Chapter 89

Ps.89:1. Prayer of Moses the man of God. They say that Moses, having written this prayer, passed it on to be kept secret, so that people of subsequent times would know how they should make confession when they fell into misfortunes, which would befall them in the last times, after their disobedience to the Lord and after committing murder. But so that over time this prayer would not be consigned to oblivion, they included it among the psalms, and very opportunely placed it after the eighty-eighth psalm, which depicts the suffering of the Lord. Ps.89:2. Lord, you have been our refuge throughout all generations. Wanting to bend God to mercy, he decently begins the prayer by remembering the benefits already provided many times over. And how God benefited each generation, anyone can see this by paying attention to what happened under Pharaoh, what happened under Jesus, and what happened in Babylon. Ps.89:3. Before even the mountains would not exist, and the earth would be created. Because, looking at the flesh of the Lord, they revered the Lord as a simple man, and said: “You have not yet reached the age of thirty, and have you seen Abraham” (John 8:57)? - and this very thing that they did not recognize the Divinity was the main reason for their fall: those who confess now clearly say that He is before all creation and co-essential with the Father. Ps.89:4. Do not turn a person into humility. This begins confession. The Psalmist asks God that He Himself would turn after He had called all nations to the knowledge of the truth. You said, Master: “Return, you returning sons, and I will heal your afflictions” (Jer. 3:22). So, since we have turned, “turn us not away into humility.” Ps.89:5. For a thousand years are before Your eyes, O Lord. This refers to the time of subordinate service, during which the Israelites prospered most, after the construction of the Divine Church. For from Solomon, who created the house, to the siege that took place after the honorable Cross, a thousand years were completed. But this thousand years is counted before You as one day, or, better to say, as a small part of a day. It is right that the time preceding the coming of the Savior is likened to night; because all people were in darkness and confusion, since the Sun of righteousness had not yet risen for them. Ps.89:6. The humiliations of their summer will be. It is clearer to say: their years, that is, those who have denied You, will be in great humiliation; because they became a trampling on people and demons, as those who denied the One who redeemed and saved them. The morning will flourish and pass away. The word “morning” means the time of Christ’s appearance on Mount Sinai; and the word “grass” depicts subordinate service as soon to wither. In the evening it will fall off, become hard and wither. “Evening” refers to the time at the end of the age, in which the Only Begotten appeared, and in which the flower of subordinate service passed away, brought into “hardenness” by the seduction of disobedience. Ps.89:7. As if Thy wrath has vanished. They clearly proclaim the disasters that befell them because of their own sins. And this can be applied to the Jews and to all people; because the entire human race, as a punishment for their iniquity, was subjected to disasters and overwhelmed by all kinds of troubles, and the Jews, for the deceit of their hearts, were deprived of their freedom. Ps.89:8. Thou hast laid down our iniquities before Thee. You have not left, he says, our iniquities unattended, because we ourselves have called them upon our heads, saying: “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matthew 27:25). Our age is in the illumination of Your face. As if he were saying this: our life and our deeds throughout our lives turn out to be evil before Your face; because You are not unaware of everything that happened with us from beginning to end. Ps.89:9. For all our days have become impoverished, and by Your wrath they have disappeared. Sin has brought Your wrath upon us; and anger brought punishment; punishment produced disease. For we spent a short time of our lives in illness. Ps.89:10. Our summer is like a spider learning. Human nature has nothing solid and permanent in itself; like a web, it is easily torn apart. The days of our years are as many as seventy years. This is similar to what the patriarch Jacob said: “small and evil... are my days: I did not reach them in the days of... my father” (Gen. 47:9). Therefore, although others live longer than the stated time; but this happens to few. Here it shows what is common and what most people are subject to. For just as he did not mention those who die prematurely, so he did not speak about those who live long and end in extreme old age. However, even this short period of life is full of illness and labor. For meekness will come upon us, and we will be punished, because our life seems to be dead and insignificant, and we do not know what will happen to us after this under Your power. Therefore, punish us gently. For it is said “he will come” instead of “let him come.” They ask to accept punishment through Christ, Who is the Father’s Right Hand. That's why it is said: Ps.89:12. Tell me this from Your right hand. The word “tell” refers to both, that is, tell us Thy Right Hand, or Christ, and tell us those who have wisdom in their hearts; and these are the holy Apostles and Evangelists who taught us how to convert. Ps.89:14. We will be filled with Your mercy in the morning. As if having already achieved what they prayed for, they say this; because for them too the Sun of righteousness will rise at the end of this age. Ps.89:16. And look upon Thy servants and Thy works. It is said again: “look” instead of: “looked,” or looked upon Your servants and the works of Your hands. In this visit, having seen the lordship of our God, and having been converted, we will correct ourselves as soon as we complete the work of conversion. Ps.89:17. And may the Lord our God be upon us. The light of the knowledge of God has made us bright and glorious; and the Jews, upon their return, became famous again. And correct the works of our hands[imp]. “Deeds” - what is according to the Law; and “work” is what is done in the New Testament; because in the Old Testament there were various sacrifices, but in the New Testament one Son is sacrificed. And correct the work of our hands[imp]. Or: “works” of hands are our individual actions, and “works of hands” are knowledge acquired as a result of those actions. Οὔπω τριάκοντα ἔτης γεγονας ..., In another work by St. Athanasius this text reads absolutely correctly: πεντήκοντα ἔτη οὔπω ἔχεις (IV Epistle to Bishop Serapion, On the Holy Spirit, paragraph 17 You might be interested in: