Text of prayer Psalm 86
In Church Slavonic with accents
1 Son of Korah, psalm of song
2 Its foundations are on the holy mountains; The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the villages of Jacob.
3 Glorious words were spoken about you, the city of God.
4 I will remember Rahab and Babylon who led me, and behold the foreign women, and Tire, and the people of Ethiopia, who were there.
5 Mother Zion says: man, and man was born in him, and he is the foundation and the highest.
6 The Lord tells the book of the people, and of the princes who were in it.
7 For those who rejoice have their dwelling in you.
In Russian
1 The sons of Korah. Psalm-song.
2 Its foundation is on the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the villages of Jacob.
3 Glorious things are proclaimed about you, city of God!
4 I will mention Rahab and Babylon to those who know me; The Philistines and Tire and Ethiopia will say, “So-and-so was born there.”
5 But about Zion they will say: “Such and such a man was born in it, and the Most High Himself strengthened it.”
6 The Lord will write in the census of nations: “So-and-so was born there.”
7 And those who sing and play, all my sources are in you
We read the Psalter. Psalm 86
Audio |
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 86th Psalm. Son of Kore, psalm of song, 86 - this is the pre-writing of this psalm. This psalm prophesies about Christ. The combination “psalm of song” means the connection of prophecy about Christ through the song that is sung by this psalm. The psalm speaks of the Church created by the Lord, and how it will preach and encourage the pagans to join it. “Its foundations are on the holy mountains: the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the villages of Jacob.” “Its foundations are on the mountains of the saints” is a very broad interpretation of this verse by the holy fathers. First of all, it is preached that the foundation on which the Lord relied are the prophecies about the Coming of Christ to earth, about His Incarnation, about His preaching, about His suffering on the cross, and those words on which the Lord Himself relied during His earthly ministry, preaching about Himself and preaching the truth when He interpreted the Holy Scriptures. Of course, the basis may also be the holy apostles, who preached the word of Divine truth to the whole world. “The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the villages of Jacob.” What is this gate of Zion? What kind of city is this that one enters through these gates? Of course, this is the Heavenly Jerusalem. And the gates of Zion, according to the interpretations of the holy fathers, are the Churches of Christ, both Local, and each church is a saving house, which leads a person into the heavenly Jerusalem and leads to eternal salvation. These are the villages of Heaven, the eternal villages above all the villages of Israel: they give man eternal salvation.
Indeed, without the Church it is impossible for a person to begin salvation: it is a ship of salvation for everyone - here a person is spiritually born in the sacrament of Baptism, here he begins to grow spiritually, understand the first basics of Christianity, the Holy Church, the saving path along which he walks, and, of course, , here he first begins the saving sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion, here he receives grace to fight sin, cleansing from them through the sacrament of Confession (Repentance) and God's blessing on his conscious independent life, creating a small Church through the sacrament of Wedding. Here he continues to pass the baton of spiritual life, the baton of earthly life to future generations, calling and bringing children and opening up to them the horizons of eternal salvation, and receives his last parting words when he leaves for the City of Heaven, to Heavenly Jerusalem.
Therefore, salvation is impossible outside the Church. It is no coincidence that the holy fathers, knowing these prophetic words of the psalmist and our church life, which speaks of the significance of the Church on earth, always said this: “To whom the Church is not a mother, God is not a Father.” Therefore, every person should have the desire to enter the Church: these are the gates of Zion, those that lead a person into the Kingdom of Heaven, and whoever does not enter through them will never enter the abode of our Heavenly Father. The desire for the Church must be constant: there is wealth that the Lord Himself reveals to you, in the Church you begin to communicate with Him in full, you begin to understand and comprehend spiritual life.
We talked to you, discussing the last psalm, that he who lives in earthly joys will never rise to the heavenly world: these joys are temporary, and when he is deprived of them, his whole life begins to crumble before him, he does not see the meaning in it, he may fall into despair , despondency. But a person living a spiritual life refuses even thoughts about earthly things, let alone devotes his entire life to earthly things. It is the Church that teaches a person the path of spiritual life, gives the basics of spiritual thoughts, spiritual wealth, and the desire for eternity. Through it, a person begins to limit himself so as not to fall into earthly life and live only with earthly joy, because the horizons of eternal life open up for him.
Therefore, it is very important to pass the baton of spiritual life from generation to generation, which is now often interrupted by various arguments: they say, when children grow up, they will choose where to draw spiritual strength, which temple to go to and which god to bow to. In no case! The baton must be passed on and spiritual life must grow with human age. If you don’t do this from childhood, then later all the best will be worse grafted. It can be instilled by the miracle of God and the grace of God, which sends a person not only joys, but also trials of life, which also open up the spiritual path for him. But again, we said that there is a danger in grief of falling into embitterment and generally leaving the Lord. Therefore, the transfer of spiritual life and spiritual experience through the Church of Christ, which the psalmist very wisely calls the gates of Zion: they lead a person into Heavenly Jerusalem, is very important.
“Glorious words were spoken about you, the city of God.” Again, there is a double interpretation here among the holy fathers: “The glorious verb was spoken about you, the city of God,” one can also speak about earthly Jerusalem, because the psalmist foresees what will happen in this city - the salvation of the entire human race will take place in it: here the Lord will appear, here He will preach , here he will bear a difficult cross, here he will ascend the Cross and here he will suffer for the sake of all humanity. It is no coincidence that Jerusalem and the Church of the Resurrection of Christ are called the middle of the earth: the Lord brought salvation to the middle of the earth. The middle is the center, and this center is Jerusalem, the amazing city where the foot of God set foot. Naturally, Jerusalem today attracts many people who go there to worship the Holy Sepulcher, to worship the place of Golgotha, where the Lord shed His Blood, delivering us all from curse and death. This city cannot but be exalted.
But at the same time it is said that the glorious city of God is the Church of Christ, which gathers the faithful and leads man to salvation. In general, the psalmist prophesies a lot about the Church, because the Church is the city of salvation, the ark, and the gates of Zion. These are the different names of the Church. But this is a ship of salvation, this is truly the glorious city of God: there the salvation of every person is accomplished. There is no salvation outside the Church - only in the Church does the path of salvation begin.
“I will remember Rahab and Babylon to those who led me: and behold, foreign women and Tire and the people of Ethiopia, these were there.” Here the psalmist prophesies who will enter the Church. Different nations will enter. Rahab is a harlot, that is, she is from the people who showed their wickedness. Babylon also showed wickedness and malice, as the holy fathers say. And other peoples, foreigners, also lived in sins and vices. Both Tire and the Ethiopian people were not only outwardly black, but, they say, by them one can understand those who were also internally black - they lived in such sin and lawlessness that the human heart simply shuddered. But they also have hope of salvation, because everyone has entered the Church of God: all the pagan peoples who were filled with sin, wickedness, wickedness, bestiality, believed in the Lord and became a completely different people - they were purified and enlightened in the Church of Christ, accepting Christ, and entered the saving ark, which opens up the prospect of eternal salvation, which can only be obtained within the church fence.
“Mati Zion says: man and man were born in it, and He is the foundation and the Most High.” Here, of course, Christ is prophesied: He appeared on earth, Christ was born, but first He made the foundation for all this, created this world - both the foundation and the Highest. At the same time, again, the holy fathers speak about the Church in which a person is born. “Mati Zion speaks.” Zion is the mother, the Church, where man is born: “man is born in her” - man is born in Zion, that is, in the Church of Christ. Baptism becomes the spiritual birth of a person - he is born for spiritual life, he is adopted by the Lord Himself. In the sacrament of Baptism we hear deep words: My son and heir - the Lord gives adoption to His children, and here a person is born not just for earth, but for eternity. What does the Lord give as an inheritance to man? Eternity. A person becomes the owner of eternity if he follows the path of Christ’s commandments, begins to flee sin and all lawlessness, and if he falls into such, he will bring worthy repentance to the Lord, cleansing himself through the sacrament of Repentance and joining Christ again through the sacrament of the Eucharist (Holy Communion). Such a person has a great prospect of being an heir to the eternal benefits that the Lord gives to a person through adoption. This is how the Lord founded, this is how the Lord commanded, this is the blessing given from the Lord to man, and this is the path each of us must follow.
“The Lord tells the story of the people and the princes who were in him.” The Lord writes everyone into the book of life - both those above and those below, and ordinary people, and princes who are born in the Church and live a spiritual Christian life. But at the same time, the appearance of Christ was given through the Scriptures, which were among the chosen people of Israel. Scripture both for people and for princes, that is, for the leaders of this people, it prophesied about the coming of Christ the Savior to earth, and about the Church, what the Lord will reveal on earth, and about what will happen, and what the one who enters into the Church, will join eternity.
“For the dwelling of all who rejoice is in you” - here comes the prophecy about Zion. In fact, a person can experience true, deepest joy only in eternity. We said that spiritual life gives joy to a person; everything material to which we become attached has a temporary meaning, it pleases for one moment. After all, no matter how happy a new car may make you, it will soon become old, or you will have an accident and there will be a lot of grief; no matter how happy your new home may be, it becomes ordinary and requires some kind of investment from you; No matter how much earthly life pleases you, it will still come to an end, and a person will grow old. All joys in earthly life are so connected with temporaryness and impermanence that they have no depth.
A person gets joy from spiritual life. It is no coincidence that the Holy Scripture says that “no one will take this joy away from you” - what the Lord gives remains in your heart, and no one can take it away from you: you can take temporary life, take away property, wealth, but No one can take away the joy of communicating with the Lord from you. Why did the holy new martyrs and confessors write in blood on the prison walls: “We are with God and in prison we are happy and free”? No one could take away communication with God from them - they, together with the Apostle Paul, said: I have a desire to die and to be with Christ: my life is Christ, and death is gain; You can take everything from us, but you will never take Christ from our hearts. This made them happy, it gave them strength to endure all the suffering, trials and martyrdom that befell them.
This is a very deep thought of the psalmist: “For all who rejoice have their dwelling place in you.” Joy from earthly life is temporary - genuine, permanent joy will only be in the abodes of the Heavenly Father, there a person will remain in joy. For joy is the lot of a person who is perfect here on earth, living with God, in opposition to sin and all lawlessness, rejoicing in communion with the Lord through constant prayer, through reading the Holy Scriptures, through the opening of spiritual horizons. Such a person is in both joy and serenity. It is no coincidence that when we look at people who believe and serve God, at people of a pure lifestyle, at monastics, we see how much depth, joy and light they have. We often call such people “not of this world”: they are not like everyone else - they live with God, they live by the spiritual values that the Holy Church reveals to them. They entered the Church, saw this wealth and do not want to give it up. Joy is the destiny of a believer.
Not some crazy laughter, after which there is only inner emptiness, but joy, a light, gracious smile on the face of a believer, it gives peace and reveals the love of God. Therefore, the Apostle Paul says that the motto of a Christian should be: always rejoice, pray unceasingly and thank God for everything - this is already the state of a perfect person who has come to know God, works on himself and the spiritual values of this life are revealed to him: he really is in joy, in constant prayer and in gratitude to God for the fact that the Lord gave him to know great values. And it doesn’t matter what is in earthly life: whether there are large houses, apartments, or just a modest home - a person no longer lives an earthly life, he lives only by the need to maintain life in himself, and directs all his strength to communicate with the Lord.
And all this, I say again, a person can receive (in the context of today’s psalm) by entering the Church of Christ. It is no coincidence that the Church is called by such amazing names today as the city of God, the gates of Zion, which lead a person into eternal salvation. Without the Church, it is impossible for a person to see, feel, or rise to this state (and one must rise to it!). Everything is achieved through effort, through great work, nothing comes to a person just like that. And a person achieves everything in life through work that not only ennobles, but elevates him, putting him on a certain level.
There must be work in spiritual life, and it is very difficult - it is no coincidence that our ancestors said that there is nothing harder than praying to God and feeding old parents. It’s hard to pray to God - sometimes you have to force yourself, force yourself, but to pray to the Lord with attention, care, love, and tenderness is very difficult: just reading prayers is easier, but praying, calling out to God from the depths of your heart is the most difficult thing. But this gives you a special grace when you feel God’s love for yourself, you feel joy, inspiration, satisfaction, your whole state trembles - you have a joy that captures you and you understand that you don’t need anything else in this life: everything else – temporary, empty.
This is how entry into the Church of God should be, and a person who says: “I believe in God in my soul, but I don’t go to the temple of God, that’s enough for me,” let him remember that he is on the wrong path, which will not give him prospects eternity - without the Church he will never be able to feel the great and profound joy of communion with God. And a person must feel joy, he must get used to it, he must be in a state of joy and gratitude to God, because this state is close to what we will experience in heaven. Therefore, this psalm ends with these words of the psalmist: as the dwelling of all who rejoice is in you - only those who can rejoice can dwell in eternal abodes, where there will be no other state, where there is no place for sorrow, sadness, tears, because the Lord is nearby, there are angels . There will be a special state about which the Apostle Paul spoke: the human ear has not heard, the human eye has not seen, and all that the Lord has prepared for those who love Him has not entered into the heart of man.
This is such a deep psalm, dear brothers and sisters, that we discussed with you today. I think that he also opens up a huge perspective for us and shows us the path leading to the Kingdom of Heaven. This path is through the Church of Christ, through the sacraments and worship that the Lord gave to the Church.
God bless you all!
Recorded by Nina Kirsanova
History of writing
According to the time of writing, Psalm 86 was composed after the return of the Jewish people from Babylonian captivity; enemies were still attacking the people. Among the wicked nations, the new Jerusalem temple was gaining fame. The psalm collected all God's prophecies about Zion. Isaiah said that the law comes from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. That is, in place of the old law given by God at Sinai, a new law will come from Jerusalem, from Mount Zion. Other prophets also spoke about this: Hezekiah, Ammos, Micah, and all these prophecies are collected in the 86th Psalm, small in volume but capacious in content. The text mentions the greatest and most magnificent empires of antiquity: Rahab (in this case it means Egypt), Babylon, Tire, which, together with Sidon of Tire (Ethiopia), were the ancestors of Carthage, the sworn enemy of the Romans. This mention means that all the great empires will be included in the census of the Lord, in the secret book of Zion, and all of them will have a place in the future, in the worship of God. They will come to Zion with joy and worship the Lord. For Orthodox Christians, this also contains a prophecy about the population census under Caesar Augustus of Rome before the Nativity of the Savior.
Interpretation
Psalm 86 is short, but very symbolic. Here there is an example of humility for us - from infancy the Lord takes upon Himself all the conventions of human existence, right up to including Himself in the register of subjects of the Roman Caesar.
- Verses 1-2: The superscription signifies that the psalm is prescribed to the children of Korah. For modern Christians, Jerusalem is an image of the church, and birth in Jerusalem is churching and holy baptism. Most of all, the Lord glorifies those who have approached the church and found their way to the Kingdom of Heaven. The foundation of Jerusalem, that is, the church, is faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Son of God. This concept contains church dogmas as the “walls” of the Christian Church. There is a struggle between the city of God and other “villages,” as between Christians and heretics.
- Verses 3-5: Praising Jerusalem as a holy Church, the prophet also remembers the foreigners who witnessed historical events for which Zion (as a collective image of all the events of the founding of the Church that took place on this holy mountain) became the mother.
- Verses 6-7: The Lord will arrange the economy of salvation for all nations in the Church, and will indicate the names in the heavenly book of life.
And this reminds us that we are not forgotten by the Lord, He knows about everything that lives in our hearts, it is important to Him even when and where we were born. We are all included in the register of the Lord's subjects and it is up to us whether we will be on the list of good or bad slaves and, moreover, whether we will go on to the list of sons and heirs.
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Psalter with interpretations by A.P. Lopukhin Psalm 86
Synodal translation
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According to the inscription in the Hebrew, Greek and Latin Bibles, the psalm belongs to the sons of Korah. The psalm speaks of the great glory that will befall Jerusalem: it will become the subject of glorification among all nations, so much so that it will be a glory for a person in the lists of those born in it, and the Lord will especially strengthen and patronize it (3, 5–6). This faith in the future greatness of Jerusalem rests on the facts of the writer’s contemporary reality: he can now point out Rahab, Babylon, Tigris and Ethiopia among those already paying honor to him (4). Such glory of Jerusalem, based on the patronage of the Lord and making it famous, dates back to the time of Hezekiah, when, after the miraculous destruction of the army of Sennacherib near Jerusalem, the fame of it spread among the pagan peoples and caused signs of great attention to it. Then there were embassies from Babylon, from Tire, and Egypt was on friendly terms with Judah (2 Chron. XXXII:23).
The Lord loves Zion and a glorious future is announced to her (2–3). Now we can name several nations who know Jehovah, and the time will come when it will be especially honorable to be numbered among those born in Jerusalem, from which the sources of all joys will flow (4-7).
1. The sons of Korah. Psalm. Song
2. Its foundation is on the mountains of saints. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the villages of Jacob.
2. "Its foundation is on the mountains of the saints." Jerusalem is located on the peaks of Mount Zion and Mount Moriah. The latter are called saints because the Icon of the Covenant was located on them, under David - in Zion in the palace, and under Solomon it was transferred to the temple on Mount Moriah. - “Gates of Zion” - all of Jerusalem, part instead of the whole (synecdoche). - “More than all the villages of Jacob.” The villages of Jacob are other cities of Judah, devastated by the Assyrians under Hezekiah, when only Jerusalem remained undestroyed.
3. Glorious things are proclaimed about you, city of God!
4. I will mention to those who know me about Rahab and Babylon; The Philistines and Tire and Ethiopia will say, “So-and-so was born there.”
4. The speech is from Jerusalem. A bright future awaits him. Already now he can indicate several nations who worship him. So, for example, Rahab. This word means pride, perseverance, and Egypt was usually called by it, as a country where monsters, like the hippopotamus and the crocodile, are found, invincible and proud, which is why they served as symbols of this country. The king of this country, Tirgaka, was then in alliance with Hezekiah and could not help but sympathize and express his attention to such a fact. There was an embassy from the king from Babylon. True, it dates back to the time of Hezekiah’s miraculous recovery, but since the latter happened in the same year as the death of Sennacherib, the latter fact could not but be known to the Babylonians and, perhaps, even served as the initial reason for equipping the embassy. Among the nations that will revere Jerusalem, the writer points out Tire, a trading city on an island in the Mediterranean Sea, the Philistine people neighboring the Jews, and Ethiopia, the country of middle Egypt. It may be that these nations, which were threatened by the Assyrians in the event of the destruction of Jerusalem, were among those who welcomed Hezekiah. All these nations will praise the one about whom they will say that he was “born there,” i.e. in Jerusalem. Genealogical tables among Jews were of great importance and value, as documentary evidence of the nobility and antiquity of the family. But these tables will lose their meaning: the dignity of a person will be determined not by the nobility and antiquity of the family, but by a new measure - the place of birth. Only those born in Jerusalem are great and noble.
5. About Zion they will say: “Such and such a man was born in it, and the Most High Himself strengthened it.”
6. The Lord will write in the census of nations: “So-and-so was born there.”
5–6. Since “the Most High Himself strengthened it,” i.e. Jerusalem, this shows that the Lord protects it and those born in Jerusalem thereby become protected by God. But for the latter, as the King of the whole world, what is important, of course, is not the very place of birth of a person, not his physical connection with Jerusalem only by place of origin, but moral, spiritual closeness to God, why this expression is a prediction of such a future state of Jerusalem when it becomes a place of religious and moral renewal and birth of people, a source of new life in God and union with Him. And since Jehovah God is the one and true God, then to be written in the book of His subjects means to receive the right to benefits in His kingdom. From the fact of the rise of Jerusalem during the time of Hezekiah, the writer comes to a prophecy about the future conversion of all pagans to the true God.
7. And those who sing and play, all my sources are in you.
7. Singing and games, as an expression of a joyful mood of spirit and contentment, will emanate from Jerusalem, since it alone will be the center of the new life. What for the writer of this psalm was the subject of a distant dream has now found historical fulfillment since the time of the Messiah - Christ, when from Jerusalem the teaching of a new life was heard, quickly spreading throughout the world and still spreading. In this teaching and in submission to King Christ is the guarantee of eternal good, the highest and most worthy object of man’s search for true happiness. To be considered born in Jerusalem is the same as to be renewed for another higher life, and to be written down in a book is to become the heir of the heavenly kingdom and eternal bliss.
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