詩篇註釋 第 24 章 第 1/2 段

I will give thanks to You, O Lord, with my whole heart.

What is the meaning of 'With my whole'? With all eagerness, with strained effort, freed from the cares of life, and become lifted up on high, having released the soul from the bonds of the body.

Not simply in words, nor with tongue and mouth alone, but also with the understanding.

So too Moses said when he gave the law:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind.

For here he seems to me to call the confession a thanksgiving.

I will sing praise, he says, I will give thanks.

He spent his whole life upon this, and from this he takes his opening, and in this he ends;

and this was his continual work: to offer up thanksgiving both for the benefits done to himself, and for those done to others.

For God requires nothing so much as this;

this is a sacrifice, this is an offering, this is the mark of a grateful soul, this is a blow against the devil.

From this the blessed Job was crowned and proclaimed victor: that though ten thousand trials were brought upon him, and though his wife tried to trip him up, he was not overthrown, but continued giving thanks to the Master for all things—not only when he was rich, but even when he became poor;

not only when he was in health, but even when he was smitten in his flesh;

not only when his affairs flowed on with the current, but even when that grievous storm burst upon his whole household, and upon the very nature of his body.

For this above all is the mark of a thankful disposition: in afflictions and adversities to acknowledge great gratitude toward God, and to continue giving thanks without ceasing;

which very thing he too, hinting at it, made plain through what follows.

For since many of mankind, while they are in good cheer, give thanks, but when they suffer the contrary, are discontented;

and there are also those who find fault with the things that happen;

showing that this comes about not because of the nature of the things that befall us, but because of a perverse disposition, he went on to say:

"In the counsel of the upright and in the congregation, great are the works of the Lord."

This he said to show that there is need of an incorruptible judge and of an uncorrupted assembly, and then the works of God will be manifest—that they are great, that they are full of much wonder.

For they are indeed great in themselves, yet they are not shown to be great unless one has an upright judge.

Since the sun also is in itself bright and radiant, and shines upon the whole inhabited world; yet to those who are diseased in their eyes it is not such.

But the fault is not the sun's; rather it is the defect of their weakness.

Whenever, therefore, you see someone accusing the works of God, do not slander the works because of that man's malice, but take from God's providence the strongest proof of that man's folly.

For just as the man who calls the sun dark did not slander the star, but brought forth an exact proof of his own blindness;

and the man who names honey bitter did not obscure its sweetness, but established the verdict of accusation against his own disease;

so too is the man who finds fault with the works of God.

And just as such a man does no harm to those things, nor to men's opinion of them, but brings forth the greatest accusation against his own folly;

so too, concerning the works of God, those who do not have right judgment do not so much as know the wonders that have been wrought;

whereas if anyone should have a soul unbribed and not perverse, he will be amazed at every one even of the things that seem to be difficult.

For what, tell me, among the things that happen is not wonderful? And if you will, passing over all the rest, let us come to the things that seem to most people burdensome and grievous—death, disease, poverty, and all such things.

For if anyone should have an upright heart, he will heartily accept and marvel even at these.

For even though death entered through sin, yet so great is God's abundance, and His love toward mankind, and the exceeding measure of His care, that He has used even this for the benefit of our race.

For what, tell me, is there grievous in death? Is it not a release from labors? Is it not a loosing from cares? Do you not hear Job commending it, and saying:

"Death is rest to a man whose way is hidden." Is it not a cutting off of wickedness? For if anyone be wicked, the works of his wickedness are cut off when he dies;

for "he who has died has been justified from sin"—that is to say, he no longer adds sin to sin;

and if he depart being good, all the treasures of his virtue will lie in safety, and in an inviolable storehouse.

And the living, tell me, does it not make them more sober-minded and more forbearing? Do you not see that often, in

attending a funeral, the wealthy, puffed up and lifting their eyebrows, when they see the body lying mute and motionless, and children in orphanhood, and a wife in widowhood, and friends in dejection, and servants clothed in black, and the whole aspect of the house full of gloom—how are they humbled? how are they abased? how are they broken down? For indeed, having enjoyed ten thousand instructions and gained nothing, from that sight all at once they turn philosophers, learning both the worthlessness and perishableness of human nature, and the rottenness and instability of their own power, and foreseeing in others' misfortunes their own changes of fortune.

For if, while death exists, there are so many robberies, so many acts of greed, and, like the fishes, the more powerful swallow up the weaker;

if there were no death, when would they ever cease from their greed? For if, knowing that they will not enjoy the things they seize, but willingly and unwillingly must give them up to others, they nevertheless rage and are frenzied thus;

if they had this in security, when would the fires of their evil desire ever be quenched for them? And what more? Are not the crowns of martyrdom woven through death? And what of Paul? Did he not set up ten thousand trophies, saying:

"I die daily—by your boasting"? For death is not an evil, but an evil death is evil.

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His holy ones."

"The death of sinners is evil";

calling that death evil which is to depart with an evil conscience, weighed down and pressed by the many cares of transgressions.

Whereas he who has a clean conscience runs to the prizes, withdraws toward the crown.

And that you may learn that it is not the nature of things, but the disposition of men, that produces this turmoil, hear how Paul earnestly longs for this, now saying:

"For indeed we who are in this tabernacle groan, awaiting the adoption, the redemption of our body";

and now, in another place, declaring the same thing:

But even if I am poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and rejoice together with you all.

And in the same manner do you also rejoice, and rejoice together with me.

But if death is not burdensome, but rather even longed for by those who live rightly, how much more is poverty and all other things.

Sought out unto all His good pleasures.

Here He seems to me to be discoursing about the creatures, proclaiming aloud the wisdom of God;

but higher up he was speaking of His works, although we too, for the sake of the faint-hearted and of another meaning, laid hold of these — the prodigies, the wonders, which He has often accomplished while ordering the race of men.

But what does it mean, 'Sought out unto all His good pleasures'? Made exact, he says — as another translator also put it — prepared, completed, brought into being, fulfilled, sufficient to accomplish His good pleasures, able to bear witness to His power, not limping nor falling short in carrying out His commands; which is what He says elsewhere also:

Fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy wind fulfilling His word;

that is to say, His commands.

Thus the Prophet also said:

He made the moon for seasons; the sun knows its going down;

You appointed darkness, and it became night.

And not only do these accomplish the things for which they were made;

but even if He commands the contrary, here too there is great obedience.

He gave command to the sea, and it not only did not drown, which was its natural work, but having spread out its waves, it carried the people of the Jews across more securely than upon rock. The furnace not only did not burn, but even furnished a whistling dew.

The wild beasts not only did not devour, but even took the place of bodyguards over Daniel.

The sea-monster not only did not swallow him down, but even kept the deposit safe and sound.

The earth not only did not bear up, but even, more grievously than the sea,

drowned them down, when it opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered over the congregation of Abiram;

and one might see many another marvel wrought among the things that exist;

so that those who are exceedingly foolish, and who deify nature, may learn that things are not led by the tyranny of nature, but that all things yield and give way to the counsel of God.

For this is the Maker of nature, who refashions all existing things according to what seems good to Him, now keeping their bounds unmoved, and now, whenever He wills, easily plucking them up and changing them into their opposite.

Sought out unto all His good pleasures.

Unto His commands, he says, unto His injunctions;

and not only unto His injunctions, but also unto His being known by men, which is indeed His foremost will, and for the sake of which He especially made these things.

What then the Prophet says is of this sort:

that they are so perfectly completed as to implant in the minds of men, for those who give heed and possess understanding, a most exact and clear and most distinct knowledge concerning Him.

For to this end especially did His will from the beginning fashion them — by their magnitude, their beauty, their position, their operation, their ministry, and by all else stirring up the soul of the beholder, and rousing the mind to seek the Creator and supremely skilled Craftsman, God, and to worship Him who made them, so that the whole body of creation might become, in place of books and letters, a means of instruction.

And the creatures introduce for us the greatest teaching not only unto the knowledge of God, but also unto the ordering of our life.

For the covetous man, when he sees the day yielding to the night, and the sun to the moon, will feel shame before the good order of the elements, and even though he be more powerful, will not covet the possessions of those weaker than himself;

and the adulterer and licentious man, when he sees the sea raging, and then being bridled at the shore, once more feeling shame before the good order of these unruly waters, will quickly be able to lay low his own surging lust, and by the fear of Christ to bridle its onward rush, and to break up all the foam of this licentious impulse, and to lead it back to self-control.

And concerning the resurrection also, by looking upon the dry land he will easily be able to philosophize, and to receive the teaching concerning it.

For when he sees the earth receiving a solid grain of wheat, then first dissolving and rotting it, and bringing forth something far better;

when he sees the vine in winter stripped of leaves, and tendrils, and clusters, itself a dry stock, like the dry bones, then, when spring is come, recovering all its comeliness;

in the bodies of the plants and of the seeds, which rise again after they have been destroyed, he will be able also concerning his own flesh to philosophize.

And industriousness again he will learn from the ant, and love of the beautiful from the bee, and the spirit of fellowship, just as the Proverb says:

Go to the ant, O sluggard, and be zealous for its ways, and become wiser than it.

For that creature, though it has no farm, nor anyone compelling it, nor is under a master, prepares its food in summer, and lays up a great store at the harvest.

Or go to the bee, and learn how she is a worker;

whose labors both kings and common men bring to themselves for health.

And yet, though feeble in strength, because she honored wisdom she was advanced to honor.

For the bee herself will once again discourse with you, teaching you not to admire without discernment the beauty of bodies when the soul possesses no virtue, nor to despise unshapeliness when the soul happens to be adorned.

This very thing, then, the author of the Proverbs also declared when he said:

Small among winged things is the bee, yet her fruit is the chief of sweet things.

Consider for me the birds, and from them you will receive true philosophy.

It is for this reason, too, that Christ said:

Behold the birds of the heaven, that they neither sow nor reap, and your heavenly Father feeds them.

For if the irrational creatures take no anxious thought about food, what defense will you have, who do not display even so great a disdain for present things as the birds do? And if you also wish to despise adornment, the flowers of the field will train you not to be a lover of the world's finery.

This very thing Christ also declared when he said:

Behold the lilies of the field, how they neither spin nor toil.

Amen I say to you, that not even Solomon was arrayed like one of these.

Whenever, therefore, you are eager over the beauty of garments, consider that however much you strive for the prize, the victory rests with the grass, and you will not be able to contend against it;

and so put an end to this irrational madness.

And there are many other things too—from the irrational creatures, from the flowers, and from the seeds—by which one may practice true philosophy.

Confession and majesty are his work.

That is to say, each of his works;

for he certainly does not say these things concerning one single work.

But another interpreter said:

Praise and dignity is his handiwork;

while this one has, Confession—that is, thanksgiving and glory.

For each of the things seen is sufficient to conduct the beholder to thanksgiving, to a hymn, to praise, to the giving of glory.

Why is this? For what purpose is this? Yes, and the darkness and the day, and famine and abundance, and the desert and the uninhabited waste, and the rich and deep-soiled land, and life and death, and all the things that are seen, are for those who study them with exactness sufficient and able to rouse them to thanksgiving.

This, at any rate, God declared through one of the prophets, when he counted his punishments as benefactions, saying:

I overthrew them, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah;

I smote them with burning and with jaundice.

I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage I redeemed them;

reckoning his punishments as benefactions.

For indeed these things too are the acts of one benefiting, correcting, disciplining, guiding as a tutor, and cutting away wickedness.

For men do some things out of kindness, but other things out of hatred and aversion;

but God does all things in love: for instance, in kindness he set man in paradise, and again in kindness he cast him out of paradise;

in kindness he brought about the flood, and in kindness he brought down that fire upon the Sodomites.

And whatever of the things that have happened one might name, he does each of them for a benefaction.

In kindness he threatened even hell;

and just as fathers are fathers not only when tending their children but also when striking them, and are no less fathers in striking than in tending them;

For what son is there whom a father does not discipline? And Solomon says:

For whom the Lord loves he disciplines;

and he scourges every son whom he receives.

His righteousness abides unto the age of the age.

This, it seems to me, he says here on account of those who are made to stumble at the hardships that befall some contrary to their expectations, all but exhorting them and saying:

Be not disturbed when you see men slandered, treated with insolence, and suffering wrongfully beyond their desert;

For there abides an incorruptible tribunal, there abides a pure verdict, rendering to each according to his desert.

But if you seek that verdict now, take heed lest you first pronounce the sentence against your own self.

For if God were to bring punishment upon each single sin, and to pronounce the just sentence upon each of those who transgress, the race of men would long ago have been swept away.

And why do I speak of this man or that? For bringing into our midst the chief of all men, I will try to demonstrate this very thing—that Paul, that herald to the whole world, who was caught up to the third heaven, who was borne into

paradise, who shared in the awesome mysteries, the chosen vessel, the bridal escort of Christ, who displayed an angelic manner of life, who attained to such great virtue—

For if He had not been willing to be long-suffering toward him, nor to bear with him, but at the very moment when he was sinning and blaspheming and persecuting had brought the just sentence hard upon his heels, He would long ago have snatched him away before his repentance.

Therefore he himself, knowing this, said:

I give thanks to Christ who strengthened me, that He counted me faithful, appointing me to the ministry, though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and insolent;

but I obtained mercy, that in me first Christ might display all long-suffering, as a pattern for those who were to believe on Him unto life everlasting.

And what of this? If He had chastised the harlot, when would she have been changed? And what of this? If He had exacted the penalty of Matthew the tax-collector at the time of his tax-gathering, before his change, would He not have snatched him away before his repentance? So too the robber, so too the magi, so too each one of those who sin.

For this very reason He holds back His wrath and the recompense according to desert, calling men to repentance.

But if they remain uncorrected, they will assuredly undergo the just sentence.

Wherefore the Prophet, both consoling those who are wronged and bringing to soberness those who do wrong, added the words: His righteousness abides unto the ages.

And what he means to say by this is somewhat as follows:

Do not you, the one who is wronged, if you should end your life without obtaining what is just, fall into despair;

for after your departure from this world you will assuredly receive the recompense for your toils;

and do not you again, the one who plunders all things and defrauds and throws all into confusion, if you should end your life in peace, take courage;

for you will render an account of all things after your departure from this world, and you will pay the recompense of your wickedness.

For God is one who abides forever, and has a righteousness that abides forever, in no way interrupted by death, neither as regards the recompense of the toils undertaken for virtue's sake, nor as regards the requital of the punishments due for wickedness.

He made a remembrance of His wonders.

What does it mean, He made a remembrance of His wonders? He did not cease, it says, from continually working wonders.

For this is what He made a remembrance means:

He did not cease, He did not desist, throughout every generation, from working wonders and rousing the more dull-witted by means of His marvels.

For the lofty and philosophic soul will have no need of signs;

For blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed.

But since He cares not for these alone, but also for the more dull-witted, He does not cease from working wonders in well-nigh every generation.

For the whole creation of visible things is indeed a sufficient work of wonder;

yet nevertheless, rousing the sluggishness of the many, in the midst of this great theatre He displayed many marvels, both privately and in common—such as that at the Flood, that at the confusion of tongues, the things concerning Sodom, the things concerning Abraham, the things concerning Isaac, the things concerning Jacob, the things in Egypt, the things at the Exodus of the Jews, the things in the wilderness, the things in the land of Palestine, the things in Babylon, the things after the Return, the things in the days of the Maccabees, the things after the coming of Christ, the things at the coming itself, the things happening down to this very day—the overthrow of Jerusalem, the building up of the Church, the word that runs everywhere, that was lifted up through waves, that was increased through wars, the multitudes of the martyrs, and all the rest.

And one might behold many particular wonders as well, both such as have happened in a household and such as in cities.

But for the present let us look at the universal ones, plain and known to all, which come to pass in every generation.

How many things came to pass under Julian, who surpassed all men in impiety, when the Church was being warred upon? How many under Maximinus? How many before those emperors? And if you wish, consider also the things that befell in our own generation—such as the crosses that were suddenly imprinted upon garments, the temple of Apollo laid low by a thunderbolt, the translation of the holy martyr Babylas at Daphne,

and the manifest victory over the demon, the strange death of the steward of the royal treasures, the very slaying of the emperor himself—of Julian, who surpassed all men in impiety—and the destruction of that uncle of his, the springs teeming with worms, and countless other things: the famine, the drought, the scarcity of waters that fell upon the cities together with him, and countless other things everywhere.

And you have come to know the things that befell at that time in Palestine.

For when the Jews wished to rebuild that temple which had been thrown down by the verdict of God, fire leaping out from the foundations drove them all away, and the work bears witness by remaining unfinished.

Compassionate and merciful is the Lord; He has given food to those who fear Him.

Having proclaimed His benefactions—those wrought through wonders, those wrought through works—and the care that has been shown on our behalf, by this too he again enlarges his discourse, showing that, having done so many and so great things for the salvation of men, and having instructed them in every way, and instructing them unto the knowledge of God and the highest philosophy, and upholding their life, He does not do this as a matter of debt (which would be the greatest grace), but out of mercy and love for mankind—not as though He Himself had need of them, but solely out of goodness.

He has given food to those who fear Him.

For what reason has he here set down those who fear Him? For surely He does not feed these alone.

For also in the Gospel He says, that He makes His sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and sends rain upon the just and the unjust.

How then did he say, To those who fear Him? By food here he seems to me to mean not the food of the body, but that of the soul.

For this reason he speaks only concerning those who fear him;

for this has been set apart for these.

For just as the body is nourished, so also is the soul nourished.

'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'

This, then, is the nourishment of which he speaks, which he gave in a special manner to those who fear him: the instruction that comes through the word, the discipline, and the whole of true wisdom.

'He will be mindful of his covenant for ever.'

Again, restraining the arrogance of the Jews and cutting short their conceit, or rather showing that the good things they enjoyed they enjoyed not on account of their own worthiness, but on account of his friendship toward their fathers and the covenants that had been made with those men, he says:

'He will be mindful of his covenant for ever;'

which very thing Moses also charged them to say and to bear in mind as they were entering into the land of promise.

'For if you build,' he says, 'splendid cities, and gird yourself about with abundance of riches, do not say that these things have come to pass because of my righteousness, but because of the covenants with your fathers.'

For nothing is worse than arrogance;

therefore in every way and at all times God continually cuts it off.

'He declared the power of his works to his people, to give them the inheritance of the nations.'

He shifts his discourse from the universal to the particular;

from the things that came to pass throughout the whole inhabited world, to the things that befell the Jews.

And indeed, if one were to examine the matter accurately, these too hold the rank of universal things.

For the things that happened toward them became instruction for the others; and the wars, and the trophies, and the victories were enough, in place of a proclamation, for those who gave heed.

For these things came about not by any human sequence of cause and effect, but beyond all reason.

For what natural sequence was there in this: that at their trumpet-blast the walls were cast down; that a woman leading the army should conquer and prevail; and that a little child should overthrow barbarian armies by the cast of a single stone? And other marvels of this kind likewise came to pass.

Thus they overcame their enemies; thus they cast them out of Palestine.

When, therefore, he says, 'He declared the power of his works to his people,' he means nothing other than this:

he displayed his power, not merely by casting out the nations, but in such a manner that one could most clearly know that, even if the earlier things had sufficed—when the blow inflicted upon those peoples was sent from God, and with him leading the army the affairs of the enemy were being decided.

For it was not merely by words, but also by deeds that he instructed them: through their sandals, through their garments, through their food, through the light by night and by day, through the cloud, through wars, through peace, through trophies, through husbandry, through rains; and all these things sent forth a voice proclaiming the Master, and pricking their hardened understanding; and no span of time was left in which he did not continually display his signs.

'The works of his hands are truth and judgment.'

Since he had discoursed concerning his power, he discourses also concerning his righteous judgment—namely, that he displayed in the things he then did not only power, but also great righteousness.

For he did not simply cast out the nations because he wished to bring the Jews in, but did so with justice.

Therefore Moses also said in another place:

'For the iniquities of the Amorites are not yet filled up.'

And these things are to be said not only of the Jews and of what befell them, but again the saying is universal.

For all things done by him are truth and judgment;

'judgment'—that is to say, righteousness.

But Scripture often knows to call loving-kindness 'truth' as well.

What he says, then, is of this sort: that he mingled all things together with righteousness and loving-kindness.

For if he had employed only the principle of strict justice, all would have perished.

Wherefore this same prophet says in another place:

'Enter not into judgment with your servant;'

'for in your sight shall no living man be justified.'

'If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?' All things, then, done by him are full of both of these.

For if he were to demand only what is just, all would have been destroyed;

but if he employed loving-kindness alone, the greater number would become more slothful.

For this reason, diversifying the salvation of mankind, He has employed both of these means for their correction.

All His commandments are faithful.

What He does in many places He accomplishes here also: passing from the wisdom displayed in the manifold creation and from His providential care over to the giving of the law, and thus again setting in motion this same part of His providence.

For it was not only by creating a creation so vast and so great, but also by laying down the law, that He set the human race aright.

Wherefore also in the eighteenth psalm, having divided both these parts, he said at the beginning:

The heavens declare the glory of God;

and when he came to the middle, and had completed the discourse concerning the creation, he added:

The law of the Lord is blameless, converting souls;

the commandment of the Lord is radiant, enlightening the eyes.

So here too, having spoken concerning His portents and wonders and works, he turns his discourse to the theme of the commandments, saying thus:

All His commandments are faithful, established for ever and ever, made in truth and uprightness.

He did not say simply, 'All,' but, stirring up a vast host of commandments, he set down this word.

For there are also the commandments of the creation, which all creation observes: sun and moon, day and night, the stars, and the course of the earth and of nature.