Беседа 53 на псалом 143 118

Ps.143:1. Psalm of David. About Goliath. Blessed be the Lord my God, who trains my hands to fight; my fingers scold. Is God really a teacher of war? – Higher help is needed especially in the fight against spiritual hostile forces. – “He makes my people subject to me” (Ps. 143:2). – The dignity of man and the denunciation of heretics who attribute to themselves knowledge that is impossible for man. – What can we know about God? – What does it mean: “like vanity?” (Ps.143:4) – How should we understand the divine descent, touching the mountains, lightning, arrows? “Deliver me... from the hand of the sons of strangers” (Ps. 143:7). – Apart from language, how else can we praise God? – Although people usually believe their happiness in numerous offspring, wealth and security, true bliss lies in having the Lord as their God. 1. What are you saying? Is God really a teacher of war, warfare, militia? Yes, the one who ascribes victory to Him will not sin. This is the meaning of the words: “teaching my hands,” i.e. giving strength to overcome enemies, win, erect trophies. Thus, when David overthrew Goliath, God was the author of the victory; when he waged many wars, erected trophies, took enemy cities along with their inhabitants, then God gave him victory. That’s why he sang: “The Lord is mighty and strong, the Lord is mighty in battle” (Ps. 23:8). And under Moses, God did many similar things. However, there is another war, which is much more difficult than this, in which we especially need higher help - our fight against hostile forces. And that we have a struggle with them, listen to Paul, who says: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). This struggle is more difficult because the hordes of these enemies are not of the same nature as us and are invisible to us, and because the struggle is not for something unimportant, but for salvation or destruction. Here it is impossible to see those being killed, it is impossible to know in advance neither the time, nor the obstacles, nor the place, nor anything like that. These hordes attack both in the square and in the house, both during games and during inactivity, so we must constantly be careful. The war with them does not know a truce, has neither messengers, nor negotiators or anything like that, but happens without announcement. Therefore, here it is especially necessary to protect yourself on all sides and strengthen yourself with food. And the food for such a war and weapons for such warriors is listening to the divine Scriptures. Whoever does not eat this food suffers from hunger: I will give them, the Lord said, “not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but a thirst for hearing the words of the Lord” ( Am. 8:11 ). Here, as in ordinary war, supreme help is needed. “A king cannot be saved,” says the prophet, “with much strength, and a giant will not be saved with much strength.” A horse is a deceiver for salvation; in the abundance of its strength it will not be saved” (Ps. 33:16, 17). Thus, many put enemies to flight when preceded by prayers that overthrew the enemy hordes. “(He) is my mercy and my refuge, my protector and my deliverer, my protector, and in Him I have trusted. He makes my people subject to me” (Ps. 143:2). Do you see how he again expects salvation from God’s love for mankind? At the same time, he points here to something else. With these words he expresses: I would not be worthy of His mercy if He Himself had not shown it; He Himself is “my mercy,” and it was not I who earned it through my deeds. Indeed, although God is merciful, he does not show mercy to everyone indiscriminately. “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,” He says; I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion” (Rom. 9:15). Therefore, if we want to be pardoned, we must, on our part, deserve such mercy. And the prophet attributes the very pardon to God. Do you see a broken soul? Do you see a grateful heart that attributes everything to a humane God? “My intercessor and my deliverer, my protector, and in Him I trusted.” He constantly expresses hope in God, teaching everyone not to lose heart during disasters, but also to turn to God in the midst of misfortunes, without despairing or losing heart. He is “my intercessor and my deliverer.” If He does not protect and deliver at the very beginning of disasters, then even then we must hope. If He Himself is the Intercessor, then He will certainly deliver from disasters. Hope especially occurs when visible circumstances plunge one into despair, but it inspires cheerfulness in relation to the future. “He makes my people subject to me.” Well said the prophet. Indeed, for this purpose, the highest help is needed to keep the subjects in obedience, so that they do not rebel and become indignant. Thus, not only to subdue our enemies and enemies, but also to subdue our household, we need great help from above. It is a great thing to govern one's people well, no less than to defeat one's enemies. Often many people erected trophies in wars, but during times of peace they fell, unable to hold the reins of control over their subordinates. Consequently, the obedience of the army does not depend on the strength of the reign, but on the help of God; from it comes both victory over enemies and the subjugation of one’s own. "God! What is man that You revealed yourself to him? Or the son of man, what do you think about him?” ( Ps. 143:3 )? Another translator (Aquila) says: "that there is a man, and you know him" (καὶ γνώση). Third (Symmachus): “that you pay attention to him” (γνωρίζεις). Therefore, great must be the one who knows God, or - better - will be Known from Him; and not only this one, but also the one to whom God will reveal Himself. Therefore, the seventy interpreters said very well: “Thou art known to him,” expressing that it was not we who revealed Him, but He Himself revealed Himself to us; The prophet did not say: “What is a man who knows You,” but: “What is a man that You have revealed yourself to him”? 2. And Paul constantly expresses the same thought, for example, when he says: “And then I will know, even as I am known” (1 Cor. 13:12). And Christ Himself: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). And in another place Paul: “But whoever loves God has been given knowledge from Him” (1 Cor. 8:3). That is why he constantly calls himself called, showing that he did not come running himself, but was called in advance. So in another place he says: “I say this not because I have already achieved or perfected myself; but I press on lest I may attain” (Phil. 3:12). He did not say: I have comprehended, but: “I am not saying this because I have already achieved.” How does the prophet say: “What is man”? Meanwhile, another says: “many praise a man for his mercy, but whoever finds a truthful man” (Prov. 20:6). And another: “in the image of God he created him” (Gen. 1:27). And indeed, he is made lord over all creatures. There are also people who are “those of whom the whole world was not worthy” (Heb. 11:38). But all this is said about virtue when people fulfill it; and in the words: “what is man” it is said about human nature. True, human nature is also great; great, but if we keep in mind the knowledge with which it has been awarded, then in comparison with it it is very imperfect. Let the followers of heretics listen to this, who are so mad that they go beyond their limits and suffer from extreme ignorance, claiming to know what is above them. So, in ignorance there can be knowledge, and in knowledge there can be ignorance. If you want, we can explain this in terms of sensory objects. Tell me, if someone began to claim that he could measure the sea and find out how many measuring vessels are contained in it, then wouldn’t he be the one who doesn’t know what the sea is? On the contrary, whoever says that he does not know that the number of measures in the sea is innumerable, especially knows what the sea is. So in relation to God, whoever claims: I saw God and reached Him with my own vision, will he not turn out to be ignorant of God, calling the invisible visible, and exaggerating his knowledge, depriving himself of what is possible for him? On the contrary, whoever says that God is invisible and that no one can see Him, does not he especially know Him? Also, if one calls God incomprehensible, and another comprehensible, will not the latter be ignorant of God, and the former knower? Look how Paul, following the same path, says: “We know in part, and we prophesy in part” (1 Cor. 13:9). Imagine how many creatures were created in order to know God - not what He is essentially, but that He exists. So Paul says: “He who comes to God must believe” (Heb. 11:6). All creatures proclaim about Him - “from the greatness of the beauty of creatures the Author of their existence is comparatively known” (Wisdom 13:5), - the very structure of man, the honor granted to him by God, punishments, benefits, orders foretold by the prophets, various miracles; and after all this, the Only Begotten Himself came and completed the wondrous and terrible economy of our salvation. And yet there are people who do not yet know such a clear truth; and you also say that you can comprehend with your own mind what God is like in His essence? So you say you don't know God? No, I know that He exists, that He loves mankind, that He is good, that He provides, and everything else that is spoken of in the Scriptures; but what He is essentially, I don’t know. Adam wanted to know more, obeying the devil, and for his excessive desire he lost what he had. The same thing happens to people who are guided by human reason and do not listen to the fact that “the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Prov. 2:6). Don’t they hear Paul, who says: “God has revealed these things to us by His Spirit,” and rejects human speculation (1 Cor. 2:10)? “Every high thing that exalts itself,” he says, “is raised against the knowledge of God, and we take into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). And another wise man says: “they entered the world through human vanity, and therefore their end is near” (Wis. 14:14). “What is man, that You have revealed yourself to him”? Imagine His boundless greatness. However, when I say this, I still do not speak worthy of God and do not know how to say it. When attributing greatness to God, we do not use our own expression, but since there is no other expression, we use the words that we can. Thus, by calling God the highest, I do not define His place, but express the height and greatness of His being, which exceeds and surpasses everything. That is why the prophet says: “What is man, that You have revealed yourself to him”? For this reason, God created man humiliated, and at the same time gave him great properties, so that he would not become exalted, feeling the greatest need for humility due to the weakness of his nature. “Or the son of man, what do you think about him?” Do you see how great the being of God is? “Man is like vanity: his days pass away like a shadow” (Ps. 143:4). Another translator (Symmachus), instead of: “vanity,” says: “breath” (ατμω). The word: vanity means nothing more than perishability, mortality, brevity. Here the prophet speaks of the body. That is why Abraham says: “I am dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27); and Isaiah: “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades” (Isa. 40:6, 7). What does it mean: “like vanity”? Those. insignificance; everything human is fragile and impermanent, everything passes and disappears. “His days pass by like a shadow,” i.e. and when they appear, they have no power, and soon fly away. 3. And by experience you can see this by imagining people who are adorned with honors, who ride in chariots, who are invested with power, who imprison others and punish. How do they differ from the shadow not only during death, but even before death? As soon as they are deprived of power, then all this passes and disappears; and true objects are behind this life; there are rewards, and true punishments, and blessings, and an incorruptible Judge. Meanwhile, everything here is like children's games: today - a judge, tomorrow - a defendant. Changes are so frequent and transformations are unexpected! "God! Bow down the heavens and come down; touch the mountains, and they will rise up” (Ps. 143:5). Another (unknown translator, see Orig. Ex.): “When you bowed the heavens and descended and touched the mountains, they rose up” (κλίναντός σου ... εκαπνίσθησαν). What is the connection of speech here? Great and inseparable from the previous one. Having begun to talk about human weakness and showing the insignificance of human nature, the prophet here again overthrows the pride of arrogant people and, continuing his speech, expresses as if the following: they themselves should see the weakness of their nature and not become arrogant; but since they do not want this, then You show by Your deeds to what baseness they have reached. "God! Bow down the heavens and come down." He says this not because God really descends - is it possible to say this about the Omnipresent? - but expresses himself about God in a humanoid way in order to touch rude listeners through humanoid expressions. And “touch,” although it seems majestic, is much lower than the dignity of God. God does not need to touch the mountains to make them rise, he does not even need a wave; but will and desire alone are enough. Thus, having spoken about human weakness, he also speaks about the power of God, as much as a person can say - because this too is much lower than His greatness. “Flash with lightning and scatter them; shoot out Your arrows and crush them” (Ps. 143:6). By the name lightning and arrows, he does not mean actual lightning and arrows, but so names punishments in order to bring the proud and careless into fear, trembling and contrition with known objects. If someone cannot endure lightning, which is not sent for punishment, then who can stand when God wants to set in motion His punishing power? The “arrows” of God are plagues, famine, destruction and other various punishments. “Stretch out Your hand from on high, wash me away and deliver me from the deep waters: from the hand of the sons of strangers” (Ps. 143:7). The power of God is ready not only to punish, but also to save. The prophet here calls “hand” help and assistance; therefore he did not say: spread, but: “after” 119; and if in other places he says: “spread,” then he expresses the same thing. By “waters” he means a disorderly, discordant and rapid attack of enemies. And that it is not said here about waters is clear from the added words: “from the hand of the sons of strangers.” “Alien sons,” it seems to me, he calls people who are alienated from the truth; Just as we consider the faithful to be our neighbors and brothers, so we consider the unfaithful to be strangers; That’s why we especially distinguish our own from someone else’s. My neighbor is not so much the one who is close to me by kinship, but rather the one who recognizes the same father with me and has fellowship at the same meal; this connection is stronger than kinship, just as dissimilarity in morals leads to alienation much more than difference in origin. Never mind that we live under the same sky and in the same universe; but seek another fellowship that is higher than heaven; there is our fatherland and life. “Your life,” says the apostle, is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). We do not live on earth, but have moved to a higher dwelling. We have a different true light, a different fatherland, different fellow citizens and relatives. That is why Paul says: “not strangers and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints” (Eph. 2:19). How, you say, did Christ call the Samaritan neighbor, although there was a great difference (between him and the true believer)? But not by natural relationship either. So, when you need to show a benefit, then let every person be your neighbor; and when it comes to the truth, then distinguish between your own and someone else's. Even if your brother, who is related by father and mother, did not have fellowship with you in the law of truth, then he should be more alien to you than a Scythian; and on the contrary, if a Scythian or Sauromatian contains the right dogmas and believes in the same things that you believe in, then he should be closer and dearer to you than your half-brother; and we distinguish a barbarian from a non-barbarian not by language, not by origin, but by thoughts and soul. He is primarily a person who contains the right teaching of the faith and leads a wise life. 4. Let us now see how the prophet described the strangers. “Remove me..., he says, from the hand of the sons of strangers, whose lips have spoken vain things, and whose right hand is the right hand of unrighteousness” (Ps. 143:8). Do you see what kind of people he calls strangers? Those who live viciously, love lies, make crazy speeches, and say nothing useful. So, recognize strangers by their words and deeds, just as Christ said: “By their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:16). Just as many conventional expressions and signs are given to soldiers, so that when a night battle occurs, or the rising dust produces darkness like night, or some other bewilderment and confusion occurs, someone does not mistake his comrade for an enemy, or an enemy for a comrade - so here the prophet gives you signs by which you can distinguish your own from the foe, namely the words and deeds of those about whom he says: “whose lips spoke vain things, and whose the right hand is the right hand of unrighteousness." Indeed, even now we have a war and a fierce night battle with demons attacking us, with lusts rebelling against us, with thoughts arising in us. We, those initiated into the sacraments, also have conventional expressions and signs, so that if in case of doubt we want to know whether someone is initiated or not, we can find out by asking him for the conventional signs. “Whose right hand is the right hand of unrighteousness.” What could be worse than when we use the hand given to us to help us in a lie? We have hands to help ourselves and others who are offended, to destroy lawlessness, to be a refuge and protection for the oppressed. What justification can we have for using this weapon not to save others, but to our own destruction? "God! I will sing to You a new song, on a ten-stringed psalter I will sing to You” (Ps. 143:9). What is the connection of speech here again? Very close. Having said: “Stretch out your hand..., take me, and eat them,” the prophet promises, on his part, to bring reward to God for his help, a reward that does not add anything to the One to whom it is brought, but benefits the one who brings it. What kind of reward is this? “I will sing a new song to You.” Although it is small in comparison with the greatness of the benefit, he brings what he has. Likewise, we demand nothing from the poor and those who have nothing except gratitude and appreciation. However, we provide assistance in order to become more famous; and God - not because he had a need, but in order to glorify those who sing Him, and thereby show them a new benefit. “On a ten-stringed psalter I sing to You,” i.e. I will thank You. At that time there were musical instruments on which songs of praise were sent to God; and now, instead of tools, you can use bodily members. We can sing not only with our tongue, but also with our eyes, our hands, our feet, and our ears. If each of these members does what brings glory and praise to God, if, for example, the eye does not look shamelessly, if the hands do not stretch out to steal, but to give alms, if the ear is open to hearing psalms and spiritual songs, if the feet strive to go to church, if the heart does not plot, but is filled with love, then the members of the body become a psalter and harp and sing a new song not in words, but in deeds. “For You have given salvation to kings; You have delivered Your servant David from the fierce sword” (Ps. 143:10). It is not an army, not a multitude of soldiers, not bodyguards that save, but the help of God. “Thou deliverest thy servant David.” Having spoken about everyone in general, the prophet also speaks about himself; and, moreover, he did not say: he who delivered, but: “you eat,” expressing the incessant providence of God. 5. Next, he again asks for what he asked before, constantly falling to God and begging for deliverance from wicked people, and says: “Deliver me and take me out of the hand of the sons of strangers, whose mouth has spoken vain things and whose right hand is the right hand of unrighteousness. Their sons are like young gardens, firmly rooted in their youth, their daughters are decorated and decorated like a church” (Ps. 143:11-12). Here he describes worldly well-being and wealth, and begins with what is considered the main thing - to have good and healthy children, and of both sexes; That’s why he adds: “their daughters were decorated and decorated in the likeness of a church.” Along with youth, he depicts luxury in clothing, headdresses, and other women’s adornments invented with any wealth. Then he describes a type of wealth that seems secondary, but now, perhaps, is considered paramount: “Their barns, he says, are full, (from the excess) pours from one (compartment) to another, their sheep are prolific, multiplying in their ways, their oxen are fat” (Ps. 143:13-14). What does "full" mean? Constricted. Their wealth cannot be stored, he says, in the storehouses. “Their sheep are prolific, multiplying in their ways, and their oxen are fat.” And this was considered considerable prosperity. Among the ancients, wealth consisted of this - in herds of large and small livestock and in grains of grain - until the present luxury appeared. “There are no cracks in (their) fence, no passage (through it), no shouting in their squares” (Ps. 143:14), i.e. and agriculture is guarded with great care and with great care, the fruits ripen, the fences stand firm, the vineyards are cultivated and fenced on all sides. “Not a cry in their squares.” Another (unknown translator, see Orig. Ex.): “in their courts” (“επαύλεσιν”). Here is another type of prosperity that does not always happen with wealth, this is silence, calm, security - when no one plots intrigues, no one attacks, when there is no noise or confusion. “(Others) considered happy the people who have these things, (but) blessed is the people whose Lord is their God” (Ps. 143:15). Do you see the virtue of this man? Having pointed out wealth of all kinds, depicted it in words, adding other people’s opinions about it, he himself does not experience anything human and does not consider those who possess such wealth enviable, but, despising all this, he pleases the true treasure. Others, he says, consider those who have this blessed; but I please the people “whose Lord is their God,” believing in this alone all their contentment, well-being, and wealth. Those benefits pass and disappear; but this bliss remains constant, and instead of sheep, children, oxen, fences and vineyards, the pleasure of God will be wealth and security and an insurmountable wall. So, hearing this, do not be disturbed by anything like this, but despising shadows, adhere to the truth, because the prophet above said that “man is like vanity: his days pass away like a shadow.” Therefore, if you see people who live in such abundance, but lead a vicious life, then, even though the whole universe considers them blessed, you consider them pitiful and unhappy; and recognize people who are devoted to God as worthy of imitation and blessed. Let us all constantly seek this wealth and this bliss, in order to receive both present and future blessings, through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. The psalms in the text are translated by P. 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