詩篇講道 第 1 章 第 9/12 段

"Learn from me, for I am meek and humble in heart"

And he gave proof of his meekness in his very works;

"And your right hand shall guide you marvelously"

Not a pillar of cloud, nor an illumination of fire, but your right hand itself.

The sharpened arrows of the mighty one are the well-aimed words, which reach the heart of those who hear, striking and wounding sensitive souls.

"For the words of the wise," it says, "are like goads"

But he also seeks that the coals of the desert be present;

so that for as many as the rational arrows fail to reach, because of the hardness of their heart, for these the punishment is ready, which he also called "coals of the desert."

For as many as have made themselves desolate of God, for these the preparation of the coals of the desert is necessary.

Now then, "Your arrows are sharpened"

By these arrows the souls that have received the faith are wounded, and having been set aflame unto the utmost love of God, they say, like the bride, "I am wounded with love."

Indescribable and ineffable is the beauty of the Word, and the comeliness of Wisdom, and the form of God in his image.

Blessed, then, are those who love to behold true beauty.

For being bound to him, as it were, through love, and loving with a heavenly and blessed longing, they forget their own kin and friends;

and they forget house and all possessions;

and forgetting also the bodily necessity of eating and drinking, they cling only to the divine and pure love.

You may also understand as sharpened arrows those who were sent out to sow the Gospel throughout the whole inhabited world;

who, because they had been sharpened, shone with works of righteousness, and subtly made their way into the souls of those they taught;

for these arrows, sent forth everywhere, prepared the peoples to fall down beneath Christ.

"Bend your bow and prosper and reign, and your right hand shall guide you marvelously, and peoples shall fall down beneath you;"

"in that your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies"

No one who fights against God, and is boastful and proud, falls down beneath God, but only those who have accepted subjection through faith.

But the arrows, having fallen into the hearts of those who were once enemies of the king, draw them into longing for the truth, draw them toward the Lord, so that, though they were enemies to God, they are reconciled to him through the teachings.

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

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

"You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity;"

"therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions."

Since he had discoursed at length, dwelling on the human aspect, he now leads the discourse back up to the heights of the glory concerning the Only-Begotten.

"Your throne," he says, "O God, is forever and ever;"

that is, your kingdom is beyond the ages, and is older than every conception.

And fittingly, after the subjection of the peoples, he hymns the magnificence of the kingdom of God.

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

The rod of God is, in a sense, a disciplinary rod;

and in disciplining, it brings straight and not distorted judgments.

"For if his sons forsake my law, and do not walk in my judgments, I will visit their transgressions with a rod"

Do you see the righteous judgment of God? He does not exercise it upon random persons, but upon those who sin.

And this is also called the rod of comfort;

"For your rod," it says, "and your staff"

This is also a rod of shattering.

"For you shall shepherd them with a rod of iron, you shall shatter them like a potter's vessel."

And earthen and clay-like things are shattered for the benefit of those being shepherded;

Since it was necessary to give form to the typological anointing, and to the typological high priests and kings, the flesh of the Lord was anointed with the true anointing, through the visitation of the Holy Spirit upon it, which is called the oil of gladness.

And he was anointed above his companions;

that is, above all men who partake of Christ.

And fittingly the Spirit is called the oil of gladness, since joy also is one of the fruits cultivated by the Holy Spirit.

But since the discourse concerning the Savior is mixed, both because of the nature of his deity and the economy of his incarnation, looking again to the human element of God, he says:

You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity.

That is to say: the rest of mankind often succeed, through toil and ascetic discipline and much attentiveness, in acquiring a disposition toward the good, and an aversion to what is base;

but for you, affinity for the good is something natural, and estrangement from iniquity likewise.

And for us too it is not difficult, if we are willing, to take up love for righteousness and hatred for iniquity.

For God gave every faculty to the rational soul for a useful purpose;

just as the faculty of loving, so also the faculty of hating;

so that, guided by reason, we might love virtue and hate vice.

For there is indeed a time when it is even praiseworthy to make use of hatred.

"Have I not hated those who hate you, O Lord, and pined away because of your enemies? I hated them with a perfect hatred."

"Myrrh, and stacte, and cassia breathe from your garments, from ivory palaces, by which the daughters of kings have gladdened you, in your honor."

The prophetic word, descending accordingly in due order, and having already touched upon all the events of the dispensation by the Spirit's intent gaze which reveals to him the hidden things, now comes to the Passion;

For it says, "Myrrh, and stacte, and cassia from your garments."

That myrrh is a symbol of burial, John the evangelist has taught us, saying that he was buried by Joseph of Arimathea with myrrh and aloes.

And stacte is itself likewise a kind of myrrh, the finest of it.

For when the spice is pressed out, whatever of it is liquid is set apart as stacte;

while what remains, the thicker part, is called myrrh.

Thus the fragrance of Christ breathes forth the scent of myrrh on account of the Passion, and of stacte on account of his not remaining motionless or inactive during the three days and three nights, but descending into Hades for the sake of the dispensation concerning the resurrection, that he might fill all things with himself.

And it breathes forth the scent of cassia, because cassia is a certain very thin and fragrant bark, wrapped around a woody stem.

Might it not be, then, that the passion of the cross, undertaken for the benefit of all creation, is what the word has profoundly and wisely hinted at through the name of cassia?

You have, then, myrrh on account of the burial, stacte on account of the descent into Hades (since every drop is carried downward), and cassia on account of the dispensation of the flesh upon the wood.

And for this reason it says, "The daughters of kings have gladdened you in your honor."

And who would the daughters of kings be, but noble and great and royal souls? who, having come to know Christ through his condescension to human affairs, gladdened him in his honor, glorifying his divinity in true faith and perfect love.

And it says that these spices are present on the garments of Christ (that is, the parable of his words and the composition of the doctrines) not in a meager measure, but as borne from whole edifices.

For by "palaces" it means the greatest of houses, and that these are constructed of ivory—the prophet thereby teaching, I think, the richness of Christ's love for the world.

"...at your right hand, clothed in gold-woven raiment, arrayed in many colors."

He is now speaking of the Church, concerning whom we have learned in the Song of Songs that she is the one perfect dove of Christ, who receives into Christ's right-hand place those who are recognized by good works, distinguishing them from the base, just as the shepherd distinguishes the lambs from the goats.

The queen, then, stands present—the soul that has been fitted to the bridal Word, not ruled by sin, but partaking of the kingdom of Christ—at the right hand of the Savior, in gold-woven raiment;

that is, adorning herself gravely and in a manner befitting sacred things, with intelligible doctrines woven together and variegated.

And since the doctrines are not of one single kind, but various and manifold—containing moral, natural, and what are called contemplative discourses—for this reason the word says that the bride's raiment is many-colored.

"Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house;"

"so shall the king desire your beauty;"

"for he is your Lord, and they shall worship him."

He summons the Church to attentive hearing and to the keeping of what is commanded, and draws her near to himself by this address, calling her "daughter";

as it were begetting her as his own child through love.

"Hearken, O daughter, and see."

Consider, he says, creation, and having profited from the order that governs it, in this way ascend to the contemplation of the Creator.

Then, bending down her neck that is lifted high with arrogance, he says, "Incline your ear."

Do not run off to the myths of those outside, but receive the humble character of the voice found in the gospel word;

incline your ear to the teaching found here, so that you may forget those wretched customs and the teachings handed down from your fathers.

"For everyone who commits sin has been begotten of the devil."

Cast out from me, he says, the teachings of demons; forget sacrifices, nocturnal revelries, and myths that kindle you to fornication and every kind of licentiousness.

For if by forgetfulness you wipe away the stains of wicked lessons, and recover your own proper beauty, you will appear desirable to the bridegroom and king.

"For he is your Lord, and they shall worship him."

He indicates the necessity of subjection through the words, "He is your Lord."

"And they shall worship him"—that is, all creation.

"And the daughter of Tyre shall come with gifts;"

"the rich among the people shall entreat your face."

Now Tyre is the metropolis of Canaan.

The word, then, exhorting the Church to obedience, says, "And the daughter of Tyre shall come one day with gifts."

"And your face shall the rich among the people worship, with gifts."

He did not say, "They shall worship you with gifts," but, "Your face."

For it is not the Church that is worshiped, but Christ, the head of the Church, whom Scripture has named "the face."

"All the glory of the king's daughter is within, clothed with golden fringes, arrayed in many colors."

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

Since she has been purified from the old teachings of wickedness, having obeyed the teaching and having forgotten her people and her father's house, the Holy Spirit relates the things concerning her.

And since he saw the purity that lies hidden within, he says, "All the glory of the king's daughter"—that is, of the bride of Christ, who has now, through adoption, become the king's daughter—"is within."

...the beauty of the bride being within.

For he who prepares himself for the Father who sees in secret, and prays, and does everything not in order to be seen by men, but in order to be made manifest to God alone;

this one has all his glory within, just as the king's daughter also does.

And so the golden fringes too, with which she is entirely clothed and arrayed in many colors, are within.

Seek nothing in outward gold and bodily variegation;

but conceive of some raiment worthy to adorn the one made according to the image

of the Creator, as the Apostle says:

"Having put off the old man, and having put on the new, who is being renewed unto knowledge according to the image of him who created him."

And he who has put on "a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, patience, meekness" has been clothed from within, and has adorned the inner man.

And Paul also exhorts us to put on the Lord Jesus, not with respect to the outward man, but so that the remembrance of God may cover over our mind.

I think that the spiritual garment is woven whenever consistent practice is interwoven with the teaching word.

For just as the bodily garment is woven when the weft is interwoven with the warp;

so too, when the word already lies as the underlying warp, if the deeds follow it consistently, there would come to be a most dignified raiment for the soul, the soul having its life according to virtue fulfilled in both word and deed.

And fringes hang down from the garment—these too being of an intelligible, spiritual kind;

Wherefore they are also said to be golden.

Since the discourse exceeds the deed, it is, as it were, a fringe left over from the fabric woven for action.

Certain souls follow the bride of the Lord, those who have not received the seeds of alien words, who will be brought to the king, following the bride.

Let those also hear who profess virginity to the Lord, that virgins will be brought to the king;

And the virgins are those who are near the Church, who follow behind her, and do not wander away from the good order of the Church.

The virgins will be brought in gladness and exultation; they will be led into the temple of the king.

Not those who have taken up virginity under compulsion, nor those who have accepted the solemn life out of grief or necessity, but those who rejoice in gladness and exultation over such an achievement — these will be brought to the king, and will be led not to some chance place, but into the temple of the king.

For the sacred vessels, which human use has not defiled, will be brought into the Holy of Holies, and will have authority for passage into the inner sanctuary, where profane feet will not walk.

How great a thing it is to be led into the temple of the king, the Prophet shows, praying on his own behalf and saying:

One thing have I asked of the Lord, this will I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may behold the delight of the Lord, and visit his temple.

Instead of your fathers your sons were born;

you shall establish them as rulers over all the earth.

Since above she was commanded to forget her people and her father's house, now, in recompense for her obedience, she receives sons instead of fathers, distinguished by such great dignities that they are established as rulers over all the earth.

Who then are the sons of the Church? Surely the sons of the Gospel, who have ruled over all the earth.

For, it says, their sound has gone out into all the world;

and, They shall sit upon twelve thrones, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

But if someone takes the patriarchs as the fathers of the bride, even so the statement concerning the apostles does not fail.

For instead of those, sons were born to her through Christ, who do the works of Abraham;

and therefore they are accounted of equal honor with them, from having done the same things as those, on account of which the fathers were deemed worthy of such great honors.

He gave to Jacob authority over Esau.

Be, it says, lord over your brother.

Those, then, who have become of equal honor with the fathers, and have gained preeminence over all through the practice of virtue, are both sons of the bride of Christ, and are established by their own mother as rulers over all the earth.

Consider for me the authority of the queen, how great it is upon her;

to appoint rulers over all the earth.

I will remember your name in every generation and generation.

Above all, this word is spoken as though from the person of the Church, that: I will remember your name in every generation and generation.

And what is the remembrance of the Church? The confession of the peoples.

Unto the end. Concerning the sons of Korah:

This psalm seems to me to contain a prophecy concerning the things pertaining to the end.

Knowing this very end, Paul also says:

Then comes the end, when he delivers up the kingdom to God and the Father.

Or, since our actions lead us toward an end, each toward the end proper to itself — the good action toward blessedness, and the wicked toward eternal condemnation;

and the counsels delivered by the Spirit in this psalm lead those who obey toward the good end;

for this reason it is inscribed 'Unto the end;'

since the reference of the teachings is directed toward the blessed end of human life.

This psalm too is spoken for the sons of Korah, whom the Holy Spirit does not divide, because, as though with one soul and one voice and complete concord toward one another, they uttered the prophetic words;

none of them prophesying anything different from the rest, but the gift of prophecy being granted to them equally, on account of the equality of their disposition toward one another in what is good.

And the psalm is spoken concerning hidden things;

that is, concerning things unspeakable, and things hidden in mystery.

But when you come to the particular sayings of the psalm, you will learn the hidden meaning of the words;

and that it is not for just anyone to see into the divine mysteries, but only for one who is able to become a harmonious instrument of the promise, so that, instead of a psaltery, his soul is moved by the Holy Spirit working within it.

God is our refuge and strength, a helper in the tribulations that have found us exceedingly.

Every man needs much help, on account of the weakness that naturally belongs to him, since many grievous and toilsome things befall him.

Seeking, then, refuge from all his circumstances, as one fleeing to an inviolable place, or taking refuge upon some steep peak encircled by a strong wall, because of the onslaught of enemies;

so he takes refuge in God, considering that the only rest is abiding in him.

That refuge in God, then, is confessed by all; but the enemy has produced much error and confusion concerning the choice of the one who saves.

For plotting as an enemy, he in turn deceives those against whom he has plotted, into fleeing to himself as though to a guardian, so that a double evil surrounds them;

either being seized by force, or perishing through deceit.

But even those who acknowledge God err in the discernment of things, making their requests for what is beneficial without discipline, and asking for certain things as good, which are often not for their benefit, and fleeing other things as evil, which sometimes bring them much profit.

One burdened with the toil of sickness prays for health.

Has he lost money? He is greatly pained by the loss.

But often sickness too is beneficial, when it is about to discipline the sinner;

and health too is harmful, when it becomes for the one who has it a means toward sin.

Thus also money has already for some become an instrument toward licentiousness;

and poverty has brought many who were bent toward evil to their senses.

Therefore neither flee what you ought not, nor take refuge in what you ought not.

But let there be one thing for you to flee — sin — and one refuge from evils — God.

Put not your trust in princes;

do not be lifted up on the uncertainty of riches;

do not set your mind on bodily strength;

do not pursue the splendor of human glory.

All things are temporary, all things are deceptive.

Cursed is the man who has his hope in man, or in anything human.

God, then, is our refuge and strength.

For him who is able to say, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, God is strength.

It is possible, then, for many to say, God is our refuge;

and, Lord, you have become our refuge;

but to speak from the same disposition as the Prophet belongs to very few.

For few are those who have not marveled at human things, but are wholly attached to God, breathing him, and having in him all their hope and confidence.

And indeed events themselves convict us, whenever in afflictions we run to everything else rather than to God.

Is the child sick? And you look around for the enchanter, or the one who fastens curious symbols around the necks of the innocent infants;

or at least, in the end, you go to the physician and to medicines, neglecting the One who is able to save.

And if a dream troubles you, you run to the dream-interpreter.

And if you fear an enemy, you devise for yourself some one man as your patron.

And altogether, in every need you are exposed, naming God your refuge in word, but in deed drawing to yourself the help that comes from useless and vain things.

But for the righteous man, God is a true help.

Just as a general, having a noble body of heavy infantry attached to him, is always ready to help whichever part of the line is under pressure;

so God is our helper, and an ally to everyone who wages war against the wiles of the devil, sending forth the ministering spirits for the salvation of those who are in need.

But affliction finds every righteous person, on account of his manner of life.

For he who turns away from the broad and spacious way, and travels the narrow and afflicted way, is overtaken by afflictions.

The Prophet gave the statement a vivid, living form, saying:

"In the afflictions that have found us exceedingly."

For like living creatures they seize upon us, working endurance, and through endurance, proven character, and through proven character, hope.

Whence also the Apostle says:

and, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous."

But he who has nobly and undisturbedly endured the trial that comes from affliction will say, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

And he is so far from growing faint and shrinking back in afflictions, that he even makes the very excess of evils an occasion for boasting, saying, "And not only so, but we also boast in our tribulations."

The Prophet displays the great firmness of his confidence toward Christ, in that even if everything is turned upside down, even if the earth is convulsed in confusion, even if the mountains, forsaking their own seat, are removed into the midst of the sea;

We will not fear, because we have God as our refuge and strength and helper in the afflictions that have found us exceedingly.

Whose heart is so undaunted, whose reasonings so untroubled, that in so great a confusion he keeps his mind stretched out toward God, and, because of his hope in him, is dismayed at none of the things that happen? But we cannot endure the wrath of a man;

...of ours, in the afflictions; but, panic-stricken, we turn back upon ourselves.

"Their waters roared and were troubled."

He spoke of the disturbance of the earth, and the removal of the mountains;

he also speaks of the surging and overturning of the sea, as the mountains fall into the midst of the deep waters.

"Their waters roared and were troubled;"

But it is the mountains themselves that cause the greater disturbance in the waters, since they are not settled within the sea, but by their own commotion produce great turmoil in the waters.

When, then, the earth is disturbed, and the waters of the seas roar and are stirred up from the depths, and the mountains are removed and endure great turmoil, because of the surpassing power of the Lord;

then, he says, our heart remains undaunted, so that our hopes upon God may be secure and firm.

"The mountains were troubled at his might."

Or perhaps also the rulers of this age, and the fathers of the wisdom that is perishing, are themselves called mountains, being thrown into confusion at the might of Christ, which he displayed in the contest through the cross against him who held the power of death;

for having stripped himself, like a noble contestant, he wrestled down the principalities and the powers, and "made a public example of them, triumphing over them" by the tree.

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

The salty waters, violently stirred up by the winds, "roared and were troubled";

but the streams of the river, advancing noiselessly and flowing quietly upon those worthy to receive them, make glad the city of God.

And now the righteous man drinks the living water, and later he will drink more abundantly, when he is enrolled as a citizen in the city of God.

But now he drinks "through a mirror, in a riddle," because of the partial apprehension of the divine contemplations he has;

but then he will receive the river all at once, overflowing, able to flood the whole city of God with gladness.

But what else could the river of God be, than the Holy Spirit, coming to dwell in those who are worthy, through the faith of those who have believed in Christ? For "he who believes in me," he says, "rivers shall flow out of his belly";

"If anyone drinks of the water that I give, it will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life."

This river, then, gladdens the whole city of God all together, that is, the Church of those whose citizenship is in the heavens;

or else one must understand as "city" the whole intelligible creation, from the supramundane powers to human souls, made glad by the inflow of the Holy Spirit.

For some define a city as an established body of people, settled and governed according to law.

And this given definition of a city also fits the Jerusalem above, the heavenly city.

For there too is "a body of the firstborn, who are enrolled in the heavens";

and it is established, because of the unshakeable conduct of the saints, and it is governed according to the heavenly law.

Now to fully learn the arrangement of that commonwealth, and its whole ordering, belongs to no human nature.

For those are the things which "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love him";

except only that there are "myriads of angels" there, and "the festal gathering of the saints," and "the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in the heavens."

To that city, through Isaiah, God promises, "I will make you an everlasting joy, a gladness of generation to generation";

but "your walls shall be called salvation."

Lifting up, then, the eyes of your soul, seek the things concerning the city of God in a manner worthy of the things above.

What, indeed, could one conceive that is worthy of the blessedness there, which the river of God gladdens, and of which God himself is the artificer and maker? "The Most High has sanctified his tabernacle."

Perhaps he means the God-bearing flesh, sanctified through its union with God.

So that you will understand the tabernacle of the Most High to be the manifestation of God through flesh.

"God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved."

"God will help her at the dawning of the morning."

And since God is in the midst of the city, he will grant her the state of being unshaken, providing her help at the first risings of the light.

Whether, then, the name of city applies to the Jerusalem above or to the Church below, "the Most High has sanctified his tabernacle in her."

And through this tabernacle, in which God tabernacled, he came to be in the midst of her, granting her the not being shaken.

God is in the midst of the city, sending forth equally from every side, to the ends of the circle, the rays of his own providence.

For thus the justice of God is preserved, in that he apportions the same measure of goodness to all.

"God will help her at the dawning of the morning."

Now the morning among us is produced by the sensible sun, whenever it rises above our horizon;

but the morning in the soul is produced by the Sun of Righteousness, making day, by the rising of the intelligible light, in the one who has received him.