Изъяснение псалма 41-го.

Ps.41:1. To the head of the choir. Teaching. Sons of Korah. "To the end, to the mind of the sons of Korah." God betrayed the Babylonians as a sinful people, condemning them to seventy years of captivity. Therefore, this psalm is spoken as if on behalf of captives, lamenting and desiring liberation. since among them there were pious ones, like the divine Daniel, like the wonderful Ezekiel, like the good-victorious martyrs Ananias, Azariah and Mishael, who loved God with all their ardor and desired the lawful service of Him, then the prophetic word on their behalf, which they had to speak during the disaster, speaks this for many more generations, so that they would be comforted by this prophecy and admonished by the teaching. That is why the psalm is signed: “to the end,” because what was said in it received the end after a long time. And also added: “into reason,” because those who fall into disaster especially need reason. Ps.41:2. As a deer longs for streams of water, so does my soul long for You, O God! “In the same way the tree longs for the springs of water: my soul longs for thee, O God.” They say that deer devour poisonous animals, and this makes them very thirsty, and with all their heat they rush to the water. Therefore, the righteous men mentioned above, living with the Babylonians, evil and lawless people, who were completely like reptiles, rightly said that like the trees they thirst for God, wanting liberation from Babylon and expecting Divine help. Ps.41:3. My soul thirsts for the mighty, living God: when will I come and appear before the face of God! “My soul thirsts for the mighty, living God: when will I come and appear to the face of God?” I desire and thirst to serve my living God, for to appear before the face of God means to serve Him according to the law, and such service was limited to Jerusalem. And this is taught not only by blessed Moses, but also by three blessed martyrs, Ananias, Azariah and Misail, who prayed to God in the cave. It is quite proper to call God strong and living, meaning the inanimate and motionless Babylonian idols. Ps.41:4. My tears were bread for me day and night, when they said to me every day: “Where is your God?” Ps.41:5. Remembering this, I pour out my soul, because I walked among the crowds and entered with them into the house of God with the voice of joy and praise from the celebrating multitude. “My tears were bread day and night, and I was always told every day, where is your God? I remembered this and poured out my soul on me.” Lamenting day and night, says the Prophet, I could not get enough of crying, but as if I turned my tears into some kind of food, hearing the reproaches made to You, because those who are hostile to me mock me, presenting Your care for me as so weak that it cannot overcome their strength. Therefore, thinking about this constantly, I do not stop crying. This is what the words mean: “I poured out my soul on me,” that is, I burst into tears and moved to sobbing. “As if I will go to the place of the wondrous settlement, even to the house of God, in the voice of joy and confession, the noise of the celebration.” The Prophet calls the village God's protection. Therefore, he announces pleasant things after the sorrowful, and lets it be known in advance that they will soon be called, guided by Divine grace, will return to the land they desire, will build the house of God and will perform the usual celebrations, and their ears will be filled with festive noise and spiritual sweet singing. Blessed Isaiah also foretells that they will return with great honor, that they will be driven by their heads in chariots, and that they will be covered from above with canopies, not disturbed by the rays of the sun (Is. 66:20). Aquila also expresses this thought: “I will enter the overshadowed place, leading them to the house of God, with the voice of praise and thanksgiving of the celebrating people”; that is, rejoicing, singing songs to God the Savior, and enjoying the shade during the procession, we will reach the house of God, returning as if in a solemn manner. Having heard this prediction, they will console themselves, saying: Ps.41:6. Why are you depressed, my soul, and why are you embarrassed? Trust in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God. “How sorrowful are you, my soul? And are you embarrassing me? Trust in God, for we will confess to Him, the salvation of my face and my God.” Having heeded these promises, stop your soul from being embarrassed and grieving, but, supported by hope, expect the fulfillment of the prophecy, in which, having seen your salvation accomplished, you will cry out hymns to the God who saved you. Ps.41:7. My soul faints within me; Therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan, from Hermon, from Mount Zoar. “For myself, my soul was troubled: for this reason I remembered you from the land of Jordan and Ermonim, from the small mountain.” Here the soul appears to be talking to itself. And since it is said: stop grieving, having heeded the promises of good things, he answers this, saying: it is not in vain that I am embarrassed and surrender, as described above, to cry, because the memory of my native land brings tears from me. The Prophet calls the promised land the Land of Jordan, and Mount Aermon the Land of Hermon; denotes all this land as a mountain and a river. This is how Symmachus translated: “My soul melts when I remember you from the land of Jordan and from the smallest mountain of Hermonim.” Ps.41:8. The abyss calls upon the abyss with the voice of Your waterfalls; all Your waters and Your waves passed over me. “The abyss calls upon the abyss in the voice of thy abyss: all thy heights and thy waves have come upon me.” Living in that land, I was betrayed by many who were hostile to me and seemed to be immersed in some kind of abyss. The Prophet calls the military ranks an abyss, and their excessive number likens the immeasurable waters they created to an ancient flood that devastated the entire universe. And Symmachus translated this more clearly: “Abyss met with abyss from the sound of Your streams, because You brought them, punishing me for iniquity. Your storms and Your waves have passed over me.” Since he likened the army to an abyss, he retained the same allegory, and called the attacks of the army waves and storms. This is why I am sick, says the Prophet. Remembering this stings me. However, I have Your love for humanity as a consolation for me. For he added the following: Ps.41:9. During the day the Lord will show His mercy, and at night I have a song to Him, a prayer to the God of my life. “In the day the Lord commands His mercy: and in the night His song is from Me, a prayer to the God of my life.” Knowing the mercy that God always sends down and thinking about this with myself at night, I sing and sing hymns to Him who provides for us. But I also bring petitions to Him, begging that I not be deprived of this love for mankind. Then he gives us the words of prayer. Ps.41:10. I will say to God, my intercessor: why have you forgotten me? Why do I walk around complaining about the enemy’s insults? Ps.41:11. As if striking my bones, my enemies mock me when they say to me every day: “Where is your God?” “I say to God: You are my protector, why have you forgotten me? And I go around lamenting, and the enemy sometimes insults me?” “Always crush my bones, smite my reproaches, always say to them to me every day: Where is your God?” Telling this to my Master Lord, I have always taken advantage of Your providence. Why has he now deprived me of it, so that I am forced to constantly be embarrassed and cry, hearing the reproaches of those who dislike me? For, insulting me, and crushing my bones with blows and bonds, they laugh at me, saying: “Where is Your God?” They say this assuming that I endure this because of Your powerlessness. It is said: “Thou hast forgotten me,” i.e. You do not show Your providence on me. For oblivion is human weakness, but dispassion is characteristic of God. Ps.41:12. Why are you depressed, my soul, and why are you embarrassed? Trust in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God. “How sorrowful are you, my soul? And are you embarrassing me? Trust in God, for we will confess to Him, the salvation of my face and my God.” Do not despair, soul, of salvation, says the Prophet: You have a Savior, God; Having acquired firm trust in Him, destroy fear in yourself and receive consolation. You might be interested in: