Commentary on the Psalms 1 part 25/42

'and may you grant us your salvation.' When Cyrus, who reigned over the Persians, according to Isaiah's prophecy had granted the authority for the return, they hasten to reach their homeland.

Having thus offered the supplication as though on their behalf, the Prophet receives God's answer, and says:

'I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me;'

'for he will speak peace to his people;'

'and to his holy ones.'

For the turning of the heart toward God is a deliverance from stumbling, and the beginning of righteousness.

This is spoken partly in the person of the blessed apostles, and partly in the person of those who through them believe in the Savior.

'I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me, for he will speak peace to his people' — which peace he bestowed through the apostles upon the nurslings of grace.

For this he says in what follows:

'and to his holy ones, and to those who turn their heart toward him.'

And when did he bestow this? When from the Mount of Olives he who is everywhere and inseparable from the Father was taken up — from whence too he had come down —

'My peace I give to you, my peace I leave to you.' For this is the beginning of righteousness. And with these things what follows also agrees.

'Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him;'

who choose to fulfill the divine laws.

Such a change has granted to us too the return, which we shall make with glory, and we shall behold again the former splendor of our homeland.

'Mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other.' To those who sin but make use of repentance, the fountains of loving-kindness supply mercy; and upon those who embrace the truth, the streams of mercy overflow.

and the loving God gave mercy in return.

So again, when these offered righteousness, he bestowed peace upon them, and granted reconciliation, and dissolved the former enmity.

And peace ran to righteousness, and mercy to truth.

But consider the phrase, 'Mercy and truth have met together.' For the merciful one who bears all things was borne by the Virgin and Mother;

and the righteous John leapt in the womb of Elizabeth.

She, then, who bore righteousness — that is, John — kissed her who bore peace.

For he himself is, as the Apostle says, 'our peace, who has made the two one.' And this he showed more clearly through what follows.

'Truth has sprung up out of the earth.' And the Theotokos is ten thousand times pure;

she of whom the voice declares, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' For when men had embraced the truth, the God of all made righteous provision for them, and cast out the devil from his tyranny, and shattered the stings of death.

For this he says in what follows: (v.13)

'For indeed the Lord will give goodness;'

'and our land will yield its fruit.' Again he used the same pairing;

for he said that God would show compassion and loving-kindness, while they would offer to God the fitting fruit.

For by these things he did not indicate a good harvest, but the bearing of the fruit of virtue.

For concerning this the prophet Habakkuk says, 'Before his face a word shall go, and it shall go forth for instruction at his feet.' Likewise also Zacharias to his own child:

'And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;'

For it is John's voice: 'He who comes after me has come to be before me, for he was before me.' And, to speak concisely, 'Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.' 'And he will set his steps upon the way.' The end of the psalm especially teaches us clearly that the prophecy before us foretells the salvation common to all mankind.

'for thus it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness;' and again to his own disciples:

'Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls.' And at another time, having washed their feet, among other things he said this too:

'I, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet;'

'I am the way, and the truth, and the life;'

'no one comes to the Father except through me.' INTERPRETATION.

He foretells also the assault of the Assyrians against Jerusalem, and Hezekiah's hope in God.

And he foretells also the calling of all the nations, and their salvation.

'Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear me, for I am poor and needy.' The opening of the prayer is of a humble mind.

The phrase, 'Incline, O Lord, your ear,' he set down from the metaphor of a sick man who, out of weakness, is unable to speak more loudly, and compels the physician to bend his ear down to his mouth.

'Guard my soul, for I am holy.' The Prophet did not utter contradictory things in calling himself at once poor and holy;

but since both this one and that one had unjust and lawless enemies, who had suffered no wrong at their hands, yet were bent on unjust slaughter.

He called both himself and Hezekiah holy, as having given no cause to the enemies.

And what he says is this:

'When judged by myself, I am poor and needy, and I have no abundance of virtue;'

'yet when compared with the enemies, I shall be shown to be holy.'

'For they are impious and lawless;'

But I possess the knowledge of Thee.

And while they set upon me unjustly,

yet I await the unjust assault.

[These things might also be said, both with regard to the present and to the whole of life, by one who is warred upon contrary to what seems right to the righteous man himself, at the hands of those who are willing to do wrong.]

Grant a recompense to the hope of salvation.

For continually I proclaim Thy mercy.

For where he says 'all the day long,' Symmachus has rendered 'every single day.'

Gladden the soul of Thy servant;

[And for what reason does he say this?] Because unto Thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul. Loose the despondency of him who embraces servitude to Thee, and grant gladness of heart to a soul that inclines toward Thee [and awaits Thy mercy].

For Thou, O Lord, art good and gentle and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon Thee. Thou art by nature good and loving toward mankind, and Thou dost supply to those in need the fountains of mercy.

The word 'gentle' Aquila and Theodotion have rendered as 'propitious.'

And so 'gentleness' hints at long-suffering.

Give ear, O God, to my prayer;

and attend to the voice of my supplication. Since therefore Thou dost employ so great a goodness, graciously receive my supplication.

[At the same time he indicated also the occasion, through what follows, in which he entreated that his supplication might be received.]

In the day of my affliction I cried unto Thee, for Thou didst hear me. Having experience of Thy gentleness, I offer my supplication;

for indeed Thou didst already grant my request when I entreated Thee.

There is none like unto Thee among the gods, O Lord, and there are no works like Thy works. Since Rabshakeh the impious made use of those arrogant words:

Have the gods of the nations, each one, been able to deliver his own land out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? Therefore the prophecy teaches Hezekiah to cry aloud:

But Thou hast an appellation befitting the deed.

For most fittingly he has joined the works to the divine appellation;

There is none like unto Thee among the gods, O Lord, and there are no works like Thy works. For those others are utterly lifeless, unable even to defend themselves;

but Thy magnificence surpasses the tongues of men.

And in the time of Hezekiah it is likely that some, struck with amazement at the destruction of the Assyrians, ran to God.

But the truth of the prophecy was shown by the time after the incarnation of God our Saviour;

for after the saving Passion the divine company of the apostles was sent forth into all the inhabited world.

Go and make disciples of all the nations. And they made disciples, even as they were commanded;

and having scattered the cloud of ignorance, they enabled [those who believe] to behold the Sun of righteousness, and to worship the God who saved them.

This also the words that follow teach.

And they shall glorify Thy name.

and doest wondrous things, Thou, God alone. They shall offer up to Thee their hymn, having learned that Thou alone art God;

for the greatness of Thy wonders shall furnish them with this knowledge.

[And see how more clearly he set it forth in what follows, by saying:] verse 11.

Guide me, O Lord, in Thy way;

and I shall walk in Thy truth. Having foretold to the nations the deliverance from error that was to come, he himself also entreats to enjoy this guidance, and to make his journey in the way of truth.

[And see what he says in what follows.] Let my heart be glad, that I may fear Thy name. He who has acquired reverence toward God embraces a lawful manner of life;

and such a life is the mother of gladness.

Fittingly therefore the Prophet entreated that his own heart might be gladdened by the fear of God.

For thus he says also in another place:

Let the heart of those that seek the Lord be glad. And again:

I remembered God, and was gladdened. verses 12, 13.

I will confess unto Thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify Thy name for ever.

For Thy mercy is great toward me. I know, he says, that Thou wilt grant my request, and wilt loose my sorrows, and wilt enable me to offer the thanksgiving hymn for the loving-kindness that has been shown to me.

And Thou didst deliver my soul out of the lowest hades. Through these words he made plain the magnitude of the dangers;

For the assault of the Assyrians too was manifest destruction.

For which cause he named such dangers 'uttermost death' and 'lowest hades.'

[But because the Creator of all, that is, God the Word, having been made flesh of the Virgin and having chosen both the cross and death, descended into the lower parts of the earth, in order that He might not only raise up those who from the ages had been held fast by corruption, but might also fill them with immortality.]

O God, transgressors have risen up against me;

[For having joined both together, he named them a 'strong congregation' with respect to the state of affairs then prevailing.] And both these and those had a power that cooperated with their evil purpose;

and thence a twofold fear grew up in those who were being wronged.

And they set not Thee before them. They did not take Thy providence into their mind.

But Thou, O Lord my God, art compassionate and merciful, long-suffering and plenteous in mercy and true.

Look upon me and have mercy upon me. Since Thou art a fountain of loving-kindness, and dost pour forth the streams of pity and mercy, and there is with Thee also truth, and Thou dost judge those who live in wickedness;

impart to me some of the drops of Thy goodness, and show me stronger than my enemies.

that is to say, from of old and from my forefathers I am subject to Thy dominion;

Work upon me a sign for good. Of signs, some are of punishment, as in the case of the Egyptians;

but others are of salvation, as in the case of the Hebrews.

that is to say, Work upon me a sign that brings salvation, and that by the wonder-working procures for me an abundance of good things.

[He tells also for what reason he entreats that this sign should be given to him.] And let those who hate me see it, and be put to shame;

because Thou, O Lord, hast helped me and comforted me. For the hostile, beholding Thy providence toward me, shall be filled with shame, and shall become a reproach in the sight of all.

[But properly speaking, it was to the nations that God who is from God bestowed the cross as a sign for good, through which He routed the common enemy and set up a trophy against the demons and the passions.]

His foundations are in the holy mountains. The foundations of piety are the divine teachings;

and the holy mountains, upon which these foundations are fixed, are the apostles of our Saviour.

For concerning these the blessed Paul said:

Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. And again:

Peter and James and John, who seemed to be pillars. And the Lord said to Peter, after that true and divine confession:

Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it. And once more:

Ye are the light of the world.

The Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the dwellings of Jacob. And who this Sion is, let the divinely-inspired Paul interpret:

Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the festal assembly and Church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. And again:

But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. And discoursing about the patriarch Abraham in the Epistle to the Hebrews, he added these words as well:

For he was waiting for the city that has the foundations, whose architect and maker is God. And again, concerning the other saints:

For those who say such things make it plain that they are seeking a homeland.

And if indeed they had been thinking of that land from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to turn back.

Of this city one would not err in calling the Churches upon earth its gates;

for it is through these that it is possible to enter into that city.

For being instructed and trained beforehand in these, we are taught the manner of life of that city.

The prophetic word declared that these gates are beloved to the God of all things, and that they are honoured above the tabernacles of the Jews.

And that what is said in no way suits the Sion below, the words that follow bear witness.

I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know me;

Tyre, and the people of the Ethiopians, these were born there. These things, he says, O divine city, have been spoken concerning you;

so that those who of old lived together with impiety, and were held fast in the gloom of ignorance, were counted worthy of a dwelling in you, and came to share in your way of life.

For Rahab was both a Canaanite woman and a harlot;

and Babylon was beastlike and impious;

and the foreigners, that is, the Philistines;

and we have already made clear who these are;

and they were superstitious and lawless.

As for the impiety and the wantonness of Tyre, the prophet Ezekiel lamented them as in a tragedy;

and by the people of the Ethiopians the prophetic word called not only the Ethiopians themselves, whose souls imitated the colour of their body, but also all who are black in soul.

For indeed in the Song of Songs the Bride cries out:

I am black and beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem. [Black, having been deceived, defiled by the smoke of irrational things;

These nations, however, in the time of the Jews did not come together into Jerusalem, nor did they love the manner of life under the Law;

but after the incarnation of our Saviour, they both dwell in this Jerusalem, and fill the churches throughout the inhabited world, and pass over to the Sion above, and come to share in that blessed manner of life.

[For from what nations did they not believe in the Saviour? And who among these are they who did not also come to the Jerusalem below, in order to worship the most illustrious and venerable places, in which not only did the God who is of God become flesh, but also walked with feet of loving-kindness.

Fittingly, then, he said in what follows:] Verse 5.

A man will say, Sion is mother. And each one will name Sion his mother, and every man will say that Sion is a mother.

[So also the blessed Paul says:

But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.] And a man was born in her. This too is joined to the phrase A man will say.

For he who names Sion mother will also confess the birth of the man begotten in her;

and lest anyone suppose this man to be a mere man, he immediately added:

And the Most High himself established her. For this man who was born in her is both maker and creator, being the Most High, and God.

The Lord will recount in the writing of the peoples, and of these rulers who have come to be in her. But Symmachus renders it thus:

The Lord will number, writing down the peoples;

For he who counts worthy of his own writing the peoples who have their citizenship in her, was born in her according to his humanity, being the Lord and God.

And our Lord also taught this numbering when he said to the holy apostles:

But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. And he made known the recording to his own disciples, saying:

Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you, but rather that your names are written in the heavens. Verse 7.

The dwelling of all who rejoice is in you. For the citizenship in the heavens, being separated from all despondency, has unmixed and pure gladness and delight of heart.

And in this they do not sojourn as strangers, but the nurslings of piety dwell there for ever.

A song of a psalm. For the sons of Korah;

to the end, concerning Maeleth, for the answering;

of understanding, for Heman the Israelite. But Symmachus, instead of 'concerning Maeleth,' rendered it 'by means of a choir';

and Heman led a certain choir of those who sang and hymned God.

And the 'answering' hints at the responding ranks of the choirs.

The prophecy, however, foretells the calamities of the Jews and the servitude in Babylon;

and at once all the sorrows of human nature that came after sin.

The prophecy of the psalm has been cast into the form of a supplication, offered both by these and in common by all to the God who loves mankind;

and the prayer is fitting for the more pious.

O Lord, the God of my salvation, by day I cried out and in the night before you.

For this very reason, night and day I entreat that my supplication may be received.

[For this is what he says in what follows:] Incline your ear to my petition. [And on what account does he entreat in what follows and say?] Verse 4.

For my soul is filled with evils, and my life has drawn near to Hades. Beholding the multitude of the evils that hem me round about, I entreat you [to drive them away;] for I am at the very door of death, and I need your help, [being stripped of which I have been enslaved to sin.

I have been reckoned with those who go down to the pit. I have fallen into inescapable calamities, and I find no deliverance, but I am like those who have fallen into a pit and are unable to come up.

I have become like a man without help. I have been stripped of all providence and care.

Free among the dead. And though I have not yet undergone the end, nor received the servitude of death, I count myself together with those among the dead.

Like the slain sleeping in a grave, whom you remember no more, and they themselves have been thrust away from your hand. This too is joined to the phrase 'I have become.'

I have become like a man without help, free among the dead, and not yet having received the servitude of death.

I have become like one wounded in war and given over to burial.

For thus Symmachus has said this:

Like the wounded who lie in a grave, whom you will remember no more, who have been cut off by your hand.

[For those, he says, have been cut off by your providence;

but let your inclination come first, that I too may not fall into the same pit.] Verse 7.

They laid me in the lowest pit, in dark places, and in the shadow of death. These words too are fitting for those compelled to pass their days in Babylon, and for the whole nature of men.

For those, being enslaved to wicked men, lived a life full of pain;

and all men, after sin, fell into calamities of every kind.

For after the transgression of the commandment came death, and mourning, and tears, wailings too, and lamentations, widowhoods, and orphanhoods, and poverties, and misfortunes, and countless other things beyond telling, which bring darkness even upon the living.

[See how great an evil disobedience is;

so that it not only separates one from God, but also hems one round with so many evils.] Verse 8.

Your wrath has been fixed upon me;

and all your billows you have brought upon me. But Symmachus renders it thus:

'Thy wrath hath rushed in upon me, and by thy tempests hast thou afflicted me.'

Thou dost persist, he says, in chastising me, bringing upon me assaults of calamities of every kind.

The image is drawn from those who suffer shipwreck, and who receive many an onset of the waves and many a battering of the winds.

'Thou hast removed my acquaintance far from me.' I am bereft both of familiar friends and of kinsmen;

for those taken captive by the spear in Babylon, having received the yoke of slavery, being scattered and deprived of the fellowship and companionship of friends, had no consolation from that quarter.

And all men, living in impiety, had no share in the guardian care of the angels.

'They have made me an abomination to themselves' — that is, the enemies did so.

'I was delivered up, and could not come forth.' I find no deliverance whatsoever from the evils that press upon me.

'Mine eyes grew weak because of poverty.' But Symmachus renders it thus:

'Mine eye hath flowed away because of the affliction.'

For I have consumed my eyes in tears, being compelled by the anguish to weep.

for ever stretching out my hands, I entreat thee.

This posture reveals the bitter anguish of the soul.

for one who is constrained, in more earnest fashion, thus supplicates him who is able to grant his request.

'Wilt thou work wonders for the dead? or shall physicians raise them up, and they shall confess unto thee?' While I yet live, he says, show forth thy wonder-working power;

for once dead, I shall not behold it.

For there is no physician able to deliver from death;

for what medicine possesses this power? Verse 12.

'Shall any one declare thy mercy in the grave, and thy truth in destruction?' [That is, no one shall declare it, nor confess it, after his departure hence.] Verse 13.

'Shall thy wonders be known in the darkness, and thy righteousness in a land that is forgotten?' Is it possible, he says, for the dead who have been dissolved into dust, who dwell in the tomb of death and are consigned to oblivion, to perceive thy loving-kindness and to become spectators of thy wonders? Verse 14.

'But I, O Lord, have cried unto thee, and in the morning shall my prayer come before thee.' [But Symmachus renders it thus:

'But my lamentation is unto thee, O Lord, and at daybreak my prayer shall come before thee.'] For longing to be delivered, while yet in life, from the evils that press upon me, I make my anguished plea, and outstrip the dawn with my supplication.

and dost thou not impart to me thy favour? Verse 15.

'I am poor, and in troubles from my youth.' The youth of Israel is the exodus from Egypt;

but the youth of all men is the life outside paradise, after the transgression of the commandment.

And both these and those spent all the intervening time in wretchedness.

'But being exalted, I was brought low, and reduced to despair.' For the Jews, after their renown, fell into slavery;

and the nature of men, made according to the divine image and deemed worthy of the life in paradise, having desired greater things, fell also from what had been bestowed.

'Thy wraths have gone over me, thy terrors have troubled me sore.'

'They compassed me about like water.' Thou hast stirred up, he says, all thy wrath against me, and hast confounded me with the most terrible chastisements, and by these, as by waters, hast made me to sink beneath the flood.

'All the day long they compassed me about together.' By these I am inundated every single day.

'Thou hast removed far from me friend and neighbour, and mine acquaintance because of misery.' Wrestling against so many calamities, I have not even the consolation that comes from familiar friends, being made desolate of their company through the misery of slavery;

and these words were fitting to be spoken not only by the Jews, nor by all men before the appearing of the Saviour, but even now the supplication is apt and suitable for those who suffer like things;

for 'whatsoever things were written aforetime,' according to the divine Apostle, 'were written aforetime for our instruction, that through patience and the comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope.' Interpretation.

God, accepting this disposition of his, requites it with a noble promise, and undertakes to build for himself out of his loins a rational temple, and through this to effect the salvation of all men, and to grant him a kingdom without end.

And these promises he made to him through the prophet Nathan;

and this the history of the Chronicles clearly teaches. And in the second book of Kingdoms also Nathan said unto him, 'And the Lord shall declare unto thee that he will build a house for himself.' The history of the Acts also makes mention of these things.

For the blessed Peter, when addressing the Jews, among many other things set forth these also:

that God would raise up, from the fruit of his loins, the Christ according to the flesh, to sit upon his throne; and foreseeing this, he spoke concerning his resurrection, that 'his soul was not left in Hades, neither did his flesh see corruption' — he who was without sin;

'In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.' The all-inspired Paul, interpreting this, spoke thus:

'Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed.

He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.' Looking to these promises, the descendants of these men, and seeing themselves become captives and compelled to dwell in a foreign land, and the royal city become desolate, and the kingdom extinguished, remind the God of all of the promises.

And at one time they bring forward into their midst the patriarch Abraham, and his son, and his grandson, reminding God of the covenants;

So too the blessed martyrs, Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, made mention of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel in the furnace, as they entreated God.

This psalm too, therefore, the prophetic grace composed for the benefit of those men;

for of this grace those under instruction have special need, that they may utter nothing discordant in their complaining, but may await the divine mercy.

Now Ethan too had been entrusted with a choir of those who sang in the temple and hymned God.

[For it is not, as some have said, that the psalm is Heman's;

but, as we have said, this very man also led a choir of singers;

They therefore remind him of this promise.

Thou, he says, didst declare that thou wouldest increase thy mercy, and not diminish it.

For the phrase 'it shall be built' he has set down in the sense of 'it shall be increased [and shall receive an addition.']' 'It shall be made firm,' Symmachus has said.

Thou didst promise, he says, to confirm by deed the truth of thy words.

'For ever will I establish thy seed, and build up thy throne unto generation and generation.' This too is joined to the words 'thou saidst';

namely, that 'these covenants I made with the elect.'

And by 'elect' he calls Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel.

Thus, having recounted the promises of God, and not seeing the fulfilment of these matters, they are constrained to utter nothing discordant because of their calamities, but rather to honour with hymns the Ruler of all.

'The heavens shall confess thy wonders, O Lord;

yea, and thy truth in the congregation of the saints.' But Theodotion has, 'And thy faithfulness in the congregation of the saints';

[in the sense of, 'Thy faithfulness all who have their trust in thee shall keep.'] For it is fitting that thou be hymned by all;

and not least by those who dwell in heaven, who behold thy wonders more exactly, and who know the surety of the promises;

the blessed Paul makes mention of them;