Беседа 48 на псалом 138 109

Ps.139:1-2. To the end. David. Psalm to Zechariah, in the dispersion. Lord, You tested me and knew me: You knew when I sit down and when I get up. How should we understand the words: “Lord, you have tested me and known me”? – If God knows a person’s thoughts before they arise, then why does He use testing through works? – “You have searched my path and my way” (Ps. 139:3). – Divine foreknowledge, creative power and providence. – The incomprehensibility for man of the divine being, the method of omnipresence and help in disasters. – What does it mean: “as its darkness is, so will its light (be)” (Ps. 139:12). – Changing the action of the elements according to the will of God. – A person’s knowledge is not complete; This is not divine knowledge. - “In the course of days they are formed, but none of them” (Ps. 139:16). It is no small virtue to have the friends of God in great honor and to avoid the company of wicked people. - “Test me, O God, and know my heart” (Ps. 139:23). 1. What are you saying? After the test God knows, but before the test he does not know? Not at all; how can this be when He knows everything before being? The expression: “tested me” means: you know me completely. Just as the apostle, when he says that God will test “hearts” (Rom. 8:27), does not mean ignorance, but perfect knowledge, so exactly the Psalmist with the words: “has tested me” means the clearest knowledge, i.e.: You know me perfectly. “You knew when I sit down and get up.” By sitting and rising it means the whole life, because this is how our life passes - in deeds, movements, entrances, exits. Then, since he said at the beginning: “He tested me,” lest any of the foolish think that He knows only by test, or by experience, on the basis of the words: “You knew when I sat down and when I stood up,” look how he prevents this with the subsequent addition: “You have understood my thoughts from afar,” he says (Ps. 139:2), expressing by this that God does not know. as a result of testing and has no need for testing, but knows everything by the power of foreknowledge. He who knows the thoughts that are in the mind has no need to be tested by works. Moreover, God knows the thoughts not only appearing in the mind, but even before they appeared; and not just before they appeared, but long before. Wanting to express this, the prophet added: “You thought my thoughts from afar.” If God knows the thoughts themselves, then why does He use testing through works? Not in order to find out for Himself, but to make those who are being tested experienced. So He knew Job before the trial, which is why He testified about him like this: “a blameless, just, God-fearing man” (Job.2:3); however, he also used the test in order to make him stronger, and to expose the deceit of the devil, by his example to make others more zealous. And is it surprising that He did this to Job, when He does the same to sinners? Thus, He completely knew that the Ninevites did not deserve to perish, but through repentance they would correct themselves; however, he also used the test itself; and everywhere He presents many proofs of His providence and love for mankind, not being content with His knowledge. That is why the Only Begotten said: “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; and if I do, then if you do not believe Me, believe My works” (John 10:37, 38). Since many, coarse-hearted and insensitive, say many things in a similar way: God chose such and such, loved such and such, and hated such and such, and that is why one became good and the other bad, then He, wanting to correct the thoughts of each of these people, convinces them with deeds, presenting proof from deeds, and on the one hand, even before experiments, declares that such and such is virtuous, so that they know the power of His foreknowledge, and on the other hand He also confirms it by deeds, so that someone who is unreasonable does not say that such and such became this way as a result of a prediction. And Paul, look how he expresses this when he says: “When they were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad (so that the purpose of God in election would come not from works, but from Him who calls), it was said to her: The older will be in bondage to the younger” (Rom. 9:11, 12). God does not need to wait for the end of things, but He Himself knows even before who will be bad and who will be not so. “You have searched my path and my way, and You have foreseen all my ways” (Ps. 139:3). Just as the prophet calls actions sitting and rising, in accordance with the general custom, - after all, we often say: so-and-so knows how to sit down and how to stand up, expressing his exact knowledge - so here he calls his entire life “path” and “way,” which is why he adds: “and you foresaw all my ways.” And the expression: “researched” does not mean searching and research, but exact knowledge; and here, wanting to express the same thing, he added: “You foresaw all my ways,” i.e. You know all good and bad actions before they happen. “You, O Lord, knew that there is no flattery on my tongue” (Ps. 139:4). Another translator (Symmachus) says: “diversities” (ετερολγία). This is the greatest sign of virtue; this is the main blessing; Christ especially demands this when he says: “Unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3), meaning gentleness, ingenuousness, directness and simplicity. Therefore, He chose simple people and said: “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes” (Matt. 11:25). Notice that the prophet did not say: I had and rejected wickedness, but: I never had it, this disease never touched my tongue, this vice never had access to me. “Everything is last and first. You created me and put Your hand on me” (Ps. 139:5). Not only my thoughts, he says, You know, and not only my deeds and my ways, but everything that was and will be. “You created me and put Your hand on me.” From the power of foreknowledge he passes to creative power, and from creative power again to the power of foreknowledge. God not only created us who did not exist, but also maintains those who were created. 2. Paul attributes both to Christ: “God says in many ways and in many ways, who spoke of old to the fathers through the prophets, in these last days he has spoken to us through the Son, whom he appointed heir of all things” (Heb. 1:1, 2). Then, continuing, he speaks about creativity: “through whom he also created the worlds.” Further, having mentioned His essence and said: “He, being the radiance of glory and the image of His hypostasis, also shows His providential power: and holding, He says, all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3). And in the letter to the Colossians he says the same thing: “For by him all things were created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers—all things were created by him and for him” (Col. 1:16, 17). This is about His creativity. Then, pointing to providential power, he adds: “And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist” (Col. 1:17). Also, John, depicting both, says: “all things came into being through Him, and without Him nothing came into being that was made” (John 1:3). By this he points to creativity. Then he speaks of providence: “in Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). The prophet expresses the same thing here. “You created me”: he says this about creativity. He further speaks of providence: “and you put your hand on me.” What does “put” mean? You maintain it, you maintain it, you wear it. Paul points to this in the words: “For in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28), because not only to receive being, but also to preserve and continue being, we need His power. “Your knowledge is wonderful to me: powerful! I cannot (comprehend) it” (Ps. 139:6). Another (Symmachus): "exceeds me" (υπερβάλλει); and instead of the word: “be established,” another (unknown, see Orig. Ex.) says: “exalted” (υπερεπήρθη). The meaning of his words is as follows: although I use Your providence and know that You foresee everything and created me from nothingness, yet I cannot have accurate and completely clear knowledge about You: it was “surprised,” i.e. exceeds, surpasses me, so vastly that it cannot be grasped by my mind; it is so wonderful, so great! But despite all that it is wonderful and great, can’t it be grasped by the mind? No; therefore, so that you would not assert this, he added: “I cannot (comprehend) it.” When discussing knowledge, he does not say: I do not know God; but I do not have perfect and clear knowledge about Him. So says Paul; We know that He exists, but we do not know what He essentially is: “He who comes to God must believe that He exists” (Heb. 11:6). He did not say that He exists in essence, because no one knows this. We know that God loves mankind, that He is merciful, that He is good, but to what extent we do not know. But the prophet, leaving all this behind, points to something else that seems more accessible, and admits that he does not know this either. Not to mention, he continues, what God is in essence, and to what extent He is good - it is known that this is incomprehensible - but I cannot say how He exists everywhere; and this is beyond our understanding. Therefore, having said: “Your knowledge is wonderful to me: powerful! I cannot (comprehend) him, he continues: where will I go from Your Spirit and where will I flee from Your Face? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I go to hell, You remain there. If I lift up my wings in the morning and settle on the edge of the sea (another (Symmachus): “I will remain” (καταμενω), then there also (another (Symmachus):) “even there” (ετι εκει) Your hand will lead me and Your right hand will hold me" (Ps. 139:7-10). He calls God himself “spirit” and “face”; that is, wherever I go from You, You are present everywhere, not in part, but everywhere suddenly, entirely. By counting the places high and low, the breadth and the length, the depth and the height, he shows that God is present everywhere. that is, I find you existing before me. That is why he says: “I cannot (comprehend) Him.” But if you do not know Him completely, then why do you know that He is marvelous? Because He surpasses my understanding, and we cannot know the ray of the sun clearly, and yet we ourselves are especially amazed at it in relation to the knowledge of God. We do not know Him at all; we know that He is humane, good, merciful, forgiving, and exists everywhere; but what He is in essence, or to what extent the named properties belong to Him, or how He exists everywhere, we do not know. Having thus said why “I cannot (comprehend) it,” having announced God’s foreknowledge, creativity, providence, the incomprehensibility and inexplicability of His being, the prophet then speaks of His other power, which also inspires great surprise if you examine it with your mind, because it is also incomprehensible. What kind of power is this? “Even there Thy hand will lead me, and Thy right hand will hold me,” i.e. You can make sure that people who have been exposed to disasters, being in the midst of the disasters themselves, will not be exhausted by the disasters. 3. To explain this, the prophet adds: “And I said: “Perhaps darkness will hide me?” But the night also shines in my joy. For the darkness will not be dark from You, and the night will be as bright as the day: like its darkness, so will its light (be)” (Ps. 139:11-12). Having said above about what I listed, and at the same time that God is not only present everywhere, but also guides, protects and protects, now he shows in this addition something extraordinary, i.e. that God not only protects and protects, but also does it supernaturally. Having said: “Thy hand will lead me and Thy right hand will hold me,” he adds: “And I said: “Perhaps darkness will hide me?” . Another (Symmachus): “if I say: maybe the darkness will cover me” (εὰν ... επισκεπάσει). Third (unknown, see Orig. Ex.): “will hide me” (καλύψει). "Darkness" here means sorrow. The meaning of his words is as follows: I was surrounded by disasters and said within myself: disasters will overcome me; this is the meaning of the words: “darkness will cover me”; and the other says: “Darkness will hide me.” "And the night will be as bright as the day." Another (Symmachus): "the night is bright around me" (νυξ ψωτεινὴ περὶ εμὲ). What does this mean? I, he says, said this, considering the usual order of things; but suddenly evil turned into good, or better, it was not evil that turned into good, but while the evil remained, I enjoyed great peace. He did not say: the night disappeared, but: the night was bright. This means: night, remaining night, i.e. disasters and misfortunes - because he means them under the name of night - could not trample me, but during the night there was light, i.e. protection for me. Indeed, when God wants, then the opposite happens and appears in the opposite. Have you not seen the burning furnace, and the cooling dew, and the first one that does not go out, and the last one that does not dry up, and the coolness and the flame together? How, tell me, did it happen? I want to know: how was it? Or no, I don’t want to know how it was, because it’s impossible; but I believe in the event and worship its Creator: “Who can comprehend His ways? Like the wind, which man cannot see, so most of His works are hidden” (Sir.16:21). Do you not know that the Egyptians groped during the day, as if in darkness, and the Israelites saw, and when the darkness covered everything, that in the beginning the light shone in the midst of darkness? The Creator always rules over the nature of things, not only in the sense that he produces what does not exist, but also in the sense that he can give a different form to what exists in nature. “For darkness will not be dark from You.” Another (unknown, see Orig. Ex.): “with you” (παρά σοι). "And the night will be as bright as the day." Another (Symmachus): “but the night will appear as day” (αλλὰ φανειται). “As its darkness is, so will its light be.” Another (unknown translator): “like darkness is its light” (ομοιον). He said well: “from You,” i.e. from You, expressing the following: if You want, then darkness will not be darkness, but will show the properties of light. Therefore, he adds: “and the night will be as bright as the day,” which further explains what was said before and expresses that the night will show the properties of the day, as if its own. When God wants, the elements change their actions to the opposite as precisely as if they were their own from the beginning. If You want, then the night will be like this, and light will be as characteristic of it as darkness. This is what he expresses by adding: “as her darkness is, so will her light (be).” This is said in the proper sense about the elements, and in the figurative sense about deeds. From this it is clear that God can bring people who have fallen into sorrow as much joy, easing their sorrows, as people enjoy happiness. This is wonderful and amazing - so, for example, it happened with Joseph. He did not enjoy happiness and honor so much while living in his father’s house as when he was sold and kept in the house of foreigners. The enemies themselves wove a diadem for him and prepared purple for him, and dishonor itself served as a reason for him to honor and reign. Do you see how the words are explained: “the night will be as bright as the day”? And regarding the words: “as is her darkness, so will her light (be),” the same thing must be said: both one and the other will belong to her, not only in appearance, but because You, Lord, change the order of things. “For You created my inward parts, You took me from my mother’s womb” (Ps. 139:13). What is the connection between these words and the above? Close and very tight. Having spoken about such great power of God, the prophet now shows that He uses this power for the benefit of people and for good deeds. Lest any foolish person say: What does it matter to me that He is great, strong and foreknowing? “Show whether we get any benefit from this,” he adds: “You created my insides,” meaning by part of a whole person. And this shows much glory and providence - to be God’s acquisition, because He who “created” cares and provides. Explaining this, he adds further words: “took me from my mother’s womb,” that is, you always protected me, provided for me, protected me, from my first age, from the very diapers, and everything that I said, you proved with deeds. “I will confess You, for You have appeared terribly wondrous: Your works are wonderful, and my soul knows (them) intimately” (Ps. 139:14). What does it mean? You created me, he says, but I don’t know how you created me; You provide, but I cannot grasp with my mind all of Your providence; You are present everywhere, but I do not comprehend this either; You know the future, and the past, and the secrets of the human soul, but I cannot understand this with my mind, since You change the nature of things and arrange that they, while preserving their nature, exhibit unnatural actions and, moreover, as if their own and inherent in their nature. 4. Putting all this together, the inspired prophet loudly exclaimed: “I will confess You, for You have appeared terribly wondrous,” i.e. You appeared marvelous, You are marvelous. “Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows (them) intimately.” What am I saying, he continues, about You, when what You do contains many wondrous things? Then, without listing everything and limiting himself to his own knowledge, he says: “and my soul knows (them) intimately”; not just knows, but strongly, firmly. If he knows, then as he said before: “Your knowledge is wonderful to me: powerful! I can’t (comprehend) it”? This is said about God himself, and then about His works; if even this is said about Him, then we can understand this: he knows that God is wondrous, great, lofty, but what He is in essence - I will repeat again too - what His greatness is and how everything mentioned belongs to Him, He does not know. Meanwhile, such ignorance is proof of knowledge, although my words are strange. Likewise, we do not know the sea, how vast it is, and, however, we ourselves especially know the sea because we do not know its extent. If anyone says that he knows how big the sea is, he precisely does not know it. Thus, there is an announcement of knowledge, which exposes ignorance, and there is ignorance, which testifies to us of knowledge. “My bones, which You formed in secret, were not hidden from You, nor was my formation (as it were) in the depths of the earth” (Ps. 139:15). Again he speaks of the knowledge of God and shows that He knows all this. So, he says either that God knows everything secret, or points to something else, to the creation and education of man: even when I was formed. You were not ignorant of anything, but you knew everything; although nature formed me little by little, although she acted in secret and as if in the depths of the earth, for You, he says, everything is naked and open. Another translator (Aquila) said this: “my bones are not hidden from you, with which I was created in secret” (τὰ οστα ... οις εποιήθην). Third (Symmachus): “my strength was not hidden from you, with which I was created in secret” (κραταίωσις), “composed in various ways, as if in the depths of the earth” (εποικίλθην - Aquila). Fourth (unknown): “My strength was not hidden from you, or my bones from you, although I was created in secret, formed in the depths of the earth” (δύναμις ... οτι εζεικονίσθην). They all say the same thing, i.e. You knew me perfectly even when I was put together in parts; You even know each member and its increment. So Christ says: “And the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Luke 12:7). These words point together to both providence and the knowledge of God. “Thy eyes have seen my unfinished (birth), and in Thy book all (people) will be written: in the course of days they will be formed, but none of them (will remain unwritten)” (Ps. 139:16). Or he says the same thing again, i.e. You knew me when I was not yet educated - because another translator (Symmachus) said this: “uneducated your eyes saw me” (αμόρφωτόν), - or speaks about the deeds themselves, i.e. Your eyes have seen what has not yet been done. “And in Your book all (people) will be written: in the course of days they will be formed, but none of them (will remain unwritten).” These words are not clear, but their meaning must be reached through the connection of speech and through another translation. Their meaning, in accordance with the previous one, is as follows. What was said before? “Thy eyes saw my unfinished (birth)”, i.e. when I had not yet received an image, when I was still being created, when I was still being put together, and then they saw me so clearly as one who was formed, as one who was composed, as one who was completely arranged and no longer needed a single day for its final organization. And so that you are convinced that this is so, listen to another translator (Symmachus): “your eyes saw me uneducated, along with all that is written in your book, not needing any day for your education” (σὺν πασι ... ημέας πλασσομένοις, ουκ ενδεούσης ουδεμιας ). Along with them, he says, You have seen me, along with those you have seen me who are created in their days, in days in which there is not a single day lacking. He says this not because there is a book in heaven, and not because anyone is written in it, but by a book he means exact knowledge, just as it is said: “The Lord listens and hears it, and a book of remembrance is written before Him” (Mal. 3:16); and again: “and the books were opened” (Dan.7:10). “And your friends are very honorable to me, O God, their dominion is very secure” (Ps. 139:17). Another (unknown, see Orig. Ex.): “thy friends have become venerable” (τιμιοι εγένοντο οι εταιροί σου). And it is no small virtue to have the friends of God in great honor. You provided for me, he says, you brought me out of non-existence, you support me; and I repay You by honoring Your friends. “Their dominion is very secure,” i.e. they have established themselves. Another (Symmachus) says: “how numerous are their heads” (τί παμπληθεις αι κεφαλαὶ αυτων). This is clearer, because he further adds: “I will try to count them, but they are more numerous than the sand of the sea. I have awakened, and am still with You” (Ps. 139:18). I honor them, but You multiply and make them more numerous than the sand, and not only make them numerous, but also strong; This is precisely what the expression “dominion” means. He speaks of double prosperity, of growth both in number and in strength. “I have awakened, and am still with You.” Another (unknown, see Orig. Ex.): “I will wake up and be with you forever” (εξυπνώσω εις αεὶ παρὰ σοί). 5. It is a considerable sign of virtue when someone remains virtuous in happiness. Many, having achieved prosperity, forgot; but I – no, he says, but also having rebelled, i.e. Having been delivered from disasters, I will always be with You. “If only You, O God, would destroy sinners! Bloodthirsty men, get away from me! (Ps. 139:19). It’s not that he says: if you kill, then I will; then he promised without it; and asks to do this not in order to destroy the very being of people, but in order to turn them from sin to righteousness. He did not say: if You had beaten people, O God, but: “sinners.” Another translator (Symmachus), instead of: “sinners,” says: “criminal” (παραβάτην), meaning enemies who worship idols. “Bloodthirsty men, get away from me.” “Bloodthirsty men” he calls murderers, people who find pleasure in killing. This path to success in virtue is also important - to run away and avoid community with such people. Then comes the reason: “For you are bold in your plans. But in vain they will rule over Your cities” (Ps. 139:20). Another (Symmachus): “who have expressed thoughts against you” (οιτινες αντελάλησάν σοι διαλογισμόν). Third (unknown, see Orig. Ex.): “because they upset you maliciously” (οτι παρεπίκρανάν σε εν κακοβουλία). See how he does not seek his own, but for insulting God he withdraws and avoids communicating with them. For the Jews, this was also the cause of death because they associated with vicious people. That is why they received the law, were separated by law from such people, received a commandment to avoid marriage with them, and, having left Egypt, were raised separately in the desert for forty years. That is why the law was called a fence, as it protected them on all sides and kept them from communicating with vicious people, because by their nature they were easily deceived, carried away and changed. “But in vain shall they possess Thy cities.” Another (Aquila): “thy adversaries exalted themselves in vain” (επήρθησαν ματαίως αντίζηλοί σου). Third (unknown): "thy enemies" (οί εχθροί σου). He avoids and evades them because they exalted themselves against the glory of God, because they acted lawlessly, because they uttered blasphemous words. “Did I not hate those who hated You, O Lord, and did I not grieve for Your enemies? I hated them with complete hatred: they became enemies to me” (Ps. 139:21-22). So God promised to be an enemy to enemies and an adversary to their opponents; this is a special sign of friendship; and he repays God to both. Above he said: “Your friends are very honorable to me, O God”; and here: “Have I not hated those who hate You”; both there with extreme strength, and here with extreme strength, because he not only “hated”, he says, but also “was not distressed.” “Test me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my ways: and see, do I have a way of iniquity? And guide me in the everlasting way” (Ps. 139:23–24). But in the beginning he said: “Lord, You tested me and knew me: You knew when I sit down and when I get up. You ate my thoughts from afar. You have searched my path and my path, and You have foreseen all my paths... All the last and the first.” Why is it here again that he, as if not yet experienced, says: “tempt me”? You see that he uses human expressions not so that we remain with low concepts, but so that, having formed a godly thought from all this, we ascend to high concepts. He asks that God test and examine him, not so that He who knows everything in advance, even before being, will recognize his heart, but so that we, who acquire knowledge after the end of things, will recognize him. This is what the expression means here: “tempt me.” “And you see, do I have a path of iniquity? And guide me on the eternal path." What kind of eternal path is this if not the spiritual path leading to heaven and having no end? Everything else is temporary and ends with real life. Therefore, having left everything, he seeks this path, immortal, limitless, without end. How can a person be brought to this path? If he receives God's help, if he does what is due on his part, exercises in virtue, indulges in wisdom, rises above all worldly things, because on this path there is nothing fleeting and temporary. This is virtue. It produces fruits that always bloom and never fade, immortal, incorruptible and endless blessings, which may we all be worthy of, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. The psalms in the text are translated by P. Yungerov - Editorial office of the ABC of Faith You might be interested in: