Psalm 87

This is the saddest of all the Psalms of the Six Psalms: the more the psalmist prays, the more miserable his situation becomes (vv. 2-10, 15-19); nay, he feels the wrath of God upon him: Thy wrath is fixed upon me, and all thy waves have come upon me, v. 8. He sees himself abandoned by all, and above all by God Himself: as a man without help, like the dead, who were rejected by Thy hand (v. 5, 6). In any case, this is how this psalm is seen from the outside. The righteous are in mortal danger: "Thou hast laid me in the pit of hell, in the dark, and in the shadow of death" (v. 7); he already imagines himself in the tomb, but does not cease to call upon God (vv. 11-15). St. the Fathers teach that the Lord does not send us sufferings and sorrows in vain: they purify the soul and humble a person. In the same way, the Psalmist no longer asks for deliverance from enemies, nor for spiritual joys, he asks God only not to turn His face away from him (v. 15), and humbles himself before the will of God (v. 16).

Psalm 102

And this is where God's help comes: the Lord accepts the prayer of the righteous and sends His grace, cleanses him, heals his infirmities, delivers him from incorruptibility (from slavery to sin), crowns him with mercy and generosity (v. 4). The soul, purified by suffering and made wise by spiritual experience, receives a second wind: "Thy youth shall be renewed like an eagle" (v. 5). And the first movement of the soul, freed from slavery to demons, brought out of the Babylonian slavery of passions, according to Bl. Theodoret, "thanksgiving to God and praise of Him" [11] (vv. 1, 2, 20-22).

This psalm speaks of God's Providence in the moral world (Psalm 103 speaks of Providence in the physical world, the interpreter calls Psalms 102 and 103 "paired" [9]. – Author's note): the Lord, like a loving father, cares for His people who fear Him, that is, who revere Him (vv. 11, 13, 17), is long-suffering with their iniquities, is not completely angry with them and does not do the same to them, as they deserve, but according to His mercy, which is from everlasting to everlasting (that is, from everlasting life, to the everlasting life to come; v. 17). In the psalm shines through the spiritual wisdom of the psalmist, who understands perfectly well what a man like "dust" is, whose days are fleeting (v. 14, 16, 17), and the Most Merciful God, who has prepared His throne in heaven, and His kingdom possesses all (v. 19). The Psalmist calls upon the entire universe, not only people, but also the celestials and all creation in every place, to glorify God the Creator.

Psalm 142

The exultant tone of the preceding psalm is replaced by a mournful one: the psalmist is again attacked by his enemies (v. 3) and his state of mind is disturbed (v. 4). This is how it should be, because as long as the soul of a person is in the body, the enemy will not leave it alone. But before us is no longer a novice, but a battle-hardened fighter. He sees how dangerous and insidious the enemy is, and already has experience in fighting him. He studies history and derives benefit from it: remember the days of old, learn in all Thy works (v. 6), prayerfully asks God to show him the way of life, to teach him to do the will of the Lord (v. 8, 10).

According to the remark of St. In the words of St. John Chrysostom, the Psalmist "desires nothing sensual here, but seeks the path leading to God, and from himself he lays the beginning for this: for to Thee I take my soul, that is, to Thee I aspire, to Thee I turn my eyes" (v. 8); such people especially God shows the way" [10]. The ability to surrender oneself to the will of God instills in a person confidence in a happy outcome: Thy good Spirit will guide me to earth in righteousness (v. 10). The end of the psalm sounds cheerful: the psalmist confesses himself a servant of God and has no doubt that God will deliver his soul from sorrow, freeing it from the attacking enemies.

Thus, the six Psalms considered in their religious and moral light appear before us as six successive stages of the spiritual ladder of the Christian. The state of the psalmist's soul is not simply a "change of mood" that "speaks of the instability of human consciousness, prone to breakdowns, temptations, and falls" [3]. This is the path of a Christian soul strong in its faith and courageous in its ascent to God. The Six Psalms show us how a soul that sincerely believes and is converted to Christ goes through the difficult path of temptation, grows spiritually, becomes stronger, overcomes, with God's help, demonic attacks, and attains the grace-filled state of true freedom – the freedom to live according to the will of God.

The Messianic Theme in the Six Psalms