, but from the spiritual experience that a person receives while staying in the temple of God.

The life that was at the Jerusalem Temple, at the Old Testament Temple, tells us about this: we know about Anna the Prophetess, daughter of Phanuel, who prophesied during the Presentation of the Lord, about Simeon the God-Receiver, who did not leave the temple, serving day and night, like Anna Prophetess. The feelings that a person gains at the temple - joy, inspiration, grace - surpass everything that he can receive in earthly life. This person doesn’t want to go anywhere. The Holy Scripture also speaks about this. Remember, when many were tempted about the Lord, the Lord asked His disciples: “Would you like to leave Me?” Then the Apostle Peter said: “Lord, where should we go from You? You have the words of eternal life." Indeed, what they heard and saw in the eyes of the Divine Savior could not be replaced by any earthly joys, so they, too, did not leave the Savior day and night, served Him, listened to His words and bore the obedience that the Lord imposed on them.

“Blessed is the man, for his intercession is with You: put his ascension in your hearts.” The Lord is our Intercessor, the Lord is our Helper in all our difficult situations, both in life and in inner experiences, for the Lord interceded for man. If it were not for this intercession, then the person could not have been saved, the enemy of the human race would have destroyed him. The Lord Himself came to this earth and suffered for the sake of our salvation: He interceded for us, He opened up to us the possibilities of an eternal perspective - without this it would not have been impossible for a person to complete his saving path. As the psalmist says here, put ascension in your hearts - ascent to God through a virtuous life, through the saving path that the Lord showed and revealed to each of us. Everything in life is very complicated, not easy, and a person really cannot be saved in any other way, on his own: the earth acquired a completely different desire after the Fall. The psalmist goes on to name the earth very well:

“In a vale of mourning, in a place like a hedgehog, put it: for the one who lays down the law will give a blessing.” Here both previous and subsequent words are connected with the Lord. If the Lord does not give us intercession in the deplorable vale, then our ascent is impossible. At the same time, ascent through the deplorable vale (through sorrows, falls, experiences, each of us endures them), is possible through repentance to the Lord. “Put it in its place.” What kind of place is it? The Holy Fathers say very well that this is the place of our stay and the place of our salvation through the Church of Christ. For the one who gives the law will give the blessing. The Lord gives blessing, He gives help, the opportunity to ascend through the Law, which He laid down and left here on earth, so that each of us has the opportunity to ascend in our hearts.

“They will go from strength to strength: the God of gods will appear in Zion.” The psalmist speaks very profound words: ascending from strength to strength, to the measure of the age of Christ, as the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament tell us. Everyone must make this ascent on earth, continuing in eternity. For what? After all, you don’t have to live like this, you can live differently, the way our Earth lives. But what will be the outcome? Bitterness, unwillingness to have love for this life, for God? A person will see nothing in the deplorable vale, only everything evil and negative. And when you have the ascent laid down in your heart, when you have to work on yourself and in the vale of tears to fulfill the commandments of God, through this you will improve, join the virtuous life, and your life will be different. After all, virtue opens Heaven to you, opens it to another person, and opens God to another person.

It is no coincidence that the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov tells each of us that we first of all save our soul: “Save yourself, and thousands will be saved around you” - through your ascent, through your perfection, through your ascent from strength to strength, to the measure of the age of Christ , as the psalmist very subtly and very beautifully says, the God of gods will appear in Zion: The Lord will reveal himself to you, will reveal himself to the whole world. A person can only discover God through good deeds, only through a perfect life, and through this he will reveal God to another person: he reveals the Light - God is Light, and there will be a desire for this Light by many, many. Then life opens up an eternal perspective for you, as we would say today, a clear path opens up for you along which you must walk and strive for God, overcoming all trials and difficulties.

“Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer, inspire, O God of Jacob.” It is on this path that we need help from the Lord. Lord God of hosts: The Lord who gives us strength has the power and ability to give us salvation. Without God it is impossible to follow the path of salvation. No matter how good we are, we will still fall apart, our thoughts will still not work correctly, we will still not have enough internal reserve to remain constantly in goodness. Therefore, we ask the Lord, Who is the Giver of good things, Who gives strength to a person to follow the saving path, we turn to Him: “Hear my prayer, because without You, Lord, we cannot do anything” - without God it is impossible to follow the saving path, and it is impossible to be saved without him. But what is impossible for men is possible for God, the Holy Scripture tells us. And with such a prophecy, through aspiration, through the perspective that is opened to man by the coming of Christ the Savior to earth, the psalmist, as it were, breaks it all off and turns to God: “Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer, inspire, O God of Jacob.” It was precisely at that dangerous time, when a person lived among polytheism, that he clarified which God we should turn to, without looking for or relying on our fictitious god or on any other forces surrounding us or offering their help in different “sauces.” " No way. David shows: turn to the God of strength, to the God who has power and has help. This is the God of Jacob, our forefather.

“Our Defender, see, O God, and look upon the face of Thy Christ.” By the face of Thy Christ is meant the face of every Christian believer: “See, Lord, our striving, our desire, our struggle to follow You, to work for the sake of finding You and for the sake of Your appearance, both in this world and in our hearts.” If we take the prophecy of the psalmist - for the sake of His appearance in this world.

“For it is better to have one day in Your courts than a thousand: I deign to wander about in the house of my God rather than to live in the villages of sinners.” It is better to dwell somewhere at the threshold of Your temple, O Lord, for one day, says the psalmist, than to live in the villages of sinners - luxurious villages that do not give anything eternal, internal, permanent, which can entertain and give only emptiness. It would be better for me to remain at Your threshold for one day, next to Your temple, and have nothing in this world, than to possess this world and be deprived of Your appearance both in this world and in my heart.

“For the Lord loves mercy and truth, God will give grace and glory; the Lord will not deprive the good of those who walk in kindness.” The Lord loves the truth, He gives truth and mercy only to those who walk in this life in kindness, because He Himself showed truth and mercy to the entire human race through His Coming and compassion, having accomplished salvation for us, in Himself healing man in all its fullness and essence, and gave the true word, the Gospel sermon, which is addressed to us, and through this - grace and glory. The Lord will not deprive the good of those who walk with kindness - the one who walks with kindness educates his heart in love for his neighbors, lives with mercy and true life in Christ, and he will not be deprived of great grace: the Lord gives it precisely to such people who live a virtuous life.

“Lord God of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in Thee.” All is well in the world. But any person's hope in another person is false. Man's trust in wealth is unsaving: blessed is only the one who trusts in the Lord. The Lord will never leave anyone, will never betray anyone, He always abides in love for man: no matter how bad and unworthy we are, but if we repent to God, then He again makes us His children - His love overcomes and surpasses every human sin . The Lord calls you and me to live in kindness. Why? He has already forgiven the person, but we cannot forgive the person, so we sin against the Lord. But everyone who trusts in God receives correction of the path in his life and receives forgiveness from the Lord: the Lord gives him grace, strength and returns to him His own adoption. Again here are these words: Lord God of hosts. The Lord has the power and ability to make a person blissful, that is, happy: a person must have trust in the Lord, and through this he receives bliss, happiness.

This is such a deep prophetic psalm about all of us, dear brothers and sisters, about our ups and downs. And most importantly, the Lord shows the path along which we should follow and where we should seek true happiness, the fullness of the manifestation of God - through the temple of God.

God bless you all, and God willing, see you again!

Recorded by Nina Kirsanova