Изъяснение псалма 58-го.

Ps.58:1. To the head of the choir. Don't destroy it. The Scripture of David, when Saul sent to keep his house to kill him. “In the end, let him not corrupt David into writing the pillars; Saul always sent an ambassador and kept watch over his house, to put him to death.” Saul, enslaved by envy, prepared the death of David, and one day wanted to pierce David, who shared his time with him, with a spear. Since David evaded and avoided death, he set out to capture him again in his hands, and sending several people, he ordered to guard his house, thereby showing obvious hostility. But David’s wife, Saul’s daughter, informs her husband about this and helps him escape through one window. And then he took the “vain burial” (as this story tells - (1 Sam. 19:13), removes the bed, makes it appear to him that he is lying on it sick, and shows it to those who were ordered to guard it from afar, saying that David is suffering from some illness. This happened at night; with the onset of day, the deception became obvious to both Saul and the armor bearers. At that time Blessed David, having escaped this malice, wrote this psalm. But he does not say much about what happened then, but rather predicts, having received the illumination of God’s Spirit and foreseeing the wrath of the Jews against our Savior. For the Jews, having assigned soldiers as guards to the Master's tomb, at the onset of day, although they found clothes, they no longer saw the dead man; because He rose again, destroying the power of death. Therefore, blessed David, looking at the malicious intent against him himself, and foreseeing that the God of Israel, the Creator and Ruler of all, who is from him in the flesh, will suffer even more from the Jews, predicts both the calling of the pagans and the dispersion of the Jews. Ps.58:2. Deliver me from my enemies, my God! protect me from those who rise up against me. “Deliver me from my enemies, O God, and deliver me from those who rise up against me.” The Prophet’s request is fair, because he asked for deliverance from those who were unjustly at war. Then he describes the enemies' intentions. Ps.59:3. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity; save from the bloodthirsty. “Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from the men of blood”; that is, my enemies, vile murderers and lawless people, to whom I did not cause the slightest harm. Ps.58:4. For behold, they lie in wait for my soul; The mighty are gathered against me, not because of my transgression or because of my sin, O Lord. “Like behold, having caught my soul, the strong ones attacked me.” Using all sorts of tricks, they are trying to kill me, relying on their own strength, but justice requires first tolerating their offense, and then seeking punishment for it. “Lower is my iniquity, lower is my sin, O Lord.” We, says the Prophet, have not done anything unpleasant to them; Having nothing to accuse me of, they are plotting my death. Ps.58:5. Without my guilt they run and arm themselves; move to help me and look. “Without iniquity we have taken action and we will correct it.” This more justly befits not David, but he who is of David and the Lord of David. For He alone “neither committed sin, nor found deceit in His mouth” (1 Pet. 2:22). But as a prototype, blessed David also says this, not presenting himself as completely sinless, but showing that, without having done any offense to Saul, on the contrary, in many ways and repeatedly showing him good deeds, he endures all sorts of malicious intent, and that, although there was no sin, they attack him in order to tear him to pieces, innocent of anything before them. This is how Symmachus translated it: “when there is no sin, they run to strike.” “Rise up to meet me and see.” I beg, says the Prophet, You, who know everything clearly, to become the Judge in this matter. Ps.58:6. Thou, O Lord, God of hosts, God of Israel, arise to visit all nations, and spare not one of the ungodly transgressors. “And You, O Lord God of hosts, God of Israel, come to visit all languages.” Having seen the sinlessness in the one who exists from him according to the flesh and having foreseen in spirit the violent uprising of his fellow Jews against Him, the Prophet begs the Lord of hosts and the God of Israel to leave the Jews without mercy, and to turn all providence to the pagans and illuminate them with the light of the knowledge of God. And having announced this to the pagans, he also predicts punishment for the Jews. “Let not all who practice iniquity have mercy.” since with prophetic eyes he saw the cross, and as if he heard the Lord saying: “Father, forgive them their sin: for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34), then, abhorring the excessiveness of wickedness, he begs that there should be no forgiveness for them. Then he foreshadows the future depletion of their spiritual food. Ps.59:7. In the evening they return, howl like dogs, and walk around the city. “They will return in the evening, and will hunger like a dog, and will go through the city.” Just as dogs, says the Prophet, usually run around the city streets at night, forced to do so by the exhaustion of their bellies, so they will be deprived of all spiritual providence for them, and not using the prophetic grace, they will not have any saintly care for them at all, but will begin to wander like a dog, not worthy, according to the Gospel word, to taste even “the grains falling from the table of their lords" (Matthew 15:21). Ps.58:8. Here they spew out blasphemy with their tongues; swords are in their mouths: “for,” they think, “who can hear?” “Behold, they answer with their lips, and the sword is in their mouth: for who can hear?” With the tongue, says the Prophet, they commit murder, uttering words that are likened to a kind of spear and sword. The actions themselves testify to what has been said. For with their lips they crucified the Lord, crying: “Take, take, crucify Him” (John 19:15), “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matt. 27:25). With the help of Pilate’s armor-bearers they added action to words, and nailed the Savior to the tree. This was also spoken by the prophetic word: “These shall answer with their lips, and the sword shall be in their mouth: for whoever hears.” The words they pronounce are used instead of a sword, and they do this, says the Prophet, as if there were no one supervising them. This is what the words mean: “Who is listening?” They dare to do this, as if no one sees or hears what is being done, and will not demand an account of it. Symmachus translated it in this sense, for instead of the words: “as if anyone heard?” put: “as if no one is listening.” Therefore, having foreseen such a thought of theirs, David adds, saying: Ps.58:9. But You, Lord, will laugh at them; You will put all nations to shame. “And you, Lord, will laugh at them.” They dare to do this, but You hear, and see, and laugh at their vanity. “Destroy all languages.” It is not difficult for You to overcome not only them, but all nations. So the divine Isaiah, trying to show the abundance of God’s power, said: “Even if all the nations are like a drop of cadi, and like the attraction of weight, and like spitting, they are counted, and they will be counted: to whom will you liken the Lord, and to what likeness will you liken Him?” (Isa.40:15, 18). Ps.58:10. They have the power, but I resort to You, for God is my intercessor. “I will preserve my power towards You: for You, O God, are my intercessor.” I have You, says the Prophet, as my intercessor and guardian of my strength, because I take advantage of Your providence for me. Ps.58:11. My God, who has mercy on me, will go before me; God will allow me to look at my enemies. “My God, His mercy will go before me.” You always anticipate requests, Vladyka, and due to your excess of philanthropy, you do not wait for prayers. “My God will show me against my evils.” The Prophet recognizes the enemies of the Savior as common enemies. Then, he predicts what will happen to them. Ps.58:12. Do not kill them, lest my people forget; scatter them with Thy power and overthrow them, O Lord our protector. “Thou shalt not kill them, lest they forget Thy law.” I beg, says the Prophet, not to expose them to ultimate destruction, because many of them will be healed by the medicine of repentance. And “in death there is no remembrance of You, but in hell who will confess to You?” (Ps. 6:6). Therefore, what kind of punishment do You want to impose on them? “Waste me with Thy power and bring me down, O Lord, my Protector.” Scatter them throughout the entire universe, make them wanderers and exiles, because they have formed an evil council against You. Which one exactly, the Prophet announces. Ps.58:13. The word of their tongue is the sin of their lips, so that they may be caught in their pride for the oath and lies that they utter. Ps.58:14. Waste them in anger, waste them so that they do not exist; and let them know that God rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth. “The sin of their lips is the word of their lips.” And this is in accordance with what was said before. For the Prophet said above: “Behold, they answer with their lips, and the sword is in their lips.” And here again he accuses them of the sin of the mouth and the word of the mouth, admonishing them with all this that they are being punished for those words that they uttered unanimously, turning Pilate’s truthful sentence into nothing. For when he wanted to release Christ as innocent, they cried out: “Take, take, crucify Him: His blood be on us and on our children.” Symmachus translated this more clearly; instead of the words: “Waste me with Thy power,” he said this: “Drive them out by Thy power, overthrow them, O Lord our intercessor, by the sin of their lips, by the word of their lips”; that is, make them wanderers and slaves from the free for the sin of their lips, for the word of their lips. So, during the pandemonium, he destroyed the evil agreement through discord, and against the harmful unanimity he gave a protective remedy - the division of languages. “And let them be in their pride,” that is, whatever they dared to do, they will be punished for: not wanting to serve the saved Christ, but having loved the kingdom of Caesar, they will be handed over into slavery to Caesar. “And from oaths and lies they will be proclaimed in death.” “There will be deaths in anger, and there will be no demise.” Symmachus translated this more clearly: “Let them be with their pride; put an end to those who utter oaths and lies, destroy them in wrath, so that they will not be.” because they resorted to slander, saying that they were commanded not to give tribute to Caesar (Luke 23:2), while they heard His advice to render “what is Caesar’s, to Caesar’s, and what is God’s, to God’s” (Luke 20:25), and they gave Him over to many curses and slandered: then the Prophet said that these curses, for slander and for the sin of the mouth, they suffered such death. Death does not mean final destruction, but the fact that they are no longer called the people of God, because, scattered throughout the universe and forced to be in slavery to the Romans, they are deprived of lawful worship, they live far from the glorious royal city, there is no royal care for them, they do not enjoy the saintly care for them, they do not have prophetic grace. Therefore, the words: “they will not” mean: they will no longer constitute themselves as a special people, living in Palestine alone and calling themselves the people of God. The Prophet also calls all kinds of executions “deaths.” For under Caius, the fourth Caesar, they suffered great troubles, and under Nero they fell into many misfortunes, and Vespasian conquered most of the cities of Judea, and Titus, approaching Jerusalem, destroyed the city and enslaved those who escaped death and took them into captivity. And after this they fell into other kinds of disasters; and even now, in those cities in which they live, in any case they repeatedly endure unbearable suffering as punishment for an oath, for a lie, for the sin of the lips, and in fact they learn that the Crucified One is the Lord and Master of all. The Prophet also said this: “And they will know that God rules over Jacob and the ends of the earth.” It is surprising that before the cross even the Jews themselves did not believe in Him, but after this shameful suffering, the Crucified One rules over the entire universe, and some voluntarily worship Him, while other unbelievers are forced to serve Him out of fear. Ps.59:15. Let them return in the evening, howl like dogs, and walk around the city. “They will return in the evening, and will hunger like a dog, and will go through the city.” since the Prophet said: “in wrath they will die, and they will not,” then, lest anyone consider it a contradiction in the Prophet’s words: “waste I with Thy power,” he very opportunely repeats himself and says that they, like dogs tormented by hunger and walking through the city at night, will live without tasting any spiritual food, because things have changed: the Jews, the ancient sons, for their wickedness have become in the line of dogs, and the pagans, who in ancient times were like dogs, were given the honor of becoming sons. Ps.58:16. Let them wander to find food, and spend the night unfed. “They will be filled with food, if they are not satisfied, and they will grumble.” Symmachus combined this with the previous one and put it this way: “let them return in the evening, and let them be restless like dogs walking and circling around the city, so as not to remain hungry at night.” According to the translation of the seventy, this should be understood this way: like dogs, they too, being scattered throughout the universe, will seek spiritual food, but not finding it, because they did not believe in the One foretold by all the Prophets, they will be confused and grumble, and in this showing their ungrateful heart. Ps.58:17. And I will sing of Your power and proclaim Your mercy from early morning, for You were my protection and refuge in the day of my distress. Ps.58:18. My strength! I will sing praises to you, for God is my intercessor, my God who has mercy on me. “I will sing of Your power, and I will rejoice in Your mercy in the morning.” Having dared to do this, they will suffer so many disasters, but I will sing of Your mercy, and when Your intelligent light shines and gives morning to the universe, I will glorify Your immeasurable mercy in all churches. “For you were my protector and my refuge in the day of my tribulation.” “Thou art my helper, I sing to Thee: for thou art my God, my protector, my God, my mercy.” I have always used Your help, and with Your providence for me I avoided the disasters that I encountered. Therefore I know You, the only God, and I call You the source of mercy and love for mankind. Having seen this from afar with prophetic eyes, blessed David predicted the misfortunes of the Jews, and he himself made a vow to always sing songs to the Master, and fulfills his vows, lifting up songs through the lips of the pious. 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