ADMONITION TO THE HOMILY ON PSALM CXVIII
A Verily, concerning this homily, Savile, in his Notes (Tom. VIII, p. 130), has this to say: "Regarding the commentary on this Psalm, we have already said above that it is an abortion of some more modern Greekling, scarcely worth the reading. The Royal Library of Paris provided it to us: and Billius, as I have said, translated and published it as a genuine offspring, though with insufficient caution. For, in the first place, Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion are cited by name, which is customary for Theodoret but unusual for Chrysostom, who barely speaks otherwise than as 'another' or 'another interpreter.' Then, contrary to the custom of all the ancients, Athanasius is cited by name, as is Nazianzen, to whom the title 'Theologian' is added—which everyone knows was introduced in later centuries. And the main point is that it inveighs against the Paulicians and even the Iconoclasts by name, although their name began to be known to the world around the year of Christ 850 under the rule of Michael and his mother Theodora (Zonaras, *Annals* Tom. III, p. 126). Nor would the name Iconoclasts (or Iconomachi) have been heard of until several centuries after the death of Chrysostom. Furthermore, this author, whoever he is, poured into this commentary almost word for word the exposition of Theodoret, with some trifles stitched on created by him at home or gathered from elsewhere; a thing which I have warned was done in the immediately preceding sections." These words of Savile are correct. From these things, however, which are said concerning the Iconoclasts, the Paulicians, and the Manichæans, it can be seen at what approximate time these homilies were patched together by the foolish Greekling; most especially from the final passage, where the following is read: "Let us flee from every heresy," and again, "from those prevailing among us now, from the Iconoclasts and the Paulicians and the Manichæans." The Paulicians were a certain sect of the Manichæans. For they had been created from the same root of various divergences of opinion. But that which now emerges among us indicates that this homily and this commentary on Psalm CXVIII were composed at the time when those heretics were spreading. This test fits best the time of the empire of Michael and Theodora, when battle was being waged against either heresy.
One finds here almost the entire commentary of Theodoret, with many additions even from Eusebius, which appear often in the interpretations of Eusebius and Theodoret. But because these two agree with one another, the interpreter in the Preface to this Volume would inquire. The author adds much to those interpretations, futile and lacking in light. But because these were published in the Savilian edition, lest anything seem to be missing in our Edition, we publish them again, adorned with a Latin translation.
ON PSALM CXVIII
"Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord." First Stasis.
B Great is the spiritual treasure and wealth, and of most serviceable utility for the praise and glorification of God, and for the protection and set example of good works for our life, which, at the commencement of the week—the first day, which is called the Lord's Day among us because of the Lord rising on it—our illustrious leaders and teachers, our holy fathers, have handed down to us to sing and chant as the 118th Psalm. For it is a primary element and a guide toward journeying according to God. For such is the inscription, since it refines those who apply themselves and accurately search out its meaning toward the perfection of life, and, according to its name, makes them "undefiled." The undefiled is he who has been washed clean of all wickedness, of all defilement and dirt, who is devoid of any stain, iniquity, and sin: and he himself is also blessed, because after his departure from this life he shall be deemed worthy of true blessedness, and shall be illuminated by the light of divine knowledge, and shall dwell in the rest and eternal delight, which is the kingdom of heaven. Wherefore the hymn-writer David, perceiving with prophetic eyes the grace of holy baptism, cried out: "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven" (Ps. XXXI, 1). But those who preserved this grace and have acted according to the covenant, and have approached God in holy baptism, these, as though following the true virtue, he declares blessed in this Psalm. C But this Psalm has also another, higher conception. For this divine David himself experienced many and diverse vicissitudes of life. For he fled from enemies, and he pursued enemies; he fell into sorrows, and again had a more pleasant life; he ran in the divine way, and while journeying he slipped, and again followed the divine laws. All these things, therefore, he concluded in this Psalm, and combining into one the prayers which he had offered to God at each time, he proposed one doctrine useful to men, and teaches how practical virtue can be practiced. He does not neglect the sincerity of dogmas, however, but appends to moral arguments their doctrine, so that this Psalm can bring to perfection those who desire to attain perfect virtue, and stir to zeal those who live slothfully, refresh the sorrowful, correct the lazy, and finally apply an all-healing medicine to the varied diseases of men.
"Blessed are they who walk in the law of the Lord." As if we were to say: Blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord in this temporary life. For by the prophet "way" is called the present life, because it has nothing stable or firm. D For our life is a shadow, and it passes quickly like smoke. For thus said the apostle James: "For what is our life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James IV, 14). Something similar was philosophized by the Theologian Gregory: A certain cycle of our affairs circles around, which on one day and at times in one hour presents varied blessings. Nothing, therefore, brothers, have we brought into this world, as the divine apostle says, and we shall be able to carry nothing out (I Tim. VI, 7). Let us have care for the future: these things indeed remain. He declares blessed, therefore, those who, walking in the royal way, incline neither to the right nor to the left, standing firm in the instruction of the law. And who these are he teaches: "Who walk in the law of the Lord." For those who live according to laws are undefiled. For he calls life the "way," as I said above. This, indeed, we all travel from birth to death.
2. "Blessed are they who seek out his testimonies, who with their whole heart shall seek him." When we were interpreting the 118th Psalm, we said wherein differ the "law," "testimonies," "justifications," "judgments," and "commandments": let us, however, recall to memory in summary those things which we said. "Law" he calls that which was given to the universe by God through the divine Moses; "commandments and precepts" again the same thing, as ordered and commanded by him in a royal manner; "justifications," as that which can make the one acting well just; "judgments," as that which manifests divine calculations and worthy recompense to those who lead their lives either rightly or unjustly; "testimonies," however, as that which testifies and teaches by what punishments those [...]
who commit iniquity are condemned.
A And since this Psalm speaks frequently of the law, commandments, ordinances, judgments, and testimonies, it is useful to discuss these from the beginning. The law, therefore, was given by God, because He Himself is the King of kings and Lord of those who lord it. The law is a common commandment for all men: rulers and subjects, servants and masters, the rich and the poor. It is said [to be named] from "distributing." For it is ordained for all men: *You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet your neighbor's field, honor your father and your mother* (Exod. 20: 12-17). The same is also called a commandment, because God commands you to do good and to abstain from evil. Ordinances and judgments are that by which both the righteous, observing the commandments, are justified before God, while the transgressors, being sinners, are condemned. Testimonies are so called because God testifies through His divine Scriptures to keep all His commandments. For not those who work iniquity have walked in His ways. He has made this division also in the first Psalm. For there, having blessed the one who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night, and having shown the fruit of meditation, he added: *Not so the ungodly, not so.* Here too, therefore, having blessed the blameless, he teaches how the workers of iniquity have fashioned for themselves a different way, and have left behind that which was fixed by God. Having blessed, then, the prophet who seeks God with his whole heart, he adds, saying: *For not those who work iniquity have walked in His ways.*
*You have commanded Your commandments to be kept exceedingly.*
B This the Master commands through the law, and the prophets, and the holy Gospels, and the whole of divine Scripture is full of such legislation. He does not simply command to keep, but to keep "exceedingly," that is, with all diligence; and he has spoken of keeping not one, while ignoring another, but of keeping "all the commandments" exceedingly. Therefore, another prophet said: *I have not transgressed from Your commandments, lest I should die.*
*O that my ways were directed to keep Your ordinances.* For this reason, he says, I implore, that by Your law, as by a kind of rule, my way might be directed, so that I might keep Your ordinances. "O that" is a turn of prayer, instead of saying, "May it come to pass for me to be directed to keep all Your commandments." Since every man who has a desire to keep the commandments of God, if he does not have Him as a coworker in the doing of good, would not reach the end of what is desired; for it is written: *It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy* (Rom. 9: 16). Therefore, the beginning of good is from us, but the coming to the end needs the help of God: *Draw near,* he says, *to God, and He will draw near to you* (Jas. 4: 8).
*Then shall I not be ashamed when I look upon all Your commandments.* For shame is the fruit of transgression. Thus also the divine Apostle said: *What fruit then had you then in those things whereof you are now ashamed?* (Rom. 6: 21). But those who fulfill all the commandments of God have confidence from their conscience. "Then," however—when? When, according to the prophet Daniel, *the righteous shall arise into eternal life, but the sinners into eternal shame* (Dan. 12: 2). The prophet therefore exhorts us not to be ashamed then. And how does this happen? By looking upon all the commandments; not by doing one and leaving another. For He who said, *Do not commit adultery,* also said, *Do not commit fornication;* and He who said, *Do not commit fornication,* also said, *Do not act unjustly.* And *whoever shall keep the whole law, but stumble in one, has become guilty of all,* according to the apostle James.
*I will confess to You in uprightness of heart, in my having learned the judgments of Your righteousness.* By confession, he refers to thanksgiving. Then I shall be able to offer You a pure hymn, when I have fully learned all Your judgments, and live according to them. For he who has good works, he confesses *in uprightness of heart*, repenting with his whole heart, as did David regarding the adultery, and as the publican who said: *I have sinned,* and *be merciful.* Judas also confessed, saying: *I have sinned in betraying innocent blood* (Matt. 27: 4); but not *in uprightness of heart*; for he was bound by avarice. The Pharisee also confessed; but having a proud heart, and not an upright one, he went down not justified, saying that he was not as this publican (Luke 18: 11).
*I will keep Your ordinances: do not utterly forsake me.* God’s grace often leaves some for a short time, contriving from this a benefit for them. Thus the great Elijah, having been forsaken, fell into the passion of cowardice, and learned the weakness of human nature; but he immediately enjoyed divine grace again. Thus the divine Peter stumbled when he denied, but the Master immediately upheld him. Judas, however, having become utterly naked of divine providence, became a ready prey of the devil. The blessed David was also forsaken after that sin, and fell into those grievous calamities, but he regained the confidence before God, and enjoyed the care from Him. But Saul, having become altogether destitute of this, was stripped of the grace of the Spirit, and was joined to an evil spirit. Rightly, therefore, the prophet implores not to be forsaken "utterly"; that is, not to be stripped completely of the caring grace. For this reason we shall use the same thought again, because the prophet said, *Do not forsake me utterly.*
There is, then, a forsaking by God in many ways for the sake of certain dispensations and benefits; as when Job was left so that he might become more perfect. Elijah was also left, as we have already said, having retreated for a short time from the presence of Ahab and Jezebel; but some other thing was being dispensed, for him to go to Zarephath of Sidon, and be fed by a widow woman, and through this he would provide food. *For the handful of meal shall not fail,* he says, *neither the oil of the cruse* (4 Reg. 17: 14); and so that for the wickedness of the Jews he might stop the heaven for three years and six months from raining. For He says: *The Lord lives, if there shall be rain on the earth, unless by the word of my mouth* (3 Reg. 17: 1). But to be "utterly" forsaken by God, this is terrible, just as Saul and Absalom were forsaken, no longer returning to salvation; for they were stripped of the providence of God.
*In what shall the younger direct his way? By keeping Your words.* Youth is prone to sin, being led into pleasures and shameful passions; but if it is held by the keeping of God's commandments, it remains unharmed; for what a bridle and a horse-tamer is to a young foal, the divine word becomes for the young. Since Daniel also was young, yet he kept the commandments of God, and was deemed worthy of prophetic grace, and became an interpreter of hidden mysteries. Likewise also the three youths, being young, changed the nature of the fire through their faith and works; for they were refreshed in the midst of it, and were supported by the confidence of faith and the breeze of the Spirit. Thus, therefore, it is also for us. Let those who are young adorn themselves through the keeping of the commandments of God, and not become idle in their prime, like Absalom, who lived in wickedness, and had a head of hair following this, he who was senseless in his mind. For hair is a symbol of deadness. And for that man, the hairs became the cause of ruin, when he was hanged by them in the oak, as the history of the Kings relates (2 Reg. 18: 9). But it is grievous that even now some, imitating him, hang down long curls and braids, draping the works of the women's quarters onto the soul through stupidity, in vain puffed up in their own mind; and they do not know that they bring upon themselves rather dishonor, the Apostle saying: *If a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him.* Even the Greeks, according to Homer, are recorded as doing this; for he says, "The long-haired Achaeans." Since the wise among physicians also say... Therefore, for the comeliness of the head, let us be content with hair trimmed according to the adornment of the men of old, and let us not desire these to hang over the back or the shoulder-blades; for it is a dishonor to him who does such things, as we have heard the Apostle advising.
A 10. *In my whole heart I have sought thee; let me not wander from thy commandments.* For they divide their heart, not only into cares for worldly things, but also into absurd desires, and envies, and deceits, and ambushes against their neighbor. But he who is a lover of divine things consecrates his whole mind to God, and enjoys His providence, not falling from His commandments into the pit of destruction, but walking with the living God and consecrating his whole mind to Him.
11. *In my heart I have hidden thy words, that I might not sin against thee.* He who possesses gold or silver or precious stones does not set them out openly, but hides them within in cabinets and chambers, so that they may escape the hands of burglars; thus, he who has the riches of virtue hides them in his soul, so that the thieves of souls may not steal them through vainglory. In another way also: I have not hidden, he says, gold or silver or precious raiment, soft and flowing, where the moth and the worm gnaw, and burglars dig through and steal; but I have hidden Thy words in the cabinets of the heart, says the prophet, that I may not fall into sin. Here another thing is also taught: it is commanded that we should not offer divine words to all indiscriminately: *Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine* (Matt. 7.6). B Although these things were spoken by Him, we who sing psalms must preserve the confession of our hymn. This saying also has another sense. I do not do good to be seen by men, for I would then carry off my reward; but I do good to myself, so that God, who sees in secret, may render it to me openly (Matt. 6.3–4).
12. *Blessed art thou, O Lord; teach me thy justifications.* Just as if he were saying: Thou art gentle, kind, and worthy to be celebrated by all; therefore I beseech Thee that I may learn from Thee those things which can make me righteous. Or thus: Blessed art Thou, and celebrated with glory above all, because Thou art kind, compassionate, and merciful, long-suffering, and of great mercy; I beseech Thee, teach me Thy justifications. I do not covet riches, I do not seek gold, nor silver, nor dignity, nor any of those things which are pleasant in this world; but I seek to learn Thy justifications, because in keeping them there is great reward. For this is what must be sought by a Christian.
13. *With my lips I have declared all the judgments of thy mouth.* For it is not fitting for him who knows the judgments of God to be silent; rather, it is fitting to announce them and to correct others; for to announce the works of God is glorious. For the things I have learned from Thy goodness, these I will teach to those who are ignorant.
14. *I have been delighted in the way of thy testimonies, as in all riches.* The way of virtue is indeed labored, but to the perfect it is most desirable. Therefore the Lord Christ said: *Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light* (Matt. 11.29–30). The prophetic word also said this: *For the possession of thy testimonies is more delightful to me than all riches.* That phrase, *in all riches*, is not set down rashly, but declares riches of every kind. For there are many species of riches. For he who has gold is called rich; likewise he who has silver; or much land, whether planted with trees or sown; or many flocks. But the prophet, comprehending all these things and comparing them with the divine testimonies, says that the divine testimonies are as desirable to him as all kinds of riches are to the lovers of riches; and just as he who is rich in those things rejoices, so rightly and deservedly he exults in the justifications of God as in all riches.
15. *I will meditate on thy commandments, and I will consider thy ways.* The prophet promises to put study and meditation into the commandments of God, and not to treat them perfunctorily. Therefore, he says, I will insistently persist in the meditation of Thy words, and I will make my journey in Thy ways. For this reason he considered His ways; and therefore he added:
16. *I will meditate in thy justifications, I will not forget thy words*: that is, I will always keep a firm memory of Thy words within me.
17. *Reward thy servant.* We do not all ask for this; for it is the consolation of the righteous. Those who live soberly, justly, and piously, they say with confidence: *Reward thy servant*; but those who are in sins, in pleasures, and in diseases of ignominy cannot say, *Reward thy servant*. For he who carries about a bad conscience does not rouse the Judge to reward; but he who uses pure reasoning uses this voice with confidence. *I will live, and I will keep thy words.* I ask for this life, that I may walk in the keeping of Thy words; for enjoying that help, I may flee the death of sin and draw forth life from Thy words.
18. *Reveal thou mine eyes, and I will consider wondrous things out of thy law.* Not all who read the divine words consider their wonders, but those who enjoy heavenly splendor; for which reason blessed Paul said: *But when it shall be turned to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is a Spirit* (2 Cor. 3.16–17). Thus, therefore, illuminated by divine light, he rightly cried out: *But we all, beholding the glory of the Lord with open face, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord* (Ibid. v. 18). But it behooves us to pray to the Lord that, the veil of our eyes being removed, He may show the power of the divine words. For we behold and understand the divine Scriptures through anagoge and contemplation: just as that lamb once slaughtered by the Israelites was a figure of the true Lamb, Christ our God, who was slaughtered for us; and how there the anointing of the blood of the doorposts saved those who anointed, so the blood of the true Lamb, Christ our God, redeemed us from the curse of the enemy and from remaining death. Again also, the Israelite people, when they had crossed the Jordan and had entered the land of promise, were a figure of us Christians; because we are introduced through the water of holy baptism into the promised land, the kingdom of heaven. The Hebrews, however, understand nothing of such things, because a *veil is laid upon their eyes* (2 Cor. 3.15), as the divine apostle Paul says.
19. *I am a sojourner in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.* It is the voice of one living and not thinking about the things of this world. Why does he call himself a sojourner? As Abraham and all the saints are sojourners in this life, having their home in the kingdom of heaven. For we do not all inhabit this earth, but we are sojourners in it; for after a short time has passed, we move to another life. But not all wish to know this, but they are carried away by present goods as being permanent and firm; but he who has been instructed in divine things knows the brevity of life. Therefore he calls himself a sojourner and a pilgrim, and supplicates that he may not be ignorant of the divine precepts.
20. *My soul hath coveted to desire thy justifications at all times.* Many covet divine judgments and desire the kingdom of heaven; but not always, but rather at one moment they are delighted by divine things, at another they follow the affections of the body; but the prophet desires to have this longing continuously. *At all times*, he says, not so that he covets at one time and otherwise at another. For some know that compunction is sometimes sent to them so that they might covet divine precepts, on account of the fear of eternal punishment and on account of the desire for the kingdom of heaven; but sometimes they are led away by carnal concupiscences. Those, therefore, do not covet God at all times; but those who do so on account of the love of God do not in any way depart from the judgments of God.
21. *Thou hast rebuked the proud.* Those who despise the divine laws fall into the disease of pride and are handed over to punishment by the righteous Judge. Some were therefore exalted against God, but they were rebuked by Him, as Pharaoh in the Red Sea because he had been exalted in pride, and Sennacherib, exalted on high, was slain by his own sons. Similarly, Nebuchadnezzar, exalted in heart, became like the beasts.
A of the earth. Cursed are those who turn away from your commandments. Let us therefore fear, brethren, lest the curse of the Holy Spirit come upon us. The Law also offers this curse to transgressors. For it says: Cursed is everyone who does not remain in all that is written in the book of the Law, to do them. And we, while chanting to the Holy Spirit, become in harmony with this, passing on the curse to those who turn away from the commandments of God. Let us take heed, therefore, that while we call others cursed, we ourselves do not become such through the turning away from the commandments of God.
Take away from me reproach and contempt, for I have sought your testimonies. Nabal reproached the prophet, calling him a runaway slave; the Gittites also reproached him. Painfully affected, therefore, by these things, he asks to turn away the reproaches, since he had indeed diligently sought the divine testimonies. These words here, therefore, do not match the reproaches of Shimei. For those happened after the sin, while those of Nabal and the others were before the sin. In another psalm, therefore, the same prophet says: Reproach to those who are at ease, and contempt to the proud; and, These are sinners, and those who are at ease have obtained wealth in the age; and again, another prophet says: Why do sinners live at ease, and are indeed worn out in wealth? Therefore, the prophet prays that this reproach and contempt be taken away from them. For the things of this world—wealth and glory—these he calls reproach and contempt, considering this to be glory and honor: the seeking of the testimonies of God.
For rulers sat, and spoke against me. According to the letter, Saul and Abner and Ahithophel reviled David; but according to the meaning, the verse is referred to Christ. For Herod and Pontius Pilate and Annas and Caiaphas took counsel to kill him; but he was with his disciples in the garden, discussing the things of God and the Father. For he said to them: What I have heard from my Father, these things I have announced to you. And as he became a perfect man, and took the form of a servant, he is also named a servant.
And your servant meditated on your justifications. I, confessing your lordship, had meditation on your justifications. For your testimonies are my meditation, and your justifications are my counselors. For having cast aside every human suggestion, I follow your teachings, and I speak nothing else, nor am I in meditation of other things, except about your testimonies and your justifications. For this belongs to a perfect man.
My soul has cleaved to the ground. He indicated the abundance of humility through these things. For so also in the forty-third psalm he said: For our soul has been humbled to the dust; our belly has cleaved to the ground. That is: I was not exalted, I did not become proud, but humble-minded. For this is the meaning of, My soul has cleaved to the ground. Therefore I ask: Quicken me according to your word. That is: according to your Law guide my life. He denotes first the communion of the soul with the body, which is from the ground of the earth, then also his voluntary humility, which he displayed over those things in which he sinned, expecting to live through it for the sake of the word of God, who raises up him who humbles himself. Quicken me according to your word. He does not ask for life indefinitely, but for the life according to the Law.
I have declared my ways, and you heard me; teach me your justifications. B All my actions, Master, I have declared to you, and I have endured for nothing of my own to escape your notice. Therefore, you have inclined to my supplications. I beseech you to learn accurately your justifications. The same prophet says also in another psalm: I said, I will declare my lawlessness against myself to the Lord; and you forgave the impiety of my heart. And it is said in another prophet: Say your sins first, that you may be justified. Therefore, we who are sinning ought to declare our sins before God and to cut them off; for the cutting off and the declaration of sin works its forgiveness, and especially to declare it to some teacher, and to receive from him instruction on what we ought to do concerning our sins. Without labor, repentance remains idle. For he said in another psalm the same prophet: C See my humility and my labor, and forgive all my sins. And for his sin he mourned, saying: I will wash my bed every night, I will wet my couch with my tears.
Make me understand the way of your justifications, and I will meditate on your wonders. Those who walk in the ways of God and are made to understand by Him incessantly, at all times (for this is what it is "I will meditate") meditate on the wonders of God, considering that He is the Maker of heaven and earth, He is our nourisher, He is the provider of good things, He is the one who sends rain, He is the one who brings spring and summer, doing everything for our nourishment, He is the one who as Creator maintains all things in harmony and order. For we have need also of divine understanding, so that we may practice virtue according to the divine law, and, using philanthropy, not look toward vainglory; and that the ascetic should not hunt for human praise; and that the self-controlled should be so not because of the shame of licentiousness, but because of the desire for virtue. Reasonably, therefore, the prophet beseeches to partake of divine understanding, so as to discern the way of righteousness.
My soul has slumbered from despondency; strengthen me in your words. The constant assault of sin often dissolves the tension of the thoughts, and causes the athlete to faint, and produces what is called despondency; and the soul, becoming slack, receives sleep, and sleep brings death. Wherefore the prophet beseeches to be strengthened and established. But that falling into sin, and being mastered by sloth and neglect and being not eager towards the commandments of God, is drowsiness. And in another psalm the prophet prays for this meaning, saying: Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep unto death, calling sin death.
Turn away from me the way of injustice, and in your law have mercy on me. I have chosen the way of truth, I have not forgotten your judgments. This prayer also is necessary. For it is fitting that we ask for help from the God of all, so that we may turn away from the way of injustice, and choose the journey of truth, and carry around the remembrance of God's testimonies without forgetting them. And the prophet prays for every wicked action to be removed from him (for this is what injustice is), and to be shown mercy by His law and His commandments. He says: I have chosen the way of truth; that is, I loved, I elected; and for this reason I did not forget your judgments, nor have I become forgetful of the memory of your testimonies.
I have cleaved to your testimonies, Lord; do not put me to shame. He did not say: I have simply followed your testimonies, nor casually, but I have cleaved; that is, I did not separate my own thought from them even for a short time, but I was nurtured in them throughout, not being torn away from them. Therefore, do not even put me to shame, when you render to each according to his works. I seek to harvest the fruit of such a disposition: to take no experience of shame.
I ran the way of your commandments, when you enlarged my heart. There is need of both: of our own eagerness, and of God's providence. For neither is divine grace given to those who do not have good eagerness, nor can human nature achieve virtue without help from above. This also the prophet teaches, that I ran the way of your commandments without hindrance, receiving from Him the ease of the race. For he called ease "enlargement"; and elsewhere he says: In affliction you have enlarged me; and again: You have enlarged my steps under me, and my footprints did not grow weak, when you made my affairs easy and accessible, and drove away from me every thorny and crooked assault of the enemy. This is what: When you enlarged my heart, I ran the way of your commandments. Such was Paul, saying: Thus I run, not as uncertainly; thus I fight, not as beating the air; but I buffet my body and enslave it. Likewise also all the saints.
Legislate for me, Lord, the way of your justifications, and I will seek it out always. D Symmachus said "show me"; but Aquila and Theodotion said "enlighten".
". A Semper, he says, I have need of enlightenment and of your law, so that I may know the way of your justifications and run along it without impediment. For every good gift and every perfect donation is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (Jas. I, 17). And we, when we decide to perform some good act, if we do not have help from thence, find our desire imperfect. Therefore the prophet prays, and we too, as we chant (for whatever was written was written for our salvation [Rom. XV, 4]): Give me understanding, and I will search out your law, and I will keep it with my whole heart. This verse insists upon the same contemplation and needs no other explanation. For the Lord has ordered us to search the Scriptures. But those who search have need of divine splendor so that they may both find that which they seek and keep that which they have found. B 35. Lead me into the path of your commandments, for I have desired it. He does not ask simply that the God of all should guide his feet, but he has shown his desire to take up the journey. 36. Incline my heart into your testimonies, and not into avarice. The nature of water is apt to be borne downwards, and if it finds an outlet, it flows away hither; thus, with the devil opening a way to sin, the nature of men has declined toward the worse. Therefore the prophet prays quite fittingly that his heart may be inclined toward the divine testimonies, and that it may not slip to the other side. For the mind of man is diligently inclined to evils from his youth, as it is written. Let us therefore pray, instructed by the prophet, that our hearts may be inclined toward his testimonies, and not to avarice, not to rapines and iniquities, and not to the distractions of this world: Because the whole life of the impious is in worry (Job XV, 20), as Job says, celebrated with struggles. For from these are collected the riches which are called mammon.
37. Turn away my eyes from seeing vanity: in your way vivify me. He is referring to certain spectacles, of horses, of chariots (a), and of the contortions of dancers, which are vain, unfruitful, and useless: since all things and the many distractions of this world, which tend toward carnal affections, are vanities. Wherefore it is said in Ecclesiastes: Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity (Eccles. I, 2), that is to say, earthly things; for it adds: What profit has a man in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun? A generation passes away, and a generation comes (Ibid. vv. 3, 4): and again: I built for myself houses, I planted for myself vineyards, I made for myself gardens and fruit groves, pools of water to irrigate from them. I possessed servants and handmaids, and children were born to me, and the possession of herds and flocks was great for me, more than to all who were before me in Jerusalem. I heaped up for myself silver and gold, and the substances of kings and of provinces. I made for myself singers and songstresses, and the delights of the sons of men, cupbearers and cupbearers; and I did not withhold my heart from any joy. And behold, all is vanity and choice of spirit (Eccles. II, 4-11). For the eye is not filled with seeing, and the soul is not filled with hearing. It is useless: such are those things which appear pleasant in life. The prophet therefore supplicates that the eyes of the mind may decline toward another contemplation, and not be seduced by the vanity of present things. But that other, In your way vivify me: Make it so that I may institute my life according to your laws. 38. Statue for your servant your eloquence in your fear. Establish me firm in your words, rendering me unshaken out of your fear, as if he were saying: Let your fear rest upon me, terrifying me, and not allowing me to deviate from your oracles; so that you may take away from me all malice and sin. Thus therefore I ask it to be done in me, your servant. For it is written, The fear of God is into life for a man; and, By the fear of the Lord one declines from every evil (Prov. XIX, 23 and III, 7 and XVI, 6). C 39. Fix in your fear my flesh. Let your fear therefore rest upon me, and not allow me to do the will of the flesh. For the will of the flesh is enmity toward God, according to the divine apostle Paul (Rom. VIII, 7). 40. Cut away my opprobrium, which I suspected, because your judgments are pleasant. Aquila for that, "I suspected," said, "I have feared," and so also Theodotion: but Symmachus, "Which I revere." Now he calls that opprobrium in this place which rises from sin. For this he both feared and was afraid of, and he led a life exposed to suspicion. Therefore he did not subjoin as usual, "Because I have searched out or kept your judgments," but, "Because your judgments are pleasant." Now he calls the just sentences of God his judgments. That indeed, "I suspected," that is, I am conscious to myself that I have sinned, and this is an opprobrium to me, that, created in your image, I have fallen into sin. Cut this away from me, therefore, you who not only bring punishment upon those who sin, but rather offer salvation to those who repent. For your judgments are pleasant, which proceed from the excellence of your goodness: for pleasantness arises from overflowing goodness, as those who are skilled in these matters say. 41. Vivify me. Perfect desire is for me to walk in your commandments: but grant to me who am desiring the just way. For by doing this, I possess the head of all virtues. 42. And may your mercy come upon me, Lord. For we are all in need of divine goodness, and he who has apprehended the highest peak of virtue, this man is perpetually in need of it: since both those who sin and those who lead a right life are in need of the mercy of God. For all indeed need divine kindness, and all of us need the grace of God, justified freely by his grace (Rom. III, 23-24). For with the help of God, both he who sins is turned back from his evil way, and he who is good becomes better, and is preserved in goodness. Your salvation according to your eloquence. 43. And I will answer those who reproach me with a word. You who promised by your oracles, grant that I may speak with confidence to those who insult me. For he who exists in calamities bears reproaches in silence: but he who leads a pleasant life refutes those who wickedly bring reproaches. For perhaps some unbelievers, seeing me oppressed by the miseries and calamities of life, reproach me; but I will answer them a word: because Christ our God has set a day in which he is going to judge the world, and to give to each one according to his works: to those indeed who by patience of good work seek glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life; but to those who from contention do not believe the truth, and have faith in iniquity, fury and wrath and anguish are reserved, and upon every soul of man working evil, to the Jew first and to the Greek (Rom. II, 6-10). Therefore that rich man heard: You received your good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise evil; therefore he indeed receives consolation here, but you are tormented (Luke XVI, 25). But that, "I have hoped in your words," what is it? I hang upon your promises, and in this hope I proceed. 44. And do not take away from my mouth the word of truth altogether, because I have hoped exceedingly in your judgments. Truth is a precious thing, so much so that Christ himself said: I am the truth and the life (John XIV, 6). And another prophet teaches: These are the words which you will do: speak truth each one to his neighbor, and do not love a false oath (Zach. VIII, 16-17). Now the opposite of truth is lying, which is from the wicked one. For he himself first hissed at Eve by lying. We therefore the prophet teaches to love the truth, and to seek it with much zeal from the God of all. 45. And I will keep your law always, for ever, and for ever and ever. In this life I will keep your law, and I will observe the commandments: for these good things are stored up for me as I do this: for in this way also I will be more eager concerning the keeping of your laws. Certainly by that, "For ever, and for ever and ever," he signified the future life in which a pure and sincere keeping of the divine laws will be given to all, and the good things, Which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have they ascended into the heart of man. For these God has prepared for those who love him (I Cor. II, 9). D
A And of this, the great David is a witness. 45. For before sin, he speaks with Saul with much boldness; but after the sin, and fleeing from his parricidal son, bowing down to the earth and covering his head, he walked. By “attainment” (or “breadth”) here, he means the ease and lightness with which those who live well walk, and they do not turn to the right or to the left, unless they have their mind fixed upon the Way of God. For to the crooked, the Lord sends crooked paths. And because I walked in the breadth of thy commands, I spoke of thy testimonies before kings, and was not ashamed (Ps. CXVIII, 46). Such was the great Elijah, trusting in righteousness, rebuking the transgression of Ahab. Such was the divine Daniel, saying to Nebuchadnezzar: “And now, O king, let my counsel be pleasing to thee, and redeem thy sins by alms, and thy injustices by the mercies of the poor” (Dan. IV, 24). Such was John, rebuking the adultery of Herod, saying to him: “It is not lawful for thee to have the wife of Philip thy brother” (Mark VI, 18). Thus the divine Paul spoke to Agrippa, Festus, and Felix. Thus the triumphant martyrs scorned the ungodly kings. 47. And I meditated in thy commandments, which I loved exceedingly. 48. And I lifted up my hands to thy commandments, which I loved, and I meditated in thy justifications. For the kingdom of God is not in speech, but in power (I Cor. IV, 20); and, “He who has done and taught, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. V, 19). For this reason the divine prophet added action to meditation. For having said, *I meditated in thy commandments, which I loved exceedingly*, and having shown his fervent desire, he added: *And I lifted up my hands to thy commandments, which I loved, and I meditated in thy justifications*. For what I was taught through divine words, these I pursued through deeds. For the meditation on divine words and the listening to the reading leads on to good works. For this is what it means: *I lifted up my hands to thy commandments*. For hands are indicative of actions; for the Apostle said: “Not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified (Rom. II, 13); and, “Faith without works is dead, and works without faith” (Jas. II, 17). Therefore also the Lord said: “Everyone who hears these words of mine, and does not do them, shall be likened to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand; and the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew, and they beat against that house, and it fell, and great was its fall (Matt. VII, 26, 27). But whoever hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock; and the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew, and they beat against that house, and it did not fall; for it had been founded upon the rock” (Ibid. v. 24, 25). And, *I meditated in thy justifications*, he says, I practiced the study of these things unceasingly. Remember thy words to thy servant, on which thou hast caused me to hope. B 8. God, legislating, promised his own favor to those who keep the law, and punishment to the transgressors. He supplicates, therefore, that God remember his own promises. For on those, he says, you taught me to hope. Remember, therefore, O Master, the promises which thou didst make to us. For thou didst say to thy disciples: “Behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. XXVIII, 20). And not only to them did you promise this, but also to all of us who believe through them in thy name. Remember us, therefore, and be with us, and do not depart from us, so that we may not perish. This has comforted me in my humiliation, because thy word has quickened me. For I had this as a consolation in calamities and afflictions. That promise became for me a comfort and a relief, and riding upon it, I sailed over the waves. Therefore I ask that my life be conducted in thy words. The proud acted lawlessly exceedingly; but I did not decline from thy law. He calls Saul, Absalom, and the king of the Ammonites “proud,” those who did those lawless things against those sent by him. But they embraced a lawless life, but I followed thy laws. These things also the triumphant martyrs might say, having suffered those terrible and grievous things at the hands of the cruel tyrants. The Pharisees also were very proud, not choosing to hear the teaching of Christ. C For this reason He said to them: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut up the kingdom of heaven: for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you suffer those who want to enter to go in.” Furthermore, the rulers and priests of the Jews were proud against the apostles, saying to them: “Did we not strictly charge you not to speak in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching” (Acts V, 28). But they answered them: “If it is just in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge” (Acts IV, 19). I remembered thy judgments from old, O Lord, and I was comforted. 52. The choir of the apostles and of all the martyrs, being persecuted, remembered the judgments of God from of old: what Abel suffered from the fratricide Cain; what Abraham, what Moses; the events concerning Isaac, the events concerning Jacob, the events concerning Joseph, the events concerning Job: and these were to them a consolation and a comfort; and how they were permitted to fall into various temptations, and later became glorious and notable. These things, therefore, taking into my mind, I reaped from them sufficient joy. Gloom has taken hold of me because of sinners who abandon thy law. I, indeed, suffering evil, was cheered by the memory of thy judgments; but I was wholly grieved and kept on being distressed to see many transgressing the laws without fear. These things the Apostle Paul also said—for the word is for the perfect: “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I do not burn?” (II Cor. XI, 29). And being in Athens, his spirit was provoked; for he beheld the city given over to idols (Acts XVII, 16). And we, therefore, brothers, seeing some abandoning the law of God and his commandments, let us be in gloom, since it is written: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. XXII, 39); and later in this psalm it is said: “I saw the disobedient and I wasted away, because they did not keep thy words” (v. 158). Thy justifications were my songs in the place of my pilgrimage. 54. D The blessed David, being persecuted by Saul, dwelt among the Allobroges [Philistines]; but I think he calls “pilgrimage” not that time, but his whole life. For he lived not as a resident, but as a sojourner, and singing the justifications of God, he traversed his life. For thus the other interpreters also interpreted: “Thy statutes were my songs in the place of my pilgrimage.” All the saints, therefore, and those living according to God, possessed this life as a pilgrimage, having the future life as their permanent dwelling. Thy justifications, therefore, are songs to them in this life. For to this man was created, so that he might praise and glorify God. 55. I remembered in the night thy name, O Lord, and I kept thy law. For I have done this not only by day, but also in the night, because it is the rest of the body, and the soul dreams of non-existent fantasies, and unpleasant thoughts are depicted; I did not give place to these, but I remembered thy name. Therefore I kept thy law. And the choir of the saints also, always rising at night, both prays and sings the praises of the God of all. I think that "night" here is meant to be the time of temptations; for it brings darkness, and like night, it comes upon men. In this, however, the memory of the God of all is especially necessary, cheering and encouraging and driving away contrary thoughts. This happened to me, because I sought out thy justifications. What is “this”? The nocturnal meditation. For thus, he says, he was able to prevail, and to prefer the memory or the possession of thy justifications, since I sought out thy justifications, and in the night I did not cease making a memory of them. Therefore, brothers, we are taught to keep watch in prayer and psalmody. 56. Thou art my portion, O Lord; I said to keep thy law. God is the portion of all, but especially of those who embrace the perfect things. Thus the portion and lot of the priests and Levites became God. For to the sons of Levi, he says, there shall be no portion among their brethren, because I, the Lord, am their portion. Thus also in the fifteenth psalm he said...
The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. He says this, therefore, even in this place: Contemning all other things, I have thee as my portion, and riches, and substance. Therefore, I hasten to keep thy laws. A This, then, is the voice of the perfect, who consecrate themselves entirely to God, and are not led away by pleasures and many cares. For the Lord said: Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
58. I have entreated thy face with my whole heart. He teaches us how one ought to stand when we pray to God, as though we were standing before his face; for I have entreated thy face. Or, the Son is the face of the Father, as the divine apostle says: The brightness of his glory and the figure of his substance; and through him we offer an offering pleasing to God, our reasonable service. Everywhere, however, David adds, With my whole heart, obeying even in this the Law, teaching us to persevere before God, and that this is what it means to love with one’s whole heart. For thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind. That expression, however, Have mercy on me according to thy word, is nothing other than: "In thee I repose all things that concern me, and have mercy on me as thou wilt." Have mercy on me according to thy word, not simply, but to obtain mercy according to the divine word. For this even a prudent sick man might say to a physician: "As thou knowest, heal me; as the art prescribes." This, too, a prudent merchant might say to a pilot: B "According to the laws of thy art, direct the ship; as the art commands, steer." So must we also entreat divine mercy. For he who prays knows the manner of mercy. By chastisement, forsooth, he works salvation, and the punishment is then a kindness. Thus also the doctor cuts and cauterizes, providing health to the sick. So must we also seek mercy. For sometimes mercy is bestowed through poverty, and clemency is dispensed through illness, and according to the science of medicine he cures contrary things with contraries.
59. I have thought on thy ways, and have turned my feet unto thy testimonies. Because I have addicted all my will to thy commandments, therefore I have walked in the path of thy testimonies. The Hebrew, however, has "My ways," and so other interpreters have rendered it, and the Septuagint also in the Hexapla. He says, therefore: "Reflecting upon my ways, I directed my feet unto thy testimonies, nor did I allow them to turn aside from the journey which leads to thee."
60. I am ready, and am not troubled, that I may keep thy commandments. For when I had set myself ready for the incursions of afflictions, I did not suffer a storm from a sudden onset. Such was the blessed Daniel who curbed the mouths of lions; such were the three youths for whom the furnace became a bed-chamber of dew; such were those admirable Maccabees; such were the holy apostles, prophets, and martyrs. Thus did they all overcome the onsets of the impious. For before the dangers they prepared themselves, dying daily for the love of God, regarding all things as nothing. This also the Lord commanded in the holy Gospels, saying: Watch, for you know not at what hour C the thief will come.
61. The ropes of sinners have surrounded me, and I have not forgotten thy law. He called the snares, whether of demons or of men, ropes, taking the occasion for the similitude from the binding. So also Isaiah: Woe to them that draw sins as with a long rope. "While these ropes surrounded me," he says, "I did not shake off the memory of the divine law." The ropes of sinners, however, are to be understood as the onslaughts of demons, and evil thoughts, and carnal motions. For every man is bound by the chains of his own sins: and when anyone has sinned, unless he quickly recalls himself, and comes to his senses, he falls again into another sin. Thus, therefore, when Cain had sinned and killed his own brother, he fell in consequence into a lie, like a tangled rope. For God says to him, Where is thy brother? And he answered: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he lied to God who scrutinizes all things, even D the depths of our hearts. So also the people of the Hebrews, when they had sat down to eat and drink, they rose up to play, and linking sin to sin, they made a calf, worshiping idols in the desert. So likewise Judas, loving money, was the betrayer of the Master, and finally hanged himself. Peter, however, when he had denied, and afterward wept bitterly for the denial, was justified, because he did not add sin to sin. Thus, therefore, we too, brothers, if we have sinned, let us return, and let us not be contemptuous, lest sin linked to sin follow, as a long rope.
62. At midnight I rose to acknowledge thee concerning the judgments of thy justice. For not only during the day, but even at night, in the very middle of the night, when sleep comes upon men with the greatest pleasure, I ceased not to praise thee, and I celebrated thy just judgments. It is said, therefore, when all are indulging in rest, when they relax their bodies in sleep, I rose to acknowledge thee concerning the judgments of thy justice. What are these? That Christ our God is about to judge each one according to their works, in his second coming. For that is justice: and he teaches us that we too, by day and by night, should confess and invoke God for our sins. For the evangelist Luke also says: And Jesus was passing the whole night in the prayer of God, teaching us that we should do so. This also the divine apostle did with Silas. For being in bonds with Silas, and fastened in the stocks, after the stripes and scourges he mingled the singing of hymns with prayers, and plucked the fruit of an excellent vigil: for they obtained divine liberality.
63. I am a partaker of all them that fear thee, and keep thy commandments. Symmachus, however, in place of "partaker," said "joined"; the Syrian, however, "friend." For being averse to those who chose things repugnant to thy laws, I had as associates and intimates those who magnified thy fear, and had instituted [a life] to live lawfully. This also he said in the psalm: But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honorable. We have certainly heard it said proverbially: He that walketh with wise men, shall be wise: but he that walketh with fools, shall be known. Whosoever, therefore, have been instructed by the hospitality of Abraham, they have become his consorts; likewise those who have the zeal of Elias, and the meekness of Moses and David; since those who have become imitators of evil works hear: If thou didst see a thief, thou didst run with him, and with adulterers thou hast put thy portion; but [I am a partaker] of those who perform good works. For many, working wickedly, have dragged others into the same destruction with themselves. But when anyone invites you to sin, answer him: I have not sat with the council of vanity, and I will not enter in with them that do unjust things; and, I hated them that commit prevarications.
64. The mercy of the Lord is full of the earth; teach me thy justifications. [Thou] pourest out fountains, and makest thy sun to rise upon the bad and the good, and rainest upon the just and the unjust, and thou dost not bring wrath daily, but bearest those who invade strange beds, and those who are stained with unjust blood, and others who plunder for themselves the things of others, and those who defile their tongue with blasphemies: finally others who dare to perform something wicked. Since, therefore, thou usest such kindness, deign to grant me this, O Lord, by imparting to me the knowledge of thy justifications. Something similar to these does the prophet Isaiah say: The whole earth shall know the Lord. For Christ our God coming onto the earth, all the ends were filled with his grace, and from his disciples they learned his justifications. In another way likewise these things can be understood: to wit, we all enjoy his mercy: for he rains upon the just and sinners, and patiently bears our sins, and does not bring wrath.
65. Thou hast done well with thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word. I have made trial of thy goodness, therefore I pray that I may enjoy it again, and I beseech [thee] that I may live according to thy laws. But because...
the earth is full of Thy mercy. Thou hast done good unto the human race, as Thou didst promise through Thy prophets.
God chastens in kindness. For since He is God, He bestows good things upon us, and when we sin, He instructs us, turning us toward admonition. For whom the Lord loves, He instructs, and He scourges every son whom He receives (Prov. 3:12), according to the word of the Proverbs. Therefore we stumble, and He justly chastens us, that we might turn back from the evil way. For it is written: And the people turned not, until they were smitten (Is. 9:13). And we are taught through His bounty both instruction and knowledge, and that in His commandments we might believe that salvation is granted to us. 66. Teach me bounty and instruction and knowledge, for I have believed in Thy commandments. 67. Before I was humbled, I committed errors: therefore I have kept Thy word. For because I fared well and grew wealthy in this world, I sinned in every way; for this is what "Before I was humbled" signifies; for wealth is gathered in every way from unrighteousness; but turn me back, that I may keep Thy words. For I, he says, brought chastening upon myself. For the vote is free from the punishment of unrighteousness. Instruction followed upon sin, and the keeping of the laws followed upon instruction. I was sick, I was cut, I was made whole. Thou art good, O Lord. For in truth Thou art good and philanthropic, a benefactor, and good beyond measure; and in Thy goodness preserve me in Thy righteous ordinances. For from Thee are all things that bring salvation. And in Thy goodness teach me Thy righteous ordinances. For this reason I boldly pray to receive from Thee the knowledge of Thy righteous ordinances. 69. The unrighteousness of the proud has been multiplied against me: but I will search out Thy commandments with my whole heart. All those who do not keep the commandments of God, and those who proudly exalt themselves against His knowledge, are themselves the proud. And even if I move about in the midst of such men, he says, yet I will not follow them, but I will search out Thy commandments with my whole heart, remaining established in them. For those who use arrogance weave every form of ambush against me; but nevertheless, I am not provoked against their lawlessness, being ordered by Thy commandments. These things were written for our admonition, that we might be rooted and grounded in the good. 70. Their heart was curdled as milk: but I studied Thy law. This resembles the prophetic utterance: For the heart of this people was fattened; and they heard heavily with their ears, and they shut their eyes (Is. 6:10). It resembles also what is said in Exodus concerning Pharaoh: And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened (Exod. 7:22). The Jews, therefore, were curdled like cheese; but the choir of the apostles, and those who believed through them, occupy themselves in the study of the words of God, having obeyed the Gospel of God. Those ones, therefore, he says, had a heart like curd, having made its softness hard, and having, as it were, curdled and cheesed it like milk; but I have dissolved myself in the study of Thy law. 71. It is good for me that Thou hast humbled me, that I might learn Thy righteous ordinances. The prophet confesses grace to the harsher medicines of the Physician, having learned the health that came therefrom. For above he said, Before I was humbled I committed errors; but here he says, It is good for me that Thou hast humbled me. For one falls into afflictions and misfortunes for the sake of instruction and turning back; and those who receive these in patience say: It is good for me that Thou hast humbled me, that I might learn Thy righteous ordinances. 72. The law of Thy mouth is good to me above thousands of gold and silver. 11. For even if I was driven out of the kingdom by the child, yet through the instruction I recovered Thy law, which I count more precious than all wealth. And the same prophet says in what follows, I will rejoice in Thy words, as one finding great spoils; but here he says, The law of Thy mouth is better to me above thousands of gold and silver, hedging us about, that we might keep this, that is to say, His commandments, and value them, and be occupied in them. In which may you be deemed worthy, brothers, to direct your life, that you might arrive at the eternal goods laid up for you, and in the present age be preserved from all malice and sin by the grace and mercies of Christ our God, to whom belongs glory and honor, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for the ages of ages. Amen.
ON PSALM CXVIII. STATION II.
73. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: instruct me, and I shall learn Thy commandments. 1. The prophet David, having been in the experience of many things—namely, prince's power, royalty, wealth, glory, honor, luxury, and the bravery of wars—having deemed all things as filth, looked toward that which is truly desirable and sought-after and lovable, saying: The law of Thy mouth is good to me above thousands of gold and silver. And we, brothers (for these things were written beforehand for our admonition), deeming all things as nothing, let us keep the law and the commandments of God. And wishing to show of what honor man has been deemed worthy, he said in song: Thy hands have made me and fashioned me. For by a word God established all things, and brought them from non-existence into being. For having made the heaven and the earth, He said, Let there be light, and there was light; and, Let there be a firmament, and let it divide between water and water; and, Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass; and, Let there be luminaries in the firmament of the heaven; and, Let the waters bring forth creeping things of living souls; and, Let the earth bring forth a living soul, cattle, and creeping things, and wild beasts according to their kind; but man, having taken dust from the earth, He fashioned. The prophet therefore, moved by divine Spirit, reminds the Creator of the affection He has for human nature. For having fashioned all things by a word, He alone is said to have formed the nature of men, not having used hands (for He is bodiless and without form; for God is Spirit, according to the voice of the Lord), but having shown the greater disposition and appropriation toward this work, which we men possess; for we were created according to His image; wherefore also man alone among living creatures is instructed. He pleads, therefore, for the One who fashioned him to grant instruction to His handiwork; for he added: Instruct me, and I shall learn Thy commandments. 74. They that fear Thee will see me, and rejoice, because I have hoped in Thy words. A pretext, he says, of rejoicing I shall become to the pious, having hoped in Thee, and having found the end corresponding to my hope. And since God rejoices over one sinner who repents according to the Lord’s voice, the just, as being His imitators, rejoice over a man who is understanding and hoping in the words of God. 75. I have known, O Lord, that Thy judgments are righteousness, and in truth Thou hast humbled me. He says these things in various ways, showing his own gratitude. I know, he says, accurately, that Thou didst pass judgment on me rightly and justly, and didst clothe me with all kinds of misfortunes. For when we sin, there is a time when God is angry, and there is a time when He is long-suffering, waiting for our repentance. So that we might not persist in sin, He brings anger for our instruction and correction, and judges justly. For it is written through the prophet: In a little anger I smote thee, but in eternal mercy I will have mercy on thee; and, The Lord makes to grieve, and again restores; and, The people turned not, until they were smitten. For in truth He brings misfortunes and afflictions. This is what he signifies by "humbling." 76. Let Thy mercy be to comfort me. For it is now time for philanthropy and consolation. The mercy, therefore, of God is the presence in the flesh of Christ our God. For He performed mercy with us, and He Himself is the paraclete toward the Father, and the propitiation for our sins, as John the apostle says; and He promised another Paraclete, the Holy Spirit; for He Himself said to the disciples: When the Paraclete comes, the Spirit of truth, He will bear witness concerning Me. He asks, therefore, for this mercy of His to come to the human race, just as He promised through the patriarchs, the law, and the prophets; for this...
is: "According to Thy word unto Thy servant." For to those who do penance, Thou hast promised Thy benevolence. He also said this through Isaiah: "But when you have turned and lamented, then shall you be saved," A and through Jeremiah He cries out: "Be converted to Me, and I will be converted to you."
77. *Dead is he who is deprived of divine benevolence.* "Let Thy tender mercies come unto me, and I shall live: for Thy law is my meditation." He deems himself dead, being deprived of divine benevolence, and therefore prays that he may come to life through divine clemency. He certainly calls those mercies "tender" which the Lord has bestowed upon us in His advent: the evangelical word, the apostolic teaching, so that living in these, we may meditate upon them always.
78. "Let the proud be confounded, for they have unjustly worked iniquity against me: but I will be occupied in Thy commandments." He does not imprecate against his enemies, but prays for them. For shame works salvation. Therefore, he asks that they might attain the same medicine he used. The devil acted proudly with his subordinate hostile powers against the human race through transgression; but they were put to shame at the advent of Christ our God. For they said: "Permit us to depart into the herd of swine," and, "What have we to do with Thee, O Son of God? Hast Thou come to torment us before the time?" Now, regarding "I will be occupied in Thy commandments," one of the interpreters rendered it: "I was recounting in Thy commandments"; another, "I will speak"; another, "I will be conversant."
79. "Let those who fear Thee be converted unto me, and those who know Thy testimonies." Because he was placed far from the choir of the righteous through sin, and with all men likewise turning away from him as if from God, he prays that he may be united with them again and enjoy their fellowship. Symmachus signified this more clearly: "Convert me, those who fear Thee." The prophet, however, speaks in the person of the human race. For the apostles and those who feared God converted all the nations to the knowledge of the truth. For the Lord said to them: "Go, teach all nations." For they themselves truly knew the testimonies of God.
81. "My soul hath fainted for Thy salvation, and I have hoped in Thy words." Those who vehemently desire something, and are deprived of what is desired, are said to faint. Thus, those who await someone among their acquaintances who is traveling are always longing, and not being masters of their vow, they are worn away by grief: so too those who are consumed by thirst and labor under a penury of water; and those who struggle with certain calamities and await divine benevolence, while they see it procrastinating, they faint. Furthermore, the salvation of the human race is the descent to us of one of the holy Trinity. Since in another Psalm it is said: "Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy, and grant us Thy salvation"; so too here, he was praying that this very salvation, which had been stored up, might arrive all the sooner.
82. "My eyes have failed for Thy word, saying, When wilt Thou comfort me?" The word and promise of God is called scripture inspired of God. He fails, therefore, not only by awaiting the divine promise and liberation from impinging evils; but also by reading the divine words and eagerly desiring to learn their sense, and deems the discovery of them to be for himself a consolation and amusement. He extends his discourse, therefore, expecting this consolation, which is the evangelical word. For the Savior Himself, coming, consoled us, saying: "Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you"; and, "For my yoke is sweet, and my burden light."
B 83. "For I am become like a bottle in the frost: I have not forgotten Thy justifications." A bottle warmed is softened; if inflated, it swells; but in the frost, it hardens and contracts. Therefore, those who have received the evangelical word set aside every pleasure, the softness and tumescence of their bodies, and lead this life with gravity, piety, and temperance. Such, indeed, is the nature of the body: for it is softened by pleasure and swells, and rises up against the soul; but by the affliction of exercise, it is depressed and contracted. The witness to this is Paul, shouting: "But I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway." He was superior to the passions from Saul; indeed, when he enjoyed peace, he was wounded by the lasciviousness and goads of pleasure; but when he had repressed the body, he renewed the memory of the divine laws.
84. "How many are the days of Thy servant? When wilt Thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?" Few are the days of our life, and evil thoughts, carnal concupiscences, and worldly cares persecute us: "For the flesh lusteth against the spirit," as the Apostle says; for truly, "The days of our years in them are seventy years." When, therefore, wilt Thou render judgment to me, and deliver me from my enemies? Judge, therefore, and drive these away from us.
85. "The wicked have told me fables, but not as Thy law, O Lord." The prophets indeed persuaded him to kill his enemies; he, however, obeying the divine law, awaited divine judgment. But the teaching of these oracles is most useful to us as well. It is right, therefore, for us to flee not only the fables of the Gentiles and the incredulity of the Jews; but also the blasphemous dogmas of the heretics. For the Jews also, as well as the Gentiles and heretics, narrate, and seem to be teachers, having lies for their shield, and speaking nothing from the divine Scriptures; but if they do speak, it is according to their own purpose, and as wicked men, they babble and deceive. This is what happened in our generation: the accusers of the Christians, the Iconoclasts, carried many away, as did the Paulicians, who share the heresy of the Manichaeans. For they do not speak from the divine Scriptures, but are covered in lies, and are strengthened by them: we, however, who follow the Gospel and believe correctly, say as the holy and Catholic Church of God has received.
C 86. "All Thy commandments are truth: they have persecuted me unjustly, help me." 87. "They had almost made an end of me upon earth: but I have not forsaken Thy commandments." "Much," he says, "is the iniquity and the power of the enemies; for they almost deprived me of life." But He teaches us to hold to the traditions which we have received; he leads us further to another teaching, that we should not avenge ourselves, nor render evil for evil, but implore the help of God, and commit the judgment to Him. For it is written through the prophet: "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." "But I have not forsaken Thy commandments." Because I approached almost to death from the incursion of that wicked one and from carnal pleasures; I did not, for that reason, forsake Thy commandments. These are the glory of the saints, which the prophet speaks for our instruction.
88. "According to Thy mercy quicken me, and I shall keep the testimonies of Thy mouth." What mercy! That which Thou didst execute, O Lord, through Thy carnal economy. Grant me, therefore, this grace, that I may keep Thy testimonies. Through humility, however, the prophet desires the discourse; for a heart of this kind is free from shame. Therefore, from the very beginning of the Psalm, he pronounced the blameless happy. When, therefore, was our heart blameless, if not when we were regenerated through water and the Spirit, and became clean in soul and body, and when through holy baptism we live in the justifications of God, so that we may not be confounded when the just shall rise into honor and glory; but the sinners into eternal ignominy? Since indeed even in this life there is shame for a Christian when he is called either a fornicator, or an unjust man, or a contumelious person, or a perjurer, or a hater of his brethren, or a drunkard, or a vain man, or a beggar, or anything of the sort.
A They are powerful, and in your strength you perform your word. For generation and generation is your truth. 90. Of old, a law was given to the Israelites, who are the first generation; after this, however, the evangelical law was given to us Gentiles; this is the truth. For you have preserved this both for the generation of the Jews and for the other that was born after them. He speaks of the people from the Gentiles, who through our Savior Christ have attained salvation. You founded the earth, and it remains. By your ordinance the day remains, because all things are your servants. You gave to the earth the greatest endurance, and it has remained, as you commanded. You separated the day from the night, and it travels according to your laws. B The earth also remains according to your creation, sprouting in its time herbs, plants, and trees, bearing fruits, and seeds for the food of all animals; and by your ordinance the day remains. For the sun rising proceeds toward the setting. For all things serve you, and yield to your nods. For you are the creator of all things, and everything obeys you, O God. If your law were not my meditation, then I would have perished in my humiliation. Each of the pious could say these things upon falling into calamity, as Joseph did, fleeing slavery and adultery and slander, and Daniel, being forbidden to pray, and those three children, being compelled to worship the image, and the victorious martyrs who endured all kinds of C punishment. With good reason the blessed David said these things, having been driven out by Saul, and being forced to live among foreigners and hostile men. For he would have shared in their impiety if he had not carried with him the meditation of the divine laws; wherefore he also adds: 93. I will never forget your justifications, for in them you have saved me. Blessed is he who sends up this voice in truth to God, and lives in this world in his justifications. For the sinner cannot say, "I will never forget your justifications," while transgressing the commandments of God; for having learned by experience, the prophet says that your justifications produce life, and I will keep the memory of them unshaken. 94. I am yours, save me, for I have sought out your justifications. The phrase "I am yours" is understood in different ways: for D I am yours as a servant, yours as a minister, yours as a son by grace. If anyone, therefore, is confident in keeping the commandments of God, he himself says: "I am yours, save me." Why? "Because I have sought out your commandments." For those who do the works of the adversary do not seek out the commandments, and they cannot say: "I am yours, save me." Therefore, we cannot all use this voice. For the servant of sin speaks falsely, naming himself as God's. For by whom anyone is overcome, to him he is also enslaved. If, therefore, having been delivered from that, we choose the divine laws, we can use this voice. 95. Sinners waited for me, to destroy me; I understood your testimonies. "Waited" is what Symmachus and Theodotion have said. They, therefore, hoped to hand me over to death; but I, paying attention to your testimonies, have reaped the life that follows from them. In many ways do those living in sins rise up against the righteous, not expecting the judgment and retribution, nor having an equal punishment for their wickedness, having present things as secure, gathering wealth from injustice, and living luxuriously off the things of others; but the righteous seek out the testimonies of God, and whatever may happen to them, they do not swerve from his commandments. 96. I have seen the end of all completion; your commandment is exceedingly broad. But Symmachus [puts it] thus: "I have seen the end of all structure; your commandment is very spacious." Everything, he says, that is human—both wealth and abundance and power, magistracies and military commands, tyrannies and kingdoms—has an end, and a quick end; but your commandment is broad and imperishable, and bestows upon those who keep it the boundless and eternal wealth and the goods that undergo no change. For the sinners themselves, while being rich and rejoicing in this life, and passing through it in prosperity and power, consider as the end of goods those things that are present; but the prophet is not so, but sings: "I have seen the end of all completion; the commandment of God is exceedingly broad, and remains unto the age, and holds the reward of the eternal goods."
How I loved your law, O Lord!
All the day it is my meditation. Not everyone who fulfills the divine law fulfills it by loving it; but some do so by fear and dread of the punishment, others by hunting for glory from men; but the genuine lovers of virtue hasten to fulfill the divine commands with a disposition toward good things. Therefore, let us pay attention, brethren, to what is said. All the day he commands us to meditate upon the divine law and the commandments of God; and we do not suffer to listen for two or three hours to the divine reading, through which our life is set straight. For there are some who, like the adder, close their ears, and withdraw, not wishing to hear divine words and soul-profiting instruction; and the more terrible thing is that some clerics do this, and brothers and our fellow ministers. And if we did not have the command from the Apostle saying, "Reprove, rebuke, exhort," we would have placed a door upon our mouth, and have borne and carried the burdens of these men. Yet they are wise and understanding men, and can correct themselves. For it is written: "The wise are their own witnesses."Above my enemies you made me wise in your commandment, for it is mine unto the age.
D The prophet, in confessing that he loves the divine law fervently, attributes the whole thing to divine grace. "For from you," he says, "having received wisdom and knowledge, I have loved your law." For you have given me more knowledge than my enemies; wherefore they are eager to destroy me, but I do not even bear to defend myself against those who do me wrong; for I envision the eternal reward of virtue. And the choir of the apostles cries out these things; for their enemies were the scribes and the Pharisees. They, therefore, having been made wise by Christ the Word, preached the evangelical message, and their teaching has prevailed unto the age; that of the scribes and Pharisees was temporary. 99. I have understood more than all those teaching me, because your testimonies are my meditation. 100. I have understood more than the elders, because I have sought out your commandments. It is a royal trait to teach; but to be taught is the trait of subjects. Saul reigned, and he was old in time; yet neither the power of the kingdom, nor the passage of time made him temperate, but he desired to kill his benefactor. But the great David, while yet assigned to subjects and leading a young age, loved philosophy, and neither endured to start unjust hands, nor to defend himself against those doing him wrong. The prophet, therefore, holds to the same concept. For the teachers of the law and the scribes, wishing to be called "Rabbi" by men, were teaching what was not lawful; but the apostles, understanding the true knowledge witnessed by the law and the prophets, were preaching. Those teachers of the Jews, therefore, are called elders on account of their being in time before the apostles; but the apostles understood both the law and the prophets, understanding these things spiritually. For this reason, the commandments of God were truly sought out by them. 101. From every evil path I have restrained my feet, so that I might keep your words. For it is not possible to travel two roads at once—that of licentiousness and that of temperance, of justice and of injustice—but it is necessary to flee the opposites, and travel the straight one; for thus it is possible to become keepers of the divine words. Therefore, he who keeps all the commandments says himself: "I have restrained my feet from every evil path." For neither can the perpetrator of injustice say this, nor the reviler, nor the covetous man, nor he who has envy or hatred of his brethren, or the one returning evil for evil. 102. I have not turned aside from your judgments, because you have legislated for me. The word teaches us that he never turned aside from the commandments and the judgments of God. For knowing you to be the legislator of these, I embraced them with all disposition. Wherefore he also added: 103. How sweet are your words to my throat, more than honey to my mouth. Honey is indeed sweet as far as the throat, since it proceeds to the belly and the drain; but the words of God sweeten the heart and the soul. For in another psalm he says: "More desirable than gold and precious stone, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb." For my mouth is not so sweetened by...the sweetness of honey as my soul is gladdened by the meditation of Thy oracles. He mentions the throat as the instrument of the voice; but meditation comes through the voice; and the soul, using these, receives fruit from them. B 104. "From Thy commandments I have understood; therefore I have hated every way of iniquity." For understanding what is pleasing to Thee, I have turned away from every species of wickedness. But the entire scope of this Psalm declares to us the custody and observation of the precepts, and the mode of expression is not legal or shadowy, but evangelical; and the grace of our Christian protection, and the norm and safeguard of our life. He frequently puts forward the Law, the commandments, the justifications, the judgments, and the testimonies, concerning which it was said in the beginning of the explanation of this Psalm what indeed they signify; but now let us come to the subject at hand. "From Thy commandments I have understood" — as if we said: from Thy commandments we have received attention and understanding; therefore we have hated every way of iniquity. For the commandments themselves command: "Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not commit fornication, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not behave insolently, thou shalt not covet the things that are thy neighbor's, nor his field, nor his servant, nor his maidservant, nor any of his beasts" (cf. Exod. 20.13-17): "Thou shalt not lend thy brother money at interest, nor gold at interest, nor food at interest" (Deut. 23.19-20). These are the commandments of God which we perceive daily through the reading of the holy Gospel and the apostolic disciplines; for these indeed lead us to hate every way of iniquity. For all sins, and all species of wickedness, are called iniquity; through them the wrath of God comes upon the sons of men, or rather, upon the sons of disobedience. From which may you be saved, brethren, and be strengthened in the will of God; and He Himself will give you the riches of His mercy and compassion, for He is our Savior. 105. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my paths." I walk in darkness, but, by Thy law, as if by a certain lamp, I am illuminated. It must be understood, indeed, that the Law is called a lamp, but our Savior and Lord is the Sun of Justice (Mal. 4.2). For that one, indeed, as a lamp, scarcely illuminated one nation; but this One has illuminated the whole world. Thus also the divine John was called a lamp by the Lord Christ (John 5.35), who, while night still was, appeared to the Jews. But since the true light, "which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world" (John 1.9), arose, He declared the apostles to be lights, as those who participated in that light which illuminates all men. And since, according to the voice of the Lord, "the whole world is seated in wickedness" (1 John 5.19), and his darkness is (for David himself said, as it is written in the Books of Kings: "Night was about me, a wretched man, and I knew not"), we have need of a lamp. The Law was given to us for an aid, and it becomes a light on our path. For it is written: "Because Thy precepts are a light upon the earth" (Isa. 26.9). The Old Testament was given long ago to the Israelites; for it illuminated that one nation alone. But when the Sun of Justice, Christ our God, the true light that "enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world," came, He Himself illuminated the ends of the earth, and said to His disciples: "You are the light of the world" (Matt. 5.14); from which light we have all received. 106. "I have sworn, and have determined to keep the judgments of Thy justice." C Since most things are confirmed by an oath, the prophet called his oath the firmness and immobility which he had regarding the commandments of God. That is customary in the divine Scripture: as that, "The Lord God swore to Abraham" (Gen. 22.16); and, "The Lord swore to David the truth, and He will not make it void" (Ps. 131.11). Nevertheless, an oath is forbidden by the whole divine Scripture: by the Old, indeed: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" (Exod. 20.7); and, "Thou shalt not swear by my name in iniquity" (Lev. 19.12); and, "Let not thy mouth be accustomed to swearing" (Eccl. 23.9), naturally for secular affairs: for the Ecclesiastes said: "I possessed gold, silver, garments; I made for myself gardens, vineyards, aqueducts; and behold, all is vanity and agitation of spirit" (Eccl. 2.4-11). He who for these things takes the name of God upon his tongue, receives the oath in vain and iniquitously. And again the Lord: "But I say to you, swear not at all" (Matt. 5.34); and His disciple James: "Before all things, my brethren, swear not" (James 5.12). Just as, therefore, it is commanded, "Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not act unjustly," so also, "Thou shalt not swear."
"I have been humbled, O Lord, exceedingly: quicken me according to Thy word." He said not simply that he was humbled, but *exceedingly* humbled; and this when he was king and prophet, and had confidence from virtue, and abounded in riches, and was a victor over enemies. But he neither trusted in wisdom, nor in strength, nor in justice; he held these to be gifts of divine grace. And when he asks for life from Him who can give it, he does not ask absolutely, but for a life reasonable, legitimate, and made splendid by divine law. And because, while we live, we fall into sin at all (for no one at all is free from filth in the sight of the Lord, not even if he be but one day old in his life), let us embrace groaning, tears, temperance, the maceration of the body. For that is "humbled exceedingly." But when the prophet says, "quicken me," he does not demand this life which is in foods and drinks, but a reasonable, practiced life, endowed with virtue, which keeps the divine commandments.
"The voluntary things of my mouth, O Lord, make acceptable, and teach me Thy judgments." Many duties of virtue the laws prescribe, but some our will adds. Thus also among the sacrifices, some were legal, some were voluntary. For those which were for sin, for trespass, and for ignorance, which the law commanded to offer—these, I say, were paid as a debt to God; but those which were offered from the liberality of the mind, he called gifts. Thus also now, temperance and justice the evangelical laws command; but virginity, and continence after weddings, and poverty, and a solitary life, and sojourning in the desert, are works of the mind, which transcend the law. Such things, therefore, the prophet called *voluntary*. For those matters that are not subject to the necessity of the law, but are fruits of a religious mind, are rightly called *voluntary*. But often having fallen into calamities and hardships, we approach God, according to that: "I will render to Thee my vows, which my lips have distinguished: and my mouth has spoken in my tribulation" (Ps. 65.13-14). These we ought to fulfill entirely.
In another way also these can be understood. Voluntary things are as many as exceed the commandments of God themselves; it is a commandment of God to be joined to one wife: "For marriage is honorable, and the bed undefiled: but fornicators and adulterers God will judge" (Heb. 13.4). If, however, anyone wishes to practice virginity, this is voluntary. Similarly, it is permitted to us to possess food, clothing, and garments; but if we institute the practice of poverty, that is voluntary. And if we wish to practice a solitary and monastic life, that is at our discretion. For these things, therefore, the prophet prays that they may be rightly directed, those who wish to perform such things. 109. "My soul is in Thy hands always; and I have not forgotten Thy law." For preserved by Thy providence,
if we are standing in the divine liturgy and we let go of our prayer and praise, and speak with one another about worldly matters and concerns, we have not placed our souls in the hands of God. 110. "Sinners have laid a snare for me; but I have not wandered from Thy commandments." Both men and demons set many and various traps for me; but I chose to walk the unwavering path of Thy commandments. For indeed, both demons and thoughts in many ways ensnare those who live according to God, and then wicked men too; yet they themselves boast that they have not wandered from the commandments of God. For Saul, snaring David himself and seeking to kill him, did not turn him away from the commandments of God. And although David found Saul once and twice, he did not render evil for evil. And long ago in Egypt, the Egyptian woman laid a snare for Joseph, but he did not wander, having kept his own chastity. Susanna suffered this same thing from the elders. "I have inherited Thy testimonies for ever, for they are the exultation of my heart." C 6. The saints and those who live piously exult, and rejoice in the keeping of the commandments of God, and having God as Father, they have also become heirs of His testimonies, and they possess these as a paternal inheritance, exulting; for the inheritance of parents is sweet. For this reason, then, the prophet also praying says, that believing Thy testimonies to be an eternal and inviolable inheritance, I exult and rejoice at the memory of them. "I have inclined my heart to perform Thy justifications for ever for the sake of recompense." The council-chamber of the soul is like a scale; and the mind holds the scale, having obtained the lot of governing. If, therefore, it inclines toward pious thoughts, it is necessary to tilt the scales toward the better. The prophet says he has done this. And not "I inclined" at one time, and not at another; but "for ever," that is, for all the days of my life. For in them I exult, finding the reward, "Which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man" (1 Cor. 2:9). For these things are the recompense. For good things have been created for the good. "I have hated the lawless, but I have loved Thy law." For having cast aside the thoughts that advocate lawlessness, I have preferred Thy law. Such are the boastings of the saints. And in another Psalm he also says: "Did I not hate those who hate Thee, O Lord, and did I not pine away over Thy enemies? I hated them with a perfect hatred; they became enemies to me" (Ps. 138:21-22). Just as he who loves light hates the darkness, so he who loves the law of God hates lawless thoughts and actions, and the turning away from these is love toward the promises of the law. He, then, who is in such a state, cries out: 114. "Thou art my helper and my upholder; I have hoped in Thy words." And this was not accomplished without Thy help, but having enjoyed Thy support, and being nourished by Thy hope. And I have not hoped in wealth, nor in worldly honor and glory and in the help of men, but in Thy words. Whence also one of the wise men said: "Give me not the help of men." "Depart from me, you who do evil, and I will search out the commandments of my God." He commands [one] to turn away from every assault of demons and evil thoughts, in order that he may keep the commandments of God within himself in deed and in word. For this is what "I will search out" means. For these things, says he, I also said to the irrational thoughts and to those who attempt to advise base things: do not suggest any such counsel to me; for for me, life is to be chosen according to the divine commandments. I will not follow these simply, but I will search them out with all accuracy, so that none of these may escape me, but that I may fulfill all that the Lord of all has commanded. D 698 "Uphold me according to Thy word, and quicken me; and do not put me to shame from my expectation." Therefore, deem me worthy of Thy providence, I who possess this goal, so that not having failed of my hope, I may be filled with shame. And "word" here means the promise, meaning, "grant me the salvation promised to me." As then a perfect person and one who has kept the commandments of God, the prophet expects honor and glory at the second coming of Christ our God, where he also hopes to live the eternal life, and not to be put to shame with the sinners, and those who have disobeyed, and those who have removed themselves from the commandments of God. "Help me, and I shall be saved, and I will meditate in Thy justifications continually." For having attained salvation, I will not neglect Thy justifications, but will continually make these my meditation. And he means by meditation not that in words only, but also that in deeds. For the meditation on the justifications of God that is always taking place draws His help toward us, and from it, salvation is born. "Thou hast brought to nothing all those who depart from Thy justifications, for their plan is unrighteous." I will have this fervor regarding Thy commandments, knowing the law-breakers of these to have become shameful and ridiculous. And in another Psalm he also says concerning the sinners: "They shall be brought to nothing as water flowing away" (Ps. 57:8). And again, "Their reproach [is] to those who prosper, and the nullification to the proud." "I have reckoned as transgressors all the sinners of the earth; therefore I loved Thy testimonies." Concerning "transgressors," Symmachus says "dross." But the prophet has declared that he himself also, in a way similar to God, treated the transgressors as nothing, knowing the penalty of lawlessness, and brought all his fervor to the fulfillment of the divine [commandments]. John the apostle therefore said: "He who practices lawlessness, practices sin" (1 John 3:4). Therefore, among those who live piously, sinners are recognized as transgressors of the law. "Nail down my flesh from Thy fear; for I was afraid of Thy judgments." My soul, says he, is surrounded by Thy fear; but since the body rises up against it, I also call upon its members to be nailed down by this fear, so that they, having become dead to sin, might follow the guidance of the soul. This is like that apostolic saying: "Put to death your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Col. 3:5). And again: "I have been crucified with Christ. And it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:19-20). For just as one nailed to a stone cannot move, so neither can the one nailed in the fear of God be moved away from the fear of God. And again the same apostle said: "I buffet my body and bring it into bondage, lest having preached to others, I myself should become disqualified" (1 Cor. 9:27). "I have performed judgment and justice; do not deliver me to those who wrong me." To those following Thy laws, says he, I have chosen [to belong], lest I become vulnerable to enemies. And who now has such purity of soul, so as to use such words with boldness? However, the divine apostle also said things similar to these: "For this is our boasting, the testimony of our conscience" (2 Cor. 1:12). Great is he who dares such things in his speech with God. For by saying, "I have performed judgment and justice," he laid claim to the accomplishment of all the virtues and commandments. Whence also he beseeches not to be delivered to those who wrong him, [that is, to] wicked demons and irrational impulses and disorderly thoughts. "Receive Thy servant into good." And Symmachus [says], "Bail out for me, Thy servant, into good"; but Aquila and Theodotion, "Go surety"; meaning, "I am speaking the truth, I do not lie; trust Thy servant who makes promises; become Thyself the guarantor of my promise, that I will strive to fulfill Thy laws." "Bail me out," Master, says he, "and trust Thy servant, and become my guarantor for good, that I may keep Thy commandments and not be slandered by the proud." For all who do not keep the commandments of God are called proud, according to the saying which says: "The proud acted lawlessly exceedingly." Let not the proud slander me. Slander is painful, even if it has a great reward. The admirable man has fallen into this.
699 because I keep your commandments; and let me not be assaulted by the calumnies of the proud. For as many as do not keep the commandments of God are called proud, according to that saying: "The proud dealt very wickedly" (v. 51). Let not the proud calumniate me. Calumny is a bitter thing, although it may have a great reward. The admirable Joseph fell into this, as did countless others. The Lord also exhorts us to pray that we enter not into temptation (Matt. 6:13), which the prophet here B sought. For the calumny of the arrogant and the powerful is far more grievous. For injustice conjoined with power brings about greater ruin. 123. My eyes have failed for thy salvation, and for the word of thy justice. Again, here he calls the promise "the word." Perpetually, he says, I await salvation from you, and I seek the end of the promise. Indeed, he used the word "failed" to show an intense desire, which he also declared above, saying: "My soul hath fainted for thy salvation" (v. 81). And what salvation? That which Symeon, when he embraced the Lord, spoke of: "Because my eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples" (Luke 2:30, 31). This he seeks for the sake of the salvation of the human race. For that "my soul hath fainted" is nothing other than the vehemence of desire; C and teach me thy justifications. This worker of such great virtue asks to attain mercy, and demands to enjoy salvation; he does not demand it as a wage, but asks for it as benevolence. For even if the prophet was progressing in virtues, he nevertheless begged for God’s mercy. So too, brethren, even if we do something good, let us nevertheless pray that He may assist us, and that by His mercy we may attain salvation. 125. I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies. All men are servants of God by nature; but by affection, they are those who have sincerely chosen the command of God. Therefore the prophet calls himself a servant of this lot, and prays that he be endowed with prudence, so that he may know the testimonies of God. 126. It is time for others to act, O Lord: they have dissipated thy law. God, who governs all things by weight and measure, does indeed bear with the sins of men for a longer time; but when He sees that wickedness has grown from D patience, He then inflicts punishment. Therefore he says this in this place: It is time to rise to the help of those who have been injured, O Lord: for your adversaries have greatly trampled upon your law. The apostle Paul, moreover, says about the coming of our Lord: "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2). It was time for the Jews also to believe: but they did the contrary, not believing and rejecting the Gospel. For this is that saying: "They have dissipated thy law." They, indeed, have despised your law; but I deem your commandments dearer than gold and precious stones. For the topaz is numbered among precious stones: but by one, he signified all stones of this kind. And it is likely that at that time this stone was held to be more excellent than other stones. Elsewhere he also says: "The law of thy mouth is good to me above thousands of gold and silver" (v. 72). It is further indicated that, above all riches, whether taken collectively or in detail, he loves the commandments themselves. For this is the perfection of a Christian: for the Lord says: "If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love" (John 15:10). 128. Therefore I was directed to all thy commandments, I have hated every iniquitous way. For desire begets alacrity: but alacrity brought it about that the way was held straight, and the path of injustice was hated. He, therefore, who carries out all the commandments, he clearly hates the iniquitous way. For whoever shall keep the whole law, if he offend in one point, has become guilty of all (Jas. 2:10). 700 For He who said, "Thou shalt not kill," also said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery"; and He who said, "Thou shalt not do injury," also said, "Thou shalt not be reproachful"; and He who said, "Thou shalt not bear false witness," also said, "Thou shalt not swear." 129. Thy testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul hath searched them. He shows that he did not love these things in vain. For they are worthy of admiration, he says, and capable of soothing and exciting into love those who are able to look into them. And how were they not wonderful? A For they lead to a straight and honest life, and to the institute of virtue, to chastity and temperance, to meekness and patience, to almsgiving, justice and goodness. Therefore the prophet boasts that he searches them, not by speaking with his mouth, but by turning them in his mind: but as we are commanded to love God from our whole soul (Matt. 22:37), so we are taught to desire and carry out His commandments. 130. The declaration of thy words giveth light: and giveth understanding to little ones. Illumined by your light, he says, I have received this knowledge, and your law fills with prudence all those who are held by ignorance and are like infants. The declaration of the Gospel words, however, illuminates, not only the perfect, but also those who possess less. Another thing is also taught here. For the Lord says: "I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, B and hast revealed them to little ones" (Matt. 11:25), speaking of the apostles: for in malice they were infants. 131. I opened my mouth, and drew in the Spirit, because I desired thy commandments. He calls the alacrity of the mind the "mouth" here: for it itself draws in the grace of the Spirit. Elsewhere he also says: "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it" (Ps. 80:11). And the divine apostle was asking that the word be given at the opening of his mouth (Eph. 6:19): and the prophet himself in another Psalm says: "The Lord shall give the word to them that preach good tidings, with great power" (Ps. 67:12). He says the same thing here: I opened my mouth, and drew in the Spirit, because I desired thy commandments. For when you looked upon me as being held by the desire of C your commandments, you deigned to favor me with your grace. Whoever, therefore, desire the commandments of God, if they open their mouth, they fill it with the Spirit. And David, when he desired the commandments of God, was deemed worthy of prophetic grace, and opening his mouth, he filled it with the Spirit. But to those who do not obey the commandments of God, it has been said: "With bit and bridle bind fast their jaws, who come not near unto thee" (Ps. 31:9); and, "Many are the scourges of the sinner" (Ibid. v. 10). From which, brethren, attending to the narration of these things, I hope by the help and patronage of God you may be freed, and the Lord God may grant you salvation, both in the present and in the future age. Amen, so be it; to whom glory and honor befit now, and forever.
STATION III.
132. Look upon me, and have mercy on me, according to the judgment of them that love thy name. Many are the emphases in those things which he himself sang prophetically. But indeed, in this Psalm, he often speaks about the same things for the same matters. D His purpose, however, is abstinence from sin and aversion to evil, as well as the observance and keeping of the commandments of God, and also to reprove delinquents, and to turn away from them, to ask for God’s help and mercy. Therefore he says: Look upon me, and have mercy on me. There is a time when God looks in anger, as has been said by the prophet Habacuc: "He beheld, and the nations were melted" (Hab. 3:6); but when He looks upon those who love Him, He works mercy and salvation. This, therefore, the prophet sought: for which reason he subjoined: According to the judgment of them that love thy name. He prays, therefore, that he may attain divine benevolence: not simply, but, he says, as you are accustomed to provide mercy to those who love you. For this is what he meant by "According to the judgment of them that love thy name"; as if to say: I beseech you that I may receive a sentence equal to theirs. 133. Direct my steps according to thy word: and let no injustice have dominion over me. For when we bring forth alacrity, and God brings help, and directs the way, the force and power of sin has no place. God, therefore, directing us in His ways, and we providing the alacrity, sin or iniquity will not have power against us. For in another Psalm He promises to him who fears Him: "Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night, of the arrow that flieth in the day, of the business that walketh about in darkness" (Ps. 90:5, 6): which are iniquity. 134. Redeem me from the calumnies of men, and I will keep thy commandments. According to that saying, David suffered many temptations from men, thenA he prayed to be delivered from them. And the Master Christ called those who are reproached and slandered blessed and zealous; but He also taught them to pray not to enter into temptation. Thus, the prayer of the prophet is in accordance with the evangelical laws. And the holy Athanasius, interpreting the utterance according to its meaning, says that "the calumnies of men" refers to the talkativeness and the "tongue-pain" of the heretics and the lawless. So we too, brethren, following the Father, let us flee from every heresy, in the meantime from those now prevalent among us, the Iconoclasts, the Paulicians, and the Manichaeans; and if any of them say to us, "Come with us" (Prov. 1:15), let us turn aside our foot and step away, according to the proverbial saying, and let us not walk with them. B 135. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant, and teach me thy justifications. The Divine is incorporeal, simple, and uncompounded; but Holy Scripture speaks of Him in a more bodily and grosser way, measuring its words to the nature of men; since the Son is the character of the Father's substance, and the radiance, as seems true to the blessed Paul (Heb. 1:3). He therefore desires to behold His presence for the salvation of the human race. For He, on appearing to us, taught all righteousness. Therefore, the manifestation of the divine face is to be understood as the end of sorrowful things and the gift of blessings. 136. My eyes have sent forth springs of water, because they kept not thy law. This law also is apostolic. For if one member suffers, he says, all the members suffer with it (1 Cor. 12:26). Therefore, the prophet undergoes the evangelical perfection, lamenting the transgressions of others; and he called the multitude of tears "springs of water," as if to say, I shed tears in streams, observing the transgressions of men. C Such grief do the holy ones feel for those who have transgressed. For Moses also lamented, when the Israelite people turned away from God and made a calf, saying to God: If thou wilt forgive them their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of the book of the living (Ex. 32:32). And again, the Apostle, seeing the Jews alienated from the Gospel, said: I could wish to be anathema from God for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh (Rom. 9:3). 137. Thou art just, O Lord, and thy judgments are right. Thou hast commanded justice, thy testimonies, and thy truth exceedingly. Thou dost govern all things justly, O Master, and taking care of men, thou wishest to make them workers of justice. And thou hast given a law, and thou dost admonish those who transgress it, what punishments they shall pay, and thou dost promise good rewards to those who keep them, and thou dost confirm the promises by thy works. For this is what "Thy truth exceedingly" signifies. For he has established a day in which he is to judge the world and render to each according to his works; to those who by the patience of good work seek glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life; but to those who obey unrighteousness, but do not obey the truth, wrath and indignation and tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil (Rom. 2:6-9). By saying "Thy truth exceedingly," he declared the certainty and the outcome of the matter. 138. Thy zeal has made me pine away, because my enemies have forgotten thy words. The prophet mourns for those who live in transgression, and seeing the Lawgiver despised, D he is justly indignant. This is the zeal that proclaimed Phinehas; this is what made the great Elijah celebrated; inflamed by this, the victorious Stephen convicted the unbelief of the Jews. And it has the meaning of the verse above; for what he said there, "My eyes have sent forth springs of water," he says here, "Thy zeal has made me pine away, because my enemies have forgotten thy words." Such, as I said, was Phinehas, who pierced the one having committed fornication; And it was counted to him for justice (Ps. 105:31). Such was the divine Paul, carrying the whole of Christ within himself; therefore he also said: Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is scandalized, and I am not burned? (2 Cor. 11:29). And the blessed Luke also says concerning him, as in Athens his spirit was stirred within him, seeing the city given to idols (Acts 17:16). 140. Thy word is fired exceedingly, and thy servant has loved it. A 141. Approved, he says, and unadulterated is thy word and free from every blemish; and I have a great affection for it. And in another psalm he says: The words of the Lord are pure words; silver tried on the earth, purged sevenfold (Ps. 11:7). Therefore, when men say that the judgments of God are disapproved, or bastard, or defiled, they are none of these, but all are free from every blemish. In their purity, therefore, brethren, let us direct our life. 141. I am young and despised: thy justifications I have not forgotten. David was small, and the least among the sons of his father; but because of the love he had for God, he was chosen, and he received the kingdom and prophetic grace. For God knows how to pay rewards to those who love Him in this present age, but more in the one to come. When therefore God commanded the divine Samuel to appoint one of the sons of Jesse as king, he rejected all the others adorned with strength and size and beauty of body, and he asked Jesse if any children were left; and when he said that a young boy was left, who tends the flocks, and as unfit for a king, the prophet ordered him to be brought, and he anointed him immediately upon his arrival. Of this gift the prophet was reminded here, and he says: I am young and considered cheap to those who have been born, yet thou hast deemed me worthy of such grace, and appointed me both prophet and king; for which reason I desire with all eagerness to keep thy justifications. 142. Thy justice is justice for ever, and thy law is truth. He who obeys human laws does not enjoy the honor from the legislators even in the present life; but he who follows the divine commandments has eternal life as the reward of his labors. And human laws all have justice, but the law of the Lord shines with truth. Therefore he reasonably said: Thy justice is justice for ever, and thy law is truth. The justice of God, therefore, and the law are truth for ever. Therefore, the blessed Paul also said to the Jews: Seeking to establish their own justice, they have not submitted to the justice of God (Rom. 10:3). 143. Tribulations and anguish have found me. For these are joined to the workers of virtue. And this is similar to what was said by Paul: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness? For thy sake we are killed all the day long, we were counted as sheep for the slaughter (Ps. 43:22). Such are the contests of the saints, these are their struggles. Thy commandments are my meditation. For from the teaching of these I learn fortitude, and I bear bravely what is grievous. 144. Thy testimonies are justice for ever; that is, the cause of everlasting blessings. Give me understanding and I shall live. For, being enlightened by thee, I shall enjoy the true life. 145. I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord: I will seek thy justifications. Again he calls the eagerness of the soul a cry. For this reason he added, "With my whole heart." Thus also Moses cried B while silent, and to him praying in his mind God said: Why criest thou to me? (Ex. 14:15). But he says "with my whole heart," declaring the eagerness of the soul, and not the cry of the mouth. For the divine Paul also said: Singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord (Eph. 5:19). 146. I cried to thee; save me, and I will keep thy testimonies. For receiving salvation from thee, I shall become a keeper of thy laws. Those, therefore, who keep the testimonies of God are certainly also saved by Him. 147. I have prevented the dawn, and I cried; to thy words I have hoped. Being a king, the prophet, surrounded by a thousand cares, and having also undertaken struggles of war besides these, not only offered his supplications to God when the day was dawning, but even in the middle of the night, while waiting for the song of the cocks; so he longed for God who made him; so eagerly [he sought] the help from thence. For the prophet knew no time for praising and C keeping God in remembrance; for he ought to breathe
more, as the theologian Gregory says. A *My eyes prevented the watches, that I might meditate on thy words.* Not only at the time of the sweetest sleep, but also at dawn did he apply himself to the meditation of the divine laws; but we, living in poverty and free from every care, toss upon our beds and pass the night, and do not even, when the day begins, offer a hymn to the Giver of all good things. The prophet therefore secures us, so that we may meditate on the words of God at the hours of dawn. And the Lord says: *Watch, lest your hearts be weighed down by surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life* (Luke 21:34). And some one of the prophets, bewailing such men, says: *All the night you sleep, O Ephraim* (Hos. 7:6). B *Hear my voice according to thy mercy, O Lord; quicken me according to thy judgment.* He who abounds in such great and many good things prays to obtain mercy; and he does not ask for mercy simply, but according to a profitable sentence. He therefore asks and beseeches God that he may have life in the judgments of God, and that He may lead us ourselves toward such prayer. *They have drawn near who persecute me in iniquity; but they are turned far from thy law.* For they are far removed from the divine laws who attempt to wage war against the just. For the scribes and Pharisees were persecuting the apostles, drawing near to iniquity, to whom the Lord says: *He that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me* (Luke 10:16); and: *I will be an enemy to thine enemies, and will oppose those that oppose thee* (Exod. 23:22). And therefore they were removed far from the evangelical law, not obeying the teaching of the apostles. *Thou art near, O Lord, and all thy ways are truth.* C You are not far from us, but you fill the world, and by using truth you manage nature. This even God Himself says through the prophet: *I am a God drawing near, and not a God far off* (Jer. 23:25). For He knows everything and searches out even the depths of our hearts (Ps. 43:22). And the blessed Paul: *For in him we live and move and are* (Acts 17:28). *From the beginning I have known concerning thy testimonies, that thou hast founded them for ever.* He calls the heaven and the earth testimonies. For descending, he says, into testimony, take to them heaven and earth. Therefore the great Moses, beginning his song, says: *Attend, O heaven, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words from my mouth* (Deut. 32:1). In these, however, divine providence is perpetually observed: for all things proceed with great order. Hence, he says, I know clearly that thou art near and present to the works, and that nothing of all things that have been made escapes thee. And in another way, he says, from the beginning I have known that those things which were said by thee are firm, O Lord, and that thy commandments are perpetual. D For the laws of God are not changed as are those of kings and cities; but as the heaven and the earth remain for ever, so also do the commandments of God. For in them, he says, nothing is to be added, and from them nothing is to be taken away. But the Lord also says: *Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away* (Matt. 24:35). *Look upon my humiliation and rescue me, for I have not forgotten thy law.* *He that humbleth himself shall be exalted* (Matt. 23:12), according to the voice of the Lord; and: *Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven* (Matt. 5:3). With this the divine prophet adorned his other virtues, and proposing this, he promises divine help. But there are many kinds of humiliation: for a man is humiliated in hardship and calamities, and by human annoyances. But true humiliation is when, because of our sins, we are converted: as David himself was humiliated in words and deeds: *I will wash my bed every night, I will water my couch with my tears* (Ps. 6:7); and: *Look upon my humiliation and my labor, and forgive all my sins* (Ps. 24:18). And similarly, if we be humbled under the mighty hand of God, loving and keeping His precepts, of which the Lord says: *Blessed are the poor in spirit* (Matt. 5:3). *Judge my judgment and redeem me; quicken me according to thy word.* Because through the transgression of the enemy, the prince of evil, the human race withdrew from God, the prophet asks that the human race be judged, and that it may obtain salvation: which it obtains, however, through the evangelical word. For after the Gospel was preached throughout the whole world, the devil was defeated, and the human race, quickened by the Spirit, obtained salvation. He reminds God, therefore, of His promises, and asks salvation from Him, and beseeches that judgment be held concerning him and his enemies. *Salvation is far from sinners, because they have not sought thy justifications.* By salvation, he says, which proceeds from thee, those living iniquitously have deprived themselves, being unwilling to learn those things which thou hast commanded to be done. But this is the cause of destruction, that we do not seek the justifications of God. Neither did he say only, because they did not believe, but, *Because they have not sought thy justifications.* For when we despise the commandments of God, He Himself removes salvation from us. *And let my quickening judgment be thy mercy.* This verse sets forth a clear meaning, and does not need interpretation; for he says: Great are the riches of thy kindness, thy just judgment; hence I seek salvation. *Many are they that persecute me and afflict me; I have not declined from thy testimonies.* Surrounded by many calamities, he says, I was unwilling to transgress anything of those things which had been appointed by thee. When we were expounding the argument of the Psalm, we said that the divine David had collected in this Psalm all that had happened to him; and some indeed look to those adversities which Saul inflicted upon him, but others to those which Absalom introduced. Moreover, it is clear that he said these things when he was being driven by Saul: for then he was without sin. Many, therefore, were persecuting the saints and leading them to death, but they did not decline from the testimonies of God. For they were remembering the Lord saying: *Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven* (Matt. 5:10); similarly also the apostle Paul: *Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of heaven* (Acts 14:22). Therefore the holy and illustrious martyrs passed through fire and water, and delivered their bodies because of the confession and love of God: but they have their retribution, having been made concorporal and fellow-sharers of Christ our God. *I beheld the transgressors and was wasting away, because they kept not thy words.* Thus the blessed Paul was lamenting; thus the Lord Himself was bewailing Jerusalem; thus the divine Jeremiah was lamenting the iniquity of the people. It behooves us, brothers, to be such, that we waste away and grieve for those who walk inordinately, and that we argue and exhort them, truly directing our own life: *For he who shall have converted a sinner from the error of his way, shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins* (Jas. 5:20); but if they remain incorrigible, it is necessary to withdraw from such men, as the Apostle teaches: *Withdraw, he says, yourselves from every brother walking inordinately... a fornicator, or an avaricious man, or a drunkard, or a railer, or an extortioner; with such a one not even to take food* (1 Cor. 5:11). *Behold, because I have loved thy commandments, O Lord; in thy mercy quicken me.* He often commemorates commandments, justifications, laws, and testimonies, bearing witness to his desire for these. But we are taught here, according to Jacob, the brother of God, not to love by word and tongue, but by work and truth (1 John 3:18). For thus we shall live in the mercy of God. *The beginning of thy words is truth, and all the judgments of thy justice are for ever.* Thou hast promises, thou adornest them with promised truth, and thou confirmeas thy words by the fact. At the beginning of the world God said to Adam: *Of every tree which is in the paradise thou shalt eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that you shall eat of it, by death you shall die* (Gen. 2:16-17). This sentence therefore held for ever: for not to obey God brings death. But something else is meant here. For it is written: God said to Abraham: *In thy seed shall all nations be blessed* (Gen. 22:18): which seed is Christ. Through Him certainly for ever justice was made for the human race.
A He calls the promises made to Abraham the "beginning of words." For the race of the Jews was constituted from that time; but He fulfilled the promises, and increased the people like the stars of heaven in number, and in his seed also He blessed all nations according to the promises. For this he implied by saying: *And to the age all the judgments of thy justice.* For being a prophet, he saw the eternal power of Christ. Therefore he said that the beginning of the divine oracles was adorned with truth. He says also in another Psalm: *The works of his hands are truth and judgment* (Ps. 110: 7). *Princes have persecuted me for nothing, and my heart was afraid at thy words.* He says, I did not fear the enemies and persecutors, but I feared Thy laws. Therefore, having found the enemy sleeping, I did not dare to kill him. And that parricide and loathsome child, I pitied him, saying: *Spare me the lad* (2 Reg. 18: 5). These things indeed David said while pursued by Saul; but according to theory and thought, the "princes" are the evil spirits, as the blessed Paul teaches us: *Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness* (Ephes. 6: 12). They then attack us, wishing to deceive; but let us be afraid at the words of God. For the Lord said: *Be not afraid of those that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell* (Matt. 10: 28). *I will rejoice in thy words, as one finding great spoils.* Since he made mention of persecuting enemies, B he properly brought in the memory of the spoils. He says that if I had killed all those and by plundering them had gathered very many spoils, I would not have been so gladdened as I am gladdened by Thy laws. And what he said above, this he says also here. For there he said: *The law of thy mouth is good to me above thousands of gold and silver* (v. 72); and, *I have loved thy commandments above gold and topaz* (v. 127). He teaches, therefore, that we should rejoice and exult in God's commandments above all joy. *I have hated injustice, and detested it, but I have loved thy law.* This statement also is true. For he who is warmly disposed towards divine things detests the opposite. And indeed, he who hates injustice draws justice to himself entirely. For it is not in the nature of things for two contrary statements about the same matter to be true. And the Lord also said: *You cannot serve God and mammon* (Matt. 6: 24). *Seven times a day I have praised thee for the judgments of thy justice.* Some translated "seven times" as "many times." And this certainly denotes the fervent love of the prophet. For he did not take his fill of the divine hymnody. Therefore it is necessary for us also to praise God ceaselessly, that is, for the judgments of His justice. But the more moderate and pious make their station towards God seven times by night and by day; first indeed by keeping watch, which we also call the dawn; then thus, as the sun rises, they give thanks to Him who led the day; at the third hour, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles; at the sixth, when Christ our God was nailed in the flesh to the cross, and blotted out the handwriting against us; at the ninth, when He poured out His blood and gave up the spirit, and redeemed us from the possession of the devil; about the setting of the sun, which we also call the lamp-lighting, for our giving thanks for the passing of the day; again, when we go to sleep. These things, therefore, added together, become "seven times." *Great peace to them that love thy law, and there is no scandal to them.* Those who are inflamed with the divine love, and who acquire peace C with Him through the keeping of the commandments, even if they are warred upon by all men, live a life pleasing to the heart. And the divine Paul is a witness, crying: *In all things suffering tribulation, but not distressed; having no way to go, but not destitute; pursued, but not forsaken; cast down, but not perishing* (2 Cor. 4: 8, 9). And the Lord, sending the holy apostles as sheep in the midst of wolves into all the world, said to them: *My peace I give to you, my peace I leave to you* (Joan. 14: 27). For they received this even the evangelical law, and preached it everywhere. This is what "Great" signifies. *And there is no scandal to them.* For Satan was crushed under their feet. *I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord, and I have loved thy commandments.* I did not, when surrounded by trials, cut off my better hopes, but I continued waiting for Thy salvation, and following Thy commandments; since those who love the commandments of God seek a reward for their love and keeping, and wait for the enjoyment of heavenly goods to be laid up for them. *My soul hath kept thy testimonies, and I have loved them exceedingly. I have kept thy commandments and thy testimonies, because all my ways are before thee, O Lord.* For as one who sees all things, as one under whose gaze I live, I have not only fulfilled Thy commandments, but also have done this with a fervent disposition. And the prophet discusses these things for our admonition and encouragement, so that we may keep the commandments of God and His testimonies. Those, therefore, who do good not for the sake of trade or filthy lucre, nor to be seen and praised by men, these say: *All my ways are before thee, O Lord.* *Let my supplication come before thee, O Lord; according to thy word give me understanding.* Having offered all supplication, he beseeches it to be accepted, and that the prayer not be cast away. And he entreats to receive understanding, not human, but knowledge of the divine words. He therefore who lives and turns about in sins cannot say: *Let my supplication come before thee, O Lord.* For God said through the prophet: *Your sins make a separation between me and you* (Isai. 59: 2). So one must first turn back from sins, and then say: *Let my supplication come before thee, O Lord;* since it is not even permitted to a sinner to sing psalms; for it is written: *Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner* (Eccl. 15: 9). And, *To the sinner God said: Why dost thou declare my justifications, and takest my covenant in thy mouth? But thou hast hated discipline, and hast cast my words behind thee* (Ps. 49: 16, 17); and, *Sing to the Lord, you his saints* (Ps. 29: 5), not the unholy. *Let my petition enter before thee, O Lord; according to thy word deliver me.* He calls his supplication a "petition." For this I found also among the other interpreters, so that the meaning is thus: let my petition and my prayer enter before thee, O Lord. And because Thou acceptest my prayer according to Thy word, which Thou didst promise to repentant sinners, deliver me from my sins. Yet using different words, the prophet conciliates the Master. *My lips shall utter a hymn, when thou shalt teach me thy justifications.* The belching is appropriate to the food. For he says, when I learn Thy justifications, I will offer to Thee, the teacher of such things, the hymnody. When therefore we have accomplished the virtues and commandments of God, we belch forth a hymn of praise, and we draw the Spirit of understanding; since living in sins we in no way belch forth a hymn. *My tongue shall utter thy words, because all thy commandments are justice.* I will devote my tongue to the meditation of Thy words, knowing that Thy commandments are adorned with all justice. And the voice is instructive, teaching us of how much condemnation those become liable who utter lascivious songs, those who offer flatteries and eulogies to men, those who shout comic follies, those who whisper slanders, those who are occupied with lawsuits, those who cry out in hippodromes. For one ought to utter nothing else than the words of God. For this reason he also adds, saying: *Because all thy commandments are justice.* *Let thy hand be to save me, because I have chosen thy commandments.* The others, such as Symmachus, "I chose," and Theodotion, "I selected," have said. And he calls the divine energy "hand," by which he entreats to obtain divine salvation. For this is the hand of God. For those who choose the commandments of God in every way also obtain the salvation from Him. I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord, and thy law is my meditation. For in order to obtain salvation, I meditate on Thy law perpetually. What salvation? It is the fact that we have been made one by the Holy Trinity as man, by Christ our God. For thus we have been saved, and he does not hold us as enemies, as we have learned the evangelical precepts. *My soul shall live, and shall praise thee; and thy judgments.*