Commentary on the Psalms 1 part 30/42

For having called the intelligible beings into fellowship of the hymnody, he teaches us also, as far as is possible, to honour the Maker, and to offer up the thanksgiving hymn in measure with our power.

so that we might all learn with what hymns we ought to requite our Benefactor.

Here, then, he recounts the common benefits, and shows that the God of all things is at once the Maker of all and the Ruler over all.

'Bless the Lord, O my soul.' He teaches every nursling of piety to sing praise to God the Benefactor.

'O Lord my God, how exceedingly hast Thou been magnified!' Here too the word 'how' expresses intensity.

And the phrase 'hast been magnified' does not indicate any increase, but rather signifies —

— it signifies immeasurable greatness.

For so also Symmachus rendered it: 'And Thou, my God, art exceedingly great.'

For it was not that, being small, He was magnified, but that, being great by nature, this was made manifest to the godly;

not the whole of His greatness, but as much as the nature of men could contain.

'Thou hast clothed Thyself with thanksgiving and majesty.' Symmachus thus: 'Thou hast robed Thyself in hymn and glory.'

For no longer are those who enjoy Thy good things ignorant of Thee, nor do they render to idols the worship due to Thee; but they hymn Thee, and pay Thee the debt of glorification.

'Who coverest Thyself with light as with a garment.' In harmony with these words the Apostle also said:

'Who alone hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable.' For so great is that light, that none dares draw near;

for the excess of its splendour turns the eyes away.

For if the perceptible sun compels those who try to gaze upon it insatiably to do this, who is able to attain to the comprehension of the unapproachable light? He too, indeed, is true light;

yet He also clothes Himself with light as with a garment, and dwells in unapproachable light, and there is cloud and thick darkness round about Him, and He made darkness His hiding-place.

And these things are not contrary to one another;

for to those unable to see, the unapproachable light is the same as thick darkness and gloom.

For neither the things in the one nor the things in the other can be discerned.

And both this and that declare the invisibility of the divine nature.

'Who stretchest out the heaven like a curtain of skin.' By these words he taught the ease of the creation.

For as it is easy for a man to stretch out a hide and make a tent, so the God of all things spread out the great vaults of the heavens, using His word alone.

'Who roofest His upper chambers in the waters.' This also the blessed Moses taught.

For he said that God had spoken: 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it divide between water and water — the water that is above the firmament and the water that is beneath the firmament.'

'For He presides,' he says, 'over both winds and clouds;

and He Himself directs and steers these things;

and He gives the benefit that springs from them in due season.'

For since, of all perceptible things, the nature of the winds is the swiftest,

not finding among perceptible things another more exact image of swiftness, he said that God rides upon the wings of the winds, thereby intimating that He is present everywhere.

And we find that the God of all things appeared to the sons of Israel in a cloud;

and in the tabernacle He made His own manifestation through a cloud.

And indeed, when Solomon was dedicating the house, a cloud covered the house;

and as He was being taken up, a bright cloud received Him from their eyes.

'Who maketh His angels spirits;

and His ministers a flame of fire.' He showed that He is Maker not only of things visible, but also of things invisible;

and He called these same beings both spirits and fire, teaching by each their power and their swiftness.

For swift indeed is the nature of the spirit, and mighty is the operation of fire.

And using the angels as His ministers, the God of all things both benefits the worthy and punishes the adversaries.

'Who foundest the earth upon its stability.' But Aquila and Symmachus render: 'upon its base.'

'It shall not be moved for ever and ever.' For having established it upon itself, He gave it immovability, and it shall abide in this manner for as long as He Himself shall will.

So also in another place He says: 'Who hangeth the earth upon nothing.'

'The deep, as a garment, is His covering.' He has put 'His' in place of 'its.'

For thus also Aquila and Theodotion interpreted:

'The deep, as a garment, Thou didst wrap about it.'

And the divine Scripture calls the watery substance 'the deep.'

So also at the beginning of the creation the blessed Moses said:

'And the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was upon the deep.' Since, then, the earth is encompassed with waters on every side, and the great and unnavigable seas are its boundary, while numerous other waters cut through its midst, he fittingly said that the deep lies upon the earth like a garment.

'Upon the mountains shall the waters stand.'

[verses 7, 8.] 'At Thy rebuke they shall flee;

at the voice of Thy thunder they shall be afraid.'

For this reason the sea, imitating the summits of the mountains with its waves, does not inundate the dry land;

but just as we cower before the thunder, so it fears the boundary that has been set.

And the phrase 'Upon the mountains shall the waters stand' means 'It stands like a mountain';

and 'the mountains ascend' means 'as mountains.'

'Thou hast set a bound which they shall not pass;

neither shall they turn again to cover the earth.' The sea stands in awe of the sand, and though raging up to it, it is checked as by a bridle by the divine boundary, and is reined back, and withdraws again.

'Who sendest forth the springs in the valleys; the waters shall pass through the midst of the mountains.' Then he indicates the use of these things.

'They shall give drink to all the beasts of the field;

the wild asses shall wait to quench their thirst.'

'Beside them shall the birds of the heaven dwell; from the midst of the rocks they shall give voice.' And this too is a very great token of divine Providence: to fulfil the need not only of men, but also of the irrational creatures;

so that not only men have abundantly the streams of the springs;

but also the kinds of land animals and of the creatures that fly through the air.

And the phrase 'The wild asses shall wait to quench their thirst,' Symmachus thus interpreted: 'The wild ass shall recover from its thirst.'

'Who waterest the mountains from His upper chambers.'

'...with the fruit of Thy works shall the earth be satisfied.' For not only does He cause the waters to gush up from below and prepare the nature of the waters;

but from above He supplies irrigation through the clouds.

Then he indicates the benefit that comes from this.

'Who causest grass to spring up for the cattle;

and the fruits also are nourished by the rains, and become ripe, and are offered to men.

This also he said in another psalm:

'Thou wilt save both man and beast, O Lord.' Yet nevertheless, on account of the need of men, the cattle also enjoy this provident care.

'And wine gladdens the heart of man, to make his face cheerful with oil;'

'and bread strengthens the heart of man.' Symmachus has expressed it more clearly, saying:

'Causing grass to sprout for the cattle, and green herbage for the service of men;'

'to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the heart of man;'

'to make the face shine with oil, and bread to strengthen the heart of man.'

For to this end, he says, the God of all continually supplies the rains to the earth, so that fruits of every kind may sprout, and that by bread He may strengthen and nourish the nature of men;

by wine He may gladden it and render life more pleasant;

and by oil He may not only nourish within, but also make the bodies bright without.

'The trees of the plain shall be filled.' But the Hebrew and the others have put 'of the Lord,'

as being self-grown, and not wrought by hand, but sprouting forth by the divine Word.

'The cedars of Lebanon, which Thou hast planted.' For no keepers of groves became the planters of these;

rather, the divine Word made the spreading crowns of the mountains.

Having made mention of Lebanon as being notable, and of the cedars upon it, he thereby indicated also the other mountains and trees.

'There the sparrows will make their nests;'

'the dwelling of the heron leads them.' But Aquila renders it thus:

'for the heron the fir trees are its home.'

And Symmachus: 'Where the sparrows will nest, the cypress is a dwelling for the kite.'

For the same trees provide one use for men, and another for the birds;

for to men they are suitable for the building of houses;

while for the birds they receive their dwellings.

'The high mountains are for the deer;'

'the rock is a refuge for the rabbits.' Thy providence, he says, does not overlook even the small among the animals, but to the deer Thou hast given the peaks of the mountains as a dwelling-place;

and to the smaller of the animals, the hollows of the rocks. (19)

'He made the moon for seasons.' Having gone through all things upon the earth, and shown the creation of the invisible natures, and pointed out the making of the heavens, he now makes mention also of the luminaries, which came into being on the fourth day.

And he says that the creation of the moon came about for the teaching of the seasons;

for its own changes make ready the measuring of time.

For it makes the measure of the month, in so many days waxing and waning.

'The sun knows its setting.' Though it is not endowed with soul, nor makes use of reason;

yet, journeying according to the divine ordinance, it thus makes the day by appearing, and the night by hiding itself;

and it keeps ever the same course, and preserves its measures.

'Thou hast made darkness, and it became night.' The use of this also is necessary;

coming into being by the withdrawal of the light;

and affording rest to men.

'In it all the beasts of the forest will go about.'

[21.] 'The young lions roar to seize their prey, and to seek their food from God.' For the night procures rest for men, but affords freedom to the beasts, so that being hungry they may fill their bellies.

And the phrase 'to seek their food from God' stands for: 'To these also the divine Providence supplies their need.'

For to ask from God belongs to rational beings;

but to seek belongs also to the irrational;

yet nonetheless to these also God provides the necessary nourishment.

'The sun rose, and they were gathered together, and they will lie down in their dens.'

'Man will go forth to his work;'

'and to his labour until evening.' When the sun rises, the beasts withdraw to their own hiding-places;

but men, having laid aside the toil of the previous day, again with eagerness spend the whole day at their labours.

'How magnified are Thy works, O Lord!'

'Thou hast made all things in wisdom.' Having considered each of the things spoken of, and having learned the great care of God, the Prophet, in the midst of his narration, sent up his hymn;

declaring that all the works of God are wondrous, and exceedingly worthy of admiration, and full of wisdom.

For he found even the night, which is slandered by certain impious men, to be very greatly useful, and the fruitless trees to bring in another use;

and the kinds of beasts to be serviceable to men in many respects.

'The earth was filled with Thy possession.' But the other interpreters have put 'creation;'

standing for: 'Thou hast filled it with good things of every kind.'

Then from the earth he passes over also to the neighbouring sea, and says:

'This is the sea, the great and wide;'

'there are creeping things without number;'

'living creatures small with great.' And this too is a proof of the divine Care;

namely, that the small kinds dwell together with the great, and are not entirely consumed by them.

'There the ships go about.' This too is a very great benefit for men.

And the phrase 'to play in it' stands for 'in the sea itself;'

for the Hebrew and the Syrian call it in the masculine gender.

So great is it, he says, that the countless kinds of fishes lie round about, and the greatest sea-monsters swim in it without fear.

But if it seems to some also to allegorize the dragon, because also in Isaiah:

'The great and holy and strong sword shall come upon the dragon,'

'the crooked serpent, that is in the sea' — neither shall we decline such an interpretation;

since in Job also we find this creature being made sport of by the divine angels.

And the Lord gave authority to His own disciples 'to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.'

'All wait upon Thee, to give them their food in due season.' From Thee, he says, all receive their need at the fitting time.

For the irrational creatures indeed seek their food;

yet nonetheless they receive this from the Maker.

'But when Thou hast opened Thy hand, all things shall be filled with goodness.' By these words he indicated the ease of the supply of good things.

For just as it is easy to stretch out the fingers that have been bent inward, so it is a simple matter for God to grant the abundance of all good things.

'But when Thou hast turned away Thy face, they shall be troubled.' Just as Thou fillest with all gladness those who enjoy good things, granting these in Thy favour;

Thus, when Thou dost turn away, all things are filled with dismay and dread.

'Thou wilt take away their spirit, and they shall fail, and shall return to their dust.' For at Thy will there comes the separation both of the soul and of the body;

after which the body is given over to corruption and dissolves back into the ancestral dust.

Here he has called the soul 'spirit.'

'Thou wilt send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.' Here he has plainly foretold to us the resurrection and the restoration to life through the all-holy Spirit.

So too the great Elijah, breathing three times upon the widow's child, brought it back to life through the indwelling grace of the Spirit;

so too Elisha gave life to the son of the Shunammite, employing a spiritual insufflation and working life by the life-giving Spirit.

Having thus displayed this operation also of the divine power, he transfers his tongue to hymnody.

'Let the glory of the Lord be for ever.' It is right, he says, that He should ever be praised by all.

For when men are delivered from their former deception and have received the knowledge of God, God will rejoice—not as being worshipped, but as seeing men saved.

'He who looks upon the earth and makes it tremble,

who touches the mountains and they smoke.' He has fittingly added these words, teaching the self-sufficiency of the divine nature.

For He does not take delight in being worshipped as though He had need;

rather, as willing to save, He reveals the truth;

and though able to punish, He does not inflict punishment;

and yet by His mere appearing He shakes the earth and fills the mountains with fire and smoke.

This He did also at Mount Sinai;

for when He made His own appearing there, He caused the whole mountain to be seen smoking.

'I will sing to the Lord in my life, I will make melody to my God while I have being.' And these words too he has fittingly added.

'For in death there is no one who remembers Him, and in Hades who shall confess to Him?' Thus was the door of the bridal chamber shut against the foolish virgins, who had spent the time of the torch-bearing in buying oil.

'May my meditation be sweet to Him.' Symmachus rendered 'meditation' as 'discourse';

'I pray,' he says, 'that this my hymnody may appear most sweet and most delightful.'

'But I will rejoice in the Lord.' 'For when this comes to pass,' he says, 'I shall reap the resulting gladness.'

'Let sinners fail from the earth,

and the lawless, so that they be no more.' Having traversed, so far as human nature could, the divine beauty and the ineffable riches, he longs for all men to share in the same knowledge, and he entreats that the whole company of sinners may utterly fail;

not begging that they should perish, but praying that they should be changed, and imploring that their throng should cease to be, once they have been transferred to another rank and have learned anew the things of God.

But if anyone wishes to understand these sayings otherwise—as though the prophet were subjecting to curses those who live in impiety—even so he will find the prophecy agreeing with the apostolic teaching.

For the blessed Paul too, writing to the Corinthians, set down such a closing sentence:

'If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be anathema.' For this is characteristic of those who love fervently.

'Bless the Lord, O my soul.' Those, then, who are unwilling to hymn the Bestower of so many good things—let them suffer those very things which I have described.

This psalm too exhorts us to hymn the God of all things;

for 'Alleluia' is interpreted 'Praise the Lord.'

It calls to mind the promises made by God to the patriarchs, and the good things granted by Him for their sakes to their descendants.

For the remembrance of both these and those is sufficient to rouse and spur to zeal for their ancestors' virtue those who have enjoyed so many benefactions.

For since they were called the people of God, and manifestly enjoyed the divine providence, but later became wholly bereft of it;

through the present psalms he teaches all men both how great and how many were the benefactions He bestowed, and how ungrateful those men proved regarding these benefactions;

so that all together may both learn the justice of the sentence pronounced against them, and, seeing the wages of ingratitude, may not tread the same path as they, but journey along the straight way.

'Give thanks to the Lord, and call upon His name.' Symmachus rendered 'call upon' as 'proclaim.'

The word exhorts us to offer up the hymnody of thanksgiving, and to recount the divine benefactions.

'Sing to Him, and make melody to Him;

recount all His wondrous works.' Requite Him with hymns and songs;

and teach those who are ignorant the wonders wrought by Him.

'Be praised in His holy name.' Aquila set down 'boast' instead of 'be praised.'

The word exhorts us not to think great things about wealth, nor about strength, nor about power, but in the knowledge and providence of God.

This the divine Apostle also enjoined;

for 'He who boasts,' he says, 'let him boast in the Lord.' The most wise Hannah too sets these things forth: 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the strong man boast in his strength. And, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, in understanding and knowing the Lord, and in doing judgment and righteousness upon the earth.'—'Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.' For gladness is the fruit of hope in God.

'Seek the Lord, and be strengthened.' And teaching how this must be done, he added:

'Seek His face continually.' For not once or twice, but throughout the whole of life it is fitting to seek the help from above and to reap the benefit.

For those who seek shall be invincible and unconquerable.

This the Lord also promised when giving His law;

'Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you;

for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.' 5.

For here he has called 'judgments' the wonders justly wrought by God.

For since he makes a narrative of the things that came to pass in Egypt, he first teaches the justice of the punishment of the Egyptians.

'Seed of Abraham His servants, sons of Jacob His chosen ones.' He calls the same men both this and that, as being descendants of the one and named sons of the other.

He called them 'chosen' as being named the people of God above all the nations.

This too he showed through what follows.

'He is the Lord our God; in all the earth are His judgments.' For being Himself the God and Lord of all, and ruling over the whole inhabited world, He called these His own people.

'He has remembered His covenant for ever, the word which He commanded for a thousand generations.' Through these words he teaches the enduring and abiding nature of the promises made to Abraham.

For the saying is not, as some have supposed, hyperbolic;

for the God of all things promised that in his seed He would bless all the nations.

who has eternal dominion and an imperishable kingdom.

This too the mention of the thousand generations makes plain.

For the saying does not signify a number of years, but hints at the enduring and eternal multitude of the generations.

'Which He established with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac.'

'And He appointed it to Jacob for an ordinance, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.' Of these oaths the divinely-inspired Moses also made mention;

for 'God said,' he says, 'to Abraham, By Myself have I sworn, that blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven for multitude;

and in your seed shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.' With this oath he calls Isaac also to remembrance;

He confirms the covenants toward Jacob also;

and indeed He fulfils them too, through Moses freeing their descendants from the bondage of the Egyptians, and through Joshua the son of Nun granting them the promised land.

Saying, 'To you I will give the land of Canaan, the portion of your inheritance.' By 'portion' he named the lordship over the land;

for it is proper to those who possess to apportion the land by measure to those who are subject to them,

though they were but few, indeed easily numbered.

And through this he shows the power of the One who made the promise;

namely, that even to so small a number He was able to grant the lordship of so vast a land.

And they passed from nation to nation, and from a kingdom to another people. For the patriarchs continued as sojourners, settled firmly in no single place;

but now here, now there, they moved their tents.

He suffered no man to wrong them. For He showed them to be stronger than the injustices which those who attempted them tried to inflict.

And He reproved kings on their behalf. (Verse 15)

Touch not my anointed ones, and do no harm to my prophets. Thus He punished Pharaoh with great and fearful chastisements concerning Sarah the wife of Abraham.

Thus by night He terrified Abimelech, saying:

'Behold, you are to die because of Sarah the wife of Abraham;

for she is a woman married to a husband.'

Thus He made Isaac an object of reverence to those who then dwelt in Palestine.

Thus He threatened the murderous Laban, saying:

'Take heed,' He said, 'that you speak nothing harsh against my servant Jacob.' And He calls them 'anointed,' not as being anointed with oil, but as having become chosen ones.

And God Himself even called Abraham a prophet;

for He said, 'Restore the woman to her husband, for he is a prophet;

and he shall pray for you, and you shall be saved.' (Verse 16)

And He called for a famine upon the land. Sin draws chastisement upon itself;

and chastisement reproves the bestial way of life;

and reproof brings about a change in one's manner of life.

Therefore He brought on the famine because of the lawless life of the men of that time;

yet even so He cared for His own household servants.

He broke every staff of bread. That is, He caused everything capable of nourishing to become scarce;

not only wheat, but also barley, and pulse, and the other things by which men sustain their life.

He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold as a slave. Both things He revealed at once: the wickedness of the brothers, and his own wisdom;

for He turned their wickedness to a needful end.

For He Himself did not compel them to sell their brother, but yielded to their malice;

and He Himself, using this to a good end, made the slave a ruler, and ordained for the family the descent into Egypt.

For it was fitting that those destined to be called the people of God should become illustrious and conspicuous through the wonders wrought on their behalf.

For the providential care shown toward them proclaimed the God who was theirs, and illumined those who heard with the light of the knowledge of God.

They humbled his feet in fetters; iron pierced his soul. For after the slander concerning adultery, he was cast into the prison, and immediately, as was to be expected, they bound him with iron chains.

This indeed Symmachus rendered thus: 'Into iron his soul passed,' meaning: He was in danger even unto slaughter.

Until his word came; the oracle of the Lord tried him as by fire. All these things he endured, being tested like gold;

not that the God of all might learn the genuineness of Joseph's virtue—He who knows all things before they come to be—

but that He might display his philosophy to other men, and set him forth as an archetype of truth.

The king sent and loosed him;

the ruler of the people, and set him free.

He made him lord of his house, and ruler over all his possessions. And to show the benefit that came from his stewardship, he added:

To instruct his princes as himself, and to teach wisdom to his elders. For having become renowned before the king through the interpretation of dreams, and having received authority, he guided others into the knowledge of God, using not words only, but also drawing them by his deeds to the same piety.

And Israel entered into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. This, he says, was the occasion of the patriarch's departure to Egypt.

He names Egypt 'the land of Ham,' since Mesraim, the son of Ham, was the second-born.

Divine Scripture calls Ethiopia 'Chus,' and Egypt 'Mesraim'; and it names the same man both Jacob and Israel;

for the one name he received from his fathers, while the other God bestowed upon him, signifying through the appellation the divine manifestation that had been granted to him.

And He increased His people exceedingly, and made them stronger than their enemies. This too the history of the Exodus teaches.

For it says, The more the Egyptians afflicted them, the more they multiplied, and the land was filled with them.

He turned their heart to hate His people. Not that He Himself changed the mind of the Egyptians, but that He conceded to their free will;

and not preventing their plots, He showed those who were plotted against to be stronger than those who plotted.

To deal craftily with His servants. At one time the Egyptians commanded the midwives to destroy the male children of the Hebrews, at another they ordered these to be cast into the river.

But even so, the nation escaped the contrivances of death.

He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen for Himself.

He set in them the words of His signs, and of His wonders in the land of Ham. For putting them forward as ministers and servants of the deliverance of their kinsmen, He committed to them the power of working wonders.

He sent darkness, and it grew dark, because they had embittered His words. For the blessed servants did not gainsay the divine commands, but did what was ordered, and brought upon them the very long, three-day night—or rather a darkness gloomier than night.

For night, even when it is moonless, is mingled with the radiance of the stars;

but that darkness Divine Scripture calls 'palpable.'

He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. For not only the color of the waters, but the very quality of their taste He changed, so that all the kinds of fish were destroyed.

Their land brought forth frogs in swarms, even in the chambers of their kings. For since they had handed over the Hebrew infants to the river, He turned the water of the river into blood, reproving the bloodshed committed in it;