Commentary on the Psalms 16 part 2/3

Spare for me the young man Absalom? And when, in his early days, he was conversing with his brothers who envied him and looked askance at him because of the victory that was to come, consider how meekly he speaks, saying: Is it not but a word?

And what of Moses? Concerning those who stoned him, concerning those who sought to slay him, so far as it lay in their power — hear what he says:

'If Thou wilt forgive them their sin, forgive it;

but if not, blot me also out of the book which Thou hast written.'

And again, when others were stirring him up to jealousy and provoking him to indignation, he uttered those words full of wisdom, saying:

'Would that all the Lord's people were prophets!' And again, when his sister reviled him, how great was the supplication he offered on her behalf!

And from many other instances besides, one may behold his meekness, when, having fallen out of the land and being hindered from entering into Palestine, he yet discoursed with the Jews in all forbearance.

Yet nevertheless this meek man deemed it right that Dathan and Abiram and Korah should be swallowed up by the earth, when they rose up against the priesthood, and that the others should be burned with fire, when they offered strange fire.

And David too, that meek man, struck down Goliath, and routed the army, and won the victory.

For this above all is the mark of a meek man: to let go the wrongs done against himself, but to avenge those who are wronged;

even as Christ also did.

For, having gone up upon the cross, He said:

And again, lamenting over Jerusalem, He said:

'How often would I have gathered your children together, and ye would not!

behold, your house is left unto you desolate.'

And when He was smitten, He did not smite in return, but made His defence to him that smote Him;

and when He was called one possessed by a demon, He cast out demons;

and when He was called a deceiver and an enemy of God, He led them by the hand into the kingdom.

And He commanded His disciples to be everywhere scourged, persecuted, driven out, and to accept the lower place;

'For whosoever among you willeth to be first,' He saith, 'let him be your servant.'

And He adduced the example from His own case, saying:

'Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.'

And if He drives out demons, and wars against the devil, and destroys deceit, this too is above all a mark of meekness: to loose all wickedness, to set free those held captive, to hold back the demons that plot against us, and to deliver from their terrors those who have been assailed.

And what does it mean, 'Because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness'? He has told of the war, He has told of the battle-array, He has shown the warrior in his armour;

he now speaks also of the achievements of His kingdom, he tells the form of the trophy, he declares the nature of the victory.

For all other men who reign make war either for the sake of cities, or of riches, or out of enmity, or out of vainglory;

but He for none of these things, but because of truth, that He might plant it in the earth;

and because of meekness, that He might make meek those who were more savage than wild beasts;

and because of righteousness, that He might make righteous those who were tyrannized by lawlessness, first by grace, and secondly also by

'And Thy right hand shall guide Thee wondrously.'

Another version: 'And Thy right hand shall enlighten Thee unto terrible things.'

Another: 'And Thy right hand shall show Thee terrible things.'

Dost thou see how once more he has opened to us the dignity of Him who accomplishes such things? For just as above, having spoken of arms and sword, he ascended to the theme of beauty, and led the hearer up toward incorporeal conceptions;

so again, having descended to what is more material—the bow and the arrows—he little by little leads the hearer up once more, telling the causes of the war: truth and meekness and righteousness;

then again also the manner of the victory.

And of what sort is this? 'And Thy right hand,' he saith, 'shall guide Thee wondrously.'

And what he means is this:

The nature itself suffices for itself, the power itself suffices for itself, both to perceive what must be done and to bring them to their fulfilment.

And well did another say, 'Terrible is Thy right hand';

for very terrible are the things accomplished, and full of awe.

Death was undone, Hades was rent asunder, Paradise was opened, heaven was spread wide, demons were muzzled, the things below were mingled with the things above, God became man, man sits upon a royal throne;

the hopes of resurrection were opened, immortal expectations, the enjoyment of unutterable good things, and all the other things which He accomplished through His own coming.

For this reason he said, 'Your right hand shall guide you to these fearful things,' showing that nature and power are sufficient in themselves, he says, both to discover and to accomplish the tasks that lie before them.

Your right hand shall guide you wondrously.

That is to say: We must marvel not only at the deeds accomplished, but also that they were accomplished in a manner beyond all expectation.

For through death was death undone; through a curse was the curse abolished, and blessing bestowed;

through eating we were formerly cast out, and through eating we were brought back again.

A virgin cast us out of paradise; through a Virgin we found life eternal.

By the very things through which we were condemned, through those same things we were crowned.

Pondering these things, then, the Prophet said:

Your right hand shall guide you wondrously.

Is there any need of weapons? Any need of a broadsword, of bows and arrows? Do you see how nature, how power, is self-sufficient in itself? But behold him again, like a most excellent dancer, descending once more from lofty things to grosser matters.

Your arrows are sharpened, O mighty one.

Peoples shall fall under you, in the heart of the king's enemies.

Another translator says: The king's enemies are struck to the heart.

Observe again how, when he made mention of arrows, he added the word 'mighty,' that you might learn that he has no need of arrows, but is himself sufficient unto himself.

And the sequence of the words is this:

Your arrows are sharpened, O mighty one, in the heart of the king's enemies.

But the clause, 'Peoples shall fall under you,' is inserted in the middle.

Here, then, the interpretation seems to me to be twofold:

for either he speaks of the Jewish capture, and the enslavement of the city and its utter destruction, or, by way of a higher application, he calls the power of the word 'arrows.'

For sharper than arrows it traversed the whole inhabited world, and touched the heart of those who before this were the king's enemies, not to slay them, but to draw them to himself;

which is exactly what happened in the case of Paul.

For one would not err in calling that word an arrow, which, hurled from heaven, touched the heart of the one who before this was an enemy, and made him a friend.

Peoples shall fall under you.

Do you see the triumph of the war? The bringing near of those who before this were in rebellion? The teaching? The catechizing? For this falling down, this being 'under him,' is for all men the ground and root of exaltation.

For having freed them from senselessness and empty pride, and from the deception of the demons, he subjected them to himself.

In this way another prophet also depicts him as stained with blood, speaking thus:

Who is this that comes from Edom? The redness of his garments from Bozrah? Nowhere there are weapons, nor bows and arrows, but garments.

The saying there is more material, yet more subtle than this;

and there too, little by little, he raises the discourse toward things incorporeal.

For when the prophet asks whence come the red garments, he says:

I have trodden the winepress all alone, showing the ease of the victory, and that he had no one to work together with him, but that he was sufficient unto himself.

For just as here he says, 'Your right hand shall guide you wondrously,'

so also there: 'I have trodden the winepress all alone.'

For just as it is easy for the treader of the winepress to tread down the clusters of grapes,

so too is it for God to accomplish whatever he wills;

or rather, not even so, but far more easily still.

Your throne, O God, is unto the age of the age.

A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

Another translator renders it: 'Thy throne, O God, is everlasting,' and so on.

But the Hebrew renders the phrase 'O God, thy God' as 'Eloim, Eloach.'

What could the Jew say here? For of whom are these words spoken? And what could the heretic say? For if indeed he should claim that it is said concerning the Father, 'Thy throne, O God, is unto ages of ages,'

how then will what follows fit him?

'Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee.' For surely the Father is not the Christ, nor has He Himself been anointed.

Whence it is clear that the discourse is concerning the Only-begotten, concerning whom the foregoing words were also spoken;

which Isaiah too declared, saying, 'Of his kingdom there shall be no end.'

But perhaps someone might inquire why on earth he now discourses concerning the Godhead, having first made his discourse concerning the dispensation? Because Matthew too does likewise.

For he begins from the flesh, and opens his prologue thus:

'The book of the generation of Jesus Christ.'

In like manner also Luke and Mark;

but John alone proceeds differently.

For having first spoken concerning the Godhead, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,' and having discoursed much concerning it, then he said:

'And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.'

And though he employed the writing of his Gospel in a manner opposite to the others, yet even so he displayed a great harmony with them.

'And how,' one asks, 'could it stand to reason that there is harmony in what is opposite?' Dost thou not know that eating too is opposite to not eating, and drinking to not drinking, and giving to not giving? And often a physician does many such things, not warring against himself, but in fullest agreement with himself;

for he looks to one end, the health of the patient.

This very thing came to pass also in the case of the evangelists.

Since summer too is opposite to winter, yet it looks to one end, the ripening of the fruits and their abundance.

And the whole world is composed of contraries, yet it displays much harmony for our life.

And Christ too came in a manner opposite to John.

'For John came,' he says, 'neither eating nor drinking, and they say,'

'The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber.'

But though the things done were contrary, yet they nevertheless looked to one end, the salvation of those who were to be caught in the net.

Thus indeed this ordering also, concerning the Godhead and concerning the dispensation, though it was done by John in a manner opposite to the others, was nevertheless in fullest agreement with them.

For at the beginning, while the word had not yet been sown, it was fitting to dwell upon the discourse of the dispensation, and to train men in the teaching concerning the flesh, beginning the prologue from the grosser and more perceptible things;

but when the things of knowledge had been made firm, and men had received the preaching, then it was opportune to begin from on high.

For this reason the prophets too, whenever they discourse concerning him, make their beginning and their opening words from the dispensation.

Observe then how Micah begins from below:

'And thou, Bethlehem, land of Judah, art in no wise least among the...'

'For out of thee shall come forth for me a ruler, who shall shepherd my people Israel.'

And yet it was not the Godhead that was from Bethlehem, but the flesh.

But he did not remain in this alone, but also ascended to the Godhead, saying:

'And his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity.'

'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.'

Seest thou how this one too ascended from the flesh to the Godhead? And again elsewhere consider this very thing coming to pass:

'Unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given, and his name is called, the messenger of great counsel, wonderful counsellor, mighty God, potentate, prince of peace, father of the age to come.'

Seest thou how again, starting from a child and from the dispensation according to the flesh, as if ascending by certain steps, he takes his stand upon the Godhead? Thus also His Father was first made known from the creation.

'For his invisible things,' says Paul, 'from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.'

For this very reason He also often fashions Himself into a perceptible appearance, gradually leading up the race of men to conceptions of the incorporeal.

And why do you marvel if in matters of doctrine he thus employed this method of accommodation, when in the case of precepts and of commandments he does this very same thing? For this very reason the prophet has here so used his language, ascending from the flesh to the Godhead — for the 'lips' belong to the flesh — and again descending from the Godhead to the flesh, and by the variety of his discourse serving the salvation of those under instruction.

'Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever.'

By 'throne' here he means not a throne simply, but the kingdom.

Here he calls it eternal, but elsewhere lofty;

'For I saw,' he says, 'the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.'

And yet another prophet beholds Him sitting upon a throne of glory;

while David shows the throne to be one of lovingkindness also;

'For mercy,' he says, 'and judgment are the establishment of His throne.'

And all these things have been said concerning His kingdom: that it is without end — for this is what 'for ever and ever' means — that it is glorious, that it is exalted, that it is mighty and strong.

Again, that it is without beginning, when he says:

'Your kingdom is a kingdom of all the ages.'

As, then, the throne is a symbol of the kingdom, so also is the rod a symbol both of the kingdom and of the judicial authority.

'A rod of uprightness is the rod of Your kingdom.'

For there justice is pure, there rectitude is pure, nothing there is overshadowed.

Let those who are frenzied and deranged give ear;

or rather, those who are worse than these.

And who are these? Those who bring charges against the providence of God, and who say:

'Why has this and that come to pass thus?' For how is it not absurd that a man, sitting beside a carpenter and watching him split and saw timber, does not demand an account or a reckoning of him;

and though a physician cuts and cauterizes the flesh, and shuts the sick man up in a little room, and racks him with hunger, neither any of the bystanders nor the sufferer himself meddles with the things that are being done;

and though the pilot draws taut a rope, and slackens the sails, and again lets them out and drives the ship's side under the water, no one busies himself or meddles with each of these craftsmen, but they keep quiet and are silent, even though these men often err in their craft;

yet the unspeakable wisdom, the unspeakable lovingkindness, this boundless care — of these they make it their business to meddle and pry? And of what madness is this not the mark? And to help, and to spend money on behalf of the wronged and the needy, they would not readily choose;

but they investigate throughout: why is this man poor, why is that man destitute, why is this other one...

O wicked and foolish servant! You do not bow your head, nor condemn yourself, nor put a bridle upon your tongue, nor restrain your mind, nor, letting go this meddling in such things, turn this prying upon your own life? Peer into the deeds done by you, into the sea of your sins, and if you are curious and given to prying, demand of yourself a reckoning for the words, for the deeds, which you have spoken wickedly, which you have done wickedly;

but as it is, leaving yourself unexamined — though this negligence brings punishment, while such self-scrutiny brings salvation — you sit passing sentence upon God, and adding to your own sins.

Do you not hear the Prophet saying to Him, 'A rod of uprightness is the rod of Your kingdom'? And another again:

'His judgment shall go forth as light.'

But if you do not know all the ways of your Master with exactness, then for this very reason glorify Him, for this reason above all worship Him — because of the unspeakable greatness of His majesty, because of the incomprehensibility of His providence, because of the manifold and wise character of His care.

'You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.'

For since he had spoken above of the achievements, the victories, the trophies, the salvation of the world — that He filled it with truth, with meekness, with righteousness — showing that it was nothing improbable that these things should come to pass, he next discourses concerning the dignity of Him who accomplished them: that He is God, that He is King, that He is without end, that He is a judge who takes no bribes, that He is a lover of the just, that He is a hater of evil.

'Since He is such a one,' he says, 'therefore such things have been accomplished by Him.'

'Let no one, therefore, disbelieve,' he says.

For He who accomplished so many things both had the power and the will, and so brought them to pass.

Having, then, spoken of the lofty things of His Godhead, he again brings the discourse down to the flesh, and says:

'Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You.'

Another version says, 'For this cause He anointed You.'

That is, for having accomplished the things spoken of, he says — for casting out lawlessness, for planting righteousness, for doing the very things you did.

But do not you be troubled at hearing that these things are reckoned to the Father.

For it is not in order to deprive Him of the achievements that he says these things, but in ascribing the Son's works to the Father, even as he says that the Father's works are His own;

'For all that is Mine is Yours, and Yours is Mine.'

Since concerning the resurrection also Paul, when discoursing, says that 'God raised Him from the dead.'

Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

But what does it mean, 'The oil of gladness'? And indeed Christ was nowhere anointed with oil, but with the Holy Spirit.

For this reason he added, 'Above thy fellows.'

signifying this very thing, that no one was anointed as he was.

For there were indeed many anointed ones before him, yet not one of them in such a manner as he.

just as there were many lambs, but he was the choice one;

so also there were many sons, but he is the Only-begotten.

For all that is his is choice and surpassing, not only what pertains to his divinity, but also what pertains to the dispensation of his incarnation;

for no one was anointed with such a Spirit as this.

But if he calls it oil, do not marvel;

for being a prophet, he speaks in a more enigmatic manner.

And well did he say, 'Of gladness,' so that he might show that it is a matter of joy.

For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.

Another translator rendered it, 'With the oil of splendour.'

But the Hebrew has 'Sason,' that is, of adornment, of glory, of ornament.

And if it also means gladness, this too is true.

Therefore, just as when you hear of a sword you do not think of a sword, and when you hear of arrows and bows you do not think of bows and arrows, but rather of that operation of his which accomplished such things as I said before;

so also when you hear of oil, do not simply suppose it to be oil, but understand the anointing.

For indeed the oil was a symbol of the Spirit, and it was the Spirit that was the principal and necessary thing.

Since, then, this is so, have no hesitation in calling him Christ, for Abraham too was called an anointed one, as were the prophets, yet not all of them were anointed with oil;

'Touch not mine anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm.'

But when was Christ anointed? When the Spirit came upon him as in the form of a dove.

here he calls all the spiritual ones anointed, just as John says:

'From his fulness have we all received.'

But concerning him it is said, 'God giveth not the Spirit by measure.'

And again, 'I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh.'

But there it was not out of the Spirit, but the whole Spirit that came;

'God giveth not the Spirit by measure.'

'Myrrh and stacte and cassia from thy garments.'

Another translator rendered, 'Upon thy raiment.'

Another, 'All thy garments.'

Now some say that by these words the prophet is hinting at the tomb, while others say he is indicating the changed and distinctive character of the anointing.

For the ancient anointing oil was not composed of these perfumes, but of others.

And that you may learn that this is a different manner of anointing, by the difference of the materials he showed the difference of the operation.

And the phrase, 'From thy garments,' shows that his very garments also were full of grace.

Thus indeed the woman with the issue of blood staunched the fountains of her blood by touching the hem of his garment.

But whether this or that interpretation is to be adopted, no argument forbids;

for both are acceptable to me.

Just as, then—for nothing forbids us to say the same things again—when you hear of a bow and a sword,

and all such things, you do not hear them in a sensible, literal way;

In the same way, when you hear of myrrh and cassia, do not understand them in a sensible manner, but in a spiritual one.

'Out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad, the daughters of kings in thine honour.'

Another translator says, 'Out of the ivory temples, whence they have made thee glad, in honouring thee.'

Another renders it, 'Among thine honoured ones.'

Having told of the things he accomplished, he speaks also of the honour that followed upon his achievements;

namely, that he is destined to be worshipped in costly temples.

For in ancient times this material especially was precious, and that which was made of ivory was much sought after.

Wherefore another prophet also said:

'Woe to them that sleep upon beds of ivory.'

And he shows again that the preaching will lay hold not only of common men, but will also subdue kingdoms, and they will raise up for him costly houses.

These things are even now seen coming to pass in the events themselves.

For the prophet, wishing to show the might of the preaching, tells how it captured, how it laid hold of women, of common men, of the rich, of the very men who wear the diadems and of those who dwell with them, so that everywhere they build temples to God.

Then, since he had at length come to this theme, he weaves it out more fully, sketching those who serve and supplicate him.

And showing how the peoples fell subject, how he touched their heart, how he prevailed over the enemies, how his right hand prospered him, how he planted truth and meekness and righteousness;

and again he uses the discourse metaphorically, sketching the Church as in an image, even the things which the apostles afterwards spoke, the one saying:

'I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you a chaste virgin to Christ;'

and another, 'He that hath the bride is the bridegroom;'

and another, 'The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, who made a marriage for his son;'

these things this prophet too foretells, introducing the bride as at once also a queen;

wherefore he says, 'The queen stood at thy right hand.'

Another renders it, 'She was set up as a pillar,' that is, she stood firmly, she stood unshaken, which is what Christ says elsewhere, that 'The gates of hell shall not prevail against her.'

Do you see the excess of honour? Do you see the weight of dignity? To what a height has he raised her that was trodden under foot, that was dragged along the ground, so that she stands beside him? Have you learned to what a dignity she has ascended — she the captive, the alienated, the harlot, the accursed? She stands together with the ministering powers.

For the Son indeed, inasmuch as he is of equal honour, sits at the right hand, but she stands.

For even if she is a queen, yet she is of created substance.

'He raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.' But attend to the exactness.

He did not simply say, 'He raised us up together and made us sit together;'

For since our Head is above, he says, and we are the body, when the Head sits above, we too partake of the honour, even though we stand.

'Clothed about in vesture wrought with gold, in raiment of divers colours.'

Another renders it, 'In a diadem of gold from Ophir.'

Just as in the case of the King we do not understand bows and arrows, so in the case of the bride do not think of garments;

but through the things of sense take up thoughts befitting God.

For that no one might suspect any such thing, he went on to say:

'All the glory of the king's daughter is within.'

And yet garments are of all things the most outward, and exist for the sake of what is seen — but that is when they are bodily;

but when the discourse is about spiritual things, turn the eye of the understanding inward.

This garment the King wove, and clothed her with it through baptism.

'For as many of you,' he says, 'as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.'

For before this she was naked and unseemly, lying exposed to all that passed by on the way;

but from the time she put on this garment, she was borne up to that height, and was counted worthy of the standing at the right hand.

And well does he call it also of divers colours.

For the garment is not of a single form.

For it is not by grace alone that we are saved; there is need also of faith, and after faith, of virtue as well.

But the discourse here is not about garments.

For neither was the Spirit so concerned as to describe in detail a woman's golden garments.

For if Isaiah reproaches women who adorn themselves, and everywhere the things of luxury are cast out,

how then could he here have praised a woman for adorning herself? 'Hearken, O daughter, and behold, and incline thine ear, and forget thy people and the house of thy father.'

'And the king shall desire thy beauty.'

Another translator says, 'That he may desire.'

'For he is thy Lord.'

Another says, 'For he himself is thy Lord.'

Another says, 'And worship thou him.'

'And the daughter of Tyre shall come with gifts.'

Another says, 'And the mighty daughter shall bring gifts.'

'The rich among the people shall entreat thy favour.'

Do you see how nothing is sensible, how nothing is bodily, but all things are spiritual? For how is the bride daughter of the same one? And how is the daughter the bride? In the case of bodily things this cannot be, but this is one thing and that is another;

but in the case of God both are possible.

For he himself begat her anew through baptism, and he himself also espoused her to himself.

'Hearken, O daughter, and behold.'

He furnished her with two things: both the teaching that comes through words, and the sight that comes through miracles, and that which comes through faith;

and some things he gave, while others he promised.

'Hearken therefore to my words, behold my miracles and my works, and give heed to my exhortations.'

And observe what sort of command he issues first.

'Forget thy people and the house of thy father.'

For since he espoused her from among the nations, this is what he first commands her: to scrape off that former way of life, to put it away from her memory, to cast it out of her mind, exhorting her not only to flee from those things, but not even to remember them.

'And forget thy people and the house of thy father.'

And when he says both 'people' and 'house,' he means all the things done there among them, both their manner of life and their doctrines.

'And the king shall desire thy beauty.'

Do you see that the discourse is not about bodily beauty?

For if you do these things, then you shall be beautiful, then the king shall desire your beauty.

And yet these things do not produce bodily beauty.

For indeed among unbelievers too we see bodily beauty, and comely women who are Greeks.

That the discourse is not about bodily beauty, he shows by saying that this beauty is constituted out of her obedience;

and obedience does not constitute bodily beauty, but the beauty of the soul.

For if you do these things, he says, then you shall be beautiful, then beloved of the Bridegroom.

'For he is thy Lord.'

Behold, he has been revealed as Father and Bridegroom and Master.

For since he commanded her to withdraw,

to forsake her fathers, to forget her peoples, to cast out the old custom, he shows that the justice of these commands is very great, and that the consequence of the argument is compelling, and that this ought indeed to come to pass.

For if he himself is thy father, and he himself the bridegroom, and he himself the lord, it would be just that, having withdrawn from all those, you should dedicate yourself to him.

And he did not say, 'For he is thy father';

But rather, 'Because He Himself is thy Lord,' that by this above all He might win her over.

For He who is thy Lord and Master and Father chose also to become thy Bridegroom.

Nay rather, this very fact of His becoming Lord is itself a mark of great solicitude and love for mankind—that He should choose for Himself as His own her who had been the slave of demons and trodden underfoot by error.

And He made her not only a slave, but also a daughter and a bride.

'Forget thine own people, and thy father's house.'

For thou art not coming to some stranger, but to Him who made thee, who is nearer to thee than all those others, and who cares for thee and takes thought of thee.

For He Himself is thy Lord and Father, and He Himself has given thee all things.

'And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with gifts.'

What is this sequence of thought? A most excellent one.

For this is the greatest kind of exhortation.

For great indeed is His strength;

and all shall be obedient to Him.