Third Monday in Great Lent

Kathisma 7 (Psalms 46-54)

“It is for this reason that we often read and chant this Psalm in the Church: that they that have not fallen might take heed, lest they fall, and that they that have fallen might take heed, that they may rise.” – St. Augustine of Hippo on Psalm 50

What is the value of Psalm 50? It is easily the most recognizable Psalm of repentance. We say or hear the words frequently enough. St. Augustine of Hippo says that there are two good reasons to saturate our lives with this Psalm.

The Psalm was written, as the superscription says, to express David’s repentance when the prophet Nathan was sent to him. David, you see, had been a very bad boy, indeed. He had seen a woman bathing who was not his wife, and he had desired her. She was the wife of one of his generals. David went to her, and soon she was with child. David tried to cover up his sin by tricking her husband into taking a vacation from war. He figured that if she and her husband lay together early enough, nobody might be able to do the math. When that didn’t work, he arranged for her husband to be killed in battle, then he married her.

Well, God wasn’t very happy with David. He sent the prophet Nathan to confront David. Now here is the watershed moment that St. Augustine speaks about: what do you do when you are confronted with your sin? David had already tried covering it up. Now it was out in the open. He could have been angry and defensive and had the prophet killed (he wouldn’t have been the first to kill the messenger). Instead, David admitted his sin. He wept bitterly and acknowledged that God was right to judge him.

That is why St. Augustine says we use this Psalm so much. It teaches us the proper response of one of God’s people when He catches us in our sin. We acknowledge our sin, confess it before the Lord, and declare Him just and right in His condemnation. We throw ourselves on His mercy and, though there may be consequences, we move forward with Him in a continuing relationship. That’s what David did. The baby born of his sinful union died. That was a consequence, and it hurt David deeply, but God had not abandoned David. He had not taken from David his Holy Spirit (as He had with Saul before David). Life would go on. Having fallen, David rose again.

In temptation, you may also meditate on this Psalm. Hear the anguish in the words and think of the consequences, and “take heed, lest you fall.”

Download this week’s Great Lent Daily Devotions as a PDF.

Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas

“Watchfulness is a continual fixing and. halting of thought at the entrance to the heart. In this way predatory and murderous thoughts are marked down as they approach and what they say and do is noted; and we can see in what specious and delusive form the demons are trying to deceive the intellect. If we are conscientious in this, we can gain much experience and knowledge of spiritual warfare.”  – St. Hesychios the Priest

Human beings are very special creations. We have the ability not only to think, but to think about thinking. We are able to observe and think about our own thought processes. Modern science refers to this as metacognition. The holy fathers encourage a disciplined use of metacognition they called watchfulness.

As the fathers describe it, it is the discipline of simply paying attention to what you think much the same way you pay attention to what you are eating during Great Lent. If something is unacceptable, it is not admitted. If that can of soup says it contains milk on the label, it goes back on the shelf. When you become aware of a thought that has sin in the label, you throw it out.

Today St. Gregory Palamas, along with countless other Holy Ascetics, encourage us to be careful not only of what goes into our mouths, but also what goes into our eyes and ears. Sure, you are not allowing any eggs or dairy to enter into your stomach, but of what use is that if you are allowing violence, sexual images, or immoral themes into your very mind!?

Be watchful. Watch what you watch. Watch what you read. Watch your internet browsing and your discussions. St. Paul tells us, “Whatever things are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, if there is any virtue or any praise, think about these things”. (Philippians 4:8) And St. Peter, having been chastised for his lack of watchfulness, later tells the Church: “The end of all things is near! Therefore, be clear-minded, self-controlled and sober in prayer.” (1 Peter 4:7)

“When we strive with diligent sobriety to keep watch over our rational faculties, to control and correct them, how else can we succeed in this task except by collecting our mind, which is dispersed abroad through the senses, and bringing it back into the world within, into the heart itself, which is the storehouse of all our thoughts?”       – St. Gregory Palamas

Second Saturday in Great Lent

Kathisma 6 (Psalms 37-45)

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why dost thou disquiet me? Hope in God, for I will give thanks unto Him; He is the salvation of my countenance, and my God.” (Psalms 41-42)

If you are paying attention, you will notice that the verse above serves as the refrain of Psalms 41 and 42. The Psalmist says this three times. This refrain divides these two psalms into three parts.

In the first part in Psalm 41, the Psalmist’s heart is cast down because he desires God so much it hurts, and yet God seems very far off. He is anxious to go to God and appear before His face. While other people see his pain and suffering and ask where his God is, he expresses his desire to go to God. It isn’t time to die yet, so the Psalmist goes to see God where God says He may be encountered: in the tabernacle. He doesn’t go as an obligation. He doesn’t go grudgingly. Instead, he goes to Liturgy with hymns of joy and thanksgiving. He goes as one who has a deep longing to be in God’s Presence. Lord, give us this kind of desire!

In the second part of Psalm 41, the Psalmist’s heart is cast down for a slightly different reason: his enemies are overtaking him. Things aren’t going well for the Psalmist and his enemies are mocking him in his distress. Even so, the Psalmist praises God’s faithfulness in times past. He has been through hard times in the past, but the Lord has always preserved him in them. He is thankful for God’s care and this gives him confidence in present struggles. How has God shown His care for you in hard times?

In the third part, Psalm 42, the Psalmist’s heart is downcast for the same reason he shared in the second part: evil men are persecuting him. He feels like God has forgotten about him and isn’t helping him. Have you ever felt that way? What did you do? The Psalmist prayed and went to Liturgy. ‘I will go in unto the altar of God, unto God Who giveth gladness to my youth.’ (Psalm 42) He remembers God’s faithfulness in the past and rushes to encounter God at His altar.

At the altar the Psalmist will give thanks, and it is no accident that we still offer up the eucharist, the ‘great thanksgiving,’ at the altar of God in the Divine Liturgy. Go to the altar of God as a hart panting after fountains of water (Psalm 41), for “the Spirit and the Bride say ‘Come… let everyone who is thirsty come, let anyone who wishes take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:17)

Second Friday in Great Lent

Kathisma 6 (Psalms 37-45)

“I said: I will take heed to my ways, lest I sin with my tongue. I set a guard for my mouth.” (Psalm 38)

Here is a Lenten discipline: silence. How hard is it to remain silent? Without a miracle, it is impossible. When is it hardest to remain silent? The Psalmist kept silent while an enemy was reviling him. He didn’t answer a word, since he suspected that whatever came from his mouth would be sin. Wisdom! Let us attend.

St. James addresses this problem of the untamed tongue in his letter. “The tongue is also a fire! Among all our members, the tongue is a world of wrongdoing which defiles the whole body. It sets on fire the course of nature and it is set on fire by the fires of hell. Every kind of animal, bird, reptile and sea creature is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But nobody can tame the tongue! It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” (James 3:6-8)

Setting a guard on your mouth is one of the hardest things in the world to do, but if there is ever a time to try it, Great Lent is it! It is much easier to govern what comes out of your mouth when you are already governing what goes into your mouth. It isn’t what goes into a man that defiles him, after all, but what comes out of him. (Matthew 15:11) What point is it to zealously keep the Fast if we aren’t also willing to struggle with the other discipline of the tongue?

Christians around the world sing these words every single evening: ‘Set, O Lord, a watch before my mouth, and a door of enclosure round about my lips. Incline not my heart unto words of evil, to make excuse with excuses in sins, with men that work iniquity; and I will not join with their chosen.’ (Psalm 140)

This is serious stuff, this taming of the tongue, and it is really difficult stuff, too. It isn’t something we can accomplish by force of will. St. James says that nobody can tame the tongue, but that doesn’t mean it can’t ever be done, since Christ our Lord has said that ‘what is impossible for men is possible with God.’ (Matthew 19:26) It can be done, but only as a miracle by the grace of God! Prayer and psalmody are an important part of setting a guard upon your tongue and a watch upon your mouth. The Psalmist says that by remaining silent he learned humility. Pray that the Lord will give you grace to tame the tongue and learn humility with the Psalmist, and with those countless Christians devoted to prayer and psalmody and silence.