Изъяснение псалма 37-го.

Ps.37:1. Psalm of David. In remembrance [of Saturday]. "A Psalm to David, in Remembrance of the Sabbath." The very excellence of the confession proclaims the zealous repentance of the divine David. For just as in many psalms, not tolerating the scab of sin, he mentions sin, and at the same time exposes both illness and healing, turning this into an occasion to give instructions to people, so in this psalm he mentions both sin and the punishment imposed for the healing of sin. Many and varied griefs befell him: the murder of Amnon, the autocracy of Absalom, the advice given against him by Ahithophel, the slander of Shimei, and everything else that history tells us about. Ps.37:2. God! Do not rebuke me in Your wrath, and do not punish me in Your anger. “Lord, do not reprove me with Your wrath; do not punish me with Your wrath.” With these words he began the sixth psalm, begging him to admonish him as it is characteristic of a doctor, and not a Judge, and to heal him, not strongly, but with easily effective medicines. Ps.37:3. For Your arrows have pierced me, and Your hand is heavy on me. “As Thy arrows have struck me, and Thou hast strengthened Thy hand upon me.” I ask this, says the Prophet, not without reason, but seeing that a hail of arrows is falling on me, that Your hand is extremely heavy on me and strikes me greatly. The words: “Thou hast established Thy hand upon me,” in a figurative sense, taken from a person who shows no mercy and inflicts many blows. Ps.37:4. There is not a whole place in my flesh from Your wrath; there is no peace in my bones from my sins. “There is no healing in my flesh from the face of Your wrath, there is no peace in my bones from the face of my sin.” Struck by punishment, I remember sin; and the remembrance of sin causes me to shed tears and lament; This also increases my suffering and misfortune. Ps.37:5. For my iniquities have gone beyond my head, like a heavy burden weighing me down. Ps.37:6. My wounds stink and fester from my madness. Ps.37:7. I am bent over and completely drooping, I walk around complaining all day. “For my iniquity has exceeded my head, for a heavy burden is heavy on me.” “My wounds have become stinking and rotten because of my madness.” “I suffered and sloshed to the end, walking around complaining all day.” The heavy burden of sin has made me bowed, says the Prophet; The stench of those rotten ulcers that I received, putting aside prudence and enslaving to unreason, saddens me. Why, deprived of all joy, I constantly grieve, worry and do not find any change in my sorrowful situation. Ps.37:8. For my loins are full of inflammation, and there is no whole place in my flesh. “For my body is filled with reproach, and there is no healing in my flesh.” The word “ladvia” 9 means lust; because in the loins there are kidneys in which desires are naturally aroused. Therefore he says: the cause of these disasters was that I turned my lust not to what it should be, but to lust. Ps.37:9. I am faint and broken beyond measure; I scream from the torment of my heart. “I would have become embittered and humbled myself to the core: I roared from the sighing of my heart.” The consequence of this lust, says the Prophet, was for me that I was bent to the ground and incessantly mourned due to the cruel torment of my heart. Therefore, having given a different direction to lust, I made it a servant of God’s will. For the Prophet added: Ps.37:10. God! All my desires are before You, and my sighing is not hidden from You. Ps.37:11. My heart trembles; My strength has forsaken me, and the light of my eyes, and even that I have no more. “Lord, all my desire is before You.” since I once used it badly, I will always obey Your commands. “And my sigh will not be hidden from You.” “My heart is troubled, my strength has left me, and the light of my eyes, and that one is not with me.” You see, Master, my sobs and tears, says the Prophet, you see that I am confused, lost my strength, deprived of the usual light, and in the middle of the day I remain as if in darkness. And this means both excessive fear, due to which the light seems to him not to be light, and abandonment without Divine care, which is rightly called the light of the eyes. Ps.37:12. My friends and sincere ones have retreated from my plague, and my neighbors stand afar off. Ps.37:13. Those who seek my soul lay snares, and those who wish me harm speak of my destruction and plot intrigues every day. “My friends and my sincere ones have come closer and closer to me.” “And my neighbors are farther away from me.” Symmachus translated this as follows: “my friends and sincere ones, during the blow that struck me, stood against me,” i.e. Some of the friends, seeing the blow that struck, began to act hostile and clearly opposed me, while others, out of fear, separated from me, not giving me their help. And among the first he makes clear Ahithophel, who not only separated, but also offered harmful advice. But others probably did the same to David, or rather, most of Israel, and the very tribe of Judah, armed themselves with Absalom against him. Therefore, soon after the murder of the man who had attempted to kill his father, they began to advise each other to warn the other tribes and return King David to the royal house. “And those who seek my life are in need, and those who seek evil for me are vain words, and I have been taught by the flatterers all day long.” The enemies, seeing me left without friends, continued to intrigue me, wanting my death. Ps.37:14. But I am like a deaf man who does not hear, and like a dumb man who does not open his mouth. Ps.37:15. And I became like a man who does not hear and has no answer in his mouth. “But I am deaf and do not hear, and I am dumb and do not open my mouth.” “And as a man he would not hear, nor would he have reproof in his mouth.” History shows this more clearly. For when Absalom condemned his father’s sentences and attracted to himself those who sought judgment from David and failed in court, blessed David bore this generously. And when Shimei slandered David, striking David with his tongue and hands, he silently accepted these insults, and Abishai, who attempted to punish the criminal, forbade this, saying: “Leave him, and so let him curse, for the Lord told him to curse David” (2 Sam. 16:10). Ps.37:16. For in You, O Lord, do I trust; You will hear, Lord my God. Ps.37:17. And I said: Let not [my enemies] triumph over me; when my foot falters, they magnify themselves over me. “For in You, O Lord, I have trusted; You will hear, O Lord my God. As if I were dead, but never will my enemies rejoice: and never will my feet move, you speak against me.” I continued, says the Prophet, to show this patience, having hope in You, giving You judgment over me and asking that I would not become a laughing stock for my enemies and that my defeat would not turn into a reason for arrogance for them. Ps.37:18. I am close to falling, and my sorrow is always before me. “As if I am ready for wounds, and I will take out my illness before me.” Sin made me worthy of wounds. Therefore, I subject myself to punishment; for I desire healing from the diseases with which sin torments me. Ps.37:19. I recognize my iniquity, I lament my sin. “For I will proclaim my iniquity and take care of my sin.” Therefore, I blame myself and will take every care of my health. Ps.37:20. But my enemies live and grow stronger, and those who hate me without cause increase in number. Ps.37:21. And those who repay me with evil for good are hostile against me because I follow good. Ps.37:22. Do not leave me, Lord, my God! Don't move away from me. Ps.37:23. Hasten to help me, Lord, my Savior! “But my enemies live and have become stronger than me, and those who hate me without truth have multiplied.” “To those who repay evil, a good cart.” I have sinned against You alone, Master, and in Your sight I have done evil. They, having repeatedly seen many good deeds from me, repay those who are contrary to me, and have acquired greater power than I. “I slandered me, and persecuted me for my goodness.” This again points to Absalom, who presented David’s judicial rulings in a bad way and called them unjust. And since he was a son who was plotting parricide, the Prophet rightly added: and they rejected my beloved, as they abhorred a dead man 10. For whoever, according to natural laws, should have been loved was hated as a stinking corpse. This can also be applied to the ungrateful people, who, having received thousands of benefits from David and having been through him many times the conqueror of foreigners, turned out to be ungrateful to their benefactor. “Do not forsake me, O Lord my God, do not depart from me.” “Welcome to my help, O Lord of my salvation.” Drowning in so many sorrows, I beg You, God and my Master, not to deprive me of Your usual providence for me, but to help me and grant me salvation. Lyadvia, in Greek. ψ o αι – loins. These words cannot be read in Greek. translation of the 70, nor in the Hebrew text. You might be interested in: