Psalms 118 · The Lantern

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious: because his mercy endureth for ever.

Let Israel now confess that he is gracious: and that his mercy endureth for ever.

Let the house of Aaron now confess: that his mercy endureth for ever.

Yea, let them now that fear the Lord confess: that his mercy endureth for ever.

I called upon the Lord in trouble: and the Lord heard me at large.

The Lord is on my side: I will not fear what man doeth unto me.

Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

And how should Christ, who said to Abraham, "Fear not, for I am with you," and encouraged Moses against Pharaoh and said to the son of Nun, "Be strong and of a good courage," himself be terrified before Herod and Pilate?

A brother asked an old man, "What shall a man do in every temptation that comes on him and in every thought sent by the enemy?" He replied, "He must weep in the sight of the goodness of God, that he may aid and assist him. For it is written, 'The Lord is with me to help me, and I shall avenge myself upon my foes.' "

The Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon mine enemies.

It is better to trust in the Lord: than to put any confidence in man.

It is better to trust in the Lord: than to put any confidence in princes.

All nations compassed me round about: but in the Name of the Lord will I destroy them.

They kept me in on every side, they kept me in, I say, on every side: but in the Name of the Lord will I destroy them.

They came about me like bees, and are extinct even as the fire among the thorns: for in the Name of the Lord I will destroy them.

When a thought oppresses you, do not be downhearted but put up with it in courage, saying, "They swarmed around me closer and closer, but I drove them back in the name of the Lord." Divine help will arrive at your side immediately, and you will drive them away from you, and courage will compass you round about, and the glory of God will walk with you; and "you will be filled to…

"They came about me as bees do a hive, and burned up even as the fire among the thorns: and in the Name of the Lord have I taken vengeance on them" [Psalm 118:12]. Here then the order of the words corresponds with the order of events. For we rightly understand that our Lord Himself, the Head of the Church, was surrounded by persecutors, even as bees surround a hive.

Thou hast thrust sore at me, that I might fall: but the Lord was my help.

The Lord is my strength, and my song i and is become my salvation.

The voice of joy and health is in the dwellings of the righteous: the right hand of the Lord bringeth mighty things to pass,

The right hand of the Lord hath the pre-eminence: the right hand of the Lord bringeth mighty things to pass.

And there are some who suppose that God is fashioned after a bodily manner, when they read of his hand or finger, and they do not observe that these things are written not because of any fashion of a body, since in the godhead there are neither members nor parts, but they are expressions of the oneness of the godhead, that we may believe that it is impossible for either the Son…

"The right hand of the Lord hath brought mighty things to pass" (ver. 16). What mighty things? saith he. "The right hand of the Lord," he saith, "hath exalted me." It is a mighty thing to exalt the humble, to deify the mortal, to bring perfection out of infirmity, glory from subjection, victory from suffering, to give help, to raise from trouble; that the true salvation of God…

I shall not die, but live: and declare the works of the Lord.

The Lord hath chastened and corrected me: but he hath not given me over unto death.

Consider the carefulness and the wisdom and the power of this Educator [Christ]: "He shall not judge according to appearance or reprove according to gossip, but he shall render judgment with humility and shall reprove the sinners of the earth." And through the lips of David, he says, "The Lord chastising has chastised me, but he has not delivered me over to death." Indeed, the…

Nevertheless, let him point out to us, why the body of Christ, the holy Church, the people of adoption, suffered such indignities. "The Lord," he says, "hast chastened and corrected me, but He has not given me over unto death" [Psalm 118:18].

[Syncletica] also said, 'When the devil does not use the goad of poverty to tempt us, he uses wealth for the same purpose. When he cannot win by scorn and mockery, he tries praise and flattery. If he cannot win by giving health, he tries illness. If he cannot win by comfort, he tries to ruin the soul by vexations that lead us to act against our monastic vows.

Open me the gates of righteousness: that I may go into them, and give thanks unto the Lord.

Let us therefore root this out quickly, and let us fall down before the Master and entreat him with tears, that he may show himself propitious and be reconciled to us and may restore us to the seemly and pure conduct that belongs to our love of the brothers.

Our father Jacob too prayed at Bethel and saw the gate of heaven opened, with a ladder going up on high. This is a symbol of our Savior that Jacob saw: the gate of heaven is Christ, in accordance with what he said: "I am the gate of life; every one who enters by me shall live forever." David too said, "This is the gate of the Lord, by which the righteous enter." Again, the ladd…

If, now, it is considered as fulfilling or perfecting, this again is threefold: it may be seen as vital food for the militant and triumphant Church, as the punishment of crimes, and as the final reward.

This is the gate of the Lord: the righteous shall enter into it.

I will thank thee, for thou hast heard me: and art become my salvation.

The same stone which the builders refused: is become the head-stone in the corner.

And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.

For Jesus tells them [the disciples] that "the Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected," before his coming, at which his kingdom will be really revealed. In this statement he shows that it was his own kingdom that his answer to them had contemplated and that was now awaiting his own sufferings and rejection.

Figuratively stated: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." If we take the stone literally, which stone did the builders reject, and it became the cornerstone? If we take the corner literally, on whose corner was this stone made the head?

This is the Lord's doing: and it is marvellous in our eyes.

This is the day which the Lord hath made: we will rejoice and be glad in it.

We must keep the law regarding Easter in such a way that we do not observe the fourteenth as the day of the resurrection; that day or one very close to it is the day of the passion, because the feast of the resurrection is kept on the Lord's day. Moreover, we cannot fast on the Lord's day; fasting on this day is what we criticize in the Manichaeans.

What we have sung to God: This is the day which the Lord has made, hence let us speak of what the Lord has given. Here the Prophetic Scripture surely wanted us to understand something. That day which is not common, not conspicuous to the eyes of the flesh! It is not that day which rises and sets but the day which could know its dawn, not its setting!

"And he summoned the twelve," the text says. After the long centuries of dreadful night, the eternal day, our Christ, shone forth. The world had long awaited the splendor of his dawning. In the case of his twelve apostles he desired to signify the twelve hours of this day.

Help me now, O Lord: O Lord, send us now prosperity.

Blessed be he that cometh in the Name of the Lord: we have wished you good luck, ye that are of the house of the Lord.

And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.

As for us, brothers, understanding these things, let us keep each to his own measure, the one who is considered a shepherd of souls as well as the one who is considered a sheep.

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." "In the name of the Lord" signifies "in the name of God the Father," just as [our Lord] himself said elsewhere to the unbelieving Jews, "I have come in the name of my Father, and you do not receive me; another will come in his own name, him you will receive." Christ came in the name of God the Father, because in everything that…

God is the Lord who hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, yea, even unto the horns of the altar.

Thou art my God, and I will thank thee: thou art my God, and I will praise thee.

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious: and his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalms118