Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the wicked.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice in Him with trembling.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.Salvation belongs to the Lord, Thy blessing be upon Thy people.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.+Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.+Now and forever, and unto ages of ages, amen.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.+Allelluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God!
+Allelluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God!
+Allelluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God!
In Orthodox churches that come from the Slavic tradition, this Psalm is sung with great reverence toward the beginning of the service. For those who are not Orthodox (or Roman Catholic or Anglican), you should know that the Early Church continued the practice of the Jewish synagogue, that the day began at sundown, not at sunrise. Why is this? Well, it comes from a Jewish interpretation of the beginning of the Book of Genesis, from Genesis 1:5. “God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.”
“When G?d created time, He first created night and then day. Therefore, a Jewish calendar date begins with the night beforehand. While a day in the secular calendar begins and ends at midnight, a Jewish day goes from nightfall to nightfall. Shabbat begins on Friday night. … On those dates wherein certain activities are restricted — such as working on Shabbat or major holidays — the restrictions go into effect the night beforehand. [Most fast days begin at dawn (“alot hashachar”), and as such are an exception to this rule.” — Chabad.org
Thus, for the Orthodox Christian, Vespers is the first celebration of the new day, not the last celebration. For the Slavic Orthodox, the day begins with a reminder that God loves the person who does not walk in the ways of the wicked, and that the way of the wicked will not come to a good end. It is a good thing upon which to dwell as the day begins. But, notice that the psalm reminds us that though we ought to follow the Lord, that salvation belongs to the Lord, and not to us. The singing of the psalm concludes with a Christian doxology. The verses are separated by alleluias.
This is a time of rejoicing in the Lord but at the same time a quiet time. The psalm is sung gently and with great reverence. Often, not all the church lights are on yet, that will come a little later. And so, in the semi-darkness of the evening, there comes the quiet reminder that we are to carefully follow our God. Now, that is a good way to start the day.
Leave a Reply