Commentary on the Psalms 28

'I have loved, because the Lord will hearken to the voice of my supplication.'

And who does not love when he is heard? he says.

Many of the men absorbed in worldly affairs—

For indeed they are not willing to hear those things which are profitable for them, but they demand that things not profitable for them should come to pass;

then, when it comes about, they are distressed and impatient.

For the truly profitable things are those which God knows and understands to be profitable for us, whether you name poverty, or famine, or sickness, or anything else of the kind.

But the things which God approves as profitable and bestows—these are the things that are advantageous.

Since in Paul's case too, hear what he says:

'for my strength is made perfect in weakness.'

For this was profitable for him: persecutions, and afflictions, and distresses.

And having heard that this was profitable, he said:

'Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in reproaches, in persecutions.'

So then, it is not for ordinary men to rejoice when God hearkens to them, providing the things that are profitable.

For many, indeed, desire the things that are unprofitable, and take delight in these;

but the Prophet is not so—rather, what? He loved, because God hearkened to him, giving the things that are profitable.

'Because he has inclined his ear unto me.'

Again, by human expressions he sets forth the assent of God.

And he hints at yet another thing by this saying, when he says that: 'It is not I who was worthy to be heard, but He Himself came down to me.'

'And in my days will I call upon Him.'

What is the meaning of 'In my days'? Not because I was heard, he says, will I leap away and become more negligent, but I will make this my task all my days.

The pangs of death encompassed me, the perils of hell found me;

and I called upon the name of the Lord.

Do you see a mighty weapon? Do you see a consolation that dissolves every terror? Do you see a soul set aglow with

longing for the Master? And what he says is this:

To be delivered from the evils that beset me, it sufficed me to call upon God.

Why then do we often call, and yet are not delivered from our troubles? Because we do not call as we ought to call.

For that he is always ready to give, hear what he says in the Gospels:

Which of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone;

or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,

how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him.

Do you see how great his goodness is, when our own wickedness, set beside his, appears as it is? Since then our Master is such a one, let us always take refuge in him, and call upon him alone as our helper, and we shall find him ready to save.

For if those who have fallen into shipwreck, and are borne along upon a plank, by calling straightway to men afar off persuade them to show kindness—though these have nothing in common with them, but are known only by their calamity—

how much more will he who loves mankind, and has kindness as his very nature, rescue those in calamities, if only they be willing to take refuge in him, and to call upon him with a sincere mind, having laid aside all human hopes.

Therefore, when you fall into some unlooked-for evil, do not sink down, but at once lift up your resolve, and run to the waveless harbour and the unconquerable tower—the help of God.

For this very reason he allowed you to fall into it, that you might call upon him.

But most people, being then above all cast down, even throw away the reverence they had, when they ought to do the very opposite.

For because he loves us exceedingly, therefore he permits us to be afflicted, that we may be joined to him more closely.

For indeed mothers too, by frightening their unruly children with various masks, compel them to flee to their own bosom—not wishing to grieve them, but contriving to keep them near.

So also God, ever wishing to join us to himself, like some ardent lover—or rather more ardent than any lover—allows you to be brought into such needs, that you may continually give yourself to prayer, and continually call upon him, and, leaving off other things, may be concerned with what is his.

O Lord, deliver my soul.

I beseech you, O Lord, rescue my soul.

O Lord indeed, preserve my soul.

Do you see a philosophic soul? How, having left aside all the affairs of life, it seeks one thing only—that the soul may remain unharmed, and suffer nothing of the things that injure it? For when this is well disposed, all the rest will follow; just as, when it is not well, the rest of our prosperity is of no benefit to us.

Therefore we ought to do and say all things, so that this may be kept safe.

For this is what he hints at when he says:

Be wise as serpents.

For just as the serpent gives up the rest of its body in order to save its head,

so also you ought to surrender all other things for the salvation of the soul.

For neither poverty, nor sickness, nor that which seems to be the head of all terrors—death itself—will be able to harm the one who has fallen into them, so long as the soul is preserved;

just as, on the other hand, you will have no further gain from life, if the soul has perished and been corrupted.

For this reason he makes his plea on its behalf, leaving aside all other things, and asks that the accounts rendered may be gentle toward it, and that it may be delivered from the unbearable punishments.

The Lord is merciful and righteous, and our God shows mercy.

Do you see how he trains the hearer neither to despair nor to be cast down? For he all but says this:

Do not be cast down, for he is also righteous.

Of the one, then, he cuts off the slothfulness;

and of the other, he does away with the despair, procuring our salvation from both sides.

Then, showing that he is more inclined toward loving-kindness, he adds again, saying:

Our God—in contrast to the gods which he mentioned earlier.

For to those it belongs to slaughter and to destroy, and to wage truceless war;

but to this One it belongs to show loving-kindness, and to pardon, and continually to snatch men out of dangers.

These things above all, together with the rest, prove that the demons are indeed evildoers, while He is a guardian and protector and the true God.

The Lord preserves the little ones.

I was brought low, and He saved me.

Here he stirs up a very great instance of His providence.

Gracious is He and righteous, and He shows mercy; this he sets forth as a work of His very great love for mankind.

And what is this? It is the case of the little ones.

For we possess reason to teach us both what things to guard against and what to choose, to ward off the evils that come upon us and to dissolve those that are present; we are endowed with strength, and we understand the arts.

But little children are bereft of all these things, as being without any protector;

yet through everything they enjoy the providence of God, and if they did not continually partake of it, they would all have perished.

For a serpent might have destroyed the child while it was still in its swaddling-clothes, or a household bird, and many other creeping things among those that dwell in the houses.

For neither a nurse, nor a mother, nor anyone else is sufficient to display a complete providence over them, unless the child enjoys the impulse from above.

But some say that this saying was spoken even concerning the unborn and those who have not yet come forth from the womb.

I was brought low, and He saved me.

He did not permit me to fall into dangers;

but rather, after I had fallen in, He brought me safely through.

For after he had spoken of His universal providence, he also carries the discourse forward in his own person, as is his custom to establish these things both from what is universal and from what is particular.

Therefore do not you either seek a life full of freedom from care;

for it is not profitable to you.

For if it was not expedient for the prophets, much more is it not so for you.

For that it was not expedient, hear what he says:

It is good for me that You have brought me low, that I may learn Your statutes.

The thanksgiving here is twofold: that He permitted me to fall into dangers, and that, having fallen in, He did not abandon me.

Both are in some way a kind of benefit, and the former is not less than the latter, but—if one must say something marvelous—it is even greater.

For the one dissolved the dangers, while the other rendered the soul more given to true wisdom.

Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

For He has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling.

I shall be well-pleasing before the Lord in the land of the living.

Now the literal sense of the passage speaks of a dreadful deliverance, and a certain relief and freedom.

But if one should take it in an anagogical sense, he will be able to call the departure hence a redemption, and to name this a rest.

For it is a deliverance from all the unexpected terrors.

And henceforth he is no longer subject to uncertainty, being placed in security—he who has departed this life with good hope.

For even though death was brought in from sin, yet nevertheless God has used it for our benefit.

For this very reason He was not content with that alone, but also made life full of toil, that you might learn that He would not have permitted even the former, unless this had come to pass as something exceedingly useful according to His wisdom.

In the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die: He was not content with that penalty;

for this was the penalty:

You are dust, and to dust you shall return;

but now He also shows another thing, saying:

In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread.

Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you;

Multiplying I will multiply your sorrows and your groaning.

For that alone was not sufficient to bring them to their senses.

At any rate, we see many who become better chiefly by this means.

For death, once it has come upon a man, delivers him over to insensibility;

but these things make men better while they yet live.

And if the matter seems to be fearful, that is owing to our weakness.

That the fear indeed came from weakness, hear Paul, who both prays for this and rejoices in it, as when he says:

To depart and to be with Christ is far better;

I rejoice, and I rejoice together with you all;

and in the same way you also rejoice, and rejoice together with me;

while over the contrary things he grieves.

For not only so, he says, but we ourselves also groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

We who are in this tabernacle groan, being burdened.

Do you see how great a good is true philosophy? The things which to others seem worthy of tears, to this man are matter for prayer;

and the things which to others are worthy of gladness and pleasure, to this man are matter for groaning.

Or is it not worthy of groaning, to be in a foreign land and to dwell far off from our own fatherland? And is it not worthy of gladness, to run swiftly to the calm harbour and to receive the city above, whence pain and sorrow and groaning have fled away? And what has this to do with me, the sinner? one says. Do you see that it is not death that causes the grief, but the evil conscience? Cease, then, from being a sinner, and death shall become to you an object of longing.

My eyes from tears.

for there is no sorrow there, nor despondency, nor lamentation.

And my feet from stumbling.

This is greater than the former.

How so? Because we are not only delivered from sorrow, but also from being tripped up and plotted against.

For he who has departed with good deeds stands upon the rock;

thenceforth all the hindrances have been done away;

nowhere is there any tumult, nor disturbance;

but such a one abides in perpetual good repute, having departed hence.

I will be well-pleasing before the Lord in the land of the living.

This Paul also shows, saying:

And we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

And well did he say, In the land of the living.

For that is truly life, freed from death, having its blessings unmixed.

When he shall have abolished, he says, all rule and all authority and power, the last enemy that is abolished is death.

And when these have been abolished, none of the grievous things remains, neither care nor toil;

so that all is joy, all is peace, all is love, all is good cheer, and all is gladness, all is true and pure and firmly established;

for there is none of such stumblings there, no anger, no sorrow, no love of money, no desire of bodies, no poverty, no wealth, no dishonour, nor anything else of the kind.

Let us therefore also long for this life, and let us do all things with a view to this.

For this reason also in the prayer we are commanded to say, Thy kingdom come, that we may ever look toward that day.

For he who is possessed by that love, and is nourished by the hope of those good things, is overwhelmed by none of the present terrors, and is dragged down by none of the sorrows here;

but just as those who travel toward a royal city are held back by none of the things beside the road, neither by meadows, nor by gardens, nor by ravines, nor by wildernesses, but disregarding both alike, they look toward one thing only, the fatherland that awaits them;

so also he who every day fashions for himself in imagination that city, and nourishes the longing for it, will regard none of the terrible things as terrible, nor any of the bright and splendid things as bright and splendid.

What am I saying, that he will not so regard them? Nay, he will not even see these things, having acquired other eyes;

such eyes as Paul bade us have, saying:

For we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen;

for the things which are seen are temporal,

but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Do you see how, by another expression, he has set forth the way? Let us therefore lay hold of those things, that we may attain them, and may enjoy the incorruptible life;

which may it be granted to us all to attain, by the grace and

the loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the might, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.