Expositions on the Psalms 1 part 7/23

Then, fulfilling his promise, in a single night he destroyed a hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians.

"By day the Lord will command his mercy."

"A prayer to the God of my life."

As one who has already believed, he brings forth words befitting those who believe, inscribing to him his own proper life.

"I will say unto God, You are my helper."

The people, now repenting, renew their supplication, calling upon God the more urgently for mercy.

"Judge me, O God, and plead my cause."

The present psalm has the same subject matter as the one before it.

For once again those of Israel come forward, asking for the salvation that is through Christ.

"Send out your light and your truth."

For he was about to lead them into the holy mountain, that is, into heaven and into the mansions above, which he also calls "tabernacles";

and into the spiritual altar;

and he himself was about to gladden their youth.

And he calls "youth" the gladness that also renews their soul.

And we have often taught that "harp" is to be understood as the body.

"To the end, for the sons of Korah, for understanding."

[And this psalm too holds to the same subject matter;

of those recounting the ancient benefits, and asking to be received back, by inscribing their hope upon him, and confessing in his name.

"Our soul is brought down to the dust."

Thus they say, since, having thrust away the mind of Christ, they fell into a fleshly mindset.] "O God, we have heard with our ears."

"But now you have cast us off and put us to shame."

"And you will not go forth, O God, with our armies."

"Formerly," he says, "you commanded our armies together with us;"

"but now not only do you not go forth with us, but you have also turned us back, so that we have even become plunder to those who hate us."

And the prophetic chorus says these things, appropriating to itself the calamities of the people.

"And those who hate us plundered for themselves."

"With shouts of triumph," he says, "[you have given] us over to dishonor."

"And there was no great price in our exchanges [shouts of triumph]."

"Shout of triumph" is a song of victory.

"Thus," he says, "you have cast us off, so that we were even defeated by a few, and those who shouted in triumph over us were but some small number."

"You have made us a reproach to our neighbors."

All that they did has been rendered back upon them with respect to Christ:

they reproached, and they were reproached;

they mocked, and they were mocked in return;

they shook their heads at him, and others also shook their heads at them.

"All the day long my confusion is before me."

"Long," he says, "and continual has been the shame that has come upon us."

"All these things have come upon us, yet we have not forgotten you."

We have already said that it is the prophets who offer up the supplication in the person of the people, appropriating to themselves the evils that befell because of their sins.

"And you have turned our paths aside from your way."

They say these things because, having acted impiously toward Christ, they were also thrust out from performing the sacrifice according to the law.

"For you have humbled us in the place of affliction."

He says this because they were no longer able to think anything of the things that are exalted;

"And you have reproved us as having sinned in the world."

"And the shadow of death has covered us."

He signifies the darkness that came to be in the hearts of those who disbelieved.

"If we have forgotten the name of our God"

They say this as those who no longer practiced idolatry after the final fall, or again as speaking in the person of the prophets.

"For your sake we are put to death all the day long."

"They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they died by the slaughter of the sword."

"Awake, why do you sleep, O Lord?" They liken to sleep the great forbearance which God showed on account of their sins.

"Arise, and do not cast us off forever."

"Arise," he says, not that he should change his form;

for the divine is without form, but that he should stir up his own power to our help.

"And do not cast us off forever," neither those who do wrong nor those who suffer it, so that neither the sufferers, as though wholly given over to trials, should slip, nor the doers, emboldened by the judge's patience, should advance further into iniquity.

"Our belly cleaves to the dust."

They say this because, having rejected the mind of Christ, they fell into a carnal mind.

"Arise, O Lord, help us."

"Lay hold of us," he says, and grant favor and a time of turning back to those who confess true faith in you.

To the end, for those who shall be changed, for the sons of Korah, for understanding, a song for the Beloved.

He also mentions the sons of Korah, referring the person to the apostles.

But it is necessary for us to understand all these things;

wherefore it is also entitled "for understanding."

"My heart has poured forth a good word."

This the Father says concerning the Son:

for God has come to be from God.

"I speak my works to the king."

Just as, being king as God, he is said to come to the beginning of a kingdom because he was made flesh;

so also, the things which he knows naturally as God, these again he is said, by way of economy, to hear on account of his humanity.

"My tongue is the pen of a swift scribe."

The word which he has spoken of, this he also calls his tongue.

It is called the pen of a swift scribe, because whatever he speaks immediately comes to pass, as in:

and, "Young man, I say to you, arise";

"The Lord will make a concise word in all the inhabited earth."

"Fair in beauty beyond the sons of men."

One can see the comparison of the good Spirit from what John says, that "the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."

For the pen of Moses too was good;

for he wrote for us a law that served as a tutor;

but it was not such as also to write our names in the heavens.

"Grace is poured out upon your lips."

For our Lord is sweet-voiced, saying:

"I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly," and, "I am the bread that came down from heaven";

and, "giving life to the world."

"Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one."

He rouses the Only-begotten to the battle on our behalf.

Then also, since he has given him a soldier's form, having spoken of the sword, he adds the thigh as well.

For the sword is his own, as God's, and not something from outside;

for he is mighty, that is, the Lord of hosts;

and this belongs to him according to nature.

And he is fair to those who have recognized his manifestation, and who are able to perceive his supramundane beauty.

He has fitted the sword to the thigh with a view to the threat against the unbelieving and the ranks of the adversaries.

Concerning those who disobey, then, the psalm says:

"If you do not turn back, he will sharpen his sword."

"In your comeliness and in your beauty."

Now the comeliness and beauty of him who has gone to war are his divinity and his supremacy over all things.

"And bend your bow, and prosper, and reign."

having justified by yourself those over whom you reign, he says, having delivered them from the tyrant.

for having mentioned weapons, he mentions gentleness as well.

Now it belongs to the gentle to forgo, on his own behalf, the things done to those who are wronged.

"And your right hand shall guide you wondrously."

For since he mentioned the sword, he consequently also made mention of the right hand.

"Your arrows are sharpened, O mighty one."

By arrows he means the holy apostles, who dealt mortal blows to the heart of the enemies of the King of those who reign.

These arrows, having struck the intelligible enemies to the heart, had power to bring all that is under heaven beneath the feet of Christ, and to subject it to the yoke of his kingdom.

The verses are in inverted order, so that they should read thus:

"Your arrows are sharpened, O mighty one, in the hearts of the king's enemies."

"Your throne, O God, is forever and ever."

Those who have been called through the apostles, confessing the divinity of the Only-begotten, say:

"Your throne, O God, is forever and ever."

"A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom."

Uprightness, in the divine Scripture, signifies righteousness.

He says, then, that those who are ruled by Christ may learn to walk the way of righteousness.

"You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity."

Since human nature, having suffered a turning, forsook righteousness and loved iniquity, for this reason the Only-begotten became man, setting right in himself, on behalf of human nature, the loving of righteousness and the hating of iniquity;

and this is the cause of the incarnation.

inasmuch as they have been shown mercy, because through you they succeeded in loving righteousness and hating lawlessness.

'Therefore God, your God, has anointed you,' he says:

For 'he anointed' (echrisen) is interpreted as 'he anointed' (ēleipsen).

This interpretation is linked back to what was said above, 'You have loved righteousness.'

'Myrrh and stacte and cassia breathe from your garments.'

The garments of the Only-begotten may be understood as his powers, majesty, and glory, according to the verse:

'The Lord has reigned, he has clothed himself with majesty; the Lord has clothed himself with strength, and girded himself.'

This, then, is his glory and majesty, which has become fragrant to us, arranged as it were like every rank of incense, according to what is said elsewhere:

'Your name is ointment poured out';

and, 'We will run after the fragrance of your perfumes.'

Stacte is a very fine kind of myrrh;

for when the spice is pressed out, whatever of it flows freely is set apart as stacte,

while the thicker part that remains is called myrrh.

Cassia is a very thin and fragrant bark, wrapped around woody twigs.

'from ivory palaces, by which they have made you glad.'

'Palaces' means costly and splendid houses, that is, temples.

And by 'ivory' he means, as it were, polished and most beautiful.

And he names 'kings' the holy apostles, who also reign together with Christ.

And their 'daughters' are the souls who through them have been regenerated unto the knowledge of God, who also make their own hearts into most beautiful temples, delighting him unto the honor of God.

'The queen stood at your right hand, in garments interwoven with gold.'

'The queen' is the Church, having become the bride of the great King;

and standing at his right hand signifies the honor which she will enjoy in the age to come;

and her varied garment is faith, hope, and love;

and she has also another, more radiant garment—Christ himself.

'For as many of you as were baptized into Christ,' he says, 'have put on Christ.'

'Hear, O daughter, and see.'

And again this word is addressed to the Church.

'and forget your own people, and your father's house.'

The 'people' of the Church long ago were the idolaters,

and 'her father's house' means the wise ones of this age, in whom Satan dwells as in houses.

'And the daughter of Tyre shall come with gifts.'

By one nation—that of the Tyrians, I mean—he signifies the calling of the Gentiles.

He named the Tyrians because they were, above all, enemies of the pious way of life.

'The rich among the people shall entreat your favor.'

He says this, proclaiming good news even to the kings themselves, and to those who are in positions of eminence:

'Worship the Church'—that is, her own Lord.

'All the glory of the king's daughter is within, in tassels of gold.'

'Within' signifies piety;

for the adornment of the Church is spiritual;

and the 'tassels' signify the manifold virtues.

'Virgins shall be brought to the king after her.'

Similar to: 'We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.'

And again, by 'the virgin' he signifies the Church:

'For I betrothed you to present you as a pure virgin to God.'

'Her companions shall be brought to you.'

For continence is neighbor to virginity;

therefore, as many souls as practice continence—clearly abstaining from wicked deeds—they too will be led along together with her.

And it happens that those who are led find eternal gladness and rejoicing.

'They shall be led into the temple of the king.'

'Instead of your fathers, your sons were born.'

Since he said to her, 'Forget your father,' he now says, 'instead of your fathers of old'—that is, instead of your teachers—'there shall be sons to you.'

And he calls the holy apostles 'sons,' according to what was said by the Lord:

'Your sons—by whom do they cast out demons?' Or else he means those who lead the Churches, who have indeed become sons of the Church, yet have been appointed rulers over all the earth by the Lord Jesus, according to what was said:

'Go, make disciples of all nations.'

'You will make them rulers over all the earth;'

'they shall remember your name in every generation.'

In the sacred writings the name of God is commemorated,

and the word is addressed to Christ.

'To the end, for the sons of Korah, concerning hidden things.'

The present psalm signifies the calling of the Gentiles, the casting out of the intelligible enemies, and their confinement in the abyss.

And since these things are spoken, as it were, through parables, the psalm is fittingly entitled 'concerning hidden things.'

Those who believed in Christ sing it, and before all others, his apostles.

'God is our refuge and strength.'

He says these things because of the persecutions that rose up against them from both intelligible and sensible enemies.

For the whole earth was thrown into turmoil when the preaching began, as those who remained in unbelief rose up against those who believed the preaching.

'and mountains be removed into the heart of the seas.'

By 'the hearts of the seas' he means the abysses;

and by 'mountains,' the opposing powers.

Since the demons were about to be cast out into the abyss, they stirred up war against them.

'But we shall not fear such things,' they say.

Or by 'mountains' he means the demons, who were once lofty and conspicuous, and for this reason are likened to mountains.] 'Their waters roared and were troubled.'

Here by 'waters' he means the multitudes, which the strangeness of the preaching also threw into confusion.

'The mountains were troubled at his might.'

the demons, who were once lofty and conspicuous, and for this reason likened to mountains

'The streams of the river make glad the city of God.'

By 'river' he means the word of the Gospel, which also gladdens the Church.

'The Most High has sanctified his tabernacle.'

For he is holy, resting among the holy, dwelling among the holy;

'God is in the midst of her, and she shall not be moved' — clearly meaning the Church.

'God shall help her at the break of dawn.'

That is, his inclining toward her early, about the break of dawn.

For as to 'God shall help her,' here too the person of the Church would be understood as the holy apostles and those who in succession have led her, whom he also vigorously strengthens with sinews so that they are able to lay hold of the preaching.

'The nations were troubled, the kingdoms were bowed down.'

The nations, he says, made war against the Church;

but nevertheless their kings were bowed down, that is, they have been defeated and have fled;

but afterward they too bent the neck to Christ.

For he says that you shall quickly be built up by those by whom you were thrown down.

For they exalted the Church, offering most excellent gifts.

'The Most High gave forth his voice, and the earth was shaken.'

By 'his voice' he means the word of the Gospel.

For if a rational soul hears the voice of the Lord, it is shaken, passing over from vice to virtue, and from ignorance to the knowledge of God.

'The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our helper.'

He ascribes to the Lord himself the victory gained over the intelligible enemies.

And the mention of Jacob is fitting, on account of the wrestling that took place with him.

He signifies the peace that came about through the preaching, by saying that all war has ceased from the earth.

By 'wonders' he means the destructions, or rather the abolitions;

for he abolished all war.

'He shall break the bow, and crush the spear, and burn the shields with fire.'

Here 'bow,' 'spear,' and 'shield' signify the very worst condition, and evil reasonings.

'Be still, and know that I am God.'

For unless one becomes free of every worldly care, he cannot come to know God.

For leisure from worldly cares is needed in order to know God.

'I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.'

He promises to them the prevailing of the preaching over the nations.

'The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our helper.'

Those who have believed in Christ redouble their thanksgiving.

'To the end, for the sons of Korah.'

The psalm is sung in the person of the holy apostles, who exhort the nations to leap for joy through good deeds at the victory that has come about over the accursed demons.

'O clap your hands, all you nations.'

That is, instead: 'Pursue good deeds.'

'Shout unto God with a voice of exultation.'

The psalm is a song of victory.

Since, then, the opposing powers have fallen, he exhorts the nations to sing.

'For the Lord Most High is terrible.'

He is 'Most High' by having become so for the sake of the Church, but 'terrible' toward his enemies.

'A great King over all the earth.'

No longer, he says, do the wicked rule over those on the earth.

'He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.'

They rejoice over the inheritances given to them by the Lord.

'He chose out an inheritance for us, for himself.'

And what would the inheritance of the Lord be, but that concerning which it was said by the Father: 'Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance'? 'The beauty of Jacob, which he loved.'

By 'the beauty of Jacob' he means the prophecy concerning the nations, about which he said:

'And he himself shall be the expectation of the nations.'

And this is also beloved.

And beloved by whom, if not by him who laid down his soul for it? This beloved inheritance, then, he says, he chose.

By these things the Lord is signified.

He called the praises of those who ascend with him 'the sound of a trumpet.'

'Sing praises to our God, sing praises;'

'sing praises to our King, sing praises.'

Since, he says, the angels hymn him who ascends, you also, O nations, preserving the same service, sing praises to the God who has become King of the earth;

for to sing psalms belongs to those who rejoice in a godly manner.

'Is anyone among you cheerful?' he says. 'Let him sing psalms.'

Not with harps, as those of old did;

for this is the meaning of 'with understanding.'] 'God has reigned over the nations.'

For they received faith in him.

'God sits upon his holy throne.'

He signifies his coming arrival, by which he will sit to judge the world.

'The rulers of the peoples are gathered together with the God of Abraham.'

Similar to: 'You shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.'

'For the mighty ones of the earth are God's; they were greatly exalted.'

In the land of the meek, he says, which is to be given to the saints, the mighty ones of God have been exalted and glorified exceedingly, as we have been taught from the word that declares:

'You shall sit upon twelve thrones.'

A PSALM. A Song for the sons of Korah. For the second day of the week.

This psalm too is sung in the person of the holy apostles, recounting the persecutions that came upon them for the sake of the preaching, and the victories that were won in the midst of these.

'Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.'

No longer, he says, upon Judea alone, but also upon the mountain that has been sanctified.

By 'mountain' here he means the Church, because of the loftiness of the doctrines concerning God.

'Firmly founded, the joy of all the earth.'

He extended, he says, this joy over all the earth;

for over all the earth he spread wide the joy of his theophany and his grace.

'Mount Zion, on the sides of the north.'

Jerusalem lies to the south, while the nations lie to the north.

But since the Jews thought highly of themselves as being the only ones who dwelt in Zion, the text shows that Zion is the nations who have received the word of the gospel.

For the foundation of Zion is the region of the north, and it is this region of the north that is signified by 'the sides';

for instead of saying 'the region of the north,' he has said 'the sides.'

Formerly Paul was a side of the north, from which all evils upon the earth were kindled;

but now he has become one of the mountains of Zion, having within himself Christ who speaks, who came forth out of Zion and turned away ungodliness from Jacob.

'The city of the great King.'

These sides of the north, he says, that is, the nations, might well be called 'the city,' in whom God is known as one who helps and saves them out of their trials.

'God is known in her strongholds' — that is, when he helps her.

The 'strongholds' would be the great and eminent men of the city of God, those who excel within her.

'For behold, the kings of the earth assembled.'

The war waged against the apostles because of their preaching, by the visible kings of the nations, and indeed also by the invisible demons who formerly held dominion, was dissolved and brought to nothing.

'They themselves, seeing it, marveled thus.'

They were struck with amazement, he says, and stood beside themselves, beholding the help that came from God to the saints.

'They were troubled, they were shaken, trembling took hold of them.'

For the surpassing might of him who saves wrought in them wonder and consternation.

'With a violent wind you shall break the ships of Tarshish.'

By 'ships of Tarshish,' as it were costly and heavily-laden vessels, he likens the kings.

By the 'violent wind,' by which he shattered them, you are to understand certain powers through which he warred down the enemies of the apostles. 'As we have heard, so have we seen.'

'In the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God.'

This signifies where they saw the promise fulfilled.

'He has founded it forever.'

This is like what was said by the Lord: 'I will build my Church upon the rock.'

'We have received your mercy, O God, in the midst of your temple.'

Instead of 'we have beheld,' he means 'we have anticipated,' he says, that the name of God would be glorified throughout all the earth; for from his mercy we inferred that men outside of Israel would not be disregarded, but even though established in a fixed place and temple, we hoped for a mercy embracing the whole world, knowing that your name is universal and is over all.

'As is your name, O God, so also is your praise.'

He says this because he has given grace to all simply and without partiality, according to what is said:

'In Christ Jesus there is neither slave nor free.'

'Mount Zion' — clearly, the Church.

'And let the daughters of Judea rejoice.'

He says that the 'daughters of Judea' are the souls of the holy apostles;

'Because of your judgments, O Lord.'

Having judged the judgment of the nations, you drove away the war of the demons that was waged against them.

'Encircle Zion, and go about her.'

These things the Holy Spirit enjoins upon the apostles, that they should become, as it were, a wall for Zion, that is, for the godly commonwealth.

And who would the towers of the Church be, but those who at each season are her leaders, and the righteous, to whom also the apostles recount the great deeds of God? [To the divine powers that guard the Church and the godly commonwealth, and to the holy angels, the Holy Spirit addresses itself, saying:

for the more important parts of the city, as being more essential for its safekeeping, have been assigned by number to the guards.] 'Set your hearts upon her power.'

'And divide among yourselves her strongholds.'

Let each one, he says, reign over a portion of the nations.

'That you may recount it to another generation.'

For the apostles recount it also to the generations after them, through the writings concerning Christ that they have left behind.

'For this is our God for ever.'

He states the reason for the distribution.

For this reason teach and divide, so that it may become known also to the generations yet to come, that this one who has righteously shepherded the people (he means the Lord) is the very one who will also shepherd them unto the ages to come, ages without end.

To the end. For the sons of Korah.

The 'sons of Korah' might represent the persons of the apostles, who initiated all that is under heaven into the mysteries.

'Hear this, all you nations; give ear, all you who dwell in the world.'

Just as it calls the whole race of mankind unto salvation, in the same manner the word summons all together unto the teaching of the divine judgment.

'Both the earthborn and the sons of men.'

By 'earthborn' he calls the coarser sort of men, the barbarians, both those dwelling in the wilderness and those not governed by lawful order;

and by 'sons of men,' those who pursue a more civilized way of life, and are governed by laws.

'My mouth shall speak wisdom.'

Just as he divided his hearers into a great many ranks, so also he distinguishes his own teaching into various manners.

The chorus that utters these words is the apostolic company, who bear Christ upon their mouth, who is the wisdom of the Father.

Since, then, they bore Christ upon their mouth, and continually meditated on him in their mind, they possessed understanding.

So sharply was their mind honed toward understanding, that they could even comprehend the parables of the Savior recorded in the Gospels.

'Have you understood all these things?' They said to him:

'I,' he says, 'having sharpened my own mind toward the understanding of the saving parables, have been able to follow the thought conveyed within them;'

'but for those who are unable to do this on account of their infancy, I will open what is closed, and make plain the difficulties and the parables.'

And I will do these things by means of my own psaltery — that is, my body, sounding like an instrument — through which the soul is turned to hymnody, being skillfully moved through each sense-organ and limb and part.

'Why should I fear in the evil day?' From here he begins, having spoken the first elements of his teaching as it were in a preface.

He begins by way of a question, so that he might also receive an answer.

The question is this:

'Why do I fear?' For the punctuation must fall as far as 'I fear,' so that the sense may be this: if someone asks, he says, 'Why do I fear?' — wishing to learn from me the cause of the anguish that grips me — let him hear with frankness that there is an evil day, which I myself, shuddering, fear.

I shudder because on that day 'the iniquity of my heel shall surround me' — that is, the deviation from the divine way which I have made in my life, having transgressed the divine law through distraction and deceit.

This impiety, then, shall surround me, he says;

instead of, 'The evil deeds which I have done shall stand around me,' surrounding me on every side and besieging me, and not allowing me to escape punishment.

He calls the day of judgment 'evil,' since indeed it is evil for those who are being punished.

The Apostle also called it 'the day of wrath,' saying:

'You are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath.'

'Those who trust in their own power.'

From the preceding clause continues: 'Hear this, you who are confident in wealth and in power.'

And what is it that they ought to hear, but this: that on that day not even their wealth will profit them? For nothing will redeem them from the wrath that will be brought upon them because of sin;

just as, for instance, not even a brother beloved of God, nor any other person, has the power to redeem anyone on that day;

and if the brother has no power, and that though beloved of God, much more will wealth have no power.

['The brother does not redeem;'

he means a brother beloved of God and precious.] 'And the price of the redemption of his soul...'

And what is this but to acquire a laborious and toilsome life? For these are the ones who will also be deemed worthy of the promised life in the age to come.

He who labors through the practical life will live to the end through knowledge, and will rest forever, and will live unto victory.

'And he has labored forever, and he will live unto the end.'

'He shall not see corruption, when he sees the wise dying.'

For they will be so far removed from the impious that they will not even draw near to their destruction.

And who are the 'wise' who die, but those concerning whom it has been said:

'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the understanding of the prudent'? For throughout, the present Scripture teaches that on the day of judgment neither the rich man delivers himself, nor the one reputed to be wise.

Only he will obtain eternal life who in the present life has worn himself out in labor for virtue.