232. Слово в день восшествия на Всероссийский Престол Благочестивейшаго Государя Императора Николая Павловича

(Said in the Chudov Monastery on November 26; printed in the Works of the Holy Father of 1848 and in the collection of 1861) God, I will sing to You a new song; in the ten-stringed psalter I sing to You, Who gives salvation as a king. ( Ps. 143:9-10 ). Has it ever occurred to you that in the ancient Jewish Church, like in ours today, there was a kind of prayer singing for the health and salvation of the King? It definitely happened, as the Holy Books show. This was done not only by simple prayer books, but even by prophets. The prophet David promises a song to God, “who gives salvation to kings,” and, of course, he will fulfill his promise: and this will be prayer singing; because a song to God is also a prayer. “O God, I will sing to You a new song; in the ten-stringed psalter I sing to You, Who gives salvation as a king.” Note that David is not talking about the “king,” that is, not only about himself personally, but about kings in general, that is, about God’s protection of royal dignity. Even more remarkable is a similar song of the Prophetess Anna, in which she, raising a prayer of gratitude to God, who gave her her son Samuel, rose to prophetic delight. “Hannah prayed and said,” outlining the wonderful actions of God’s Providence prayerfully and at the same time prophetically: “He will give strength to our king, and he will exalt the horn of His Christ” (1 Samuel 2:1, 10). In this regard, we must remember that only later, during the time of Anna’s son, God gave kings to the Jewish people. So the Jews did not yet have kings: but the Prophetess already called and predicted God’s protection for their kings. The royal dignity was valued so dearly, for the good of God’s chosen people, by divinely inspired people! So the true Church, anciently and now, is always equally faithful to the truth, beneficial for human society, and to itself! But what does it mean that the Prophet suggests a “new” song about the salvation of the Kings, when it should not be the first? – It must be thought that new royal circumstances, deliverance from new dangers, overcoming new difficulties, protection and help again revealed by God to the king, aroused new thoughts in the mind of the Psalmist, new feelings in the heart, new sounds in the ten-stringed psalter, and a new song in the usual prayer for the king. And we now, gratefully remembering the day on which “God exalted the chosen one from His people,” gave us our most pious Autocrat, not a new, but an always present prayer for Him: but at the thought of new events, the heart is filled with new grateful feelings towards the King who gives salvation. For the third decade, turning the scepter of a huge kingdom with a firm hand, He had many royal experiences, accomplished many feats, and, protected and protected by God, overcame many difficulties: but the current year presented another kind of test of the royal spirit and wisdom. In the kingdoms more or less allied with Russia, and partly neighboring, among numerous peoples, formed, in moments of dormancy of the Governments, from the dens of secret gatherings, immoral and godless, a whirlwind of rebellion and anarchy suddenly erupted, which, shaking and destroying the order of one kingdom after another, threatened the peace and security of all the peoples of Europe: and against the Russian power it especially breathed fury with noise and cries, as against a strong and zealous defender of legitimate power, order and peace. Here we can say with Devora: “great is the trial of the heart” (Judges 5:16)! And it was difficult to maintain patience, and it was not convenient to give freedom to jealousy. It was not safe to remain inactive, and this could increase the insolence of the enemies of the world; but it was not the right time to act, and this could provide an excuse for those looking for an opportunity to ignite a war. "Great tests of the heart". But the King’s heart was firmly established in the Lord, and was not shaken by difficulties. The Most Pious Sovereign, with His usual frankness, spoke His royal word to His people about the alarming movements outside Russia, which could affect its borders, and expressed His will, equally unshakable, both in preserving peace and in repelling the enemies of the world. By the internal movement of military forces to threatened limits, without leaving a peaceful situation, He became in a formidable position: and thus morally strengthened the faithful allies and friends of order and peace, and struck from afar the audacity of rebellion and anarchy. If some neighboring Sovereigns, to whom anarchy, without even covering itself with a mask, opposed in all its ugliness, with the most destructive efforts, reliably and successfully opposed it with legitimate power and force: this, without a doubt, was greatly facilitated by the fact that behind them stands a strong protective bulwark of unity of command and all legitimate power - Russia. So, isn’t it new that the Autocrat of Russia, with the wave of his scepter, acts as powerfully as with a weapon, without interrupting the peace, defeats one of the most hostile forces, extinguishes the outbreak of war with a word, and stops fire-breathing lips with majestic silence? And the year of anxiety and horror for many peoples has remained a year of peace and tranquility. God, we sing a new song to You, Who gives salvation to the King! I return to the Jewish psalmist, curious to know more closely what circumstances aroused him to a new song about the salvation of kings. I see the path to resolving this issue in the psalm itself. The psalmist prays to God: “Deliver me from many waters, from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaks vanity, and their right hand is the right hand of unrighteousness” (Ps. 143:7-8). And after this he exclaims: “God, I will sing a new song to You, who gives salvation as a king.” To understand this sudden transition from mournful prayer to solemn exclamation, it is necessary to assume that in people whose lips speak vanity, whose right hand is the right hand of unrighteousness, he sees a great danger not only for private people, but also for the kingdom; and therefore he recognizes deliverance from such people as a great blessing of God, worthy of solemn gratitude. That the multiplication of people whose right hand is the right hand of unrighteousness is harmful and dangerous not only for people in particular, but also for society, there is no doubt about that. But are those “whose lips speak vanity” really just as harmful and dangerous? How many lips are so strict that they never speak of vanity? To talk about this thoroughly, you need not a superficial look at vanity. Solomon wrote a whole book to explain vanity: but for this it is enough to take only the beginning and the end of his book. At the beginning it says: “all vanity” (Eccl. 1:2); and at the end: “Fear God and keep His commandments; as every man is” (Eccl. 12:13). Combining these thoughts, we find that, according to the teachings of Solomon, everything that elevates a person above vanity lies in the fear of God and in keeping the commandments of God; and that, on the contrary, apart from the fear of God and keeping the commandments of God, everything in man is vanity. So, “the mouth that speaks vanity,” which the Psalmist fears like a flood, means an intensified revelation of a way of thinking, the basis of which is no reverence for God and His commandments. “Deliver me,” he says, “from many waters, from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaks vanity” (Ps. 143:7-8). A God-inspired man, of course, cannot be suspected of vain fear or cowardice. If the danger he points out from vanity is really known: then are we doing well if we see, hear, and, perhaps, allow ourselves to vanity without fear and caution? And in our time, and near us, are not the lips that speak vanity multiplied in the forgetfulness of God and His commandments? Don’t they speak often, freely, charmingly, in conversations, at shows, in books? The work of vanity begins with the fact that attention to the Divine and taste for the spiritual decreases, and the inclination towards the sensual increases; captivated by the graceful, seeking the pleasant, with a lust for the true and the good; They are more engaged in the play of passions than listening to reason and moral feelings. But as the divine, spiritual, true, good, immortal, and therefore akin to the immortal human soul, and gives it constant pleasure; but the sensory is perishable, and therefore unsatisfactory for the immortal soul; what is pleasant, not strengthened by the true and good, is instantaneous, and ceases to be pleasant with repetition and satiety, which gives birth to an incessant thirst for something new; passions, with the weakening of the reins of reason and moral sense, easily turn into mad horses: then the matter of vanity, having received strength, cannot stop at just amusements, but, depending on the circumstances, more or less, faster or slower, moves forward. Where? – This, unfortunately, is all too obvious in our time among the “stranger sons.” Their numerous “mouths speaking vanity” first spoke pleasant vanity, then immodest, then seductive, then clearly vicious, finally outrageous and destructive; stirred minds: they called forth, encouraged, even re-formed people, “whose right hand is the right hand of unrighteousness,” and thus there occurred, in the words of the Psalmist, “many waters,” a flood of evil that undermines the foundations of all improvement and well-being, public and private. So it is with the “stranger sons.” But are we being careful enough? Do some types of their bustle not pass over to us openly, do they not sneak in unnoticed? They will probably say that we are borrowing from them only innocent vanity. I will not enter into an argument against this, although one can doubt whether any vanity will turn out to be innocent before the court of truth and virtue. I will only say that when the door is open for vanity, as they say, innocent, all the more careful attention is required so that it is closed for vanity that is not innocent and unsafe. Thanks be to God and the Most Pious Sovereign protected by Him, that we are protected “from many waters,” and from “the sons of strangers, whose lips speak vanity, and their right hand is the right hand of unrighteousness!” May we keep ourselves worthy of the highest protection! The means for this, simple and true, is the one that Solomon proposed, and which, as the best of inheritances, was passed on to us by our ancestors: - “Fear God, and keep His commandments: as is every man”; - in this lies the dignity, goodness and bliss of man and humanity. Amen. You might be interested in: