Expositions on the Psalms 1 part 20/23

‘Away, away with such a one from the earth!’ — the truth passed from that generation to this generation.

‘You founded the earth, and it abides.’

And it is by this truth that the earth has been founded.

For upon this cornerstone, laid as a foundation, all who are saved from the earth are built.

Hence also the earth abides, possessing an unbreakable and secure base and foundation.

Moreover, the truth, having illumined the earth, made it day, God having shone upon it.

‘By your ordinance the day continues, for all things are your servants.’

Not changed, nor coming to an end, as the illumination according to the Old Scripture was.

Since that too had been established only until the time of correction.

But all these things have their existence from God.

Since He is Creator and Provider, all things are His slaves.

‘Unless your law were my meditation, I would then have perished in my humiliation.’

When, he says, the evil thoughts assailed me, and the opposing powers made war against me, I would have perished, had not your law become a support to me.

‘Forever I will not forget your statutes, for by them you have given me life.’

For I shall have life in them, just as indeed you have told me: that the man who does them shall live in them.

Only the righteous, then, is living, even if he seems to have died;

but the unrighteous are dead, even if they appear to be alive.

For the former have within themselves the very substance of life, namely righteousness;

but those who do not have this are like lifeless things that are moved not by themselves, but from outside.

Implied together with ‘I am your servant’ is this: ‘By grace I am a son; I am your attendant.’

‘Sinners waited for me, to destroy me;’

Instead of ‘I understood,’ [he means] ‘I meditated’; and through meditating on you I rendered their plot powerless.

‘I have seen an end to all completeness; but your commandment is exceedingly broad.’

By ‘completeness’ he means the plot that comes from the demons.

I saw the end of this plot come to nothing, at which time the commandment also became broad for me.

of one who, through every advance, has arrived at the goal of virtue, passing over to the perfect good;

of one who lays down many beginnings and endings.

For the boundary of the former improvement is the beginning of the next, according to the saying:

‘When a man has finished, then he begins.’

‘How I have loved your law, O Lord! It is my meditation all the day.’

He who in all things both speaks and acts according to the law meditates on the law of God.

But in the first psalm, concerning the man who was to become blessed, he added the night as well as the day for meditation.

For we were saying that the life of men here is mixed.

But once they have become holy, night will no longer succeed them.

The one, then, who makes progress spends the day living according to the law;

but it becomes night for him whenever he does not meditate with his whole heart;

‘From every evil way I restrained my feet,’

for this is what it means to keep the divine law: to fulfill it in deeds.

‘From your judgments I have not turned aside.’

‘How sweet are your words to my palate!’

Sweet on account of the rational delight found in them;

but sweeter than honey — honey here signifying all the pleasant things found among men.

‘Your law is a lamp to my feet,’

for he who walks by the light of the divine law makes the course of his life straight and free of stumbling.

Either by the assaults of the noetic enemies, or by the self-chosen hardships he undertakes of his own will.

‘I hated transgressors, but I loved your law.’

By this he means the wise men of this age and the leaders of the heretics.

‘Depart from me, you evildoers,’

By this he means either the evil thoughts, or the aforementioned teachers.

‘Help me, and I shall be saved,’

For even though, he said, you are my helper and my supporter, yet [my condition] needs unceasing help.

For as long as we are here, the word ‘I shall be saved’ is not yet complete;

but when we shall live with the angels of God, then indeed the meditation on His statutes will be face to face, not according to the shadow, but according to the truth.

‘You have set at nought all who fall away from your statutes,’

For this is the end that awaits those who reject the law of God.

‘I have reckoned all the sinners of the earth as transgressors;’

‘therefore I have loved your testimonies.’

That is, to wish to trample the divine law underfoot.

‘Nail my flesh down with fear of you,’

‘Nail down’ is used in place of ‘fasten.’

Fasten, then, he says, my flesh in purity.

For only in this way would they be able to say to Christ:

‘for I feared your judgments.’

For no one commits sin in any other way, unless he has first put himself outside the fear of God.

‘My eyes failed with longing for your salvation,’

Toward the divine appearing, he says, through which he hoped to be saved, both he himself and the whole race of men.

And for the oracle of Your righteousness.

Even if some, acting lawlessly and having no fear of You before their eyes, have put Your law out of their midst;

yet I made this my one concern for all time, keeping it always in meditation.

As the wage of his servitude he asks for understanding, given by God and laid up with Him as in a treasury.

For the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, and the good gifts that follow after.

For distinguishing it from another sort, he says in Proverbs:

'But good understanding gives grace.'

For if every understanding were good, he would not have added the word 'good.'

'It is time for the Lord to act, for they have dispersed Your law.'

'I, for my part, have done judgment and righteousness;'

but there will also, one day, be a time for You, O God, to execute, namely, judgment and righteousness against those who have dispersed Your law.

'The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver;'

'Receive instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than tested gold.'

'For wisdom is better than precious stones;'

'and nothing of value is worthy of it.'

By 'infants' understand those who are held fast in ignorance and resemble babes.

For these, he says, Your word, illuminating them with Your light, fills with understanding.

'I opened my mouth and drew breath,'

And the understanding imparted through the words prevents the deceit that comes through pleasure or vainglory.

'Look upon me, and have mercy on me,' etc.

As You have determined, he says, to look upon and count worthy of much visitation those who love Your name;

so also count me worthy of that same visitation, of that same mercy.

'Direct my steps according to Your word.'

According to His word, God directs the steps of the one who is passing from wickedness and ignorance into virtue and knowledge.

For right reason leads such persons;

Those who do not commit sin are not slaves of sin.

'Redeem me from the slander of men,'

By 'the slander of men' he means the teaching of the heretics, and that of the wise men of this age.

Of this, Joseph and Susanna had literal experience.

But figuratively, by 'men' he means the wicked powers, from whose slander one can be redeemed by God alone.

'Make Your face shine upon Your servant,'

He longs to behold the presence of the Lord.

For He is the very image of the Father.

'and teach me Your statutes.'

I shed a multitude of tears, mourning those who transgress Your law.

He gives the reason for which he wept over those who transgress the law of God:

namely, because He has threatened punishment at the divine tribunal for those who transgress it, and has already testified to this even from here.

'You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness,' etc.

Did You not, together with the witnesses of heaven and earth and certain others, command testimonies that are righteousness and the clearest truth? And not obscure ones—

that is, the most upright canons of Your judgments make known Your righteousness.

Your testimonies, then, are the divine Scriptures;

they are righteousness with respect to the moral precepts, and truth with respect to the contemplation of the doctrines.

'My zeal for You has consumed me, because my enemies have forgotten Your words,'

What zeal I would take up, whenever I saw anyone who had forgotten Your words!

And not zeal merely, but such as, because of Him who instilled it in me, caused me to melt away with zeal for You whenever I saw any forgetting Your words.

Concerning this zeal the disciples remembered what was spoken in the psalm in the person of the Lord:

'The zeal of Your house has consumed me.'

'Your word is exceedingly refined by fire,'

The word of God is exceedingly refined and surpassing, and cannot be refuted by any test.

And if anyone has this refined word within him, he examines all things, but he himself is examined by no one.

'I am, even one despised;'

He is 'young' in that he is being instructed in the divine words, but 'despised' because he humbles himself.

'Your righteousness is righteousness forever,'

For the righteousness that exists among men allots what is just to the one being judged only for a short time, but that of God renders judgment that is eternal.

'Afflictions and distresses have come upon me,'

Not even in such circumstances, he says, did they neglect to meditate on Your law.

The testimonies which You have given me, he says, being profitable not merely for a short while, are righteousness forever, justifying the one who draws near to them in disposition.

'Give me understanding, and I shall live,'

For the righteousness that we practice in the present life is rewarded not merely in our few days, but forever.

But I shall also live, he says, if You give me understanding;

for no fool enters into that blessed life.

One must, then, ask for understanding from Him who gives to all who ask Him with their whole soul.

'I have cried with my whole heart,'

'I have cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord;'

'I will seek out Your statutes.'

For that which I was speaking with my ruling faculty was nothing other than God himself.

Having called upon You greatly, therefore, I greatly promise to keep Your testimonies.

'I came before the darkness and cried out,'

By 'the untimely hour' he means the darkness, that is, the confusion of affairs.

And yet, although the lawless were doing everything in confusion, many things kept in step with Your law.

They who persecute me have drawn near in lawlessness.

'Those who make war against me have joined together in lawlessness,' he says.

For no one persecutes the righteous man unless he wishes to be associated with lawlessness.

'I am a God who draws near, and not a God far off,' says the Lord.

For the power of God is everywhere, according to the principle of creation and providence.

Judge my cause, and redeem me; for the sake of your word, give me life.

By 'word' he means the promise.

For he promised that he would come and save us.

Salvation is far from sinners.

Salvation, of which the rulers of this age deprived themselves through their own covetousness.

For they did not seek out your statutes.

This is the reason for the persecution of the righteous man: that they have removed themselves far from the divine law.

Many are your compassions, O Lord.

'I have known,' he says, 'that you solemnly attested the commandments to us, that they are firm and unshakeable.'

This is also what he indicates in the verse above: 'From the beginning I knew it from your testimonies.'

I saw those who lacked understanding, and I was consumed with grief.

'If I saw anyone who did not understand, over such a one I was consumed with grief, out of zeal for piety.'

Behold, O Lord, that I have loved your commandments.

For you will see in me the marks of good works;

for I did not merely keep them, but I loved them, having nothing about them that was forced upon me.

But nonetheless I entreat your mercy, that I may live.

The sum of your words is truth.

This is the first of your commandments to be given: to speak the truth in all things, both in deed, in word, and in thought.

Rulers persecuted me without cause.

'The rulers of successive ages oppressed me,' he says, 'being enemies of the truth.'

But I do not fear their afflictions, since I fear your word.

'Do not fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul;'

'but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.' I will rejoice over your sayings, as one who finds much spoil.

He says that he has rendered obedience to the divine words not out of fear alone, but also with joy — the kind of joy that greatly rejoices over wealth.

For the keeping that comes about with joy is more secure.

And having remembered enemies pursuing him, he fittingly also remembered spoils.

'For not even,' he says, 'if I had slain and despoiled them all, would I have thought I had gained as much as I did through your words.'

What words? Surely those concerning which Paul speaks:

'For we were the first to believe the oracles of God,' speaking concerning the Jews.

For it is not, as with those men, that I have avenged the slain and, having taken spoils, now feel abhorrence;

for it is beneficial only to abhor injustice;

in no way dragging it down toward earthly things.

'For we, as having been raised together with Christ, seek the things above, not the things on the earth.'

Seven times a day I have praised you.

Throughout the whole of his life the righteous man, being enlightened, will exist in one perfect day, not interrupted by night;

and he praises God seven times, having become supramundane, in that he has passed beyond the world that came to be in six days;

inasmuch as he has also come to be in the paradise of God, and, having contemplated the principle of God's creation and providence, he gives thanks concerning the judgments of God's righteousness;

according to which judgments each thing has received its own varied creation and providence.

He says that he continually remembered your judgments, which you brought about justly;

casting out the rulers who had defrauded others, while redeeming those who had been wronged.

Let my petition come before you, O Lord.

Observe the good order of the divine words.

For first comes: 'Let it draw near';

then the greater thing: 'Let my petition come in';

for before 'let it come in' comes 'to draw near.'

For if someone draws near to a house, and is a friend of the master of the house, he enters in.

What he had earlier called a 'petition,' he now called 'axiōma' (a worthy claim), from the verb 'to deem worthy.'

Might it be that, just as there are worldly dignities of preeminence, so also there are dignities of the soul? For it is a dignity to be an apostle of Christ;

and the dignities and ranks of the Church are likewise such.

And it is also a dignity of the soul to possess the virtues, or even a single one of them.

The one who possesses such a dignity speaks the words now before us.

Let my lips pour forth a hymn.

Belching generally occurs in those who have been satisfied.

The divine word, then, knows of a spiritual food.

The Word himself, then, says that he is bread.

'For I am the bread of life that came down from heaven;'

'He who eats my flesh has life in himself.'

Having eaten this, then, we belch forth a hymn.

It is such a belching that I pray to attain.

which is impossible, unless you teach me your statutes.

Let my tongue utter your sayings.

He prays that whatever he might say may be a word of God, according to the saying:

'Open your mouth with the word of God.'

And such a one does not speak an idle word.

For 'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal,' and whatever other commandment there is, is summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

You shall love your neighbor.

Let your hand be ready to save me.

Become for me a protecting God.

I have longed for your salvation, O Lord.

If you wish to ascend to the higher sense of the word, your salvation is Christ.

For 'Jesus' is interpreted 'the salvation of God.' He was sent to us.

It is a labor to long for the salvation of God.

For the many desire the things according to the flesh.

But that which is of God is: to be saved in him, to rest in him, to inherit the holy things.

For this is the salvation of God: eternal life.

But 'Jesus' also is interpreted 'the salvation of God,' sent to us unto salvation;

whoever wishes to journey toward the longing for him will meditate on the law.

My soul shall live, and it shall praise you.

He speaks concerning the life to come.

For our life is hidden with Christ in God.

Then shall I truly praise, then shall your judgments help me —

the renowned judgments rendered upon those judged by you becoming known: for the righteous man without torments, but for the one in need of correction, through torments.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep.

After speaking of the works he had accomplished aright, he again says that he himself is a sheep gone astray, practicing humility, in accordance with what was said by the Lord:

'When you have set all things right, say...'

The people in Babylon sing to God the first of the Songs of Ascents, distressed at the length of the captivity and praying to be set free.

To the Lord, when I was afflicted, I cried out.

O Lord, deliver my soul from unrighteous lips and from a deceitful tongue.

For how are the lips of the Babylonians, which have professed idolatry, not unrighteous?

It might rightly be called deceitful, since it speaks nothing straight concerning God.

What shall be given to you, and what shall be added to you, against the deceitful tongue? The sharpened arrows of the mighty one.

'What more do you ask to be given you,' he says, 'or what else do you wish to be added to you against the deceitful lips? Arrows full of fire, kindled by the mighty one,'

signifying the punishment soon to come upon the Babylonians.

Woe is me, that my sojourning has been prolonged.

He prays another petition to God: to be delivered from his sojourning.

I have dwelt with the tents of Kedar.

Kedar is a certain region lying in the desert toward the east, extending as far as the Persians, which the race of the Saracens inhabits.

My soul has sojourned long.

With those who hate peace I was peaceable.

It is the wickedness of the Babylonians to wage war for no reason against those who are peaceable.

unless indeed there be need of a judicial punishment, such as God commanded against the Canaanites and the Amorites, forbidding friendship with them.

But the wicked are irreconcilable toward these, abhorring godliness.

When I spoke to them, they made war against me without cause.

He sings the second song, having already been released from captivity, but journeying on the long road that lies between Babylon and Jerusalem,

who, being also cut off in the midst of the mountains, prays that help may come to him;

and having heard him, the prophetic Spirit declares:

The Lord shall guard your going in and your going out.

I lifted up my eyes to the mountains.

My help is from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

God showing his power: 'of him,' he says, 'who made heaven and earth.'

May he not give your foot over to stumbling, nor may he who keeps you slumber.

Hold this hope, and you shall be saved.

But 'he shall not slumber' does not denote the weariness of those who guard armies and cities and flocks, but signifies the impassibility of the Divine: 'he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.'

The Lord shall keep you, the Lord is your shelter upon your right hand.

This he also said in the fifteenth Psalm: 'I foresaw the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, that I should not be shaken.'

And here again he says that, being at your right hand, he will both shelter and guard you, and count you worthy of every providence.

The third song brings good news to those still journeying: the arrival at the house of God.

I was glad because of those who said to me:

'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'

Our feet were standing in your courts, O Jerusalem.

This is the voice of those grown old, who also endured the captivity, recounting how their feet, now making the journey, once long ago stood in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, built as a city.

Thus, he says, it was of old like a city, not scattered here and there,

but it was so fitted together that, by the connection and harmony of its buildings, it seemed to be one house.

For there the tribes went up,

All the tribes, he says, having come out of Egypt by the power of the Lord, hastened to that city to bear witness, that is, to give thanks to the God of Israel.

to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

speaking not of the rule of one man, but a common one, on behalf of the noblest and most godly.

For there thrones were set for judgment.

And according to the literal history, there were the royal palaces, and the thrones of the priests,

as though the city were adorned with a kind of double crown and diadem.

But now all this has fallen away, and only the slightest remnants of the ancient prosperity remain.

'In this city,' he says, 'that is, Jerusalem, royal thrones were set, judging righteous judgment.'

Ask now for the things that make for the peace of Jerusalem.

Having learned, O you, what Jerusalem once was, pray for her peace, seeking nothing else than the things that contribute to her peace.

Let there indeed be peace within your rampart, and abundance in your towers.

That is, instead of "in your towers," [read] "in your palaces."

"I pray good things for you," he says, "for the sake of those who dwell in you, who are neighbors and brothers."

For these are the things that those grown old pray for Jerusalem: that there be peace within her walls.

Or, according to another interpretation, the saints who are within her.

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for you.

Since the house of our God is in you, O Jerusalem, in return I have sought good things for you.

The fourth ode contains the prayer of those making their return journey after many years upon the road.

These, having grown weary along the road, beg to obtain mercy and compassion from God, since they have been treated with contempt by the nations.

Namely, the reproach coming from those who prosper.

To you I have lifted up my eyes, O you who dwell in heaven.

Behold, as the eyes of servants are toward the hands of their masters.

The eyes of those who have the spirit of bondage unto fear are toward the hands of their lords and ladies;

but the eyes of one who has the spirit of adoption are toward the Lord God.

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

The repetition indicates the fervor of the request: we ask for mercy not as those who are worthy of it, but as those who have become greatly reproached.

If it had not been that the Lord was with us.

In singing the fifth ode, those who have set foot upon the land of Judea offer up prayers of thanksgiving for having been delivered from captivity and from the enemies encountered along the way.

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion.

They sing the sixth ode having arrived at the very mountain they longed for.

Then, seeing the city without walls, they pray, he says, that the help of the Lord may become a wall for it; and indeed they take courage to escape the plots of their enemies;

and this again by that very help of God, who does not allow the rod of sinners to remain upon the lot of the righteous and of his saints. "Peace be upon Israel."

For the peace that surpasses all understanding is given only to the one who possesses understanding.

But also, with their enemies having perished, these enjoyed peace.

They sing the seventh ode, those who have obtained the assurance of their redemption, because they have now come to be in the city itself.

And they intercede on behalf of the rest, who are still in Babylon, that they too may be redeemed.

When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we became like those who were comforted.

The apostles are prophesied here, concerning themselves and those among the nations.

Perhaps, then, he speaks these things concerning the spiritual [Zion].

For the phrase "they will say" indicates prophetically what is to come.

Then they will say among the nations:

And this rendered us greatly lamented in the sight of all.

And yet we too cry out — for we are not without feeling — even though we have not yet received back the rest;

concerning whom we entreat, saying:

Turn again, O Lord, our captivity, like the torrents in the south.

For by "the south" he means the desert.

Those who sow in tears shall reap in rejoicing.

They went on their way, going and weeping.

To those who prayed on behalf of those left behind, the prophetic Spirit responds, saying that if they weep for those in Babylon, the return will come to them as well.

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

Argument. The eighth ode is sung once the foundations of the temple have already been laid;

as they hope that the fortification will be unshaken.

Thus he covertly prophesies its future fall once more, under the rule of the Romans.

And he joins to it also a prophecy concerning the Church of Christ;

And it is sung prophetically by Solomon;

just as, indeed, there are also psalms of Zechariah and of Haggai.

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.

He says such things as addressed to the Jews, who were thinking too highly of the solidity of their building.

When He gives sleep to his beloved, behold, the heritage of the Lord is sons.

Do not think too highly, he says, of the temple, as though your inheritance were given in it.

But rather, when He gives rest to his beloved ones from the former people, that is, the prophets;

then He will give the inheritance to their sons.

And who could these be but the disciples?

For the divine promise, and the blessing concerning children, has been granted like a reward to those who have hoped in Him.

The reward is the fruit of the womb.

The fruit of the womb would be the salvation of the spirit, according to the word:

We were in travail and brought forth the spirit of salvation, which we accomplished upon the earth.

As the reward of this fruit, just as also an inheritance, adoption as sons will be given.

As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the sons of those who were cast off.

By "those who were shaken off" he means those who were cast away from the former people;

whose sons, that is, the apostles, have become the arrows of the Mighty One.

Blessed is he who shall fulfill his desire by means of them.

By "from them" he blesses those who will be benefited by their teaching.

They shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in the gates.

This clearly signifies the coming of the proclamation of the gospel.

The ninth ode pronounces blessed the one who has drawn near in the fear of God.

And fittingly, after the manifestation of the apostles, it pronounces blessed those who believed.

Blessed are all who fear the Lord.

Your wife shall be like a flourishing vine.

To the one who fears the Lord, the gift given is not a common wife, but one adorned with good fruits.

For a good wife is a good portion.

And mayest thou see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.

Things which eye has not known, and so on.

And mayest thou see thy children's children: peace be upon Israel.

For just as offspring are the first fruits of a God-loving soul, so promises are the second fruits.

The tenth ode teaches about the many persecutions endured by the people of Christ, and how, as it were, it will surmount all things, ever proving stronger than those who plot against it.

He says this because the persecutions occurred from the very beginning of the preaching.

The Lord is righteous; he has broken the necks of sinners.

For all who persecute wickedly shall perish wickedly.

The eleventh ode contains a prayer of the martyrs, and a teaching on confession for the new people.

And it plainly proclaims the propitiation of virtue, which is Christ.

And he himself is the propitiation for our sins.

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.

Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.

By 'ears' applied to God we also understand the angelic powers, through whom our supplications come in to God.

'If thou, O Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?' The doubling of 'O Lord, O Lord' belongs to one marveling at the magnitude of God's love for mankind, from which, he says, propitiation also comes, and not from our own right actions.

For thy name's sake I have waited for thee, O Lord.

These words belong to those who do not draw near out of spiritual need, but for the sake of the reverend name itself, and who thus run with endurance the race set before them, departing from God and from what pleases him at no time whatsoever.

From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.

For one should hope not only when it is the morning watch, before present circumstances are yet bright, but even amid the gloomiest circumstances.

But also, when the true light rises, the mind gifted with clear sight receives from God an increase of bright things, and release from gloomy ones.

'Let Israel hope' — for with him, as in a fountain, mercy too is found, coming from him who is himself at once redemption and propitiation, cleansing away sins with abundant sufficiency.

The twelfth ode teaches one who has been deemed worthy of propitiation not to be puffed up, trusting in his own improvement, but rather to be humble-minded.

Lord, my heart is not exalted.

nor have I walked in great matters, nor in things too wonderful for me, and so forth.

And with a view to not being exalted, he speaks of the contrary virtue as exceedingly fitting — the very virtue the Savior also taught, saying:

Unless you turn and become as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.