Собеседование 23 на псалом 103

1. The grace of the All-Holy Spirit not only teaches people moral and dogmatic teaching, but also directly teaches them how they should glorify the Creator. And she wrote this psalm, with the assistance of blessed David, for the very purpose of teaching everyone what songs should be rendered to the Benefactor. Here she talks about the benefits of God that apply to all people, and represents the God of all as the Creator and at the same time the Lord of everything. “Bless the Lord, my soul!” (Ps. 103:1). God, by blessing a person, protects his security and makes him more glorious, as, for example, it was with Abraham, but man is not like that: he makes himself more glorious by blessing God. This means that whether God blesses man, or whether man blesses God, both are useful only to man, because the Divine does not need anything. Every student of piety learns to sing praises to the benefactor of God. “Lord, my God! You are wonderfully great, you have clothed yourself in... confession and... led in splendor.” Here “wonderfully” is put for emphasis, but the very expression – “wonderfully great” – means the immeasurability of greatness in general, and not its increase in this case. Symmachus translated it this way: Lord my God, You are very great. Being not small, You magnified yourself, but being great by nature, You showed this to the pious. How else can He become great who is always great and who does not need any addition, but has complete perfection? How is He exalted? When His worshipers lead a better life, when they glorify Him in words and deeds, then He is magnified. Of course, this does not mean that His own greatness increases. But through those who worship Him and through His great and varied deeds in creation and providence, His greatness is revealed to those who do not believe in Him. Rejoicing at this, the soul exclaims with a feeling of reverence: “Lord, my God!” . And how He became exalted, He further explains: “in... confession and... you clothed yourself with splendor.” According to Symmachus, this means: You are clothed with song and glory. You do not remain unknown to those who enjoy Your benefits: they no longer attribute the honor that belongs to You to idols, but they praise You and give You due praise. Of course, the greatness of God is sufficiently revealed in the creation of angels, in the creation of the heavens, in the establishment of the earth, and in other things that the psalmist points out along with this, but it is even more revealed in the fact that the Savior was a man and remained God, and endured what is characteristic of us, and preserved his own dispassion. Therefore, although in the order of events the work of salvation was later, the psalmist put it, however, first of all in view of its outstanding significance. It is the incarnation that he calls confession, since during His carnal life the Lord brought confession to God for us, crying out to the Father: “I glorify You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent,” etc. (Matthew 11:25). And splendor indicates how great and excessive it was that He was pleased to save our mortal nature. However, when the psalmist says that He “put on” this confession and splendor, he does not, of course, mean a temporary vestment, as if He would then “be unmasked,” but indicates that having become incarnate, He was not changed into man, but remains God and is made man. “You clothe yourself with light like a garment, you spread out the sky like a covering of skin (shat ra)” (Ps. 103:2). He dresses himself in light, as it were, with clothing, as one who has complete knowledge, as one who has an incomprehensible being. Moreover, light signifies the complete truth of divine knowledge. According to Paul, God “dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16). Living in the light means that He is entirely knowledge, surpassing all thought, which is why the light is called unapproachable. It was in view of this that the apostle said: “the only one who has immortality, who dwells in the unapproachable light.” This light is such that no one dares to approach it: the excessive brilliance affects the eyesight. After all, if the visible sun forces those who try to persistently look at it to do this, then who will have enough strength to comprehend this impregnable light with thought? So, He Himself is the true light (John 1:9), and is clothed with light as a garment, and in the light He lives unapproachable, “clouds and darkness are around Him” (Ps. 97:2), and He “made darkness His covering” (Ps. 17:12). All this does not contradict one another. Of course, for those who cannot see the impregnable light, it is the same as darkness and darkness, because there is no way to see what is contained inside; both signify the invisibility of the divine nature. However, John the Theologian, depicting His economy itself, called this economy light, saying: “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5). Darkness fits around Him like clothing when He completely covers up the power of the deity with bodily weaknesses, for example, when He feels hunger, thirst, fatigue, and the like endures. He is clothed with light when He manifests His divinity, rebuking the sea, shaking the earth, darkening the sun; then He no longer allows divinity to hide under humanity. you stretch out the sky like a skin covering (shat ra)." 2. This comparison indicates the ease of creation. Just as it is easy for a person to stretch his skin and make a tent, so the God of all spread out the great vault of heaven with one word. “You cover the heights with water, you make the clouds your chariot, you walk on the wings of the wind” (Ps. 103:3). Blessed Moses also teaches this; he says that God said: “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate water from water. [And it became so.] And God created the firmament, and separated the water that was under the firmament from the water that was above the firmament. And it was so” (Gen. 1:6–7). “You make the clouds Your chariot, You walk on the wings of the wind.” This points to His providence, which embraces everything. It extends to both the winds and the clouds. God himself controls them, he himself indicates to them the deadlines for fulfilling their assignment. At the same time, this teaches us that it is characteristic of the divine nature to be present everywhere and to appear everywhere. Since of all sensory phenomena the wind is characterized by the greatest speed (in the blink of an eye it sweeps from the limits of the west to the east and from the east to the west), the prophet, not finding another more accurate image among the sensory phenomena, said that God rushes on the wings of the wind, indicating that He is present everywhere. On the other hand (regarding clouds), we find that the God of all appeared to the children of Israel in a cloud, and in the tabernacle He revealed His special presence in a cloud; further, during the consecration of Solomon's Temple, a cloud overshadowed the church; and the Lord Christ appeared to the three disciples on the mountain surrounded by a bright cloud, and during His ascension the bright cloud hid Him from their eyes. “You create angels with your spirits and servants with your fiery flames” (Ps. 103:4). The Lord is the creator not only of the visible, but also of the invisible. The prophet attached to the same names the names of spirit and fire, both, wanting to designate their strength and speed. The spirit by nature is not bound by space, but the action of fire is powerful. With the assistance of angels, the God of all things benefits the worthy and punishes the unworthy. It is also reminiscent of fire, as it serves as a punishment. “The foundation of the earth is on the firmament: it will not bow forever” (Ps. 103:5). Aquila and Symmachus: “on her seat.” What kind of firmament, oh prophet, is there, where there is so much water, where is the boundless ocean, carrying the earth on its waves? After all, he himself confirmed this in another place: “he established the earth on the waters” (Psalm 135:6). Since this foundation was not strong, but very unstable, the Creator imparted stability to the earth itself. What was this stability? In the power of the Creator. “In His hand are all the ends of the earth” (Ps. 94:4). He calls man the earth. Whom He establishes on the basis of faith, he will not stray in the age of the century, of course, the future. “She will not bow down in the age of the century.” Having given it stability within itself, the Lord made the earth motionless. She remains in the same position as long as he pleases. Similarly, in another place it is said: “he hanged the earth on nothing” (Job 26:7). “The deep is like a garment, His covering. The waters will rise on the mountains” (Ps. 103:6). He said "His" and not "her"; Meanwhile, both Aquila and Theodotion translated it as follows: “You clothed it with the deep as with a robe.” The Holy Scriptures call the wet element an abyss. So about the beginning of creation, blessed Moses said: “The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was upon the deep” (Gen. 1:2). Since the earth is surrounded on all sides by water and its borders are made up of great and inaccessible seas, while the very middle is cut through by other seas accessible to navigation, he rightly said that the abyss encircles the earth like a garment. And on the other hand - in the sense of incomprehensibility - you will find that the abyss lies in the fact that - “Your destinies are a great abyss” (Psalm 35:7). Since His judgments have not been explored, they cannot be comprehended in any way, which is why they are compared not just with the abyss, but with the “great abyss.” So, God, whose judgments are a great abyss, is covered by an incomprehensibility called the abyss. “The waters will flow on the mountains; they will flee from Your rebuke; they will be afraid of the sound of Your thunder. The mountains rise up and the plains descend to the place that You have appointed for them” (Ps. 103:6-8). All this points to the wisdom of God at work in creation. Thanks to her, the sea, rising like the peaks of mountains, will not, however, flood the continent with waves, but just as we are afraid of thunder, so it is afraid of its limit. “The waters will dry up on the mountains” - means: like a mountain stands (the sea); “...mountains rise” - means: - like mountains. I think that the prophet here means the clouds lying on the tops of the mountains. In these places, clouds especially remain, so that uninhabited mountains are constantly covered in darkness. As soon as you want, he says, they all leave their place, crumble and disappear. In another sense, he calls the prophets mountains because of their inherent height contemplation. Waters rise in them, from which the thirsty drink the water of teaching. From the prohibition laid down against the Jews. Another prophet indicates this, saying: “I will send a famine on the earth, not a famine of bread, not a thirst for water, but a thirst for hearing the words of the Lord” (Am. 8:11). When God is angry, the waters of the prophets become scarce, since they do not have the source of wealth in themselves. And he calls the preaching of the gospel the voice of thunder, with which the waters of the prophets do not flee, but are afraid, as surpassing their understanding. “You have set a limit, which they will not cross, and will not return to cover the earth” (Ps. 103:9). 3. The sea is put to shame by sand; in a frenzy it rushes to the shore, but held back by the limit set by God, as if by a bridle, it is thrown back and returns. Or (this is how one should understand) this: the prophets do not proclaim all their revelations, but only what they are commanded to reveal, so as not to cover the earth with their multitude, that is, not to overwhelm a person who cannot contain them. Paul testifies to this: “I heard unspeakable words, which it is impossible for a man to utter” (2 Cor. 12:4). “You direct springs into the valleys: among the mountains ... flow [waters]” (Ps. 103:10), Then you indicate their purpose: “they give water to all the animals of the field; wild donkeys (from them) quench their thirst. The birds of the air live with them, from the midst of the rocks they make a voice” (Ps. 103: 11-12). This is a very important feature of divine providence - that it satisfies the needs not only people, but also foolish creatures. By cutting through the mountains, He gives way to waters, so that not only people can abundantly use the streams of springs, but also the breeds of air and earthly animals. The Savior spoke about God’s providence about animals: “look at the birds of the air: they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feeds them” (Matthew 6:26). The prophet calls sinners living in the field, that is, in the world: just as the beasts of the field can be tamed, so sinners can repent, which is why they drink the apostolic and prophetic waters. He called people who no longer work under sin, but have already freed themselves from its power, wild donkeys, which is why they are thirsty for spiritual water. God pointed to them in his conversation with Job: “Who set the wild donkey free and who loosed the bonds” (Job 39:5)? “You will water the mountains from their heights; the earth is satisfied with the fruits of Your works” (Ps. 103:13). Why are the mountains watered? And they need rain because grass and trees grow on them. Not only does the Lord arrange the irrigation of the earth below, but also above sends moisture through the clouds. “Heights” (in Slavic – “exalted” – τὰ ύπερῶον – the upper part of the house, the attic) God calls the air, representing the whole world as one house. After the sea we are talking about rain, because its waters come from the sea. “You produce grass for livestock and grain to serve people, to bring (them) food from the ground” (Ps. 103:14). The grass returns and feeds the cattle, and they serve the people. The fruits also feed from the rains, ripen and are consumed by people. The psalmist said this in another psalm: “Thou shalt save men and beasts, O Lord” (Ps. 35:7). Of course, animals also enjoy God’s care due to their benefits to humans. The earth, saturated with rain, supplies all those living on it with necessary food, but its chosen products - bread, wine and oil - are assigned as food to man, noble and beloved by God. Bread strengthens the strength of the heart, wine delights the soul, and oil restores the flexibility of a body exhausted by labor. But God did not abandon animals with his care. He gave grass to the herbivorous cattle, and He assigned grains cultivated by man to those suitable by His disposition and strength to serve man, leaving the rest to have grass that vegetated naturally. However, both of them can consume grains and grass. Neither animals nor reptiles are mentioned, since they use food of a different kind: some eat earth, while others live carnivorously. “And wine... gladdens a person’s heart, so that (his) face shines (as if) from lightness. Bread... strengthens the heart of a person” (Ps. 103:15). 4. Symmachus expressed this more clearly: he who grows grass for livestock and grain for the service of people, so that food comes from the earth and wine gladdens the heart of a person, the face is illuminated with oil and bread strengthens the heart of a person. For this purpose, he says, the God of all constantly sends rain to the earth in order to produce various fruits; and with bread to strengthen and nourish the body of a person, with wine to please him and make his life more pleasant, and with oil not only to nourish, but also to anoint the outside of the body, and to enlighten and illuminate the face of the inner man with the nourishing oil of divine light, only in purpose different from the mentioned wine. The Word of God is the vine and the olive tree. “But I,” says the psalmist, “are like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God” (Ps. 51:10). His instructions are in various respects wine, oil, and bread. “The trees of the field will be satisfied, the cedars of Lebanon, which You planted” (Ps. 103:16). In Hebrew and others it reads: The Lord’s. Having spoken about fruit-bearing plants, the psalmist also remembers the barren ones, as necessary and useful for man. And He called them the Lord’s as native, not cultivated by hand, but grown only by the word of God. Obviously, they will be satisfied with the knowledge of God. How will they be satisfied with the teaching of the law? That is why he called them trees of the Lord, because those who study the law day and night are called a tree planted by the springs of water (Ps. 1:3). Ps.103:16-17). Akila reads this: birds will nest there. After the fertile ones, he also remembers the barren ones, as necessary for a person. By Lebanon, the famous mountain, and its cedars, the psalmist meant the rest of the mountains and trees of the earth. These trees serve people to build houses, and birds make their homes on them. Akila conveyed this: birds will nest there, and pine trees will be their home for storks. One of the fathers said: every place is suitable for a stork to live in, and it appears everywhere as if to a house prepared for it. This is exactly what the words “controls them” mean. Birds calls people persecuted by the devil and his servants for piety, but who can escape his snares; David said about them: “our soul is delivered like a bird from a fowler’s net” (Ps. 123:7). As for the “stork,” you will not be mistaken if you apply this name to Peter, since he constantly followed Christ, just as a stork, they say, does not lag behind its owners. So, he leads the birds, i.e. shows them how to avoid the snares of the fishermen, just as he himself, caught in the snare by his renunciation, escaped it by his repentance. “High mountains are for deer, and a rocky rock is a refuge for hares” (Ps. 103:18). Providence, he says, does not ignore even small animals, but has given deer a home on the tops of mountains, and the most insignificant of animals a refuge in the rocks. So, nothing has been created by You, O God, in vain. In fact, if there were no rocks and mountain peaks, the weakest of the animals on the plain would easily become prey to the stronger ones and would soon be exterminated, especially if they were attacked during sleep. By rocks the psalmist also means caves and holes in which hares and hedgehogs hide. As for deer, it should be noted that their breed is hostile to the snake breed. And these are all the disciples of Christ who have power over mental snakes according to the word of Christ: “Behold, I give you power to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). Symmachus translated: “hares and hedgehogs” (they find refuge in the rocks). Hares and hedgehogs are considered unclean and weak animals; namely, Moses says: “You shall not eat a camel, a pig, or a hare with hairy legs” (Lev.11:4–8). So, by these animals David means the Gentiles. They find refuge in the mental rock - the Church, and in it they are strengthened and purified. Deer, since according to the law they are considered pure animals, are obviously the souls of the righteous who have preserved the law. “He created the moon to (indicate) the times, the sun knew its west” (Ps. 103:19). Having counted everything on earth, speaking about the creation of invisible beings and the creation of the heavens, the psalmist recalls the luminaries created on the fourth day, and says that the moon was created in order to be a teacher of people in determining time. In fact, its changes contribute to the measurement of time: it determines the world's months, increasing and decreasing in so many days. He calls the Jewish synagogue, which (the Lord) founded during the time of the law and the prophets, the moon, and the sun - Christ. So the prophet Malachi said about him: “for you who revere My name, the Sun of righteousness will rise and healing in His rays, and you will go out and leap like fat calves” (Mal.4:2). He knew His decline. He knew the time at which He had to suffer, so that, while it had not yet come, He said: “My hour has not yet come that the Son of Man should be glorified” (John 2:4, 12:23). "The sun knew its west." Not being animated, not possessing intelligence, but, making its way according to divine determination, it, appearing, produces day and, hiding, night, moves at the same pace and observes measure in its movement. “You spread darkness, and night comes, when all the beasts of the forest walk” (Ps. 103:20). Night is necessary, formed by the absence of light and providing rest to people. Obviously, here the prophet means the time of the cross, because then there was darkness from the sixth hour to the ninth (Matthew 27:45), which is taken as a whole night - to explain the mystery of the three-day resurrection. “When all the beasts of the forest roam, young lions roaring for prey, so that you may ask God for food for yourselves” (Ps. 103:20–21). 5. The night brings rest to people, and gives courage to animals so that they can fill their hungry bellies. The words - “so that you ask God for food for yourself” - indicate that divine Providence provides food for them too. “Ask for God” is characteristic of rational beings, but dumb ones seek. But God also supplies them with the food necessary for them. By oak grove (forest) animals and skimn (young lions) the prophet means the demons who, during the sufferings of the cross, roared the Lord, thinking that the time had come to seize And indeed, they saw the betrayal of Judas, the denial of Peter, the scattering of the rest of the apostles. They roared, (ready) to steal and find food for themselves from God: first, to steal, and when the kidnapping failed, to find. After all, they did not stop shamelessly to ask God for the redemption of the righteous. Didn’t the devil also ask Christ for the apostles? “Simon! Simon, behold, Satan asked to sift you like wheat, but I prayed for you, so that your faith would not fail” (Luke 22:31-32). “The sun rose, [and] they gathered together and lay down in their lairs” (Ps. 103:22). When the sun rises, the animals retire to their shelters, and people, having rested from the labors of yesterday, readily take up their daily affairs again. When Christ was resurrected, (the demons) fled. Symmachus, instead of “gathered,” wrote: “will depart.” Where did they go? To their lairs, where they hide in ambush like reptiles. “Man (then) goes out to his work and to his work until the evening” (Ps. 103:23). - It is fair, since the resurrection of Christ gave people freedom and encouraged them until the evening, obviously - until the end of their lives, to work on their work, i.e. on virtue, because it was set by God as the goal of our labors. “How majestic are Your works, O Lord! You have created all things with wisdom. The earth is full of Your creatures” (Ps. 103:24). Having gone through everything that has been said in thought and discovering the great care of God in everything, the prophet interrupts his speech with the glorification of God, saying that all the works of God are amazing, worthy of amazement and filled with wisdom. It turned out that the night, sometimes condemned by the wicked, is very useful and barren trees are useful in other respects and the breeds of animals are in many respects suitable for people. The expression here is remarkable - “as.” But the wisdom of God, with which God created all things, is the Lord: “Christ,” says Paul, “is the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24), “but” as the incomprehensible “wisdom of God, secret, hidden... of which no one I did not know from the authorities of this age; For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:7-8). “The earth is full of your creation.” This means: You filled it with various benefits, such as the benefits of rebirth and renewal. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). Why “earth”? Because the One who bowed the heavens came down on her. How did He revive her? With water, as in the beginning he produced it - with water, obviously, of baptism - as further words show: “it is... a great and vast sea: there are creeping things there, of which there is no number, small animals with great ones” (Ps. 103:25). The grace of baptism is great, since it accomplishes a great sacrament, and extensive, since it embraces all the actions of the Spirit. He calls sinners reptiles because they grovel in earthly affections; due to their multitude, they are rightly called countless, and perhaps because only the righteous deserve to be counted. “Your friends are very honorable to me, O God, I will try to number them... but they are more numerous than the sand of the sea” (Ps. 139:17-18). “This... is a great and vast sea: there are reptiles there, countless in number, small and great animals.” And this testifies to God’s providence that small animals live together with great ones and are not completely destroyed by them. The psalmist compares human life to the sensual sea due to the impermanence and eternal movement in its affairs. By the countless tribe of reptiles he means a multi-faceted and, as it were, multi-personal abundance of people, meaning the diversity in their assimilation of the change predicted to them. Nature is, of course, the same for everyone and the natural image is not different, but there is great diversity in the manifestations of the mind and heart. Understanding this, someone said: “As in water face to face, so the heart of a man comes to man” (Proverbs 27:19). We say that in this sea there are ships floating - the holy churches of our Savior, being in the world, but above the world, just as on ships we see that they are floating in the water, but above the water. So, churches, like ships, floating in their own way in this mental sea, receive believers and transport them to some other land or country - to the kingdom of heaven, hope in Christ and sanctification from the Holy Spirit, and to the fatherland of saints - virtue. Being strangers, according to what is written, and pilgrims on this Earth (Heb. 11:13), they do not have a city that abides here, but strive to the one “whose artist and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10, 14, 13:14). “Ships sail there” (Ps. 103:26). And this is very useful for people. Thanks to the art of shipbuilding and navigation, we have the necessary mutual relations: we deliver the products of our land to other countries, and from there we receive what grows there. "This serpent which You created to humiliate him." 6. By the name of the serpent he designated the large sea animals that live in the great seas; “to humiliate him,” that is, to the sea itself, because in both Hebrew and Syriac it is a masculine name. Thus, he says, the sea is great, containing countless species of fish, and the greatest sea animals swim fearlessly in it. If anyone wants to understand the serpent allegorically - in view of the fact that in Isaiah (Is. 27:1) a great, holy and strong sword is pointed at the serpent - at the crafty serpent operating in the (spiritual) sea - then we will have nothing against such an understanding, since we know that God also asks Job: “Can you pull out Leviathan with a fish rod” ( Job 40:20)? This serpent, created by God, but proud before the Creator, was consigned to ridicule; God also spoke to Job about him: “There is nothing like him on earth, like him was created, my angels were desecrated” 5 (Job 41:25), that is, of course, the righteous, because they, having risen to the rank of angels through virtue, shame the one who, due to his malice, was cast out from this rank. And the Lord gave His disciples “power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). And the psalmist says in another place: “You crushed the heads of the serpents in the water” (Ps. 73:13). And rightly, speaking about the sea, I remembered this serpent, since our whole life, bitter and salty (like the sea), is overwhelmed by violent waves excited by it. “Everyone... expects food from You and that You may give them good things for a while” (Ps. 103:27). From You, he says, all creatures in time receive what everyone needs. Unreasonable animals seek food and do not know who gives it to them, but receive it from the Creator. “When You give to them, they will accept; when You open your hand, they are all filled with goodness” (Ps. 103:28). When You give abundantly, each of them takes their share. “When You open your hand, everyone is filled with goodness.” This shows the ease with which the Creator bestows blessings. Just as it is easy to straighten fingers bent inward, so it is easy for God to bestow all kinds of blessings. “And when You turn away your face, they will be troubled, you will take their spirit, and they will disappear and return to their own land” (Ps. 103:29). Having graciously sent down your blessings, You provide all kinds of joy to those who use them; when You turn away, they are all overcome with confusion and fear. “Take their spirit, and they will disappear and return to their own land.” When You want, the soul and body are separated, at the same time the body is given over to decay and dissolves into the dust from which it came. Here I called the soul “Spirit.” “You will send His Spirit, and they will be created, and you will renew the face of the earth” (Ps. 103:30). Here he clearly preached to us the resurrection and restoration of life through the all-holy Spirit. So the great Elijah resurrected the widow’s son, breathing on the boy three times, returning him to life by the power of the spiritual grace that dwelt in him (1 Kings 17ff.). So Elisha raised the son of a Somanite woman, through a spiritual breath, by the power of the life-giving Spirit he gave him life. Having thus indicated this action of divine power, the psalmist turns his tongue to a solemn song. “May the glory be to the Lord forever! The Lord rejoices in His works” (Ps. 103:31). Fairly, he says that He should always be praised by everyone. “The Lord rejoices in His works.” This predicted the future knowledge of God by people. When people are freed from their former deception and receive the knowledge of God, God will rejoice, not at their worship, but at the sight of their salvation. “He will look at the earth and make it shake, he will fall on the mountains, and they will smoke” (Ps. 103:32). He rightly added this, showing that the divine nature does not need anything. Not as one in need, He rejoices, accepting worship, but as one who wants to save, he points out the truth, and being able to punish does not impose punishment, although with one appearance He shakes the earth and fills mountains with fire and smoke. So. It happened on Mount Sinai: appearing there, He covered the whole mountain with smoke. “I will sing to the Lord in... my life and mine, I will sing to my God while I exist” (Ps. 103:33). And this is said rightly, because “none of the dead remembers You, and in... hell... who gives you confession?” (Ps.6:6). Thus was the door of the bridal chamber closed before the foolish virgins, who bought oil at the time when it was necessary to carry the lamps. “Let my (prayerful) conversation be sweet to Him, and I will rejoice in the Lord” (Ps. 103:34). He calls his praise conversation; he who sings praises to God converses with Him. Symmachus, instead of: conversation (ή διαλογή), put: conversation (διάλεζις), Akila: speech (όμιλία). I pray, he says, that this praise of mine will be very pleasant and sweet for him. “But I will rejoice in the Lord.” If this comes true, I will rejoice. “Let sinners and lawless people disappear from the earth - let them not exist! Bless the Lord, my soul!” (Ps. 103:35). Having told, as far as is accessible to human nature, divine beauty and ineffable wealth, he wants their knowledge to spread among all people, and asks that the society of sinners be completely destroyed. He does not want them to perish, but wants them to repent, and for them to stop perverting and forgetting the divine laws. If anyone wants to understand these words differently, as if the prophet curses those who live in wickedness, then in this sense the prophecy will be in agreement with the apostolic teaching. In fact, the great Paul in his letter to the Corinthians writes: “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed” (1 Cor. 16:22). This is characteristic of those who love passionately. So we were all in sin, the earth was full of iniquity; when the Only Begotten Word of God appeared and became man, sinners disappeared, leaving only those guilty of iniquities. How and in what way? He justified everyone and delivered them from their sins. There are only a few sinners left, but many are justified. “Bless the Lord, my soul!” . So, those who do not want to glorify the Giver of so many blessings, let them endure what I have said; you, O soul, constantly glorify your Creator and Savior. 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” Translation from Greek. – I.N. You might be interested in: