Изъяснение псалма 43-го.

Ps.43:1. To the head of the choir. Teaching. Sons of Korah. "To the end, sons of Korah, to reason." And this psalm, containing a prediction about future affairs, gives advice to expect their end. To the inscription is added: “into understanding,” so that those about whom the prophetic word foretells, having understood what is written, will benefit from it. And the psalm predicts the cruelty of the Macedonians, the evil and brutal disposition of Antiochus Epiphanes, as well as the courage and piety of the Maccabees. For the blessed and blessed Mattathias, having been filled with the sons of divine jealousy, and many thousands of Macedonians with many elephants, recognizing them as powerless, as not using Divine Providence, taking up arms against them with a small number of soldiers, won and, moreover, repeatedly, and having destroyed the idol altars, cleansed the Divine Church and restored their usual worship among their fellow tribesmen. And not only he himself, but also his sons, after his death, brought a prayer to God, put the enemies to flight, and with God’s help erected signs of victory. On their behalf, prophetic grace spoke this psalm, first teaching them what words they should pronounce in times of danger. Ps.43:2. God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers told us about the work that You did in their days, in the days of old. “O God, our ears were filled with hearing, and our fathers told us the work that you did in their days, in the days of old.” Although we were not eye-witnesses of Your miracles, Master, we learned from our fathers how many miracles You performed in those days, fulfilling the promises given to our ancestors. Ps.43:3. Thou hast destroyed the nations with Thy hand, and planted them; defeated the tribes and drove them out. Ps.43:4. For they did not acquire the land with their sword, nor did their arm save them, but Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your countenance, for You favored them. “Your hand has consumed tongues, and I have planted them; you have embittered people, and you have driven them out.” “Thou hast not inherited the earth with thy sword, nor has their arm saved them: but Thy right hand and Thy arm, and the illumination of Thy countenance, for Thou hast pleased in them.” You, Lord, says the Prophet, together with other nations, expelled the Canaanites from here, and settled our fathers in their place. For, not relying on their own strength and not acting with their own weapons, they became conquerors of so many enemies, but, led by Your grace, they beat some and enslaved others, because You vouchsafed them to become Your associates. The Prophet expressed this with the words: “You were pleased with them.” He calls help the right hand, and the coming of the Lord the enlightenment of the face. Ps.43:5. God, my King! You are the same; grant salvation to Jacob. “You yourself are my King and my God, commanding the salvation of Jacob.” You are the same now, Lord, says the Prophet, you reign the same, you are just as powerful, you have the same strength. Your nature does not allow any change. Your word is enough for our salvation; All that is needed is Your beckoning, and the people will be saved. This is how Symmachus translated it: “command the salvation of Jacob.” Ps.43:6. With You we will gore our enemies with the horns; in Your name we will trample underfoot those who rise up against us. “Because of You we will gore our enemies by the horns, and because of Your name we will despise those who rise up against us.” Horned animals received a horn from nature instead of a weapon, and for us, Your name is a horn of salvation and a victorious weapon, with it we will overcome our enemies. Ps.43:7. For I will not trust in my bow, nor will my sword save me. Ps.43:8. But You will save us from our enemies, and put to shame those who hate us. “For I trust not in my bow, and my sword will not save me”: “Thou hast saved us from those who oppressed us, and thou hast put to shame those who hate us.” For I do not place my hope in bows or other weapons, because I have experienced Your power, having already defeated my opponents through You. Ps.43:9. Let us boast in God every day, and we will glorify Your name forever. “Let us boast in God all the day long, and let us confess in Your name forever.” But we always pray that we may benefit from Your help and continually proclaim Your many benefits. The Prophet said: “all day” instead of: “always.” This is how Symmachus translated it - instead of saying “all day,” he said, “every day.” Ps.43:10. But now You have rejected and disgraced us, and You do not go out with our armies. “Now you have rejected and put us to shame, and you will not go away, O God, in our strength.” This was accomplished by You in ancient times, but now we find ourselves deprived of Your providence for us, and we live in shame, no longer guided by Your grace. It is said: “You will not go forth in our strength” - in the sense that you will not be our leader, and you will not grant us, as was usual for You, to overcome our enemies. Ps.43:11. He has put us to flight from the enemy, and those who hate us are robbing us. “Thou hast brought us back in the face of our enemies, and those who hate us have plundered them.” Not taking advantage of Your providence for us, we have turned our backs and are fleeing, while our enemies are devastating our property. Ps.43:12. You gave us like sheep to be eaten and scattered us among the nations. “Thou hast given us as sheep for food, and thou hast scattered us among the nations.” Just like sheep that have no shepherd, we are devoured by Your enemies, and those who escaped death are sold hither and thither, where we are forced to serve. Ps.43:13. You sold Your people without profit and did not raise their price. “Thou hast given Thy people without price, and there was not much in our shouting.” Symmachus translated this as follows: “You gave Your people for nothing, and set a small price for them.” Likewise, God says through the Prophet Isaiah: “What is the book of scapegoation? Or to which lender did you sell? Behold, I have sold myself by your iniquities, and for the sake of your sins I have forgiven your mother” (Is. 50:1). And again: “Sell the tuna quickly, and you will not get rid of it with money” (Is. 52:3). And the divine Apostle says: “For we know that there is a spiritual law: I am carnal, sold under sin” (Rom. 7:14). Therefore, here too these wonderful men say: without taking any price from the enemies, You gave us up, You gave us up for our sins. Ps.43:14. He gave us over to be reproached by our neighbors, to be ridiculed and mocked by those living around us. “Thou hast ordained the reproach of our neighbors, the imitation and reproach of those around us.” The neighbors living nearby, the Prophet calls the Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites and other neighboring peoples, from whom the Jews suffered attacks, and for whom they served as an object of ridicule. Ps.43:15. You have made us a byword among the nations, a head among foreigners. “Thou hast made us a byword among the people, to bow the head among the people.” And when we talk and hear about great disasters, we usually nod our heads, involuntarily doing this out of amazement. We also have the habit of comparing some sufferings with others and saying: so-and-so suffered something similar to what happened to so-and-so. And here the Jews complain about this, saying: We have become a proverb to people; looking at us they nod their heads; For some this is pleasant, for others they are amazed at the excessiveness of the disasters that have befallen us. Ps.43:16. Every day my shame is before me, and shame covers my face. Ps.43:17. From the voice of the slanderer and the slanderer, from the gaze of the enemy and the avenger. “All day long my shame is before me, and the coldness of my face covers me.” “From the voice of the reproaching and slandering, from the face of the enemy and the expelling.” And I, looking at those warring, laughing and mocking, am filled with shame and am sick all day. Then those who escaped the snares of Antiochus and escaped from the scourge of wickedness point to their own virtue. Ps.43:18. All this came upon us, but we did not forget You and did not break Your covenant. Ps.43:19. Our heart has not turned back, and our feet have not strayed from Your path. Ps.43:20. When You crushed us in the land of dragons and covered us with the shadow of death. “All this has come upon us, and we have not forgotten You, nor have we committed unrighteousness in Your covenant.” “And do not our hearts turn back.” Immersed in so many disasters, we did not forget Your commandments, did not dare to break Your law, and did not deviate from the previous rules of life. “And thou hast turned away our paths from thy way.” “For you have humbled us in the place of bitterness, and covered the shadow of death.” Symmachus translated the words: “Thou hast turned our paths from Thy path” as “that which has guided us has not been turned away from Thy path.” To explain the thought contained in these words according to the translation of the seventy, let us accept the following understanding: You plunged us into many kinds of sorrows, which were enough to lead us astray from Your path; He gave us over into slavery to evil people, who treat us cruelly and impose deadly punishments on us. For the Prophet called the danger of death the dangers that lead to death. Ps.43:21. If only we would forget the name of our God and stretch out our hands to a foreign god. Ps.43:22. Wouldn't God have required this? For He knows the secrets of the heart. Ps.43:23. But for Your sake they kill us every day, counting us as sheep doomed to the slaughter. “If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we have lifted up our hands to a strange God”: “Will not God seek these? That is the secret message of the heart." “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are counted as sheep of the slaughter.” This virtue was demonstrated in themselves by the Maccabees, Mattathias and seven young men with their mother and the priest Eleazar. They were not deceived by kind words, they did not waver at the sight of executions, but they kept the honor of the true God inviolable, and they abhorred the service of idols as an abomination. And You know this, Lord, says the Prophet, because not only deeds are obvious to You, but also movements of thought. It should be noted that in this word two persons are implied. Having said: “Will not God seek these? “That is the secret message of the heart,” the Prophet added: “For Your sake we are being killed all day long.” This change in the pronoun is also found in Hebrew, and other translators have retained it. Ps.43:24. Arise, that you are sleeping, Lord! wake up, don't give up forever. “Arise, write off Vskaya, Lord? Resurrect, and do not reject it completely.” The Prophet calls long-suffering sleep. Just as a sleeper does not feel what is happening, so a long-suffering person endures being laughed at and cursed at. Resurrection refers to the arousal of oneself to vengeance. Then he expresses the same thing differently. Ps.43:25. Why do you hide Your face and forget our sorrow and our oppression? “Do you completely turn away your face? Do you forget our poverty and our sorrow? You, O Lord, do not pay attention to what is happening to us, and you become like one who is turned away, who does not look, has forgotten, and therefore does not care; but we have become poor, not enriched by Your help. Ps.43:26. For our soul is humbled to dust, our womb clings to the earth. “For our soul is humbled into the dust, and our womb cleaves to the earth.” We are bent down to the ground, so that our womb almost touches the ground. And this Prophet signifies the great humiliation of the Jews and the power of their enemies. Ps.43:27. Rise up to help us and deliver us for the sake of Your mercy. “Rise up, Lord, help us, and deliver us in Your name.” Therefore, we beg You, Master, to come and put an end to our misfortunes and make us conquerors of the enemy. Yet this was foretold by the grace of the Spirit, teaching those who are befallen by these calamities to courageously endure what they encounter, and to ask God of all kinds for deliverance from this. That’s what these wonderful men did. For with these prayerful words they appeased God, and guided by Him, they put their enemies to flight, and their fellow tribesmen acquired their former freedom. You might be interested in: