詩篇講道 第 1 章 第 4/12 段

And everyone who speaks rightly of God in due order, so as not to fall away from the correct understanding concerning the Father, and concerning the divinity of the Only-Begotten, and concerning the glory of the Holy Spirit — this one brings to the Lord glory and honor.

He intensifies that glory who is able to expound the principles according to which all things have been created, and according to which they are held together — his providence reaching even to the smallest things — and according to which, after the dispensation here, they will be brought under judgment.

He who, with clear and unconfused reasoning, is himself able to contemplate each particular thing, and, having contemplated it, is also able to set forth for others the things concerning the goodness of God and his righteous judgment — this is the one who brings glory and honor to the Lord, and who lives a life befitting such contemplation.

For the light of such a one shines before men, and the Father who is in heaven is glorified both in word and in deed and through manifold acts of virtue.

But he who is agitated by human glory does not bring glory and honor to the Lord;

nor does he who honors the pleasures of the body;

nor does he who admires teachings foreign to true piety.

For just as through good works we bring glory to the Lord, so through evil works we bring the opposite.

For what does he say to those who sin? 'My name is blasphemed among the nations because of you.'

For contempt and disdain of the laws is an outrage against the lawgiver.

And in a household badly governed, in which there is wrath and shouting, insolence and mockery, luxury and profligacy, impurity and licentiousness — the dishonor and shame of what takes place returns upon the one who rules it.

And it follows that we should understand this: just as God is glorified in good deeds, so in evil deeds the enemy is glorified.

For when, taking the members of Christ, I make them the members of a harlot, I transfer the glory from him who saves me to him who destroys me.

And the unbeliever exchanges the glory of the incorruptible God for the image of corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of reptiles that creep upon the earth.

And he who reveres and serves the creation rather than the Creator brings glory not to God, but to the creatures.

So then, whoever calls something a creature, and then worships it, let him recognize what portion he will be assigned along with it.

Let us fear, then, lest by offering glory and boasting to the devil through our sin, we be handed over together with him to eternal shame.

For that our sin becomes glory to the one who works it in us — understand what is said by means of an image.

but when the opposite prevails, the honor falls back again upon that one.

Thus, in your good works it is the Lord who is glorified; but in the opposite works, it is the adversary.

And do not imagine the enemies as being far away from you, nor look for the generals from a distance;

but examine yourself, and you will find the whole truth of this image.

For when the mind wrestles with passion, if it prevails through vigor and attentiveness, the trophies of victory are won over the passion, and it, as it were, crowns God through itself.

But when, having grown soft, it submits to pleasure, becoming a slave and captive to sins, it adds boasting and arrogance and pride to the enemy.

'Worship the Lord in his holy court.'

After the bearing of the fruit that is required, worship is necessary.

And worship is not that which is performed outside the Church, but that which is accomplished within the very court of God.

'Do not,' he says, 'devise for yourselves your own private courts and assemblies.'

There is one holy court of God.

Formerly the synagogue of the Jews was a court;

but after the sin committed against Christ, their fold became desolate.

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

...a fold of its own, apart from that of the Jews.

It is not fitting, then, to worship God outside this holy court, but rather after having come to be within it;

lest anyone, being outside it, and being drawn away by those who are outside, should lose his place of being in the court of the Lord.

For many stand in the posture of prayer, yet are not within the court, because of the wandering of their mind and the distraction of their thought by care rooted in vanity.

But he who makes a god of his belly, or of glory, or of money, or of anything else that he has honored above all things, neither worships the Lord, nor is within the holy court, even if he seems worthy to belong to the visible assemblies.

'The voice of the Lord is upon the waters.'

In many places you would find the term 'voice' set down [in various senses].

So then, in order to understand what the voice of the Lord is, it is worthwhile for us, as far as possible, to gather together from the divine Scripture the things written concerning 'voice';

as in the divine communication made to Abraham:

And immediately a voice came, saying:

This one shall not be your heir;

And all the people saw the voice and the torches;

Now our voice is either air that has been struck, or the form that arises around the air, into which the speaker wishes to impress a shape.

What then is the voice of the Lord? Should it be understood as a percussion around the air? Or as struck air reaching all the way to the hearing of the one to whom the voice comes? Or is it neither of these, but something of a different kind altogether, God impressing an image upon the governing faculty of those men whom He wishes to hear His own voice?

so that this impression bears an analogy to what often occurs in dreams.

For just as, without any striking of the air, we receive in the imaginings of sleep a certain memory of words and sounds, not having received the voice through hearing, but our very heart having been impressed with a form—

so we must suppose that the voice from God comes to be in the prophets in some such manner.

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters.

As regards the sensible meaning, since the clouds, whenever they are full of water, produce a sound and noise as they collide with one another, he says, "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters."

But also, if anywhere there occurs the noise of waters breaking against certain solid obstacles, and if the sea, disturbed by winds, surges and sends forth a violent roar, these lifeless things possess the voice that comes from the Lord, the discourse showing that all creation all but cries aloud, proclaiming its own Maker.

And should thunder break forth from the clouds, we must suppose nothing other than that the God of glory has thundered, and that it is the Lord who holds together the moist element by Himself.

For we have learned in the account of the world's origin that there is water above the heavens, and again the water of the abyss, and yet another, the gatherings of the seas.

Who then is it who holds these together and does not allow them to be borne downward by their natural inclination, if not the Lord, who is mounted upon all things, and who holds sway over the waters as well? But perhaps in a more mystical sense also, "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters," when, at the baptism of Jesus, there came a voice from above, saying, "This is My beloved Son."

For at that time the Lord was upon many waters, sanctifying the waters through baptism;

and the God of glory thundered from above with the great voice of His testimony.

And to those being baptized also, the voice left behind by the Lord is added, saying:

For He says, "Go, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

The voice of the Lord, then, is upon the waters.

Thunder arises when a dry and violent wind, having been caught within the hollows of a cloud and, by its vigor, whirled about within the cavities of the clouds, seeks a way out to the outside.

Now while the clouds, on account of their extreme density, hold out, they produce that harsh sound from the friction of the wind rubbing against them;

but when, stretched taut by the wind, they are no longer able to resist and contain it, being violently torn apart and releasing the wind for its outward escape, they produce the noises that occur as thunder.

And this same process is by nature also productive of lightning.

It is the Lord, then, who is both upon the waters and who produces the great noises of thunder, working such an excess of sound within the soft nature of the air.

For that the Gospel is a thunder, the disciples renamed by the Lord make plain, being called Sons of Thunder.

For it says, "The voice of Your thunder was in the wheel."

If anyone is stretching forward to the things that lie ahead, like a wheel touching the earth with but a small part of itself, and is altogether such as the one Ezekiel spoke of—

"And I looked, and behold, one wheel upon the earth, beside the four living creatures, and their appearance and their workmanship was like the appearance of beryl."

The God of glory, then, thundered; the Lord is upon many waters.

The saints, too, are waters, because rivers flow out of their belly, that is, spiritual teaching that waters the souls of those who hear.

And again, they receive water springing up into eternal life, which becomes, in those who have received it well, a fountain of water springing up into eternal life.

It is upon such waters, then, that the Lord is.

Remember also the history of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months;

when, though it was clear sky over the summit of Carmel, he heard the sound of much water;

then there followed both thunder coming from the clouds and water pouring down.

The Lord, then, is upon many waters.

Just as the voice arises in the wheel, so the voice of the Lord is constituted in strength.

For he who is strong in all things through Christ who empowers him, this one hears the commandments of the Lord and does them.

The voice of the Lord, therefore, is not in the weak and enfeebled soul, but in the soul that works out the good with vigor and strength.

The voice of the Lord is in magnificence.

Magnificence is a virtue that is conspicuously great.

He, then, who fittingly renders the works pertaining to great deeds, such a one is called magnificent.

So then, whenever a soul is unenslaved to the mind of the flesh, and takes up for itself a greatness and dignity befitting it, out of its consciousness of the things bestowed upon it by God, in this soul the voice of the Lord comes to be.

Those, then, who have noble conceptions concerning God, and who have contemplated in a lofty manner the accounts concerning creation, and who have been able, at least to some degree, to grasp the goodness of God's providence, and who, moreover, are unsparing in their expenditures and generous in setting right the needs of the brethren—these are the magnificent ones, in whom the voice of the Lord dwells as a citizen.

For in truth the magnificent man looks with contempt upon all bodily things, judging them worthy of no account when set beside the things unseen.

No circumstance will grieve the magnificent man;

nor will any passion at all throw him into confusion, nor will the sins of paltry, base, and contemptible little men move him;

nor will the impurity of the flesh humble him.

There is also spoken of a certain magnificence of God;

as in, "Your magnificence has been raised up above the heavens."

Those, then, who glorify great things concerning God, these exalt His magnificence.

The voice of the Lord that breaks the cedars.

The cedar is at one time praised by Scripture as durable, superior to decay, fragrant, and able to provide sufficient shelter;

but at another time it is disparaged as unfruitful and hard to bend, so as even to fulfill the image of the ungodly man.

"For I saw the ungodly man exceedingly exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon."

and this same signification has now been taken up here as well.

For the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars.

For just as the voice of the Lord comes to dwell in the magnificent soul, so likewise it breaks those who are vainly puffed up and exalt themselves in what are reckoned the heights of this world—wealth, or glory, or power, or bodily beauty, or might, or strength.

"And the Lord shall break the cedars of Lebanon."

Those who mount themselves upon the affairs of others, and gather to themselves arrogance from them, these are the cedars of Lebanon.

For just as the cedars, being tall in themselves, become still more conspicuous because they have grown upon a high mountain, through the addition of the mountain's height;

so also those who lean upon the corruptible things of this world are cedars because of their arrogance and the pride of their mind, but they are called cedars of Lebanon because they exult in a height not their own, and are lifted up to arrogance by earth and earthly things, as it were by the summit of Lebanon.

But the Lord does not break all the cedars, but those of Lebanon.

For since Lebanon is a place of idolatry, as many souls as are lifted up against the knowledge of God are named "of Lebanon," and are deemed worthy of being broken.

For there are certain cedars of God, which the tendrils of the vine transplanted from Egypt cover over, as we have learned in the Psalms;

"Its shadow covered the mountains, and its tendrils covered the cedars of God."

Since, then, among the other conceptions concerning Christ, our Lord is also called a vine—

for He says, "I am the vine, you are the branches;"

the cedars of God are those who, though formerly unfruitful and fit only for burning, have come under the shelter of Christ, and having as it were put Him on, cover over the unfruitfulness of their own life by the grace that comes from Him.

The cedars of God, then, are kept safe by fruitful tendrils entwining about them;

But the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.

And he will grind them fine, like the calf—Lebanon itself.

Remember the calf in Exodus, which they fashioned according to their idolatry, which Moses ground fine and gave the people to drink.

In a manner similar to that calf, then, he will utterly annihilate all of Lebanon and the idolatrous custom prevailing within it.

And the beloved is like the son of unicorns.

The Only-begotten Son, who gives life to the world, when he offers himself as sacrifice and offering to God on behalf of our sins, is also called the Lamb of God, and a sheep.

For behold, he says, the Lamb of God.

As a sheep he was led to slaughter.

But when it is necessary to take vengeance and destroy the tyranny that assails the human race—a certain beastly and savage power—then he is called the son of unicorns.

For the unicorn, as we have learned in Job, is a creature invincible in strength, unsubdued by men.

For you shall not bind him, it says, with a strap, nor shall he sleep at the manger.

And much is said in that part of the prophecy about the animal's love of freedom and its refusal to yield to men.

And it has been observed that Scripture uses the image of the unicorn in both senses:

at times commendably, at other times disparagingly.

For deliver, it says, my soul from the sword, and my lowliness from the horns of the unicorns.

In denouncing the war-making people who rose up against him at the time of the Passion, he says this.

And again: My horn, it says, shall be exalted like that of the unicorn.

It seems, then, that on account of the animal's aggressiveness it is often taken as an image for the worse things, while on account of its lofty horn and love of freedom it is drawn toward an image of the better.

And in general, since the horn can be found frequently used by Scripture in place of glory, as in: "He will exalt the horn of his people;"

and: "His horn shall be exalted in glory;"

or also since the horn is often taken in place of power:

as in: "My protector, and the horn of my salvation;"

he is called "the Unicorn" with reference to that [glory] which belongs to the Father.

The voice of the Lord cleaves the flame of fire.

Being cleft by the command of God, it received within itself a spirit—a most sweet breath and refreshment—providing, as it were in the shade of some plants, a peaceful condition for the children.

For it became, it says, like a whistling breath of dew.

And it is far more wonderful for the nature of fire to be cleft than for the Red Sea to be divided into parts.

But nevertheless the voice of the Lord cleaves even that which is by nature continuous and united in fire.

And yet fire seems, according to human reckoning, to be uncuttable and indivisible; but nevertheless, at the command of the Lord, it is cloven and separated.

And I think that the fire prepared for punishment for the devil and his angels is cloven by the voice of the Lord;

so that, since there are two powers in fire, the burning and the illuminating, the harsh and punitive power of the fire might remain for those deserving of burning, while its illuminating and radiant power might be allotted to the brightness of those who rejoice.

The voice of the Lord, then, cleaves and divides the flame of fire, so that the fire of punishment remains without light, while the light of rest remains without burning.

The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness.

For the benefit of the wilderness, this shaking is arranged for it by the Lord, so that, being changed from being a wilderness, it might become an inhabited land, and, laying aside the reproach of childlessness, might receive the praise of abundant offspring (for many are the children of the desolate woman, more than of her who has a husband), and, being filled with the waters of the Spirit, the former wilderness might become pools of water.

And the Lord will shake the wilderness of Kadesh.

The Lord, then, will not shake every wilderness, but that of Kadesh, that is, sanctification;

For Kadesh is interpreted "sanctification."

The voice of the Lord perfects the deer.

One must give the same honor to what concerns the perfecting of the deer, which the voice of the Lord accomplishes, as to what has gone before.

Since, then, the deer has such a constitution as to be superior to harm from reptiles—and moreover, as those who have observed such things say, the flesh of the viper serves as a purgative for it—and since all venomous creatures are taken as an image of the evil and opposing powers (the Lord saying:

and the psalm again promising to the prophet, "You shall tread upon the asp and the basilisk"):

it is necessary, whenever we hear the name of the deer in Scripture, to draw the meaning toward the better image.

For the high mountains are for the deer;

and: "As the deer longs for the springs of water."

Since, then, every righteous person also has his dwelling in high places, pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward calling, and runs back up to the drinkable springs, seeking the first principles of theology—

The deer draws out, by the breath of its mouth, the venomous creatures lurking in their lairs, and by the force of its breath brings them out from their hiding places.

Just as, then, the saint is called an eagle on account of his soaring flight, and on account of being raised far above the earth;

and a sheep on account of his gentleness and his readiness to share what he has;

and a ram on account of his capacity for leadership;

and a dove on account of his innocence;

so too a deer, on account of his opposition to evils.

Let the loving hind and the fawn of your graces company with you;

teaching us that the aforementioned deer are suited for the teaching of theology.

The voice of the Lord perfects the deer.

Whenever, then, we see some man of God who is perfect and complete, let us pursue the benefit that comes from association with him.

For wherever the deer is present, all the malice of reptiles is put to flight.

For venomous creatures cannot bear the scent of the animal, since they retreat even when its horns are burned as incense.

First, the voice of the Lord perfects the deer;

then it uncovers the thickets—places overgrown and made dense with wild, unfruitful timber—to which venomous creatures are especially accustomed to flee for refuge.

Since, then, the deer has already been made perfect through the perfecting effected by the Lord, the righteous man who is made like it uncovers the thickets, so that the destroyers of our life might be exposed bare and ready.

And since "every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down by the axe and thrown into the fire," the thickets are necessarily cleared out—that is, the wooded, overgrown souls, in which, like certain wild beasts, the various passions of sin lurk—by the Word, which is "sharper than any two-edged sword."

But since many people, burdened with the cares of life, have their own souls like a thorn-bearing land, and do not allow them to be nourished for the fruit-bearing of the Word, the Lord uncovers the thickets, that is, the unseemly, improper, and harmful character of the concerns of this life, so that, once the boundary concerning good and evil has been made clear, people might not, out of ignorance, have their judgments about such things confused.

For many, when good things are laborious, consider them evil;

while they pursue evil things as good, because of the pleasure attached to them;

and the error concerning such things among human beings is untold.

Now, of the nature of good things are the fruit-bearing trees and all the cedars, which are also taken up for praise;

but of evil things are the thickets, which—so that those who suppose they will find some useful fruit in them may not be deceived—the voice of God uncovers and makes manifest.

And in his temple everyone speaks of glory.

Let them hear the words of the psalm, and let those who devote themselves to lengthy speeches be put to shame.

What does the psalm say? He who has come to be in the temple of God utters no slander, no vanity, no words full of shameful matters, but in his temple everyone speaks of glory.

The holy angels who record the words stand by;

The Lord is present, watching over the dispositions of those who enter.

The prayer of each person has been made manifest to God;

who seeks the heavenly things out of genuine disposition, who seeks them with understanding;

who devoutly utters the words only with the tips of the lips, while his heart is far removed from God

And even if he prays, he seeks health of the flesh, and bodily wealth, and human glory.

The heavens declare the glory of God.

It is the work of angels to glorify God.

For the whole host of heavenly beings this is the one task: to send up glory to the Creator.

All creation, both that which is silent and that which speaks, both that which is above the world and that which is around the earth, glorifies the Creator.

But pitiable men, having left their houses and run together to the temple, as though they were somehow going to benefit themselves, do not offer their ears to the words of God, do not perceive their own nature, do not grieve at having been overtaken by sin;

they do not grieve when they come to the remembrance of their sins, they do not tremble at the judgment;

but smiling, and clasping right hands with one another, they make the house of prayer a place for lengthy conversation, disregarding the psalm that testifies and says, 'In the temple of God everyone speaks of glory.'

But you not only do not speak of glory, but even become a hindrance to another, turning him toward yourself, and drowning out the teaching of the Spirit with your own commotion.

Take care lest you depart, instead of receiving a reward for your doxology, condemned together with those who blaspheme the name of God.

You have the psalm, you have prophecy, the precepts of the Gospel, the preachings of the apostles.

Let the tongue sing the psalm, let the mind search out the meaning of what is said, so that you may sing with the spirit, and sing also with the understanding.

For God does not stand in need of glory, but wills that you be worthy to be glorified.

Sow doxology, that you may reap crowns and honors and praises in the kingdom of heaven.

These things have not been said uselessly as a digression upon the words, 'In his temple everyone speaks of glory,' but on account of those who chatter incessantly in the temple of God and enter to no profit;

would that it were only unprofitably, and not harmfully!

The Lord sits enthroned upon the flood;

A flood of water is an inundation that obliterates everything beneath it, and cleanses everything previously defiled.

He therefore calls the grace of baptism a flood, so that the soul which has washed away its sins and cleansed off the old man may henceforth be fit to become a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

In harmony with this are also the words spoken in the thirty-first psalm.

For after saying, 'I made known my iniquity, and I did not cover my sin,'

and, 'For this shall every holy one pray to you,'

'yet in the flood of many waters they shall not come near him.'

For sins do not come near the one who has received, through water and the Spirit, the baptism of remission of transgressions.

Akin to this is also found in the prophecy of Micah:

'For he desires mercy; he will turn and have mercy on us;

he will sink our sins, and they shall be cast into the depths of the sea.'

'And the Lord shall sit as king forever.'

Having been established in the soul that shines forth from the flood, God makes it, as it were, a throne for himself.

'The Lord will give strength to his people;'

'the Lord will bless his people in peace.'

From the sinful people the Lord takes away the strong man and the strong woman, but to the one who does righteousness he gives strength.

And he who has been strengthened for the working of good deeds becomes worthy of the blessing from God.

Peace seems to be the most perfect of blessings, being a certain stability of the ruling faculty of the soul;

so that the peaceable man is characterized by having his disposition settled;

whereas he who is warred upon by the passions has not yet partaken of the peace from God, which the Lord gave to his own disciples, which, surpassing all understanding, will guard the souls of the worthy.

This peace the Apostle also prays for upon the churches, saying:

'Grace to you, and peace be multiplied.'

May it be granted us, then, having contended well, and having overthrown the mind of the flesh, which is enmity toward God, that, our soul having come into a calm and waveless condition, we may be called sons of peace, and may partake of the blessing of God in peace, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion now and always, and unto the ages of ages.

The construction of the body is, in a figurative sense, a psaltery—an instrument tuned musically for hymns to our God;

and a psalm is the actions performed through the body, rendered for the glory of God, whenever, tuned by reason, we accomplish nothing discordant in our movements;

and an ode is whatever pertains to lofty contemplation and theology.

So the psalm is a musical utterance, whenever it is struck rhythmically upon the instrument according to the laws of harmony;

while an ode is a melodious voice rendered harmoniously, without the accompanying sound of the instrument.

Here, then, since it is inscribed 'A Psalm of a Song,' we understand the text to be hinting at the action that follows upon contemplation.

And this psalm of a song, according to its title, contains certain words concerning the dedication of the house.

And according to the bodily sense, the discourse seems to run its course with reference to the times of Solomon, when the far-famed temple was raised up, being sung as a melody to the psaltery;

the title indicating that the house was built in a marvelous, unlooked-for manner.

For we find many things in this psalm proclaimed in the person of the Lord.

Or perhaps it is fitting to understand by 'house' the Church that is being built by Christ,

just as Paul also writes in his Epistle to Timothy:

'that you may know how one ought to behave in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God.'

And the dedication of the Church must be understood as the renewal of the mind, which comes about through the Holy Spirit in each one of those who together complete the body of the Church of Christ.

And divine and musical harmony is that which contains, not words that merely delight the hearing, but words that restrain and soothe the evil spirits that trouble souls easily affected.