詩篇註釋殘篇 第 1 章 第 18/40 段

Since the harm arising from wickedness is twofold, sometimes injuring the mind and sometimes the deed, there are two phalanxes that make war upon the righteous, from which the one who sings the present psalm prays to be delivered unharmed, saying to God: 'Shelter me from the gathering of the wicked' (these are those who wish to counterfeit the truth of the doctrines), and also from those who accomplish practical injustice and who wish to drag me into it.

For both these hosts have whetted their tongues like a sword, in that they have speech—the wicked ones pleading their cause with a knowledge falsely so-called, and the others with practical vice.

Nevertheless, even if these are wickedly prepared, yet the beneficent God gives to those who fear Him a sign, that they may flee from before the bow.

That which is said to be a bitter thing (and such is every form of vice and every impious doctrine)—this they bend like a bow and shoot from it, having arrows analogous to the fiery darts of the enemy.

And the heterodox say that there is no one able to comprehend their refined and sophistical teaching.

'When they fail, you will search out with searching,' because they have exceedingly searched out lawlessness, so as even to strengthen for themselves an evil word and to hide snares within their narrations—in which, being pursued with much refinement and diligence, they take pride, boasting that they have irrefutable arguments so that no one may detect the deceit. Against them there will come a true man, who preserves that which is according to the image and is well-articulated in his being, eloquent and possessing a deep heart—that is, deep understanding—so that God is exalted, taking hold of the wise in their craftiness.

For how is God not exalted through holy men, when the deception of the deceivers is dissolved? The magicians and enchanters of Egypt thought great things of themselves in sorcery and cunning, but Moses, the hierophant of God, having within himself a deep heart—

—coming forward, overturned the deceit in which they took such pride.

And thus God was exalted, being hymned by all.

But he who has this deep understanding receives it from the Spirit who searches all things.

Just as the darts sent forth by infants do not strike so as to wound even to a scratch, so also, when the practiced sophists bend their bitter thing, the outrage recoils against themselves.

And their tongues have grown weak—that is, their arguments—so that they cannot in the least strike down the one who takes up the shield of faith.

Beholding the aforesaid things, those men who of old bore witness to their own cleverness were troubled, no longer remaining in the opinions by which they had been deceived by the sophists, having conceived fear because they had consented to such impious doctrines.

For they had learned from them that there was no providence;

that all things are borne along as by chance, and others, being carried away by yet other deceivers, accepted that men are by nature good or evil, and furthermore that fate holds sway.

When these false opinions were shaken in their being troubled, they received a true revelation—that God is the Maker and Provider of all things.

They therefore proclaimed the works of providence and understood His creatures and knew Him who provides, contemplating the Creator proportionately from the greatness and beauty of the created things.

When the deception is refuted, the righteous man will rejoice in God, seeing those men who of old were deceived now proclaiming the works of God and having understanding of His creations.

And in addition to this he will hope still more upon the Lord in whom he rejoiced, so that henceforth only those who have an upright heart in the practical and contemplative life are praised.

(argument) It has been said before that the psalm signifies action, and the ode contemplation.

The practical man, therefore, being perfected together with the contemplative life, is shown to be a perfect man.

From the literal sense we must pass over to the ecclesiastical understanding.

Because Zion is named for its watchfulness over the truth, in her fittingly a hymn and prayer are rendered to the Cause of all.

The hymn signifies the contemplation of God and of the truth, while the prayer signifies thanksgiving.

Let him, then, who gives thanks in everything do this in Zion, beginning from hymning Him to whom he renders his prayer.

And it concerns Him of whom we asked to be propitious to us for those things in which we thought to act impiously through ignorance.

All flesh comes to God, the words being fulfilled: 'To You the nations shall come from the ends of the earth,' and, 'All the nations, as many as You have made, shall come and worship before You.'

But it must also be understood otherwise, that all flesh coming to God is the pliable soul, ready to be most easily molded by the divine laws and by the characters of truth;

in which signification it is said that the spiritual law is written on fleshly tablets of the heart, and not on tablets of stone.

This very thing is also established from the prophecy of Ezekiel, God saying concerning those called hard-hearted in their foolishness: 'I will draw out from them their stony hearts and will put in fleshly hearts, that they may walk in My commandments.'

He who is chosen for his holiness, if he abides in the election, is taken up by God, so that, being removed from the place about the earth, he dwells in the courts of the One who chose him, concerning which it is said: 'Enter into His courts with hymns';

and since the end of blessedness is not in the courts, he who has been received there dwells in them, that, having progressed and come to the house itself, he may dwell there, counted blessed;

for it says, 'Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; unto ages of ages they shall praise You.'

That being taken up by the One who chose is more perfect than being chosen is clear from the verse: 'In Your counsel You guided me, and with glory You took me up.'

For when the chosen one does all things according to the will of God, then with glory he receives the promises.

And these words are uttered by those who glorify those who have departed from this life.

Paul, writing to Timothy, calls the Church the house of God;

'But if I tarry, that you may know how one ought to conduct oneself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God.'

The good things of this house are the gifts of the Spirit, both those concerning the Trinity and the other doctrines, and the ordinances and canons handed down by the apostles.

To be filled with these good things is what those expect who have said: 'Be propitious to our impieties which we thought to hold, when the lawless prevailed against us with their words.'

Virtue, signified by the name of righteousness, is wondrously accomplished in him.

He who believes and is filled with good works has the Lord within himself;

for it is said that through faith Christ dwells in the inner man.

Thus the Lord, coming with the Father to the one who keeps His word, makes His abode with him, so that the man is a holy temple;

for it is written: 'Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?' And after other words:

'For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.'

This man is wondrous and is set aright in the righteousness that is constituted through the faith of Jesus Christ, being full of the divine good things, the gifts of the Spirit, of which those who expect to partake will say: 'We shall be filled.'

For how did those dwelling at the ends of the earth not fear, and the nations were troubled together, when the oracles were abolished so that the divining demons could no longer boast, even those promising healing—when in addition to these, magic and sorcery were being abolished, and Satan himself, who had the power of death, was being brought to nothing? For the things accomplished were sufficient signs, showing that He who wrought them was God.

Indeed, having known His deity from the things that came to pass, they henceforth understand that He also provides for the things in heaven, that by His laws the stars rise and set.

For the goings forth of the morning are the risings, and the delights of the evening are the settings, the believing nations henceforth being delighted and made glad, having beheld that He who makes the sun and the moon and the other stars to rise and set is Himself the One who became man and set them free from deceit and from death.

Thou hast visited the earth and made it drunk; Thou hast multiplied to enrich it. He gives a spiritual rain, an early rain through the old covenant and a latter rain through the new, by which the allegorized earth (and this is the soul of man) is made drunk and enriched with every word and all knowledge and good works, as God Himself multiplies them.

4. The river of God is His Word, and He Himself is life and fountain.

And perhaps, in so far as He is toward God, He exists as a fountain;

for it is said, 'With Thee is the fountain of life'; and He is then found to be a river when He waters the rational creation.

The streams of this river, that is, its particular teachings, gladden the city of God, namely the Church.

And since the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him, He is filled with waters, according to what is said of Him: 'We beheld His glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.'

Not only, therefore, is the whole rational creation watered from these waters with which the river is full, but it also has nourishment prepared from God, as Jesus sows a seed that bears fruit a hundredfold.

By the plow they are made drunk, drinking unto gladness, so that the produce of righteousness, growing in it, is multiplied—concerning which it is said: 'Sow for yourselves unto righteousness, reap unto the fruit of life';

and further, 'Seek the Lord until there come to you the produce of righteousness.'

And since those who are of the earth, the furrows, are made drunk not only from the river but also from the spiritual rain which the clouds pour down—according to what was said, 'And let the clouds rain down righteousness'—the earth rejoices as it springs up in the drops that come upon it.

And these drops are the words and the meanings of the God-inspired Scriptures.

It is possible to say that the rams are clothed with exultation, so that, taken in common, it is said: 'The hills shall gird themselves with exultation, the rams of the sheep have clothed themselves,' so that exultation is a garment for the one and a girdle for the other.

When all the aforesaid bear fruit, even the hollowed souls—called valleys because they have no swelling of conceit—multiply that wheat from which, when one has made it into bread, one is able to be nourished, according to the saying: 'Open your eyes and be filled with loaves';

which means: open the eyes of the heart so that they may partake of the light of knowledge.

The Bridegroom in the Song of Songs (and this is the Savior) says: 'I am the flower of the plain, the lily of the valleys.'

And what He says is of this sort:

I have become a flower of the region about the earth—called 'plain' because of its lowness—so that men might receive a beginning of fruit-bearing; and I have become also a lily to the valleys (the souls in Hades), having taken on their deadness.

He, then, who has become the lily of the valleys will also be a grain of wheat, as He Himself said: 'Verily, verily, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat fall and die, it abides alone;

but if, falling, it dies, it bears much fruit.'

For, having fallen through the cross into the earth, the grain reached even to its heart, producing much fruit, and in those regions it became the cause of an abundance of wheat even for the valleys.

Since throughout the whole psalm the wondrous works of God are made manifest, it fittingly came to rest in a hymn;

for it was added after the things earnestly accomplished:

'They shall cry out'—for indeed they shall sing hymns—as all who have prospered glorify with a loud voice and intense understanding the Author of good things.

The shout of triumph is the cry of victors over the vanquished, sent up inarticulately so that the noise of the voice might be carried to the greatest distance.

Since therefore by the grace of God, Jesus having tasted death for every man, the dead are raised, the devil who had the power of death being destroyed, not a part of the earth but the whole of it is commanded to shout aloud to God, since the dead everywhere, both righteous and unrighteous, are raised.

And with a view to the rousing form of the resurrection which is according to repentance, it is fitting that the whole earth should shout aloud, since to men everywhere on earth a place of repentance is spoken of.

For it is said to each one: 'Shall not he who has fallen rise again?' and to the whole Church gathered from the nations the Lord says: 'Rise, come, my neighbor,' unto rising through repentance and coming to Him.

When, therefore, the voice has arisen in a shout of triumph over the defeated, those freed from their enemies are commanded, confessing to God the cause of victory, to praise Him and to make melody to His name—yet not in a haphazard way, but gloriously;

and this comes about when the one who hymns has a deed corresponding to his praise;

for praise befits the upright.

Therefore the one who is still base is hindered from doing this, since a comely praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner.

One must not always take falsehood in the sense of word and opinion;

for there are times when this word is used also of missing the mark.

having been able to resist Him to some degree.

For, as divine works were being done by Jesus and a multitude of divine power was being displayed in the things that came to pass, the Jews who wished to be hostile, supposing Jesus to be a mere man, lied, saying: 'By Beelzebul the ruler of the demons He casts out the demons,' although the works showed these things to be greater than anything begotten;

wherefore, unto the understanding of good things, the Savior said to them: 'Even if you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know that I am in the Father and the Father in Me.'

The Savior having come to dwell among us, the shadow of the Law has received its end;

whence no longer is it a matter of concern that the worship of God be performed in the temple at Jerusalem, since it is now made in spirit and in truth, so that the worshiper of God is not hindered from doing this in every place.

For they shall worship Him, each one from his own place doing things suitable to the worship of God; wherefore at the same time it is said: 'Let them worship Thee and make melody to Thee.'

And they do this blamelessly, Thy name having been called upon them; whence necessarily it was added: 'Let them make melody to Thy name, O Most High.'

Come, O lovers of learning, and see the works of God accomplished in believing men, brought to completion not by human but by the will of God.

For how is it possible to accomplish celibacy and voluntary poverty as one ought, unless the will of God makes these things easy? And that it is God who supplies the power for these to be accomplished—

the life of men, tossed and troubled as by a sea, He changed into dry land, casting upon the earth a word of fire that dries up all moisture, so that for each of those coming from vice to virtue and from unbelief to faith, the sea was turned so as to be walked on with the feet.

A symbol of this is depicted in Peter the apostle walking upon the sea by his faith in the Savior.

And the river is a word fortified with Greek wisdom and art, hindering the way that leads up to the holy land.

But even this He turned back—He who catches the wise in their own craftiness—and made it passable for those journeying toward holiness.

And the things thus spoken are a refutation against those who cut asunder the Godhead.

For it was not another God who divided the Red Sea and who wrought the marvelous powers in the Gospels.

For Jesus saved the people in Egypt, as an apostolic epistle says.

Having come, in deed and disposition, to the place where the sea and the river were turned into dry land, so that henceforth we might cross on foot, journeying unhindered from vice and impiety to virtue and piety, we rejoice in Him who made the hard things easy, since God rules royally over the age and those in it, so as to deliver from the wickedness in it those who have believed, according to the saying: 'That He might deliver us from the present evil age.'

But it is also possible to understand 'the age' as reaching unto infinity, from the passage before us, in agreement with 'The Lord reigning for the age and unto the age and beyond';

for thus, reigning over the age unto infinity, He rules it by the sovereignty of His connatural kingdom.

6. And if you should say that they embitter all the power of the adversaries, you would not err;

for they threatened the nations that were revolting.

Therefore, instilling courage and good cheer in those who believe from among the nations, but fear in those threatening them, He says: 'His eyes look upon the nations,' guarding them unharmed;

wherefore, 'Let those who embitter not exalt themselves within,' as though able to destroy those coming to the Gospel.

The soul of the one who receives the end of faith, salvation, is set unto life, so as to say with faithful purpose: 'My soul lives to Him' (and it is clear that this means to God).

And the soul that has virtue and wisdom lives, even as the soul that sins shall die, so as to say to God: 'In Thy righteousness give me life.'

and the most mighty Word of God, so as to say in thanksgiving: 'Thou hast set my feet upon a rock.'

One is tried like silver, falling under fiery circumstances;

which, if one nobly endures them, he is shown to be approved, having nothing blameworthy in himself.

Unto this you will receive: 'Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for having become approved he shall receive the crown of life.'

Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of heaven.

But even if 'Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads,' yet we take courage, through endurance, to lift them up, while the hostile men who press upon us are dragged down from them.

Here the word 'head' signifies, as also in other Scriptures, the ruling part, as in 'The blessing of the Lord upon the head of the righteous,' and 'The eyes of the wise man are in his head.'

Wherefore also those hastening to overtake me remain always behind, while I run swiftly by Thy cooperation;

whence I have the tribulations upon my back, not wishing to look upon them at all;

for I do not turn toward them, being drawn by neither toil nor faintheartedness.

'We went through fire and water.'

So that he might say that circumstantial trials, being sufficient to inflame and to move a soul with heat, are called fire; but by another consideration they are called water also, because of their sinking and choking those who do not bear them nobly.

He who has passed through these things comes out, by the cooperation of God, into refreshment, hoping for the recompenses laid up for them.

And since the beginnings and the advances belong to us who practise virtue, but the completions belong to the gift of God, they attribute the passing through fire and water to themselves as having given it, but they ascribe to God the cause of the consummation.

That fire and water signify the trials that beset us is established from the prophet Isaiah, who says in the person of God: 「Fear not, I am with you;」

and if you pass through fire, the flame shall not consume you;

and if you pass through water, the rivers shall not overwhelm you.

「I will enter into your house with whole burnt offerings; I will render to you my vows」 —

that is, either the sacrifices according to the Law before the coming of the Saviour, or the spiritual ones: entering into the house of God (and this is the Church) with whole burnt offerings, offering as a priest perfect and entire virtues out of the whole, rendering vows suited to this whole burnt offering — the vows which his lips distinguished and set apart.

The spiritual whole burnt offerings previously explained are well-nourished and full of marrow, when they are offered up for no other reason than for the sake of God.

These things, then — that they may be accomplished in the manner they ought — are offered up with supplication;

and this is signified by the very naming of the incense.

For 「Let my prayer be set forth as incense before you.」

And the offering is made not with incense alone, but also with rams.

The rams are the impulses and the stirrings of ardour that have their origin from the spirited part of the soul.

Together with the marrow-filled whole burnt offerings, and the incense, and the rams, he promises to offer up oxen with kids — the one who brings his own body as a living sacrifice to God perhaps offering an ox as a priest;

for this animal is a tiller of the soil, whence it bears an analogy to the body, which likewise has its formation from the earth.

The kids are the works and words of repentance;

for the kid is offered for sin.

「Without tongue and without its utterance, according to what is kept silent, I have exalted him in the mind.」

It is possible to take the verse in this sense as well:

if I had beheld iniquity in my heart, let not the Lord hearken.

In this sense you will understand what is said by Paul: 「I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not thereby justified」 — since it is possible for God to see iniquity in me even though my own heart does not behold it.

In this sense you will also take up the text: 「Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.」

This has been granted to me, not so much because of my sinlessness as because of his mercy, which he did not withdraw from me — the divine mercy being withdrawn from the one who is not heard, because he does not ask for good things but for what is dear and pleasant to men.

This psalm has a clear meaning and does not require many words for its interpretation.

For it proclaims beforehand the incarnation of the Word of God, and his saving manifestation, and the salvation of all the nations;

whence it is inscribed 「Unto the end.」

And since the things accomplished are not human works, it is inscribed not 「with encomia」 or 「praises,」 but 「In hymns」;

for it belongs to God to be hymned, but to men to be extolled by praises.

Indeed, this divine hymn, being 「a Psalm of a song,」 in that it makes known both the deeds of the Saviour and the sublime contemplation of them, is ordered not by any chance number but by one containing perfections;

for the number sixty has the property of being perfect both in the units and in the tens.

Men are filled with compassions and blessings when he makes his own face to shine upon those who pray to attain this.

And the face of the Maker of all things is made manifest when the express image of his substance, having become man, comes to sojourn among us and reveals himself to the worthy — of whom he says concerning the one who keeps his commandments: 「I will manifest myself to him.」

Since he who says these things is the image of the invisible God, when this has come to pass, the one who applies himself to him with a pure mind beholds the Father;

for 「He who has seen me,」 he says, 「has seen the Father.」

In this manner, when the divine face has been made manifest, those who are benefited are shown compassion and are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

When you have made your face to shine, the way that leads to you, the Father, is known.

And what is this way but he who said, 「I am the way, and no one comes to the Father except through me」? And in accord with the way of God and his salvation being made known in the earth, that salvation being none other than the way, it shall be made known among all the nations, when there is fulfilled the word: 「All flesh shall see the salvation of God.」

It is possible to take the way of God that is made known in the earth to be his commandments, according to the text: 「I have run the way of your commandments.」

The salvation harmoniously made known with this way to all the nations is the salvation which he came to bestow.

Of old, when one people alone, that of the Hebrews, made confession to God who says, 「I am he who blots out your sins;」

wherefore, 「Say first your sins」 (declaring them by way of repentance), 「that you may be justified」 — bearing the person of this people, the holy one says to God: 「I acknowledged my transgression, and I did not cover my sin;」

but from the time of the Saviour's coming, all the peoples made up out of the believing nations are called to repentance, so that, having made confession to God, they may obtain the remission of sins.

And how should it not follow that all the peoples make confession with thanksgiving, when the face of God has been made manifest to them? When the way has been made known in the earth and the salvation of God among all the nations, the nations — set free from all wickedness and from the deceit of polytheism — rejoice as they achieve moral virtue, and exult at having received the knowledge of God, having learned also that the Lord will judge peoples in uprightness and will guide nations upon the earth.

「Peoples」 and 「nations」 are either the same, set in parallel, or 「peoples」 are those of the circumcision, and 「nations」 those from among the Gentiles.

For how should not all the earth — that is, the men upon it — be filled with praise and bear the fruit of piety, when in every place incense and a pure sacrifice are offered among the nations, and the name of the Lord is magnified, according to what is borne in one of the Twelve Prophets? A prayer is one that is sent up expressed in imperative words;

for instead of 「would that he might arise」 there was written 「let him arise,」 and instead of 「would that they might flee」 there was written 「let them flee.」

For this form is found most frequently in the Scriptures — I mean things said in the imperative in place of the optative.

It is possible to say that the enemies to be scattered are those who act impiously concerning the knowledge of the truth, and those who hate God and flee from his face are those who are engaged in practical wickedness.

As for his commandments — he who does not keep them does not love God.

These things might be spoken by way of prayer to the Father, at the time when, Christ having suffered and his body still lying in the tomb while he himself was despoiling Hades, the Jews were gathered together along with the destroying demons that filled them and the other evil powers;

let God arise — he who descended into death, in that he had become man — that those gathered against him may be scattered.

For then also those who hate him, being unable to look upon him when he has risen from the dead, shall flee from his face.

It is not as wickedness perishes that the virtue of the righteous perishes;

for it is written: 「His righteousness endures for ever and ever.」

And a testimony that wickedness is smoke is the text: 「As an unripe grape is harmful to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is lawlessness to those who practise it」 — harming in the same way the powers of the soul, which are figuratively called 「teeth,」 by which it cuts and grinds smooth the spiritual nourishment, and also its acts of understanding, called 「eyes.」

It should be known that the wax which is melted before his face does not pass into non-being, but is given up into the substance of the fire;

whence, even if the quality according to which one is a sinner is altered, his substance remains incorruptible.

It is well said that sinners do not perish altogether nor cease to exist, but perish 「from the face of God,」 seeing that, having become such as to hate him, they flee from his face, in that the lawless do not abide before his eyes.

The exultation according to which the righteous exult before God is able to be joy — which is 「the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace」 — and gladness, that which suffuses the reasoning faculty of the soul, fittingly called good affection.

No one could do the good without departing from the evil (for they cannot coexist), nor could he be illumined by the Sun of righteousness while still partaking of him who transforms himself into an angel of light and counterfeits the Sun of righteousness, being called the light of impiety;

for 「The light of the ungodly shall be quenched.」

For when this one has set, that other rises in our hearts, mounting upon the settings of the former.

「Make a way for him who comes」 with the title of 「Lord」 according to Moses and the prophets, so that he may mount upon the west.