Chapter 85

Blessed David, having been enlightened by the Spirit and having foreseen the coming of the Only Begotten and the future remission of sins to everyone who resorts to Him, not without reason sends up a prayer, asking that he become one of those saved by grace. Ps.85:1. O Lord, incline Your ear and hear me: because humility really serves as a great aid to the one who prays to be heard. The beginning of the prayer of humble wisdom. For David and Hezekiah, both having acquired the wealth of righteousness, did not look at it, but had in mind the poverty of their nature and begged God to have mercy on its poverty. What is said: “Lord, incline Your ear” is taken in a figurative sense from a patient who, due to weakness, cannot speak loudly and convinces the doctor to incline his ear to his lips. Ps.85:2. Save my soul, as I am reverend. Ask to hear him for success in good deeds. Save Your servant, my God, who trusts in You. Because he called himself reverend; then again he returns to humble speech, counting himself among the servants of God and testifying that in God alone he has the hope of salvation. Ps.85:3. Lord, have mercy on me, as I cry to You. This word teaches us that anyone who wants to receive something good from God must constantly remain in prayer. Ps.85:5. For You, Lord, are good and meek. He teaches those who come to God not to lose heart, even if the Lord hesitates for some time in fulfilling what is asked; because he will certainly hear them, as one who is good and abounding in mercy. Ps.85:8. There is no one like You in bozeh. God. He calls the holy Prophets, to whom God’s word came, gods. He says that none of the Prophets could deliver people from sin, except the Lord alone, according to what was said elsewhere: “not an Advocate, less than an Angel, but the Lord Himself saved” us (Is. 63:9). Ps.85:11. May my heart be glad to fear Your name. He who has acquired reverence for God loves to live in accordance with the Law. And such a life is the mother of fun. Therefore, the Prophet rightly assumed that his heart would be gladdened by fear. So in another place he says: “Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice” (Ps. 104:3), and again: “I remembered God and were glad” (Ps. 76:4). Ps.85:12. Let me confess to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart. Suddenly changing the prayer into a confession of the fact that “he has been delivered from hell” (Ps. 85:13), he explains the reason why he sinned, and precisely the intrigues of many, and, moreover, “powerful” (Ps. 85:14), meaning by this the invisible forces that “do not set God before you.” But You, says, Lord, showed me mercy, which they did not expect, by Your love for mankind, delivering my soul from the lowest hell. Christ says this when “the kings of the earth appeared and the princes gathered together against Him” (Ps. 2:2). Ps.85:13. For Your mercy is great upon Me. As if the prayer had already reached its end, he says that he will forever praise the great mercy of God, because he freed their souls from the hand of hell. Ps.85:14. God, the lawbreakers have risen up against me. Shows that he fell into that sin from them. And why would he have fallen otherwise, if some host of wicked demons had not risen and stopped him on the path of virtue? Ps.85:15. And You, Lord my God, are generous and merciful. Although the evil spirits who rebelled against me brought me down into sin, and through sin into this lowest hell; however, You, Lord, having extended Your bounties to me, You Yourself delivered my soul. Why, I ask you to have mercy on me again. It will be mercy for me if you look at Me. Ps.85:17. Do a sign for good with me. Just as God of old in Egypt gave a sign to the children of Israel so that they would not suffer harm from the destroyer, so he asks to give him a sign in order to be protected thereby and to shame his enemies. You might be interested in: