Commentary on the Psalms 54

'With my voice I cried unto the Lord; with my voice I made supplication unto the Lord.'

Do you see how everywhere he does this, and begins his prelude from this very opening, and here for the second time says, 'With my voice, with my voice'? Yet he does this not without purpose, but so as to teach us these two things through the doubling: both the vigor of his eagerness and the intensity of his understanding.

And in addition to these, that the voice was truly his own.

For not all cry out with the voice, nor to God, nor with their own voice.

But all these things must come together.

He who cries out against his enemies utters not the voice of a man, but of a wild beast and a serpent.

He who is slothful and does not hear what he says cries out not to God, but merely speaks aimlessly and at random.

He who does not rouse his understanding, even though he shout aloud, this man too does not cry out; for 'voice,' as I have often said before, does not signify the strain of the breath, but the intensity of the understanding.

But he gathers these three things and shows that he cries both with the voice, and to God, and with his own voice.

For this reason he says it a second time: 'With my voice, and with my voice.'

'I will pour out my supplication before Him; I will declare my affliction before Him.'

Do you see a soul set free from the cares of this life? For he did not flee to men, nor did he seek out any alliance from them, but he turned to the invincible help and the succor from on high.

Then, wishing to make plain through this word the intensity of his understanding and the warmth that lay stored up within him, he says, 'I will pour out'—with great abundance.

From this we learn that afflictions too contribute in no small measure toward the practice of true wisdom.

for this is the fruit of affliction.

Let no one therefore flee from it.

For it has these two gains:

one, that it makes us more diligent and more attentive;

and another, that it becomes for us no small plea toward being heard.

Therefore he himself did not say, 'My righteousness,' nor 'My good deeds,' but 'My affliction,' as though this too were no small advocacy on his behalf.

For this reason Isaiah also says, 'Comfort my people, O priests;'

'speak to the heart of Jerusalem, for she has received from the hand of the Lord double for her sins.'

'Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved.'

And writing to the Corinthians, he said:

'For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and a considerable number sleep.'

'For if we judged ourselves, we should not be judged.'

'But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.'

And Abraham said to the rich man:

'You received your good things in your lifetime, and Lazarus likewise his evil things;'

'and now he is comforted here, while you are in anguish.'

And David too, when Shimei cursed him, said:

'Let him alone, and let him curse me, for the Lord has bidden him, that He may look upon my humiliation.'

And everywhere in the Scriptures we shall find that those who bear their afflictions with thanksgiving not only have many of their sins dissolved, but also gain thereby no small boldness toward God.

'When my spirit was failing within me, then You knew my paths.'

It is precisely when the fainthearted among men fall away,

and many even utter blasphemous words, that this man most of all practices true wisdom, having affliction as the teacher of his diligence.

When therefore you see someone despairing because of affliction, or uttering some bitter word, do not consider the affliction to be the cause, but the faintheartedness of the one who speaks such things.

For the nature of affliction is wont to produce the opposite things: attentiveness, contrition of understanding, an intent resolve, an increase of reverence.

'Affliction works patience, and patience proof.'

But if the Jews, when afflicted, murmured, the words of their murmuring belonged not to the affliction, but to their own folly;

since the saints, when afflicted, became more radiant and more given to true wisdom.

Wherefore this very man himself also said:

It is good for me, O Lord, that Thou hast humbled me, that I might learn Thy statutes.

And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me.

Concerning this I besought the Lord thrice, and He said to me:

For My power is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore I take pleasure in afflictions, in weaknesses, in persecutions.

For when I am weak, then am I strong.

Do you see how this man too was rather roused up in his affliction, and fled for refuge to God, and clung to Him the more mightily with great vehemence, even in the very depth of his troubles? For this is what is meant by, 'When my spirit was failing within me' — and how then most of all he became more earnest? And as for the words, 'Thou hast known my paths,' another interpreter has rendered it, 'For Thou knowest.'

In the way wherein I walked they have hidden a snare for me.

I looked upon my right hand, and beheld,

and there was no one that would recognize me.

Here he shows the heightening of the calamity and the terrors that were increasing, and the plots of his enemies — how they drew near and came closer, seeking to trip him up;

and what was yet more grievous, that not only had he no helpers or allies, but they did not even recognize him.

This is the intensity of the desolation, the excess of the estrangement;

for it belongs to few to be present in calamities and to help, and most of all when the calamities threaten dangers.

But this not only did him no harm, but even benefited him the more, drawing him into intimacy with God.

You too, therefore, beloved, when you see the terrors increasing, do not sink down, but be the more vigilant.

For it is on this account that God permits them to be raised up, that He may shake off your sloth, that He may rouse you from your slumber.

For then all things superfluous are cut away, then all worldly things are blown off, then a man becomes more earnest in prayer, more ready for almsgiving, more disposed to despise the belly, and every passion becomes easy to overcome, put to flight by the affliction.

For indeed from the very beginning it was not because He willed to punish us that He bound us together with griefs and toils — even though He set the sentence in the order of punishment — but that He might bring us to a sound mind and make us better.

For if, even when grief presses upon us and life is full of toil, such great wickedness prevails;

if there were none of these things, to what lengths would not wickedness have run? And why do you wonder that it is so in the soul, when even in bodies affliction is a good thing? For indeed to let the flesh be carried away into the extreme of luxury is harmful;

and besides, the very fact that plots are formed against us from many quarters makes us watchful;

and if we give heed, we are in no way harmed.

Know that you are passing through the midst of snares, and that you walk upon the battlements of cities;

and this man too says, 'In the way wherein I walked they hid a snare for me.'

But if anyone should take these words also in a higher, anagogical sense, he will see the devil doing this very thing — not hiding his plots from afar, but close at hand.

Wherefore we too have need of much vigilance.

For he hides a snare — vainglory in almsgiving, arrogance in fasting — not in other places, but in the very roads

along which we walk, which is the more grievous.

See again another addition to the terrors.

For he shows not only that there were snares in the ways, nor only that there was no one to help, nor anyone to recognize him;

but that not even the one thing left to him for escape — to secure his safety by flight — was easy or ready to hand.

Thus he was caught in the midst of evils, and was in an inescapable calamity; yet even so he did not despair.

And there is no one that cares for my soul — that is to say, no one to defend, no one to help.

What then did he do? Was it that, being in such perplexity and helplessness, he despaired of salvation? By no means;

but he flees at once for refuge to God, and says:

I cried unto Thee, O Lord; I said, Thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living.

Do you see the vigilance of his soul? The terrors did not sink him, but rather gave him wings; and being in straits, he came to know the invincible hand and the all-prevailing power, and the ready ease that is found amid things impossible.

All human resources, he says, have been proved to fail, and the storm was greater than all such alliance together, so that by no art was it possible to escape the shipwreck.

Yet nevertheless, even if among men these things are given up as hopeless, and we have all despaired of them, still to Thee all things are easy.

Wherefore, even while we hope, let us not grow numb with sloth.

Thou art my portion in the land of the living.

That is to say: my inheritance, my treasure, my riches, my all — Thou Thyself art.

By 'the land of the living' he here means his own homeland.

For he often knows to call the captivity into Babylon 'hades' and 'death.'

Then, since while he was in a foreign land he performed none of the accustomed worship, whereas there all the acts of sanctity were fulfilled, for this reason he says: 'Thou art my portion in the land of the living.'

'Thou hast ever been my defender,' he says, 'and Thou hast made me Thine own in the land of the living, and great has been my fellowship with Thee.'

Attend to my supplication, for I am brought very low.

Dost thou see how what he said above he here also sets forth as his plea — I mean his being humbled, his paying the penalty for his sins beyond all measure?

But the word 'very' does not belong to an accusation of the things done, but to the grief and weakness of the one who suffers.

For if thou shouldst look to the desert of the sins, the humiliation is not excessive;

but if to the weakness of the one who bears it, it is excessive beyond all measure.

For nowhere does God exact a punishment equal to the offenses.

But if to those who suffer it seems unbearable, this is not owing to the nature of what befalls them, but to the weakness of those who endure it.

Deliver me from those who pursue me, for they are grown stronger than I.

Behold, here again is another ground: the unjust plotting of those who wrong him, and his being in great weakness.

Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks to Thy name.

The word 'confess' here stands in the sense of 'give thanks.'

For by 'prison' he hints at the excess of his calamities.

So that I may give thanks to Thy name.

This too is no small thing — that when we have come into prosperity we should not fall into forgetfulness of the benefit received.

For many men are more diligent in afflictions, but more careless in ease;

others again are careless in ease, and in afflictions despairing of themselves, becoming more supine.

But this man, in either difference of circumstances, remains preserving the same devout reverence;

for neither did affliction make him give way, but rather it gathered him together toward supplication and prayer;

nor did ease render him supine, but even then he prepares himself for thanksgiving.

The righteous shall wait for me, until Thou recompense me.

Another version has: 'The righteous shall be crowned, when Thou dost do me good.'

What is this? 'Even the righteous,' he says, 'shall this benefit.'

For they too shall be gladdened, shall rejoice, shall leap for joy, when they behold my deliverance from evils.

For such are the souls of the saints;

with those who suffer ill they grieve together, and toward those who prosper they bear no envy, but even rejoice, and are glad together and delight together with those who are benefited.

This is what Paul also enjoined, saying, 'Rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep.'

For many both gloat over those who are laid low, and envy those who rise up, begetting each of these passions out of great cruelty and inhumanity.

But not so the righteous; rather, being freed from both these vices, and being merciful and loving toward mankind, they acquire these virtues.

As therefore those men, out of cruelty, are affected in both ways, so these, out of love for mankind, both grieve by suffering together and fare well by rejoicing together.

But why did he say, 'Thou recompense me'? The other version says, 'When Thou dost do me good.'

And the others say, 'Thou shalt recompense and requite me.'

And yet above he spoke of affliction and humiliation, not of good deeds, nor of the confidence that comes from works.

And in return for what does he ask a recompense? In return for the days of his humiliation.

For this too is no small achievement, to bear affliction with thanksgiving.

Therefore he also calls the reward that follows thereafter a recompense.

Let us therefore not fret amid our afflictions either, but let us pray that we enter not into temptation;

For we both lay aside the sins that are ours, and, if we possess any righteousness, we make that too more radiant.

And Job shows this, who at that very time shone forth the more greatly.

This is a good thing in bodies also;

this holds not among human beings alone, but also among the irrational creatures;

not among the irrational creatures alone, but also among plants.

For this very reason the husbandmen do not permit the vines to grow beyond measure, nor the other trees, but they check their forward reaching, turning back with the pruning-hook all their strength into the root, so that the vine, not being spent upon its leaves, may not bring forth a faded and feeble fruit.

Which is exactly what happens in the case of human beings too.

For when one's zeal is expended upon superfluous things, the soul becomes weaker for bringing forth the fruit of godliness ripe and in its prime.

One may see this in the case of waters also.

For that which stands still and does not flow is harmful;

but that which is moving and being drawn off and channelled away is not only wholesome, but is also more pleasant to look upon and to touch and to drink.

And often affliction has even overcome nature.

For this downward-tending and flowing element, when it is compressed, is shot upward in an upward course.

Which indeed happens in the case of human beings also.

For those who bear their afflictions readily are set on high, and though they be exceedingly lowly and exceedingly earthbound and abased, they gain great things thereby.

Knowing these things, then, let us bear with thanksgiving the hardships that come upon us, that both they may become easier for us and we may obtain the good things to come;

which may it be granted us all to be counted worthy to attain, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the might unto the ages of ages.