Собеседование 20 на псалом 100

1. Again, beloved, the blessed prophet David invites us to spiritual singing; again encourages us to sing with one accord the beautiful song; again, evoking spiritual and heavenly sounds, he elevates our spirit with song. Singing at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, like an animated and intelligent lyre under the influence of the Holy Spirit, he teaches us to always sing spiritually. He himself sings not to please or delight the ear, but for spiritual pleasure and benefit. He is not limited to singing for the ear, but also affects the soul with words. For the ear, he teaches admonition and knowledge of the truth, and strengthens and strengthens the soul in salvation. When singing a song, he strives not for the beauty of the word, but to elevate the lives of those singing with useful instructions. His song is not worldly or worldly, but divine and spiritual; it is imbued with complete modesty, while secular songs and worldly melodies, irritating the ear and relaxing the soul, do no good, arousing only destructive passions. Usually filled with shameful words and criminal desires, to the pleasure of the singers and to the disruption of the melody itself, they weaken the spiritual strength and darken the nobility of the body. On the contrary, spiritual songs, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and disposing the mind towards decency in words and modesty in thoughts, make the soul itself modest, because the soul, responding to words and succumbing to thoughts, acquires skill in everything that constitutes the essence of spiritual song. So, if a spiritual song has such power and spiritual singing is accompanied by such an effect, then let’s see what is contained in the prophetic song we heard today. What does it say? “I will sing mercy and judgment to You, O Lord!” (Ps. 100:1). This song, beloved, is very useful and saving, since it begins with mercy and judgment. One indicates the richness of divine love for mankind, and the other indicates the great benefit shown to us. Namely, mercy means favor given to people by grace, because “glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14), and judgment means salvation predetermined from above: “those whom He predestined, those He also called, and those He called, those He also justified” (Rom. 8:30). The good God, out of mercy and love for mankind, decided to save those who were perishing under sin. The prophet proclaims this, teaching us to give constant thanks to God through this song. “I will sing mercy and judgment to You, O Lord!” . He could also understand something else, also in a prophetic sense and with the help of the Holy Spirit, depicting the future as the present. Namely, contemplating the righteous judgment of God carried out over the unfaithful Jewish people - since the Jews did not accept what was preached by the law and the prophets, they were justly punished for their unbelief and were deprived of the promise given in the law - seeing on the other hand the people of the pagans, saved by mercy, by virtue of obedience and faith in the Lord, he prophesies about this, with a pleasant and sweet voice pointing out to everyone the goodness of the Master, so that Each of us, having this song on our tongues and singing the accompanying melody in a pleasant voice, always had in our memory the Lord’s good deed. “Mercy,” he says, “and judgment I will sing to you, O Lord.” It is good for us, brothers, to constantly use this song, so that at the same time we can be grateful to our benefactor God, and correct our lives, trying to fully take advantage of His mercy and judgment. Do, he says, alms and judgment in the midst of the earth: “for I want mercy, and not sacrifice” (Hos. 6:6). And also: “thus said the Lord of hosts: carry out just judgment. and show mercy and compassion every one to his brother” (Zech.7:9; Jer.9:24). If we walk like this and do what the Lord requires, then we will boldly say the words of the song: “I will sing to You of mercy and judgment, O Lord!” . And to make sure, beloved, that these words have exactly this meaning, delve into the sequence of what is written, and in it you will find confirmation of what was said. The psalmist continues with these words: “I sing and understand the blameless way: when... will you come to me?” (Ps. 100:2). You see, after he has corrected his life and walked along the whole path of righteousness, then, finding nothing wicked and unclean in his ways and understanding all justification and judgment and life according to the law, evidenced by works, then he sings this song, joyfully telling about his deeds. 2. He sang with understanding, a pure heart, counting his deeds. Having prepared, as it is written, the ways of the Lord and corrected the paths of God, he awaited the coming of the Master, calling upon Him with these words: “When... will you come to me?” And as if answering, he said: I prepared to accept You with my mind, smoothed out the unevenness of my heart, threw away everything sharp, leaving no obstacle to Your coming. I made the path of my soul smooth, I purified the feelings of my heart, I made all my thoughts pure. I am ready to receive You when You come. But “when... will you come to me?” Come without hindrance, My Lord, You will not find the path of malice in me. “I walked in the gentleness of my heart ... among and my house." And in order for you to be convinced that he was prepared to receive the Master by assimilating all the truth, listen to how he recalls with pleasure his deeds. “I walked,” he says, “in the gentleness of my heart ... among and my house, I did not put before my eyes ... the deeds of the criminal law, those who committed the crime I hated business The obstinate heart was not close to me, the evil one that turns away from me, of which I did not ... know. He who secretly slandered his neighbor—I drove him out; with a proud look and an insatiable heart - with this I did not eat. My eyes (are turned) to the faithful of the earth, so that they sit with me; he who walks in the blameless path - this one served me" (Ps. 100: 3-6). Do you see how many and what kind of deeds the blessed one did? And with what confidence and hope he counted his exploits and deeds? Should I interpret his speech, or leave you to grasp the meaning of what was written by just reading? Indeed, what is clearer than his words? Or what of what was said now needs interpretation? But in order to examine his words, as they are, in detail, now we, having restored them again, will remember and see what benefits their constant remembrance brings. “I walked,” he says, “in the gentleness of my heart ... among my home and my home.” First of all, the virtue of gentleness is great and beautiful, not only the one who possesses it, it adorns, but also extends to others, as the Wise One says: “[My son!] if you are wise, then you are wise for yourself [and for your neighbors]; and if you are violent, then you will endure alone” ( Proverbs 9:12) So, gentleness is wonderful, it is imitation of the Lord and likeness to God, because the Lord is gentle and holy. This gentleness is the protection of the soul, the purification of the mind, the tranquility of morals, the pacification of thoughts, the clarity of the face, the meekness of the eyes, the mentor of friendship, the mother of faith, the perfection of truth: in a word, the root of all virtue and the foundation of all goodness is gentleness. does not know the very meaning of enmity, does not know unbridledness, anger, does not understand the action of malice. And it, like a queen, exalts itself over all virtues. So, goodness is beautiful, the reason for so many good things! David begins his speech with it: “I walked in the gentleness of my heart.” And he didn’t just say: “in kindness,” but: “in the kindness of my heart,” meaning that he did not have one thing on his tongue, but another in his heart. I did not speak peaceful things with my lips, meaning evil in my heart, but as I was in my tongue, so was I in my heart. “I walked in the gentleness of my heart ... among and my house.” Here, beloved, he does not mean this house, the work of human hands, built of stone or wood, created from rough matter, but the rational church of the soul, reflecting outward the inner invisible image, created in the rational and spiritual nature, enlivened by the divine breath, containing the soul and contained by the soul, a receptacle of grace-filled gifts original strength. “Went to this house.” He calls the base of the heart the middle because it occupies the middle of the entire human body. Thoughts and desires are represented by evil paths, as the Savior says: “from the heart come evil thoughts” (Matthew 15:19), because from it comes every movement of human nature. This is what it means. If anxiety occurs, the heart begins to move; if there is an alarm, the heart is confused; When enemies rise, the heart is struck; if fear attacks, the heart trembles, imparting trembling to the nearest members of the body; then calming down, then seizing again, it does not allow you to calm down, but with an intensified beating it spreads anxiety and excitement throughout the whole body, produces changes in complexion, appearance, and state of mind, affects the face with pallor, darkens vision, causes trembling of the lips, relaxes the knees, and, tying the tongue, which moves everything, produces a stutter, and in general, one might say, makes a person wild and half-dead; when war begins, it is eager to fight, and does not calm down until it comes to battle. When all this ends and ends in victory, then the normal movement of the heart is restored and - after that - calm and contentment are established throughout the whole body, embarrassment is replaced by joy and everything returns to its previous state, order in the functions of all members is restored: the eyes are again brightened, the lips calm down, the organ of speech is corrected, the face takes on its usual expression, as if some skilled driver, having mastered the reins, returns the person to his former self. rut. 3. However, what has been said does not apply to the righteous: his heart does not experience confusion or fear. Even if he was threatened by an attack from enemies, he boldly says: “If an army is arrayed against me, my heart will not fear; if battle arises against me, I will trust in Him” (Ps. 27:3). That is why he says: “I walked in the gentleness of my heart... in the midst of my home,” that is: I watched myself, tested myself, so that some bitter root, having grown, would not poison or defile the feelings of my heart, but so that the gentleness, remaining in me, would help me achieve all the virtues. Therefore, “I did not put before my eyes... the deeds of the law of crime.” My eyes were not turned to sin and iniquity did not attract me so that I decided to do something alien to salvation. But before my eyes there was the fear of God, keeping the commandments, deeds of righteousness, the whole system of life according to the law. “I did not put before my eyes... the deeds of the law that were criminal.” For those whose eyes are turned to sin, lawlessness is their goal and they, as it were, have sin as their leader: first they allow it into their hearts, then they undividedly fix the eyes of their minds on it and so rush towards lawlessness. I was far from anything like that. I did not set myself the goal of committing a crime, but my eyes were entirely fixed on living in accordance with the law. Moreover: “I hated those who commit crimes.” Not only did I myself not want to do anything contrary to the law of God, but I also hated those who violated His commandments: “I hated those who committed crimes.” These words: “I hate those who commit crime” should be understood in two ways. Some transgress God's commandments, His justifications and judgments: these are the essence of transgressors of the law. Others trample on the most saving confession of the Lord: these are already criminals against God. There is a big difference between the crimes of both. The former still have the hope of salvation, having retained the root of the knowledge of God, while the latter are completely deprived of salvation, rejecting the Author of salvation Himself. So, I, he says, “have hated all those who commit crimes” because “the beginning of sin is... apostasy” from the Lord (Sir. 10:14-15), as the Wise One says. And we not only do not hate lawbreakers, but also accept them as friends, whereas we should not even simply greet them: “There is no peace for the wicked, says my God” (Is. 57:21). We eat and drink with those whom we should avoid meeting. We shouldn’t even consider them, having given themselves over to demons and entrusting their lives to soulless stones and wood, as people. Does not the same prophet teach us in another place, saying: “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). Let us also imitate the prophet and hate those who do iniquity, so that through our indifferent communication with them we do not turn out to be accomplices of their iniquity. Everything obliges us to hate communication with them: and the fact that they, having turned away from the light, walk in darkness - meanwhile, “what does light have in common with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14), - and the fact that, having rejected the name of Christ, they adopt for themselves the name Belial ("What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?" (2 Cor. 6:15)), and the fact that, having avoided entering here, they frantically rush into idolatrous churches, desecrating them with filth ("What harmony is there between the church of God and idols?" ( 2 Cor.6:16) ). So, “I hate those who commit crimes. The obstinate heart was not close to me, the evil one that turns away from me, of which I did not ... know.” Again here, beloved, pay attention to the meaning of these expressions. “The obstinate heart was not close to me.” I have nothing crafty or insidious, but neither among countless sorrows, nor among evil disasters, nor among enemy attacks, “there was no obstinate heart close to me,” nor an evil thought, nor an alien desire. Neither when I suffer oppression, nor when I am in extreme distress, nor even when I see sinners prospering, the wicked enjoying wealth and all the wicked at the height of happiness, even then I am not troubled in my heart by evil thoughts and do not begin to say: “Why do the wicked live... Their children are with them before their faces, and their grandchildren are before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, and the rod of God is not upon them” (Job 21:7-9). “Their oxen are fat” (Ps. 143:13). Such thoughts never occurred to me, but even if they prospered, and I was in poverty, I know that “from tribulation comes patience, from patience experience, from experience hope, and hope does not put you to shame” (Rom. 5:3-5). “The heart of obstinacy was not near me.” Holding to such right thoughts of the straight path, when the evil one came to my heart, I not only could not allow him to come to me, since I had no place for him, but I did not even notice when he came and when I did not accept him - so I did not even know when I rejected him. His cunning, like a passing shadow, slid over me without causing me any harm. 4. Let us also educate ourselves like a prophet, so that if one of us were to be in a difficult situation, and a thought from the evil one came to him, then he could not take possession of our heart, but would withdraw, leaving it undamaged, so that we too could say: “I did not know the evil one who turned away from me.” He who secretly slandered his neighbor—I drove him out.” Let us study, beloved, this wonderful science - not only not to slander, but not even to listen to slander. A terrible evil is slander, a restless demon that never leaves a person in the world. What evil, in fact, does not slander produce? From it enmity is born, through it quarrels arise, from it disagreements arise; the evil suspicions aroused by her are the cause of countless evils; hatred has its source. And no matter what disasters anyone imagines, they will all turn out to stem from slander, which drags everyone into malice. Slander excites a person to kill his neighbor. Slander hardens the soul and destroys brotherly fellowship, turning a recent friend into an enemy without any reason. She touched Miriam, the sister of Moses, and immediately covered her with leprosy and brought upon her wrath from the Lord. It destroys entire houses and incites peaceful cities to war. She breaks the bonds of the beautiful world and dissolves the great union of love. By deviating from the commandments of God, it teaches crime, and by distracting from communication with God, it removes one from the truth. She initially caused the death of the primordial Adam and deprived him of heavenly life and heavenly bliss, because she entered the mouth of the serpent and raised a lie against the true goodness of God; It was she who said: “Did God truly say: Do not eat from any tree in paradise?” (Gen.3:1) and prompted Adam to transgress the commandment and fall away from the truth; Having won over the Lord’s former interlocutor, she immediately, with the help of deception, made him an enemy and immediately removed him from benefits. So, let us refrain from slander, moving away from it, so as not to enter into enmity with the Lord. Let us give up slander so as not to become unjust judges of truth and not to turn out to be false witnesses in the face of the law. “Do not curse one another, brothers: whoever curses a brother or judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law; and if you judge the law, then you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one Lawgiver and Judge, able to save and destroy” (James 4:11–12). Do you see, beloved, how serious the sin of slander is? Let us leave her alone so as not to bring judgment upon ourselves. And we will drive away those who would like to slander from ourselves, so that, by taking part in the evil of others, we do not cause destruction to ourselves; Let us not find pleasure in listening to slanderers, lest we subject ourselves to the devil’s suggestions. After all, slander itself is called diabolical, having received its most characteristic name from the name of the culprit; This means that one who engages in slander serves the devil, engaging in his devilish work. He who does not allow such a person to approach himself also saves himself from this vain sin, and keeps the sinner from unjust accusations against his neighbor, and finally, saves the slandered one from accusation; Thus, disdaining the services of a slanderer, he becomes the organizer of the world and the teacher of friendship. Let us also learn that, abhorring this deed, he says: “Whoever secretly slandered his neighbor—I drove him out.” And in order for you to be convinced, beloved, that slander does not in the least contribute to the truth, pay attention to its very name, considering the subsequent word in connection with it. Slander is the teacher of accusation, and the word “secretly” indicates the lie and shamefulness of this matter. When it comes to the truth, we must confront it head on and unite the world with courage; if secretly, it means that you are bringing a false accusation, arousing evil suspicion against your neighbor and not being able to expose him to what you are bringing against him. Therefore, it is a good thing to drive away the slanderer as a liar and a thief, so that, somehow confusing the peace of your soul, you do not make it hostile to your neighbor because of slander. So, “Whoever secretly slandered his neighbor—I drove him out; with a proud look and an insatiable heart - with this I did not eat.” And that pride is hated by God himself, listen to what Scripture says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). And in another place: “pride is hateful to both the Lord and people and is criminal against both” (Sir.10:7). And: “What is the pride of earth and ashes?” (Sir.10:9)? And in many places you will find that pride is vile and very hateful. So here he says: “with a proud look and an insatiable heart - with this I did not eat,” since pride is extremely harmful and destructive not only for the one who has adopted it, but also for the one who does not share it for long. The prophet placed the greedy, unsatiated at heart next to the proud one, since the spiritual disposition of both is the same - both the one who rises above his neighbor and the greedy in relation to his neighbor. 5. So, it’s good, brethren, for us to put aside pride and acquire humility, so as to hear not: “he who exalts himself will be humbled,” but: “he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14). At the same time, it is good to strengthen yourself in self-restraint and moderation, so that with the greed of your heart you do not drive away the truth from yourself, and then hear: “Because of the multitude of your iniquities, your hem is uncovered, your heels are exposed” (Jer. 13:22). Let us avoid the behavior characteristic of proud and greedy people, so that, through the habit of communicating with them, we do not internalize their vices. Let us be diligent in word and deed in assimilating to ourselves (said here): “with a proud look and an insatiable heart - with this I did not eat.” This is said on behalf of the righteous, and the Holy Spirit seems to respond to this on behalf of God with these words: “My eyes (are turned) to the faithful of the earth, so that they sit with me.” Truly, the eyes of God are turned to the faithful, watching over them so that they do not deviate from the truth. If you want to be convinced of the truth of what has been said, then remember the blessed apostles: after all, they were faithful of the earth and through their faith the preaching of salvation filled the entire universe: “their message went out into the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Ps. 18:5). The entire universe is filled with the faith received from them, having in it an inexhaustible wealth of piety. It is these faithful who sit with the Lord, since it was said to them: “You also, the twelve, will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28). “My eyes (are turned) to the faithful of the earth, so that they sit with me.” Oh, miracle! The mortals of the body are seated, and the incorporeal will stand! I do not disparage the angels of God - let it not be! - but I proclaim the love of God, by which He honored human nature. If the holy apostles will sit as judges of the infidels, then it necessarily follows that those who received the faith from the apostles and those who believed like them, so that they too would be seated together with the apostles in order to pronounce judgment on those who did not accept the faith and did not confess the saving word. Perhaps, I will express my assumption, twelve faithful nations will be brought by the apostles, who together with them will judge the twelve tribes of Israel, who did not accept the apostolic preaching and did not believe the Master’s will, who wanted them too. Having joined the faith, they heard: “My eyes (are turned) to the faithful of the earth, so that they sit with me.” Let's look at what follows. “He who walks in the blameless way - this one served me. He who walked in the blameless way did not live in my house, but he who walks proudly; he who speaks lies was not right in my sight” (Ps. 100:6-7). To the praise of the righteous, God responds in a similar way and declares that such should be those who walk in faith. He says: “He who walks in the blameless way - this one served me." I choose only such servants for myself who walk in the blameless way, turning neither to the right nor to the left, and not going astray from the paths of righteousness and truth. “Blessed are the blameless in the way, walking in the law of the Lord" (Ps. 119:1). So, to the words of the prophet: “I sing and understand the blameless way,” the Holy Spirit answers here: “As I walk cabbage soup in an immaculate way - this one served me." And further on the words: “I walked in the gentleness of my heart ... in the midst of my house”, and: “with a proud look and an insatiable heart - with this I did not eat,” the answer is given in the words: “I did not ... live inside my house, but he who acts proudly” and it is also said “he who speaks a lie was not right in my eyes.” Just as the psalmist says there: “He who secretly slandered his neighbor, I drove him out,” so here it is said, “he who spoke a lie was not right in my sight.” Look what he says next: “In the morning I slew all the sinners of the earth, to destroy from the city of the Lord all those who practice iniquity” (Ps. 100:8). These words of His already refer to the image. of the future century. Indeed, the present age is night, and the future will be day, as the wisest Paul says: “the night is past, but the day is at hand” (Rom. 13:12); therefore, the morning means the dawn of eternal light, which the righteous will enjoy. On this morning the Lord beats sinners, sending them into eternal fire, as the Savior himself says: “Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body. Gehenna" (Matthew 10:28). So, "In the morning I slew all the sinners of the earth, to destroy from the city of the Lord all those who practice iniquity," i.e. from the heavenly Jerusalem, “all who do iniquity,” because in it (Jerusalem) only the righteous will rest, inheriting the eternal kingdom, which may you and I all inherit, after a life pleasing to Him and holy, in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be glory and power, forever and ever. Amen. 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: