Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, as well as with the day of the memory of the glorious Great-Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonika!

Today let us continue our discussion about the psalms of the Third Hour and briefly discuss the 24th (25) psalm, ‘Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.’ Remember that the Third Hour is a short divine service that is read in the morning, around nine o’clock according to our modern time. More often than not it is read before the Liturgy. The main theme of this service is the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles.

As is the case with many other psalms, we can assume that this one was composed by the Holy King David at the end of his life, when his oldest son rose up in revolt against him. Perhaps some of you will find it interesting to know that ‘Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul’ is an alphabetic acrostic, that is, each verse begins with one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. For this reason, the 24th psalm does not have a strong chronological or thematic structure, but rather is a collection of separate short phrases, be they prayers or statements. In the separate verses the Holy Prophet David prays to God for help, asks the Lord to lead him along the way of truth and to forgive him his sins. The author also confesses the just and tender mercy of our Creator. In terms of content, Psalm 24 differs little from Psalm 16, which is read at the beginning of the Third Hour and which we briefly discussed last week. This psalm ends with the simple and all-encompassing prayer: “Redeem (or in other translations, deliver) Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.”

For the New Israel, that is, for the members of the Church, for us, the words of the final verse of the 24th psalm can have a special meaning. Of course, all of us have our own personal troubles about which we pray, but there is also a more universal church or human problem that brings misfortune to everyone. I am speaking of sin and its result, death. We can solve many of our personal problems on our own. We have to study better to get good grades; eat better, exercise, or take medicine for health, etc. On our own, not one of us can deal with sin and, even more so, with the consequences of sin, with death. The Holy Spirit, Who long ago descended on the Holy Apostles at the third hour and Who, up until our own time, works amongst us, supports us, heals our spiritual illnesses, and sanctifies us, is that Power which redeems us from sin and death and grants us eternal blessedness in the life to come. Although the third person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, is everywhere present, His divine power is most vividly manifested in the mysteries of the Church, especially at the Divine Liturgy. For this reason, the 24th psalm is wonderfully suited for the Third Hour.

Through the prayers of the Holy Great-Martyr Demetrius, may the Holy Spirit enlighten us and sanctify us throughout all the days of our lives and grant us the courage to live a holy, Christian life, so that we inherit, together with him and all the other martyrs and saints, a place in the Heavenly Kingdom.

priest Alexis