Commentary on the Psalms 1 part 4/42

All the sinners of the earth shall drink of it. This cup the blessed Jeremiah was commanded to present to the nations.

For the Lord is righteous, and hath loved righteousness;

His countenance beholdeth uprightness. These things, he says, the Lord of all brings upon those who live in wickedness;

since He is the fountain of righteousness, and using uprightness as a kind of rudder, He directs all things aright.

And it bears the inscription 'concerning the eighth,' inasmuch as it makes mention of the righteous judgment of God, which the righteous judge shall execute after the seventh, as we have said before.

Since the substance of truth is in danger of being quenched, when almost all, so to speak, have fallen sick with mutual distrust toward one another.

Then he narrates more plainly the things that are recklessly done.

Each hath spoken vain things to his neighbour. They feign friendship, and work the deeds of enemies.

With deceitful lips, in a heart and in a heart hath he spoken evil things. With guile, he says, they converse with one another.

And this man, using his lips, sends forth falsehoods into the heart of his neighbour;

and that one again, in like manner, sends back the same in return.

From this point onward, then, He threatens them with punishment.

'The Lord will destroy all deceitful lips, and the boastful tongue.' But what is the character of this boastfulness?

It belongs to those who said, 'We will magnify our tongue; our lips are our own.'

'Who is lord over us?' They do not deign, he says, to measure their words by their nature, nor are they willing to look to the divine laws; but employing unbridled mouths, they utter whatever they please without restraint, despising the divine long-suffering, and reckoning that they are not subject to the sovereignty of God.

'I do not know the Lord.' Such was Rabshakeh, who dared to say:

'Do not let your God, in whom you trust that He will deliver Jerusalem out of my hand, deceive you.' Such was Nebuchadnezzar, terrifying those noble youths, and not shuddering to say, 'Who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hands?' Yet nevertheless those men too paid the penalty for their audacity; and these men, of whom the prophetic word treats, shall pay the fitting penalties.

And signifying this, he went on to add:

'Because of the affliction of the poor and the groaning of the needy, now I will arise, says the Lord;'

'I will set them in safety; I will deal openly in it.' For I will not overlook them as they lament and groan on account of the lawlessness that is boldly committed against them;

but shaking off my long-suffering as one shakes off sleep, I will make their salvation conspicuous and splendid.

For thus Symmachus rendered it: 'I will set salvation in plain view.' And teaching that what has been said will truly come to pass, he added:

'The words of the Lord are pure words, silver refined by fire, tried in the earth, purified sevenfold.' He put 'sevenfold' in place of 'manifold';

for this is customary to the divine Scripture.

'You, O Lord, will keep us, and will preserve us from this generation, and for ever.' For guarded by Your grace, we shall not only escape the snares of the present generation, but shall also attain to eternal salvation.

'The ungodly walk round about; according to Your height You have made much of the sons of men.' Those, then, who live in impiety, having forsaken the divine way, wander here and there, attempting to encircle and, as it were, to besiege the more upright.

But You, appearing from the height of Your nature, deem worthy of Your care those who are warred upon by them—now consoling them in their afflictions, and after a little while granting them perfect salvation.

But the events concerning Absalom took place after the sin;

for this reason weeping and groaning are mingled into the words.

'How long, O Lord, will You forget me utterly?' He called the delay of help a forgetting.

He entreats not to be utterly forgotten;

that is, not to be entirely stripped of the divine providence.

'How long will You turn Your face away from me?' He set down this saying by a metaphor drawn from those who are angry and unwilling to look upon those who have offended them.

'Look upon me, and have mercy on me,' understanding neither the face as a face, nor the turning-away as a turning-away;

but once again he frames his discourse after the manner of human things.

'How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrows in my heart day and night?' By night and by day I continue to be worn down, and as I turn over and unwind my reasonings, at one time I hope to enjoy Your loving-kindness, at another I am in doubt whether I shall obtain it;

and at yet another time I renounce the more cheerful hopes.

'How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?' These things are fitting for us also to say, warred upon as we are by the devil, and ever to call upon the divine alliance.

'Look, hearken to me, O Lord my God; enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep unto death.' Encompassed by the night of my calamities, I am held fast by despondency as by a kind of sleep.

But if the light of Your help should appear, it will both scatter the night of my calamities and put an end to the sleep of my despondency.

But if You should delay Your help, I fear lest the sleep pass over into death, once my grief has grown stronger than my reasonings.

'Lest my enemy say, I have prevailed against him.'

'Those who trouble me will rejoice if I am shaken.' Do not make me an object of malicious joy to my adversaries;

for of all painful things this is to me the most painful.

'But I have hoped in Your mercy.' And from this it is clear that he spoke this psalm after the sin.

For it is not in righteousness, but in mercy that he takes courage, and in this he says that he has put his trust.

'My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.' Now indeed I hold my hopes upon Your mercy;

but when I have enjoyed salvation, I shall both be freed from despondency, and with all gladness I shall offer up my hymn.

'I will sing to the Lord who has done good to me, and I will make melody to the name of the Lord Most High.' For even though I do not comprehend Your ineffable nature, yet Your name suffices me for worshipping and hymning, and for asking every just help.

For I believe that I shall obtain this one thing alone, which is good.

Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, once made war upon Judaea, and took many cities, some by capitulation and others by siege.

And hoping to prevail over Jerusalem also, he sent Rabshakeh to Hezekiah, who at that time ruled over the Jews, employing blasphemous and impious words against God.

For he said, 'Say to Hezekiah:'

'Do not let your God, in whom you trust that He will deliver Jerusalem out of my hand, deceive you.'

'Where is the god of Hamath and Arpad? And where is the god of the city of Sepharvaim? Were they able to deliver out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?' Such, then, were the words of that man.

But Hezekiah, despising both his vast army and the madness of his words, and employing his own piety, called upon the divine alliance, and at once enjoyed it.

For the righteous Judge, abhorring the impiety of the one and accepting the piety of the other, by a single angel destroyed a hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians.

'The fool has said in his heart:'

'There is no God.' The preamble of the psalm corresponds exceedingly well to the words of Sennacherib and Rabshakeh.

[For they said that Hezekiah was being deceived, as though there were no God presiding over Judaea.

And among those about Sennacherib their pursuits were also corrupted—that is, their manner of life and conduct—so that not even God could find among them a single one who cared for virtue.

For they all turned aside to worthlessness.

What then? Shall not these men come to know by their very deeds the power of God—these who devour and consume His people as bread? And all shall recognize from the events the One who wars against them;

and from that quarter fear shall come upon them, whence they did not expect it.

For where would they have supposed that they should be destroyed by an angel? Or that God cared for the Jews? And those who sneered at the counsel of the poor and humble-minded Hezekiah—who took courage in God rather than in weapons—shall understand that he who has hung himself upon God has gained the hope that does not put to shame.

For who else but God shall save both those who remain in Zion, and bring back the tribes already led into captivity, so that there may be common gladness for the twelve tribes—of whom the patriarch Jacob was the root and beginning, he who was also renamed Israel? So that from him these tribes too are named Jacob and Israel.

For having given themselves over to licentiousness and a bestial life, they cast out from their mind the remembrance of God;

and the subjects too followed the derangement of their ruler.

[Some, having altogether denied the Deity, and declared that there is no God at all in the beginning, but that the name is empty, ordained as applying to no substance whatever;

and others, having proclaimed as gods those that are not, while thrusting aside the only One who is;

and yet others, having granted that He exists in word, but having presented Him as not exercising providence over the things on earth, nor overseeing human affairs.

All of them, then, at a stroke were turned about into one God-denying position, having conceived that there is no God;

but since they did not dare to assert this with the mouth;

for the natural seeds and the natural reasonings concerning God impelled them all to the confession of the knowledge of God;

therefore with their lips they did not dare to deny, but pretended to acknowledge not only one, but even ten thousand gods.

In their heart, however, they persuaded themselves—being truly senseless and foolish—that there is no God in the universe;

and the proof of their godless reasoning was the things done by them;

for from the fruit the tree is known.

When therefore by their very actions and by the rest of their life they had corrupted their whole soul together with the body itself, having given themselves over to every corruption, so that males even raged with lust after males, and by all unlawful deeds and unspeakable practices they destroyed themselves;

and were abominable on account of these things;

how are they not manifest, that even if they inscribe ten thousand gods in word,

Even though with their lips they might profess to know and confess the God who is over all,

yet in their heart, that is, in their mind, there was not a single true notion concerning God. Such indeed was the whole life of mankind before the coming of our Saviour.

And most truly and most fittingly is the one who denies God named a fool.

For if the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God, then fearlessness and rejection of God would be the very opposite of wisdom.] (verses 2, 3)

'The Lord looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there was any that understood, or that sought after God.'

'They are all gone aside, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.' Yet though those men both did and said such things, He that dwelleth on high and beholdeth the lowly things did not overlook them;

but making an exact scrutiny even of their very reasonings, He saw them all alike held fast in impiety and in the lawlessness of their manner of life.

This resembles what was said to Abraham:

'The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is multiplied unto Me, and their sins are exceeding great;'

'I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto Me.' (verses 4, 5)

'Shall not all the workers of iniquity know it, who eat up My people as they eat bread? They have not called upon the Lord.'

'There were they in great dread, where no dread was.' 'You would not,' He says, 'you devourers, understand this;'

'through her, therefore, by the experience of the events, you shall learn that My people will not be easy prey for you, nor shall you consume them like some loaf of bread to be eaten, despising My providence.'

'They have not called upon the Lord.' For this reason, you who speak boldly and dread no one shall fall into fear and cowardice, and shall be put to flight, though no man alarms or pursues you.

'There were they in great dread, where no dread was.' And the phrase—

'Shall not all the workers of iniquity know it?'—is to be read as spoken ironically.

'The Lord looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there was any that understood or sought after God': He spoke after the manner of men, showing that from heaven He sent down the punishment upon the Assyrians.

'For God is in the generation of the righteous. Ye have put to shame the counsel of the poor;'

'but the Lord is his hope.' Now the Lord of all does these things on account of the virtue of Hezekiah, and of the generation piously shepherded by him;

him, whom you the impious despised as a worthless man, and mocked his firm confidence in Me.

For he called this 'counsel,' in the sense of 'purpose' or 'aim.'

That man, however, held fast to my hope as a sacred anchor, and indeed obtained the salvation just as he had hoped.

'Who shall give out of Zion the salvation of Israel?' This contains a twofold prophecy.

For it foretells not only the salvation which then came to those under siege, but also the saving manifestation of our Saviour which came forth from that place many ages later.

'When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of His people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad.' For since the ten tribes had already been led into slavery, and indeed many cities of Judaea as well, he prays that those too may obtain the same salvation and recover their freedom.

'At that time,' he says, 'the gladness will be greater for the people that bears a twofold appellation.'

For they were named not only Jacob but also Israel, having inherited the name bestowed by God upon their forefather.

and by 'holy mountain' he means Jerusalem.

Having thus inquired, he receives the answer:

For here by 'righteousness' he names perfect virtue;

indeed he goes on to enumerate its several forms.

'He that speaketh truth in his heart;'

'and hath not done evil to his neighbour.' For he must keep free from falsehood not only his tongue, but his very mind as well;

and be entirely rid of guile and duplicity;

so that no harm may proceed from him to his neighbour.

And very consistently he mentioned the heart first, then the tongue, and only then the deed;

for speech leads the deed, and the mind leads speech.

'And hath not taken up a reproach against those nearest him.' And if some fall into any calamity, one must not mock or trample upon them, but rather share in their distress, according to the apostolic law which enjoins us to weep with them that weep.

'In whose eyes every evildoer is despised.' And if anyone chooses the lawless life, let such a one be reckoned thrice-wretched, even though he be borne along with a fair wind and enjoy the utmost prosperity.

For since he had cast out reproaching, fittingly he added this, teaching the difference between good men and bad;

'But he honoureth them that fear the Lord.' And all who greatly esteem divine things it is right to reverence, and to deem worthy of all respect and honour.

'He that sweareth to his neighbour and disappointeth him not.'

[verse 5] 'He hath not given his money upon usury, nor taken reward against the innocent.' Let truth confirm one's oaths, and let covetousness not defile one's wealth.

And when acting as judge let him be utterly incorruptible by gifts, and let him bring forth a verdict clean of bribes.

For bribery corrupts justice.

'He that doeth these things shall never be moved.' And the prize of this virtue is to enjoy continually the divine help, to abide amid many good things, and to await the life eternal.

These things suit us no less than the men of old;

since, in addition to the old, we have also received the new legislation, and have obtained a greater grace. INTERPRETATION

For a monument (stele) is set up not only over tombs, but is also erected for victors, and receives inscriptions that teach the victory to those who know it not.

This, then, is what the title 'inscription upon a monument' (stelography) signifies.

'Preserve me, O Lord, for I have hoped in Thee.'

[verse 2] 'I said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord.' The psalm is spoken in the person of the Saviour;

and it is spoken according to His humanity;

just as, again, we find many such things also in the holy Gospels;

'Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me;'

'nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.' And:

'I go to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.' Thus we find Him praying continually and bending His knees.

That these things belong to His human nature, and not to His needless-of-nothing divinity, the Apostle teaches clearly.

He speaks thus in the Epistle to the Hebrews:

'Who in the days of His flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and having been heard for His reverent godliness;'

'though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered; and being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him.' Now it was not the God-Word, perfect before the ages, who was made perfect, but the form of the servant, which became impassible, incorruptible, and immortal.

These things, then, he said the Lord did in the days of His flesh, when He had a mortal body.

Therefore all these things are human, and not befitting God.

So likewise in this psalm too He asks to be preserved, and is preserved by Himself.

For He asks as man;

but He grants the request as God;

with His own Father, of course, being well-pleased and working together with Him.

'I said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord': this resembles the saying,

'Thou hast no need of human righteousness;'

'but whatever good anyone does, he himself profits thereby.'

But from this you gain nothing.

Symmachus rendered this differently:

'There is no good for me apart from you.'

Every supply of good things, he says, is mine through your grace.

Both of these belong to true religion.

For we too enjoy good things from God, and he himself has no need of our right conduct;

yet for the sake of our benefit he lays down this law.

'To the saints who are in his land the Lord has done wonders, for all his good pleasure is in them.' Here he alludes to the apostles, and to those who through them have believed;

to whom, he says, the wonders of God have been made manifest;

for they, he says, have fulfilled all my commands.

'Their infirmities were multiplied; afterward they made haste.' Many assaults, he says, rose up against them from every side—of peoples and demagogues, of kings and generals.

But, prevailing over all of them, they completed their course with the utmost speed and reached the goal.

This resembles the apostolic saying:

'When I am weak, then am I strong.'—'I will not gather their assemblies of blood, nor will I make mention of their names through my lips.' These, he says—those who rise up against them—I will hand over to punishments, and I will bury their memory in oblivion, so that even their very names shall be utterly unknown.

'The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup.' It is fitting to recall what was said in the second Psalm.

For there also, speaking after the manner of men, the Father again said to him:

'Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession.' And in the sacred Gospels he himself said to his own Father concerning the holy apostles:

'Father, those whom you gave me were yours, and you have given them to me;'

'and not one of them has perished, except the son of perdition.' But just as here he speaks after the manner of men, beseeching to receive;

'For my sheep,' he says, 'hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life.' And again:

'And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold;'

'those also I must bring, and they will hear my voice, and there shall be one flock, one shepherd.' And in the present Psalm too he speaks after the manner of men:

'The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup;'

calling 'inheritance' the kingdom of the nations;

and 'cup' the death which he endured on our behalf.

For thus also in the sacred Gospels he said:

'Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.' [As if to say more plainly:]

'And of my Church, which is my inheritance, the Lord is the portion;'

'and the same one has also become the portion of my cup, that is, of my death.' 'You are the one who restores my inheritance to me.' He did not say:

'the one who gives,' but, 'the one who restores my inheritance.' For since man, as soon as he was created, received authority over all things and possessed immortal life;

but after the transgression he fell from both—from dominion and from life;

'The lines have fallen for me in the best places;'

'for my inheritance is the best for me.' For the sake of this inheritance, he says, I received the present plots against me;

for by 'lines' he names the plots;

so too in another Psalm he says:

'The cords of sinners have entangled me, but I have not forgotten your law.' He is therefore saying that for the sake of this best inheritance, and for the salvation of men, I endure the present plots.

'I will bless the Lord who has given me understanding;'

'moreover, even into the night my reins have instructed me.' Yet nevertheless, being made wise by the Lord and employing the best of reasonings, I shall overcome the night of the Passion.

'And Jesus advanced in wisdom and grace before God and men.' Let one hear him again saying that, when he had grown fearful before the Passion and had sweated drops of blood, an angel came and strengthened him.

But if he needed angelic support, in order that he might display the nature of the form of a servant;

then surely he was made much wiser by the indwelling Godhead.

For being both man and God, he was made wise as man, but as God he was himself the fountain of wisdom.

'I foresaw the Lord before me continually, for he is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken;'

'moreover, my flesh also shall dwell in hope;'

'For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption.'

'You have made known to me the ways of life;'

'you will fill me with gladness in your presence;'

'delight is at your right hand for evermore.' It is superfluous for us to interpret these words, since the divinely inspired Peter—who received the revelation from the Father, from the Son, and from the Holy Spirit—long ago made the interpretation of them.

For he, addressing the Jews in public and bringing forward this testimony, spoke thus:

'Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn to him with an oath that of the fruit of his loins he would raise up the Christ according to the flesh, he foresaw and spoke concerning his resurrection, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.' And elsewhere:

'but he whom God raised did not see corruption.' These things must also be brought forward against those who dare to misinterpret;

and indeed against the Jews as well;

for it contains a manifest refutation of the Jews' folly.

'For neither will my soul be left in Hades, nor will my flesh undergo the corruption that is natural.'

'For I shall attain a swift resurrection, and return to life;'

'showing this way to all men.'

'You will fill me with gladness in your presence; delight is at your right hand for evermore.' Since, as he drew near to the Passion, he was saying, 'My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death,' fittingly he used these words, making mention of the resurrection, teaching that in place of that dejection he would come to be in perpetual gladness—free from suffering, unchangeable, immortal—even according to his human nature.

For as God, this he always was; and indeed even to the human nature—as soon as it was formed in the womb—it was easy for him to grant this.

But he permitted the nature which he assumed to journey through sufferings, in order that, having thus dissolved the tyranny of sin, he might put an end to the devil's despotism, destroy the might of death, and grant to all men the occasion of resurrection.

As man, therefore, he receives both incorruption and immortality.

This Psalm also refutes the derangement of Arius, of Eunomius, and of Apollinarius.

For the former said that God the Word assumed a soulless body;

while Apollinarius called the assumed body ensouled, yet deprived it of a rational soul;

I do not know from where he learned these two souls;

for nowhere does the divine Scripture teach this.

'Hear, O Lord, my righteousness;'

'give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips.' Here again by 'righteousness' he does not mean perfect virtue, but the just petition.

The other translators did not add the pronoun;

but Symmachus and Theodotion named God 'the Lord of righteousness;'

while Aquila said thus: 'Hear, O Lord, righteously,' meaning 'justly,' and not 'with forbearance.'

As for the phrase 'Not with deceitful lips,' Symmachus rendered it thus: 'Not through deceitful lips.'

For, he says, it is with pure lips that I offer my supplication;

not thinking one thing while uttering another;

but I keep my tongue in agreement with my mind.

'Let my judgement come forth from Thy presence; let mine eyes behold uprightness.' I implore Thee to judge in the matters concerning me;

for I know the justice of Thy verdict.

'Thou hast tried my heart, Thou hast visited me by night, Thou hast tested me by fire, and no injustice was found in me.'

'That my mouth might not speak the works of men.' Here he teaches that, though he had often taken Saul into his power, he did not endure to slay him, but repaid injustice with kindness;

wherefore he also made mention of the night in which he did this, when he spared Saul as he slept by night, and permitted no one to inflict on him the death-dealing blow.

Figuratively, too, he calls misfortunes 'nights,' because of the gloom of despondency, just as, again, he calls the testing a 'fiery trial.'

'For so far was I from harming my enemy, that I even kept my tongue free from reviling against him, and the things which he continually does—these things I did not endure to speak.'

'Establish my goings in Thy paths, that my steps be not moved.' I entreat Thee, then, that my purpose be not turned aside;

and this will come to pass, if I enjoy the aid of Thy inclining favour.

'I have cried, for Thou hast heard me, O God.' Not in vain did I employ these words, but having experience of Thy loving-kindness;

for Thou didst hear me when I called on Thee many a time.

'Incline Thine ear to me, and hear my words.'

Stir up many tongues unto hymn-singing.

For those who behold the wronged man receiving mercy from Thee will sing the praise of Thy providence;

for Thou art wont to stretch forth succour to those who have put their trust in Thee.

'From those who resist Thy right hand keep me, O Lord, as the apple of the eye.' By those who 'resist the right hand of God' he designated those who war against Him;

for he had been anointed by God, and had obtained the royal appointment from Him.

He says therefore that those who have taken up the fight against him are setting themselves against Thy decree, and he entreats to enjoy as great a protection as does the apple of the eye;

which has the eyelids as a kind of rampart;

and instead of palisades, the eyelashes.