Chapter 62

Ps.63:1. Psalm to David, when he was never in the desert of the Jews. And David sings this psalm, fleeing from the face of Saul, and for the sake of a virtuous life, calling on God for help. But it also applies to the soul, which was anciently in the desert, deprived of all good, and then turned, by the grace of Christ. Ps.63:2. God, my God, to You in the morning. In these words, he expresses a diligent stay in prayer. Early, he says, I rise to offer hymns and prayers to You. It is not only the soul that is filled with Divine love, but also the “multiplicity” and “flesh”. For we must not only exercise ourselves in piety, but also please God with our very bodies, such as: in fasting, in frequent prayer, in reclining on the bare ground, in handicrafts to provide for those in need. The land is empty and impenetrable. The desert, he says, did not cause me the slightest harm, but even there, as if standing in Your very tabernacle, I bring hymns. means the Tabernacle, because the Divine Church had not yet been built. Thus in the Holy One appeared to You. What does "taco" mean? Is it not that you appeared, thirsting and desiring union with You, the Holy One? And who is this Saint if not the Only Begotten? Ps.62:4. For Your mercy is better than your belly, because those who have come to the mercy of God, i.e. to Christ, they regard the life of the present age as nothing, and utter such words, claiming that the mercy granted to them by the Only Begotten is greater than the length of this present life. Ps.63:5. Thus I will bless You in my belly. I will do this all my life, singing songs with my lips, raising my hands, and asking for Your love for mankind. I will lift up my hands in Your name. I will no longer raise my hands to a foreign God, as before, but to You alone, calling upon Your name in prayers. Ps.62:6. For with fatness and ointment may my soul be filled. Shows what benefits those who decide to place their hope in Him alone have. And my lips will praise the lips of joy. When I remember Your name, then my lips are filled with joy. Ps.63:7. I still remember You on my bed. It is said: “if I remember” instead of “remembering”, why the meaning of the speech is this: remembering You, I became vigilant in praising You, in the hope of Your glorious gifts, which You bestow upon those who call upon You. Ps.63:8. For Thou art my helper, and in the shelter of Thy wing I will rejoice. Since You Yourself help me, protecting me with Your help, this makes me happy. For “blood kril” calls protection and help. Covered by You, I will rejoice with joy. Ps.62:9. My soul clings to You. And for a short time, he says, I cannot distract my thoughts from the remembrance of You: but, flaming with love, with the remembrance of You, as something clinging, I will become attached to Your love. And then he shows the fruit of love: but Thy right hand is acceptable to me. What is the Right Hand of the Father if not the Only Begotten Son of the Father? Ps.62:10. You have sought my soul in vain. He is already crying out against the opposing forces, complaining about the violence that he suffered from them, and begging to put them to eternal execution. Ps.63:12. The king will rejoice in God. Having described the end of those who dishonored Christ and showing that the underworld of the earth will be their part and inheritance, he turns the word to another host of people. And this is the host of those who believed in Christ, who, having been granted the heavenly kingdom, are rightly called kings, according to what the Apostle said: “Oh, that they may reign naturally!” (1 Cor. 4:8.) And this royal people rejoices in spiritual joy, which God himself gave them. I, he says, having received the kingdom from You, am consoled by Your help, and not by their death. Everyone who swears by Him will boast. So, and by praising them, i.e. reigning, there will be Christ, why, and uttering the oath itself, they will rightly boast of this, for they swear, according to what is written, by the true God (Ex. 22:11). As if the mouth of those who speak unrighteously is blocked. Who are these but those who did not dare to say: “Take him away from the earth; for it is not fitting for him to live” (Acts 22:22)? It was their lips that stopped when the Lord trampled death and rose again for three days. But the lips of the most resistant forces are stopped when sin is taken away by grace, according to what was said nowhere: “and all iniquity will stop its mouth” (Ps. 106:42). For “God justifies: who condemns” (Rom. 8:33–34)? You might be interested in: