Книга 1 О целях написания Псалмов Предисловие к другу

With all readiness, I accepted your, man of God, command, calling me and you equally to work, and delved into the inscriptions of the psalms. For this is what you demanded of us - to explore the meaning seen in them, so that it would become clear to everyone what in them can lead us to virtue. Therefore, having re-read the entire book of psalms with great attention, I recognized that it was necessary not to begin with a study of the inscriptions, but regarding the entire psalmody in general to lay out in advance some method for the skillful understanding of thoughts, by which the concept of inscriptions will naturally become clear to us. Why, first of all, one must understand the purpose of this Scripture, where it is heading; then, following this, consider the direction of thoughts towards the hypothesized, which is shown by both the order that conveniently serves to understand the goal, and the sections of the entire book, determined by special certain outlines with a five-part division of everything contained in the prophecy contained in the psalms. By preliminary understanding of this to the proper extent, the benefit derived from the inscriptions and revealed by understanding what has been previously studied will become clearer to us. Therefore, this is where the review should begin. Chapter 1 Human bliss is likeness to the Divine The end of a virtuous life is bliss. For everything in which we carefully succeed will certainly have something as a goal. And just as the art of medicine has health in mind, and the goal of agriculture is to prepare what is necessary for life, so the acquisition of virtue serves to ensure that the one who lives virtuously becomes blessed; this is the top and limit of everything that we mentally imagine as good. Therefore, what, in the true and proper sense, is seen and mentally represented under this lofty concept will rightly be called the Divine nature. This is how the great Paul calls God, giving all theological names the name: “Blessed,” when in one of his letters he expresses himself in the following words: “the blessed and only strong King of kings and Lord of lords, the only one who has immortality, who dwells in the unapproachable light, whom no man has seen and cannot see. To him is honor and eternal power!” (1 Tim. 6:15–16). All these lofty concepts of the Divine, in my opinion, can serve as a definition of bliss. If anyone is asked what bliss is, he will not sin in following the word of Pavlov in a pious answer and saying: blessed is what in its proper sense and originally is called so, or the highest nature; and in people in some way it is done and called blessed, which is such by participation in the truly Existing One and belongs in them to the nature of that of which they participate. Therefore, here is the definition of human bliss: it is likeness to the Divine. And since what is truly good, or above good, is one thing both blessed and desired by nature, and through the participation of this everything is made blessed, then the Divine Psalm Scripture, in a certain skillful and natural sequence, beautifully shows the way to this one thing, in a simple, apparently ingenuous teaching, variously and in many different ways setting out the ways to acquire bliss. Therefore, from the very first psalm one can borrow an idea about this subject, since the word, dividing virtue threefold, ascribes bliss to each department, in a certain kind of decent proportionality, pleasing that alienation from evil, as serving as the beginning of the desire for the best, then for this teaching in the highest and most Divine, as already producing a habit for the better, then finally through this reaching to the perfect prosperity is likened to the Divine, for the sake of which he calls the previous states blessed, but the latter is guessingly understood under the image of an ever-blooming tree; a life perfected by virtue is likened to him. Chapter 2 About the different kinds of life and how vice delights the senses and virtue gladdens the soul In order to have the most accurate information about the teaching of virtues, which is taught throughout the psalm manual, it will be good, as if setting out some artificial word in a sequential order for ourselves, to determine in detail, first of all, how it is possible for a lover of a virtuous life to remain in virtue. For in this case we will know the consequences of the teaching previously indicated to us. Therefore, whoever intends to turn to virtue must first distinguish in words between decent and reproachful life, designating each with special signs, so that the concept of them is not obscured by anything general and is not confused. Between the signs of the particularity of each of these ways of life there may be some others, but more general than others, according to our assumption, are the following: the joy they bring to people is given either to the senses or to the mind; since vice delights the senses, and virtue gladdens the soul. At the same time, it will be natural for approval and condemnation to remove the thoughts of the listeners from the worst and akin to the best, because condemnation of a bad life arouses hatred of vice, and praise of good deeds attracts the desire for something more approving. Then, in order for the praise of a good life to have a stronger effect and the censure of a bad life to be more striking, it is necessary to bring to memory those who aroused astonishment at virtue and those who were condemned for viciousness; because the presented examples from their lives produce a certain tension and hardness in the spiritual disposition, when the hope of achieving the same honor with the valiant attracts the soul to virtue, and the evil of the condemned excites them to distance and alienation from the same intentions as them. With all this, it will be necessary for each of these cases to set out a detailed teaching that will both indicate the best and turn away from the worst, guiding the ear to the better with some rules and advice, and holding back from the bad with words that inspire disgust. But also by strictly distinguishing this, since it is difficult for nature to accept everything that is alien to pleasure (I mean pleasure that is pleasing to the body; because spiritual joy is far removed from dumb and slavish lust), and a special sign of both, both virtuous and vicious, lives, we have previously recognized that vice flatters the senses of the flesh in us, while virtue becomes spiritual joy in successful; then among those who are now elevated to a higher life, for whom the feeling still seems capable of judging the beautiful, the soul, as unprepared by experience and unaccustomed to such understanding, does not yet have sufficient strength to discern the good. And what is not known at all, even though it is most beautiful, our desire remains motionless; without a previous desire, there will be no pleasure from such a thing for which we do not feel partial; because the path to pleasure is addiction. Therefore, for those who have not yet tasted pure and Divine pleasure, it is necessary to come up with something so that the lessons of virtue would also be accepted, being delighted with something that captivates the senses. This is what doctors usually do when they make some bitter and unpleasant-tasting healing composition palatable to the sick by seasoning it with the sweetness of honey. If, in what we have said, the guide to a virtuous life is fully outlined, namely, how to first separate the opposite kinds of life from one another, then designate each of them with a special sign, then honor one kind with a word, and make the other disgusting through insult, and with the examples of famous men strengthen the thought of each kind, with particular rules to indicate the path leading to the good and turn away from the bad, and what is harsh and demanding in virtue masculine strength, to make it pleasant for infants, delighting with something that amuses our feelings; Then it’s time to understand how, from this discussion, the entire teaching contained in the psalms is revealed to us, keeping us from vice and attracting us to virtue. Chapter 3 About sweetness, composition of opposites, orderliness of psalms So, first (for we start from the last) let us look at this idea, according to which the psalmist made such a stern and intense image of a virtuous life, such a mysterious teaching full of secrets, such an ineffable theology hidden by unspoken contemplations, so comprehensible and sweet that this teaching is studied not only by perfect men, whose souls have already been purified. sensibilities, but becomes the property of the woman’s mansion; as one of the toys, it gives pleasure to babies, but for the elderly it serves instead of a rod and relaxation; and whoever is cheerful considers the gift of this teaching to be his property, and whoever, for some reason, is in a sad mood, thinks that for his sake such grace of Scripture is given. Those who travel, those who sail by sea, or those engaged in any kind of sedentary work, and in general everyone who exercises in anything, both men and women, healthy and sick, consider it a loss for themselves not to have this lofty teaching in their mouths. Even feasts and wedding celebrations, among the joys in this wisdom, borrow for themselves part of the amusement; Let us not talk about the Divine chanting of psalms at all-night vigils and about the wisdom studied by the churches in them. What kind of idea is this for the unspeakable and Divine pleasure that the great David influenced in his instructions, and with which he made that his lessons are so readily accepted by human nature? Everyone may be ready to say the reason why they enjoy studying the psalms. The sweet sound of speech, another will say, is the reason for the pleasure with which the psalms are reread. And I, as fair as this may be, argue that this should not be left without research; for it seems to me that wisdom by sweetness means something more than what many understand. What do I want to say by this? I heard one sage who said the following about our nature: man is a small world, containing within himself everything that is in the great world. And the structure of the universe is a kind of musical harmony, in many forms and variously according to some order and harmony, agreed with itself, supporting itself and never violating this agreement, although some great difference of beings is seen, if we take each separately. What happens to a bow, which, skillfully touching the strings, produces a delightful voice with a variety of sounds, which, of course, would not have been produced if there had been a uniform sound in all the strings; so that which is part of the universe, with the diversity of beings separately seen in the world, according to some always established and inviolable way, touching itself and producing agreement between the parts and the whole, announces the universe with this all-tuned sweet singing, the listener of which is the mind. Just as he does not use this hearing at all, but extends beyond the carnal senses, and ascends the mountains, so he listens to the song of heaven, as, in my opinion, the great David heard it, when, by the skillful and all-wise movement he saw in the heavens, he understood that they would “tell” the glory of God working in them (Ps. 18:2). For indeed, in such a manner, the song of the unsearchable and ineffable glory of God, expressed in such a manner, is this agreement of all creation with itself, composed of opposites. Rest and movement are opposite to each other; and they are mutually dissolved in the nature of the being; and in them themselves we see some kind of inexplicable confusion of these opposites, so that in motion there is peace, and in motionless there is ever-moving. Although everything in the sky always moves, either rotating with a stationary circle, or being carried away in the opposite direction by moving bodies, the mutual arrangement of the celestial bodies always rests and remains the same, from the order in which it consists, never passing into any other, but always remaining as it was. Therefore, the union of the resting with the moving, everywhere taking place in a certain once established and inviolable agreement, is a certain Musikian harmony with which the harmonious and wonderfully composed chant of the Power possessing everything is performed. It seems to me that the great David, having heard it, said in one of the psalms that all the powers that are in heaven praise God, and the starlight, “and the sun, and the moon, ... and the heavens of heavens: and the water that is above the heavens” (Ps. 148: 3-4); and then he lists everything that is in creation; because the mutual unanimity and passion of everything, directed in order, decorum and consistency, constitute the first, original and true music. It is this, according to the ineffable law of wisdom, that the Ruler of the universe artistically begins with what is eternally accomplished in wisdom. Therefore, if the order of the whole world is a certain Musikian harmony, “The Artist and Maker of which,” as the Apostle says, “is God” (Heb. 11:10); and man is a small world, but he himself becomes the likeness of Him who brought the world into harmony; then the mind that sees in the great world sees the same in the small; because a part of the whole is certainly homogeneous with the whole. How a fragment of small glass, in its transparent part, like a mirror, shows the solar circle, how much the smallness of a transparent particle can contain: so in the small world, I mean human nature, all the music seen in the universe is visible, partly corresponding to the whole, and this also shows how much the whole is contained in the parts, skillfully adapted by nature to the exercise of music. throat, this support at the strings - the sky, this play of tongue, cheeks and mouth, as if on strings and a bow? So, since everything that is in accordance with nature is pleasant to nature, and music, as shown, is in agreement with our nature; Therefore, the great David added sweet singing to the wise teaching about virtues, infusing the height of dogma, as if a certain sweetness of honey, with the help of which our nature in some way studies and heals itself. And the medicine for our nature is the harmony of life, which, in my opinion, is secretly inspired by sweet singing. For, perhaps, it is not the same thing to serve as a calling to a high state of life, to the fact that the character of those living virtuously should not be rude, strange, discordant with everyone, and not, like a string, emit an excessively high sound, because the harmony of the string, being brought to excess, is certainly violated; but, on the contrary, he should not weaken his strength to the point of immoderation by voluptuousness, because the soul, weakened by such passions, becomes deaf and dumb; and everything else should also be raised and lowered over time, keeping in mind that our morals always maintain harmony and good harmony, without excessive licentiousness and excessive tension. Why does history testify to David’s successes in this Divine music, namely, that once Saul, who was furious and losing his mind, was healed by David from passion by playing the harp, so that Saul’s mind again returned to its natural state. Why it is clear from this, as indicated by the mysterious meaning of sweet singing, is precisely that it inspires us to calm down passionate movements within ourselves, variously excited by everyday circumstances. But we should not ignore the fact that these hymns were not composed according to the rules of hymns, alien to our wisdom, because the tone of the utterances does not consist of sweetness, as can be seen in those whose harmony is generated by a certain combination of word stress - when the tone of sounds is lowered and raised, shortened and lengthened. On the contrary, David, giving the Divine words an unprepared and unartificial sweetness, wants by sweet singing, with a certain flow of speech, to interpret the meaning of the predicate, when the very tone of the voice reveals, as much as possible, the thought contained in the utterances. Therefore, this is a food seasoning, which, like some kind of sweets, adds pleasantness to the food of lessons. Chapter 4 That the psalmody shows how virtue is clearly distinguished from vice According to the artificial view we have proposed, it would be timely to examine the feast of virtues itself in the word. For, firstly, it can be found that virtue is distinguished by clear signs from vice, so that the difference between one and the other is not fused with the opposite. From the joy they bring us, the distinctive quality of a virtuous and a vicious life becomes visible; vice amuses the bodily senses, and virtue the soul; why the property of the subject found by these signs is unmistakable and undoubted. And this is not due to anything else, but from thoughts discerned at first glance, and with a review penetrating to the depths, one can find it in many places in the psalmody, especially in the fourth psalm, where David calls those who are heavy-hearted who do not distinguish lies and vanity from the truth (Ps. 4:3), but love the impracticable, and despise the constant and worthy of love. Holiness alone, as David says, is truly worthy of admiration, and everything else that people seek as good is such only in supposition; it does not exist in itself, but in vain human opinion only it appears to have existence. And in order to reveal the teaching about this more clearly, the Prophet further says that many limit good to visible things, saying: that is only good that someone else can show to the senses. “Many,” according to the word of the Prophet, “say: who will show us good?” (Ps. 4:7). But whoever has virtue in mind despises this slavish judgment about the beautiful. He sees beauty in the light; This name denotes Divine and high joy. And he calls this light the light that shines from the face of God, into whose nature feelings cannot penetrate. “The light of Your countenance, O Lord, is upon us,” it is said, “(Ps. 4:7). For under the face of God, seen in certain features, it seems to me that the Prophet understands nothing more than virtues; because the image of the Divine is different from them. And having said this, he indicates the perfect sign of virtue: “Thou hast given joy to my heart” (Ps. 4:8), instead of soul and mind, naming the heart; because it is not in the nature of the mind to delight in the lures of vice. The Prophet contrasts this material and worldly abundance with the joy of the heart, asserting that those who have the present in mind, the womb is the connoisseur of the beautiful. For having said that wheat and wine have increased among them (Ps. 4:8), under the name of portion he has combined in words the delights of the belly and all the pleasures of feasts, which occupy first place among all material entertainments, the care of which does not lead to any successful end. For in human nature there is no storehouse for instant pleasure in which we could store for ourselves pleasure acquired with all care. But when it seems to sensualists that they have mastered something, some deceptive ghost instantly disappears, and it turns into nothing, and, after the removal of such a dream, only its trace remains - shame, imprinting on them a deep and indelible image of what has passed, so that, imitating the hunters in art, one can recognize the nature of the beast by the traces. For hunters, even when the prey is invisible, recognize the animal by its scent. Therefore, if a pig or a lion makes itself known by its own traces, then, of course, it is natural for the property of pleasure to become known by the trace it leaves. But its trace is shame; therefore, the pleasure that leaves such a mark on the soul is, without a doubt, either shame, or something by which shame is produced. But this has already been discussed by us in the place preceding this; for, according to what was supposed, it should have been shown from psalmody what the end of this and that kind of life, both virtuous and vicious, would be. Therefore, having said in the above-mentioned psalm that the end of virtue is peace, tranquility and a uniform existence, having nothing to do with passions, succeeding in the hope of communion with God, the Prophet, the opposite of this, as here he made it clear by silence, and in many places of psalmody, proclaims loudly, saying: “The wicked will be married, and the seed of the wicked will be consumed” (Ps. 36, 28); and: “He who loves untruth hates his own soul. He will rain nets on sinners” (Ps. 10:5-6). And there are thousands of other places similar to this; and the entire book of psalms is filled with praises of virtue and condemnations of those who live viciously. And the reminder of historical events, aimed at two goals, arouses competition with the virtue of well-skilled persons, and horror with the cunning of the condemned. For when he arouses you by example to virtue, he says: “Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who call on His name: I called on the Lord, and He listened to them. In a pillar of cloud he spoke to them” (Ps. 98:6-7). And when he points to the worst end of vice, he describes the suffering of those convicted of wickedness. “The earth was opened and devoured Dathan, and covered the hosts of Abiron: the sinners were caught in the flames” (Ps. 105:17-18). And: “Do unto them as Midian and Sisera. Put their princes like Orib and Zib, and Zebea and Zalmana, all their princes” (Ps. 83:10-12), and much more like this. Nevertheless, private suggestions from beginning to end loudly repeat the psalmody to you, leaving you in no way without an incentive to the beautiful, for the sake of which a person must avoid vice. Everything is associated with rules leading to the beautiful: because the acquisition of good is done by moving away from the opposite and destroying it. But it would be unnecessary to show all this exactly, when for those who read this Scripture the care of the word about such things is obvious. Chapter 5 That the entire composition of the psalms is divided into five parts The entire composition of the psalms is divided into five parts. And in these departments there is a certain artificial arrangement and distribution. The scope of these sections is made clear, monotonously concluding with certain praises to God, which can be known from the division of psalmody indicated here. The number of psalmody in each section is as follows: in the first there are forty, in the second - thirty-one; in the third - seventeen, in the fourth - the same, in the fifth - forty and five. Therefore, the first part, beginning with the first psalm, ends with the fortieth, in which the last words are: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: be, be!” (Ps. 40:14), and the second is the seventy-first, in which the end is as follows: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who alone does wonders, and blessed is the name of His glory forever and ever: and the whole earth will be filled with His glory: be, be.” (Ps. 71, 18–19); the third is eighty-eighths, and is concluded in a similar way; for the end of the psalm is this: “Blessed is the Lord forever: awaken, awaken” (Ps. 88:53). The conclusion of the fourth section is the one hundred and fifth psalm, the end of which is similar to the end of the other sections: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and all the people say: Wake up, wake up” (Ps. 105:48). The fifth part extends from this psalm to the last, which ends: “Let every breath praise the Lord” (Ps. 150:6). Therefore, now is the time to briefly talk about the artificial order that we have noticed in these departments. In the first section, the Prophet restrains the living viciously from inappropriate error, and attracts them to choose the best, so that they no longer follow the seductions of the wicked, do not stand firmly on the evil path of sin, do not indulge in vice, which is constantly and deeply rooted in them, but cleave to the Divine law, while teaching themselves in it, succeeding in an infallible process so that, like a tree, they take root. in them is a skill for the better, supported by Divine teachings. Therefore, the first entry on the path of good is a departure from the opposite, the consequence of which is communication with the best. One who has already tasted virtue and has understood the property of goodness through his own experience, is such not because by some necessity and by admonition to others he is distracted from the addiction to vice and turns his gaze to virtue, but because above all he thirsts for the best; for the psalmist likens an irresistible and strong desire to thirst, finding among animals the breed most sensitive to thirst, so that the strength of the desire is especially expressed by the example of an animal that is excessively thirsty. And he calls this animal “elen” (Psalm 41:2), whose nature is fattened by eating poisonous animals. And how the juices of these animals are hot and inflammatory; then the tree, having eaten and been poisoned by their juice, necessarily feels dry. And therefore, with greater greed, he desires water in order to heal the dryness that occurs from such food. Therefore, whoever, according to the first part of the psalmody, began a virtuous life, by tasting the sweetness of the desired, destroyed in himself every reptile form of lust, and instead of animals, he devours passions with the teeth of chastity; he will thirst for communication with God more, or as much, as “the tree desires for the springs of water” (Psalm 41:2). And when one reaches the source after excessive thirst, it is natural to absorb as much water as one desires and has the strength to contain. But whoever has accepted into himself what he desires is full of what he desired; because what has become full does not become empty again, like the fullness in the body; and the drink does not remain ineffective in itself, but, on the contrary, the Divine Source, no matter who it is, transforms into itself the one who touches it and imparts to that person its own power. Chapter 6 Interpretation of Psalm 72 vv. 22–28 But the Divine actually possesses the power of supervision over beings and effectiveness. Therefore, whoever has in himself what he desired, he himself becomes an overseer and sees into the nature of beings. Therefore, the third section of psalmody has such a beginning, on the basis of which Scripture (Ps. 72) explores especially how the truth of God’s judgment will be preserved in the face of visible everyday disorder, when most often people do not get prosperity in this life due to their own merit; because in one and the same thing one can often see two extremes, namely: a person has reached the last stage of vice and stands at the very top of prosperity. Another, looking at him, somehow hesitates with the thought: isn’t what is called worst better for human nature? And, on the contrary, is it not bad that which is considered to be the share of the best? For if justice is boasted, but he who is zealous for it lives unhappily; Vice is condemned, but those who are jealous of it are given sufficient pleasure by everything that is desirable for people; then why should it be admitted that the choice of a praised virtue is preferable to the life of a condemned vice? Therefore, whoever is elevated in mind and, as if from a high tower, extends his eye to distant objects, he sees what the difference between vice and virtue consists of, namely, that judgment about them is not carried out according to the present, but according to the latter. For whoever, with the far-sighted and insightful eye of the soul, like the present, having perceived what is in store for the good in hope, leaves aside everything visible, and penetrates with the soul inside the heavenly sanctuary, he laughs at the foolishness of people, who cowardly leave judgment about the beautiful to sensuality. Therefore the psalmist says: “What have we in heaven? and from You what did the earth desire” (Ps. 72:25). In the same part of the psalms, with astonishment he magnifies and extols in words the heavenly, and what is on earth and coveted in the eyes of the foolish, he disparages with contempt and ridicule and presents it as disgusting, just as if one of those born in prison considers the darkness in which he was brought up and grew up to be a great certain blessing, then, having tasted the pleasures of being in the open sky, condemns his previous judgment, saying: to what spectacles of the sun and stars and all the heavenly beauty, out of ignorance of the better, I preferred the darkness that was familiar to me, and the psalmist, for the same reason, condemns in words an unreasonable opinion about the beautiful, saying about himself that he was “bestial” (Ps. 72:22), while he saw good only in earthly things. But when he became with God (God is the Word), and was guided on the right path, and the right advice of the Word became his leader, and he saw in virtue the glory with which those who turn their gaze to heaven are admired; then he uses these sayings, of which one attributes every good thing among people to some kind of miracle, and the other speaks with contempt about the insignificance and vanity of a deceptive concern for life. Yet the saying is this: the psalmist says: “You had cattle” (Ps. 72:22), meaning with such words an unreasonable passion. Then he adds: “And I will go out with You” (Ps. 72:23). Having said this, he also indicates the way of unity with God, so that we too may know how the one who was previously “cattle”, after this enters into unity with God; for he says: “Thou hast restrained my right hand” (Ps. 72:23) He calls the direction of understanding to righteous deeds with God’s help. “And You have guided me with Your counsel” (Ps. 72:24); glory, which serves as a kind of chariot and wing for those who are acceptable under God’s hand, as soon as someone alienates himself from shameful deeds. And thus the psalmist added to what was said: “What do we have in heaven?” and what do You want from the earth?” This, of course, is what many people do to this day, although they have such blessings in heaven in their power, but they still recognize it as worthy of prayer to ask God for these dreamy deceptions, the possession of something, or honor, or wealth, or this pitiful insignificant glory, which the human race madly pursues. And the one who acquires heavenly blessings then adds: “It is good for me to cleave to God, to place my trust in the Lord” (Ps. 72:28), showing that, in some way, he enters into unity with God who cleaves to Him with trust and becomes one with Him. Chapter 7 Interpretation of Psalm 89 So, in the third part, after completing such an ascent in height, elevated to such a degree by thought and having entered yet another higher degree, a person becomes larger and higher than himself in the fourth part, as if, like Paul, he has ascended to a certain third heaven and has become higher than the heights he has previously traversed; because he enters there not as a simple person, but as one who has already clung to God and entered into unity with Him. The Word, beginning the next part, says this: “a prayer to Moses, the man of God” (Ps. 89:1). For such is this man that he is not himself edified by the law, but becomes an interpreter of the law for others. Such was the great Moses, about whom we hear that he voluntarily rejected the royal dignity, like some dust shaken off by the soles of his feet (Heb. 11:24-27), being forty years old, he excommunicated himself from communication with people, and, living alone, with himself, in silence, uninterestedly immersed in the contemplation of the invisible; after which he was illuminated by an inexpressible light (Ex. 3:2), and his spiritual feet were freed from leather and dead shoes; He destroyed the Egyptian army and the tormentor one after another with subsequent executions, but freed Israel from torment with light and water. For him, after Egypt, all the time was one continuous day, because the night did not obscure it with darkness; according to the daytime procession, the sowing of the rays was replaced by another light, again shining from the cloud, so that, although, due to the necessary rotation, the sun was hidden from them, yet there remained a continuous and unsuccessive light from the sowing of the pillar, without an interval of time following the sowing of the rays of the sun. He sweetened the bitter and undrinkable water with wood and turned a stone into a spring for those who were thirsty, and rewarded earthly food with heavenly food; He was keenly visual in the Divine darkness and saw the Invisible in it, described the tabernacle not made by hands, worthily comprehended the decoration of the priesthood, accepted the God-written tablets and, after crushing them, tortured them again, wore on his face the signs of God's power that appeared to him and with the lightness of his face, as if by some sowing of rays, he forced to turn away the eyes of those unworthy of meeting him, condemned him to be burned by fire and to engulf those who rebelled against the priesthood into the earth, he destroyed those who desecrated Divine grace, and turned the sorcery of Balaam into piety; and his death, as the story goes, was greater than life; having ascended to the top of the mountain, he did not leave a trace or memory of earthly sorrow; he did not change his beautiful facial features over time, but in his changing nature he retained the immutability of beauty. It is they who serve as the leader in the fourth ascent and, together with themselves, elevates the one who, having already passed through the three degrees indicated above, has become great. For whoever is at this height, in some way, stands at the general limit of the changeable and unchangeable nature, and accordingly mediates between extremes, bringing prayers to God for those who have changed due to sin, and transmitting pardon from the Supreme Authority to those who need mercy. Therefore, from this we can learn that the farther someone is from earthly and earthly things, the more he approaches the Nature that surpasses all minds, and through beneficence he becomes like the Divine, doing what is characteristic of the Divine Nature; I call it characteristic to do charity to everyone who has a need for charity, to the exact extent that it is necessary for him. I found such a thought in this psalmody, which has this inscription: “Prayer to Moses the man of God.” since the evil of sin prevailed over humanity, and, torn away from unity with good, it became mired in opposite passions, and had the need for someone’s intercession before the One who was able to call it out of destruction; That place of intercessor is taken by a man of God, asking for an apology for the fall of his fellow tribesmen and bending the Divine to mercy for the lost. For immediately, as it were, he justifies himself before the One who listens to him, and says that it is characteristic of God alone to be firm in all good and always the same, while humanity is subject to vicissitudes and changes, never remains in the same place, whether it ascends to the better or falls away from communion with the best. Therefore, he asks that the immutable may become a refuge for the salvation of the wandering in every kind. Here are the exact words of the psalm: “The Lord has been our refuge forever and ever” (Ps. 89:2). Why is this said? Because,” he continues, “that You, before creation, embrace all eternal extension from the moment when the nature of the age perceived its beginning until the moment when the end comes; the end of the endless is infinity: “before even the mountains were not, and the earth and the universe were created, from century to century,” says the psalmist, “Thou art” (Ps. 89:3). And the human race, due to the changeability of its nature, brought down from the heights of blessings to the baseness and creepiness of sin, has humbled itself. Therefore, says the Prophet, You, the Unshakable One, stretch out your hand to the one who crawls. What You are by nature, so abiding for us, from the height that You have, “do not turn man away into the humility” of sin (Ps. 89:4). Then the Prophet becomes a servant of the Master's word and utters a philanthropic saying, saying: because “and you said: turn to the sons of humanity” (Ps. 89:4). And such a word contains a special teaching; for it is addressed to nature, and it offers a cure for evils. since you, it says, being changeable, have deviated from good, then take advantage of turning back to good; and from where you fell, there you will return again; since in the will of people it is free to choose for themselves what they want, whether it is good or bad. What follows contains another teaching. For it is said: “Like a thousand years before Your eyes, O Lord, like yesterday, those who pass by.” The humiliation of their years will be" (Ps. 89:5-6). What do we learn from this dogmatically? Because for one who begins to turn again to goodness, if his life has been ulcerated by thousands of sins, the accumulation of evil deeds seems like a thousand years; but as soon as he converted, God does not impute this to him; because the eye of God always looks at the present, but does not impute the past; on the contrary, this is recognized by God as one day or part of a night that has passed and passed by. A vicious act in the present, although by those who sin it is considered nothing, in the eyes of God is the same as many years. For it is said: “The humiliations of their years will be.” It is beautiful and decent that the Prophet calls sins “humiliations”; because he who does evil usually considers his sinful act to be nothing, and for each evil deed finds some kind of justification, so that about each one I am ready to say: lust is nothing, and anger is nothing, and everything like this is nothing; because these are movements of nature, and nature is God’s work. Therefore, the One who oversees human life does not recognize any of this as bad. That is why the Prophet says that “their humiliations,” when they are still in the will of the doer and have not passed, are recognized in the eyes of God each for many years. And in order to further incline God to mercy, the Prophet again depicts in words the transience of our nature. For, in an example, presenting this to the eye, it clearly says that we should think about the poverty of our nature, about morning and evening, that is, about youth and old age; in the morning the grass, and the color, and the appearance in the light. And what remains after this, when with age the moisture is depleted, the plant has faded, and its native beauty has disappeared? - dryness and wilting. For this is what the word says: “The morning passes by like grass; the morning flourishes and passes away; it falls away in the evening, becomes hard and withers” (Ps. 89:6). This is human nature! In the words that follow, the Prophet mourns humanity even more, saying that human life is exhausted by anger, as if by some kind of wind, overwhelmed by the attack of rage. It is clear that anger and rage means that rebellious activity from which people experience both the impoverishment of life and the confusion of the resting. This is expressed this way: “as I was consumed by Your anger and disturbed by Your wrath” (Ps. 89:7). And after this he adds to these words that it is not proper for human vice to become a spectacle for God, and our age, defiled by sins, should not appear to the most pure face; explaining this thought in words, it is expressed as follows: “Thou hast laid down our iniquities before Thee” (Ps. 89:8). If someone else brings this speech into greater clarity, adding the word: for what? - then the meaning of the saying will be as follows: It is fitting for you to have good things before your eyes; and what is lawless is not worthy of being seen by You. Therefore, make humanity such that it is not unworthy of Your view, but, on the contrary, our age becomes worthy of appearing before You. And what’s happening to us now, “all our days are poor” (Ps. 89:9); because not to be in You means not to be at all: over whom the dominion of anger prevails, their life is untenable, like a shadow, like cobwebs. How visible it is while it remains connected; but if someone lays on his hand, he immediately disintegrates at the touch of his fingers and is destroyed: so human life, through ineffective efforts, as if always woven from some airy threads, tries in vain to weave an impossible fabric for itself, which if someone touches with a firm thought, he will escape the touch, and this vain labor will turn into nothing; because everything that is sought in this life is a dream, and not reality. A dream is honor, dignity, family, arrogance, pomp, wealth, and everything like that, which is taught by the sciences of this life. That is why all such things need a healer, God. This, I think, is the meaning of what was said by those who say: “The days of our years are seventy years in them, and if we can, eighty years, and we multiply them with labor and illness” (Ps. 89:10), not because for those who live beyond this measure, life is much painful, but because even this so short life is spent in labor and illness: infancy is illness, youth is labor, life in the middle is more is replete with diseases, and old age, with its gray hair and wrinkles, mainly testifies to a lot of work. The Prophet comes up with another way in which the Divinity could be propitiated towards people; the meaning of the predicate is this: the burden of our sins brings on great punishment, but the consistency of our nature is weak and will not endure the wrath deserved by our sins. But when the punishment imposed on us was bearable, then this would be sufficient to admonish those who suffer. Therefore, even if a light reward is enough for admonition and punishment, who can withstand the power of wrath? Or what number can measure the fear of rage? Therefore, if anger is unbearable, a course of action combined with philanthropy is bearable; then “Thy right hand tell us this way,” so that the admonition You give us can be accepted as a matter of wisdom, and not as punishment. So, after the meaning we have set out in advance, it would be appropriate to cite the most inspired sayings, which read like this: “For meekness will come upon us, and we will be punished. Who knows the power of Your wrath? and through Thy fear shall Thy wrath be consumed? Speak to Thy right hand to me, and turn those bound in heart to wisdom” (Ps. 89:10-11-12). The saying that is immediately added to what was said is also beautiful. The prophet says: due to the weakness of nature, the greatness of anger that sin drives upon us is unbearable, meanwhile, we need admonition: may salvation through conversion better enlighten us than punishment for our sins. Therefore, convert us, Lord, without delaying this in the least until the time of grace: for the word: “until” means the acceleration of grace. And he continues: “I beseech you for Your servants” (Ps. 89:13); because you will be reconciled not with strangers, but with Your own servants, then, as one who has already been worthy of grace and has seen that light, with which the darkness of those who wander in this life is illuminated, and with which the day of a virtuous life begins, he says: “We were filled with Thy mercy in the morning, and we rejoiced and were glad: all our days we rejoiced” ( Ps.89:14-15), because the joy derived from You followed the time spent in the humiliation of sin, and the years of vice were over. This is how we understand what has been said: “For the days in the land you have humbled us, but the years in the land have seen us with evil” (Ps. 89:15). Thus he encourages those who are enlightened by conversion, calling them children of the works of God; for he says: “Look upon Thy servants and Thy works” (Ps. 89:16); points to the patriarchs descended from Abraham, because they are in the true sense the works of God; - “and instruct their sons” (Ps. 89:16), for those who do the deeds of Abraham become children of the patriarchs, assigned to them for their virtues. Then, finally, through purity, he unites God with humanity, begging that the lordship of God through pure life will shine in our world; for he says: “Awake the lordship of the Lord our God upon us” (Ps. 89:17); so that all the undertakings of our life bear saving fruit, and everything we do tends towards one goal. Therefore, having said in the plural: “and correct the work of our hands on us,” under the word: “deed,” having combined many things, he continues: “and correct the work of our hands”; because varied and varied care for virtues becomes powerful and brings salvation to the successful. Thus, the Prophet raises the understanding of those who ascend with him to the fourth degree of the psalm’s ascent and places them above all vanity, which many care about in this life, showing them that cobweb-like seduction that is untenable for material life does not lead those who are fussy to any good end. Chapter 8 Interpretation of Psalm 106 In the fifth part of the psalms, the Prophet, in the fifth part of the psalms, raises, as it were, to some peak, to the highest degree of contemplation, the Prophet who is able to follow him to the heights and with a solid wing has broken apart the plexus of everyday webs. Barely pubescent and fragile during a weak and not fast flight, like flies, feasting on the stickiness of real life, like some kind of mud, they are intertwined and entangled in a network of such threads, I mean, fun, honors, glory and various wishes and, as if wrapped in some kind of cobweb fabric, they become the prey and food of this beast, which catches them with such things. And if someone is by nature quick as an eagle, with the steady eye of the soul he looks at the ray of light and, extending into the heights, approaches such cobwebs; then with one flap of the wings, in the swiftness of the flight, it destroys everything similar that comes close to the wings. And the exalted Prophet, having taken with him, leads to the top of the fifth ascent, in which lies, as it were, the entire fullness and main principle of human salvation, for in the psalm explained above, in the words of Moses, he extensively expounded the wise teaching about the changeable and the unchangeable, and namely, that one always remains what it is, and the other constantly becomes what it is not; because change is a transition from what it is to what it is not, and, having shown that our nature is free by the same force, just as it falls into evil, so through conversion it is again raised to good, and therefore it is possible for the grace of God to shine again in human life, now reveals in the word all the grace given to us by God, presenting it in a variety of ways to the gaze of those who look at the miracles of God from above. For he was not content with showing grace in one form, but, on the contrary, in various forms he depicts the disasters into which we have fallen due to our inclination towards evil, and in a variety of ways he describes the assistance God gives us in good, so that the reasons for thanksgiving may abound, when, in proportion to the good, gratitude to God abounds. Beginning the word, the Prophet immediately says: “confess to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever” (Ps. 106:1), by confession now meaning thanksgiving, and not proclamation, he commands to glorify God for one single goodness, meaning by this that all the good and saving things done for people by God were accomplished by grace and goodness, and we have not given any reason for this to be shown to us. good. On the contrary, we remain in every vice, but God does not deviate from His own nature, but what He is, that is what He creates; since it would be unnatural for someone good by nature to do anything other than what is characteristic of Him. “Let them say,” says the Prophet, “delivered by the Lord, and deliver them from the hand of the enemy and from the countries they have gathered together, from the east and the west, and the north, and the sea” (Ps. 106:2 - 3). The word preaches this about the complete return to goodness of the human race; for in the seven sayings the word: “deliverance” means a calling out of captivity. God is a redemption for those obsessed with the death of Himself. He gave himself to the one who had the power of death. And since all were under the guard of death; then, as is obvious, he redeems everyone at this price, so that, after the redemption of the whole race has been completed, no one is left under the dominion of death; because it is impossible for anyone to remain in death when there is no longer death. Therefore, the word, dividing the entire universe into four parts according to position, did not leave a single one of them not participating in God’s deliverance, and says: “from the east and the west, and the north, and the sea,” meaning the south by the sea. Therefore, having briefly presented the benevolence with which God acted on the entire human race, after this he describes in several steps the fall of people into evil and God’s guidance of each of those who fell for the better, and says this: “lost in the waterless desert” (Ps. 106:4), that is, leaving the way (and the way is the Lord), they wandered outside of God’s supervision in the desert, which was all dry, not watered and deprived spiritual irrigation. And therefore, wandering where there was no path, they were not able to find the city of God, in which is the abode of the worthy. For it is said: “The habitable city was not found: it was hungry and thirsty” (Ps. 106:4-5). As soon as their strength diminished from lack of food, the evil in them reached its highest degree. And what about food in a dry and barren land? How to quench thirst in a waterless place? It is clear that the prophecy does not call bread food, and not water drink, but by food it means true “meal” and by drink “spiritual” beer (1 Cor. 10:3-4). And the Lord is to both, offering Himself according to the need of those who require it and becoming food for those who are hungry, and a source for those who thirst. Therefore, what deliverance was found from such cramped conditions, from wandering in the desert, from poverty in a waterless country, from the relaxation caused by hunger? Truly a miracle! One voice addressed to God transformed everything into good. For it is said: “I cried out to the Lord, when they were in sorrow, and delivered them from their needs: and guided me to the right path, leading me into the habitable city” (Ps. 106:6-7). The Prophet calls the Lord Himself the path from which they deviated. This path says in the Gospel: “no one comes to Me unless My Father is willing to draw him” (John 6:44). Therefore, God leads the lost onto the path, and He Himself becomes a “habitable city,” as the Apostle says: “In Him we live and move, and we are” (Acts 17:28). Therefore, the Prophet, by the way, adds an exhortation to those who have been granted these mercies to give thanks: “Let the Lord confess His mercies and His miracles to the sons of men” (Ps. 106:8), that is, let the good deeds not be hidden in silence out of lack of recognition, but let them proclaim with thanksgiving the mercy by which God has made the “vanity” soul full of good things: for the Prophet says: “He has satisfied us.” fill my hungry soul, and fill my hungry soul with good things” (Ps. 106:9). The Prophet in another way presents to the gaze the misfortunes of our nature and depicts God's love for mankind, according to which our nature is prepared for the better. And the meaning of what the Prophet said is this: humanity has moved away from the light and has inclined towards sin, and is no longer in a direct position, but is alienated from true life. For it is said: “they sit in darkness and the shadow of death, bound in poverty and iron” (Ps. 106:10). Held by heavy shackles, humanity has become motionless from the realm of evil; The impoverishment in goodness serves as shackles, like some kind of iron that surrounds the hearts. And the beginning of all this was disobedience to God's law, and rejection of the advice of the Most High. This is what the Prophet means when he says: “For the words of God have become bitter and the counsel of the Most High has provoked” (Ps. 106:11). During this time, the lives of such people, as naturally, were characterized by work and humility. Labor, as those who have been deprived of food, humility, as those who do not want to remain in unity with the Almighty; for the Prophet says: “Humble your heart in their labors?” (Ps. 106:12), and abandonment of strength is nothing other than exhaustion; because is there any help without strength, which is why it is said: “I am weak, and do not help” (Ps. 106:12). But the Prophet again, with one word, changed this calamity into joy; for he says: “I cried out to the Lord, even when they were in trouble, and I saved them from their needs” (Ps. 106:13). And destroys darkness, crushes death, breaks bonds. “I have brought forth, as it is said, out of darkness the shadows of death, and have torn their bonds to pieces” (Ps. 106:14). And therefore,” the Prophet continues, “let mercy be preached with praise, that the inevitable guard of death, fenced, as the Prophet says, with gates of copper and ropes of iron, has been crushed. For such was the power of death, until the power of death was destroyed by the manifestation of true life, because everything that was inside it remained unable to escape, delayed, as it were, by some kind of iron ropes and indestructible gates. But “break down,” it is said, “the gates of brass and the ropes of iron” (Ps. 106:16). And this means that the path of their iniquity is destroyed, and life is prepared for godliness; and the destruction of these gates signifies the return of life to righteousness, for it is said: “I will receive from the path of their iniquity” (Ps. 106:17). The Prophet also depicts in other words the disastrous state of humanity; expresses the idea that lawlessness is humility. And he says it beautifully; because one place in another Prophet agrees with this concept, who speaks of iniquity that it sits on the talent of lead (Zech. 5:7-8), showing that vice is something heavy and tends to the bottom, and what, in the likeness of God, is on high, it drags into its abyss; for it is said: “For the sake of their own iniquities they humbled themselves” (Ps. 106:17), and therefore they turned away from this all-powerful food, about which the word says to the primeval ones: “Take food from every tree that goes to paradise” (Gen. 2:16). Just as it calls the fullness of every good there “every tree,” so here it calls the true and all-powerful food “every waste,” the aversion from which produces exhaustion, ending in death. He says this: “Their soul detested every waste, and drew near to the gates of death” (Ps. 106:18). And the voice to God again turns this disaster into triumph; for it is said: “I cried out to the Lord when they were in trouble, and I saved them from their needs” (Ps. 106:19). The prophet also retells the image of salvation, and this story is the direct Gospel. For he says: “I sent my Word and healed, and delivered from their corruption” (Ps. 106:20). You see the living and animated Word, sent to save the lost and deliver from corruption those who have been subjected to corruption! What Evangelist so openly proclaimed this sacrament? Therefore, let the mercy be praised, it is said, by those who have experienced a good deed, and let the praise for the good deed become a song. “Let them devour the sacrifice of praise to Him; and let His works be announced with joy” (Ps. 106:22). After this, the Prophet again introduces suffering, and again after suffering he adds a word about God’s mercy. It speaks of the recklessness of people that, having left the constant and undisturbed human life, they at will became inhabitants of the sea. For he says: “going down to the sea in ships” (Ps. 106:23), and instead of “making paradise” (Gen. 2:15), in which they were previously placed, “doing work” under the waters. The sea calls this material life, disturbed by all sorts of winds of temptation, and agitated one after another by incessant passions. For he says: “they who do their work in many waters: these have seen the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the depths” (Ps. 106:23 - 24); because, being immersed in the depravity of life and repeatedly undergoing cruel spiritual breakdowns, they saw above them the works of philanthropy of the One who rescues us from the depths. For it is said: “speech, and a hundred spirits are stormy” (Ps. 106:25). This thought should not be attributed to God, but to the enemy; because the voice of the opponent produces a “stormy spirit.” And a storm is a name given to a strong wind, not blowing directly, but whirling in a strong whirlwind, which, when it swiftly hits the water, the sea, as if from some thrown large stone, being thrown into confusion by its weight, is necessarily cut by the force of the blow, because the water, wherever the wind hits it, is thrown upward from the gravity striking it, here and there. Therefore, the Prophet continues to clearly imagine these terrible phenomena, namely: that at the same time as the stormy spirit crashes, the waves of the sea rise, ascending “to the heavens” and descending “to the abysses” (Ps. 106:26). For, indeed, the rise in height of such waves, I mean the waves of passions, becomes the cause of the descent into the abyss. And the abyss, as we learned, in many places of Scripture is called the dwelling place of demons. Excited by this confusion and the storm of the waves, they become meaningless from darkness, from the unpleasantness of such swimming, as if from intoxication, their heads become heavy. For it is said: “I was in turmoil, I was moving like a drunken man” (Ps. 106:27). Once they have lost prudence, they do not give room to any thought of salvation; on the contrary, their wisdom first of all fails and perishes. Therefore it is said: “and all their wisdom was quickly swallowed up” (Ps. 106:27). And for them, again, with so many evils, the end of unbearable distress is an appeal to God. It is said: “I cried to the Lord when they were in trouble, and I brought them out of their needs” (Ps. 106:28). And immediately the storm changed into a favorable and fair wind, and the sea, which had been brought to silence, subsided from the excitement. It is said: “and he commanded the storm, and made it quiet, and made its waves still” (Ps. 106:29). And in a word: silence The Prophet, perhaps, makes it clear that the waves are certain forces gifted by will, with which that apostate nature reveals itself, to which the Lord said in the Gospel: “Be silent, stop” (Mark 4:39). And he calls the quiet wind the grace of the Spirit, which, when controlling the helm and sailing of the Word, under intelligent sails, leads the soul into the Divine haven: for it is said: “And guide me into the refuge of My will” (Ps. 106:30). After this, the Prophet again commands the people and the Church to sing songs of grace, depicting in words almost the present state of the Churches, namely, that in the seat of rulers these miracles of God are preached, by which faith is confirmed in those who listen. For it is said: “Let them exalt Him in the Church of men, and let the elders praise Him in the seats” (Ps. 106:32). The prophet also adds the reasons for thanksgiving, namely, that from God the rivers both appear and disappear: the streams of vice are destroyed, while the outflows of virtues irrigate places hitherto dry. For he says: “He has made rivers to eat in the desert, and the waters to come out into thirst” (Ps. 106:33). “Rivers” he calls the influxes of passions, and “water outflows” - continuous rows of bad deeds; because people, always adding evil to evil, like some kind of stream, lengthen the chain of vices. But it is also said: “he turned the fruitful land into sweetness” (Ps. 106:34). For the soul, abundant in evil deeds, having been transformed, became thirsty, as if seasoned with the Divine salt of teaching, so that the depravity of the living would no longer increase, being fed by evil influxes of water, and the soul, salty and thirsty, having received a blessed thirst and being flooded with a collection of virtues, became a lake. For it is said: “He put the desert into the lake of water, and the waterless land into the spring of water” (Ps. 106:35). And this is done by a city, which is inhabited by those hungry for truth. For none of those who have lost the taste and desire for food, with a soul satiated with vice, settles near this lake and these waters. They sow the “villages” and plant the “vineyards”. With such mysterious names the Prophet means God's commandments and virtuous living, because a commandment is the seed of future fruitfulness, and virtue is a vine that pours wine from verbal clusters into the cup of wisdom. This is nothing other than an abundance of blessing. Therefore, the Prophet says: “And I blessed, and multiplied greatly: and the cattle did not destroy them” (Ps. 106:38). He calls the humble service of spiritual movements when each of them contributes to virtue in us. Irritability is a good beast when it is under the yoke of reason. Another good beast is desire, which in some way holds and carries the soul on the ridge, even raising it to heights, as soon as the reins of the mind are directed to grief. And all other animals are multiplied by blessing, as soon as their service to us contributes to something great. Then the Prophet, in continuation of the word, sets out a brief list of everything that was said. For, having depicted suffering with many features and presented to the gaze of God’s blessings, now concluding the same in a short speech, he repeats again in word when he says: “and became faint and embittered from the sorrow of evil and illness” (Ps. 106:39), “diminution” meaning unimportance and the reduction from height and greatness to baseness; for small in concept means the least important; and by bitterness he means mastering evil. “Sorrow” and “sickness” are everywhere referred to as the final loss of goods, as in another psalm he describes a similar thing, saying: “mortal illnesses have seized me, the troubles of hell have come upon me, sorrow and sickness have come upon me” (Ps. 114:3). By calling sins “mortal diseases” and “troubles,” he also indicates the limit to which the property of sin ultimately leads, and which is nothing other than sorrow and illness. So the Gospel word: “weep and gnash your teeth” (Matthew 24:51) means the same thing. Then, following this, the Prophet adds: “humiliation was poured out on their princes” (Ps. 106:40). And thus he teaches that to be in Existence means to really be; but if something has fallen from Existence, then it is no longer in existence; because to be in vice does not mean to be in the proper sense. Therefore, vice in itself does not exist, but the non-existence of a good deed becomes a vice. Therefore, just as he who is in Existence abides in being, so he who reaches the point of insignificance (and such is vice) is destroyed, as the Psalmist puts it. A usage similar to this is somehow brought into general awareness by the custom of speaking like this. Of food received by the flesh we say that it became flesh, and of wine poured into water that it became watery, and of iron that is in fire we say that it became fiery. So about the one who fell away from the Existing One, we say that he, having come into insignificance, was destroyed. Therefore, humiliation is non-existence in goodness. It, having befallen the princes of vice, that is, the first people, like some harmful stream, “poured out” onto the successors of the family. Therefore, since nature has become impoverished, having been deprived of this property, I mean life, man is brought into poverty then, having been robbed of God's blessings; then the Prophet says, therefore: “and help the needy because of poverty” (Ps. 106:41). For “by His poverty we have become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). And the Good Shepherd “lay me down,” not like beasts, but “like sheep of the fatherland” (Ps. 106:41). The Prophet calls the fatherland the collection of those included in the Divine list, just as Paul says: “from Him every fatherland in heaven and on earth is called” (Eph. 3:15). Then the Prophet adds: “they will see the truth” and will be afraid. (Ps. 106:42), teaching what was said to the right one, so that he, looking at this love for mankind, would be afraid; because fear serves as a significant preservation of goods, remembering what was before for the next time, making one who is in passion chaste. since fear prevails and does not give place in us to any inclination towards evil generated by unsteadiness of will; it is said: “all iniquity will stop its mouth” (Ps. 106:42). How blessed is that life in which the mouth of iniquity, like a source of filth, will forever be stopped, and human life will no longer be polluted with stench! This is the top of blessings, the crown of hope, the limit of all bliss - for nature to no longer be indignant at vice, but to stop all lawlessness (and this may be the inventor of lawlessness, because this too can be signified by the collective word: “everything”) to stop those lips whose voice initially became the food of death for people. Therefore, when everything contrary to good is taken away, then that state will come for us, to the interpretation of which not a single word can be found, but to which the word of God testifies that it is higher than both feeling and knowledge. To this, the Prophet, as if a kind of seal, appends the following words at the end: “whoever is wise will preserve this and understand the mercies of the Lord” (Ps. 106:43). since the activity of wisdom is twofold, one explores and finds what is useful, and the other stores what is found; then the Prophet wants one work of wisdom, I mean searching, to then cease. For what is the use of searching when what we are looking for is already with us? He commands us to remain in the action of one other activity, so that the acquired good can be preserved, with wisdom assisting us in this. What kind of wisdom is this, and what kind of storage of goods is this? – It is not without understanding to use God’s love for mankind. For he who understands what he has been worthy of will not neglect the good he has been worthy of. But he who receives mercy without understanding suffers the same thing as the blind, who, taking a pearl, or an emerald, or any precious stone in their hands, throw it away like a simple flint, arbitrarily depriving themselves of its possession, out of ignorance of beauty. Chapter 9 Interpretation of Psalm 150 Having imagined these five sections of the psalms in a certain sequential order, as if in certain steps, one rising above the other, we demarcated them according to the above-mentioned signs, namely, that the final expression of each section is a kind of suppression of speech and the main thought, expressing the limit of the previous one with doxology and a grateful saying, consisting of the words: “Blessed is the Lord forever: awaken, awaken” (Ps. 88:53). For they signify a certain, unceasingly continuing thanksgiving; because Scripture, having once said: “wake up,” did not conclude with this blessing, but by repeating this saying twice, it legitimizes eternal thanksgiving. In each part of the psalms, distributed into these sections, Scripture made it possible to notice a special kind of good in which bliss is given to us from God, in a certain sequential order of benefits perceived by each, constantly raising the soul to the highest, until it reaches the highest of the good. This is the praise of God given by all the saints, as the last psalm expresses this thought, saying: “Praise God in His saints” (Ps. 150: 1), where the words: “strengthening strength” denotes the inalienability of good, and the words: “the powers of God” mean that vice no longer rules over nature. When human power is finally able to perform praise “according to the multitude of His majesty” (Ps. 150:2), with a loud voice already likened to trumpets, shouting something no less important, according to what has been said: “praise” the Lord “with the voice of the trumpet” (Ps. 150:3), when in the abundance and variety of virtues it imitates the harmony of the universe according to the measured pattern of singing, it is done before God organ (Scripture, in a certain allegorical meaning, calls this “psaltery and harp” (Ps. 150:3)); and after this, putting aside all earthly wisdom, everything that does not emit voice and obedience, in the velescent voice of tympanums, with the heavenly faces he combines the sound of his own strings (the strings stretched into the organ will be in every virtue inclination and inflexibility to vice; which will result in a beautiful consonance of the cymbal and the string); when the sound of cymbals will arouse zeal for the Divine standing (by which, it seems to me, the Prophet explains the connection of our nature with the Angels, precisely by saying: “praise” the Lord with cymbals of good accord” (Ps. 150:5), because such is the assembly, I mean, the nature of angels and humans), when human nature will be elevated to its original lot, and with its mutual collision will sound sweet voice of thanksgiving, and through each other and after each other they will unceasingly sing the gratitude offered to God for the love of mankind (since this is indicated by the connection of cymbal with cymbal: one cymbal is the premium nature of the Angels, and the other cymbal is a rational creature, man, only sin separated them from each other): therefore, when God’s love for mankind unites both faces again: then, from the two having become one, they will proclaim this song, as the great Apostle says: “Every tongue will confess, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2, 10–11). After this is accomplished, when the enemy is destroyed, the sound of these cymbals, issued by the congregation, will proclaim a victory song. And after the final destruction and reduction of the enemy into non-existence, continuous praise to God will be performed with equal honor forever with every breath. For since “praise is not sweet in the mouth of a sinner” (Sir. 15:9), then there will be no sinner, because there will be no sin; then, without a doubt, in that age “every breath will praise the Lord” (Ps. 150:6). Therefore, this path to bliss is shown to us by this lofty wisdom in the psalms and guided by them to the heights, it always raises to what is even more important and higher in a virtuous life, namely, it shows a person the opportunity to achieve such a measure of bliss that the mind is not able to conclude anything about what exceeds this measure, based on some guesses and assumptions, and the word does not find what to say about the next one in order, and even the most hope, which in everything extends further and further, leaving behind our desire, as soon as it approaches that which exceeds hope, remains inactive, and what is higher than this is better than what is expected, as the very wisdom of psalmody testifies to the order seen in it. From the very first words, it opens to us, as if a certain door and entrance into a blessed life, away from evil (for this is taught by the first utterances of the psalmody, calling alienation from evil the beginning of bliss), then it offers the erring ones the guidance of the law, promising as a result of such a life likeness to an ever green tree, and, showing the sorrows of those who follow the opposite path, the subsequent ascensions of those who use this guidance elevate to the very top bliss. For this shows you the meaning of the last psalm, according to which, with the exclamation of the angels and men who have entered into a union and a common face, a single triumph will be accomplished, and everyone will lift up the harmonious praise of God, equally in the firmness of strength accepting inflexibility towards vice, and “His majesty,” as if with a great trumpet raising a voice of praise. When all creation from all above and below is arranged into one face, and rational creation, even now divided by sin and disagreeing with each other, by our consent, like a cymbal, will emit a good voice; when both the angelic and our nature flow together, from the fusion of this God's regiment, when the enemies are defeated, will proclaim a victorious song to the Victor: then from every breath will ascend praise, which always continues mercy, and with its increase constantly increases bliss, I mean that true bliss, in which the understanding that guesses about knowledge is inactive, and hope is also ineffective our activities are encouraged; their place will be taken by an indescribable, unthinkable state that surpasses all understanding, which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart can contain (1 Cor. 2:9). For this is how the Divine Apostle defined the good things prepared in the shrine. You might be interested in: