MONITION
Savile and Fronto Ducaeus rightly held the following homily to be spurious. It possesses nothing that savors of Chrysostom. The style is entirely foreign to his manner of speaking. Yet, upon frequent reading of it, I seemed to myself to be reading Eusebius of Caesarea; for this reason, I consulted his Commentary on the Psalms and discovered that this homily—if indeed it can truly be called a homily—is nothing other than the Commentary of Eusebius on this Psalm, and indeed almost always word for word, with only a few things added here and there.
ON PSALM LI
A 4. *To the end, for understanding, to David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him: David is come into the house of Abimelech.* B Why dost thou glory in malice, thou that art mighty? All the day hath thy tongue devised injustice; as a sharpened razor, thou hast wrought deceit. Thou hast loved malice more than goodness; and iniquity rather than to speak righteousness. Thou hast loved all the words of ruin, O deceitful tongue.
1. The fifty-first Psalm was spoken by David C when he changed his countenance before Abimelech, and he let him go, and he departed (Ps. 33:1). And this one follows it according to the history. For the Book of Kings says: *And there was one of the servants of Saul there on that day* (1 Kings 21:7). It signifies the time when David came into the house of Abimelech and ate the loaves of proposition, having taken them from the high priest, when he also changed his countenance before Abimelech, and he let him go, and he departed. For at that very time, it says, there was there one of the servants of Saul, Doeg the Syrian, grazing the mules of Saul, who afterwards came to Saul and said: I have seen the son of Jesse coming to Nob to Abimelech the son of Achitob the priest. And he asked of him by God, and gave him provisions; and the sword of Goliath the Philistine he gave him. And the king sent to call Abimelech the priest, and all the sons of his father, the priests of the Lord who were in Nob, and they all came to the king; when also, at the command of Saul, that same Doeg D slew the priests of the Lord, three hundred and five men bearing the ephod; and he smote Nob, the city of the priests, with the edge of the sword, from man to woman, from infant to suckling, and calf, and ass, and sheep with the edge of the sword.
Having learned that David had done these things in this manner, he brings forth the words set before us, which contain neither ode, nor hymn, nor psalm, nor anything of the sort. For how was it possible for him to sing odes and psalms upon the calamity of such priests? Wherefore nothing of the sort is inscribed; but only *To the end*, it is said, and *For understanding*, since the final words are indicative of good things, in which he says: *But I, as a fruitful olive tree in the house of God, have hoped in the mercy of God for ever and ever* (v. 10). And the understanding of the words set forth here stands in need of that which is from God.
When he was with Abimelech and had departed from the priestly food, having changed his taste—or, according to the interpretation of others, his manner—he sent up blessings and thanksgivings to God, saying: *I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be always in my mouth*, and what follows. But now, when he knew of the action of the devil Doeg, and how he slew so many priests by using a diabolical work, he composes the words set before us to him, saying: *Why dost thou glory in malice, thou that art mighty? All the day hath thy tongue... thy tongue hath devised injustice.*
The things handled here were spoken long before the times of the history of the fiftieth Psalm. For while Saul was still living, and even before David reigned, these things had both been done and said; but many long years later, after the death of Saul, and towards the end of his own reign, David makes the confession in the fiftieth, which he placed first because of the sequence with the forty-ninth Psalm, as has been demonstrated.
But the twenty [Psalms] ascribed to David from the fifty-first to the seventieth have received their subject matter from another beginning. They seem therefore to have been spoken while Saul was still living, before David reigned. For this one in hand was spoken while Saul was still living: *When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul that David had come into the house of Abimelech.* But also the fifty-third, *When the Ziphites came and said to Saul: Behold, is not David hidden with us?* was so spoken. And the fifty-fifth, *when the Philistines held him in Geth*, is so inscribed. And this time itself was before the reign of David, while Saul was still living in the body. And the fifty-sixth is inscribed: *To David, when he fled from the face of Saul into the cave.* Likewise also the fifty-eighth. When, he says, Saul sent and I watched his house to slay him. Yet the fifty-ninth, even if it were spoken after the death of Saul, when David was already reigning, is nevertheless itself prior to the affair concerning Uriah; which is indeed signified by the inscription, which reveals the time, saying: *When he burned Mesopotamia of Syria, and Syria of Sobal, and Joab returned and smote the valley of salt, twelve thousand.* These things precede in time the confession in the fiftieth Psalm. Moreover, the sixty-second Psalm was spoken by David, *When he was in the wilderness of Judea*, while Saul was still living. And observe how almost the greater part of the second section of the Book of Psalms of David, with the exception of the fiftieth, has contained those things spoken by him long ago before the times of the affair concerning Uriah. The first part [of] the same book, from the first up to the fortieth, had the opposite order. For that section contained the things after the confession of the fiftieth. The third Psalm, therefore, was spoken by David, *When he fled from the face of Absalom his son*; and he fled from his son after the story of Uriah.
A
The seventh also, when it was spoken concerning the words of Cush the son of Jemini, looked indeed to the same times. For Cush, who was a chief friend to David, was with Absalom (2 Reg. 15. 32). Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that the seventeenth Psalm was spoken at the end of David’s life. But also the thirty-seventh, which is inscribed, *For remembrance*, having the same sentiment as the sixth, begins with the same words, saying: *O Lord, rebuke me not in thy fury, nor chastise me in thy wrath*; and proceeding forward, it utters the same confession as that which is held in the fiftieth, both in other words, and especially when it says, *For my iniquities have gone over my head; my wounds have stunk and are corrupt because of my foolishness* (v. 5, 6). And you yourself also, by gathering it together, will find that most of those things which are contained in the first part of the Psalms were said after the history of Uriah; and on the contrary, that those things which follow the fiftieth Psalm precede that deed against Uriah in time.
Why David did not follow the order of time
Why then, as the series of times demanded, were those who are first in time not placed first, and likewise the later ones later, but rather the former—which were spoken while Saul was still living—were placed in the second part of the Psalms, and on the contrary, those which are later in time were placed in the first part? In my opinion, they were placed in this order for this reason: that one might not be carried from better things to worse. For there are very few. *Unto the end, destroy not* (Ps. 56. 1, and 71. 1). Wherefore, the sadder things were placed first, that the more joyful things might be reserved for the second place, the worse things being, as it were, covered and extinguished, owing to the more joyful things that follow thereafter. B It is likely, however, that David wished to cover his subsequent sin by those things which were done by him previously. And it may also be said that, because of his singular piety, he placed the confessions first, since *the just man is his own accuser in the beginning of his discourse* (Prov. 18. 17). But these things concerning the order of the Psalms and the reason for it having been brought forward by me, it is now time that we proceed to explain the voices of the fifty-first Psalm. C
He committed these words to letters, therefore, after he found out what Doeg the Syrian had designed through those calumnies which he had stirred up against him. Therefore, he directs his speech as it were toward him, saying: *Why boastest thou in malice, O thou that art mighty?* He who is weak and feeble and small in vice, with good morals abounding in him, is, as it were, weaker in vice, and is affected with shame when he sins; and, being agitated by the goads of conscience, he may perhaps repent and, through confession and sincere penance, devise remedies for his vice. But he who is mighty in wickedness prides himself in it and boasts, as if glorying in some distinguished and excellent deed. And to me, the present discourse seems to describe manners contrary to those who were commemorated in the fiftieth Psalm. For in that one, he who had once fallen into sin was led by repentance and macerated himself, confessing his own crime and pursuing his own evils with mourning; but this one, as being mighty in wickedness, does not even heed external reproofs, but rather, as if he were practicing virtue, he is pleased with his vice, and boasts—so affected that he has wiped away all shame regarding those things which his conscience objects to him. D Then also, *all the day hath thy tongue devised injustice*. Or, as Symmachus translates, *Each day*. But also he carries the thoughts of wickedness on his tongue, not hiding them in the inner storehouses of the soul, but exposing them to all who hear. Whence it was also said, *Thy tongue hath devised injustice*. Of this kind are they who, without any fear and without any covering of words, speak shameful things, or rashly utter impious words, or use various lies and perjuries, or finally openly bring forth calumnies against others. Such also was Doeg, as one who had constructed so many calumnies against David and Abimelech. And indeed, he who is mighty in wickedness carries impious thoughts on his tongue, whereas he who is inferior in vice, although he may have thoughts that are by no means pure, yet he hides them and, as much as he is able, endeavors to extinguish and destroy them within himself. And furthermore, he who is mighty in wickedness, *like a sharp razor, hath wrought deceit*, as one who might lead into fraud with very soft words him to whom snares are being prepared, while secretly setting his mind upon his destruction. This also Doeg the Syrian was doing, as one who was indeed present then in the city of the priests, when David had betaken himself to Abimelech, but craftily observed those things which were being done; and he said nothing openly then, nay, perhaps he even feigned friendship toward David and the priests, but afterwards showed who he was, and vomited forth the fraud which he was hiding in himself like a poison. The same man, moreover, with two things proposed, namely injustice and probity, when he ought to have chosen the more excellent, valued injustice more; and when he could have been in probity, he embraced injustice instead. For he was acting unjustly when he calumniated the priest and commemorated those things which had by no means been done. For that he had consulted God for David’s sake was false. For Scripture witnessed nothing of this kind. Yet it was permitted to him to speak justice also, by instructing Saul that the priest did not have the least knowledge of the cause for which David was withdrawing, but rather that he took him in kindly as a friend of the king, and for the sake of the honor of him who had sent him for some royal business. Nor indeed was he giving him provisions; for there were no loaves at hand for him, with which David could be provided as if with some ration. For the priest answered David this also in these words: *There are no common loaves here, but only the loaves of proposition* (1 Reg. 21. 4). And he, in his piety and necessity, goes beyond that which was decreed by the laws, sharing the loaves of proposition with him as if with a good and holy man. He would surely have spoken justice if he had wished; but he, using false calumnies, *loved injustice more than to speak equity*. And furthermore, *he hath loved all the words of ruin, a deceitful tongue*. For he perpetrated all things which looked to the snares and to the slaughter of the priest as well as of all the others who were affected with death with him. Wherefore, *the words of ruin* are called the speeches of Doeg. For he submerged the entire city of the priests through his words, as if into the deep. But these things, indeed, not Doeg alone, but also anyone who is mighty in iniquity will have perpetrated, freely abusing the power of vice. But what punishment follows him from the divine judgment is shown next in these words: *7. Therefore will God destroy thee for ever, he will pluck thee out, and remove thee from thy tabernacle, and thy root out of the land of the living. Diapsalma. 8. The just shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him and say: Behold the man that made not God his helper, but trusted in the multitude of his riches, and prevailed in his vanity*.
The calumniator destroys not only bodies but also souls. Just as the herald of truth provides the cause of salvation to numberless men by his speech, in the same way he also, who is mighty in iniquity, brings death and ruin to many by the same power of speech, uttering words of ruin and abusing the sword of speech for the destruction of men; and especially when, through his calumnies, he destroys not only bodies but even souls themselves, namely, by casting them down into false and impious opinions through his fraudulent tongue. Whence it was said in a certain place: *The sons of men, whose teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword* (Ps. 56. 5). These, indeed, are to be guarded against with greater zeal and diligence than those who act wickedly in inflicting calamities. Of whose number, obviously, was Doeg, when, using false speech and calumny, he slaughtered the priests of God. But what punishment will follow him from heaven, the present discourse teaches, speaking as if to him who is mighty in iniquity: *Therefore will God destroy thee for ever*. Since he has loved wickedness, for that reason, God will first destroy him from his pride and his great exaltation, and instead of an exalted one, will make him humble, so that he may no longer boast in wickedness; then, *he will remove thee from thy tabernacle, and thy root out of the land of the living*. According to Symmachus,