Изъяснение псалма 35-го.

Ps.35:1. To the head of the choir. Servant of the Lord David. "To the end of the Lord's servant David." The divine David, having Saul in his hands, not only did not kill him himself, but also forbade those who attempted to kill him; with the onset of day, having ascended to one height, he reprimanded Saul and denounced him for his unjust hostility, letting him know that, having found him sleeping at night, he did not kill him as an enemy, but saved him as a benefactor, and showed the hem of his robe, and a vessel for water, and a spear, which he had taken as proof of the truth of these words. Saul responded to this with words that were garnished with favor and clothed in the appearance of affection; He added oaths to these words, pretending to repent. At this time, blessed David uttered this psalm, condemning those who live wickedly, and proclaiming God’s extending Providence to everything. He brought both theology and prophecy into his words, which is why the inscription refers the reader to the end. Ps.35:2. The wickedness of the wicked says in my heart: There is no fear of God before his eyes. “The most lawless verb is to sin in yourself.” He who was brought up in vice, says David, thinks to himself that no one sees the innermost deliberations of his soul. For the word: “verb” was used instead of the words: “thinks and suggests.” “There is no fear of God before his eyes.” And the reason for such insensitivity in him is that he is not afraid of the all-watching Master. Ps.35:3. For he flatters himself in his own eyes, as if he were looking for his iniquity in order to hate it. “As if you would flatter yourself before him to find your iniquity and begin to hate it.” By his own will, he remains in this ignorance; because he doesn’t want to review what he’s done and hate that he did it badly. Ps.36:4. The words of his mouth are untruth and deceit; he does not want to come to his senses in order to do good. Ps.35:5. On his bed he plots lawlessness, takes the evil path, and does not disdain evil. “The words of his mouth are iniquity and flattery: he did not want to understand what to please.” “Think iniquity in your bed: I present myself to every evil path, but I am not indignant about evil.” There is no truth in the words he uses; they are intertwined with flattery. Doesn’t want to know what’s decent; at night he lays out evil plans against his neighbor, and during the day he carries out his plans. The reason for this is that he does not disdain wickedness, and does not at all turn away from different types of it. For the words: “I am not indignant about malice” the Prophet used instead of this: “I did not disdain”; because the Divine Scripture also calls idols worthy of either disgust or hatred (Deut. 7:26). Aquila translated this: “did not reject,” and Theodotion: “did not reject.” Ps.35:6. God! Your mercy reaches to the heavens, Your truth reaches to the clouds! Ps.35:7. Your truth is like the mountains of God, and Your destinies are like a great abyss! You protect men and animals, O Lord! “Lord, Your mercy is in heaven, and Your truth reaches to the clouds”: “Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.” They plan to do such things, as if no one is supervising them, but with You, Lord, mercy is immeasurable, and truth is unsearchable, and truth is likened to the highest mountains. Your truth reaches people through the Prophets, as if through the clouds, giving them saving rain. “Your destinies are many.” But why do you endure long, having so much truth and righteousness, I don’t know. Your judgments are likened to the vastness of the abyss. Just as its depth is unattainable to human eyes, so the understanding of Your judgments is unsearchable. “Save men and beasts, O Lord.” What is the reason for this? Ps.35:8. How precious is Your mercy, O God! The sons of men are at peace in the shadow of Your wings. “For You have multiplied Your mercy, O God.” Your love for mankind also extends to cattle; You do not only feed people, but also those created for the sake of man, and through them, benefiting people. “The sons of mankind have hope in the shelter of Your wing.” This word contains a prediction about the change that took place after the incarnation of our Savior. For the Prophet did not say: “they hoped,” but: “they have hope.” Ps.35:9. They are satisfied from the fatness of Your house, and from the flow of Your sweets You give them to drink. “They will be drunk with the fatness of Thy house, and I will give Thy stream of sweetness to drink.” Human nature will come running to You, seeing the increasing abundance of blessings in Your house. In this the Prophet means not only the streams of Divine teaching, but also the eating of the mysterious Food. And he likened the giving of so many blessings to a stream, firstly, because this was not given to people in the beginning; and also because it invites all people to come and drink, not as from a river that constantly flows, but as from a stream that flows temporarily. For those who do not approach in this life, after moving from here, will no longer taste the sacred waters. And showing that, although the abundance of goods is eternal by nature, it nevertheless becomes a stream, by the way of economy he added: Ps.35:10. For with You is the source of life; in Your light we see light. “Like you have a source of belly.” Here the Prophet clearly reveals to us the mystery of the Holy Trinity, because he called the Only Begotten Word of God the source of life. This is how the Only Begotten Himself calls Himself through the Prophet Jeremiah: “Having forsaken the fountain of living waters,” they went, “and dug up for themselves broken treasures that were not able to contain water” (Jer. 2:13). Therefore, the Prophet says that this source is with the Father, in accordance with the Gospel teaching, which says: “I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me” (John 14:10). “In Your light we will see light,” because, enlightened only by the all-holy Spirit, we see the rays of Your Only Begotten. It is said: “no one can speak of the Lord Jesus except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3); and: “God has revealed it to us by His Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:10). Ps.35:11. Extend Your mercy to those who know You and Your righteousness to the upright in heart. “Add Thy mercy to those who lead Thee, and Thy righteousness to the right heart.” Always make those who have been worthy of the knowledge of God and those who have chosen good deeds to be partakers of Your meek and righteous care. For the Prophet said both about the same things, but made a division according to the special property of language. And not understanding others as those who lead God, but others as those who are upright in heart, he asked some for mercy, and others for righteousness; but having determined that perfect virtue is the preservation of true dogmas and the performance of good deeds, it promises both mercy and truth to those who have acquired it. Ps.35:12. Let not the foot of pride come upon me, and let not the hand of a sinner drive me out. Ps.35:13. There the workers of iniquity are fallen, cast down, and cannot rise up. “Let not the foot of pride come upon me, and let not the hand of a sinner move me.” “There, all those who do iniquity will fall, and they will not be able to do anything.” Symmachus translated this: “there all the workers of iniquity fall,” Symmachus translated this: “where the workers of iniquity fall, there they will remain defeated and will not be able to rise.” The prophet asks to preserve the measures of nature, and, according to the slander of the lawless, not to deviate from the right path, because he knows the end of the opposite path. Those, he says, who attacked this last path will no longer be able to rise up and take another path. Similar to this is what is said in Psalm 6: “For in death I cannot remember You, but in hell who can confess to You?” (Ps. 6:6). You might be interested in: