Commentary on the Psalms 18

For the end, for the sons of Korah.

Another renders it: To the giver of victory, of the sons of Korah.

O clap your hands, all you nations.

Shout unto God with a voice of exultation.

Another says: Sound forth with a voice of praise.

For the Lord Most High is terrible; He is a great King over all the earth.

This psalm too keeps to the same theme, speaking of victories and the trophies won against the enemy, and calling the whole inhabited world to a song of praise for the things that have come to pass.

But perhaps to some the opening seems unworthy of an exhortation of the divine Spirit, and such a summons—clappings, and crashings, and shouts of jubilation.

For these things, someone will say, are perhaps not fitting for those who gather in this solemn school of instruction, but rather for those who busy themselves in the theatre and at banquets—the rattling and the striking of hands together;

whereas for men schooled by the grace of the Spirit, stillness and good order are becoming.

What, then, does the passage mean to show, and what does it call the shout of triumph, and what the clapping? For indeed this is customary for those drawn up in the battle-line of war and combat—I mean to raise the war-cry and to make a great din, so as to strike terror into the enemy;

but such a thing is foreign to a tranquil soul.

Yet the psalm enjoins both—to clap and to shout for joy.

What, then, is the meaning of what is said? Nothing else than this: it points to gladness and to a token of victory.

For elsewhere too the Prophet brings in the rivers as clapping;

'The rivers,' he says, 'shall clap their hands together.'

And Isaiah brings in the trees as doing this too, and this very Prophet again brings in the mountains skipping, and the hills—not that we should understand that the mountains skip, or the hills, nor that rivers clap or have hands, for that would be the utmost folly, but that we might learn the surpassing measure of the gladness.

And so one may see it likewise in the case of human beings.

And why did he not say, 'Rejoice and leap for joy,' but rather 'Clap' and 'Shout in triumph'? To indicate to us a gladness that overflows all measure.

For just as Christ, when He says, 'But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,' does not command an anointing to take place—for none of us does this—but bids us display gladness and the cheerfulness of the mind, since He commands us to fast joyfully, not with a gloomy face; so also here we have not been enjoined to clap our hands, but to take delight and to make merry as we sing psalms.

But one would do right rather to take the psalm according to its higher, anagogical sense, rising above the merely historical.

For even if it has its beginning and prelude from things perceptible to the senses, nevertheless it leads the hearer by the hand up to things intelligible and spiritual.

For what I said before, this also now I will say:

some things are to be taken as they are stated, but others in a sense opposite to what lies on the surface, as is the case with that passage:

'Wolves and lambs shall feed together.'

For surely we shall not understand it of literal wolves and lambs, nor of straw, nor of an ox and a bull, but through the image of the irrational beasts we portray the characters of human beings;

and yet other things according to a twofold interpretation, at once discerning the perceptible and receiving the intelligible;

as in the higher, anagogical reading of the son of Abraham.

For we know that the son was indeed offered up, and yet we single out something else hidden within the meaning,

And in the case of the lamb in Egypt likewise, we again portray it as the image of the Passion.

This, then, is what must be done here also.

For the word is not simply about Arabs and neighbouring peoples, but it summons all the nations.

'For the Lord Most High is terrible, a great King over all the earth.'

From the very outset, then, he rouses the hearer to so great a weight of good tidings, and to the festal assembly of the whole world, and to a certain divine and spiritual feast, and to the mystic initiation brought down from the heavens.

For this reason, then, he says, 'Clap your hands';

that is to say, rejoice, leap for joy.

For indeed the gospel word too enjoins this, saying, 'Leap for joy';

not at all commanding us to spring up and to jump about—for that is unseemly—but signifying the heightened intensity of the joy.

For indeed what has come to pass is worthy of great gladness.

For over as much land as the sun looks down upon, the gospel word has run its course, and the whole inhabited world has been saved, and those who before this were held fast in the error of the Jewish worship displayed a greater philosophy of life.

'All you nations, clap your hands.'

'Those hands,' he says, 'which before this were defiled, accursed, stained with blood day by day through unclean sacrifices—through which you slaughtered your children, and dared shameful deeds, and went even against nature herself—with these now clap your hands.'

'Shout in triumph to God with a voice of exultation.'

'With that tongue by which you tasted of accursed things, by which you uttered blasphemous words, with this same tongue now shout aloud the song of victory.'

For indeed it is the custom of armies, when the camp of the adversaries gives way, no longer to engage in hand-to-hand combat, but with a united cry and shout of triumph to shake to pieces the souls of the enemy already cast down;

which is the greatest proof of a brilliant victory and of a trophy: when the war is decided not by hands, but the shout suffices in the stead both of hands and of weapons.

The whole work, therefore, has been Christ's own doing;

for it was He Himself who broke up that grievous war, binding the strong man and plundering his goods.

And being a lover of mankind, He causes those who laboured not at all to enjoy the victory and the trophies, and He prepares them to raise the song of triumph, as though they themselves had achieved the deed and prevailed.

Wherefore we all cry aloud, not some indistinct sound, but one exceedingly clear and plain;

'O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?' And again, 'God is gone up with a shout.'

For this is what is said in this psalm.

'Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive, Thou hast received gifts among men.'

The Jews too once raised a song of triumph, when the army of the Egyptians was being drowned, saying:

But ours is far greater, for it is not the Egyptians but the demons that have been drowned;

it is not Pharaoh but the devil that has been vanquished;

it is not visible weapons that have been captured, but wickedness that has been abolished;

it was not in the Red Sea, but in the laver of regeneration;

we are not going out into the land of promise, but being brought to anchor in heaven;

we do not eat manna, but feed upon the Master's body;

we do not drink water from a rock, but blood from His side.

Clap your hands, because, delivered from stones and stocks of wood, you have surpassed the heavens, and the heaven of heavens, and have taken your stand before the very royal throne.

Shout aloud, therefore, unto God; that is, render your thanksgiving to Him, to Him the victory, to Him the trophy.

The war is not a human one, nor is the battle one perceived by the senses, nor is the contest for any of the things of this life, but for the heavens themselves and for the things in the heavens.

He Himself commanded this war as general, and imparted the victory to us.

'For the Lord is most high, terrible, a great King over all the earth.'

Where now are those who tear down the glory of the Only-begotten? Behold, the Son is called a great King, that which was said concerning the Father;

for 'Swear not,' He says, 'neither by heaven, for it is His throne;'

'nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the King.'

'The mighty God, the Ruler with authority;'

When, therefore, you hear that your Master was impaled, that He was hanged upon the cross, that He was buried, that He descended into the lower parts of the earth, do not fall away, nor be dismayed;

for He is most high, and most high by nature.

But that which is exalted by nature could never depart from its height, nor could it become lowly;

rather, even in His humiliation His height abides and is displayed.

Since even when He had died, then most of all did He show His might against death.

'The light shineth in the darkness,' it says, 'and the darkness comprehended it not;'

even so also His height was made manifest in His lowliness.

Behold Him, then, while He is in Hades, yet shaking all the heights above.

For then the sun turned away its rays, rocks were rent, the veil was torn asunder, the earth was shaken, Judas hanged himself, Pilate and his wife were struck with terror, and the very judge made his defence.

When, therefore, you hear that He was bound and scourged, be not confounded;

but behold Him displaying His might even in the bond.

He said, 'Whom seek ye?' and cast them all backward to the ground.

Did you see how terrible He is, accomplishing so much by voice alone and by a mere nod? When, therefore, you see Him dead, consider the stone being lifted away, the angels standing in fear beside the tomb, Hades being loosed, death melting away, and Him setting the prisoners free;

and then you will see His terribleness.

But if in the time of His dishonour He displayed such great things—in heaven, on earth, in Hades—what will He not display in the time of His coming that is to be? Hear what the demons say in the time of His humiliation, they who foamed at the mouth, who broke their chains, who made the road impassable:

'What have we to do with Thee, Son of God? Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?' If, then, these things happened then, when He comes and the powers of the heavens are shaken, and the sun is turned into darkness, and the moon gives not her light, what will they say? Therefore it says:

But rather, what worthy word could anyone speak in describing that Day, when He shall send forth His angels into every part of the world, when all things shall be shaken, when the earth shall quake as it renders back the deposit of the dead entrusted to it, when the countless bodies shall be raised, when the heaven shall be rolled up, folded together like some curtain that is drawn back?

When that fearful judgment-seat shall be set, when the rivers of fire shall be drawn forth, when the books shall be opened, when the things done in darkness by each one shall be brought into the midst;

when those unbearable chastisements and torments shall come, when the powers charged with threatening shall appear, when the swords are drawn, when the leadings away to Gehenna take place;

when all dignities shall be dissolved, of kings and of generals and of consuls and of governors;

when so great a host of angels shall be present, when the ranks of martyrs, of prophets, of apostles, of priests, of monks, when those unspeakable prizes, when the rewards, when the crowns, when the good things that surpass the mind? III.

What word could set this forth? For if the Prophet, when he went over the creation, grew weary and started back, saying:

'How great are Thy works, O Lord!';

and Paul, searching out a single aspect of Providence, cried aloud, saying:

what could anyone say in portraying that Day? Foreseeing all these things, the Prophet said:

'The Lord Most High is terrible, a great King over all the earth,' declaring the salvation that embraces the whole inhabited world.

Now He was indeed a great King even before this, but He was not known.

'For the world was made through Him, and the world knew Him not.'

But now He has accomplished even this, so that also according to the bond of kinship

He has become a great King toward us.

For how is He not great, who sent forth into every part of the inhabited world eleven men in number—poor fishermen, unlettered, common folk, obscure, without a city, more voiceless than fishes, wearing but a single tunic, unshod, naked—and, as though at a mere command, took captive them all? This is truly a great King;

He who cleansed the inhabited world of error, and brought back the truth in a brief span of time, and cast down the tyranny of the devil;

He who is a great King even before He has subjects, having the might of His rule not in servants, nor in outward array and robes, but in His very nature.

'For I,' He says, 'was born for this.'

He whose honour is not brought in from without, who needs nothing in order to be King, who does all things whatsoever He wills.

'For go ye,' He says, 'and make disciples of all the nations;'

and the word became a deed.

'I say unto thee, thou dumb spirit, come out of him.'

'Depart into the fire prepared for the devil.'

'Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world.'

Dost thou see His authority everywhere? Dost thou see His power? For thus did He win over those who obeyed, so as to persuade them rather to give up their very soul than to pass by the thing commanded.

For an earthly king receives his honours from his subjects themselves;

but this King bestows the honour upon His subjects.

For this reason, the one is a mere name, but the other is a reality.

A great King, who made the whole inhabited world a heaven, and prepared barbarians to pursue wisdom, and urged men to imitate the angels.

'He hath subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.'

Those who crucified Him, these He persuaded to worship Him; those who insulted Him, those who blasphemed, those who nailed Him to the wood, these He taught even to give up their souls according to what seemed good to Him.

For the great achievement was not of the apostles, but of Him who prepared the way before them, and who moved their soul.

For how could the fisherman or the tentmaker have so transformed the inhabited world, unless His words swept away all these hindrances? And driving away sorcerers and tyrants and orators and philosophers and all who withstood them, as one shakes off dust and disperses smoke, so did they sow the light of the truth—not by arms, nor by abundance of money, but using bare word alone;

or rather, the word was not bare, but mightier than any deed.

How then? They called upon the name of Him who was crucified, and death took to flight, and demons were put to flight, diseases were dissolved, the maimings of bodies were set right, wickedness was driven away, dangers vanished, and the very elements were changed.

When therefore they say to us, 'Why did He not help Himself upon the cross?' let us say this: that this was the more marvellous thing.

For it was not the same thing to come down from the cross, and, after being crucified, to raise up so many dead in His name.

For that He remained there willingly even then, He showed from the things that came afterward.

For He who cast out death when it had come upon others, could far more easily have warded it off from Himself before it came;

and He who bestowed life upon others, could far more easily have bestowed it upon Himself;

And this is precisely what He did when, after three days, He rose again out of His great abundance.

And He showed this through the things that came afterward.

For when His name, applied even to the bodies of others, is seen to possess such power that, merely being invoked, it puts death to flight, no one could doubt that in His own body also He would have displayed great power, and that He subjected death to Himself.

He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.

Observe the wisdom of the Prophet, who speaks all things with exactness.

For what the apostles said afterward—'Why do you fix your attention on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him to walk?'—this the Prophet declares from of old.

But the phrase 'under our feet' signifies that which is subjected—or rather, the great extent of the subjection.

And if you wish to learn the measure of the subjection...

For as many, it says, as were possessors of lands or houses, sold them and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them at the feet of the apostles.

But others, along with their possessions, offered up even their very souls.

'For they,' he says, 'laid down their own necks for my life.'

And writing concerning others, he said, 'that, if it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me.'

And writing to the Corinthians, Paul said:

'For behold this very thing, that you were made sorrowful according to God—what earnestness it wrought in you!'

'—but a defense, but indignation, but fear, but longing, but zeal, but avenging of wrong!'

So did they tremble at them and stand in awe of them.

And Luke again, writing, said:

'And of the rest no one dared to join himself to them, but the people magnified them.'

'What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?' (Section 4)

Do you see the authority and the power? And all these things that word accomplished which He spoke when He sent them forth, namely, 'I am with you.'

He Himself removed the hindrances, going before them;

He Himself made all things easy, and turned the difficult into the effortless.

And yet all things were full of wars, all things full of precipices and crags, and there was not even a place to set a foot, nor to stand;

all the harbors were choked up, every house was shut fast, the ears of all were stopped;

but nevertheless, as soon as they entered and spoke, they demolished all the strongholds of the enemy, so that men even offered up their very souls, and thereafter endured countless dangers for the sake of the things that had been spoken.

He chose for us His inheritance, the beauty of Jacob, which He loved.

Another translator renders it: 'The glory of Jacob.'

He subdued peoples under us and nations.

For indeed the Jews came first—first three thousand, then five thousand—and after these, the Gentiles.

For He Himself again said:

'And other sheep I have, which I must also bring, and there shall be one flock, one shepherd.'

Then, lest anyone, hearing the words 'He chose for us His inheritance for Himself,' should be perplexed and troubled and say:

'How then do the Jews now refuse to believe?'—by an added correction he resolved the difficulty.

For most assuredly, as far as His part was concerned, He chose even them, and He left out no one so far as it depended on Him.

But if you would also inquire into the outcome, hear what follows:

'The beauty of Jacob, which He loved.'

For here he seems to me to be speaking of the faithful, which is the very thing Paul made clear when he said:

'Not as though the word of God has failed;'

'for not all who are of Israel are Israel, but: In Isaac shall your seed be called;'

that is, that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise who are reckoned as the seed.

And the faithful might fittingly be called the beauty of the people.

For what is more lovely than those who have believed? And He calls the nation His inheritance, not because He ever neglected the others, but to display the intensity of His love toward them, the intimacy He grants them, and the added measure of His providence.

And that you may learn the precision of the prophet, observe how he uses the language of the multitude, which the many employ in the matter of wares for sale.

For many, often buying something, call 'beauty' those wares which surpass the rest.

Showing therefore that not all will be saved, he says, 'The beauty of Jacob.'

These things are shown also in the Gospels through countless parables.

He did not say, 'He was brought up,' but, 'He went up.'

showing that He went up with no one else leading Him by the hand, but that He Himself journeyed this road.

For Elijah, though he did not ascend so high as Christ, was carried up by another power.

For it did not belong to human nature to be able to travel a road so strange.

But the Only-begotten went up by His own authority.

For this very reason Luke too spoke thus:

He did not say, 'as He was being taken up,' nor 'as He was being carried,'

for what took place was His own going.

And if before the cross He walked upon the waters, while still clothed with a body passible and heavy, what wonder is it if, after He had taken to Himself that same body now incorruptible, He cleaved the air? But where is the 'shout of triumph'? Who shouted in triumph when He ascended? Indeed this took place in silence, and with only eleven disciples present.

Do you see that one must not take the words simply, but understand what is signified by them? For as I was saying in the preface of the psalm, that the 'shout of triumph' indicates something else—the victory, the trophy;

so then, what he here says, 'with a shout of triumph,' means this: that He ascended in victory, having overcome death, having cast down sin, having routed the demons, having driven out error, having changed all things for the better, having led our nature back to its ancient homeland—nay rather, to one far better.

For when He came, no one withstood Him—neither the tyranny of sin, nor the power of death, nor the strength of the curse, nor of corruption, nor the intensity of wickedness, nor any other such thing;

but having torn all these apart like a spider's web, and having broken up the phalanxes of demons and the sinews of the devil, and having dissolved all these, He went up, having accomplished all that He willed.

Wherefore Paul also, recounting His trophy, said:

'Having stripped off the principalities and the powers, He made a public show of them with boldness, triumphing over them in it.'

'Having blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, He also took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.'

Again he indicates the same thing, that is, in a splendid victory.

but one must understand something else—the conspicuous, the clear, the far-resounding.

And yet at that time no one knew of it when this took place; but it became so manifest as with the sounding of a trumpet—nay rather, far more so.

For that which then took place in secret, scarcely anyone of those dwelling in the inhabited world remained ignorant of it; but the very nature of the events so unveiled it, as with the sounding of a trumpet—nay rather, far more so.

For not even a sounding trumpet would have summoned all to that spectacle, as afterward the voice of the events proclaimed the ascension, making the matter manifest more mightily than any thunder.

For not even thunder would have summoned the inhabited world as did the manifestation of the events, both those who were then alive and those who should come after.

For thunder is manifest only to those present;

but this, to all generations, more brilliantly than a trumpet and more clearly than thunder, sets forth what has come to pass.

And one would not err in calling the mouths of the apostles trumpets—not trumpets of beaten bronze, but more precious than gold and more costly than precious stones.

Why then did he not say 'of a trumpet,' but 'with the voice of a trumpet'? To indicate their oneness of soul, even as Paul also says:

'Whether then it be I, or they, so we preach.'

'And the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul;'

and they sounded the trumpet, not calling to war, but proclaiming the good tidings of victory.

For just as in armies, when they go forth to war, the trumpets go before with the standards, rousing those present not by sight alone but also by hearing, so also did it happen then:

as the apostles entered each city, the trumpets sounded, and all ran to the hearing.

'Sing praises to our God, sing praises;'

'sing praises to our King, sing praises.'

'For God is King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding.'

God has reigned over the nations.

Having therefore recounted the greatness of this achievement, he calls upon the whole world to join in praise with great earnestness;

and this is why he employs repetition.

And he does not simply call them to sing psalms, but to do so with much understanding.

What does 'Sing psalms with understanding' mean? Having learned thoroughly, he says, the things that have come to pass, and having pondered the greatness of these achievements.

But to me it seems that by this saying he also hints at something further:

namely, to sing psalms not with the voice alone, but also with deeds;

not with the tongue alone, but also with one's manner of life.

'For God has reigned,' he says, 'over the nations.'

Another translator renders it, 'Over the nations.'

And what kind of kingship does he speak of here? Not that kingship which belongs to the principle of creation, but this one that belongs to reconciliation.

For even before this he reigned over all things, inasmuch as he is Maker and Creator;

but now he reigns over those who are willing and who acknowledge his grace;

which is worthy of the greatest praise and of much wonder: that he who was formerly insulted by the Jews brought about so great a transformation, that he is now sung of everywhere throughout the whole world;

and those who had neither read the prophets nor been brought up under the Law, but were even beastly in their manner, were all at once transformed, and casting away all those things of error, they submitted—not two or three or four or ten nations, but those who dwell everywhere throughout the whole world.

God sits upon his holy throne.

What does 'He sits upon a throne' mean? He reigns, he rules.

For he does not merely reign, but he also reigns in holiness.

What does 'He reigns in holiness' mean? In purity.

For men, when they come to such an office of rule, use that very power for injustice.

But that rule is untouched by any such thing, being pure and holy.

For neither deceit nor any other such thing corrupts or perverts that tribunal, but it is pure, unalloyed, flashing beyond all purity, shining forth with unutterable glory.

The rulers of the peoples were gathered together with the God of Abraham;

for the mighty ones of the earth belong to God; they were greatly exalted.

Here he shows the intensity of the Gospel, that it laid hold not only of common people, but even of those who wore the diadem and of those who sat upon the royal throne.

Then, showing that he is one and the same God of both the New and the Old, he says:

'With the God of Abraham'—that is, this very same one who is also the God of the forefathers, who also gave the Law to them.

'I will make with you a new covenant, not according to the covenant which I made with your fathers in the day when I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt'—showing that of both the New and the Old there is one and the same Lawgiver.

And Baruch again said:

'This is our God; no other shall be reckoned against him.'

'He found out every way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel who was beloved by him;'

'and after this he was seen upon the earth, and lived among men'—showing that he who gave the Law is himself the very one who was made flesh;

and he who was made flesh is himself the very one who also gave the Law.

This the prophet also declares:

'They were gathered together,' he says, 'with the God of Abraham.'

But the Hebrew, in place of 'With the God of Abraham,' has 'Em Eloi Abraham.'

And how did this come to pass? Because the mighty ones of the earth belong to God; they were greatly exalted.

And who are the mighty ones of God, if not the apostles—if all the faithful? For since their power shone forth so greatly, he says, they prevailed over all.

And well did he call them mighty.

For how were they not mighty—they who set themselves in battle array against the whole world, against the demons, against the devil, against peoples, against cities?

against nations, against tyrants, against tortures, against punishments, against frying-pans, against furnaces, against custom, against the tyranny of nature — and having overthrown all these things, and become higher than all, and been subdued by none? How are they not mighty, who even after death display so great a strength? How are they not mighty, whose words are firmer than adamant, and which no length of time has refuted, but which even increase day by day, as the gospel proclamation runs everywhere and in every place unto the utmost bounds of the inhabited world? For all these things, then, let us give thanks to Him,

because to Him belong the glory and the might, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.