Изъяснение псалма 91-го.

Ps.91:1. Psalm. Song for the Sabbath day. "A Psalm of Songs on the Sabbath Day." The Sabbath, according to the law, required inaction, but not complete inaction, because on Saturday various activities were allowed, it was commanded to remain in prayers and chants and to offer double sacrifices to God. Therefore, the Sabbath law ordered the cessation of only bodily labor. And since the future life is free from such worries, it is rightly called repose. That is why blessed Paul cries out: “Let us strive to enter into that rest” (Heb. 4:11); and again: “For the Sabbath has been forsaken for the people of God” (Heb. 4:9). And since the psalm predicts the glory of the righteous and the punishment of the unrighteous, and this will happen after the onset of this rest, he rightly accepted this inscription. Ps.91:2. It is good to praise the Lord and sing to Your name, O Most High. Ps.91:3. To proclaim Your mercy in the morning and Your truth in the night. “It is good to confess to the Lord and sing to Your name, O Most High.” “Thou shalt proclaim Thy mercy in the morning, and Thy truth every night.” It is also a significant gain for us to sing songs night and day about You, the benefactor, and tell Your good deeds, Your love for us and Your truth in judging those who do injustice, because, guided by the truth, You rightly punish them, and we, who have knowledge of You, are worthy of Your providence. Ps.91:4. On a ten-string and psalter, with a song on the harp. “In a ten-stringed psalter with a song in the harp.” On such instruments it was usually possible to sing songs to God. Therefore, the Prophet says that it is right to offer You a song of thanksgiving, rattling the instruments prescribed by the law and using the sweet singing of the lips. Ps.91:5. For You have made me glad, O Lord, with Your creation: I admire the works of Your hands. “For Thou hast made me glad, O Lord, in Thy creation, and in the work of Thy hand I will rejoice.” Looking at Your creations and ineffable economy, I am glad and delighted, in spiritual pleasure I encourage my tongue to sing. Ps.91:6. How great are Your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are wonderfully deep! “For Thy works are great, O Lord; Thy thoughts are greatly deepened.” Symmachus translated it as follows: “Thy thoughts are very deep”; Aquila and Theodotion: “went deeper.” And Your works, says the Prophet, are great and wonderful (for the phrase “as” is used to enhance speech), but Your wisdom is of inaccessible depth. For what mind is able to explore the foundations of Your providence? But we teach this to the ignorant, but those who are devoid of meaning and have lost their minds do not want to learn, and do not agree to learn from others. For the Prophet adds the following. Ps.91:7. A foolish person does not know, and an ignorant person does not understand this. “A foolish man does not know, and a fool does not understand these things.” The Prophet says that he who suffers from meaning and is deprived of understanding, does not know this, and does not want to hear anything about it. Ps.91:8. While the wicked spring up like grass, and the workers of iniquity blossom, to perish forever. “The sinners have always grown like grass, and all the workers of iniquity have come through, so that they may be consumed for ever and ever.” The word: “penetrated” Aquila, as well as Symmachus, translates: flourished. The foolish ones did not want to understand that like grass they had blossomed, and like the former workers of iniquity had emerged from the earth, but after present prosperity they would acquire eternal destruction for themselves; and those who called themselves enviable and blessed will soon see their most disastrous end. Ps.91:9. You, Lord, are exalted forever! Ps.91:10. For, behold, Thy enemies, O Lord, behold, Thy enemies perish, and all the workers of iniquity are scattered. “You are the Most High forever, Lord.” “For behold, O Lord, Thy enemies, for behold, Thy enemies will perish, and all the workers of iniquity will be scattered.” They, like grass, will wither and decay; and You have dominion over everything; because you are above everyone else, and you punish the insane. Ps.91:11. But You exalt my horn like the horn of a unicorn, and I am anointed with fresh oil; “And my horn shall exalt like a unicorn.” And we, having knowledge of You and having seen the contrition of Your enemies, will boast and be magnified by You, as those freed from the delusion of polytheism and worshiping You, the truly existing God. “And my old age is in the oil of mastitis.” Symmachus translated it this way: my old age is like a blossoming olive tree. I will prosper, I will put off old age, I will become like a blossoming olive tree, and according to the translation of seventy, I will become fat with joy from a certain oil. Ps.91:12. And my eye looks on my enemies, and my ears hear about the evildoers who rise up against me. “And my eye will look upon my enemies, and my ear will hear the evil ones who rise up against me.” Instead of: “look”, Symmachus, Theodotion and the Hebrew text itself say: will look; because these words contain a prediction of the future; but seventy people usually expressed themselves about the future as if it had happened, and thereby showing the indisputability of the prediction. For just as it is impossible for what has been done not to be, so it is not possible for the prophecy of the Spirit to remain unfulfilled. Therefore, the Prophet says: not only will I see the painful end of those who do injustice, but I will also hear that everyone is talking about it and marveling at the veracity of the punishment. The speech is divided like this; after the words: “and the evil ones rise up against me,” a punctuation mark must be added, then added: “my ear will hear.” I will hear the stories of many about the destruction of those who live lawlessly and weave thousands of evils together for me. Ps.91:13. The righteous blooms like a palm tree and rises like a cedar in Lebanon. “The righteous shall flourish like the phoenix, and like the cedar in Lebanon shall multiply.” The sinners, having blossomed like grass, soon withered away and perished; and the righteous will be likened to the density, warmth and nutrition of the cedar, as well as the high foliage and fruitfulness of the date. Both of these trees are hard and durable, but they also require a long time to grow. Such is the planting of virtue, which is restored through much labor and time, but rises to heights, bears ripe and sweet fruit, and provides abundant shade to the acquirer. Ps.91:14. Planted in the house of the Lord, they bloom in the courts of our God; “The plants of the house of the Lord, in the courts of our God, shall flourish.” These, being likened to these trees, have God as their planter, and the place of planting is the Divine Church. Ps.91:15. Even in old age they are fertile, juicy and fresh. Ps.91:16. To proclaim that the Lord is righteous, my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. “They will again increase in their old age and be kind to them”: “Let them proclaim that the Lord our God is righteous, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” Symmachus translated this: as they grow old, they will still bear fruit, they will be fat and prosperous, proclaiming: “The Lord who protects me is truthful, and there is no unrighteousness in Him”; because in the future life, having received the promised perfection, they will bring fat and abundant fruit to God, singing His truthful words. Having seen the now hidden economy revealed then, they will be amazed at the wisdom and glorify the truthfulness. The Prophet called old age perfection; That’s why we call the old man perfect, and the young man imperfect. Therefore, the Prophet, by old age, signified future perfection, in which the fruit of righteousness will increase many times over, and God’s truth will become obvious to everyone. 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