Commentary on the Psalms 1 part 24/42

Shout aloud to the God of Jacob. The shout is one of triumph, as we have often said.

They therefore exhort one another to weave a hymn of praise to God who had granted the victory.

Take up a psalm, and bring the timbrel.

and this too the history of the Chronicles teaches.

The word therefore charges those choirs to give back to one another the all-harmonious sound of those instruments.

and to hymn God, these with lyres, those with timbrels, and others with harps.

And the 'psaltery' Symmachus called a lyre.

Blow the trumpet at the new moon, on the notable day of your feast.

For it is an ordinance for Israel.

and a judgement of the God of Jacob. God commanded the priests to use the trumpets.

And these reminded the people of the trumpets that had sounded on the mountain.

For when the God of all was discoursing on Mount Sinai, 'the voice of the trumpet,' it says, 'sounded exceedingly loud.'

Of that manifestation therefore the priests reminded the people by using the trumpets.

Fittingly, along with the other instruments, they were charged to use the trumpets also.

He made it a testimony in Joseph, when he went out from the land of Egypt. Here he calls the whole people Joseph.

for since Joseph became for them the means of entrance into Egypt, from him he named the people.

And he says that He gave this legislation to the people, having freed them from Egypt.

Then he recounts the benefits that had been bestowed.

'A tongue which he knew not, he heard.' For never before having enjoyed a divine voice, he now hearkened to it, receiving the Law in the wilderness.

'He removed his back from burdens.'

'His hands served in the basket.' By these words he made clear the toils in Egypt, the bitter servitude, and the making of bricks.

For upon their shoulders, as is likely, they were compelled to carry the clay;

and the back in particular feels such toils.

From this point he introduces the person of God speaking.

And first He calls to mind the benefits that had been bestowed, then He brings forward exhortation and counsel;

after these things He foretells their disobedience, and the punishment of that disobedience.

'And I delivered thee.' Thou didst groan in Egypt, worn down by toils, and forthwith I deemed thee worthy of loving-kindness.

This too the historical narrative teaches.

'For the sons of Israel groaned,' it says, 'because of the hard labours, and their cry went up to God.' — 'I heard thee in the secret place of the tempest.' But Symmachus renders it thus:

'I heard thee by means of a hidden thunder;'

and the other translators likewise rendered it 'thundering.'

'I proved thee at the water of contradiction.' Having come to Marah and found the water bitter, they cried out against Moses and murmured against God.

The place, then, received its name from the event.

But I easily changed its quality, and made the bitter water sweet.

'Hear, O my people, and I will testify to thee.' Having therefore received proof of My power, receive readily the laws I set before thee.

'O Israel, if thou wilt hearken to Me, there shall be no new god in thee, neither shalt thou worship a strange god.' [And He reveals Himself to them more plainly by saying:]

'For I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' This too is what the preamble of the Law contains.

'For I am,' it says, 'the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt;'

'thou shalt have no other gods besides Me.' Here too, then, He commands them not to worship a strange and new god, but Him who granted them their freedom.

These words also refute the madness of Arius and Eunomius.

For if the Only-begotten is not of the same essence, then He might reasonably be called strange;

and if there was a time when He was not, then He is new and not eternal.

They, therefore, manifestly transgress the divine Law, [and especially those who dogmatize the teachings of the impious Nestorius,] by worshipping a strange and new God.

But this is not the time to refute their folly at length;

yet even these words suffice for the refutation of their lawlessness.

'Open wide thy mouth, and I will fill it.' Make thyself, He says, obedient through compliance, and receive the abundance of good things;

from this point He shifts the discourse to accusation.

'But My people hearkened not to My voice, and Israel gave no heed to Me.' I, then, offered him this counsel;

but he undertook neither to hear nor to give heed to the things spoken by Me.

'So I sent them away according to the practices of their hearts;'

'they shall walk in their own practices.'

I therefore left them to the good-pleasure of their own heart, to travel by their own counsels.

So also Aquila renders it: 'And He sent them away in the crookedness of their heart; they shall walk in their own devices.'

For having seen him disobedient, I stripped him of My own protective care.

And I left him to be carried along by his own reasonings, like a vessel without ballast and without a helmsman;

and the truth of the prophecy lies open for contemplation to those who are willing.

For the Jews, having become bereft of God's help, were scattered over all the earth and sea, and became slaves instead of free men.

'If My people had hearkened to Me, if Israel had walked in My ways, I would have humbled their enemies to nothing, and laid My hand upon those that afflicted them.' Had he endured My exhortations and followed My commandments, I would easily have overthrown their enemies.

For the phrase 'to nothing' signifies ease, as if to say: Without effort and without toil, and in an instant, I was able to bring destruction upon them.

'The enemies of the Lord dealt falsely with Him.' But Aquila renders it thus: 'Those who hate the Lord will deny Him.'

For after the giving of the Law, the people answered, it says:

'All that the Lord God has said we will do and we will hearken.' And such were their promises, but their deeds were plainly contrary.

[And not they alone, but also Arius and Eunomius and Nestorius and those who follow their religion.] This too the prophecy made clear.

'And their time shall be forever.' But Symmachus has stated it more plainly;

for having said, 'The haters of the Lord are those who dealt falsely with Him,' he added, 'But their time shall be forever.'

By 'time' he means their calamities.

For thus the Syrians and the Hebrews are accustomed to name these things;

and many among us also call them by this name.

He says, then, that the Jews will not fall into these calamities for some fixed period of time, but that forever they continue deprived of the divine protective care.

This resembles the preamble of the seventy-third Psalm: 'Why, O God, hast Thou cast us off unto the end?' For there too he foretold the utter rejection of the Jews.

'And He fed them with the fat of wheat;'

'and with honey out of the rock He satisfied them.' But they, He says, having sickened with great ingratitude, did not remember the good things already granted to them.

For in the wilderness He brought forth for them the most delightful water out of the rock, which to them in their thirst was reckoned to imitate the sweetness of honey;

and in the land of promise He granted them ungrudgingly the fruits from the earth.

For by the part He indicated the whole, and by wheat and the other fruits He signified the whole supply.

A Psalm for Asaph. Having spoken of the rejection of the Jews in the preceding Psalm, here he sets forth more plainly also the causes for which God rejected them;

teaching us in every way that, if we imitate them, we shall fall into the same or worse calamities.

'God stood in the congregation of gods, and in the midst He judges gods.' He named the rulers of the Jews 'gods,' inasmuch as they had been entrusted with judging.

Thus the Law too calls them.

'Thou shalt not revile gods, nor speak evil of the ruler of thy people.' For since God is truly the Judge, and men also were entrusted with judging, those to whom this was committed were called 'gods,' inasmuch as in this they imitate God.

But those who judge unjustly, and who do not hold the scales of justice unswervingly, the righteous Judge here refutes, and He foretells the just judgment that shall come from Him.

...living in poverty, wronged by these men?

'Judge for the orphan and the poor; do justice to the lowly and the needy.' Each of these is in want of help.

'Rescue the needy and the poor;'

'deliver him out of the hand of sinners.' Let not the poor man become an easy prey to those who wrong him, while you preside and are entrusted with judging.

'They knew not, neither did they understand;'

'they walk about in darkness.' But none of these things were they willing to understand, nor to be illumined by the light of My words;

For this very reason they conduct their lives as men who pass their days in night and darkness.

'Let all the foundations of the earth be shaken.' On account of this reality, life has been filled with turmoil and tempest, and the earth is convulsed by unremitting calamities.

'I said, You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.' I, then, have honored you;

and I imparted to you my own title, and named you my sons.

'But you die like men, and fall like one of the princes.' And Symmachus renders it thus:

'But you shall die like men, and shall fall like one of the princes.'

For, being ignorant of your proper honor, you have suffered the same as the devil, who, having been entrusted by me with a rule, and being unwilling to use what was given him for its due purpose, fell from his honor;

and you undergo the same death as the rest of mankind, having no glory after death.

Thus the prophetic word, having made its reproof of the unjust judges, entreats the true and righteous Judge to render judgment upon the whole inhabited world.

For to him, according to his humanity, the Father has said:

'Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession.' Therefore the prophet implores him to appear speedily, to judge righteously, to put an end to the unjust judges, and to leave behind the inheritance of the Jews and take in its stead that of the nations—or rather, to encompass this—and to hold out salvation to all men through his incomprehensible dispensation. INTERPRETATION.

A Song-Psalm for Asaph. After the return from Babylon, the neighboring peoples, beholding the rebuilding of the divine temple and the renown of the Jews, gathered together at the same time, and having mustered other barbarian nations, took up war against the Jews.

And these things are foretold by the most divine Joel and Ezekiel, and Micah foretells them, as do Zechariah, those admirable prophets.

Yet they nonetheless conquer them all, with Zerubbabel as their general and God allying with them from on high, and breaking down the boldness of the enemy.

These are the things which this psalm foretells.

The prophecy is cast in the form of a prayer, the divine Spirit teaching those who were then under attack how they ought to propitiate God.

'O God, who shall be likened to you?' Not even the whole nature of angels and of men, he says, gathered together at once, will be able to be compared with your power;

for the might you possess is beyond all comparison.

And he has put 'who?' in place of 'no one.'

For the phrase 'Do not be pacified' makes this plain.

For thus also Symmachus rendered it: 'Do not remain at rest.'

Then he teaches the reason for the entreaty.

For out of hatred toward you they besiege the people that is dedicated to you.

(4) 'Against your people they have craftily devised a scheme, and they have plotted against your holy ones.' And Symmachus thus:

instead of 'your holy ones,' 'Against your hidden one.'

'Against your concealed one.'

For if the root is cut off, whence shall the fruit spring up? And this too the God of all made clear through Isaiah.

'In the manner,' he says, 'that when a berry is found in the cluster, and men say, Do not spoil it, for a blessing of the Lord is in it, so will I do for the sake of him who serves me;'

but when that berry has been taken, and the rest of the fruit gathered along with it, the remaining vineyard was handed over to the wild beasts, and a boar from the thicket ravages it, and a solitary wild creature grazes it bare, and all who pass along the way trample it as they please.

This too they say here in their prayer, namely: 'Not against us alone, but also against your hidden one they dare to rage.'

[For the cry, 'Away, away, crucify him!' plainly showed them to be raging after the manner of dogs.

And what follows is in agreement with these words.] (5)

'and the name of Israel shall be remembered no more.' They wish to bring utter destruction upon us, and to consign to oblivion the far-renowned Israel.

Then he enumerates the neighboring peoples, at whose summons the others also came together.

'For they have taken counsel with one accord together, they have made a covenant against you.' And those who unanimously undertook the war against you are these:

'The tents of the Edomites, and the Ishmaelites.' The Edomites traced their descent from Esau.

For Esau was named Edom;

and the Ishmaelites are the descendants of Ishmael.

'Moab, and the Hagarenes.' Moab was the son of Lot, and a nation arose from him too. The Hagarenes are another tribe of Ishmael, named after Hagar;

'Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek.' And Amalek too was a descendant of Esau;

and indeed a nation arose from him as well;

and these too are a division of Arabia;

and the Gebalenes are neighbors of Idumaea.

'The foreigners, with those who inhabit Tyre.' The other translators call the 'foreigners' Philistines;

whom we call Palestinians;

for these alone, being left over from the race of Canaan and dwelling beside Israel, were fittingly and in a distinctive sense called 'foreigners.'

'For Assur also came together with them.' The Assyrians were not reigning at that time;

the text therefore hints at the Samaritans, who were colonists of the Assyrians, settled after the captivity of the ten tribes in the cities of those tribes.

'Do to them as to Midian and to Sisera;'

'as to Jabin at the torrent of Kishon.'

'They were utterly destroyed at Endor.' Gratefully they call to mind the former benefits, asking for the same aid;

'They became as dung for the earth.' For remaining unburied they dissolved away, and like some manure were mingled with the earth.

'Make their rulers like Oreb and Zeb, and like Zebee and Salmana.'

'All their rulers.' The history of Judges also makes mention of these;

and Gideon slew them, being led as general by divine grace.

In like manner they implore that their own enemies too be destroyed, and they teach the reason.

For he called the temple 'the sanctuary of God.'

And Symmachus called the 'sanctuary' a 'dwelling.'

From this the whole subject of the psalm has become clear.

For since, on their return, they rebuilt the temple, and all the worship prescribed by the Law was carried out by means of it—

for apart from it worship was not permissible according to the Law—

and because of the manner of life prescribed by the Law the neighboring peoples were hostile to the Jews—

they directed their whole assault against the temple, so that together with it they might also make an end of the nation and of the worship according to the Law.

'O my God, make them like a wheel.' That is, 'Command them to be whirled about in calamities of every kind, and encompass them with successive evils.'

'As stubble before the face of the wind.' Scatter them like stubble tossed about by the wind.

'As fire which burns up a forest, and as a flame which consumes the mountains, so shall you pursue them with your tempest, and with your wrath shall you trouble them.' In the forests a flame is kindled of itself, when the trees are moved by a stronger wind, and are dashed against one another, and by the friction produce heat, and little by little are set ablaze through one another.

In like manner, therefore, they entreat that these too be consumed by one another, and be given over to their own lawless deeds, according to the prophecy which says:

'Walk by the light of your fire, and by the flame which you have kindled.' (17)

'Fill their faces with dishonor;'

'Let them be put to shame and troubled for ever and ever;'

'and let them be confounded and perish.'

'And let them know that Your name is Lord.'

'You alone are Most High over all the earth.' He asks good things even for his enemies, though warred upon by them.

For he entreats on their behalf, that in place of their insolence they may be clothed with shame;

and that through this shame they may reap the harvest of the knowledge of God.

For he foretells not only the recall of the Jews, but also the salvation of the whole inhabited world.

By 'winepresses,' as we have already said before, he calls the Churches.

For in these the spiritual vineyard offers its proper fruit, and we prepare the wine of salvation, which truly gladdens the hearts of those who have believed.

'How beloved are Your dwellings, O Lord of hosts!'

'My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord.' These things too were those living in Babylon taught to say, that they might long for their return, and yearn for the worship according to the Law.

And indeed we also, who have obtained salvation and reap benefit from the divine sanctuaries,

For he foretells that there shall be many dwellings, and names many winepresses, and likewise makes mention of many altars.

But the Jews had one temple, and likewise one altar.

Each of the phrases mentioned kindles the mind into a divine love.

For he says that God's dwellings are beloved and worthy of longing, and that one should not merely long for them but even faint for the courts of the Lord.

And what follows is in harmony with these things.

'My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God.' Not the soul alone is glad and rejoices, but the body too has shared in the gladness, having received the hope of the resurrection.

For this is what the word hints at.

For since both the gods of the Babylonians, and indeed those of our own forefathers, were lifeless and utterly without perception, quite fittingly do those who have been delivered from them name the true God as the living one.

'I am the life and the resurrection;

and he who eats Me shall live in Me.' (iv)

'For even the sparrow has found herself a house, and the turtledove a nest for herself, where she shall lay her young.' But Aquila renders it thus:

'Indeed the bird has found itself a house, and the sparrow a nest for itself, where it has laid its young.'

For just as sparrows and turtledoves, and indeed the other birds, wander about when they have no nest, but when they have built one are wont to abide in it and to nourish their own young;

so we too formerly wandered, but now, called forth by Your grace, and having found Your tents, beside Your altars we rear our own young, waiting upon You together with our children, and receiving from You the spiritual nourishment.

'Your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.' For our nest, our brood-place, and our enjoyment of good things, are Your holy altars.

For beside those, like young birds with mouths agape, we receive from You the divine and saving nourishment.

'Blessed are all who dwell in Your house; unto ages of ages they shall praise You.' Each of these things applies typologically to those in Babylon;

but to us it belongs according to the very truth.

For those, being far from the divine temple, counted blessed those who enjoyed the providence that came thence;

and we too, having tasted of the divine sweetness, call enviable those who continually wait upon God and revel in the divine good things.

'Blessed is the man whose help is from You; ascents are in his heart.' The word calls blessed the one who ever obtains the divine care, whose mind is enlightened by the divine grace, and who ever turns pious reasonings within himself.

For the prophetic word named the ascents of God that come into the heart 'the pious reasonings concerning God.'

'For the lawgiver shall give blessings.' For he who receives the ascents of God in his heart, and has learned the blessings of the lawgiver, gives himself over not to laughter and luxury, but to weeping and tears, longing for deliverance from this present life.

For he has heard God saying:

'Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted,' and, 'Blessed are those who weep, for they shall laugh.' Having therefore made these covenants, he awaits the blessing of the lawgiver.

The 'valley of weeping' is, typologically, the place in which an angel appeared and rebuked the people's transgression of the law, and stirred the multitude to weeping.

For that place was so named from that event.

But properly and truly the valley of weeping is the present life, in which Adam eats bread in the sweat of his face, and Eve bears children in sorrows;

and not only do sinners groan, but the saints also. And the one says, 'He is sorrowful even unto death'; another cries out, 'Take my soul,' and 'It is better for me to die than to live.' And the great herald of the truth says, 'And we ourselves, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves.' Thus one may see even the contending saints continually making use of tears, and reaping from them the resulting gladness.

In this valley of weeping, therefore, those who have received the ascents both pour forth tears, and embrace the laborious life, and await the blessing of the lawgiver.

'They shall go from strength to strength.' For they daily increase their might, and by the addition of virtue acquire great vigor.

Thus those who embrace the ascetic life pass from prayer to hymn-singing;

from hymn-singing to supplication;

from that to the reading of the divine oracles;

passing over day by day, they increase their proper wealth.

'The God of gods shall be seen in Zion.' This change of affairs, he says, God the Word wrought by becoming man, and by appearing to men through the flesh, and by first making His own manifestation in Zion.

'O Lord God of hosts, hearken to my prayer;

our defender, behold, O God, and look upon the face of Your Christ.' These things the prophet prays, seeing from afar the salvation of men, and beseeching the God of all, who has received the supplication, ever to deem the saved people worthy of His own care.

For this people he called the 'face of Christ';

for so also the divine Apostle addressed it.

'For you are the body of Christ, and members individually.' And again, 'The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you';

or again, the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.' (xi)

'For better is one day in Your courts than thousands.' For Your people, enjoying Your care, ever wait upon Your temple;

reaping thence much benefit.

For what one might gather thence in a single day, he could not collect elsewhere though he spent many thousands of days.

These things, moreover, were fitting for the captives in Babylon to say, who were compelled to live among impious men, deriving no gain thence, but reckoning up the ancient benefit that came from the divine temple.

'I have chosen rather to be cast aside in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of sinners.' So worthy of longing is the divine house to me, that I choose rather to be flung upon the ground beside it, and to roll before its doors, than to live in the great and splendid houses of those who live together in transgression.

Likewise these things too are suitable both for those in Babylon and fitting for us.

For the grace of the Spirit taught them not to overlook the desolation of the divine house, and we too are trained ever to long for the houses dedicated to God;

[ especially when those who preside over them are irreproachable, and illustrious in both faith and life.] (xii)

'For the Lord God loves mercy and truth.' [For nothing is so dear to God as mercy and the truth that is its companion.] 'The Lord will give grace and glory.'

[ (xiii)] 'He will not withhold good things from those who walk in innocence.' For those who have this disposition toward God enjoy all these good things.

For mercy springs up from the divine sanctuaries;

and from thence comes the abundant and ungrudging supply of the truth.

For from thence we receive the teaching of good doctrines, and we draw divine grace from the fountains of the all-holy Spirit.

And indeed we become thereby much observed, and exceedingly conspicuous;

and, to speak summarily, we receive the enjoyment of all good things, being delivered from vice and wickedness, and choosing to live in simplicity and truth.

'O Lord God of hosts;

blessed is the man who hopes in You.' The closing verse is suited to the whole psalm.

For he counts blessed, and calls enviable, the one who despises all worldly prosperity;

but who takes courage in hope on God alone, and reaps the salvation that springs from thence.

For the end, a psalm for the sons of Korah. This psalm at once foretells both the shadow and the truth.

For the God of all sketched out, in what concerned Israel, the salvation of all mankind.

For he set them free, now from the bondage of the Egyptians, now from that of the Babylonians.

And he rescued the nature of all mankind from the prevailing tyranny and corruption of the devil.

So the psalm foretells both the return of the Jews from Babylon, and the salvation of the whole world.

Since, then, he had decreed desolation upon Judea also, because of the lawlessness of its inhabitants;

and upon Adam, after his sin, he brought as punishment the curse of the earth.

'For thorns,' he said, 'and thistles shall it bring forth to you.' The prophetic word, by means of the phrase 'good pleasure,' indicated the casting off of griefs, and the renewal of all nature. 'You turned back the captivity of Jacob.'

(v.3) 'You forgave the iniquities of your people, you covered all their sins.' You loosed the grievous bonds of slavery, and bestowed freedom upon the captives, being willing to overlook their transgressions;

and that the whole nature of mankind also was captive, and received freedom from God our Savior, he himself is witness, crying out through Isaiah:

'Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears.'

'You caused all your wrath to cease;'

'you turned away from the anger of your fury.' You dissolved your indignation against us, and showed your kindness.

(v.5) 'Restore us, O God of our salvation;'

'and turn away your fury from us.' Both these and those seem to have received the good tidings of freedom, but not yet to have obtained it;

for which reason they entreat to obtain the loving-kindness perfectly.

'Will you be angry with us forever? Or will you prolong your wrath from generation to generation?' It is fitting that even those delivered from calamities should use these words, and not presume upon the forgiveness of their sins, but fear and propitiate the Judge.

So these too supplicate that the same wrath be not extended so as to last into another generation, but be quickly loosed.

and we, having enjoyed these things, will with gladness offer up the hymn to you.