Expositions on the Psalms 1 part 12/23

In you, O Lord, have I hoped; let me never be put to shame.

Great is the boldness of confidence that he sets forth here — hope in God.

In your righteousness deliver me.

Be to me a protecting God.

Knowing that he has promised to those who believe in him to be a wall of fire round about them, the apostolic company entreats that this promise be fulfilled in deed for itself.

For you are my firmament and my refuge.

For he himself is the rock upon which we, having been built up, have our foundation;

and he himself is the wall that encloses us, so that we suffer nothing from the onslaught of evils.

Deliver me, he says, from these men who hold sway, and who lead me into slavery as though by some grasping hand — men full of sin, lawless and unjust.

O my God, deliver me from the hand of the sinner, and from the hand of the transgressor and the unjust.

By 'the sinner' he means the Jews;

for he it was who was both the transgressor and the unjust one;

a transgressor, in that he condemned the innocent;

and unjust, in that he had no reasonable pretext against them.

For You are my patience, O Lord; O Lord, my hope from my youth.

Deliver me, he says, from this transgressing people, because it is on Your account that I endure such things, and on account of the hope in You which I received from my first begetting through You from the very beginning, according to what has been said:

As many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God.

Upon You I have been stayed from the womb.

From my mother's womb You are my protector.

Since, he says, You Yourself, O Lord, while I was still in my mother's womb, protected me by Your divine power, and delivered me from the transgressing people;

for this reason I too, having perceived so continuous a beneficence, do not cease sending up hymns to You unceasingly.

My praise is of You continually.

I continue hymning and glorifying You, and through Your providence I became conspicuous.

I have become as a portent to many.

By 'portent' he means something paradoxical and great;

and what he means is this:

Even though, he says, I have been raised on high, and have gained confidence as one great and exceptional among many nations;

yet it was not by my own power that I obtained this good.

For it was You Yourself who made me mighty and noble through Your own help.

Let my mouth be filled with praise, that I may hymn Your glory.

Since, such benefactions having come to be mine, I, being a man, am not able to render worthy recompense;

for this reason I deem it right that my mouth be filled with praise out of Your wisdom;

for only thus, and scarcely even so, shall I be able to hymn Your glory.

All the day, Your magnificence.

Whenever, he says, my mouth having been filled with praise, I begin to hymn Your glory, I shall hymn Your magnificence throughout every day as well.

By 'magnificence' he means the Godhead, through which He wrought all those things in a manner beyond the ordinary course.

[Let my mouth be filled with praise —

but how is it possible to hope continually? For he who hopes continually never attains that very thing which he hopes to attain.

And one will say that 'continually' is set down not with reference to the breadth of the ages, but with reference to this present, sensible life;

while another will take 'continually' also with reference to the breadth of the ages, so that the goal of the hope is the knowledge of the Holy Trinity.] Cast me not off in the time of old age.

By 'old age' here he means weakness.

He prays, therefore, never to fall from the hope that is in Christ.

For He is our strength.

When my strength fails, forsake me not.

Even if it happened, he says, that being a man I sinned at some time, do not forsake me on account of the sin, O Lord;

but call me back again, as one who loves mankind.

For my enemies have spoken against me.

Lest my enemies should say, 'Let us set upon him';

for he will be plunder for us, God not coming to his aid.

O my God, be not far from me.

Since, then, they say these things, do not put off Your help too long.

O my God, attend to my help.

Let those who slander my soul be put to shame and fail.

Whenever, he says, while they attack me because it seemed that I had been forsaken by You, You Yourself come to my help, they will turn back in shame, since they will have found vain the slanders which they made against my soul.

And what are the slanders, but those which say:

'God has forsaken him'? But I will hope in You continually.

For they do not cease, through their own writings, confessing the hope that is in Christ.

And I will add to all Your praise.

My mouth shall declare Your righteousness.

For righteousness was begotten for us from God, according to the sacred Apostle.

All the day, Your salvation.

For I have not known writings/learning.

By 'writings' he means either the vain and manifold distractions of life, or the manifold sacrifices commanded by the Law to be offered.

Since, he says, I have cast away all these together, I shall enter into the mansions above, the Lord granting me power for this.

Behold, we have left all things, and followed You;

what then shall we have? — since indeed it was for this that they received the promise of the kingdom of heaven.

I will go in in the might of the Lord.

By Your power and help I shall obtain entrance into the land of promise.

O Lord, I will make mention of Your righteousness alone.

Leaving aside all that has been said, he says, I will remember only the righteousness by which You freed us from sin.

O my God, You have taught me from my youth.

For from the very first day, so to speak, on which He chose them, He delivered to them the things concerning the kingdom of heaven.

And even until now I will declare Your wonders.

I have not become forgetful, he says, of the things I was taught;

but what I myself learned, these things I also declared to others.

And even to old age and advanced years.

Since Christ Himself, after His return to life from the dead, promised, saying to them:

Behold, I am with you all the days, even to the end of the age;

for this reason he asks that this promise be fulfilled for him.

My God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your arm.

But what the 'arm' is, he adds by saying:

Your power and your righteousness.

And 'power', he says, is because of binding the strong man and plundering his vessels;

and 'righteousness', because he has redeemed us who were unjustly held in captivity.

I will proclaim, he says, that not only the things on earth, but also the things in the heavens you redeemed through your own blood.

For creation itself also will be set free from the bondage of corruption.

O God, who is like you? He gives thanks for this: that although he had long ago been justly condemned to death on account of sin, he did not remain in death;

but by the loving-kindness of God he has been released from corruption through Christ.

How many great troubles you have shown me! For of what sort and how many evils did you make me have experience? And turning again you gave me life, and brought me up again from the depths of the earth.

[you increased] upon me your greatness, and turning again you comforted me.

The doubling seems to signify that the repentance which arises over the offenses committed after baptism is acceptable to him who, as has been said, multiplied upon us his goodness and righteousness.

And 'you comforted' [is said] a second time, as [addressed] to one worn down by despondency over his sins.

It is possible, however, to understand the former statements as referring to the redemption from Egypt, and to take the latter as referring to the coming of the Lord, when also our complete comfort came about.

For those who came out of Egypt, even though they were delivered from temporal death, still fell under eternal death, since the resurrection had not yet been granted.

For I also will confess your truth to you, O God, with instruments of the psalm.

Thus, he says, I will prepare myself through confession to become fit to be called an instrument of hymnody.

But if he is said to be called a vessel of election, it is clear that he is also a vessel of hymnody.

By the harmony of the soul, he means:

For whenever the soul does or suffers nothing contrary to itself, either in its manner of life or concerning its doctrines, then indeed it would rightly be called a spiritual lyre.

My lips will exult when I sing psalms to you.

This is said in contradistinction to the Law:

because those precepts were burdensome, as being difficult to fulfill, whereas these are kind and light, filling with delight those who have been deemed worthy of them.

And my soul, which you redeemed—from the corruption of sin, from the bondage of Satan, from his death.

Moreover, my tongue also will meditate on your righteousness all the day long, when those who seek evils against me are put to shame and confounded.

When my intelligible enemies are removed from the midst, he says, and those who dwell in the abyss are clothed with shame;

The coming of Christ is signified through the present verses, and the calling of the nations.

The psalm is inscribed 'For Solomon.'

For this one is the true Solomon, the peaceable, because he has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition.

O God, give your judgment to the king.

It has been decided by you, Father, he says, that your only-begotten Son should shine forth upon those on earth.

Let this, then, he says, which was decided long ago, be brought to fulfillment.

And your righteousness to the king's son.

Being himself the righteousness of the Father, he is said to have received righteousness on account of his humanity.

And he himself is the Christ, both the king and the king's son.

To judge your people in righteousness.

This is the cause of the incarnation: to judge Satan's greedy encroachment against us;

therefore, when he was about to be crucified, he also said:

Now is the judgment of this world;

the ruler of this world will be cast out.

Let the mountains take up peace for the people, and the hills righteousness.

By 'mountains' and 'hills' here he means the evangelical powers, which formerly, on account of the impiety that had spread abroad, did not dwell in the land, but now are commanded to take up peace toward all people.

He will judge the poor of the people.

By 'the poor' he means those descended from idolatrous fathers, who were destitute of every good thing, and, in general, the whole race of mankind.

For all have turned aside, according to the word of the psalm.

And he will humble the oppressor.

His kingdom, he says, will be extended unto the ages.

And before the moon, throughout generations of generations.

This one, he says, who reigned at his coming among those on earth, is himself also the creator of all things before the ages.

He will come down like rain upon a fleece.

And he said this because of his secret coming.

In his days righteousness will rise.

For at the time of his coming all war has been abolished [

So great, he says, will be the abundance of peace that will come about at his coming, that it will extend even into the times to come, in which the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light.

And he will have dominion from sea to sea.

He says this because all the nations have received faith in him;

instead of saying: he will hold sway over all the ends of the inhabited world.

For since beyond the land lie the great and boundless seas, which some call the Atlantic, the Ocean, both western and eastern;

he fittingly indicated the dominion over the inhabited world by the seas that encircle it from without;

and the verse that follows after these makes this clearer.

And his enemies will lick the dust.

His enemies will be utterly subjected, so that no battle against him will be seen—this being said by a metaphor drawn from those who fall upon the ground, thereby signifying subjection.

Because he has delivered the poor from the mighty.

From the utmost ends of the inhabited world to its utmost ends, he says, both the nations and the kings will worship him, giving thanks for the fact that he redeemed them from the tyranny of Satan.

From usury and from injustice he will redeem their souls.

Blotting out the record of debt against them, and freely forgiving both the one who owed five hundred and the one who owed fifty.

And his name will be held in honor.

He will be revered, he says, by all, and glorious.

And he will live, and there will be given to him of the gold of Arabia.

He says this because of Herod, who sent men to kill the infants.

He says, therefore, that he will not be included together with the children who were slain.

But the phrase, 'And gold of Arabia shall be given to him,' clearly signifies the gifts which the magi offered.

'And they shall pray for him continually.'

Calling upon his name in their prayers, and asking that the Father, through him, grant them the gift of good things.

Of the Church, he says, and of the whole inhabited world.

'On the tops of the mountains' means the apostles and prophets.

'His fruit shall be exalted above Lebanon.'

Lebanon is Jerusalem;

and his fruit is the word of the Gospel.

He says, then, that the evangelic proclamation will surpass the worship according to the Law.

'And they shall flourish out of the city like the grass of the earth.'

By 'city' he means the Church, of which it is written:

'Before the sun his name endures.'

'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who alone does wonders.'

But what wonders, if not the abolishing of Satan's dominion, and the rescuing of those plotted against from the tyranny of the demons? Observe, moreover, that none of the things said in the psalm would fit Solomon, the son of Uriah's wife:

'His name is before the sun';

'All the nations shall serve him';

'Before the moon, throughout all generations.'

From all these things, then, it is clear that this has been said concerning our Lord Jesus Christ.

'And blessed be the name of his glory.'

For even though we are ignorant of his nature, as being unattainable, yet we have been taught his saving name.

In this psalm he sets forth the confusion which men feel concerning the judgments of God.

For these judgments are deep and unsearchable, and full of much incomprehensibility;

and those who are ignorant of the reasons for the dispensation occurring in each case fall into perplexing reasonings.

...prospering; after this he also teaches what the end of these impious men will be;

so that, knowing these things clearly, we may not be at a loss amid the irregularities of the affairs of this present life.

'How good is God to Israel, to those who are upright in heart!'

Being about to relate the prosperity that comes to men who pass their lives in impiety, and the bitter punishment laid up for them afterward, he places first the statement that God is good to the upright;

so that those who choose the pious portion may know that God will be good only to those who are upright in heart;

but certainly not also to those who sin most basely.

So that, even if they seem to prosper, he says, let no one be troubled, bearing in mind the place of punishment that awaits them a little later.

'But as for me, my feet were almost moved.'

He relates the things that caused the turmoil of his soul.

These are: first, that they continue in deep peace;

then, that they prosper continually throughout life, so that their prosperity extends even to death, and the impious undergo such a death that, if anyone were asked whether he would wish to obtain such a death, he would not refuse it;

and in addition to this, even if it should happen that a corrective scourge comes upon them for their sin, that this is not harsh, but light and easily borne;

and beyond all these things, that they do not share in the toils common to men, nor need daily labor for the sustenance of necessary food.

For this toil of theirs by hand has been given to men as, so to speak, a substitute for scourges.

Since they enjoy every good thing, and no evil at all, for this reason they have practiced arrogance to excess;

which arrogance has also made them unjust and impious, and to such a degree that even their impieties have become thick and, as it were, well-fattened.

Lawless prosperity, he says, has produced in them an evil disposition of soul.

And from where is this evident, except from their thinking and speaking wickedness? 'They have spoken unrighteousness on high.'

He signifies the intensification of their wickedness, in that they now go so far as to direct their blasphemy against God himself.

'They have set their mouth against heaven.'

They uttered, he says, blasphemous words against God, and this while being lowly and having their tongue fixed upon the earth.

Some benefit, he says, and conversion will come to my people, namely, the punishment of these men.

For having seen what sort of end awaits the impious, they would never come to such doubt, since they clearly know that God oversees human affairs.

'And full days shall be found in them.'

When, he says, they acquire such an understanding, then, indeed then, will they well fulfill the time of their life, according to what is said, that:

that is, their days have become full of every good thing.

'And they said, How does God know?' My people, he says, will benefit from the impious being cast down.

But the aforementioned impious and godless men were so impious that their life became a stumbling block to those who saw it, and these onlookers were at a loss and said:

'Does God, then, really oversee human affairs?' For the phrase 'How does he know' is used instead of 'How is he said to know and administer our affairs, and how does he have knowledge of what concerns us?' 'Behold, these are sinners, and prospering, they have possessed wealth forever.'

He sets forth the cause of the stumbling of those who see the impious prospering.

And this is that they perpetuate their prosperity throughout the present life.

'Have I then in vain justified my heart?'

I too, he says, seeing these things, was troubled in my thoughts, considering within myself lest perhaps my labor for virtue should prove vain for me.

to scourge oneself by confession for former sins, and for this to rise up, as it were, from one's bed, in order to afflict oneself for one's sins.

'Behold, I have broken faith with the generation of your sons.'

These things, he says, I was pondering within myself: that if I should declare to others these thoughts that had stolen in upon me (and these were, namely:

'Have I then in vain justified my heart?'), I would become for them the occasion of every stumbling block.

And in doing this I would be transgressing the covenants of your sons, namely, of the righteous men.

And these were the covenants of the saints: not to become to one another a cause of stumbling.

'And I thought to understand this; it is a trouble before me.'

Having conceived the intention, he says, to know judgments so deep, I cast myself into toil, inasmuch as they are deep and unsearchable.

Yet I have secured for myself the fitting time for the knowledge of these things;

and this was the time of the divine tribunal, when you will render to each according to his works.

'Nevertheless, because of their deceits you have appointed evils for them,' etc.

I, he says, have appointed for myself the coming time as the fitting occasion for exact knowledge concerning these things;

so that, knowing by the prophetic spirit the things to come, I might say that the deceitfulness of their character will become for them the cause of bitter punishments.

For their loftiness will result in their downfall.

And let this wealth which is present with them be judged just as the phantoms of dreamers—insubstantial and feebler than any shadow.

And in your city you will bring their image to nothing.

The city of the Lord is the Jerusalem above, and their image is that of the man of dust.

What he means is this:

Since, he says, they have borne the image of the man of dust, and not that of the heavenly man, for this reason they will indeed be brought to nothing.

For at that time they will hear this:

seeing that they do not bear the image of the Heavenly One himself.

「For my heart was set aflame, and my reins were changed; and I was brought to nothing, and knew not,」 etc.

Since I was jealous with jealousy for the Lord, so that both my heart and my reins were filled with the zeal of fire, for this reason I was counted worthy to be enlightened and to know the things done concerning your city, and concerning the image of the impious.

But formerly I continued like a brute, an irrational beast, unable to lay hold of the reasons of Providence.

Nevertheless I did not forsake you, my God, nor did I fall away from hope in you; rather, I continued always with you.

And this I did, not by my own power, but by your grace.

For you yourself, in your own loving-kindness, took hold of my right hand and held me fast, sustaining me so that my steps would not be shaken, nor my feet moved from their standing with you.

For what do I have in heaven, and besides you what have I desired upon earth? etc.

Since, he says, I have nothing in heaven except you alone, it necessarily follows that I desired to receive nothing of the things on earth, seeing that all of them are corruptible and transient.

But I prayed to attain one thing alone, and with longing for it I wore myself out upon the earth—

and this is that you alone should become my portion.

「Behold, those who remove themselves far from you shall perish,」 etc.

And I say this rightly, knowing that for those who find themselves outside of you, destruction will be the end.

But those who are with you shall have a good portion.

For it shall come to pass for them, once they have come to be in the heavenly Jerusalem, that they inherit the good portion.

And this is to delight always in your hymns.

In these words the prophet sings a supplication, foreseeing the final captivity of Israel—

so that he might not remove them altogether from kinship with him, but might leave them some occasion for salvation.

「Why, O God, have you cast us off forever?」 This is like the verse:

「Wrath has already come upon them to the uttermost.」

For they shall no longer have any respite from their evils.

「Remember your congregation, which you acquired from the beginning.」

「Remember the tribe which you redeemed as the rod of your inheritance」—

that is, an inheritance prepared for a kingdom, according to what was said to them:

「You shall be to me, out of all the nations, a chosen race, a royal priesthood.」

「This is Mount Zion, in which you dwelt.」

「Lift up your hands against their arrogance forever.」

Referring to those who waged war against the divine temple.

「And those who hate you boasted in the midst of your feast.」

Since it was at the feast of the Passover that they took up war against the Lord, for this reason at that very time they were handed over to their enemies.

For when, at the Passover, all the Jews had gathered according to the law, the siege took place justly at the very time when they had also nailed the Savior to the cross.

「They set up their own signs as signs.」

He means the symbols of war—

he speaks of what are called by the armies ‘signa’ (standards), which they set up on the road leading to the city.

And they did not stop at this;

but they even leapt over, he says, that is, they burst into the divine temple itself, not knowing that it was God who was handing the city over to them because of the impiety of its inhabitants.

Since indeed they were ignorant of this, they marveled at their own power, and passed judgment of weakness upon the God who was worshiped in the divine temple.

「How long, O Lord, shall the enemy reproach?」 The repetition in the naming of the signs would belong to one marveling at how the divine temple was delivered into the hands of enemies.

「As with axes in a thicket of trees, they hewed down its doors,」 etc.

Using tools for woodcutting and carpentry, they tore down the enclosures and hacked apart the doors of the houses, destroying what had been well and finely wrought as though it were a thicket.

「They set your sanctuary on fire,」 etc.

Having come upon us with great calamity, they had one aim: to abolish the law given by you.

He says they dared to do these things, neither beholding the wonders wrought upon our forefathers, nor being restrained by prophetic grace.

For of all these they were suddenly bereft.

For long ago, even after the return from exile, they had prophets: Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

And even the prophets older than these foretold to the people and the kings the things that were to come, and made known the plots of their enemies.

And this is easy to learn from history.

「We have not seen our signs.」

They incited one another to put an end to the feasts of the Lord still being celebrated, and indeed they matched deeds to their words—

but while this was being done, we were not spectators of those signs of which we had often been eyewitnesses in former wars.

And these signs were the help given amid the afflictions that beset us.

「Why, O God, have you cast us off forever? There is no longer a prophet, and he will no longer know us.」

And this above all makes us despair of salvation: that we no longer see among our nation a prophet able to entreat God on our behalf.

「How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach?」 Having completed the description of the capture from the standpoint of the enemies, he calls upon God for mercy, and to behold how all that is happening amounts to an outrage against God—

namely, ‘in the midst of your feast,’ and ‘your sanctuary,’ and ‘the dwelling place of your name,’ and ‘the feasts of the Lord,’ and ‘your name forever.’

「Why do you turn back your hand,」 etc.? Why, he says, do you check the giving of the good things which of old you used to provide us as though from your own bosom?

「But God is our king before the ages.」

Now, he says, you withhold from us the bestowal of good things;

but of old, being deemed worthy to be called both our God and king, you wrought such salvation for us that it escaped the notice of none upon the earth.

「He wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.」

Taking this, some have declared that Jerusalem is the eye of the earth.

「You made the sea strong by your power; you broke the heads of the dragons upon the water.」

And first, that the waters of the sea were made firm like a wall, when they were going out of Egypt—

And this is the meaning of, 'You made the sea strong.'

And the second is that the head of the Egyptians was crushed upon the waters, whom he also calls 'dragons' because of the wickedness of their tongue.

Then, together with them, also their own ruling king, whom likewise he too calls a dragon.

[You made the sea strong by your power,

having crushed Pharaoh, together with his officers and chariots, as the heads of dragons upon the water, because of the wickedness of his purpose;

since the Egyptians, being neighbors of the Ethiopians, you delivered over to them as food, and defeated them and their king before the face of the Ethiopians.] You gave him as food to the peoples of the Ethiopians,

Pharaoh himself, and evidently together with his army.

And here by 'peoples' he means the flocks of birds found among the Indians,

which devoured the bodies of the Egyptians that had been cast up from the sea onto the land.

You split open springs and torrents,

He speaks of what happened in the desert, when he gave the people drink from the rock.

You dried up the rivers of Etham.

for the Jordan lies to the south of the land of the Jews.

Yours is the day, and yours is the night;

Not only, he says, have you become our provider in the Red Sea and in the desert,

but you have also become the provider of good things to the whole human race,

creating, on the one hand, day and night, and, on the other, sun and moon, and again summer and spring, and having fixed the boundaries upon the earth.

And he says these things now also while calling upon him for present help.

Remember this creation of yours.

If, he says, you made creation for the sake of men, grant your help for the sake of those for whom creation came to be.

Remember this: the enemy has reproached you, O Lord,

Having called upon God through creation for pity on the people,

he again calls upon him for pity in another way.

And this is the way: that the enemy is proud and thinks great things of himself.

and a foolish people has provoked your name.

See here again another manner of compassion, arising from the fact that the enemies provoked his name.

Do not deliver up to the wild beasts a soul that confesses to you,