Собеседование 22 на псалом 102

It is believed that this psalm, by its very content, serves as a continuation of the previous one. There the captives in Babylon, mourning their misfortunes, begged God for their return. And here, having received what they asked for, they seem to praise the Benefactor. But I think that this song of praise is intended for all people in general who have been delivered from more severe slavery and have been awarded greater freedom. And analysis of the contents of the psalm will show that this meaning is more true than the first. 1. “Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is within me, His holy name!” (Ps. 103:1). The soul occupies the middle: on the one hand, the body inclines it to pleasures, on the other, the spirit attracts it to God, urging it to bless Him, i.e. preach Him and glorify Him always. Paul also remembered these three: “May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved completely” (1 Thess. 5:23). Here we mean the spirit of man, which is in him, and about which the apostle says elsewhere: “I will pray with the spirit, I will also pray with the mind” (1 Cor. 14:15). Moses also remembers, firstly, about the body: “and the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground” (Gen. 2:7), secondly, about the soul: “Let us make man in Our image” (Gen. 1:26), and thirdly, about the spirit: “and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Gen. 2:7). All spiritual forces are invited by the spirit to bless God - such as: the power of thought, reason, anger, desire, idea, imagination, feelings, about which he generally said about everyone: “inside.” Likewise, Paul spoke about glorifying God: “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). So, everything that is inside a person sings a song to God; but the active forces of the soul are encouraged to express praise to God through the organs of the body. Some refer to the soul as a spirit, however, not in the sense that it animates it, but that, on the contrary, it is under its control. He places the power of reason “inside” a person, just as the Savior said that the kingdom of God is within us (Luke 17:21). And in general, mental forces - in their ordinary and good functions - relate to the inner world of a person, and about bad manifestations it is said that they come out of the inner spheres. So, it is these spiritual forces that the psalmist (under the name “inside”) encourages to sing praises to God. Of course, all people should say: “Bless the Lord, my soul.” Out of gratitude for divine benefits, they should excite themselves to chant in order to repay the Benefactor in whatever way they can. And there is always an opportunity to sing, as well as to preserve a living memory of good deeds. (Those who do this) sanctify their entire inner world, and turn every thought to the glorification of God. With the expression “my insides,” the psalmist refers, of course, to thoughts, feelings, and all mental movements. “Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His rewards" (Ps. 102:2). Again, the soul is instructed not to weaken, to drive away the shadow of oblivion and to renew the blessings in memory, because whoever remembers the divine blessings will not cease to sing of Him. “Rewards” - Symmachus translated it like this: “benefits.” Further, he lists these blessings separately. “Who cleanses all your iniquities, and heals all your illnesses” (Ps. 103:3). The Lord granted you remission of sins, He sent you healing in your suffering. You got both without having anything. Of course, I heard (the prophet His words): “Your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:5; Luke 5:20), and: “Get up, take up your bed and go to your house” (Mark 2:11). So the sinner received healing and forgiveness of sins, so did the thief, so did the tax collectors, so did all who believed. “He who delivers your life from corruption” (Ps. 103:4). He freed the captives taken to Babylon from slavery, but did not deliver from corruptible life; to us He gave the hope of resurrection, gave the pledge of the Spirit and clothed us in the clothing of incorruptibility. “For by grace you have been saved through faith,” says the divine apostle, “and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God: not from works, so that no one boasted" (Eph. 2:8-9); and again: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. But for this purpose I received mercy, so that Jesus Christ in me first would show all patience as an example to those who will believe in Him for eternal life" (1 Tim. 1:15-16). This is the crown of grace and love for mankind. “I will rejoice in the Lord, my soul will rejoice in my God; for He has clothed me with the robe of salvation, He has clothed me like a bridegroom, and adorned me like a bride” (Isa. 61:10). the groom, because the bride brought only faith. “Who fulfills your good desires, your youth will be renewed like an eagle’s” (Ps. 103:5). Since there are bad desires, which the law prohibits, he added well: “good,” because the Lord fulfills our good desires. “Ask,” He says, “and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you; for everyone who asks receives, and whoever seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matt. 7:7-8). “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). “Your youth will be renewed like an eagle’s.” Again, this renewal was granted to us by the Lord - in holy baptism, when, having cleansed the old age of sin, He made us, already old (by sin), young. In accordance with this, God says through the prophet Isaiah: “those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles” (Is. 40:31). Since at creation we received a divine and royal image, and then spoiled and darkened it with all kinds of sins, the prophetic word promises us restoration to royal dignity. The eagle is a regal bird and is considered the king of birds. This also shows us the image of divine glory that it is renewed in us by putting off the old man and putting on the new man, renewed in the knowledge of the Creator. Thus, he says, your youth will be renewed, that it will always and henceforth be renewed in imperishable life. Since the eagle is the most regal of all birds and reaches the greatest height in its flight, and on the other hand, of all animals, it is the only one capable of looking at the radiance of sunlight and withstanding it without closing its eyes, then it is quite fair that the renewal of the soul, its flight from earth to heaven, and its future life in the highest light, the prophet compared with the nature of the eagle. “The Lord is the giver of alms and judges all those who are offended” (Ps. 102:6). 2. “He saved us, not by works of righteousness which we had done, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Seeing us oppressed by the unrighteousness of the devil, the enemy of truth, He opened to us the sources of truth, and pronounced righteous judgment on him. As the Father of mercy, and the only good one, having redeemed from unrighteousness the souls captured by the devil into his power, accepting the handwriting of our sins and nailing it to the cross, He made us free. We filled this handwriting with our deeds, and while it was in the hands of the devil, we were his debtors. And so God granted us judgment, cleansing us with the blood of His Son both from that in which we ourselves were unrighteous, and from that which we suffered from the unrighteousness of the devil. That is why Paul taught us it is better to endure unrighteousness than to cause it, since for those who endure untruth, the judgment of God is a blessing, and for those who are guilty of it, it is a punishment, depriving them of promises. “The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9). “He showed His ways to Moses, I showed His desires to the children of Israel” (Ps. 102:7). It was not our care that brought about the work of our salvation, but God foretold it from above through the prophets, and with the hand of the wondrous Moses he depicted it for us, as if in a picture. At the same time, the sea served as an image of all-holy baptism, the rock appeared as the shadow of an immortal source, manna - as an image of heavenly food, and in general everything, so as not to be listed separately, can be found written there. His ways and desires mean virtues, as can be seen from the words: “Thy ways, O Lord, tell me not” (Ps. 24:4), and from what Paul said to the sorcerer Elimas: “Will you cease to lead astray from the straight paths of the Lord?” (Acts 13:10) The words have the same meaning: “He made David king for them, of whom he also said, testifying: I have found a man after My heart, David the son of Jesse” (Acts 13:22). So, he says that, having given Moses the law, the Lord revealed to him the meaning of the images of the law and the shadow in relation to future benefits, spiritual and primitive, taught him what the Sabbath is, what sacrifices mean and who the Son of Israel is, about whom it is said: “My chosen one” (Is. 42:1). God reveals all this to those who know how to look: what the Jews are in the mysterious sense, and what the circumcision of the heart is, and the sacrifices of praise and justification. “The Lord is generous and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in mercy” (Ps. 103:8). This is the reason for so many good deeds, both past and present, as Moses said: “The Lord, a God loving and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and truth, preserving [righteousness and showing] mercy to thousands” (Ex. 34:6-7). These are His properties that the Lord revealed to Moses under the name of His ways, and His perfections in all respects are revealed as the abyss of divine goodness, immeasurable mercy, a sea of philanthropy. “He will not be angry to the end and will not be indignant forever” (Ps. 102:9), He does not retain anger forever (this means “not to the end”), but He does not squander His mercy on the unworthy without measure. But if God is a righteous, strong and long-suffering Judge, then how does He reward everyone according to His deeds? Of course, He dissolves His wrath with mercy, and when it is time for mercy, He is clothed with it, and when it is time for wrath, He manifests it on the day of wrath and righteous judgment, when precisely, Paul says, “he will reward everyone according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:6). That is why the psalmist says: “and do not be angry forever,” meaning the present age, since the Lord left judgment and wrath for the age to come. “He did not deal with us according to our iniquities, nor did He reward us according to our sins” (Ps. 102:10). He refrains from proportioning the punishment to our sins and does not extend His indignation against us too far. As the true God, He has condescension and patience not by chance, but in essence is their source, therefore He does not punish immediately after committing a sin, but waits for the mitigation of anger, as He Himself says: “When the wrath of My wrath comes, then I will heal,” and reduces the punishment without imposing what is deserved. “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, (so great is) the Lord established His mercy on those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, (so) ... He has removed our iniquities from us” (Ps. 102:11-12). And if the psalmist had found even greater distances, of course, he would have indicated them, wanting to show the immensity of divine goodness. But neither higher than the sky, nor wider than the space between East and West - human thought has not found a dimension. In the darkness of the West, people find themselves in sins, and those who have received deliverance from sins, obviously, are placed in the light. Quite rightly, the psalmist called deliverance from sins a transition from west to east, at the same time teaching us what the distance is between sin and truth. “As a father graciously rewards his sons, so... the Lord graciously rewards those who fear Him” (Ps. 102:13). 3. The Creator and Creator reveals paternal kindness, or better to say, out of pity for those who fear Him, He accepted them as His children. And the Lord did not do this with disgust, but, knowing the hearts of men, which He created all of them; He knows what is useful for everyone, and what we have the strength and ability to do, He gives us, so that through fulfillment His will is for us to become His sons. We can say that the Lord, from His own experience, recognized our nature, having become flesh, and that He had a natural disposition to consider us His children. “For He knows our formation: He remembers that we are dust” (Ps. 102:14). we are the worst. Of course, we are not entirely dust, we have both the image of God and the likeness. But dust here means our weakness, which causes regret. “...Man... is like grass, his days are like the flower of the field, so he too shall blossom” (Ps. 102:15). “As soon as the spirit has passed through him, (he) will no longer be, and he no longer knows his place” (Ps. 102:16). We are no better than grass and flowers that bloom in the spring, but soon dry up and die. Again we are talking about the outer covering of a person: in terms of material composition, like dust, after a short period of life we ​​are likened to drying grass. This is consistent with the words of the prophet Isaiah: “all flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field” (Is. 40:6). “The sun rises, the heat comes, and with the heat it dries up the grass, its color fades, and the beauty of its appearance disappears” (James 1:11). He also compares the apparent prosperity of people with this - wealth, fame, dignity: all this withers like hay. Symmachus conveyed this passage as follows: “because the spirit passes through it, and then it is not.” Spirit calls the soul, in the presence of which the body lives and acts, and when it flies away, the body dies and decomposes, so that it completely loses its former distinctive features and then it is no longer possible to distinguish what belonged to one person and what to another. You can undoubtedly verify this by looking into the grave. There everything equally becomes prey to decay and does not retain its former properties. “The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness is on the sons of sons, who keep His covenant and remember His commandments to do them” (Ps. 103:17-18). So, our nature is so transitory, but divine love for mankind gives it long life and for distant descendants preserves the reward of truth deserved by our ancestors. Of course, according to the merits of the patriarchs, the Lord honored His election and special care of the people who later descended from them, which he showed through Moses, saying: “Do not say in your heart that the Lord brought me for my righteousness..., not for your righteousness and not for the uprightness of your heart..., but... to fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers” (Deut. 9:4-5). In another sense, the sons of righteous men will be those who are zealous for their deeds. The Lord extends his mercy forever; He is always merciful, being good by nature, but with this mercy He is associated with truth for those who keep His covenant, according to which He makes them, for their virtue, heirs of future promises. They not only remember the commandments, but fulfill what they were given for; so the Savior said: “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he loves Me” (John 14:21). It is not he who remembers the commandments who inherits the promises, but he who fulfills them. Thus, the Lord retained the kingdom for Jehu until the fourth generation, although he showed zeal only at the beginning of his reign and did not maintain perfect piety. Thus, for the great David, the Lord preserved the spark of his seed unquenchable, despite the fact that many wicked people followed him in his family. This mercy, he says, is extended by the Lord to “those who keep His covenant” and not just “to those who remember His commandments,” but to those who accompany the words with deeds and order their lives according to them. “The Lord has prepared His throne in heaven, and His kingdom is possessed by all" (Ps. 103:19). It is said that He “possesses everything and” and does not “reign,” because not everyone is worthy of His kingdom. Therefore, the Savior promised a heavenly kingdom to those who lead the gospel life, but as the Lord He also possesses those who are unworthy. These words and what was said in another psalm are reminiscent of: “The Lord our God,... is on high living and looking upon the humble" (Ps. 113:5-6). And here the prophetic word teaches us that the Lord of all has a throne in heaven, but watches over the creation and rules over it as the Creator, King and Master. Him" (Ps. 102:20). 4. Quite rightly, the psalmist called on the heavenly powers to participate in the song. Of course, human nature is not able to adequately glorify the Benefactor: (this can only be done by) incorporeal and holy beings who lead a dispassionate life and are capable of fulfilling divine commands. The prophet could have had something else in mind: what, he says, concerns you; Oh, soul, you are powerless to sing God’s praises, however, as far as you can, do it. But know that only His angels, strong in strength, unswervingly fulfilling His word and worthy to hear His voice and His words, bless Him with dignity. And now, if among people there are those who lead a life equal to that of an angel, like the one who said: “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13), let them bless Him. But let none of those who transgress His word and disobey His voice dare to do this recklessly. “Bless the Lord, all His powers, His servants, who do His will” (Ps. 102:21). Having mentioned the angels, the prophet then named the forces, uniting them all in one name, so as not to list separately the heavenly ranks, which Paul also remembered in part, saying: “above all Principality, and Authority, and Power, and Dominion, and every name, named" (Eph. 1:21), and in another place: "visible and invisible: whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers" (Col. 1:16). Having called His servants doing His will, the psalmist contrasted them with those named against them. He, of course, does not call for the praise of God, those, i.e., principalities, powers and rulers of the world. darkness (age) of this and the spirits of evil.Yet he called the heavenly ranks angels and powers: angels, as serving the commandments of God and proclaiming the words of God; “Bless the Lord, all His works, in every place of His dominion. Bless the Lord, my soul!” (Ps. 102:22). With these words he convinces the soul not to shy away from praising the Creator under the pretext of weakness in comparison with the heavenly powers, because not only they, but all of God’s creations in general are commanded to bless the Lord, each according to his own strength. Any place is suitable for this, not only heaven. (It is not the place) that gives the price of the blessing, but the good deeds. And every inanimate and dumb creature, even if it seems harmful, is, by ineffable wisdom, useful in the general (harmony of creation) and participates in the glorification of God, since each blesses God according to the dignity of the place it occupies (in the world). Do this, says the prophet, and you, soul, no matter where you find yourself - whether on earth or in a better world. And there, together with the faces of the angels, bless Him for heavenly and perfect blessings. This does not apply to Jews. They, forced by their captors to sing the songs of Zion, said, relying on the law: “How can we sing the song of the Lord in a foreign land?” (Ps. 136:4) And the divine apostle teaches us to lift up our holy hands in prayer in every place (1 Tim. 2:8). It was the Lord Christ who said to the Samaritan woman: “Believe Me, that the time is coming when you will worship the Father, neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. But the time will come and has already come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is looking for such worshipers for Himself. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:21, 23–24). “Bless the Lord, my soul,” - the end is in tune with the beginning. Having called intelligent beings to participate in the glorification of God, the prophet teaches us, as best we can, to give honor to the Creator, and, in proportion to our strength, to offer Him a song of thanksgiving, because to Him be glory forever. 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: