Expositions on the Psalms 1 part 16/23

And my eye has looked upon my enemies.

This too shall be mine, along with the other good things: to become a spectator of the fall of those who plot against my soul.

Planted in the house of the Lord.

These, he says, who are likened to these cedars, have God as their planter, and the divine temple as their paradise.

In the courts of our God they shall flourish.

They shall yet increase in a rich old age, and shall be well off.

The word 'well off' (εὐπαθοῦντες) stands for 'faring well' (εὖ πάσχοντες).

For there shall be given to them what eye has not seen, and ear has not heard.

For the Lord our God is upright.

When they have come to be in the mansions above and enjoy the good things prepared for them, then indeed, then, they will proclaim this word as well: that the Lord is just and upright, who caused the lawless and impious to be dried up like grass;

but the righteous and pious he planted like cedars and palm trees in the tabernacles above.

There is no unrighteousness with God, because he is incapable of admitting evil.

'Concerning the Sabbath': in the preceding psalm the second coming of the Lord is made manifest, according to which he will also reign over the new age together with his saints.

The Lord has reigned, he has clothed himself with majesty.

Since the human race, having fallen away from the kingdom that is under God, came to be under the tyranny of Satan, for this reason the Only-begotten sojourned among us, so that he might again subject it to his own scepters — which indeed came to pass;

By 'the majesty of God' he means the salvation of the human race itself.

For if he had not become incarnate, taking our nature apart from sin, clearly salvation would not have come to us.

The Lord has clothed himself with power and girded himself.

For indeed he has established the world, which shall not be shaken.

Having beforehand destroyed those — namely, the opposing demons — he established the Church upon a rock, against which not even the gates of Hades themselves shall prevail.

Your throne is prepared from of old.

He says this because from the foundation of the world it had been foreordained that the salvation of the human race would come to be through his salvation.

For by 'throne' he means the authority for judging the demons who have wronged us;

and he signifies the resurrection of the Only-begotten.

The rivers have lifted up, O Lord, the rivers have lifted up their voices.

Here by 'rivers' he means the holy apostles and evangelists, who also gladdened the Church of God with spiritual streams.

Rivers of living water shall flow from his belly.

Wonderful are the surgings of the sea.

The many initiations into the mysteries, he says, and the streams that are the thoughts of the apostles and evangelists, have made the surgings of the sea wonderful.

By 'sea' he means the multitudes of the nations who believed, whose surgings — that is, the exaltations of their mind — have become wonderful.

For they no longer think small and lowly things about God, but great and wonderful things.

Your testimonies are made very sure.

By 'testimonies' he means the promises which he promised to the nations through the holy prophets, which he also showed to be faithful in the last days, fulfilling them in deed by his own coming.

Holiness befits your house, O Lord.

His house is the Church, and it befits her to be holy, since she has dwelling within her the only Holy One;

and when this comes to pass, she, having partaken of it, shall also enjoy unending sanctification.

In this he introduces the discourse concerning providence, teaching that one should not be grieved and distressed, even if for a time prosperity should come to sinners, and persecution to the pious;

for to the latter, affliction leads to eternal enjoyment of good things, while for the former, after their seeming prosperity, punishment awaits for unending ages.

It is entitled 'For the fourth day of the week,' because in the fourth month —

for instead of the month he has set down the day on which the beginning of calamities came upon the city of God, the Babylonians having made their expedition in that month, as Jeremiah records.

The Lord is a God of vengeance; the God of vengeance has spoken openly.

Just as he is a compassionate God, and a God of consolations, so also is he a God of vengeance.

And again, in this proem he produces great comfort for those who have grown despondent from afflictions.

The phrase 'has spoken openly' signifies the sentence which afterward comes to pass at the divine tribunal against the impious, in which he says:

Depart from me, you who are cursed.

Render recompense to the proud.

He sends up a prayer on behalf of those afflicted, asking for them the aid that comes from God alone who is mighty.

'How long shall sinners boast?' Through these words he signifies God's intense and surpassing freedom from resentment.

They have humbled your people, O Lord.

He stirs God up to zeal against the enemies, saying that the one being ill-treated by the enemies is his people and inheritance.

They have slain the widow and the orphan.

The interpretation of these has been given in the verse above, yet it shall be stated again.

He who wrongly interprets the divine Scriptures kills the widowed soul and the proselyte mind.

And the orphan is a mind bereft of the heavenly Father.

The Lord knows the thoughts of men, that they are vain.

For how are those perceptions not full of vanity, which attempt to banish the beneficial reasoning of providence? Blessed is the man whom you shall discipline, O Lord.

Those, he says, are wretched and lowly, who do not receive your discipline.

But blessed are those disciplined by you, and taught out of your law.

For these indeed, being made gentle even in afflictions, shall be relieved of their distresses, knowing that afflictions come to an end in good.

By 'evil days' he means the days of judgment.

Until a pit be dug for the sinner.

To this extent, he says, those who have been disciplined shall endure afflictions with confidence, until a pit be dug for the sinner — that is, until the sinner walks into the place of punishment prepared for him.

By 'sinner' he means Satan, or indeed every hostile power.

'For the Lord will not cast off his people.' This would be the answer to what was said above:

They have humbled your people, O Lord, and afflicted your inheritance.

And he will not abandon his inheritance.

This depends on the verse above, 'For the Lord will not cast off his people.'

He will guard, he says, his people through the whole time of affliction.

And he will govern and guide them to this extent, until the divine tribunal is seated.

And when righteousness — that is, Christ — is seated for this, all who are upright in heart shall become near to her, according to the saying, 'For these shall see God.'

For thus the following words make clear.

Until righteousness return to judgment.

Until Christ shall judge the world.

For he became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption;

And the Father has given all judgment to him.

'Who will rise up for me against those who work evil?' This is the voice of those who are afflicted.

'Who will become my ally against those who work evil against me?' Then, he says, having quickly perceived his Helper, he adds that his soul would long ago have been brought down into Hades, had he not obtained the support that comes from God.

Being afflicted, he says, and seeing myself slipping, I said—

'My foot has slipped'; that is, I was on the point of falling from my standing before God.

immediately I perceived your support, and your mercy became my helper.

'Your consolations have gladdened my soul.'

You did not leave me, he says, uncomforted;

and these consolations turned my sorrows into gladness.

Because, then, the throne of iniquity shall not be joined to you — that is, because you are a righteous judge, as God is, and there shall be no iniquity in your judgments;

for the throne signifies judgment;

just as also, indeed, in the case of that one who fashions trouble by decree —

this would be the adversary demon, who makes God's commandments, though light, into heavy burdens, thereby furnishing men with toils from them.

He called the devil 'the throne of iniquity';

since Christ is the throne of righteousness, and he stands opposed to the devil.

'And they shall condemn innocent blood.'

These, he says — the wicked and adversary demons — will seek by every means to hunt down the soul of the righteous man.

But for this very thing, he says, they shall be condemned.

'And they shall condemn innocent blood.'

For he means that, in return for the blood innocently shed by them, they shall be handed over to judgment and punishment.

'And the Lord became a refuge for me.'

From here the choir of the saints also exhorts the disobedient of Israel to come to the salvation that is through Christ;

showing that he will hearken, if they come to him, seeing that he himself is the Maker, and loves his own work.

And after the exhortation of the saints, the person of the Holy Spirit himself is also introduced, charging those same disobedient ones not to imitate the unbelief of their fathers.

They exhort the disobedient to come as to a feast, calling them to exultation, so that by these means they might persuade them.

'Let us shout aloud to God our Savior.'

Well said, 'let us shout aloud': he means, let us come and sing hymns of victory.

For the shout of triumph is a hymn sung over fallen enemies.

By these words he signifies that Christ, having warred on our behalf against the opposing powers, has cast them out of the way.

'Let us come before his face with thanksgiving.'

Before he sits down for judgment — 'his face' meaning the Son — let us come before him with thanksgiving, and render him well disposed toward them.

For thus it will turn out well for you in the end;

for thanksgiving has a good outcome;

and this is what is made clear in the Psalms:

'And a great King above all gods.'

If we offer up thanksgiving, he says, we shall not fail to obtain it;

for he will have compassion on us as on his own people.

'For the sea is his.'

And they say that they themselves are among those who worship and weep, so that they might make their hearers more eager for thanksgiving.

'Today, if you will hear his voice,'

From here they are exhorted by the Lord himself to be obedient, and not to become such as their fathers showed themselves to be in the wilderness.

'As in the day of temptation in the wilderness, where your fathers tempted me,'

For they tempted God, going now this way and now that, and not by the straight way of the Lord.

'So I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest.'

The word signifies to us three rests;

one, the fleshly rest of the Sabbath; and another, the entrance into the land of promise, in which Joshua gave them rest;

and a third, the heavenly rest, which the word now signifies to us;

for he would not have made mention of another rest here, if that former one truly contained rest in it;

the true rest is the release that comes after this world, the dwelling in the mansions above.

In the psalm before this one, having pronounced the rejection of the Jews, should they persist in unbelief, in this one he introduces the calling of the nations, which came to pass after the release from their spiritual captivity, at the time when also the Church was founded throughout the whole world.

'Sing unto the Lord a new song.'

'Sing unto the Lord, all the earth.'

'Proclaim the good tidings of his salvation from day to day.'

For indeed, having obeyed, may they come to know the deity and the greatness of him who is proclaimed, and having known it, they will praise it.

'He is to be feared above all gods.'

This especially exhorts the nations to the fear of the Lord, since they had seen the conflagration that came upon those once called their gods.

For they came to know that all those were not gods, but demons.

But the Lord alone is the maker of the heavens.

'For all the gods of the nations are demons.'

For those called gods proved to be evil demons, but our Lord made the heavens.

'Holiness and majesty are in his sanctuary.'

His sanctuary is the Church, which is both holy and majestic.

For the adornment of the Church is exalted.

'Bring unto the Lord, O families of the nations,'

By 'families' he means the leaders of the Churches, I mean the priests and the presiding bishops.

And it is fitting to glorify God through good works, and indeed also to honor him from the fruits of one's righteous labors, and further still to offer up to him spiritual sacrifices;

and to offer these up in his divine courts, that is, in the churches.

'Let all the earth tremble before his face.'

For the proclamation was about to be heard throughout the whole world, and, as it were, to shake the earth out of its former condition.

'For he has established the world, which shall not be moved.'

For he founded the Church upon the rock, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

For he came and judged our cause, and cast out the wicked tyrants — that is, he says, the unclean demons.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice.

For over the setting-right of the inhabited world the heavenly powers spoke out, rejoicing:

Let the sea be moved, and the fullness thereof.

He signifies the multitude of the nations, which indeed has been moved;

that is, it has been stirred so as to receive the preaching.

The fields shall rejoice, and all that is in them;

then shall all the trees of the forest exult.

Again here too he signifies the salvation of the world, and the faith of all the nations in him.

The Lord has reigned; let the earth rejoice, let the many islands be glad.

By 'islands' he means the churches, seeing that they are indeed buffeted by every wind, and moreover surrounded by the briny circumstances of this world.

Cloud and darkness are round about him.

This signifies his descent among men, which was hidden, when he appeared in the form of a servant.

This, he says, became the cause of forgiveness;

namely, the just judging of our cause, which we clearly have against the wicked and hostile powers.

Fire shall go before him.

For by his divine power he burned up every wicked and hostile working.

His lightnings appeared to the inhabited world.

He says that his lightnings are the holy apostles and evangelists, who shone forth like light under heaven.

The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord.

By 'mountains' he means the hostile powers, which indeed melted away like wax before the fire mentioned above.

What the north wind congeals, the south wind melts;

wherefore the bride rightly says in the Song of Songs:

Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind; blow through my garden, and let my spices flow forth.

Let all those who worship carved images be put to shame;

seeing, that is, those whom they formerly considered gods being dissolved like wax by the Lord.

Worship him, all you his angels.

For the things which he set right for the world under heaven, give thanks, he says.

And what did she hear, but the preaching of the gospel, which became for her the occasion of gladness? 'And the daughters of Judea rejoiced.'

By 'the daughters of Judea' he means the holy souls, joined to God through confession, who exulted because of the judgments of God, seeing, that is, the tyrants cast out, and those held fast in slavery brought into freedom.

You who love the Lord, hate evil.

An exhortation is introduced to those who have been redeemed into freedom, teaching them to turn away from every kind of evil.

The Lord preserves the souls of his holy ones.

You who have turned away from evil have become holy;

then indeed it will happen to you also to obtain guarding from the Lord against the evil one;

for he, properly speaking, is the sinner.

And for the upright in heart there is gladness;

The punctuation must be placed after 'for the upright,' so that gladness may arise for those who become upright in heart.

And 'shall arise' is to be taken as belonging to both clauses in common.

This psalm too signifies the former coming of the Lord, and the faith of all the nations in him, which he brought about according to the promises made to the fathers.

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.

For truly it is a marvelous thing that death has been abolished, and the human race has come to life again.

His own right hand has wrought salvation for him.

For Christ, who is the right hand of the Father, brought the world under heaven near to his own Father.

For he had no need of human help.

The Lord has made known his salvation.

He signifies that his incarnate coming is his salvation;

according to what was said by Simeon:

For my eyes have seen your salvation.

He has revealed his righteousness before the nations.

Casting out the ruler of this age, and justifying us who had long been tyrannized;

for indeed he promised that in his seed all the nations would be blessed.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

For there is no place without a share in the kingdom of Christ.

Sing praise to our God with the harp.

By 'harp' he means the harmony of the body with the soul.

'With trumpets of beaten metal, and the sound of a horn trumpet' — by the trumpets of beaten metal he signifies the fiery and far-reaching character of the gospel preaching;

and by the horn trumpets, the royal character, inasmuch as kings were anointed with the horn.

Not only so, but they also made the proclamation of the kingship with the horn.

Let the sea be moved, and the fullness thereof.

By 'sea' he means the present life, because of the brininess of the cares within it.

It has therefore been moved from its former state, that is, from idolatry.

The rivers shall clap their hands together.

By their clapping together he signifies the concord of the preaching.

The mountains shall exult, for he has come to judge the earth.

That is, plainly, the angelic powers.

For there is joy over one sinner who repents.

This too signifies the kingship of Christ, and the arrogance of the chief priests.

The Lord has reigned; let the peoples tremble.

This is Christ, whose kingdom the Jews, being angered, do not accept.

"He who sits upon the cherubim — let the earth quake."

For this very one is he who was to reign in the last times over those upon the earth, who also rides upon the cherubim, by whom also the earth was shaken.

You are he who is upon the cherubim, you who removed the earth's fixed condition of evil, having become like us.

By 'condition,' then, he means the condition of idolatry.

Zion is the Church, in which Christ is glorified and exalted, according to what is said:

"I will exalt you, my God, my King."

"Let them give thanks to your great name."

Great is his name 'Jesus,' inasmuch as it is also interpreted 'salvation of the people.'

Great again is the name that is above every name, to which every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

For it is fearful and holy.

Fearful indeed against the peoples who are angered and do not accept his kingdom;

but holy to those who believe in him.

"And the honor of the king loves judgment."

Since the honor, that is, the glory, of the king loves righteousness, which is interpreted through judgment;

for this reason his commandment is fearful to those who disobey, but holy to those who obey.

For he is about to judge the world in righteousness.

"Exalt the Lord our God."

He who is exalted as God, and has all creation beneath his feet, became man without change.

This one, then, he says, who unchangeably became man, exalt, worshiping him with a single act of worship together with his own flesh.

"Moses and Aaron among his priests."

This one, he says, now, inasmuch as he is by nature man,

was reigning over those upon the earth;

whom of old Moses, Aaron, and Samuel also invoked.

Having said, then, 'Worship at his footstool,' and having proclaimed both the incarnation and the economy, he again, for our security, signifies the deity through the mountain that was indicated.

For he remained God, even though he took the form of a servant for the sake of our salvation.

"Lord our God, you heard them."

Even if they seemed to sin somewhat, as men do, you did not overlook it, he says.

Thus Aaron was reproved for sinning concerning the calf, and Moses concerning the water of contradiction.

"And worship at his holy mountain."

He means either the earthly or the heavenly Jerusalem;

or again, one must understand the mountain itself to be the Only-Begotten, according to what is said:

"A stone was cut out from a mountain without hands."

In this psalm he brings an exhortation to those who have already come to the faith, that they should offer up thanksgivings for the things that have already come to pass.

For 'confession' here signifies thanksgiving joined with praise.

"Shout aloud to God, all the earth."

He exhorts those who have been redeemed to sing the song of victory.

Now those who were redeemed were the whole human race.

For by 'earth' he means those who dwell upon the earth.

Now servitude to men produces a destructive fear, but servitude to the Lord produces a pure fear, from which gladness comes to the soul.

"Come before him with exultation."

He who has already received in his mind the gladness of the joyful shout, this one, as though standing before Christ, rejoices with joy, and this is exultation.

"Know that the Lord himself is our God."

For we did not come into being of ourselves, but we are the work of his hands.

So that 'the people' are the more rational, while 'the sheep' are those who hold the less rational rank, and who are without experience of the divine oracles, according to what is said:

"I have gone astray like a lost sheep."

"But we are his people, and sheep of his pasture."

Some indeed as his people — the better ones;

but others as sheep of his pasture — those who are of a lesser rank.

Nevertheless, being God and maker of all, he calls all and makes them his own.

"For God saves men and beasts;"

the former as his people, the latter as sheep of his pasture.

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving."

By 'the gates of the Lord' he means the Church on earth, in which one must give thanks, first declaring one's sins, and recounting the benefits that have come to us.

In this psalm he depicts for us the perfect man, the one who lives according to God, teaching us what manner of conduct those who desire to attain the kingdom of heaven must practice.

"I will sing of mercy and judgment to you, O Lord."

Continually bearing these things on my mouth, he says, which I know have been rightly accomplished for us, judgment — that is, righteous judgment — will be given.

For he vindicated our cause against our enemies.

"I will sing and understand in a blameless way."

The phrase 'I will sing the hymn,' he says, is as if he were saying more clearly:

For this admired man acquired such purity that he could cry out to God with boldness:

I harbored, he says, no unjust thought dwelling within me;

but I conducted myself entirely with purity.

"I hated those who commit transgressions."

"A crooked heart did not cling to me."

The counsels of the devil, since they have nothing upright in them, are both crooked and perverted — things which I have never admitted into my heart.

"I did not know the evil one who turned away from me."

In this way, he says, I took no account whatsoever of the wicked, so much so that I was ignorant of both their presence and their absence;

therefore I did not know when they departed; hence neither, if they were present, did I know that they were present.

And it is a proof of a mind devoted to God to take no account of the things below, because of attentiveness to the things above.

Whoever secretly slandered his neighbor, him I drove away.

I did not admit accusations made in secret, but drove away those who attempted to do this.

With one who had a haughty eye and an insatiable heart, I would not eat together.

Nor indeed did I make table companions of those given to arrogance and greed.

My eyes are upon the faithful of the land, that they may sit with me.

Those adorned with faith, and who held divine things in high regard, shared with me in councils and counsel.

But those not so disposed, but thinking the contrary—I mean in arrogance, injustice, and contempt—I cast far away from me, so that I would not even see them.

In the mornings I put to death all the sinners of the land.

By 'sinners' he means the wicked thoughts, which he chastised by his morning prayers and his steadfast attendance upon God.

That I might destroy out of the city of the Lord all who work lawlessness.

By 'the city of the Lord' he means the holy soul, according to what is said:

A prayer for the poor man, when he grows faint, and pours out his supplication before the Lord.

'His'—that is, the people's—sending up petitions with fasting and tears, so that the people too might be shown mercy.

He also proclaims the calling of the nations, which took place at the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Lord, hear my prayer.

The prophetic company makes its own the things that happened to the people.

For my days have vanished like smoke, and my bones have been dried up like a hearth-stick.

These things received their interpretation above, and will be spoken of again.

For all their strength, by which the practices of worship according to the Law held together, has been corrupted and destroyed.

And these were: the high priesthood, the temple, the sacrifices offered by means of animals, and the nation's autonomy.

I have become like a night-raven in a ruined dwelling.

He says this because of the darkness that had overtaken the people.

And what is peculiar to the night-raven except crying out through the nights, whence it got this name? Since, then, he prayed all night long, he necessarily compares himself to the night-raven.

I have kept watch, and become like a sparrow alone upon the housetop.

I, he says, who was not overtaken at the time of sin, was left so utterly alone that I resembled even a single sparrow.

For out of so many myriads, even if those being saved were more numerous, they would still be as one in comparison to the myriads.

All the day my enemies reproached me.

I became a laughingstock to those ill-disposed toward me;

and those who once envied me now swear by my misfortunes, praying that they might not suffer the like.

And the phrase 'with ashes' is very similar to the seventy-ninth psalm:

You will feed us with the bread of tears.

But if even the time for food was full of anguish, scarcely indeed would any other time have been free from suffering.

And those who praised me swore against me.

And my friends, he says, who once admired me, made an oath by my misfortunes, saying:

May I not suffer the same things as Israel!

For I have eaten ashes like bread.

He signifies either the misfortunes suffered in the captivity, or the hardship they endured on behalf of the people, that it might be shown mercy.

For alone among all the nations the people of Israel was exalted, since it alone possessed the knowledge of the true God. 'My days have declined like a shadow.'

He says its days are those of the worship according to the Law, which is also called a shadow of the good things to come.

And I have withered like grass.

'I' instead of 'the people.'

For, as I said, he makes his own all that belongs to the people.

For your servants have taken delight in her stones, and will have pity on her dust.

By 'stones' he means those who believed in Christ after the resurrection, and who became holy stones, according to the word of Zechariah:

And by 'servants' he means the holy apostles, through whom those who believed in Christ were saved.

And by 'dust' he means the peoples who still live in a more earthbound manner, and who even now do not believe; and he says that they too are worthy of mercy.

For the remnant is kept for the last day;

for they too will be saved through Elijah the prophet.

And the nations shall fear the name of the Lord.

Fittingly, between the delighting in the stones of the former people, he attaches the calling of the nations.

And all the kings of the earth shall fear your glory.

'Kings' instead of 'kingdoms.'

For there is no kingdom nor nation that does not worship the glory of the Lord.

For the Lord will build up Zion.

He has looked upon the prayer of the humble.