Изъяснение псалма 102-го.

"Psalm to David." This psalm, apparently, is in connection with the previous one, and has the same content. For in this, those mourning their misfortunes in Babylon asked God to grant them return; and here those who have received their request sing songs to the Benefactor. But I think that this chant befits all people, both those who have freed themselves from more bitter slavery and those who have been granted greater freedom. And the meaning of the sayings themselves makes it clear that the last assumption is more correct than the first. Ps.103:1. Bless the Lord, my soul, and bless my whole being, His holy name. “Bless my soul the Lord, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.” Filled with gratitude to divine mercies, they encourage themselves to chant, rendering whatever they can to the Benefactor. It is always possible to sing songs and maintain deep remembrance of good deeds. And they devote their entire interior, and direct every thought to divine hymn; because the Prophet used the word “internal” to describe thoughts and all mental movements. Ps.102:2. Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His benefits. “Bless the Lord my soul, and do not forget all His rewards.” The soul learns again how to awaken itself, dispel the cloud of oblivion, and renew within itself the remembrance of God’s blessings. The word: “retribution” Symmachus translated: benefits. Then the Prophet calculates these blessings in detail. Ps.103:3. He forgives all your iniquities, He heals all your illnesses. “Who cleanses all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases.” For He granted you remission of sins, He healed you from suffering. The paralytic was worthy of this; because at one time it was said to him: “Your sins are forgiven”; and: “Take up your bed and go to your house” (Mark 2:9, 11). Thus, the sinner wife, the thief, the tax collectors, and all those who believed were granted remission of sins. Ps.102:4. He delivers your life from the grave, crowns you with mercy and bounty. “He who delivers your belly from corruption.” Although God freed the captives taken to Babylon from slavery, he did not deliver them from corruptible life. And he gave us the hope of resurrection, gave us the pledge of the Spirit, clothed us in the robe of immortality. “He who crowns you with mercy and bounties.” “It is by grace that we are saved,” as the divine Apostle says: “and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; let no one boast” (Eph. 2:8-9); and again: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and from them I am the first. But for this reason they had mercy, so that in me first Jesus Christ would show all His long-suffering, for the example of those who want to believe in Him for eternal life” (1 Tim. 1:15-16). Therefore, the crown is given by grace and love for mankind. So the divine Isaiah, on behalf of the bride, cries out: “Let my soul rejoice in the Lord: clothe me with the robe of salvation, and clothe me with the robe of joy: as for a bridegroom, place a crown on me, and as a bride, adorn me with beauty” (Is. 61:10); and a little lower: “And you will have a crown of kindness in the hand of the Lord, and a diadem of the kingdom in the hand of your God” (Is. 62:3). Yet these are the gifts and offerings of the groom; because the bride brought the gift of one faith. Ps.102:5. Satisfies your desire with good things: your youth is renewed like an eagle. “Who fulfills your desires for good.” since there is a reprehensible desire, prohibited by Divine law, then by the way the Prophet added: “in good”; because the Lord fulfills our good wishes. “Ask,” he says, “and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; press, and it will be opened to you.” For everyone who asks receives it, and everyone who seeks finds it, and it will be opened to the one who interprets” (Matthew 7:7-8). “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you” in abundance (Matthew 6:33). “Your youth will be renewed like an eagle.” And the Lord also gave us this renewal in holy baptism, and having cut off the oldness of sin, he made us young from those who were old. In accordance with this, God says through the Prophet Isaiah: “those who endure” Me “will change their strength, they will take wings like eagles” (Is. 40:31). since at creation we accepted Divine and royal traits into ourselves, and then darkened and damaged them with all kinds of sinful undertakings; that prophetic word promises us the restoration of royal dignity; because the eagle is a royal bird, and the kingdom of birds is entrusted to it. The Prophet also reveals to us the very image of Divine generosity. Ps.103:6. The Lord brings righteousness and judgment to all who are offended. “The Lord grant alms and fate to all those who are offended.” For “not by the works of the righteous, which we made,” as the divine Apostle says, “but according to His mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). And seeing that we had suffered offense from the enemy of truth, he renewed the sources of mercy for us, and pronounced a truthful sentence on him. Ps.102:7. He showed His ways to Moses, and to the children of Israel His works. “Moses told His ways to the sons of Israel His desires.” But it was not out of repentance that he arranged this salvation for us; on the contrary, he foretold this from ancient times through the Prophets, and through the divine Moses he ordained our salvation. And the sea became a prototype of all-holy baptism, the stone - the shadow of immortal currents, and manna - the image of heavenly food; and without listing everything in detail, let’s say that you can find other things pre-depicted in them. Ps.102:8. The Lord is generous and merciful, long-suffering and abounding in mercy. “The Lord is generous and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy.” And the reason for these blessings, says the Prophet, is the abyss of God’s goodness, immeasurable mercy, a sea of ​​philanthropy. Ps.103:9. He is not completely angry, and is not forever indignant. Ps.102:10. He did not deal with us according to our iniquities, nor did He reward us according to our sins. “He is not completely angry, he is at enmity forever”: “He did not create for us to eat because of our iniquities, but because of our sins he repaid us to eat.” He did not want to commensurate the punishment with our sins and continue His anger against us. Ps.102:11. For as high is the heaven above the earth, so great is the mercy [of the Lord] towards those who fear Him. Ps.102:12. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our iniquities from us. “As the height of heaven is from the earth, the Lord has established His mercy on those who fear Him”: “The east is far from the west, He has removed our iniquities from us.” If the Prophet had found distances that were more distant, then, of course, he would have presented them on Wednesday, trying to show the infinity of God’s goodness. But human thought did not find anything that was higher than the sky, and had a further distance than the east from the west. Ps.103:13. As a father has mercy on his sons, so the Lord has mercy on those who fear Him. “As a father gives generously to his sons, the Lord will provide for those who fear Him.” He, the Creator and Creator, became like a father in goodness, and showed the same tender love for slaves as a father shows for children. Ps.102:14. For He knows our composition, He remembers that we are dust. “As He knew our creation, I will remember Him as the dust of Esma.” The Creator knew the weakness of our nature, knew what we were made of, and again where we would go. Ps.102:15. Man's days are like grass; like the flower of the field, so it blooms. “A man, like the grass of his days, like the flower of the village, will bloom.” We are no different from grass or from a flower that blooms in the spring and soon withers and flies away. Ps.102:16. The wind passes over him, and he is no more, and his place no longer recognizes him. “For a spirit passes through him, and is not, and no one knows his place.” And Symmachus translated it like this: because the spirit passes through them, and then it is gone. The Prophet calls the soul spirit. While the soul is in the body, it lives and acts; and as soon as the soul departs, it fades and decays, so that you do not recognize the former features, you cannot distinguish that this is the body of one, and this is the body of another. And everyone will see this exactly when they enter the coffin; because everything in the same way becomes a prey to decay, and does not retain its former features. Ps.102:17. The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear Him. Ps.102:18. And His righteousness is upon the sons of sons, who keep His covenant and remember His commandments to do them. “The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him”: “And His righteousness is on the sons of those who keep His covenant and remember His commandments to do.” Human nature is so quick to perish! But God’s love for mankind grants long life, and the reward of righteousness due to ancestors is preserved until posterity. Thus, until the fourth generation, Jehu maintained his royal power, who did not acquire perfect piety, but at the beginning of his reign only showed zeal. Thus, the divine David preserved the unquenchable spark of his family, although in the meantime many wicked people vegetated. This mercy, says the Prophet, will be extended by God to those who keep His covenant, and not just to those who remember His commandments, but to those who add deeds to their words, and who order their lives well according to the commandments. Ps.102:19. The Lord has set His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all. “The Lord has prepared His throne in heaven, and His kingdom possesses all.” This is similar to what was said in another psalm: “he lives on the high, and looks down on the lowly” (Psalm 113:5-6). For here too the prophetic word teaches us that the Lord of all, although he has a throne in heaven, but, as the Creator, King and ruler of all, oversees and rules over creation. Ps.102:20. Bless the Lord, [all] His angels, mighty in power, who do His word, obeying the voice of His word. “Bless the Lord, all His angels, who are mighty in strength and do His word,” to hear the voice of His words. Rightly, the Prophet also called upon the invisible Forces to communicate in song; because human nature is not able to worthily sing of You, the Benefactor, but incorporeal and holy natures, having a life free from passions, also have sufficient strength to fulfill the Divine commandments. Ps.102:21. Bless the Lord, all His armies, all His servants, who do His will. “Bless the Lord, all His might, His servants who do His will.” There are many celestial ranks, and they are different; because there are Principalities, Powers, Thrones, Dominions, Seraphim, Cherubim, and other names unknown to us, as the divine Apostle says (Col. 1:16). But the prophetic word concluded all these ranks under these two names; for he called them “Angels”, as those who assist in the fulfillment of God’s commandments and disseminate the words of God, and “Powers”, as they are strong enough to do what is commanded, and have received such power in their very nature from the Creator. Ps.103:22. Bless the Lord, all His works, in all the places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, my soul! “Bless the Lord, all His works, in every place of His dominion.” This does not apply to the Jews; because when those who captivated them commanded them to sing “from the songs of Zion,” acting legally, they said: “How shall we sing the song of the Lord in foreign lands” (Psalm 136:4)? And the divine Apostle instructs us to “make prayers in every place, lift up your holy hands” (1 Tim. 2:8). This is what the Master Christ said to the Samaritan woman: Amen, amen, I say to you, “Woman, ... for the hour is coming, even now, when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will they worship the Father.” For “The Spirit is God: and those who worship Him are worthy to worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:21,24). “Bless the Lord my soul.” The end agrees with the beginning. For the Prophet, having called intelligent beings to communicate in hymns, also teaches us; as much as possible, honor the Creator, and, in proportion to your strength, offer Him a song of gratitude. You might be interested in: