'Sing the psalms with understanding' says the Psalmist; and the Lord says, 'Search the Scriptures.' He who pays attention to them is illumined, while he who pays no attention is filled with darkness. - St. Peter of Damaskos, On Holy Scripture
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
The end of the paragraph is just as wonderful. Our illumination is..."bewilderment and wonder at God's grace and His ineffable wisdom, we are overcome with awe before 'the God of knowledge', as the prophetess Hannah calls Him."
BTW I pick up Father Arseney at the Library this afternoon! Good reading time coming up! I'll have the husband take the kids on an outing!
I was always taught that if I didn't know the words to a hymn, in English or another language, that I shouldn't chant them exactly because we are to 'Sing the psalms with understanding'.
Yes, the rest of the paragraph was good too - but I was running out the door this morning and decided to give the shortened version. : ) You must let me know what you think of Fr. Arseny.
Dear Anon,
I wonder if that's why we never chant "selah" (not having a clue what it means!). : )
This quote applies to me today. Last night as we were doing devotions as a family ( with Pastor Bender's school devotional schedule from www.peacesussex.org) I was having a hard time focusing on the very long Psalm 89. The 2 yo was singing Once Upon a Dream, the 9 yo was wiggling, the 13 yo was laughing at the 2 yo and the 15 yo was coming in the door from work. Not very peaceful. But I think God must understand.
4 comments:
The end of the paragraph is just as wonderful. Our illumination is..."bewilderment and wonder at God's grace and His ineffable wisdom, we are overcome with awe before 'the God of knowledge', as the prophetess Hannah calls Him."
BTW I pick up Father Arseney at the Library this afternoon! Good reading time coming up! I'll have the husband take the kids on an outing!
I was always taught that if I didn't know the words to a hymn, in English or another language, that I shouldn't chant them exactly because we are to 'Sing the psalms with understanding'.
Dear Janice,
Yes, the rest of the paragraph was good too - but I was running out the door this morning and decided to give the shortened version. : ) You must let me know what you think of Fr. Arseny.
Dear Anon,
I wonder if that's why we never chant "selah" (not having a clue what it means!). : )
This quote applies to me today. Last night as we were doing devotions as a family ( with Pastor Bender's school devotional schedule from www.peacesussex.org) I was having a hard time focusing on the very long Psalm 89. The 2 yo was singing Once Upon a Dream, the 9 yo was wiggling, the 13 yo was laughing at the 2 yo and the 15 yo was coming in the door from work. Not very peaceful. But I think God must understand.
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