Собеседование 44 на псалом 96

Ps.96:1. Psalm David a. When his earth was settled. Not inscribed among the Jews. 1. And this psalm is among those that the Jews do not have an inscription. But the seventy came up with a name for it that suited the prophecy. Since the prophet here sings of the kingdom of Christ and His glorious deeds, the psalm is rightly appropriated to the spiritual David, and it is said: “when his land was built,” i.e. when human nature came to its proper state, having previously deviated from its rational purpose. “The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice, let the many islands rejoice!” (Ps. 97:1). God, as the Creator and Lord of the entire universe, has always reigned; but since He left the human race for some time and allowed it to be under the rule of spiritual enemies, and now he has conquered the latter and freed the first, the prophet rightly says: “The Lord has reigned,” meaning by the kingdom of God destruction errors and the overthrow of idols, which the earth rejoices in, seeing itself freed from that for which it previously sighed along with the rest of creation. The “many islands” are also having fun, i.e. churches from the pagans, since the destruction of error gave them access. Why does the prophet call churches islands, if not because, undoubtedly, as islands lie among the waters, so do churches lie in the waters of baptism? The prophet said well that many islands are rejoicing, and not all, showing that there are other islands, namely heretical churches, which, although they are proud of the water of baptism, cannot rejoice, because they destroy the grace of baptism with their wicked way of thinking about the Divine. “Clouds and darkness are around Him, righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne” (Ps. 96:2), i.e. reigning Of course, Christ, whose body is called a cloud because of its subtlety and purity. Darkness is connected with the cloud, which Symmachus translated by the word fog, because the flesh, like fog, closed the eyes of many and prevented them from recognizing the divine dignity of the Only Begotten. That is why in another place the same psalmist says: “He made darkness His covering, and His tabernacle was around Him” (Ps. 17:12). “Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne” (Ps. 97:2). These are the works of the kingdom of God: we, as can be seen from here, have freed ourselves from those who unjustly enslaved us, and these latter are condemned. However, we ourselves will accomplish righteousness and judgment if we wish to co-reign with God. “Fire passed before Him and fell around His enemies” (Ps. 96:3) The Prophet clearly mentions here about future judgment, which is why he says about the fire that it does not pass, but “will pass before Him.” This fire will consume his enemies; those. sinners who are the enemies of God because they did not obey Him when He called, did not obey when He exhorted, and did not want to be reconciled with Him when He offered His hand, as Paul testifies, saying: “We are messengers for the name of Christ, and as if God Himself exhorts through us; In the name of Christ we ask: be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). “He fell around His enemies.” He will burn all his enemies, because he will not stop surrounding Him and running before Him until he engulfs all the guilty. Daniel also mentions this fire running before the Judge. “I saw...,” he says, “that thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days sat down; His robe was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool; His throne is like a flame of fire, His wheels are like blazing fire. A river of fire came out and passed before Him” (Dan.7:9-10). “The lightnings illuminated His universe, and the earth trembled and trembled” (Ps. 97:4). By lightning we mean rays of light that do not wait for the next century, but even now already illuminate the universe. Notice the difference in the lights. One is His fire - this one illuminates; the other is not His fire, but runs before Him - this fire burns, because that’s what it was created for. By lightning, therefore, we mean the apostles, because they, being partakers of the true light, are naturally called light themselves, which is why the Lord told them: “you are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). “The earth ate and trembled.” It is useful for something that stands poorly to experience a shock, in order to thereby acquire greater firmness and stability; Likewise, builders, if they find walls dilapidated, destroy them, wanting to bring them to a better condition. The same is true for the earth, i.e. humanity, was shaken by the appearance of the apostles, which is why in Thessalonica they said about Paul and Silas: “these world-wide troublemakers have come here too” (Acts 17:6), shaken precisely in order to become more solid. “The mountains melted away like wax from the presence of the Lord, from the presence of the Lord of all the earth” (Ps. 96:5). Just as mountains rise above the earth, so prophets rise above other people, which is why they are called mountains. It is natural, therefore, that at the coming of the Only Begotten, Who is the Lord of all the earth, i.e. humanity, having become its Lord through the perception of the firstfruits of all confusion, the prophets “melted.” Previously, their prophecy was bound by the letter, which is why it remained unknown to those who read it; when the Only Begotten came, it melted, i.e. has become soft, so that everyone can use it to formulate an understanding of the mystery of the Only Begotten, and through it, as if through wax warmed by fire, to make images of the Lord. “Ras that yali,” they say, “from the face of the Lord,” i.e. from the action of the Spirit. Since the prophet here calls the face of the Lord twice, it is clear that in one case he calls the Son - the face of the Father, in the other the Spirit - the face of the Son. The prophetic wax melted, therefore, not only from the coming of the Only Begotten, but also from the gift of the Spirit, because even after the coming of Christ the apostles could not have understood the prophecies about Him if He had not imparted to them the gifts of the Spirit, as can be seen from the words of the Lord that He said to them: “O foolish ones and slow in heart to believe everything that the prophets have predicted” (Luke 24:25). “The heavens proclaimed His righteousness, and all the nations ate His glory” (Ps. 97:6). Although the heavens repeatedly proclaimed the righteousness of God, that is, Christ, for example, when a voice came from them: “This is My beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17, 17:5), not only at baptism, but also on Mount Tabor, or when, in response to Christ’s prayer to the Father: “Father, glorify” Thy Son, a voice came from heaven: “I have also glorified and will glorify again” (John 12:28), but in the primary sense, the apostles were the heavens, exalting the truth of God. They were truly not earthly beings, but heavenly ones, which is why they are called heavens. 2. When the apostles preached, all nations knew the glory of Christ, seeing how the unlearned became speakers, how demons were cast out by the shadow of the apostles. “Let all those who worship idols, who boast in their idols, be put to shame. Worship Him, all His Angels!” (Ps.96:7). Not only those who received the written law should be ashamed of the idols created by their hands, but also those who received the natural law. Indeed, who is not obvious that it is characteristic of God to create? How, then, can something created by someone else be called God? Consequently, just as the one who worships should be ashamed, so in the same way the one who, although he does not worship, but boasts of having made objects of worship for another, is worthy of shame, since he has brought a grave temptation into our lives. “Worship Him, all His Angels!” The Prophet expediently pointed out here the worship of angels, so that we would not be ashamed to worship the God whom the angels worship, and at the same time, so that we would know that by worshiping God, we enter into the rank of angels - in addition, we would also know that it is common for angels to worship, and not to receive worship. Moreover, demons who have lost even their angelic dignity cannot serve as objects of worship. “Zion heard and rejoiced, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced for the sake of Thy judgments, O Lord” (Ps. 96:8). The prophet called all the churches existing on earth the daughters of the Jews, since confession flourishes in them, since Judea means confession. In the first place the prophet put Zion, as the firstborn church. She, says the prophet, “heard and “we rejoiced” - I heard about the shame of idolaters, as well as about the worship of angels that they bring to God, and naturally she rejoiced, as one who honors the only worshiped God - the Father of creation. Naturally, the daughters of the Jews (i.e., as we said, the church), having become participants in this joy, “rejoiced.” The reason for which joy is proclaimed is the judgments of God, namely, that those who worship idols and boast in idols, according to the judgment of God, are subject to shame. How this happened, learn from what follows. “For You, the Lord High over all the earth, have greatly exalted yourself above all the gods" (Ps. 96:9). Since the prophet points to the judgment accomplished by the cross, and the cross is the height of the Only Begotten, because He says: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me” (John 12:32), so that no one would think that Christ was not high before, the prophet called Him not only high, but also “Highest” over all the earth. Pointing to the earth, the prophet called the whole creation a part. But through the cross of Christ he rose above all gods, i.e. falsely called gods, because, having been cast down by the cross, they learned by experience how high God is, if He, through one who was considered weak, struck down those who were considered strong. “You who love the Lord, hate evil! The Lord protects the souls of His saints, He has delivered them from the hand of the sinner" (Ps. 96:10) - so that, having found pure love, God will accept those who love as His true and sincere sons. Therefore, whoever says that he loves God, but indulges in even a slight vice, or loves something worldly, deceives himself, because love for this world, as James says, is enmity against God ( James 4:4). “The Lord guards the souls of His saints, and delivers them from the hand of the sinner.” These are the benefits we receive from pure love for God. We become saints and have God as the guardian of our greatest treasure - the soul, so that we cannot fall into the hands of the enemy, then God does not leave us, but frees us, binding the true sinner, the root of sin - the devil, and gives us a hand so that we can escape. from the one who illegally rebelled against us. “A light has risen for the righteous and joy for the upright” (Ps. 96:11). The law of God is the lamp and light for the righteous, which is why in another place David says: “A lamp for my feet... is Your law and a light for my paths” (Ps. 119:105). He is also joy for the upright in heart, i.e. for those who walk the right path. He shows them the path they desire and strengthens them in the virtues to which they themselves strive. But you understand by the shining light the Only Begotten, about whom John the Theologian writes: “Through Him all things began to be, and without Him nothing began to be that was made. In Him was life, and life was the light of men” (John 1:3–4). That is why Malachi called Him the sun, and like David predicted that He would shine for the righteous. “But for you who revere My name, the Sun of righteousness will rise and healing in His rays” (Mal.4:2). “Rejoice, you righteous ones, in the Lord, and confess the memory of His holy things” (Ps. 96:12). The righteous become blessed because of their joy. They do not delight in any worldly blessings, but only in God, in whom, as you know from the Epistle of James, “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). “And confess the memory of His holy things.” By confession we mean either thanksgiving or confession of sins, since it also befits the righteous, because there is no man who will live without sinning, which is why man necessarily comes to memory, that is, to the remembrance of the holiness of God. People should thank God for the fact that He has sanctified them, and confess themselves to be sinners, because no matter how man is righteous, in comparison with the holiness of God he still turns out to be a sinner, which is why Isaiah says: “we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like filthy rags” before Your face (Is. 64:6). Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and in the Patrology of Min, classified as Spuria The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: