Собеседование 26 на псалом 106

1. Many times we have pointed out that the old covenant is a shadow of the new. It is no less easy to see this from the present psalm. And on the one hand, he predicts the liberation of the Jews, and on the other, he predicts the salvation of all people. The one hundred and fourth psalm depicted the promises given by God to the patriarchs and the gifts received by their descendants; in the psalm that follows, in addition to good deeds, the ingratitude of the Jews and the disasters that befell because of it are described. But the real psalm predicts liberation from captivity due to the ineffable love of God. But since those psalms in the images of the canopy spoke about what belongs to us, then in this psalm we will look for predictions about our salvation, because what is essential in the prophecy relates more to us than to those. “Confess the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever” (Ps. 106:1). Again the prophetic word commands to glorify the benefactor of God; He finds a reason for glorification in His love for mankind. Of course, he says, this could only be done by people who escaped disasters thanks solely to the mercy of God, without any assistance on their part. And such mercy for those who have achieved something temporary does not last, but for those who have been rewarded with eternal blessings it is eternal. Meanwhile, it is said: “I will have mercy on you with everlasting mercy” (Is. 54:8); (this is said) about the One who shows mercy to thousands who love Him and prepares for them, “no eye has seen, no ear has heard” (1 Cor. 2:9); “good” and “mercy” are, of course, synonyms here. “(So) let those who are redeemed by the Lord say, whom He delivered from the hand of the enemy” (Ps. 106:2). Having shown in the previous psalm, where it was said: “The Lord was angry with His people, and abhorred His inheritance” (Ps. 106:40), the rejection of the Jewish people, here the prophet speaks of the calling of the pagans from all over the universe, gathered and plucked by the Savior from the hands of the devil for His holy Church. In vain, of course, do the Jews expect that they, having gathered from scatterings among the pagans will themselves dwell in Judea. Over the past thousand years since their captivity in Babylon, this has not happened, but the calling of the pagans has been accomplished in practice. “And he gathered them from the countries: from the east and the west, and the north and the sea” (Ps. 107:3). We do not see this fulfilled among the Jews: they live scattered throughout the entire universe; The Lord called and gathered the church from the pagans throughout the entire universe, eastern and western, northern and southern, and such gatherings can be seen everywhere on land and sea. Only to a weak extent could the same be said about the Jews, when some of them returned from Babylon, while others in small numbers were collected from Egypt and the surrounding countries. “They wandered in a waterless desert, they did not find the way to an inhabited city” (Ps. 107:4). The life of those called from among the pagans was previously waterless and fruitless. Like pagans devoid of reason, they got lost and indulged in the service of silent idols; at the same time, alien to the life of Israel, they languished with hunger and thirst of soul, because they were deprived of reasonable food and spiritual drink, in accordance with the words: “I do not thirst for bread, nor do I thirst for water, but I thirst for hearing the words of the Lord” (Am. 8:11). Of course, for the Jews, Babylon was deserted and waterless. It was a desert in relation to God, and the Jewish people, being in slavery there, were deprived of spiritual irrigation. In the same way, those who believed among the pagans lived in a waterless desert, having no hope and being godless, as the apostle says: “you were at that time without Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and being godless in the world” (Eph. 2:12). Neither the Jews were able to escape from their enslavers and return to their fatherland, nor those who believed among the pagans before the incarnation of the Savior found the path leading to the divine city. By city here we must mean the society of the pious. “They were hungry and thirsty, (so that) their life was lost in them" (Ps. 107:5). The hunger for divine teaching tormented both of them. Just as the Jews, while enslaving in Babylon, were deprived of priests and could not perform their legal service, so the pagans, on the other hand, did not receive either the divine law or were rewarded with spiritual teaching, and yet both constitute food inherent to souls. It was with this famine that God threatened the Jews: “I will send,” He says, “a famine on the earth, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water” (Am. 8:11). “But they cried out to the Lord in their sorrow, and He delivered them from their need” (Ps. 107:6). Of the Jews, the more pious ones offered prayers to God; this is evidenced by the prophecy of Daniel: both he himself, and Ananias, Azariah and Mishael, praying for everything, asked for divine mercy. The pagans, suppressed by various misfortunes, groaned and indulged in cries and inconsolable crying, having no hope of resurrection; of course, they did not ask God for all kinds of deliverance from the evils that beset them, nevertheless, the Lover of Mankind saw their sighs and extended his mercy to them. Indeed, of course, when the pagans, as I said, were in misery due to the deprivation of the said blessings, the angels of God who stood for them, like the shepherds of the human flock, cried out to God that a common Savior should be sent to them. the loving God guided them on the right path, which is the saving word of the Gospel. It led us to the heavenly city, which is why we are commanded to preach the miracles of God to all people, so that everyone, having learned about the grace that has been given to us, hasten to the same salvation. Or maybe someone will add that in ancient times the Jews, oppressed in Egypt, cried out to God; if they do this now, then through this they will achieve perfect freedom in Christ. “And he led them on a straight path, so that they could enter the city...inhabited” (Ps. 107:7). The Lord granted return to the Jews through Cyrus of Persia; through the holy apostles He instructed the pagans and showed them the highest city, which has “a foundation, the builder and builder of which is God” (Heb. 11:10). “Let the Lord be confessed to His mercy, and His wonders to the son of men” (Ps. 106:8). Symmachus translated it as follows: “and His miracles over the sons of men.” Of course, it is not mercy or miracles that bring a song of thanksgiving to God, but those who have received such benefits. The liberation of the Jews is marvelous and worthy of wonder, but even more marvelous and remarkable is the salvation of the universe, a change for the better, the end of error and the knowledge of the truth. The cause of all this is divine mercy, because “He saved us, not by works of righteousness which we had done,” says the divine apostle, “but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5-6). “For He has fed the weary soul and satisfied the hungry soul with good things...: those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, bound in poverty and iron” (Ps. 107:9-10). 2. And the Jews, who languished in slavery and embitterment and wasted away from (spiritual) hunger, were freed by the Lord from the disasters that weighed on them, and He nourished every human soul with divine teaching, freed them from the darkness of ignorance and enlightened them with the light of the knowledge of God, and dispelled the shadow of death that covered us, giving us the hope of resurrection and breaking the strong bonds of sin. “The wicked are caught by his own iniquities,” says the Wise One, “and he is kept in the bonds of his sin” (Prov. 5:22). And: “Woe to those who drag iniquity upon themselves with ropes of vanity, and sin as with the straps of a chariot” (Is. 5:18). And an empty soul in the proper sense can be called that soul, pagan or Jewish, which is deprived of spiritual food. “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work” (John 4:34). After all, this is food, and, moreover, the best food, which is why Christ said: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). Christ did all this, saturating the universe with such food. Without sinning, you can call idolatry and acts of godlessness a shadow of death, because they close true life for us. With them we have long grieved God and irritated the council of the Most High. In fact, it was necessary in the greatness and beauty of creatures to contemplate the Founder of all and in the creation of the world to understand His invisible power and divinity, and we, like blind people, being in darkness and the shadow of death, bound and blinded in relation to the rational powers of the soul, “and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image similar to corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed creatures, and reptiles” ( Romans 1:23). “Because they resisted the words of God and the counsel... They did not submit to the Most High, their hearts were humbled by their labors, and they became weak, and they had no helper” (Ps. 106:11-12). The cause of all these disasters for both the Jews and all people is sin. And they, in vengeance for their sins, were handed over into slavery to the Babylonians, and all people fell under the burden of labor after breaking the commandment, because then Adam heard these words: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; you will eat from it in sorrow all the days of your life; She will bring forth thorns and thistles for you; and you will eat the grass of the field; By the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground from which you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you will return” (Gen. 3:17-19). Among such misfortunes, they did not find any solution to the evils that surrounded them, but He who betrayed them into these misfortunes Himself granted them liberation. “But they cried out to the Lord in their sorrow, and He delivered them from their needs. And he brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and tore their bonds to pieces” (Ps. 107:13-14). Having compassion on both those and others, He delivered some from the misfortunes that befell them, and freed others from the darkness of ignorance and dissolved the bonds of their slavery. You can call the shadow of death idolatry and atheism, which previously removed us from true life, upsetting God and irritating the council of the Most High. Then our hearts humbled themselves under the weight of sin, since our innate rational strength left us, which no one could return, because everyone was exhausted and there was no helper. The accomplishment of this great work was reserved for the Word of God alone. As for the words: “they were torn apart by their bonds,” they mean the complete remission of sins, which the grace of the Savior granted us. “Let the Lord be confessed to His mercy and His miracles to the son of men! For He has broken in pieces the gates of brass and broken the bars of iron” (Ps. 106:15-16). The prophet called the gates of copper and iron locks the inexorability of evil. Just as it is impossible for a prisoner inside such gates and doors to escape, so it was unthinkable for the Jews to escape enslavement to the Babylonians, and for all people to escape the power of death. Only one divine mercy was able to destroy the power of both those and this latter, and bring relief from sorrows. The psalmist said the same thing a second time when repeating His benefits. He shows the fall of human souls to death, which is why he asked Him for condescension to death; and having accomplished this, the Lord crushed the gates, insurmountable for any mortal, and therefore called copper and iron. And in the book of Job the Lord says: “Have the gates of death been opened for you, and have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Have you surveyed the breadth of the earth? Explain if you know all this” (Job 38:17–18) He alone covered our iniquities, which carried us to the gates of hell. “I took them out of the way of their iniquity, and for their iniquities they were humbled” (Ps. 106:17). Neither for the Jews, nor for people in general, the disasters were unjust, but both of them were punished for what they sinned. However, both those and others, drowned in such great evil, were honored by the Lord with salvation. “Their soul abhorred all food, and... they approached the gates of death” (Ps. 106:18). 3. The Jews, overwhelmed by many evils, could not even eat food. This is also in another psalm, as if on their behalf, the prophet said: “I forgot to eat my bread” (Ps. 102:5). And the pagans did not want to listen to the instructions of their own philosophers, which is why some condemned Socrates to death, others subjected Anaxarchus to unheard-of punishment, others, having gravely insulted the followers of Pythagoras, caused them premature death. However, God attracted them all to participate in the immortal food, prompted them to begin to her with complete disposition and freed her from the gates of death. On the other hand, we can also understand here the spiritual food about which the Lord spoke to the apostles: “do not strive for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life” (John 6:27). For them, the gates of death were sins, which they approached, when they should have moved away from them, because as much as they approached them, they inevitably moved away from the gates of life. But although they were far away, Christ brought them closer to Himself with His blood. “But they cried out to the Lord in their affliction, and He delivered them from their needs” (Ps. 106:19). For God, what matters is not the cry emitted by the lips, but the disposition of the soul; so to Moses, who remained silent, he said: “Why are you crying out to Me?” ( Ex. 14:15 ) “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their corruption” ( Ps. 106:20 ). God the Word, made man and sent as a man (as God He is, of course, indescribable, present everywhere and containing everything in Himself), healed all kinds of spiritual wounds and strengthened corrupt minds. So He healed that sinful woman and inspired her to be cheerful (Luke 7:47); So he strengthened the paralytic, saying: “Your sins are forgiven you” (Matthew 9:2); so He brought the thief into paradise; thus he made publicans teachers of the universe; Thus, those who approach all-holy baptism are reborn and cleansed, and healed from all sinful wounds. “Let the Lord be confessed to His mercy and His miracles to the son of men! Let them offer Him a sacrifice of praise and let them tell of His deeds with joy” (Ps. 106:21-22). For all this, he says, we should rightly glorify the humane God, who has shown so much mercy and given us extraordinary salvation. It is necessary not only to know the miracles of God, but also to teach them to the ignorant, and to encourage everyone to sing solemn songs to Him. At the same time, it should be noted that here too the prophet urged to offer God a sacrifice of praise, and not a sacrifice of the dumb. Consequently, here too he discards subordinate service. Aquila called the “sacrifice of praise” the sacrifice of thanksgiving. “They who go on ships to the sea, who have business on the great waters” (Ps. 106:23). With the revelation of the Word of God to people, the present prophecy very consistently connected the remembrance of the apostles and those who shared their labors, because they went down to the sea in judgment, in the exact and literal sense, as the Holy Scripture testifies to them in the Gospels. Moreover, here the prophet inspires to perform new sacraments of the new testament, saying: “and they will offer Him a sacrifice of praise.” And it was exactly like this: “as He passed,” it is said, “near the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers: Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting nets into the sea, for they were fishermen, and He said to them: follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. From there, going further, He saw the other two brothers, James Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them in the same way (Matthew 4:18-19, 21). Thus, these words of the psalm refer to the apostles, as if answering someone’s question: who are they? the prophet added: “those setting off on ships to sea,” and further. And on them all this was fulfilled in full force. In fact, when the disciples of our Savior were sailing with Him, “there was a great disturbance on the sea,” says the evangelist, “so that the boat was covered with waves”; then they, falling down to Him, said: “Lord! save us, we are perishing.... Then, getting up, he rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great silence” (Matthew 8:24–26): this is exactly what it means to see “the works of the Lord and His wonders in the depths.” “They saw the works of the Lord and His wonders in the depths” (Ps. 107:24). The Prophet here turns to a comparison. He means that just as sailors, crossing the great seas, witness various manifestations of divine power, and often a storm plunges them into great difficulties, and they achieve salvation contrary to human calculations, so the Jews, who received liberation after such misfortunes, experienced the power of God. In the same way, all people, seeing the extraordinary change in circumstances, the dispersion of the previous error, the silence that has descended on the souls, and the harbor of resurrection, are surprised at the Author of all this. Here by the sea we must understand our life, by the ships - the churches in which the apostles worked on the work of salvation, obviously, among a multitude of people, they saw the works of God, that is, His creations, and miracles. that is, the signs that He, in arranging our salvation, placed in the depths, that is, in the wisdom with which He arranges our affairs. Of course, depth is the wisdom of God, with its incomprehensibility and immeasurability. “He river,” and a stormy wind arose, and its waves ascended: they ascend to the heavens and descend to the abyss..., their souls melted away in disasters” (Ps. 107:25-26). By this the prophet taught that at His beck both sorrows and joys come. He means here the temptations that arouse the stormy spirit, that is, the opposite, when God allows it for exercise and the manifestation of the righteous. God Himself shows, How exactly did He allow the devil to tempt, saying to Job: “Do you want to overthrow My judgment, accuse Me in order to justify yourself?” ( Job 40:3 )? Precisely, what fire is to gold, so are temptations to souls, melting them, not in order to destroy them, but in order to reveal what brilliance they have. “They trembled and swayed like drunken people, and all their wisdom was lost” (Ps. 106:27). 4. The comparison also continues: he seems to be talking about sailors, but in reality he means various spiritual misfortunes, which no one is able to resolve with the help of human wisdom. In fact, even the pilots, who, like drunkards, are tossed here and there when the excitement breaks out, sometimes even, straining all their skill, are unable to cope with the horrors of the storm. “But they cried to the Lord in their affliction, and He led them out of their needs. And the storm commanded, and for a hundred... silence, and the waves raised by it fell silent. And they rejoiced that they had calmed down, and He brought them to the harbor that He desired” (Ps. 106:28-30). When those swimming in the sea call on Him, He extends His help to them, and at His beck the storm is immediately replaced by a light breeze, the turbulence of the sea subsides, and those threatened with trouble in His gracious help find deliverance from trouble. So the Jews were freed from their bitter slavery. “And He brought them to the port, we wish it for them.” He only wished - and put an end to the disasters, and instead of the storm a harbor appeared. This applies more to us than to the Jews. He really directed us to the harbor of His desire, giving us divine knowledge. This pier is obviously His kingdom: it is rightly called a pier, since the waves of temptation do not reach it; and, moreover, of course, it is the haven of Christ’s desire, since such was the desire of Christ: “Righteous Father! and the world did not know You; But I knew You, and these knew that You sent Me” (John 17:25). “Let His mercies and His miracles be confessed to the Lord, the son of men! Let the people extol Him in the assembly, and... in the assembly of the elders, let them praise Him!” ( Ps. 107:31–32 ). Following the apostles, the Church and its priesthood are remembered. This should have been added to the gospel of good things. It is necessary, he says, in the church of the pagans to glorify God, who does extraordinary things. The pagans and Jews mutually changed their position. The Jews were rejected for their wickedness, deprived of the appearance of angels and the ministry of the prophets, their very country and the city, which previously bore good fruits, from the time of the rebellion against Christ remains barren, not being a capital, having neither a sanctuary, nor a holy of holies, nor a priesthood, nor a kingdom; having lost their freedom, they are subject to pagan laws. The Church of the pagans, previously waterless, deserted and wandering, is now filled with good things, itself feeds the hungry and constitutes a divine community; she is - a populated city, in which there is spiritual food and heavenly bread. “He turned rivers into deserts and springs of water into a thirsty land. The fruitful land is turned into salt marsh, because of the malice of those who live on it” (Ps. 106:33–34). As you can see, this constantly happens among believing nations. In fact, in all the churches throughout the universe, publicly, under the leadership of the sacred council, they glorify the Benefactor, extolling the wonders of divine love for mankind. Those who have achieved salvation glorify Him under the impression of the extraordinary revolution they have seen. Indeed, previously watered by abundant prophetic rivers and bearing ripe fruit to God, now they do not receive even an insignificant amount of moisture, but due to their depravity they are completely deprived of the previous irrigation. “He turned the desert into lakes of (plentiful) water, and the arid land into springs of water” (Ps. 106:35). The pagans, barren in ancient times and without even a meager source, are now flooded with the waters of teaching, receiving spiritual currents beyond measure. But notice to what extent what is said here about the church agrees with what Isaiah preached. After all, he also said: “I will open rivers on the mountains and springs in the valleys; I will make the desert a lake and the dry land springs of water” (Isaiah 41:18). “And he settled the hungry there, and they built a city to live in” (Ps. 107:36). Those who had previously been exhausted from hunger and suffered deprivation of spiritual food, the Lord settled on those rivers and gathered them into a pious society. “And they sowed the fields, and planted vineyards, and received fruit... from the plants” (Ps. 106:37). Heavenly seed, from the apostles, always passed on by succession, is sown in souls prepared by a repentant life, as the Savior says: “A sower went out to sow his seed: some fell by the wayside, some fell on a stone, and some fell among the thorns, and some fell on good ground and, sprouting, bore fruit a hundredfold” (Luke 8:5-8). that is, the churches existing everywhere on earth - in accordance with the words: “I planted you as a noble vine, the purest seed” (Jer. 2:21); and: “My Beloved had a vineyard on the top of the fattened mountain.... The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His beloved planting” (Is. 5:1, 7). synagogue, so now refers to the church of the Gentiles. And that the pagans bore the fruit of righteousness, the Savior says about this: “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and will be given to a people bearing the fruits thereof” (Matthew 21:43). “And He blessed them, and they multiplied greatly, and He did not diminish their cattle” (Ps. 106:38). 5. The Prophet used a figurative expression here. And the Lord often resorted to similar comparisons, and sometimes called the apostles reapers, then Himself a sower and farmer, and those who readily accept the seeds of teaching - rich soil. And the apostle says: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase,” and in another place: “you are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Cor. 3:6, 9). So, the apostles sowed the seeds of saving preaching, and planted spiritual gardens for God, and brought Him the ripe fruit of righteousness. And everyone after them who believed the teaching (of Christ) continues to do the same. And, of course, “whoever sows generously will also reap generously,” according to the words of the divine Apostle (2 Cor. 9:6). He calls those whom they graze, and whom the Lord has multiplied by giving the power of miracles, as cattle. This is confirmed by blessed Luke in Acts: “The Lord added daily those who were being saved to the Church” (Acts 2:47). And the Lord himself calls believers sheep. “My sheep,” He says, “obey My voice” (John 10:27). “But they lost their minds and began to fall into poverty, as a result of suffering from evil and illness” (Ps. 107:39). So, these, says the prophet, who had never lived in the waterless desert, having believed, were awarded such great prosperity and blessing; those who had previously enjoyed the streams of the prophets, being then deprived of them for their malice and remaining completely deserted and barren, were subjected to various misfortunes and were scattered throughout the whole universe, so that their native city, once populous, is now inhabited by few. “Humiliation was poured out on their princes, and He left them to wander in an impassable (place where) there are no paths” (Ps. 106:40). This prophecy is confirmed by deeds. In fact, those who present themselves as their princes and teachers have no meaning: once glorious and famous, they are now completely insignificant and are despised by their own people. Then, although physically The Jews are multiplying, according to the prophecy: “The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea” (Hos. 1:10), but not all of them are recognized as worthy by the Holy Spirit; through the prophet Isaiah, he says: “Even if your people, Israel, were as many as the sand of the sea, only the remnant of it will be converted” (Is. 10:22), which is exactly what he says now, i.e., that they perished in the midst of disasters and misfortunes. But this majority is the outstanding people; according to their merits and knowledge, they were given over to humiliation, it was them “and He left them to wander in an impassable (place where) there are no paths.” Symmachus translated it as follows: “and cause them to wander in vanity of thoughts.” God does not lead astray, but He leaves those who do not obey Him without His guidance, and, of course, without guidance, thrown here and there, they go astray. This is what the Jews suffered: having abandoned the right path, they follow their own inventions. “And he helped the poor (to get rid of) poverty, and made the tribes (numerous) like... sheep” (Ps. 107:41). Symmachus: “And you will protect the poor from bitterness”; and calls the people poor. and made the tribes (numerous) like... sheep." In Aquila: "and set up families as a flock of sheep," and in Symmachus: "and set up families like a flock of sheep." This is said about the Churches founded in cities and countries. And the Savior speaks of his people: "My sheep obey my voice." But the prophet speaks of this as about the future, and not as about the present. “They see... the righteous will rejoice, and all iniquity will stop their lips” (Ps. 107:42). Seeing this, those faithful to the ways of righteousness are filled with joy, and those who prefer to live in wickedness and lawlessness are forced to sink into the ground and remain silent, curbed by the judgment of righteousness. What will they see other than a revolution from worse to better? Therefore, those who contemplated the fulfillment of prophecies The Savior said: “Blessed are your eyes, for they see: ... many prophets and righteous men desired to see, but did not see” (Matthew 13:16-17). By lawlessness we must understand the devil and everyone inclined to lawlessness. “Who is wise and will preserve this? And they will understand the mercies of the Lord” (Ps. 106:43). Their greatness is a task for the mind and spirit, and requires wisdom to understand. But to understand the Savior’s economy, filled with love for mankind, and to keep the divine laws, is not given to everyone, but only to those who cry to the Master: “Open my eyes, and I will understand the wonders of Your law” (Ps. 119:18). And he says: “they will understand” - because it presupposes that the pagan believers have this knowledge. Glory to Christ 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: