Собеседование 25 на псалом 105

1. In this psalm the prophet enumerates the sins of the former people, teaching how and why their rejection occurred. In the one hundred and fourth psalm, the prophetic word outlined divine benefits to the Jewish people, and here it remembers the benefits, denounces the ingratitude of those who were blessed, and indicates the punishments they suffered in various cases. The psalm is presented as if on behalf of the pious, mourning the people's misfortunes and begging for mercy. It rightly has the same inscription as the previous one, since their subject is the same. “Confess the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever” (Ps. 105:1). The inscription, meaning “praise the Lord,” shows that the psalm contains praise to God. At the beginning, his prophet teaches those turning from sins to come to the Savior as to a doctor, through confession of sins, revealing their wounds, and doing this not only in words, of course, but from the heart. He, he says, in his goodness is ready to show mercy to the repentant, knowing that in the present age everyone needs mercy, being mortal and corruptible. What do the words mean: “for His mercy endureth forever”? He is always merciful, always full of humanity. He is always ready to give what is required of Him. And He does not have a specific time period: everything depends on your own readiness. “Whoever knows the power of the Lord will not proclaim all His praises loudly?” (Ps. 105:2). The power of the Lord is all that God does in us above the mortal nature, and what Paul calls the workings of powers in the following words: “To one is given the word of wisdom by the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to others gifts of healings by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another divers tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues” (1 Cor. 12:8-10). And again in another place: “Are all the Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are everyone miracle workers? (1 Cor. 12:29). Powers are different from healings. The first consisted, for example, in the fact that Jesus walked on the sea, rebuked the winds and storms, and was himself transformed on the mountain; the second is that He cleansed lepers and healed every disease. And in the Old Testament there are, on the one hand, powers: the plagues of Egypt, the parting of the sea, the retreat of the Jordan River, the stopping of the sun under Joshua, and on the other hand, healings, when, for example, Moses healed Mariam, who was stricken with leprosy, or what Elijah and Elisha did. All these powers through the apostles were heard throughout the whole earth, as well as His praises, because every action of the Lord is filled with praise. Or maybe the powers of the Lord correspond to His miracles, while the gifts of healing constitute His praises. “Blessed are they who keep judgment and do righteousness at all times!” (Ps. 105:3). The consciousness of sin is followed by the fruit of virtue or bliss. Experiencing the severity of the punishment for sin, the prophet here pleases those who have freed themselves from it and who adorn their lives with their righteousness. It pleases, however, not just everyone who adheres to the truth, but the one who firmly and unswervingly adheres to following it. “Remember us, O Lord, with favor toward Your people; visit us with Your salvation” (Ps. 105:4). The title “to Your people” here refers to a new people - to the Church of the Gentiles, which the Lord has honored with salvation; and for the Jewish people the prophet prays that they will be allowed to participate in this salvation. What kind of favor and what kind of visitation does the psalmist suggest here, if not that which God has honored us with the Word of His incarnation? And the angels who appeared to the shepherds (in Bethlehem) called the mystery of the incarnation a blessing. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!” (Luke 2:14), they cried out, praising. “That... we may see the prosperity of your chosen ones, that we may rejoice in the joy of your people, that we may glory in your inheritance!” (Ps. 106:5). We ask, he says, that we may participate in the joy of your new people and become partakers of the mercies bestowed upon them. The goodness of election must be understood in the sense of God’s great love for mankind towards His chosen ones, by virtue of which the prodigals, tax collectors, sinners, and poor fishermen were worthy of election. It was this manifestation of love for mankind that the prophet wanted to see, because it was worthy of contemplation. “Rejoicing in the joy of Your people” means: enjoying fellowship in the sacraments. “We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed lawlessness, we have committed iniquity” (Ps. 106:6). As if as some kind of inheritance from our fathers, we received the transgression of Your laws. He does not call the holy patriarchs fathers, but those who came after them, as is clear from what follows. “Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders, they did not remember the multitude of Your mercies, and they grieved (You) by entering the Red Sea” (Ps. 105:7). 2. For a long time, he says, our race has been distinguished by its tendency to sin. After so many miracles performed for them in Egypt, they did not want to understand Your power. Therefore, the prophet says: “alas, a sinful people, a people burdened with iniquities, a generation of evildoers, sons of destruction” (Is. 1:4). They did not understand, he says, the miracles that happened in Egypt, although, being among the Egyptians, they did not feel the punishments that broke out over them; and, having received liberation, they did not think that they owed this visit not to their righteousness, but to divine mercy. The previous psalm briefly spoke about this, as well as about what happened in the desert, without accusing the people at all; the present psalm reproduces the story of these events in order to show how the Jews sinned. “And they grieved (You) by entering the Red Sea.” Seeing that the Egyptians were being pursued, and the sea was blocking the path to escape, they did not expect Your help, but rebelled against the great Moses with the following speeches: “Are there no tombs in Egypt, because you brought us to die in the desert?” (Ex. 14:11) But, however, even then, when they turned out to be ungrateful, You granted them salvation, as the psalmist said: “But He saved them for His name’s sake, in order to show His power, and He held back the Red Sea, and it dried up, and He led them through the deep as through a desert. And he saved them from the hand of those who hated them, and delivered them from the hand of their enemies” (Ps. 105:8-10). By Your Word, having exposed the bottom of the sea, You made for them this great abyss a desert, convenient for riding horses. Since the desert, due to the absence of plants and any artificial barriers, seems very convenient for running, the prophet described the ease of crossing the sea by comparing it with the desert. “The waters covered their oppressors; not one of them remained” (Ps. 105:11), because all the Egyptians were drowned by the sea. The same sea brought salvation to the Jews, but punishment to the Egyptians. “And they believed His words [and] sang His praises” (Ps. 105:12). The great Moses led the choir of men, and led the choir of women. prophetess Miriam. And their song is written in the book of Exodus. “But His works were soon forgotten, lest they endure His counsel. And they gave themselves over to excessive desire in the desert and tempted God in the arid land” (Ps. 105:13-14). Having so much evidence proving divine power, they did not turn to God with their needs and did not expect His help, but immediately armed themselves with reproaches against His servants. The psalmist combined two sins of the Jews here: firstly, that they discovered bodily passion in the desert, where it was necessary to philosophize and refrain from every desire, and secondly, that they prayed to God for water not sincerely, but with the goal of tempting Him. However, even after that God did not stop His miracles. “And He fulfilled their request: He sent fullness of souls to them" (Ps. 106:15). The benefits they had already received did not assure them in the future; they reviled God, saying: “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat at the meat pots” (Ex. 16:3; Num. 11:4-5). He called their desire a petition. But in reality In fact, they did not ask, but reproached. Nevertheless, the Lord gave them an abundance of meat, and bread not made with hands, and very pleasant and abundant water. “And did I anger Moses in the camp, Aaron, the priest of the Lord" (Ps. 106:16). Neither those who grieved Him in the Red Sea, nor those who tempted Him in the desert, the One who despises sins left them, and even satisfied their desires, but when the accomplices of Dathan and Abiron rose up against Moses and said: “Did the Lord speak to Moses alone? Did He not also speak to us?” (Numbers 12 - this was said not by Dathan and Abiron, but by Aaron and his sister Miriam), then he gave them up with all their family to the open earth. Korah and those who wanted to lift up their censers with him in Aaron's place were consumed by the fire that came out of the tabernacle. God does not allow His servants to be despised, but having revealed His goodness, He also shows His mercilessness, in accordance with the words: “So you see the goodness and severity of God” (Rom. 11:22). These medicines with God mutually replenish each other. “The earth opened up and swallowed up Dathan and covered the crowd of Abiron. And a fire kindled in their crowd; the sinner consumed the flames” (Ps. 105:17-18). Dathan and Abiron with their entire tribe were devoured by the earth, and Korah and his accomplices were burned by fire sent from God. God struck down the rebels with these punishments in order to teach others to be prudent. But this lesson also remained useless for them, as the story about their further rebellion shows. “And they made a calf at Horeb, and worshiped the image” (Ps. 105:19). He mentioned grief not without purpose, but to point out their extreme wickedness. The Lord of all appeared on this mountain, with it he made them tremble, appearing in great fire, with the sound of a trumpet and the sound of thunder, and in such a terrible situation he bestowed His laws; but right there - at the mountain - they dared to turn to wickedness. “They bowed to the idol” is a reproach for a new madness: what appeared before their eyes thanks to human art, they gave Divine honor to it. “And they exchanged His glory for the likeness of a calf, eating his grass” (Ps. 105:20). 3. The psalmist very skillfully depicted the horror of their madness. He who performed so many miracles, who gave them that extraordinary salvation and who was strong enough to do such great things (they left) and instead of Him they honored the image of a calf, the very prototype of which needs food. Moreover, the calf’s food is not bread, which is eaten by intelligent beings, but grass and greens. And in comparison with this calf, devoid of reason, eating grass and doomed to slavery to people, its image is even much more insignificant, because it is not only unreasonable, but also soulless and can neither act, nor moo, nor eat - and yet they preferred such a powerless one to God of all sorts. Carrying in their souls the image of the Egyptian Apis, who was revered in Memphis, they worshiped not only him, but also many other idols. Having made one calf, they meant many: “Behold your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Ex. 32:4). “And they forgot God, their Savior, who did great things in Egypt, miracles in the land of Ham, terrible things in the Black Sea” (Ps. 105:21-22). It is not in vain that he remembers this, but wanting to show that with such crimes God did not reject them, until they dared to commit the most wicked of all deeds against Christ, trampling on the grace given to them. The Savior tells them about this: “how much since I wanted to gather your children together, as a bird gathers its chicks under its wings, and you did not want! Behold, your house is left to you empty” (Matthew 23:37-38) So, not content with their former evil deeds, they exchanged their glory, which was God for them, for the likeness of a calf. They did not remember their salvation, nor the punishment of the Egyptians, nor the great miracle in the sea, but everything. this, taken together, was subjected to spitting. “And he said: “destroy them,” if Moses, His chosen one, had not stood in contrition before Him, (praying) to turn away His anger, so that He would not destroy them” (Ps. 106:23). It was when the God of all said: “Leave Me, that My wrath may be kindled against them, and I will destroy them, and I will make a great nation from you,” then Moses in response to this asked God: “Forgive them their sin, and if not, then blot me out of Your book, in which You have written” (Ex. 32:10, 32). There is no small question here. What does the psalm say? “If” it weren’t for “Moses,” they would have perished. What then? Moses did everything, and out of respect for him, and not out of his own love for mankind, God restrained his anger? But who can say this? So what do those words mean? For their benefit, God uses figurative expressions, claims that, being ashamed of Moses, he holds back his anger, and says: “Leave Me and I will destroy them.” Although Moses said nothing, did not come and did not beg, the Lord, wanting to instill in him the idea of ​​intercession, calls him to do so with these words. So, according to justice and the foreknowledge of all their malice, they were condemned to death; but out of His love for mankind, the Lord allowed them to be saved - for the sake of the holiness of the intercessor, who asked in accordance with the providence of God for peace, so that the grace of God would not be powerless regarding Israel, and for the sake of the promises given by the father, which He remembered in his request. “And they destroyed the desired land, they did not believe His word. And they murmured in their tents, they did not obey the voice of the Lord” (Ps. 105:24-25). This is the fifth accusation - after the Red Sea, after the desert, the rebellion against Moses and the calf in Horeb. Returning after examining the land, the spies, except Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephonite, with evil speeches about her, they outraged the whole people. When, at the command of God, the Jews were about to enter the land of promise, then, overcome with fear, they opposed Him, claiming that the Canaanites were so strong that they were not able to fight them. This is clear evidence of their unbelief. The eyewitnesses of so many and such great miracles rightly should have been courageous, relying in everything on the power of the One who saved them in all those cases. “And He lifted up His hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness, and to overthrow their seed among the nations, and to scatter them throughout the countries (of the earth)” (Ps. 106:26–27). This dispute about the land, which in time preceded the indignation of Korah and Dathan, He placed after the making of the calf, where their wickedness due to unbelief in God was more manifested. And here trust in God, based on faith in Him, was completely destroyed by fear; even the memory of previously received benefits could not encourage them. Therefore, they suffered greater punishment for this than for worshiping the calf. Then they suffered only private disasters, and for this they died, except for children, all without exception, being unworthy of the promise. For their unbelief, God wanted to punish them to a worthy degree and put them all to death equally. However, even now, according to His usual love for mankind, he carried out this punishment not suddenly, but in parts. “And they served Beelphegor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. And they provoked Him with their deeds, and their plague was great" (Ps. 105:28-29). This is already the sixth sin in the count. Having again given themselves over to intemperance and debauchery with the Moabite women, they learned their wickedness. Beelphegor is an idol revered by the Moabites. The place where the idol was served was called Peor, and the idol was Baal itself. Some identify it with Greek Kronos; he is also called Vilos. By the sacrifices of the dead, the prophet means the so-called libations among the Greeks, which were usually performed in honor of the dead, or the fact that they resorted to magic over the corpses, or the fact that their dead became the victim of the graves. And even if someone called them the so-called gods, they would not have sinned. 4. The prophet did not indicate the reason for idolatry - what drew them into idolatry, namely fornication, with which their wickedness began and in connection with which magic was found, but accuses directly of how their wickedness ended. That is why communication with foreign women was prohibited by law, because passion for women usually leads to wickedness. “But Phinehas arose and propitiated (Him), and the 6th plague ceased. And (this) was counted to him for righteousness, for generations and generations to come” (Ps. 105:30-31). “Sich” Symmachus translated: “pogrom.” History testifies that Phinehas, taking a spear, pierced Zimri, who was committing fornication with a Moabite woman, and killed the woman with him (Num. 25ff.). Having approved of his zeal, God praised him and stopped the punishment that was striking the people. So, next, the righteousness of one husband is strong, which stops the general pogrom. “And they angered Him by the waters of dissent, and Moses suffered because of them: for they grieved his spirit, and he sinned with his lips” (Ps. 106:32-33). This is the seventh sin of the Jewish people, in which Moses was also involved. Having approached him when he was lamenting about his sister, they with great noise demanded that he satisfy their needs. And he, suppressed by grief and seeing their unbridledness, overwhelmed with anger and indignation, carried out the divine command without the usual calm: with some doubt he struck the rock and brought out the water. This is what the expression indicates: “and he sinned with his mouth,” i.e. He spoke to the people not without hesitation. “And he said to them, “Listen, you disobedient ones, shall we bring water out of this rock for you?” (Numbers 20:10) For this, without a doubt, being indignant at him, God of all sorts did not allow him to lead the people into the land promised to the fathers, but commanded him to end his life in the desert, and fulfilled his promise through Joshua. Moses, of course, considered this a punishment for himself, but the Lord of all arranged this for a different purpose. First of all, He did not allow Moses to complete the fulfillment of the promise, so that the Jews, whose madness He knew, would not consider their leader God. Indeed, if they deified the image of a calf, then what kind of veneration would they not pay to the performer of so many miracles? For the same purpose, of course, God arranged for his grave to remain unknown. And besides, by what happened to the legislator himself, the Lord wanted to show the temporary significance of that legislation, because if the legislator himself did not reach the promised land, then it was easy to understand that they themselves would not enjoy its possession for long. Having thus depicted the events that took place in the wilderness, the psalm then denounces the iniquities that they committed in the land of promise. “They did not destroy the nations about which the Lord told them. And they mixed with the pagans and learned their works. And they served their idols, and it was a temptation to them" (Ps. 105:34-36). The Lord forbade them to have relations with the pagans in order to keep them from communicating in wickedness, destroying the end at the beginning, destroying the fruit along with the root and preventing a greater evil. But in this regard they violated the Divine law: they did not destroy the wicked peoples and did not avoid communication with them, but imitated their wicked At the same time, the prophet, showing that God did not teach them misanthropy, but only wanted to protect their safety, added: “and it was a temptation for them” - this communication and connections with the pagans - and the temptation was not accidental, because in their madness they reached the perversion of nature, which the psalmist further says: “and they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons and shed innocent blood, the blood of sons and daughters. their own, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was slain with their blood, and it was defiled by their deeds. And they committed fornication by their actions” (Ps. 105:37-39). Towards the end the prophet abandoned the most extreme wickedness. Indeed, what could be higher than this wickedness - to defile the earth with the blood of one’s sons and daughters and sacrifice them to bloodthirsty demons? They didn’t even render to God what was lawful, but they slaughtered their children for idols! “And they committed fornication by their actions.” Here you call fornication not only intemperance, but service to idols; since, being betrothed to God, they were attached to those, their false worship of God was rightly called fornication. “And the Lord became angry with rage against His people, and abhorred... His inheritance. And he delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and those who hated them took possession of them. And their enemies were cramped, and they humbled themselves and fell under their hands" (Ps. 105:40-42). 5. This is evidenced by the history of Judges, and also by the books of Kings. Now the Moabites, now the Ammonites, the Amalekites, the Midianites and the Philistines were betrayed by God, trying to benefit them with punishment. The words: “and he abhorred... His inheritance” somewhat seem to contradict what was said before: “in order... to see the prosperity of Your chosen ones, to rejoice in the joy of Your people, to boast in Your inheritance.” But only now does the prophet speak about a vile heritage, and before he spoke about another heritage, about another people and tribe with which he asked to be identified with. Here, first the people become vile, then they are betrayed by God, and finally they are conquered by their enemies. And as long as God controls something, they cannot gain power there. “Many times He delivered them, but they upset [Him] with their stubbornness and were humiliated for their iniquity” (Ps. 105:43). Inflicting punishment, He again returned to love for mankind, but they repaid Him against those who were contrary. He was sweet to them because of his love for mankind, but they forced Him to be bitter to them. And again He saved them, and they destroyed themselves, completely abandoning themselves to the deeds of destruction, until they were completely destroyed. Here the expression: “many times” resembles the Words of the Savior: “how many times did I want to gather your children,” and the words: “and they were humiliated for their iniquities” correspond to: “and you did not want” (Matthew 23:37). “And the Lord saw when they were sorrowful, and heard their prayer” (Ps. 105:44). All this is confirmed by events: both the fact that they turned to God, forced by necessity, and the fact that their appeal was always heard. “And I remembered His covenant and repented according to the abundance of His mercy” (Ps. 105:45). Because of the promises made to the fathers, He granted mercy. The prophet calls the relief of punishment repentance. In itself, the state of repentance with God is impossible: He does not want one thing today, and another tomorrow, but, wisely disposing of everything, He imposes punishment and preserves humanity. “And he bowed down to them compassion before all my captivity and their lice” (Ps. 105:46). Ezra says that the Lord God placed in the heart of Cyrus the king, and then Darius and Artaxerxes, love for mankind in relation to the Jewish people. And now, being subordinate to the Romans, they enjoy “generosity,” not according to their own dignity, but according to the mercy of God. God’s repentance is not a change in His feelings, but a weakening of punishment: “Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, to confess to Your holy name, to boast in Your praise” (Ps. 105:47). This shows that the prophetic word teaches them how they must appease God and earn His care. And the great apostle predicted the future salvation of the Jews through Elijah the Thesbite: “The Deliverer will come from Zion, and will turn away wickedness from Jacob, and this covenant will be from Me, when I will take away their sins” (Rom. 11:26-27; Is. 59:20). Of course, it is not the building of Jerusalem - according to the foolish - that should be expected, and not the (restoration of) the legal service, dumb sacrifices, circumcision, the Sabbath, or sprinkling, the shadow after all-holy baptism - all these are the ravings of drunken old women - but, of course, here is a calling and knowledge of the truth, and faith in the Lord Christ, and the conclusion of a new covenant. Here they learn how to pray for what exactly the Jews expect, and what we consider fulfilled with the coming of the Savior, when everyone everywhere accepts the saving preaching and begins a better community in the kingdom of heaven. There, in addition to the present, we are promised the true land, when it is said: “blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5); those gathered there will give thanks to God for what they have received, extolling themselves with praises to their Savior. “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. And let all the people say: let it be, let it be” (Ps. 105:48). Everyone praises with songs the Lord of all, who called himself the God of Israel and did so much to save people. And all the people should respond to the voice of those singing: Amen. “Let it be, let it be” - in Hebrew it is: “Amen, Amen.” Hence, it is customary in churches for the people to join in the praise of the priests by saying the word: Amen, in order to take part in it and receive the blessing of Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom 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: