Commentary on the Psalms 26

Praise the Lord, O ye servants; praise the name of the Lord.

Much is the discourse concerning these praises in the Scriptures;

for it is no ordinary matter, but a kind of sacrifice and offering pleasing to God;

for 'A sacrifice of praise,' he says, 'shall glorify me.'

'I will praise the name of my God with a song; I will magnify Him with praise;'

'and this shall please God better than a young bullock that has horns and hoofs.'

And in many places the sacred Books exhort to this, and those who are saved offer it in place of great thank-offerings.

'And what difficulty does this have?' someone says.

'For whom is it not easy, even among ordinary folk, to accomplish this and to praise God?' If you examine it carefully, you will see both the labor there is in the matter and the gain that comes from it.

For, in the first place, such a hymn is sought from the righteous, and one must first set one's life aright, and so sing hymns to God.

For 'praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner.'

In the second place, because it is possible to praise not by words only, but also by deeds; and this praise, this glory, God seeks above all.

For 'Let your light,' He says, 'so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.'

For this reason the prophet also, having heard that mystical melody, counts himself wretched, saying:

'Woe is me, for being a man and having unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people that has unclean lips.'

For this reason too, when exhorting men to offer up praises, he begins from the powers above, speaking thus:

'Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him, all His hosts.'

So that one must become an angel, and so give praise.

Let us not, then, suppose this praise to be a simple thing;

but before our mouth, let our life resound His praise, and before our tongue, let our manner of living cry aloud.

Thus even in silence we are able to hymn God;

and thus, when we do give utterance, we shall produce a melody in harmony with our life.

And this is not the only thing one may observe from the psalm, but also that it leads all into concord and sets up a complete choir.

For he does not address one or two, but a whole people.

And just as Christ, leading us into concord and love, in prayers enjoined us to make our prayer in common, and to say, as from one person on behalf of the whole Church, 'Our Father';

and, 'Give us this day our daily bread';

and, 'Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive';

and, 'Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One';

everywhere employing the plural form of the noun, and commanding each single person, whether he prays by himself or in common, to offer up prayer also on behalf of the brethren;

so too the Prophet calls all in common into the concord of prayer, and says:

What, then, is the purpose of the addition of the name? Chiefly it is indicative of the disposition of the one who speaks;

but it also hints at something else.

And what is this? That His name may be glorified through us, that He may be shown to be worthy of praise through our life also;

for He wills that this praise shine forth through our manner of life as well.

And that you may learn that this is so, observe what follows:

For he adds, saying, 'Let the name of the Lord be blessed, from this time forth and for evermore.'

What are you saying? Is it not blessed unless you pray? Do you see that he is not speaking of the blessedness which belongs to God, and which is inherent in His very nature, but of that which comes about through men? Of this too Paul speaks when he writes:

'Glorify God in your body and in your spirit.'

He, then, is Himself both exalted and great and worthy of praise in His own right;

yet He becomes such also among men, whenever those who serve Him display a manner of life such that all who behold them bless the Master.

This too Christ commanded us always to say in the prayer as we pray:

that is, let it be glorified also through our manner of life.

For just as He is blasphemed when we live wickedly, so He is glorified and blessed and hallowed when we are diligent in virtue.

What he means, then, is this:

Ever count us worthy to live a virtuous life, so that Your name may be blessed through us also.

'From the rising of the sun even unto its setting, the name of the Lord is worthy of praise.'

Do you see how he is already sounding beforehand the note of the new commonwealth, and opening a little the nobility of the Church? For it is no longer in Palestine, nor in Judea, but everywhere throughout the inhabited world.

And when did this come to pass, if not when our affairs came into flower? For in old times, in Palestine, His name was not only not blessed, but was even blasphemed because of the Jews who dwelt in it.

'For because of you,' He says, 'My name is blasphemed among the nations.'

But now it is celebrated in song everywhere throughout the inhabited world.

This too another prophet declared, saying:

'The Lord shall appear, and shall utterly destroy all the gods of the nations, and they shall worship Him, every one from his own place.'

'Because among you also the doors shall be shut, and My altar shall not be kindled for nothing;'

'for from the rising of the sun even unto its setting My name has been glorified among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to My name, and a pure sacrifice.'

Do you see how he has laid low and brought to an end the Jewish observances, and has extended the polity of the Church everywhere throughout the inhabited world, and has proclaimed beforehand a new worship? For he who says these things

prophet who says these things lives after the return from Babylon;

and for this reason he prophesied these things at that time, so that the Jews might not say that he was speaking of that shutting-up and that desolation which happened in Babylon.

For after those things had been undone, and they had returned to their former polity, the angel says these things, signifying the desolation that came about under Vespasian and Titus, after which there would no longer be any change from that desolation.

For the affairs of the Church succeeded in their place.

Therefore he says, 'Great is My name among the nations,' that is, blessed, praised through their manner of life;

just as here also he said, 'Blessed be the name of the Lord.'

'The Lord is high above all the nations.'

Do you see again the nations receiving His worship, and not merely one and two and three, but all those throughout the inhabited world? What could be clearer than this prophecy? But how is He 'high above all the nations'? Is it that we magnify Him by adding height to Him? Away with the thought!

but by our doctrines, our worship, our adoration, and all the rest, conceiving nothing lowly, as the Jews did, but things far higher and greater.

For such is this polity;

as far as heaven is higher than the earth, so far is this one higher than the old.

'The Lord is high above all the nations.'

For indeed, together with our exalting Him through worship, we also know this, that even these things are a condescension.

So that, even if these things are higher than those in the old covenant, yet they fall short of His worthiness.

This too Paul declared, and, setting forth the difference between the two kinds of knowledge—both that which now prevails and that which shall be hereafter in the age to come—he said:

'When I was a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned as a child;'

'but when I became a man, I put away the things of the child.'

'We know in part, and we prophesy in part.'

And, 'Now we see through a mirror, in a riddle, but then face to face.'

For by this he shows that this present knowledge is as far removed from that which is to come as the child is from the man who has attained to full stature.

His glory is above the heavens.

For since he had discoursed concerning the praise and the exaltation that comes about through the manner of human life, and had exhorted men thus to exalt God, thus to praise him, thus to magnify him, urging them on to a greater virtue, he now shows where this comes to pass most of all.

Where, then, does this come to pass? In the heavens.

For there is his glory.

For it is above all the angels who glorify him, not only from their own nature, but also from the obedience of the men whom they serve; for they accomplish his will and his commands with exactness.

Mighty in strength, doing his word.

Wherefore also in the Gospels Christ commanded us to pray and to say:

Thy will be done, as in heaven, so also upon the earth.

That is to say, just as the angels sanctify him, being freed from all wickedness and pursuing virtue with exactness,

so may we also be counted worthy to sanctify him.

This same thing this prophet also declares, when he adds:

His glory is above the heavens.

For do not merely look upon these visible creatures on the earth, nor upon the good order in the heaven, but ascend with your mind from the things perceived by the senses to the things perceived by the intellect, to the beauties of those spiritual beings, to the radiance of that heavenly commonwealth;

and then you will know how his glory is in the heavens.

Who is like the Lord our God, who dwells on high, and looks upon the lowly things? Does not what has been said seem to be a great thing? But when you consider concerning whom it is said, it will appear exceedingly deficient.

Thus, as I was saying, one must not stop short at the mere words, but ascend with the understanding.

For how does he dwell in the heavens, he who fills heaven and earth, who is present everywhere, who says:

I am a God who is near, and not a God from afar off;

He who measured the heaven with a span, and the earth with the hollow of his hand;

he who holds the circle of the earth? But since his discourse was addressed to Jews, on this account he for the time being uses language in this way, little by little

raising up their understanding, and giving wings to their mind, and lifting it up gently.

For this very reason he did not simply say, He who dwells on high, and looks upon the lowly things;

but first having said, Who is like the Lord our God? then he added, He who dwells on high, and looks upon the lowly things;

and he said the former in order to make clear for what reason he said the latter.

For because of the Jewish weakness, which was scared into a flutter over idols, and worshipped as gods those things which were shut up in places and temples,

for this reason he makes the comparison little by little, and yet God incomparably surpasses all things;

but with a view to the weakness of the hearers, which is the very thing I said before—for I shall not cease saying the same thing continually—he tempers his language.

For he was not seeking to say for the time being something worthy of the glory of God, but rather that it might become containable for those men.

For this reason he leads them up little by little, and yet not even so does he remain in the lowly manner, but again opens up other, more lofty thoughts.

For since he had said, He who dwells on high, and looks upon the lowly things, again leading his discourse to what is more lofty, he says:

In the heaven and on the earth;

showing that he is everywhere, both there and here.

For not as one shut up in heaven does he look from afar upon the things on the earth, but he is present everywhere, and stands beside all things.

Do you see how little by little he gives wings to the understanding of the hearers? Then, having raised the hearer up from the earth and fastened him to heaven, and having again prepared him to imagine something greater, he passes on to another proof of his power, saying:

He who raises up the poor man from the earth, and lifts up the needy from the dunghill.

For it belongs to a great power, and one exceedingly unspeakable, even to exalt the lowly things.

Elsewhere, however, he sets down also the opposite;

namely, that he also brings low the great things, speaking thus:

Turning destruction into strength, and bringing misery upon a stronghold.

Here, at any rate, it has been said that he is able to exalt the lowly.

The saying is, therefore, of a general and universal application.

But if anyone should wish to take it also in a higher, anagogical sense, he will see this fulfilled among the nations; he will see it fulfilled in our own human race at the coming of Christ.

For what is poorer than our nature? Yet nevertheless He raised it up and led it aloft, together with the first-fruits of our race, into heaven, and made it to sit with Himself upon the Father's throne.

'And lifting up the needy from the dunghill.'

'That He may set him with princes, with the princes of His people.'

By 'dunghill' here he means what is worthless and mean, and the sudden transformation that comes from thence, showing that all things are easy and effortless to Him.

Then he passes on to something yet greater.

And what is this? That He is able not merely to transpose circumstances, nor only to change lowliness into dignity, but even to alter the very bounds of nature itself, and to make the barren woman a mother.

'He who makes the barren woman to dwell in a house, a mother rejoicing over her children.'

Which is exactly what happened in the case of Hannah, and what happened in the case of countless others.

Do you see a hymn brought to perfection? Do you see a hymn made complete? He told of the things that were to be accomplished throughout the world: how Judaism was destined to cease, how the new commonwealth of the Church would shine forth, how sacrifice would be offered everywhere.

Then, to make his message worthy of belief even to the duller sort, he confirms what concerns the future from the things that are already coming to pass.

Do not disbelieve, O man, that so great a transformation shall come to pass, and that the nations which were cast off shall come into the greatest glory.

Do you not see these things happening day by day? the lowly being exalted, and seated with princes? Do you not see nature being restored and set right, barren women becoming mothers? Something of this same kind has come to pass concerning the Church also.

she was barren, but she became the mother of many children.

'Rejoice, O barren woman that dost not bear;'

'break forth and cry aloud, thou that dost not travail;'

'for the children of the desolate are more than of her that hath a husband.'

foretelling that this too would come to pass in the case of the Church.

For this very reason he too here brought his discourse to a close, having shown the prophecy to be worthy of belief on this ground also, namely from the things that have already come to pass, and from His greatness.

For all things whatsoever it seems good to God to do, are easy for Him to accomplish.

For He is able both to alter nature, and to change lowliness into loftiness, and to set characters right.

Knowing therefore all these things, let us contribute what is ours, and we shall enjoy all glory, and shall ascend to unspeakable heights, enjoying the inclining favor of God;

to whom be the glory and the might, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.