Psalm 70: for the memorial offering
The following is a recent translation of Psalm 70 from the Hebrew of BHS:
(i) To the Choir Master. For David. For the memorial offering.[1]
(1) O God, make haste to deliver me; O YHWH, make haste to help me!
(2) Let those who seek my life be ashamed and disgraced. Let those who desire my distress be turned back and humiliated.
(3) Let those who say, "Aha! Aha!", return to the consequence of their shame.
(4) Let all who seek you, rejoice and be glad in you! And let them say, "Great is God" who love your salvation.
(5) But I am poor[1] and needy, O God hasten to me! You are my help and my deliverer, O YHWH, do not delay!
The memorial offering is something to meditate on this morning. In Hebrew we read lehazekir (????????????), coming from the root zakar (?????), to remember. It refers to an offering that:
appears in Leviticus 2:2 and Numbers 5:16 in reference to a cereal offering accompanied by frankincense. Similarly, in Isaiah 66:3 it refers to an offering of frankincense. Elsewhere it is used to refer to invoking God’s name (Ex 20:21; Amos 6:10). Thus it may refer to a public ritual including both an offering and a petition for God’s aid. (IVPBCOT Job 42:15)
In that sense perhaps, the infant Jesus, received a kind of memorial offering from the Wise Men who brought with them gifts of frankincense, an offering to remember the God who had taken on human flesh.
11And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11, ESV)Golgotha calvaria
In this way, there is much to be said about the Lord's Supper as it shows forth the death of the Lord Jesus. Our liturgies on Sundays are acts of covenant renewal, memorial offerings of the New Order. The Lord's Supper reminds us in the biblical sense of Jesus' death ahead of us and instead of us. Just as its Old Testament precedent, the Lord's Supper is not then an empty sign, merely drawing the death of Jesus to mind. It is the memorial of biblical and cosmic proportions in which the life of Christ, the benefits of redemption, are communicated to believers who receive them by faith. In this way, the memorial continues to be effectual, strengthening us towards obedience.
[1] ???????????? "for the memorial offering"
[2] The word 'anav (??? ??) is the same word that is used in Isaiah 61:1 proclaiming the day of the Lord to be when good news is proclaimed to the poor.
[3] Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature, Golgotha.
