Commentary on the Psalms 1 part 21/34

Surely the impious man, in cursing the impious one, Satan, does not curse his own soul? He curses Satan not because he is a creature of God, but because he is evil and impious.

But he too himself is impious.

He therefore curses himself, and this curse is not blameworthy.

If someone curses him because he is impious, he hates the cause on account of which he is conceived to be like Satan.

And impiety is the cause.

And perhaps he will cease; or, if he does not cease, he will be punished.

If the captives now curse the day of their captivity, they do not say this in order that they should no longer be subject to captivity — for do they somehow hold the captivity itself to be a cause? — and so curse it.

Does he then curse that day? And why did he add 'that'? For does one day differ from another day?

Let him who is to master the great sea-monster curse it.

Is it he who made the sun, he who fashioned the world, or rather he who is to master the great sea-monster? For the Saviour, having come and having mastered the great sea-monster, circumscribed the begetting of men, so as to give them another begetting, that which is of water and Spirit, which is properly called regeneration.

Now regeneration is a begetting upon a begetting, just as a palinode is a song upon a song.

And he called the resurrection of the dead a regeneration:

for he says to his disciples that:

You also shall sit in the regeneration upon twelve thrones — meaning in the resurrection, in the age to come.

May I not see this day while I am in affliction or sickness — I do not mean that I should not see the (past) time, since it is gone;

Has he called that cause of his begetting a sin? — Again, that is not what I say, but rather that he who curses a day or blesses a day does not, in blessing or cursing, look to the time itself, but to the things that have come to pass within the time.

Does he not say that it is better to depart and to be with Christ? That being freed from this life — does he not say that this is better?

Will he say that being entangled with it is better or worse? — Neither worse nor better.

But indifferent? — If this is indifferent, then that which is opposed to it is also indifferent.

Not as an evil, but as directed toward the better? — Contraries cannot coexist.

If one of these were good, the other is evil; and, the one being evil, the other must be reckoned good — as is the case with virtue and vice, with injustice and justice, with piety and impiety.

The one being base, the other also is good.

But when neither of the contraries is base, neither is the other.

White and black are contraries;

and since white is indifferent, being neither good nor evil, so also is black in relation to white.

Do you not say that to be outside the body is a good thing, according to him who says that it is 'far better to depart'? Consider the matter from the goal.

He who has departed comes to be in Christ.

Is this a comparative statement? Attend to what you are saying.

Things spoken by way of comparison are so spoken as being of the same kind, not as opposites.

'Sodom has been justified as a result of you' — Sodom has not been justified.

It is because of your own sins, O Jerusalem, that you slew the prophets and became the betrayer of the Saviour.

That famous Sodom despoiled but one man, Lot.

It was not simply 'justified' — for it has not been justified — but 'as a result of you.'

'You loved evil more than goodness, and lying lips more than to speak righteousness': these things are said by way of comparison, not by way of opposition.

For this is said in such a way that, when the one is denied, the other is straightway posited.

So then, 'to depart and to be in Christ' — if you say that remaining in the flesh is a matter of indifference, then this too is a matter of indifference.

Things compared and set alongside one another stand thus.

If the one is base, the other is not excellent.

If to be with Christ after departing is excellent — to be released from the world, to be outside the flesh — then to be in the flesh, even if in your view it is inferior, is nonetheless good.

He wills that the inferior perish, that he may gain possession of the greater.

But by 'perishing' I mean thus: the hindrance to it, the cessation of it.

Just now John wished to remain such as he was on the day of his birth.

Does he say no? Well then, longing for the better, he knows that this is not better nor good.

He does not pray that such a condition may pass away from him.

But to 'pass away' is to perish, to subsist no longer.

He is troubled by the very word 'perishing' and 'trouble.'

Paul, then, was not troubled by such things.

'We know in part,' he says, 'and we prophesy in part.'

'When that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.'

But 'to be done away' conveys a milder sense than 'to perish.'

Thus we have often said that 'that which is in part' is done away not utterly, but that the being-in-part is done away; and we have taken such an image as that concerning the pledge.

How do we give — as righteous, or as a sinner? This, then, is not the only thing you wish to learn.

For much is bound up together with it.

If you remembered what you heard, you would not always be troubled about these matters.

Let there be a king ruling over the inhabited world, concerning whom all are fully assured that he is righteous, and whatever he does he does as a righteous man.

'Bless the Lord, O my soul.'

If I keep it thus, working toward those ends for which it was appointed by the Creator, it is single (an only-begotten).

But if at different times it works in different ways and I am enslaved to certain things, then this soul is not single-belonging to its possessor, but at one time is his, and at another comes to be outside of him.

And to take an example from the Gospel:

The younger son who journeyed away from his father's house had come to be outside of himself.

His soul was no longer his own.

Indeed, when he repented, he says:

his soul thereafter became his own again.

This is like the saying 'Know yourself.'

He who knows himself is within himself.

'I will give thanks to you in a great congregation; in a weighty people I will praise you.'

A congregation is then called great and numerous when it is filled up out of individuals who are great.

For if it be composed of insignificant and common men, this congregation is not called great and numerous.

'The Apostle speaks wisdom among the perfect.'

These, coming to be in unity and being fitted together in the same mind and the same judgement, are a great and numerous congregation.

And just as I call a congregation wise when the individuals who fill it up are wise, and I call a city well-ordered and knowledgeable when its individual citizens are well-ordered and knowledgeable, so I call that congregation numerous and great whose members that fill it up possess greatness — greatness, that is, of soul and of mind, not of body.

Again, by 'weighty people' he means the honoured people.

For men are accustomed to call the honoured and most precious things 'weighty.'

This too the Scripture testifies.

For when the queen of Sheba came to Solomon, it says that she came 'with a heavy retinue' (a mighty power).

And it calls 'the heavy power' the very possession which she had brought.

She had brought many precious stones, many spices, gold, silver, and other things that make up wealth.

And that power of wealth was called 'heavy' in the sense of 'precious,' 'of great value.'

So then it says that, when each of those who fill up the people — as I said in the case of the congregation — is most precious and honoured (for glory and honour and peace are to everyone that works good), if that which works good has glory and honour, then it is an honoured people.

Indeed it has been said concerning it that it was 'a royal priesthood, a holy nation.'

The holy nation is filled up out of individual holy ones; the royal priesthood is composed of many worshippers of God.

'In a weighty people, therefore, I will praise you.'

And he is able to do this only when he becomes upright in soul and in mind.

For praise is fitting for the upright.

'Let not those who are my enemies without cause rejoice over me.'

Great is the boldness of him who says these things.

'Though I give no pretext nor cause for his setting himself against me as an enemy, they do this.'

Since therefore, being enemies, they rejoice whenever I fall into evils, may I not fall into evils, so that those might exult over me — grant me your attention:

For he who wishes to lead someone into licentiousness then rejoices over him — rejoices, being evil himself — whenever the man falls into those things with which he was eager to entangle him.

May this therefore not befall me, that those who are my enemies without cause should rejoice over me.

'Those who hate me without cause and wink with their eyes.'

'Without cause' and 'freely (for nothing)' are the same thing, namely 'without reason'; 'and winking their eyes against me':

not only do they speak with words against me, but they also wink with their eyes.

And since often, when the heterodox act on behalf of those who do us harm — those toward whom they wink with their eyes, with their own minds — they agree together unto evil and are of one mind unto impiety, in that 'they spoke peaceable things to me, but in their anger they devised deceits.'

This is one form of impiety.

Speaking peaceable words, they were doing what was not peaceable.

He speaks peaceable words among his friends and companions, as though he loved his fellows; but in his anger he devises treacheries.

Everyone who harbors treachery against his neighbor does this because he is angry with him.

For anger is a craving for vengeance.

In every case the one who approaches another with some treachery wishes to harm him; so that the treacherous man is also given to anger.

Yet in appearance he is not, being often one who, though wrathful, seems to speak peaceable words.

This very thing, at any rate, is said also in Jeremiah concerning a certain man:

'He speaks peaceable words to his neighbor, but within himself he holds enmity.'

'To me, then,' he says, 'they were speaking peaceable words.'

They were not speaking peaceable words simply, but to me;

wishing to deceive me, they were speaking peaceable words;

for the man who is truly peaceable does not speak peaceable words to anyone while holding another mind against him.

Thus at once the Savior says elsewhere that the peacemakers are blessed, because they are sons of God.

It belongs to the sons of God to be peaceable.

And by 'peacemakers' He meant those who make peace.

Whenever they bring into concord and friendship those who are divided in their purpose, they are peacemakers.

And they are peacemakers also within themselves.

But first, having made peace within themselves, so as to have no warring thoughts or deeds against themselves,

then they made peace within themselves.

And this peace they also convey to others;

for whatever sort they themselves are, such they wish those whom they teach to be also.

They teach the soul to be at peace toward the body, and the body toward the soul;

for when the soul buffets the body and brings it into subjection, and the soul rules while the body is ruled, there is peace of body and soul.

Just as, then, they established peace within themselves, so also they do this among others—among those beloved and cherished, or even among those at strife.

Therefore it is said also in the Didache, the book of catechesis:

He who brings others who are at strife into peace and reconciliation has first made peace within himself: he has no conflict within himself, he has no warring thoughts.

'And they opened their mouth wide against me.'

They widened their speech against me while speaking peaceable words.

But their mind was cramped by treachery, gathered together into one—not in a praiseworthy way, but so as not to possess its own proper virtues.

They opened wide against me as though speaking peaceable words, yet in anger devising treacheries; they thought to deceive me.

Then at last they began to laugh broadly and to open their speech wide against me.

You have in the historical narratives such tokens:

Delilah, who is brought in in the book of Judges, a harlot, plotted with treacheries to lead Samson on, that she might deliver him to the foreigners who wished to slay him.

'Will you become weak like other men?' She said to him what was not the truth.

Then she, supposing that he had spoken the truth, bound him and did the other things, and as though mocking him she said:

Behold, she opened her mouth wide against him.

Formerly indeed she coaxed and prattled fondly;

but when she thought she had caught him within the nets, mocking him she said:

And see how she who formerly spoke peaceable words and in anger devised treacheries, when she thought she had gained the mastery, opened wide her mouth, now speaking great swelling words.

'They said, Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it.'

Those who think they have gotten under their power the one they wished are wont to speak thus:

Aha, aha! What we wished, our eyes have seen;

no longer do we see you such as you supposed yourself to be, but as we wished.

'You have seen, O Lord; do not keep silence.'

The phrase 'do not keep silence' means 'no longer be long-suffering';

for from many passages we have shown this.

'I have held my peace from of old; shall I also keep silence forever? I have been long-suffering, I have not proceeded against the evils being done.'

Again, the goodness of the One who threatens the man already deserving punishment is made known, that through the threat He may rouse him and lead him to repentance.

And to the sinner God said:

'Why do you declare My statutes, and take up My words upon your lips? For you have hated instruction.'

'These things you did, and I kept silence—I did not proceed against you—you supposed in your lawlessness that I would be like you;'

'but the long-suffering does not abide forever;'

'for I will reprove you, and set your sins before your face.'

The threats of God, then, also come about according to His great goodness.

With the name of the Righteous One there is brought in also that of Judge.

'O Lord, do not depart from me.'

May such things not be done by me as would cause You to depart from me—You who are my helper, my shelterer.

God withdraws from the base, just as He draws near to those who draw near to Him.

So the great apostle James writes:

'Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.'

As if you were to say also to a base man:

Draw near to virtue, and it draws near to you.

The presence of God, therefore, we understand not according to place, but according to relation and disposition.

'Awake, O Lord, and attend to my judgment.'

No one who is accused of adultery or murder or any other crime says to God:

Awake, and attend to my judgment;

for you know that the attending to the judgment would condemn him.

It belongs, then, to one who speaks with boldness on the ground of purity and blamelessness—this cry, 'Attend to my judgment; examine what concerns me and what concerns them, and how in Your presence they say against me falsely, that they hate me without cause.'

Often the phrase 'awake' signifies a rousing to alertness.

Rouse this man to take heed to himself—and surely it does not signify any bodily posture.

But if you wish to take it also as though from sleep, it is said thus:

'Why do you sleep, O Lord?' God 'sleeps' when he does not will to proceed at once against the wrongdoers.

He does not say this out of despair, then, but because he wishes to learn the cause; for your Wisdom does nothing at random.

Even if you are longsuffering, even if you defer the punishment, even if you do not cast down those who unjustly assail me, tell me the cause;

for when a wise man has thus learned the cause, he will be all the more longsuffering, all the more able to endure.

'My God and my Lord, unto my cause.'

You who are both my God and my Lord, rouse yourself unto my cause, judge me.

He does not pray that his own enemies may suffer evil;

for the prayer of a holy man who loves his enemies is that those men should no longer be enemies, that they should no longer be such as they are.

Yet this somehow seems to signify punishment.

But for the pleasure-lover, punishment is to be deprived of his pleasures; for the licentious man, it is to be set far from licentiousness.

He wishes them to perish in respect of what they are as such.

And this too is not for everyone to say;

'My God, then, and my Lord';

for that man truly calls the Saviour 'Lord' who does the things he tells him;

'Lord, Lord,' and you do not do the things I say? And again:

The saints call God 'God' not with bare utterance, but as those who have been made his own and are his servants, like priests, being his ministers.

But they also serve him, doing his will;

for 'not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.'

He is called 'God' in that he is Maker;

for 'in the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.'

Thus he is called also 'the God of spirits and of all flesh,' according to his work of creation.

But in another way he is called 'the God of the saints,' according to their worship.

In this sense, indeed, he is said to be the God of the patriarchs themselves.

And according to the work of creation—the meaning they were setting forth—he was the God of all, of all the things he had made.

And again, he is Lord of all, himself having granted them their being and governing them under his own providence.

But in another way he is Lord of those who do his will, of those who perform what he has commanded, even as a master is lord of his servants.

'Judge me, O Lord, according to your righteousness.'

According to your own righteousness, judge me.

Again what is said seems overweening and contrary to other passages.

But the difference arises not in the sense, but in the wording.

'No living man shall be justified in your sight,' it says, that is, no one living.

And by 'living' it means the man who is alive according to the soul—most justly, then.

But in comparison with you they are as nothing.

It is as if you were to say also concerning lamps, that they do not give light in the presence of the sun.

This does not mean that they do not give light at all, but that they do not do so over against the sun.

In this sense is spoken also that saying in Job:

'And the stars are not pure in his sight.'

So then, this phrase 'according to your righteousness' he does not use absolutely;

not according to your righteousness that surpasses all, but according to your righteousness by which you judge human affairs.

Do not judge me according to their enmity, but according to your righteousness;

for your righteousness hates the unjust.

'Let them not say in their hearts, Aha, aha, so would our soul have it.'

Even if they do not say it with the tongue, let them not say it even in their hearts against our soul; let them not say, Aha, aha.

Nor let them say, 'We have swallowed him up.'

Let them not say that we have prevailed and overcome him;

for it has often been made clear that, according to Scripture, 'swallowing up' signifies victory.

'Let them be ashamed and confounded together who rejoice at my misfortunes.'

It brings salvation to those who are ashamed and confounded over the evils they do;

for since they wish to enwrap me in evils and to rejoice at seeing what they are zealous for accomplished, let them be ashamed;

for once ashamed they will no longer press upon me, and once confounded they will no longer do these things that bring reproach and accusation.

He speaks of the harmful evils, not of vices—for the one who says this had no vices at all, he who says:

'Judge me, O Lord, according to your righteousness,' the one who says:

those who rejoice over me unjustly.

'Let them be clothed with shame and confusion who speak great things against me.'

Those who arrogantly speak great things against me and rejoice over me, let them be ashamed and confounded, and condemn themselves.

And this turns out for their good, and I too no longer have them thus pressing upon me.

He prays primarily on their behalf, and secondarily also concerning himself.

What is 'to be clothed'?—as we say that someone is clothed with a virtue, another clothed with a vice, another with a garment of salvation;

'Let my soul exult in the Lord;

for he has clothed me with a garment of salvation and a tunic of gladness.'

The quality becomes, as it were, a garment of the thing qualified.

'Let them exult and be glad who desire my righteousness.'

When those who speak great things are being spoken of:

they shall be clothed with confusion and shame, while those who desire my righteousness and my peace exult and rejoice.

When the enemies are put to shame and confounded, the friends exult and rejoice.

And these are they who desire my salvation, my virtue, my righteousness.

Then they magnify the Lord continually, when I am continually in righteousness, when I abide in not falling prey to evils.

those who desire the peace of his servant.

Let them say continually, 'The Lord be magnified,' seeing me at peace, seeing me not fallen prey to disturbance or confusion or faction or strife.

We have often said that sometimes the universal is shown by means of particulars, and we then made use of this testimony, saying:

Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord, and who shall stand in his holy place? He that is innocent in his hands.

This man shall receive a blessing from the Lord.

It does not speak of any particular named person, but if anyone is such a one, if anyone has ascended into the mountain and stood upon the mountain of the Lord and is innocent in his hands, then everyone, if anyone is such a one, shall receive a blessing from the Lord.

Likewise in the eighteenth Psalm it is said:

The law of the Lord is blameless, converting souls;

for indeed your servant keeps them.

He does not speak of himself alone, but of anyone who is such a servant of God.

Being therefore one who diminishes himself, whenever he speaks of righteous deeds he ascribes them to the servants of God, but whenever of transgressions, to himself.

Some of those who draw near to God are called sons of God, while those who rank below these are the servants;

for out of servants they become friends and sons.

The greater ones, then, are those who will it—those who are as it were sons, the perfect ones, as their heavenly Father is perfect;

they will the peace even of those who are lesser.

Or in this way: that all will the peace of each individual servant.

And my tongue shall meditate on your righteousness, all the day long on your praise.

When the things I asked for have been granted, my tongue meditates on your righteousness.

This I ever recount, I bring it forth in hymns, I name it in words of narration.

By 'day' here he means the whole span of human life, as also in other passages he says:

For your sake we are put to death all the day long—that is, throughout life.

He does not use 'praise' of God in the strict sense;

for rather a hymn and laudation are said of God, whereas praise is said of human beings.

The laudation of God rightly rendered might also be called his praise.

But 'the praise of God' can also mean that which he himself bestows;

for he himself praises those who are worthy of it.

And then the praise shall come to each one from God.

The transgressor says within himself that he will sin.

Concerning an end it has often been said that that is the end for the sake of which all other things come to be, while it itself is for the sake of nothing—that which is called the ultimate object of desire.

We desire certain things for the sake of something else.

None of those things is the end, but they are productive of the end.

But the end is that which does not come to be for the sake of anything else, but for whose sake all other things exist.

Someone wishes to learn grammar;

he studies thoroughly, he practises, he listens to a teacher, and none of these is the end.

But the very acquisition of the perfected knowledge is the end.

The ultimate object of desire, then, is perfect virtue, after which there is no other consummating thing to seek.

We make use of laws for the sake of virtue;

the giving of laws is not the end.

We are persuaded by exhortations, by the teachings of him who imparts moral instruction;

but all these come to be for the sake of something else.

But perfect virtue itself—the insurmountable virtue that is established after all progress—is the end.

This end every servant of God pursues.

If it is said of 'the servant,' this end belongs not to this David the son of Jesse alone, but to everyone who has served God.

So too, if we praise someone for his grammar and say that he is competent both to write as one ought and to read as is fitting and to expound according to the harmony of the language, we speak not of that man alone, but of every grammarian.

Nevertheless, let us behold his servitude, so that in this way we may also see the others, his fellow servants.

I have found, he says, David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who shall do all my will.

The wills of God are the virtues taken according to their several kinds.

But the generic will is spoken of as one:

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter, but he who does the will of my Father.

Here he named the generic virtue in the singular as 'will.'

And one performs the virtues according to their kinds by doing all the wills of God—if one is a doer of God's wills, if one turns his commandments into deeds, if one casts away the things that ought only to be thought upon, if the truth of God has been made manifest.

And note indeed: he who said these things was a king, and he preferred the servitude of God to kingship;

for it is a great nobility to be a servant of God.

Indeed, for this reason it has often been said that the saints thus rank themselves in their prefatory inscriptions:

James, a servant of the Lord God Jesus Christ; and:

Paul, a servant of Christ; and Jonah, being asked:

from what country and what people, then says:

And just as those who by reason of rank are placed at the head of their compositions declare their dignity and rank, so these saints confess the servitude of God as, so to speak, the greatest nobility and surpassing renown and a great dignity.

The servant of God, knowing the will of God, knows also the things that are contrary to the will of God.

And contrary to the will of God are impiety, transgression of the law, every kind of vice.

The servant of the Lord, therefore, having come to know the end—the virtue that is over all—came to know also transgression of the law;

for of opposites the knowledge is one and the same.

He who possesses the medical art knows not only the wholesome remedies but also the harmful ones, so that he may use the former and turn away from the latter.

The servant of the Lord, then, he who refers his song 'unto the end,' speaks.

The transgressor says within himself that he will sin.

The transgressor says within himself that he will sin.

Within himself he says that he will sin.

First he assents to the transgression of the law and to sin, and thus he proceeds to the doing of it.

It is impossible for one who has not first been disposed toward sin to commit sin.

The transgressor, then, says within himself that he will sin.

For it is to be read thus: as the transgressor says within himself that he will sin.

But it is also possible to take the other sense of the ambiguity in this way:

The lawless man says within himself that he will sin;

for he knows that he has no freedom to speak openly about his sinning.

Everyone who sins, when he is conscious of it, hides the evil;

no one, then, reveals himself for what he is.

Even if a man were a fornicator and wished to be recommended to certain people, he would not want the one recommending him to call him a fornicator.

They are therefore condemned all the more, because they wish to hide what they do.

But no one who does what is good wishes to remain unknown—even if he sometimes does this for the sake of freedom from vanity—rather, he is eager to have such works of his made to shine before men, so that the Father who is in heaven may be glorified;

for let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify the Father who is in heaven.

There is no fear of God before his eyes.

No one who keeps the divine fear before his eyes sins;

for the divine fear is destructive of sin.

Sinning belongs to those who despise, who have placed themselves outside the divine fear.

Thus indeed the divine Scripture of Proverbs also introduces Wisdom, saying:

The fear of the Lord hates injustice, and insolence and pride and the ways of the wicked.

If the fear of God hates these things, no one who possesses it acts unjustly;

for the fear of the Lord hates injustice.

He is not insolent, he is not abusive, he is not self-willed.

The word 'insolence' (hybris) sometimes signifies abuse, and sometimes haughtiness and boastful arrogance.

The fear of God also hates the ways of the wicked.

The ways of the wicked are impious thoughts and lawless deeds.

But by the fear of the Lord everyone turns away from evil.

For he has acted deceitfully before Him, so as to find his lawlessness and hate it.

He hides the evil through deceit, knowing that unless he conceals the transgression by deceit, once it is found out it works hatred in the one who has found and come to know it.

So that he may not be hated on account of the transgression, he hides it by deceit;

you know that they often overlay their evil deeds with plausible pretexts, so that they may escape notice.

For example, the false prophets, being ravening wolves in their inner disposition, put on a sheep's skin, so that they may be reckoned as sheep.

But from the very fact that they wish to be recognized as sheep, it is plain that they hate the wolfish manner;

for if it is found out, it works hatred.

And no one is so foolish as to say:

I love lawlessness and hate godliness—for one who clings to it and delights to practise it does not wish to hate it—;

for if it is brought to light, it is shown that it also brings punishment.

The words of his mouth are lawlessness and deceit.

The words that he utters are lawless and deceitful.