Изъяснение псалма 140-го.

"Psalm to David." And this psalm contains one thought with the previous one. Persecuted by Saul, he begs God. Ps.140:1. God! I appeal to you: hasten to me, listen to the voice of my prayer when I cry to you. “Lord, I have called to You, hear Me.” The Prophet calls the zeal of the soul an appeal. So God said to the silent Moses: “Why do you cry to Me” (Ex. 14:15). “Listen to the voice of my prayer, and always cry out to You.” With favor, says the Prophet, accept my prayer, Master. Ps.140:2. Let my prayer be directed like incense before Thy face, and the lifting of my hands like the evening sacrifice. “Let my prayer be corrected like an incense before You: the lifting of my hand, the evening sacrifice.” The Prophet combined the exercise of virtue with prayer. For this means “raising of hands”; because hands have been given to us to work. The Prophet pleads that the prayer be offered like incense and be also fragrant, and that the outstretching of the hands be likened to the evening sacrifice. He mentioned the evening sacrifice, and not the morning, because he was in disasters and sorrows, and disaster is like darkness and night. Ps.140:3. Set, O Lord, a guard over my lips, and guard the doors of my mouth. “The Lord put a guard over my mouth, and a guard over my mouth.” The Creator gave the tongue two fences, a fence of teeth and a fence of walls, thereby restraining its unreasonable aspirations. However, the Prophet asks for other protection, so as not to say something indecent in indignation. And that, persecuted by Saul, he sometimes did not allow himself to say anything blasphemous, history testifies to this. When others attempted to kill Saul, David called him “Christ of the Lord,” and addressing him, he called himself his servant; He who announced the murder of Saul and boasted that he had committed murder, he put to death, saying: “Your blood is on your head,” because you said: “I have killed the Christ of the Lord” (2 Samuel 1:16). Ps.140:4. Do not let my heart turn aside to evil words to excuse sinful deeds together with people who do iniquity, and may I not partake of their delights. “Do not turn my heart into words of wickedness, and do not bear the guilt of sins.” He begs for the preservation of not only the language, but also the very movements of thought, so that no other thought is found in them that is contrary to the divine laws. Instead of this: “not to bear the guilt of sins,” Symmachus said: “unlawful thoughts.” And according to the translation of the Seventy, this should be understood as follows: blessed David could reason: Saul is my enemy and enemy, he wants to kill me; therefore, there is no injustice in killing such a person, because the law commands: “thou shalt love thy sincere man and hate thy enemy” (Matthew 5:43). But, seeing the gospel way of life, he desired to live according to it, and prays so as not to encounter any reason to sin. “With men who practice iniquity, I will not reckon with their chosen ones.” This is what the workers of iniquity do, says the Prophet; but let me not have any communication with them, even if they are at the height of prosperity. For “chosen” here he calls the wicked and prosperous people. Ps.140:5. Let the righteous punish me: this is mercy; let him reprove me: this is the best oil, which will not hurt my head; but my prayers are against their atrocities. “The righteous will punish me with mercy and reprove me, but let not the oil of the sinner anoint my head.” It is preferable for me, says the Prophet, when the righteous, for the sake of admonition and benefit, grieve, rather than when sinful people offer pleasant things, even if this, like oil that makes the head bright, brought me joy in life. I would rather be admonished by the righteous than to use the services of sinners. “For also my prayer is in their favor.” Symmachus translated it this way: even my prayer does not extend beyond their malice. I am so far from wanting their well-being that I wish for them to change, so that with the change in well-being they themselves will change, putting aside their malice. Ps.140:6. Their leaders are scattered along the cliffs and hear my words that they are meek. “Bysha was sacrificed at the stone of their judge.” In a short time, says the Prophet, they will become insignificant, and deceived by the height of dominion, like rocks in the sea hidden under the waters, they will be drowned in the depths, that is, consigned to oblivion. “My words will be heard, as if they were delighted.” Having learned through experience the truth of my words, they will feel their pleasantness and benefit. Ps.140:7. It’s as if the earth is being cut and crushed; our bones are falling into the jaws of hell. “Like the thickness of the earth has sagged on the earth, scattering their bones in hell. “The thickness of the earth”, the Prophet calls the continuous coherence of the earth, which, being cut by a plow, is divided into blocks. Like these blocks, he says, those who now stand firmly will be crushed by death, and their bones will scatter in the graves. For he called the tombs “in hell.” Ps.140:8. But to You, Lord, Lord, my eyes are; I trust in You, do not throw away my soul! “For my eyes are toward You, O Lord, Lord; I have trusted in You, do not take away my soul.” I do not rely on anything human, but I expect Your help, and I beg you not to deprive my soul of it. Ps.140:9. Save me from the snares set for me, from the snares of the wicked. “Keep me from the snare that I have made, and from the temptation of those who practice iniquity.” The Prophet mentioned these snares and temptations in the previous psalm. He calls evil intentions “nets” and “temptations,” from which he begs to be delivered. Ps.140:10. The wicked will fall in their snares, but I will cross over. “They will fall into the depths,” that is, God’s, “sinners.” Those who set snares for others, as if through some kind of mud, will be overwhelmed by God’s punishment, they will endure what they themselves do, and they will fall into what they have prepared for others. “I am one, I will cross the Dondezh.” And I will always be far from this until I accept the end of my life. You might be interested in: