Commentary on the Psalms 9 part 2/2

For the hearer beholds the greatness, and the beauty, the use, the position, and the good order.

So that one thing alone is my earnest concern: to show that God wrought it.

And for what reason did he make mention not of the sun, but of the moon and the stars? Especially indeed by saying this, he also hinted at that other matter.

For since some sever the night from God's creative work, by means of the moon he brought it into view, showing that He is the Maker of the night as well.

And no small thing is the variety of the stars, and the demonstration of the courses of the moon.

'What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that Thou visitest him?' Another version: 'What is the individual man, that Thou rememberest him?' Another.

Instead of 'Thou visitest him,' it says, 'Thou wilt visit him.'

Having spoken concerning the creation, and having in part hinted at the whole, he next launches into the discourse concerning the providence exercised toward men.

For those things which have been said were for the sake of our race, but so also are the things belonging to the care by which He holds it;

for the whole creation is for the sake of man.

Yet he also stirs up another kind of providence, and does not simply plunge into this discourse, but with much thankfulness, giving thanks on behalf of the whole inhabited world, and telling of the universal beneficence, and setting forth the greatness of the dispensation that has been accomplished toward him.

For if before this there was nothing, much more so when Christ came, after such great and so many sins.

And he shows that the coming of Christ was not apart from sparing mercy, but out of great loving-kindness toward mankind.

For just as some most excellent physician, He left the healthy and came to us who were sick.

This indeed setting forth, He said:

'What is man?' — that is to say, 'He is nothing; he is something of little worth.'

For looking to such great providence, and to such great care of God, and to the works which He wrought for the salvation of the race of men, he is exceedingly astonished and marvels, why in the world He counted him worthy of so great a providence.

For consider that for his sake are all the things that are seen.

For his sake were the things dispensed from Adam until His coming;

for his sake were paradise, and commandments, and chastisements, and wonders, and punishments, and benefits, after the Law;

for his sake the Son of God became man.

What could one say of the things to come, which he is destined to enjoy? Reckoning up all these things, then, he says:

What so great a thing is man, that he was counted worthy of such great things? (Section 7.)

For if anyone should consider how many things have been done and are being done for his sake, and of how many things he shall have enjoyment hereafter, he will be filled with much awe, and then will see clearly how earnestly cherished by God is this living creature.

'Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels.'

Another version: 'A little lower than God.'

But the Hebrew has: 'Vatthechasserehu me'at me'elohim.'

Here he called to mind the condemnation, and the ancient sin, bringing death into the midst.

But this too the Only-begotten, when He came, undid.

'Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour.'

Another version: 'With glory and dignity Thou shalt crown him.'

It is possible to take these things both according to the literal history and according to a higher, spiritual interpretation.

For he speaks of the dominion which was entrusted to him at his coming into being;

and he also speaks of the good things that came afterward, which he enjoyed after the coming of Christ.

For at the beginning he heard this:

'The dread of you and the fear of you shall be upon all the beasts of the earth.'

And, 'Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea.'

'You shall tread upon serpents and scorpions.'

But leaving these things aside, he weaves his discourse from the humbler matters, leaving those higher things to be discerned by those who are able to see more keenly.

For the greater glory and the honor are the things brought about under the New Covenant: when a man has Christ as his head, when he is perfected into His body, when he becomes a brother and a fellow-heir and conformed to His body, when he receives a glory greater than that of Moses—as Paul made clear, showing that not as Moses put a veil over his face, but 'we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of God.'

For that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasses it.

This, then, is the glory of which the Prophet speaks according to the higher, spiritual interpretation.

For what is equal to this—when we join in the dance with angels, when we are led into adoption as sons, when He does not spare even His Only-begotten for our sake? What purple robe, what diadem is not outshone by these things—when we laugh at death, when we, who before this were dishonored and inglorious

and abominable are transported to the impassibility of the incorporeal powers? Adam, having wrought neither any evil nor any good, was honored the moment he came into being.

For how could one who did not yet exist have wrought anything? But we, who have committed countless dreadful deeds, have enjoyed a far greater honor.

'No longer,' He says, 'do I call you servants;'

The angels are no longer ashamed of us, but they even minister for the sake of our salvation.

For indeed an angel came to Philip, and to many others;

and they brought good tidings to men.

And we are heirs not of things on earth, but partakers of the heavenly good things, and sharers with Christ, and we are called into fellowship with the Only-begotten.

All these things he hints at through the words 'glory and honor.'

Wherefore also he said, 'You crown him with glory and honor,' foretelling what was to come.

'And You have set him over the works of Your hands.'

Another version has: 'You made him to have authority over the works of Your hands.'

'You have put all things under his feet.'

'All sheep and oxen, and moreover the beasts of the field.'

'The birds of the heaven, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas.'

'O Lord our Lord, how wonderful is Your name in all the earth!'

Just as when discoursing about the work of creation he does not touch upon the higher powers alone, but also brings his discourse down to the things perceived by the senses;

so also, when teaching about the honor bestowed upon men, having hinted at those ineffable and incorporeal things which he enumerated, he now dwells more upon the things perceived by the senses, which were plainer than the former to the grosser sort of men.

And what were these? The earthly dominion given to him.

And what is indeed marvelous, and which he hinted at most of all, is that though man was honored before his transgression, God did not cast him out of that honor even after his sin.

'For You have made him,' he says, 'a little lower than the angels'—that is, You condemned him to death when he sinned;

yet not because You condemned him to death did You strip him of the gift.

For this very reason, having said the former, he then sets down the latter, showing the unspeakable loving-kindness of God: that even when man was made lower on account of his own transgression, He left him crowned with the honor of glory, and did not dissolve his dominion.

And if He did withdraw some little portion, this too was a part of His providential care.

For before his disobedience, he even had mastery over the wild beasts;

but after the disobedience a little of this authority was cut away from him.

For he does indeed rule over them even now by certain arts, yet with fear and trembling.

For He neither took away the whole dominion, nor left the whole; but whatever was suitable to him for food and for labor, He left subject to him;

but the more savage beasts no longer, so that through the struggle against these he might be reminded of the ancient sin of his forefather Adam.

And so, even from the fact that the beasts are not thoroughly subject to us, a great gain came to us.

For what benefit is there in having a lion under one's hand and made tame? And what further advantage in having a leopard domesticated? None at all, but only boastfulness and folly.

For this very reason He allowed these creatures to remain outside our dominion, but made tame for us the useful ones: the ox that plows, the sheep that clothes the nakedness of the body, the beasts of burden fit for the transport of loads, birds and fishes, so that our table might be the more abundantly furnished.

For just as a man who partly disinherits his son does not cast him out of everything, but only of a certain portion, in order to bring him to his senses, so also does God act;

or rather, not so, but on the contrary.

For a man, when he disinherits, cuts off the greater portion and leaves the lesser;

but God, leaving the greater part, took away only a little, and even this for our benefit, that man might not too easily gain the mastery over all the rest.

But this too is a mark of God's tender care;

for whetting his wisdom, and pulling down his pride, and cutting off his untimely idleness, since man, having all things with ease,

would have plunged headlong, He mingled a certain difficulty also into the use of life, and allowed him neither to reap all things with toil, nor all things without toil;

but the things needful He allowed him to have without labor and sweat, while the things for luxury He gave with labor and sweat, wishing to curtail for us this excessive license.

But what benefit is there in wild animals? we shall say.

First, it works humility of soul, and makes man watchful and anxious, and reminds the exceedingly boastful of his own nature, when the irrational creature becomes an object of fear to him.

And from these creatures many remedies also arise for bodies that are diseased.

But he who asks these questions—why then did the wild beasts come to be—

will also ask why there is phlegm and bile within us. For these too, if they are provoked, break forth more grievous than a wild beast, and ravage the whole body.

And anger too is lodged within us, and desire again;

and these, if we do not restrain and bridle them, ravage us more grievously than wild beasts.

And why do I speak of anger and wrath, when even our very eye has clothed us with passions worse than wild beasts, transfixing us with a bitter lust? Yet we shall not for this reason say,

Why did these things come to be? Rather, we shall render thanks to the Master for all things.

For what the strap is to the child, that the wild beast is to men.

For if, hemmed in by so many terrors, most men are lifted up into such great folly, consider—should you take away this bridle also—to what lengths wickedness would proceed.

For this reason our body too has been so constituted—prone to sickness, subject to suffering, besieged by countless ills;

and the earth gives its produce only with toil;

and the whole of life is full of sweat.

Since the present life is a school of training, and ease and idleness destroy the greater part of men, for this reason He mingled with it both occupation and toil, so that, as by certain bridles, the risings of the mind might be chastened.

But consider also how the Master, through skill, has subjected to you both the creatures that swim through the depths of the waters and those that soar into the heights.

And why did he not go through all things visible—plants and seeds and trees? From a part he hinted at the whole, and left the discourse concerning these to the lovers of learning.

And again he brings his conclusion to the same end from which he also began;

both before the demonstration and after the demonstration setting down the same words.

Let us therefore also continually abide, saying the same things, marveling at His tender care, astonished at His wisdom, His love for mankind, His providence on our behalf.

And these things have been said by us by way of interpretation.

But if you wish, let us also handle the discourse in a more combative manner, and let us ask the Jews: where did little children sing forth a voice? And where did such a voice bring an enemy to ruin? And when did His name become wondrous? But they would have no other occasion to name than this, which shows the power of the truth more clearly than the sun.

'I shall behold the heavens, the works of Thy fingers;'

and yet Moses had already said, that 'In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.'

But against the Jews these things too suffice, together with what was said before;

and since those who without circumcision imitate and emulate the Jews—the followers of Paul of Samosata—say that Christ exists only from that time when He came forth from Mary, let us ask these also: how, if Christ existed only from then, did He create the heavens? For he says that the same One is here—the One who perfected praise out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, and the One who fashioned the heavens.

But if He is the Creator of the heavens, then He would consequently be prior to the heavens;

and He did not take His beginning from Mary, but existed even before Mary.

And consider the wisdom of the Prophet.

For he does not simply present Him as Creator, but as one who creates with the greatest ease.

'I shall behold the heavens, the works of Thy fingers.'

not that God has fingers, but he is showing that the things we see are the product of His least exertion; teaching things that surpass us

by means of names familiar to us.

Since indeed when He says, 'He who measures the heaven with a span, and the earth with the hollow of His hand,'

He does not say these things to indicate a hand's-breadth or a span, but wishing to set forth the boundlessness of God's power.

How then do some dare to call the Son a mere assistant? For He who did not set in motion even the whole of His power when the heaven was to be made,

Why do I say the whole? Nay, not even the least part, but the very smallest;

how could this one be an assistant? How an assistant, if 'Whatever the Father does, these the Son also does likewise'? For where is the word 'likewise,' if the one is an assistant and the other the Creator? And how does He say that the works are His, when at one time He says, 'In the beginning Thou, O Lord, didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands';

and here, 'I shall behold the heavens, the works of Thy fingers'? For these are not the works of assistants, but of creators;

and even if someone be an assistant, the work is not reckoned to him, but to the one who creates it.

Therefore the things spoken before to Moses were spoken concerning the Son: the words, 'In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth';

and the words, 'Let them have dominion over the fishes of the sea.'

For this same One, who out of the mouth of infants and sucklings perfected praise, He it was who visited man.

Therefore the things which Moses says concerning the Father, Paul applies to the Son, thereby showing the great equality between them.

Since therefore it is a matter of indifference to the saints to reckon to the Son the things said concerning the Father, and to the Father the things said concerning the Son—for 'All things were made through Him'—where at all does the name of 'assistant' find any place? Nowhere would anyone see this.

'Yes,' he says, 'but it is said, Through Him.'

What then, seeing that the same thing is said also concerning the Father? Listen, too, how it is said.

'God is faithful, through whom ye were called into the fellowship of His Son.'

'Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God.'

'For through Him, and from Him, and unto Him are all things.'

'But for what reason,' he says, 'do you call Him an assistant?' 'That we may honour the Father.'

'That all may honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.'

'And he who honours not the Son, it is plain that neither does he honour the Father.'

'What then,' he says, 'shall I call the Son Father?' No.

But what then? That, while He remains Son, ye honour Him as the Father.

But if thou callest the Son Father, thou hast confounded all things.

This distinctive property therefore remaining, the things pertaining to honour are common.

For on this account He named both Son and Father, that ye might not confound the hypostases.

But if the essence were not the same, how could He have required equal honour? 'For what reason then,' one says, 'does Christ utter many lowly things?' Both to teach humility, and because of the garment of the flesh which He wore, and because of the insensibility of the Jews, and because it was needful to lead the race of men little by little to knowledge, and because of the immaturity of His hearers;

and moreover He often speaks in accommodation to the supposition of His hearers.

For the loftier things belong to His dignity alone;

or rather, whatever thou mayest say concerning God, it is far, exceedingly far, beneath that essence, and belongs to His condescension.

For what wouldst thou say? That God is great? But this is a small thing to say concerning God;

for that which is great, however great it be, is limited;

and this too is a small thing when said concerning God.

For that He has no limit, I know;

but neither what He is, nor where, do I comprehend.

Though thou call Him wise, though thou call Him good, and these things infinite, thou hast said nothing worthy concerning that essence; but it is needful to attach to the word a conception befitting God.

If then things so great do not represent His dignity, what pardon would those deserve who attempt even to diminish these things? Let us therefore flee their assemblies, and having learned the pre-eternal existence of the Only-begotten, His creative power, His authoritative sovereignty, His unvarying likeness to the Father, the condescension of the economy, and the manifold providence of His care for us—for all these things and

The treasure that lies stored up in this psalm teaches things more numerous than these to those who attend to it with care. Let us, then, preserve the exactness of the doctrines and display a manner of life worthy of them, so that we may also attain the good things that are to come;

which may it be granted us all to be counted worthy of, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be honour and glory unto the ages of ages.