Exposition of Psalm 77

PSALM LXXVII

^A 1. The inscription of the psalm is brief; for the psalm is occupied with the length of the prophecy. Yet it is inscribed "Of Understanding," so that we might be on our guard against the evils that befell the Jews due to their foolishness, and this the beginning clearly indicates: "Attend, O my people, to my law; incline your ear to the words of my mouth." Do you see what dignity the Holy Spirit ascribes to the prophet, so as to exhort us through his prophecy? For He calls the people of God "His people," and the law of God "His law," because the possessions of prudent and faithful servants seem to belong to the masters, by reason of their affection toward their masters; so much so that God says to Moses, "Your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have transgressed" (Exod. 32:7). But what is "Attend to my law"? Do not touch it in contempt, but search it accurately, and then incline your ear to listen. For he who hears the law of God perfunctorily deems it either superfluous or burdensome, and therefore cannot listen; but he who meditates upon it diligently feels its yoke to be sweet and its burden light, and inclines his ear to the words of the prophecy, that is, he devotes his whole prophecy to them, adding to the love he has for them the Spirit, by whom all things are perfected. 2. "I will open my mouth in parables; I will speak problems from the beginning. 3. As many things as we have heard and known them, and our fathers have told us." Although, he says, I am about to speak of the parables of ancient times and ancient problems, nevertheless I am worthy of belief in speaking these things; for I received them by hearing and learned them; nor indeed did our carnal fathers, but the priests and prophets, hand them down. Well, however, does he signify that he is not alone in hearing or knowing, by saying with many others, "As many things as we have heard and known them"; because this knowledge was common to all, all had heard the prophets. He calls them parables and problems, since he intermixes the doctrine of history, which is proper to parables and problems in the divine Scriptures; in these he says he opens his mouth, and let us imitate the same, always offering to God the firstfruits of our lips as it were, and moving the tongue to nothing else before it has spoken the ^B things that have been fashioned according to His pleasure. To these things you might say that the prophet assumes the person of the Lord: his people is the human race; his law, those ancient precepts. Concerning Him, Matthew says: "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world" (Matt. 13:35). But what does he add now? "As many things as we have heard and known them, and our fathers have told us." These things befit the human race; but to show that the things he hands down are similar and consonant to the sayings of the prophets: 4. "They have not been hidden," he says, "from their children in another generation, telling the praises of the Lord, and His powers, and His wonders which He did." But who are they of whom he was speaking above, "Our fathers have told us"? [alt-version omitted] ...but another. He calls the Gentiles "another generation," concerning which he says elsewhere: "A generation to come shall be announced to the Lord" (Ps. 21:32). These same people are truly the sons of Israel, inasmuch as they have received by inheritance from them true piety and religion toward God; for which reason Paul says: "Whose is the adoption of sons, and the worship, and the testament, and the legislation, and whose are the fathers" (Rom. 9:4). These, therefore, have announced the praises to us as sons of the Lord. For we would not know how it was proper to praise God, unless the prophets had first taught us to say: "Bless, all the works of the Lord, to the Lord" (Dan. 3); and again, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth" (Isa. 6:3), and whatever things are similar to these. From them we have learned the powers of God, and the wonders which He did; the powers which He displayed perhaps against Pharaoh, or against Nebuchadnezzar, or against the giants and others of this sort; and the wonders which He did with Job, with David, with Daniel, with the three children, and others who were crowned in temptations. 5. And He "raised up a testimony in Jacob." What, or when? When God wrestled with him at the torrent of Jabbok. For it is plain that God wrestled in the form of a man, and was "conquered" by him, as he testifies in these words: "Let me go, for the dawn has ascended"; to which Jacob answered: "I will not let you go unless you bless me" (Gen. 32:26). That miracle, therefore, is a testimony, which also Christ set as a monument of His own divine advent according to the flesh. "And He placed a law in Israel. Whatever things He commanded our fathers to make them known to their children." Therefore, he says, He placed a law in Israel, even though He knew they would transgress and violate the law, so that He might make known to their children—whom we have said to be those who would be converted from the Gentiles—whatever things He commanded our fathers. Therefore, for our sake the people of the Jews receive the law; for we, indeed, observe the law according to the spirit and as is the scope of the Lawgiver, which those things that follow declare more clearly. They shall be born. Do you see him speaking of the Gentiles? For they had not yet been born to the true religion; but they were to be born through baptism: wherefore they are rightly called the "children who shall be born," even if they had fallen because of idolatry. Well, therefore, does he foretell their resurrection through faith in Christ: "And they shall arise, and they shall tell them to their children: 7. That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, and search out His commands." For this is the true knowledge of God, that they should hand down that understanding to others, and by the discipline of His precepts beget children for themselves, which indeed those who believed in Christ have done. For they envy no one the knowledge of true religion toward God; nor do those who have believed first want to shut the way to others; but they profess that they have their hope in God, and do not forget His works, and search out His commands. For these things are proclaimed daily by the Church to all, both domestic and alien; in which Paul cries out to all of every sex: "My little children, whom I am again laboring with, until Christ is formed in you" (Gal. 4:19). The scribes and Pharisees, however, did not act in this way, who had received the key of knowledge and would not allow anyone to enter: for this the Lord declared, proclaiming them miserable, as is said also in the things that follow. 8. Not to be "as their fathers." For because the Gentiles rightly ascribed to themselves the people sprung from Israel, because Christ was born of them—of whom some were upright, like the prophets, true priests, and as many as observed the law accurately; while others again were wicked, as many as falsely carried about this dignity; because he was about to make mention of the wicked and prevaricators, necessarily after he mentioned the fathers, he adds of whom he may now make mention: "A crooked and exasperating generation, a generation which directed not its heart, and its spirit was not deemed faithful with God." For all professed faith with the tongue only, but not with the whole heart, nor with a pure spirit: wherefore they were crooked and exasperating, and directed not their heart to God, who wishes to receive not those things which proceed from the lips, but those which proceed from the affection of the soul. In order that we may not imitate them, the law neglected by them was given to us for spiritual remembrance and for correction. 9. "The sons of Ephraim, bending and casting with bows, were turned back in the day of battle."

^A Referring to the two tribes, Judas (whose house reigned) and Ephraim (the ten tribes), for the tribe of Ephraim held their kingdom. These, then, "bending and casting with bows"—for these were their instruments of godliness—were turned back into flight, obviously in the day of the intelligible war, turning their backs to the enemies, the demons. But what prepared them to be turned in flight and to give their backs to the enemies? It was that they did not keep the covenant of God, nor walk in His law. And when did they suffer this? When they worshipped two molten calves. Whence he brings upon them the following tragic passage: "And they forgot His benefits, and His wonders which He showed them before their fathers; what wonders He did in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanes."

3. In a few words he has commemorated all the wonders in Egypt, of which he upbraids their forgetfulness. For they would not have abandoned their benefactor, had they not, through the magnitude of their ingratitude, cast the benefits from their memory, and the wonders of which they had their fathers as witnesses—having taken the signs themselves with their own eyes—which he set forth as having happened in the field of Tanes; for Pharaoh lived in this city as being altogether more ancient and greater; and that Tanes is more ancient, the Divine Scripture declares. For desiring to attest the extreme antiquity of Hebron, it made the comparison to Tanes; it says thus: "And Hebron was built before Tanes in Egypt," that is, the palaces of Pharaoh. "He divided the sea, and led them through; He set the waters as a skin." He showed here great power of the one working wonders; he did not dry up the sea for the passage of the people, but, sparing it as his own element, he divided it into two. For this is what "He divided" means. Then, having arched the sea like a skin, each lip of the divided water, he gave ground in the midst to those walking; wherefore, the people having crossed, he released the sea into its own place. "And He guided them in a cloud by day, and all the night in the light of fire." Do you see the magnitude of the providence of the one working wonders? Because they needed a sign for the desert path, which was unknown to them, He cared not only for their necessity, but for their benefit as they received the sign. Wherefore He provided them a cloud by day, shading them from the sun's burning heat, and a pillar of fire by night, providing light and warmth (for the night is more humid and colder). So that when we go along with God guiding us, when the heat of pleasures attacks us, we... we shall be able to kindle [the cloud of repentance]... when love has cooled, with zeal, like a pillar of fire... ^B "He divided the rock in the desert, and gave them to drink as in a great abyss. And He brought water out of the rock, and brought down waters like rivers." Perhaps some think that the prophet recounted the same sign twice; but it is not so, but Moses brought the water out of the rock to them a second time, once in the desert of Choreb, and the second time in Cades, where Mariam died and was buried; and it was to fullness in both cases, so that it is called "in a great abyss," because the water was sufficient to be compared, not to a river, but to many rivers because of their multitude. This was the proof that the miracles had happened to them in truth, and not in imagination. "And they added yet to sin against Him." He set forth a terrible accusation of the Jewish people, that while receiving such great wonders, though they ought to have refrained from their ancient sins, they added others to them, not simply sinning, but "against Him," that is, transgressing against Him who provided the signs; wherefore he added, "They embittered the Most High in the waterless land." How did they embitter Him? Not by thirsting, nor by asking for water, but by disparaging and reviling the Provider. Whence the places of the miracles were called one the "water of contradiction," and the other "temptation and reviling," because of their tempting the Lord by saying, "Is the Lord among us, or not?" For Moses the lawgiver set this forth in this very word. These things strictly resemble what follows: "And they tempted God in their hearts, to ask for food for their souls."

Do you see that they tempted God, if He could provide food throughout the desert? So that the request existed from wickedness, and not from need; therefore not simply "food," but "for their souls," that is, according to their own pleasures and the desires of their soul, desiring and murmuring about leeks and melons and onions as if they were scarce. "And they spoke against God, and said." It is a terrible thing to speak against anyone at all; wherefore David says, "Him who slanders his neighbor in secret, him I drove out"; but it is more terrible to do so to a Master—for folly follows the slanderer—but it is most terrible to do so to God, since God is to us both Father and Master and nourisher, and encompasses every benefit or authority. One must, therefore, either by fear of His authority, or by love of the benefit from Him, refrain from reviling Him. But what were they saying? "Will God be able to prepare a table in the desert? Since He struck the rock, and waters flowed, and torrents were flooded; can He also give bread, or prepare a table for His people?" How cruel, then, is the blindness of the blasphemous and the lawless. For from those things from which they ought to have conjectured great things from God, and to have trusted that He can do all things, and that nothing is impossible for Him, from these they make claims against Him, as if saying: even if He provided water, He cannot provide food, as if He were tired of working wonders, and had expended His munificence on the previous signs; regarding which He is naturally moved; and the following things show this. "Therefore the Lord heard and delayed"—that is, He was moved to anger; for thus Theodotion and those who published the fifth [edition] rendered it. ^C 4. But why did both interpret the delay as anger? For it is not in vain, but because it happens for the most part to those moved by wrath to delay their approach, hastening as if to vengeance; and it is habitual to the prophets to attribute human postures to God, so that by these they might show the quality of each action which He performs. And that he called the sudden movement of wrath a delay here, hear the things that follow. "And fire was kindled in Jacob, and wrath went up upon Israel." For as if God were angered, fire went out for vengeance against those who provided the [cause of] wrath. And what is the cause? "Because they did not believe in God, and did not hope in His salvation." For God is provoked when disbelieved, since everyone who disbelieves in God does not accept judgment, but also disparages His law; and if the divine [law], much more the human; and from this our civilization undergoes confusion. For what will those who do not believe in God, nor hope in the salvation from Him, hesitate to say? At the same time he slanders them, as not only disbelieving in the Father, but also disbelieving in the Son. Wherefore he says, "And did not hope in His salvation," meaning Christ, whom many of the prophets, and Simeon also, clearly naming Him when he took Him in his arms, called salvation. "And He commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven." He calls the clouds from above those in the height; wherefore he also designated these as doors of heaven, as being projections of heaven; for there are some clouds that are near the earth, so that they are found even lower than the mountains. "And He rained upon them manna to eat, and gave them bread of heaven. Man ate the bread of angels, He sent them provisions to fullness." Lest they think that God was angered through inability to fulfill the request—though He sent fire upon them into their midst for their blasphemies and [because they were] not asking how one ought to petition God, so that the place [Taberah] is called a burning, a great part of the people having been consumed in it—after this He gave what was requested. Yet He calls the manna bread of heaven and bread of angels, because it was not prepared by human hands; but of heaven, where the choir of angels is, it was carried. For what provisions He sent them to fullness, the following things clearly contain: "He removed the south wind from heaven, and brought in by His power the southwest wind. And He rained upon them like dust [the] flesh, and like the sand of the seas feathered birds." Good things are ready with God; but kept, however, by Him at the season that is proper. Whence, wishing to satiate the people of the Jews, He produced... not some [new] creation... the south wind... ^D

and the African wind. For these are accustomed to blow in the hotter regions, where the supreme Artificer took care that a supply of quails should be present, and fulfilled the aim as if from prepared ^A treasures. But we, lest we think it was said hyperbolically by the prophet, "He rained flesh as dust, and as the sand of the sea feathered birds" (Ps. LXXVII, 27). For the works of God are infinite and unknown to us. So great, then, was the multitude of birds that there was no need for strings or nets or other machines, but only hands for an easy and ready hunting, as the following clearly declare: "And they fell in the midst of their camp, round about their tabernacles" (Ps. LXXVII, 28). "And they did eat, and were filled exceedingly" (Ps. LXXVII, 29). Reflect, therefore, I wish, upon so numerous a multitude, so voracious, satiated not for a single day only, but for thirty, so that you may be able to learn, if you run through the history of Moses in the book of Numbers: "and they were not defrauded of their desire. Their meat was yet in their mouths, and the wrath of God ascended upon them. And He slew the greater number of them, and hindered the chosen of Israel" (Ps. LXXVII, 30, 31). It is not in vain, therefore, that God defers many of our requests to another time, but for our benefit, because many desires are harmful to men, which, however, He grants to many sinners while angry. And for what reason does He grant them? Lest they, as we have already said, argue that He is, as it were, feeble. Having granted these things, He visits them with punishment, so that He may deter us, lest we force God with illicit requests. He satisfied, therefore, the concupiscence of the Jews for food; and while they were still eating, He brought in wrath, and slew their fat ones, namely the obese, and hindered the chosen—not those excelling in virtue, but chosen in iniquity; for there are even those who are eminent in iniquity. "And their days failed in vanity, and their years with haste" (Ps. LXXVII, 33). He marvels at the hardness of the heart of the Jews, because not only when they were favored with a benefit, but even when they were chastised, they perversely persisted and sinned still; that is, they added sins to sins. They acted thus because they did not believe in the wonders of God; that is, they had neither persuasion nor faith. For they thought that miracles and signs happened by chance, as is the custom for the impious. Therefore ^B their days failed with haste; but he speaks of failure, not a scarcity of time, but a lack of virtues. For whoever does not pursue virtue, however aged he may be, nevertheless passes away in the failure of his days—that is, dies an untimely death—since he has not produced those fruits for the sake of which he entered into human life. Wherefore Scripture calls Abraham and Job "full of days," even if many others have lived for more years (Gen. XXV, 8; Job XLII, 16). "When He slew them, then they sought Him, and returned and came early to God; and God most high is their redeemer" (Ps. LXXVII, 34, 35). Truly it is praiseworthy and good to always remember God: so that even in things that are rightly done, we may invoke His protection. For if we remember Him when we are doing well, He too will remember us while we are involved in troubles. But when some, unwilling and scourged, seek Him, that is not seeking from the heart, but from necessity to confess that they have God as a helper and redeemer. That ^C indeed is characteristic of ungrateful and most wicked servants, whom the Lord, seeing the confession extorted by force, will not favor. Much more God: for He is not ignorant of the simulation of depraved and fallacious men, which the following clearly commemorate: "And they loved Him in their mouth, and with their tongue lied to Him. But their heart was not right with Him, nor were they considered faithful in His testament" (Ps. LXXVII, 36, 37). With these or similar words Isaiah rebukes the Jews: "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me" (Isai. XXIX, 13). But how is that detected? We certainly find many today who are religious only with their tongue; while, as the prophet says, "They were not held faithful in His testament." For because they do not believe in the commands of God, they are proven to have no good affection toward the Commander, no conscience; of whom Paul used to say: "They profess that they know God, but in their works they deny Him" (Tit. I, 16). "And He is merciful, and will forgive their sins, and will not destroy. And He will abound to turn away His wrath, and will not kindle all His wrath" (Ps. LXXVII, 38). He will be ^D propitious, when? Indicating the future, He clearly designated the incarnation of Christ, because the Father sent Him as propitiation for our sins: who is so merciful that He placed repentance as the first preaching for men; but when He found the Judaic people worthy of destruction, He did not destroy. For He did not blot them out to the end, but left them a seed and remnants, the apostles, who had believed from their number. Of whom Isaiah was saying: "Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been made like unto Gomorrah" (Isai. I, 9). He multiplied, therefore, His mercy, and for that reason turned away His wrath. How did He turn it away? He did not kindle all His wrath. He kindled a part and brought it against the temple and the ancient city; if He had kindled the whole, the people would have perished with the temple, and with the city, as in Sodom, the region also would have been corrupted. "And He remembered that they are flesh, a spirit going, and not returning" (Ps. LXXVII, 39). How should God forget the rationale of either our nature or our infirmity? But these things are said concerning the Son incarnate for our sake, who not only as Artificer knew of our matters; but also, being incarnate, learned our infirmity by actual experience; so that Paul may say of Him: "Although He was the Son, He learned obedience by the things which He suffered" (Hebr. V, 8); and again, "In that He suffered Himself being tempted, He is able to succor them who are tempted" (Hebr. II, 18). Because therefore the Word was made flesh (John I, 44), He remembered that we are flesh; that is, He knew the infirmity of our flesh by experience. He calls the whole man flesh. And therefore He brought forth that [saying], A spirit going, and not returning. For we do not return into the present life. Wherefore it behooves one to be vigilant while we are proceeding on the way, into which we cannot by any means return. "How often did they provoke Him in the desert, and stir Him up to anger in the waterless place?" (Ps. LXXVII, 40). They provoked Israel. He marvels at the huge Jewish iniquity and its manner, because not only did they often provoke God, but even in the desert, where it was more fitting to be pricked and to look toward heaven, with no one—as happens in cities—deceiving them or baiting them; but even "in the waterless place they provoked Him to anger," acting arrogantly where it was fitting for them, being thirsty, to be humble. Then, having turned, not to justice, but to another iniquity, they were diverging, tempting God (it was, moreover, the act of madmen to tempt Him who knows all things), and provoking the Holy One of Israel; He indicates Christ, of whom Isaiah was saying: "To whom have you likened Me, and I shall be exalted? says the Holy One" (Isai. XL, 25); announcing the cross: for thus even Christ signified it. ...they provoked, namely the Father, but also provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, namely the Son? Since, forsooth, the Rock, Christ, was following them, but they did not believe that He could draw water for them from the rock and provide it; so that Moses would say: "Hear me, you incredulous ones, shall we bring forth water for you from this rock?" (Num. XX, 10)? Wherefore, indignant against them, God was saying:

^A nor do we separate the Father from the wonder-working of that time, but because whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. Except that he calls those things which are according to nature "signs," such as the locust—for it is in its nature to ravage the crops—while the things that are contrary to nature he calls "wonders," such as the frog existed, for it is not in its nature to run outside of the waters and graze. The same is true of the hail tempered with fire, and the river turned into blood; for each of these happened to be a sign contrary to nature. *And he turned their rivers into blood, and their rain-waters, that they might not drink.* He calls the waters of the rains "rain-waters," since it was not only the water in springs and rivers, but also that in the trees and stones—everything—that Moses, by the command of God, changed into blood; so that God, who is worshipped by the Hebrews, might not be considered a God of partial authority, but the Creator and Ruler of all the elements. For the children of the Greeks attribute certain partial authorities to their own gods. For this reason he passes through the entire creation in sequence, as the following two ^B verses testify: *He sent upon them the dog-fly, and it devoured them; and the frog, and it destroyed them. And he gave their crops to the mildew, and their labors to the locust. He killed their vine with hail, and their sycamores with the frost. And he gave their cattle over to the hail, and their substance to the fire.* The order of the signs performed in Egypt is different from that which Moses set forth. For the discourse of the prophet is not about that now; rather, the goal is to show all the elements warring against Pharaoh at the command of God. And see how he has fittingly returned the consequence of each plague from it. For regarding the dog-fly, he says, *It devoured them*, because it attacked not the crops, but the men; and regarding the frogs, *It destroyed them*. For they were doing this not only in the houses, but also crawling into the ovens, and snatching all their necessary food; and in this sense they reasonably destroyed them. But also, dying, they made the earth reek of them, and corruption was again reasonably produced from the resulting stench. For he says that their "labors" and their "crops" were given to the locust and the mildew, because the damage from these occurs only regarding the crops and in nothing else. Hearing "mildew," do not wonder that it is not included in the plagues according to Moses; he refers to the tiny and immature breed of locust, whence Aquila rendered "Brûchos" (locust) instead of "mildew." And he rightly says that the vine was killed by the hail, for it is fashioned to destroy its fruit and branches most of all. And furthermore, the sycamores by the frost, since that plant does not withstand the cold, so that it is naturally nourished in warmer places only; and the hail produced the frost. But also the fire, which he mentioned next: he said the cattle were killed by the hail, and their "substance" by the fire; clearly, the wealth from the earth—for this is what he called "substance"—as the hail and fire ran through, and all the crops were consumed, it was destroyed; and the wonder was prodigious for this reason, of fire running in water.

7. But you, giving heed to the powerful, ^C clear, and concise nature of the prophetic words, marvel at the wisdom of the Spirit; for it speaks only what is essential. *He sent upon them the wrath of his anger, anger, and wrath, and tribulation, a mission through evil angels;* not "evil" in their nature, nor in their purpose—for God does not use such angels for ministry—but he called them "evil" because they brought the labors and afflictions that were commanded. Whence this very Psalmist, calling the day of judgment "evil" as being full of necessities and pains for sinners, says: *Blessed is he who understands concerning the needy and poor; in the evil day the Lord shall deliver him.* He sets forth "wrath and anger," then again "anger and wrath and tribulation" in the present verses, not saying different things, nor even repeating the same words in vain, but announcing the multitude of God's movement. *He made a way for his wrath.* In what manner? By having endured and been long-suffering toward those who were awaited to endure it; for in that he *made a way for his wrath*, showing that he inflicts it justly and at the right time upon those who do not wish to be corrected. For even the following testifies to this: *He spared not their souls from death.* For he states the cause on account of which he did not spare; and the death of their souls was, clearly, sin. For the soul that sins, it shall die; and again, the death of sinners is evil. Therefore, for this reason he did not spare; for those who did not spare themselves, but had given their souls over to death, necessarily did not meet with sparing. Therefore, not sparing them, see what he brought upon them: *And he shut up their cattle to death. And he struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, the beginning of all their labor in the tabernacles of Cham.* God has used much philanthropy toward those being disciplined, beginning from the lesser things, so that having been sobered they might gain the greater; for this reason he shut up the cattle of the Egyptians to death first; and finding them senseless, he struck the firstborn, so that he would not have brought the plague of the firstborn if they had recovered their senses through the death of the cattle. And he correctly called their firstborn the "beginning" of their labors, wishing to remind them of the curse written against Eve: *In sorrows shall you bring forth children*; and he said the plague of the firstborn happened in the tabernacles of Cham. For the land of the Egyptians was justly called home and tabernacles of Cham, not only because he was the father of Mesraim, from whom the race of the Egyptians originated, but because they also emulated the wickedness of those. *And he took away his people as sheep, and led them as a flock in the desert.* To the enemies, he says, he used the manner spoken of before; but he took away his own people like sheep, and led them in the desert as a flock—that is, himself guiding them, and showing them pastures, and rescuing them from the beasts, and gathering the flock with a pipe, and turning back those that were wandering with a staff. For these things, and more than these, mentioning flocks and sheep, he signified. *And he guided them in hope, and they were not afraid, and the sea covered their enemies.* In what "hope"? Clearly the promise made to the fathers; for he says to Abraham: *Know for certain that your seed shall be a sojourner in a land not its own, and they shall enslave them and afflict them, and humble them four hundred years. And the nation to which they shall be enslaved I will judge, and afterwards they shall come out with much substance.* Guided, therefore, by this hope, they were not afraid while passing through the Red Sea, which covered their enemies, and the water rushing over the Egyptians became a tomb. *And he brought them into the mountain of his sanctification, this mountain which his right hand acquired.* He calls Jerusalem the "mountain of sanctification," not so much because of the sanctuary that previously dwelt in it, that is, the ark, as because of the second ark, the flesh of the Lord. For that was indeed a sanctuary, wherefore it is also called the acquisition of his right hand, that of Christ; and he acquired it not with weapons, but with the wonders and sufferings for our sake. *And he cast out from before them the nations, and allotted them by a line of allotment. And he caused the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tabernacles.*

8. He reproaches the people of the Jews, because ^D having enjoyed such great goods, so as even to receive a foreign inheritance, and to have divided this in great equality—God showing that just as a father to his children, so he dealt with Israel, wherefore he ordered the inheritance to be made by a "line," assigning the portion to the many, but subtracting for the few, so that the strong tribe might not tyrannize the weaker—nevertheless, they did not remember the nations cast out from before them, nor God who cast them out; so that, remaining grateful to him, they might by no means commit the lawlessness of those cast out, lest they suffer things similar to those. *And they tempted and embittered God the Most High, and kept not his testimonies.* He sets forth their double sin. For not only, he says, did they tempt...

but also embittered; and they embitter who, after a first, second, and many temptations, go on to tempt: which indeed is a grave matter if it happen even among the common people, but it is far graver if it be against God the Most High, that is, against that Immeasurable One who cannot be tempted by us. ^A For this cause the Holy Spirit in the prophecy of Isaiah rebukes them: *Hear, O house of Israel: is it too small for you to offer a struggle to men, but do you offer a struggle to the Lord?* (Is. 7:13). The Psalmist addresses these also thus: *They kept not his testimonies.* These they also transgressed, which He set forth when He established the Law with threats and testimony; furthermore, that was a matter of great arrogance and disobedience. ^B 57. *But they turned aside and transgressed, as their fathers were turned into a crooked bow.* 58. *And they angered him in their hills, and in their carved images provoked him to jealousy.* From the generation which was in the wilderness, he transfers his discourse to the following ones, touching upon the characters which their fathers had passed on to them. What, then, did they transgress? Surely the covenants entered into with God through Moses on Mount Sinai; and through Jesus the son of Nave in the land of promise. They did not, at any rate, remain in them, but were turned into a crooked or tortuous bow; ^C wherefore they can no longer shoot straight. Just so, the Jewish people, being turned aside, could not preserve a straight rule of life; but they angered God in their hills, and provoked Him to jealousy by their carved images—not that He can be moved to jealousy toward mute and inanimate idols, or toward demons, but that He is moved to jealousy toward us, just as a father toward his children, and a bridegroom toward his bride, surely providing for our salvation. 59. *God heard and spurned.* When does God not hear? Or what need of hearing has He who knows our thoughts? But now He is said to hear, because He does not omit the matter but is moved, and by that pact declares Himself to be listening. ^D What, however, did He do after He had heard? He did not send a plague, but spurned, which is more grievous than any scourge—namely, to be despised by God, by whose very gaze we are able to be saved. See, therefore, how great were the things they suffered by being despised by God. *And he brought Israel to nothing exceedingly, 60. and repelled the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tabernacle where he dwelt among men.* For if He had not exceedingly despised Israel, He would not have repelled His own tabernacle which He had among them, in which, so that He might be a protection to them, He dwelt. You will say perhaps: Why did He repel His own tabernacle when men were sinning? Because He did not possess it for the reason that He had need of it; but for the sake of them as they were sinners, He justly deprived the place of His protection. And what was that Shiloh? Concerning which, surely, the Spirit did not speak in vain, but wishing to show how, as Israel sinned and Shiloh was left behind, God chose Jerusalem for Himself: thus also, when its citizens acted impiously, He would leave this one behind, and share His glory with other places. 61. *And he delivered their strength into captivity, and their beauty into the hands of the enemy.* He is still discoursing about the tabernacle. For this was the strength and beauty of the people on account of the ministry of holy things. This He delivered into the captivity of men—for that never happened—but into the hands of a spiritual enemy: wherefore he mentions one [enemy], and not many, signifying that chief enemy whom the other interpreters, wishing to declare more openly, some rendered "into the hands of an adversary," others "into the hands of one afflicting." Unto him He delivered the tabernacle, as having been contaminated by the ministers and profane and bearing nothing worthy of God, but [only] to him to whom it was delivered. Furthermore, do not wonder; for Isaiah threatened that God was about to deliver that ancient Jerusalem to demons, sirens, and onocentaurs.

The heredity of His own people He spurned.

^A as a unicorn, for he gave it a single horn as its foundation. For there are not many baptisms for it, as there were for the Jews, nor many distractions regarding new moons and purifications and Sabbaths, nor many gods, as for the nations that persisted in impiety, but *one Lord, one faith, one baptism* (Eph. 4:5); wherefore the *gates of hell shall not prevail against it* (Matt. 16:18), that is to say, the mouths of the heretics. *And he chose David his servant, and took him from the flocks of sheep, from behind those that were giving suck he took him* (Ps. 77:70-71). You will surely ask: if he was mentioning the mysteries regarding the Church, for what reason did he bring into the middle David, who existed long before these things? Because he was the father and image of Christ. Whence he was taken *from the flocks of sheep*, not from the flock. For there are many flocks of Christ: some of men, others of angels, others of rational and visible powers, which also *are giving suck*, that is, are pregnant. For a flock is not barren, but all, because of his fear, are bearing and bringing forth salvation. Wherefore also Isaiah said: *From thy fear, O Lord, we have conceived and brought forth; we have brought forth the spirit of thy salvation upon the earth* (Isa. 26:18). From there Christ was taken; so what is he to do? *To feed Jacob his servant, and Israel his inheritance* (Ps. 77:71); that is to say, the people from the nations. For this man is Jacob, because having supplanted the Jews, he took their primogeniture; and also Israel: for he sees God at the time of the mysteries *face to face*, just as that one [saw him] face to face. And that God feeds, hear David saying this: *The Lord feeds me, and I shall want nothing* (Ps. 22:1). Hear also Christ: *I am the good shepherd* (John 10:11). *And he fed them in the innocence of his heart, and in the understanding of his hands he guided them* (Ps. 77:72). Do you see that he speaks clearly about Christ? For this one in truth possessed no innocence of heart [in the sense of ignorance], since he committed no evil, *neither was deceit found in his mouth* (1 Pet. 2:22; Isa. 53:9). But he possessed such understanding of his hands that with them he was opening the eyes of the blind, straightening the lame, cleansing lepers, and simply refashioning the entire man who had been corrupted.

Psalm LXXVIII.

1. The inscription of the prophecy is clear; wherefore let us occupy our discourse with the interpretation of the Psalm. For it does not contain an accusation of the nations, as some think, but a prophecy of what will befall the people of the Jews when the nations possess their inheritance. *O God, the nations have come into thy inheritance, they have defiled thy holy temple* (Ps. 78:1). These things did indeed happen to the Jews ^B when the Assyrians [took] Jerusalem, and after them the Macedonians, and Romans after all of them. Since this is obvious, let us turn the prophecy also to the intelligible. For when the nations arrived at the inheritance of the Jews, that is to say, at the knowledge of God—for this was the ancient lot of the Jews, so that Moses would say to them in Deuteronomy: *The Lord thy God chose thee from all the nations that are under heaven* (Deut. 7:6)—then they defiled their holy temple, which they possessed in ancient Jerusalem, not becoming themselves the cause of the defilement, but exposing the hidden defilement of the temple, in which those ministering in it were variously acting impiously; just as a priest who observes the suspected leprosy, and then confirms the affliction after the diagnosis, is said to defile the one who is afflicted (not having brought the defilement—for this is alien to a priest—but showing clearly what is), which is what happened to the Jews by the nations. For the justification of the latter profaned the former, and the obedience of the new people made the disobedience of the old people more manifest. *They placed Jerusalem as a fruit-store* (Ps. 78:1). For what reason, as a fruit-store? Because having taken the spirit of the law and the prophets, they left only the fruit of the letter for themselves to guard. And this was not from men, but from God, who willed that the proofs of our faith be preserved among the enemies. And the letter is rightly called "fruit," as having food that is not genuine, but also temporary. *They gave the dead bodies of thy servants to be food for the birds of the heaven, the flesh of thy holy ones to the beasts of the earth* (Ps. 78:2). The birds of the heaven are ^C often taken in Scripture, which is breathed by God, for a vile thing. This is shown by Pharaoh's chief baker, who, because he saw in a dream the birds of the heaven eating the white loaves which he was carrying on his head, it is interpreted for him as the removal of his head. To these the Church gave the dead bodies of the Jews to be consumed; but indeed also [gave] the flesh of the holy ones to the beasts of the earth. These also are wicked powers, as Isaiah clearly explained to us; for he says concerning Babylon: *Beasts shall rest there*; and what these are he adds: *And sirens shall rest there, and demons shall dance there* (Isa. 13:21). It is no wonder that they are called servants; for the slothful and wicked servant was called as bearing their image, and he who hid the talent; for if they were good, they would not have had dead bodies, that is to say, profane thoughts and works of wickedness. And if he called them "holy ones," he does not mean holy in practice, but by calling; just as he often calls false prophets "prophets," even if they do not prophesy in the name of God, and "holy" those who have been anointed with sanctification, even if they do not keep the sanctification. Wherefore when Ezekiel was seeing the vision of those destroying Jerusalem, he heard such things, God decreeing to him: *Do not pity the old man and the youth and the virgin, and infant and women, kill to extermination; but upon all on whom is the mark do not come near; and begin from my holy ones* (Ezek. 9:6), because they were holy in form only, but not in substance; for otherwise they would have possessed the mark, and would not have been destined to be destroyed equally with the others. Therefore he also calls them "holy ones" by name; whence he also gives the intelligible beasts their flesh, that is, their earthly works, to eat. For those who mind earthly things are called "flesh," just as God, being about to bring the flood, declared: *My spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh* (Gen. 6:3). ^D *They poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem, and there was no one burying* (Ps. 78:3).

2. By "their blood," [he means] the psychic failings; for the vengeance on these is made into blood. These were poured out like water, so that they could no longer be taken up, just as water cannot be after being poured out. Therefore to David the woman of Tekoa said: *We shall die by death, and like water poured out upon the ground, it shall not be gathered* (2 Reg. 14:14). Where did he pour it out? Round about Jerusalem, that is, upon it and those from it... for their blood [is] upon them and upon their children, they themselves saying [this] while slandering Christ. *And there was no one burying*. Why? Because they themselves, being as dead, were not able to bury one another; but the Church is not permitted to bury them; that is, to cover their sins for them. And what is the hindrance? The decree of God which says: *Leave the dead their own* (Matt. 8:22). Why? Because while trying to cover sinners, they make their own works more naked and shameful to all. *We became a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and a laughing-stock to those round about us* (Ps. 78:4). For neither poverty, nor unseemliness of body, nor infirmity, nor anything else of that sort, is as shameful to those who have it as sin; because it is an act of the will, and a wound occurring according to choice. Nevertheless, consider the wisdom of the prophet, that he says the punishments came upon those—that is, the ones who had failed—but he indicates that he himself shares the reproaches cast upon them. For whether he was a prophet over those who were disobedient to the prophecy, or a priest over those who were ordained by him and perfected, and then were lawless, and were punished for this reason, he is ashamed. But 135 to whom are the Jews a reproach, a scoffing and a laughing-stock to those round about them? He clearly says to the demons, who are neighbors to the Jews because of their sin, and they are round about them, lying in wait every day. *How long, O Lord, wilt thou be angry unto the end? Shall thy jealousy be kindled like fire?* (Ps. 78:5). Moses the lawgiver of God also explained the jealousy of God upon the Jews; for he says: *They provoked me with what was not God, they angered me with their idols. And I will provoke them with [a people] that is not a nation* (Deut. 32:21).

Then he adds to these: *A fire has been kindled in my fury* (ibid., v. 22). ^A Since, therefore, the zeal against the Jews brought about the calling of the nations (for Paul says: *Just as you once disobeyed God, but now have obtained mercy through their disobedience* [Rom. 11:30]; and again: *Their fall, that is, of the Jews, is the riches of the world, and their loss is the riches of the nations* [ibid., v. 11, 12]), the prophet necessarily asks how long, and whether he will remain angry with the Jews until the end. The Spirit responds to him through Paul: *When the fullness of the nations has entered in, then all Israel shall be saved* (ibid., v. 25-26).

6. *Pour out your wrath upon the nations that do not know you, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon your name. 7. For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his place.* He does not, therefore, speak of all nations; thus he applied a limitation, saying "nations" not indiscriminately, but those *which do not know you*. But we know you, and the name of God has been called upon us (Jer. 14:9). Nor did we devour Jacob; for we do not utter blasphemous words or insults against him—which is what Paul declared "devouring" to be: *If you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another* (Gal. 5:15). Nor did we lay waste his place; for how could this happen, when each one claims him as a common father instead of their own? Therefore, the prophet did not curse us, but those who remained in ignorance and were unwilling to obtain the name of the kingdom ^B of God; wherefore let them fear the curse.

8. *Do not remember our ancient iniquities.* For how shall we be able to make satisfaction for both ancient and new evils? Perhaps the prophet calls "ancient iniquities" those which were committed in the desert, because God used many and various threats against them; wherefore he fears their remembrance. *Let your mercies quickly anticipate us, O Lord, for we have become very poor.* Nothing renders a man as poor as sin; and he becomes yet poorer when impiety is added to sin. Therefore he supplicates that the mercies of God may quickly come to him, lest, because of extreme poverty, they become desperate and fall into destruction.

9. *Help us, O God our Savior, for the sake of the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.* The prophet takes refuge near the glory of God, since he could not display the righteousness of the people; and the glory of the name of God is to have mercy on sinners, because he himself is called merciful, pitying, and long-suffering. For Moses says: *And he called in the name of the Lord, and passed before his face; and he called: The Lord, the Lord God, pitying and merciful, long-suffering and full of mercy and true* (Exod. 34:6). Since he is not only God, but is also called Savior, he is himself the glory of the name of God, ^C that is, of the Father; wherefore Paul called him the *splendor of the Father's glory* (Heb. 1:3). Furthermore, the following verses argue that these things are said concerning Christ. *And be propitious to our sins for the sake of your name; 10. lest perhaps they say among the nations: Where is their God?* And whose is it to be propitious to sins by a proper name, if not Christ, who therefore possesses the propitiatory? He reconciled propitiation for the sins of the Jews, when, being crucified, he said to the Father: *Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing* (Luke 23:34). Therefore Paul says of him: *Whom God set forth as a propitiatory through faith in his blood, for the showing of his righteousness, for the remission of previous sins* (Rom. 3:25). But he is propitious to the sins of the Jews, not for their sake alone, but much more for the sake of the nations, lest perhaps, being ignorant of God's clemency, they might say: *Where is their God?* and out of ignorance might stumble; but that, knowing this, they might be led by that same clemency and be persuaded to approach with great zeal and attain salvation. The events that follow these words will provide faith. *And let it be known among the nations before our eyes the vengeance of the blood of your servants that has been poured out.* Why does he want the vengeance to be known to the nations? Because he was about to defeat the demons, who had weakened the blood, that is, the souls of the servants of God, namely the Jews, through idolatry. And what was the vengeance? The overthrow of idols, the burning of diabolical temples, which is being perfected before the eyes of the Jews: for they see the things that are being performed, and they do not cooperate; but the vengeance is known to the nations, for they themselves know by what hand and by what power these things are performed and brought to pass, and they attribute the destruction of these things to the cross of Christ who sees them.

11. *Let the groaning of the prisoners enter into your sight.* Not prisoners in iron, but made in sin; for each one is bound by the chains of his own sins (Prov. 5:22). He asks for this groaning to enter into the sight of God, so that ^D what follows might be obtained. *Christ is the arm of the Father.* *According to the greatness of your arm, possess the sons of those who are put to death.* We have often declared that the arm of the Father is called Christ; "according to its greatness," that is, the great mysteries of his advent, which are the cross and the resurrection. He asks that not those put to death, but their sons, be saved by God; but those put to death were those who in their lifetime had not believed; yet their sons were caught in great numbers by the apostles as in a dragnet.

12. *Render to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom, their reproach, with which they have reproached you, O Lord.* He did not call human neighbors "neighbors" now; for he would not have prayed for sevenfold to be rendered to them, knowing that the Judge would not allow it; surely in what manner would he psalm to him, *You will render to each one according to his works* (Ps. 61:13)? Therefore he speaks of the demons. For they accept the sevenfold justly: inasmuch as they are of a superior nature than we are, yet they were cast down from heaven, and not even so did they become more temperate, but they disturb the earth with their own inventions, and not only do they sin, but they also induce us to sin, and bring reproach upon God among us, as if his image had fallen; to these things, not even by the advent of Christ did they desist from idolatry, but they are themselves addicted to it. And what is their "bosom"? Gehenna. For that place from the beginning has been deputized for them; this the Lord declares: *Go, you cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels* (Matt. 25:41).

13. *But we are your people and the sheep of your pasture.* He speaks of the whole human race; for by opposing us to the demons cast down from heaven, he calls man the people of God and the sheep of his pasture. And for what reason "sheep of his pasture"? Because we, the faithful, are fed by him in the participation of the mysteries. *We will confess to you, O God, forever. To generation and generation we will announce your praise.* This confession is rehearsed as if another confession had already preceded it. For first, Christ had confessed us to be sheep, saying: *My sheep hear my voice* (John 10:27); then, when he also wanted to add the nations, he added: *I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; and them also I must bring* (ibid., v. 16). We, who call him the shepherd in the following Psalm, confess to him. And we do this not for a time, but "forever," that is, perpetually; and "to generation and generation we will announce his praise," offering the praise of thanks in all generations, or because we praise him from both generations; not only from those who still live in the flesh, but also from those who have departed from the flesh—calling the patriarchs, apostles, prophets, and martyrs into our midst when we pray to him.

^A *To the end, concerning those who shall be changed, a testimony for Asaph, a Psalm concerning the Assyrian. LXXIX.* 1. He calls those who are to be renewed through repentance "those who shall be changed." He necessarily added "To the end," because we have repentance as our last anchor; moreover, it has been proclaimed even at the very end of the ages through the coming of Christ. Asaph sang the present Psalm as a testimony for these, having recounted in the Psalm what the people of the Jews suffered because of the multitude of their sins. *Shepherd of Israel, attend: thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep: thou that sittest upon the Cherubim, appear.* You see how ^B these things happen to match the steps of the Lord, which are reported as being said by Him in the Gospels: "I am the good shepherd." But why, leaving the others, did He bring Joseph and Jacob into the middle? Because each of those mentioned, the one having gone down into Egypt, and the other into Mesopotamia, was a servant. But God, whom the prophet now asks to attend, brought their servitude to freedom and to the good things proposed thereafter; that, having beheld our entire race serving intellectual enemies (for the prophet did not petition to attend only to himself, but indefinitely, that is, for all), He might be urged toward our own freedom, and might arrive in the flesh more quickly, since we stood in need of His coming for our freedom; nor were human beings able to receive Him who sits upon the Cherubim appearing, unless it were through the flesh. *Before Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasses, stir up thy might, and come to save us.* He clearly asked for the arrival of the Only-Begotten with the flesh, whence he begs Him not only to come, but also to stir up His own might; he calls the incarnation "might," for so he also designated it in another passage of the Psalms: "The Lord hath clothed Himself with power, and girt Himself about." And for what reason, since He was powerful even before, but was hidden from men, does he say that this might, when He arrived in the flesh, was made manifest in all the earth, is to be stirred up before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasses? Calling by the part all of Israel, to whom Christ, having been made flesh from the heavens, arrived; therefore, he says, "stir up thy might before them," or because, having held themselves in opposition to Him, they found such a [state] as they were approaching Him. *O God, convert us: and show thy face, and we shall be saved.* Advancing the argument ^C more clearly, the prophet has made it, having revealed both how Christ was to arrive, and for what reason He was to do so. For the cause of the arrival was that He might convert and correct us; but the mode was a clear appearance, in order that we might see Him face to face, not being saved in any other way unless He appeared to us in this manner. Wherefore even Jacob the patriarch said: "For I have seen God face to face, and my soul has lived." For this reason even Moses asked to see Him in this way, not in a curious manner, but as a prophet knowing that in this salvation is laid up for men; not that he might behold the naked Godhead—for this face of His, no one, as God Himself says, will be able to behold. *O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry with the prayer of thy servants?* He did not use these words in vain, but at once declaring His own dignity, and at the same time he acted as an ambassador for Him to come; whence he called Him not only God, but also Lord of hosts, that is, of those in heaven. Perceiving in the Spirit that the mystery of Christ still had a delay, he called this "anger," since his own prayer did not then receive an end; and he asks how long the anger is extended, upon which he also consequently added the things that follow: *Thou shalt feed us with the bread of tears, and wilt give us to drink of tears in measure.* The "how long" is from the common [text]; for until then the prophets were receiving bread of tears, and moreover a drink, mourning humanity, until Christ arrived and Himself became the bread of life and the cup. He well added "in measure," showing that there is nothing without measure with God, but all things are by rule and measure—whether anger or discipline—brought upon men for their advantage. *Thou hast set us for a contradiction to our neighbors, and our enemies have scorned us.* The discourse now clearly hints at the same [persons] as both enemies and neighbors: that until Christ deferred His own coming, they were in scorn and derision... ^D toward men, and they held the prophets themselves especially as not speaking the truth regarding those things which they prophesied concerning the arrival of the Savior; but indeed, the prophets endured no trivial contradiction from them, when those [people] were working through false prophets and speaking other things. For the contradiction he properly appointed over the demons, the intellectual enemies [and] neighbors, clearly demonstrating that just as servants are subject to their own masters, so are the demons subject to the prophets, though out of arrogance they many times rise up and contradict. *O Lord God of hosts, convert us, and show thy face, and we shall be saved.* He holds to the same petition, that he might indicate the necessity of it; and at the same time instructing us not to be faint-hearted if we fail of a prayer, but to persist; for we shall certainly attain it.

A Vineyard from Egypt Thou Hast Removed; Thou Hast Cast Out Nations, and Hast Planted It.

^A way; that is, from the wicked, who did not walk in the royal way. For such now are the Jews, who transgress the law; wherefore they are said not to pass along, but to pass by, the way. Thus Wisdom in the Proverbs said of the youth deceived by the wicked woman, senseless, passing by the corner of the market, not passing along (Prov. 7. 7–8). 14. *The boar out of the wood hath laid it waste, and the strange wild beast hath devoured it.* Not only is the lion called the devil because of rapacity, nor the dragon because of the venom of his malice, nor other such things brought up in the divine Scriptures; but also the boar, because it revels in the mud of malice, and dwells in the unfruitful wood of wickedness; and "strange," because he alone is said to have carried himself arrogantly against God; "wild," moreover, as being fierce and untractable. This one devours the synagogue of the Jews, from the time that its hedge was destroyed, that is, from the time that Christ abrogated the legal institute; for they are inscribed in the portions of the enemy, because they possess neither the law, nor the altar, nor anything else of those that belonged to the worship of God. 15. *O God of hosts, turn and look from heaven, and see.* Since neither the law nor the prophets converted Israel, he necessarily begs Him to convert, that is, to correct. How is He to convert? By looking from heaven and seeing. When does He not see? But it is at that time that he begs Him to look with greater compassion, that He might confer upon us some benefit greater than before. What is that? It is declared in the following. *And visit this vine, 16. and make it perfect, which thy right hand hath planted, and upon the Son of man, whom thou hast strengthened to thyself.* Thou seest how he requests that God should undertake the office not only of a husbandman, but also of a physician. For it is the part of a physician to visit; which physician visits by himself, in order to make the vine perfect, and to remove the spiritual worm, to prune the redundant branches from which it will not be possible to cull any fruit. But for whose sake? Not of the vine, he says, whose hedge He destroyed, which He delivered to the enemy, but for the sake of the Lordic branch which is to come forth from it. Therefore, when he had said, *Visit this vine*, he subjoined, *And upon the Son of man, whom thou hast strengthened to thyself*; that is, upon account of that Son who is to be born from the Jewish vine, Whom thou hast strengthened for thyself, visit it. For the visitation of the Jewish people was truly the coming of the Only-Begotten, if they had only admitted that visitation. Wherefore John said: *He came into his own, and his own received him not* (John 1. 11); and the Lord Himself, *I am not come but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel* (Matt. 15. 24). 17. *Consumed with fire, and dug up; they shall perish from the rebuke of thy countenance.* Because he compared the synagogue of the Jews to a vine, he rightly divides his discourse, speaking now of the image, now of those very persons for whose sake he assumed the image. Therefore, the vine of the Jews, that is, the synagogue, has been consumed with fire. That is what Christ said: *I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I, but that it be kindled?* (Luke 12. 49). Therefore, a fire was cast, and it was dug up, in order that, upon its being dug up, the foundation hidden in it might be uncovered; of which Isaiah said: *Behold, I will lay in the foundations of Sion a stone, precious, chosen, corner, honorable; and he that believeth in him shall not be confounded* (Isa. 28. 16). Indeed, David also said: *Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem* (Ps. 136. 7); namely, of the Gentiles who said: *Empty it, even to the foundation thereof* (ibid.). For thus far are Jewish affairs dug up by the Gentiles, that is to say, examined and searched, until they have discovered the foundation which they conceal. Therefore, they shall perish from the rebuke of the face of God—understand of Christ. For He rebuked them because, having the keys of knowledge, they neither enter themselves, and those who wish to enter they hinder (Luke 11. 52). 18. *Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, and upon the Son of man, whom thou hast strengthened to thyself. 19. And we will not depart from thee.* He calls Christ the man of his right hand: "man" on account of his human nature; "of his right hand," first indeed because He sits in the right hand of the Father with his flesh; then because He established every creature. He also calls him the Son of man on account of ^B the flesh, but so that he might think him totally consubstantial with the Father on account of his divinity, he says, *Whom thou hast strengthened to thyself.* For He strengthened him as one who begat him; but He strengthened him to himself, because He begat him of the same power and to be similar in all things. He requests that the hand of the Father be sent upon these, that is, that signs and miracles might proceed unto us; for these are called, now the hand, now the finger of God. Furthermore, he does not request that signs be done upon us any longer through a prophet or any God-bearing man, as through Moses, through Elias, or those like them, but through the Son, promising that, if this be done, we will in no wise depart from him: for we often departed. *Thou shalt vivify us, and we shall call upon thy name.* Thou shalt vivify us by the living water of baptism. For then we call upon his name, called Christians from Christ. 20. *O Lord God of hosts, convert us, and show thy face, and we shall be saved.* These things are frequently said. For the prophet does not supplicate for the present time only: showing that we can be neither converted nor saved in any other way than by the coming of the face of God, that is, of the Word incarnate.

PSALM LXXX