Commentary on the Psalms 10 part 1/3

'For the end, concerning the hidden things of the son, a psalm of David.' Another version: 'A triumphal song upon the death of the son, an ode of David.' Another: 'Of the youth of the son.' 'I will give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will declare all Thy wondrous works.'

And this too belongs to the wisdom of the Spirit.

For He made neither all the psalms short, nor drew them all out to great length, but varied the book even in its measure, by length rousing our sloth, and by brevity giving rest to our weariness.

'I will give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will declare all Thy wondrous works.'

The kind of confession is twofold.

For it is either the condemnation of one's own sins, or thanksgiving unto God.

Here, however, it signifies the thanksgiving.

And what does 'with my whole heart' mean? 'With all eagerness, with earnestness,' he says.

Not for prosperity only, but even amid its opposites.

For this above all belongs to a thankful soul, this to a soul given to true wisdom: to give thanks even in griefs, to glorify God for all things, not only for benefits but also for chastisements.

For this procures a greater reward.

For in giving thanks for good things, you have discharged a debt;

but in giving thanks amid evils, you have made God your debtor.

For he who has fared well and shows gratitude has repaid what was owed.

But he who has fared ill and yet glorifies God has established a debt in his own favour.

In return for this thanksgiving, therefore, God repays many other good things, both then and now;

so that we shall not even feel the perception of our hardships.

For no one grieves over those things for which he gives thanks to God;

so that we shall reap yet another gain besides: the beating back of despondency.

For when you are deprived of your goods and give thanks, the loss cannot bite you so much as the thanksgiving gladdens you.

This is a mortal blow to the devil;

this makes the mind given to true wisdom;

this establishes a true judgement concerning present things.

For many among men do not hold the correct estimate concerning the things here below;

just so do madmen also fear things not to be feared, and often dread things that have no real existence, and flee from shadows.

Like these are also those who dread the loss of money.

For the fear belongs not to nature, but to the will.

For if the thing were truly grievous, all who were deprived of it would necessarily grieve;

but if we do not all grieve when we suffer loss, then it belongs no longer to the nature of the thing, but to an imperfect understanding.

For just as in darkness a man has often feared even a rope, supposing it to be a serpent, and suspects everything, and reckons his friends to be enemies;

so also those who are held fast by unreason, as though caught in some deep darkness, do not recognise the nature of things, but wallow in the mire, and do not regard grass as being grass;

and being filled full with the love of money, they do not perceive its foul stench;

but if they should draw back from it, then they will know.

And just as those who are enamoured of an unshapely woman, when they have ceased from the malady, then come to understand her ugliness;

so also are those who are lovers of the love of money.

'And how,' he says, 'shall I be able to cease from this passion?' Again I will make use of the same illustration.

Just as the man who loves the unshapely woman, if he keeps company with her continually, kindles the furnace; but if

he withdraws himself a little from her, the passion gradually ebbs away little by little.

So do you too withdraw a little, yield but a little, and that small distance will become a great one.

Only make a beginning of the good deed.

Have you a superfluous house? Sell it, and give to those in need; and do not reckon that you are making it alien to yourself, but rather that you are making it truly your own.

Look not at the expense, but at the revenue.

Consider not that you are deprived of it here, but that you become its lord there.

Thus too you will be able to recount the wondrous works of God continually.

For this is what the psalm says from the very beginning.

For the lover of money cannot greatly occupy himself with this;

for he is forever anxious about interest, contracts, bonds, wares, wills, the prices of fields, the prices of houses, gains, petty trafficking, and he never ceases both talking of these things and fretting over them.

But where a man's treasure is, there is his heart also.

These are the things he utters, these are the things he is anxious about;

and just as servants are anxious about their masters' affairs, so too this man is anxious about the affairs of his Master, Mammon;

what has it ordered? what has been accomplished? what has not yet been accomplished, but is still to come? For this very reason I exhort you, when you have been freed from that besieging care, to occupy yourself with these narratives, recounting the wonders of God that happen day by day, both those in private and those in public, both those toward all and those toward each single person.

For the things in life are teeming with such narratives;

and from wherever you begin, you will see the prelude gushing forth more brilliantly, whether from heaven, or from the earth, or from the air, or from the irrational creatures, whether from seeds, or from plants;

if you wish to recount the ancient gifts, whether those before the Law, or those under the Law, or those in grace, or those after our departure from here, or those in death itself, you will find countless seas of these narratives.

How great a folly, then, would it not be, when we have so many things to recount—things through which both delight and gain and profit come to the soul—instead to befoul our reason in the mire, recounting tales of greed and rapine? 2.

And if you please, leaving the things above, let us discourse concerning the earth—its greatness, its position, its use, its nature, its unceasing travails, the manifold and diverse offspring that come from it, the seeds, the herbs, the plants, the flowers, the meadows, the gardens.

From these again let us in our discourse cut off the shape of each tree, its position, its height, its fragrance, its fruit, its season, its service, considering all the rest as well: the fruitful part of the earth itself, and the unfruitful;

for one part has brought forth iron, another bronze, another gold, another silver;

and one produces spices, another medicines both varied and of every kind.

What could one say of the usefulness of the waters, both the fresh and the salt, of the use of the mountains, the mines of varied marbles, the springs within them, the trees suited for roofing and for building? All these are the fruit of the wilderness;

this it is that nourishes all the animals and the wild beasts.

What could one say of the lakes, the springs, the rivers? For just as women who have given birth, pouring forth a fountain of milk, provide nourishment to their offspring;

so too the earth, stretching out its rivers and springs to gardens and paradises as though they were breasts, provides abundant watering.

But in the case of women, the child must come to the breast;

here, however, she herself stretches out her breasts on every side, bringing them down from on high.

The wilderness has yet another use as well.

For it is also more conducive to the health of the body, affording purer air to breathe, and letting one survey the whole inhabited world from on high, and philosophize in the solitude, and take a little respite from the cares of life.

What could one say of the songbirds, of the manner of life of the animals that may be caught? The wilderness has yet another use.

For often it has served the lands in place of walls, having mountains stretched up to a great height, and...

What could one say of the herbs that are born in these places, which render great service to bodies that are ailing? But if the usefulness of wildernesses and mountains is so great, so abundant the supply of good things,

if you should come to the tillable land and the level plains, consider how many springs of narratives you will see.

For just as in our body some things are bones, others sinews, others flesh;

so too in the earth, some parts are mountains, others ravines, others fertile regions;

Why do I speak of the earth, so great an element? If you should wish to describe the shape of but a single tree, its use, its fruit, its leaves, its season, and all the rest, you will see the narrative is a vast one;

if you should proceed in your discourse to the position of the mountains, to all the rest, to man himself and the fashioning of his very body, here again you will find countless seas of narratives.

Let us therefore occupy ourselves with these things; from these will come to us the greatest delight, from these gain, from these an unspeakable love of wisdom.

Wherefore, making this clear as well, he added:

I will be glad and rejoice in Thee.

I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

This is no small kind of wisdom—to rejoice in God.

For he who rejoices in God, as he ought, casts out every worldly pleasure.

And what does 'I will be glad in You' mean? It means: having such a Master, this is my pleasure, this is my exultation.

If anyone knows this pleasure as it ought to be known, he perceives no other pleasure at all.

Since indeed all those other things are but names of pleasure, empty of the reality.

This is what lifts a man on high;

this is what frees the soul from the body;

this is what gives it wings toward heaven;

this is what makes a man higher than the things of this life.

For if those who love beautiful bodies perceive nothing of the affairs of life, but belong to one thing only—the sight of the beloved—

he who loves God, as one ought to love, what then will he perceive of the things of this life, whether pleasant or painful? Nothing.

Rather, he will be above all things, luxuriating in things immortal, since the One he loves is also of that nature.

For those who love other things are quickly and unwillingly turned to forgetfulness, when the things they loved perish and wither away;

but this love is boundless, unending, holding both a greater pleasure and a fuller gain;

and by this again it comforts the one who loves—by never being dissolved.

I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

This is especially the custom of one who loves.

For indeed those who love sing songs to the ones they love;

and even when they do not see them, they console themselves through song.

So too does the Prophet do;

since it is not possible to see God, he composes songs to Him, communing with Him through his songs, kindling his longing, and seeming to behold Him;

or rather, through singing and hymning he kindles longing in many.

For just as those who love speak the praises of the ones they love, and carry their names about everywhere;

so also does this one: 'I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.'

See how he has raised himself up from the earth, and hung his whole being upon that world above, dedicating himself to God.

For this reason he continually turns His name over on his lips;

for this too is the custom of one who loves.

'When my enemy is turned back, they shall be weakened and shall perish from before Your face.'

Another version: 'When my enemies are overthrown backward, having stumbled and perished from before Your face.'

And this too belongs especially to one who loves: to tell of the benefits continually, and to glory in them;

for this arises from love, and it in turn rekindles love.

And one would not err in saying that here he speaks also of spiritual enemies.

For these too are turned back, whenever they find a noble soul.

A spear that strikes home cuts through a soft object, but against one that is hard and resistant it accomplishes nothing; rather, its point is bent back and it falls off.

So indeed it happens with the soul as well.

For if the darts sent by the devil find it soft and slack, they sink into its depths;

but if they find it hard and stronger, he himself departs without effect, and has wrought nothing dreadful upon it;

and two gains come about—rather, indeed three:

for it neither harmed the soul at all, but even made it stronger, while he himself thereby became the weaker.

But observe how he proclaims the might of God.

'They shall be weakened,' he says, 'and shall perish at Thy presence.'

Again, when you hear 'presence' (or 'face'), suspect nothing bodily.

For here he signifies His working, His manifestation, and the ease of His might.

'Who looketh upon the earth, and maketh it to tremble;'

so indeed here too he says the same thing.

For His mere overseeing gaze suffices to destroy the wicked.

For if the presence of holy men makes the strength of demons feeble, much more does the presence of God.

If His lightning, when it appears, terrifies all men, consider that indestructible power of His — how it strikes terror, how it destroys the wicked.

Did you see the form of the hymns? Did you see the manner of the doxology, and how he recounts His power? And here too he teaches no small doctrine of true wisdom by saying, 'I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High.'

'When mine enemy is turned back.'

What then is this? That not only in afflictions, but also in times of relief, he remained sober.

For many, when they are humbled by misfortunes, become more diligent;

but by good fortune they grow more slothful and more careless;

which is what he says further on concerning the Jews:

'When He slew them, then they sought Him out.'

but even in prosperity he is sober and stands wide awake.

And this contributes no little to true wisdom.

'For Thou hast maintained my judgment and my cause.'

'Thou hast sat upon the throne, Thou that judgest righteousness.'

'Thou hast rebuked the nations, and the ungodly hath perished.'

'Thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever.'

See again the wisdom of the man, how he does not himself take vengeance on his enemies, but yields the retribution to God, keeping the apostolic precept:

And it is possible to see not only this, but also that he suffered these things unjustly.

For had he not suffered unjustly, God would not have taken up his cause against them.

'Thou hast sat upon the throne, Thou that judgest righteousness.'

He speaks in a more human manner, mentioning a throne and a seat.

But the phrase 'who judgest righteousness' declares what is customary to God and what is peculiar to His very being.

For in the case of men this cannot be said.

For they do not by all means judge righteousness, even were they a thousand times just, at one time being ignorant of what is right through ignorance, at another through carelessness;

but God, being free from all these, and knowing and willing it, brings forth a just verdict.

So then the phrase 'Thou hast sat upon the throne' means 'Thou didst give judgment, Thou didst take up the cause, Thou didst avenge.'

'Thou hast rebuked the nations, and the ungodly hath perished.'

Do you see how He has no need of weapons, nor of sword, nor of bows and arrows, but those things were spoken in a more human manner?

for it is enough for God to rebuke, and those who are about to be punished perish.

And that you may learn His might, hear also what follows:

'Thou hast blotted out their name for ever, and for ever and ever.'

Thou hast destroyed them root and all, Thou hast torn them up, Thou hast so utterly abolished them that even the memory of them has perished together with them.

'The swords of the enemy have failed utterly.'

What is this? That, he says, having consumed his devices and his counsels, Thou hast made him destitute of his own weapons.

For such is the wrath of God:

it makes all things vanish away and utterly destroys them.

Or, as another interpreter teaches, saying, 'Desolate ones,'

that not their cities only, but even their desert places hast thou made to vanish away, and their cities hast thou pulled down.

the righteous one waged war, and thus he cast down his adversaries, employing neither weapons nor spears, but having the aid that comes from God.

For this reason his war too was glorious and illustrious, and the victory won by main force.

'Their memorial is perished with a sound.'

What is the meaning of 'with a sound'? Either he speaks of their utter ruin, or of the far-resounding cry of their calamities.

And this too belongs to God's providential care, namely, that He does not do these things in secret, so that by the misfortunes of some others also may become better.

So then, it declares the conspicuousness of their destruction.

'And the Lord endureth for ever.'

For 'to be seated' is in many places used with reference to the permanence of His being;

as Jeremiah also shows, when he says, 'Thou that sittest for ever.'

And the Hebrew text here reads 'Iesheb.'

The prophet says this continually concerning the destruction of men, showing the unending nature of His being, and that the race of men, on the one hand, is subject to death,

but His being and His majesty, on the other hand, are without end.

And he does this by holding fear suspended over them, so that from both sides they may be trembling before Him: both because of the greatness of His glory, and because of the unending nature of His own being, and because He abides for ever, and because He ever punishes with exceeding severity.

But if it be needful also to say something according to the higher, anagogical sense, we must not decline it.

For some things it is possible even to contemplate as they stand;

but other things must be understood in this way, only as they have been spoken;

such as the saying, 'In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth;'

but other things run contrary to their literal words;

such as the saying, 'Let the hind of thy love, and the colt of thy graces, keep company with thee.'

'Let them be for thyself alone, and let no stranger share them with thee.'

'Let the fountain of thy water be for thyself alone.'

For this, if thou shouldst understand it as it stands, and shouldst not flee the word but pursue only the plain meaning, is even a matter of great inhumanity, namely, not to share even water with anyone;

but here the discourse is about a wife, that one should enjoy her with self-control, calling her a fountain of good things, and a hind, on account of the purity of the marriage union.

but in another place one must receive both the literal sense and that which is signified by it;

as is the case with the saying, 'Even as Moses lifted up the serpent.'

For this too we must believe, that it happened; for it did happen, and that which came of it was for a type of Christ.

So also here one would not err in taking the things that have been said as referring to Jewish matters.

'Thou hast sat upon the throne, O thou that judgest righteousness.'

'Thou hast rebuked the nations, and the ungodly hath perished;'

'thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever.'

'The swords of the enemy have failed for ever, and thou hast pulled down cities.'

'Their memorial is perished with a sound.'

For both the calamity of those very men who crucified Christ is manifest throughout the whole inhabited world, and their cities were pulled down, and the devices of the devil have failed, since the providential care of Christ has laid hold of all things.

But leaving these things to the studious to fit together, let us hold fast to the matters before us.

'He hath prepared his throne in judgment.'

Another translator reads, 'He hath established it for judgment.'

And He Himself shall judge the world in righteousness; He shall judge the peoples in uprightness.

Do you see how by little and little he raises up his discourse? For since he had made mention of a throne, he shows the nature of that throne, that it is composed not of wood, nor of any material substance, but of righteousness.

For it is established, he says, in righteousness.

He shall judge the world in righteousness.

He foretells both the things present and the things to come.

For the universal judgment is reserved for that other place;

but the partial judgment takes place even here.

For even now He works many things, so that those without understanding may not suppose that existing things are governed without providence.

But if not all receive their crowns here, do not marvel.

For He has prepared a day on which He is about to judge the world;

but the present time is a stadium, and a contest, and a wrestling.

For this very reason, then, not all receive according to their desert; but for those who do well the gifts are reserved in that other place, and for those who

fall away, the punishments are reserved;

but here there is forbearance and long-suffering, so that through repentance we may wash away the sins that have been committed.

Since even a murderer, so long as he is still upon the road, is master to change his course and to be delivered from punishment;

but when once he has come under the sentence of the judge, thereafter there is the sword, and the executioner, and the pits of doom.

So long as we are in this present life, it is possible for us, by changing our ways, to escape the retribution;

but once we have departed to that other place, we shall lament without avail.

For He has prepared His throne for judgment.

But if anyone should take the word, 'He has prepared,' in the sense that has been stated, he will not err;

for all things are made ready, both the things of the punishments, and the things of the crowns, and the things of the sentence.

There is no delay, nor time, nor slowness with God, seeing that the living shall in no wise anticipate those who are fallen asleep, even as Paul says, that 'We who are living, who are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede those who are fallen asleep.'

Behold the wisdom of the Prophet, how he tells of the things present, how of the things to come.

You have rebuked the nations, and the ungodly one has perished;

He has prepared His throne for judgment.

And He Himself shall judge the world in righteousness.

And this he does, so that those who are unbelieving concerning those things to come may receive the proof from the things present.

And the Lord became a refuge for the poor man.

Continually he calls himself both needy and poor, and that too, though he was in royal palaces.

But I am poor and needy.

For he knew, he clearly knew, that all human things are feebler than a shadow, and that nothing is so proper to us as virtue, but that all other things are like leaves attached from without.

For that virtue is our own is plain from this.

Wherever we go, this we carry about with us;

This therefore is more proper to us, but the other things are far off.

As, then, we call our own the man who is near to us;

so too we call this virtue more our own than riches, since it is ever near to us.

But observe for me his gratitude also, and his soul devoted to true wisdom.

For though he had horses, and armies, and ten thousand things besides, letting go all those things, he draws to himself the help from above, and ascribes his salvation to Him.

For he did not say, 'My armies became a refuge for me,' nor 'my riches,' nor 'my walls;'

but, 'The Lord became a refuge for the poor man.'

'He Himself,' he says, 'has set me in safety.'

For nothing equals this refuge, whether in respect of ease or of safety.

For all other refuges can be plotted against, nor is it possible to find them quickly and ready at hand; rather they are hindered by time and place and by a thousand circumstances.

But this one you find near at hand, if only you seek it with diligence.

For 'while you are still speaking, I will say, Behold, I am here.'

And, 'I am a God near at hand, and not a God afar off.'

We have no need, then, of running, nor of travelling abroad, but even while sitting at home it is possible to draw to ourselves this refuge.

And at one time He delivers from dangers;

at another He makes them the more illustrious and more powerful than their enemies, and both in due and fitting season.

For when those who enjoy His help remain moderate, He grants both.

But if they do not possess this virtue in a high degree, He stops at the one alone, so that they may not, by the addition of the second, fall into presumption.

And that you may learn that this often lifts a man up into presumption—Hezekiah was thereby exalted;

yet even so He did not overlook him, but since the prosperity of his victory had exalted his mind, He brought upon him the correction that came through sickness.

'A helper in opportune times, in afflictions.'

What does 'in opportune times' mean? 'In due season,' he says, 'seasonably.'

He speaks of a twofold opportuneness: both that He helps, and that He helps in season.

For here he calls affliction itself an opportune time.

...and it delivers a man from death, and above all draws down the inclination of God's favour.

Then sloth is done away with, and dissipation;

then we become more earnest in our supplications.

And just as winter is a suitable season for the tilling of the earth,

so is affliction for the tending of the soul.

For we always need His help, even when we are in prosperity;

but then most of all, when we are in afflictions.

Here he also hinted at something else:

that we too must be active.

For He helps the one who is at work.

We must not, then, lie idle, but must bring forward supplication, and almsgiving, and everything that is in our own power.

Since allies too help those who are fighting, not those who lie idle and do nothing.

If, then, you wish to enjoy God's alliance, never betray what is your own part.

Thus too was Job helped, standing firm and contending with all his strength.

Thus too were the apostles, being active.

'And let those who know Your name hope in You.'

The prophet does this continually, turning his discourse from prayer to exhortation, being a common teacher of the whole world, and setting forth the treasure of true wisdom in the midst for all.

Well did he say, 'Let those who know Your name hope.'

For those who know You, he says, and Your succour and Your alliance, possess in the hope that is set on You a sufficient anchor, a sufficient ally and an unbreakable tower, which promises not only the loosing of hardships, but also does not allow them to be thrown into confusion even while the hardships are present.

For the one who is set free from human things, and who suspends himself upon the hope from above, not only brings upon himself the swiftest deliverance from hardships, but is not even troubled or agitated in the very midst of those hardships, being helped by the hope of that anchor.

Thus indeed the three children were not only delivered from the furnace, but were not even troubled while they tarried in the furnace.

For they knew the alliance that came from God.

For this reason another too says:

'And they shall put their trust' — that is, they shall take courage and be bold.

For far greater than the security that comes from ruling power amid all its tumults is the security that comes from hope in God.

For the one is merely human, but the other is divine and invincible.

Since he had said that He became a helper, and that He became a refuge, he now shows also how this comes to pass.

How then does it come to pass? When we abide continually, hoping in Him.

But if He does not at once loose our troubles, this too is for the sake of your testing.

For just as, though able to prevent trouble from coming upon us, He allows it, that He may make us more steadfast,

so also, though able to loose it from the very outset, He delays and defers again, straining tight your firmness, and exercising your hope, and making your disposition toward Him more earnest; and He neither permits us to be always afflicted, lest we grow utterly weary, nor always to be at ease, lest we grow slack.

'For You have not forsaken those who seek You, O Lord.'

Another translator renders it: 'For You did not forsake.'

So too another says: 'Look to the generations of old and see: who ever hoped in the Lord and was put to shame? Or who ever called upon Him, and He forsook him?' And how, one asks, is God to be sought, seeing that He is everywhere? With zeal and eagerness, and with release from all the affairs of this life.

For we often have many things before our eyes and in our hands, yet do not perceive them, but go about searching for what we already possess, whenever our mind is turned toward something else.

How then is it possible to seek God? When we strain our mind toward Him there, when we free ourselves from the affairs of this life.

For the one who seeks, casting all things out of his soul, comes to that which is sought.

And it is not enough simply to seek, but one must earnestly seek out.

The one who earnestly seeks out does not seek by himself alone, but also takes others as helpers, so as to find what is sought.

But in the affairs of this life we have often sought and not found;

yet in spiritual things this cannot happen, but it is utterly necessary that the one who seeks should find.

Let us but go forth to the seeking, and God does not allow us to labor much;

'Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion.'

'Declare among the nations His doings.'

Another translator says: 'Among the peoples His devisings.'

What do you say? He whose throne is heaven and whose footstool is the earth, in whose hand are the ends of the earth — does this One dwell in Zion? Yes.

For by 'dwelling' here he does not mean being enclosed — for His majesty is boundless — but rather the closeness of relation to the place, and His being at home with respect to it, because through this condescension He drew the Jews toward Himself;

since a dwelling too is so called in our own case for this reason, because we are on intimate terms with it.

And He is said to dwell in us too, not as being contained by us, but as being on intimate terms with us.

And 'Zion,' by way of a higher spiritual sense, is called the Church.

'For you have come to Mount Zion, and to the Church of the firstborn.'

And fittingly is the Church called a mountain, because of its firmness, its steadfastness, and its unshakenness.

For just as it is impossible to move a mountain, so neither is it possible to move the Church of God.

'Declare among the nations His doings.'

He wills that they be heralds of God's benefactions, and that they never conceal His benefactions.

And this He everywhere requires, both for the sake of those who speak and for the sake of those who hear.

For there is gain both for these and for those, if they give heed.

'For He who avenges blood has remembered them.'

Do you see what he calls the 'doings'? The benefactions.

Here he also hints at a great doctrine:

namely, that murder is not a thing dared with impunity, but is by all means avenged;