Собеседование 27 на псалом 107

And this psalm also predicts the return of the Jews (from captivity) and foreshadows the salvation of the pagans. It has great affinity with Psalms fifty-six and fifty-nine. The song of the psalm is called doxology in the mind, as will be seen from what follows. “My heart is ready, O God, [my heart is ready]: I will sing and sing in my glory” (Ps. 107:2). We have already said that the prophet calls the grace of prophecy his glory. Using, he says, a prophetic song, I tell you, Master, that my heart is firm and ready to accept Your divine grace. “Blessed,” he says, “are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8); they will say with boldness: “My heart is ready, O God.” The meaning of these words of the prophet is this: behold, Master, what is required of me has been prepared for You; send now Your Holy Spirit and the gift of prophetic grace: I have prepared my tongue to serve her. “I will sing and I sing” if You fulfill my desire, or better yet, fill my heart “In my glory” - the grace of prophecy, or a contemplative and at the same time active state. “Arise, my glory, arise, psaltery and harp, rise early. I will confess to You..., Lord, among the nations, I will sing to You among the nations” (Ps. 107:3-4). The prophet calls himself a psalter and harp. As if from a musical instrument, the grace of the Spirit extracted from him prophetic song. And he responds to divine inspiration both soul and body, and the harp corresponds to the members of the body and the sense organs, through which the mind perceives everything that is needed, while the psalter corresponds to the rational powers of the soul, as if devoting the first fruits of his life to God, the prophet singles out the morning hours, the time of light, as the most suitable of the whole day. So, having inspired himself to glorify the Lord, he then promises to do this early in the morning, since at this time his hymn will not remain alone. will merge with the praise of countless peoples and tribes. The prophet calls the incarnation of our God and Savior morning, because from it the light of truth will shine. Blessed David sings about him throughout the entire universe through the lips of everyone, glorifying divine blessings. “For great is Thy mercy above the heavens, and Thy truth reaches to the clouds” (Ps. 107:5). The greatness of Thy mercy exceeds the height of the heavens; the rays of Thy truth have penetrated everywhere. We have already said that he calls the prophets, the apostles, and those endued with the grace of teaching clouds, because they, like some clouds, bring spiritual irrigation to people, and through them we learn the dogmas of truth. The mystery of Christ's economy is called mercy and truth, as the same prophet said in another place: “mercy and truth met” in one (Ps. 85:11). and indeed God the Word became incarnate. To explain this, David again said: “the truth has shone from the earth,” meaning the humanity of the Lord, from our earth, obviously, humanity that has shone. Of course, in heaven the deity of Christ was great and surrounded by the glory that He acquired for Himself by His works, but on earth it was unknown and covered with the shadow of flesh. “Ascend into heaven, O God, and let your glory be throughout all the earth!” (Ps. 107:6). This is what blessed Habakkuk said: “His greatness covered the heavens, and the earth was filled with His glory” (Hab. 3:3). It was blessed David who said in the eighth psalm: “O Lord, our Lord! How wonderful is Your name throughout the whole earth! For Your greatness has been exalted...higher than the heavens” (Ps. 8:2). Next, “be exalted” – it is said in the sense: show Yourself high, highest of all, and let the whole earth know Your glory. “Let Thy beloved be delivered; save with Thy right hand and hear me” (Ps. 107:7). He asks that His grace may come quickly and that He who has ascended into heaven will reveal His glory throughout the whole earth, so that those who can say, “For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ” our Lord (Eph. 1:4-5). The beloved of God are people saved by His love for our race; It was them, having ascended into heaven, that He freed from ancient captivity, as Paul says: “having ascended on high, He took captivity captive and gave gifts to men” (Eph. 4:8). The right hand of God calls His good action or the Holy Spirit, since He is also called the finger of God due to the fact that the Trinity has one essence, power and action. So, the prophet asks that we be saved and heard by the Holy Spirit, so that we may become spiritual and participants in divine grace. “God spoke in His sanctuary: “I will exalt myself and divide Shechem and measure out the valley of dwellings” (Ps. 107:8). The Prophet received what he asked for: since he said “be exalted,” the Lord answers him: “I will be exalted,” and then indicates how: “I will divide Shechem.” Shechem is the city given to Joseph by prior arrangement. But the valley, which was formerly a desert and then received the settlements of heavenly shepherds, I will fill (says God) with inhabitants and arrange it so that it will be divided among those who have returned. With these names the prophet depicts the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He speaks of a valley in which tents appear, obviously of the Church, since here, in this valley, through the action of the Spirit, a collection of mental waters is formed (I mean baptism). Elsewhere David says: “And the valleys will multiply wheat in abundance” (Ps. 64:14); and indeed, the fruit of our salvation is multiplied in the waters of baptism. Sikhima in translation means shoulder, that is, elevation, advantage, because in this meaning the word “shoulder” is used in the Holy Scriptures; for example, it is said about Saul: “and from his shoulders he was higher than all the people” (1 Samuel 10:23). What is higher than the Spirit? Or what is more excellent than His gifts, which Christ, being ascended, shares, and together, of course, measures, that is, gives in measure? “The manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone to benefit” (1 Cor. 12:7). “Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine, Ephraim is the protection of My head, Judah is My king” (Ps. 107:9). I will appropriate to Myself not only Manasseh, but also his country, since Gilead is the name of a place, and Manasseh is the name of a tribe. And I will restore Ephraim to its former power, but Judah, of course, will make the king of all tribes. Indeed, upon returning from the captivity of the tribes remained undivided and Zerubbabel was the leader of both; in his own and true sense, the Lord Christ, descended from Judah in the flesh, reigns over all creation. “Moab is the vessel of My hope; I will place My boot on Idumea. The foreigners have submitted to Me” (Ps. 107:10). I will give my people such strength that they will overcome the foreigners and subjugate the Moabites and Edomites. This is more clearly expressed in the fifty-ninth Psalm. Aquila, the fifth translator, translated this passage more clearly and intelligibly. It is said: “Moab is my washing vessel,” otherwise, a container of water for washing. I know from the words of one Jew a secret tradition that this expression in a mysterious sense indicates the origin of Christ in the flesh from the family of Moab - through the Moabite Ruth, from whom came King David, from whose seed Christ was born in the flesh. if this is really promised to Moab, then we have the right to think the same about the rest of the pagans, which is further confirmed. The Edomites descended from Esau, who was hated by God. So (God says): I will put my boot on the very country of the one whom I hated, which means: I will enter the country of former enemies, accepting them as friends. “Who will lead me into the fortified city? Or who will bring me to Idumea?" (Ps. 107:11) The Prophet, pointing to the calling of the pagans, pleases (as in the fifty-ninth Psalm) those who are worthy to see what awaits the Jewish people, wanting to be one of them. “Fortified city” - from Symmachus: “a city surrounded by a rampart.” Here, of course, is the Church. The Prophet also prays to reach Edomites, where the Lord will extend His boot and His grace, which He bestows on the pagans. “Who” - Symmachus conveyed: “if not You, God,” who no longer provides us with help, but made us slaves. We were not conquered when You led us, however, even then, when others are rejected by You, we will be rewarded with bliss, strengthened by You. “Are you not, O God, having rejected us, and are you not, O God, (who) does not come forth with our strength?” (Ps. 107:12) That’s why he added: “You do not go with our forces,” which Symmachus translated: “And he who does not go, O God, ahead of our armies.” We have never been defeated when You led and led our armies. “Give us help in sorrow, for human salvation is in vain. With God’s help we will show strength, and He will destroy our enemies from them” (Ps. 107:13-14). Deliver us from sorrows and give us Your help, otherwise we cannot receive it from anywhere. All support from people, without Your help, is in vain and useless. That’s why we We turn to Your Providence. Only thanks to it can we overcome our enemies, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever. 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: