Изъяснение псалма 144-го.

"Praise be to David". This inscription makes it possible to see the purpose of the psalm; because in it, those who remember God’s power, and greatness, and kingdom, and splendor, are advised to sing songs to the God of all. The grace of the Spirit composed other similar psalms, awakening God's people to gratitude. The present psalm also contains a prophecy about the calling and knowledge of God of the pagans: and this song is arranged in the order of the letters, and through repetition expresses the strong love of the Prophet. Ps.144:1. I will exalt You, my God, my King, and bless Your name forever and ever. “I will exalt You, my God, my King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever.” God is exalted by nature, and the height in Him is not something elevated; the disciples of piety preach it and teach the ignorant. Similar to this is what Christ said in the Gospel: Father, “I have glorified Your name on earth” (John 17:4). And in a few words the Lord shows that He did not give the glory to the Father, which He did not have before, but revealed the glory that He had. For he said: “I have revealed Your name as a man” (John 17:6). So the Father did not give the glory to the Son, which the Son did not have before, but showed to the ignorant the glory that he had. For he says: “Glorify Me, Father, with glory, since before you had peace there was no peace” (John 17:5). Therefore, I did not accept what I did not have, but what I did have became clear to those who did not know. And here the Prophet promises not to make God high, but to show His height to people as much as possible; and God calls everyone His God and king, moved to this by the ardor of love. Ps.144:2. I will bless You every day and praise Your name forever and ever. “I will bless You every day, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.” I will always sing songs to You, says the Prophet, and I will not allow even one day to remain without singing. Ps.144:3. Great is the Lord and praiseworthy, and His greatness is unsearchable. “Great is the Lord and highly praised, and His greatness has no end.” since every sensible quantity turns out to be great when measured in length, breadth and depth; then the Prophet, not without reason, added: “His greatness has no end,” wanting to show that the One of Songs is both incorporeal and not described. I know, he says that God is great, incomprehensible, immeasurable; because I find neither the beginning nor the end of greatness; it is limitless and exceeds all comprehension. Ps.144:4. Generation after generation will praise Your deeds and proclaim Your power. “Generation and generation will praise Your works, and will proclaim Your power.” Here the Prophet foretold the knowledge of God among the pagans. For he says: not only we, who are from Israel, in this generation will praise You, the benefactor, but another generation, the church of the pagans, will preach the greatness of Your deeds. Ps.144:5. And I will meditate on the high glory of Your greatness and on Your wondrous deeds. “They will speak of the splendor of the glory of Your Holiness, and they will tell of Your wonders.” The nature of the Song-loving One exceeds the measure of the Prophet’s powers. Looking for a worthy and appropriate name, and not finding it, he combines many names into one, naming the glory of the shrine and splendor. He also predicts that this will be preached by another generation. Ps.144:6. They will speak of the power of Your terrible deeds, and I will proclaim Your greatness. “And they will speak of Your terrible power, and they will proclaim Your greatness.” The Prophet apparently used the same word; however, it means something different. For “miracles” he calls those things done for good; and “by terrible power” - great deeds revealed as punishment for others. For example: God imposed various plagues on Egypt through the Divine Moses; and in this we must understand the “power of the terrible”; but in the desert he fed the people with manna, made the dyes easy to catch, and filled the waterless land: this moved the lips of the grateful to astonishment. The divine Apostle also made the same division. For he said that the All-Holy Spirit gives not only “gifts of healing,” but also “workings of power” (1 Cor. 12:9-10). And he calls “gifts of healing” that the lame walk, the sick receive health, the dead are raised, and the like; “the actions of powers” ​​refers to the blinding of Elymas, the death of Ananias and Sapphira, the betrayal of others to Satan, “let them not be punished for blasphemies” (1 Tim. 1:20). Ps.144:7. They will proclaim the memory of Your great goodness and sing of Your righteousness. “They will regurgitate the memory of the multitude of Your goodness, and they will rejoice in Your righteousness.” The prophet wants to show the wealth of God's goodness and power, but, using human language, and being unable to achieve what he wants, he again combines many names and predicts the gratitude of the future generation: namely, that, having enjoyed the Divine words, as if something regurgitated, they will bring as a gift a legend about God's love for mankind. The divine Apostle is subjected to the same thing, and since he is not able to worthily tell the Divine, he tries to achieve this through a multitude of names. For he says: “The exceeding riches of His grace” (Eph. 2:7); and in another place he confesses that he is overcome, and says: “Do not try His judgment, and do not search His ways” (Rom. 11:33). Ps.144:8. The Lord is generous and merciful, long-suffering and abounding in mercy. “The Lord is generous and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in mercy.” The Prophet remains in the same position here again. Having imagined in his mind how God created human nature, what honor and what providence he bestowed upon it, and decreed that all visible creation should bring what man needs, and every day tolerates those who sin, “His sun shines on the evil and the good, and rains on the righteous and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45), - he calls Him not only “generous”, but also “merciful”, and “long-suffering”, and “much-merciful”. For, driven by immeasurable goodness, “he removed our iniquities from us, the east are far from the west” (Psalm 102:12); and “thou thus loved the world, as thou gavest his only begotten Son to eat” for it (John 3:16). Ps.144:9. The Lord is good to everyone, and His mercies are in all His works. “The Lord is good to everyone, and His compassions are in all His works.” He did not only provide for the Jews, but also poured out his love for mankind on all people. Even not only about people, but also about the dumb, he takes care, and delivers useful things to everyone. Ps.144:10. May all Your works glorify You, O Lord, and may Your saints bless You. “Let all Thy works be confessed to Thee, O Lord, and let Thy saints bless Thee.” It is not inanimate creatures that sing hymns to God, and it is not dumb creatures that utter a verbal voice, but for their sake the hymns of words and those who love God are composed; because, looking at every creature brought into being by God and seeing the greatness of wisdom, they move their lips to praise. Ps.144:11. Let them preach the glory of Your kingdom, and let them tell of Your might. Ps.144:12. To make the sons of men know of Your might and the glorious majesty of Your kingdom. “They will proclaim the glory of Your kingdom, and speak of Your power”: “Tell the sons of men Your power, and the glory of the splendor of Your kingdom.” These saints, and prophets, and apostles, and after them those who took upon themselves the ministry of preaching, will teach all people to know the eternal kingdom and ineffable power; This teaching will not be taught to the Jews only, but to the entire human race. Ps.144:13. Your kingdom is the kingdom of all ages, and Your dominion is for all generations. 43. “Your kingdom is the kingdom of all ages, and Your dominion is in every generation and generation.” Your power is limitless and Your kingdom is eternal; it did not begin, and it will not stop. “The Lord is faithful in all His words, and holy in all His deeds.” The truth of words shines through, confirmed by deeds, and deeds are adorned with truth. Ps.144:14. The Lord supports all those who fall and raises up all those who are cast down. “The Lord strengthens all that is cast down, and raises up all that is cast down.” He takes care not only of the children of the truth, but also of those who have crawled, of those who have fallen, of those who have taken upon themselves sinful ulcers; strengthening some, he does not allow them to fall, but he raises up those who have fallen, stretching out his right hand to them. Ps.144:15. The eyes of all trust in You, and You give them their food in due season. “The eyes of all trust in You, and You give them food in due season.” The Prophet said here: “they trust,” not meaning a heartfelt disposition, because those who live wickedly do not have this hope, and the dumb generations are devoid of rational feeling. On the contrary, he makes it known that every creature receives from Him what is actually beneficial for it. Then he shows the convenience of giving. Ps.144:16. You open Your hand and satisfy all living things with good pleasure. “Thou openest Thy hand, and performeth every creature's good pleasure.” As soon as You desire, every creature enjoys the benefits You bestow. No matter how difficult it is for us to unclench our bent fingers and stretch our arms; so it is convenient for You to give an abundance of benefits in an instant. Ps.144:17. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and good in all His works. “The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His deeds.” In every dispensation of Yours righteousness shines forth; because the Prophet called “ways” the economy. Ps.144:18. The Lord is close to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. “The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” The word: “near” does not mean local distance; because God is present everywhere by nature: “in Him we live and move and we are,” according to the word of the divine Apostle (Acts 17:28). On the contrary, the Prophet expressed this state and disposition. This addition is also beautiful: “in truth.” God approaches not only those who call, but those who intend to do this “in truth.” truth." For “not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom” of God: “but do the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Ps.144:19. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. “He will do the will of those who fear Him, and He will hear their prayer, and I will save.” Those who have the fear of God are the first to do the will of God. Therefore, since their intention is in accordance with the will of God, the Lord will certainly fulfill their desires; because they do not desire anything contrary to what is pleasing to God. Ps.144:20. The Lord protects all those who love Him, but He will destroy all the wicked. “The Lord preserves all who love Him, and consumes all who sin.” The prophet showed how righteous the Lord is in all His ways. And the righteous person tends to give to everyone what is useful for him. Therefore, He protects and preserves those who are well-disposed towards Him, and delivers them from those who plot evil things; and He puts to death those who love the opposite path. Ps.144:21. My mouth shall utter the praises of the Lord, and let all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever. “My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless His holy name for ever and ever.” Therefore, says the Prophet, I wrote this song. But the entire human race must always honor the Creator with praise and give due honor to God’s name. It should be noted that here too the Prophet did not give this song to the Jews, but called all flesh to sing. Therefore, this prophecy is clear, evidenced by the event; because, according to prophecy, all nations throughout the world sing songs of praise to the God of all. The Lord is faithful in all His words and holy in all His deeds You might be interested in: