詩篇註釋殘篇 第 1 章 第 28/40 段

O Master, who fashionest toil upon Thy ordinances, that they be not despised because of their easiness;

for Thou willest that those who come to them should accomplish them with sweat and labour.

For thus it comes to pass that endurance and patience are acquired;

for 'He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.'

...the soul of the righteous; and putting on the guise of being judges and magistrates, they condemn innocent blood.

By 'throne of injustice' he meant the tyrannical rule of the devil.

For the devil drove on to such a pitch of wickedness that he became equivalent to depraved habit itself.

For Scripture calls him 'lawlessness' instead of 'lawless one,' and 'perdition' instead of 'the one perished';

in one place saying to him, 'Thou art become perdition' (in this manner Judas too was styled 'son of perdition,' having become a son of Satan), and in another place naming him 'lawlessness';

for those who have become his children it calls 'sons of lawlessness,' as it says concerning Christ, 'And the son of lawlessness shall not proceed to afflict him.'

His shield-bearers are the workers of iniquity, concerning whom it says, 'Who will rise up for me against the evildoers, or who will stand with me against the workers of iniquity?' And these are demons and wicked men, who through craftiness do the aforesaid things against the innocent and the righteous.

They exhort to confession—either for the evils they have done, or, giving thanks to God for the good things they have received from Him, to Him who appeared and shone upon them, who is His countenance, being the express image of His substance;

for He is the image of the invisible God.

It is possible to refer the third line to the first and the fourth to the second, understanding it thus concerning coming to exult in the Lord:

We came before His face in confession, but also we shout aloud to God our Saviour in psalms.

And the psalms with which they shout aloud to the Lord are the deeds by which they act well-pleasingly to Him; for the word 'psalm' suggests some such thing.

He calls 'gods' those whom Scripture calls angels.

And He reigns over these too, who became gods, to whom the word of God came.

Grasping hold of all the earth, the Word, according to the principle of providence, holds in His own hand what are called the ends of the earth;

for His possession is the ends of the earth, since He holds sway over the ends of the earth.

Since the parts of the earth and the mountains too belong to the Lord Himself (and these are 'the high places' among them), it should be noted that throughout all Scripture the doctrine of those who circumscribe providence within the bounds of the moon is refuted.

For not here alone is He said to hold sway over the ends of the earth, but in many places; indeed He is Lord of the earth even as of heaven:

'For I give thanks to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and of earth.'

In an inward sense, those alone come to be in the sheltering and all-powerful hand of God who come to be beyond the earth in understanding and manner of life;

whence no one is able to snatch them away, since they are in the hand of the Father and in the hand of the Son.

These ends of the earth, according to another conception, might be the sheep of Christ, concerning whom the Lord says: 'My sheep hear my voice, and I give unto them eternal life;'

'and no one shall snatch them out of my hand,' and what follows;

'no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand.'

Since therefore the ends of the earth that have been interpreted are in the hand of God, fittingly the high places of the mountains too are His, the mountains being God-fearing men set apart in life and mind.

And in a special sense there belong to Him those who excel, whom He named 'the high places of the mountains';

or perhaps the ends of the earth are the men who walk upon the earth, but have their citizenship and their heart in heaven because they have laid up their treasure there, while the angels are styled 'high mountains.'

It should be noted that the dry land is said to have been fashioned not by a hand but by hands, as in 'The heavens are the works of Thy hands,' and 'Thy hands have made me and fashioned me.'

But we must inquire what these creative hands are;

for one hand of God, confessedly active, is God the Word; yet with this hand another also is joined, throughout many Scriptures, being likewise creative.

It seemed good to divine men who had become disciples of the apostles to say that the creative hands of God are the Only-begotten and the Holy Spirit.

Of this opinion Irenaeus especially was, from which it is plainly an ancient doctrine that posits the Holy Spirit also as not made but as maker.

Not by going from one place to another to worship God do they exhort one another;

for the worship is no longer local, as it was when Jerusalem and the temple there stood.

For they worship the Lord, according to the prophet, each one from his own place, not sensibly and bodily, but in spirit and in truth.

They come, therefore, rather by disposition than by change of place, those who worship and fall down before Him, bowing the knee to Him and confessing Him to be God—not those on earth only, but also those in the heavens and in the regions beneath the earth, weeping before Him the weeping that comes of repentance, or in as many ways as we have said that some weep and grieve.

But blameless and free from every stain is the weeping of him who takes courage to appear before the Lord.

They state the reason for which they perform the things enjoined, saying, 'For He is our God, and we are the sheep of His pasture,' the relationship of the people to God being made manifest through this phrase.

We are the people of His pasture, because He gave Himself to become our God;

for since He is our God, we too are the people of His pasture;

and since we are the people of His pasture, He is our God.

And being the people of His pasture, we are also the sheep of His hand, since He is our shepherd.

Wherefore no one shall snatch us out of His right hand;

'For I too give unto them eternal life, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.'

The apostle, having declared that these words as far as the end of the psalm were spoken by the Holy Spirit, set them down in the Epistle to the Hebrews, in a manner also supplying an interpretation for them.

He interpreted the word 'today,' referring it to the whole present age; for each day of the age is signified by the word 'today.'

For each day of the age is signified through the word 'today.'

The heart is hardened in the same manner as the heart of Pharaoh, which, inclining toward wickedness and made hard and resistant by all sin, showed itself unyielding.

Therefore, having put away this savagery, let us incline our ear to God who calls, that we may become righteous.

But another says that the phrase 'I was grieved' means: I became wearied — not with every generation, but with that one which ever lives in error because it is unwilling to have the knowledge of God.

He said that God, being angered, swore that they should not enter into His rest; and he said these things in the seventy-first psalm.

Since Paul also has expounded this passage, we shall say nothing more than what was said then.

The rational soul, made according to the image and likeness of God, is the house of its Maker, especially when it lives in virtue; but when it sins it is taken captive and is cast down, so that it is no longer a temple of God.

God therefore said concerning certain persons: 'My Spirit shall not abide in these men forever, because they are flesh.'

For of old, while the divine Spirit dwelt in them, they were His temple.

But when, by sinning, they became flesh, taking up a passion-ridden and material disposition, then He who dwelt in them departed, and they suffered ruin at the hands of the evil spirits that took them captive.

Just as, then, the one who sins, having become a captive, ceases to be God's house — the edifice built out of virtues being dissolved — so the one who turns back to God through repentance is not only redeemed from captivity, but is also founded and built up as God's house through uprightness of mind and of most excellent deeds.

And this is what the superscription set at the head of the psalm makes plain.

For after the captivity, when the house had been rebuilt, a thanksgiving song is sent up by those who had fared well, for the release from captivity and the dedication of the divine house.

For the house appears to have been rebuilt in the times of Ezra, after the captivity.

One must say, then, concerning such a restoration of the house to its ancient state, that David, having beheld it more prophetically, composed the song for the dedication of the house.

They sing the song who have put off the old man and put on the new, which is renewed unto becoming according to the image of him that created it, having received the newness of Christ's teaching by being made disciples in the new covenant.

Here, then, all the earth is commanded to sing, while in the sixty-fifth psalm to worship; for it says: 'Let all the earth worship you and sing praise to you.'

'For let all the earth worship you and sing praise to you.'

And in Habakkuk it is said, 'All the earth is full of his praise' (that is, of God); and elsewhere, 'The whole earth is full of his glory.'

All these, then, who sing to God, are commanded, besides singing to Him, also to bless His name.

For through good works and knowledge of the truth one blesses and glorifies the name of God.

It is said, at any rate, in the Gospel: 'Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.'

For since the appellation of God has been invoked upon us, in doing all things according to right reason, through the blessing with which we bless, we effect — that is, we bear — the name of the Lord.

For it not being otherwise, we pray that it may become blessed and holy.

With precision, as far as was possible, this has been discussed in the thirty-third psalm, on the words 'Let us exalt his name together.'

Hence for now we content ourselves with what has been said in brief.

Give heed, if it is possible, to receive the words before us in this way also.

Those who cling to the old covenant, singing for the sake of perceptible events that come to pass, sang an old song.

For when Pharaoh, the tyrant of Egypt, was drowned, Moses with the whole Hebrew multitude sang a song, or refrain: 'Let us sing to the Lord, for he has been gloriously glorified;'

'the horse and its rider he has cast into the sea.'

And upon other events that came to pass, one may see Israel singing in a more bodily manner in the Pentateuch and in the rest of the old Scripture.

But those who have departed from the oldness of the letter, in order to be made disciples in the newness of the Spirit, over things accomplished intelligibly and spiritually sing a new song to the Lord — the devil who held the power of death having been abolished, and the tyrant of the intelligible Egypt having been sunk beneath the waters, since Jesus, by the grace of God, tasted death for every one.

And these who sing to the Lord, being freed from all curses and having partaken of the blessing supplied from God, bless the name of Him who blessed them with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

For the Holy Spirit wills that they accomplish the evangelical work with intense and unremitting zeal.

For the phrase 'from day to day' presents this: that they continually proclaim the good news of God's salvation, concerning whom it is said, 'This is truly the Savior of the world,' and again, 'For there is born to you today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.'

For as the apostles proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day, the prophecy which says, 'All flesh shall see the salvation of our God,' shall attain its fulfilment.

It is possible to understand 'from day to day' as the two covenants, the Savior being the Sun of righteousness.

Since, then, those who are commanded to proclaim the good news, being learned in the Law, already had the illumination of the first day, accordingly, being illumined out of that day unto another day — the one according to the new covenant — they announce the salvation of God.

to the nations the glory of God, which is Christ, being the effulgence of the glory of God;

concerning which it is written in Isaiah, 'The glory of God shall be seen,' and after other things, 'And the glory of God has risen upon you.'

For as Christ is the wisdom and power and truth and righteousness of God, so also He is His glory.

In addition to these things, they are also commanded to declare His wonders among all peoples, concerning which it is said to God in the thirty-ninth psalm, 'Many are the wonders you have done, O Lord my God.'

The prophet Isaiah, hymning the Author of these wonders, says, 'O Lord my God, I will glorify you, I will hymn your name, for you have done wonderful things, a purpose ancient and true.'

For Christ the Savior has done wonderful things, having freed every soul that was oppressed by the devil, having established the ancient purpose of God according to which man was upright, having been made according to the image and likeness of the Creator.

But if you also wish the wonders proclaimed among the peoples to be prodigious powers, according to which Jesus raised the dead and restored the blind to sight, and whatever else of the kind is recorded, you do not err.

Make manifest, through the doctrine of God, the purest knowledge concerning God, that the nations may have a right conception concerning God, having put away polytheistic superstition.

These things will in no way fit those who returned from Babylon in the times of Cyrus or of Darius, when the house in Judaea was being built in a perceptible manner, with Zerubbabel and Jesus the priest presiding over the building after the captivity.

For these things have been fulfilled by deeds after the coming of our Savior, when His disciples ran throughout the whole earth and proclaimed the good news of His salvation, announcing among all the nations His glory and His wonders among all peoples.

By 'salvation' he means the resurrection from the dead and the salvation after death, or even Christ Himself.

The Lord is said to be 'great' not by way of increase of magnitude and bulk (for He is incorporeal;

for it is proper to bodies to have quantity and to have bulk), but according to an incomparable pre-eminence of creative power;

for He is the Maker of the exceedingly vast heavens.

And if He is far more the Maker of the lesser parts of the world than of these, in this manner the Lord, being great, is also to be hymned and praised, and terrible above all gods — the word 'exceedingly' being applied in common.

And if we take the injunction which says 'above all gods' universally and in its proper sense, we should include also the praiseworthy gods, of whom God is God, according to the words, 'The God of gods shall be seen in Zion,' and, 'The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken' — above all, then, both the praiseworthy and the reprehensible gods the Lord is terrible, in that He is great and exceedingly praiseworthy, being the Judge and Examiner of all;

but if the statement so worded were not taken simply and universally, but concerning only the gods of the nations, then, since all the gods of the nations are demons, the Lord, who is great and exceedingly praiseworthy, is terrible above all these gods, judging them and subjecting them to punishment.

In this sense you will also take the passage in Isaiah, 'Howl, you graven images of Jerusalem and in Samaria and her works of men's hands;

so will I do also to Jerusalem and to her graven images.'

For 'graven images howling' is to be understood not as the lifeless things (for to howl belongs to what is ensouled), but as the demons signified by means of the perceptible statues.

Against the gods of the nations, then (and these are demons), the Lord who judges them will be terrible;

and they are not simply gods, but gods of the nations.

Wherefore the demons, not being truly gods, are afraid and, having the Lord as one to be feared, entreat Him not to command them to depart into the abyss, uttering a most pitiable voice: 'We beseech you, do not torment us before the time.'

of the powers, before whom I stood in His presence — since every sinner flees from standing in the presence of God;

'For transgressors shall not remain over against His eyes.'

Indeed, Adam too, together with his wife, after sinning flees from the presence of the Lord God, being ashamed, or rather being afraid to be seen by Him.

In this way also Cain the accursed goes out from the presence of the Lord God — not because it is possible to escape God and to be far from His presence, but because the wicked, holding false opinions, are deceived into supposing that they escape God's notice in the things they impiously do;

for even if they know that it is not possible to escape God's notice, yet they have such a disposition that, if it were possible, they would wish to be far from God, being ashamed before the rays of His eyes.

But the earnest stand in the presence of God by reason of much boldness and the freedom of their gaze, after the manner of genuine servants, saying, 'Look upon me and have mercy on me,' and, 'The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears unto their supplication.'

Let it not trouble you if, whereas confession and beauty are in the presence of the Lord, we have said that the one who confesses and possesses beauty is in the presence of the Lord — for often, according to Scripture also, those who possess the states are signified by the appellations of the states.

For the apostle, writing to men concerning both himself and them, says: 'That we might become (clearly, in Christ himself) the righteousness of God.'

Since confession and beauty are before God, holiness and magnificence will belong to his sanctuary.

It is the custom, by ancestral usage, for those of the circumcision to call the temple of God the 'sanctuary of God.'

Since, then, the one who confesses and has received beauty, having God within himself, becomes his temple and sanctuary, it is fitting that of such a one it is said that he has holiness and magnificence — holiness in that he partakes of the holiness of the God who is present and of Christ who, being God, is the sanctification, and also of the Holy Spirit; and magnificence in that he seeks the fitting and seemly in great and higher things.

For magnificence is what is fitting in great things, while pettiness is what is fitting in small things.

Therefore, all who wish to appear seemly in petty human glories and dignities and in perceptible things — in strength and wealth — would be petty-minded, in respect of the God who has been named 'sanctuary,' according to what has been rendered in the intelligible and spiritual virtues and in piety, all of which are great, seeking to be preeminent; and thus such a one has magnificence as a yokefellow to the holiness he has acquired.

Since, being servants of Christ, we have his name invoked upon us through accomplishing all things wisely and rationally, justly and holily, let us bring glory to the name of Christ that is upon us.

And well too is it said, 'Take up sacrifices,' that is, raise on high the notion concerning sacrifices, not slaughtering oxen in a grovelling manner and slaying the other animals, but understanding in a lofty way the things signified through these — the spiritual and heavenly sacrifices, of which the sacrifices offered in a sensible manner are figures and shadow.

And every mind that has acquired an earthy quality from its sympathy toward matter, being shaken, casts off its former and earthy disposition in order to take up a spiritual and heavenly state.

For truly this would be 'the earth being shaken' — to be transformed into heaven and to bear the image of the heavenly one.

In accord with these is what follows: 'Say among the nations, The Lord has reigned.'

For having suffered and risen from the dead, he reigned among the nations, having said, 'All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.'

The will of God henceforth being done as in heaven so also on earth, and the Lord reigning among all the nations, all the earth is shaken in the said manner before his face, so that it may take up the state of virtue, being set right by the Lord, so as to be shaken no more, having become an inhabited world instead of earth.

and of the Holy Spirit and of the divine gifts of grace.

This one who has reigned among all the nations will judge peoples in uprightness, adjudicating each in his own rank, since among them all his wonders were proclaimed, not in Israel alone.

He will judge them in uprightness, examining not their works only but also their disposition.

These things will come to pass at his second coming, when also the heavens will rejoice and the earth will be glad.

By way of anagogy, those who bear the image of the heavenly one and have their citizenship in the heavens are heavens, rejoicing at being filled with the unmixed wine that comes from the true vine — the wine that Wisdom mixed into the bowl.

Certain ones, being inferior to these heavens, are, through meekness, to inherit the high land lying above; being homonymously by metonymy called 'earth,' they are glad, rejoicing with the joy that is borne as fruit by the Holy Spirit.

But if there be some mind made savage by passions, so as, through saltiness and bitterness of character and the surging storm from disordered movements, to be named 'sea';

it is fitting that this be shaken for its benefit, so that from surge and billow it may change into stability and calm, together with its fullness — the bitter and troubled ones;

for the first benefit to those who repent is that their disordered and tumultuous impulses die.

And the souls that truly are, because they have received the seed of Jesus, rejoice as fruitful plains with joy unspeakable and full of glory, at reaping in exultation what they had ever sown in tears.

The word 'then' has reference to the world's having been set right by the Lord.

The word 'then' must also be referred to 'Let the heavens rejoice.'

For when the heavens rejoice and the earth is glad, then the trees of the wood exult.

The trees of the wood are those bearing no fruit;

but these, formerly fruitless, now bearing fruit, exult, running before the Lord who comes down hither.

For when the Lord comes to judge the earth, then the trees of the wood exult, while the trees of the paradise of delight ever rejoice.

But these do not rejoice always (for they are trees of the wood), but only when the Lord shines upon them so as to bear edible fruit and to become like the apple tree, as he says in the Song of Songs, 'As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my kinsman among the sons.'

For he alone from the beginning bore virtue as fruit, having neither known nor committed sin;

wherefore he also imparts his own fruitful quality to the trees of the wood that are with him, in the midst of which he is, being the apple tree.

The inhabited world, which he set right so that it should no longer be shaken in righteousness — this the Lord who comes will judge in righteousness.

And he will judge in truth also the peoples among whom his wonders occurred, so that to the inhabited world he may apportion the reward of holiness, judged according to its worth, and to the peoples he may hold out perfect knowledge, so that they may no longer know in part but may approach the truth face to face, taking it up and beholding it perfectly.

By the hand of the sufficient one (this is the spiritual David, who according to the flesh came from his seed) the earth is established, every tumult and warlike disturbance being dissolved by him;

or the earth is established, taking up a settled state inasmuch as it received the seed to bear fruit unto 100 and 60 and 30 (Ρ = 100, Ξ = 60, Λ = 30), those who sow for themselves unto righteousness so as to multiply the produce of righteousness of the things sown by Jesus.

Wherefore also the Lord reigns — not having come from not reigning at all to reigning, but from not ruling over sinners to coming, once they have repented, to the kingdom.

Therefore all the earth exults, being commanded to do this because the Lord has reigned over all of it.

'Men,' that is, also the churches.

You can also call 'islands' the souls firm in virtue, washed over by the surging storm and tempest of the passions, yet suffering nothing at all from them.

Into all the aforesaid minds you will take up what is said by God: 'Be renewed toward me, O islands.'

For the aforesaid islands, being renewed by the instruction of the new covenant, will receive the word concerning the wonder-working powers of God from those able to declare it sufficiently, as the Spirit says: 'His virtues (that is, God's) they shall declare among the islands.'

And all these things being present to the islands, it comes about that they rejoice perfectly.

'Cloud and darkness are round about him' — not bodily;

for if the things surrounding were bodies, then the one surrounded would also be a body, or at least would make use of a body;

but God is incorporeal, or rather beyond bodies, and so too is his only-begotten Son insofar as he is God the Word.

He now says, for the demonstration of his incomprehensibility, that cloud and darkness are about him;

and perhaps the cloud signifies the potable words flowing from him, while the darkness signifies the obscurity of his incomprehensibility.

It has been said, at any rate, earlier as well: 'And he bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under his feet';

for the hard-to-behold — or rather incomprehensible to the mind of created beings — character of his going, according to which he goes creatively and providentially, is set forth through 'Darkness under his feet.'

But if it is fitting to take these things concerning the Savior according to the incarnation, consider whether the human nature that was assumed in indivisible union can be called a 'cloud round about him,' fulfilling the prophecy that says: 'Behold, the Lord sits upon a light cloud and will come into Egypt.'

For he came, setting foot upon the inhabited world allegorically called 'Egypt,' and — so to speak — presiding kingly upon a light cloud that has no weight of sin at all;

for he did no sin, in order that through this cloud he might give drink to the whole world.

But since the Lord's mounting upon the aforesaid cloud has much that is hard to behold, fittingly darkness too, together with the cloud, is about him.

'Righteousness and judgment are the establishing of his throne;

fire shall go before him and burn up his enemies round about.'

The establishing of the throne of his kingdom is righteousness and judgment, since as one who reigns he is a righteous judge.

For 'with righteousness a throne of rule is prepared.'

Hence, he being a righteous judge, fire going before him burns up all his enemies.

The enemies of the word of righteousness are those who act irrationally and unjustly, just as those who hold false opinions and lie are opposed to the truth;

and the friendship of the world too has been said to make one an enemy to God.

If, then, one should wish to be a friend of the world, he is established as an enemy of God, since those who embrace the material and more worldly manner of life are shown to be enemies of God.

These enemies, then, the fire going before the Lord burns — not consuming and destroying their substance (for the subsistence of their soul is immortal), but doing away with the works of the flesh and material mindsets that have grown up around them;

hence the Savior prays that the fire be kindled which he came to cast upon the earth, so that all earthly things may be consumed.

One must not consider this fire to be of the same kind as that which consumes combustible materials, but of another substance, differing much from the flame among us.