Vesper Psalms

The psalms sung at Great Vespers — especially Psalm 104 (the sunset psalm) and Psalms 141, 142, 130, 117.

Great Vespers includes a specific set of psalms: the opening Psalm 104 (LXX 103) — 'Bless the Lord, O my soul' — the sunset psalm that blesses God for the beauty of creation as the day concludes. Then the Stichera 'Lord I have cried' (Psalms 141, 142, 130, 117), at the end of which the Entrance is made. The choice of these psalms was theologically deliberate: Psalm 104 covers creation (evening/beginning); the 'I have cried' psalms express the cry of the soul for God from the depths. Vespers is structured as the soul's movement from creation to redemption.