Page:Philip Birnbaum - ha-Siddur ha-Shalem (The Daily Prayer Book,1949).pdf/273

Welcoming the Sabbath

You shall extend to the right and to the left, and you shall revere the Lord. Through the advent of a descendant of Perez we shall rejoice and exult.

Come, my friend, to meet the bride; let us welcome the Sabbath.

Congregation rises and turns toward the door, as if to welcome a guest.

Come in peace, crown of God, come with joy and cheerfulness; amidst the faithful of the chosen people come O bride; come, O bride.

Come, my friend, to meet the bride; let us welcome the Sabbath.

There is a custom that mourners, in the first week of their mourning, remain at the entrance of the synagogue until one of the congregation says to them:

May God console you among the other mourners for Zion and Jerusalem.

If a festival occurs on Friday, the evening service begins here.

Psalm 92
A psalm, a song for the Sabbath day. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to thy name, O Most High; to proclaim thy goodness in the morning, and thy faithfulness at night, with a ten-stringed lyre and a flute, to the sound of a harp. For thou, O Lord, hast made me glad through thy work; I sing for joy at all that thou hast done. How great are thy works, O Lord! How very deep are thy designs! A stupid man cannot know, a fool cannot understand this. When the wicked thrive like grass, and all evildoers flourish, it is that they may be destroyed forever. But thou, O Lord, art supreme for evermore. For lo, thy enemies, O Lord, for lo, thy enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be dispersed. But thou hast exalted my power like that of the wild ox; I am anointed with fresh oil. My eye has gazed on my foes; my ears have heard my enemies’ doom. The righteous will flourish like the palm tree; they will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall yield fruit even in old age; vigorous and fresh they shall be, to proclaim that the Lord is just! He is my Stronghold, and there is no wrong in him.

the foolish fail to perceive. The wicked seem to flourish only that they may be destroyed. ‘The palm and cedar are long-lived and flourish during all seasons. They represent the enduring happiness of the faithful in contrast with the short-lived prosperity of the wicked.