Собеседование 36 на псалом 88

Ps.89:1. In for teaching. Etham the Israelite. 1. This psalmist is different from the eighty-seventh psalm indicated in the inscription: that one is called Heman, and this one Etham. They were probably relatives or fellow citizens, which is why the other one is called an Israelite, having received this name either from the place (of his origin) or clan. And this psalm is inscribed: “for teaching,” since this prophecy speaks of great deeds of the mind of God. “Your mercies and, Lord, I will sing forever, I will proclaim Your truth with my lips to generation and generation" (Ps. 88:2). Of course, this is a real age in which God was pleased to give us not just one kind of mercy, but many: baptism, repentance, alms; through each of them a sinner can receive mercy and condescension. “To generation and generation I will proclaim Your truth with my lips.” . “For generations and generations”, i.e. into the present and the future. In both cases, we proclaim the truth of God, now knowing it from the inspired Scripture, and then, understanding it by deed itself and clearly seeing the truth shining in our conscience, when everyone receives reward for their deeds. Why the prophet assimilates mercy to the present age, and truth to both the present and the future, is shown by further words. “For You have said: “Mercy will be established forever,” Your truth is established in heaven” (Ps. 88:3). Both, he says, are determined by the judgment of God. Which one exactly? Perhaps, of course, God’s preaching: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). With these words, God called and encouraged sinners to repentance. He says: “repent,” because now there is a place for mercy, and here the organizer of our salvation has won us mercy. Then, affirming this, he added: “for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” wanting to show that when the Kingdom of Heaven comes, there will be no place for repentance, since in heaven the Judge has prepared his truth, and the truth of the Judge carries out judgment without any leniency. But how is it created, i.e. is mercy prepared, and how is truth prepared in heaven? Obviously - a preliminary trial. Both, however, through the coming of Christ, which is why the prophet further is completely clear and points to the latter. “I have made a covenant... with My chosen ones, I have sworn to My servant David” (Ps. 89:4). What covenant? The gospel about which Jeremiah said: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not such a covenant as I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt” (Jer. 31:31-32). Who serves as the mediator of this covenant? “I swore to David my servant: I will establish your seed forever and build your throne for generations and generations” (Ps. 89:4-5). You see that the mediator of this covenant is He who was born of the seed of David. He performs the sacrament, he says, not with random haste, but prepares it in heaven - the coming of the Savior was an eternal true predestination. Therefore, God promises to establish the seed of David forever, meaning Christ, about whom Paul in the letter to the Romans says: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called an apostle, chosen for the gospel of God, which God first promised through His prophets in the holy scriptures concerning His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Rom. 1:1-3). This throne, i.e. kingdom, God promises to establish it in generations and generations, because He who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, in addition to the present kingdom, also owns the future, as Daniel spoke about this: “and to Him was given power, glory and a kingdom, that all nations, tribes and languages ​​should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and His kingdom will not be destroyed” (Dan.7:14). There follows a change of tone, since the speech continues on behalf of the prophet. “The heavens will tell your wonders, O Lord, and your truth in the assembly of the saints” (Ps. 89:6). By heaven, understand those who think about heavenly things. Such a person is called heavenly by Paul. So in another place the same prophet says: “the heavens...tell the glory of God” (Ps. 18:2), meaning, as in this case, the apostles. These latter confess, that is, with thanksgiving, they proclaim the miracles of God and the truth in the church of the saints in Jerusalem, as Luke clearly says in the Acts of the Apostles, telling about Barnabas and Paul, that when the apostles and elders gathered to consider the issue that arose (about circumcision), “then the whole assembly fell silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul telling what signs and wonders. God created through them among the Gentiles” (Acts 15:12). “For who in the clouds can be compared with the Lord? Who can be likened to the Lord among the sons of God?” (Ps.89:7). It speaks of angels and heavenly powers. “He will become like the Lord among the sons of God” - here is a comparison with the saints. Of course, neither an angel nor a saint can compare with the Creator, Who is above everything that exists. Well, the prophet used the word “compared” in relation to the angels, since they are also incorporeal; nevertheless, they do not have equality with God, since they are in space and have outlines, which is why there are countless numbers of them. Likewise, in relation to the saints, he used the word well: “to be likened”: even though they preserved the image and likeness that they received from God, the latter was given by God only in part, so that the comparison in this respect does not have complete similarity. Indeed, how can the one who receives become like the one who gave, who has the power to take away his gift? “God, glorified in... the host of saints, is great and terrible... for all those around Him” (Ps. 88:8). 2. Although God finds great joy in the host of saints and considers it his glory, nevertheless, He is afraid of them. Saints are around God, approaching Him through holiness of life; but God is terrible for them when they sin, since He does not at all favor the righteous if they sin. Or rather, God is terrible even for those who do not sin, which is why Job said to Him: “Remove Your hand from me, and let not Your terror shake me” (Job 13:21). But God fears not out of hatred, but out of love, because “blessed are all who fear the Lord” (Ps. 127:1). “Lord, God of strength! Who is like You? You are strong, O Lord, and Your truth surrounds You” (Ps. 88:9). The Prophet often repeats this expression, not asking a question to God, but out of amazement at His greatness and wanting to show His incomparability with anything else. That is why he calls Him not only Lord, but also God of powers, i.e. angels, archangels and all other powers, if any exist unknown to us. If they are all subordinate to God, then how can they become like their Master? “You are strong, O Lord, and Your truth surrounds You.” The prophet points to the superiority of God over creation. But here he also testifies to His equality with the Son. So that you, like some wicked people, do not think that the Son is unlike the Father, the prophet, calling Him the truth of the Father, as coming from Him, further says that this truth “surrounds” the Father, since only the Son contains within Himself The Father, as He Himself says: “The Father is in Me and I in Him” (John 10:38). He holds the great as the great, the strong as the strong. That is why, having said to the Father: “You are strong, O Lord,” the prophet further added: “And Your truth surrounds You,” so that you would know that although the Father is great and strong, and no one can compare with Him, but the Son is equal to Him, which is why it is said that He “surrounds” the Father. “You have dominion over the power of the sea, the turmoil of the waves... You tame it” ( Ps.89:10) Turning from the invisible to the glorification of God in visible things, the prophet naturally mentioned the sea as a terrible force, over which, however, God has such dominion that he sets the sand as its limit, tames the stormy movement, pacifies the waves, eliminating the winds that disturb and uplift it. “You have humbled, like a wounded, proud man, with your mighty arm you have scattered your enemies” (Ps. 89:11). Here, of course, is the devil, who was wounded by pride, for which he was humbled by being cast from the highlands to the earth, and here he is trampled and crushed under the feet of the saints, as Paul says in the Epistle to the Romans: “But the God of peace will crush Satan is quickly under your feet" (Rom. 16:20). "With Your arm Your enemy has scattered them." (Isa.53:1). He scattered the enemies of God - the Jews, about whom he appears in the prophet as saying: “They have become my enemies” (Ps. 139:22); scattered them, destroying the place where they worshiped according to the letter of the law. “The heavens are yours and the earth is yours, you founded the universe and what fills it” (Ps. 89:12). From here it is clear that He alone uses them as He pleases. “You founded the universe and what fills it.” The fulfillment of the universe is man, because for his sake, for our benefit, all other animals live on earth. God founded this fulfillment by giving him the natural law, which serves as the basis of all human well-being, so that man will not be subjected to and misfortune if it keeps its foundation intact. “Thou hast created the north and the sea...; Tabor and Hermon will rejoice in Thy name” (Ps. 89:13). Other translators, instead of the sea, say: south, or: right hand, denoting the south by the right hand, since according to its geographical location it is located to the right of the east. It is good that the prophet indicated the sea along with the north, because in Divine Scripture this expression usually denotes the west. So the book of Numbers, having said that some tribes were located to the east of the tabernacle, others to the south, and others to the north, designates with the indicated expression those who were located from the tabernacle to the west: “the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies to the west” (Num. 2:18). In the present case, the prophet compares the west with the north because both sides are distinguished by darkness and cold, and also because he wants to overthrow the error of those who attribute these parts of creation to an evil creator, wickedly and blasphemously dividing the creation, and to testify that these parts were created by the same Creator. “Tavor and Hermon will rejoice in Your name” (Ps. 89:13). 3. Why did the prophet mention these mountains only, if not because the transfiguration of Christ took place on Tabor, which is located next to Hermon? That is why it is said that both of them rejoice in His name: the first as one who was worthy to receive such a sacrament, the second as one who received a blessing from his neighbor. That is why the prophet in another psalm expresses a blessing to Hermon, saying: “like the dew of Hermon that descends on the mountains of Zion” (Ps. 132:3). “Thy arm is strong, may Thy hand be strong, and may Thy right hand be exalted!” (Ps.89:14). With what force? With the power of the cross, because “the message of the cross,” as Paul teaches, “is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). What kind of power is this? Our conversion from error, which was accomplished through the cross by the Son, the arm of the Father. This is confirmed by further words: “Might be Thy hand and exalted Thy right hand.” “Let her be strong,” not in the sense that she would receive strength, because she had it, but in that she would clearly show herself when the sacrament was completed, which Christ himself predicted, saying: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me” (John 12:32). And that the Only Begotten is called the arm and right hand of the Father has already been sufficiently shown by us earlier. These names are applied to Him because the Father accomplished everything with Him, as with His own hand. “Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). “Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of Thy throne: mercy and truth go before Thy face” (Ps. 89:15). What throne? Undoubtedly the future, which is why the prophet mentioned “foundation.” Here, in this life, from our deeds our Judge prepares for himself truth and judgment, arranging the future judgment from these very deeds. “Mercy and truth go before Thy face.” Naturally, mercy precedes, and the truth follows it, because if God did not put mercy in advance, then who could bear the truth of judgment? But how is truth united with mercy? God does not have mercy on everyone, but only on those who regretted their sins and made amends for them either by repentance or by acts of mercy towards their neighbor. “Blessed are the people who know the (victorious) exclamation: “Lord!” In the light of Your countenance they will go" (Ps. 89:16). The exclamation is the cry of soldiers who have won victory in battle. Those who, therefore, have defeated the devil, or have improved in virtues, or have repented of their sins, know the exclamation and receive eternal bliss, some as having acquired crowns, others - as those who have been delivered from punishment, because “blessed” are not only “blameless in the way” (Ps. 119:1), but also “blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are forgiven” (Ps. 32:1). The following agrees with this: “Lord! In the light of Your face they will walk, and in Your name they will rejoice all day long, and in Your righteousness they will be exalted” (Ps. 89:16-17). All their lives they will walk in the light of God, i.e. in the law: “Thy law is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my ways” (Ps. 119:105), and they will rejoice in His name, resorting to God, whose name is above every name, whose slavery is freedom, and whose friendship is dominion over all nature. “And in Thy righteousness they will be exalted,” the same ones mean. What does this elevation bring them? “For You are the praise of their strength, and by Your good pleasure our strength is carried” (Ps. 89:18). While the Jews boast in Moses and are proud of Abraham, like his descendants, and the Greeks trust in wood and stones, and are vainglorious in the wisdom of the devil, for us Christ is strength, and the Father of our strength is praise, and our horn is exalted by the favor of the Father, why it is not will be crushed, since who can destroy the glory of God? How then is he exalted by the good pleasure of the Father, by whom we are called to be adopted as sons, as Paul affirms in the letter to the Ephesians, saying of the Father that He “predestined us to be sons to Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will” (Eph. 1:5). I am ours” (Ps. 89:19). Look how David preaches and says the same thing with Paul: “The same is not painful for me, but edifying for you” (Phil. 3:1): just like that, he repeats the same thing about the Savior in several verses in a row, calling Him as God, Lord and Holy. He calls Christ Israel and our king because He was born of the seed of King David and is called Israel according to the Spirit. “Once upon a time You spoke in a vision to Your sons, and said: I have helped the mighty, I have exalted the chosen one from among my people” (Ps. 88:20). When is there no time? In "in the vision of Thy sons", i.e. in the vision of your sons. The prophet calls the pagans who received salvation sons, to whom Paul said: “Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son” (Gal. 4:7). So, when God saw that the pagans were striving for salvation, and, guided by the natural law, they felt the lawgiver, but were unable to comprehend Him (since he had lost his power for them, due to the error that had appeared), then He said the following: “and said: I have helped the mighty, I have exalted the chosen one from my people” (Ps. 89:20). The strong one is Christ, which is why He is called the power of God. On Him, i.e. through Him (not through a legislator, not through a prophet, but through His own Son) God provided help and salvation to us pagans. How? This is clearly indicated in the psalm itself: “I have exalted the chosen one from among my people.” Of course, as you see, Christ, who was exalted on the cross and drew the lost to himself, being the chosen one from the human race. He was “better than ten thousand others,” as the Song of Songs says (Song 5:10), having many advantages in the flesh, compared with other people: being born of a virgin, not being involved in sin, and the like. “I found David my servant, and anointed him with my holy oil” (Ps. 89:21). 4. Having prophesied above about Christ, the psalmist now speaks clearly about those who believe in Christ. “Found”, he speaks as if about someone who is lost, who has gone astray. Indeed, we were that lost and lost sheep that the shepherd sought, leaving behind the ninety-nine others (Luke 15:4-5). But at the same time he calls himself a slave, since he never served idols, and also David, because of his kinship with Christ, and at the same time - as a strong hand, because David means: strong with a hand. The pagans are strong in hand, who, having raised a war against idols, were anointed for this with the holy oil of baptism, about which John the Theologian said: “you also have the anointing of the Holy One” (1 John 2:20). And you all know that you were anointed in order to prepare yourself to bravely go into battle; Likewise, the pagans also needed further help for their struggle. “Therefore My hand will protect him, and My arm will strengthen him” (Ps. 89:22). How, in fact, could someone who was previously in their power struggle with the principalities, with the powers, with the rulers of darkness, with the spirits of evil (Eph. 6:12), if he were not strengthened by the hand and arm of God? Therefore, it is said not simply: he will protect him, but: he will “strengthen” him, that is, he will provide assistance and intercession, so that the higher hand will assist him in the exploits of the struggle and share his labors. “The enemy will have no success over him, and the son of iniquity will no longer cause him harm” (Ps. 88:23), - of course, the devil, who will be powerless to turn us away from faith in Christ. “And the son of iniquity shall no more harm him,” i.e. the Antichrist, whose coming is expected, as Paul writes about this in his letter to the Thessalonians: “But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and keep you from the evil one. We are confident about you in the Lord, that you do and will do what we command you” (2 Thess. 3:3-4). But he will not harm those who believe in Christ, because they have instructions how they can evade him and avoid his deception. These instructions are contained in the speeches of Christ regarding the end of the world. “I will cut off before his face his enemies and those who hate him” (Ps. 88:24). The enemies and those who hate us, as has been said many times, are demons. Christ crushed them at his first coming and inflicted a wound on them with the cross, as if with a sword; he will finally defeat them at the second coming, so that they will no longer be able to fight against us. “And my truth and my mercy are with him, and in my name his power will be exalted" (Ps. 89:25). From everywhere he protects the believer, wanting the latter to know how he received salvation, how his horn was exalted, how he became stronger than his enemies. All this is given to us precisely through Christ, who is the mercy and truth of God, as well as the name of the Father, and in Him, as the Son, everything is known. “And I will lay his hand on the sea, and his right hand on the rivers” (Ps. 89:26). Here baptism is called the sea, because it is said about the devil: “I will remove him who has come from the north from you, and will drive him into a land without water and waste; his foremost horde is into the eastern sea” (Joel 2:20), and rivers are the gifts of the Spirit, as Christ says: “whoever believes in Me, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38), and the Evangelist, wanting to clarify what was said, he added: “He spoke these things about the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were to receive” (John 7:39). So this is where our hand and right hand are; This is where we gain strength. “He will call Me: You are my Father, my God, and the defender of my salvation” (Ps. 89:27). It is not on his own (the believer) that he dares to make such a calling, but by the good will of the Savior, Who made us His brothers and like Himself, and therefore commanded us to pray: “Our Father who art in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). “My God and defender of my salvation” (Ps. 89:27). Although God by grace became a Father for us, we do not cease to call Him God and the Intercessor of our salvation. Seeing how the devil oppresses us and how those clothed with flesh are overpowered by the incorporeal, He became our Intercessor, recognizing our enemy as His enemy and dividing our lot. These are the words of our calling; what does He promise us for them? “And I... will make him the firstborn, above the kings of the earth” (Ps. 89:28). The Jews, therefore, are deprived of primacy. “I will,” he says, wanting to show that we were not once the firstborn, but later became, like Jacob, having delighted in the blessing of the oldest people. 5. "Above the kings of the earth." All the righteous, who are truly called kings of the earth, are amazed at the height of our sacraments and for their sake consider us too high, which is why many wanted to see what we see and hear what we hear (Matthew 13:17). “I will keep My mercy for him forever, and My covenant is faithful to him” (Ps. 89:29). These words cannot serve as praise for the Jews, but only for the pagans, because only in relation to the latter does God retain mercy forever, since our sacrament will remain unshakable until the end of the world. In the same way, we also have a faithful covenant with God, because we approach it by faith and sacrifice blood for it, as the exploits of the martyrs testify to this. “And I will continue for ever and ever his seed and his throne (I will make) as the days of heaven” (Ps. 89:30). We do not receive rewards here, like the Jews, but in the future life our seed will bring us those benefits, “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no one has entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). “I will make his throne as the days of heaven,” and rightly so, because “our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20). “I will make his throne as the days of heaven.” Understand here either the blessed life of the angels, or unlimited time, because God, about whom it is said that he dwells in heaven, is unlimited. “If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My statutes, if they violate My statutes and do not keep My commandments, then I will punish them with the rod of iniquity and the blows of their iniquity" (Ps. 89:31-33). Those who forsake the law of God are those who violate even the slightest part of what is written in it and want to fulfill its instructions according to their own, and not according to the will and intention of the Lawgiver. They do not walk in the destinies of God are those who, during the judgment, fear the rich or have mercy on the poor, while God wants the judgment to be equal for everyone. Those who pretend to be virtuous, but in fact insult the commandments, because they do not fulfill them from the heart, it is said that they do not keep them. God punishes the iniquity of such people with a rod, and their unrighteousness with wounds. when we are subjected to punishment, we will not blame God, we will not blame, even if we strive in fasting or some other virtue, because we do good deeds not as we should, which is why we need punishment. However, along with punishment, God also promises mercy. “But I will not take My mercy from them and will not change My truth” (Ps. 89:34) God promises to show us great love: first He punishes us for our sins, “for the Lord punishes whomever He loves; he beats every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6), but then he does not at all recognize those who have sinned as worthy of rejection, which is why he does not deprive us of mercy. How? So that after punishment everyone has mercy. But, he says, He will not violate His truth. But what does His truth desire? So that the one who believes in Him, even if he dies, lives, i.e. even if he sinned, he was saved by repentance. That is why other translators, instead of “truth,” used the word “faith.” So, God punishes believers so that they repent and are saved, and so that he himself does not turn out to be a violator of the promise connected with faith. This can be seen more clearly from the following words: “I will not break My covenant,” i.e. I will not abolish, “nor will I forsake what has gone out of My mouth” (Ps. 89:35). The prophet clearly speaks of the promises made in the Gospel regarding believers; That is why, having mentioned the covenant, so that you would not understand what was given through Moses or other prophets, he added: “And I will not refuse what has gone out of My mouth,” so that you would understand the words spoken by the mouth of Christ Himself, whom we have just mentioned. “Once upon a time I ... swore by My holy blood: Shall I lie to David?” (Ps.89:36). The oath of God is called His promise, due to its inviolability, which is why in another place David represents God as saying: “For this reason I swore in My wrath, that they should not enter My rest” (Ps. 94:11), calling the promise an oath, because by whom can He swear, by whose name all swear? What exactly did God promise David, not wanting to lie? “His seed will endure forever, and his throne will be like the sun before Me... and like the full moon forever. And the witness (of this) in heaven is faithful” (Ps. 89:37-38). 6. Who is this witness? It is clear that Christ, because He was in heaven the adviser of the Father when He said this. Isaiah also said about him: “And you and My servant whom I have chosen are my witnesses, says the Lord” (Is. 43:10). He is rightly called a faithful witness, since he gave evidence not only in words, but also in deed; and God gave a promise to David when the latter planned to build a church for the ark: “I will raise up,” God told him, “after you, your seed, which will come from your loins, and I will strengthen his kingdom. He will build an house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:12–13), calling Christ Christ the seed of David because of the flesh. That is why Matthew began the Gospel with these words: “the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). Paul also speaks of Christ: “His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Rom. 1:3). His throne is like the sun, because his kingdom is in light. But so that you would not think anything humiliating about him, He added: “before Me,” i.e. equal to My throne, because the prophet used “before” here to denote not opposition, but equality. This throne, moreover, is established forever, like day. Under the eyelid, as we have said many times, is, of course, real life; During the latter, this throne was no longer established as the sun, but as the moon. Just as the moon has an eclipse and different revolutions, so the glory of Christ in the present life fades for some - namely the wicked - but exalts for the pious. Sometimes He delivers those who believe in Him over to persecutors and allows them to endure bonds, prisons and death, which seems to be an eclipse of His glory; but at other times he suddenly defeats the persecutors and exalts His glory so much that the kings themselves begin to reverently honor those who suffered for Him. This is why the kingdom of Christ during this life is compared to the moon. The prophet, of necessity, then changes his tone, because until now he spoke on behalf of God, and now he himself turns to God with his own words. “You have rejected..., and have despised, and cast down Your anointed one" (Ps. 89:39). Such a change of faces surprises simple people; but it is common among David, since the very performance of hymns alternately on the psalter and harp is quite consistent with this. These words show that the promises were made regarding the pagans, and not the Jews. The Prophet says that God rejected the Jewish people and humiliated them, that is, recognized them as insignificant and worthless. Listen further: “And He cast down Your anointed Lord” until the time of the coming of Christ, because the Jews were not able to accept Him. But not only this, but also further words indicate the rejection and contempt of the Jews. “You have rejected the covenant with Your servant, you have cast down his sanctuary to the ground” (Ps. 89:40). What covenant, made with whom, if not with the Jews, did God destroy - namely, when He destroyed and destroyed all the decrees that they had? The Prophet now calls the Jews slaves, not because they serve according to the commandments of God, but, wanting to incline God to mercy, and at the same time, to point out that lazy slave, who served as the image of the Jewish people, who hid his talent (Matthew 25:25). “He cast down his shrine to the ground.” These words do not require explanation, because the former shrine of the Jews was desecrated in front of everyone, and was trampled upon not only by people, but also by all sorts of unclean animals. “Once he destroyed all his fences and made his fortifications dangerous” (Ps. 89:41). This refers to the provisions of the law, rightly called strongholds, because of the oath placed on them, which was like a thorny thorn. “Made its fortifications dangerous.” What the Jews previously hoped for as a stronghold, now that their life has changed, they fear, not daring to perform sacrifices, holidays, or other provisions of the law. “Has he been plundered by all who pass by on the road, he has become a treasure among his neighbors” (Ps. 89:42). By “road” you mean life here, because in the Gospel Christ says: “Make peace with your adversary quickly, while you are still on the road with him” (Matthew 5:25). This path is followed by all who believe in Christ, who spend life without worldly worries, somehow, do not try to achieve anything in it, but strive just get through it quickly; they stole the law and the prophets from the Jewish people - their true wealth. “He became a burden to his neighbors.” We are rightly called neighbors of the Jews; We rightfully consider them worthy of blame for the fact that they do not want to be saved, despite the fact that salvation came from them. “You have exalted the right hand of his oppressors, you have made all his enemies glad” (Ps. 89:43). 7. Do you see what the prophet says about the rulers of the Roman Empire; that the latter oppress the Jews is obvious. But they also exalted the right hand, i.e. their power, expanding their kingdom, which is why they devastated the country of Judea. “He made all his enemies happy.” If the prophet calls the pagans enemies, then God delighted them not with the disasters that He inflicted on the Jews, but with the blessings that He gave us; if he calls demons enemies, he delighted them by depriving the Jews of his protection and allowing them to endure intrigues from anyone who wanted them. “You rejected (Your) help from his sword and did not defend him in battle” (Ps. 88:44). The sword of a godly man is God’s command, because with it we defeat opposing forces, which is why Paul said: “the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:12), but the sword of the Jews, in particular, was the law of Moses. His help is God. turned away because he abolished his execution according to the letter. “And he did not defend him in battle.” Which one? In battle with us, because the Jews often fight with us on the basis of the law and the prophets, but God gives the help of the scriptures not to them, but to us, presenting all the scriptures for their accusation and for our justification. “He stopped his purification; he threw his throne to the ground” (Ps. 89:45). How? Having established true cleansing - baptism, because when complete cleansing was announced, the private cleansing of the Jews was naturally abolished. That's why, instead of: ruined, in the sixth edition the translators said: immersed. “The throne threw him to the ground.” Think of the throne as either royal, or teaching, or priestly; all these thrones of the Jews, which were the pride of their kings, priests and teachers, were crushed, which is why it is said that they were thrown to the ground. “He has shortened the days of his time..., he has covered him with shame” (Ps. 89:46). The life of the Jews did not remain forever and was not established, like the life of the pagans, until the end of the world, which is why it is rightly said that they were covered with shame. And that their life was shortened because of their iniquity, this is clearly shown by the words spoken by God to Solomon regarding the church: “If you and your sons turn away from Me and do not keep My commandments and My statutes that I have given you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will destroy Israel from the face of the land that I have given them, and the church that I have dedicated to My name will I cast away from before Me, and Israel will be a byword and a laughing stock among all nations" (1 Kings 9:6-7). The change of tone interrupts the prophecy, because the prophet, leaving the face of the Jews, turns to God with a request for all humanity. “How long, Lord, will you turn away to the end? “Will Your anger burn like fire?” (Ps.89:47). Disgust at the end, i.e. perfect, the prophet calls the delay of the coming of the Savior, because the Creator could only have mercy on our race by accepting the firstfruits of our nature. “Will Your anger burn like fire?”, i.e. will destroy those who collected it, because this is the property of fire. But why didn’t the prophet say: “it burns”, but “it will burn”? Because God, like a father, although he is angry when we sin, is also long-suffering until we ourselves, adding another to one sin, kindle the strongest anger against ourselves for revenge during Gehenna. “Remember: what is your nature? Did You really create all the sons of men in vain? (Ps. 89:48): He is weak, says the prophet, and insignificant, because we came from the earth and are returning to the earth, which is why we need Your help to recreate. This last point is indicated by the further words: “Have You created all the sons of men in vain?” You created man not as a transitory something, so that he would only appear and disappear, like other animals, but so that he would serve as an adornment to all creatures, and so that through him the meaning and purpose of creation would be visible. But now the situation has been perverted, and man is destroyed by death, which the prophet laments in further words: “What kind of man... will live and not see death, and deliver his soul from the power of hell?” (Ps.89:49). The death sentence, he says, rules over everyone; the souls of all, even the righteous, are imprisoned in hell, and the dignity of the image given to us is destroyed by the dominion of death. The prophet always cited these words, wanting to hasten the coming of the Savior, because no one could get rid of death and lead his soul out of hell until He came who trampled death underfoot. Returning again with prophecy to the Jewish people, the prophet here again introduces a change of tone. “Where... are your ancient mercies, O Lord, which you swore... to David in your truth?” (Ps.89:50). Those. Thy truth, - of course, - Christ, Who is the truth. What God swore to David was revealed by David himself in another psalm: “The Lord swore to David... of this truth, and will not deny it: I will set the fruit of your womb on your throne” (Ps. 131:11). 8. So the prophet asks for the fulfillment of the promise, pointing to the coming of Christ, which serves as the basis of all the mercy and love of God towards us. These mercies are ancient, because their mystery was ordained by God from eternity, which is why Paul says: “a mystery, hidden from ages and generations, but now revealed to His saints” (Col. 1:26), and Isaiah calls it true counsel of old (Is. 25:1). “Remember, O Lord, the burden of Your servants, which I bore in my breasts, from many nations” (Ps. 89:51). The psalmist calls prophecy his bowels, because in it, as in the bowels, he hid real spiritual reproach; or rather, David calls the prophecy about the Lord his bowels, since He, according to the flesh, had to come from his bowels. Since not only David, but also all the other prophets, whom he called the servants of God, suffered much reproach from the pagans, due to the fact that the fulfillment of the prophecy about Christ was delayed, why the latter was considered false, the psalmist begs God to remember these reproaches and clearly show the incarnation of the Lord in order to maintain respect for the prophets. And that this is so, find out from the following: “by whom diarrhea or Thy enemies, O Lord, by whom they reviled the change from Thy anointed One!” (Ps.89:52). Do you see that the critics reviled the prophets because of Christ? And it was not only the pagans who reproached, but also the Jews. Therefore, Paul said well: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Above, the psalmist said that the prophets suffered reproaches from many pagans, whom he also calls slaves; here he says that the replacement of Christ, i.e. The Church (because He acquired it in exchange for the Jewish synagogue) is being reviled by the enemies of God - the Jews, about whom the same David said: “The enemy of the Lord and the Lord lied to him, and they will have disasters forever, but He fed... them with fat wheat, and satisfied... them with honey from the stone” (Ps. 81:16-17). Why do they revile the Church? Because she was waiting for Christ in order to become engaged to Him through faith, as Hosea says: “And I will betroth you to Me in fidelity, and you will know the Lord” (Hos. 2:20), He said, calling the Church ignorant of God, since it received neither the law nor the prophets, and until Christ appeared, the preaching of faith did not take place. “Blessed be the Lord forever. Let it be, let it be” (Ps. 89:53). The prophet imprinted his speech with a beautiful seal. He glorifies Christ in a purely good way with the same words with which Paul blessed Him: “their are the fathers, and from them is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever, Amen” (Rom. 9:5). That is why other translators, instead of: “let it be, let it be,” translated: amen, amen. Why does the prophet pronounce a double blessing? Because the one who appeared “over all and God” will put an end to the reproach of both the prophets and the Church. Let it be known to You that the third book of interpreters ends here. Remember, as was said earlier, that the prophecy of the psalms is divided into five books, each of which ends with a psalm, with a blessing concluded with the word: 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: