At the beginning of Matins, twilight reigns in the church, and all the lamps are extinguished, except for those in front of the images of the Savior and the Mother of God. In the midst of the silence, a touching reading of the sixth psalm, or six selected psalms, is heard, the attentive listening of which the Church obliges every Orthodox Christian, as a saving example and teaching for his soul. And although this reading begins with the triple exclamation of the joyful song of the Angels at the birth of the Savior, these words here do not yet constitute a sign of the occurrence of the event itself, but contain only the meaning of the prophecy about the Savior who is about to come, whose grace-filled appearance still needs to be redeemed by the people of God with many sufferings! The darkness of the church and the words of the psalms depict the dark and disastrous times for Israel after the death of Jacob and Joseph, when the Egyptians, ignorant of the True God, even tried to completely destroy him, saying: There is no salvation for him in his God!
and those spiritual appeals of the chosen people to God for help, where they expressed strong hope in His mercy, exclaiming: You, O Lord, are my intercessor, my glory, and lift up my head. This is the content of the first psalm read. But the Lord hesitates to deliver His people from external danger in order to turn their gaze to the internal danger: and the people tested by Him, feeling the hand of punishment from above, sees with horror that the spiritual ulcers of their sins have brought upon them the whole abyss of these disasters and cries out in trepidation: Lord! Do not reprove me with Your wrath, but punish me with Your wrath! This constitutes the content of the second of the psalms read. Such a fiery outpouring of feelings of heartfelt repentance, accompanied by intense prayer for help, appeases the justice of God, and the Lord visibly, and as if tangibly, extends the shelter of His wings over Israel, washed by the tears of repentance, and gives them a deliverer in the person of Moses.
The people freed from slavery, in grateful delight to God, conscious of the actions of His omnipotent hand, exclaims: My soul clings to You, but Your right hand has accepted me! This contains the meaning of the third of the psalms read.
At the end of this psalm, the priest leaves the altar by the northern door and, while reading the three subsequent psalms, standing in front of the royal doors, quietly prays with the flock. This depicts the fact that just as Moses, being a prototype of Christ, prayed to God in order to better blot him out of the book of life, so that the people entrusted to him would not perish, so now, the servant of God, representing to us the sacred image of the Liberator of our souls, intercedes before the gates of the palace of the King of the Kings with his prayer for us, entrusted to him! The reader, at this time, exclaims on behalf of all those praying: Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Glory to Thee God!
Then follows the continuation of the six psalms, depicting the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert.
When bitter experience confirmed the people of God that the passions and cowardice that enslaved them, after liberation from the Egyptians, were the reason for their grumbling not only against Moses, but also against God Himself, despite continuous signs that obviously proved God’s guidance in the difficulties of the desert march, and that the Lord was now subjecting them to severe trials for this, then recognizing himself as a great sinner, and with trembling at the thought of the threat, Even greater than the destruction that befell his brethren, he cried out to God: Lord God of My Salvation! Thy wrath has come upon me, Thy intimidation has troubled me! May my prayer come before You, incline Your ear to my prayer! This expresses the meaning of the fourth psalm read.
Such prayer could not help but stop the striking blows of God’s truth and incline to the mercy of the Lord, especially with the persistent prayer of His saint Moses. Graceful consolation soon illuminated the souls of the believers and convinced them again with miraculous phenomena in the presence of the providential right hand of God over them! In the living consciousness of saving blessings, Israel exclaimed: Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is within me is His Holy Name! This is the meaning of the fifth psalm read.
Enlivened by heavenly consolation and blessing God for His mercies and bounties, the Israelites were already approaching the borders of the promised land, but the cowardice of the spies, once again shaking the faith of the entire people, again pushed him away from the desired goal of his wanderings, and again brought upon him even stronger trials, which made him tremble both for his guilt before God and for the possibility of the end of this long wandering. Then, finally imbued with the consciousness of their guilt and a feeling of living repentance, the people of God with filial boldness began to ask God about their ways and were confirmed in the faith that the Good Spirit would guide them to the right on earth - and therefore exclaimed: Lord! Hear me in Thy righteousness, and do not enter into judgment with Thy servant! Tell me, Lord, the way, and I will go to it, as if I have taken my soul to You. Teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God. Your good Spirit will guide me to the right land!
This is the meaning of the sixth and last psalm, which at the same time marks the end of the Israelites’ long-suffering wanderings in the desert and their moral readiness to enter the Promised Land.
At the end of the Six Psalms, the priest goes to the altar, and he is replaced in front of the royal doors by another clergyman - a deacon - which depicts, in relation to the Old Testament Church, the succession of the great leader of the Israelites Moses - his former servant Joshua.
The deacon begins a great litany, in which, with a request, on behalf of those who are to come, for all blessings - spiritual and useful, internal and external - he recalls the blessings that believers were to find in the promised land - boiling with honey and milk.
Then, the deacon proclaims: God, the Lord, and having appeared to us, blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord! This means that both the very entry into the Promised Land and the possession of it were marked by repeated appearances of God saving His people, in accordance with their turning to Him with a feeling of repentance, faith and hope.
The clear repeats these words many times on behalf of all those present.
Next, the reading of Kathisma begins (interrupted by short litanies), depicting the times of the Judges and Kings of Israel, also abundant in various types of Epiphanies. Listening to these Kathismas, one cannot help but recall that quiet and not distinguished by the splendor of the Divine Service, which was performed in the early times of the Kings in the monastery of meeting, or camp church; This comparison is facilitated by both the content of the kathismas themselves and their monotonous reading, interrupted only occasionally by short chants of Lord have mercy and glory. You can’t help but be transported to the time when the God-inspired singer of psalms delighted King Saul, who was despondent in his distance from God, with these sacred hymns, and when this outcast of God subjected God’s chosen one to incessant persecution, which not only did not suppress sublime and holy feelings in David’s God-loving soul, but purified it even more, like gold with fire! But finally, these trials are over and David, who was once taken from the flocks, becomes the king and shepherd of Israel! The service in the tabernacle comes to an end and the zealous desire of St.
the king to erect a church worthy of the greatness of the Lord is accomplished through the labors of his wisest son Solomon. The glory of the God of Israel, as far as it could be revealed in Old Testament times, is revealed in this church not only for the Israelites, but for all nations; and the splendor of the Temple of Jerusalem, with the special greatness of its worship, spreads far the praiseworthy news to it, along with the praise of God praised in it!