PSALM 149

 

Bishop Mettaous

 

“Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise in the

congregation of saints”

The Psalmist urges all the believers to praise the Lord a

new praise daily, as Jeremiah the Prophet says,

“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

because his compassions fail not. They are new every

morning, great is your faithfulness.” (Lam.3: 22,23)

We accept everything from the Hand of the Lord every

morning with thanksgiving, “what shall I render to the

Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take up the

cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.”

(Ps. 116: 12-13), also, “Rejoice in the Lord, O you

righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful.

Praise the Lord with the harp; make melody to Him

with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new

song; play skilfully with a shout of joy.” (Ps. 33:1-3)

The new song our daily extemporary prayers according

to the situation, whether we are sad, happy, in need, in

trouble… etc.

Also, it is the praying of the Agpia, reading the Holy

Bible, the praise ….

The new song is also the prayers of the New Testament,

where we praise and thank our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for the salvation He offered to us through the

Cross. One of the most wonderful praises is that of the

Passion Week.

To You is the Power and Glory and Blessings …… as

the Palmist says, “The voice of rejoicing and salvation

is in the tents of the righteous; the right hand of the

Lord does valiantly.” (Ps. 118:15) “Your statutes have

been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.” (Ps.

119:54)

In these places God is dwelling, “And I heard a loud

voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of

God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they

shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and

be their God.” (Rev. 21:3)

Jesus Himself says, “Jesus answered and said to him,

‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My

Father will love him, and We will come to him and

make Our home with him.’” (John 14:23)

“Let Israel rejoice in their Maker, Let the children of

Zion be joyful in their King”

The new spiritual Israel is the holy church, for Christ

chose us and bought us with His Pure Blood. The church

of the New Testament replaced that of the Old Testament

on the day of the Pentecost, after the decent of the Holy

Spirit on the disciples, the founders of the church. So the

church should rejoice in this Great Creator Who offered

it eternal life. Lord Jesus Himself promised us with this rejoice, “Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see

you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no

one will take from you.” (John 16:22) “Blessed are you

when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of

evil against you falsely for My sake.” (Matt. 5:11), the

Apostle also commands us, “Rejoice in the Lord always.

Again I will say, rejoice.” (Phil. 4:4)

Let our rejoice be only in the Lord, not in the world

which leads to our spiritual loss.

The children of Zion are also the congregation of the

New Testament church, Zion means, ‘the high hill’, and

the Christian Church is high in relation to Jesus Christ,

its King and Saviour, also concerning its noble teachings

and pure Orthodox doctrine. St. Paul found great

pleasure in calling himself ‘Paul a servant and a prisoner

of Jesus Christ’. We have to rejoice in being the children

of Christ the King, crowning Him as the King in our

hearts, where He dwells and grants us peace, forgiveness

and salvation, thus we will, “whom having not seen you

love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing,

you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” (1

Peter 1:8), also, “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you

righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”

(Ps. 32:11)

The Jews refused Christ as their King, “But they cried

out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!’

Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The

chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar!’”

(John 19:15), so in this it is written, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:11),

but as for us, we accepted Him and crowned Him in our

hearts, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to

God who alone is wise, be honour and glory forever

and ever. Amen.” (1 Tim. 1:17)

“Let them praise His Name with the dance, Let them

sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp”

The musical instruments were allowed to be used in the

Jewish temples to control the tune. Yet, the Angelic

Liturgy is void of any instruments, because the voices of

the angels are pure, sweet and clear. So if the chorus

singing and praising inside the church are all in harmony,

there is no need for instruments, yet we use the cymbals

and triangles in some Coptic tunes because they are just

percussion instruments and not musical instruments.

Praising the Lord ‘on an instrument on ten strings’ (Ps.

92:3) means our praising should be with all the 5 senses

both of the soul and the body.

The Five Senses of the Soul:

1. Cognitive:

We should always be thinking of God’s power

and mercy, depending completely on Him, love

Him from all our hearts, also thinking of the

glory of heaven, doing good deeds, not hurting

others, as well as not thinking of our bodies,

which leads to adultery.

2. Remembering:

To remember our sins so we repent, not to

remember other people’s sins or those who are

doing bad things to us.

3. Imagining:

Imagine we can see God, and fear His Presence,

the honour of virtue and the pleasure of the

heavenly kingdom.

4. Discerning:

To discern between useful and useless, truth and

false, good and evil, purity and impurity, good

books and bad books, etc.

5. Delude:

We have to stop deluding that there is no God,

lest we should be like, “The fool has said in his

heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they

have done abominable works, there is none who

does good.” (Ps. 14:1), also stop deluding that

our prayers are useless, there is no hope, there is

no heaven or hell… because this will lead to our

destruction.

The Five Senses of the Body:

1. Sight:

To look at the needy and help them, to look at the

Holy Bible and spiritual books and study them.

Meditate in the beautiful creation and the

Greatness of the Creator, to refrain from looking

and yearning at other peoples possessions. Not to

look at bodies and faces for fear of adultery.

 

2. Hearing:

Listening to God’s words, our rulers, dealing

with people, enjoying hymns. Refrain from

listening to murmuring or worldly satanic

songs.

3. Smell:

To enjoy smelling incense so that we are

nourished spiritually, to refrain from smelling

delicious food, or perfumes.

4. Taste:

We should not taste forbidden drinks or food, not

to use the tongue in lying, swearing, judging…

This sense is created to taste the allowed food in

chastity and content, to talk honestly and in

respect, to pray and praise.

5. Touch:

Not to touch our bodies for the sake of impurity,

not to steal, accept bribes, kill…etc.

“For the Lord takes pleasure in His people, He will

beautify the humble with salvation”

The Lord is pleased with His people who keep His

commandments, “He does not delight in the strength of

the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.

The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in

those who hope in His mercy.” (Ps. 147:10-11) “As for

the saints who are on the earth, ‘They are the excellent

ones, in whom is all my delight.’” (Ps. 16:3), “Rejoicing

in His inhabited world, and my delight was with the

sons of men.” (Prov. 8:31)

Thus, we can know the amount of the Lord’s pleasure

with His righteous children.

The Psalmist chose the humble saying that the Lord

beautify them with salvation, also, “But He gives more

grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but

gives grace to the humble.’” (James 4:6) “For whoever

exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles

himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11) “He has shown

strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in

the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the

mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly.”

(Luke 1: 51-52)

The Lord Himself gave us an example of humbleness

through His Incarnation, simple life, tolerance until

death, thus, “who through Him believe in God, who

raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that

your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:21),

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given

Him the name which is above every name, that at the

name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in

heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the

earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus

Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil.

2:9-11)

As this is a very important virtue, the Lord Jesus says,

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am

gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for

your souls.” (Matt: 11:29) A humble meek person will

find rest in this world because he lives in love and peace with everyone, also in eternal life he will get crowned for

his struggle and tolerance.

“Let the saints be joyful in glory, let them sing aloud

on their beds”:

The saints rejoice and are proud of the glory given to

them by God, becoming His children and partakers of the

Divine Nature, heirs of the heavenly kingdom, thus they

always rejoice, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I

will say, rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4) This rejoice never departs

them even on their beds, they are confident that God is

guarding them, “His left hand is under my head, and

his right hand embraces me.” (Song of Songs 8:3) also,

“I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone,

O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Ps. 4:8) They do

not spend the whole night in sleep, but rather wake up at

midnight and praise the Lord, “At midnight I will rise to

give thanks to You, because of Your righteous

judgements.” (Ps. 119:62) “My eyes are awake

through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your

word. Hear my voice according to Your

lovingkindness; O Lord, revive me according to Your

justice.” (Ps. 119:148-149)

The children of God never murmur or complain even if

they fall sick, they know that everything is for their

spiritual benefit, as St. Paul says, “Again, do you think

that we excuse ourselves to you? We speak before God

in Christ, but we do all things, beloved, for your

edification.” (2 Cor. 12:19) St. Stephen the first martyr was rejoicing while they were stoning him, his face

shone like an angel.

“Let the high praise of God be in their mouth and a

two-edged sword in their hand”:

The high praises of the Lord are the songs in their

mouths always, “I have set watchmen on your walls, O

Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day or

night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep

silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till

He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” (Is. 62:6-7)

They praise the Lord because, “The Lord is great in

Zion and He is high above all the peoples, Let them

praise Your great and awesome name He is holy.” (Ps.

99:2-3) “The Lord is high above all nations, His glory

above the heavens.” (Ps. 113:4)

The two-edged sword in their hands is the word of God,

using it to declare the truth, “For the word of God is

living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged

sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit,

and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the

thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb: 4:12) also the

word of God is, “And take the helmet of salvation, and

the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;”

(Eph. 6:17)

The reason for resembling God’s word to a two-edged

sword is that it declares the truth on one hand and refutes

the false allegations on the other hand.

St. John saw the Lord Jesus in Revelation, “and in the

midst of the seven lampstands. One like the Son of

Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and

girded about the chest with a golden band. His head

and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and

His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine

brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the

sound of many water; He had in His right hand seven

stars; out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword,

and His countenance was like the sun shining in its

strength.” (Rev. 1:13-16)

God explains the power of the word of God in the souls

saying, “For as the rain comes down, and the snow

from heaven, and do not return there, but water the

earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may

give seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall

My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not

return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please,

and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Is.

55:10-11) also in refuting evil, “‘Is not My word like a

fire?’ says the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks the

rock in pieces?’” (Jer. 23:29)

“To execute vengeance on the nations; and

punishments on the people”:

This applies more to the Apostle fathers who preached

the nations and turned their worship to Lord Jesus. They

executed the idols and attracted many to Christianity. Their sermons gave forth fruits, and many churches were

established.

As an example, St. Peter rebuking Simeon the sorcerer,

“But Peter said to him, ‘Your money perish with you,

because you thought that the gift of God could be

purchased with money! You have neither part nor

portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the

sight of God. Repent therefore of this your

wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of

your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are

poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”(Acts.

8:20-23)

St. Paul also rebuking Elymas the sorcerer, “and said, ‘O

full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you

enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease

perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And now,

indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall

be blind, not seeing the sun for a time,’ and

immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went

around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had

been done, being astonished at the teaching of the

Lord.” (Acts 13:10-12)

When the people of Lystra wanted to offer sacrifices to

Paul and Barnabas, they stopped and preached them,

“and saying, ‘Men, why are you doing these things?

We also are men with the same nature as you, and

preach to you that you should turn from these useless

things to the living God; who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, who in

bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their

own ways. Nevertheless He did not leave Himself

without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from

heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food

and gladness’.” (Acts. 14:15-17) “Then Paul stood in

the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I

perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as

I was passing through and considering the objects of

your worship, I even found an altar with this

inscription; TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One

whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to

you; God, who made the world and everything in it,

since He is Lord of heaven and earth does not dwell in

temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with

men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He

gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has

made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on

all the face of the earth, and has determined their

preappointed times and the boundaries of their

dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the

hope that they might grope for Him and find Him,

though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him

we live and move and have our being, as also some of

your own poets have said, ‘for we are also His

offspring’. Therefore, since we are the offspring of

God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is

like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and

man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God

overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to

repent’.” (Acts 17:22-30)

When the word of God spread effectively in Ephesus,

“And many who had believed came confessing and

telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had

practiced magic brought their books together and

burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up

the value of them, and it totalled fifty thousand pieces

of silver. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and

prevailed.” (Acts 19:18-19)

The Apostles handed their successors the authority of

preaching and rebuking, to straighten any obliquity,

“Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all

authority. Let no one despise you.” (Titus 2:15) The

Bishop should be “holding fast the faithful word as he

has been taught, that he may be able, by sound

doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who

contradict.” (Titus 1:19) and the true word is that of the

Holy Bible, “All scripture is given by inspiration of

God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for

correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the

man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for

every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

The saints does not execute vengeance on the wicked and

rebuke them with words, but they do so also through

their prayers, because “The Lord is far from the wicked,

but He hears the prayer of the righteous.” (Prov. 15:29)

Their prayers are capable of destroying fortresses and

every teaching against God. In Revelation St. John says,

“And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and

to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the

altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer

it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden

altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of

the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended

before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took

the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it

to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings,

lightnings, and an earthquake.” (Rev. 8:2-5)

􀀿 The prayers of Elijah the Prophet made fire fall

from heaven and consume the burnt offering,

destroying the worship of the Baal and Ahab the

wicked king and then, it was easy for Elijah to kill

all the prophets of Baal at the Brook Kishon. (1

Kings 18)

We have many examples in the Bible for the power of

the prayers of the righteous person.

“To bind their kings with chains and their nobles

with fetters of iron”

Since olden times there has always been a fight between

the men of God and the wicked kings and rulers, but we

thank God that He always gives victory to His Saints.

􀀿 When Abram knew that Lot his nephew was

captured by the people of Sodom, “Now when

Abram heard that his brother was taken captive,

he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained

servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his

forces against them by night, and he and his

servants attacked them and pursued them as far

as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. So he

brought back all the goods, and also brought back

his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the

women and the people.” (Gen. 14:14-16) and he

deserved to be blessed by Melchizedek. “And he

blessed him and said ‘Blessed be Abram of God

Most high, Possessor of heaven and earth; and

blessed be God Most High, who has delivered

your enemies into your hand’. And he gave him a

tithe of all.” (Gen. 14:19-20)

Also, when Abram went to Egypt with Sarai ‘his wife’,

“The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended

her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to

Pharaoh’s house.” (Gen. 12:15), then, “But the Lord

plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues

because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. And Pharaoh called

Abram and said, ‘What is this you have done to me?

Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why

did you say, ‘She is my sister?’ I might have taken her

as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her

and go your way’. So Pharaoh commanded his men

concerning him, and they sent him away, with his wife

and all that he had.” (Gen. 12:17-20)

The same happened when Abraham went to Gerar, “Now

Abraham said of Sarah his wife, ‘She is my sister’.

And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, ‘Indeed you are a dead man because of the

woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife’

But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said,

‘Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? Did he

not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she

herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my

heart and innocence of my hands I have done this’.

And God said to him in a dream, ‘Yes, I know that you

did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also

withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did

not let you touch her. Now therefore, restore the man’s

wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and

you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that

you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.’ So

Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his

servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and

the men were very much afraid.” (Gen: 20:2-8)

Abimelech was so scared, “And Abimelech called

Abraham and said to him, ‘What have you done to us?

How have I offended you, that you have brought on me

and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds

to me that ought not to be done’. Then Abimelech said

to Abraham, ‘What did you have in view, that you have

done this thing?’ And Abraham said, ‘Because I

thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place, and

they will kill me on account of my wife. But indeed she

is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but

not the daughter of my mother; and she became my

wife. And it came to pass, when God caused me to

wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This

is your kindness that you should do for me in every place , wherever we go, say of me, ‘He is my brother’.

Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen and male and female

servants, and gave them to Abraham, and he restored

Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, “see my

land is before you, dwell where it pleases you.’ Then to

Sarah he said, ‘Behold, I have given your brother a

thousand pieces of silver, indeed this vindicates you

before all who are with you and before everybody.’

Thus she was rebuked. So Abraham prayed to God;

and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his female

servants. Then they bore children for the Lord had

closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech

because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.” (Gen. 20:9-18)

Abimelech learnt a good lesson, so when Isaac went to

Gerar, “So Abimelech charged all his people, saying,

‘He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be

put to death’.” (Gen. 26:11) Truly, the words of the

Psalm is fulfilled, “He permitted no one to do them

wrong; Yes, he rebuked kings for their sakes, saying,

‘Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets

no harm’.” (Ps. 105:14-15)

􀀿 God said to Moses, “So the Lord said to Moses,

‘See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and

Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.” (Ex.

7:1) The plagues came one after the other, on

Pharaoh and his people, so, “Then Pharaoh called

for Moses and Aaron, and said, ‘Entreat the Lord

that He may take away the frogs from me and

from my people; and I will let the people go, that

they may sacrifice to the Lord’.” (Ex. 8:8), then “So Pharaoh said, ‘I will let you go, that you may

sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness;

only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for

me’.” (Ex. 8:28), “For if you refuse to let them

go, and still hold them” (Ex. 9:2) “Then Pharaoh

called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, ‘I

have sinned against the Lord your God and

against you. Now therefore, please forgive my sin

only this once, and entreat the Lord your God,

that he may take away from me this death only’.”

(Ex. 10:16-17) “Then he called for Moses and

Aaron by night , and said, ‘Rise, go out from

among my people, both you and the children of

Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have said.

Also take your flocks and your herds as you have

said, and be gone; and bless me also’. And the

Egyptians urged the peoples that they might send

them out of the land in haste. For they said, ‘We

shall all be dead’.” (Ex. 12:31-33)

􀀿 The Lord used to support Joshua the son of Nun

strongly, he was able to kill more than 30 kings,

take their lands and belongings and give portions to

his people.

􀀿 Elijah the prophet informed Ahab the evil king

with all the horrible warnings that God was passing

on, “You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says

the Lord: Have you murdered and also taken

possession?’ And you shall speak to him, saying,

‘Thus says the Lord ‘In the place where dogs

licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours’’. So Ahab said to Elijah,

‘Have you found me, O my enemy?’ And he

answered, ‘I have found you, because you have

sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord.

Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take

away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab

every male in Israel, both bond and free. I will

make your house like the house of Jeroboam the

son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the

son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with

which you have provoked Me to anger, and made

Israel sin. And concerning Jezebel the Lord also

spoke, saying, ‘the dogs shall eat Jezebel by the

wall of Jezreel. The dogs shall eat whoever

belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds

of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field’.” (1

Kings 21:19-24)

When Ahab heard this, “So it was, when Ahab heard

those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth

on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went

about mourning.” (1 Kings 21:27)

􀀿 Jeremiah the Prophet also rebuked the obliquity of

kings, through God’s words, “and say, ‘Hear the

word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and

inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of

hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will bring

such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever

hears of it, his ears will tingle. Because they have

forsaken Me and made this an alien place,

because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the

kings of Judah have known, and have filled this

place with the blood of the innocents (they have

also built the high places of Baal, to burn their

sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I

did not command or speak, nor did it come into

My mind), therefore behold, the days are

coming”, says the Lord, “that this place shall no

more be called Tophet or the Valley of the Son of

Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. And I will

make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in

this place, and I will cause them to fall by the

sword before their enemies and by the hands of

those who seek their lives; their corpses I will give

as meat for the birds of the heaven and for the

beasts of the earth. I will make this city desolate

and a hissing; everyone who passes by it will be

astonished and hiss because of all its plagues.

And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons

and the flesh of their daughters, and everyone

shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in

the desperation with which their enemies and

those who seek their lives shall drive them to

despair”.” (Jer. 19:3-9) Also, “Thus says the

Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of

Judah, and there speak this word, and say, ‘Hear

the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, you who

sit on the throne of David, you and your servants

and your people who enter these gates! Thus says

the Lord: “execute judgement and righteousness,

and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the

oppressor. Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor

shed innocent blood in this place. For if you

indeed do this thing, then shall enter the gates of

this house, riding on horses and in chariots,

accompanied by servants and people, kings who

sit on the throne of David. But if you will not

hear these words, I swear by Myself,” says the

Lord, “that this house shall become a

desolation”.” (Jer. 22:1-5)

􀀿 Daniel the Prophet also did not fear

Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, but he

interpreted his dream clearly, “Therefore Daniel

went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to

destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and

said thus to him, “do not destroy the wise men of

Babylon, take me before the king, and I will tell

the king the interpretation.” Then Arioch

quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said

thus to him, “I have found a man of the captives

of Judah, who will make known to the king the

interpretation.” The king answered and said to

Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you

able to make known to me the dream which I

have seen, and its interpretation?” Daniel

answered in the presence of the king, and said,

‘The secret which the king has demanded, the

wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the

soothsayers cannot declare to the king.” (Dan.

2:24-27) then, “So Daniel went in and asked the

king to give him time, that he might tell the king

the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to

Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his

companions, that they might seek mercies from

the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that

Daniel and his companions might not perish with

the rest of the wise men of Babylon.” (Dan. 2:16-

18)

􀀿 John the Baptist scared Herod the king who wanted

to marry his brother’s wife, “Because John had

said to Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have

your brother’s wife’.” (Mark 6:18) So Herod put

John in prison, but did not kill him, “for Herod

feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy

man, and he protected him. And when he heard

him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.”

(Mark 6:20) “And although he wanted to put him

to death, he feared the multitude, because they

counted him as a prophet.” (Matt. 14:5) He

could not have dared to kill him except for the

oaths that he said while fully drunk.

􀀿 The Apostles stood firmly before kings and

governors, preaching openly the Word of God

without fear. It is written about St. Paul, “Now as

he reasoned about righteousness, self-control,

and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and

answered, ‘Go away for now; when I have a

convenient time I will call you’.” (Acts 24:25)

also, ““King Agrippa, so you believe the

prophets? I know that you do believe.” “And

Paul said, ‘I would pray to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become

both almost and altogether such as I am, except

for these chains’.” (Acts 26:27,29)

􀀿 The Orthodox Popes defended the faith in the same

way, following the footprints of the Apostles. We

see St. Athanasius the Apostolic rejecting the Arian

heresy bravely, also St. Basil the Great, St. John

Chrysostom …etc. There are hundreds and

thousands of examples of saints and martyrs who

rebuked kings and rulers for their wrong attitude

against the doctrine of Christianity and against

God’s word.

They have been executed by God’s written judgment.

This honour was given to all his saints.

All what we have mentioned above is not done through

the saint’s own power or might, but it is God’s orders,

written and judged by Him. God gave His saints and

martyrs this authority and courage, thus what they have

suffered was a crown of glory which entitled them to

enter the Heavenly Kingdom.

||    Pope Shenouda    ||    Father Matta    ||    Bishop Mattaous    ||    Fr. Tadros Malaty    ||    Bishop Moussa    ||    Bishop Alexander    ||    Habib Gerguis    ||    Bishop Angealos    ||    Metropolitan Bishoy    ||