Commentary on the Psalms (Fragments) 1 part 3/40

For these might be those who spoke prophetically beforehand concerning the nations, of whom the one said, 'To thee the nations shall come from the ends of the earth,' and the other, 'All the nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee.'

And in these passages too the poor are said to be those who fall far short of the wealth of the Godhead, or also of the divine knowledge;

Since that death is somewhere below, concerning which it is written 'Death prevailed and swallowed up,' the enemies cause those who are humbled by them to come to be in it, whether through affliction or through sinning.

It is possible, by the mercy of God, to come to be outside this death and the humiliation attending it.

For the man who is still occupied with things here and clings with passion to the world, being in a state of humiliation, if he should gain a perception of his own evils and a knowledge of the goodness of God, will say by way of prayer: 'Have mercy on me, and behold my humiliation which has come upon me from my enemies;'

'for they humbled me, dragging me down;'

'but thou alone canst, by the goodness that essentially belongs to thee, exalt me from the gates of death.'

By the daughters of Zion we must understand those who partake of her, correspondingly to the fact that some are called sons of light and of peace and of wisdom;

and the gates of the daughter of Zion, being opposite to the gates of death, are praiseworthy deeds and the contemplations accomplished according to the virtue and wisdom of God.

Since virtue is called incorruption in the phrase 'Grace be with those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption,' the vice which is contrary to it will consequently be named corruption and destruction.

That vice is called corruption is established from 'If anyone corrupts the temple of God,' and from what is said in the prophet to the wicked, 'For the sake of incorruption you were corrupted with corruption';

and in agreement with these is also 'By thy corruption, O Israel, who shall help thee?' This so-called corruption declares that it has its existence in the doing, having been wrought by those who possess it.

The word says that the nations are fixed fast in the corruption which they wrought.

For one man is not held liable for the impiety and sin of another;

for each shall die in his own sin.

Then, since the wicked, having first harmed themselves, also attempt through deceit to lead others into the same harm, they secretly prepare snares in their crafty designs and words, in order to entrap the man who is off his guard.

But by the very snare which they hid they are punished.

For they pay the penalty also for those whom they deceived.

And their suffering in this way comes about by the discernment of the God who exercises providence;

for how is it not his judgment that the sinner is caught in his own works, having the pretext for his condemnation out of the evil things he did? With this accords what was said a little before, standing thus:

'He who digs a pit for his neighbour shall fall into it himself.'

Having already spoken concerning the diapsalma, we must now speak concerning the song (ode) of the diapsalma.

Since the present psalm begins from 'I will confess to Thee, O Lord,' the narration was extended as far as 'The sinner was taken';

after which phrase, a song begins from 'Let them be turned back,' so that it was fitting to interweave with the diapsalma the name of the song.

For if the whole psalm were called a song, in manner and force the appellation 'song' would certainly have been placed before it as well, as is demonstrated in the case of many psalms;

but since this is not the case, and the song rather takes its beginning after the diapsalma, it is with good reason that 'A Song of the diapsalma' is set in between.

It will be shown that what follows has the sense of a song, once their very words have been set forth: 'Let them be turned back,' and so on.

'Let the sinners be turned back'—those who set upon them after the manner of enemies—'into Hades.'

And interpreting who the sinners are, he added that they are 'the nations that forget God.'

And by 'sinners' and 'nations' one must understand not men only, but also the bodiless powers.

The word 'sinner' does not signify substance but quality, being a derivative from 'sin'; so everyone who partakes of sin must be so named.

Correspondingly to these, he will also take 'the nations.'

And just as one who is not in heaven by locality, but still walks upon earth, is able to attain there by manner of life and understanding, so one who is not spending his time in Hades by locality is able to bear the marks of deadness and of sinning itself, so that he inhabits Hades already, even though he is in the life with the body.

And 'the poor' is said also of him who is impoverished through sin, and of the moderate and unpretentious, and of him who needs to receive from God;

and every created being is such.

According to all these senses, he who is called poor is remembered by God.

And even if for some advantage there should seem to come about some forgetting of him, yet this does not remain to the very end; and for this reason, 'He shall not be forgotten unto the end.'

In what respect the poor man differs from the needy man, we shall say as we proceed, whenever occasion calls to speak concerning these things.

Thou, O Lord, who makest those that swell up and act insolently to fall from their blameworthy height, resisting the proud:

let them therefore not be strengthened, but let them 'be judged before Thee';

for a surpassing benefit will follow for them.

And the phrase 'Let not man be strong' might be interpreted as spoken concerning the devil, of whom it is said in the parable of the tares that he is 'a man, an enemy,' but also in the prophecy, 'This is the man that provoketh the earth.'

And since this man was strong before the descent of the Saviour, saying, 'The whole inhabited world I will take up in my hand as a nest, and I will lift up as eggs that have been forsaken;

there is none that shall escape me or answer me back'—the human race, not enduring his words spoken with arrogance, brings an embassy to the Saviour, saying, 'Arise, O Master, come down to us, that the man who exalts himself against us may not be strengthened for long';

and the devil is called 'man' not because he is a mortal rational animal, but because he has fallen away from Godhead, just like those to whom God says, 'I have said:

Ye are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High; but ye die as men.'

The prophet, as a man, asks and inquires of God, saying, 'Why, O Lord, standest Thou afar off?' And the Word would have answered him in reply, that 'The kindness of God leads sinners to repentance.'

God stands afar off from sinners, since sin itself separates and drives far away those who sin, according to what is said:

'Your sins make a separation between Me and you.'

For otherwise God is always present to all and fills all things, being everywhere.

Wherefore it is said in the prophecies:

'I am a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off.'

But when the righteous are afflicted in the present life and worn down by the ungodly, he says, 'As though standing afar off, Thou forsakest them, O Lord, and overlookest them';

wherefore also the pride of the ungodly increases, and it inflames Thy needy and poor one, who is zealous with a godly zeal and inwardly burning in soul.

And especially those who are deprived of divine riches and wisdom and are not exact concerning the doctrines of piety;

for these stumble at the judgments of wise providence, praising the sinner for the things he desires, though it is evident that the sinner reaches out not after things worthy of choice but after things pleasant and passionate.

In addition to this, out of the same error they consider those who have wealth and human and temporary glory to be blessed, asserting that those who do wrong are blessed by God;

but they ought to have surmised that the blessing of God is given to the righteous.

Even if God seemed to stand afar off and to overlook the afflicted, because they were troubled by the pride of the ungodly, yet nevertheless He is utterly indignant against the proud man who has caused offence and (that I may speak according to the Scripture) has inflamed the poor man, and because he has ill-used, by God's providence, the things that came to be his.

For this is established from the words that follow;

and this one is the ungodly man who exalts himself and is praised for his own desires.

And he so provoked the Lord that there came to be an intensified wrath, which he himself treasured up for himself, according to what is said: 'After thy hardness and impenitent heart thou treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath.'

Nevertheless, even though the wrath treasured up by him is great, yet there will not be a requiring according to its multitude and magnitude in the day of judgment, because of the goodness of God who judges.

For if a requiring were made according to the multitude of the wrath, the wicked would be utterly destroyed and perish on the spot.

Beholding this very thing, they say to Him who shows forth goodness, 'If Thou shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, Lord, who shall stand?' And the pretext for the sinner provoking the Lord is that he does not have Him before his eyes and in his sight, since he has turned away from God.

For everyone who sins does this;

wherefore God says concerning every such one, 'They have turned their backs to Me, and not their faces.'

Cain, having become the father of this ungodliness, 'went out from the presence of the Lord God,' having plainly turned away from Him.

If these things are said concerning sinful men, much more are they said concerning the devil, who provokes God and does not have Him before his sight.

For especially the words that follow are spoken concerning him:

'His ways are profaned at every time.'

For of what man are 'his ways profaned at every time,' seeing that the ungodly often accomplish many things becomingly? But he walks in a profane manner, leading men not into reprehensible deeds alone, but also determining a denial of providence.

At any rate, he persuaded many to lay down as a doctrine that the world is without governance, having himself first fallen from the right opinion concerning God's administration and judgment.

This is established from what is said to God concerning him: 'Thy judgments are taken away from before his face; over all his enemies he shall have dominion'—not as though he would altogether have this, but because he himself has proposed this to himself;

for it is a falsehood that he is or shall become lord 'of all his enemies.'

For most of all his enemies are those who are perfect in holiness, over none of whom does he reign;

but he has dominion only over those who commit sin;

for it is said, 'Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.'

And the slave of sin is held in dominion by the devil, who has worked sin in him.

And it is according to the insatiableness of his wickedness that what follows is added:

'For he said,' it says, 'I shall not be moved from generation to generation, without evil.'

The utterance makes plain the audacity of his boastfulness together with his shamelessness.

If someone fixes his attention on this saying, he will interpret 'over all his enemies he shall have dominion' as spoken concerning only those men who have become his enemies.

For if he said in his heart that from generation to generation he has never been shaken, without evil, it is evident that it is spoken concerning men alone, who have their being by succession.

Yet not even this is altogether true;

for over the holy patriarchs and prophets and apostles he did not have dominion;

rather, they themselves had him under their feet, since Jesus had extended to them this authority.

He who has fallen from his holiness, and has led himself far away from truth and blessing, has his mouth full of cursing, through the things by which he speaks, attempting to bring under punishment and cursing those whom he deceives.

And his speech, together with its deceitfulness, has much terribleness;

wherefore, together with cursing, his speech is also full of bitterness and deceit, being called his 'mouth.'

And since he brings forth each of these under his tongue for the purpose of harming and destroying, and this very tongue is his deceitful speech, it is 'toil and trouble.'

For he brings forward nothing gentle or kindly, but only whatever he offers that inflicts toil and hardship.

That he may kill, having wounded him with his fiery darts;

for these darts are productive of death, dragging down the one struck by them from the life lived in virtue.

It is also possible to punctuate the text in this way:

'He sits in ambush with the rich';

after which, having so punctuated, we add: 'in secret places to slay the innocent.'

For the phrase 'in secret places,' which creates ambiguity, may be construed in either way, which indeed we have already done in punctuating first 'He sits in ambush with the rich in secret places,' and afterwards reading thus:

'He sits in ambush with the rich; in secret places to slay the innocent.'

But even if 'He lies in wait for the aforementioned rich, sitting together with them so as to seize and slay the innocent,' still we must observe that he can wound none of those who are wise according to God and clothed with the whole armor of God;

wherefore he keeps his eyes upon the poor man, persuaded that he can catch him, taking him to be the same as the destitute man set afire on account of the pride of the ungodly.

'He lies in wait in secret, like a wild lion in his lair, to seize the poor man by deceitful words' (and sometimes also by deeds), 'whom also he will drag, after seizing him in his snare, so as to devour him.'

For he is a wild beast, or rather this very thing, a lion.

Often, indeed, while lying in wait, conversing ostensibly about stewardship, he conceals within it the discourse of avarice.

As again, uttering words about self-control, he insinuates a mode of licentiousness; so did he deceive Eve in paradise, through the transgression of the commandment insinuating equality with God, and Judas through avarice.

The phrase 'he will stoop' shows that, having turned his eye downward, he fell;

for how does he who denies providence not have his gaze cast downward, by saying 'God has forgotten,' and what follows? — Though able forthwith to humble the proud man who oppresses those thrown into confusion by his insolence, why, being able to help them and to what good purpose, hast Thou allowed them to be afflicted for a time — through which happening Thou wast made known, taking note not only of the labor upon him and through him? And this came to pass that those benefited through the temporary hardship might of their own will surrender themselves into Thy hands, having henceforth a longing to be disciplined and ruled by Thee.

'To Thee, then, is the poor man left';

Thou wilt order the things concerning his salvation, that Thou mayest make him rich by supplying good things from heaven.

Thus also He Himself helps the orphan, protecting and rearing him unto the rank of a son.

By 'orphan' in this context we must understand the one who once had the devil for a father on account of wickedness, but who now has cast him off by way of repentance.

Symbols of these orphans who are taken up so as to have help from God are Abraham, who left his father's house that he might follow God when he was called, and the sons of Zebedee, who left their father at the exhortation of Jesus who said, 'Follow me.'

And who could the sinner and the evil one, spoken of with the definite article, be, other than the devil? His arm is broken by the Lord, and his sin, when sought, is not found, having in its being accomplished received its being as an end.

For evil is not any substance but a quality, and thus the end that is over all shall be established, for whose sake all other things came to be;

but He Himself is for the sake of nothing, so that of His kingdom there is no end.

For it is not possible for the same man to be under two lords and kings.

When sin held lordship and reigned over the one committing it, God was not lord nor king of the one sinning.

But since the reigning sin, being sought, was not found in the one who worked it, 'The Lord reigns unto the age, and unto the age of the age.'

The good heart is called the land of God.

From this land the nations perish, whenever every base thought and evil reasoning is cast out;

for the nations are the base thoughts and reasonings that perish by the beneficence of God.

But if someone wishes that the land of the meek also be signified (for this too belongs to the Lord), nations perish from this land;

for everyone who sins is not permitted to go up into it;

for it has been said by a certain holy man:

'I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.'

And to another God said:

'I will bring thee up upon the good things of the land.'

The desire of the poor was that the one who had tyrannically lorded it over them should fall.

Since, then, this came to pass when the arm of the sinner and evil one was broken, fittingly to God, who knows the hearts and sees the hidden things, their desire has been made manifest, being an effectual prayer.

And the Lord heard them, His ear attending to the preparation of their ruling faculty;

for how did those who had the desire for the things aforesaid not have a heart ready for salvation? — Here too man is to be understood in a twofold way: as the mortal rational animal that boasts, and as the devil who says, 'I will grasp the whole inhabited world with my hand, and there is none who shall escape me or gainsay me.'

For he shall no longer vaunt himself greatly, being crushed under the feet of the saints who tread upon his power, this having been granted by Jesus.

But it must also be read thus:

'How will you say to my soul, Behold, the sinners have bent the bow, they have prepared arrows for the quiver,' and what follows? At these words he urges his own soul to be lifted up in the manner of a sparrow on the wings of virtue, that having passed over to the lofty spiritual mountains it may remain unharmed.

But however the divisions of the reading may stand, it is fitting to trust in the Lord.

Though many enemies, both visible and invisible, are sophistically arrayed, as though the ruling faculty were already stretched taut, resembling a bow bent through readiness, and though there are ready arrows too — and these are persuasive words — aimed at shooting you down, yet you have a place of sojourn in the high mountains, where, once you are come, you shall not be wounded.

And it has been said that the more divine meanings of the Scriptures are signified by the designation of the mountains;

and besides these, the wise teachers, the apostles and prophets.

It is possible to take the phrase 'Migrate to the mountains like a sparrow' as spoken by the Spirit, urging the one who wishes to escape the venomous wound of the archers to withdraw.

But if the invisible powers, being the same as or akin to the archers, should say 'Migrate to the mountains like a sparrow,' we shall take it as spoken mockingly, since they wish to make cowards of those who trust in God with the whole heart.

Then, since those archers who are prepared to play the sophist in this way are sons of darkness and of night, they have set themselves to shoot down in the lightless night those who have an upright heart.

'The Lord, being righteous, what will He do but rain down upon sinners His snares, and apportion to them a cup of chastisement, that having drunk it they may grow weak from their impulse to shoot?' — Whether concerning the Father, or concerning the Savior Himself:

before the incarnation, His holy temple is to be understood as the holy and heavenly conception concerning Him.

He whose throne is in His holy temple has it in heaven, reigning divinely and celestially.

We noted also in the former passages that the throne is taken in the place of kingdom.

And the beholding and overseeing powers of God, which are called His eyes, coming to the poor man, guard him unharmed in the things ordained concerning him.

The eyelids of the eyes of God examine the deeds and reasonings of men.

From this the Judge's love for mankind is set forth.

For if He examined with His eyes and not with His eyelids, the judgment would be unbearable to men.

But His examining the things concerning them with His eyelids does not scrutinize all the sins of those being judged, nor of what magnitude these are.

His eyes are upon the one who is benefited, even if he be a poor man, but His eyelids upon the sons;

the benefits are accomplished with openness, but the chastisements have much that is hidden concerning God.

And He will speak these things as matters to be pondered;

they exhibit no perceptible eyelid nor any other such thing, wherefore these also are to be understood in a manner befitting God.

Christ is He before whose judgment seat all must be made manifest, that each may receive the things done through the body, according to what he has done, whether good or evil.

And having said that examination of the righteous and of the ungodly is made by the Lord, he adds that he who loves wickedness, which is unrighteousness, hates his own soul, making it deserving of chastisement through sinning;

opposite to whom acts the one who works righteously, loving his own soul and his neighbor as himself, he who leads it unto virtue.

The saying 'The Lord examines the righteous and the ungodly' does not conflict with 'The ungodly shall not rise up in judgment.'

For the one signifies those who are utterly godless, while the other signifies those who despise God through sinning.

For many Scriptures make this plain, especially that which says in Genesis, 'The righteous shall be as the ungodly.'

'He will rain down snares upon sinners,' that is, chastisements that ensnare and place those who are hunted within the nets, unless indeed their being handed over by Him to the desires of their own hearts is what is meant;

This is shown also by the 'passions of dishonour' and the 'reprobate mind.'

And observe whether it is not for this reason that it is said, 'He shall rain down snares' and not simply 'He shall rain'; for those already ensnared by their own devices have snares rained upon them.

For upon those already ensnared by their own selves snares are rained down.

This is made clear also from the words, 'But those who turn aside to crooked ways the Lord will lead away with the workers of iniquity.'

You may fit to both interpretations that which is thus written in Proverbs:

'To the crooked God will send crooked ways.'

For with regard to the former interpretation the crooked ways would be punishments sent forth against those who have become crooked through wickedness; but with regard to the other, they are the surrenderings by which those who sin willingly are handed over — the very things signified through the passions of dishonour and the things enumerated.

'Fire and brimstone and the blast of the tempest is the portion of their cup.'

The grievous requitals are often signified in Scripture by the name of 'the cup,' as in Isaiah: 'Rouse yourself, rouse yourself, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk the cup of downfall, the goblet of wrath,' and so forth.

But the same thing is also set forth in Jeremiah from the passage which reads thus:

'Thus says the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel: Take the cup of the unmixed wine from my hand, and you shall make all the nations to whom I send you drink of it.'

Perhaps then, in agreement with these, in the passage before us also it signifies punishment: 'The portion of the cup that has been apportioned to them,' especially since the fullness of this cup is 'fire and brimstone and the blast of the tempest' — of which the things recorded in Genesis are symbols, being punishments that came upon Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord.

In addition to this fire and brimstone, there is also the 'blast of the tempest' in the giving of the cup to drink.

The fire signifies the threat by burning, while the brimstone signifies the incitement that stirs up the fire yet more.

In addition to these, the 'blast of the tempest' signifies the violent onset of some temptation.

That the tempest signifies temptation one may clearly learn from what is written in Isaiah: 'Like a tempest passing through the wilderness it would come drawing near; a fearful and hard vision has been announced to me.'

Let us therefore flee from impiety, that this cup may be far from us, and let us live in godliness, that we may drink that which makes joyful as the most excellent — concerning which perhaps that too has been said:

'The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup.'

'For the Lord is righteous and has loved acts of righteousness; his face has beheld uprightness.'

And for this reason he has his eyes upon the poor man, caring for his salvation; but upon sinners he sends snares.

For it is not by chance, if it happens, that any belong to the objects of providence and of God's judgement.

The Lord is righteous according to his essence, and not by participation in righteousness.

Yet even though he is thus by nature, he nevertheless loves the righteous deeds found in the many righteous, accepting the resolve of each.

It is possible also to say in another way that he loves acts of righteousness:

there is one righteousness, but the judgements of God are many, concerning which it is written, 'The judgements of the Lord are true, altogether justified'; so it is necessary that the acts of righteousness too be many.

And just as he is righteous, so also he beholds uprightness.

By 'uprightness' you would mean the disposition that is regulated according to right reason.

This he beholds, rejoicing over those who possess it.

One might also speak of uprightness in a manner corresponding to the second understanding concerning acts of righteousness, namely as existing in his unsearchable judgements, which, because he greatly accepts them, his face beholds.

For God appears as present in the works of providence and in the outcomes of his judgements.

When humanity had been filled with deceit and wickedness, so that there was no mercy nor truth nor knowledge of God upon the earth, for the undoing of the harm that had come to be there arose a need for the Saviour's coming among us.

In this sense you may take the passage in Jeremiah:

'Everyone shall mock his neighbour; they shall by no means speak the truth;

their tongue has learned to speak falsehood.'

Why did he not say 'the truth' but 'the truths'? On the one hand because of the various breaches of faith in dealings with one another, and on the other because of the false doctrines in matters of belief.

For one must not suppose that the members of the body are being destroyed, but rather their deceitful use and their boastful speech;

for in Proverbs too it is said, 'Put away from yourself a crooked mouth, and thrust unjust lips far from you.'

'Our lips are our own;

who is lord over us?' From this insolence the impious man, prospering in obtaining what he desires, utters the words found in Job: 'He says to the Lord, Depart from me; I do not wish to know your ways;

what is the Almighty, that we should serve him?' For these men too, thinking that they themselves are the cause of the prosperity they enjoy, say to the Lord, 'Depart;

do not reveal to me your ways;

for I do not wish to know them;

for what more have you than we, that we should serve you?' When the impious are proud, boasting as it were with a boastful tongue and deceitful lips, the poor are afflicted and the needy groan, unable to endure their tyranny.

For this reason the Lord says, 'Now I will arise, that, setting my counsel in salvation, I may speak with boldness in it against those who arrogantly exult over their inferiors;

and I will release the poor and needy from being afflicted and groaning.'

Here too you would call 'poor' and 'needy' those who are unable to defend themselves, whether because of an inherent weakness or because of the wickedness that leads them into such a condition.

These were raised above affliction and groaning when the Lord arose at the time of his sojourning and came to us, so that the salvation of those set beyond affliction and groaning was made manifest.

It is therefore fitting, in accordance with the passage before us, to hear the words, 'Wretched man that I am!

Who will deliver me from this body of death?' — after saying which, speaking with boldness, he goes on to say, 'I thank God through Jesus Christ.'

For it is shown through these words that Jesus the Christ is the one who delivered the wretched man — on account of whom he had a body of death — and that he is the one who said, 'Now I will arise, says the Lord.'

It has occurred to some to say that the 'poor' are those who have fallen from wealth, while the 'needy' are those who obtain their living from toil through labour;

and according to this understanding the poor man is of necessity needy, though the reverse does not hold, that the needy man is poor.