Commentary on the Psalms 1 part 39/42

'Give thanks unto the God of gods, for His mercy endures for ever.' By 'gods' here he does not mean the idols;

for he would not have called Him the God of things that do not exist.

For God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

He therefore calls 'gods' those honoured with the priesthood, those who have been named sons of God.

So also in the Law he says:

'You shall not revile gods, nor speak evil of the ruler of your people.' And:

'Israel is My firstborn son.' And through Isaiah:

'I have begotten sons and exalted them.' And in the Psalms:

'You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.' These he called gods, as having been named sons of God.

'Give thanks unto the Lord of lords, for His mercy endures for ever.' Both kings and rulers, having received their authority from God, hold lordship over their subjects.

'The kings of the nations lord it over them, and their rulers exercise authority over them.' And there are also certain angels named 'dominions.'

'but to us there is one God the Father, from whom are all things, and we unto Him;

and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through Him.' Him the psalm called the Lord of the true lords.

'To Him who alone does great wonders, for His mercy endures for ever.' Mighty works are also those of His well-pleasing servants.

But we also call divine the wonders of Moses, of Joshua, and of Elijah;

and likewise the signs wrought by the holy apostles.

Reasonably, therefore, the Prophet said that He alone is the maker of the great wonders.

Then he shows also His great works of creation.

'To Him who made the heavens in understanding, for His mercy endures for ever.' For the heaven, merely by being seen, proclaims the wisdom of God.

For great is its magnitude, its beauty, and its endurance through the longest ages.

'To Him who established the earth upon the waters, for His mercy endures for ever.' This too is worthy of wonder and surpasses human understanding, that the earth, though washed round on every side by the waters, should stand fast and remain in its own nature.

Fittingly the great writer joined the eternal mercy to all these sayings, since the loving God created all things not out of any need of His own, but out of loving-kindness alone.

'To Him who alone made great lights, for His mercy endures for ever.' Men who have partaken of the divine Providence are wont to kindle lamps, yet all the fire of the earth cannot imitate the brightness of a single star.

But of all the stars and of the moon itself the sun is the most radiant.

For by its appearing it hides those, and dims the very rays of the moon.

'The sun for the rule of the day, for His mercy endures for ever.'

'To Him who smote Egypt together with their firstborn, for His mercy endures for ever.' But perhaps someone might raise the difficulty: how can death be wrought by mercy? Let him then consider the solution of the sayings before us:

namely, that He who has compassion on the wronged punishes the wrongdoers.

For this too the Prophet added here.

'And who brought Israel out from their midst, for His mercy endures for ever.' The mercy towards these brought punishment upon those.

And both that punishment and this mercy are mingled with righteousness.

For He justly had mercy on these, and rightly punished those.

'With a mighty hand and with a lofty arm, for His mercy endures for ever.' By 'hand' he named the operation, and by 'arm' the strength.

'To Him who divided the Red Sea into divisions, for His mercy endures for ever.' Some, following Jewish fables, have said that the divisions made in the Red Sea were equal in number to the twelve tribes, since the Prophet said not 'division' but 'divisions.'

But they ought to have understood that the sea, being cut in two, became two instead of one.

For the water was to them a wall on the right and a wall on the left;

for which reason he called the cutting of the sea into two parts 'divisions.'

'And who brought Israel through the midst of it, for His mercy endures for ever.'

'And who shook off Pharaoh and his host into the Red Sea, for His mercy endures for ever.' For both were works of His power: that these should easily cross the sea, and that that one should be sunk beneath the waters.

'And who led His people through the wilderness, for His mercy endures for ever.' This too is a demonstration of the divine strength: to nourish so great a people for so long a time in the wilderness, and to supply them an abundance of necessities.

'To Him who smote great kings, for His mercy endures for ever.'

'Sihon king of the Amorites, for His mercy endures for ever.'

'And Og king of Bashan, for His mercy endures for ever.' Not simply, passing over the other kings, did he make particular mention of these, but to remind the people of the God-given victory;

for these prided themselves on their strength, their dominion, and the greatness of their bodies.

And Og even used an iron bedstead, on account of the greatness of his body, having nine cubits in length and five in breadth.

'And who gave their land as an inheritance, for His mercy endures for ever.'

'An inheritance to Israel His servant, for His mercy endures for ever.' For having consumed all those with death, He appointed Israel lord of their land.

'For in our humiliation the Lord remembered us, for His mercy endures for ever.'

'And redeemed us from our enemies, for His mercy endures for ever.' Of these things the blessed Moses also makes mention:

'For the sons of Israel groaned,' he says, 'because of the labours, and their cry went up to God.'

And when they had again become captives, He had compassion on them and brought them back to their ancestral land.

'Who gives food to all flesh, for His mercy endures for ever.' From His particular providence he passed again to the universal, proclaiming God's care for all.

For not only to men, but also to the irrational creatures, He supplies suitable food.

So also the Lord in the holy Gospels:

'Look at the birds of the heaven, which neither sow nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them.'

'Give thanks unto the God of heaven, for His mercy endures for ever.' God is the God of all;

but He is properly styled the God of heaven, as being served by the angels who dwell in heaven;

for that region is pure of sin.

This psalm is without a title among the Hebrews.

For Jeremiah was not carried off to Babylon with the captives, but, having spent a little time in Jerusalem, and being compelled by the lawless Jews, he shared with them the journey into Egypt;

how then is it fitting for Jeremiah to say, 'By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept'? That it in no way belongs to that prophet is clear from what has been said.

Nevertheless the theme of the psalm is clear.

For those who had been carried off captive, and had obtained their return, recount the things that befell them in Babylon.

'By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.' Those who are despondent are wont to seek out the more desolate places, and there to bewail their own misfortunes.

And these too, therefore, sitting by the banks of the rivers, and reckoning the desolation of their mother-city, poured forth many tears, imitating the streams of the rivers.

'Upon the willows in the midst of it we hung up our instruments.' For they were utterly useless to them, since the Law prescribed that the liturgy be fulfilled in one place only.

'For there those who had led us captive asked of us words of songs.'

'Sing us a hymn from the songs of Zion.' Mocking us and trampling upon our misfortunes, they commanded us to sing and to charm them with our songs — not that they might gain any benefit thereby, but that they might laugh at what was ours.

'How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?' But we, knowing the lawlessness of what was demanded, did not yield to those who gave the command;

and to perform the lawful rites outside the appointed places.

'If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.'

'Let my tongue cleave to my throat, if I do not remember thee.' These things the Prophet teaches them to say, that they may hold an unforgetting memory of the holy city, being consoled by hopes of return, and may not learn the impiety of those who had enslaved them.

They say, therefore: 'Not even when I am far from thee, O Jerusalem, have I consigned thy memory to oblivion;

but if I should do this, may I suffer this, and may I not obtain help from above.'

'If I do not set Jerusalem above the beginning of my gladness.' The sum and chief of my gladness, he says, is to have the sight of thee, thy renewal, and the festal assemblies within thee.

'Remember, O Lord, the day of Jerusalem against the sons of Edom, who said:'

'Rase it, rase it, even to the foundations thereof.' The Idumeans, descended from Esau, continued to hold their ancestral enmity.

These men, when Jerusalem was set ablaze and demolished, said, exulting over it:

'Rase it, rase it, even to the foundations thereof' — that is, 'Tear it up from its very base, so that not even the traces of the foundations may remain.'

'O wretched daughter of Babylon.' Having thus committed the judgment of the Jews to God, he foretells also the destruction that shall come upon Babylon.

He calls her 'wretched' as one destined to be miserable.

But Aquila, instead of 'wretched,' rendered it 'she that has been plundered.'

'Blessed is he who shall repay thee thy recompense, which thou hast repaid to us.' And what is this? (verse 9)

'Blessed is he who shall seize and dash thy little ones against the rock.' For since they too had cruelly dealt with their own infants, the Prophet foretold for them an equal punishment.

Blessed, therefore, is Cyrus, who both chastised those men and set these free — not because he was nurtured in pure piety, but because he deemed the godly people worthy of liberty, and gave command that the divine temple should be rebuilt.

Thus did he proclaim aloud the widow's two mites.

After the return from Babylon, when the Jews had destroyed the nations that rose up against them by the divine assistance, they offer a hymn of thanksgiving to God.

'I will give thee thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart.' They did not prove ungrateful toward their benefactor.

But having offered supplication and obtained help, they requite their benefactors' kindnesses to the utmost of their power, and offer up hymns for the aid they received.

'And before the angels I will sing praise to thee.' Let us imitate, he says, the companies of the angels;

and just as those in the heavens, dancing in chorus, hymn the God of all, so we also upon the earth will offer thee our spiritual melody.

'I will worship toward thy holy temple, and will give thanks to thy name, for thy mercy and for thy truth.' The temple consecrated to thy name shall be to me in place of heaven.

In it I will worship thee, and will render the doxology of thanksgiving, beholding thy loving-kindness toward me and thy justice against the enemies.

For upon them, as wrongdoers, using truth, thou didst decree destruction;

but me thou didst preserve by thy mercy.

And it is sung by all who have beheld thy strength.

'In whatever day I shall call upon thee, hear me speedily.' I beseech thee that I may enjoy this gladness continually.

'Thou wilt greatly care for me in my soul, by thy power.' That is, By thy power thou wilt take great care of my soul, and wilt fill it with consolation and courage.

But Symmachus renders it thus: 'Thou hast strengthened the power of my soul.'

meaning, Thou didst deem me worthy of help and of providence.

'Let all the kings of the earth give thanks to thee, O Lord, for they have heard all the words of my mouth.' And at that time indeed all who had learned of that greatest victory marvelled at the power of the God of all.

In that victory, however, they did not hear words, but beheld a marvellous deed;

but now they both hear words and enjoy the gospel proclamations.

'And let them sing in the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.' He speaks of things to come in the manner of prayer, and foretells the change of affairs;

for all shall marvel at the providence and dispensation of God.

For by 'ways' he means the dispensations.

'For the Lord is high, and regards lowly things.' This he said also in another psalm:

'Who dwells on high, and regards the lowly things.' He means that, though by nature high and ineffable, he neglects not even the small, but deems even these worthy of his own care.

'And the lofty things he knows from afar.' For he knows all things before their coming to be;

and seeing from afar those in positions of power, he applies to each the fitting remedies.

'Though I walk in the midst of affliction, thou wilt quicken me.' This is the voice of sincere faith.

I am confident, he says, that even if I be flooded on every side by misfortunes, I shall prevail over my hardships, and shall reap life from thy help.

'Thou didst stretch forth thy hands against the wrath of my enemies, and thy right hand saved me.' For being angered against my adversaries, thou didst deliver them to punishment, but me thou didst deem worthy of salvation.

And from this it is clear that by 'hand' he means the operation, and by 'right hand' the good operation.

For to the punishment of the enemies he joined the 'hand';

but to the beneficence toward himself, the 'right hand.'

'The Lord will requite on my behalf.' I, he says, being a man and wallowing in sins, am unable to repay these benefits;

but the Lord himself, who became the supplier of these things to me, having become man and taken up my nature, will pay my debt.

'O Lord, thy mercy endures for ever; despise not the works of thy hands.' Since, then, thy mercy is immeasurable and coextensive with eternity, grant a swift salvation to thy creatures.

This the Prophet uttered, having learned by the grace of the all-holy Spirit that the Creator would pay the debt of nature by nature.

but someone, understanding the psalm as he wished, made the addition to the inscription.

The psalm, however, contains a prediction concerning Josiah the king.

For he, sprung from an impious father, and being likewise the descendant of such a grandfather, abhorred their impiety, and travelled the whole way of virtue; and being set aflame with divine zeal, he cut down all the priests of the idols;

but those who embraced piety he deemed worthy of every care.

And the prophetic word introduces him praying, and marvelling at the foreknowledge concerning him.

'O Lord, thou hast proved me and known me.' The touchstone of virtue is not only poverty and despondency, but also kingship and prosperity.

For just as in painful things we are tested, whether we can nobly bear the griefs that befall us;

so also in prosperity we are exercised and shown, whether we are lifted up by good fortunes, or understand their nature.

'O Lord, thou hast proved me and known me.'

(verse 2) 'Thou knowest my sitting down and my rising up.' Thou hast learned all things exactly, he says: what I wrought while sitting, what I did while rising up.

These are the words of a pure soul and a sound conscience.

And since he said, 'Thou hast proved me and known me,' lest anyone should suppose that God learns what happens only after the completion of the deeds, he very fittingly added:

'Thou didst understand my thoughts from afar.' For from above, and from the beginning, and before many generations before my formation, thou didst foresee not only my deeds, but didst foresee also the thoughts that would be mine.

'Thou hast traced out my path and my measuring-line.' But Theodotion renders it thus: 'Thou hast traced out my path and my way.'

By 'way' and 'path' he calls the deeds, and by 'measuring-line' their uprightness;

using a metaphor drawn from builders, who straighten walls with a cord.

Thou hast known, he says, my deeds exactly, and nothing of what is mine has escaped thy knowledge.

'Thou hast formed me, and laid thine hand upon me.' For how could anything of mine escape the notice of my Maker, who fashioned me within my mother's womb and deemed me worthy of every provident care? And the words, 'Thou hast laid thine hand upon me,' are like the saying, 'Thy hands have made me and fashioned me.' At the same time it signifies also the providence that follows upon the forming.

'Thy knowledge is become wonderful from me; it is mighty, I cannot attain unto it.' From the things that have come to pass concerning me I have come to know thy power;

and wishing to hymn thy wisdom, yet then falling short of what is worthy of it, I confess my defeat.

Thus, having marvelled at the knowledge and foreknowledge of the God of all things, and that nothing escapes him—neither of the things that have come to pass nor of the things that are to come—he passes on to another theme, recounting these matters:

'Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? and whither shall I flee from thy presence?' How is it possible for one fleeing to escape the notice of him who so clearly knows all things? And it is fitting to note that he taught that God and the all-holy Spirit have the same operation;

'Whither,' he says, 'shall I go from thy Spirit, and whither shall I flee from thy presence?' And of those whose operation is one, the power too is altogether one;

and of those whose power is one, the nature is one;

therefore the nature of God and of the Spirit is one.

'If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there;'

'if I go down into Hades, thou art present.' Thou fillest all things, he says, both the things above and the things below.

For the one is the uttermost point of height, the other of depth.

And rightly did he join to heaven the words 'thou art there,' but to Hades the word 'thou art present.'

For upon the angels who dwell in heaven he takes his rest.

But he is present everywhere, and stands by all things;

and 'in him we live,' according to the divine Apostle, 'and move, and have our being.' (Acts 17)

'If I take up my wings toward the dawn, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,'

'even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.' By 'dawn' he named the east, and by 'the uttermost parts of the sea' the west.

For to height and depth he added length and breadth, teaching that the divine nature is uncircumscribed.

Of this power the prophet Jonah too received a trial.

For having attempted to flee from the God of all, he was caught, and was bound by the waves, and as into a kind of prison was delivered over to the sea-monster, and was conducted to the city to which he had been sent.

Here too, then, the words of the prophecy are shown to be true;

namely, that 'If I should dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.'

[verse 11] 'And I said, Surely darkness shall trample me down, and night shall be light in my luxury.' But Symmachus renders it thus:

'If I say, Perhaps darkness shall cover me over, yet the night also is bright about me.'

Whether toward the rising or the setting sun I flee for refuge, he says, I shall not escape thy power;

and even if I try to hide myself in the darkness of night, not even so shall I escape thy notice.

'For to thee even the darkness is light.'

'For darkness shall not be darkened away from thee, and night shall be lit up as the day.' But Symmachus renders it thus:

'Nor shall darkness be dark beyond thee, but night also shall appear as the day.'

The darkness, he says, is darkness to me;

for I have a distinction between light and darkness.

But to thee, the intelligible Light, even night is most radiant, and brighter than any noonday.

'As is the darkness thereof, so also is the light thereof.' For just as night is gloomy to me, so it is bright to thee.

'For thou hast possessed my reins.' These things, he says, I speak not idly, but being enlightened by thy grace, and receiving thy radiance into my reasonings.

For by 'reins' here he called the reasonings.

For since the appetitive faculty lies in the reins, and the reasonings receive the assault of this faculty, he called the reins reasonings.

'Thou hast taken hold of me from my mother's womb.' Thou hast been to me both trainer and guardian and teacher, and as soon as I came forth from the womb I enjoyed thy providence.

'I will confess unto thee, for thou art fearfully made wondrous;'

'wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth it right well.' For this cause I continue to hymn thee without ceasing, being illumined by thy mighty deeds, and roused up to this.

'My bone was not hidden from thee, which thou madest in secret, and my substance in the lowest parts of the earth.' All the things concerning me, he says, thou knowest exactly.

For thou didst form me while yet I was hidden in my mother's womb, and as though I were in the uttermost part of the earth, thou didst bring me forth into the light.

For so also did Aquila interpret it:

'My bones were not covered from thee, by which I was made in a hidden place; I was wrought with variety as in the lowest part of the earth.'

It is not possible, he says, for anything to escape thee, as thou fashionest the nature of men in the hidden workshop of nature.

'Thine eyes saw my unwrought substance, and in thy book shall all be written;'

'days shall be formed, and no one among them.' But Symmachus renders it thus:

'Thine eyes foresaw me unformed, together with all that are written in thy book, days being fashioned when not one was lacking.'

Thus, he says, thou didst see me before I was fashioned and formed, as those already born and become complete, and lacking not one day, and recorded in thy books.

'For the judgment,' he says, 'was set, and the books were opened.' And the Lord in the sacred Gospels says, 'The very hairs of your head are all numbered.' By 'books' we must understand the knowledge of God that encompasses all things, and the unforgetting memory of God.

Having thus recounted the divine things, he reveals his own purpose, not using it out of vainglory, but setting it forth as an archetype of benefit.

'But to me thy friends are exceedingly honoured, O God; their principalities are exceedingly strengthened.' This the history too clearly teaches;

for it deemed the divine priests worthy of every ministration.

For all heard the promises which God made to Abraham, saying, 'I will bless them that bless thee, and them that curse thee will I curse.' And the words, 'Their principalities were strengthened,' Theodotion interpreted thus: 'Their poor were strengthened.'

For those who of old, by reason of the transgressions of the impious kings, lived in meanness and poverty, enjoyed every honour under Josiah.

At the same time the word also prophesies the transformation of the world that came to pass after the incarnation of God our Saviour.

For in every city and country those who devote themselves to the worship of God prevail in number.

'I awoke, and I am still with thee.' But Symmachus renders it thus: 'I shall be roused from sleep, and I shall ever be beside thee.'

For ever rousing myself, I shall thrust away the sleep of sloth, and shall guard thy remembrance in my mind.

For so shall I enjoy thy provident care.

'If thou wilt slay the sinners, O God—ye men of blood, depart from me; for ye are contentious in your reasonings.' It is proper to those who love the good to abhor their opposites.

For they do not endure good exhortations, but by the perversity of their disposition shake them off.

'They shall take thy cities in vain.' Thou shalt slay them, he says, not unjustly, but because they shall inhabit the cities in vain, reaping no benefit from thy laws.

'The same things I wish both to love and to hate as thou dost.'

'But those that hate thee,' I not only hate, but continue grieving over them, and pining away.

For I hate them as lawless, but pity them as men.

And I am constrained to mourn over them because of natural sympathy;

yet again I abhor them because of their great wickedness.

'Try me, and know my paths;'

'and see if there be any way of iniquity in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.' These things I for my part suppose to be so;

but I beseech thee, the best physician of souls, to learn my life exactly, and to examine the movements of my heart.

And if anything contrary to Thy laws be found among these things, I beseech Thee that it be set right by Thy wisdom, and that I be guided into the everlasting journey.

'Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man; from the unjust man rescue me.' Saul was unjust, and ungrateful toward his benefactor.

'Who have devised injustice in their heart; all the day long they set themselves in array for battles.' For he made use not only of wicked designs, but also added deeds to his designs.

The phrase 'all the day long,' Symmachus rendered as 'every day'; and so does the fourth translator.

'They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent.'

And often, having sworn oaths and having used friendly words, he transgressed his oaths.

The festering purpose, therefore, and the hidden treachery, he fittingly likened to the venom of creeping beasts.

For he asks not destruction for his enemies, but salvation for himself.

But those men were impious, and workers of every lawlessness.

And for this very reason he is worthy of all admiration, in that he everywhere proved himself a guardian of piety, and would not consent to be enslaved to necessity.

'The proud have hidden a snare for me, and with cords they have spread a net for my feet; beside the pathway they have set stumbling-blocks for me.' He calls Saul the proud one.

And by 'snare,' and 'cords,' and 'stumbling-blocks,' he means the various plots, the ambushes, the traps laid in wait.

He has said these things figuratively, drawing the metaphor from hunters who spread out both nooses, and foot-traps, and nets.

'Thou art my God.' But I, having despised all things human, have dedicated myself to Thee, and I acknowledge Thee as Lord and God, and I await the help that comes from Thee.

'Give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplication.'

[8.] 'O Lord, Lord, the strength of my salvation.' The doubling belongs to one who believes and longs.

'In Thee,' he says, 'I have the hope of salvation.'

For Thou alone hast the power to bestow salvation.

'Thou hast overshadowed my head in the day of battle.' And this too I have learned by experience.

For indeed, when I undertook the single combat against Goliath, and when I stood in battle-array against the foreigners, Thou didst fence me about with Thy support as with a shield.

'Deliver me not, O Lord, from my desire to the sinner.' But Symmachus renders it thus:

'Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the lawless one.'

And likewise also Theodotion and Aquila.

'To him who craves my slaughter,' he says, 'grant not the enjoyment of his desire.'

And according to the Seventy it must be understood thus: 'Let him not through me enjoy the things he craves.'

For I indeed desire to be saved;

but that man desires to destroy me.

Grant not, therefore, my desire to that man.

'Forsake me not, lest they be exalted.' They stir every device against my slaughter;

strip me not, therefore, of Thy providence, lest Thou give them occasion for boasting.

'The head of their surrounding, the labour of their lips shall cover them.' From this point he foretells the evils that shall come upon them.

But this Symmachus rendered more clearly:

'The bitterness of those who encompass me, the toil of their lips, let it seal them up.'

'May they,' he says, 'fall into their own plots, and endure the very things they contrive against me, and may the bitterness brewed against me utterly overwhelm those who employ it.'

This resembles what was said in the seventh psalm:

'He dug a pit and hollowed it out, and he shall fall into the ditch which he made.' [11.]