Chapter 109

In this psalm, David depicts the birth of the Lord according to the flesh, His gospel word, which prevailed over all nations, and His ascension into heaven, from which the psalm begins, saying: Ps.109:1. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. What kind of enemies these are, the Apostle explains, crying out: “When he destroys... the principalities and powers” ​​and the rulers of the world, “the last enemy will be destroyed by death” (1 Cor. 15, 24, 26). Ps.109:2. The Lord will send a rod of power from Zion,” he means the sent gospel word, which began to dominate all enemies. Ps.109:3. The beginning is with You in the day of Your power. This means either the time of judgment, when He will judge everyone with Divine power, coming with His holy Angels, or the time of His birth, which is called the day of power. “With You” there will be a “beginning”, because he possesses the whole universe, although he became a man. In the light of Thy saints. The words “in the light of Your saints” mean nothing more than those faces of the holy Angels who, on the night when Christ was born, cried out: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace” (Luke 2:14). From the womb before the star I gave birth to Ty. See how the Father assimilates to Himself the birth of the Only Begotten according to the flesh 12. The Father says to the Son: before the existence of this visible world and radiant light, I gave birth to You. He says not because God has a womb, but because by birth from the womb a true, and not an imaginary, birthright is given. Ps.109:4. The Lord swears and will not repent. The oath of God is the word of God, certifying those who listen and instilling in everyone faith that what is promised and spoken by God will certainly be fulfilled. For God does not swear as a man, but His word serves us instead of an oath, confirming in truth that it will also be immutable, like a promise given with an oath. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek, because Melchizedek was not anointed with oil, like Aaron, for the priesthood, and did not offer bloody sacrifices, and was the high priest of the pagans, and blessed Abraham with bread and wine. Ps.109:5. The Lord has destroyed the kings at Your right hand in the day of His wrath. He calls the day of wrath the time of judgment, when he will crush the demons who reigned in ancient times through deception, and will imprison them in the abyss. Ps.109:6. He will judge among the nations, he will bring about failures, i.e., during the trial, punishing unclean spirits, he will show that the pagans are filled with downfalls and were subjected to torment in the depths of the earth. He will crush the heads of many lands. This is similar to what He said in Isaiah: “and brought their blood into the ground” (Is. 63:3). Ps.109:7. It drinks from the stream on the way. Scripture calls temptation a “stream,” and “path” means His walk on earth, during which He, who descended as a stream, endured suffering. For this reason he will raise his head. What does it mean: “for this sake”? Is it not that He suffered in the flesh? This is similar to what was said: “he humbled himself, becoming obedient even to death” (Phil. 2:8). It is difficult to explain why the expression “according to the flesh” (κατα σαρκα) is added here. We are obviously talking about the eternal birth of the Son from the Father, and not about His carnal birth from the Virgin Mary. It is in this sense that the text quoted by St. is explained. Athanasius in the IV word on Arians (pp. 27–28.) You might be interested in: