Commentary on the Psalms 25

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord.

It seems to me that this opening closely follows upon the end of the psalm before it, and that they are, as it were, one continuous and connected body. For there he says, 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;'

while here he says, 'Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,' teaching the fear of God with different words but with the very same thoughts.

For there he declared him to be wise;

and this is the truly blessed thing, seeing that all other things are vanity and a shadow, and mere empty matters;

whether you speak of wealth, or of power, or of the bloom of the body, or of an abundance of possessions.

For they are like leaves that fall, and shadows that run past, and dreams that fly away.

But this is the truly blessed thing.

Then, since even demons fear Him and tremble, lest you should suppose that this alone suffices for salvation, what he did above, this same thing he does here also.

For just as there, having said, 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,' he went on to add,

'A good understanding have all they that do them,' thus making the corresponding manner of life depend upon the doctrines;

even so here too, having spoken of the fear, he does not mean only that fear which comes from mere knowledge, which even demons possess;

but he adds this also, saying, 'In His commandments he shall greatly delight.'

And this he said, requiring a life and a manner of conduct exactly ordered, and a soul devoted to wisdom.

And he did not say, 'He shall do His commandments,' but 'He shall delight in them,' seeking something further and greater.

What then is this? It is to do them with eagerness;

to be ardent lovers of them;

to pursue after their injunctions;

to love them, not for the sake of the reward laid up for them, but for the sake of Him who ordained them;

to pursue virtue with delight;

not out of fear of hell, nor from the threat of punishment, nor from the promise of the kingdom, but for the sake of Him who gave the law.

And elsewhere too he does this, he says, showing the delight which he has in the commandments of God.

'How sweet are Your words to my palate!'

This too Paul seeks after, speaking thus in a figure:

'Just as you presented your members as slaves to uncleanness and to lawlessness unto lawlessness,'

'so now present your members as slaves to righteousness unto sanctification.'

That is to say: With how much zeal, with how much desire you used to pursue wickedness, though it had no prize, but rather punishment and retribution;

Pursue virtue with such great eagerness.

Nevertheless, he declared that even this demands but a proportionate measure.

For being about to say these things, he spoke thus:

'I speak after the manner of men because of the weakness of your flesh.'

showing that we ought to display a desire for virtue not much less than the one we have displayed for vice.

For if they do not display the same virtue, what defence or pardon could those men have who do not even approach it with the same eagerness? For this very reason too this prophet said:

'In his commandments he will greatly delight.'

for he who fears him as he ought receives his ordinances with much desire.

Wherefore love toward the Lawgiver makes the law agreeable, even though it may seem to have some difficulty.

And let no one condemn my discourse if I have made use of such an illustration;

for Paul also employed it, speaking thus:

'Just as you presented your members as slaves to uncleanness, so present them as slaves to righteousness.'

So then, the man who is in love with a harlot, even though he be insulted, even though he be reviled, even though he be beaten, even though he be disgraced, even though he be cast out of his homeland and out of his patrimony, even though he lose his father's goodwill, even though he suffer other things yet harsher, bears them all with pleasure on account of his unbridled passion.

But if such men receive those things with pleasure, how much more ought we to receive with much pleasure the ordinances of God, which are full of salvation and of glory, which furnish us with much wisdom and make the soul better, and to reckon nothing in them to be difficult? For the difficulty is wont to be produced not by the nature of the commands, but by the sloth of the many.

So that if anyone should receive them with eagerness,

he will see that they are light and altogether easy.

'My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.'

And that you may learn that these things are so, and that the sloth of the many renders even easy things difficult, while diligence renders even difficult things most easy:

when the Jews were enjoying the manna, they were vexed and prayed for death;

but Paul, while wrestling with famine, rejoiced and leaped for joy.

'Our soul is utterly wearied of this manna.'

'You have brought us out to kill us, because there were no graves in Egypt.'

'I rejoice in my sufferings, and fill up in my flesh that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ.'

By what sufferings? By famine, by thirst, by nakedness, and by all the rest.

'In his commandments he will greatly delight.'

And how might this come to pass? If we both fear and love God with exactness;

if we consider the very nature of virtue itself.

For even before the other prizes, it holds its recompenses within itself.

For whenever you do not commit adultery, nor murder, consider how great a pleasure you enjoy in not being condemned by your conscience, in not being ashamed before your own household, in looking upon all men with pure eyes.

But the adulterer is not such a man; rather he trembles and is afraid of everyone, and eyes with suspicion even the very shadows. (2)

Again, the covetous man and the envious will suffer the same things.

But he who is delivered from these things experiences the opposite.

'His seed shall be mighty upon the earth.'

Scripture often uses 'seed' to mean not that which is begotten according to the sequence of nature, but that which is according to fellowship in virtue.

Wherefore Paul also, when interpreting the words 'To you will I give this land and to your seed,' said:

'For not all who are from Israel, these are Israel;'

'nor because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children;'

'but in Isaac shall your seed be called.'

And again, 'In your seed shall all the nations be blessed.'

For that it was not said concerning the Jews, the facts themselves make clear.

For those who are themselves laden with a curse, how could they become to others authors of blessing? Rather, he speaks concerning the Church, which through the fellowship of the faith is reckoned to him as seed.

Such, therefore, are the virtuous, even the children of those who fear God: 'His seed shall be mighty upon the earth.'

Why did he say, 'upon the earth'? So that he might show that even before one's departure hence, and before the experience of the good things that are yonder, they enjoy this reward.

For, as I said before, virtue possesses its recompense within itself, even before the prizes are awarded.

For that such a man had a mighty seed, and that he who is clothed with virtue is mightier than all, the apostles taught and the prophets showed.

Likewise the Lord also, making this plain concerning these matters, says:

'Whoever hears these words of mine and does them shall be likened to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock;'

'and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it did not fall;'

'for it had been founded upon the rock.'

How many uprisings of peoples, how many rages of tyrants, how many swords, how many spears, how many arrows, how many furnaces, how many teeth of wild beasts, how many precipices, how many seas, how many plots, how many false accusations, how many contrivances were raised up against the apostles!

Yet nevertheless none of these tripped them up; rather they rose higher than all these, soaring above the reeds of those who plotted against them, and transferring their persecutors into their own rank.

For nothing is mightier than virtue;

she is both firmer than rock and stronger than adamant;

just as, on the other hand, nothing is more worthless or weaker than vice, though one be clothed with countless riches, though he possess much power from without.

But if upon the earth its strength is so great, consider how great a power such men shall enjoy in the heavens.

'The generation of the upright shall be blessed.'

Do you see her shining forth, and having countless heralds and admirers and those who marvel at her?

But not simply any chance people, but the understanding.

For none of the grovelling, earth-bound sort of men will be able to discern her; but these above all will praise her, these will marvel and proclaim her aloud—those who do not have their mind perverted.

Consider, then, how great a possession it is, so that it falls short neither of the angels, nor of the apostles, nor of the great and wondrous;

for if those who extol her must be of such a kind, look and reckon how great she herself is likely to be.

'Glory and riches shall be in his house.'

Again he passes over from the things perceived by the senses to the things perceived by the mind.

For Scripture knows how to call 'riches' also that which consists in good works;

'To do good, to be rich in good works.'

For this is the true wealth, whereas that other is a bare name of riches, empty of the reality.

But if anyone should mean this latter also, not even so shall we depart from the argument.

For what could be richer even in possessions than the apostles, to whom all things flowed as from fountains? For as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought and laid the prices at the feet of the apostles.

Do you see the munificence of their wealth? They possessed the goods of all men, being freed from the anxiety of them, and being rather stewards of them than masters.

For those who had, withdrawing from the having, thus brought them to the apostles—they themselves converting them into silver and making them money, but committing the distribution to be made under the authority of those men.

For this reason Paul said:

'As having nothing, and yet possessing all things.'

For this is the marvellous thing, that being in such great wealth, they were higher than their abundance;

for the multitude of riches did not hold them fast.

This above all is wealth: to have no need of wealth.

'Glory and riches shall be in his house.'

Here, moreover, it does not even require interpretation.

For they had the glory that is from God.

And this too followed, according to the divine word which says:

'Seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.'

For what was more venerable than they? Men received them as angels of God, and bringing their possessions, laid them at their feet.

Indeed, they were more resplendent than even those who wear the royal diadem.

What king ever made his entrance with such magnificence as that with which Paul was everywhere admired—speaking abroad, undoing deaths, driving away diseases, putting demons to flight, and working such wonders even through his own garments? This man made the earth a heaven, and led all men by the hand toward virtue.

And if such things happen on earth, consider what great glory they shall enjoy in the heavens.

But what does 'In his house' mean? 'With himself,' he says.

But outward wealth is not with its possessor, since it does not even rest in safety, but lies in the hands of slanderers, in the hands of flatterers, in the hands of rulers, in the hands of household servants.

For this reason he scatters it everywhere, not daring to keep it all together in his house.

For this reason there are guards, and outer guards, and yet nothing more comes of it, since that wealth is able to slip away through everything.

'And his righteousness remains unto the age of the age.'

'His almsgiving remains unto the age of the age.'

Here he means either virtue in general, or the virtue opposed to injustice; or, as another interpreter has said, by mercy he means loving-kindness toward men.

For such is the power of almsgiving—an immortal thing, undefiled, and never able to be quenched.

But whereas all human things are torn apart and dissolved, the fruit of almsgiving remains unfading and perpetual, refuted by no adversity of the times.

For even if the body be dissolved, it is not dissolved together with this life, but journeys on ahead, preparing dwellings beforehand for him—concerning which Christ says, 'In my Father's house are many mansions.'

So that in this too it prevails over all human things—by this,

namely, its perpetuity and permanence, which none of the things of this life possesses.

For if you speak of beauty, it withers by sickness and is consumed by old age;

and if you speak of power, it is often overturned;

and if you speak of wealth, or of anything else among the splendid and conspicuous things of the present life, it either forsakes men while they yet live, or, when they die, leaves them naked and destitute.

But the fruit of righteousness is not such;

it is not consumed by time, nor cut off by death, but then all the more becomes secure, when it sails into that harbor free from storms.

'He has caused light to spring up in darkness for the upright.'

Sketching the blessedness of the one who fears God, he tells also of the things that befall him in the present life: namely, that his possessions are immortal, that he shall enjoy glory and be exalted above all, that he shall behold those who resemble him in virtue and become his children unvanquished, and that amid the difficulties of affairs he shall obtain much security.

For this is what it means: 'He has caused light to spring up in darkness for the upright.'

For to those so disposed, to those who walk uprightly, He will cause light to rise up in the midst of darkness.

What does 'in darkness' mean? Even if they fall into affliction and distress and temptation and dangers—for these he calls darkness—He will straightway make their gladness great.

This is what Paul also declared when he said:

'For we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning the affliction that came upon us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life.'

Do you see the darkness? 'But we ourselves had within ourselves the sentence of death, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great deaths.'

Do you see how the light rose up? Consider it also in the case of the three young men.

For while they expected to be burned up, they enjoyed the purest dew.

And so also in the case of Daniel and the other prophets.

But if anyone should wish to take these words according to another, higher sense, he will see that this has come to pass over the whole inhabited world.

For while darkness held land and sea, and error was poured out everywhere, from below there rose up the Sun of righteousness.

For since the men of that time, forsaking heaven, sought God upon earth, from there He appeared to them, having come down to the weak, that He might lead them up to a boundless height.

'Merciful, and compassionate, and righteous is the Lord God.'

Since he had said, 'His righteousness remains,' and had given comfort in that manner, but many of the merciful and of those who lead an upright life experience the opposite here, he introduces another consolation, saying:

'Merciful, and compassionate, and righteous is the Lord';

thereby working a twofold provision.

For if He is merciful, and often counts sinners worthy of pardon, much more will He not overlook those who do rightly, letting them depart uncrowned.

But even if He does not repay here, He will most certainly repay there.

Then he adds also the word 'Righteous':

And if He is righteous, as indeed He is, He will render to each according to his desert, even if He does not repay here.

And this above all is the greatest proof of the resurrection.

For when many of the virtuous are seen to suffer countless dreadful things, while the wicked enjoy great immunity, where shall each receive according to his desert, unless there is to be a resurrection and another life, and a judgment, and a recompense? Then, since by making mention of righteousness he had frightened the hearer, as one who would have to give account for his sins, he swiftly applies the remedy, saying:

A good man is he who has compassion and lends; he will order his affairs with judgment.

See how many rewards he sets before the man who loves his fellow men:

that his fruit abides perpetually, that he shall be delivered from trials, that he shall be a zealous imitator of God;

for God also is compassionate;

and that he shall receive forgiveness for his own sins.

For this is the meaning of, 'He will order his affairs.'

That is, he shall obtain an advocate, he shall obtain a defense; there shall be no condemnation for him then, since almsgiving shall have arranged his defense well.

But another interpreter says, 'Ordering his affairs with judgment.'

That is, he shall enjoy great prosperity; he shall suffer nothing amiss, inasmuch as he has become an excellent steward.

Whereas the man who is cruel and inhuman, and shows no mercy, is a very poor manager indeed.

For what could be more grievous than this, that when a man is about to be in peril concerning his soul, he should spare his money and neglect his soul? For this very reason Christ also commended that steward who, when he was about to be in danger, cancelled the bonds and worked a reduction of debts.

For how is it not absurd that men, when in peril in the present life, will part with all their possessions in order to buy off the danger, yet when about to be handed over to a perilous punishment, will not employ such stewardship? For this very reason he calls the merciful man a prudent steward, one who buys much for little, purchasing heaven with money, the Kingdom with a garment, the good things to come with a loaf of bread and a cup of cold water.

For what could be equal to this stewardship, when a man, by giving away things that perish and flow away and decay, receives these things that are to come and unshakable, and through them enjoys security even in the present life? For this reason he says, 'He will order his affairs with judgment.'

Or, as another says, 'Ordering his affairs with judgment.'

In what judgment, save in the day to come? Or because he shall dispose all his affairs well, and nothing among them shall be in confusion, but all shall lie in order, all proceeding in sequence and along their proper course, nothing among them disturbed or in tumult, since mercy makes everything smooth for him.

And making this even clearer, another interpreter said, 'Ordering his affairs with judgment.'

For merciful is this man who orders his own affairs with judgment;

just as the other, being unfruitful, is a poor manager.

'For he shall never be shaken.'

What is equal to this stewardship, when a man finds such a way as delivers him from unforeseen calamities, and brings him to anchor beyond the surging waves of life, so that, being a man, he endures nothing that belongs to man—or if he does endure it, is not overthrown by it? For this indeed is the marvel: that when trials are brought upon him he does not bend, nor is he tripped up.

What then? Have not many of the merciful been shaken? By no means.

For even if they became poor, and were reduced to utmost destitution, and fell into calamities, yet nonetheless they were not overthrown, because they considered the deeds they had wrought, and drew to themselves the goodwill of God and the aid from above, and had a strong and secure anchor—I mean a good conscience.

For this reason he did not say that they shall not be plotted against, but that they shall not be shaken.

And this is what Christ also said concerning that man who built upon the rock: not that he would not undergo the storm, but that even while enduring the storm he would not be overturned.

For this indeed is the marvel: when his security lies not in a freedom from trials, but when, amid the very thickness of the assaults, he remains unshaken perpetually.

For it is impossible that a soul rich in almsgiving should ever be drowned by the unpleasantness of sufferings.

'The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.'

See him teaching and instructing many, not in the time of his life only, but even after his death.

How then shall this man suffer anything grievous in his lifetime, when even in dying he becomes to others a teacher of good cheer? For that even the most unbelieving may learn that his fruit remains immortal in the heavens, he gives the proof here below;

for even when his body has been buried and committed to the earth, his memory is carried about everywhere.

Such is the power of virtue:

it yields not to time, it withers not with the multitude of days.

And this comes to pass for the salvation of the wicked.

For those righteous ones have no need of praise from men;

but those who live in wickedness have need of the encomiums bestowed on the righteous, so that from the praise given to the good deeds of others they may become more earnest, and may at length be delivered from their wickedness.

Where, then, are those who build sumptuous tombs and raise up splendid houses? Let them hear what makes a memorial that endures forever.

It is not a structure of stones, nor an enclosure of walls and towers, but the display of good works.

He sets these things down for the sake of those who are utterly without faith and who give no heed to the things to come, so that by drawing them on from things present and visible, he may lead them by the hand also toward the things to come.

And in another way too he shows that virtue, as I have often said, even before those rewards, holds its recompense within itself.

He shall not be afraid of an evil report.

Another translator renders it: He shall not be afraid of bad tidings.

Just as above he did not say that he shall not be plotted against, but that, though plotted against, he shall not be shaken;

so here too he did not say that he shall not hear an evil report, but that, though he hears it, he shall not be afraid.

And how shall he not be afraid? Even should he see war advancing, even should he see an earthquake overthrowing cities, even bandits and housebreakers carrying off everything, even barbarians overrunning the land, even a disease that threatens death, even the wrath of a judge, or anything else whatever, he is not afraid.

For he has laid up his wealth beforehand in an inviolable place; and not only does he not tremble at death's approach, but he even hastens to journey quickly to where his merchandise awaits him.

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

For if merchants of goods, having sent many cargoes home ahead of them, press forward each day to behold their own wealth,

how much more will this man, who has laid up all his abundance beforehand in the heavens, wish to be torn away from things present and to hasten toward the things to come.

Nothing, therefore, could cast him into fear.

His heart is ready to hope in the Lord.

Another translator says: His heart is firm, signifying the same thing, and interpreting the word 'ready.'

There is nothing that shakes him aside and nails him fast to the things present, but wholly and entirely he is stretched out toward God, awaiting that hope, and he stands fixed, perpetually rooted in this expectation, and is neither made soft nor distracted by any of the things present.

For such are the cares of worldly affairs: they split the mind and cut the will asunder.

It is necessary, therefore, to repeat again that word of the Gospel:

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

His heart is established, it shall not be shaken.

Do you see the one who builds his house upon the rock? For what can he fear who is stripped bare and lightly girded, and who offers no handhold to anyone? What can he fear who has God gracious and well-disposed toward him? So that from both sides his safety is secured, both from the inclination above and from the ease below;

and nothing can shake him aside, neither loss of goods, nor insults, nor false accusations.

For he has no place where he can be harmed, having removed his mooring from here to heaven, to a region untrodden by all wickedness and every plot.

For you know clearly that all plots are concerned with money and for the sake of money, and that all human striving revolves around these things.

Until he look upon his enemies. And who is the enemy of such a man, but the wicked demons and the devil himself? He has scattered abroad, he has given to the poor;

his righteousness endures forever.

For since he had made mention of almsgiving, and of lending, and of showing compassion;

and since almsgiving has many measures;

for one gives less, and another gives more;

let us see which kind he calls merciful: the one who gives out of his surplus, or the one who empties out his very substance.

It is evident that he means the one who empties out his very substance, the one who uses the matter unsparingly;

such as the one Paul seeks when he says:

He who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.

And observe how the Prophet too has made excellent use of the words.

For he did not say, He distributed, He apportioned, but, He scattered abroad, at once showing the lavishness of the giver, and naming the act a sowing.

For such are those who sow;

they scatter what is laid up in store, and give away beforehand the things that are seen, in order that they may receive the things to come.

For indeed to scatter thus is far better than to gather in.

Money is scattered abroad, and righteousness is gathered in.

The things that do not abide are scattered, that the things which abide may be gained.

This is what farmers also do.

But they do it upon uncertainties;

for it is the earth that receives the seed;

but you cast it into the hand of God, whence it is impossible for anything to be lost.

Whenever, then, you see that the gold is beautiful, and you hesitate to give it away, think of those who sow, think of those who lend, think of the merchants, who begin with outlay and expenditure, and each of these commits these things to uncertain undertakings;

for indeed both the waves and the gulfs of the earth, and the bonds of the debtors, are all uncertain.

And indeed those who have lent have often suffered the loss even in the principal itself;

but he who farms heaven fears none of these things, but can be confident both concerning the principal and concerning the interest — if indeed one ought to call such a thing interest, rather than something far greater even than the principal.

For the principal is money;

but the interest is the kingdom of heaven.

Have you seen the nature of this loan, which yields an interest far greater than the principal? And these things belong to the age to come;

but in the present life also you will enjoy great freedom.

You will possess freedom from plots, and you will quench the greed of the slanderers and the schemers;

you will live all your life in security, not being stretched out with anxieties over your possessions, but being borne aloft on the hopes of things to come.

His horn shall be exalted in glory.

That which is especially longed for by men, this he continually holds forth — the splendour and distinction — which both there shall await them, and here shall be theirs with great abundance.

For no one is so splendid and glorious as the merciful man.

And if you wish, take those who squander their own goods in vain at the horse-races and in the theatres;

bring into the midst the merciful man, and then you will see how great the fruit is for each of the two;

how this man all men applaud continually, and admire, regarding him as a common father and a harbour;

but that other man, having applauded him only on that one day out of some ill-timed and unreasoning impulse, afterwards they revile as inhuman, as cruel, as vainglorious, as a minister of licentiousness and a servant of wickedness.

But in their gatherings too, whenever such conversations arise, the expenditures of those men are branded, and their outlays are held up to reproach;

but of these merciful men there is no one so shameless and vile that, even if he were a thousand times most cruel and inhuman, he will not be a praiser and admirer.

and it is praised even by those who do not pursue it;

just as, on the contrary, vice is abominable and full of accusation even to those who pursue it.

For this reason not even those who receive from those men praise them — harlots and charioteers and dancers — but they even speak ill of them;

but this merciful man, not only the poor who have received from him, but even those who have not partaken of his generosity, all will admire and love.

The sinner shall see it, and shall be angry;

he shall gnash his teeth and melt away.

It is grievous and burdensome to vice.

For just as fire kindles the thorns, so also does loving-kindness provoke the inhuman and cruel;

for it is a reproof to them and an accusation of their vice.

But behold him, not daring even in his melting to accuse or to look back into the radiant eye of virtue, but with his mind melting away, and displaying his anguish through his teeth, yet not daring to utter a word, but melting away and consumed.

even if it should mount up to the very sceptres, and stand near those who wear the diadems, it is baser and more cowardly than all, and resembles a kind of tumult and disturbance, and a raging sea, even though it be clothed with countless power;

just as, on the contrary, virtue is the opposite.

For even if it be in the utmost poverty, even if it be beside the very prison, it is more splendid than those who reign, and enjoys great security, and sits in calm and in an unruffled harbour, not only suffering nothing at all from the wicked, but even able in its silence to requite them, and to exact the extreme penalty of their wickedness.

For what could be more wretched than a man who lives in wickedness, when, besides being a slave to money, he is also gnawed by the good deeds of others, and reckons the good repute of others to be his own punishment, and exacts the penalty from himself, tearing his own conscience, straining his own mind, becoming his own executioner? Have you seen the surpassing power of virtue? Have you seen the weakness and wretchedness of vice? But it is not in this alone that his calamity stands, but in many others as well;

which very thing he himself also, making it plain, went on to add, saying:

The desire of sinners shall perish.

What does it mean, 'The desire of sinners shall perish'? Nowhere, he says, does it stand firm.

For since the objects of his desire are of such a kind—fleeting and passing away—the desire itself imitates those things, being quenched and destroyed and having no root at all.

But if such is the lot of the sinner even here, consider how great will be his portion in the age to come.

Therefore, that we may not suffer these things, let us flee this way and choose that other one, and let us walk unceasingly upon the road that is safe, that cannot be conquered, that is full of pleasure, that is filled with glory, that procures heaven for us, that grants us God's goodwill toward all things, that prepares us for the life of true wisdom, that possesses so many good things as no words could ever set forth;

which may it be granted us all to attain, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ.