Commentary on the Psalms 1 part 35/42

For that which is 'thickly leaved' those outside our own tradition also call 'densely packed.'

'You are my God, and I will give you thanks.'

'I will give you thanks, because you have heard me and have become my salvation.'

inasmuch as he ungrudgingly extends to all the streams of his mercy.

It is fitting, however, to know that this also suited those who were besieged by those nations: to know that from among them there would spring, according to the flesh, the one who would furnish salvation to all.

For thus they became more courageous against those who assailed them, being sustained in spirit by faith in the blessing hidden among them.

For he both fled from enemies and pursued enemies; he fell into despondencies and again obtained a more pleasant life; he ran the divine road and stumbled while journeying, and once more followed the divine laws.

All these things, then, he gathered together at once in this psalm, and having fitted to one another the prayers offered by him to God at each particular occasion, he set forth for mankind a single profitable teaching;

and by what he says he teaches how it is possible to accomplish practical virtue.

Yet neither does he neglect precision in matters of doctrine;

but to his ethical instructions he adds also the teaching concerning these things.

So that this psalm suffices both to bring to completion in perfect virtue those who long for it, and to rouse to earnestness those who live in ease, and to console the despondent, and to set in order the slothful, and, in a word, to apply every kind of remedy to the varied afflictions of mankind.

'Blessed are the blameless in the way.' He pronounces blessed those who walk the royal road unswervingly, and who turn aside neither to the right nor to the left, according to the precepts of the law.

'Who walk in the law of the Lord.' For those who order their lives according to these possess blamelessness.

for from the birth pangs even to the grave we all journey along.

'Blessed are those who search out his testimonies; with the whole heart they will seek him out.' In interpreting the eighteenth psalm as well, we stated in what respect law, testimonies, ordinances, judgments, and commandments differ;

yet we shall recall in summary what has been said.

He calls 'law' that which was given by the God of all through the inspired Moses.

And 'commandments' and 'ordinances' he again calls the same law, inasmuch as it was enjoined and prescribed with royal authority.

And 'judgments,' inasmuch as they indicate the divine verdicts and the fitting recompenses of those who live lawfully and lawlessly.

And 'testimonies,' inasmuch as it testifies and shows to what punishments transgressors will be subjected.

Here too, then, he pronounces blessed those who continually search out the testimonies of God and seek God out with the whole heart;

yet this belongs not to everyone, but to the one who has attained the very summit of virtue.

For such a person does not divide his mind between God and the cares of life, but dedicates his whole self to God.

'For those who work iniquity have not walked in his ways.' This same distinction he has made also in the first psalm.

For there too, having pronounced blessed the one who meditates in the law of the Lord day and night, and having shown the fruit of that meditation, he added:

'Not so the ungodly, not so.' Here too, then, having pronounced blessed the blameless, he teaches that the workers of iniquity have prepared for themselves another road and have abandoned the one fixed by God.

and all divine Scripture is full of such legislation.

For he charges not simply to keep, but to keep exceedingly;

that is, with all precision.

And showing the fruit of this, he adds:

'Then I shall not be put to shame, when I have regard to all your commandments.' For shame is the fruit of transgression.

Thus the divine Apostle too said: 'What fruit, then, had you at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed?' But those who fulfill all the commandments of God possess the confidence that comes from a good conscience.

'I will give you thanks in uprightness of heart, when I have learned the judgments of your righteousness.' By 'confession' he means thanksgiving.

Then, he says, I shall be able to offer a pure hymn, when I have thoroughly learned all your judgments and live according to them.

'Your ordinances I will keep;

do not utterly forsake me.' The divine grace often lets some go for a short while, thereby contriving benefit for them.

Thus the great Elijah, being overtaken, fell into the passion of cowardice and learned the weakness of human nature;

but straightway he again enjoyed the divine grace.

Thus the divine Peter, having denied, slipped and fell;

But Judas, being utterly stripped of the divine forethought, became a ready prey for the enemy;

yet [Peter] again received back his confidence toward God and enjoyed the care that comes from there.

But Saul, becoming altogether bereft of this, was stripped of the grace of the Spirit and was yoked together with an evil spirit.

With good reason, then, the Prophet entreats not to be forsaken exceedingly—that is, not to be utterly stripped of the grace that provides for him.

'Wherein shall a young man set his way aright?

By keeping your words.' Youth is easily overturned and prone to sink toward vice.

it needs, then, one to guide it and steer it toward the harbors.

And this is proper to the divine oracles.

for they are able to turn one away [from evil], to set one in order, and to guide one toward the divine road.

For what a bridle and a horse-trainer are to a young colt, this the divine word becomes to the young.

'With my whole heart I have sought you; do not thrust me away from your commandments.' Many, indeed, seek God, but not with the whole heart;

for they divide it, not only among the cares of the affairs of life, but also among unfitting desires, and envyings, and deceits, and plots against their neighbors.

But the lover of things divine consecrates his whole mind to God, and suspends it from the providence that comes from there.

'In my heart I have hidden your oracles, that I might not sin against you.' The one who possesses gold, or silver, or precious stones does not set these out in the open;

but he conceals them within, in storerooms and chambers, so that they may escape the hands of the burglars.

In this way the one who possesses the wealth of virtue hides it within his soul;

so that the robbers of souls may not plunder it from him through empty glory.

for he does not charge us to offer the divine oracles to everyone;

'Do not give what is holy to the dogs,' he says, 'nor cast your pearls before swine.' (12)

'Teach me your ordinances.' As if to say: you are gentle and loving toward mankind, and worthy to be hymned by all.

For this reason I beseech you to learn from you those things able to make one righteous.

'With my lips I have declared all the judgments of your mouth.' For whatever I may learn from your goodness, these things I will teach to those who do not know.

'In the way of your testimonies I have delighted, as over all riches.' Toilsome, indeed, is the road of virtue, but to the perfect it is thrice-desirable.

'Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is kindly and my burden is light.' This the prophetic word too declared: that the possession of your testimonies is more pleasing to me than all riches.

And the phrase 'over all riches' is not set down without purpose, but indicates riches of every kind;

for many are the kinds of riches.

For the man who has gold is called rich, and so is he who has silver, and he who has vast tracts of land, some of it planted with trees and some sown with grain.

But the Prophet, having gathered together all these things and set them beside the divine testimonies, declared that the divine testimonies were more to be prized by him than all the kinds of wealth are to those who love riches.

'In your commandments will I meditate, and I will consider your ways.' For this reason, he says, I will boast of the unceasing practice of your words, and I will make my journey along your ways.

'In your ordinances will I meditate; I will not forget your words.' I will keep the memory of your oracles unforgotten within myself.

'Deal bountifully with your servant.' It is not for everyone to use this expression;

for no one who carries about an evil conscience rouses the Judge to render recompense;

but he who employs a pure conscience uses this expression with boldness.

'Give me life, and I will keep your words.' For enjoying your help, I shall escape the death that comes from sin, and I shall gather in the life that springs from your words.

'Open my eyes, and I will consider the wondrous things of your law.' Not all who read the divine oracles perceive the wonders in them, but only those who enjoy the illumination from on high.

This indeed is what the blessed Paul also said:

'But whenever one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away;

and the Lord is the Spirit.' He then, illumined by the divine light, fittingly cried out:

'I am a sojourner on the earth;

hide not your commandments from me.' We do not dwell upon the earth, but sojourn in it;

for having lived but a brief time, we pass over into another life.

...boasting in good things as though they were abiding and lasting.

But he who has been instructed in the things of God knows the transitory nature of this life.

'My soul has longed to desire your judgments at all times.' Many desire the divine judgments and yearn for the kingdom of heaven, but not continually.

At one moment they take pleasure in divine things, and at another they follow after the passions of the body;

but the prophet yearns to hold this longing without ceasing.

'You have rebuked the proud.' Those who despise the divine laws fall into the sickness of pride;

but they receive the punishment that comes from the righteous Judge.

This is what Absalom suffered, and Saul, and Pharaoh, and Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar, and countless others.

Knowing this, the Prophet, as a prophet indeed, went on to add:

'Cursed are those who turn aside from your commandments.' This same curse the Law also brings upon transgressors;

for it says, 'Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law, to do them.'

'Take away from me reproach and contempt, for I have sought out your testimonies.' Nabal reproached the Prophet, calling him a runaway slave;

the Gittites too reproached him.

Grieved therefore at these things, he begs to be rid of the reproaches, inasmuch as he has sought out the divine testimonies;

the present words, then, do not suit the reproaches that came from Shimei.

For those occurred after the sin;

but those of Nabal and the others came before the sin.

'For your servant meditated on your ordinances.' But I, confessing your lordship, held your ordinances as my meditation.

'For your testimonies are my meditation, and your ordinances are my counsellors.' For having thrust away every human suggestion, I follow your instructions.

'My soul has cleaved to the ground.' By these words he showed the excess of his humiliation.

For thus also in the forty-third psalm he said:

'For our soul is bowed down to the dust;

our belly cleaves to the earth.' —'Give me life according to your word.' He does not ask for life indefinitely, but for the life that is according to the law.

'I declared my ways, and you heard me;

and I allowed nothing of mine to be hidden from you.

and I beseech you to learn accurately your ordinances.

'Make me understand the way of your ordinances, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.' We need divine understanding, so as to pursue virtue according to the divine law: that the one who shows kindness may not look to vainglory, that the ascetic may not hunt after human praise, and that the temperate man may practice temperance not on account of the shame that attends licentiousness, but out of longing for virtue.

Fittingly, then, the Prophet beseeches to partake of divine understanding, so as to discern the way of righteousness.

'My soul has slumbered from despondency;

strengthen me in your words.' The continual assault of sin often loosens the tension of the mind, and makes the athlete grow weary, and produces what is called acedia (spiritual sloth);

and the soul, when it grows slack, receives sleep;

and sleep brings on death.

This he said also in another psalm:

'Lighten my eyes, lest I sleep unto death'—calling sin 'death.'

'Remove from me the way of iniquity, and have mercy on me by your law.'

'I have chosen the way of truth; I have not forgotten your judgments.' This petition too is necessary.

For it befits us to ask from the God of all for help, so as to turn away from the way of iniquity, to choose the journey of truth, and to bring to bear an unforgotten memory of the testimonies of God.

'...that you put not to shame.' He did not simply say 'I followed,' but 'I cleaved,' that is, not even for a brief moment did I separate my mind from these things.

And he seeks to gather in the fruit of so great a disposition: namely, to take no experience of shame.

'I ran the way of your commandments, when you enlarged my heart.' Both are needed: our own eagerness, and God's providence.

For neither is the divine grace given to those who do not have good eagerness;

nor is human nature able to accomplish virtue apart from the help from on high.

This too the Prophet teaches, that 'I ran the way of your commandments unhindered, receiving from you the ease of the course.'

For by 'enlargement' he named the ease.

'In affliction you enlarged me.' And again:

'You enlarged my steps under me, and my feet did not grow weak.' 33.

'Teach me as a law, O Lord, the way of your ordinances, and I will seek it out continually.' The word 'teach as a law' Symmachus rendered as 'show';

Aquila and Theodotion, 'enlighten';

continually, he says, I ask for your illumination and lawgiving, so that I may both know the way of your ordinances and walk in it unhindered.

'Give me understanding, and I will search out your law;

and I will keep it with my whole heart.' The Lord also commanded us to search the Scriptures;

but those who search have need of the radiance from on high, that they may both find what is sought and keep what is hunted after.

'Guide me in the path of your commandments, for I have desired it.' He does not simply ask that the God of all become his guide;

but showing the longing of the journey.

'Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to covetousness.' It is the nature of water to be borne downward along a slope;

And if it once seizes upon some outlet, thither the whole current rushes.

So, when the devil had opened up the road toward sin, the nature of men inclined toward the worse.

Very fittingly, therefore, does the Prophet entreat that his heart be inclined toward the divine testimonies, and that he may escape the trial of turning to the other side.

'Turn away my eyes, that I may not behold vanity.' And vain is that which is profitless and unprofitable;

and of such a kind are the things of this life that are reckoned delightful.

Thus the wise Solomon also names them: 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.' And having recounted how he built houses, and planted gardens, and constructed pools of water, he added:

'And behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.' The Prophet therefore beseeches that the eyes of his mind may incline toward another contemplation, and that he may not be beguiled by the vanity of present things.

'Quicken me in Thy way.' Grant me to conduct my life according to Thy laws.

'Establish Thy oracle to Thy servant, unto Thy fear.' Render me steadfast in Thy words, keeping me unshaken in Thy fear;

that is to say, Let Thy fear lie upon me, making me afraid, and not allowing me to turn aside from Thy oracles.

'Take away my reproach which I suspected, for Thy judgments are good.' But Aquila, instead of 'I suspected,' has said 'I shrank back.'

And Symmachus: 'which I dread.'

And here he calls 'reproach' that which comes to be through sin.

For this he both shrank from, and feared, and lived a life full of misgiving;

but 'For Thy judgments are good.' For not only dost Thou threaten punishment to those who sin, but Thou also dost promise salvation to those who repent.

For by 'judgments' he means the righteous verdicts of God.

'Behold, I have longed for Thy commandments; quicken me in Thy righteousness.' To one who yearns, grant life in righteousness.

'Let Thy mercy come also upon me, O Lord.' For all men are in need of the divine loving-kindness, and even he who has attained the very highest summit of virtue has need of it continually.

'Thy salvation, according to Thy word.'

And he who lives the life pleasing to God refutes those who wrongly reproach him.

'For I have hoped in Thy words.' For I depend upon Thy promise, and upon this hope I journey.

'And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for I have hoped in Thy judgments.' The Prophet teaches us to love the truth, and to ask it of the God of all with great earnestness.

'And I will keep Thy law continually, for ever and ever.' For thus I shall become more zealous in the keeping of Thy laws.

By 'for ever, and for ever and ever,' he signified the life to come, in which the keeping of the divine laws shall be granted to all pure and unalloyed.

'And I walked in a broad place, for I sought out Thy commandments.'

'And I spoke of Thy testimonies before kings, and was not ashamed.' Journeying, he says, with much ease, and living according to Thy commandments, I feared not even royal power, but with much boldness I held converse with them.

For the life lived according to law is a maker of boldness.

For before his sin, he conversed with Saul with much boldness;

but after the sin, fleeing from his parricidal son, he walked bowing to the ground and covering his head.

And Elijah, being wholly confident in righteousness, rebuked the impiety of Ahab.

'And now, O king, let my counsel please thee, and wash away thine iniquities by acts of mercy, and thy sins by compassion on the poor.' Thus the divine Paul discoursed to Agrippa, and Festus, and Felix.

Thus the gloriously victorious martyrs despised impious kings.

'And I meditated on Thy commandments, which I loved exceedingly.'

'And I lifted up my hands to Thy commandments, which I loved.' For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power;

and 'he who does and teaches, this man shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.'

For having said, 'I meditated on Thy commandments, which I loved exceedingly,' and having shown his fervent desire, he added:

'And I lifted up my hands to Thy commandments, which I loved.' For the things I was taught through the divine words, these I pursued through my deeds.

For 'not the hearers of the law are righteous before God,' says the divine Apostle, 'but the doers of the law shall be justified.'

'And I discoursed upon Thy statutes.' For unceasingly did I make my meditation upon these.

'Remember Thy words to Thy servant, wherein Thou hast made me to hope.' God, in giving the law, promised His own favour to those who keep the law, and punishment to the transgressors.

He beseeches, then, that God would remember His own promises.

'For upon these,' he says, 'Thou hast taught me to hope';

and showing the usefulness of hope, he added:

'This comforted me in my humiliation, for Thy oracle quickened me.' For this I had as a solace in my calamities;

and, borne up by it, I sailed over the waves.

'The proud transgressed exceedingly, but from Thy law I turned not aside.' By 'the proud' he means Saul, Absalom, the king of the Ammonites, who committed those lawless deeds against those sent by him.

'But they,' he says, 'embraced a lawless life;

yet I followed after Thy laws.'

And these things the gloriously victorious martyrs also might say, having suffered those dreadful and grievous things at the hands of inhuman and impious tyrants.

'I remembered Thy judgments of old, O Lord, and was comforted.' For I took into my mind what befell Abel, what befell Abraham, what befell Isaac, what befell Jacob, what befell Joseph, what befell Job, what befell Moses—how they were suffered to fall into manifold trials, and how Thou didst afterward render them illustrious and greatly admired—and from this I gained sufficient consolation.

'Despondency took hold of me because of the sinners who forsake Thy law.' I, on the one hand, when suffering ill, was comforted by the remembrance of Thy judgments;

yet, on the other hand, I was grieved, and continued in vexation, seeing many transgress Thy laws without fear.

And by 'sojourning' I think he means, not that particular time, but his whole life.

For not as one dwelling, but as one sojourning, he passed his life, and journeyed through it singing the statutes of God.

For thus also the other translators have rendered it:

'Songs were all Thy precepts to me, in the place of my sojourning.' 55.

'I remembered Thy name in the night, O Lord, and kept Thy law.' By night indeed the choir of the saints ever rises up, and prays, and hymns the God of all.

But I think that here 'night' names the season of trials.

For it brings gloom, and comes upon men after the manner of night.

And in this above all is the remembrance of the God of all necessary, comforting, and emboldening, and driving out the hostile thoughts.

'This became mine, because I sought out Thy statutes.' Thus, he says, was I able to prevail, and to choose the possession of Thy statutes.

'Thou art my portion, O Lord; I said that I would keep Thy law.' God is not the portion of all, but of those who embrace what is perfect.

Thus He became the portion and inheritance of the priests and Levites.

'For to the sons of Levi,' He says, 'there shall be no portion in the midst of their brethren, for I the Lord am their portion.' Thus also in the fifteenth Psalm he said, 'The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup.' He therefore says here too: 'Disregarding all other things, I hold Thee as my portion, and abundance, and wealth.'

'I entreated Thy face with my whole heart.' Everywhere he adds 'with my whole heart,' being persuaded to this also by the law.

For thus also the God of all commanded: 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy might.'—'Have mercy upon me according to Thy word.' He asks to be shown mercy, not indefinitely,

but to obtain mercy according to the divine oracle.

And this a prudent sick man too might say to his physician: 'Heal me as thou knowest, as the art prescribes.'

This too a prudent merchant might say to the pilot: 'Steer the vessel according to the rules of the art; guide it as the science also commands.'

Thus it also behoves us to invoke the divine mercy.

For he who begs knows the manner of mercy;

for often through chastisement He works out salvation, and the punishment becomes lovingkindness.

So too the physician both cuts and cauterizes, thereby procuring health for the sufferer.

In this same way we too ought to beg for mercy.

For there are times when mercy is dispensed even through poverty, and lovingkindness is bestowed through sickness; and, according to the medical principle, contraries are healed by contraries.

In the same way the other translators also rendered it, and the Seventy in the Hexapla.

He says: While reckoning up my ways, I directed my feet toward your testimonies, and did not allow them to turn aside from the road that leads to you.

'I was made ready and was not troubled, that I might keep your commandments.' For having prepared myself beforehand for the onset of hardships, I did not, at their sudden assault, endure any tempest.

This the Lord also enjoins in the holy Gospels:

'Watch, for you know not at what hour the thief comes.' (61)

Taking from the entanglement the occasion for his turning.

'Woe to those who draw their sins after them as with a long cord!' But when these cords, he says, were stretched around me, I did not shake off the remembrance of the divine law.

Then he teaches also the causes of that remembrance.

'At midnight I rose to give thanks to you for the judgments of your righteousness.' For not only by day, but by night as well, at the very deepest point of the night, when sleep with greater sweetness comes upon men, I continued to hymn you and to extol your righteous decrees.

This the divine Apostle also did, together with Silas;

for shackled together with Silas and bound fast in the stocks, after beating and scourging, he mingled hymn-singing with prayer, and they reaped the fruit of that goodly vigil;

for they enjoyed the divine bounty.

'I am a partaker with all who fear you and who keep your commandments.' But Symmachus, instead of 'partaker,' said 'joined-together,' and the Syriac 'friend.'

For while turning away from those who chose the things contrary to your laws, I had as companions and intimates those who held your fear in high esteem and chose to live according to the law.

This he said also in another psalm: 'How exceedingly honored have your friends been by me, O God!' (64)

'The earth, O Lord, is full of your mercy;

teach me your ordinances.' Upon all, he says, you richly pour out the fountains of mercy, and you make your sun to rise on the wicked and the good, and send rain on the just and the unjust, and you do not bring your wrath every day, but bear patiently with those who dig through into others' marriages, and those defiled with unjust blood;

others too who lay hold of what does not belong to them;

and those who defile the tongue with blasphemies, and the rest who venture upon some other of the lawless deeds.

'You have dealt kindly with your servant,

O Lord, according to your word.' I have received a taste of your goodness;

wherefore I beseech you to let me enjoy it again, and I earnestly entreat to pass my life according to your laws.

'Teach me kindness and discipline and knowledge, for I have believed in your commandments.' The Prophet knows the usefulness of discipline;

for which reason he deems it worthy to partake of it.

For God, exercising kindness, brings on discipline, and discipline works knowledge.

So too the prophet Jeremiah entreats: 'Chastise us, O Lord;

yet in judgment, and not in anger, lest you make us few.' So too the sick man, longing for health, seeks even the cut of the iron and the cauteries.

Then he teaches from what source he came to know the usefulness of discipline.

'Before I was humbled, I went astray;

therefore have I kept your word.' I, he says, procured for myself the discipline.

The sentence set me free from the punishment of my iniquity;

the discipline followed upon the sin;

and upon the discipline followed the keeping of the laws.

I fell sick, I was cut, I was made whole.

'You are good, O Lord.' For in truth you are good and loving toward mankind.

'The iniquity of the proud has been multiplied against me;

but I with my whole heart will search out your commandments.' For those who employ arrogance contrive every kind of plot against me;

yet nonetheless I am not provoked against their lawlessness, being ordered by your commandments.

'Their heart is curdled like milk;