GRM 42.5-7
The Gospel as revealed to me
Quotation
42.5 Then Jesus bending over the dying man, whispers a psalm[1]. I know it is a psalm, but just now I cannot tell which one. It begins thus:
«‘Look after me, o Lord, because I hoped in You…
In favour of his friends who live on his earth he has accomplished all my wishes in a wonderful way…
I will bless the Lord Who is my advisor…
The Lord is always before me. He is on my right-hand side that I may not fall.
Therefore my heart exults and my tongue rejoices and also my body will rest in hope.
Because You will not abandon my soul in the dwelling place of the dead, neither will You allow Your friend to see corruption.
You will reveal the path of light to me and will fill me with joy showing me Your face’.»
Joseph cheers up a little and with a more lively look he smiles at Jesus and presses His fingers.
Jesus replies to the smile with a smile of His own and to the pressure on His fingers with a caress. And still bending over His putative father, He goes on softly:
«‘How I love your Tabernacles, o Lord.
My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord.
Also the sparrow has found a home and the little dove a nest for its young. I am longing for your Altars, Lord.
Happy are those who live in Your house… happy is the man who finds his strength in You. He inspired into his heart the ascents from the valley of tears to the chosen place.
O Lord hear my prayer…
O God, turn Your eyes and look at the face of Your Anointed…’»
Joseph, sobbing, looks at Jesus and makes an effort to speak as if to bless Him. But he cannot. He obviously understands, but he is impeded in his speech. But he is happy and looks at his Jesus with liveliness and trust.
«‘Oh! Lord»’, goes on Jesus. «‘You have favoured Your own country, You brought back the captives of Jacob…
Show us, o Lord, Your mercy and bring us back Your Saviour.
I want to listen to what the Lord is saying to me. He will certainly speak of peace to His people for His friends and for those who convert their hearts to Him.
Yes, His saving help is near… and the glory will live in our country. Love and loyalty have now met, righteousness and peace have now embraced. Loyalty reaches up from the earth and righteousness leans down from Heaven.
Yes, the Lord Himself bestows happiness and our soil gives its harvest. Righteousness will always precede Him and will leave its footprints on the path’.
You have seen that hour, father and you have worked for it. You have co-operated in the formation of this hour and the Lord will reward you for it. I am telling you,» adds Jesus, wiping a tear of joy which slowly runs down Joseph’s cheek.
He then resumes:
«‘O Lord, remember David and all his kindness.
How he swore to the Lord: I will not enter my house, nor climb into the bed of my rest, nor allow my eyes to sleep, nor give rest to my eyelids, nor peace to my temples until I have found a place for the Lord, a home for the God of Jacob…
Rise, o Lord and come to Your resting place, You and Your Ark of holiness (Mary understands, and She bursts into tears).
May Your priests vest in virtue and Your devote shout for joy.
For the sake of Your servant David, do not deprive us of the face of Your Anointed.
The Lord swore to David and will remain true to His word: “I will put on your throne the fruit of your womb”.
The Lord has chosen His home…
I will make a horn sprout for David, I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed’.
42.6 Thank you, My father on My behalf and on behalf of My Mother. You have been a Just father to Me and the Eternal Father chose you as the guardian of His Christ and of His Ark. You have been the lamp lit for Him and for the Fruit of the holy womb you have had a loving heart. Go in peace, father. Your Widow will not be helpless. God has arranged that She must not be alone. Go peacefully to your rest. I tell You.»
Mary is crying with Her face bent down on the blankets (they look like mantles) stretched on Joseph’s body, which is now getting cold. Jesus hastens to comfort him because he is breathing with great difficulty and his eyes are growing dim once again.
«‘Happy is the man who fears the Lord and joyfully keeps His commandments…
His righteousness will last forever.
For the upright He shines like a lamp in the dark, He is merciful, tender-hearted, virtuous…
The just man will be remembered forever. His justice is eternal and his power will rise and become a glory…’
You, father, will have that glory. I will soon come to take you, with the Patriarchs who have preceded you, to the glory which is waiting for you. May your spirit rejoice in My word.
‘He who lives in the shelter of the Most High, lives under the protection of the God of Heaven’.
You live there, o father.
‘He rescued me from the snares of fowlers and from rough words.
He will cover you with His wings and under His feathers you will find shelter.
His truth will protect you like a shield and you need not fear the terrors of night…
No evil will come near you because He ordered His angels to guard you wherever you go.
They will carry you with their hands so that you may not hurt your foot against stones.
You will tread on lions and adders, you will trample on savage lions and dragons.
Because you have hoped in the Lord, He says to you, o father, that He will free you and protect you.
Because you have lifted your voice to Him, He will hear you, He will be with you in your last affliction, He will glorify you after this life, showing you His Salvation even now’. And in future life, He will let you enter, because of the Saviour Who is now comforting you and Who very soon, oh! I repeat it, He will come very soon and hold you in His divine embrace and take you, at the head of all the Patriarchs, where the dwelling place has been prepared for the Just man of God who was My blessed father.
Go before Me and tell the Patriarchs that the Saviour is in the world and the Kingdom of Heaven will soon be opened to them. Go, father. May My blessing accompany you.»
42.7 Jesus has raised His voice to reach the heart of Joseph, who is sinking into the mists of death. His end is near. He is panting very painfully. Mary caresses him, Jesus sits on the edge of the little bed, embraces him and draws to Himself the dying man, who collapses, and passes away peacefully.
The scene is full of a solemn peace. Jesus lays the Patriarch down again and embraces Mary, Who at the last moment, broken-hearted, had gone near Jesus.
Annotation
Psalm 16 (15): Keep me, my God: I have made you my refuge.
I said to the Lord, "You are my God! I have no other happiness but you."
All the idols of the land, those gods I loved, + they continue to spread their ravages, and people rush after them. I will not offer them the blood of sacrifice; * their name will not come to my lips!
Lord, my portion and my cup: my fate depends on you. My portion is my delight; I even have the most beautiful inheritance!
I bless the Lord who advises me: even at night my heart warns me.
I keep the Lord before me without ceasing; he is at my right hand: I am steadfast.
09 My heart exults, my soul rejoices, my flesh rests in confidence:
10 you cannot abandon me to death nor let your friend see corruption.
You teach me the way of life: before your face, overflowing joy! At your right hand, eternal delight!
Psalms 84 (83): O Lord, you have loved this land, you have brought back the outcasts of Jacob; you have taken away the sin of your people, you have covered all their iniquity; you have put an end to all your anger, you have returned from your great fury.
Bring us back, God, our salvation; forget your resentment against us. Will you always be angry with us, will you maintain your wrath from age to age? Is it not you who will return to give us life and be the joy of your people?
Show us, Lord, your love, and give us your salvation.
I am listening: what will the Lord God say? What he says is peace for his people and his faithful; may they never return to their folly!
His salvation is near to those who fear him, and glory will dwell in our land.
Love and truth meet, justice and peace embrace; truth will spring from the earth, and justice from heaven.
The Lord will bestow his blessings, and our land will yield its fruit.
Righteousness shall go before him, and his steps shall mark out the way.
Psalm 85 (84): You have loved this land, O Lord; you have brought back the outcasts of Jacob; you have taken away the sin of your people, you have covered all their iniquity; you have put an end to all your anger, you have returned from your great wrath.
Bring us back, God, our salvation; forget your resentment against us.
Will you always be angry with us, will you maintain your wrath from age to age? Is it not you who will return to give us life and be the joy of your people?
Show us, Lord, your love, and give us your salvation.
I am listening: what will the Lord God say? + What he says is peace for his people and his faithful; may they never return to their folly!
His salvation is near to those who fear him, and glory will dwell in our land. Love and truth meet, justice and peace embrace; truth will spring from the earth, and justice from heaven.
The Lord will bestow his blessings, and our land will yield its fruit. Righteousness shall go before him, and his steps shall mark out the way.
Psalms 132 (131):
Remember, Lord, David and his great submission when he made an oath to the Lord, a promise to the Mighty One of Jacob: "I will never enter my tent, and never lie down on my bed; I will forbid all sleep to my eyes and all respite to my eyelids,
until I have found a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob."
Behold, it is announced to us in Ephrathah; we have found it near Yagar.
Let us enter the dwelling of God, let us bow down at the feet of his throne.
Ascend, O Lord, to the place of your rest, you and the ark of your strength!
Let your priests be clothed in righteousness, let your faithful shout for joy!
For the sake of David your servant, do not reject the face of your Messiah.
The Lord swore to David, and he will never take back his word: "It is a man from you whom I will place on your throne.
"If your sons keep my covenant, the will I make known to them, their sons, too, will forever sit on the throne set up for you."
For the Lord has chosen Zion; she is the dwelling place he desires:
"This is my resting place forever; this is the dwelling place I have longed for.
"I will bless, I will bless her crops to satisfy her poor with bread.
I will clothe its priests with glory, and its faithful will shout and shout for joy.
"There I will make David's strength spring forth; for my messiah I have lit a lamp.
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame, but upon him the crown will blossom."
Psalms 112 (111): Alleluia! Praise, ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord!
Blessed be the name of the Lord, now and forever!
From the rising of the sun to its setting, praise the name of the Lord!
The Lord dominates all peoples, his glory dominates the heavens.
Who is like the Lord our God? He sits on high. But he lowers his gaze to heaven and earth.
From the dust he raises the weak, from the ashes the poor, to sit among princes, among the princes of his people.
He sets the barren woman in her home, a happy mother among her sons.
Psalm 90: When I stand under the shelter of the Most High and rest in the shadow of the Mighty, I say to the Lord, "My refuge, my bulwark, my God, of whom I am sure!"
It is he who saves you from the hunter's nets and the evil plague; he covers and protects you. His faithfulness is your armor and shield.
You will not fear the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in broad daylight, nor the plague that prowls in the dark, nor the scourge that strikes at noon.
Let a thousand fall at your side, + ten thousand fall at your right, and you will remain beyond reach.
All you have to do is open your eyes and you'll see the wages of the wicked. Yes, the Lord is your refuge; you have made the Most High your stronghold.
Misfortune cannot touch you, nor danger approach your dwelling: he has given his angels the mission of guarding you on all your paths.
They will carry you on their hands so that your foot does not strike the stones; you will tread on the viper and the scorpion, and crush the lion and the dragon.
"Since he clings to me, I deliver him; I defend him, for he knows my name. He calls me, and I answer him; I am with him in his trial. "I want to set him free, to glorify him; + for many days I want to satisfy him, and I will make him see my salvation."