“Do not think or do anything without having some aim in sight; the person who journeys aimlessly will have labored in vain.”
(St. Mark the Monk, Counsels on the Spiritual Life, Kindle 1897-1898)
Category: Christian
The Prayer of Manasseh
This is the 5th post in this blog series meditating on Psalm 51. The previous post is David the Image of Repentance.
The 51st Psalm presents us with a particular vision of repentance which I believe is reflected in the Liturgy of the Orthodox Church. This understanding of repentance does not demand that we think of ourselves as vile, worthless worms wallowing in the mire. Nor does it envision us as being angels in the flesh. Rather it views us as being human – created in God’s image and likeness, created to have dominion over creation, created to be united to divinity and share in the divine love and life. We are created to be the temple in which God dwells on earth. Yet, we also have free will which means we are not automatons who are programmed to do what God wants. Rather, we have to choose to do God’s will if we want. We are conscious beings who can realize our willful disobedience to God as well as our mistakes.
Psalm 51 as a prayer of repentance shows us to acknowledge our sins and errors, to “man up” as it were and own our behavior, admitting to God when we are wrong. We have the example in Adam and Eve of what not to do when we sin (Genesis 3). For they failed to admit to their wrong doing and tried to place blame outside of themselves. King David, on the other hand, shows himself to be every bit the sinner that Adam was, yet he places himself before God, the merciful judge, and trusts himself to whatever God decides. David does not despair, deny God or his sinfulness, engage in self-pity, think everything is inconsequential, become nihilistic, or spiral out of control. Instead, David despite his personal failings continues to recognize the Lordship of God. David sees his own behavior as of 
limited value and consequence, still occurring within the confines of God’s universe. So though he is God’s chosen king, he recognizes his choices are not always right and he still has to answer to the Lord. Repentance consists of understanding this right relationship with God, with creation and the rest of humanity. Repentance is a course correction, right-sizing, recalculation, re-evaluation, self-examination in which one recognizefs God’s rightful lordship and one’s own servant role even if one is emperor. In praying Psalm 51, we are recognizing our need for God to be God and to do everything in our life that we need God to do for us to be rightfully human.
There is another prayer of repentance in Orthodoxy that is similar in content and structure to Psalm 51 which can be found in many Orthodox prayer books and in the compline service. It is a prayer of repentance of the King of Judah Manasseh mentioned in 2 Chronicles 33 which describes an incident in the 7th Century BC. “During his distress, Manasseh made peace with the Lord his God, truly submitting himself to the God of his ancestors. He prayed, and God was moved by his request. God listened to Manasseh’s prayer and restored him to his rule in Jerusalem. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was the true God” (vs 12-13). As with King David’s sin and Psalm 51, repentance for Manasseh yields a restored and right relationship with God. The focus is not on Manasseh’s remorse and regret but on his submitting to the Lordship of God. However, scholars think the prayer itself comes from the 2nd Century BC since it is not found in the ancient Jewish texts. The prayer begins:
Lord Almighty, God of our ancestors, God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their righteous children, you made heaven and earth with all their beauty. You set limits for the sea by speaking your command. You closed the bottomless pit, and sealed it by your powerful and glorious name. All things fear you and tremble in your presence, because no one can endure the brightness of your glory. No one can resist the fury of your threat against sinners. But your promised mercies are beyond measure and imagination, because you are the highest, Lord, kind, patient, and merciful, and you feel sorry over human troubles. You, Lord, according to your gentle grace, promised forgiveness to those who are sorry for their sins. In your great mercy, you allowed sinners to turn from their sins and find salvation.
As with many Orthodox liturgical prayers, the opening of Manasseh’s prayer speaks only of God and all that God has done or is doing. The purpose of this opening is to establish the Lordship of God – it tells us to whom we are praying and why we recognize this God as our Lord. Then the prayer continues:
Therefore, Lord, God of those who do what is right, you didn’t offer Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who didn’t sin against you, a chance to change their hearts and lives. But you offer me, the sinner, the chance to change my heart and life, because my sins outnumbered the grains of sand by the sea. My sins are many, Lord; they are many. I am not worthy to look up, to gaze into heaven because of my many sins. Now, Lord, I suffer justly. I deserve the troubles I encounter. Already I’m caught in a trap. I’m held down by iron chains so that I can’t lift up my head because of my sins. There’s no relief for me, because I made you angry, doing wrong in front of your face, setting up false gods and committing offenses.
Manasseh’s prayer, more than Psalm 51, accepts the notion that “I” being a sinner am unworthy of my title of being human. It acknowledges that sin is very powerful in this world, and that “I” have not resisted its power. This prayer more openly accepts that since God is the Lord, “I” deserve judgment and all that is happening around me is related to or effected by my sin. Whereas Psalm 51 only speaks of the mercy of God, Manasseh sees God’s anger and accepts it as a just reaction to his behavior.
Now I bow down before you from deep within my heart, begging for your kindness. I have sinned, Lord, I have sinned, and I know the laws I’ve broken.
I’m praying, begging you:
Forgive me, Lord, forgive me. Don’t destroy me along with my sins. Don’t keep my bad deeds in your memory forever. Don’t sentence me to the earth’s depths, for you, Lord, are the God of those who turn from their sins. In me you’ll show how kind you are. Although I’m not worthy, you’ll save me according to your great mercy. I will praise you continuously all the days of my life, because all of heaven’s forces praise you, and the glory is yours forever and always. Amen.
The conclusion of Manasseh’s prayer is more in line with Psalm 51, though expressing things more in the negative. Manasseh tells God what he needs God to do: forgive me, don’t destroy me (but do destroy my sins!), don’t remember my sins forever, don’t condemn me. Manasseh has hope that God will show kindness and save him. His response, like David’s, will be to praise God. Repentance leads to praise not just to self-denigration. If one repents one spends the remaining time of one’s life giving glory and praise to God. Repentance leads us to the Liturgy where we give thanks to God and praise God for all the blessings God’s bestows upon us. This is true repentance – not remorse and regret, but thanksgiving and praise of God.
St. Maximos the Confessor expresses this same truth:
“Every genuine confession humbles the soul. When it takes the form of thanksgiving, it teaches the soul that it has been delivered by the grace of God. When it takes the form of self-accusation, it teaches the soul that it is guilty of crimes through its own deliberate indolence. Confession takes two forms. According to the one, we give thanks for blessings received; according to the other, we bring to light and examine what we have done wrong. We use the term confession both for the grateful appreciation of the blessings we have received through divine favor, and for the admission of the evil actions of which we are guilty. Both forms produce humility. For he who thanks God for blessings and he who examines himself for his offences are both humbled. The first judges himself unworthy of what he has been given; the second implores forgiveness for his sins.” (THE PHILOKALIA, Kindle Loc. 18272-80)
Next: What does God Ask of Us?
Prayer is God
The purpose of prayer is to enable our union with God. It’s purpose is not to make all our wants, needs, desires, hopes and wishes known to God. God already knows all of those things. We can reduce prayer to a list of wants and needs, but then we miss the very purpose of prayer. St Gregory of Sinai leads us into an ever deeper understand of what prayer is because it becomes obvious that for the Christian prayer is everything. St Gregory writes:
“Or again, prayer is
the preaching of the Apostles, an action of faith or, rather, faith itself, ‘that makes real for us the things for which we hope‘ (Heb. 11:1),
active love, angelic impulse,
the power of the bodiless spirits, their work and delight,
the Gospel of God, the heart’s assurance,
hope of salvation, a sign of purity, a
token of holiness, knowledge of God,
baptism made manifest, purification in the water of regeneration,
a pledge of the Holy Spirit, the exultation of Jesus,
the soul’s delight, God’s mercy,
a sign of reconciliation, the seal of Christ,
a ray of the noetic sun, the heart’s dawn-star,
the confirmation of the Christian faith,
the disclosure of reconciliation with God, God’s grace,
God’s wisdom or, rather, the origin of true and absolute Wisdom;
the revelation of God,
the work of monks, the life of hesychasts, the source of stillness, and expression of the angelic state.
Why say more?
Prayer is God,
who accomplishes everything in everyone (cf. 1 Cor. 12:6), for there is a single action of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, activating all things through Christ Jesus.”
( THE PHILOKALIA, Kindle 41660-41675)
Being Newly Baptized Forever
“Paul was baptized and illumined by the light of truth, and in this way became a great man; as time when on, he became a much greater one. For after he had contributed his fair share – his zeal, his ardor, his noble spirit, his seething desire, his scorn for the things of this world – there flowed into him an abundance of the gifts that come from God’s grace.
Imitate him, I beg you; and you will be able to be called newly baptized not only for two, three, ten or twenty days, but you will be able to deserve this greeting after ten, twenty, or thirty years have passed and, to tell the truth, through your whole life. If we shall be eager to make brighter by good deeds the light within us – I mean the grace of the Spirit – so that it is never quenched, we shall enjoy the title of newly baptized for all time.”
(St. John Chrysostom, Ancient Christian Writers: Baptismal Instructions, pp. 88-89)
The 21: A Journey into the Land of Coptic Martyrs
I found Martin Mosebach’s The 21: A Journey into the Land of Coptic Martyrs to be a worthy read. There is of course that one learns a bit about these 21 Christians, all poor migrant workers, beheaded by ISIS militants on a Libyan beach. They have been glorified by the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church as martyrs for the faith. In their lives they seem to have been pious Orthodox Christians who were trying to eke out a living under difficult circumstances. One also learns a great deal about the life of Coptic Christians in Egypt, an Orthodox Church which considers itself to be “the Church of the martyrs” based on its 2000 year history which has seen centuries of suffering and martyrdom. The Copts continue to be targeted by Muslim extremists and live perpetually in a state of being at risk for persecution, and yet their faith is strong. Mosebach, a practicing traditionalist Catholic, writes about the Copts with sympathy and understanding. He is not reluctant to express his skepticism about some of the things he learned. It is obvious that even modern martyrs’ lives quickly are embellished with legend and miracles, as if their martyrdom itself is not sufficiently miraculous witness to the Lord. As Mosebach writes it such embellishment is a normal part of Coptic history and faith. Mosebach also makes it clear that to call these martyrs victims of terrorism is to completely miss the importance of their faith in their lives. They are not victims of terrorism, but true witnesses to their undying faith in Jesus Christ. As such they stand as a challenge to American Christian attitudes towards suffering, being in the minority or being in power and what Christ teaches us about martyrdom, enemies, suffering and power. They have to carry the cross daily in a way American Christians are not willing to do. As one Coptic priest said, “One cannot simply dismiss Muslims as hostile – regardless of religion, one can still be a good neighbor and express kindness and trust, especially in one’s prayer.” Who is my neighbor? The one to whom I can be neighborly as Jesus taught in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Copts have to choose to live the Gospel lessons daily.
As in Heaven, So on Earth
The Lord Jesus taught us: “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” (Luke 6:31-36)
Let’s imagine that we are now in heaven. We’ve made it to the kingdom of God. I look around at the other people who are also in God’s Kingdom. I see some people who were always kind to me back on earth, so I try to figure out how to be kind to them here in heaven. I see someone who forgave me in my lifetime when I really hurt them, so I walk up to them and talk to them. Over there I see some people who I never liked in life, and they turn away from me and pretend I’m not there. That’s OK by me as I don’t really want to deal with them. I see someone else who betrayed me one time and told all my friends and family about something bad I had done. They were truthful about what they said, but it embarrassed me and caused other people to condemn me. When I see that person in heaven, I’m disgusted and decide to find people I like rather than have to be around someone who told everybody about my problems.
What is wrong with this picture of heaven?
It’s just like earth.
So we have to think what did our Lord Jesus teach us about how we are to treat people who have cursed us or despised us or hated us or wronged us or offended us? We are to treat them as we want to be treated.
Heavenly values are not: I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine. They are not about reciprocity. There is no retaliation in heaven. No mutual gift exchanges either. No treating others as they deserve. Rather, the only principle guiding how people are to treat one another in God’s Kingdom is Love. Treat others in the same way that you hope God will treat you on Judgement day – with mercy, forgiveness, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness. Those are heavenly values.
When Jesus says, if you love only those who love you, what credit is that to you? He is saying, what sort of gift is that? Is it a gift to pay people back for the good things they do for you? That’s not a gift, that’s just pay back. On the other hand, God gives His gifts to us whether we are good or evil. God gives rain and sunshine to all. God’s gifts go far beyond what is expected, deserved, earned, because they are gifts of love. God gives us life, and we are supposed to be pro-life, which also means we should love all who are alive (which we also know is very hard!)
From the Triads of St Paul (19th Century British Document), we do encounter a Christian thinker reflecting on what Jesus commands us to do: “There are three ways a Christian punishes an enemy: by forgiving him, by not divulging his sin, by doing all the good in his power.” We punish them by not behaving as they behave, and by not giving them any reason to hate us. They’ll have that!
Jesus said: “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”
This used to be called what? The Golden Rule
This rule says to treat people as you want to be treated. If you want people to respect you – what do you need to do? Respect them. Don’t try to buy their respect by giving them gifts or praise, that is bribery. Don’t just do them favors so that they will think well of you. That’s manipulation. If you want their respect, respect them, treat them with respect. Treat everyone as you want to be treated. Don’t command it of them or demand it from them. Model it. Show them how you would like to be treated by how you behave and treat them.
You want them to serve you? Then serve them.
Do you want them to love you? Then love them.
Constantly and at all times by your own behavior, attitude, words and deeds demonstrate to others how you want to be treated.
If you are self centered and selfish, you are telling others that is how you want them to behave as well, so don’t be angry when they reflect back to you how you are behaving.
Finally we remember the words of St Paul in today’s Epistle: “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6-8)
Darkness is what we already have, but the Gospel commands are the light which shines out of our darkness and gives us the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. God’s commandments can make even this earth into heaven.
Loving One’s Enemies
“’But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest; for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful as your Father also is merciful‘ (Luke 6:35-36).
These are the great heights to which Christ desires to raise men! This is teaching unheard-of before His coming! This is the glory of man’s dignity, undreamed-of by the greatest sages in history! And this is God’s love for mankind, that dissolves the whole heart of man into one great flood of tears.
‘Love your enemies.‘ He does not say: ‘Do not render evil for evil’, for this is a small thing; it is only endurance. Neither does He say: ‘Love those who love you’, for this is passive love; but He says: ‘Love your enemies‘; do not just tolerate them, and do not be passive, but love them. Love is an active virtue.” (St Nikolai Velimirovic, Homilies, p. 194-195)
Pride and Humility
“There are many disciples of Christ who can justly claim that they are indifferent to material possessions. They happily live in simple huts, wear rough woolen clothes, eat frugally, and give away the bulk of their fortunes. These same people can justly claim that they are indifferent to worldly power. They happily work in the most humble capacities, performing menial tasks, with no desire to high rank. But there may still be one earthly attribute to which they cling: reputation. They may wish to be regarded by others as virtuous. They may want to be admired for their charity, their honesty, their integrity, their self-denial.
They may not actually draw people’s attention to these qualities, but they are pleased to know that others respect them. Thus when someone falsely accuses them of some wrongdoing, they react with furious indignation. They protect their reputation with the same ferocity as the rich people protect their gold. Giving up material possessions and worldly power is easy compared with giving up reputation. To be falsely accused and yet to remain spiritually serene is the ultimate test of faith.
(St. John Chrysostom, On Living Simply, p. 33)
The Blessedness of the Parish
“Let the chief pastor weave together his homilies like flowers,
let the priests make a garland of their ministry,
the deacons of their reading,
strong men of their jubilant shouts, children of their psalms,
chaste women of their songs, chief citizens of their benefactions,
ordinary folk of their manner of life.
Blessed is He who gave us so many opportunities for good!
Let us summon and invite the saints,
the martyrs, apostles and prophets,
whose own blossoms and flowers shine out like themselves –
such a wealth of roses they have, so fragrant are their lilies:
from the Garden of Delights do they pluck them,
and they bring back fair bunches
to crown our beautiful feast.
O praise to You form the [saints who are] blessed!
(St. Ephrem the Syrian, Ephrem the Syrian: Selected Poems, p. 177)
The Temple of the Soul
“In true Christians as in spiritual temples, God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, abides with love. The Lord says of this, “If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode in him” (Jn. 14:23). What can be more honorable and noble than that soul in which the Tri-hypostatic God abides with grace and love? It is a glorious thing for people to receive an earthly king into their house; it is incomparably more glorious to receive the Heavenly King into the house of their soul, and to have Him living therein.
What also could be more blessed than that soul in which God lives as in a temple? The paradise of sweetness and joy, the Kingdom of God is in it. O blessedness! O the worthiness! O the nobility of the Christian soul! God, a Being that is without beginning, without end, supremely good, and uncreated, wills to live in the holy Christian soul rather than in heaven or in any other temple. O most good and lovely God, our Maker and Creator, come and visit our weary souls, the souls created by Thee after Thine image and likeness!
(St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, Journey to Heaven, pp. 48-49)
Fraternized 