As the work of the ploughman is the ploughshare, and the work of the helmsman is the steering of the ship, so also my work is the Psalm of the Lord in his praises.
My craft and my work are in his praises, because his love hath nourished my heart, and even to my lips he hath brought forth his fruits.
For my love is the Lord, and therefore I will sing unto him.
For I am made strong in his praise, and I have faith in him.
I will open my mouth, and his spirit will utter in me the glory of the Lord and his beauty,
The work of his hands and the labor of his fingers;
For the multitude of his mercies, and the strength of his Word.
For the Word of the Lord searches out the unseen thing, and scrutinizes his thought.
For the eye sees his works, and the ear hears his thought.
It is he who spread out the earth, and placed the waters in the sea.
He expanded the heavens, and fixed the stars.
And he fixed the creation and set it up, and he rested from his works.
And created things run in their courses, and work their works, and they know not how to stand still and to be idle.
And the hosts are subject to his Word.
The treasury of the light is the sun, and the treasury of the darkness is the night.
And he made the sun for the day so that it will be light, but the night brings darkness over the face of the earth.
And by their reception one from the other, they speak the beauty of God.
And there is nothing that is outside of the Lord, for he was before anything came into being.
And the Worlds were made by his Word, and by the thought of his heart.
Glory and Honor to his Name. Alleluia.
As the work of the ploughman is the ploughshare, and the work of the helmsman is the steering of the ship, so also my work is the Psalm of the Lord in his praises.
To fix the mind on and in God is the purpose of life itself. Those who would truly live, not just rush around in distraction, can do so if they diligently apply themselves to the purification of their life and thought, especially through the practice of meditation. God is Life, and immersion of the consciousness in him is the way to really live life to the full.
My craft and my work are in his praises, because his love hath nourished my heart, and even to my lips he hath brought forth his fruits.
Applying our intelligence to every aspect of our life in order to conform them to our spiritual aspiration is also praise of God in action. It is the presence of divine love in our heart that brings us to life and inspires us to speak and live in the remembrance of God at all times. my first spiritual teacher was one of my aunts. One of her cousins said to her: “Some people talk about God some of the time, but you always speak about him.” And that cousin had known her from birth. Regarding Saint John Maximovitch of San Francisco someone once said: “Archbishop John never begins to pray because he never stops praying at any time.”
For my love is the Lord, and therefore I will sing unto him.
We only love what we know; therefore if we know God, even a bit, we will spontaneously love him, and our hearts will always sing the hymn of his love for us.
For I am made strong in his praise, and I have faith in him.
A friend of mine had a motto hanging on her wall: “I remember God and I live; I forget God and I die.” This is absolutely true. To remember God is to be alive and to grow and evolve and become strong in our spirit. Then, being aware of his presence in and around us we will have the true faith that is really a manifestation of knowing the reality of God.
I will open my mouth, and his spirit will utter in me the glory of the Lord and his beauty.
The Holy Spirit of God moving within us as the Water of Life will raise our awareness to him, and will speak in us the glory of God and show us his beauty.
The work of his hands and the labor of his fingers.
Everywhere the awakened seeker sees the hand of God and his continual action within and without.
For the multitude of his mercies, and the strength of his Word.
All that God does is motivated by love and mercy; he reveals to us his purpose and plan, his Word, and we become strong in loving and following it.
For the Word of the Lord searches out the unseen thing, and scrutinizes his thought.
The Word of the Lord is the revelation of the Lord within our consciousness, revealing to us that which none but those with opened inner eyes can see. And that includes the thought of God toward us and all sentient beings. Life itself is a vast panorama of sentient beings moving upward to the goal of conscious union with God.
For the eye sees his works, and the ear hears his thought.
It is the inner eyes and ears that the odist speaks of here, the eyes and ears of the spirit. This is a foreshadowing of the state of union with God.
It is he who spread out the earth, and placed the waters in the sea. He expanded the heavens, and fixed the stars. And he fixed the creation and set it up, and he rested from his works.
The inner secret of all this is that the creation is really the Eternal God in extension, in manifestation. He alone is. And best of all, we are the most important of his works for we are part of him.
And created things run in their courses, and work their works, and they know not how to stand still and to be idle.
Since we, too, are his manifestation, we should always be “running in our course” by following the divine plan and ever evolving toward “the manifestation of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19), that is our work. Because this is such a great, virtually infinite destiny, we must never stand still or be idle, but ever run “the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). For the race ends in God.
And the hosts are subject to his Word.
“For while all things were in quiet silence, and that night was in the midst of her swift course, thine Almighty word leaped down from heaven out of thy royal throne, as a fierce man of war into the midst of a land of destruction, and brought thine unfeigned commandment as a sharp sword, and standing up filled all things with death; and it touched the heaven, but it stood upon the earth” (Wisdom 18:14-16). This Word is the divine will and intention of God for the creation and all things within it. It is the entire divine plan for the evolution of the universe. The angels, being wise and more highly evolved than us, are ever in conformity with that plan, and we, being blind and ignorant, are usually in conflict with it. But if we intend to evolve beyond this human condition into the angelic realms we must right now do everything we can to embody the divine will and word: “Ye are gods” (Psalms 82:6; John 10:34).
The treasury of the light is the sun, and the treasury of the darkness is the night. And he made the sun for the day so that it will be light, but the night brings darkness over the face of the earth. And by their reception one from the other, they speak the beauty of God.
It is commonly thought that light is good and darkness is bad, but both are of positive value, and their alteration is necessary for evolution. Both are of benefit to sentient beings and are fundamental to their well-being.
And there is nothing that is outside of the Lord, for he was before anything came into being.
There is no such thing as separation from God, only the illusion of separation. Therefore any attempt to reconcile ourselves with God, to “reach” him or “find” him is doomed to failure or further delusion, because separation does not exist. What we need is to awaken to the reality of the situation.
In the Bible the prophet Isaiah, a prior incarnation of Jesus, expresses this very well, just as do the sages of India: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you” (Isaiah 59:1-2). The word translated “separated” is badal, which means to produce a difference, a dual consciousness that divides what is one into the semblance of many. It also means to alienate the consciousness. That is why people in the grip of delusion continually say: “It is my life; I will do with it what I please.” Such people are very big on independence and self-sufficiency, not in the positive sense but in the sense of selfishness and ego-domination. As a result the truth of things is hidden from us. The word translated “hid” is cathar, which means to hide, conceal and close away. The fact that this is a delusion in no way alleviates the terrible consequences of this blindness of heart. That is why religiosity accomplishes nothing; yoga is the prime essential.
And the Worlds were made by his Word, and by the thought of his heart.
The entire creation is the Thought of God, the “Dream” of God. So also is our presence within it. As Poe said in one of his poems: “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” That is why David, another previous incarnation of Jesus, sang: “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness” (Psalms 17:15). And simply: “When I awake, I am still with thee” (Psalms 139:18).
Glory and Honor to his Name.
As Bishop Wedgwood told a choir that was rehearsing the Gloria for Mass: “Be yourself that glory that is offered to ‘God In The Highest.’”
Read the next article in The Odes of Solomon for Awakening: The Odes of Solomon: 17