Commentary on the Psalms 47 part 2/2

Wherefore He also cast down their minds beforehand; and hail coming down destroyed many, and the sun stood still and gave length to the battle, and many such marvels took place, and the sound of trumpets, striking the towers more violently than fire, brought down the walls.

And this benefited both parties.

For those men learned that the war was not from men;

and these were trained to look toward God, and never to be high-minded over their successes, but rather to adorn themselves and to be moderate.

For to conquer in this manner adorned them more than the mere conquering itself, which also made them venerable and taught them to be moderate;

venerable, indeed, because they had such a Commander;

and moderate, because they were not puffed up over their own achievements.

And He gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance to Israel His people.

And this was the greatest wonder: not only to cast them out, but also to be able to hold fast the land and to apportion its cities;

which also afforded them much pleasure, much adornment, and much brightness.

And this too was of the power of God.

For it is no small thing to hold fast the country of one's enemies, but here too there is need of much decisive influence.

O Lord, Thy name endures unto the age, and Thy memorial unto generation and generation.

Here he breaks off the continuity of his discourse with a doxology—which is ever the custom of the saints to do.

For whenever they have begun to speak something of the wonders of God,

and are set on fire, they do not come to the end before they have glorified God for what has been said, and have praised Him, and have filled up their own longing.

Which Paul also does everywhere;

and especially in the openings of his Epistles, as when he says to the Churches of Galatia:

Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins according to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory unto the ages of the ages.

Whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the service, and the promise; whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, is the Christ, who is over all, God blessed unto the ages.

Now unto the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory unto the ages of the ages.

Thus, then, the prophet here also, having reflected upon the universal providence—the plague in Egypt, the benefits wrought in the wilderness, varied and manifold, those toward the Jews, those toward their enemies for their sakes—and being set on fire by His unspeakable loving-kindness, offered up a doxology, saying:

O Lord, Thy name endures unto the age, and Thy memorial unto generation.

That is to say, Thy glory is perpetual.

For nothing mars it, nothing interrupts it, but it is ever, and abides unchangeable, immutable, flourishing, in its full vigour.

And what is meant by, Thy memorial unto generation and generation? The remembrance, he says, concerning Thee, is endless and has no limit.

For the Lord shall judge His people, and shall be entreated concerning His servants.

Either both these things may be said concerning the people—that He will exact retribution, and afterwards will cease and will restore them;

or, dividing the sense, the phrase 'shall be entreated' refers to the people.

But the phrase 'He shall judge' is spoken concerning the enemies.

That is to say, some of them He will restore to Himself;

for this is the meaning of 'He shall be entreated.'

And 'He shall judge the enemies' means, He shall exact justice on behalf of His own.

Then, since he could not speak of any upright deeds arising from their manner of life, he makes use of these pleas of right: the name of the people, and the name of the servants.

And in saying 'He shall be entreated,' he shows the reconciliation that springs from God's love for mankind, not from any worthiness of theirs.

For where there is entreaty, there is need of pardon;

and where there is need of pardon, it is not a time for the worth of good deeds, but a season for loving-kindness.

Since, then, he had said above:

'Your memorial is to generation and generation,' and since at that time they alone of all the other nations inscribed themselves as belonging to God, he hints at something of this kind through these words, and says that 'Salvation is upon the people' displays the glory concerning You which is held among the many.

For the glory that belongs to Him by nature remains, even if there be none to worship Him, undiminished, indissoluble, unchangeable;

but the good repute among the many will be displayed also from our salvation, when we have recovered our city, the sanctuary, and the temple, and have been restored once more to our former commonwealth.

'The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of men's hands.'

Since at the outset he had said, 'But our Lord is above all the gods,' and it seemed that he was introducing a certain superiority by way of comparison, on account of the weakness of his hearers, observe how he intensifies this by his discourse.

For beginning from the power of God, and having spoken of the things in heaven, the things on earth, the things in the deeps, the things concerning the Jews, the things at home, the things abroad, the things concerning the enemies,

the things concerning the nations; then, having recalled His goodness, His love for mankind, His providential care, His wisdom, His power, and having shown that He is God over all and provides for the whole inhabited world, he next holds up to ridicule the weakness of the idol-gods, and straightway, from their very nature, employs his discourse in a manner that bears down upon them;

or rather, he even brings forward their very name as an accusation.

For an idol is nothing other than a thing feeble and worthless, and the name of an intensified weakness.

Wherefore from this point he begins, saying:

'The idols of the nations are silver and gold.'

secondly, that they are lifeless matter and mute;

thirdly, that their very being as idols—their smallness, weakness, and worthlessness—they possess not only of themselves, but also from men.

For this reason he added, 'The works of men's hands,' which is the greatest accusation against those who worship them;

namely, that though they themselves are the cause of the very existence of these things, they place in them the hopes of their salvation.

'They have a mouth, and shall not speak.'

'They have eyes, and shall not see.'

'They have ears, and shall not give ear.'

'For there is no breath in their mouth.'

'Let those who make them become like them, and all who put their trust in them.'

'They have a mouth,' he says, 'and shall not speak.'

Do you see how he heightens the mockery and exposes the deception? For since demons often set these idols in motion, he strips off the play-acting and the drama, showing that there is no breath in their mouth.

And why is it that the wicked demon does not act, nor utter a sound, apart from those idols? Because the pillars of the idols are the figures of these things—of fornication, of adultery, and of countless forms of wickedness.

Training those who are deceived, through the sight of the carved images, to imitate the deeds of which the idols are the representations, he sits close by and lodges beside them, both moving them and deceiving.

Then again he sets in motion another kind of ridicule, saying:

'Let those who make them become like them.'

Consider what sort of gods these are, likeness to whom is ranked as a curse.

But such is not the case with the things among us.

For the utmost bound of virtue, the very thing that makes us ascend to the highest summit of good things, is to be made like unto God, so far as it is possible for us.

But with those others, he says, both the worship and the gods are such that likeness to them is ranked as the uttermost curse.

So that both in that they are lifeless matter, and in that they come to be from those who worship them, and in that they are idols of shamefulness, and in that they lie there without sensation, and in that he ranked likeness to them among curses—

For through all these things the excess of their error is made manifest.

Having therefore set forth their weakness, their deceit, the wickedness of the demons, and the folly of those who fashion them, and having quickly done away with them, he brings his discourse to a close with a doxology, no longer discoursing upon the things concerning God, but as one who has clearly demonstrated his case, demanding, upon points now all agreed, the tribute of praise from those who enjoy his beneficence.

Wherefore also he calls all to give glory, speaking thus:

O house of Israel, bless the Lord.

O house of Aaron, bless the Lord.

O house of Levi, bless the Lord.

You that fear the Lord, bless the Lord.

Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, who dwells in Jerusalem.

Why, then, does he not call them all together, but divide them into orders? That you may learn how great is the difference in the blessing.

For in one way the priest blesses, in another the Levite, in another the layman, and in yet another the great body of the people.

But the very saying, 'Bless,' belongs to one who is pointing to that blessed and undefiled Nature.

For bless him, he says, because you have been delivered from your adversaries, because you have been counted worthy to worship such a God, because you have come to know the truth.

For he himself is indeed blessed, having the blessing in his very nature, and having no need of praise from others;

yet do you also bless him, not as adding anything to him, but as yourselves reaping some great benefit thereby.

For even though he is blessed by nature, as indeed he is, yet he wills also to be blessed by us.

And again he makes mention of Zion and of Jerusalem.

For since it was there that the ordering of their commonwealth had been established, and their worship had this as its seat, and from thence they were instructed and brought into good order, he wills to make those places venerable by the name of God, so that, being reverenced, they might be the more diligently esteemed by them; and being diligently esteemed, might the more draw them; and drawing them, might rivet them to worship; and riveting them, might lead them on to greater virtue, for the sake of which all these things came to be. But then it was Jerusalem and Zion; today it is heaven and the things in the heavens.

To this, then, let us also be riveted, I entreat you, that we may likewise attain to the good things to come, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory unto the ages of ages.