Commentary on the Psalms 1 part 7/24

'Out of the heart,' that is, out of the mind and the memory.

'For I have heard the reviling of many that dwell round about.'

Perhaps the phrase 'I have heard reviling' is the cause of the things said above;

for it was not in vain that I afflicted myself, but because the unseen enemies, when I had fallen into sin, banded together with one another so as to plunder my soul;

wherefore by great affliction I drew God to mercy.

'In Thy hands are my lots.'

These are the good things held in hope, promised to the godly;

which He will also render to them in due time.

'Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant.'

God accounts worthy of His watchful care the one who is gentle and tractable and restrained by the fear of God;

and it is doubtful to none of the right-minded that those who have His help will be superior to every trial and to the plotting of their assailants.

For just as, when the sun has risen, the darkness is dispelled, but when it has gone beneath the earth, night succeeds, in which wild beasts come forth from their lairs, and men who are workers of evil;

so, when God turns Himself away from someone, the enemies of the soul rise up against him.

But when the light of the Godhead shines forth—which indeed the Scripture calls the face of God—all who do the deeds worthy of darkness are turned away;

and the prophet too asks to obtain this, not through his own deeds, but through the mercy of God.

'For this,' he says, 'is for me the only way of salvation, if Thou wouldest cause Thy face to shine.'

'O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I have called upon Thee.'

It befits the godless, not me, to be put to shame.

And the impious would suffer this justly—that is, those who know Thee not, nor confess Thy Godhead and supremacy, but rather ascribe lordship to the demons, and have apportioned to Satan the ruling over all things, and assign their own lots to those beings.

And it would be theirs also to go down into Hades, and to be cast into Tartarus together with those imprisoned there, whom they had even inscribed as their own gods.

'How great is the multitude of Thy goodness, O Lord, which Thou hast hidden for them that fear Thee;'

'Thou hast wrought it for them that hope in Thee before the sons of men.'

For if He hid the multitude of His goodness, how did He again work it before the sons of men? Therefore 'He hid' must be understood in the sense of 'laid up,' or rather 'treasured up': He made the goodness for His own people alone; yet 'before the sons of men,' that is, with none in ignorance of it.

And the matter is not for them merely in hope, but indeed He has also very often wrought it out, that is, it has become manifest even through actual deeds.

For instance, once a deep, three-day darkness spread over the Egyptians, but the goodness of Him who saves those devoted to Him kept Israel untouched by the darkness.

The firstborn of the Egyptians perished in a single night, but among the sons of Israel not even a dog snarled, but they were altogether free from the plague, since God kept away the destroyer.

Do you see how 'before the sons of men,' that is, openly and manifestly, He wrought the multitude of His own goodness toward those who hope in Him? which He also, as it were, 'hid,' since it is not permitted to all to partake of it;

for it has been kept, as I said, only for those who fear Him.

And hope in God is not unrewarded, but is rather the herald that betroths the salvation which comes from Him, and produces great benefit for those who employ it.

'Thou hidest, then,' he says, 'Thy goodness,' that is, Thou keepest it safe for those who fear Thee;

since Thou hast also wrought it out for this very purpose, to bestow it upon those who hope in Thee;

and Thou wilt also grant it in their presence, so that all may see it given to the worthy in the time of recompense.

But in another sense, the multitude of God's goodness has its benefit hidden, and is thus not now seen clearly, but awaits the ages to come, so that in them it may be revealed.

'Blessed be the Lord, for He hath marvelously shown His mercy in a fortified city.'

He brought his supplication to God to a good end, blessing God for the good things he had experienced;

having thus saved me, as it were a city encompassed by a strong wall;

as though in a tent, setting me outside both the tumult of men and the contradiction of tongues.

Or perhaps he calls His Church, the Church of the saints, a city—one impregnable to Satan, utterly unassailable, the great and secure and invincible wall.

For the gates of Hades do not prevail against it. Only that the mercy is not given outside the holy city, but rather to those who are within it;

for in her, he says, it has been marvelously shown.

'Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven.'

The psalm is inscribed 'of understanding,' because men have very special need of this;

for, having greatly inclined toward the passions, they have been likened to horses and mules.

Or it exhorts to understanding, since the psalm has many hidden things, and there is need of understanding for the one who reads it.

'Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.'

This is a third rank of those who sin, whose act is not praiseworthy, but whose intention is blameless.

Now the first verse would fit those who have received mercy through holy baptism;

for the iniquities of those have been forgiven.

The second, to those willing to repent;

for their sins are covered over through repentance, God who loves the good burying them, as it were, in oblivion, so as no longer to will even to look upon them.

For to those who sin after remission, He grants no longer a second remission, but a covering of sins.

And the third, to those who have stumbled, yet not from a willfully evil and wicked intention.

'Thou art my refuge from the affliction that encompasses me.'

It is a great thing not to be self-confident, but rather to know Him who is able to deliver, whenever thoughts and afflictions run down upon us—afflictions which, on account of godliness, fall upon us like a thunderbolt and throw us into confusion.

'O my exultation, deliver me from those who have encompassed me.'

He says these things as in the person of those who have thirsted for the salvation through Christ, through whom we have thrust away the despondency arising from the ancient curse;

and we have put on, as it were, gladness and joy, being set free from death and sin—and indeed with what heavenly good things have we not been enriched? Now not only impious and wicked men encircle the saints, but even the very bands of the malice-loving demons themselves.

'I will instruct thee and guide thee in this way of Mine, wherein thou shalt walk.'

To one who prayed for deliverance from enemies, God answers, promising to lead him in a straight way;

'For I will instruct thee,' He says, 'and will show thee the way thou shalt travel, leading to the thrice-blessed end, and I will surely be watching over thy affairs, so that, being illumined by the enlightening rays, thou mayest be able to see the way promised to thee.'

'With bit and bridle thou shalt constrain their jaws.'

He turns His word, as it were, toward God.

And what he says means something of this kind:

Those who are unwilling to repent, turn back to yourself by discipline as though by a bridle, and, once they have laid aside their skittish and unruly temper, together with their disobedience and hard-mouthed stubbornness, place them beneath your yoke;

and do not permit them, biting down on the bridle, to rush headlong toward the cliff or the pit;

For if a man should abstain from evil, and, returning to the understanding befitting a human being, should put away the brutish mind and become a wise and sound-minded man, then indeed will he make God, who has given him understanding, his hope and his refuge;

then he too will be encircled with mercy and compassions, and will come under the hand of God, who knows how and is able to save.

'Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice greatly, O you righteous.'

) How exceedingly wise is the conclusion of the ode!

For it turns us away from exulting over any of worldly things, and rather exhorts us to rejoice in God.

These would be, evidently, distributions of spiritual gifts and the hope of rewards.

Yet it would not befit all to rejoice in God, but this would rather be fitting for those who love righteousness.

It belongs to these to exult in God alone, and to boast in Him, according to the divine Apostle, who enjoins: 'Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.'

Now the force of the present ode comprises, first, a kind of summons and exhortation;

for the saints ought to give glory, and to raise up songs of thanksgiving to God who has saved all that is under heaven, and who has gathered up all things in Christ, both the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth, He who delivered us all from the tyranny and malice of the devil.

Then, following upon this, a mystagogical discourse is straightway introduced, through which we learn that Christ has an invincible hand and an all-prevailing nod, and moreover a power over all things, and a glory befitting God, and a supramundane pre-eminence.

And it appends, as something useful and necessary to the mystagogy set forth, the conclusion;

for it shows that the hope placed in men is rotten and easily broken;

and none of those upon the earth would suffice to be able to save himself, unless God should come to his aid.

He begins, then, the ode and says:

'Rejoice greatly, O you righteous, in the Lord.'

) Having come therefore to be in the Lord Himself, and, so far as we are able, contemplating His wonders, let us in this way gather up into our hearts gladness from the contemplation.

And, to speak in brief, this is what it means for the righteous to rejoice in the Lord: to choose to set the mind only on the things that are pleasing and dear to Him, and to long earnestly after the noblest pursuits, but to depart from worldly desires and from the tumult of this present life.

'Confess to the Lord with the harp; sing psalms to Him with the ten-stringed psaltery.'

) In other psalms it is written, in one place: 'Willingly will I sacrifice to Thee'; and again in another: 'Out of my own will I will confess to Him'; by which he signifies that the prayers ought not to be made unwillingly, nor as it were in dejection and sluggishly, but out of a good mind and out of a cheerful disposition.

This same thing we say is intimated here also, since the word, by way of example, has brought forward those who are accustomed to make use of the harp and the psaltery.

It does not bid those who care for spiritual uprightness to take up instruments, but rather bids them to make their doxologies with a holy and befitting gladness of soul.

It is likely, too, that the Psalmist, following the ancient customs, here makes mention of the instruments.

For it was the custom among the Jews at times to pluck the lyre, and to make use of cymbals and nablas and certain other such things, and to sing hymns in the temple that was among them.

) Observe how He does not rather command the saints, that is, the upright, to offer ox-sacrifices, nor indeed to make use of smoke and frankincense;

but rather to sing hymns, and to bring bloodless sacrifices, which is a symbol of the polity that is in Christ.

For having renounced the sacrifices made through blood, by saying to Israel, 'I will not receive calves out of thy house, nor he-goats out of thy flocks,' He urges them to odes and songs, saying: 'Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise. Sing to the Lord a new song, sing psalms to Him well with a shout of joy.'

) From this too one may see that the Spirit, through the Psalmist, is now conversing not with those who fulfil the worship that is in the Law, but with those who love the polity that is in Christ, and who have been enriched by Him with the justification that is in faith.

These would be those concerning whom he spoke at the beginning of the preceding psalm:

'Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven.' For to whom did He forgive sins, if not to those who have been reshaped into newness of life through sanctification in the Spirit, who also washed away every defilement through holy baptism? To these He commands to sing, and not simply so, but according to a certain manner perhaps unaccustomed to those before us.

And to sing psalms well, that is, prudently, 'as with a shout of joy.'

And the shout of joy we say to be a cry of victory raised up by an army over fallen enemies.

[ 'Because the word of the Lord is upright.'

Since, he says, the word of the Lord is upright, and His works are in faithfulness, rejoice greatly in the Lord.

And in calling the word of the Lord upright, he seems to me to be making mention of the Gospel oracles, as having nothing crooked, or enigmatic, or altogether hard to discern, and clothed in the obscurity of the letter, as was also the Law given through Moses.

But the word of the Lord, that is, the Gospel teaching, is upright, and easy to survey, and able to make straight unto every kind of virtue. ] 'Placing the deeps in storehouses.'

) Somewhere in this way He speaks concerning the sea:

'I set bounds to it, placing bars and gates, and I said to it:

Thus far shalt thou come, and thou shalt not pass over, but within thyself shall thy waves be broken.' And He said also somewhere to certain of the men of old, through one of the holy prophets:

'Will ye not fear Me? saith the Lord; or will ye not stand in awe before My face, who set the sand as a boundary to the sea, an everlasting decree, and it shall not pass over it?' For that the divine will uncovered the earth, which in the beginning was submerged beneath the waters, Moses made clear, speaking as in the person of God:

'Let the water be gathered into one gathering, and let the dry land appear.' Therefore, though the deep were able to submerge the whole earth, the divine power that contains it holds it together like a wineskin;

and, as it were reining it in, does not permit it to rise up over the places allotted to it.

'Let all the earth fear the Lord.'

) That it was not in vain, but rather profitably, and indeed for the benefit useful and necessary to all unto salvation, that He made to us the discourses concerning the divine glory and the pre-eminence over all things—this the force of what lies before us will make clear.

For it counsels all that is under heaven no longer to offer reverence to the demons, but to be adorned with the divine fear, and to settle within the mind the thought concerning Him who rules over all things, who by His word brought all things into existence, and established the heavens, and holds together the things that have come to be, unto their well-being and subsistence, through the operation of the Holy Spirit.

and, casting into our own hearts the fear of God, let us cling to every good thing, and thus ascend into intimacy with Him.

For that the divine fear is salutary to those who love Him, the sacred Writing will teach:

'For the fear of the Lord,' it says, 'shall gladden the heart, and shall give joy and gladness and length of days.'

'And from Him let all that dwell in the world be shaken.'

) Hearing of Him, he says, the men who dwell in the world, from the former standing which they held—being idolaters, that is—let them be shaken, becoming obedient to their own Maker.

For to be shaken here does not indicate some bodily motion or such an agitation;

but rather that is the customary usage, both to the God-inspired Scripture and to ourselves, in reference to things done in a notable way, to say that it was shaken.

For instance, when, riding upon the colt while young men sang hymns to Him, He went up into Jerusalem, then the Evangelist, interpreting the notable character of the entry, wrote that when He had entered into Jerusalem, all the city was shaken;

meaning, it took notice, and it escaped no one's attention, and He was marvelled at by all.

So also here you will understand the being shaken of all who dwell in the world, as of those struck with amazement, as it were, and marvelling, so that no one at all is ignorant of the glory of God, and of the transcendent dignity of the power and pre-eminence that is in Him.

'Because He Himself spoke, and they came to be;

He Himself commanded, and they were created.'

) He Himself was and is, but we were created through His living and subsistent Word, who is also His wisdom and power.

And do not understand the 'He commanded' in a manner befitting men, but rather consider that even those skilled in the mechanical arts, whenever they wish to fashion any of the things known to them, all but issue commands to their own knowledge and art through the very willing to work at something;

and the inclination of the mind toward the works has the force of a command and of a self-prompted impulse.

But in the case of men, their wisdom and power is in itself without subsistence of its own;

For the Word subsists, through whom He works all things—through, I say, the power and wisdom that is in Him.

) And observe that, corresponding to these two things brought forward, 'Let all the earth fear,' and 'Let all that dwell in the world be shaken,' He added two things:

the 'He Himself spoke and they came to be,' and the 'He Himself commanded and they were created.' For since man is composite, out of the earthly formation and out of the soul that dwells in the body, the earth is said to be that which was formed out of the earth;

and that which dwells in the world is the soul, which has obtained its course of life in the body.

Correspondingly, then, to the earth—that is, to our formation which is from the earth—the 'came to be' is assigned;

but to the soul, which was created after the image of God, the 'was created.'

But since 'creation' is often taken to mean transformation and improvement — as in the saying, 'If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,' and again, 'That He might create the two into one new man' — perhaps the word 'was made' is spoken of man's first coming-into-being, while 'was created' refers to the second, that is, to the regeneration through the grace of Christ.

But by as much as the commandment of God differs from a bare word, by so much is 'creation' distinguished from 'coming-into-being.'

But the counsel of the Lord abides forever.

) Here, then, he leaps up to the thought of the Only-begotten's dispensation in the flesh, and surveys what has been accomplished through it.

For he who was reckoned to be the god of this age, together with the nations of the demons, was devising bitter things against us;

for very great was the snare of death everywhere, and the nooses of sin were strewn about.

For, it says, 'In this way in which I walked they hid a snare for me'; and there was no escaping the contrivances of their malice.

and to the elements of the world;

and there was none among them doing kindness, there was not so much as one, since all were oppressed by such dreadful maladies, and none was able to loose his neck from their greed;

for they themselves wished to have dominion over us.

For He delivered and saved us; being captives He ransomed us, and having freed us from the tyrannical nooses, He bound us fast to His own yoke.

For He gathered up all things in Christ, and drove Satan away from his dominion over all.

And we shall not be in these things for a limited while, that is, for measured times, but the grace that comes from Him extends into long and unending ages.

'For the things which the holy God has counseled,' it says, 'who shall scatter them?' Therefore the counsel of the Lord abides forever, and the thoughts of His heart from generation to generation. For we shall not again be under another, but Christ Himself and He alone shall rule over us;

for He shall reign forever;

and, as the Psalmist says, 'He Himself shall shepherd us forever. Blessed is the nation whose Lord is its God.'

) Blessed is the people that knows or names none of the falsely-named gods any longer, but has inscribed as its Lord and God the One who is such by nature and in truth, and has yoked its own soul to Him;

and being so chosen as even to become the portion and inheritance of God. 'The Lord looked down out of heaven.'

'Visit us in Your salvation.'

And the Son is named, and truly is, the salvation of God the Father.

But God the Father sent to us from heaven, like a light and lamp, His own righteousness and salvation, that is, the Son;

for in Him we have been justified, and have beheld the divine and spiritual light.

Therefore the incarnation of the Word would rightly be understood to be the visitation of God the Father, or what is here called His looking-down.

[But note that He says the looking-down from heaven must come to pass not upon Israel alone — as of old when the all-wise Moses acted as mediator — but upon all the sons of men who inhabit the world.

For through Christ the Savior of us all the multitude of the nations, which is throughout all the earth, has been called to salvation;

for most universal, and extending over every nation and race of men, is the grace which has gone forth through Christ the Savior of us all.] 'From His ready dwelling-place He looked upon all who inhabit the earth.'

) Now divine Scripture is accustomed to name heaven as the 'ready dwelling-place,' or else the holy angels who dwell in heaven;

and this, as I think, because the powers above are not purified by toil as we are, but are rather holy, so that upon them too God finds His rest.

For we too have become a dwelling-place of God;

indeed we are called His temples, yet we do not come to this readily, but only by being justified through the grace and gift of God;

or else by scouring clean our own mind with toil and sweat;

so that, having become holy, we may have dwelling within us the One who is all-pure and truly holy.

) But note that He says the looking-down from heaven must come to pass not upon Israel alone — as of old when the all-wise Moses acted as mediator — but upon all the sons of men who inhabit the world.

For through Christ the Savior of us all the multitude of the nations, which is throughout all the earth, has been called to salvation.

For most universal, and extending over every nation and race of men, is the grace which has gone forth through Christ the Savior of us all.

'He who fashioned their hearts one by one, who understands all their works.'

) The Son, then, is God according to truth, He who both knows our hearts and fashioned them one by one;

not from someone, that is, from one reporting to Him, but as an overseer of thoughts, looking into hearts, and knowing the things that are hidden.

For the light is with Him, as it is written, or rather He Himself is the light.

[ A king is not saved by great power.

'A king is not saved by great power,' it says — that is, by the multitude of the guardsmen under him.

But neither, though one were a mighty giant — plainly proud of his great strength and bodily vigor — would he even so be saved, nor would he prove superior to the hand of those who fight against him, unless God grants the victory.] 'A horse is a false hope for salvation.'

) And a horse shall be a false hope for salvation — that is, a cavalry battle-array.

For sometimes he who trusts in it is disappointed of his hope, and while expecting to gain the advantage, he falls under the hand of his enemies.

'For by the multitude of his might shall a man be saved'?

The king shall not be saved — that is, the cavalry array, as I said.

For you will skillfully apply the force of the verse to whichever of the things named you may choose.

God, then, is the Lord of hosts, and from Him comes the victory;

and He easily delivers and saves those who trust in Him;

to whom also, through one of the holy prophets, He speaks somewhat thus:

'And he who touches you shall be as one who touches the pupil of His eye. Behold, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him.'

) He shows that God cares for those who have grown rich in intimacy with Him — spiritual intimacy, that is;

and moreover, that by granting them the watchful care that springs from love, He sets them beyond all evil.

By saying 'Behold,' He all but demonstrates the matter to be true, and known by experience itself.

'The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him.' Then, what is this that counterbalances toward prosperity? Or how would they not be full of all gladness, for whom it belongs to be watched over by God? And indeed, those bound by love toward Him necessarily dread not obtaining this;

and they have taken courage not so much in themselves as in the God who has compassion, placing their hope in His mercy.

'To deliver their souls from death.'

) 'For He watches over them,' it says, 'so as even to deliver their souls from death' — and not at all a fleshly death, but rather a spiritual one.

And we say that the death of the soul is to be caught in the nooses of the devil, and to fall into the mires of sin;

and in addition to these, to grow weak in temptations, and to buckle in trials.

It is therefore the aim of God, the overseer of the saints, both to deliver from death the souls of those who fear Him, and to nourish them in famine.

'And to nourish them in famine.'

) For He fills them spiritually and in a holy manner, giving them the bread from heaven — that is, the truly life-giving and saving teaching, and the comfort that comes through the Holy Spirit, by which we are braced toward every kind of good.

'For the Lord will not starve a righteous soul.'

He said, at any rate, having spread out for us the spiritual table:

'Eat, and drink, and be filled, O neighbors. But my soul waits patiently for the Lord.'

) To wait patiently for the Lord, we say, is nothing other than to choose to endure hardship for the love of Him, and to be conversant with profitable sweat, so that they may accomplish what seems good to Him.

'For you have need of patient endurance,' it says, 'that having done the will of God you may receive the promise.'

'Because He is our helper and defender.'

) Is it, then, by relying on their own powers, bare and alone, that they say such things and think great things of themselves? By no means;

But they know rather that God fights alongside them as with a shield, and that they have Him as a fellow-champion who both strengthens and saves.

Therefore they go on to add:

For He is our helper and our defender.

Therefore, they say, on this account we shall endure, and through all steadfastness we shall present ourselves most approved, and we shall be crowned with the crown of genuine devotion, since we have Him as our ally and shield-bearer.

Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us.

And this would be a most clear sign of genuine devotion.

For as those who have been made His own in Him, who rejoice in Him alone, and who set their hopes upon Him, they seek to obtain His compassion.

And he released him, and he departed.

None of the customary superscriptions has been inscribed over what lies before us;

for he named them neither an Ode nor a Psalm.

But when he changed his countenance, and who Abimelech was, or how he released him, it is necessary to relate, weaving the narrative out of the Sacred Scriptures.

But being not yet able to resist, because for the time all the fighting force out of Israel followed the beckoning of that man, he resolved to flee to Achish king of Gath, that is, of the Philistines, using Jonathan as his counsellor.

Then, keeping to his journey, he came upon the priest Abimelech in the city of Nob;

and he concealed his flight, but said that he had been sent by the king, so that he even asked for the sword of Goliath.

But the priest declared that there were no others with him except only the bread of the Presentation, according to the law of Moses.

So taking the loaves, he ate.

Since, then, he said one thing but had another in mind, they say that he changed his countenance.

Then, having come to Gath and being afraid of the plots of his adversaries, he feigned madness, when, as it is written, spittle even ran down over his beard, and he wandered about walking, having gone out of his mind and acting like one possessed.

And by this means he obtained deliverance.

It is of this history that the superscription makes mention.

And it should be known that our Lord Jesus Christ also said to certain of the Pharisees who were accusing the disciples, because they were rubbing ears of grain and eating on the Sabbath:

In the Lord shall my soul be praised.