Commentary on the Psalms (Fragments) 1 part 34/40

Having therefore learned by experience thy great mercy and thy goodness, and exhorting others also, I say, addressing myself to many, 'Confess ye to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy is extended for ever,' in that he shows mercy according to his great goodness.

And the oracles of God would also be testimonies, in that they are testified to by him and by his truth.

Blessed therefore are they that search out his testimonies, and that seek him with their whole heart, forsaking all human striving, and drawing near to him through good works and an upright mind.

And it is well that it pronounces blessed not those who have walked, but those who are walking; and yet the phrase 'They that work iniquity have not walked in his law' shows that they had never once made trial of the divine law, as though it concerned them.

'For as many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law.'

For those who stumble after being initiated into this are said to have sinned in the law and to be its transgressors.

'Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments';

not unto some, but unto all.

For according to those commandments which I do not have respect unto, I shall be ashamed.

For I am often forsaken for a little while, for the sake of my testing and proving, that by nobly bearing adverse circumstances I may be benefited.

And so straightway, with thy help, having contended in the contests in the manner I ought, I am crowned;

wherefore, that I may not be overcome, since those who wrestle against me are terrible, do not forsake me utterly.

He who receives the oracles of God not superficially hides them in his heart, that, being conformed in his judgment and purpose to them, he may be sinless before God who sees the hidden thing — not only not committing adultery, but not even having any shameful desire.

And in harmony with the foregoing is also the saying, 'My son, if thou receive the utterance of my commandment and hide it with thyself, thine ear shall hearken unto wisdom.'

'That I may not seem to have performed thy ordinances without reward, recompense me with the divine and blessed life, that living according to it I may keep thy words';

for after remembering them, it follows to keep them.

Unto this thou shalt receive that which was spoken by Jesus, 'He that hath my commandments and keepeth them';

for he has the commandments who remembers them, and he keeps them who also puts them into effect.

But another, reading not 'The judgments' but 'The ordinances,' expounded it thus:

the ordinances of God ever profit, being properly and truly good.

Having a longing for them, he desired them at every season, not willing to perform them out of grief or of necessity, as do those who carry them out from fear of falling into punishment, but with eager longing and desire.

For it will result from this that he bears all things temperately and nobly, not only the pleasant, but also the toilsome and disagreeable, and that he goes to every earnest deed with longing.

'... thy testimonies; take thou away from me reproach and contempt.'

And how might these be taken away? When those who for the time reproach and despise me come to the knowledge of the truth;

and when this has come about, they too together with me will seek out thy testimonies.

Another version says, 'I have declared thy ways,' that is to say:

the ways that lead to thee, being none other than the ways of the virtues, O Master, I have declared in deed, with earnest purpose and with works befitting that purpose, and thou hast heard me;

wherefore I say to him who has hearkened, 'Teach me thy ordinances.'

He who by his own choice has departed from the way of unrighteousness and has drawn near to the law of God desires these things — to be perfected and confirmed — from God, who brings to their consummation the ends of good things.

For inasmuch as he hated the ignorance that he had, by reason of having conceived a longing for the opposing knowledge, yet was not able of himself to remove himself from ignorance and to lean upon faith, he calls upon the Teacher:

'Remove ignorance from me, and have mercy on me by thy knowledge.'

This is the utterance not of one who is conscious of sin in himself, but of one who suspects it, just as also is the saying, 'Cleanse thou me from my secret faults.'

And if it be possible that all things be said concerning the word that was sent forth, consider it;

for he himself is both the mercy and the salvation of the Lord.

Wherefore we must pray that the mercy of the Lord come upon us, even the salvation according to his mercy.

For thus, having obtained mercy and being saved, we shall make answer to those who formerly reproached us as being destitute of the mercy and salvation of God.

And even if at times, in face of the perplexities that arise concerning providence or questions of a like kind, I have no argument to give that resolves the objections of those who raise difficulties, yet do thou, who in thy goodness hast opened my mouth, grant to thy word an interpretive power of the truth, that no total removal of the word of truth may come to pass out of my mouth, but that I may be able, concerning things hard to explain, in some fashion to say, 'For I have hoped in thy judgments' — thy considered and examined words, or the judgments according to which thou governest and providest for men.

'Take not utterly the word of truth out of my mouth.'

For thus it will come to pass that I shall keep thy law for ever, it being observed not in this age only, but even unto eternity, since the words of Jesus do not pass away.

We keep, therefore, the law of God according to the image of realities — the law that was formerly kept by the Jews according to the shadow, and that shall be kept by us according to the good things to come, unto ages of ages.

When the heterodox boastfully assailed the law by slandering it, I clung exceedingly to the keeping of it, not enduring that my assent to it should be shaken even in the least degree.

Since among sinners some sin lawlessly, in that they have had no experience of laws at all, while others sin within the law by transgressing it, faintheartedness took hold of me because of the sinners who forsake the law of God.

And if one member be glorified, all the members rejoice together with it.

And so it is fitting to grieve over our brethren who sin, because they are such as they are, and to be disposed in this way, following after this holy man.

The face of God is the express image of His substance, as has often been said by us.

He, therefore, who with his whole heart longs for this—that his heart, having become pure, may behold it, and by gazing steadfastly upon Him may obtain mercy according to the word of His teaching—if the sayings set down here fit anyone at all.

See how great is he who shall behold the face of God.

Let Jesus teach you, saying: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

But futile is the effort of those who cast their ropes about the righteous man, when with intense zeal he keeps the law in remembrance.

The same effect can be produced also by the adverse circumstances which are brought against the righteous man by sinners, so that these become their ropes;

yet even while bearing these steadfastly, the righteous man does not forget the law of God.

And those who, by deceitful words, urge one on to sin, entwine their ropes about him;

but if a man is sober, he does not forget the law of God.

Let us understand the 'partner' as the friend and companion, as Ecclesiastes says: For if one fall, the one will lift up his partner.

Perhaps, then, this is what he means to say: that I am a friend and companion of all who fear God and who keep His commandments, being myself also one who fears Him and keeps His commandments.

Since there is with God both kindness and severity, according to the Apostle, the kindness comes upon those who stand firm in the faith, while the severity comes upon those who have fallen away from it.

Since, therefore, the holy man had been confirmed in the faith, he said: You have dealt kindly with Your servant.

But he said 'of You,' wishing to show that God's kindness does not come about by chance towards someone, but towards one who serves Him, whoever that person may be.

And the addition 'according to Your word' shows that the Lord's kindness comes about towards someone with reason and rational cause.

Therefore also, wishing to know its rational and wise character, he deems no other worthy to become his teacher concerning it, in order that together with it he may learn both instruction and knowledge—calling instruction the moral virtue, and knowledge the intellectual virtue.

And in Proverbs the saying, Receive instruction and not silver, and knowledge above tested gold, is to be referred to practical and contemplative benefit.

Since, rightly and prudently drawing near to Your commandments, I believed them so as to keep them, stretch out wisdom to me, teaching me kindness and instruction and knowledge.

For even though the manner in which such things are brought upon a person is twofold—

for upon some they are brought on account of sin, but upon others for the sake of being tested and made manifest—assigning to himself the lesser of these, he said that he had transgressed.

Not looking to my own worthiness (for I have transgressed), but to Your kindness—since being kind You possess kindness—I ask to be taught Your ordinances by no other than You Yourself.

When many deceivers had presumptuously set themselves against Your commandments, and were saying countless things ostensibly to slander and overturn them, much injustice came upon me.

Yet, even though they seemed to be saying dreadful things, such as could turn away from the commandments those who are without ballast, I, on the contrary, intensifying my zeal and longing for them, searched them out with my whole heart, so that, having beheld their beauty through my great and unremitting search of them, I utterly condemned those who slander them.

And these things might also be said by one who is oppressed and wronged in the affairs of this life by certain proud men and powerful tyrants;

for from Your commandments, he says, I shall be able to learn that to do wrong and to defraud is baser than to be wronged and to be defrauded.

Since, having been given to drink the rational and guileless milk by those who instruct them, they neither digested nor concocted it, but it, being congealed and curdled within them, turned their heart to cheese;

yet, even if they have suffered this by their own fault, I, keeping Your law by meditation, was zealous to understand it, since the understanding of it dissolves not only the mist but also the density of the material disposition.

The prophet says that the law of the divine mouth, which comes through the Mediator, is good to him above all the pleasant things of the world, which he indicated by thousands of gold and silver.

But with a view to spiritual contemplation it must be said that the silver stands for reason, and the gold for mind;

for while there are many thousands of such silver and gold among those who philosophize about the things of the world and of the heresies, above all these, to the lover of the God of wisdom and truth, the law of the mouth of God is good, in that from this alone the true benefit accrues to those who give heed to it.

Those who fear God are perfect, in that they lack nothing;

and being such, they are good according to the fear which they possess.

Therefore they wish all men to make progress and to have benefit, and they rejoice over those who are well-pleasing to God, imitating those in heaven who rejoice over the benefit of those who repent.

It is possible also to understand as inferior those concerning whom it says, They shall see me and be glad, so that the sense of what is said may be as follows.

Having set my hope upon Your words, I long for the perfect communion; I act and I think according to Your instruction;

but they, out of fear lest they fall into the punishment that follows upon sinners at the judgment, abstain from evil.

If, then, those who thus fear You are able to see me, they will be glad, no longer abstaining from sins out of grief and necessity, but with zeal to take up hope, they too, in Your words.

And since not only here but also in many other places the compassions of God are spoken of, one must consider whether perhaps the Only-begotten and the Holy Spirit, who are the givers of life, are the compassions of God.

And He is called Father according to the Apostle's teaching, the Father of compassions.

It belongs to a great man to say: Unjustly they have transgressed against me.

My soul faints for the salvation of God, when it receives salvation as the end of faith;

for it no longer remains soul, laying aside the condition by reason of which it happened to be soul, becoming spirit and mind through its longing towards the salvation of God and its continual hope towards His oracle.

For the name 'soul' is not indicative of its very substance, but of its relation to its fellowship with the body.

But when it partakes of immaterial life and, out of the resurrection, takes up an incorruptible and spiritual body, the body formerly yoked to it, which was corruptible and animal, will, for it which happens to be soul, become mind and spirit, fainting for the salvation of God and becoming one spirit towards Him through Him with the Lord.

And this is what it means for someone to deny himself;

for he who has denied himself will become another instead of the one he was, not according to the underlying substance, but according to the things which constitute it—at one time soul, at another mind.

For even though the sayings of the Gospel are an exhortation to martyrdom, nevertheless they are also to be understood according to the aforesaid mystical meaning.

The Word of God, being spiritual hoarfrost—since He is in many places called both dew and rain—cools my unbridled burning from the passions and makes my flesh weak, so that it bears the dying of Jesus in it.

Many undertake to interpret the divine Scriptures—both those of the Church and, outside her, both heretics and Jews and even Samaritans—but not all speak well;

for rare is he who possesses the grace from God for this, while many profess to speak, but do not live well, or even live lawlessly.

Whatever they say is idle chatter and nonsense;

for a vigorous, robust, and saving word cannot exist in a lawless soul.

These things he who is persecuted for the sake of righteousness and the teaching of Christ will soundly utter—the aforesaid words—and so too all the prophets.

But to be consumed upon the earth is not to die in the common sense, but to come, as it were, to an end with respect to the material condition which he called earth, being brought to completion in what is proper to it.

To live according to the oracle of God is to live with godliness, not simply this life perceptible to the senses.

To keep the testimonies of the mouth of God—those testified and demonstrated by the Word of God, which He said to be of His mouth.

By Your ordinance the day endures, so that it circles round in order and evenness according to the yearly cycles, the day never at any time departing from the arrangement which it has in relation to night, both in equality and in inequality.

For just as one who, out of a great sickness, has by means of certain medical remedies recovered firm and secure health, and, through the very being healthy and in good condition, does not forget those medical treatments by which it followed that he thus enjoys health together with well-being—so this holy man, having been quickened by God, says of the ordinances which he received from Him that throughout the whole age he does not forget them, assigning as the reason that God has caused him to live in them.

Even though virtue has one end, on account of that which comes about at every stage of progress, nevertheless each advance also has its own immediate limit.

He, therefore, who through every advance has arrived at the end of virtue will say: I have seen the limit of all consummation—since he who passes over to the perfect good lays down many beginnings and ends;

for the boundary of the former betterment is the beginning of the one that follows, and the end of that one is the element of the succeeding one;

For no one who walks in the commandment of God is straitened, becoming magnanimous and great-minded from tending it.

The word 'As' here does not signify a comparison and likeness, but rather truly and in a primary sense, and that one should esteem the law of God as lovable not for the sake of anything else.

And we can understand 'All the day is my meditation' as meaning 'In the whole time of my life';

for in many places the whole time of the life of men is called a day, as in: And I waited for You all the day, and in: For Your sake we are put to death all the day long.

The unseen enemies that press upon me attempt with all zeal to lead me into preferring pleasure;

and through this pleasure it comes about that one is ill-disposed towards every labour, so as to shrink even from the divine commandment which is accomplished with sweat.

He who is made wise by God concerning His commandment becomes stronger than pleasure and than the enemies that champion it, so that he possesses it forever, having preferred it to the pleasure that lasts but a little while and is transient.

Wherefore, singing thankfully to God, he will say: 'Thou hast made me wise by Thy commandment,' whereby I have even become superior to my enemies.

He shows the freedom of his will by the words, 'I have restrained my feet';

for, since it lay within his power to move his feet in order to walk and also to restrain them, he said what was set before him.

This accords with the saying, 'Turn away from evil and do good';

for he who turns away from evil restrains his feet from every wicked way, so that, having done good, he may keep the words of God.

The law is a lamp to those who walk in the night, before the rising of the Sun of righteousness; for the true light is not a lamp but a sun that shall shine upon those for whom the night has advanced as the day draws near, on which day it is possible to walk becomingly.

Here 'to establish' signifies to determine firmly, and 'to swear' means not to name God but to set this before oneself unchangeably and to keep it inviolable, performing in effect the work of an oath.

Not as one who has failed of his request does he bring it forward again, but as one who has learned the ordinances of God according to his former petition;

for, as far as was possible, while still dwelling upon them and desiring to contemplate them more fully than he had come to know, he makes his request and ever does so, until he reaches the goal of understanding them.

What I said just now about the learning of the ordinances taking place in diverse degrees, this same thing I will say also concerning the knowledge of the testimonies, whose knowledge, by way of progress, ever ascends higher and higher for him who abides in the contemplation of them.

'above thousands of gold and silver,' and to the saying, 'Receive instruction and not silver, and knowledge above tried gold';

'For wisdom is better than precious stones, and nothing that is prized is worthy of it.'

Wherefore also, concerning it, it was said to Job's companions: 'The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be made equal to it.'

These things are said not by way of comparison, but with reference to the choice of men.

He who came to fulfil the law and the prophets made manifest all the words that are in them, on the one hand fulfilling the prophecies by their outcome, and on the other unveiling the law, so that it should no longer be seen as letter and shadow, but as spiritual.

This manifestation, then, of the divine words will prove the prophet to be a man of understanding, and will enlighten those called after Israel from among the nations—the babes—who at length and late obtained their birth from faith.

But even if, before the descent of Him who fulfilled the law and the prophets, the wise man foretold, saying, 'The manifestation of Thy words will give me understanding,' yet nonetheless, beholding these things by a prophetic spirit, and desiring, so far as was possible, to have understanding of them, he longed that as much as could be granted might be revealed before the coming of Christ.

He deems it worthy to see and to learn the Saviour's shining forth here below, saying concerning it to the Saviour: 'Make Thy face to shine'—which whoever has seen, sees Thee.

For He Himself says concerning Himself: 'He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.'

And to learn it is to walk in them, not according to the flesh but according to grace.

'Therefore Thy judgement is upright,' since, being righteous according to the most upright rules of righteousness, Thou shalt judge all who have received Thy judgements, which Thou didst most earnestly enjoin as righteousness and truth.

For Thy divine Scriptures, which Thou didst enjoin upon men—not the new alone but also the old—are righteousness as regards their moral teaching, and exceeding truth, that is, exact according to the contemplation of things that are; and according to them Thou hast commanded us to execute judgements, so that we may judge, discerning righteous judgement most exceedingly for both the great and the small: they are truth and righteousness.

Hence this word, so exceedingly refined and greatly loved by one, makes him fervent in spirit, inasmuch as he is a servant of God.

Such a one, when the Scriptures are made plain by Jesus, has his heart kindled, so as to say, like those with Cleopas: 'Did not our heart burn within us, while He opened to us the Scriptures?' For being unchangeable and unalterable, He does not at one time have righteousness and at another not, being Himself the fountain and begetter of it;

And His word also is truth—truth unto everlasting for those who hear it—there being no human word of such a kind;

for the word of human wisdom, even though it seem to become true, afterwards, when the truth appears, will be proved to be false.

'The testimonies which Thou hast given me' are profitable not for a little while, but are righteousness unto everlasting, justifying him who by disposition draws near to them.

First 'in the untimely hour' (or 'the dark'), which you may understand also of the present age, often named night in relation to the age to come, which is called day, according to the saying, 'The night is far spent, the day is at hand.'

And his discerning powers, which are called his eyes, anticipated the dawn that comes from the rising of the Sun of righteousness.

Wherefore also, being illumined and dwelling in the light, he now meditates upon the commandments of God, which give him wings to be lifted up and himself to approach the true light unveiled, so that he may no longer be in the untimely hour but in the full and noonday light.

Another reading has it thus:

'And all Thy ways are truth'—that is, those that lead to Him;

for the end of all these ways is He who said, 'I am the way and the life and the truth.'

He of these ways who has reached the goal is in truth, having it and the Father of it within himself.

Drawing near in another manner, He is near to them;

and all His ways, along which He proceeds to make the examination and judgement of their affairs, are truth.

The testimonies were founded by God, so that no one is able to shake or overthrow them;

for Thy word, being wisdom and Thy Son, is the foundation of them.

Wherefore also, setting forth their invincibility and indestructibility, He said: 'My words shall in no wise pass away, even though heaven and earth pass away.'

Since 'beginning' is taken in many ways according to a single signification, we shall say that the beginning is the truth of the words of God, in the sense of 'that for the sake of which.'

For in order that it might be known and appear naked of types, the words of God—those of the law and the prophets, and moreover also those of the new covenant—have been given;

for being exercised by them and led by the hand according to their spiritual purpose, we come to encounter the truth face to face.

And if 'that for the sake of which' is the beginning of the things that lead to it and come to be for its sake, and the words of God lead to the truth (for they have been spoken for its sake), then fittingly the truth is called their beginning.

But since according to another signification 'beginning' also denotes that which is present within certain things, and the truth is present within the words of God, which are of themselves true, in this sense too this is said to be their beginning.

Correspondingly, over true words there presides the true habit, according to which they are said to proceed from Truth Itself, which inspires the God-breathed Scriptures to be uttered—which very Scriptures are the words of God.

And accordingly it would rightly hold that the beginning of the words of God is the truth.

Since the Lord says, 'I am the truth,' being Himself also the Word of God, as He says to the Father, 'Thy word is truth,' He who comes to each prophet;

he who is inspired by God, being truth, those who are made to be of the truth become the beginning of the words of God.

As, then, the beginning of Thy words was truth, so unto everlasting all the judgements of Thy righteousness are indissoluble and are shown forth for ever.

Fear is twofold: the one irrational, dwelling about the spirited part of the soul; the other rational, subsisting about the heart and the understanding, not without reason—and this perhaps may be the same as the divine fear.

Throughout the whole of his life the righteous man, being illumined, shall be in a perfect day not interrupted by night, and he praises God seven times, having become supramundane by his withdrawal above the world that came into being in six days; when also, having come to be in the paradise of God and having contemplated the word of God's creation and providence, he confesses over the judgements of God's righteousness, according to which judgements each thing received its varied creation and providence.

But if he also awaits the Saviour, concerning whom it is said, 'All flesh shall see the salvation of God,' he consequently loves the commandments of God whose salvation also he has awaited, that he may be both pure in practice and contemplative in expectation, ever awaiting and ever contemplating that the Word-God has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

He entreats that his petition may be such as is approved, sure, and unimpeachable, so as to enter in before the Lord.

'And I shall know whether my petition has entered in before Thee, if I be delivered by Thee according to Thy word and Thy wisdom';

for he who has advanced above all irrational passions and the evils wrought by unreason is delivered by God according to His word.

Or: 'When Thou teachest me,' from their being wrought within me and clearly pledged to me, may I offer to Thee, as a thank-offering, an arising hymn from the lips of the inner man.

And if the belching-forth is a hymnody of God, then clearly the food that is its beginning is a most full theology.

Thy various commandments, being ordinances of the particular virtues, are all one; for the universal, generic virtue consists in the mutual sequence of the particular virtues, so that he who perfectly possesses one possesses all.

'I will utter Thy word with the lips of my inner man.'

But he properly utters the word concerning righteousness who declares it not by voice alone, but also by deeds and by a practical purpose set straight according to right reason.

The saying, 'Let Thy hand be to save me,' does not here signify the coming-into-being of it according to substance, but its relation to those who are being saved.

Of the same meaning is also the saying, 'Be Thou to me for a God, a protector.'

The way of him who longs for the salvation of God is that the law be his meditation, proclaiming beforehand to him who longs, His coming hither.

And by 'law' he here calls the old and divine Scripture.

† Inasmuch as, remembering and holding fast to Thy judgements, I turn away from the death that follows sin, in no wise sinning but rather working those things which are followed by the soul's living and praising Thee with thanksgiving, for the immortal life which Thou didst grant to it.

Inasmuch as, remembering Thy judgements, I turn away from the death that attends sin by not sinning, my soul shall live, having wrought the things of life and praising Thee with thankful praises, for the immortal life which Thou didst grant to it.

Like the lost sheep, the one out of the hundred, in quest of which the Saviour came, willing to seek it, having left the ninety and nine upon the mountains, I went astray, being subject to the transgression of Adam.

For the lost one out of the hundred sheep is the race of men, while the rational beings that have not fallen—these too being a part of the creation—remained upon the mountains, in the height of the virtues and of the doctrines of truth, man alone having come into wandering.