Собеседование 15 на псалом 82

Ps.82:1. Song - psalm. Asafa. 1. The prophet rightly called the present narrative a song and a psalm, since he combined with the prophecy (which he customarily calls a psalm) a song of victory against enemies. "God! Who will be like You? Do not be silent and do not be meek, O God! " (Ps. 82:2) The prophet says this not asking (the question would be meaningless), but wanting to express the infinity of God and His incomparability with anything, because no one imagines in anything being like God, the author of everything that exists. One should, however, pay attention to the peculiarity of the reading; the prophet did not say: who is like You, but: “who can be like You?” , than indicated the future tense. By this the prophet makes a hint that the economy of the Only Begotten in the flesh was likened in glory to the activities of some prophets, which is why some considered Him to be Elijah, others to one of the prophets, while none of them could be like Him, because He alone was God and man, He alone saved our race. “Don’t be silent and don’t be meek, O God!” , i.e. Do not be long-suffering any longer - the prophet calls silence the time of long-suffering towards sinners. Why is he praying about this? “For behold, Your enemies have eaten with a loud noise, and those who hate You have lifted up their heads” (Ps. 83:3). Thanks to Your long-suffering, he says, sinners became proud to such an extent that they “got loud,” that is, they became impudent and with shamelessness openly show their wickedness, as if trumpeting about it, and raise their heads, not ashamed of their crimes; moreover, they even become vain, as if there was no one whom they could be afraid of. The prophet calls sinners enemies of God; since they are enemies of themselves, doing what serves them in the best way. harm, then God, as a man-loving man who does not want the death of a sinner, considers as his enemies those who destroy themselves. “They willingly formed an insidious plot against Your people and took counsel against Your holy ones” (Ps. 82:4). Now, the prophet points out another type of enmity against God. Those who are at enmity against the people of God and the saints raise war against Him, whose slaves and brothers they are. By war the prophet means not only what he described below, where he also mentions those who fought with the Jews nations, but also implies that secret war that sinners usually wage against the righteous. Therefore, the prophet does not simply say: they formed an insidious intent, but: “they willingly formed an insidious intent,” i.e. They used tricks of every kind and kind. These are the essence of those who first deprive people devoted to God of money, property or anything else in order to induce them to ingratitude and blasphemy against God; when they do not succeed in this, they incite them to pleasures, arouse the passion of vanity, arrogance, pride, giving advice to enemies under the guise of friends. This is indicated further: “they said: Come and let us destroy them from among the nations, so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered” (Ps. 82:5). It is clear that this was said and done by the enemies of Israel, who will be mentioned below. But you also understand those who inspire and encourage us to do evil; these latter want to destroy us from the nations, so that our name will not be with the wicked, since we sin, having the law, nor with lawful, since we violate the law; they want the name of Israel to be forgotten. Israel means the one who sees God, and if someone does not do what is appropriate for one who sees God and turns his mental eyes to Him, then such a person naturally falls into complete oblivion; due to this, it would be impossible to remember, with later carelessness, whether there was ever an Israel who sees with mental eyes, that is, it would be impossible to know God. “For they took counsel together... together, they made an alliance against You” (Ps. 83:6). But who can plan anything, or conclude an alliance, or even imagine anything against God, who is inaccessible not only to sight, but also to thought? God recognizes as perfect against Himself what is done against those who believe in Him; therefore, plans against the latter are called plans against God Himself, as the Father, Protector and Patron of those who are subjected to them. Who were the plotters? “The villages of Edomite and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagarites, Ebal, and Ammon, and Amalek, the foreigners and together with the inhabitants of Tyre” (Ps. 83:7-8). All these peoples were descended from Abraham and, therefore, were related to the Israelites. The father of the Ishmaelites was Ishmael, the son of Abraham, but the Hagarites came not from Abraham, but from Hagar, whom Sarah gave to Abraham for a while, but then out of jealousy she expelled along with Ishmael; Having therefore united with someone else's husband, she told her descendants the name of the Hagarians. In like manner Amalek was a descendant of Esau, and Moab and Ammon were the sons of Lot by his daughters, born after the burning of Sodom; Ebal was their neighbor, and perhaps even a relative, which is why he is considered one of them. What was meant to be shown here? Why exactly are related peoples indicated? So that you know that the first enemies are, as Christ says, those at home, i.e. relatives. That is why the prophet put foreigners in last place, saying in conclusion: “foreigners and together with the inhabitants of Tire, and Assyria stuck to them” (Ps. 83:8-9). Not with the inhabitants of Tire, but with the Moabites and Ammonites and other indicated peoples related to the Jews; They started the war, therefore, not on their own initiative, but at the instigation of relatives, which is why the prophet added: “They became an intercession for the sons of Lot” (Ps. 82:9), i.e., they came to their aid. So, beware of internal enemies, because they excite external ones, and do not rely on relatives, since they often turn into enemies, but pay attention to the curse expressed to them by the prophet. Change of tone - because the prophet goes on to pray: “Do unto them as unto Midian and Sisera, as unto Jabem at the stream of Kishon, which were destroyed at Endor, and became like dung... upon the ground” (Ps. 82:10-11). 2. It was not without reason that the prophet chose these out of all the enemies, but because the war had an unexpected outcome for them. Gideon struck down the Midianites, who covered the earth in great numbers, without weapons, and destroyed them with three hundred men who had neither swords, nor shields, nor helmets, nor other military armor, but used only torches and horn trumpets. Sisera, who was the leader of the people of Jabem and set out on a campaign with nine hundred iron chariots, was feared by God, and, putting him to flight, he delivered him into the hands of the wife of Haber the Kinite, who killed him with a door stake. So, the prophet prays that, like these enemies, those listed above will fall from the hand of God. He mentioned the stream of Kishon and Endor because the battle with Sisera took place here. “They became like dung... on the earth.” Their pride and arrogance were destroyed by defeat to such an extent that they were considered insignificant like dung. The prophet pointed well to manure: just as the latter, although of little value in itself, contributes to the fertility of the earth, so in the same way the defeat and weakness of the proud makes our souls capable of virtue. “The bottom of the bed is their prince, like Oreb and Zib,... and Zebe and Zalman, all of them are their prince” (Ps. 82:12). The prophet mentions the men whom Gideon destroyed and prays that the leaders of the enemies would suffer the same fate. What bosses are, this is discussed more clearly below. “Who said: Let us take possession of the sanctuary of God” (Ps. 82:13). The leaders, therefore, not so much in dignity as in wickedness; therefore they dream of making the sanctuary of God their property in order to use the shrine to acquire wealth, and the divine for personal gain. This is done not only by those who steal sacred vessels and sell the shrine, but also by those who trade in divine things, selling them and buying them, and making illegal exchanges. Such was Simon, who wanted to acquire grace for money, which is why Peter recognized him as unworthy of the gift of the Holy Spirit. "My God! Lay them down like a wheel, like stubble before the wind" (Ps. 83:14), in oscillation, in unstable movement, in constant changes, as is characteristic of a wheel. "Like stubble before the wind," so that they could not stand anywhere, could not appear anywhere, driven by the flow of wind. "As fire burns oak groves, as flame scorches mountains" (Ps. 82:15 The prophet prays that they will be deprived of all success. The fire that melts gold or silver, bakes bread, warms medicine, in a word, prepares something useful for us, but the fire that burns forests and burns mountains is of no use; it burns very strongly, and when it goes out, it leaves only soot and ashes. “So You also drive them away with Your storm and throw them into confusion with Your wrath” (Ps. 82:16). Calling the sudden and strong wrath of God against sinners a storm, the prophet wants him to drive them away and bring them into confusion. How this should happen is shown earlier, namely: they should be scattered into insignificant parts, just as straws flutter, and should be turned into dust and ashes, when, like fire, God’s anger subsides against them. However, the prophet prays for this, wanting them to benefit, not harm. What does he say next? “Cover their faces with dishonor, so that... they may seek Your name, O Lord!” (Ps. 83:17). When they are deprived of the hope for which they neglected the hope of God, they will naturally be subjected to shame and dishonor for relying on empty things and considering fleeting things to last. After such a change, they will seek the name of God, preferring communication with Him to everything else. But since in real life this does not happen to all sinners, because some, having corrected themselves, remain so to the end, while others, having lost piety, do not turn to God, then about the latter the prophet said: “let them be ashamed and confused for ever and ever, and be put to shame and perish” (Ps. 82:18). It is clear that he means the future century, where sinners not only endure shame, but also experience embarrassment and die in shame, since for them there is no longer time for repentance. They cannot cover their shame with repentance; They are ashamed not only of the Judge, but also of those in whose presence they are judged, those whom they offended, against whom they plotted in vain; They are ashamed of them out of necessity, seeing how they are blissful, while on the contrary they themselves suffer. Then, of necessity, they will recognize God; fear and judgment will force them to do so. But they will no longer be able to seek God in order to flow to Him, as is clearly seen from the following words: “and let them know that Your name is Lord: You alone are High above all the earth” (Ps. 82:19). The prophet here calls knowledge not voluntary recognition, but agreement forced by necessity. Just as we, when we see a sharp knife, when we have tested it, recognize it to be sharp in reality, or as, agreeing that the fire is hot, we affirm this especially after we approach it, so in the same way all unbelievers at the time of judgment recognize God and learn that He alone is High over all the earth, and does not share His power with idols, as some wicked people now think, from the fact that God is long-suffering, concluding that He cannot do everything and not in everything. Then they will not say this, since God will no longer be long-suffering towards them, but just. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and in the Patrology of Min, classified as Spuria The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: