Interpretation of Psalm 118

Contents Preface Verses 1 – 56 Verses 1 – 8 Verses 9 – 16 Verses 17 – 24 Verses 25 – 32 Verses 33 – 40 Verses 41 – 48 Verses 49 – 56 Verses 57 – 120 Verses 57 – 64 Verses 65 – 72 Verses 73 – 80 Verses 81 – 88 Verses 89 – 96 Verses 97 – 104 Verses 105 – 112 Verses 113 – 120 Verses 121 – 176 Verses 121 – 128 Verses 129 – 136 Verses 137 – 144 Verses 145 – 152 Verses 153 – 160 Verses 161 – 168 Verses 169 – 176 The one hundred and eighteenth psalm differs from other psalms in such prominent features that one cannot help but notice it the first time. The number of verses speaks for itself; For us, this one psalm constitutes an entire kathisma. Anyone who reads it with attention cannot help but notice another feature - namely, the fact that each of the 176 verses says something about the law of God, meaning it only by different names. Both may still not be so important, but one can no longer help but be amazed that, as those who have worked hard in studying Scripture find, in so many verses everything is about the same subject, there are no weak sayings and no completely identical repetitions. There are verses similar to one another, but of them, one always, in comparison with the other, indicates some special feature of the law or some shade of the same feature. In the same way, very simple-looking sayings, when you look closely at them, open to the eye of the mind an entrance into the depth of the Divine law. There is another characteristic feature of this psalm; in the Greek and Slavic translations, as in any other, it is not visible, but in the Hebrew original it immediately catches the eye. This is that the psalm is arranged according to an alphabetical acrostic, and, moreover, not so that each verse begins with a new letter following the initial letter of the previous verse, for example, so that the first verse begins with “a”, the second with “b”, the third with “d”; but each letter begins eight verses in a row, then the other eight verses begin with the next letter. Thus, the first eight verses begin with “a”, the next eight with “b”, and so on. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Putting eight verses on each, there will be 176 verses. There are so many of them in the psalm. This last feature most of all leads to a solution to the question of the origin and purpose of this psalm. One interpreter cites the opinion of Jewish scholars that the holy prophet David composed this psalm to teach his son Solomon, whom he was preparing to succeed himself, in the law of God and prayer. Zigaben makes an extract from Origen, in which the latter testifies that the Jews had the custom of forcing their children, along with the alphabet, to memorize this psalm. Combining both, we believe that the holy prophet David, at the end of his days, after so many experiences in life, of which not a single one passed through him without putting himself in direct relation to God and His law, having rationally gone through all moral and religious states and having understood all of them in the light of the face of God, had the good idea to convey to Solomon all his spiritual experience, so, however, that at the same time he had in mind the children of all fathers, not only of their time, but also of all subsequent generations. Blessed Theodoret writes the following about this psalm: “The Divine David had many different changes in his life: he fled from enemies, and put enemies to flight, fell into sorrow and then led a joyful life, walked the divine path and stumbled in the procession, and again followed the Divine laws. He brought all this together in this psalm, and all the prayers that he offered to God under every circumstance, bringing them into one harmonious composition, he offered people a single useful teaching, and in what he said, he shows how one can succeed in active virtue.” At the same time, we hasten to eliminate the thought that could be revived: this psalm is for children’s reading and study; So why should we, adults, and especially learned ones, bother with it? - But this psalm was studied in childhood, and provided guidance for a lifetime, and constituted not only a guide, once completed by study forever, but also an object for constant reflection, and a means for always deepening into the mysteries of God’s law. The sayings of the psalm are simple in form, but not simple in content. Start looking more closely, and you will always find something new, edifying, drawing the will to follow the paths of God. Blessed Augustine testifies that for a long time he could not take up the interpretation of this psalm, being amazed by its depth. “How many times,” he says, “they asked me to give an interpretation of it; and I tried, but always retreated, seeing that it exceeded my strength; for the simpler this psalm seems, the deeper it turns out to be; so I can’t even say how deep it is. Other psalms have darkness; This one is so clear that just read or listen: there is nothing to interpret. Meanwhile, I cannot say whether I will be able to do anything now, starting to talk about him.” After this, there can be no doubt that if learned men take a verse from this psalm and study it by meditation throughout the day, it will be very similar to breaking through the earth in the place where a treasure is hidden. Just dig around and you'll find it. No matter what spiritual age someone is, everyone will see what is due and useful to themselves. Blessed Theodoret concludes his opinion about this psalm as follows: “This psalm is sufficient to perfect those who want perfect virtue in it, to arouse those living in absentmindedness to diligence, to inspire those who fall in spirit, to correct those who are careless, in a word, to give all kinds of healing against various human infirmities.” Saint Athanasius the Great, bypassing all the external connections of this psalm, looks at it with the eye of a deep hermit and says: “In this psalm, the holy prophet describes the life of the saints, their exploits, sorrows, labors, also the uprisings of demons, thousands of inspired thoughts, nets and other means of entrapment, and at the same time that by which the saints gain victory: the law, the words of God, patience, help from above and, finally, what will follow the work - rewards, crowns, rewards.” Saint Ambrose writes that “other psalms also contain moral lessons, but those are like stars scattered across the sky, and this one is like the sun shedding abundant light at noon.” Such richness of this psalm has disposed us to devote decent time to thinking about it and, whatever God sends, to offer it to the attention of God-fearing and zealous Christians for their salvation, in the confidence that it will at least bring them some benefit. The Holy Church apparently wants us to know and understand this psalm more thoroughly and read it at every daily midnight office, when thought, refreshed by sleep, is more able to perceive more vividly and penetrate deeper. In offering our thoughts, however, we consider it our duty to state that there will be little of our own here. Everything will be borrowed from the holy fathers and teachers of the Church, who labored in the interpretation of this psalm. Saint Ambrose dedicated a whole book to him; Blessed Augustine publicly offered conversations about him in church; St. Athanasius the Great, Blessed Theodoret, and St. Hilary interpreted it along with the interpretation of all the psalms. Besides them, our advisers will be: Zigaben Euthymius and Anthimus, the most blessed Patriarch of Jerusalem. In the presentation, we will maintain the division into eight lines, imitating Saint Ambrose and the Blessed Anthimus, although this is not in either the Slavic or Greek text, especially since this is not just an external distinction that facilitates reading and supports attention and desire, without affecting the internal content. It was thought that the verses of each octet did not represent unity; but a more careful study showed that each eight-line is driven by one thought, on which the verses are strung, like beads on one thread. Interpretation and reflection itself will show how true this is. What is the general form of the sayings in this psalm? – These are not parables, but prayerful appeals to God. Each verse is a prayer, but everything is about one thing - about fulfilling the law of the Lord. The soul, realizing that salvation is only in God through the fulfillment of His holy will, talks with God, begging Him to enlighten, admonish, strengthen, deliver from internal temptations and external troubles, restore from falls, deliver from enemies - in a word, to grant it, by His mercy, to be pleasing to Him. Everywhere there is warm speech, addressed to God directly from the heart. One more note. The will of God, which is obligatory for us, is expressed in more than one word throughout the psalm. In addition to the usual expression - law, commandments, there are names - meetings, justifications, words, fate, fate of truth, path, path of truth, path of commandments, path of justifications, paths of commandments, advice, etc. Each of these names means the same will of God about how we should live, or the same law, only in its different respects. If any of these names gives any shade to the thought contained in the saying, then this will be indicated in its place. Ps.119:1. Blessed are those who are blameless in their ways, walking in the law of the Lord. “The path,” writes Theodoret, “here the prophet refers to the life that we all go through from birth to the grave.” Those who live blamelessly, turning away from all sin, are blameless in their journey. “Whoever has never sinned in anything, says Saint Athanasius the Great, is blameless.” Those who walk in the law of the Lord are those who, in the words of Theodoret, “live in accordance with the laws of God,” fulfill every commandment that comes across in the course of life, without omitting anything that is recognized as obligatory and without refusing anything; otherwise - who do every good thing. Thus, these two points command the same thing that in other places the prophet expresses with the words: “turn away from evil and do good,” answering the question: “Who is the man who, although he loves the days, sees good things?” (Ps. 33:13, 15) or who in the first psalm first: “do not go in the counsel of the wicked,” and then: “his will is in the law of the Lord.” So that's who is blessed! What kind of bliss? Internal or external, here or future? If it pleases the Lord and is not harmful to a person, then external happiness is given; but inner bliss is inseparable from a pure and godly life, which, despite all external hardships and shortcomings, brings peace and joy to everyone, flowing from a calm conscience and unashamed gaze in the face of the Lord, fills the soul with strong hope and kindles in it the feelings that children tend to have for their father. Such a person always rests in the bosom of God’s providential and caring love. This is here; That is why the holy prophet says: “they will not be” blessed, but “the essence.” What will happen - “not appearing” (1 John 3:2). There will be something that cannot even occur to a person - it is so complete, lofty, valuable! But the path is the same: an immaculate life according to the commandments of the Lord. There is the fatherland; here is the other side; life is a procession to the homeland. Meanwhile, everyone lives; Consequently, everyone goes to the end, but not everyone goes to their homeland, they are aiming in the wrong direction, their path leads to the wrong place. Oh, when would it be “mother-in-law’s taco” to “comprehend!” (1 Cor. 9:24). What happened? Inexpressible bliss is promised; But who does not desire bliss, who does not seek it, who does not sacrifice everything for it? And we are sinners, sin-loving people, why do we love sin? - For the sake of finding bliss in him through tea; and even though it deceives us and, instead of bliss, languishes and torments us, we all wallow in it: maybe we’ll wait for bliss! Yes, we will wait, like a fig from a burdock. Everyone desires and seeks bliss; it is the engine of all human deeds and enterprises, both large and small. But not everyone understands what it is and how to get there, and even having understood, not everyone is so inclined to act as needed to achieve bliss. There is something incomprehensible hidden in this. A person clearly endures deception and even some violence here, and goes in vain. St. Augustine talks at length about this. “From the very beginning, this psalm calls us to bliss, the object of every person’s desires. Is there anyone, has there ever been, or will there be anyone who would not want to be blessed? What need is there to call for what the human soul strives for by itself? After all, when someone calls for something, he inclines the will of the one to whom he is speaking to rush towards what he offers. What are they doing to us, convincing us to desire what we cannot not desire? Isn't this unnecessary speech? - No, not superfluous; Everyone desires bliss, but not everyone knows how to achieve it. The words “blasphemous bliss” say something like this: I know what you want - you are looking for bliss, so if you want to be blessed, be blameless. But the fact of the matter is that everyone desires bliss, but very few desire that without which it is impossible to achieve what everyone desires. So he sets before everyone the desired bliss, and immediately offers chastity through walking in the law of God, so that through what everyone themselves desires, he can also be disposed towards what not everyone desires. To be blessed is such a great good that both the good and the bad desire it; and it is not surprising that the good are good for his sake; but it is worthy of every surprise that even the unkind are unkind out of a desire to be blessed. And one devoted to sensual pleasures, and one seeking wealth and honor, and one entangled in all sorts of vices - all seek bliss. It is these who are wandering and expecting bliss from destruction that this Divine voice calls to the right path, if only they hear it: “Blessed are those who are blameless in the way, walking in the law of the Lord.” It says something like this: where are you going? You are dying without knowing it. Where you want to reach, they go there by a different road than you are going. Of course you desire bliss; but the road you are walking leads to destruction. Stop looking for such great good on such an evil path. This is where you are going, this is the road you are taking! Leave the destruction of corrupt ways, you who cannot abandon the desire for bliss. It is in vain that you suffer, striving for a place where you only stain yourself. Blessed are not those who stain themselves with sin and walk in the corruption of the age; but those who are “blameless in their ways and walk in the law of the Lord.” And it is true that this path is difficult and dangerous. The path of the commandments is pure in itself; but those walking along it walk incessantly under the rain of dirty splashes, which, if they fall, do not remain on one surface, but are eaten inside. They have to not only be washed and washed off, but cut out and burned out. Saint Macarius depicts this path as running among thorns and swamps, where poisonous reptiles and animals hide, and spears and swords are stuck in places. How much attention, tension, labor, struggle is required here! Therefore, the word “blameless” in the original is the same as the lambs designated for the Passover sacrifice. This, by the way, indicates that those who have entered the path of the commandments, in order to be blameless, must condemn themselves, as if to be slaughtered. Only the one who at the very beginning decided to consider himself already dead will be able to resist all temptations and difficulties: because whoever considers himself dead, what else can he encounter that is unbearable? All this is less than death. This is what it means that the Lord said: “Whoever wants to come after Me, let him deny himself” (Matthew 16:24). If it were possible so that when you did what was due and when you didn’t, then it would be more convenient. But this is not possible; Nothing will come of such action. This is the same as building and destroying; let's go, let's go. The Greek word walking gives the idea that those walking walk without stopping, without paying attention to anything, without being afraid of obstacles - they walk like some majestic river flows until it enters the sea. “The Prophet,” says Blessed Theodoret, pleases those who unswervingly walk the royal path and, following the dictates of the law, do not deviate either to the right or to the left,” and Saint Ambrose continues: “He who walks blamelessly in the law of the Lord never ceases to walk this path, so as not to cease to be blameless, does not deviate either to the right or to the left (neither to the right nor to the left). to the left), does not look back and forth, does not stand motionless, as if waiting for something, but walks, “forgetting what is behind, but stretched out to what is ahead,” heading towards a certain goal, “for the honor of the highest calling” (Phil. 3:13, 14). This is what you need to achieve! Otherwise, many begin to flow, but do not reach the end. “You must not only take the path,” says Saint Hilary, but also continue to walk it to the very goal. While someone follows the path, he has not yet achieved what he strives for. That is why blessed Paul says: “I have not attained... but I persecute...” (Phil. 3:12). So he strove, and strove so hard that he forgot the back. He only achieves bliss who so strives with hope into the future.” Ps.119:2. Blessed are those who experience His witness; they will seek Him with all their hearts. “Destinations” are evidence. This is what the holy prophet calls the law, because the law testifies to the will of God, about, as Blessed Theodoret says, “what God wants from us, how he wants to be well-pleasing from us and what he rewards to those who follow His commands and to those who do not.” Testimonies, however, are what the word of God is generally called here. The witness usually speaks a word about something that others do not know, with the certification that he is telling the truth. The spiritual world and all the mysteries relating to the Divine nature, the universe, the government of the world, redemption and the restoration of all kinds (the creation of the universe) are unknown to us. God Himself gave testimony about them. In this sense, testimonies embrace all the words of God, all Divine revelation. Both, whether it is just the law to be understood, or the entire word of God, can be called evidence also because the truth of it has been certifiably attested to everyone, so that doubting it is not only unreasonable, but also godless. God Himself solemnly spoke the law; The prophets, moved by the Spirit of God, interpreted it, foreshadowing the redemption of all that was to take place; The Son of God - God, having become incarnate, clearly announced the Father and explained His and His will, entering into the New Testament with humanity; The apostles, filled with the Spirit of God, announced these mysteries to the whole world and throughout the world they erected one Holy Church, the guardian of the truth. Thus, the word of God is from God; therefore, it is immutably true, for God is truth. God Himself testifies that His word is true. But even after giving His word to guide people, He did not cease, throughout the entire continuation of its existence on earth, to testify that it is truly immutable, protecting and patronizing those who profess its truth, and striking with punishment those who rebel against it against their conscience. He especially testifies to this by the fact that he allows people who are faithful to the word to experience and feel in their hearts all that is promised to those who are faithful to the word in the word of God. One can experience the testimonies of God, the law, or the word of God in general either only with the mind, or not only with the mind, but also with deeds: the first precedes entering the path of God’s will, set forth in the word, and the other will follow it. The test of the word of God that precedes the work is mental research and study of it, one is done in the form of knowledge only, and the other in the form of following it. It is possible to study the word of God without following it, if not by stubborn resistance to God’s calling, then by delaying the matter, saying to ourselves: now let us study the word, and in time we will begin to live according to it. Such bare knowledge of the word of God cannot be complete and satisfactory, because the greatest part of its truths is understood after embarking on the path of following it. By its origin, it is most limited theoretically - by the mental side of what is discovered, even in those subjects that relate to activity. And it always confuses, because constructing theories with the mind about what is revealed in the word of God, without corresponding life, is the same as constructing speculative systems in external sciences without experience. Saint Isaac the Syrian writes at length about this naked knowledge and its confusions in his letter to the Monk Simeon the Wonderworker. Those who remain with this knowledge alone, of course, cannot be called blessed. On the contrary, such knowledge will rather serve to condemn them. “A servant who knows the will of his master, and neither prepares nor does according to his will, will suffer many stripes” (Luke 12:47). With all this, such knowledge can be saving if the word of God is tested not maliciously, not with stubbornness, but with some, albeit small, sympathy. The truths of God are gathered into the same consciousness where the darkness of sinfulness and vanity are present. The Light of God cannot but expose this darkness, and conscience, listening to this, cannot but raise its voice, intelligible and compelling. The moment will come when the student of the word of God will turn to its instructions with his mind and desire, and will set the intention to follow it unswervingly. In this case, all the previously collected information from the word of God will serve him as ready material for the formation of the inner man, just as for a sprout aroused in a seed, the surrounding elements in the seed itself serve as the first food. The test of the word of God, in the form of following it, is one thing in order to begin to follow it, and another – so that, having begun, it is better to follow it. Anyone who hears that everything he thinks and does is false and bad and that the truth is contained only in the word of God takes the word of God, reads it, listens, comes to his senses and decides to follow its instructions and demands. Following the holy martyr Justin, how many were there in the Church of God who, having begun well, were then completely purified, became vessels of grace and are now glorified by the Church! And now they exist. Even among Christians there are many who have not read the word of God at all and who do not know what is required of them by holy faith and baptism; but when, in some way, they are led to read it, they are enlightened in mind and heart and become shameless workers in the house of God. But even those who have already begun to follow the path of God’s commandments cannot remain without testing the word of God, because they must not only enter on the path of God, but follow them to the end, and moreover, directly, without deviating either here or there. There is nowhere to get instruction regarding this except the word of God. That is why, having begun to follow the word of God, they never let it go out of their hands, studying it and feeding on it, and having the law for every work they undertake and do to have a testimony from the word of God. Those who cannot read sharpen their ears in the church of God and, like a bird, collect the words of God grain by grain, and, rich in knowledge of it, day by day they become wise in words, often able to teach spiritual life to those who are learned. Who are the blessed ones among them all? – The bliss of those who experience the testimonies of God begins from the moment of determination to follow them in action. Although they have not yet had time to become immaculate in their path and pure in heart, as required by the first verse for bliss, they have already begun to move towards bliss, having begun to seek the Lord - they are still blessed with hope, which will undoubtedly soon lead them to a real taste of bliss. “Such, says Blessed Augustine, are blessed by hope, just as “it is blessed to drive away righteousness for the sake of” - not by what is, for they experience evil, but by what will come to them: “for to them is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10). If they are blessed by hope, then by hope they can be blameless. For in this life, even if we tried with all our zeal to walk in the law of the Lord, “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Truly blessed of those who experience the testimony of God are those who actually experience everything that is indicated in the word of God. And those who begin to follow the word of God are not suddenly introduced into spiritual experiences. At first they are incapable of this: there is still too much noise and confusion in their souls and hearts. In time, when the excitement subsides, spiritual experience begins, from small cases to large ones. The farther, the more; finally, they also acquire “senses trained in the judgment of good and evil” (Heb. 5:14). Here are examples: we repent and receive permission; but a certifying feeling of pardon is also immediately given, although in strength it comes after the labors of repentance. Whoever feels this will actually experience that there is remission of sins. Who does not know how good the Lord is! But another eats and through eating already knows that the Lord is good. We all pray; but there is prayer, which prays itself and draws the entire inner man after itself. Whoever experiences this knows only that there is prayer. There are so many internal changes in a person: now he is in joy, now in sadness, now in fear, now in a sense of security and hope; but all such feelings occur on both the right and left sides. There is joy in the Lord and sorrow in God; and there is fake joy and sadness. There is the fear of God and saving hope, and there is empty insurance and deceptive hope. All such manifestations of life in the spirit are tested by action, studied experimentally and, once studied, enter into the guiding principles of life. Why are such people blessed? – By the same thing that they experience; then the word can be applied to them: “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). But there is still a higher test of God's testimonies; the test of deed belongs to active life; There is a contemplative life, in which there is a contemplative test. Steady fulfillment of the commandments leads to purification of the heart; a pure heart opens a window to the mind into the spiritual world, and it contemplates objects there, just as the eye looks at what is visible on the outside. In all the writings of the fathers it is mentioned that an active life according to the commandments leads to contemplation and that the mind, having reached this level, contemplates the mysteries of God. What this consists of and how it happens is known to those who are worthy of this. Let us accept this by faith, since this is generally testified by everyone, and that this can be understood in this verse, let us rely on men who know much. Zigaben quotes the following words of Eusebius at this point: “The holy prophet goes forward in order. The first blessed ones are blameless in their path, never and in any way straying from the path of the law; These are active men. The latter, having ascended to a higher degree, are blessed, since they not only correct their morals, but also contemplate the depths of God’s testimonies; these are contemplative." With the test of the testimonies, the prophet puts in direct connection the whole-hearted seeking of the Lord: they will seek Him with all their hearts. The search for the Lord begins from the time when the reading of the word of God begins, in the form of following it. When someone decides to follow His demands and instructions, then, at the same time, he enters the path of actively seeking Him; and then - whatever degrees the test of visions goes through, along with it the Lord’s seeking goes through its own degrees. They excite each other, support and enliven each other. But the goal of seeking the Lord is not just to seek and seek; but, having sought, to find and, having found, to abide with Him and in Him, possessing Him and being possessed by Him. As soon as a person decides to follow the commandments, seeking the Lord, the Lord accepts him. But again, the search for the Lord is still mixed with many other searches that interrupt it. When someone enters a state of spiritual experience, the search for the Lord comes forward and takes a predominant place: all other searches are subordinate to it and are directed by it; then it occupies the whole heart and becomes exclusive. This is already in the last stages of active life and in contemplative life, the distinctive feature of which is the soul and God, and no one else and nothing else. Let us give three testimonies from our interpreters regarding this penalty. Everyone will see for himself which state each of them belongs to. Blessed Anthimus of Jerusalem says: “In this verse, Saint David shows the way how people become walkers in the law of the Lord. When, he says, they begin to test His testimonies; when, that is, with a sober and pure thought they begin to examine His words, the truth of which has been witnessed and confessed, then they will seek the Lord not only with knowledge and understanding of His words, but also with their hearts, loving Him and always doing what is pleasing to Him.” Euthymius Zigaben writes: “Whoever reads the law and the words of God with deep attention and comprehends the spiritual treasure hidden within, he, due to such deepening, begins to seek God with all his heart, mentally seeing His beauty and tasting His sweetest light. Then he renounces everything material and delights in Him alone.” Blessed Theodoret assures: “All-hearted discipline is not possible for everyone, but only for those who have reached the very top of virtue; such a person no longer divides his mind into thoughts about God and anything worldly, but devotes himself entirely to God.” Ps.119:3. For those who do not do iniquity walk in His ways. According to the Hebrew text, this verse reads like this: “Such ones do no more commit iniquity, but walk in His ways.” The speech in our text is no different. Instead of “doing” we put “doing”, which the Greek word gives us the right to do, and we get: “not doing iniquity, they began to walk in His ways” - they began to walk so decisively that they were established in this walk forever. Who are they? – Those who have reached the degrees shown before have entered a state of contemplation and remain with the Lord, having sought Him with all their hearts and having found Him. What is attributed to them? - The fact that they, guarded by the all-encompassing grace of the Lord abiding in them, do not allow themselves to do anything displeasing to the Lord, to offend Him with any lawlessness, but always unswervingly, in thought, feeling, and deed, walk in the same ways of God, not only the general ones, indicated by general instructions, but also the private ones, which determine every accident in life. This indicates the highest spiritual and moral state in which the holy apostles and after them many men equal to the apostles found themselves. These include the words of the Apostle John: “Whoever is born of God does not commit sin, for His seed abides in him, and cannot sin, for he is born of God” (1 John 3:9). Rebirth begins in baptism, but appears in perfection at the last stages of spiritual progress, when everything inside a person is sacrificed by the Lord (sacrificed to the Lord), and he is completely renewed, in the image of the Creator - that is, in spirit, a son of God according to the obvious likeness to God in him. The Holy Apostle Paul defines the character of such people by unrelenting love: “who,” he says, “will separate us from the love of God?” – Nothing, neither on earth, nor in heaven, neither in the present, nor in the future; because love never falls away. Such people in all their ways are “already led by the Spirit of God” (Rom. 8:14, 35), as this was clearly justified by the holy Apostle Paul, who says about all his undertakings and deeds: “We are not content to think anything of ourselves, but our contentment is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5); because He is “work in us to do whatever we will and to do for good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). Such persons are instruments of Divine providence for us. Thus, here the word “paths” means not only the commandments, but in general the ways of God’s providence, by which everything that is best and most salutary is determined for everyone. Our whole trouble is that we do not fall on the trail of providential determinations, and we do not fall because we are infants in spirit. Those who have ascended to this level see not only everything that is their own, but also everything that belongs to others. They are able to determine in the most precise way what, according to God’s intentions, should be done by whom. I remember that many came to Father Seraphim of Sarov with questions about the paths of life, and he definitely told many of them which path to follow so as not to destroy their souls. He said to one wanderer: “Go, sit at home and work, and feed yourself and give alms.” He ordered another wanderer, who wanted to enter a monastery, to wander, because living in a monastery would not save him. For others he said something different. And there have been and are many such spectators of God’s ways. We are all destined for such perfection, and if we are deprived of such a gift, it is solely due to negligence and carelessness, and more so due to love of sin; That’s why we rush around a lot in life to no avail, we do and redo, we go and return, and we cross the paths of life in various ways. Let us, at least, wish and pray to God that He does not deprive us of such men who could see all His ways, and as they themselves walk in them, they would also show them to others. The only path to this is the one that Elder Seraphim and others like him followed. Saint Macarius asks: “Could the apostles sin?” - and answers: “They couldn’t, but they were, however, free to do what they wanted.” Grace did not bind them, but they themselves did not agree to sin. Here are his words: “They could not sin, because, being in the light and with such grace, they did not exalt themselves. However, we affirm that grace allows even perfect spiritual men to have their own wills and the opportunity to do whatever they want and bow to whatever they want. And human nature itself, being weak, has the ability to evade the good that is with it” (Spiritual Conversations, 27, 11). St. Augustine solves the question: “How do saints, without committing lawlessness, walk in the works of God, while it is true that “if we say that we are not imams of sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us?” (1 John 1:8). This bewilderment, he says, was resolved by the Apostle Paul, who speaks of the sins of the saints in his own person: “I do not do these things, but the sin that lives in me” (Rom. 7:20). If sin lives in him, then how can we say that he is without sin? And yet, he walks in the ways of God and does not commit iniquity, for although it is in him, it is not he who creates it, but the sin that lives in him. This solution, however, is such that it gives rise to another, more difficult, bewilderment: how does a person do what he himself does not do? Because he said both: “I do this not if I will, nor do I do these things” (Rom. 7:20). When the sin that dwells in us acts in us, then it is not we who do it, as soon as our will does not agree with it and keeps the members of the body from obeying it; for what does sin do in us without us, except for mere attacks and lures to the impermissible? If the will does not consent to it, then a certain passion (affectus) may be in motion, but no action (effectus) is yielded to it. This same apostle prescribed this when he said: “Let not sin reign in your deadness, unless you listen to it in its lusts; present your swords of the weapon of unrighteousness to sin” (Rom. 6:12–13). So, sin acts in us through sinful lusts, which, if we listen to, we will act sinfully. If, following the apostle, we do not listen to them, then it is not we who will do this, but the sin that lives in us. If we did not have any such impermissible movements, then neither we nor the sin living in us would do anything bad. This movement of impermissible lust, without obeying which we do not do it, is therefore considered our work because it is not the weakness of someone else’s, but of our own nature; We will be completely freed from such weakness only when we become immortal not only in soul, but also in body. Thus, we walk in the ways of God, not obeying sinful lusts, and we are not without sin, because we carry sinful lusts within ourselves. Another question: in the words of the Lord’s Prayer: “forgive us our debts,” what are we asking to be forgiven—the things we do in obedience to sinful lusts, or these very lusts that we do not do, but the sin that lives in us? I believe that the guilt of that weakness or illness from which sinful lusts arise, which the Apostle calls sin (Rom. 7:7-15), is all forgiven to us in the sacrament of baptism, with everything that we have done before, obeying it in word, deed and thought; and after this, this weakness would not harm us at all, even though it would be in us, if we had never obeyed its lusts in anything, neither in word, nor in deed, nor in secret consent, until, finally, it itself would be healed, and it would be fulfilled in us: “Thy kingdom come.” But since “temptation is the life of man on earth” (Job 7:1), then although we are far from obvious sins, it happens that we are carried away by sinful movements in word, deed or thought. We are vigilant against great sins, but, due to some inattention and carelessness of ours, small sins break through, which, however, if we collect everything, they cannot but burden us. It is for this reason that those who always walk in the ways of God sincerely pray: “forgive us our debts.” Ps.119:4. Thou hast commanded that Thy commandments should be kept strictly. In the three preceding verses, the holy prophet indicated the general outline of moral and religious life, where it begins, what it goes through and what it achieves. From the fourth verse his divinely thought and prayerful appeals to God begin on all sides and in all particulars of this life. In first place is the first and most important thing, namely, the obligation to “zealous” (strong) zeal for keeping the commandments “zealously” commanded. This zeal is an inexhaustible source of good deeds and all godly life, it is a bush that burns in the heart and does not burn out. Block the source and the flow of refreshing and revitalizing water will stop; suppress jealousy - all good deeds and all thoughts of pleasing God will cease. Extinguish the fire - there will be neither light nor heat; extinguish jealousy - the soul will not be inclined to anything good, it will completely cool down to life according to God. Due to the essential importance of zeal for keeping the commandments, Saint David mentions it first of all. But in order to support it, he immediately reminds that such “green” jealousy is obligatory because the commandments themselves are “zealously” (strongly, precisely) commanded, and the “green” commandment of the commandments naturally causes their “green” keeping. Blessed Augustine relates the word “zelo” to both “commanded” and the word “preserve,” although it obviously goes more directly to the latter. Thus, God “commanded the commandments earnestly,” that is, he commanded them to us not as something only more useful and more suitable, but as an essentially necessary matter, without which destruction is inevitable for us. Here is the narrow path of the commandments for you: follow them, and you will come to life. But there is also a wide path of lawlessness; if you follow him, he will plunge you into eternal destruction. The commandments are “zealously commanded” in the sense that the Lord has nowhere and never shown indifference to their fulfillment; He did not say them casually, so to speak, then holding Himself in such a way that it was as if He didn’t care whether they fulfilled them or not; and having given commandments, he is zealous that they be fulfilled. That is why there is thunder and lightning in legislation; For this purpose, threats and actual terrible executions are given to those who do not perform them, and blessings to those who fulfill them. That is why the saints of God confessed that He is a “zealous God.” This is how He places Himself in relation to His commandments: “If you are willing and listen to Me, you will destroy the good earth; If you are unwilling and do not listen, you will girdle the sword” (Isaiah 1:19–20). Remember the expulsion from paradise, the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the destruction of the Egyptians, the extermination of the Canaanites, the Babylonian captivity, the destruction of Jerusalem and the church with the dispersion of the Jewish people and many similar judgments of God on sinners, and you cannot help but say that God commanded His commandments “zealously.” If you do not take a cold attitude towards such events, then you yourself cannot help but become a “green” zealot for keeping the commandments. The Lord who commanded the commandments “zealously” demands that we “zealously” keep them. “Such “green” keeping, says Patriarch Anfim, requires that we keep the commandments with all care and constant diligence, without grumbling and distraction; not somehow, adds Theodoret, but with all precision, - he demands that we not act with scattered thoughts and a carefree heart in the circle of commandments, but diligently, with all attention, diligence and care, fulfill the commandments of God, with reverence for the One who gave them; Only in this way will our deeds contribute to our progress in faith. If we do them with a careless heart and a mind occupied with other thoughts, then only outwardly, with the members of the body, we will perform a duty, which, due to negligence of the heart, does not have the dignity of a godly act,” as St. Hilary notes. Thus, the indication of the “green” keeping of the commandments warns us not from obvious violation of them, but from faulty, incomplete, displeasing to God fulfillment and, therefore, bordering on their violation. Our biggest sin in this regard is heartlessness. Things are fine, but there is no heart in them, and not always a soul. That is why we encounter a constant reminder from our holy teachers: see that where the body is, there is also a heart and mind. You bow down and bow down in reverence in your heart before the All-Seeing and Omnipresent; if you give alms, do it with your heart turned to the One who is ready to invisibly accept it if you do so; if you forgive an offense, forgive, understanding it as a penance sent from God to seek forgiveness for yourself. So in everything, in all matters, there must be a true internal well-being, from which external activity receives all its value. Our great misfortune is that we turn everything into form, and not only when we start with form, carried away by mere imitation, but also when we begin to act with the real structure of the heart. After several methods of doing the same thing with the participation of the heart, the heart begins to be indifferent, the mind begins to wander, and the work is done only according to the form. All pious habits can suffer from this disease, even those that involve some kind of labor and hardship in their execution. How can this be? - There is no remedy against this except imposing on yourself the rule of always starting without thinking that what you are doing has ever been done. Every time you start it, do it like the first time. When Saint Paul said that he reaches forward, forgetting everything that is behind, although he did not say that he strives forward because he forgets what is behind, but in the essence of the matter this is so. He who sets such a law for himself acquires the skill of doing everything diligently, with heart and attention, and avoids the sentence pronounced in the Apocalypse: “thou art neither warm nor cold, the imam will vomit thee out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:16). There is no doubt that constant, ardent zeal for keeping the commandments is the work of God’s grace, it arouses it, and it preserves it; but this does not mean that we ourselves can give up. On the contrary, it is our duty to constantly kindle ourselves with a collection of various motives for keeping the commandments and investing our hearts with them. It will be the same as adding wood to a burning stove. When there is such an effort on our part, then grace will act, turning our small into big; and when it does not exist, then the grace will depart. People often ask: what causes cooling? - Yes, almost always from the fact that deliberately, out of absent-mindedness, negligence was allowed in the matter in which there was a cooling off. This is internal punishment from the grace that admonishes us. Ps.119:5. So that my ways may be corrected, preserve Your justifications. “We corrected ourselves” - we became straight, took the right direction. “Path” means all my steps, all my undertakings and undertakings, everything I plan to do, both my internal structure and my external actions. “Keep” - that is, so that I, having accepted these justifications in my conscience, then implement them with all my activities, so that they constitute the soul of all my affairs. “Your justifications,” that is, what God considers to be right, “are as true as they are, as honorable as they are... as much as there is merit and praise” (Phil. 4:8), or again: “whatever is the will of God, good, acceptable, and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). Thus, the prophet expresses the desire to be correct in everything before the face of God and always pleasing to Him by walking in His holy will. But the strength of this verse is not in this correctness and pleasing to God, but in the appeal: “so that”, which, according to Saint Athanasius, is used instead of: “oh, if only; Oh, that my ways would be straightened out!” He does not say: oh, if only I had “corrected” my ways, but they corrected themselves in what way - the Lord knows by destinies. This expresses the fact that although there is a desire, there is no strength. “Oh, if only!” - this is the same as “Lord help, give strength, send down Your grace.” St. Augustine says about this: “Some people think that in our striving for holiness, all help from above is limited to only communicating to us the knowledge of the commandments, so that, having learned them, we, without any special grace, can fulfill them with our own strength. To admonish such people, the holy prophet expresses here the desire for the highest grace-filled help in keeping the commandments of God after he had accepted the commandments of God, as stated in the previous verse. He seems to be saying this: “I have already received the commandments that You commanded me to keep strictly; I know them; but Your “commandment” is “holy and righteous and good”; I am sold under sin, which “death does good for me” (Rom. 7:12-13), if Thy grace does not help. Help me!” Having said in advance that God obliges us to “zealously” keep the commandments “zealously” commanded by Him, the holy prophet did not add any conclusion, such as, for example, this: “so, let us be jealous”; He said this to himself, silently, in his heart, giving an example to everyone to do the same. The point is obvious: God commands - the creature must obey without reasoning. But, forced to do this, he encounters the instability of human intentions, the weaknesses and powerlessness of the human will, which he has experienced, and cries out for help from above - grace-filled. And this is the second producer of an active, godly life, next to his intense zeal for that. The work of a godly life will be accomplished by both of them inseparably. Neither grace will help without our free efforts, nor can our efforts produce anything lasting without grace. The work is accomplished with a combination of freedom and grace. Do not ask what is greater, what is less, what begins, what follows, because we cannot comprehend this; but simply keep in mind that both are equally necessary, when one without the other cannot do anything in us. Hurry to quickly fulfill what depends on you, like the holy prophet David, who first spoke about zeal, and then called for grace. God is always ready, as long as we are ready. That is why he does not intensify his prayer, but only cries out: “Oh, if only my ways would be corrected!” At the same time, I recall the comparisons that Saint Macarius so aptly selects to clarify the truth that to be jealous, be jealous, but remember that without help from above you will not succeed in anything - neither in the general course of life, nor in private affairs. Seeking, but powerless - this is a sick rich man, surrounded by his loved ones, whom neither they with all their goodwill, nor he himself with all the means can help and are forced to send and find a doctor who knows the matter; that child, who wants to eat or wants something else, being unable to move from his place, screams only so that the mother can hear; then one who needs to cross the river, who is looking for a suitable vessel. With all this he convinces us not to rely on ourselves, but to seek God’s help and grace. It would seem that there is nothing to convince, and, however, in reality it happens that while a person lives in negligence, he feels strong and holds on to the thought that he just has to start, and he will manage everything within himself. Even having begun the work of correcting himself, he still relies on his labors, still attributes much to his efforts and expects much from them. Quite later, when, having worked conscientiously, he sees that everything is somehow not going to be done, he begins to switch to hope and surrendering himself to God’s will and care, and again not suddenly, but little by little, because he keeps thinking: what do I need and the strength for? Finally, already exhausted and not finding what he wanted and expected, he throws down his weapons and is left with one cry: “Before the fates, save me!” - that is, it comes to the point where the holy prophet David stood when he cried out: “Oh, that my ways may be corrected!” Ps.119:6. Then I will not be ashamed to always look upon all Your commandments. “I will not be ashamed” - I will not be put to shame, I will not be ashamed of the fact that I started and fell behind without finishing the job. What has started? – A zealous walk in all the commandments has begun. Someone is ashamed if he either completely stops following this path, or does not do everything that he should. Shame before whom? - Before the conscience, before God, before the angels, before the saints in heaven and before the council of earthly reverent people, because the living union with all of them is inseparable from the consciousness of a zealot for the good life; he feels himself walking under their gaze. Therefore, as much as the right walk cheers and encourages, deviating from the true path is ashamed at the thought of it. Internal shame - from yielding to passionate suggestions and attractions; external - from creeping into unsimilar deeds, higher - from both. And you cannot escape from this shame, for here is conscience, from which you cannot hide the commandments of the follower, nor hide the deeds done. It’s not that, as a result of this, you should do everything just so as not to lose your face; but the position of one who has hit himself in the dirt is quite shameful and cannot but be a warning. Man is a creation of the highest dignity; he cannot hide this from himself, but this should lead him not to boast, but to maintain his dignity, which is possible without grandeur. The Holy Prophet only says that I will remain on a shameless path if I pay attention to all Your commandments, O Lord. Blessed Theodoret writes: “The fruit of transgression is shame. This is what the divine apostle said: “What fruit did you have then, about which you are now ashamed?” (Rom.6:21). But those who fulfill all God’s commandments have boldness in their conscience.” Saint Ambrose brings the ancestors out into the environment and says: “Pray that you may fulfill all the commandments and not be put to shame. You were already covered with shame in Adam and Eve; I already felt naked and hurried to cover myself with leaves; The shame of nakedness already overwhelmed you, and you tried to hide from the face of God. Therefore, you know how heavy the shame of breaking a commandment is: take care to walk in all the commandments of God.” But the power of this verse is in the word - “behold.” First, the holy prophet showed the person who wanted to live a godly life the entire path of life, depicting its beginning, continuation and end; then he equipped him for the journey, arousing jealousy and investing him with grace-filled power; now he gives him parting instructions, that is, what he must have in order to complete the successfully begun path. He puts strict attention in the first place; for “look” means to fix one’s gaze on something, to fix it on it. Collected attention is a condition for success in any business. He who works with his hands but wanders with his thoughts does not do it quickly and often makes mistakes; the more inevitable are stops, omissions and errors in moral activity when attention is distracted. There's a lot to do with attention. We must pay attention to what is happening inside, to how things are happening outside, to what has passed, and to what is expected. In this verse, the holy prophet points to attention to the commandments, instilling that you need to fix your eyes on the commandments - and you will not be ashamed. So, first of all, you need to tune in so that your attention is exclusively occupied with the commandments. There are many things to do, and a person is inevitably busy, but not all things are of the same rank: there are things to do and side jobs. Attachments are done in passing, but work is done with all care. The prophet demands that the commandments be the main thing, and everything else is an afterthought. Whoever has the most important thing is constantly busy with it - whether he eats, drinks, walks or sits, even sees it in his dreams. Likewise, one should confine all one’s attention to the commandments, and treat everything else as passing. At the same time, it goes without saying that, having focused your attention on the commandments, you must not just look at them, but look in them as in a mirror. “In the commandments of God,” says Blessed Augustine, - whether you read them or reproduce them in memory, “you must look, as in a mirror, according to the Apostle James, who at the same time commands us not to be only hearers of the law, but rather creators” (James 1:22-23). You need to look at the commandment, like in a mirror, so that, having seen how it should be, you adjust yourself accordingly. Through the commandments, one must imagine the norm of a godly life and implement it; one must draw an ideal of perfection and copy it in oneself. The Apostle Paul says: “I do not go to unknown things” (1 Cor. 9:26). He clearly saw what would come out of his labors, what he would achieve, and was thereby inspired. Everyone should have this; and everyone who truly flows truly has it. Saint Mark the Ascetic says that our first enemy is ignorance, and the second is oblivion. We forget who we are and what we should be, and indulge in carelessness. A forgetful listener, who, having seen his face in the mirror, immediately forgets what he is, will not make any progress in walking according to the perfect law of freedom (James 1:23-25). Whoever, thus, looks at all the commandments will never dream of himself and will never say: “enough,” and whoever, instead of them, begins to peer into what is around him, it is difficult for him to refrain from conceit. The one who has fallen into this ulcer becomes complacent, stops, and condemns. For this, grace departs from him; passionate urges break loose like dogs from chains; helpless, if he does not immediately return to repentance and sighs, he surrenders into the hands of fall - and falls. That's shame. Whoever looks at the commandments in the manner shown will not come to this - he will not be ashamed. Ps.119:7. Let us confess to You in the righteousness of our hearts, ever to teach us the destinies of Your righteousness. Here the second requirement for successfully following God’s path is expressed: learning or skill to recognize the destinies of God’s truth and act accordingly. The truth of God is the commandments: the fate of God's truth is God's judgments and determinations of what, when and how should be done in order to serve the cause of pleasing God and salvation, and not ruin it. This is determined by the “reasoning” known to the holy fathers. This is the second requirement for success in the work of God. This reasoning, or the ability to determine how to act best in which case, is not acquired suddenly, but gradually. At the beginning, he who begins the work of God usually does not reason himself, but asks everything from those who know how to reason, as happens in all everyday affairs and undertakings. But then, with strict attention, which was suggested in the previous verse, and with experiences of leadership, deeds after deeds, successfully completed, give the soul the skill to determine something for itself. This skill grows along with the progress of life and is finally established; internal rightness is acquired, which directly and correctly determines what and how to do; the right spirit is renewed in the womb, that is, in a purified heart. This reasoning has two directions: one differs in thoughts, the other guesses the instructions of God's providence, that is, what God wants from us in this or that case and circumstance, for everything is from Him, and everything is built for our good, for our salvation. Anyone who wants to know more precisely what discernment of thoughts is, let him read the book of answers by Barsanuphius and John - perspicacious hermits. Regarding any matter, thoughts can double and triple - which one to act on? If a passionate thought appeared as it is in comparison with a non-passionate one, then it would be easy to determine; but usually for someone who has begun to pay attention to himself, passionate thoughts do not appear in their own form, but always under a plausible cover. That is why there is always a danger of acting as if out of goodness, but meanwhile it will be out of passion. In the aforementioned book, all kinds of cases are discussed by the God-enlightened mind of perspicacious elders; there is presented a detailed science of how to guess the fate of God's truth in this regard. The second subject of consideration - the perception of providential instructions in everything that concerns us, from small to large, from events in life that influence our fate to small meetings - is based on the undoubtedly true confidence that everything that happens to us happens according to God's will. By placing us in certain circumstances, the Lord expects us to act worthy of His care for us. He is everywhere, therefore with us; and being with us, he looks to see if we can act as He wishes. Being thus under the testing and supervised eye of God, we cannot act at random, but must discuss what exactly God wants from us in this or that case, and act accordingly. Strict attention to one’s own contingencies and always acting in a spirit of selfless devotion to the will of God finally give us the skill to correctly determine God’s intentions for us. Worldly wisdom calls such action prudence, but spiritual reasoning often goes against all considerations of human prudence; That is why it is sometimes riotous (simplicity, ignorance), being, in the essence of the matter, wiser than all wisdom. Thus, finally, as has already been said, a right spirit, or rightness of heart, is acquired. Then confession to God is already made in this rightness, since it has become an inalienable property. Confession to God has many sources. We are not talking about them here, but about the quality of confession. When I acquire, he says, the skill of recognizing the fate of Your truth, or I acquire the rightness of my heart, then my confession will be in the rightness of my heart - sincerely, with childish simplicity and purity; or, as Blessed Theodoret writes, “then I will be able to offer You a pure song, when I know all Your judgments and will live in accordance with them.” Why is this so? - Because both by internal movements and by external accidents, with the said reasoning, he tangibly makes sure that he is always surrounded by the most attentive and compassionate care of God, and as a result, he completely surrenders himself into the hands of God, resting in them, as a child rests in the womb of his mother. Since everything of God comes for our good and since this is felt in the heart, hence the unceasing thanksgiving and glorification. Here - “we will confess to You” means, as Theodoret says, - I will give thanks, or, as Augustine explains, I will glorify You both for such care and for the skill itself - to contemplate the destinies of Your righteousness. This confession can also indicate the work of those who listen to themselves, by which they, realizing that they are under the all-benevolent care of God, present to God their soul as it is, with all its weaknesses and unworthiness, and pray to correct them, if it pleases and as it pleases His all-holy will. Blessed Anthimus of Jerusalem here means by confession the confession of all his stumbling blocks, from which no one is ever free, in order to be pure and blameless on the day of the Last Judgment of God, not only in big things, but also in small things. This is bordered by the incessant cry of those seeking salvation, which they express with the words: “Beholden by fate, save us, the unworthy!” Ps.119:8. I will keep Your excuses: do not leave me to the bitter end. Here the third requirement for success in the work of a godly life is expressed: the courage with which one must begin such a life. With these words, the holy prophet expresses the same thing as St. Paul: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). Without courage it is impossible to begin such a life, since it is full of difficulties and surrounded by enemies of salvation. Although the beginner is just beginning, he is not unaware of what he has to meet: he will not meet caresses, but the roaring of lions rushing to devour him. He who does not have the inspiring courage to enter into the struggle against all these oppositions will return back from the very first steps. Which wrestler, at one glance at his opponents, has his hands trembling and his legs breaking, he has already fallen before the start of the fight. So it is in spiritual life. Where can you find such courage? - In trusting in the Lord. The path that those who seek to please God and be saved enter is the path of God. God favors it, protects all those who walk along it and watches over them. He has prepared everything on this path to help them and is only waiting for them to enter it in order to provide them with everything they need. It is in the feeling of this help, always ready from above, that he who decides to work for the Lord says: “I will preserve Your justifications,” only You do not leave me “until the end.” The prophet inspires this to everyone: “Take courage,” he says, “and let your heart be strong, if you trust in the Lord” (Ps. 30:25). Don’t leave it until it’s “green,” that is, “completely.” There are God's abandonments, testing and instructive, when the Lord withdraws grace somewhat, or reduces and hides its actions, for testing and teaching the arbitrariness of the will. When grace overshadows, then everything will be sung, both in thoughts, and in feelings, and in deeds. Human weakness, often appropriating this state for itself, falls into conceit and complacency, and thereby deviates from the truth and distorts the work of life. So that this does not happen or in order to stop it when it has already begun, grace, which is concerned about the salvation of those who seek the Lord, desiring that they all stand in the mind of truth and in the rightness of mood, withdraws from time to time and leaves a person alone with his natural powers. Following this, disorder immediately begins inside and disorder outside. He who pays attention to himself cannot help but notice the impoverishment, just as someone undressed in the cold cannot feel that he has become cold, and he cannot help but understand why it is. Therefore, if conceit is allowed, he immediately repents inside before the Lord, and if it is not allowed, then he confesses his powerlessness. In both cases, he begins to pray and does not retreat until grace returns and restores his good mood; or, if this fails, he rests in surrendering himself to the Lord, condemning himself as unworthy to such a state and being inspired to bear it with patience, although with heartache, but obediently, until the Lord is pleased to look at him with His merciful eye and again enlighten his darkness. A completely different kind of retreat is punitive. There grace, although it ceases its action, is here itself and is ready with help; but here she completely retreats from man and consigns him to his downfall. This happens whenever a mortal sin is committed, and a person unrepentantly remains in it, despite admonitions; but if he repents, then he too is accepted into mercy again, depending on his repentance. Peter fell and, having repented, was again accepted into grace; Judas fell, but because he did not repent, he was completely abandoned and perished. So grace left the Jewish people for resisting God and committing deicide. It is in order to be delivered from such terrible abandonment that the holy prophet promises, in all other cases of abandonment, to remain a patient and constant keeper of the commandments of God. “I will keep you,” - just don’t step away from me, don’t leave me completely. But since grace retreats for the sake of sins, another prayer is hidden here: do not let me fall in such a way for which You righteously forsake sinners. And this is the same thing as “I will keep Your excuses,” if You help me to always keep them. The inspired courage of one entering the path of pleasing God can have no other meaning. It is not arrogance that animates him, but strong trust in God, with the confidence that he decides to walk or is already walking the right path, knowing that these are the justifications of the Lord, which are right, that this is the law of the Lord, which is blameless, that this is the testimony of the Lord, which is true (Ps. 19:8-9). With such confidence, he cannot help but feel that he is walking on solid ground, that his path is illuminated from above and is fenced here and there (on both sides) with security. That's courage! This is the strength of the heart! Having thus reviewed the entire first eight-line, we find that it contains one subject - an indication of the basic principles of a godly life. The first three verses define the degrees by which this life ascends to its last highest perfections; the next two (Ps. 119:4–5) designate the productive forces of this life, such as: “green” zeal and Divine grace; the last three (Ps. 119:6–8) clarify the requirements or conditions for success in this life: attention, reasoning and courage in the Lord. Here is the whole science of truly moral and spiritual life. Saint Ambrose, starting to interpret this eight-verse, rightly says: “the first letter is “aleph,” which means science” (According to others, aleph means leader. And this is not against the content of these verses, for the provisions expressed in them are precisely the leaders in the matter of a godly life. - Auth.). Thus, the attentive reader should be aware in advance that these verses combine in themselves a complete science of moral principles. The explanation of the verses of the first eight lines proceeded without any pretense, as everyone can see. This makes us think that the unity of content they represent is not accidental, but deliberate, that is, these verses were written and selected in such a way as to express one thing - the main foundations of a holy life. Although the conclusion from this one eight-line to the others 21 is not very consistent, we cannot resist the assumption that, perhaps, even in them, with all the apparent fragmentation of the content of the verses, one thought is always conveyed and that it is hinted at by the meaning of the letter with which they begin. Let's do an experiment on the second eight-line. The second letter "bet" means "house". We assume that his verses indicate what kind of house we should prepare for the commandments, where and how to repose them within ourselves. Guided by this thought, we can admit that the first verse indicates all human nature as a house for containing the commandments, and especially during youth, when it has not yet had time to deteriorate; and in subsequent verses - in parts the different abilities of the soul: will - verse 10, heart - 11, mind - 12, word - 13, feeling, taste - 14, reason - 15, memory - 16. With the explanation itself, it will be more obvious how all this is. And that spiritual abilities can have exactly the same direction in spiritual life, we find an indication of this in the parables, where the disciple of wisdom is told: “You write” (commandments) “to yourself three times, for advice, and meaning, and reason” (that is, on these three forces and actions of the soul, and in general), “in the breadth of your heart” (Proverbs 22:21). Writing means imprinting, taking one inside, as if into a home. Ps.119:9. How will the youngest one correct his path? Always keep Your words. He hasn't had time to live yet, and he really needs correction. This, however, does not mean that the prophet assumed youthful depravity here, but that youth is an age that is ready for anything, fast-moving and uncontrollable in its impulses. He advises to quickly capture these impulses and give them good direction. What? - The commandments of God. Let the commandments be to the young what a bridle is to zealous horses. According to the word of God, “from youth a man’s mind is drawn to evil” (Gen. 6:5), if he is not guided; and if you lead, then the good will always rebel against the thoughts of the evil, and if you give the young man even a little skill in good, then the good will overcome the evil. The wise one says: “foolishness hangs in the heart of the young” (Proverbs 22:16). Like a weight, he is pulled towards evil by the excitement of desires with the ease of concepts about life and the consequences of certain things. You can cut off this weight and hang another one, which will pull it to the opposite side, and also with no less force. It’s wrong to sometimes say: “uh, youth! it will pass! But the experiences of the opposite are in us and in front of us. It's time for us to come to our senses! They say that scanty vessels forever retain the smell of the first substance that soaked them. Such is man in moral terms. The direction and skill of the first years either remain or are recalled throughout life. It’s not that someone who has received a good direction can no longer deviate, or someone who has a bad direction can’t correct themselves: grace is strong and can break the latter, but sin, with negligence, can spoil the first; but a well-disciplined young man, when he is accidentally seduced, has many, many appeals and cries within himself, and in his early habits, that admonish and calm him down. And how many conditions are needed for him to remain evil forever! Such people soon come to their senses and, when they come to their senses, they soon manage to correct and recreate what was ruined. Those who are ill-disposed, especially when their concepts are spoiled by passionate inclinations, cannot return to the path of good otherwise than through special actions of God's grace, and, moreover, always with painful upheavals and fractures. But since there is no law on such influences, for they are from the freedom of God, and since their full influence on a person is subject to diverse conditions, we see that of those who are ill-disposed at the beginning, it is rare, very rare that anyone returns to goodness. If someone is converted by the grace of God, then the beginning of this conversion is painful, and the entire subsequent course of life is filled with struggles. True, grace can do anything. We have bright examples of Moses Murin, David the Robber, Mary of Egypt and others. But it is better not to tempt the grace of God, because its ways are unsearchable. The wise Sirach teaches this: “child, choose punishment from your youth, and even to old age you will gain wisdom” (Sir.6:18). The perceived good principles, if you strictly adhere to them, will become stronger and stronger over the course of life, expand in application and will finally occupy all the origins (sources) of life and embrace all its movements and manifestations. In old age, such a husband is perfect, strong in word and deed. What a rich inheritance!.. “And even if you did not collect in your youth, what can you find in old age?” (Sir.25:5) So it is good if a person “from his youth takes upon himself the yoke of the commandments” (Lam.3:27). Let us pray to the Giver of all good, “may he give deceit to the kindly, and give the youth sense and meaning” (Prov. 1:4). Here are the opinions of the holy fathers and teachers of the Church about this. Blessed Theodoret says: “Youth is fickle and prone to vice, because it is overwhelmed by various disturbances of passions; therefore she needs a guide to guide her to the pier. And this is characteristic of the words of God, because they, turning away from opposite paths, are sufficient to direct one to the Divine path. What is the bridle and rider for a young horse, so is the Divine word for a young man.” Saint Ambrose writes: “We must not only take words with the yoke, but take them in our youth. If we take it too late, then we will have to endure the purifying labors of repentance for the past rather than enjoy grace in the present. Let us prevent this by spending the years of our youth in good order, so that each of us in old age with a good conscience can, on occasion, say: “God, who has nourished me from my youth even to this day” (Gen. 48:15), and not mourn with heart disease the past falls, crying: “Do not remember the sins of my youth and my ignorance” (Ps. 24:7). This latter heals his illnesses, and the latter professes the power of health. To the one who takes the yoke of a good life after the years of youth, perfect good is not given suddenly, because passions set him on fire, sinful habits worry him, and errant paths do not allow him to be constant. Such a person must fight for a long time in order to suppress and eradicate the evil that was introduced in his youth and that is outdated.” Saint Hilary teaches: “It is difficult to lag behind skills, to break away from what you are close to, and to break the bonds of community. It is better to appear pure before God not by virtue of the remission of sins, but by the very ignorance of evil (non-experience of passions); Knowing this, the prophet Jeremiah, in order to accept the yoke of the commandments, does not wait for the years of cooled old age, when passions die away by themselves from satiety. He desires a long-term warrior, he desires that the servant of Christ cannot even remember ever being overcome by sin. In someone who, already in old age, takes up the good life, there is, of course, the gift of condescending forgiveness of falls, but there is no consolation that a good conscience brings with the memory of elevated deeds.” That's how much the youngest needs to correct his path early! He can succeed in this, according to the instructions of the prophet, by preserving the commandments, or justifications of God. Preservation does not mean, says St. Augustine, to memorize and keep in memory, but rather to carry them out in action. Let each member of the body and soul take his commandment and be imbued with it so that after that he cannot move otherwise than according to such a commandment. Each member will then become the repository and home of its own commandment, and all human nature will become the home of all commandments. So the young man will naturally make his path correct and at the same time give him good direction for the entire subsequent period of his life, which is just beginning. Ps.119:10. With all my heart I seek You: do not cast me away from Your commandments. The heart that seeks the Lord is, in particular, the first home in our being for the commandments. The heart is also spoken of in the next verse, but not in the same sense. You need to know that in ancient times the heart meant the entire inner life, and therefore, in order to distinguish which side of this life is meant in what place by it, you need to pay attention to what is given to it. In the present place, searching, striving, and activity are imparted to him. The active force in the soul is will - the ability to act, undertakings, and enterprises. Look at yourself from the moment you wake up until you fall asleep, and you will see that just as the mind is constantly occupied with thoughts, so is the will with deeds and undertakings; Not a minute passes without doing anything: first one thing, then another. But you can act haphazardly, indiscriminately, and you can act intelligently, in accordance with certain goals; You can act according to self-gratification and people-pleasing, and you can act according to the demands of duty, commandments, and the will of God. The prophet leads his work according to the commandments, as can be seen from the added petition: “do not cast me away from the commandments.” He sets the goal of following the commandments in all things as seeking the Lord; he says: “With all the undertakings and deeds of my will, which I always try to lead according to Your commandments, I seek only You, Lord.” Affairs and undertakings – external activities; the inner side of every business and undertaking is a commandment, the expression of which they serve; the soul of all deeds and undertakings is the search for the Lord. Thus, the first house of commandments is the beginnings of the will. I remember Saint Anthony’s answer to the question “how to be saved?”; “Whatever you do,” he said among other things, have the testimony of Scripture for it. It’s all the same - whatever you do, do it according to the consciousness that God’s commandment requires it; and whatever you do, even whether you eat or drink, do everything for the glory of God, as the Apostle commanded (1 Cor. 10:31). And how to ensure that everything goes according to the commandments will be taught by attention and reasoning, which were discussed in the previous eight verses. Sit down and judge, and in the light of God’s commandments, determine how you should act in all the circumstances and incidents of your life, and then do not deviate from these definitions, and you will always walk according to the commandments and in the will of God, you will please God with everything, both big and small, draw closer to Him, seek Him, and you will finally find. Having thus made it a law for himself to conduct every step, every deed and undertaking according to the commandments, the prophet prays; “Do not turn me away from Your commandments.” What is the idea here? Does God really cut anyone off from the commandments? – Yes, it is possible to behave in relation to God’s commandments the way others behave in relation to the church. People are called to the church of God, but not driven out of it. Meanwhile, some positioned themselves in such a way in relation to him that the Savior - meekness incarnate - was forced to take a rope and drive them out of the church. Let us imagine that cultivating the commandments is the same as cultivating a vineyard; doers are invited and do; but the owner comes and, noticing that the other is not so much doing as spoiling, says to him: “You, brother, get out of here; I don’t want you to work because you’ll only make things worse.” And he will say this with greater emphasis if the worker has already turned out to be a bad worker more than once. So it is in relation to the commandments: there are doers who are not shameful, there are doers who are worthless: sometimes they are lazy, sometimes they miss a lot of things that should be done, sometimes they do not for the Lord, but out of self-pleasing, or more often, out of man-pleasing; sometimes they do it absent-mindedly, somehow, sometimes with grumbling and displeasure, sometimes with pride and complacency. All such doers only spoil the matter, but do not do it, and are truly worthy of rejection. How are they torn off? - Of course, not with a scourge, but with the withdrawal of favor. True keepers of the commandments receive inner consolation, feel God's protection over them, and experience God's help; faulty workers are deprived of all this, and being deprived of this, they are no longer able to fulfill the commandments, and therefore they completely sink and indulge in vices. Thus, “do not deprive me of the commandments” is the same as - do not deprive me of Your favor and Your gracious help, for if you deprive me, then for me it will be the same as driving me away from doing the commandments. Why did the prophet express his thought this way? – This expression is taken from the feelings of the penitent. A repentant person, especially one who has fallen several times and broken his vows to God, when approaching Him, cannot help but be aware of his mistake, and although he believes in God’s mercy for the repentant, he cannot help but sometimes come to the thoughts: “What if God does not want to accept me anymore, has lost faith in me and does not pay any attention to me, no matter how much you fight?” Such thoughts are especially natural when no fruit of repentance is seen for a long time. “He abandoned me,” the man thinks, “he doesn’t want to look at me with His merciful eye!” And God does this in order to more strongly inflame repentant feelings and from them to produce the strongest determination to always be a faithful fulfiller of His commandments. You can make the following paraphrase for the entire verse: “You, Lord, demand that we conduct all our deeds and undertakings according to Your commandments, and in this course of action we have nothing else in our minds than gaining You alone. Whoever does not act this way, You do not accept him and You do not provide him with any help. Here I am with all my heart, with all the deeds and undertakings of my will, which I lead all according to Your commandments, I seek You alone: ​​do not deprive me of Your favor and Your gracious help, otherwise I will lose my strength and give up. I have what is required of me; do not deprive me of what You have promised from Yourself.” This is similar to what the Lord said: “To him who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; But from the one who does not have, and thinks he has, it will be taken from him” (Matthew 25:29). Saints Ambrose and Hilary explain this idea at length. The determination to always be faithful to the commandments and, in fulfilling them, to seek the one Lord makes the soul a strong vessel worthy of receiving God’s grace, which is always given to those who have such a mood, and by its power makes them always, in deed, faithful to the commandments, just as at first they want to be faithful to Him only in intention. Mood is like a magnet that attracts more, or capital with which you can purchase everything you need in abundance. Ps.119:11. I hide Your words in my heart, lest I sin against You. The heart, resting within itself as the power of love, is, in particular, the second home in our nature for the commandments. You can fulfill the commandments officially, you can fulfill them according to calculation or according to the rigoristic lessons of the mind, without the participation of the heart in all such cases. The Prophet says here: “This is not how I act; The commandments for me are not an external, determining power: they are within me; I accepted them into my heart and loved them. Acting on them, I act on my heart, and acting on my heart, I act on them.” If we take into account the Savior’s parable about the seed of the word, then the real place will express not the seed that fell along the way or on rocky soil, but the one that fell on the good soil and bore fruit a hundred, sixty and thirty times. “Hidden in the depths of the heart, says Saint Athanasius the Great, it is not afraid of being stolen from the enemy, or, having vegetated, being burned by the heat of adversity and opposition.” It has taken deep roots, and the growth of godly activity emanating from it is full of life and strength. Which member is tenderer than the heart? Meanwhile, there is nothing more reliable than what comes from the heart. When the commandments are in the heart, their fulfillment is unforgiving and, moreover, in the most beautiful and attractive form. It is great perfection to have the commandments hidden in your heart! It is necessary, however, to know that this does not happen as quickly as it is said and even as quickly as the desire for it is formed. The heart is closer and more sympathetic to the passionate side. In order for it, having renounced it, to turn everything to the commandments, it is necessary to transform it: tear out one thing from it, and introduce another. The commandment says: be humble, meek, truth-loving, pure, peace-loving, patient, etc., but the heart is proud and vain, angry and hateful, addicted and lustful, quarreling and grumbling, and so on. While it is like this, it cannot be said that the commandments are hidden in it, because if it were, then not only deeds, but also feelings and thoughts contrary to the commandments would not be inside. How to transform the heart? - With diligent desire, labor and patience. But it should be noted that the work is ours, and the very work of transformation is from grace. From the very beginning, as soon as someone decides to make his salvation by living a godly life, conscience immediately accepts for fulfillment every single commandment, both large and small, and demands this from the whole person and from all his powers or members that are affected by a certain commandment. The usual course of our affairs is this: thought, sympathy, desire, deed. Sympathy stands at the transition to desire, and desire precedes action. Suppose someone in need comes: conscience immediately demands to satisfy him, but the heart, which does not yet know the sweetness of good deeds and is not far behind covetousness, does not express the necessary sympathy for it and goes against it. Due to lack of sympathy, desire is not born, and without desire, one’s hands give up. So in this case, so in all others. The heart is by nature voluptuous. Until it tastes the sweetness of something, it cannot have sympathy for it. The person did not have the necessary work according to the commandments - the heart does not know the sweetness in this; That is why even when a person has already decided to do everything according to the commandments, the heart does not express sympathy for him, and thus stops doing the very things according to the commandments, and, consequently, deprives himself of the opportunity to taste the sweetness of doing the commandments. How can this be? – At first, you need to act contrary to your heart, according to the mere demand of your conscience, by the power of your rational will, supported by the grace of God, bending yourself, so to speak, to do the commandments, like bending a heated reed, when necessary. Saint Macarius the Great repeatedly repeats the lessons that whoever wants to succeed in doing good must force himself to do every good deed, in spite of his heart, assuring that the work that we do at first with self-compulsion will fall in love with him, and we will begin to do it out of sympathy for him in the heart, because it has begun to find pleasure in it. By doing this in relation to one, two, three commandments, the fulfillment of which will occur throughout our life, a person teaches the heart to find sweetness in them, instills in it sympathy for them, or, what is the same, instills the very commandments in the heart and hides them in it. The more labors and experiences of fulfilling the commandments, the greater the number of them pass into the heart, and finally they all find a home there. Such a person can then confess: “I have hidden all the commandments in my heart.” “So, this means all this is your own work, but where is grace?” – The labors are definitely your own, but the fruit is produced by grace. Grace, from the moment of conversion and acceptance of the sacraments of baptism or repentance, is already inherent in a person, but it enters his being and penetrates his strength only after the intensity of the person’s efforts. When a person has done everything he can, then grace comes and does what he cannot do. To instill a commandment into the heart so that it is there from the beginning and rules the heart itself, this is a matter of grace. A person himself, no matter how hard he works, cannot do this. Thus, with all human labors, the transformation of the heart is accomplished by grace, and by grace alone. This is where the essential difference between a Christian and a pagan is. But even without labors and deeds in keeping the commandments, grace will not instill anything into the heart, leaving it as it was, with all the passionate tastes and desires, although such a person is baptized and accepts other sacraments. This is where the difference lies between Christians who undergo laborious deeds and Christians who do not consider it necessary to embarrass themselves, although they behave honestly! The law of spiritual life is this: whatever there is no achievement for, grace does not give, even though with one achievement you will not succeed in anything. When, in this way, all the commandments are grafted into the heart, so that they constitute its essential content, then the heart, together with the conscience, will begin to demand their fulfillment. Just as at first it opposed conscience in everything, so now it will begin to echo its demands and attract to deeds presented to the well-known commandment. That is why the prophet said that he hid the words of God in his heart so as not to sin before Him. The heart, says Zigaben, itself no longer allows this to happen. The Prophet indicates that he has adopted the most reliable way to avoid offending God by violating His commandments, and through this he inspires everyone: “If you want not to anger the Lord with your sins, hide His commandments in your heart.” But, of course, the lesson also implied here is that if you want to achieve this, then you must use those techniques that were justified by the spiritual experience of those who worked in it. Ps.119:12. Blessed art thou, Lord, teach me by thy justification. The third in our nature, in particular, the house for the commandments, is the God-taught mind. Teach, let me understand, impart the ability to act, let my mind know the commandments and everything related to them, and see how in which case I should act, so that my mind can be a light illuminating the paths of life and a faithful guide along them; especially please that in my mind there be no shaky hesitations or presumptive opinions, but that everything is based on unshakable convictions. “Teach excuses,” or commandments. When they act, you can only pay attention to the commandments; but when they want to know the commandments, then they cannot limit their gaze to the commandments alone, but must certainly survey the entire area of ​​truth, so that the commandments in the mind do not hang on anything, or are not poured into it like sand, incoherently, but enter as a necessary element into the composition of truth and are combined with it in a living union so that it is impossible to touch one without at the same time shaking the whole. In Christianity, the paths of life are illuminated by the truths about the Trinitarian Deity, Creator and Provider, about the fall, about God’s good will to restore the fallen, about the descent of the only begotten Son of God to earth in the incarnation, about Him accomplishing our salvation through His suffering, death, resurrection and ascension, about the sending of the Divine Spirit on the holy apostles who established the Church of Christ on earth and who established in it the sacraments for the sanctification by grace of all believers, and, finally, about the resurrection, judgment and future bliss of the faithful and the indescribable torment of the infidels. All these truths are the same for the spirit as air is for the body. Just as air, accepted by the lungs, passes through the entire body in the blood and enlivens everything, so these truths, being acceptable to the believing mind, pass through the entire composition of spiritual life and enliven everything in it. This life originates from them, is guided by them, and sees its end in them. Spiritual life begins with the consciousness of fall and the inability to rise oneself. This leads to repentance and cleaves to the Lord as the only Savior. Hence the vow and determination to be faithful to Him and to wage an irreconcilable struggle against everything that rebels within and that is encountered outside that is contrary to what the Savior requires of us. Hence the hope that, despite the weakness of our nature, the Lord will lead the believer through all temptations and will finally lead him into His eternal Kingdom. Hence patience and merciless work on oneself in purifying oneself and correcting what is faulty in oneself, so that in everything one can present oneself as a shameless doer. Hence the belief that, having suffered in this way to the Lord, they partake of His bright belly here too, although still in the beginning and in the foreshadowing. All this follows from the basic truths of Christianity and forms the basis of a godly life. This is the essence of our Christian justifications, and from here, finally, the entire system of Christian commandments develops. They will say: “Who doesn’t know this, and what is the use of the ‘teach’ prayer?” – But there is naked knowledge, purely intellectual, which never rises beyond conjectural views, and there is living, vital knowledge, in which every truth is as solid as confidence in its existence. This property is imparted to him by a living conviction, which is not shaken even by death itself. Praying to teach, the prophet asks that the Lord make all truths, both theoretical and practical, so akin to his being, so that he cannot doubt his existence even an inch, so that he can never allow in himself even a shadow of doubt about these truths. This is the strength of a godly life. Just as you can’t walk on a thin, swaying board, because you’ll get dizzy and fall; This is how you can’t lead a life due to someone who constantly has assumptions in their head: “Come on, isn’t this how it should be? Isn't it better this way? Why, this is how it’s possible!” And whoever, having completely wavered in some truths, thinks in his own way to arrange a life pleasing to God, is like a person who, when building a house, places rotten crowns between healthy crowns. From the outside, such a house appears both new and strong, but in fact it is already doomed to fall; just like life is like this only in appearance it is good, but it already carries its own condemnation. Thus, this is the essence of petition! The Prophet asks that there be no hesitation in him, but that he walk among these truths, like that person who, going out into the street, feels that there is earth under him and that he is standing firmly on it, there is everything surrounding him, there is also the sky above him - and it cannot occur to him that there is something missing in all this. But how does the prophet ask for this after he has already hidden the words of the Lord in his heart and leads all his undertakings according to the commandments, seeking the one Lord? It is impossible to act in this way without knowledge, which he asks for only now - But even in those good skills of his, in conducting all affairs and undertakings according to the commandments and in love for them, did he suddenly become established? When he began to work for the Lord, he had neither one nor the other; Realizing the necessity of this, of course, he prayed: “Lord, let me conduct all my affairs according to the commandments! Lord, incline my heart to love the commandments!” The Lord heard his prayer and granted him what he asked for. There he expresses what he achieved at the end of his work, and here he points out what happens at the beginning of the search for this good - knowledge with conviction. He seems to inspire: “I said - I sought, I hid ...”, but no one would have thought that this suddenly happened like this - no, work and prayer preceded it. Things went as I will now express them in relation to the acquisition of knowledge: “Blessed art thou, Lord, teach me by thy justification.” The mind is transformed by this last good, and the will and heart are transformed by the first two. Wonderful sequence! She was taken from life. The mind alone never fully knows the truth; He always has it in the form of conjectural views. Except for God's extraordinary influences on the soul, a godly life usually begins in such a state of mind. But then, along with life, these views begin to turn into living convictions: they mature, multiply and expand as the will learns to conduct its affairs and undertakings according to the commandments and as the heart’s sympathies for the commandments are revived. If the latter are fulfilled, completeness is established in the former. However, judging strictly, it is impossible to say what is ahead and what is behind: they are all maturing together, not lagging behind each other. The Lord builds this inner building by His grace, with all sorts of efforts on the part of man, without self-sparing, - he builds a dwelling into which He finally comes and dwells with the Father and the Holy Spirit, as He Himself promised: “We will come to him and make an abode with him” (John 14:33). Ps.119:13. My mouth proclaimed all the destinies of Your mouth. This is the fourth house in our being for the commandments of God - the word, because it is the house of thought and feeling. Since everything inside the prophet is already occupied with the commandments of God, and his mouth utters only what is inside, then no matter how he starts talking, it by itself is all about the commandments of God. “I have proclaimed” - I have proclaimed, I am proclaiming and I will proclaim. I am such that I proclaim every now and then and cannot speak about anything else but about Your destinies, and about extraneous objects I speak only in the same spirit. The Prophet speaks here as about a matter that has already been established in him, giving us a lesson about what speeches to make when meeting each other, in mutual conversation. If in the Old Testament the Divine occupied the God-fearing soul so much, should it not occupy the Christian even more, when God showed His incomparably greater and more tangible approach to us in the incarnation of God the Word and in the sending of the Holy Spirit, whose powers act in us through the faith of believers? But is this really so? If some slightly outstanding event happens in everyday life or civil life, we will not stop talking, we will only talk about it, even if it does not concern us at all; and the wondrous work of salvation, arranged by God for us and which must act in each of us, does not occupy us at all. Go around the whole city on purpose - you won’t hear a word about it anywhere, and if you start a conversation yourself, they will try to hush it up and turn it to another subject. Thus, if we are judged by the true principle that the mouth speaks from the fullness of the heart, then one might think that there is complete emptiness in our hearts and that the work of God has not been accepted in it and has not left any trace. What is our baptism after this? Why the repeated fasting, confession and communion of the Holy Mysteries so many times? What is going to the churches of God and all the prayers? - It’s a shame, you see, it’s not accepted! - But the king, busy governing the people, always surrounded by high society, was not ashamed to talk about the affairs of God, was not ashamed to proclaim the destinies of His lips. If God was not ashamed to pronounce His judgments on us for our good, then how can we be ashamed to pronounce them? Some more or less prominent person will say something that is not entirely important, we take it upon ourselves as an honor to paste his word into our conversation, and what God has spoken with His lips is supposed to humiliate us if we repeat it!.. Haven’t we reached the point where even the God-fearing are ashamed to talk in front of us about God’s judgments, so as not to throw pearls before...? Meanwhile, there cannot be a richer, more comforting and more edifying subject for conversation than the fate of the mouth of God, that is, everything that the Lord was pleased to tell us, do for us and establish among us for our salvation. The deeds of Christ the Savior and the holy apostles, the fate of the Church, the lives of glorious men in Christianity in doctrine and deeds, the ways of God's Providence, the diverse cases in the life of each of us where the finger of God is visible - these are the subjects for conversations between Christian and Christian! And how much strength would flow from here for the well-being of each person in particular and then of the whole society! Nothing is treated so lightly as the word, and yet our speeches always leave a mark on themselves, both in the speaker and in the listener. These are the seeds of a whole series of thoughts, from which intentions and, finally, deeds grow; This is the lever that sets in motion all the relationships between persons. Good speeches create, improve, strengthen in goodness; Evil speeches upset and weaken all that is good and prepare for evil. And idle talk, although empty, does not remain without fruit: it makes the soul empty, and what is an empty soul capable of? After this, it is clear that the apostle warned us not to offend the Holy Spirit with a rotten word, by which we were marked on the day of deliverance. Ps.119:14. On the path of Thy testimonies we have enjoyed ourselves, as in all riches. And also a house, or, more precisely, places and fields in which the commandments of God are carried out, in which you always meet zealots for pleasing God and where they find their stay pleasant for themselves. There is no one on earth without consolations: everyone seeks and finds them according to his own taste. One goes for a walk to the pleasure garden, another to the theater, a third to the evening, a fourth to a scientific meeting, and the like. Where could it be sweeter for a God-fearing zealot to walk in the will of God? - On the path of God's testimonies: now in the church of God, now in hospitals, hospices, almshouses, now in office, now at home - in pious activities, now on pilgrimage in holy places. Just as one who enters a house full of all goodness and contentment is consoled by the fact that he encounters everything in which he is accustomed to finding pleasure for himself, so a zealot for pleasing God finds pleasure in being in the indicated places, finding in them satisfaction for the taste that has formed in his heart: there is joy, there is his paradise. “Nothing captivates me in this life,” he says to the prophet, not gold, not dignity, not honors, not power! Instead of all Your testimonies, O Lord, there is joy and wealth for me.” Thus, “the path of virtue is difficult,” says Blessed Theodoret, but very desirable for those who diligently walk along it. That is why our Lord Christ said: take My yoke upon you... My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30). One might think that in the words: “like all wealth,” only the pleasure of receiving wealth is compared with the pleasure of being on the designated paths of God’s meetings; and at the same time it can be understood that staying in the designated fields is as profitable as it is profitable for the one to whom all kinds of wealth flows. Usually, others think that going to church is a waste of time, and yet there cannot be a better use of time than staying in the church of God, and whoever goes there with attention and diligence gains in a few hours as much as long and many labors outside it would not give. Others, when they see someone wasting their wealth on the sick, the needy, and those in need of help, think that this is a waste, and yet nothing can be more profitable than such use of wealth, because, according to the word of God, he who does this places his wealth in the hands of God Himself, sending it to eternal shelters and collecting there for the future treasures that will not decay. The same should be said about those who keep strict fasts, fast and go on pilgrimage: “they become exhausted, exhaust themselves,” they usually say about them, and yet no one becomes fat in spirit like they do. “Enjoy...” tasted the sweets and was pleased. The experience of all times says that only those who find pleasure in being on the paths of God's meetings are satisfied; they are always cheerful, always in an even mood, without outbursts, without admiration. Other joys delight so much that a person forgets and thinks that he has gone to heaven, but this is only for a minute. Such joys soon turn into an indefinite tightness of the heart, which destroys the memory of them. This is the common fate of all joys that are not spiritual and not subordinated to spiritual interests. There is nothing in them with which the spirit could be satisfied, and the spirit is the main thing in a person, and when it is not satisfied, a person cannot be satisfied; it’s the same as if someone who considers himself hungry is not given his favorite dish, even if there are many others. They manage to multiply pleasures, but this only manages to drown out, temporarily kill the spiritual instinct. The time of consolation passes, and the spirit again takes its strength, scatters all joys and begins to torment the person because he does not listen to him, does not want to provide him with food that is characteristic of him, satisfying him. Here's a new Sampson for you! In oblivion, he allowed himself to be entangled, and then, as he came to his senses, one movement, and everything scattered (Judgment 15). Ps.119:15. I will mock Your commandments, and understand Your ways. The previous verse began indicating a house of rest not for the commandments, but for those who are zealous about fulfilling them, and indicates in what places and in what activities they find peace and satisfaction. Before this it is said that all their pleasure is to be on the paths of God's meetings; When they return to their house, what do they do? – They sit down to explore the emerging questions about life, in its relationship to the commandments and works of faith. The prophet gives them a lesson about this with the words: “I will mock Your commandments.” “I will mock” - in Slavic, in other cases, this word is translated as follows: to sit down, sit at the task with attention and patiently, diligently work to resolve something. The Hebrew word corresponding to this means: to interrogate, to weigh the previous and the subsequent, causes and actions, means and ends, and, moreover, in such a way that, abstracted from everything, one is occupied with this alone. Thus, here we point to God-thought reflection, to which God-loving people usually devote some solitary time, in the form of explaining everything related to the fulfillment of the commandments or the work of pleasing God, in which they are engaged, taking for guidance the word of God, fatherly writings and the advice of experienced men. Who can avoid embarrassing questions and bewilderments? And who can say that he has weighed all possible contingencies and knows in advance what to do when? Thus, partly to resolve emerging questions, partly to prevent them, and most of all to nourish the spirit with divine contemplations, as soon as you find time, sit down and delve deeper into the truths of God, while reading either the word of God or the scriptures of the Fathers. The best time for this is morning and evening, and the way to do this is prayerful. Start with prayer, continue in a prayerful mood, and end with prayer. The guardian angel will find an opportunity to put into your mind what is needed specifically for you and in your circumstances. Others decide to read so much from there, and from there they read a lot. Thoughts can be refreshed at the same time, but not all the benefits are obtained, and often reading turns into an almost fruitless process. The best order is the following: take a poem, enter into it with all your attention and break it down into possible positive thoughts. This is the first thing. In the thoughts that are born, look for the sides with which they can blow on the heart and attract it to you. This is the second thing. Then learn lessons from them and carry them through your life, noting to yourself that here you need to do this, and there you need to do that. In this way, the poem will pass its content through the entire soul and, having emerged from it, will enter life in its own time. This is the only fruitful, God-thought reflection, which, of course, is not hasty, but gives more than any much reading and much thinking. “Well, they’ll say, how much do you have time to read and discuss?” - Not much, but a lot. Some poems will take two or three doses, others will take a week. But what is obtained in this way becomes an inalienable, ever-nutritious property of the spirit. Some poems give off so much light and warmth that they will warm the spirit for many days. The point here is not about scientific reading, but about deepening into Scripture, in the types of creation of the spirit and clarification of the complex paths of life. Scientists are duty-bound to read a lot, but those seeking the creation of the spirit should not allow themselves to read a lot. Another could have objected more fundamentally: “I can’t reason, I’m not used to it.” But who in the world doesn’t reason! Take the simplest person, and he argues, of course, within the circle of his own affairs. This activity is offered to those who have already entered the path of the commandments and who have looked around it contentedly. Therefore, in this area they are not completely strangers and can therefore reason, with all their simplicity. The point is not inability, but either laziness of the mind, or his envy, which is why he wants to grab more and faster. The first leaves the mind inactive, and the second suppresses it. He who avoids both, takes on the work of discussion with humility and little by little moves forward, enriching himself with a solid and multifaceted knowledge of practical life. It fulfills exactly the expectation of the holy prophet from this kind of activity: “and I will understand Your ways.” He who lives with reason collects the lessons of spiritual wisdom grain by grain, through deepening in the commandments of God, and finally reaches a clear knowledge of the order of life according to God, finally acquiring the opportunity to teach others, even though the simpleton has not studied any sciences. Experiences of this are scattered throughout the history of the people of God in the Church of Christ. Ps.119:16. I will learn from Your justifications; I will not forget Your words. This is the third activity in which the God-loving soul finds peace and sweetness. It is similar to the previous one, and, however, differs from it significantly. It says there: “I’ll mock” (I’ll explore assiduously), but here it says “I’ll learn”; there the fruit of the lesson is stated - “I will understand”, and here - “I will not forget”. “I won’t forget” is a matter of memory; hence the guidance is born: “I will learn” means I will memorize. I'll study. I remember: even for the first disciples of Saint Anthony, it was a rule to memorize several psalms immediately upon their arrival in the desert; Then it was suggested: when you are not busy in your cell or go somewhere, then re-read the memorized psalms from memory. This was called teaching. In our Slavic fatherly books we often read the commandment: have secret teaching. This means: concentrate your attention and repeat constantly: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” Applying this meaning of the word “learn” to our text, we can accept that it is instilled in it to memorize passages of Scripture and repeat what has been memorized in due time, so as not to forget the words of God. Saint Basil the Great testifies that in his time children were forced to memorize certain psalms and parables. Is anything similar being done here? Do even those who have taken upon themselves the yoke of asceticism do something similar?.. Yes, in many ways we have fallen behind the ancient saving customs! But this does not detract from the value of the work indicated in this verse. It means this: memorize the verses from Scripture discussed in the previous text, and repeat those memorized as soon as your mind and speech are free. The Hebrew word for “learn” means to roll sweetly in the mind and on the tongue, as, for example, swirling candy in the mouth. This activity can be offered to everyone who seeks to sincerely please God in everything. Many of our ascetics read the Psalter in their homes or cells. This somewhat answers the lesson of our verse. Perhaps home, private, and cell prayer can also be included here. But more directly it means: deliberately choosing passages of Scripture for memorization and then repeating them in the mind. With this last activity, the commandments, which have already occupied all the strength of the soul, will occupy the memory and sanctify it. The blessing from here is indescribable! One of the elders said that it is difficult for someone living in the world to achieve peace of mind, because he sees a lot of evil, which, remaining in his memory, constantly presses into his attention, even when he sits alone, returning home. What a crush of thoughts among the laity, there is nothing to say about this. Saint Macarius likens the state of their minds to shaking and crushing grains of wheat in a sieve. Those who settle down and begin to follow the path of the commandments separate themselves from purely worldly affairs, but suffer a lot from thoughts, especially at the beginning. Their thoughts prevent them from praying, reading, or reasoning—everything distracts them from the real work. How to get rid of this? – There is no better way than to drive out evil memories with good memories... How much helps in this case by memorizing passages of Scripture is impossible to say. Here the same thing happens to the soul as to weak fruits when they are sugared. Sugar, penetrating all their pores, imparts sweetness to them and preserves them from spoilage. So the soul, saturated with the memorized words of God, casts off the corruption of shameful and empty thoughts and is filled with sweetness by the remembrance of the things of God. Perhaps this will resolve the question of pacification of thoughts in general; maybe that is, and the whole point is to replace bad and empty thoughts with good and saving thoughts, since thoughts about good never produce confusion or darkness in the mind and heart, but only creation and good mood. If we accept this, then here is the rule for beginners on how to deal with thoughts: memorize as quickly and as many passages of Scripture as possible, especially the words and deeds of Christ the Savior, and repeat them more often. But there is a state that is given to people who have been granted the tangible action of grace, and in which there is a special inner peace, where there is no longer even good multi-thought, but everything is absorbed into one, and unity and simplicity are established in everything, not allowing any plurality, not only in desires and feelings, but also in thoughts. What the apostle said about the life of the next century begins to be fulfilled over them already here: “and God will be all things in all” (1 Cor. 15:28). The third letter "Gimel" means camel. The camel is the most tolerant beast of burden. In this respect, workers on the path of the commandments are likened to him, while they have not yet entered into the taste of this life. Saint Anthony the Great, speaking about such persons, appends to them the words of another psalm: “you have cattle” (Ps. 72:22) in the sense that they bear the labors of life according to God, but have not yet tasted its fruits: they pull this yoke like a yoke. Such a state in beginners seems to be inevitable for everyone; There are very few exceptions. But it also finds itself on those who have already begun to experience the kindness of a godly life, precisely when there are no good thoughts, feelings, or desires: the soul seems to have frozen and, looking around, sees itself alienated from everyone and a stranger to everyone. Sometimes this is accompanied by the onslaught of external troubles, which aggravate the internal unkind state. Overcoming all this is fidelity to the given word and vow, with trusting patience. The prophet depicts all this in the present eight-verse, which can be entitled as follows: “about the difficulties” encountered on the good path, internal and external, or about the difficult conditions experienced at the same time. Ps.119:17. Reward Your servant, live me, and I will keep Your words. “Reward” does not mean rewarding for something, as if for hard work, but give by grace what is needed, and give in full, in abundance, as it is said in other places of Scripture: “do not forget all His rewards” (Ps. 103:2), all His abundant benefits, or “grace to recompense” (John 1:16). He who speaks this way recognizes himself as a servant of God and does not see himself ever acting against His conscience; but he sees in himself the impoverishment of spiritual life: the soul is frozen, thoughts are darkened, and therefore he cries out: “reward”, give again the good that has passed away, return what was lost, fill me, who is empty. Thus, these words can be attributed to the entire eight-verse. The prophet says something like this: the blessings were and passed away; bring them back again, live me, enlighten my eyes, “take away diarrhea” (reproach) “and humiliation.” “Live for me...” A sinner, while he remains in sin, is dead to God and to life according to God, although in other kinds of life he is active and knowledgeable. When the grace of God awakens him, then the first movements of spiritual life begin in him, and when, having repented, he then decides to live according to the commandments of God, life itself begins. But at first it is hardly noticeable. The sinful deadness around is still so palpable that it does not allow one to feel the aliveness in the spirit. Over time, this feeling of life in the Lord comes and is accompanied by the joy of life. But it does not always continue continuously, but proceeds in an intermittent order and is often stopped. When it is stopped, the soul descends into deadness, becomes just like dead, and a deathly coldness emanates from it: no manifestation of spiritual life. This is both unpleasant and scary, for when the spiritual freezes, the carnal and sinful come to life, and then the enemy is nearby - how long before the fall? This is the state the prophet is talking about. “Reward the servant... and live for me,” Thy servant, this, of course, is the same. A person has not one life, but three: carnal, mental and spiritual. Above all of them rises a rationally free consciousness. When the spirit is awakened by the action of the Spirit of God, then a person, with consciousness and freedom, passes into the spirit or to the side of the spirit and secures his stay in this order of life with a vow of baptism or repentance, saying in the first: “I renounce Satan and all his works and am united with Christ the Lord,” and in the second: “I have sinned, I will not.” In the state depicted by the prophet, the soul is frozen, the movements of spiritual life are not visible; but consciousness with freedom, the hidden action of conscience, remains on the side of the spirit. They confess themselves to be servants of the Lord and have no thoughts of leaving this rank or crossing its line to their opponents: they just do not see beneath them the usual manifestations of life according to God. This inner fidelity to the Lord gives them the boldness to cry out to the Lord: “revive,” and to cherish the hope that He will revive. The state of death of the soul is otherwise called the state of insensibility. Nothing can move her: good things do not attract her, and terrible things do not frighten her. How can this be? - Endure and pray, confessing your weakness. This state is an accurate depiction in experience of what a person is by himself, without the action of grace. Grace withdrew a little, and the person became worthless. Then this is done in this way, so that a person learns more firmly and never forgets that even then, as he is in a good state, everything in itself is worthless, and if he has something, it is still not his, but given to him from the outside, although in such a way that he can forever remain in him if he does not fall into the sin of appropriating someone else’s. “And I will preserve the words...” - and here he does not stop preserving them, but heartlessly, like a machine - like a machine stands at prayer, like a machine fulfills other works of the commandments that come along. For states of this kind, the law is this: do not deviate from the established order in any way; Be patient and pray. If you endure, revival from the Lord will come again, and you will begin to keep the words of God again, but not like a machine, but like a living person, from the heart, according to willing undertakings, with willing and pleasant labor in fulfilling them. Ps.119:18. Open my eyes, and I will understand the wonders of Your law. The spirit of man, which has the purpose of living in God and raising the whole person to Him, is blind after the fall. Although in him there is an indelible confidence in the existence of God, with the consciousness of complete dependence on Him and the obligation to please Him in every possible way by unswervingly following the promptings of conscience, in hope corresponding to the labors of the life to come after death; although it contains all these elements of spiritual life, as we see from all pagan religions, they are all covered with darkness and uncertainty so that on the basis of them we can rather express it this way: the human spirit bears an unshakable conviction and instinct that there is something higher and most perfect, that there is an order of things and affairs that is purest and most blessed; but what exactly it is, he does not know, but seeks only with the confidence that this is not an empty search. Some kind of veil lies on him and prevents him from seeing the truth of those things. That is why the prayer is natural to him: “open my eyes.” When a person approaches the Lord, then the veil is lifted from his spirit, and he clearly sees everything that he was looking for fortune-telling. The bliss this insight brings cannot be described, as those who have experienced it testify. But just as someone who comes into the light from a dark place considers a small light to be very bright, but looking around, begins to find it moderate, so it is in the spirit: having been in the spiritual light that was initially revealed, he comes to the feeling that although he already sees, he sees with a mirror in fortune-telling, as St. Paul testified (1 Cor. 13:12). Therefore, for one enlightened in Christ Jesus, the prayer: “Open my eyes” is in no way superfluous. But by the nature of this eight-line, one can here understand some other covering of the spiritual eyes, namely, a temporary darkening and blinding of the eye of the mind, which occurs in people who live according to God, either punitively or instructively. A person is blinded either in relation to himself, or in relation to others, or in relation to the current course of things, and believes that it is so, as it seems to him, and stands for it and behaves in the sense of such confidence; whereas in reality it is not so: the truth is hidden from him, a veil lies over his eyes, and therefore he does not see. Afterwards the truth is revealed, and the one who immediately walked and did not see it in bewilderment reproaches himself for the fact that seeing - did not see, and learns from such experience not to trust his vision and, despite the fact that he walks in the light, sincerely with heartache prays to the Giver of Light: “open my eyes”... let me see the truth about myself, about others and about everything around me, so that in my feelings and deeds I can keep myself in true proper rank, and not the imaginary true one.” A special type of spiritual temporary blindness is “oblivion.” Saint Mark the Ascetic often complains bitterly about this enemy and warns others against his machinations. The enemy comes and takes away saving, exciting and warning thoughts from attention; a person forgets who he is, where he is going, what awaits him, for whom he works, under whose gaze he lives and acts, and because of such oblivion he begins to act like a senseless, playful child. This is not always accompanied by big mistakes, but this always causes a decrease in internal energy and the entire spiritual structure is upset. This is the reason for the prayer of those who sincerely seek perfection: “Open my eyes,” let me always keep before the eyes of the mind, in my attention, that I am an unrequited sinner, that Your eye is always turned to me and sees all of me, that death is about to happen, and I will have to enter the dark places of torture, then appear before You and listen to Your determination about me; let me remember this so that I can work tirelessly for my salvation while there is still time, and hold tighter to the saving cross, in the power of which all my hope.” Whoever has his eyes open sees his surroundings as they are. Whoever has open intelligent eyes sees God and the Divine order of things, understands what it is and what it requires of us. This is what the holy prophet means when he says: “And I will understand wonders from Your law.” Ps.119:19. I am a stranger on earth: do not hide Your commandments from Me. I am a stranger on earth—everyone should carry this thought in his heart; I have no city here that abides, but I seek the one to come; my fatherland is not here: here I am, by chance, for a while, a wanderer. The direct consequence from this is this: if I am a wanderer, then there is no point for me to be surrounded by everyone here for many years or forever, that I must treat everything here as something alien to me, not affecting me, behave as in a hotel: just rest, and then hit the road again; to do everything in passing and accept it as passing, having only one thing in thought and desire - to continuously march along the right path to one’s fatherland. This thought, if it does not always generate, then always supports and intensifies the incipient desire for conversion and zeal for salvation. But once the determination is formed to achieve one’s salvation through a life pleasing to God, it becomes a necessary element of moral and spiritual life. Anyone who has embarked on this path is in fact ranked among the heavenly Jerusalem and, so to speak, begins to breathe the air there. If so, then the feeling of earthly wandering should not leave him; because as soon as it leaves, a person steps out of his rank - from there, according to his heart, he becomes here and, ceasing to breathe the air there, freezes, having only the appearance of being alive, while in fact he is dead. Nothing is so detrimental to life according to God as forgetting this fundamental truth, but nothing less is remembered than this truth. All of us don’t even think that we live here for a while, and we prepare so much of everything, or take care of everything here as if there was no end to this life. We should pray: “Do not hide from us, Lord, the truth that everyone is earth and will go to earth; do not hide it, or do not let it be closed in your mind and memory with vain over-concern.” But prayer about this does not come to mind; While we pray about everything, we never pray about this. So great is our blindness in this regard! Others already think that there will be eternal life on earth and that the same relationships will remain then as are in use now. Gross ignorance of the matter! Another thought related to our pilgrimage is ignorance of how to act and hostility on the other side. When someone comes to a foreign country, unknown to anyone and not knowing anyone, not knowing other people’s customs, they look at him as if he were a stranger, both unrelated and suspicious. We are strangers on earth, and it would seem to be expected that we do not know how to live here; in fact, who understands this matter better than us? But in this case, we are no longer wanderers, but our own on earth; We become wanderers when the attraction to the heavenly fatherland is revived in us, and we begin to alienate ourselves from everything here. At the same time, a concern is also born to know how to act, how to behave, so as not to get confused again by the here and now, but to demonstrate in word and deed that we are strangers and strangers. It is this kind of bewilderment that the holy prophet sees in the soul of the wanderer, and offers him fervent prayer; “Do not hide Your commandments from Me...” show, that is, how I should act in general and how to act in any case, so as not to step out of Your will! Anyone who has become a wanderer in spirit always encounters hostility. Those who openly attack, who oppress, who persecute are not as dangerous as the invisible enemies who act on the mind and heart and cover up their harmful suggestions with appearances. Lies, passion, obvious sin are easy to discern; but you can’t always guess plausible suggestions, you can’t always see what’s hidden underneath them. Only God knows how to act for salvation, and only He can reveal the destructive tangle, either directly Himself, or through other experienced people. In the words of the prophet this is more felt in prayer. I am a wanderer, he says, enemies are everywhere; he says go there, he says there; You alone, Lord, know everything: do not hide from me how I should act better; tell me what Your will is for me in the present circumstances, so as not to be ambushed! Saint Mark the Ascetic, after insensibility and oblivion with blindness, often complains about ignorance, believing in it the source of many of our mistakes, falls and deviations from the right path in our march to our heavenly fatherland. Ps.119:20. My soul love to desire Your destiny at all times. “Love to desire,” that is, my soul strongly desired to be always a willing doer of Your holy will, of all that You decree for me to do. In this case, this verse will represent the reason why the prayer book is so worried about the unkind states indicated before this - insensibility, blindness or oblivion and ignorance. “I,” he says, “strongly desire to be correct before You at all times, but they interfere with me, stop me, interrupt me, and deviate me in the other direction. This is what worries me; That’s why I pray and cry out for deliverance from them.” But to notice such states and feel all the interference from them in spiritual life can only be someone who strongly desires perfection in it, and not only who desires it, but also who has succeeded in it to some extent and who has experienced states opposite to them. Only such a person, when the mentioned states appear, can notice that a change has occurred inside, and the change is not for the better. This is seen most palpably in the deadening of feeling or in a state of insensibility; It’s like life stops here. Those who do not have such a desire and even a little experience have no idea that this state is bad. It is constant with them, and if it changes in any way, then in a homogeneous circle of changes, since spiritual insensibility does not prevent one from being sensitive to the external, especially to striking phenomena in the field of grace. Spiritual blindness and oblivion do not prevent us from spreading inquisitiveness widely and being consoled by its comprehensive satisfaction. Spiritual ignorance does not prevent one from being a scientific expert on external current affairs and a faithful appraiser of them. Such conspicuous manifestations of pseudo-spiritual life obscure the truly spiritual side of our life and do not allow us to notice its absence. That is why there is no concern about restoring it to appropriate strength. On the contrary, the one who had but lost cannot help but notice her absence, and since he desired her with all his desire, he cannot help but worry, fear for himself and not care about the return of what was and should be, but what is not, as true consciousness assures. This is the relation of this verse to the previous three, if “I loved to desire” is taken to mean “I greatly desired.” But St. Augustine gives these words the following meaning: “My rational will urgently demands that I desire; but there is no desire, just as a patient reasonably wants to eat, but there is no appetite, and the stomach does not accept food. The Prophet says something like this: I know that I should desire to walk in Your destinies, and I reasonably demand this from myself, and have determined myself to do so, but my soul does not respond to this and has no desire.” Here he presents, as it were, his mental illness before God, seeking healing. In this sense, this verse will be a continuation of the depiction of the inconveniences and obstacles encountered on the path of spiritual life. On this path, it is as if some blows strike the spiritual forces at times, and they refuse to act according to the demands of the spirit. When a feeling is struck, then a state of insensibility appears; when the mind is struck, then it either becomes blind or is forgotten; when the will is defeated, then a person falls into a state of disintegration and immobility to do things according to the demands of the spirit. The first two are mentioned in the previous verse; Is the last one really missing? For the sake of completeness in depicting these defeats, it might be better to see in this verse with Blessed Augustine an indication of the defeat of the will by reluctance. Saint Mark the Ascetic, whenever he touches on these defeats, identifies three - ignorance or oblivion, insensibility and laziness. Where it starts varies, but mostly with oblivion. From oblivion - insensibility; from both - laziness or negligence. This is a complete apoplexy in the soul. But we must keep in mind that all this happens to people who are on the good path. The holy prophet speaks about them. For those living according to passions, these three constantly exist, but are not noticed by them. Those, about whom the prophet actually speaks, notice their changes for the worse, regret it and pray; therefore, they are not among those who work according to passions. They came out of that slavery and fell into these evil states by accident. The fault lies with them, of course, but rarely can anyone say why exactly they find it. The Lord is merciful, and whoever, noticing such thinness in himself, resorts to Him with contrition, He soon shows His favor and restores his inner self to its proper order. Ps.119:21. Thou hast rebuked the proud: curses are those who turn away from Thy commandments. “Forbade” - he said, that is, do not be proud, and he said it with reprimand, with a threat, with a definition of severe punishment. Why is this being said? Perhaps the prophet continues to speak about obstacles to success in spiritual life, and, having spoken in advance about the defeat of spiritual forces by inaction, now speaks about how even the most intense activity can be affected, like leprosy, by pride, and warns against this. He says something like this: I know, Lord, how destructive pride is and how much it disgusts You; Therefore I pray: deliver me from her; otherwise You will take away Your grace for it, and without grace I will fall after fall and I will stand in the ranks of those who always deviate from Your commandments, and I will go under the oath You have spoken against them: for cursed is everyone who does not abide in all those things written in the law “that I do” (Deut. 27:26). It is true that for those who have begun to succeed, the most dangerous enemy is conceit and pride, due to the condemnation and contempt of others. Goodness is so attractive and valuable in the eyes of the soul that, having noticed only the beginnings of it in itself, it no longer knows its limits. But by this she only shows her inexperience and poverty, and is soon convicted of this by the righteous judgment of God. The Lord is near and admonishes. Those who dream of themselves almost immediately stumble in something, sometimes not very significant. If he comes to his senses, no further admonitions will follow, and if he does not come to his senses, shameful passions are allowed to rise up, in order to more tangibly make him feel that the hand of God that covered him has been taken away, and free access to him is open to his enemies. This is not doomed to fall, but internal shame before oneself for having a high opinion of oneself. He who has come to his senses in repentance turns to the Savior and, entering the rank of the humble, regains the grace-filled cover, but he who has not come to his senses often falls: bitter admonition is humiliation! Thus, one can understand the relationship of this verse this way; but, it seems, it will be more direct if we understand this verse not about internal temptations by pride, but about external temptations from the proud. Then the order in this eight-verse will be as follows: the first four verses will talk about internal obstacles to success, and the last four will talk about external disadvantages to such success, the source of which is the pride of the sons of this world, looking with contempt at humble workers in the work of God. In this case, “you have forbidden” - it will be necessary to read - “forbid”, in accordance with the following - “take away”. The proud, according to the holy prophet, are revered as exemplary lawbreakers, for they, according to his word, are lawbreakers “to the extreme” (Ps. 119:51). Those who are zealous for the fulfillment of all the truth of God would not care about them, because they draw both excitement for life according to God and support for it from a completely different source, and not from any attention of the people of the world; and it would be better for the latter to behave in the same way towards the former. But they are impatient: they always interject themselves into the ways of God’s people, either with questions about why this and that is done and maintained, or often with demands to leave behind such orders of life that prick their eyes. This forces many of the zealots of piety to leave their usual cohabitation and retire to the mountains and deserts, so that there, either alone or in brotherhoods, they can live more unhindered in labors for salvation and pleasing God. But for others, such distance is inconvenient, and they, of necessity, remain in cohabitation with people of an opposing spirit, enduring all the inconveniences from this, especially in the spiritual, and often in everyday terms. It is on their behalf that the holy prophet cries out: “Forbid the proud”; make sure that they, if there is no longer hope of changing them for the better, do not touch us; and since this cannot be instilled in them by word, then give them some external admonition. Then, seeing Your protection over us, and the punishment ready for themselves, they, if not out of reverence for You, not out of respect for Your law and for its zealots, then at least out of fear of suffering some unforeseen evil, will leave us alone. The words “cursed is he who turns away from Your commandments” is otherwise translated as follows: rebuke the proud - those who fall under an oath for turning away from Your commandments, or those who turn away from Your commandments and bring upon themselves the curse imposed for that. Such a translation seems to be better suited to the flow of speech, but a regular translation does not present anything difficult in this regard. It will turn out like this: forbid the proud, because Thy righteousness has already appointed those who deviate from Thy commandments to be under a curse. Ps.119:22. Take away from Me diarrhea and humiliation, as I have sought Your testimonies. The people of the world at first do not pay attention to the people of God, showing only coldness towards them, mixed with contempt and an undisguised unpleasantness in meeting such people; but then they begin to revile and humiliate them, especially those of them who are closer to them and more than others show firmness in following the once accepted way of life. The people of God are ready to endure all this, and they endure it in silence, as long as it remains without harm to the very path of God along which they walk. But when it comes to this, they raise their voices, only not before people, but before Him who oversees all human ways, and ask Him to remove diarrhea and humiliation from them so that from them it passes on to those testimonies that they seek. The words “for I have sought Your testimonies” can also be applied to “take away.” Take away the reproach, because I seek Your testimonies; I follow Your will, I fulfill Your commands; protect, since You promised not to let Your own be offended. They can also be classified as “reproach and humiliation”: because I follow Your testimonies exactly, I am reviled and humiliated in every possible way - deliver me from this, for through this Your way is blasphemed. Prayer is pure only in the latter sense; but it is not inappropriate in the first, not only because of the weaknesses of nature, but also because of moral needs. Who doesn’t know what an overwhelming burden reproach puts on the soul! It saps the energy of the most energetic and relaxes the busiest arms and legs. And so, just as a squeezed person naturally seeks space, so this soul cries out: take away, Lord, this burden! She ties my arms and legs, and I can’t move forward. And this is not done because there is no patience, for reproach is already endured, but only an outcome from an unpleasant situation is sought, and it is sought precisely where it is the only way to look for it, that is, from the One in whose hand the fate of all people is. Such prayer is not the fruit of impatience, but a testimony of faith and hope. On the other hand, it is also possible that the energy for life according to God will be undermined by the burden, and from this undermining the passions and skills that had been frozen will become irritated and rise up. He who is afraid of falling and cries out: deliver; I seek Your testimonies, but I am also afraid that I might weaken and fall. However, this appeal may also have the following meaning: take away the overwhelming effect of reproach and humiliation, give the strength to be indifferent to it and behave as if it were not there. If such a turn of prayer is not inappropriate, then in order to support the courageous enduring of ignominy, one can collect in the mind ideas that can strengthen such determination and give courage. Reproach here saves you from shame at the Last Judgment. To the extent that you tolerate this nonsense here, you will prepare yourself for the same pleasure there. The path of reproach is not some desolate path along which someone passes; it is crowded with people walking along it. All the saints passed by, and ahead of them all was the Leader, the Lord Himself; This means that walking along it should not be boring. Moreover, no band-aid draws out the bad juices of the malignant suppuration of vanity, self-aggrandizement and pride as quickly as reproach. Having all this in mind, you can pray: take away the upsetting power of reproach; but to vilify - let them vilify. I will sit, covered with this shame, like covered with a plaster. This will finally make me more capable of fulfilling Your information, O Lord, which I have wholeheartedly sought. Ps.119:23. For the princes are gray and slander me, and Thy servant mocks Thy justifications. This is the third degree of hostility between the sons of the age and the sons of God. Reproach and humiliation are followed by deliberative plans, collection of slander, of course, not for good. The Wise One interprets these meetings of the princes of the age as follows: “Let us hide the righteous man of unrighteousness in the earth, let us devour him alive like hell, and take his memory from the earth” (Prov. 1:11-12). Although they realize that they rebel against the righteous unjustly; but, wanting to give their villainy the appearance of truth, they collect slander. This is how they collected false testimony against Christ the Savior. Whomever human evil sets its sights on, it will never cease to pursue it to the end: it is set on fire by the enemy of all good, and it has no peace until it achieves what it wants—to be satiated with evil deeds. But let not our lips speak of human deeds! May the Lord deliver everyone from such outrageous deeds! What should those who are threatened by something like this do? But this: “Your servant,” says the prophet, mocking Your justifications.” So he doesn’t pray: “take it away, or turn it away,” but in his heart he has given himself up as a sacrifice to capricious malice and, not paying attention to it, does his job, diligently examining God’s justifications in order to fulfill them more accurately. This is how everyone needs to act: let the evil be angry, and do your own thing, “Fear God and keep His commandments” (Eccl. 12:13). From this attitude of the holy prophet towards false accusations follows the conviction that the strongest support for enduring them is evidence of conscience that no reason was given for such attacks. Whoever can say within himself before the face of God: I examine Your justifications, compare my life with them and find no guilt in myself, should only be gladdened by false accusations, as the holy Apostle Peter interprets this: “If you are reproached in the name of Christ, you are blessed; for glory and God's Spirit rests upon you. One is blasphemed, but glorified by you. Let no one suffer from you as a murderer, or as a thief, or as a villain, or as an alien visitor; If you are a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but glorify God in this part” (1 Peter 4:14-16). Why should he glorify God? - For the fact that, according to His definition, the blessed are expelled for the sake of righteousness, “blessed” are those whom “they revile and persecute, and say all kinds of evil verbs” (Matthew 5:10-11) against them, for the Lord’s sake. A great reward in heaven has already been prepared for them, in the confidence of which they can rejoice and rejoice from here without being self-deceived. But, on the other hand, the same justifications of God testify that there is no person without sin and that if, in certain circumstances, conscience can truly testify to innocence, then it cannot recognize anyone as innocent at all. Not now, but something has been done before that requires due retribution; this is what came in the guise of falsehood. The mercy of God arranged it this way in order to subject man to purifying suffering here, in time, and to free him from punishment in eternity. Outsiders cannot see such a relationship between the external and the internal: all this is recognized and confessed in the inner sanctuary of conscience, before the face of the All-Seeing God. But whoever has recognized this and confessed God’s truth in the present, seeing together and in its relation to the eternal, he cannot help but rejoice when encountering lies, no matter how bitter they may be. He embraces the invisible and the future as the present and, behind the abundance of desired bliss, does not feel all the bitterness of current sorrows. And this benefit to those suffering sorrow and adversity comes as they delve deeper into the justifications of God. There they clearly see these laws of God’s truth and find consolation in them. But a Christian, delving into God’s justifications, finds there something more, compared to the Old Testament, namely, the commandment of love for enemies. Love for enemies is commanded not only for those from whose side the attacks have passed and are already partly forgotten, but also for those whose anger is being tested - it is commanded to love them while they are beating, cutting, robbing, and to love not as others say: “I don’t wish him harm and I don’t do it, I just can’t see him,” but to love with all the properties of the feeling of love. Whoever, delving into the justifications of God, attacks this feeling will draw from it such complacency that will drive away all bitterness of hostility, so that there will be no trace of it. We see examples of this in many martyrs. They have been there at all times, and if you look around, you can see them now. Ps.119:24. For Thy testimonies are my teaching, and my counsels are Thy justifications. The holy prophet sets forth the reason why, when he sees that his enemies are weaving slander to harm him, he delves into the justifications of God: this is my rule, he says, to learn there and seek advice there. The word “teaching” is translated into a word that actually means to sweetly sort out in one’s mind or repeat in one’s tongue the sayings of the Divine Word and, as a result, find consolation in them. “Councils” are advisors, or a meeting of those who consider a matter. The holy prophet, in opposition to the meeting of the princes of the age, establishes his own, in which, under the chairmanship of the fear of God and conscience, the mind finds in the word of God a decision - what kind of activity should be opposed to the villainous plans of the enemies. Thus, the testimonies and justifications of God, in general, God’s word for him, serves as consolation and guiding admonition in the difficulties encountered on the path of a godly life. Need I say that a better course of action cannot be imagined? In both internal and external difficulties, go to the word of God: it will lead you onto a bright and spacious road, teaching you how to safely circumvent the difficulties you encounter. At the same time, you need to put in a little of yourself - one complete submission to the commands of God, and, no matter what they demand, with the readiness to sacrifice everything to satisfy them. Such a mood is a channel through which from the word of God pours into the soul what is beneficial to it at one time or another, because He who spoke this word is also present and sees the needs of those who seek guidance in Him and knows how to imprint on the mind and conscience the lessons of His wondrous wisdom. Saint Isaac the Syrian says: “Those who are guided in their lives to enlightenment by divine grace always feel that some kind of intelligent ray passes through the verses of what is written, and distinguishes bare words to the mind from what is said to spiritual knowledge with great thought” (Isaac the Syrian, Sl. 1). “If the mind,” he continues, floats on the surface of the sea of ​​Divine Scriptures and cannot penetrate the thought of Scripture to the very depths, to comprehend all the treasures hidden in its depths, then even the fact that the mind is occupied with zeal for understanding the Scriptures is enough for it to firmly bind its thoughts with a single thought about the wonderful guidance of God and hinder them; whereas the heart is weak and cannot bear the bitterness (evil thoughts inflicted by external objects that excite passions) that occur during external and internal battles.” Although this verse is apparently connected only with the previous one, its power can be extended to the entire eight-verse, since in the word of God there is hidden healing against the internal defeats mentioned above - blindness, oblivion, insensibility, negligence or laziness. And to notice them, to suggest that they are in the soul, is given by the word of God; and then it will help you get out of these bad states, both by the power of its influence and by the necessary instructions. Likewise, in all external obstacles to God’s path, it also gives the ability to know how to be. That is why those who devote some time every day to reading the Divine Scripture, illuminated by attentive prayer, do so well! And without noticing it themselves, they are being created and tuned into action pleasing to God, or they are storing up thoughts that, at the right time, will come out of the heart and indicate the image of word and deed that is needed that time. So the third eight-line is arranged all naturally according to one thought. Thus, the inference that they are all composed in the same way acquires greater certainty. In every possible way, this imposes an obligation to look for unity in each eight-line and, when it is not found, to attribute it to one’s lack of vigilance, and not to the fact that it does not actually exist. The fourth eight-line is characterized by the letter “dalet” - “door”. With this word, the touching songs of the Church come to mind: “Open the doors of repentance, O Life-Giver,” or: “Open the doors of mercy for us, blessed Mother of God.” Repentance is the content of the present eight-line. Didymus says: “The prophet takes here the face of a repentant sinner” and goes through the entire path of conversion with him, from the first awakening of conscience to the decisive entry into the path of the commandments, so that in case anyone decides to repent, he sees the path that should be followed in this primary matter. There are many doors in the matter of spiritual life. Each degree in it has its own door, bypassing which you cannot enter it. The initial ones are the door from sin and the door to entering the right path. They are, apparently, so inseparable that the exit from one life and the entrance into another takes place through the same door; in fact, they are spaced from one another, and sometimes at a very large distance. There is a gap between them that must be walked carefully, as if the corridor is dark. These three points are explained in this eight-verse. Door of repentance – verses 25-27; transition – verses 28–29; the door to the right life - verses 30-32. Ps.119:25. My soul clings to the earth: live me according to Your word. This is the first cry of a sinner upon awakening from a sinful sleep. Sin and passions have their seat and support in the flesh, and the food that satisfies them is found in sensual earthly things and in the vain, seductive customs of this age. The sinner is drawn into all this and, while he works in sin, cannot not only feel, but even see how unnatural his position is. But when, by the grace of God, he awakens from sleep, the first thing that comes into his consciousness is the humiliation to which his god-like soul was subjected to in him: “What have I brought myself to!.. I should have revolved in heaven, in God and divine things, but I crawl on the earth, wallow in earthly things and do not want to tear myself away from this.” The norm of human life is life in God in spirit, which also attracts the life of the soul and body. In the spirit is the image of God. It is evidenced by the action of the fear of God and conscience and dissatisfaction with anything earthly. These are the requirements of spiritual life. They are fulfilled by the actions of the soul and body, and when they are fulfilled, then a person with all his nature ascends to God-likeness, and when they are not fulfilled, then the spiritual - physicality takes over, and the demands of the spirit weaken and weaken to the point that they seem to completely freeze, and the person becomes as if not a person, as if the life in him was just bodily. How the spirit then awakens is the mystery of God. But, having awakened, he triumphantly raises his voice; the previously dominant mental-physical body humbles itself and becomes silent, leaving full scope for action to the consciousness that, being under its yoke, a person was not what he should have been. Hence the cry: “Alas! my soul clings to the earth! “This is very similar to the complaint of the prodigal son who came to his senses: “I am perishing with famine” (Luke 15:17). Saint Ambrose perfectly depicts this state in the person of our fallen forefather. “Underground, of course, is material. Man, having deviated from the commandment of God, leaned towards the material and carnal, and his love for this age fulfilled him. For this reason, expelled from paradise, a delightful place of sweetness, to this poor earth, Adam mourns himself, saying: “my soul clings to the earth.” In another place the prophet expresses the same thing like this: “humble my soul into the dust, my womb clings to the earth” (Ps. 43:26). This is the voice of one who brings repentance. Previously, blissful and feeding on heavenly things, he did not know the worries and needs of everyday life, but now he is bent under the weight of the sorrows of this age, carried away by the lusts of the flesh and covetousness (greed). So the fallen one would always remain chained to the earth, unable to rise above the mountain (above all things sensible), if Christ had not lifted him up with His cross. And to this day everyone who moves away from Christ remains so. But the one who heeded the voice of Christ: “Come after Me,” will no longer cleave to the earth. The earth - the flesh and spirit of the world - captivate us with some harlot's lures, browning the faces of passions with carnal pleasures in order to hide the unattractive reality and seduce those approaching with a beautiful appearance. But when for a while the deceived inner eye of the mind shakes off the dust that has darkened it, then the embellishment of the passions falls away, and one sees how illusory the charms of this age are. So, do not bring down your soul into the dust of death, which God has honored with a certain natural height and given it the strength to be excited and ascend to grief. In the union of the soul with the body, the natural mystery of our life is hidden, and the soul seems to involuntarily cling to the earth and earthly things, partly because it is our temporary dwelling, partly because our body is made of the earth. But be strong and pray with the apostle to deliver you “from the body of this death” (Rom. 7:24). Let us walk in the will of God, so that it can be said of us that we are clinging to God. He who lives according to the desires of the flesh is flesh, and he who lives according to the commandments of God is spirit. Let our soul not be flesh; let us not allow it to be said about us: we are flesh, as was said about those who brought upon themselves the execution of the flood (Gen. 6:3). But rather let our flesh become spiritual, earning this name by obedience to the dictates of the soul. Those who shun the lusts of the flesh are rightly compared to angels. They are flesh, but they are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, as were those to whom the apostle said: But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit (Rom. 8:9). So, having felt the humiliation of the soul, bowed to the dust by lusts, pray that it will be revived, according to the word of the Lord, Who draws souls to Himself, drawing them away from the earth. The soul that has followed the path of Christ lives. She became dead to sin, but alive to God after she was buried in Christ and became righteous in Him.” St. Augustine sees here the cry not of a person turning from sin for the first time, but already walking the path of virtue and feeling the attacks of carnal earthly desires. “Ahead,” he says, the prophet said: “Thy servant, mocking at Thy justified ones, Thy testimonies are my teaching”; and here he says: “My soul clings to the earth.” Shouldn’t we understand from this that no matter how much someone succeeds in the justifications of the Lord, there always remains in him the addiction of mortal flesh to earthly things, for which reason “there is a temptation for man to live on earth” (Job 7:1), and that from this deadening earthiness, if he does not cease to succeed, he comes to life more and more every day, being life-giving by the One by whose grace our inner man is renewed all the days (2 Cor. 4:16). When the Apostle said that while living in the body we depart from the Lord (2 Cor. 5:6), and when he himself wanted to be separated and be with Christ (Phil. 1:23), was he not pointing to this clinging to the earth? That is why here in the word of the prophet it is not indecent to understand the body under the earth as being from the earth. And about it, since it is still perishable and burdens the soul (Wisdom 9:15), one can complain to God: “My soul clings to the earth, live me!” True, we are not without our bodies and will be with Christ in eternity (1 Thess. 4:13–17); but then they, not being perishable, will not burden souls. There, not souls to bodies, but bodies to souls will be more closely attached, and souls to God. There bodies will live from souls, clinging to them, and souls will live from God, to Whom it is good for them to cleave, as the prophet assures in another place: “It is good for me to cleave to God” (Ps. 73:28). The prophet, however, does not complain about the union of the soul with the body, but about carnal lust, warring through the body against the spirit (Gal. 5:17), and, crying out in this way, does not desire permission from the body, but for this lust to be diminished more and more, and the power of the spirit over it to increase more and more, until, finally, it completely dries up, and this one will reach the measure of perfection given to us by the Holy Spirit.” Realizing its unnatural clinging to the earth, the spirit cries out to God: “live for me.” He who is bound by the bonds of death and feels his deadness seeks revival. The Prophet says the same thing: “I am dead, revive me.” Cleaving to the earth and earthly things is the death of the spirit; but he is already crying out, already in motion, has already come to life—come to life, but only enough to recognize the deadness of sin and passions that binds him. He still does not have the strength to break these bonds, he wants to break out of them, but he feels that they are so strong that he cannot cope with them, which is why he prays to God for life-giving strength. This is the second step towards the opening door of repentance. Grace comes and excites; the awakened one realizes the badness of his condition; The effect of grace for the first time is limited to this. Next, the spirit itself has the desire to get out of its bad state; having desired it, decide to do so; Having decided, take the necessary measures and then get down to business. Desire, determination, readiness for all measures - all this goes well in the spirit, in the mental actions of the soul; but as soon as we need to get down to business, there is not enough energy in a person’s moral forces to enable him to carry out what he has planned and decided. “Live for Me” is a prayer for an influx of grace-filled forces to inspire the spirit and fill it with effective energy to resist earthly inclinations and habits. The grace of God is always present, especially grace that has already aroused the spirit, but it does not autocratically enter the soul until it itself opens the entrance to it through the consciousness of its powerlessness and God-devoted prayer. “Live me; I'm ready; I thirst for you as dry land thirsts for rain.” “According to Your word” means the same as according to Your promise,” says St. Augustine. “When, Anthimus explains, I transgressed the commandment and sinned, “my soul clung to the earth,” and death seized me, because of separation from You and separation from You, O Life-Giving Lord. But now I repent, revive me according to Your word, that You will be merciful to those who repent, not desiring the death of the sinner.” Ps.119:26. Thou hast declared my ways, and Thou hast heard me: teach me by Thy justification. The grace of God is ready to fill the one who seeks revival with its life-giving power. But in the Kingdom of God, in life created by God, everything happens in its own order, in its own time. Life of grace is not renewed in the soul of a sinner except after he confesses his sins and receives permission in the sacrament of repentance. A sinner excited by grace desires a godly, pure life; for this purpose, having reviewed all his indecencies, he mourns them in his heart and with contrition confesses to the God-appointed decider of moral bonds, setting a firm intention to walk unswervingly in the commandments of God. Under the influence of permission, the grace of God visits the heart that was empty due to sin, and spiritual life comes to life. Having received such a grace-filled revival, in a feeling of strength in the Lord, he is now ready for any godly deed and any kind of work of this kind, if only he knows that such and such is truly pleasing to God and saving. All these changes or turns in the spirit of the penitent are depicted by the prophet in this verse. “I declared my ways” means I confessed my sins; “You have heard me” - You, Lord, accepted my confession and forgave me all my sins, now “teach me by Your justification” - show me exactly what to do so as not to make a mistake, and I am ready, having already accepted Your gracious help. “I have proclaimed my ways” - therefore, the paths are not good, as St. Augustine notes. A person has his own paths, those which he follows to please himself and his wishes - paths that are opposite to the paths of God, the one who follows them certainly goes against himself and his inclinations and habits. Saint Ambrose writes: “You need to know what it means to walk in your own ways, and what it means to walk in God’s ways. He who does the will of the flesh and lives in the pleasures of this world walks in his own ways, delights in them and is glad about them; whoever seeks not what he desires, but what pleases God, follows the path of the Lord. Thus, it is clear that our ways are one thing, and God’s ways are another. Whoever wants to follow the ways of God, let him know that he must first leave his own ways, the ways of the flesh and all the wisdom of this age; leaving them, confess before God, not hiding anything.” Thus, says Saint Hilary, “this proclamation in the words “you have proclaimed my way” is not praise, but a repentant confession of one’s sins. He confessed his sins in order that after this confession he would become capable of accepting and learning the justifications of God.” He who confesses his sins receives forgiveness: “And you heard me.” In another place, the prophet depicts this ineffable mercy of God more fully: “I knew my iniquity, and did not cover my sin; I said: I will confess my iniquity to the Lord, and You have forsaken the wickedness of my heart” (Ps. 31:5). Such a gracious promise of God later entered into the law of the prophecies of the Spirit, as taught by Saint Isaiah on behalf of God: “Thou hast spoken thy iniquities before, that thou mayest be justified” (Is. 43:26). The condition for forgiveness is sincerity of confession, merciless to oneself, not hiding anything, exposing oneself in all its nakedness, presenting the repentant person as his alarmed and enlightened conscience sees him. Only in such a confession is there hope for correction of what follows. “Forsaking his sins, says Saint Ambrose, David proclaims them before God, without holding back anything, he confesses, without hiding his falls. Whoever does not cover up his sins in this way obviously hurts himself about what he did and throws at the devil what he suggested. He who condemns himself, although a sinner, has already begun to be righteous, because he speaks the truth about himself, without sparing himself, and in this he confesses God’s justice, before which he does not consider it possible to hide anything. Oh, when would Adam have wanted to blame himself rather than cover himself up!” Confidence in pardon stands on the transition to a right life. We must go through this door of mercy in order to enter the path of life according to God. Those who have not experienced this are suppressed by hopelessness, which kills all the shoots of life. The experiencer's heart expands, and all his strength comes into tension. This is a consequence not of moral changes alone, but together, as already expressed, of the influx of grace-filled forces, with which permission opens the door to the heart, previously emptied by sincere confession. The confessor says: “I have sinned, I will not; Only you help and don’t leave me.” Feeling the overshadowing of God’s power upon the resolution of sins, he exclaims in joy: “And you heard me.” “Teach me Thy justification.” The door swung open; The field of new life is open, but it is dotted with various paths. Not everyone should go through all of them, but everyone should go through his own, suitable for him. What kind? - Such as He alone knows, Who is the organizer of all this saved path. But who will indicate them except Him? Hence the cry: “Teach me by Thy justification”; teach not only where to go and what to do, but also how to go and how to do it. “It is not enough to confess sins,” says Saint Ambrose; We want to correct ourselves, therefore we ask God to teach us His justifications, so that later we will not sin again in some way. The prophet asks to be taught by the Lord, because He alone is our teacher, according to His own words” (Matthew 23:8). Augustine adds to this: “I have confessed to You, Lord, my evil ways. You have forgiven me, now teach me Your ways, and teach me so that I not only know, but also do what I should do. Just as it is said of the Lord that He knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21) in the thought that He did not do, so, on the contrary, those who truly know the truth should honor the one who does and fulfills.” “Teach” will mean, in this sense, teach. Just as children are taught to walk by holding their hands and making them step with their little feet, so grace teaches steps in the spiritual life that are faithful and unmistakably leading to the goal. There is only one condition - attention to yourself and devotion to invisible leadership. What is promised is not false: “You will be taught by God” (John 6:45). All the chosen ones of God, whose brightness of life we ​​marvel at, were directly taught and guided by the Spirit of God; That’s why they walked straight, not deviating either to the right or to the left. And it’s amazing that, looking at them from the side, we cannot help but be amazed at the difficulties of their procession; and they themselves did not at all notice this roughness of the path: they walked calmly, even with pleasure. The power of life in Christ Jesus absorbed everything that might seem unpleasant. But why is this science not taught to everyone? Why is not everyone given such training, such relieving guidance? It’s as if grace is carried in their arms, and we seem to be abandoned. No, we are not abandoned, but we are abandoned. Take the same self-sacrifice and non-reliance on yourself and on anything other than God; surrender yourself entirely to the will of God, placing yourself in the hands of God’s grace - it will carry you as well, as it carried the wondrous saints you honor. And then a hand was given to you: you took hold of it, walked a little, led and supported by it, not suffering any trouble from either bogs or thorns, then, thinking that you yourself would be able to walk and choose the road, you broke away from the powerful hand supporting you, and was left alone with your thoughts and guesses. So you’re spinning around among the thorns and swamps, you’re stuck, you’re hurt, but who’s to blame? You work and sweat, but there is no point. Everything comes from self-indulgence, arrogance and a false consciousness of power about oneself, and not about the Lord. Is this the way of the saints?.. So is it surprising that the fruit is not the same? God wants everyone to be saved; but not everyone wants to be saved the way God wants to save them. The entire content of this verse is depicted by the blessed Patriarch of Jerusalem Anthimus as follows: “He who is devoted to carnal passions and walks in the path of his lusts completes his ways, but whoever curbs them and lives chastely follows the path leading to God. But when someone who has fallen and recognized his sins reveals his unkind ways to God, then God, having heard his prayer, forgives him all his previous evils and leads him to righteousness, teaching him His justifications.” Ps.119:27. Let me understand the path of Your justifications, and I will mock at Your wonders. What is the prophet asking here, asking him to reason with him on the path of justification? It can be assumed that he asks for further and more detailed knowledge of the path of salvation, knowledge of everything related to it, knowledge of various aspects and parts of a godly life. Firstly, in order to be able to distinguish good from evil and expose the apparent good, under which lies evil, - to be able to notice the bad feelings that arise during good deeds and immediately put them aside and correct good deeds, to know the order in which the affairs of spiritual life should be conducted, for it is not always best to do everything - a beginner should not take on what is at hand only for those who have already perfected it. This is what Saint Chrysostom, Theodoret and Saint Ambrose teach. The thought of Saint Chrysostom is given by Zigaben in his Interpretation: “The prophet rightly prays to be a partaker of the Divine understanding, so as to correctly recognize the right path, so as not to sin, and instead of taking up evil, instead of good; because evil often looks like good.” Theodoret writes: “We need Divine understanding so that, according to the law of God, we can succeed in virtue, and the ascetic does not have vanity in mind, the ascetic does not seek human praise, and the chaste does not maintain chastity out of the shame of an intemperate life, but out of love for virtue. Therefore, the prophet rightly begs that he may become a participant in the Divine understanding and learn the path of righteousness.” Saint Ambrose says: “He does not consider it content for the Lord our God to teach him His justifications, but adds: “the way of justifications” and so on. Look at the order! First you need to learn the justifications of the Lord, then learn the gradualness and order of justificatory actions, what should come first and what should come next; for knowing what to do and not knowing the order of doing it does not mean having perfect knowledge. For the most part, they stumble because they do not act as they should, not in order.” Something else is appropriate in worldly cohabitation, another in a world-denying life; some in beginning, some in prosperity; some in a hostel, others in a hermitage; different according to the external order, different according to the internal structure of Christian life. Everything has its time and place. And good things are only quite good in their time and place. Secondly, by the path of justification we can understand here, as Blessed Augustine believes, “the highest justifications, which, succeeding more and more, the holy prophet wants to achieve and which he calls the miracles of God; for between justifications (God’s commandments) and the deeds of life according to God there are such marvelous ones that those who have not experienced them through human weakness cannot believe that it is possible to achieve them.” These are love for enemies, not as an external deed, but as an internal feeling, living and sincere; the courage of martyrs, not just a calm state of mind during torment, but a laudatory, joyful, blissfully joyful one; unceasing prayer, with all the essential accessories of prayer, so incomprehensible that to explain it they resort to allegorical statements, while in reality it exists and constitutes an inalienable quality of persons who have become one spirit with the Lord is complete carelessness, not only in feelings, but also in deed, in surrendering themselves to the will of God, according to His word of promise: “all these will be added” (Matthew 6:33), for which the Lord graciously accepted and generously fed His servants from His bounties - detachment from bodily needs until they are forgotten, without exhaustion, however Well, the body, which remained healthy and quite strong, so that it performed the usual services and duties. All this and the like are the miracles of moral Christian life created by the grace of the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus our Lord. One cannot help but be amazed by these miracles. Thirdly, one can understand here, with Saint Hilary, the desire to see through the Old Testament rites of justification, in order to see true justification in the Savior of all, typified by them. Hilary writes: “this speech (that is, “the path of justifications to reason”) posits a difference between justifications and their path. Moreover, it goes without saying that what one strives to achieve in a certain way is not the same as the very path along which one strives. Being in the law, he asked to learn not what was then happening in the material service of God, for this is already visible, but those future secrets that were hidden under the image of real visible material justifications. He remembered that justifications from the law represent a shadow of true Divine justifications. Subordinate decrees are therefore, as it were, the path to what is prefigured by them. In order to understand this path of justification, to reach, that is, from the shadow to the real body, the prophet prays, so that, having understood, he may deepen in the contemplation of these miracles of God (wonderful plans for the construction of our salvation in the Lord). The law was established in order to be a mirror of the future (expected by those under the law) benefits.” A similar thought may have meaning for us Christians. We have our own external order of justification, which anyone who seeks reconciliation with the Lord, who is offended by a multitude of conscious sins, goes through. We have fasting, fasting, standing in prayer in church, solitude and withdrawal from everyday affairs, confession of sins, acceptance of penance and labors to fulfill it. Everyone goes through this path. How expedient it is - this is proven by the experience of all times. But the strength is not in the external course of the matter, but in the internal dispositions that must be warmed up in the heart, and the alternation of these dispositions itself is the path of justification, and not the alternation of the external actions shown. You can go through all of them and get nothing. That is why there is an urgent need, when approaching them and passing through them, to pray to the Lord, so that He will admonish us to walk this path truly, heartily, fruitfully, so that in the end and in deed we receive what we are looking for, and then marvel and never cease to marvel at the miracles of God’s boundless mercy towards repentant sinners. What does it mean: “I will mock at Your wonders?” - Obviously, by this the prophet indicates what he promises to do upon receiving the desired admonition. But what is this? The word “to mock, to mock” has taken on a meaning that is not the same as its corresponding Greek meaning. In Fatherland books this word is translated as follows: “to sit down, to diligently do something, for example, to sit down to reading, contemplation of God, mental prayer, needlework” and the like. Saint Ambrose writes: “I will mock” is some prolonged reflection and persistent deepening of the mind into something, as well as hardworking exercise in something, mental or physical, in order to get used to something.” Thus, there is a mental squat and an active one. What does the prophet mean here? - Both. One who has received instruction about the path of God’s justifications cannot help but delve into them through reflection and contemplation. Then, since admonition is given about active life, and then, again, to give the proper direction to life and activity, the admonished one cannot remain idle, but immediately gets down to business and, staying in it, constantly acquires the skill for it. “So, says Saint Ambrose, whoever knows the mysteries of God deepens his contemplation into the miracles of God that are revealed in them.” According to Zigaben, he says to the Lord: “I will often talk about the wondrous deeds that You have done, in order to enjoy the comprehension of them that You give me.” But he should not be content with this alone, but “like someone preparing for a competition in a spectacle, he exercises his limbs for a long time so that they become accustomed to the techniques and become stronger; Thus, Saint Ambrose teaches, one must actively attend to what is indicated in Scripture in order to comprehend the secrets and counsels of God hidden in it.” Others mean by the word “I will mock”: I will conduct lengthy conversations about the wonders of Your mercy and righteousness: “My tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness” (Ps. 50:16); I will everywhere praise the wondrous ways of Your justifications, and You, who arranges them. Didim says: “I will tell everyone about Your wonders.” Saint Athanasius writes: “Having acquired an understanding of the mysteries contained in Your justifications, and the ability to follow their path, I will be able to talk and talk about the miracles of these justifications.” Ps.119:28. My soul has fallen asleep from despondency, strengthen me in Your words. Long is the work, long is the journey, long is the search. The interval between turning to the path of the commandments and freely walking along it passes in a state of half-bitter and half-pleasant, half-alive and half-dead. For some it is longer, for others it is shorter, but it happens to everyone. This is the law of God’s righteousness in the dispensation of our salvation. Anyone who has been baptized or sincerely repented is already both a son and an heir; but one will have to undergo a full course of education, and the other only legal penance. The end of this state is when the soul is cleansed, and its activity on the good path becomes easily and quickly moving, as if not seeing obstacles and delays. Until that time, there is struggle and labor: the worker has to experience a lot. He has two main blows: the first is a weakening of moral energy, the second is a strong pressure of wrong movements within and unkind irritations from without. The first one is spoken of in this verse, which is despondency; about the second in the following. Dejection is boredom at work. When it attacks, things are sluggish. Until then, everything is done willingly, the job gets done, and the time behind the deed is not noticed. But when despondency sets in, the doer begins to look around, and then he does it, then he stops, and so he wants to quit the job as soon as possible. This happens in everyday life, and it also happens in spiritual life. There is no desire to stand in church, or to pray to God at home, or to read, or to correct ordinary good deeds. The worker begins to get bored with all this; That’s why he does it as if he’s not doing it, and there’s no use in doing it. He looks exactly like a half-asleep person whose work is falling out of his hands. This state is depicted by the prophet in the words: “my soul shall slumber from despondency.” Dozing is only a cessation of doing, and not doing anything; but in itself it is bad. In bodily life it is natural; He should not be in the spiritual, for there is an irrevocable duty - to be sober and awake. It is as bad as stopping, since we are obliged to constantly move forward; bad and in that it borders on bad action. One who has dozed off may fall and break, may be captured by the enemy and suffer wounds and defeats, even fatal ones. Therefore, he who has dozed off spiritually in despondency, realizing his slumber, cannot help but reproach himself and fear for himself. Hence the cry for awakening and revival: no one can cope with himself at this time. St. Augustine writes: “Going through labors in acquiring virtues and in some way being tired of them, he said: “My soul is slumbered from despondency.” What does “the soul slumber” mean, if not that it has cooled in the nourished hope of soon acquiring virtue? So he prays, fearing that, as if he had dozed off, he would fall away from those virtues in which he thought he had already succeeded.” “He,” adds Saint Hilary, calls himself dozing, but not asleep. He who sleeps is in a state of sleep, overcome by sleep; and whoever is dozing has not yet fallen asleep, but is on the threshold of sleep. The Prophet dozes, but does not sleep, and prays that, having dozed off, he will not fall asleep.” Zigaben cites the opinion of Hesychius that when the soul slumbers, sin does not sleep, but, creeping up, attempts to captivate it and attract it to itself. “The beginning of sleep,” he says, is dozing, and the beginning of fall is the disintegration and relaxation of the soul through despondency. Just as one who is dozing is drawn to sleep, so one who is morally weakened is drawn to sin.” This state is also well depicted by one of the Western interpreters of the Psalter (Bellarmin): “On the journey of this life there is hardly a person who would not relax and, bored with the constant struggle that the spirit wages with the flesh, would not grow cold towards it, would not doze off when it becomes boring to walk the difficult path on which the flesh fights against the spirit.” Here are the words of Blessed Theodoret: “The frequent attack of sin often weakens the strength of thoughts, makes the ascetic begin to get tired, produces in him so-called despondency; the weakening soul bows to sleep, and sleep brings death. Therefore, the prophet asks to confirm and strengthen him. He says this in another place: “enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep into death” (Ps. 12:4), calling sin death.” How to be in this bad state? – First, pray; secondly, to remain firmly in established routines and started affairs, even though the taste for them has disappeared; thirdly, to meditate on the wondrous ways of God revealed in the word (of God). All these methods are contained in the prayer of the prophet: “Confirm me in Your words.” So, first of all, pray. The despondent prophet turns to God. Together with him, you too, weak, ascend there and ask that the same heat be kindled in you again, in which before this any work was not difficult for you, so that the fire of grace returns to you, and you, being aroused by it, do not cease to diligently walk along the path of the commandments of the Lord. When you pray, do not lag behind anything you have done before. Let there be no taste - force yourself, by force of will, bend your neck (neck) and your whole body under the accepted yoke. Blessed Augustine paraphrases the prayer of the prophet as follows: “Confirm me in those words of Yours, which I already hold, which I am already fulfilling, so that from them, little by little succeeding, I may move towards others.” According to Saint Ambrose: “The prophet here asks to be established in the words of God, “let not his feet move” (Ps. 16:5) and “let not his feet be shed” (Ps. 73:2). This will not be endured by those who stand firmly and courageously in the rightness of their hearts. Like a tree that has taken deep roots, it holds itself motionless against any alien pressure and oppression.” In both cases, deepen your godly reflection on the wondrous ways of God. In another psalm, the prophet directly says that when his spirit became depressed, in order to drive it away, he remembered the days of old and began to learn from the wondrous deeds of God. What came of this? – The soul has become like waterless land, that is, thirsty; Spiritual tastes and needs awakened, and the soul, killed by despondency, came to life. It's the same here. According to Saint Athanasius, the prophet teaches that it is impossible to drive out the spirit of despondency except by teaching in Divine words. Therefore, we must be sober and watchful according to the word of the Lord: “watch and pray” (Mark 14:38). Saint Hilary writes: “Strengthen me in Thy words,” so that, being strengthened by the understanding of all Thy ways, I not only do not sleep, but also do not succumb to slumber, but constantly remain in all vigilance.” Zigaben has the same thought: “Strengthen me in words,” that is, in meditating on Your commandments, so that I can always practice this, for through this I hope to drive away the dormancy of despondency.” Saint Ambrose writes about this in more detail: “The perfect one, directing his mind to the Divine mysteries, does not sleep, but is always awake: and although he sometimes sleeps with his body, he is vigilant with his heart. In another place the prophet says: “If I give sleep before my eyes and slumber in my every side” (until I build a church for God) (Ps. 132:4). So, the one who decided to create a church for the Lord not from stones, but from good thoughts, feelings and dispositions, excited and formed by heavenly words, does not sleep. The Word of God disperses despondency - sleep of the soul and despondency of the mind. Sleep comes from the sadness and worries of the age. But he who cleaves to God avoids such worries; He finds pleasure in the knowledge of the eternal order of things, without being embarrassed by any change in earthly things.” Blessed Anthimus notes that “in the fifth and sixth editions (of the Bible translation) and in Symmachus, instead of dozing, it began to drip and get wet; this means that the soul of a righteous person is tightly and firmly built, while the soul of a sinner is upset and becomes full of holes and fluid; That’s why he needs God’s unity and strengthening.” Saint Ambrose, mentioning such a translation, finds two thoughts in the word of the prophet; first: the “soul” began to drip, began to accept into itself something alien, giving it no peace and expelling it outside; second: the soul began to get wet, emit from itself the previously accepted saving word, filling itself, instead, with harmful thoughts. Here are his words: “Others do not read “dozed off,” but “drip,” which means it began to drip, to allow moisture to pass through. The thought will be this: the soul of a perfect husband, being well tuned and fastened, does not drip like vaults and ceilings, tightly and firmly built. It is said: “drops drive a man out of his house on the day of winter” (Proverbs 27:15). Therefore, we must fasten our soul so that it does not drip; it is necessary to firmly unite her with an inseparable combination of virtues, so that she can keep the secret of the eternal King, like Saint Mary, who composed all the words in her heart, so that any of them would not pour out from there with her lips: whoever is quick to speak, like an overflowing vessel, pouring out here and there, empties his inner self and is flooded with external attachments, unable to either build a roof for himself or safely retain the accepted word. That soul has no corruption (holes, cracks), which with generous patience maintains within itself the top (vault, ceiling) of truth and the walls of other virtues. Therefore, it does not drip, does not flow, does not pour out: there is no licentiousness, changeable mobility, inattentive negligence in it, nothing is torn out of it by the hole of the tongue.” Ps.119:29. Leave the path of unrighteousness from Me, and have mercy on me according to Your laws. The second defeat encountered by a worker who is going through a penitentic state is the excitation of sinfulness that occurs from time to time - either by itself, or due to external stimulation, or from the action of an envious enemy. It can be so dark and confusing that the one experiencing it seems as if he has already committed fornication, renounced God, and fallen into hatred of man; he feels that his soul is filled with evil, and his belly is approaching hell (Ps. 87:4). While a person lives in negligence and love of sin, then although sinful desires are constantly revived in his soul and although he is immediately inclined to satisfy them, this does not bother him at all; and when he repents and makes a conscientious promise not to indulge himself anymore, and especially when he has already settled down somewhat and weaned himself from his passionate affairs, then this kind of attack cannot but confuse him, and arouse pain and fear. Hence the cry to the Lord: “Leave the path of unrighteousness from Me.” What kind of untruth is this? These are passionate movements aroused in the soul that lead to all untruth and sin. They clung to, clung to the soul; he asks to tear them away from her and throw them far away: let them be on the outside, and not inside, so that one can pass through them without feeling any harm, just as someone who has no predisposition to it does not feel harm from an infectious disease. Saint Hilary writes: “The path of unrighteousness is the path of sin. The prophet prays to God to move away from him the path of sin - the path that leads directly to sin - to take away all the excitement of carnal passions, to make sure that there is no temptation from lust, along which, as if on the road, they go to sin. Saint Ambrose continues the same thought: “I did not say, leave me from the path of unrighteousness, but leave the path of untruth from me, realizing that it exists and operates in it. And in fact, as long as we lead an unkind life, the path of unrighteousness remains within us and does not lag behind us. The one who repents takes care to distance him from himself. Since the hereditary infection of untruth came to us from outside, there is an urgent need for an outside liberator from it. Here is the prayer: “Leave the path of untruth.” You too pray, saying: I am a poor man! Who will leave me from the path of unrighteousness? “And you will hear: the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Didymus here means everything, and not any special attack of sin; but this is not alien to the meaning of this verse. He says: “Whoever, by choice, has left behind the path of unrighteousness and wants to begin the law of God, prays that this will be accomplished by God, who brings to an end all good undertakings. Likewise, the one who hated the previous ignorance and desired the knowledge opposite to it, not having the strength to drive away ignorance and be enlightened by knowledge, appeals to the one Teacher of all: leave ignorance from Me, and have mercy on me with Your knowledge!” “Have mercy on me according to Your laws.” What kind of law is this? “By the law of Thy love for mankind,” says Zigaben; for the law of God’s love for mankind consists in this, that God has mercy on the one who repents and whoever turns to Him with all his soul.” Truth requires punishment for the violator of the truth; God’s love for mankind intercedes for mercy. This is the main law in the present period of our existence. He who suffers attacks from sin cannot help but realize that he himself previously gave such power over himself to sin, he himself nurtured this snake within himself, and therefore he endures it righteously; and if it is righteous, then where is his salvation if not in love for mankind? He prays in this sense: “I myself am to blame, I righteously endure these attacks, but show me, Lord, mercy, leave this path of unrighteousness, according to the law of Your love for mankind.” The words - by Thy law - can also mean: as Thy law commands or requires. Just as a patient, seeking help from a doctor, expects recovery from him according to the laws of medical science, so it is here. God heals spiritual infirmities; but there is a law for this healing, apart from which healing cannot take place. “By what law is he seeking mercy? - asks Blessed Augustine. Nothing other than the law of faith. The law of faith is that we pray that grace may be given to us to do what we ourselves are not able to do.” “Have mercy on me by Your law” means, again, the same thing as “Bless me with such and such a thing,” that is, give me such and such a thing as a blessing. Thus it will come out: show me mercy by granting Your law; pluck out wrong movements from the heart, and in their place write there, impress, introduce Your law so that it penetrates my entire composition, governs all the movements of my forces, takes possession of all the outcomes of my life and my actions, and I, realizing this, could unflatteringly confess the law of my God in my heart. This meaning is closest to the point and combines all the others. And the Hebrew text says: make me worthy of the law, make me worthy of the law. Saint Hilary gives the following thought: “Grant me, by confessing Your law, to be worthy of Your mercy and to bliss in its fullness. The prophet prays that God will have mercy on him by His law. By the law, the mercy of God is attracted, according to Scripture, as follows: “And now for Israel, what the Lord your God asks of you, that is, to fear the Lord your God, and to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and His righteousnesses, as I have commanded you, this day, that it may go well with you” ( Deut.10:12–13). So, if the law teaches to walk in the ways of God, that it may be good for him who walks in them, then when the prophet prays that God would have mercy on him through the law, he prays for what is contained in the law, that is, so that, by walking in the ways of God, he may achieve bliss.” Ps.119:30. I have chosen the path of truth, and I have not forgotten Your destiny. The dark transition is over. The repentant enters into a state of unconstrained and self-willed walking in the commandments. When this happens, the same thing happens in the soul that a person experiences when he enters a bright and decorated chamber from a dark corridor. The prophet depicts this bright state in the last three verses of the present eighth (Ps. 119:30, 31, 32). It is impossible not to notice the special completeness in this image and the harmony in the relationship between different aspects of the structure of spiritual life at this time. On the one hand, a number of relations of freedom to the commandments are indicated; on the other, a series of beneficial influences experienced by the soul. In the first they go - “I willed” - I chose, “I cleave” - I loved with my heart, “tekokh” - I actively act in fulfillment; in the second - “I have not forgotten Your destiny” - I accepted into conviction the whole essence of Your economy in the dispensation of salvation; further - “do not disgrace” - I rely on You with all my trust, “Thou hast enlarged my heart” - I felt the influx of Thy gracious, life-giving influences. It goes without saying that the purpose of everything is in “those” and in “when You have enlarged my heart”: Your grace filled me, my heart expanded, and I followed the path of Your commandments, not noticing obstacles and not allowing stumbling blocks. Other instructions are only the path and support of this latter, says Saint Hilary. "The path of truth..." Everyone who lives and acts already has his own path, but not everyone has the true path. And the Savior distinguished between two paths - wide and narrow, and assessed them according to the end to which one and the other leads. Of those who walk, everyone follows a certain path, and to many their path seems straight and true, while in reality it is crooked and illusory - it only seems to be a path, and a straight path, but in reality it is not at all like that. The Prophet says that all this diverse illusoryness of paths opened up before him; I, he says, saw that there is only one true path, and I chose it. Saint Ambrose writes: “The prophet says this in order to show that he has sincerely converted. A stingy person cannot speak like this, and one who is partial to the worldly and material cannot speak this way, because how can this path be the true path, when the rich man in this age cannot take wealth from here with him and after death becomes poorer than poor Lazarus? In the same way, one cannot consider both worldly glory and the sorrow of this age to be the path of truth. Truth is in the eternal; the temporary is illusory. If we wish to walk in the path of truth, let us become strangers to the world and begin to live by faith. He who lives by faith lives in God, Who is the only true One; but he who is devoted to the world only “walks in manner” (Ps. 39:7), and the truth (reality) will soon expose him.” What is the path of truth for us? – Life according to the Gospel, in the spirit of the Christian faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ is both the Truth and the Way. Follow the Lord Christ, and you will walk the path of truth. But make sure that it is the action itself, and not just the name. “Not every one shall say, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom, but do the will of the heavenly Father” (Matthew 7:21). Truly enter the path of truth, and do not just seem to be walking along it. “I willed the path of truth” - I chose it with all my will, all my will is in it, and it no longer barges (is drawn) here and there. Until the mastery of good, before the dominance of the light of truth within, the will still continues to double. In every task at hand, the conscience, already enlightened and enlivened by the light of the Gospel and grace, indicates a godly course of action; but you feel that, out of nowhere, proposals are coming from that are completely opposite to him, and someone is entering into an argument with his conscience. Remembering the condition of pardon in repentance - the vow to be faithful to the will of God, the will, although it is far from agreeing to these alien proposals, but everything looks back, not without some attraction to the cauldrons of Egypt (Exodus 16:3), - it means double. This doubling is a sign that inside, in the depths of our being, the work of conversion is not yet finished; there still remain the makings of an alien life, like sprouts, crushed, but ready to immediately blossom, if only you give them space. The hitherto penitentiary state is not yet over, and therefore, the work of repentance is not yet completed, the comforting voice is not yet heard within: “thy sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2). But when this passes, everything unclean will evaporate, self-indulgence will fade away, passions will fall silent - then there will be no more division; then he wills with all the fullness of his will for every good deed that presents itself. This is what the prophet remembers, apparently with spiritual joy and joy. “And I have not forgotten Your destiny.” “You have deigned, says Blessed Augustine, the path of truth, according to which your mother-in-law, and your destiny, so that you do not forget your mother-in-law.” In remembering the destinies of God there is both excitement and support for the will of the true path. Contemplation of God's destinies impresses on the consciousness the inevitability of this path and binds the will. That is why she wishes him, decisively, without hesitation; imposes upon himself the law to steadily follow this path. But what are these destinies? - The entire course of God’s judgments, or the determinations of God’s providential will about us, from the moment from which it was pleasing to God to reveal them, to the point at which one enters with consciousness into full contemplation of them, without excluding from this circle what he sees accomplished on himself; in other words, the entire economy of the salvation of our race and the salvation of the one who says this. These destinies of God are seen at the beginning of repentance, but in too general terms. When a person who has repented conscientiously goes through the penitentiary state, they become more and more clear and, becoming clear, they are connected with consciousness, both as regards all those being saved, and as regards the person being cleansed himself. Finally, they are all clearly visible and merge with consciousness so that they form an integral part of it. Just as anyone who clearly recognizes himself as a human being is aware of himself and everything around him, so someone who has been purified clearly recognizes the entire order of God’s judgments and his position among them. The whole thing is so crowded in his consciousness that he cannot forget it. Just as he remembers God and himself in Him, so he remembers the fate of God. “They,” says Anfim, never leave his thoughts; they always revolve before the eyes of his mind.” The previous one - “I will” with this one - “not forgetting” is in direct connection, as a necessary consequence, in the spirit of moral necessity. He who enters into the knowledge of God's judgments is convinced with irresistible evidence that everything is built according to the will of God and that this will, as it laid down something, so be it: no one and nothing can greatly change or abolish it. She placed the device of salvation this way and that, and nothing can shake this position. Act either as you should, or remain outside of those being saved and, therefore, go to destruction. When confirmation of this takes over the consciousness, such as, for example, the consciousness during the day that it is day, and at night the consciousness that it is night, then one who has a strong sense of self-preservation, as it should be in a repentant person, cannot hesitate. He goes over completely to the side of God’s determinations, joins with them, wills them, and there is an end to hesitation. Flagellation, planing with iron claws, burning furnaces - nothing! His whole being is embraced by the truth that he can either stand and be saved, or stagger and perish. Such is the power of moral necessity! The visible world stands, held together by physical necessity; The moral world flows in order, held together by moral necessity, imprinted in the consciousness and will of the elect by the all-ruling right hand of the All-Good God, who wants everyone to be saved in this way and not otherwise. Ps.119:31. I cleave to Thy testimony, O Lord, do not disgrace me. The splitting of the will ends at the time when all sympathy for the sinful and passionate disappears. War against sin and passions is declared at the moment of repentance; but this is accomplished in a higher will, and the heart is not suddenly torn away from its usual pleasures. Whether the eye sees, the ear hears, or something from the past comes to mind, sympathy for it is felt in the heart, although the spirit, the highest side of our nature, noticing this, immediately reproaches it. But suddenly you can’t really break away. The constancy of resistance to evil suppresses, however, more and more such sympathy, reviving instead displeasure, annoyance and anger at sinful resurgent movements. Finally, anger and irritation cover the entire area of ​​passion. This is a sign that all the threads that connected it with sin have been cut off from the heart. This separation of the heart from sin does not happen alone, but it is always accompanied by clinging to the opposite good. They go together, and as strong as one is, the other becomes stronger. The heart cannot be without affection: this is its nature. Detachment from one, it cleaves to the other, and it is impossible to distinguish whether cleaving produces renunciation, or renunciation gives freedom to cleaving. Thus, when all sinful sympathies are expelled from the heart, which is evidenced by anger against everything sinful, then at the same time complete attachment to everything good takes place. One elder was asked: how is it proven that someone’s sins are forgiven? The elder answered: “If he hated them.” The same solution is proposed by Basil the Great. If this hatred is contemporaneous with clinging to goodness, and if anyone can say about himself that he has clinged to all that is good, he can be fully confident that his sins have been forgiven. The burden of penance is over... In ancient legends we read that when someone, having sinned a lot, repented and, having confessed his sins to the elders, asked for healing, they took him to a secluded cell and, having taught him the rules, locked him in it. A certain period of time passed: the penance completed its work, and the penance heard loudly: “The Lord accepted your repentance, your sins are forgiven.” The same thing occurs internally in one who, having hated sin, cleaves to the testimonies of God. Not from the outside, but from within him, the confirmation spoken from above in his conscience should be heard that his sins have been forgiven - and such a one will not be ashamed. Here is what Saint Ambrose writes about this: “He who, although he has done many shameful things, has asked for forgiveness from Christ the Lord, will not be put to shame, for to such a person it is said: “Your sins are forgiven... go in peace.” He will not be put to shame when the remission of sins is accomplished in him by deed - when not only sin, but also the passion of sin is taken away from him - when truth rejects all untruths, courage - fear, abstinence - impurity, so that the remission (rejection) of sins is not only for a while, but forever. Christ will come into your soul, Jesus will dwell in your mind, and there will be no more room for sin in the tabernacle of your heart.” The words of Saint Ambrose transfer our attention to the next century, before the throne of God's judgment. Blessed Anthimus of Jerusalem expresses it more directly: “Whoever in this way cleaves to the testimonies of God, the Lord will not put him to shame on the day of judgment.” In this case, the words “do not put me to shame” express the unshakable hope of a believer who has conscientiously worked on himself: “and you will not put me to shame, Lord.” Such hope is an integral part of the spirit of the one being saved. Without it, the work of salvation cannot begin, much less continue. But there it was in its infancy, and now it has matured. If it is true that the soul is imprinted with traces of sins and passionate inclinations, that it is covered with them, so that if it appears, naked from the body covering it, before those who are able to see it, and they will read it all without special instructions, then what shame awaits the souls that have not been purified when they appear before the host of angels and saints, seeing their own shame and knowing that everyone around them sees it. We cannot even imagine this now; and the Savior did not depict, but only said that it would be so hard for them that they would rather be crushed by the mountains than stand in such shame before the eyes of everyone. That is why the prophet, having received confirmation of the removal of all impurities from his nature and realizing that everywhere there is a quality of love for all-round goodness, in spiritual joy he testifies to his unshameable hope: “do not disgrace!” - and I am sure that I will not be embarrassed. After this, the pure eyes of the saints will not see anything shameful in me, and I will not be ashamed to stand among their host. Saint Hilary writes: “He receives forgiveness of past sins who cleaves to the testimonies of God. The word of the Lord says this: “Behold, your iniquities are taken away as a cloud, and your sins are darkened” (Is. 44:22). God can remove from us everything that serves to our shame and disgrace if we, too, can conscientiously say: “we are held fast by Thy testimony.” But the one who speaks like this still lives here, still on the way, still at sea, and not in the pier. Wrecks also happen near the shore; robbers can grab and rob you at the corner of your house. While a person is alive, he cannot help but fear enemy attacks and feel the need for help against them. The insolence of the enemy used to again make its way into the former souls that had rested, already swept and put away. In this regard, “not to shame” will mean this: now, thanks be to You, Lord, everything has been corrected and improved according to Your will; but I’m afraid that the enemy will somehow sneak in again and overthrow my entire formation. He already knows how to deal with me; Do not disgrace me, Lord, and do not betray to the enemies the soul that confesses to You. “Do not disgrace me,” continues Blessed Augustine, let me flow where I am flowing, let me achieve what I strive for, since this is the work of neither a willing nor a flowing, but merciful God. I am completely attached to Your commandments and am ready to do with love every good deed that comes my way, but the desire and seeking are mine, and the strength is Yours. I place all my hope in Yours, always ready to help those who seek You - do not disgrace me; grant me to act in all the fullness of my adherence to Thy commandments; Fill me with Thy power, so that somehow the same thing does not happen to me that happens to someone who, having begun to build a house, is not able to complete it, or to someone who, hastening to start a war, turns out to be incapable of it.” The hope that He who began the work of salvation in us will bring it to the end and through all the unevenness of life will successfully lead us to the gates of death, and through them to an unashamed installation in the host of the glorified, arises from the very beginning of turning to God. Together with the work of getting closer to God, it grows and is based primarily on the consciousness that on our part everything that was in our power has already been put into action. And God does not show special assistance while a person still has his own strengths that have not been put to use, for they too are from God. The prophet now says something like this: I have already done everything possible, I have exhausted Your strength given to me in my nature; I can’t take even a step further, but there’s still a lot left. Come now to me with special help and help me complete the work I have begun, which is broad, according to Your very outline. I will be afraid even to myself that, having started to act according to such a broad plan, I will stop halfway. Now the real action actually begins, when You, and not I, will act. Ps.119:32. The path of Your commandments flowed when You enlarged my heart. “Tekoh” - ran, that is, along the path of Your commandments, broke free, went out onto a large spacious road. Before, hands and feet were entangled, and the road was uneven and thorny; Now the road is spacious and smooth, and your arms and legs are free. When the splitting of the will ceases and sympathy for sin and passions dies, then within there are no more obstacles to doing good to please God. Everyone knows how passions knit, even if they have not yet received the freedom praised here. Self-interest (needs for oneself) binds generosity, self-pity - all kinds of abstinence, much care and concern (there is no time) - abstinence from everything for a conversation with God in prayer. Thus, every good initiative that arises in the heart is immediately bound by the immediately arising opposite bad feeling, and the matter is either completely abandoned or stopped for a while. These resistances to good come from the heart’s sympathy for sin and from a split will. When they freeze, then the resistances inside cease, and if sometimes they come from somewhere else (from somewhere), then they do not have a determining force, and every good thing, both conceived and fulfilled, willingly, quickly, lively, with pleasure and joy. The reason for the rapidity along the path of the commandments is the grace-filled expansion of the heart. The grace of God is inherent in the heart from the first minute of the sinner’s awakening. In baptism or repentance, she enters inside and dwells in a person, but does not exert her full effect, does not reveal herself to the consciousness of the person being saved, until his heart is cleansed, although mainly through her own action, but as a result of the efforts of the person himself. This time is labor, or an intoxicating state. Whether canonical penance is imposed on anyone or not, no one can escape internal penance, and no one can determine the time limit for it. There everything goes by itself, law being established by the relationship of freedom and grace. And when this term ends, grace shines in the heart, and the heart becomes wide, wide... This is contemporaneous with the cessation of the splitting of the will and the heart’s sympathy for sin, for only then does the heart become pure, worthy of the receptacle of the Spirit. A pure heart is created, and a right spirit is renewed in the womb of the one being saved. The Holy Fathers depict in detail these two simultaneous phenomena in spiritual life. Saint Hilary writes: “Everything is going well for the prophet. First he said: “Leave the path of untruth”; then: “I have chosen the path of truth”; further: “we are clinging to Thy testimony”; now he ends: “The path of Your commandments flowed when You enlarged my heart.” This was achieved gradually. All the previous things were done so that we could freely follow the path of God’s commandments. But the path leading to the stomach is both narrow and regrettable - narrow because they need to walk with all attention and caution; - is regrettable because there are many sorrows and hardships. But how can the prophet boast that he ran this way? “Not on my own,” he says, “but because you enlarged my heart.” He freely followed the path of the Lord after he began to be wide-hearted; He was not able to indulge in this way until he himself had first become a spacious dwelling worthy of God.” Blessed Augustine imagines the prophet as if hearing a question from above: “How did you follow the path of the Lord’s commandments—can it really be by yourself? “No, Lord,” he answered, “since You have enlarged my heart,” not by my will alone, as if I did not need Your help, but because You have enlarged my heart. The expansion of the heart is the love of the commandments. It is a gift of God if we abide in His commandments, not being oppressed by the fear of punishment, but expanding with love and delight in them. God Himself promises us this breadth: “I will dwell in them,” he says, “and walk around” (2 Cor. 6:16). And how spacious it is where God dwells and moves!... In this spaciousness, “love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us!” (Rom.5:5) Saint Ambrose points out some other nuances here: “He could not have become a mother-in-law in this way, if 6 his heart was compressed and oppressed. To those flowing along the path of the Lord, the apostle, having said about himself in advance: “spread out my heart,” says, “spread out” (2 Cor. 6:11, 13). And look at the distinction: the path is narrowest, but the heart must be the most spacious in order to serve as a dwelling for the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, so that God the Word, coming and pushing at the door of the heart, does not find it cramped and refuse to dwell in it. It is necessary to guide the mother-in-law with the breadth of the inner man, and not with the narrowness of external activity, in order to achieve what is intended (1 Cor. 9:24). Only he who flows in this way achieves, and only he can say: “The stream is finished” (2 Tim. 4:7), has flowed successfully, for it flowed like a good horse.” A pure heart fulfills the grace of the Spirit; along with it, love pours into the heart, evidenced by the complete, self-willing, joyful and living fulfillment of all the commandments. Over the one who has achieved this, the comforting promise is fulfilled: “we will come to him and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). So, is that the end of the flow? - No, here is only the beginning of the real flow, as it should be according to the intention of God in Christ Jesus. Until now, repentance lasted with a penitentic state and consisted of mastering all the means given to us in the Lord and perceiving the freedom to act with them without hindrance. Now the action itself should begin, pure, and not deviate even an inch from the plans of Divine Providence, which determines both the fate of everyone and the manner of participation and action in it of every private person. He who has achieved this confesses that God is already working in him, both as he wants and as he does, and when he acts, he says: “Not I, but grace that is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). The fifth eight-line is characterized by the letter “Ge” - “here.” “Here,” we say, when we want to express the certainty, accuracy, obviousness of something, as if pointing, “here, look.” In this eight-verse, the holy prophet definitely expresses what the whole point of a saving, God-pleasing life is. Recalling everything that has been said so far, he says, as it were: that’s the point! Everything is from God; Seek from Him the outline of the good path (Ps. 119:33), and knowledge (Ps. 119:34), and strength (Ps. 119:35). But know that no matter how much you ask for this, you will not receive it unless you make every effort on your part; therefore seek (Ps. 119:33), keep (Ps. 119:34), desire (Ps. 119:35). Only the mutual combination of freedom and grace gives a true, prosperous life. What is from God is always ready: just don’t doze off and don’t indulge in laziness. When forcing yourself to do any good, take special care to ensure that your intentions are pure. Impure intentions destroy the goodness of good deeds. So, do not allow yourself to have selfish views when doing good (Ps. 119:36). Do not mix into this passions and pleasures of vanity (Ps. 119:37). Let the fear of God alone inspire you in everything (Ps. 119:38). At the same time, however, remember that no matter how much you look after yourself, thoughts that are derogatory for you will slip through: repent of them, and as many of them are not noticed, and others, even now, when your eye rushes into the heart, perhaps are hidden there under the guise of some kind of good, then repent unceasingly. Let repentance be the background of your life (Ps. 119:39). Then, having surrendered yourself into the hands of God, say: with all my desire I want to please You, Lord (Ps. 119:40). Ps.119:33. Lay down for me, O Lord, the way of Your justifications, and I will seek and take away. “Lay down, teach,” imprint on my conscience, definitely indicate what I must do, so as not to get lost in speculation and conjecture, but to see everything clearly. In other psalms the prophet says: “Ordain me, O Lord, in Thy way” (Ps. 26:11), “Teach me, O Lord, in Thy way, and I will walk in Thy truth” (Ps. 85:11). The darkness and uncertainty are unbearable. Blessed Theodoret writes: “I always, says the prophet, need Thy illumination and law, in order to know the path of Thy justifications and to walk along it unhindered.” But perhaps, Bellarmine notes, the prophet expresses by this the desire not so much for the law to be told to him, but for the law to be internalized by all the forces of the being, so that it becomes the law for all the forces of the soul, to be the predominant way of activity, both in general and in parts. When such clarity of vision of the law is given, and even more so such power within it, then it is natural for the one seeking to please God to look for nothing more than its fulfillment at all times and in all cases where the opportunity to apply it opens up. The Prophet adds: “I will seek and take away”; Only I will have the care and effort to satisfy the law. “One thing,” says Origen, he asks from God, and another he promises to bring from himself. You, says, Lord, lay down for me the path of Your justifications; and I will devote all the time of my life to seeking it.” Saint Ambrose represents this law of God very graphically. “Warriors on a campaign do not control their own progress, but receive a schedule from the king-leader of where and how to go, and strictly observe it. Only then do they find everything ready on the way. If any of them goes the other way, they will neither receive food nor find an apartment. The king orders all this to be prepared on the path he has determined, and only for those who follow his instructions, not deviating either to the right or to the left. He also distributes the stops: three days, for example, to go, and the fourth to rest. In addition, cities are chosen that are abundant in water and all kinds of food, in which they are supposed to stay for three, four days or more. Thus, the journey is completed without extreme fatigue until the city is reached, in which complete peace is given to the hard-working warriors. Know that in this way Christ, the Leader of the saints, lays down the path for them to march to the city of God. We see a prototype of this in the transition of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land. The camps of this procession are described by Moses at the command of God. But look, who was in charge of these camps, as well as all the routes? God preceded them during the day in a pillar of cloud, cooling those walking, and at night in a pillar of fire, dispersing the darkness and illuminating the way. The pillar, sometimes of fire, sometimes of cloud, was the lawgiver of the path; God spoke to them from the pillar. Where the people should have rested from the labor of traveling, there the pillar stopped and did not move further. When it was time to go, the pillar rose and went to where the people should go. This pillar was a prototype of the Lord Jesus, who had to come (and came) on a “light cloud,” as Isaiah said (Is. 19:1), that is, through incarnation in the Virgin Mary, who was light, due to the purity of her virginity, and the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. Let us also surrender our path to the guidance of the Lord Jesus; let His commandments be the law of our way. He who follows the path of His commandments rests in the canopy of Christ. The bride also sang about this in songs: “I desired and sat down under His shadow” (Song. 2:3). Every soul can speak this way, as well as the entire assembly of Christians - the Church. He is the King, He is our Leader, and He has beautifully arranged everything in our path and march. If something sad or embarrassing happens along the way, something that is beyond our strength, He, as our leader, sweetens the sorrow, expands the cramped conditions, and gives strength and strength to weakness. If an earthly king knows how to supply everything his soldiers need, doesn’t the All-Good God know what His servants need and knows how to deliver it to them? This is how every soul cools down under the canopy of Christ the Lord, singing with the song-bride: “Under His canopy we have longed and sat down, and His fruit is sweet.” He grazes her in a green place, raises her on the water of the dead, that is, by the grace of the Holy Sacraments. Walking further along the true path, she enters the blissful camp of love and confesses: “I am wounded by love” (Song. 2:5). There are other camps into which the soul faithfully marching toward its goal enters with love—the camp of the cross and burial. And the soul of evil camps is eliminated. “Let us follow the king’s path, we will not turn aside, neither on the right hand nor on the left, until we pass Thy borders” (Num. 20:17), this is what the ambassadors of Moses said to the king of Edom, that is, the earthly one, because everything on earth, both to the right and to the left, is unkind: the camp of foolishness is unkind, the camp of intemperance is unkind. Israel had to pass them without stopping in order to achieve wisdom and camp there, because in her right hand is life, and in her right hand is all contentment (Prov. 3:16). The prophet said well: “lay the law,” that is, lay the law in me, so that it remains motionless and firm in my heart; so that it is not torn away from love for him by any storm of this century; so that in this way he can be a law to himself, having a lawful deed written in his heart. “I will exact it,” he says, “and take it out.” And it is true, because it is not just some small thing that is sought, but paradise, the Kingdom of God, the community of angels, the eternally blessed abodes. That is why one must search not for a day, not for two, not for several months, but always and through everything, in order to collect more of that which is worthy of reward.” The last thought about the imprinting of the law on the heart is developed with particular completeness by Blessed Augustine. “The Apostle says that the law does not belong to the righteous, but it belongs to the wicked and the disobedient (1 Tim. 1:9-11). Was this really the one who says here: “Give me a law, O Lord?” - what are those for whom, according to the word of the Apostle, the law was laid? - No, if he were like that, he would not have said above: “The path of Your commandments is the way.” What does his prayer mean - to lay down a law for him when it is not due to a righteous person? – It is not assigned to him in the same way as it was assigned to a disobedient people, on tablets of stone, but on tablets of the heart of flesh (2 Cor. 3:3), not according to the Old Testament from Mount Sinai, “giving birth to work” (Gal. 4:24), but according to the New, about which the prophet writes. Jeremiah: “These days are coming, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the covenant which their father commanded in the day that I eat by their hand, that I may bring them out of the land of Egypt, because they have not continued in my covenant, and I have neglected them, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make for the house of Israel from these days, says the Lord, giving My laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be a God to them, and they will be Me as a people” (Jer. 31:31-33). This is how he wants the law from the Lord to be laid down for him - not as it was laid down for the unrighteous and rebellious, belonging to the Old Testament, on tablets of stone; but just as the holy children, the free children, the children of the highest Jerusalem, are written by the Holy Spirit, like a finger, in the heart - not as one that is only kept in memory, but despised in life, but as one that is intelligently known and lovingly fulfilled, according to the breadth of love, and not because of the narrowness of fear. Whoever does a lawful deed out of fear of punishment, and not out of love for truth, does it involuntarily; and whoever does what is lawful unwittingly probably harbors a desire that there should not be such a law. Thus, he is not a friend of the law, but rather an enemy when he wishes that it did not exist. Deeds do not make someone clean who is unclean by choice. Such a one cannot say that it is said ahead: “The path of Your commandments flowed when You enlarged my heart”; for such expansion of the heart means love, which, according to the apostle, “is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:10). Why does he ask to lay down the law for him, when, if it had not been laid down for him, he would not have followed the path of the commandments in the breadth of his heart? - He says this because, striving for success, he believes that it is a gift from God. Putting this request after the previous one, what else does he ask for, if not to prosper more and more? more to life according to the law? He called this law here the way of justification; but there is no other path and the path of the commandments, which he had already followed when his heart expanded with love for the law. Thus, he has already walked, and now he still wants to go, keep going, in order to achieve the honor of the highest calling of God. That’s why he added: “I will exact and take away.” How will he seek what he has, if it is not so that what he already has, he has because he does, and what he will seek will be sought through the desire for perfection in the same type of activity. But what does “take it out” mean? Will there really be no end to the search? “I will take it out” - all the time we live here, for until then there has been only success, and there the one who has succeeded well here is completed and imprinted. Here the law is sought through success in fulfilling it, but there the fullness of pleasure lies in it and for its sake, and there is nothing left for seeking.” Ps.119:34. Give me understanding, and I will try Your law, and I will keep it with all my heart. “In the previous verse, writes Zigaben, a general knowledge of the law and a general disposition towards it were asked, in general towards everything legal, towards everything on which there is the stamp of the will of God - the revival of conscience and the elevation of the power of its voice were asked; Now we are asking for knowledge of the legal way of acting in particulars, as it were: give my mind such acuity of mental vision so that I can correctly determine every time what I should do, so that my deed is completely in accordance with the Spirit of Your law, with Your will, with Your good intentions for me and for all people. Then, before, the exaction of the law was promised in general, but here it is promised to preserve it, or to fulfill it in any case. The cordiality is the same both there and here. Only the heart can seek “I will take it out”: that is why it is not added there: “I will seek it with all my heart.” It is possible to do what is lawful without a heart; That’s why it’s added here: “I will keep it with all my heart.” Cordiality is the entire cost of keeping the law. But since the heart is blind, admonition is asked so that the rays of rational light illuminate the area of ​​the lawful and point the heart in the direction of expedient aspirations. The Prophet seems to be praying like this: “Give me, O Lord, understanding and enlightenment by Your Spirit, so that with His help I may study Your law with attention and diligence; Having understood it exactly, I promise to fulfill it correctly.” “And the Lord commanded that the Scriptures should be tested; but those who are experiencing need illumination from above in order to both find what they are looking for and preserve what they have found,” notes Blessed Theodoret. “Before,” says Bellarmin, he asked for affection for the law, and now he asks for a true and detailed knowledge of it, not for curiosity, but for the preservation of what he has learned.” Saint Hilary surveys the entire composition of this verse in the following way: “Knowing that the first task of wisdom is, when you don’t know what, to turn to those who know for guidance,” the prophet, firstly, asks for reason in order to understand what he does not understand; knowing later that, having received the spirit of understanding, he must exercise it in research, he says: “And I will try Your law”; knowing, moreover, that the righteous fruit of trials is the fulfillment of what was discovered by research and known, he adds: “and I will preserve and”; understanding that the active fulfillment of what is known receives strength and value from the heart, he concludes the entire circle of his speech like this: “and I will preserve it with all my heart.” But what exactly does the prophet ask to understand and examine? – The spiritual sign of everything legalized. Just as, for example, six working days resemble the six days of creation, and the seventh is a day of rest—the rest of God according to creation; how the new month festival, as if in a mirror, prefigures the eternal celebration of new life in heaven, so that we can understand everything else: what the seventh and fiftieth year jubilee means, what circumcision is, what unleavened bread is, what the Passover is, what the promised land itself means. All this asks to be understood, promising that, having understood this, he will delve deeper into what is understood by research; going deeper, cherish it and, cherishing it, keep it with all your heart.” Saint Ambrose further pursues this thought, advising us to enter deeper into the understanding of God-pleasing action, following the interpretation given to the works of the law from the Lord. “We must walk in the spiritual law, or in the commandments of the Lord, which He spoke when He said: “It was spoken to the ancients... But I say to you” (Matthew 5). Just as there is the Holy Place, and above it the Holy of Holies, so there is the commandment and the commandment of commandments. When you understand the law in this way (spiritually), then you will preserve it in your heart. The Jew does not keep the law in his heart; reads it with his lips, but does not understand it with his mind and does not love it with his heart. That is why he reproaches: “He honors Me with his lips, but his heart is far from Me” (Is. 29:13). How can one who is far from the Lawgiver maintain the law? Thus delving into the law, assimilating its spiritual understanding and acting according to this latter, “a true lover of the law finally reaches, in the words of Blessed Augustine, the heights of a holy and godly life, in which he loves God with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his thoughts, and his neighbor as himself; and this is the whole law and the prophets.” Is it not because the proper fruit from the labors of many zealots of piety and among Christians is often not seen, because they do not ask for understanding and do not delve into the study of what is greater (greater) than the law? That’s why they jostle in the vestibule without going inside. Christianity also has an external rank; Without it, a person cannot exist. But in Christianity it has a completely different meaning than in the Old Testament dispensation of faith. Everything there is punctually inscribed with the finger of God, and anyone who deviates from the inscriptions, even if they determine only the appearance, has sinned. The Church of Christ was not given such a mark, but was given the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, who himself developed and clothed himself in all the wondrous splendor of the church order. And just as this spirit of life does not dry out, so the outer vestment of this spirit is incessant. He does not become numb to one thing, so that it becomes like the yoke of subordinate work; but is always free to renew itself, just as trees annually renew their clothes, from the excess of inner life. There is one law; “Let everything be done decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:40). In this rite, as it has come down to us, we are brought up and we kindle in ourselves the spirit of life. All the power is in this spirit. As long as he is not in motion, that is, when we move only in the well-ordered rite of the Church, then we are in no way different from the Jews, circumcised without circumcision of the heart, who cleansed the outer glass, without caring about inner purity - with their lips saying: Lord, Lord! but in the heart of those who pursued mainly their own selfish goals. The Jew made the prescribed sacrifice and went home to the deceased. How is the difference between someone who, for example, having stood through an outwardly church service with vain and passionate thoughts, returns home calmly, with the confidence that he has done the right thing, and, moreover, so regularly that nothing more is required of him? - Nothing, - this is a real Jew in spirit. On the same line with them stands the one who in the house rereads the prescribed prayers and bows by counting, not caring about the prayerful structure of the mind and heart; and, however, having corrected this matter of piety, he keeps in his mind and heart that he no longer has any responsibility, but can only wait for the crown of righteousness. The same is the price of all good deeds that do not come from the spirit of life, but are done ex efficio, being caused by external, so to speak, conscience and accompanied by the same self-confidence that as a result of them we are right and there is nothing more to be exacted from us. We have become so addicted to external rank that we have forgotten its real value and meaning. Therefore, if anyone touches him in any way, now there is a cry from all sides: “He doesn’t keep the Sabbath!” (John 9:16). Start going inside and find out that this is essential, but this, as an external thing, is not important - you will hear reproaches: “Illuminati, mystic, Doukhobor!” How many are there who, while reverently passing through and maintaining all the ranks, would at the same time maintain the conviction that all such deeds in themselves are nothing, but have all their value from the spirit with which they should be performed and accepted? Of course, we must reverently honor the established rites, but not because they themselves have any power (except for the Holy Sacraments), but because with them we serve God, in relation to Whom, if anyone does something carelessly, he is subject to an oath not for this or that act, but for his irreverent performance. In this regard, in all the external rites of the Church, both large and small in appearance, everything must be done with complete, heartfelt reverence, but not for external matters, but for God, to whom we relate through it. Any external action can be replaced by dozens of others; but the spirit with which they should be performed must always be one and unchanging. If we lose sight of this, we will chain ourselves to one thing and fill ourselves with the belief that it is impossible otherwise; from here the external will become a bond, instilling fear: “do not touch, do not taste, do not touch.” And this is fearful slavery, from which may the Lord deliver the believers! Ps.119:35. Guide me on the path of Your commandments, as I have desired. He asked for reconciliation with the law in order to recover it; asked for reason in order to correctly understand what is legal - what is the matter now? If you want, you know, well, then go. No, he says, lead, instruct, see off, take by the hand and lead, as a guide leads a blind man. Here there is a part of consciousness and weakness: in the spiritual order, with all the inspiration for life in it, there is a part of consciousness and timidity, or hesitancy to step on the unusual path of spiritual life, having become accustomed to tangible actions and the search for a tactile quality, - there is a part of consciousness and spiritual blindness, little confidence that, acting this way and that, you are acting rightly, because the final confidence in this is acquired by experience, and it still no, until you have entered the path and traveled this path as much as necessary to become familiar with spiritual experiences. This completes the circle of extreme spiritual needs that determine the saving course of action: lay down laws, instruct, lead. The last prayer places the seeker in the hands of a humane God, Who only waits for a person to finally surrender entirely to Him, so that he can act in him unhindered, both internally and externally. And the reason for hearing lies in a disposition of the same kind: lead, he says, “along the path I desire.” In our opinion, we could answer this like this: you never know what you want! But in the order of Divine providence for rationally free creatures, this alone opens up space for the free action of God in us, for our salvation. The goodness of God is already ready to reach out to us with its gifts. If it is not poured out on everyone, it is only because not everyone desires and not everyone seeks these gifts. Desire opens the entrance to them, such as expanding the lungs to allow air into them and opening a window to allow light into dark rooms. The prophet says something like this: the matter was behind my desire; Behold, by Thy grace I have willed; lead me. Blessed Theodoret writes: “He does not simply ask that the God of all people become his leader on the path, but at the same time shows his desire to walk this path.” But this also shows that his desire alone is not enough to achieve what he sought. Blessed Augustine says: “Not being able to carry out what is commanded on his own, without the help of the Commander, he prays: lead. My desire is not enough if You Yourself do not lead me along the path along which I wanted to go, according to Your inspiration.” Saint Hilary writes: “He is aware of the weakness of his nature and the fact that he cannot follow the path of the commandments without a special leader. The leader of all who walk this path is God, as it is commanded: “Walk after the Lord your God... and cleave to Him” (Deut. 13:4). Our leader is Christ the Lord, who said: “Whoever wants to follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). He was the first to pave the path of suffering for the sake of the Gospel.” Isn’t it really true that we Christians need to pray not so much for guidance to be given, but rather for knowledge and the ability to use ready-made guidance, which is presented in the person of the Lord Jesus? Saint Athanasius in Zigaben says: “He who does not have a faithful leader cannot follow the path of the commandments. But we must be imitators of Christ the Lord—take up His cross and follow Him.” St. Ambrose explains this more fully: “Christ, he says, precedes - we will follow. He was the first to pave the way for New Testament life. If we fast, He fasted before us; if we endure insults for the name of God, He endured them before us for our redemption: “He gave His cloaks to be wounded and His cheeks to be bruised” (Is. 50:6), and He ascended to the cross to teach us that, standing for the truth, we should not be afraid of death.” Why did Saint David say: “instruct us on the path of the commandments?” - Because a path is called a narrow, not wide path; and this is the way of the commandments. The path leading to the stomach is narrow and sad; this path is none other than the path of the commandments. St. Augustine says: “David here called the path of the commandments the path for the reason that the path leading to the stomach is narrow, although it is still necessary to walk along it, and even with a determined heart.” Or maybe, says Zigaben, “the path of the commandments is called the path because it is not new and not unusual, but from time immemorial it has been frequented (traversed many times) and trodden by the righteous who walked along it.” Saint Hilary writes: “The path is a well-worn, frequent path. The chosen people began to walk in the commandments of God from the beginning of the century. Abel walked this path; Seth walked along it; by walking along it, Enoch pleased God; Noah deserved to be saved from the flood; Melchizedek was honored to bless the father of believers and become a prototype of Christ; Abraham became a friend of God; Isaac is the heir of great promises; Jacob - Israel, the bearer of the hope of tongues; Job triumphed over his enemy." Or perhaps this is also why the path of the commandments is a path, a narrow path, because those who walk along it usually walk alone. There are many commandments following the path, but everyone has his own path, by adhering to which he can only reach where he is going. Many advisors, many examples, many comrades; but everyone takes his own steps and steps with his own foot into his own place on his own path. He who walks attentively feels this loneliness and at every step remembers that, besides him walking, there is only God, “who is everywhere and fulfilled everything.” In this regard, those who truly follow the path of the commandments in a truly godly manner are all monks; for a monk is one who lives in such a way that only God remains in his consciousness, and he himself stands in reverent stand before Him, despite the labors and much work when it occurs. And we must admit that only such a system inside gives true walkers on the path of the commandments, without distinction of gender and external differences in life. The path of the commandments can therefore also be called a path - a path that winds along, avoiding cliffs, sharp stones and thorns. The path of the commandments in itself is straight and leads directly to the goal, but, due to opposition from without and disorder within, it twists in different ways. And this happens to be so necessary that He Himself, invisibly but faithfully guiding His followers, deliberately diverts the procession here and there, as He sees as more convenient and necessary for the one being led. God's permission has the same necessity, but it is only the withdrawal of the leading and supporting hand. Direct influences on changes in the progress of one and the same person are changes in exploits and deeds, both external and internal, according to which to an outside observer it may seem that the same person has become completely different. For example, someone who asceticized usually became a holy fool; recluse – sociable and accessible to everyone; a strict faster is an ordinary abstinent, a lover of church prayers is a prayer book not according to books. No one can outline the needs for which this is done, even the one who raised them is not able to predict them. These are the secrets of the living, and the participants themselves are aware of their moral suitability only for them; but why and how all this works, they cannot understand; We just thank the Lord, who arranges everything for our good. After this, how far from the truth are those who make the norm of life a life based on the consciousness of duty, and define duty by indications of external relations and orders of life! This is as far from the truth as the crusty bark of a tree from the origins of the life by which it lives. Ps.119:36. Incline my heart to Thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. The next three verses (Ps. 119:36, 37, 38) correspond to the previous three in this eight-verse. There (Ps. 119:33) - “I will lay down the law... I will exact it”; here (Ps. 119:36) - grant that I may not seek anything else but You and Your law. There (Ps. 119:34) - “give understanding... I will preserve”; here (Ps. 119:37) - make my heart delight only in Your law, and not turn to anything in which human vanity is accustomed to find delight. There (Ps. 119:35) - “instruct... the desire”; here (Ps. 119:38) - set Thy fear in me as my mentor and guardian of my good will. This is how Bellarmin understands this relationship. We will quote his words in their place under each verse. It is obvious that the correct feelings and intentions are indicated here, which should be guided in fulfilling the will of God through the rejection of wrong feelings and intentions. Right activity is colored by good intentions, just as bad intentions disfigure it - not always before the eyes of people, but before the eyes of the All-Seeing God and the conscience enlightened by Him - always. The direct thought in this verse is about the exclusive love of the will of God with the rejection of covetousness, or greed for acquisition. Look around and you will see that people's main concern is to have, and the more someone has, the more they want to have. This is the disease that the prophet calls here - the greed of having more and more. Since it, taking possession of a person, occupies all the forces of his soul so that there is no time to even think about God and His holy will, much less to “seek” Him “out” (incessantly, Ps. 104:4), then the prophet prays to turn his heart away from such a disastrous quest and incline it to the testimonies of God - to make it so that it only hurts about this, as if to represent a person correct in all the testimonies of God, and only then would one find oneself satisfied when a person is like this, and not when he receives any profits from everyday affairs. It is impossible not to have, because you need food, you need clothing, you need shelter; All this must be taken care of so as not to be a burden to anyone. Even desert hermits devoted themselves to handicrafts in order to support themselves and share, when necessary, with others. The holy prophet is not talking about having nothing, but not being sick with covetousness, the thirst to have more and more, with an addiction to what you already have. He seems to be saying this: make it so that, even if I have, I will be as if I did not have, so that my heart will be empty of the things I have and everything will cleave fully to Thy testimonies alone. Bellarmine says: “This verse corresponds to the first in this eight-verse (Ps. 119:33). There the prophet prayed for the law to be imprinted on the heart, and here he prays for his deviation from covetousness, which most of all interferes with the fulfillment of the law. Pour, he says, into my heart the most abundant grace, with which it would be inclined to keep Your commandments, and would not be overcome by love of love.” “Turn, O Lord,” explains Zigaben, my heart to love Thy commandments; Help my will with Thy grace and do not allow it to bend towards the love of many things and be overcome by the blessings of this world.” But this is not so much a rule of life as an indication of a legitimate goal in the execution of the law. The prophet prays: grant me, while remaining faithful to Your law, not to have anything selfish in mind; let me love Thy law not only when I am content, but even though You have taken everything away from me, let my heart be inclined to Thy one law, for the sake of Thy good will in it. Saint Ambrose writes: “The saint does not seek interests, but, having put everything into his mind, so that he may gain Christ, he asks that his heart be so disposed, for he knows that what interests the flesh is harmful to the soul, since it harms virtue.” St. Augustine says: “God demands that we honor Him and remain faithful to His testimonies freely, without any selfish motives, for selfishness is the root of all evil. In Greek, this stands for covetousness - the passion to have more than we have. She is the root of all evil. The first people would not have been deceived by the enemy and would not have fallen if they had not desired to have more than they received and to become more than they were created. The enemy promised them: “he will be like God” (Gen. 3:5) - and the desire to have more overthrew them. Wanting to have more than they received, they lost even what they had. The enemy said about Job: “does Job honor the Lord with food for nothing?” ( Job 1:10 ). The enemy thought that this righteous man, in his God-fearing devotion to God, had a heart inclined to lust, and served God like a mercenary, because of the temporary blessings with which God enriched him. But how selfless his service to God was was demonstrated by temptation itself. Thus, when the heart is averse to covetousness, then we honor God for God’s sake, so that God may be the reward for honoring Him. Let us love God (and His law) for His own sake; Let us love Him in ourselves, and Him in our neighbors.” For the rich, when they adhere to piety, it is difficult to discern why they are pious - whether for the sake of the Lord and His law, or for the sake of their own contentment. During times of contentment, they themselves cannot determine this with accuracy, due to the deceit of the heart, which, even while trying to do everything for the Lord’s sake, can conceal within itself a reliance on contentment. This is revealed only by deprivations, and the wider they are, the more decisive is the confirmation that if at the same time love for God does not cease, it means that it was not there before because of what was and is now lost. In the normal course of affairs, those who have a lot, in order to avoid covetousness, must kindle such a disposition in their hearts, mentally placing themselves in various situations of deprivation and thereby restoring a peaceful dispensation in their hearts. By this they can imprint in their souls such a decision that, even though everything will be taken and they will have to be left with nothing, they will be ready for this even now. Having configured themselves in this way, even if they have, they will be as if they had nothing, which, according to the Apostle, is the last limit of perfection in this regard for those living in the world and who cannot help but have. There is also spiritual self-interest when one works to fulfill the law in the hope of receiving spiritual benefits here or in a future life. This is subtle self-interest, which is not easy to define and distinguish. In general, it must be said: since the labors of a pious life mean something other than God, pleasing and obedience to His will, then there is already self-interest here. What exactly can be meant besides God, and in the spiritual order of things, let everyone determine for himself, delving more closely into his heart, and when he notices, let him pray no less than the rich of this age: “Incline, O Lord, my heart to Thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.” This discovery must be sad for them; but to console them we can say that one cannot suddenly rise to the heights of spiritual purity: time, work and gradualness are needed. And it is not suddenly possible to notice this impurity, but having noticed, it seems that it costs little to reject what is wrong. God is the Organizer of salvation. He will bring it to this point, that is, to see and correct. The prophet asks to “incline your heart.” And what about yourself? - But what can you do with the heart when it is not always adjacent to what the need for is recognized? The need to walk in the meetings of God is recognized, but the heart does not cling to them. That is why the prayer: “Bow down, Lord.” However, this does not mean that we ourselves can remain inactive - no: we must also pray to God to incline our hearts to the commandments, and ourselves force it to such an inclination, to the extent that this is in our power and strength. When you exhaust your strength, then God’s help will come and fill what is missing in your efforts and labors. Blessed Theodoret writes: “Water usually rushes down the slope and, as soon as it finds a way out somewhere, it all flows down there. Thus, after the devil opened the way to sin, human nature rushed towards the worse. Therefore, it is very fitting that the prophet begs that his heart be inclined towards the testimony of God and avoid reasons to experience a desire for something else.” St. Hilary explains it this way: “The prophet attributes everything to the gift of God—the establishment of the law, the path of justification, admonition, guidance, and, finally, the inclination of the heart to see things. Perhaps, regarding such reverent humility, another will wickedly dare to say: if everything is from God, if a person can have nothing except what he receives from God as a gift, then human ignorance and sinfulness have no guilt. It is wicked to think this way, and the prophet immediately prevents any reason for this. He prays, correcting the work characteristic of the weak; but he immediately adds what kind of work of pleasing God he must bring from himself. When he says: “Ordain me, O Lord, the way of justification,” he shows that the law requested by humble prayer is from God. When he adds: “I will require and take away,” he indicates what the duty of his own piety requires of him. And in other verses he combines both. He says, for example: “Teach me on the path of Your commandments,” and immediately adds: “For I have desired.” First, it teaches one to piously ask for what comes from God, and then it also designates what, with a consciousness of duty and humility, a person must bring from himself. Praying, may God grant; the initiative, therefore, is from us, if we pray, may there be a gift from Him; if the gift is from Him at our own initiative, then our business is to seek, ask, push and then store and use what we receive.” St. Augustine puts this prayer in the following way: “What does it mean to have your heart inclined towards something if you do not want it? Thus, he prays to desire meetings, but he has already desired them, as he expressed in the previous verse: “for I have desired them,” and he has already desired, and he prays to desire them, showing that he wants to succeed in the desire itself.” Saint Ambrose gives the following lesson: “Oh, if only we, imitating the prayer of the saint, would pray for the same thing that he prayed for, and do in deed what we pray for! What is the benefit of praying to God to turn your heart away from selfishness, while worrying about profits day and night? Let us make sure that the soul also sympathizes with what we pray for with our tongues. The Lord looks at where the heart is inclined. If the heart does not agree with the tongue, then He does not listen to the speaker. That is why someone who wants to pray well says: “I will pray in the spirit, I will pray also with the mind; I will sing in the spirit, and I will sing with the mind also” (1 Cor. 14:15). Ps.119:37. Turn away my eyes from seeing vanity; live me in Your way. This verse corresponds to the second in this eight-verse, Ps.119:34. There the prophet asks for the gift of understanding to study the law; here, so that the eyes of the mind do not turn away from vanity: “not to see vanity,” that is, so as not to be busy with the mind in thinking about temporary things; make it so that I am completely immersed in Your law. “In Thy way,” that is, when I walk Thy way, I keep Thy law, “live” me, renew, preserve, strengthen. This is how Bellarmine interprets it. Vanity is everything that is invented and done not out of need or benefit, but to please one’s feelings and one’s lust. The world is chock full of such things and customs. Anyone who lives among this keeps spinning around, unable to come to his senses - he keeps chasing after something, and this something keeps running away from him and breaks out of his hands when it seems that it is about to take possession of him. In this regard, vanity means hustle and bustle to no avail, without benefit. The prophet prays to turn his eyes away from such vanity, because it, with all its emptiness, is attractive: just look - it will attract and pull; Don't be careful, you'll get carried away and pulled away. But how do you “turn away”? - Don’t look at it yourself; because no one is forcing you. That's right; but, living among the bustle, one cannot help but look; this is possible only in a deserted desert. Meanwhile, this view irritates the urges hidden in the heart, and excited urges evoke sympathy and pity, with which infatuation and whirling in vanity closely borders. When the urge is irritated, the eyes involuntarily turn to irritating objects and irritate them even more. Here they are already chained to these things, and through them the soul drinks sweetness, which stupefies and kills its rationality. “Turn away your eyes” will have the following meaning: do not let me get carried away by vanity by looking at vain things and cling to them with my attention and sympathy, because this is death for me. Keep me better on the path of Your commandments, because this is life. Grant that I may abide in them with all my heart and attention, and in such abiding I find both life and the sweetness of life, revitalizing and exciting energy - faster and faster than my mother-in-law in the same way. Blessed Anthimus writes: “He who turns his eyes to vain things follows the path of death and moves away from the life of God. The same thing happens to him as to Lot’s wife, who turned to look. He who turns away his eyes, “not to see vanity,” is delivered from death, just as Lot was delivered. Such a one does his job well and brings it to the end, just like the one who, having laid his hand on the ralo (plough), does not look back.” Saint Athanasius understands vanity more broadly, subsuming under it everything that is not related to pleasing God and salvation. “Vanity,” he says, is a frantic addiction to spectacles, the deepening of thought into inappropriate and indecent mental representations. Paul explains this very thing: “in the vanity of their minds, darkened in meaning, they are alienated from the life of God” (Eph. 4:17-18). The vanity of the mind is when someone, having it, does not use it according to the discretion of the true, but betrays it to the binder Satan. Therefore, the Psalmist, praying that such misfortune would not befall him, says: “Turn away my eyes from seeing vanity,” since this too is the grace of God. The Prophet also calls vanity that which is beautiful in the body, and that which appears good to the eyes of the flesh.” The last thought is more fully expounded by Blessed Theodoret: “What is useless and serves no purpose is vanity; and such are the imaginary pleasures in life. This is what the Wise One calls them: “vanity of vanities, all vanity” (Eccl. 1:2). And, having then recounted how he built houses, planted gardens, arranged reservoirs, he added: “and behold, all vanity and the will of the spirit” (Eccl. 2:11). Therefore, the prophet begs that the eyes of his mind be inclined to a different contemplation and not be deceived by the vanity of the present.” “What kind of eyes are these and from what vanity does the prophet pray to turn away? - asks Saint Hilary and answers: - The eyes of the soul and body... from everything that people value highly, but which in itself is insignificant and fragile. These are: theatrical performances, circus competitions, valuable clothes, gold, stones and the like. What is the fruit of turning away the eyes from such vanity? “Spiritual life.” “Since we are weak, writes St. Ambrose, and with all our desire not to be carried away by love, we are often wounded by it through looking at someone else’s, from the outside bright, state, house, clothes, and the like, and we begin to desire the same vanities, then the prophet adds: “turn away your eyes...” After all, this is also a gift from God, so that our eye should turn away from the vanity of the world this. All bliss is in the Lord. That is why it is said: “Blessed is the man whose hope is in the name of the Lord, and does not despise false vanity and confusion” (Ps. 39:5). From this point of view, this verse is already a rule of life. Blessed Augustine indicates in it a lesson about the purpose of good activity and sets out his thoughts about this at length. “What does it mean,” he says, “turn away my eyes from seeing vanity?” Can we really not see the vanity while we live in this world? Isn’t this the sense in which the prophet says this, in which the apostle commands: “Seek the things on high, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Be wise on high, not on earth. Have you died, and is your life hidden with Christ in God?” ( Col. 3:1–3 ). You can understand these words this way; but there is another thought here, which, it seems to me, is more suitable for this place. The Lord says in the Gospel: “If your eye is simple, your whole body will be bright; If your eye be evil, your whole body will be dark” (Matthew 6:22-23). That is why, when we do something good, what we mean is very important. Our fidelity to duty is assessed not only by its fulfillment, but also by the purpose with which it is fulfilled. And when doing something, we must take into account not only whether the intended task is good, but, especially, whether what we want to do it for is good. And these are the eyes with which we look at why we do what we do, and the prophet asks us to turn away, so that they do not see vanity, that is, so that when we do something, we do not have it in mind, we do not do it for its sake. In this vanity, a predominant place is occupied by the love of human glory, for the sake of which people did a lot and great things, called great in this age and much praised by the people - people who sought glory not from God, but from people, and, having received it, received their reward, the vain - the vain. Wanting to turn the eyes of His disciples away from this vanity, the Lord inspires them not to do any good deeds, “so that men may be seen”; otherwise there will be no reward for them from the Heavenly Father. Then, when he began to give them commandments about good deeds in parts - about alms, prayer, fasting - he inspired everywhere that none of this should be done for human glory, saying that those who do with such a goal have already received their reward (Matthew 6:1-23), that is, not an eternal reward, which is set aside for the saints by the Heavenly Father, but a temporary one, which is sought by those who, in their deeds, have vain in mind human glory. To do something good for the sake of this praise means to have eyes turned to vanity. It is not human praise itself that is condemnable, for people cannot help but praise good things, but it is condemnable to be carried away by it and do something for the sake of it. Even when people praise a righteous person (in addition to his quest), he should not dwell on it, look at it, but attribute it to the glory of God, for which alone the truly good do all good; for from Him, and not from themselves, they are good. The Lord says in the same conversation: “so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Where He set the final goal, that’s where we should look when doing something good, that is, for the glory of God, while at the same time turning our eyes away from human vanity. Further, if it is vain to do good for human glory, isn’t it all the more vain to do it to receive or increase money, or any other temporary benefits that come from outside? - Everything is vanity! We must do good deeds not for temporary salvation, but for the salvation hoped for in eternity, where we will enjoy the unchangeable bliss that will be given to us from God or, better, which is for us God Himself. If the saints, when doing good, had temporary salvation in mind, then the holy martyrs, who were inevitably faced with the loss of such salvation, would never have performed the good deed of confession. They received help in torment, not meaning temporary, because “human salvation is in vain” (Ps. 59:13). They did not desire “the day of man” (Jer. 17:16), because “man is like vanity: his days pass away like shadow” (Ps. 143:4). At the same time, we should not lose sight of the fact that as soon as we are inspired to ask God even for what is apparently in our power (to turn away our eyes), then this confirms the need for grace for absolutely everything. Some did not turn their eyes away from vanity, because they thought to become righteous and holy in themselves, and they loved the glory of man more than the glory of God, thinking a lot about themselves and relying too much on the power of their own will, and therefore they fell.” Ps.119:38. Make Thy servant Thy word to fear. “The word here means the same as the law and the commandments. To put them in fear means to protect the strength of their obligation in conscience with the fear of God, that is, to make it so that a person, as soon as he realizes that this and that is the direct will of God, expressed in His word, immediately rushes with fear to fulfill it, despite any sacrifices. The Prophet asks that God send a force that drives and inspires the fulfillment of the commandments, filling the heart with His fear. Just as in social life the royal decrees are protected by fear, so that those who receive them abandon all other matters and rush to carry them out as quickly as possible; so in moral and religious life, the fear of God moves and compels us to fulfill the will of God with all our energy, as soon as it is recognized in anything. Saint Athanasius in this regard calls the fear of God the nurturer of God's commandments; and blessed Theodoret paraphrases the content of this verse as follows: “Make me firm in Your words, invariably protecting me with Your fear; may Thy fear be upon me, keeping me in fear and not allowing me to deviate from Thy words.” This verse, according to Bellarmin, corresponds to the third in this eight-verse - Ps.119:35. “There the prophet asked for the grace of fulfilling the law, and here he asks to ward off inconstancy and give the grace of unchanging and unshakable abiding in the law. He seems to say this: make it so that by the power of Your fear Your law will take root in me, and I will remain in it steadfastly.” Thus, the fear of God is the instigator and protector of zeal for the fulfillment of God’s commandments and life faithful to them. No one is excluded from this. If he had such a meaning in the great prophet, even more so it should be in each of us. A distinctive feature and a sure sign of whether someone is on the right path is fear of God. If you have it, then you are in a good state, and if you do not have it, then you are in a bad state, even if bad deeds are not visible in your behavior. It is necessary, however, to distinguish between fear and fear. “Fear is of two kinds, writes Blessed Anthimus: one is slavish, such as a slave who does not love his master and does not value his will, but does not transgress it for fear of punishment for it - this is the fear of the imperfect; the other is the fear of a friend who is afraid of losing the love of the one who loves him - this is the fear of the perfect. It is this second fear that the prophet asks for himself, so that he would affirm the word of God in his heart and keep it adamant before the temptations and confusion of this world.” Blessed Augustine also writes about this: “The word of God does not stand in the one who shifts it within himself (from the foundations, or from the place due to him), by doing what is contrary to it; but it stands in the one who remains motionless in it. God establishes His word in those to whom He will give the spirit of His fear - “not the spirit of work and fear” (Rom. 8:15), which is driven out by perfect love, but the spirit of that fear of which he speaks - pure fear, abiding forever - the fear by which they are afraid to offend their loved one. Everyone knows this distinction of fears in words, but in reality they often confuse them and take them one after another. Of course, I would not like to admit that, if not always, then at times, we are guided by slavish fear. But it is better to recognize this than to cover it up, in order to think about changing such fear. Nobody suddenly becomes perfect. And fear is first slavish, then mercenary, and finally filial. And the first is good in its time; but it is not good to stop there, but we must move higher and higher until we reach filial feelings, the degrees of which have no end. True fear of God is always accompanied by zeal for God; but just as this zeal is not according to reason, so the fear of God is not according to reason. A God-fearing heart is zealous to give power to the commandments of God both within itself and outside, in the circle of people in which it moves. In both cases, a lot of useless things can be done through unreason. You can exhaust yourself by rushing to this or that, without considering whether it is appropriate and in accordance with our strengths, or you can harm yourself by turning jealousy not on the main thing, but on the secondary and introductory. And you can harm others by interfering with your jealousy everywhere, without considering your troubles with place and persons. Saint Ambrose discusses such manifestations of the fear of God at length. “Look,” he says, “how God can turn away from vanity the eyes of the one whom He has favor with: He puts His word into fear. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But the very fear of God, if not with reason, will not bring any benefit, but will do more harm. The Jews, having such fear, also have jealousy; but since they do not have it according to reason, then by their very jealousy and fear they collect upon themselves even greater wrath of God... By circumcising their children and keeping the Sabbath, they show that they have the fear of God; but since they do not understand that the law is spiritual, they circumcise only the body, and not their heart. They are afraid to light a fire on Saturday, and yet the law prohibits actually lighting the fire of lust on this holy day. But what am I saying about the Jews? There are also such strict rules between us that a person is not able to bear. Their fear of God is that they establish discipline, trying to exalt virtues; and foolishness lies in the fact that they do not sympathize with weaknesses and do not weigh possibilities. May our fear not be unreasonable! Just as true wisdom begins from the fear of God and there is no spiritual wisdom that would be alien to this fear, so fear should not exist without wisdom. Holy fear is, as it were, the basis for the word (wisdom). Just as a statue is installed on a pedestal and as it receives greater grace when it is installed so that it stands firmly, so the word of God, or the rational God, is beautifully installed on holy fear and takes stronger root in the heart that fears God, lest the word fall from the heart of man, lest the birds fly and snatch it from the heart of a careless and insincere person. But the fear of God itself must be confirmed by the word of God and more fruitfully adapted to life, so that it is not without reason, just as a pedestal, having accepted a statue, is not alien to its grace. Read Isaiah and see how many virtues he subordinated fear to in order to make him good and irreproachable: “the spirit,” he says, “of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety,” and, finally, “the spirit of the fear of God” (Is. 11: 2–4). What a series of virtues must be passed through in order to achieve the worthy fear of God! He is instructed by wisdom, regulated by reason, guided by advice, strengthened by strength, ruled by knowledge, adorned by piety. Take all this away from the fear of God, and it will remain unreasonable, uninterpreted, one of those, according to which “outside warfare, inside fear” (2 Cor. 7:5), which, of course, Paul would have been overcome if he had not had within himself the comforting and admonishing Lord. Do not ignore what is said in the parables: “then you understand the fear of the Lord.” When is this then? – When “you have called upon wisdom and given your voice to reason, and you have sought feeling with a great voice; and if you have sought it like silver, and tried it like treasure; then understanding the fear of the Lord” (Prov. 2:3-5). There is no need to remember that just as in the previous two verses one can see an indication of the goals that one should have when doing good, so the same can be seen in this verse. It indicated what purposes should not be meant; and here - what purpose it should have. The prophet asks that God teach him and dispose his heart to do everything out of pleasing Him alone, to do good not just out of a sense of duty, not just according to the requirement of the moral dignity of a rational creature, but especially because this is the will of God, holy and pleasing, that God wants it this way. Pagan wisdom did not ascend above the earth, and looked in man himself and around his goals and motivations for good deeds; Christianity opened the sky, mastered man with it and disposes him to do everything to please the All-Seeing and All-Ruling King of the visible and invisible world, instilling, moreover, that no matter what anyone does in this spirit, it will not escape the attention of the One who is doing it to please, even if it apparently did not give or promise anything. Ps.119:39. Take away my reproach, the hedgehog nepshchevah, for Your fate is good. “Reproach,” says Blessed Anthimus, comes in two ways: one is vain, when they are reproached unrighteously, as, for example, the infidels reproached believers: not only do we not run away from this reproach, but we seek it as a source of glory and honor; another, which follows our sins and which will especially cover the unrepentant on the day of judgment. It is this that the prophet prays to God to take away, who, according to His good judgments, awards forgiveness and grants cleansing of sins to repentant sinners.” Sin promises sweetness, not without an appendage and honor in its own circle; in fact, it is accompanied by bitterness and shame, not always visible, but always significantly. About a person who has done something bad in civil and family life, they usually say: “he hit himself in the dirt,” just as a sinner hits himself in the dirt in the spiritual realm, before the All-Seeing God, before the angels and saints, before his conscience, - before the whole world of good and light. The sinner who comes to consciousness, first of all, sees this shame in himself, feels sorry and annoyed with himself, and strives to quickly get rid of such reproach. But as long as he recognizes himself as still here, in the ordinary order of life, this reproach does not oppress him so much; and when his thoughts are transported to the Last Judgment of God, then horror will seize all his members at the thought of how he will stand with such shame before the council of all the purest creatures of God and before God Himself. That is why he cries out: “Take away my reproach,” so that there will not be a trace of this accusatory shame of sin on me. “The prophet,” says Saint Athanasius, “like a man, having committed a sin, sees that reproach will follow him to the Divine Judgment Seat after the resurrection, and therefore he prays and recites the proposed verse.” “Take away the reproach,” - not only forgive, but cleanse essentially, - tear it off and throw it away, so that I can remain in pure nature, as You originally created me in Your image, without the attachment of these vermin of sin with which I have covered myself. Remission of sins is given immediately, as soon as you repent; but cleansing the soul from sins does not happen suddenly, but requires labor, such as washing clothes. Of course, God, by His special bounties, can suddenly whiten the soul and melt it, like gold in a furnace, in an instant; but this is already a special grace - and who will dare to ask for it from God? The sinful shame, for the removal of which the prophet prays here, is more precisely defined by the words: “even nepschevah.” “Never mind” means to think, to believe. The thought that comes out is this: although I don’t see any obvious sins in myself, I can’t think that I’m shameless. Sinful shame may be deeper within me than my consciousness. Believing that this is so, I pray: cleanse me from this shame, invisible to me. “By praying for the removal of reproach,” says Saint Hilary, the prophet prays for the removal of sins, because reproach follows sins. But it is clear that he is not confessing here a specific sin committed by deed, but one that he only suspects in himself, due to the weakness of the flesh; for he does not say: take away the reproach that is in me, but that which I do not eat, I assume, I suspect, showing by this that, realizing his weakness, he cannot help but be aware of his reproach.” Expressing a similar thought, Saint Ambrose hints at the possibility of such a thought from the prophet: take away the shame that I brought upon myself by planning to commit a sin, although I did not do it. This can be understood as all mental sins - unclean thoughts, sympathies, associations with them and involuntary sinful hobbies. The prayer of the prophet here will be the same as in another place: “Cleanse me from my secrets” (Ps. 18:13). “This place,” says Saint Ambrose, is somewhat dark, but the apostle makes it clear: “I am nothing,” he says, “in myself, but I am justified in nothing” (1 Cor. 4:4). He knew that man existed; As much as he could, he was careful not to sin after receiving the sacrament of baptism, and, although he was not aware of obvious sin, but, as a man, he confessed himself to be a sinner, knowing that only the Lord Jesus Christ “thou shalt not commit sin; Likewise, the prophet, although he himself tried in every possible way to avoid sin, wanted God to be the reflector of all sin from him. Although the reproach was already taken away from him by repentance; but he wondered if it still remained behind him, hidden from him. That is why he prayed that this too would be taken away from him by the Lord Himself, Who alone knows what the one who did it himself may not know. Perhaps, “nepshchevakh” means - planned, and the prophet prays: take away the sin that I conceived, or which I delighted in in my heart and thought, but which I did not commit in deed.” On what does the prophet base his hope that it will happen as he prays? - On the one boundless goodness of God. Obvious sins are forgiven by goodness, and secret sins are forgiven by the same goodness. What can we give to atone for sinful shame? - Nothing. Even if you don’t know how many good deeds you have done, they will all only be due, for which there is one inscription: “Which ought to be done, by the same” (Luke 17:10); your sins all remain sins and stand in the same place in your life where you placed them, like graven objects. Who will accept them from the line of your life? - Only the goodness of God, through the death of the Son of God, who bore our sins on the cross and tore up their handwriting there - goodness, begging the truth of God to throw off this shame from the path of our life. Kindle this faith more strongly and attract goodness with it; along with it, call on the truth, bring it to the place of your sins and ask them all to be burned with the fire drawn by your faith from the cross of the Lord. “There is no other name under heaven... in which it is fitting that we should be saved” (Acts 4:12). “We, writes Blessed Augustine, fell not into one sin, but into many; we are covered with reproach and shame. But we began to be baptized - and all sin was taken away, and with sin all reproach. The Lord Jesus took away my reproach with His reproach when He was crucified on the cross: “For as we were baptized into Christ, we were baptized into His death” (Rom. 6:3), there was nothing left in me that I needed to ask for in order to take away. But after baptism, I again fell into reproach and must repent and pray that this reproach be taken away from me. There is only one refuge left for me - repentance; and if I do not bring it, then I will aggravate the reproach of sin within myself. Why be afraid to confess or tell your sins? Why be afraid to reveal your reproach before Him whose judgments are good? – What is bitter in others is sweet and pleasant in Christ, for He Himself is the sweetest. “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 33:9). Sweet are the judgments of God to the one who confesses, because God Himself says: “I am, I am, blot out your iniquities and your sins for my sake, and I will not remember them. Remember, and let us be judged: speak your iniquities first, that you may be justified” (Is. 43:25–26). God's judgments are sweet not for one repentant, but for the whole of heaven, for the Lord said: “There is joy in heaven for one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:7). If God’s judgments are so sweet, then let us use effort and labor to taste this sweet fruit.” These thoughts, in relation to the subjects of this eight-line, definitely indicate how to finally cleanse your life. Let us strive with all our might to please God, trusting in the all-effective, always ready, varied grace of God; Let us decide in the works of good deeds and asceticism not to have bad goals, but to direct everything to the glory of God under the influence of the fear of God. Briefly, precisely, definitely, I would say this: be like this, and you will be saved. But such a decision is opposed by the decision of the conscience of those being saved, who, despite all their efforts, not a day, but at every hour, see themselves falling seven times. In addition to everything that has been mentioned so far, there is, therefore, one more remedy that would clear all these falls. This is what is suggested in this verse; this is constant repentance. As soon as you recognize any malfunction or impurity within yourself, hasten to repentance and pray with contrition: take away, Lord, this shame, according to Your goodness! This is a broom that sweeps away all rubbish from the path of life. This rule completes the entire union of rules. Whoever has put on this weapon, we can say that he has now put on the whole armor of God... Equally, whoever lacks it, it should be said: his armor is unreliable; He lacks a very important weapon, without which all others will not lead him to victory. Ps.119:40. Behold, I have desired Your commandments; live me in Your righteousness. In all this eight-verse, the law of spiritual life is clarified from different sides, that a person has to search and work in it, how much strength he has, and the very work of life is accomplished and sung by the grace of God. Having clarified everything related here, the prophet makes a general conclusion about himself: “I have desired,” he says, and I imagine what is required of me, I desire and seek with all my soul: grant me also that which depends on Your grace - revive me, as Your truth intended to revive us, admonish me, arouse sympathy and energy, give strength and patience to continuously and successfully walk the path of the life you desire. I don’t indicate what and when to give me: You, the only All-Righteous One, are fully aware of the path of truth: “Those who weigh fate, save me.” St. Augustine writes: “With all my heart, with all my soul and with all my thoughts I desired to love You and my neighbor as myself, since this is the whole sum of the commandments. Not with mine, but with Your righteousness, revive me, that is, fill me with the love that I desired; help me to do what You command; grant what you command. I myself have in myself only what to die with; but I cannot find anything to live with anywhere except in You alone: ​​live me by Your righteousness.” Why did he speak about this arrangement not at the beginning, but at the end? – Because it does not come on its own at the beginning, but after all one’s means and efforts have been exhausted. From the beginning of conversion, although the convert says: “Lord, help!”, he secretly expects a lot from his efforts and intense searches. And success is given to him only in the fact that he learns in this way all the orders of a godly life; he himself cannot go further. Meanwhile, along with this skill, the one who pays attention to himself also develops an awareness of the essential requirements of such a life. Once the skill is established, the attention and effort hitherto directed toward that skill remain free. For those who have not opened their consciousness of what is essential in spiritual life, they fall asleep, and the work of life stagnates; and for those who have opened, they rush in this direction, and the higher the goal now, the more intense they are. But what you cannot achieve with your own efforts, you will not achieve with them, no matter how hard you try. Experienced confirmation of this begins along with the directing of one’s efforts towards acquiring the conscious features of spiritual life. When all the tricks have been tried, but there is still no success, then there is only one thing left to do - to lay down your guns and cry out: “Beholden by fate, save me”; I wish, I seek, but only You are able to live me through Your righteousness. In ordinary experiences of a pious life, this is clearly justified over the skill of the Jesus Prayer. There are few words in it, but they combine everything. It has been recognized since ancient times that, having become accustomed to praying with this prayer, you can replace all prayers with it. And is there anyone who is zealous for salvation who is not familiar with this work? Great is the power of this prayer, according to the image of the holy fathers; and yet in reality we see that not everyone who has the skill to use it participates in this power, not everyone eats its fruits. Why is this? - Because they themselves want to take into their own possession that which belongs to the gift of God and is the work of the grace of the Lord. Starting to repeat this prayer in the morning, in the evening, walking and lying down, at work and at leisure is our business: this does not require special help from God. Working in the same order, you yourself can reach the point that the tongue, even without our consciousness, will continue to repeat this prayer. This may be followed by a certain pacification of thoughts, and even a kind of warmth of the heart: but all this will be, as the monk Nikifor notes in the Philokalia, the work and fruit of our efforts. To stop there is the same as being satisfied with a parrot’s ability to pronounce well-known words, even such as “Lord have mercy.” The fruit of this is this: you will think that you have, when you have absolutely nothing. This is what happens to those who, while becoming accustomed to this prayer, since it depends on us, do not reveal the consciousness of what its essence is. Without realizing it, they are content with the indicated natural beginnings of her actions and stop searching. But whoever’s consciousness opens up will not stop searching; and seeing that no matter how hard he tries to act according to the old man’s instructions, the expected fruit is not revealed, he stops any expectation of fruit from his own efforts and places all his hope in God. When this is formed, then the opportunity for the influence of grace opens up: grace comes at a moment known to it alone, and instills that prayer into the heart. Then, as the elders say, everything will be the same in external order, but not the same in internal strength. What is said about this prayer is applicable to every manifestation of spiritual life. Take an angry person and assume that he was jealous to extinguish his anger and acquire meekness. In the ascetic books there are instructions on how one should rule oneself in order to achieve this. He assimilates all this and begins to act according to the instructions he has read. How far will he reach with his efforts? - No further than the silence of the lips when angry, with some taming of the angryness itself, but so that anger completely extinguishes and meekness settles in the heart, he himself will never reach this. This already happens when grace comes and instills meekness in the heart. The same applies to everything. Whatever fruit of spiritual life you seek, seek - seek with all your might, but do not expect fruit from your search and your efforts, but “cast your sorrow upon the Lord” (Ps. 54:23), without any deduction of anything to your share, and “He will do it” (Ps. 36:5). Pray: I wish, I seek; but live me by Your righteousness. The Lord determined: “without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). And this law is fulfilled in spiritual life with precision, not deviating even a hair from the definite. When asked: what should I do to acquire this or that virtue? – you can answer everyone: turn to the Lord, and He will give you; There is no other way to get what you are looking for. Saint Athanasius writes in this verse: “So he kept the commandments, was disposed towards them with love, and fulfilled them for their own sake, and yet he asks God for a righteous and virtuous life, so that it comes from the heart. Only one who desires to live in the Son, believing that in Him there is only life, can speak this way.” Blessed Augustine expresses the thought of the prophet in this way: “Live by Thy righteousness, that is, by Christ, for He “has given us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and deliverance; yea, as it is written, let us boast in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:30-31). The sixth eight-line goes under the letter “vav” - “hook”. The hook is driven into the shore and the boats are tied to it. Having tied his boat tightly, its owner sits calmly at home, confident that the water will not carry it away. And an anchor is a hook. When the anchor is reliable - and it is made that way on purpose - then the ship at anchor is not afraid of the waves, no matter how strong they may be. The apostle’s anchor is an image of hope, “a firm and known boat for the soul” (Heb. 6:19). This is how the prophet understood this word and gave him this spiritual sign. That is why he collected verses under this letter, which all speak about hope. The first four verses (Ps. 119:41–44) set forth primarily the foundations of hope: the unfaithful word of the promises of God (Ps. 119:41–42) and the judgments of God manifested in action on the godly and the ungodly (Ps. 119:43–44); the last four depict actions in which the hope that has settled in the heart is revealed, namely: breadth of walking, or freedom of action (Ps. 119:45), fearless proclamation of the truth even before the mighty of the earth (Ps. 119:46), pursuit of the one needful with concern for everything (Ps. 119:47) and patient and unchanging persistence in goodness, despite any obstacles ( Ps.119:48). There is almost a whole treatise on hope. After the previous verse, it was very natural to have a conversation about this. There the prophet focused on devotion to the will of God, which constitutes the soul of hope; but, having started talking about it, he did not want to leave her behind and led her through the entire eight-line. Ps.119:41. And may Your mercy, O Lord, come to me, Your salvation according to Your word. “This verse, notes Blessed Augustine, is apparently connected with the previous one, because it does not say: “let him come”; but “and let him come,” showing by this that the consequence of the previous one is expressed here.” What is he asking? - Mercy; but mercy, not as mere favor, but as replenishment of what is missing by deed itself. That’s why he adds: “Let your salvation come”; that is, Thy saving mercy, or Thy merciful salvation, may come. Mercy, coming from God and resting on a person, brings about his salvation. “If you ask,” Blessed Augustine further says, what kind of mercy this is, listen to what immediately follows: “Thy salvation.” “First, writes Saint Hilary, he prays for mercy, and then for salvation, for our salvation is from God’s mercy: it is a work of God’s goodness towards us.” “When, Zigaben explains, Your mercy comes, then Your salvation will come, for the end of mercy is salvation.” But the prophet’s goal with these words is to explain not so much what he asked for, but rather the basis on which he undoubtedly expects the fulfillment of what he asked, because he says: “and let him come,” or “let him come.” If God Himself had asked him: why do you bother me like that? - he would answer: “according to Your word.” Just as a man boldly comes to a man who has given his word of honor and says to him: You gave your word, so do it according to your word, so the prophet now approaches God, saying, as it were: You yourself said in your word that you will not forsake those who come running to you; Here I come running according to this word, do mercy on me and save me! “So that no one thinks, says Saint Hilary, that he is praying in an unfaithful and unsteady hope, the prophet, having mentioned mercy and salvation, immediately adds: “according to Thy word,” in order to show that his trust in prayer comes from faith in the immutability of God’s promises.” - “According to Your word, that is, according to Your promise; the promises come from the One who “calls things that are not as though they are” (Rom. 4:17), notes Blessed Augustine. Why the promises? Isn’t confidence in the goodness of God, ready for all mercy, enough? The Lord, due to our weakness, found this insufficient; That is why He scattered the promises throughout the entire space of His word. The thought that the Lord is good can also give rise to a philosophizing mind; but this thought gives only the possibility and probability of mercy, which keeps the soul in an unsteady, shaky, writhing (worried) conjecture. Firmness of conviction, undoubted confidence in ready mercy is generated only by the word emanating from the mouth of God. When it is heard and accepted, then there is an end to all hesitation, as the holy Apostle assures: “Great is the promise of God, in this is it and in this is amen” (2 Cor. 1:20). Our weakness in this regard is so great that God, in order to restore our hope, did not limit himself to one word of promise, but also attached an oath to it, to certify the immutability of His advice, “yea, in two immutable things... the strong consolation of the imams” (Heb. 6:17-18). As if even after the Lord expressed the promise, hesitation was still possible: what if He changed His advice? So the Lord certifies with an oath that what He said is immutable: “The Lord swears and will not repent” (Ps. 109:4). For this purpose, the promises of God are depicted in detail in the word of God, their objects, conditions, and all connections are indicated, so that it is clear to everyone that as long as he fulfills everything according to the instructions of the word of God, then wavering of his hope should have no place in him; he must be firmly confident that he will receive what he seeks and asks for. It follows from this that if anyone needs to warm up weakening hope, then the most reliable means of doing so is to restore in memory, consciousness and feeling all the words of God, with which He confirms His mercy to those who resort to Him, with the condition, of course, that we immediately set the intention to fulfill everything that God places on our heads. Reread the words of God and wholeheartedly submit yourself to everything to which they oblige you; and your hope will be resurrected, and you will begin to walk again, “like a lion who trusts.” We have many infirmities within us, and many animosities without; we walk as if through a quagmire, ready to get bogged down in it. But the word of God will show you the right hand of God, always stretched out to you and supporting you. Relying on it, you will boldly walk on the water before the face of the Lord, just do not let go of the strength of hope from your soul, so that you, like Peter once, will not receive a fair reproach: “You have little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31). Ps.119:42. And I answer those who reproach my word, because I have trusted in Your words. There are two thoughts in these words: first, when they begin to revile me - why do I so strictly adhere to Your law, despite hardships, I will answer them: because “I trusted,” I placed my trust “in Your words.” In this case, the same thing will be said here as in the previous verse, that is, the basis of hope will be indicated in the words or promises of God, with the application only of a special case of the discovery of such hope, namely, the reproach of those who slander virtue and piety. Zigaben writes: “To those who will reproach me for why I suffer for virtue and keeping the commandments, I will answer with this word: I trust in the words of my God. God promised that he would give many benefits to those who keep his commandments. Although I suffer and suffer, I do not cease to keep the commandments, because I have such good hopes.” Blessed Theodoret briefly expresses the essence of the matter: “Your promise, O Lord, supports me; It is with this hope that I travel.” What inspired the holy martyrs when they entered into the feat of martyrdom, if not the confidence in the immutability of the words of God? The mercy of God covered them and provided immediate help in alleviating their suffering; but this did not happen to everyone, and even in those with whom it happened, it was not revealed immediately as soon as the torment began. How did they support themselves in this feat? - The Word of the Lord, which they often repeated publicly when their body was tormented and their hearing was insulted by words defamatory of their confession. Holy ascetics, both ancient and modern, in what did they find and find support for firmness in the way of life they adopted, the essence of which consists in all-round arbitrary deprivations with the addition, especially now, of slanderous speeches against them? - In nothing other than the promises of God. This is well expressed by the saying of one elder: “My lord said to me: work for me; Don’t worry about anything else: that will be my concern.” Truly virtuous and truly pious people never lack opportunities to rekindle their hope or testify to it in the face of those who reproach them. As it is said in the word of God that “those who want to live godly will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12), this is how it always happens. It is said that he who begins to work for the Lord should prepare his soul for temptations: they always meet them - and this not only from the wicked and sinners, but often from those who do not shy away from the order of a godly life, due to various misunderstandings, the source of which cannot be reached. Where will everything come from? and endure - endure everything. What to eat? - In the Word of the Lord: “Blessed are you when they revile you, and destroy you, and say all sorts of evil things against you who lie, for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is abundant in heaven” (Matthew 5:11–12). “Take courage, and let your heart be strong!” (Ps.30:25). “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted” (Ps. 33:19). In his right hand is a covering for you; in shuyets - arrows to your enemies. “His eyes are upon you, and His ears are at your prayer” (Ps. 33:16). “He who lives in the help of the Most High will dwell in the shelter of the heavenly God” (Ps. 90:1). The second thought in this text is this: when You, Lord, show me mercy and save me in the eyes of everyone, then I will have something to answer to those who reproach me, to justify my trust in You. Obvious help will stop the lips of those who reproach him who trusts in the promises of God. In this case, there will be a hint of a new basis for hope - receiving or feeling real help from God, which also happens according to His word. The word from the mouth of God deeply roots hope; but it is still something expected, contemplated, theoretical. When deliverance is achieved in practice, then the power of God is felt by the whole being and hope enters life. The consciousness that such a person is a man of God merges with the consciousness of his existence and becomes an inseparable quality of the manifestations of his spiritual life. This gives him the courage to look into the eyes of the slanderers and return the reproach coming from them to themselves. I hope because I can deliver—are you blind, or what? “Trust in Me,” said the Lord, “and I will deliver and cover, because you have known My name. He will call to Me, and I will hear him, I am with him in sorrow, I will destroy him, and I will glorify him, I will fill him with long days, and I will show him My salvation” (Ps. 90:4-16). One martyr, completely tormented and barely able to stand on his feet when the judge extremely wickedly reviled his faith in the Crucified One, prayed inwardly to the Lord, and, in the sight of everyone, his wounds disappeared, his blood washed away, his strength was restored, and he became as if he had not suffered. “This is what the Crucified Lord means, the hope in Whom you so despise!” - said the holy martyr. Saint Athanasius paraphrases the thought of this verse this way: if I acquire Thy mercy, and this mercy will be for me in Thy salvation, then I will have boldness against those who reproach me and rebel against me. I will say that the one who contains such dogmas, which are mocked by ignoramuses alien to the faith, does not deserve reproach; I will prove that these dogmas are full of reason and wisdom. Blessed Theodoret says the same: “Grant, O Master, the salvation that You promised in Your sacred words, so that I can boldly begin to speak to those who laugh at me; because whoever is in need silently listens to the reproaches made to him, and whoever is overjoyed by deliverance, he himself denounces those who maliciously reproach him.” Saint Hilary and Saint Augustine explain this in the same way. The first writes: “This verse corresponds to the flow of thoughts. If, he says, Thy mercy and Thy salvation come to me, according to Thy word, then I will have something to answer to those who reproach me with foolishness and deceptive hope for trusting in Thy words. What then can an unbeliever say against such an experience, which confirms the falsity of God’s promises?” The second says: “To those who revile the word about Christ, I answer with the word about Christ, since those for whom Christ Crucified is “temptation and madness” (1 Cor. 1:23) reproach us. They do not know that “the Word became flesh and dwelt in us” (John 1:14), the Word that “was in the beginning, was with God, was God” (John 1:1). If they had known, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:8). But to whomever mercy and covering salvation come, he will answer those who reproach the word of truth. It is not enough to have Christ in your heart and not want to confess Him, fearing reproach, but you must respond to those who slander the word. The martyrs answered the word, according to the promise: “It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Matthew 10:20). Experiences of God's mercy for hope elevate hope, giving it the fearless boldness of confessing the hope itself. No one is deprived of such experiences. Anyone who closely follows life cannot fail to see the finger of God, which brought him out of a real extreme or prevented a misfortune that was present and ready to befall him; and therefore no one can complain about the lack of cases that arouse hope. There can only be those who are inattentive to the ways of God's Providence or those who are arrogant, who, although sometimes they see something special, attribute it either to a random coincidence of circumstances that a true believer does not know, or - which is no less bad - to their prudence and ability to use the encountered circumstances to maintain and enhance their well-being. Ps.119:43. And do not take away from my lips the words that are truly true, for I trusted in Your fate. The first words are a little dark, because you don’t immediately understand when and how God takes away the word of truth, and, moreover, “to the point of bitterness”; This means that taking it away without being too much can still be tolerable. That is why interpreters do not understand them the same way. According to the content of this eight-verse, they must be understood in such a way as not to move away from the main subject here - hope. The previous verse said: if You, O Lord, show Your mercy to me, then I will have something to say to those who reproach me. The same thought continues here: if you don’t show it, then I won’t have anything to say to them; the word will die on my lips. The Prophet prays not to put him in such a position, but to always show His protection over him, so that he can victoriously defend his trust in the destinies of God with such experiences of mercy. Why, however, is this thought repeated? - Then, it seems, to express some limitation in the breadth of his petition, as the word “to the extreme” makes clear.” I prayed: show mercy, and I will have something to say to my reproaches; now he adds; and if it pleases Your truth to take away this. a protective word shortening the manifestation of mercy towards me, then - not “to the point”; do not leave me forever in shame before my enemies, but, having left me for a while with an instructive abandonment, again show Your protection over me before everyone, so that I too may again find in my mouth the word of truth, that it is not in vain that I trust in Your destinies. “I pray,” explains Bellarmin, that the word of truth will not be taken away from me, with which I could answer those who reproach me. Do not deprive me of Your mercy; do not do anything that I do not dare to say a word to justify my hope; do not thus close the lips that confess to You and proclaim the hope of Your promises. But if you really need to take it away, then take it away enough to test only me, and not “to the bitter end,” not completely, not completely.” Blessed Augustine turns his attention to the position of the martyrs, to how courageously they kept the confession in their mouths, despite the intolerance of torment. But there were also those who were overcome by fear, and they renounced the truth: the word of truth seemed to be stolen from their lips, was taken away from them. Of these, some remained forever in apostasy, others again returned to the confession of the truth; from the former the word of truth was completely, completely taken away, but from the latter not completely, not completely. “Many,” he says, oppressed by the burden of persecution, could not bear the reproach and renounced Christ, and then returned again. As if having them in mind, the prophet prays: “Do not take the words of truth out of my mouth completely,” that is, not completely, as was the case with them; for, having renounced the faith for a time, they then returned in repentance and, by confessing the truth, again admired the palm of martyrdom. So it was with Peter, who denied for an hour out of fear, and then restored himself by crying, and in the end was crowned with a martyr’s crown. The word of truth was not completely taken away from him and others like him. Do not take it away - it means do not allow the word of truth to fall out of my mouth. And the Lord Himself says to Peter: pray for you, so that your faith will not fail” (Luke 22:32); and this also means that - may the word of truth not be taken away from you “to the bitter end.” Blessed Anthimus believes that the reason for the taking away of the word of truth or its disappearance from the lips is sin. As long as there is no obvious sin, the truth returns boldly; and when you fall into sin, you become ashamed to proclaim the truth with your lips, without justifying it by deeds and life. God does not take away words by direct influence, but allows falls due to pride, which bind the tongue. “Whoever falls into any sin, he says, will have the word of truth taken from him not only from his lips, but also from his heart. “But God said to the sinner: Thou shalt tell My justifications forever, and accept My covenant with thy lips?” (Ps.49:16). If we take this verse separately, out of context, then we can dwell on these latter opinions; but direct thought is the first. The second half of the verse obliges us to do so: “as I trust in Your destiny,” which is how the prophet expresses the second basis of his hope in God. And this is the main purpose of his speech. Previously he said that he trusted in God, believing His word, with which He promised not to forsake those who resort to Him and do His will, but now he says that he trusts, being disposed and excited to do so by the destinies of God. The destinies of God here mean those divine judgments that He not only pronounced, but also put into action, punishing sinners and elevating and protecting the righteous. The prophet asks for protection because he trusts, and he trusts because God’s judgments were such both over entire nations and over individuals, and that if God deals with him according to the same judgments, then he must certainly receive mercy and salvation from God. The destinies that the prophet had in mind at the same time are all those that happened before him: how Noah and his family were saved from the flood, how Abraham and the patriarchs were blessed, how Egypt was punished, and the people of God were saved, how this people were led to the Promised Land among mercies and punishments, how they were settled in the Promised Land and how they were then betrayed, for forgetting God, into slavery to powerful neighbors, then again we deliver when, having repented, he turned to God. Anyone contemplating these judgments cannot help but harbor the deep conviction that God is always ready to have mercy even for a great sinner, just do not persist and do not go bitterly against God. Contemplation of these judgments was the constant occupation of the prophet, and he could say: “for all his destinies are before me” (Ps. 17:23). From them he drew confirmation that God is “the Lord, who creates destinies” (Ps. 9:17) and that “His destinies are true, justified together” (Ps. 19:10). Therefore, completely surrendering to God, he confesses: “from Your presence my destiny will come forth” (Ps. 16:2). If we translate the prophet’s speech in our own way, it will turn out that hope in the fate of God is the same as hope in God’s providential care for us, kindled by the remembrance of the experiences that the Lord revealed around us and in us, protecting the good and admonishing the unkind. You can’t know outsiders enough to correctly assess how and why such and such judgments of God come to them, but how can you not know yourself? If a person had the patience to trace all the changes in his fate throughout his entire life, in relation to them primarily in relation to his internal state and to God, then he would undoubtedly discover that just as the two bowls on the scales are always in perfect agreement, so our external destinies, determined by the destinies of God, are in perfect agreement with everything that happens inside us, and especially with what we are in relation to God. There are people who become so accustomed to the contemplation of this Divine order that every, as they say, accident is defined from this point of view; That is why they are convinced that nothing is actually accidental. Philosophers write that there is no chance, but in life they only see chance. Piety, even without philosophy, carries in the heart the truth that everything is from God. With God, everything, both in the structure of the great world and in the arrangement of the fate of every little person, is wisely determined by measure, weight and number. How this is - our mind cannot comprehend. “The destinies of God are a great deep” (Ps. 35:7). How much consolation there is in this and how much strength the hope of one who has reached such a conviction receives! By destinies that kindle hope, St. Augustine here means precisely the destinies of each person. “I trusted in Your fate, that is, Your judgments, with which You correct and punish me, not only do not take away my hope, but also elevate it; for “the Lord loves him and punishes him; and he beats every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6). Ps.119:44. And I will keep Your law forever and ever. This is a conclusion from the previous one and its addition. This expresses the condition for the formation of hope on the part of man. On the part of God, it is formed by faith in the immutability of the word of God or God’s promises and reflection on the destinies of God revealed over entire nations or over individuals, especially over those who seek to kindle hope in themselves; and on the human side, I resolve to walk in the will of God, and especially by keeping the law of God. This last condition is so important that without it even the first two are unable to provide anything in the matter of creating hope. The Prophet knew the need for this and therefore expressed his decision in this verse. Before this, he contemplated the judgments of God, and, of course, he could not help but see that they all had one inscription: all mercy is for the God-fearing zealots for fulfilling the law, and all punishment is for the wicked, those who do not fear God and disregard His law. So he decides for himself and pronounces this rule before God: “When this is so, then I will keep Your law always and in everything, both in this life and in eternity.” This law of hope is expressed by the prophet not only here, but throughout the entire space of the psalms, in various forms of expression. Open the book of psalms, and you will find more than one evidence of this on every page. Yes, this is a truth that has nothing to prove: it holds itself by itself in the consciousness of one who piously views God. How can you expect anything from God when you yourself don’t want to know God and, in your willfulness, constantly anger Him by fearlessly violating His will? Meanwhile, if we test ourselves as we should, we will find that we are not entirely impeccable in this regard. We all pray, but what meaning can prayer have without hope? We pray because, having a need for something, we hope to receive it from the merciful God, and we know that the merciful God is always ready to give us what we need: why does our prayer, which is not alien to hope, not attract the mercy of God? – Because our attitude towards God is wrong. God give us everything, but we don’t want to do anything for Him; and if we do something as if in God’s way, then only what comes to hand without special intention and election; and, moreover, while doing something, we leave in ourselves a lot of things that are displeasing to God, deliberately covering them up with oblivion, as if we were not guilty of anything. With such insincerity and negligence in maintaining a proper attitude towards God, how can we hope that God will undoubtedly do for us what we ask Him for? Correct this malfunction, and then you will see how all the mercies from God will come to you: “He will do the will of those who fear Him, and I will hear their prayer and save them” (Ps. 144:19). You will say: who is without sin? And if sin extinguishes hope, and without hope prayer is not prayer, then why pray? “But when the prophet says: “I will keep Your law,” he does not express actual preservation, but the determination to always be faithful to the law. This determination always lives in a pious spirit, although it is also true that a righteous man falls seven times a day. He falls seven times, but does not remain in the fall even once - he falls and gets up, falls and gets up. This is similar to running along a slippery road or a road strewn with stones: whoever sets out to reach the end of the road, no matter how much he falls, will never lie on the road, but having fallen, he will jump up and run again. This is the path of pleasing God. Try to always be pure in conscience before God, people and yourself, and as soon as you find yourself in some kind of uncleanness, immediately cleanse yourself; intentionally and consciously never allow anything unclean and offensive to God to remain in you. Trying this way, you will be in the same position in which the prophet was when he said: “I will keep Your law,” and you will have boldness in prayer, which will be evidenced by the undoubted hope of receiving what you seek and ask. See how broad and comprehensive the prophet’s determination is to keep the law of God: “I will take it out,” he says, “for ever and ever.” “I will take it out” in everything, in all cases of life, both important and unimportant, - “forever”, while I live in this century, - “for the age of the century”, in eternity. Saint Ambrose says that the prophet does not leave a single moment of life in neglect, but is zealous to fill and saturate it all with law. “And in the nurturing of childhood and adolescence, and under the discipline of youth, and in the maturity of a husband and an elder, he promises not to transgress the limits set for each age. After all, the soul also has its own ages, according to which it ascends to maturity, and, having passed which, it can say: “The course is finished” (2 Tim. 4:7). The full “age of the soul”, the “age of old age” of the soul, is “living undefiled” (Wis. 4:9). So, the one who, both in physical age and in the degrees of spiritual advancement, does not allow himself to deviate from the law, always keeps the law.” Saint Hilary, having expressed a similar thought, then surveys all areas of existence and sees his laws everywhere. Therefore, if there is a future life - and there is undoubtedly one - then there will also be its own law. “The prophet does not see the end of his life. His faith is not limited to this century, and he extends his loyalty to infinity. Having said: “I will take it out,” he did not leave a single moment in his life in which he would allow oblivion; and when he added: “in the age of the century,” he ascended to the preservation of the eternal law, of which here there is only a shadow and which will come into force when eternity successively takes the place of this age. In the afterlife there is a law for souls who have departed from here, according to which they are separated from one another by a great abyss, as the Lord makes clear in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. And after the resurrection there will be a law for those who are resurrected, according to which they will differ in glory as star from star (1 Cor. 15:41). There are also laws for angels, according to which only incessant voices praise God; others stand before the invisible God in deep silence; The angels of the children see the face of the Heavenly Father (Matthew 18:10). Thus, knowing that there are eternal laws, the prophet promises and predisposes himself to keep them, intending to preserve in this age those who are only a shadow of them.” Blessed Theodoret and Augustine explain how this will be accomplished in the next century. The first writes: “With the words “forever and ever” the prophet meant the future life, in which everyone will be given pure and complete observance of the laws of God.” The second says: “By law here we must mean the one about which the apostle speaks: the fullness of the law is love (Rom. 13:10). This law is kept by the saints not only in this age, but will be kept in the future forever. Not private commandments, but the very fullness of the law will be there in action, without any danger of sin, for we will love God more fully, because we will see him, and our neighbor, because “God will be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28). Ps.119:45. And I walked in breadth, because I sought Your commandments. From this verse to the end of the eight verses (verses Ps. 119:45-48) the fruits of hope are depicted, or what the prophet became after he had kindled strong hope in his heart in the ways mentioned. Blessed Augustine says: “First he sought, but now (in verses Ps. 119:45-48) he tells and confesses how the mercy of God made him, which he asked for, shows that he was heard, and, as a result, this is what: he walked in breadth ...". The breadth of walking is always a direct consequence of faithfulness to the commandments of God, and this is because the commandments kill the passions that live in us and oppress us. That every constraint and binding of our moral freedom depends on passions - everyone knows this himself. What squeezes the hand that is ready to do good? – Self-interest: you need it. What torments the soul when you see your neighbor’s happiness? - Envy. What makes you bedridden or binds your legs when you should go to church to pray? - Self-indulgence and laziness. So it is in everything. But whoever sought the commandments, that is, loved them and decided to always be faithful to them, although he also feels attacks of similar passions, they do not define him, do not bind him: he immediately reflects them; and when he gets stronger in doing the commandments, he almost doesn’t feel them at all. “It is not cramped for him,” says Saint Ambrose, who does not enclose his mind in earthly and carnal things, but directs it to the heavenly and has his residence in heaven, while the sinner is crushed by the bonds of his passions. Take a rich man: he already owns many fields, but everything is cramped for him, he still wants more: the whole land is not enough for him.” Saint Hilary writes: “The prophet is not cramped. The hearts of sinners are cramped, and the defiled soul is not worthy of God’s visitation. To receive the immensity of God, one needs a spacious abode, and it is prepared by fidelity to the commandments. The prophet walks in breadth because God dwells in him, and God dwells because he has sought his commandments. Let us remember into what breadth of understanding our mind enters when, while reading the Divine Scriptures, we study the commandments of God, and how broad are the feelings of our humility when they are captivated by Divine desires. Sins shorten the breadth of every soul; Everywhere is crowded for those who are not worthy to be the dwelling place of the glory of God.” - “What does it mean to walk in breadth? - asks Blessed Augustine and answers: - This means walking in love, which has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us. He teaches us to fulfill the commandments in the love of God and our neighbors.” Zigabene gives this breadth a different flavor. He paraphrases this passage as follows: “In all my deeds I found scope and met success, because I loved Your commandments and was always faithful to them. Even being in sorrow from temptations, he was not burdened by it; for the good testimony of my conscience internally confirmed me in strong love and inviolable fidelity to Your commandments, expanding my heart even in sorrow. A good conscience always comforts those who have it.” But, judging by the context, in the present place it would be more direct to understand the breadth in which he who trusts in God feels himself to walk and actually walks. This breadth of hope, as well as its condition - faithfulness to God in fulfilling His commandments, is depicted at length in different places by Saint Isaac the Syrian. Let's list some of them. “There is,” he says, some hidden Providence. You will also be worthy of it if you first, with faith, force yourself to cast your care on God and replace your care with His providence. And when God sees in you that you, with all the purity of your thoughts, trusted God more than yourself, and forced yourself to trust in God more than in your soul, then that irresistible power will dwell in you, and you will tangibly feel that it is with you undoubtedly - that power that, having felt in themselves, many go into the fire, and are not afraid, even walking on the waters, without wavering in their thoughts with fear to drown; because faith strengthens a person’s spiritual feelings, and he feels within himself that as if something invisible is convincing him not to listen to the vision of terrible things and not to look at the vision that is unbearable for the senses” (Isaac the Syrian, verse 49). “If you have once entrusted yourself to the Lord, who is all-sufficient to protect you and look after you, and if you follow Him, then do not worry about anything regarding yourself, but tell your soul: for every task, He to whom I once gave my soul is sufficient. I'm not here; He knows it. Then you will actually see the miracles of God - you will see how at all times God is close to deliver those who fear Him, how His Providence surrounds them, although invisible. But because the Guardian who is with you is invisible with your bodily eyes, you should not doubt Him, as if He does not exist; for He often reveals Himself to the eyes of the body, so that you may be in good spirits... When you are confirmed in such hope, then thoughts that frighten and terrify you will flee from you, and everything that is difficult and inconvenient for you will seem convenient and easy to you” (ibid.). “Knowledge (prudence) is accompanied by fear, faith by hope. To the extent that a person is led by the methods of knowledge (that is, he arranges his own well-being according to the instructions of prudence), to the same extent he is bound by fear and cannot free himself from it. And whoever follows faith (trust), he soon becomes free and autocratic and, like the son of God, uses everything with freedom, autocratically. He who loves faith (trust), like God, disposes of all created nature. And knowledge (your prudence) meets obstacles everywhere. And how can we be otherwise? The flowing nature of water does not accept bodily feet on its ridge, and he who approaches the fire burns himself. Faith (trusting) powerfully transgresses these limits, inspired by the promise: “If you pass through fire, you will not be burned, and the rivers will not cover you” (Is. 43:2). Many, by faith, entered the flame, curbed the burning power of the fire and walked unharmed in the middle of it, and walked along the ridge of the sea as if on dry land” (Isaac the Syrian, f. 49). This is how he explains that such hope is possible only through faithful service to God in fulfilling His commandments. “A person who has no concern at all for the fleeting, but wholly, day and night, entrusts himself to the Lord, does not care about anything worldly due to his great zeal for virtues, but spends all his time on Divine pursuits and therefore neglects preparing food and clothing for himself, arranging a home for the body and everything else - such a person has excellent and reasonable hope in the Lord. And this is truly the true and wisest hope. And it is right for such a person to hope in God, because he has become His servant and is diligent in His work. Such a one is worthy for God to show His care in a special way. But a person whose heart is completely buried in earthly things, who always eats dust with the serpent, never cares about what is pleasing to God, does not care about a single virtue - such a person cannot have bright hope. Being constrained by poverty or oppressed by the fruits of our iniquities, perhaps he will say: I will put my trust in God, and He will make me carefree and give me relief. Reckless! Until this hour you have not remembered God, but have offended Him with the lewdness of your deeds, and the name of God for your sake, as it is written, was blasphemed by the pagans, and now you dare to open your mouth and say: in Him I will place my trust. He will help me and take care of me! To the shame of such, God spoke well through the prophet: “They seek me day by day and understand my ways, as men who have done righteousness and have not forsaken the excuses of their God” (Is. 58:2). One of these is the foolish one who did not even approach God with his thoughts, and since he was surrounded by sorrows, he raises his hands to Him with trust: I will, he says, place my trust in God; He will deliver me. Don't flatter yourself; Hope in God is preceded by work for God in keeping His commandments. Do you believe that God provides for His creatures? Let your faith and decent work accompany you, and then God will hear you” (Isaac the Syrian. Sl.67). Ps.119:46. And speak of Thy testimonies before the kings, and do not be ashamed. This is the second circle of deeds in which a strong hope, ripened in the heart, is revealed - a fearless testimony to the truth of God. When word and deed go against the desires and passions of those who hear and see, it is everywhere accompanied by trouble, and even more so the word of truth when it is spoken before the mighty of the earth. One can see here in the prophet that he is generally speaking about the testimony of truth and righteousness before anyone - an unashamed, unafraid testimony, despite the consequences; and what he said: “before the kings,” then one can understand “even,” that is, even before the kings, but there is nothing to say about others. Witnessing truth and righteousness is a direct consequence of fidelity to the law and walking in the commandments, by which sincere conscientiousness is formed in the heart, which cannot allow the tongue to hide the truth or say something contrary to the truth. But such a virtue is revealed quietly and when the opportunity opens up in the everyday or civil order of life. Here, when they don’t touch her or ask her, she is silent. But the prophet, of course, has a special virtue of courageous witness to the truth, when it does not sit still and does not wait to be touched, but itself goes out into the field of peoples and acts among them fearlessly. It is evoked by the flame of love for God and His glory, and by a special wave from above, or even a direct message from God, as was the case with the prophets, apostles, martyrs and confessors. What moves and inspires a person who is faithful to God and his commandments to bear witness to the truth? - The conviction that he corrects through the work of God, to whom God Himself is the Helper and Patron; That is why he is confident that God will support him and will not allow him to fall before the pressure of the forces opposing and threatening him. Troubles, losses, torment and death itself are not counted among failures; a martyr, for example, a tortured person is considered a winner, because, despite many weapons used to deviate him from the truth, he stood firm in it unshakably. What is in the soul of such witnesses at the hour of testimony? They are not on earth at this time, but in heaven, contemplating the promised blessings. This was most obvious in the martyrs, who were inspired by the fact that they were about to leave the poor land and move into the bright abodes of God, and often begged their tormentors not to postpone their torment, but rather, through it, to lead them to Christ, so that they would be partakers of His glory with Him. Our interpreters all pay attention to this verse in the picture of the martyrs. Saint Athanasius writes: “Such was Paul, such was Peter, such was the face of the apostles and martyrs.” Saint Ambrose says: “It is fitting for such a word to come from the mouth of every martyr who, having been called before the judgment seat, was not ashamed when princes and judges reviled him for his faith in the Crucified One, but, on the contrary, counted the cross of Christ for his glory and proved by heavenly testimonies that in the cross is salvation for the world.” Blessed Theodoret also lists the Old Testament witnesses to the truth: “With great convenience,” says the prophet, I walked the path and, living according to Your commandments, was not afraid of the royal power, but with great boldness I addressed my speech to the kings, because life in accordance with the law makes a person bold. The great David is a witness to this, because before the Fall he spoke with great boldness before Saul; and after the sin he fled from his patricide son, walked with his head bowed to the ground and his head covered. And the great Elijah, firmly relying on the truth, denounced the wickedness of Ahab (1 Kings 16), and Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar: and now, “O king, let my advice be acceptable to you, and atone for your sins with alms, and atone for your iniquities with the bounties of the poor” (Dan.4:24). So Paul spoke to Agrippa, Festus and Felix; so the virtuous martyrs made no difference to the threats of the wicked kings” (Acts 24, Acts 26). But some interpreters suggest that this can also be understood as preachers of the word of God at all times. The sermon is silent in the Church, and although it addresses Christians, it does not always meet with a Christian reception among them. This verse is inspired by the example of the prophet not to distort the preaching of the truth, not to cover it up with any twists to please the mighty of the earth, but to present it without evasiveness, boldly. Conviction in the truth, coupled with a good life, gives boldness. Saint Athanasius also writes: “How befitting this word (this verse) is for a martyr, who is fought for Christ “before rulers and kings” (Matthew 10:18); so it befits those who open their mouths before the royal holy souls. He is worthy of shame who, having received the word from God, does not preach the gospel with great power!” Saint Hilary goes back to the source of this word: “The duty of an enlarged heart is to abundantly pour out the words of Divine teaching. Preachers of the truth must be guided not only by the example of the prophet, but also by the word of the Lord, Who commanded those who know it to preach it everywhere, encouraging them: “Do not be afraid.” Didymus, in Zigabenus, urges such to have the mind of martyrs: “He who pronounces with his lips the words of God must have the mind of martyrs and always be ready to suffer for the word of truth. That is why God’s testimony is called a word that also means martyrdom.” And everyone everywhere, in their life circumstances, can constantly encounter reasons to testify to the truth and may even suffer for it. How can he be inspired by such testimony if not by trusting in God, who does not abandon truth and the upright? Ps.119:47. And I learned in Your commandments, which I loved dearly. The third fruit of hope is the search for the one thing needed. Reading this verse, your thoughts involuntarily transport you to Mary, sitting at the feet of the Savior and listening to the words coming from His Divine lips. Immediately the lesson of the Lord in the person of Martha comes to mind, spoken to everyone: “Marfo, Marfo, worry and speak about the multitude; there is only one thing that is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41), and then the general law imposed on everyone: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). What happens? - The fact that the prophet, having kindled hope in himself, renounced in his heart everything worldly, earthly, vain and was occupied only with the commandments of God, that is, how best to understand them and how best to fulfill them; for “learning” means learning not only to understand, but also to be able to do it. All this is because the commandments are beloved, and they are beloved because in them alone are hidden the eternal elements of life, to the contemplation of which his hope, warmed, as indicated above, in the previous verses, transferred him. As soon as we hear the word about “one thing we need,” the needs necessary to maintain the body immediately come to mind, and the question arises: how can this be done? But when it is said that one must choose “the only thing needed,” this does not mean that one is encouraged to do nothing, but only to balance the work with the dignity of the work: to devote the main concern and primary work to the main task, and to secondary, subordinate matters - secondary and even ten-degree care and the same work. Put in first place pleasing God and salvation through fulfilling the commandments, and in second, third and fourth place everything else related to maintaining life; and be diligent towards the first with all your heart, and relate to the latter outwardly, touching them as if only with the ends of your fingers, and you will be a faithful doer of what the Lord said about “the only thing needed” and about choosing the good part. Then your main task will be, and all this is an addition or part, as the ancient great ascetics put it. It is impossible not to work and not to do in everyday life and civil life, but one must conduct these affairs in subordination to the main thing, in its spirit, and not contrary to it. I remember at the same time a conversation between one elder and a student, in which, when the elder, having explained the difference between work and additions, complained that now (at that time, that is, when this was said) the order had become distorted and additions had become the main thing, and the main thing - an addition, the student asked him to explain this to him with an example. “You see,” said the elder, “you are sitting at your needlework, and then they hit the beater for church prayer; you should immediately quit work and rush to church, making several bows in your cell. You will do so if the main thing in your heart is the work of God. But if you say: I’ll finish, there’s not much left, and you sit for a while at work, taking this time away from God’s service, then you will show that for you work and gain through work are more valuable than the work of God, and your spiritual structure has turned upside down and feet up. Think about other things like that.” Applying this legend to ourselves and generalizing it, we get this: since someone only cares about temporary needs, the matter of salvation and pleasing God is always pushed into the background because of them, and what relates to it is fulfilled only to the extent that those concerns allow, and, moreover, somehow, hastily and halfway: then for him the main thing is not where it should be, and the aisle takes the wrong place. Where the number of such persons multiplies to the point that those unlike them are no longer visible, the whole society is not in a real order; from a spiritual point of view it will be a society of people walking upside down. And since this is not in the order of things, it is natural that behind this dishonesty all other dishonesty develops in him: hence confusion, decay and destruction. What a lot of hassle, noise, and hustle! What comes out of all this is nothing but dirt. We often hear that those who have left the world and retired to the monastery pound water; - no, these are pounding, but it would be good to have water, otherwise it’s mud; they have chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from them. They have a good hope that will not put them to shame; those who are hopeless have no choice but to grab onto the chips, which along with them plunge into the abyss. Ps.119:48. And I lifted up my hands to Thy commandments, which I loved, and mocked Thy justifications. The fourth and final fruit of the hope that has ripened in the soul is steadfast stay on the good path, or patience in doing good. He who raises his hands to the commandments is the same as he who lays his hand on the forehead, according to the word of the Savior. Just as the latter successfully cultivates the land only when he does not look back and does not glance around, but draws furrow after furrow, despite the fact that it is difficult and the sweat pours, so the worker, who has raised his hands to the commandments, can only succeed in fulfilling them when he is armed with patience and will not spare any labor, nor be afraid of obstacles, but conduct all business after business in accordance with the commandments. That this is exactly what the prophet is talking about, in addition to the monotony of expression with the influx of speech (speech in parables) of the Lord, is also suggested by the word “mockered,” that is, he sat down to the justifications and commandments of God, patiently continued in doing good. What produces such constancy and firmness? – Love, which “no longer falls away” (1 Cor. 13:8). But before love comes, how should we encourage ourselves and how do workers really get inspired? - Nothing other than hope. In hope they begin the work of salvation and pleasing God, and in hope they continue it. Whatever the entrepreneur, the soul of his enterprise is the hope of success; so here too. They hope to make it in time - and they work. This hope is at first bare, alone, without any support from other spiritual movements, except for the unshakable faith that lives everything; but then, when, through patient sitting down to the commandments and justifications, at least the weak fruits of success are shown and the heart begins to enter into the taste of this kind of life, then this taste of the sweetness of good deeds has hope, like clothing from the cold and cover from the heat, and is inspired even more, as one going home is inspired when he sees his blood from afar: and he cannot hold his feet, they run by themselves. Such self-willing walking in the commandments is the fruit of patient persistence in fulfilling them. Saint Athanasius writes: “The prophet here calls active forces hands, because action is the end of the teaching in the commandments. After accepting the word about the commandments, it is best to raise your hands to do in practice what is required in the commandments - not with sadness or under compulsion, but with a good disposition.” Blessed Theodoret adds: “The Kingdom of God is not “in words,” but “in power” (1 Cor. 4:20). Therefore, the prophet added activity to his teaching. What I learned, I did. “For those who hear the law are not righteous before God, but the creators of the law will be justified” (Rom. 2:13), which is why he said: “We mocked at Your justifications,” since he was incessantly occupied with them.” “Wonderful order! - Saint Ambrose calls. First, meditate and study in the commandments of God, in order to thereby position yourself to diligently act on them, and then act on them. Just as the end of studying, for example, history is remembering its events, so the end of teaching in Divine words is acting on them - works aimed at fulfilling them. We must raise our hands to work according to the commandments and do them with love and joy, so that our goodness is not forced, not done with sorrow and hardship, but willingly. He who does not do it willingly is a slave. He who is a friend does what he does willingly. Let us try, concludes Saint Ambrose, so that by willingly fulfilling the commandments we too will earn the words: “But you have been made friends” (John 15:15). Saint Hilary goes further: “And thinking with love is not enough: one must apply the activity of the will - raise one’s hands to the commandments, not to destroy them, but for humble fulfillment, so that the deeds correspond to faith and hope. “Mockery” shows the continuity of doing. He imagines himself as a constant guardian of justifications decreed from above, not so much looking at their present as seeing and enjoying the future.” This insight into the future, given by hope, is the main support for patience in doing the right things and the producer of them. The Apostle commands, for example: “endure in prayer, being watchful in it” (Col. 4:2). For what? – For the fact that “whoever asks receives, whoever seeks finds, and the open is opened to the one who asks” (Matthew 7:8). St. Peter teaches: “give... patience in abstinence.” What is this for? – “For this which is in you and abounds, so that the idle will not become less than the unfruitful, so that you may come to know our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8). Further: “and whatever you do, do it from the heart, as unto the Lord, and not unto man.” For what? – “Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of your wealth” (Col. 3:23–24). So, without patience in doing good, you will not succeed in anything, and there is nowhere to find this patience other than in hope. This hope must therefore be kindled with all diligence, armed with faith. The seventh eight-line goes under the letter “zain” - “olive”. Olive is a tree from the fruits of which oil is made - a symbol of God's mercy and all that is comforting and healing. Perhaps not a single object from the material world is attached in the word of God so often and variedly to spiritual objects as oil: now it is the oil of joy (Ps. 44:8), now of anointing (Exod. 25:6), now of healing (Isa. 1:6), now of light (Exodus 27:20), now the oil of sacrificial (Lev. 6:15), now of grain (in bread) (Lev. 8:26), now of piety (Ecc.7:2), then peace (in the song: “mercy of peace”). In this eight-verse, Saint David collects sayings that express what his soul grieved about and where he took consolation for it. Either he is worried about the slowness of fulfilling the promises of God (verse Ps. 119:49), then the humbling circumstances of life (verse Ps. 119:50), then proud enemies and scoffers (verses Ps. 119:51-52), then, in general, the proliferation of sin and wickedness (verse Ps. 119:53), then staying on earth - the place of our pilgrimage (verse Ps.119:54). In all these sorrows, he seeks and finds consolation only in God and His holy law, trying in every possible way to maintain a proper attitude towards them. This latter is expressed variedly in phrase, but almost identically in thought, as we will see (verses Ps. 119:55-56). Ps.119:49. Remember Thy words to Thy servant, whose hope Thou hast given me. The “words of hope” on which the prophet had comforting hopes were the promises given to him. He asks to remember them, of course, because in the current circumstances there was something that did not correspond to the expectations raised by the words of the Lord, or because he saw something ahead that could destroy his hopes, or because he felt at that time the need for the consolation and mercy of God; the promises promised all mercy, which is why he says: “Remember what you said, and grant at least a small part of what was promised, because, especially now, I feel the need.” The basis of such a petition is an unshakable confidence in the immutability of the word of God. “Remember...” But is it possible that oblivion also happens with God, like with man? - Can't be. So why does it say “remember”? This word is often used in Scripture both in the literal and in the reverse sense, as, for example: “Why have you forgotten me?” (Ps. 41:10), or: “Do you forget our poverty?” (Ps.43:25). And God Himself says through the prophet that He will forget all the sins of the sinner if he turns and repents (Ezek. 18:21-22). Oblivion in God should be understood differently from the way it is understood among us humans. When God, beyond human expectation, changes the order of things without changing His Council, which “endures forever” (Ps. 32:11), then it is said that He “repented.” This is what is said about Him - “forgotten,” when, apparently, He slows down with His help or the fulfillment of His promise, or due reward to sinners, or something else, as if something that is hoped for or feared, but which does not come true, has fallen out of His memory, although God does this according to His special providence, not due to impoverishment of memory and not due to a change of will. Thus, when it is said to Him: “Remember,” this expresses only the desire of the one praying to receive what was promised, and not that something is offered to God, as if it had fallen out of His thoughts. “Remember,” he says, “Thy words to Thy servant”; this means: fulfill what You promised to Your servant; “Whose hope you gave me” means: “Having relied on Your words expressing the promise, I, explains Blessed Augustine, began to harbor hope.” Saint Hilary also sees in this word the idea that since the promises of God are conditional, given, that is, under the condition of fidelity of the one to whom they are given, the prophet, not hoping to fulfill these conditions himself, asks God to help him in this, in order to then fulfill the promise limited by such conditions. “The prophet prays,” he says, “that he may appear worthy so that God will deign him to remember His word with which he has encouraged him.” What kind of words these are from God to David is definitely indicated in the word of God. So God spoke to him through the prophet Nathan: “I gave you away from the sheep pasture for dominion over my people Israel, and I was with you in all that you may have walked, and I have uprooted all your enemies from before you.” And further: “And I will give you rest from all your enemies,” and so on. Hearing such an answer from God, Saint David cried out: “Who am I, my Lord, Lord, and what is my house, because you have loved me even to this day? And this is small before You, O my Lord, Lord, and You spoke about the house of Your servant afar off.” And below: “And now, my Lord, Lord! You are God, and Your words will be true, and You have spoken these good things about Your servant. And now begin and bless the house of Your servant, so that he may be forever before You, as You, my Lord, Lord, have spoken, and from Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed, so that he may be forever before You. through the prophet, he approaches God with prayer, so that he may remember the promises, which it is unusual for Him to forget. “Not out of any proud claim, Saint Ambrose interprets, he says this way, but in the confidence that the true God cannot be deceitful in His words. He says something like this: I did not trust out of rapture; on the contrary, You yourself made me feel hopeful. I am a slave - I wait for nourishment from the master; I’m a warrior - I’m waiting for quitrent from the king.” This is the meaning of these words in the mouth of Saint David. But in what sense can we turn them to God? And we have all been given promises in the Lord Jesus, not only about the future, but also about the present. Therefore, bringing these promises to mind and not seeing their fulfillment on yourself, pray that God will remember them and fulfill them in you, and if the obstacle to their fulfillment is in you, then ask at the same time to destroy this obstacle and make you worthy of accepting what is promised. Thus, forgiveness is promised to those who repent; but all-forgiveness brings joy, and you still have the same tightness and as if hopelessness - pray that the Lord will speak the promised all-forgiveness in your heart and you will feel the joy of it, because “Blessed are those who have forsaken iniquity and those who have covered themselves with sin” (Ps. 31:1). It is promised that those who are baptized with water and the Spirit or washed with tears of repentance are renewed spiritually and begin to live a new life: this must also happen in you; and meanwhile you realize that the actions of the old man continue to break through with the same force as before - and pray that the Lord by His grace will deliver you from “the body of this death” (Rom. 7:24) and that not sin, but God Himself will live in you. It is promised that everyone will be taught by God, not externally, through writing, but internally, through writing with an invisible finger the words of God on the tablets of the heart: this should also be in you; but you see everything unclearly, and the all-enlightening and life-giving word is never spoken in your heart - and pray that the Lord will finally become for you a light, enlightening every person coming into the world. It is promised that true worshipers will worship God in spirit, and so should you; and meanwhile you see that your physical worship is faulty, but your spiritual worship and the first fruits are missing - so pray that “He who gives prayer to those who pray” (1 Samuel 2:9) will teach you to approach Him in prayer as it should be. Do the same in relation to everything else. But at the same time, so that your prayer is not an empty word, do not forget to fulfill or promise to fulfill what is required of you, so that the meaning of your words will always be this: “here I am doing, or will do according to my strength, what depends on me - remember, O Lord, and You, what You have promised to those who work for You, and fulfill Your blessings to my poor soul.” When you have labored like this in life, then at the end of it you can say with the apostle: “I have fought the good fight, I have died, I have kept the faith. Otherwise the crown of righteousness will be kept for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will reward me with in the day” (2 Tim. 4:7-8). This is the height of promise and hope, based on the word of the Lord: “Where I am, my servant will also be” (John 12:26). Ps.119:50. So console me in my humility, for Your word lives on me. First of all, the prophet expressed the idea that there was something in his life that did not correspond to the promises of God, and therefore asked him to remember them; Now he definitely says what exactly confused him. These are some humbling, humiliating, spirit-killing circumstances, and in the midst of them he revives his grief-stricken soul with the word of the Lord. What is this “humbling”? – There could also be an awareness of one’s moral shortcomings that one cannot cope with; “reviving” in this case will be the word of the Lord that the one who humbly thinks about himself will be exalted, and most of all the promise that he who grieves about this and calls out to God will always receive grace-filled revival: the Lord will send His Spirit and his ruined moral structure will be built up. This is how Blessed Augustine teaches: “One can understand here,” he says, the humility with which one humbles oneself, confessing one’s sins and proudly not attributing the truth to oneself. Those who humble themselves in this way are given this comforting word: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). And the Lord Himself said: “He who is exalted will humble himself, but he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). But, adds Blessed Augustine, it is good to understand here that humility when someone humbles himself to sorrow, which is sent to the crushing of pride and the test of patience. The life-giving word for such is this: “in your patience gain your souls,” and “the hair of your head will not perish” (Luke 21:18, 19); and again: “God is faithful, who will not leave you to be tempted more than you are able, but will create with temptation also the abundance that you may be able to bear” (1 Cor. 10:13). The Lord gave the same hope in the prayer that he taught us, commanding us to say in it: “and do not lead us into temptation.” If He wanted those praying to say this in prayer, then, of course, He also made a promise that He would fulfill what was asked.” Saint Athanasius understands the same about the words of the prophet: “then comfort me in my humility.” “This very hope (which is spoken of in the previous verse), generated in me by Your word, consoled and calmed me so much that if any disaster or danger befell me, the expectation of death, a serious illness, or loss of property, or persecution, or anything else that people think is serious, then the consolation for me was hope.” Saint Ambrose also says: “The hope that overshadowed me, through the influence of Your word, consoled me and inspired me to endure the troubles that I encountered in life. And he hoped so because he was faithful to the Lord: without this he would not have had hope. This can be seen in Saint Paul the Apostle. When Paul went against the name of the Lord, he did not have the consolation of hope, but when he began to suffer for his name’s sake, he drew consolation from the source of hope. Look how, having become faithful, he inspired everyone to patience and complacency. “Who will separate us from the love of God: tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or trouble, or the sword? As it is written: For for Your sake we are put to death all day long; We are counted as sheep of the slaughter.” Then he adds how all this can be endured: “But in all these we overcome for our beloved” (Rom. 8:35-37). So, whoever wants to overcome adversity, when persecution, or misfortune, or death, or a serious illness, or an attack by robbers, or the confiscation of property, or some other disaster happens, he who is filled with comforting hope will easily overcome all this. Let something like this come across - it cannot have an overwhelming effect on someone who carries in his heart the conviction that “the passions of this present time are unworthy of the glory that would be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). He who expects the best cannot be crushed by anything unimportant.” Saint Ambrose also means something else by “humbling,” namely, internal temptations from sin and the devil, with which one must fight in the hope of victory by the power of the Lord’s grace. “In times of our humility,” he says, our comforter is hope. I consider the time of humility of our soul to be the time of temptation. Our soul humbles itself when it is handed over to the tempter to be tested by painful difficulties, which are inevitable in order to withstand the struggle and overcome when you feel an attack of an opposing force. It is in these temptations that the soul lives by the word of God. It is the vital essence of our soul, by which it is nourished, regenerated and controlled. And there is nothing that could live the rational soul like the word of God. To the extent that it takes root in our soul, when, of course, it is accepted and tasted, to that extent the life of the soul is revealed. On the contrary, as the word of God becomes scarce in the soul, the life of the soul suffers damage and impoverishment. Just as the union between soul and body is supported and lived by the vital spirit, so by the word of God and the grace of the Spirit our soul is given life (its union with God, the source of life, is maintained). That is why we must try in every possible way to, leaving everything else behind, collect the words of God and bring them into our sovereignty (mind), into our feelings (heart), into our undertakings (will), and into all our deeds, so that all our activities are in agreement with the sayings of Scripture, and our deeds do not differ in the least from the order of the heavenly commandments. Then you too can say: “Thy word liveth unto me.” Saint Athanasius expresses his last thought as follows: “Nothing gives the rational soul the strength to live its life like God’s word. To the extent that God’s word grows in the human soul, comprehended and accepted by it, to the same extent that which constitutes life increases (namely, to live here virtuously) and that subsequently will give eternal life.” Saint Hilary summarizes all the above thoughts briefly in the following words: “Hope consoled him “in humility,” that is, when he endured contempt, ridicule and insults, when he was dishonored by reproaches. Knowing that the struggle with temptations of this kind is inevitable in the present century, he consoled himself in it with the hope aroused in him by God Himself, and was enlivened by the word of God. From it he drew confirmation that glory in heaven is incomparably higher than the degree of his current humiliation for faithfulness to the will of God. He also knew that a soul filled with the words of God contains within itself, as it were, a kind of pasture of eternal life. He who lives by the word of God is not shaken by the empty glory of the fortunate. He knows that his poverty is richer than their wealth, his fasting is saturated with heavenly abundance, his humility will be rewarded with glorious honor.” Ps.119:51. Pride has transgressed the law to the extreme, but we have not deviated from Your law. “The proud,” he says, “transgressed Your law for a long time, but I did not follow their bad example and lawlessness; or this way: the proud acted lawlessly in that they mocked me as one who constantly studied in Your law, but because of their mockery I did not abandon the teaching in Your law. He calls despisers and criminals of the Divine Law proud, because such criminals are usually proud.” This is how Zigaben explains this verse. In the previous verse, from the vaguely sorrowful, he pointed to the humbling circumstances of life; and now from this circle of sorrowful accidents he singles out those that come from proud despisers of the law, blaspheming the law, mocking its executors and leading everyone astray from the proper path. These are the masters of all evil, meeting with whom is most painful for people who are devoted to the law and sincerely, with all their hearts, love it. They are the essence of lawbreakers “to the point”, that is, not only those who break the law, but also those who rebel against it, despise, hate and arm themselves against it with their evil words. Against them, the prophet armed himself with constancy and firmness in loyalty to the law, not allowing himself not only to transgress it, but also to think about anything contrary to it. “According to the law,” he says, I spent my life, observing the sovereign power of my soul (mind), so as not to hide a lawless word in my heart; “For, Saint Athanasius interprets this passage, when they transgress the law “to the utmost,” I have not even transgressed Thy law even in the smallest thing.” In this verse the prophet expresses only the firmness of his character, but this firmness did not exclude heart disease. Where did he find healing oil for such a heart wound? - In remembrance of the judgments of God. Here is a lesson in how to act when around us there are not only criminals of the law, but also despisers and detractors of it. Let them! You remain firm: you won’t talk everyone over and won’t convince everyone. There is a Judge of all in heaven, who sees how they rebel against His commands, and will be able to give everyone their due. “Pride,” says Saint Ambrose, is a great sin in man. Our damage also began from her. With this arrow, the devil wounded and struck us at the beginning. If man, deceived by the cunning speech of the serpent, had not wanted to be God and if, content with the restrictions given to him, he had not touched the forbidden, then the destructive inheritance of the fall would never have passed on to us. What am I talking about a man! The devil himself, through pride, lost the grace of his nature when he said: “I will set my throne above the stars of heaven... I will be like the Most High” (Is. 14:13–14), and fell from the host of angels. Having been righteously punished for such a crime, he decided to make a person involved and poured his poison into him. What could be worse than such a sin, which began with rebellion against God! That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud.” As an avenger of the disrespect shown to Him, God undertook a kind of special warfare with pride. He says something like this: “The proud are My enemy; He calls me, I need to fight him.” That is why the prophet says: “proud people are lawbreakers to the extreme,” that is, the proud tend not only to commit untruths, but also “green” untruths. Having shown the power of evil in pride, it was necessary to teach us how to defeat it. He does this: “from the law,” he says, “We will not deviate from your law.” Thus, one law of God can squeeze out the juice of pride, teaching a God-fearing and reverent person the prudence with which he should rule himself. Many, not only strangers to the faith, but from those who have already tasted enough of the good word of the commandments, are seduced by the successes of the proud, seeing how breakers of the law, advocates of wickedness, arrogant despisers of sincere believers, exalting themselves over those who, through the fear of God and obedience to the heavenly commandments, humble their hearts - seeing how such abound in the world with this wealth, glory, honors and power, and how, the more serious the untruths they commit, the more abundant the influx of worldly benefits they receive, and how righteous people for the most part suffer shortages and other hardships - seeing all this, they are indignant at this to the point of darkening their minds and are inclined to think that in this the court of God somehow errs, forgetting that main truth, the most obvious truth, that the reward for the work of pleasing God was not laid down in this century, but postponed for the next century. But few people take this into account. At first, David himself was tempted by this, as he writes: “These are sinners and possessors of goats forever” (those who are rich in this age), “holding back wealth. And they said, “Have you justified my heart in vain and washed my innocent hands, and were ulcerated all day long?” ( Ps. 72:12–13 ). Often among us, imperfect ones, others, seeing this, say: where is the providence of God, where is the truth? The proud man abounds, the arrogant man grows rich, the wicked man is happy and in power; and this righteous one lies, abandoned by everyone, in such poverty that he does not have his daily bread, and besides, he suffers reproach from the wicked, trampled underfoot by the proud. Of course, this is not an easy temptation, and you will not overcome it if you do not see into the future, if you do not feed yourself more abundantly with heavenly rents. David thought before that he knew this truth; but when the temptation came, it turned out that he didn’t know, which is why he was worried and sick in spirit; That’s why he says: “And the nepshchevah understand: this work is before me, until I enter into the sanctuary of God, and I understand their last” (Ps. 73:16-17). Seeing in a prophetic spirit how those who are proud for being so exalted will be rejected and humiliated, he says: “What was to become desolation? Suddenly she disappeared, she perished for her iniquity, like the sleep of one who rises” (Ps. 73:19-20). Thus he learned that the successes of the wicked in this age are a dream, not a reality; their advantages are still visible to them while they sleep. As soon as they awaken from this sleep, those who saw themselves hitherto well-fed will immediately find themselves thirsty, those who saw themselves richly nourished, in a word, from that dream they will not take anything solid that would calm them in reality. Yes, the people of this age are sleeping soundly... They may be awake for the world, but for God they are sleeping; and Saint Job, who previously marveled at their ostentation, speaks well of them: “they will be like chaff before the wind, or like dust, and a whirlwind takes it away,” they die in the sorrow of the soul, having tasted nothing and having no good (Job 21:18, 25). And the righteous, having the testimony of a good conscience, consoles himself especially with what awaits him in the end, knowing that upon leaving this life he will be freed from all difficulties and will undoubtedly receive reward for his deeds. But this is accessible only to those who can say about themselves: “I have not deviated from Your law,” - in whom not only the grace of good deeds shines, but also the purity of a sincere conscience. We fight for the Lord according to the law, not only with visible deeds, but also with hidden feelings. The law says: “Let not the word of iniquity be hidden in your heart” (Deut. 15:9), so that not only do you not sin in deed and do not utter a word when you see the proud in glory, but also in the secret of your heart you do not accept the attack of unrighteousness when you think about the judgments of God. Let us now briefly outline what kind of mood a holy man should be in. First, he must remember the heavenly promises; secondly, to understand what fate is laid out for the living, so that when troubles and sorrows are encountered, he does not lose heart, but consoles himself with hope drawn from the chain of testimonies of Divine Scripture; thirdly, he should not, like some unbeliever, evade the law when he sees that proud wicked and unrighteous people abound in wealth in this age, but firmly follow his mother-in-law in his own path, avoiding communication with the proud, in order to avoid infection from them, since “every one who is high-hearted is unclean before God” (Prov. 16:5). Ps.119:52. I have remembered Your destiny from eternity, O Lord, and have been comforted. This verse complements the previous one. “I remembered, Lord,” he says, as it were, “Your righteous judgments, revealed by You from the beginning of the world, how You honor and glorify those who suffer for virtue, as You dishonor and shame those who are full of happiness with sin, and with this memory I was comforted in my sorrows and suffering in the face of the proud detractors of Your law.” This is how Zigaben interprets this passage. “Keeping in memory, says Saint Athanasius the Great, that which is given to everyone from century to century, with which the righteous are consoled and remain carefree; Remembering the judgments that You carried out in ancient times against the oppressors of the Israelites, I was comforted, knowing that I myself would not be left in persecution, and that everything happens to people according to the judgment of God.” “I brought to my mind, explains Blessed Theodoret, what happened to Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Moses, how they were allowed to fall into various temptations and how You subsequently made them glorious and famous, I drew sufficient consolation from this for myself.” “The proud,” writes Saint Ambrose, with their attacks on the law shook my devotion to the law; but I remembered Your judgments and, comforted by them, returned to my former convictions and decisions; for if anyone, being taught by the law and convinced by examples, does not begin to harbor that deep confidence that the words of God are immutably true, he is in danger of quickly deviating from the law. But collect the past in your memory, review the chain of ancient events, and you will see that just as a sinner does not escape punishment for his untruths, so a righteous person does not lose reward for his righteousness. Look, at the very beginning Adam, for breaking the heavenly commandment, is expelled from the dwelling of paradise; there Cain is condemned by God's sentence to pay for his fratricidal crime with groaning and shaking; there Enoch, taken to heaven for his piety, escapes the sting of death; there Noah, the winner of the flood for his godly righteousness, becomes the new ancestor of the human race; there Abraham receives for his faith the promise of descendants over all the face of the earth; there Jacob, for his patience, seals the people of believers with the seal of the new name given to him (the name of the Israelites); there David, for his meekness, is preferred to his older brothers and is clothed with royal honor; there Elijah, taken into the air by God’s chariot for his zeal, moves into a new kind of dwelling, into a heavenly abode. Going through all this in your memory, you will find where to get consolation and how to strengthen yourself in fidelity to God’s commandments. To the one who keeps the commandments, the judgments of God are sweet, but to the one who neglects them, they are bitter, for in the shame of sinners he foresees the judgment of God that is preparing for him. He who has a clear conscience is not embarrassed by anything, adding to himself the comforting definition: “heirs with God, and joint heirs with Christ, since we have suffered with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:17). How natural it is for someone in grief, especially one suffering in vain, to turn to the righteous judgment of God to console himself, this is proven by everyday experience. What word does the offended person usually say when he takes him by the heart? - “God is your judge!” or: “There is a righteous God who sees everything!” - and thus completely alleviates his grief and calms his heart. On the other hand, nothing calms sinners and offenders so much as the memory of the destinies of God and His righteous final judgment, in which nothing will be hidden and nothing will be left without reward. Whoever comes to the consciousness and feeling of this judgment even a little, immediately lowers his hands, stretched out to iniquity, and stops his feet, flowing towards sin. The judgment of God is a constant preacher of repentance, and he who listens to this sermon will not be put to shame. St. Augustine notes that some understand the word “comforted” to mean “received a lesson” or received instruction. Saint Ambrose addresses everyone with the following word: “Which of us is such that he can be comforted by the remembrance of God’s judgments? Human judgments are also terrible for sinners, but how much more terrible should God’s judgments be for them! Look how it happens in the normal course of business. The innocent go to court with joy and, annoyed at the slowness, demand a speedy decision, but the guilty are afraid and flee the trial, and when they get caught in something, they try in every possible way to delay the day of judgment - and with what fear they are amazed when the hour finally comes! Something similar to this, but on an immense scale, will be repeated at God’s judgment. Blessed is he who can look forward with joy to this heavenly judgment!” Ps.119:53. I have received sorrow from sinners who forsake Thy law. The proliferation of wickedness and widespread depravity is a new source of sorrow for the prophet! Ahead, he pointed to the outstanding individuals from this circle - the mockers and the attackers; now it denotes the entire continuous mass of those who sin without the fear of God and the fear of His judgment, although they do not attack, but by their appearance and shamelessness they confuse the pious heart. In this verse he speaks only of sorrow because of this, and in the next he indicates where his consolation in such sorrow came from. The sadness that took him at the sight of the increase of sin was so strong that he was close to fainting, as the Greek word and the corresponding Hebrew word show. A heart that loves God and its neighbor cannot have any other attitude towards this, for with sin those who bear the name of God dishonor God, and they destroy themselves irrevocably if they do not repent. Taking both to heart, the sincerely pious suffers. About righteous Lot, the holy Apostle Peter writes: “by sight and hearing the righteous man lived in them” (among the lawless Sodomites), “day by day the righteous soul was tormented by lawless deeds” (2 Pet. 2:8). The righteous David experienced the same thing: “I saw,” he says, “lawlessness and discord in the city. Day and night he will walk upon his walls, lawlessness and labor, and untruth, in his midst. And his hundredfold profit and flattery did not fail" (Ps. 54:10-12). Painful about this situation of people, he says: “Sadness has come upon me.” “Not many people share this feeling,” says Saint Ambrose. Most people are sad when they suffer an insult, a loss, or dishonor from someone; but those who are more perfect and stronger in spirit grieve not over their own humiliation, but over the sin of those who humiliate them. They are offended, and they sigh over the fall of another, mourning themselves as the cause of the sin of the offenders. Saint Paul did the same: “because of much sorrow and heaviness of heart,” he wrote to the Corinthians, “I wrote to you with many tears.” But, grieving himself, he does not want, however, to grieve those who were worthy of reproof: not as if, he adds, “let you be offended, but let you know the love that I showed to you in abundance” (2 Cor. 2:4). It is clear that he wants the fallen to come to the contrition of repentance, assuring them that this kind of contrition will be a source of joy for him: “if,” he continues, “if I bring sorrow to you, then who is it that makes me glad, then accept sorrow from Me?” (2 Cor. 2:2). Thus, although he denounces, he excommunicates in order to lead to salvation, having caused some sorrow, condemns in order to resolve, excommunicates in order to sincerely accept. Paul is like this, among other things, because, being well versed in the law, he knew the instructive example of the one who said: “I have received sorrow from the sinner.” David was sick not because he was despised, not because he got it, but because he was abandoned and despised by the law of God; He was sad about those who did this, because they perished for God through this. Like a good father, when his demented son scolds him, slanders him, and even beats him, he mourns not himself, but the plight of his son; Likewise, a good person, when he sees that some sinner is doing something unworthy, in the presence of even an old man, not respecting his gray hair and not realizing in his sinful madness how indecently and dishonestly he is acting, hurts about him, sighs, as if he were terminally ill. Like a good doctor, he first offers advice, then, having begun to treat, does not abandon the patient, despite the fact that the patient, out of impatience, will say something unpleasant to him; so the righteous does not turn away from the sinner, despite the contempt that he suffers from him. Even when he encounters insults, he attributes them not to him, but to the fury of the enemy who is embarrassing him, and cares not about rewarding himself, but about healing the soul of a desperately sick person.” “The source of such concern for sinners, says Saint Hilary, is love according to God, by virtue of which, when one member suffers, all the others will have compassion for it.” “Sadness is accepted,” writes Saint Athanasius, that is, sorrow for sinners, some of whom sin without even knowing the beginning of the laws, while others, although they know the law, transgress it. “If one oud suffers, all the people suffer with him; if one oud is glorified, all the people rejoice with him” (1 Cor. 12:26). Indifference to the spread of wickedness and general depravity exposes the weakening of moral and religious feelings. When this happens, society is in an epidemic situation. When cholera reaches a place, all residents feel attacks of cholera in varying degrees; so here; expanding wickedness and debauchery are affecting everyone a little. Others do not participate in action, but watch; Some people, although they don’t look, remain silent, and rarely, rarely does anyone raise their voice, and even then in a half-whisper. Such are our unfortunate times! This, however, does not justify indifference, because to be zealous for the glory of God and for the reign of goodness and light is the duty of all who realize that this is the true good of man, human societies and humanity. Ps.119:54. Peta bahhu your justifications for me, at the place of my coming. "Peta" - loopy, that is, excited to sing. Anyone who is busy with something to the point of inspiration and with a feeling of pleasure is ready to sing, and sings if he can. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So the prophet, delving into the justifications of God, having perceived them with his heart and being carried away by love for them, sang about them, praised and expressed their dignity, Divine importance and obligation for everyone. Putting these words in relation to the previous one, we see that sadness was expressed there, and a source of consolation is indicated here. He seems to say this: “The sin and wickedness that multiplied around me plunged my soul into sadness, and I, delving into Your justifications, warmed my heart with love for them and thereby drove away the gloomy mood in myself and the harmful influence that the sinfulness that surrounds us usually leaves in the soul.” Or like this: “It was sad to see the spill of evil and wickedness around me, but I was comforted by Your justifications, reflecting on them and warming up the confirmation of their immutability and salvific nature, in contrast to the destruction caused by wickedness.” The place of arrival is real life. The feeling “that we are strangers and strangers on the earth” (Heb. 11:13) is common to all sincerely God-fearing people. For the prophet, it was elevated by the fact that in those around him he did not see any agreement with the mood of his heart. They planned and did one thing, and he did something completely different, and therefore was a stranger between them. A different spirit of life was at work in him, not from this world. That is why, separating himself from everyone, he clung to what came from the same heavenly region, from which came the power of life, which inspired and delighted him with justifications emanating from God. They blew upon him the native air of the spiritual Fatherland. And just as in the spring, when awakened new life embraces someone who has emerged into the open air from a stuffy home, a song involuntarily erupts to express the joy of life, so the prophet sang when the heavenly elements, dear to his spirit, sang in justifications. With this he consoled himself and drove away the bad spirit that had come over him from the sinful world. And in the Church of God, the singing of spiritual songs was then established by the holy apostles, in order to comfort the souls of the gathered pious people in various sorrows and at the same time to dispel the spirit of the world, which cannot but have a pernicious influence on those living in its midst. He who has entered the house of God cannot suddenly stand before God: he must be sung, and when he has sung, he must be brought into sympathy with the spiritual realm. Both are achieved by spiritual singing in churches. Without singing, worship will not be in its order. And outside the church, nothing can so easily respond to the spirit of the world as by singing spiritual songs. When his seizures intensify, start singing, and he will go away. To do this, you need to have memorized psalms and songs. Saint Hilary writes: “The Prophet, having once perceived the psalm songs by ear, teaches us by his example to always keep them in our hearts, so that later we can repeat them with our lips, as if celebrating a service.” “The proud,” says Saint Ambrose, did not deviate him from the law; he found consolation in the judgments of God. And the sorrow of sinners did not consume him; He armed himself against her by singing about God’s justifications. What is in the heart is what is usually sung about; and what is sung is better imprinted on the feelings. We should not skim over what we read superficially, so as not only to keep it in our minds while reading, but also when we do not have the book in our hands. Let God's justifications be for us a hymn, a song, a psalm; Let us sing in spirit, let us also sing in mind (1 Cor. 14:15), so that if we forget about it at the right time, it will not be said to each of us: “Thou hast cast back my words” (Ps. 49:17). To drive away oblivion from the holy house, the wise Solomon ordered the singers to sing, and they announced the wondrous deeds of God (2 Chronicles 5:12). In the congregation of those praying to God there should always be those who sing, so that by their singing we may drive away the unclean spirit, just as the singing of Saint David drove away the spirit that tormented Saul (1 Sam. 16:23). It happened that the prophets, before prophesying, ordered skilled singers to sing in order to predispose themselves to the influx of the grace of the Spirit with a pleasant sweet sound (2 Kings 3:15). Sweet singing is not that which softens the ear, but that which elevates the spirit and heart; and the New Testament is called a song, for the Lord Himself was pleased to say: “You shall sing and not dance” (Luke 7:32). He sang to us in the Gospel the remission of sins. The Jews should have heeded this, but they didn’t, and they deserved reproach.” “But God’s justifications cannot be sung by those who have not renounced all earthly concerns. Therefore, the prophet added: “at the place of my coming.” Here we are aliens, but God has our own. That is why the apostle says that in the house of God, by calling to faith, we are no longer strangers and strangers, but fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God (Eph. 2:19); and whoever is of God’s household has already left the world; he who revolves in heavenly things is a stranger on earth; He who sings has put aside all the burdensome worries or calculations that squeeze his heart. Not as saddened by concern for those unavailable, but as free from all bodily needs and passions, the same prophet sang: “I will sing to You, O God, with the harp. My lips will rejoice when I sing to You, and my soul, even though You have delivered” (Ps. 70:22-23). So he sang in joy, because he was filled with the best blessings. His spirit was saturated with the food of reverence for the Divine - and he sang.” Ps.119:55. I will remember Your name in the night, O Lord, and keep Your law. The last two verses represent a general conclusion from the previous one, which is what we should mainly focus on in case of all troubles that cause sorrow, or what is the comprehensive law of our life on earth, full of sorrows and troubles. This law can be expressed in the words of the son of David as follows: “remember God and keep His commandments,” seeking them, of course, with all your soul, “as every man does” (Eccl. 12:13). This is the content of the present verses. “I will remember Your name in the night.” Night here means either an ordinary part of the day, or in a figurative sense - real life in general, or the sorrowful circumstances of life, or attacks of oblivion, insensibility and the uprising of all sorts of unkind thoughts, feelings and passions. In the first case, the thought will be this: at night, when everything around me was plunged into deep silence, when my soul was freed from the oppression of external impressions, I remembered Your name, I more vividly realized that You are the Creator, and the Provider, and the merciful and righteous Rewarder, in whose hand everything is; therefore, I am with my poor soul. Having remembered this, I was inspired with greater determination to keep Your law. Or this: not only at night, but at all other times, I always remembered Your name; it did not leave my thoughts in all the affairs and circumstances of life, and this gave me the convenience of preserving Your law. If I have kept it until now, it is because I remembered You, that You are omnipresent, and at the same time I realized how inappropriate it was to allow anything displeasing to You, not only in words and deeds, but also in thoughts, and I always remained faithful to Your law. In the second sense, this can be understood this way: although troubles, disasters, misfortunes and all kinds of failures cast darkness over my soul and wavered my fidelity to Thy law; but, remembering Your name this night and realizing that everything is from You and everything is being built for my good, I calmed down and remained faithful to Your law. Whatever the thought, the prophet’s intention with these words is the same - to inspire that remembrance of God is the source of all consolation and complete strength of moral character, always faithful to God. Blessed Theodoret writes: “I remembered in the night...” The face of the saints always rises at night and prays and sings songs to the God of all. But I think that night is the time of temptation here, because it brings darkness and, like night, befalls people. At this time, it is primarily necessary to remember the God of all: this consoles, encourages and reflects contrary thoughts.” Blessed Augustine brings under this all the sorrows that were mentioned in this eight-verse: “Night, he says, is also the humiliation into which our mortality places us - night from the proud, those who break the law to the bitter end, - night from sorrow because of sinners who abandon the law of God, - night, finally, from the place of this coming, until the Lord comes and brings the secret darkness into the light and announces the advice heartfelt, and then praise will come to everyone from God (1 Cor. 4:5). On this night, a person should remember God, “boast, let him boast in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:31); That is why it is written: “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory” (Ps. 113:9), since through this you can be disposed to keep the law not for your own sake, but for the sake of the glory of God, as David did, according to the instructions of this verse. He would not have preserved the law if, hoping to preserve it on his own, he had not remembered the name of God; “for our help is in the name of the Lord” (Ps. 123:8). Saint Ambrose says: “It is common for the righteous to strive at all times to praise God, not only during the day, but also at night. “I remembered,” he says, “always, that means, I remembered, I did not allow a single moment of time to pass without a prayerful appeal to God. If those engaged in secular sciences do not indulge in sleep, then how many times more should those who wish to know God not be discouraged (distracted) in this by bodily sleep, yielding to it only as much as is required by nature! Every night David wet his bed with his tears, got up at midnight and confessed to the Lord; and you think about giving the whole night to uninterrupted sleep! Then you should most of all pray to the Lord; It is then that you most ask for His help, most fear sin, when it seems to you that you are hidden from everyone. When there is darkness around and the walls cover you, then most strongly restore the thought that God sees everything and the hidden. Do not say: I am covered with darkness - who sees me and whom should I fear, imprisoned and hidden in the walls? “The face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (Ps. 33:17). But even if you don’t see the witness, don’t you see yourself? And aren't you afraid of the testimony of your conscience? Don’t you know that the darkness of the night is not a protector, but an inciter of sin? When the body is heated by sleep and food, then the alertness of the mind weakens, and its strength is shaken by sleep, and then lust attacks and disturbs the heart. And this is all the more dangerous because then the shame of impurity is not seen, the grace of chastity is not appreciated, and the glory of chastity is not recognized. The night was when Judas betrayed the Lord and Peter denied Him. Especially at this time, one must remember God, reconsider His justifications, and reread His admonishing instructions. Let the commandments about purity not depart from your thoughts; the mind occupied by them will turn away the ignition of lust and cool the kindling of the flesh.” Ps.119:56. This will come to me as a justification for Your demands. In this verse, two thoughts can be admitted: the memory of the name of God was for me the reason that I sought Your justifications; and one more thing: this memory “was in me” was formed and strengthened in my soul because I sought Your justifications. In the course of the lives of those who are zealous for pleasing God and salvation, both actually happen. A person remembers about God, about the fact that everything depends on Him and that one day he will have to give an account of everything to Him - and he comes to his senses; then seeing faults in life, he decides to correct them and then devote himself to walking in the will of God. Obviously, it was nothing else but remembrance of God that forced him to seek God’s justification. This is how blessed Theodoret understands it: “This, says the prophet, led me to the state of gaining control over myself (breaking myself) and choosing for myself the acquisition of Your justifications.” Then, one who seeks this kind of life cannot do without remembering God, for every commandment that he is required to fulfill is God’s commandment, and he must fulfill them constantly, since all our deeds and relationships are surrounded by commandments. Every step reminds him of God, and a life constantly faithful to the commandments indelibly imprints the memory of Him on his mind and heart. He voluntarily takes up this task of forming the remembrance of God, and forces himself to do it, in the confidence and experience of the benefits of this, that in this case the fulfillment of the commandments flows more successfully and passions are overcome more easily and deeply. Saint Hilary writes: “this came,” refers to the remembrance with which he remembered the name of God at night, and with the words “this came to me” means that it did not come by chance, was not perceived temporarily, but was always there and abided in him, and was forever rooted within him by the power of faith. “Byst” is like that for him because he sought justification. Through constant seeking of them, he achieved the point that he began to maintain the unceasing memory of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This verse, as noted, together with the previous one constitutes the conclusion of this eight-verse, in which the holy prophet, having indicated various sorrows and sources of consolation in them, finally expresses where to stop and remain more faithful. He says something like this: having sought to please God by walking in His holy will, remain in the unceasing memory of God, surrendering all of yourself to God and expecting from Him assistance in every good deed. From here you will receive irresistible courage in the fight against sorrows and unshakable fidelity to the commandments of God. Here are a few words from Saint Isaac the Syrian on this subject: “A person who doubts that God is a helper in good deeds is afraid of his shadow and, in times of prosperity and abundance, languishes with hunger, and in the silence that surrounds him, he is filled with storms; but whoever trusts in God is strong in his heart, and his sufficiency is obvious to all people, and his praise is before his enemies. The commandments of God are higher than all the treasures of the world. Whoever acquires them finds God within himself. He who always rests in God's care has acquired God as his steward; whoever desires to fulfill the will of God will have heavenly angels as guides; He who fears sins makes a terrible procession without stumbling and, during the darkness, finds light before him and within himself. The feet of one who fears sins are guarded by the Lord, and during times of temptation (temptation), God’s mercy precedes him.” The eighth eight-line goes under the letter “het” - “sin”. The prophet is not talking here about sin itself, but about how a sinner breaks out of his bonds and what techniques are used to stay on the good path. He takes the sinner at the moment when, upon awakening from sinful sleep, he has to decide - either to stop sinning, or, postponing repentance, to walk again in the same path of sin. Before him is the world with sweets and the Lord with commandments. Having thoroughly discussed both sides, he decides: “Thou art my part, O Lord; rekh keep Your law" (verse Ps. 119:57). I decided to keep the law forward - but what to do with my old life? - Nothing else but, falling to God, who loves mankind, crying out: “Have mercy on me according to Your word” (verse Ps. 119:58)! Repentance has been brought, remission of sins has been received: what to do next? – We must think over our new life, both in general and in particular, bring it under the commandments of God, and return our feet to the testimonies of God (verse Ps. 119:59). When embarking on a new path, there are so many obstacles! But when the orders of the new life were being thought out, they were all foreseen, and readiness was expressed to take them up and overcome them, no matter what the cost. That is why a meeting with them does not shake one who has set the intention to keep the commandments (verse Ps. 119:60). Companions of a sinful life and sinful habits could most sensitively shake this intention, but they will not force someone firmly resolved to forget the law of God (verse Ps. 119:61). Thus, all ties with sin are severed. But the temptations are not over yet: we must strengthen ourselves in goodness and stock up on strength to resist evil. The Prophet points out three most powerful methods for this: night vigils (verse Ps. 119:62), communication in word and prayer with God-fearing people (verse Ps. 119:63) and especially - surrendering oneself to the mercy of God (verse Ps. 119:64). Ps.119:57. Thou art my part, O Lord; rekh to keep Your law. “Thou art my part, O Lord.” Who is it decent to say this to? – It is fitting for one who leaves everything and desires to serve the Lord alone, but it is also fitting for one who forsakes sin and returns to the good path of God’s law. Both of them say in their hearts: “To you, Lord, I dedicate myself entirely,” the first - to always remain with the one Lord, choosing the part of Mary, who listened at the feet of the Lord only to His word; and the second - to please the Lord by fulfilling His commandments in serving the brethren as much as possible. The Lord looks upon both of them, since they also believe in their hearts to please Him. The idea in this verse is that the soul places its supreme good, its treasure and source of everything desired, in the one Lord. People choose various objects for themselves in which they hope to find satisfaction of their desires and to which they then devote all their activities and all their time; whether they find what they are looking for - they themselves know better. But those who, bypassing everything, place their last good in God alone, really find it in Him, since nothing can give contentment to our spirit except God: such is his property. It is He who serves as the constant summoner of our souls. He does not call publicly, but silently, expressing dissatisfaction with everything that man thinks to feed him from the circle of creatures. The Word of God gives clarity and certainty to His call, and grace gives strength. And when, by the grace of God, they meet a person living either far from God or in oblivion of God, they embrace and penetrate him; then, leaning towards them and deciding to live according to their instructions, he turns away from everything and says in the depths of his heart: “Thou art my part, O Lord.” From now on everything is gone; I will seek You alone, I will strive for You alone.” Judging by the title of the eight-verse, the prophet had precisely this moment in mind here, as can be seen from the second hemistich: “rekh to keep Thy law.” I have wandered hitherto in the crossroads of sin; Now I set my firm intention to keep Your law, Lord, so that, having pleased You, I may gain You and in You I may find complete peace in my heart. Henceforth You are my part, and Your law is the rule of my life! This decision is a conclusion or consequence of previous changes occurring in the soul of a sinner, for it is not suddenly that he can say so. What sinner does not realize that he is a sinner and that he must finally give up his bad way of life! This is typical only for the bitter and desperate. Most of them think like this: I’ll sin a little more, and then I’ll quit. Although through this they become more and more entangled in the networks of sin; but it is impossible to deny such a thought in them, unless they reach the point of bitterness and finally surrender themselves to sin and through sin to Satan, which, however, is what they are heading towards, postponing their conversion. Thus, almost all sinners think only of sinning now and turning tomorrow. But for others, it comes to mind not tomorrow, but now, now, to begin their conversion, and moreover, with the seriousness that the matter itself requires. How it comes to mind, how attention is drawn to it and how a person becomes interested in it to the point that, leaving everything behind, this one subject is taken up to be discussed and decided finally, without delaying for a minute - this is the secret of our spiritual life, which no one can explain. We only say that the grace of God, through the paths only known to it, passes inside to the depths of consciousness and conscience, and disturbs the spirit of a person there so that he finds it an urgent matter to immediately take care of his moral state and correct it. But this is just the beginning of the matter. It can be said that it is rare that a sinner does not experience such a turn within; but, having been in it for a few minutes, or an hour or two, or even a day or two, he retreats from it without reaching the proper decision, and again indulges in the same “tomorrow.” This is a matter of freedom, since conversion is not accomplished by grace alone, but together with freedom. Grace stirred the spirit, the word of God passed to the separation of soul and spirit, consciousness and conscience clearly heard the reproof of the former life and agreed with it - now the work before the person himself is to discuss, and discard one, and accept the other. And this is the main thing: here begins the struggle within for life or death. On one side is habitual sin with Satan and the world; on the other, spirit and conscience with grace, and consciousness with freedom stands in the middle, with the desire, however, to get rid of slavery to sin, overcoming the enslavers. How and what happens then in the laboratory of the spirit - who will determine? And the one in whom this happens will not always remember everything that happened at that time. But, finally, sin, the world, Satan are exposed as wrong, their deceitfulness is exposed; a person clearly realizes that he was seduced and enticed by ghosts to his own destruction, and turns away from them as from enemies, moving by desire and election to the opposite path of commandments and pleasing God. The grace of God secures this desire for a person, and a decision is pronounced in the spirit: “I decided to keep Your law, O Lord.” Henceforth, You, Lord, are my part!” This is the moment that the prophet portrays in this verse. This is the first, main and imprecise impulse from the area of ​​sin. After it, everything else goes on, although not without difficulty, but not without success. Man has already set his foot firmly on the promised land. Ps.119:58. I prayed to Your face with all my heart: have mercy on me according to Your word. The sinner man intended not to offend the Lord any more with his sins and to always keep His law; Well, what about my old life? Where should we put this multitude of ugly deeds, which in the book of eternal truth are listed as belonging to the sinner and must be blotted out, so that the same truth will give free access to the mercies of God to the sinner? The sinner himself has no means of such a blotting out of sins. Having looked around and not expecting help from anywhere in this regard, he resorts only to the mercy of God and cries out: “Have mercy on me!” And he doesn’t just say this, but from the bottom of his heart, and not in some vague way, but clearly recognizing God as present before him and the judge of His unrighteousness, not laying any claim to the mercy that he offended, sinning in hope of it, but remembers only the promise of God that He is ready to accept everyone who repents: “Have mercy on me according to Your word!” At this point, the enemy has a habit of catching someone turning from a sin beyond hope of mercy, for the sake of a multitude of sins, and thereby cutting off his path to conversion. “Where are you going?” No pardon for you! See how many shameful things you have done! With what face will you appear before God, the All-Holy and All-Righteous?” This voice in conscience is amazing; and there is no sinner who is not smitten by it on the path of his conversion. Until now, the enemy had only shown off the delights of his kingdom, how everything was sweet, glorious and plentiful with him; but when the sinner, feeling the bitterness of his pleasures, the shame of his glory, the unprofitability of his contentment, decisively rejected everything, then he takes up another method: “You will leave here from here,” he tells him, but you will not stick there. Do you see what you are like? Who will accept you? Just stay as you are. The God of righteousness has already decided your fate and, for the sake of your great indecencies, has decided not to take you to His face any more.” A sincerely repentant person is aware of all this and agrees that this is what should have been done to him; but faith assures him that there is no sin that overcomes the mercy of God. He sees in God not mercy, which is overshadowed by truth, but truth, overshadowed by mercy - and not naked mercy, but one that deals with the truth in all righteous ways, satisfying all its demands. He believes that the Lord Jesus Christ bore all our sins on the tree and tore all their manuscripts to pieces with the cross. All that remains is to internalize this act of economy of our salvation, which is what he does, adding to the vow to keep the law the vow to suffer for the Lord. Inspired by this, the sinner says before God in his conscience: “I am ready to endure everything, both externally and internally, I will torment myself, I will be very sad for sinful sweets and joys, just have mercy!” This conscientious penance, warmed by faith and from it receiving weight before God, opens the entrance to trustworthiness in the heart; and in defiance of the tempter, who threatens that God will not accept his face, the one who turns to the face of God begins to pray with all his heart: “Have mercy on me,” vividly aware that he stands before God Himself, unsearchably great and all-righteous, and, moreover, in such a way that he cannot imagine anything to justify himself - and yet he stands before Him, overshadowed by trustworthiness, that He who gave him existence and whoever kept him in the days of his iniquities will not reject him and will not deprive him of participation in salvation, generously arranged for everyone and given to everyone unenviably. The consciousness of God is alive in the repentant, and especially from the side that He is a consuming fire. That is why he is trustworthy, standing before Him and betraying his fate into His hands, and that is why with all his heart he prays to Him: “Have mercy on me!” From the bottom of my heart - not with cold reasoning, but with the fullness of repentant feelings. Now shame that he humiliated himself so much, then self-reproach that he could have but did not want to, then contrition that he insulted such a merciful God, then regret that he spoiled himself so much, then fear - well, if in fact God rejects him, then again trustworthiness, that the One who did not spare His Son for our salvation, how can he not give the forgiveness asked in His name? All such feelings pass one after another and keep the person praying in a tense state, in which he painfully cries out from the depths of his soul: “Have mercy on me according to Your word!” How long should we cry out to him like this? - He started, and let him cry. How can one forget how much God is offended? – If this is not possible, then it is impossible to set a time when conscience would cease to force cries of contrite repentance. And this is for the past; and here new things are constantly added, although not willingly; That is why there is no limit to contrite repentance. It constitutes the foundation of a godly life: “God will not despise a contrite and humble heart” (Ps. 50:19). The path of the broken man is safer from falls, for “his feet are humble and will not be stumbled” (Ps. 36:31). Ps.119:59. I have thought about Your ways, and returned my nose to Your witness. Cry about your sins, but you still need to live, as promised, according to God’s law. Keep weeping in your heart, and with your other members do deeds of righteousness, as before you did deeds of unrighteousness with them. Do not walk anymore where your feet previously wandered, but direct them on the path of God, into His testimonies and commandments. Having freed yourself from sin, enslave yourself to righteousness, and as before you presented your slaves to uncleanness and lawlessness, now present your slaves to righteousness for the sake of holiness (Rom. 6:19). Thank the Lord, we do not need to rack our brains over how to live so that we no longer offend God with our deeds. We have the Gospel, we have the Apostolic Scriptures and the Prophetic Scriptures. Everywhere the “paths of God” are depicted in detail - the paths He Himself determined for us. Bring these paths to mind, apply them to yourself and to the flow of your life, adjust everything so that it is convenient for you to walk along them, and then return your feet from the evil paths. The commandments are not fulfilled by the feet alone, but there is a commandment for every member. Do not wander your eyes, so as not to encounter sin, which is condemned by the Lord; do not open your ears to all speech, so as not to irritate lustful thoughts or collect materials for judgment to condemn yourself; refrain the taste from sweets and the larynx from overeating, so as not to pass from lesser sweets to the most destructive and by multiplying fat (fat) to achieve laziness, drowsiness and disease; tie your tongue with silence and prudence in speech, so that by garrulousness you do not wander into idle talk and, disturbing the evil that has settled within you to harm yourself, do not seed similar evil in others; replace unnecessary entertainment with homesteading, so that, having deepened your attention with solitude, you will always be strong in the fight with yourself and with the enemy; Train your hands to generosity and work, so that, in the absence of idle time, you will have no time to occupy them with sinful work, and so that the prayers of those who have been blessed by you will always cover you from invisible arrows. Be concerned only with God and divine things; direct enterprises and undertakings only to ensure that more good comes from them for the glory of God; do not seek other joys and pleasures except those in the Lord. Collect all this and the like and direct your life so that it all follows the testimonies of God. By collecting the testimonies of God and applying them to yourself, you will also find in them moral reinforcement for walking on them. This is what Saint Athanasius the Great says: “Since I directed all my thoughts towards Thy commandments, I entered on the path of meetings.” God's testimonies are attractive; The commandment of the Lord is bright and luminous. When you illuminate your whole life with it, then in what an attractive light it will appear, especially when you compare it with a dark life of sin and passions! You have entered this path, so have this lightness and luminosity of the commandments as a guiding star and strive to achieve it. Our nature is beautiful, harmonious and divine. The commandments do not impose anything unnecessary, but only direct our nature as it should be. Whoever always fulfills the commandments, he himself becomes bright and luminous, and this is because the commandments pave the way for God into the soul, or, rather, God Himself through them arranges this path for Himself to us and, having settled and inhabited us, fills our entire nature with light. Be strong and take heart! How much darkness, anxiety and disorder you experienced while living in sin; the same amount of light, peace and wise harmony in everything is offered to you if you remain faithful to the commandments that you have known, thought about and found applicable to yourself. Thinking about the ways of God once sets the feet of one who turns from sin for the rest of his life and accompanies him at every step. Only general things can be thought about and discussed at the beginning; Meanwhile, every deed, every step has its own characteristics, which must also be determined in the light of the testimonies of God. But, as soon as the principles are clearly known, the particulars of them will be determined almost by themselves. However, you still need to pay attention and constantly discuss both your words and your deeds, so as not to sin or stain your conscience with anything. The experiences of life will then teach you to this in such a way that determining what should be should in no case be difficult, no matter how confusing it may seem. In this sense, Saint Hilary draws from here the following lesson for us: “The prophet remembers how he acted and gives a lesson on how we should act. He thinks over his every step and so positions it so that it is consistent with the testimonies of God. He did not allow either the tongue to speak, or the foot to step, or the hand to stretch out to do anything before discussing the whole matter in all details, so that the action would then be only the fulfillment of what was laid out in the mind, in the light of the testimonies of God.” That is why a person is firm in his deeds, and if he encounters something, he does not stop, because for the most part all this has already entered into his plan. You can't hit something like this by chance. Ps.119:60. Let us prepare ourselves and not be embarrassed to keep Your commandments. Preparation, as well as reflection on the ways of God, is twofold: one - at the beginning of entering this path, when reviewing its entirety; the other is everyday, with insight into the possible coincidences of the day. Even the wise Sirach advised the one who was about to work for the Lord, “let him prepare his soul for temptation” (Sir.2:1). The Lord does not call you to follow Him to rest and joy, but says: “You will be in a world of sorrow” (John 16:33). He who turns from sin to virtue, says Saint Athanasius, sees this in advance to please the Lord and, choosing this path, prepares for all troubles, or, according to the word of the Lord, takes up his cross and follows Him. Because no matter what happens to him, nothing confuses him, nothing shakes his courage, because, as Blessed Theodoret explains, “having brought himself into readiness to meet the attacks of disasters, he is not overwhelmed even by a sudden attack. So courageous Daniel, so the blessed youths, so the venerable Maccabees, so all the martyrs of Spasov overcame wickedness.” The failure of obstacles or those that seek to shake one who prudently approaches the Lord depends on the fact that at the very beginning, when he is still deciding on this path, he rejects himself, rejects, that is, his life, and by a decision of his will sacrifices it to the Lord. That is why, even if he met death, it would not be a surprise to him. Like a fighter who fights desperately, there is no attack, because the very mood gives him amazing courage, so the enemy has no methods to overcome the one who, entering the path of virtue, decided in advance - to die, but not to retreat from it. Saint Paul sees the source of their indestructible strength in their love for the Lord. They are united with the Lord at the beginning, for through faith in Him they arise to the reliability of mercy, and not through faith only, but with the application of determination and desire to enter into compassion with Him. That is why they burn with love for Him, and this love is their indestructible strength. “Who will separate us from our love for the Lord—is it tribulation, or distress, or persecution?... Nothing, not death... neither the present nor the future... We overcome all things for the sake of Him who loves us” (Rom. 8:35-38). This is the general preparation; but sometimes they, or we all should have, have private preparations. Every day, from morning prayer, review all possible contingencies and, according to what they, by their nature, can arouse thoughts and feelings in you, prepare counter-thoughts and counter-feelings and protect them with good thoughts, so that they have strength within themselves. Do this every hour as soon as you see something approaching; Quickly take a look at what is possible and put on weapons of counteraction. Accident amazes and irritates the soul, and when alarmed, it can have neither strength nor reason. This preparation consists in not giving in to the impression ahead of time and not allowing the excited movement to reach the heart. There an eye, there a hearing, there a word, there a movement, there something else falls on the heart, like a stone on calmly standing water - and circles of thoughts and movements begin. Fight them! But if you don’t allow it to reach the heart, if you first strengthen the surface of the heart with counter-thought and counter-feeling, so that it becomes like water covered with ice, then all these pebbles, falling from the outside inwards, will bounce off, testifying with their sound only that they hit, but did not penetrate deeper. The Prophet prepared himself and was not embarrassed, but always kept the commandments of God, to the fulfillment of which his meetings obligated him. Other things aroused anger, but he was not angry; other things aroused lust, but he did not lust; other things led to condemnation, but he did not condemn; other - to envy, but he did not envy; other things made him become vain and proud, but he did not become vain, but humbled himself. So in any case, whatever commandment came to him, he fulfilled it. And this always went well and correctly for him, because he prepared for all this. He did not put the commandment away at the time when he had to act, but prepared in advance; That’s why it was a good success. Ps.119:61. The sinner has already obligated herself to me: and I have not forgotten Your law. “Uzha,” according to the explanation of Blessed Theodoret, means ropes; “obliged” - tightened on me; The ropes with which one feels pulled when turning from sin to virtue are either connections with sinners - sinful partnership, or one’s own sinful habits, which, indeed, are ropes that bind every sinner tightly. Breaking both is the hardest thing; even when they are torn, this difficulty does not decrease, because when meeting either previous circumstances or faces, a storm of memories rises in the head, and the heart responds to them sympathetically. Then they obscure with themselves, like fog or a cloud of dust, the bright face of the law, and transform their ugliness into tempting beauty. Despite this, I, says the prophet, did not forget Your law, did not allow them to overshadow it in my consciousness or give sympathy for them any preponderance over sympathy for the law. It is necessary to break these ropes at the very first act of determination, as it happens, for then everything is sacrificed to the Lord, regardless of any consequences of such a step. Then, when the order of the new life is being considered (verse Ps. 119:59), this means both how to counteract bad partnerships and how to eradicate bad habits in oneself. The life of the convert then proceeds in this order. But he is still just getting better; sympathy for the past awakens in him every time any incident quickly excites them, and when excited, they seem to knit and tighten again. It is here that, in order to counteract them, the memory of the law rises in consciousness and conscience, which is supposed to be followed wholeheartedly in the hour of determination. This memory again breaks those ropes, just as the determination to preserve the law broke them at first. Although the prophet says: “I have not forgotten,” this makes it clear that the law was contained in memory and that this memory was a knife that cut off those ropes when they again self-made intertwined and attempted to tighten it. They say about one reformed man that when his comrades from a bad life met him and called him back to his previous affairs, he flatly told them: “I’m not the same anymore,” and, turning away from them, went his own way. So strong and meaningful is the first, complete and unrelenting determination! It gives that strength and willpower that even more tender ties than partnership cannot shake. Saint John Kolov in “Memorable Tales” offers such a tributary story on this subject. “In one city there lived a beautiful charming woman who had many admirers; the ruler of the region also liked her. Once he told her: promise to live chastely, and I will marry you. She agreed and entered his house. But her former admirers did not stop looking for her and, having learned that she had been taken by the ruler, they were considering how to lure her out of there. If, they reasoned, we go straight into the house, then the governor will put us in prison, and we will do this: let's go behind the house and whistle; she will recognize our whistle and come out to us. And so they did. But the charming lady, who had settled down, heard the whistle, covered her ears and, running into the inner chambers, locked the doors.” Saint John Kolov interpreted this parable as follows: the charming one is a sinful soul; her friends are passions and sinful people; the ruler is Christ; inner peace - a heart devoted to Christ; whistling - temptations of thoughts and meetings. Thus, a soul that has turned to the Lord always flees into the heart in order to present itself there to the Lord in prayer and thereby disperse the rising temptations. This is how the sinful ropes, broken by the first decision to work for the Lord, are conveniently torn later and every time the enemy plots to entangle the reforming sinner with them again. Ps.119:62. At midnight I rose to confess to You about the destinies of Your righteousness. This verse and the last two indicate what methods are taken in order to more easily break away from the bonds of sin. Much of what has been said so far has the same meaning, because thinking through all the orders of the new life and defining them with commandments is a method of resisting sin, and preparing in advance for possible encounters that can tempt is also a method; reception and then to break all sinful ties and change the customs that feed sin. But here the most decisive methods are indicated. "Midnight rises." We understand this as a night vigil conducted in praise and prayer. Saint Athanasius writes: “Not only the day, but also the night, even the very middle of the night, when the most pleasant sleep takes over, I spent singing songs to You and chanting Your righteous decrees. This is what the divine apostle did, together with Silas, when, having taken upon himself wounds and scourgings, with his feet tied, he dissolved prayer with chants and reaped the fruit of this wonderful vigil, because he had experienced the Divine generosity.” The words of Saint Ambrose also fit this: “It is not enough to pray during the day; you must get up both at night and at midnight. The Lord Himself spent nights in prayer in order to motivate you to prayer by His example. First the prophet said: “I have mentioned Your name in the night” (verse Ps. 119:55); and now he says: “at midnight they rise,” to teach you not only at night, but at midnight, to get up for prayer. You can remember God at night and not get up; you can get up and not stand for prayer, - but he says: he got up at midnight and began to confess to God in prayer. At this most important time, we must pray to God and mourn our sins; not only ask for forgiveness for past sins, but through prayer turn away present sins and protect yourself from future ones, for at that time many temptations approach us. Then the lust of the flesh burns most intensely, and the enemy builds his baits, clinging to it. Then the blood is in greater motion, and the mind, overcome by sleep, loses its sobriety. The enemy approaches freely and scatters his nets to confuse the soul that has laid aside caution. Unclean spirits surround her, surround her in darkness and begin to instill all sorts of obscenities, explaining that no one sees: there is neither an informer nor a witness. If the mind resists, then they enter into an argument with it, presenting as an example many saints who sinned, but then asked for forgiveness and covered up their previous sins. The enemy hates this kind of correction, but in order to deceive, he promises this correction. When he manages to evoke consent to sin, then, seeing that the soul is no longer held back from sin itself by love for virtue, but by fear of judgment and punishment, he instills in it various deceptive thoughts, so that it begins to say to itself: “Who sees me? Darkness surrounds me, and the walls close me... who am I afraid of? (Sir.23:24–25). The Most High does not see, our sins do not reach Him, He does not look at our abominations. This is such a convenient time for temptation. Consider all this, and then cheerfully soar your thoughts to God, so that the enemy, seeing that the light of your being with God has concluded an attack on your soul, will flee from you, and you will cross the midnight time without temptation. Get up at this hour to pray, at which the tempter is accustomed to plunge us into indecency. The greater the danger, the greater the need to attract help from above. It is ready, but only for those who are awake and praying. Get up and stir up your mind. Neither will He who guards you slumber if He finds you awake, but He Himself will arise, being aroused by the alertness of your soul; He will command the winds, and they will calm down, and silence will reign in your chest, agitated by the storm of enemy battles. We also need to get up at this time because the Bridegroom comes at midnight. Be careful that he doesn't find you sleeping. We must get up to praise the Lord and sing songs of gratitude to Him; we must confess His eternal destinies, ascribing to Him all the good things that happen to us. That you are on the good path is His judgment: He protects those who surrender themselves to Him. And you must do this at all times, and neither day nor night, nor at any other time, stop praising God.” And everyone who wanted to stop the bad in themselves and introduce the good loved to devote midnight to prayer and, in general, spend most of the night in conversation with God. Saint Isaac the Syrian attributes to this feat very great significance in spiritual success. Why does the prophet remember only this of all his exploits? - Because it is a shortened representation of all others. Whoever does not give rest to the body at midnight, will he give it rest at another time? Will he be given enough food and plenty to drink? Will his laziness allow him to work? Will he be allowed to bathe, incense, and put on incense? Will he allow festivities and entertainment? Rising at midnight is the color on the tree of all bodily exploits. Likewise, the midnight prayer is a shortening of all spiritual struggles - sobriety, vigilance, attention, contemplation of God, delving into the words of God, contemplation of the mysteries of God and all the works of His providence, and everything else that the soul usually does, in the form of resistance to sin and passions and the implantation of virtues in oneself. This is all the prophet mentioned, knowing that whoever does this sees that behind the midnight vigil there are all other activities characteristic of those who struggle; therefore there was no point in mentioning them. In the course of his edifying prayer appeals, it was necessary to touch upon this subject, as a link absolutely necessary in the chain of his lessons. Ps.119:63. I am a partaker of all those who fear You and keep Your commandments. “Symmachus, instead of “participant,” says “ally,” but the Syrian translator says “friend.” Turning away, that is, those who choose contrary to Your laws, I had as accomplices and close to me those who put the fear of God above all else and who intended to live in accordance with the law. The prophet said the same thing in another place: “I was greatly honored by Your friends, O God” (Ps. 139:17) (Theodoret). Previously, sinful ties with sinners were presented as the strongest rope leading to sin; now, in contrast, pious association with God-fearing and virtuous people is proposed. In the midnight prayer, the prophet combined all the efforts that man undertakes in favor of the good in himself, in his own person; in communication with those who fear God and keep His commandments, he combines everything that we can use to victory over evil from others who follow the same path with us, meaning here mutual conversation, brotherly advice or the commandment of elders and mutual love. By becoming a partaker in all these ways with other zealots of goodness, the ascetic becomes as strong as all of them are strong together - and God is in their midst. If the Lord is there where two or three are gathered in His name, then how much more where there are tens and hundreds of them, especially when none of them is pulled anywhere to the side or backward, but everyone goes forward and forward, to the honor of the high calling. Those who have entered into such a commonwealth have no time to weaken and have nowhere to evade. Example and competition incessantly kindle jealousy and present ways to satisfy it. One young ascetic asked the elder: “How can I acquire the fear of God?” “Go,” the elder answered him, “cleave to a man full of fear, and you will learn how to have the fear of God.” “They said to another elder: “Why don’t you teach your student and explain to him how and what to do?” - “What to teach? - he answered. “Let him watch how I do it, and let him do the same for himself.” And the example of the fear of God and any other virtue is the best teacher. He does not utter a single word, but explains everything and teaches so much that there is nothing to add to the word later. And how much power common prayer has! They said about the skete ascetics that there was nothing that they could not ask for from anyone in their prayer, when everyone began to pray. That is why, as long as a close fraternal union was maintained there and while everyone was equally zealous for success, spiritual life flourished. Everyone declared to them with faith: “Brothers and fathers! such and such temptation torments me, pray!” Prayer began, and the temptation passed. And at every time and in every place, the communication of God-fearing people, their mutual love and trust give such strength to their moral system, with which each of them is strong to resist every temptation, no matter how strong it may be. That is why the holy prophet, speaking about the methods he used against sin, placed among the most powerful ones fraternal communication with those who fear God and keep His commandments. “Whoever, says Saint Gregory the Great, cleaves to a person who is zealous for good, receives benefit from just being with him, and not just from his conversations and example. He thus kindles in himself a love for truth and virtue, learns how to free himself from sinful darkness, perceives the desire to contemplate the eternal light; You will no longer find indifference or coldness to Divine things in him.” Ps.119:64. Fill the earth with Thy mercy, O Lord; teach me with Thy justification. And the exploits that a zealot of goodness carries within himself, and the help that he receives from communication with God-fearing people, are in themselves only human tools and are effective only to the extent of human strength. If they are powerful in overcoming evil, it is because the Lord is pleased to apply His power to them. By attracting the grace of God, they dispel evil and strengthen them in goodness. That is why, with all of them, attentive faith does not stop at them, but, bypassing them, grief rises and, with all its labors and with all the help from others, expects help “from there.” This is what the prophet expresses in the words: “Teach me by Thy justification.” And I, he says, teach myself in spiritual and physical exploits, and others teach me both by word and by example, but both are not very reliable and not very successful. You Yourself, Lord, teach me everything, and show me what needs to be done, and give me the ability to do it, and give me the strength to do it. Just as a master who takes in an ignoramus and, having taught him, then sends him away as a complete expert in his skill, a real master, so You, Lord, take me and teach me the skill of doing good and pleasing You alone. This is what the prophet asks for! He bases his hope in begging the Lord and receiving what he asks for on the goodness of God alone. The whole earth, he says, is filled with Thy mercy, Lord; will I be the only one deprived of it? I hope, Lord, that You will not deprive me of Your mercy. I do not ask for wealth, not honor and glory, but I only seek - teach me how to please You, faithfully fulfilling all Your commandments. If You feed an unreasonable animal, will I doubt that You will also feed my soul, created by You in Your image and likeness? “Fill the earth with Thy mercy, O Lord; teach me with Thy justification.” In the matter of spiritual success, this lack of reliance on oneself and others and the expectation of true help only from the Lord is a disposition of the first importance. He who begins to work for the Lord usually plans to do a lot himself, and does it; but this work does not extend beyond teaching oneself the external order of a pious life, and much, much more to restraining sinful movements in the soul, so much so, however, that they do not force their way into word and deed, such as, for example, anger. But we must also plant virtues in the heart, and for this we must remove passions from there; one must put the mind before the Lord and always remain with Him; one must become both spiritually and physically holy and immaculate in everything, as befits one who is preparing to receive the Kingdom of Heaven, where nothing unclean will enter. Who will bring all this into the soul? - No one like the Lord by His grace! He who diligently begins to work for the Lord will soon learn through experience that he himself is dissatisfied with (incapable of) anything. Further experiences confirm him more and more in this conviction, and the matter ends with complete devotion of himself and all his fate to the will of God, with a cry from the heart: “Weigh your destinies by them, save me!” The words of the prophet have the same meaning. Those experienced in this kind of work say: when passion is excited and thoughts confuse the soul, do not fight yourself, but call on the Lord for help, and He will protect you. This is how it happens. But as in one case, so in another, and in every case; both on one day and on every day, always and in everything, seek protection from the Lord, and He will not let your enemies offend you. This is how the fight against passions goes on. How are virtues rooted? “I planted,” says the apostle, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God increased (1 Cor. 3:6). This is how it was with the Corinthians; This happens to everyone. “Without Me,” says the Lord, “you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Therefore, there is nothing to undertake. Stand and cry: “Teach me by Your righteousness, O Lord.” Saint Ambrose writes: “For this reason, the prophet wants to be taught the justifications of God from the Lord Himself, because it is difficult to find on earth such a teacher who would manage to teach what he himself does not know. That is why, with an inner desire, he rushes to That teacher, Who alone is the true Teacher; and how can a person teach anything true when he himself is a lie? And righteously the Lord did not order anyone on earth to be called his teacher, because there is one true teacher for everyone. And how could David look for another teacher when he himself said about God: “teach man understanding” (Ps. 93:10)? God teaches and enlightens souls, pouring into them the light of knowledge when they seek Him and open the lips of their hearts to receive the lightness of heavenly grace. “Seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7), and the door of Scripture will be opened to you, but again by none other than God’s Word, about whom you read in the Apocalypse, that He, like a Lamb, opened the book sealed with seals.” The ninth eight-line goes under the letter “tet” - “shine”. Dirt, dirt, is, by the way, a derogatory word; That's what we sometimes say: mix with dirt. But there are also healing muds; and the Lord, having made clay from spitting, anointed the eyes of the blind man and healed him. Kneading in the hands of a craftsman produces various products suitable for every need. What thought should you take as a guide when thinking about this eight-verse? – You can take the thought of clay as healing mud, and see in this place an indication of what healing means the Lord uses to heal souls sick with sins; one can take the thought of clay as the material from which the crafter makes various vessels, and see in this place how the Lord, having taken souls as clay, makes vessels of honor from them. Both thoughts are conveniently attached; but, in order not to get confused in the directions, we take the last one. The word “mixture” was used in a similar meaning by the Apostle Paul: “Or should the wretch in the clay not have the power, because of the same confusion, to create a vessel for honor, but not for honor?” (Rom.9:21). Just as a crafter makes vessels by subjecting the clay to various operations, so the Lord forms the soul, subjecting it to various influences, internal and external. These educational means in the hands of the Lord are spiritual - grace and the word of God (verses Ps. 119:65, 66) and external, according to God's dispensation - a sorrowful or happy life (verses Ps. 119:67, 68), and by God's permission, attacks from people who do not fear God (verses Ps. 119:69, 70). Having indicated this, the prophet, as it were, summarizes the result of educational Divine actions and indicates how successful this action is (verses Ps. 119:71, 72). He says everything about himself; but we must assume that in each individual case he also means special persons. He brings everything to himself so that the reader, having understood what applies to him, can apply the word of the prophet to himself using the same turn of phrase. This eighth line is obviously in direct connection with the previous one. There he showed how a sinner, more and more breaking free from the bonds of sin, finally surrenders himself entirely into the hands of the Lord, and here he shows how the Lord treats such a soul, taking it like dirt. The Prophet briefly touched on the spiritual impact on the soul, but reveals more about how “the Lord, through the external participation of those who resort to Him, contributes to their internal prosperity.” This is how we can express the meaning of this eight-line. Ps.119:65. Thou hast done kindness to Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word. Who deserves such a word? – Converted by the grace of God from sin to virtue. It is in his face that the prophet says: “I have experienced Your goodness.” “He who is instructed in the Divine commandments,” says Saint Athanasius, is taught the lesson of not being insensitive to the good deeds of God, since he would not have been freed from sin and would not have been numbered among the servants of the Lord if some divine grace had not been to blame. Such was Saint Paul, who never forgot the great mercy of God shown to him in his conversion to faith in Christ, and who did not miss a single opportunity to glorify the grace of God that enlightened and preserved him. Such are all those who properly use such grace, for failure to remember this would mean that they have fallen asleep from it.” Whoever follows the path of destruction, he himself enters this path; no one is to blame here except himself. In our opinion, let him go; but the goodness of God cannot endure the fact that one adorned with the image of God disfigures him through sin and through community with the enemies of God; therefore, He opens an entrance into his soul in different ways in order to instill in it the danger of such a path and allow it to feel it: sometimes He acts internally through the mind and conscience, then externally, through His word, through the wondrous deeds of His providence, through the examples of God-fearing people and through the diverse interweaving of instructive circumstances of life. With all this, the sinner stops on his path and plunges into thought. But even here, when he begins to think, the grace of God watches over the good intentions that arise and gives them the upper hand. Then, when a person makes a decision: “Thou art my part, O Lord, to keep Thy law” (verse Ps. 119:57), it inspires him and fills him with strength to carry out such a decision. When he who has begun to act in this new order of life turns back and remembers how everything worked out, he cannot say anything except that “Thou hast done goodness, O Lord, with Thy servant”; I would have perished, but Your grace awakened me from carelessness, enlightened my blindness, and brought me “out of the pit of passions from the clay of the mire” of sin (Ps. 39:3). Glory to Your long-suffering, O Lord, who did not destroy me during my sinful ugliness! Glory to Your mercy, which has called me to the path of virtue and taught me, according to my strength, to please You! Glory to Your benevolence, despite the smallness of my zeal, not abandoning me and not allowing my enemies to dominate me again! “Thou hast done goodness with Thy servant!” I was not a slave, or even then I was a slave out of duty, but I fled from Your face out of self-will and walked in my own wills, casting off Your good yoke and completely forgetting about subservience to You. But where can you run from Your face?! Only the enemy blinds us so much that we think that God does not see; Your eye sees everything. It saw me too at my crossroads and in all my indecencies; but they did not hesitate to return me to the right path again and turn me from an indecent servant into a needy one, one who at least began to please You in some way and did at least a little in Your house according to Your will. “You have done goodness with me, O Lord,” by making me Your servant again! “Thou hast done goodness to me, O Lord, according to Thy word.” What is this word? “As I live,” says the Lord, “I do not want the death of the sinner, but rather the wicked should turn from his way, and I will live to be him” (Ezek. 33:11). And it is goodness that there is such a promise, for while a sinner sins, there is no limit to his insolence and arrogance, and when he is caught by his rightful Master, he does not dare to show his eyes to Him. Without such a strong promise, the enemy would have managed to plunge everyone into despair. Only relying on him, in spite of his fearfulness, does the sinner approach the Lord. He ascends to calming trustworthiness only after he has been worthy of a merciful meeting and acceptance from His Heavenly Father. Remembering this, the prophet confesses that the Lord certainly did goodness to His servant according to His word, exactly as He promised, completely in accordance with it. Ps.119:66. Teach me kindness and punishment and reason, as in Thy commandments of faith. You called me from sin to the path of Your commandments; I believed that there really is no other path except the path of Your commandments, and I entered upon it. Complete the work of Your goodness, teach me how to walk this path, so that my journey will be pleasing to You: “Teach me goodness and punishment and reason,” “goodness,” explains Zigaben, that is, love for my brothers, “punishment, that is, the art of active virtue (prudence), — reason, that is, knowledge of Divine things or contemplative perfection. Teach me so that I have these qualities.” The first verse speaks of accepting the repentant into the school of God; The education program is also presented here. All the objects shown are indicated in the word of God: study this word and you will recognize them. But the prophet seeks teaching from the Lord, because teaching oneself with the word of Revelation is only external science; the creation and formation of the inner man is accomplished under the influence of the word by the invisible grace of God, which is why he prays; Come, Lord, yourself and instill these qualities into my soul, so that, acting on them, I act not as according to the rules written, but from myself, as if it were natural for me to act this way. “Teach”: I am ready to listen to everything and do everything as you suggest - just teach; because I know that you will not learn anything if you do not study; but I also know, again, that you cannot learn if you don’t teach. “Perhaps, as Blessed Augustine interprets this passage, I will turn out to be incomprehensible in something, but You, as You once opened the mind of Your disciples to understand the Scriptures, open my mind too. Perhaps I will understand otherwise, but I will not know how to do it, so You teach me to “do Your will” (Ps. 143:10). Perhaps he will have the ability to do it, but he will not have the zeal to do it; So breathe into me good love, the source of zeal for all good, so that the earth of my heart will always bear good fruit to please You. “Behold, my soul, like a thirsty land” (Ps. 142:6), thirsts for Your teaching.” Teach me "goodness." “He prays, continues Blessed Augustine, that God will inspire love for good, sweet, willing, or, to put it more directly, that love for God may be granted from God, and for God’s sake love for one’s neighbor.” This desires the creation within the entire moral and religious system pleasing to God. This is the height of God's teaching. In whom love is established, there is nothing left to teach. She will do everything herself. Teach "punishment". People who are not punished (not instructed) mean unreasonable people. Therefore, punishment is the rationality of action, or the ability to act appropriately, practical wisdom. It determines the place, time, means, correspondence to persons and all other connections of affairs, so that every matter is beautiful, like the beautiful product of a skilled artist. Love is the spirit of life, punishment is its external beauty. Teach “reason,” that is, knowledge of the sacraments of faith. Just as the rising sun illuminates everything on earth and makes the entire atmosphere bright, so the knowledge of the Divine illuminates the entire area of ​​the mind and makes everything that exists and happens clearly bright. Lordship gives you a taste of the joy of life, drives away sleep and lifts you up to action and action. Illuminated objects themselves beckon and make it clear from which side to approach them. That is why he who sees everything clearly cannot be inactive. Mental darkness, on the contrary, cuts into energy, and if it is driven by a natural impulse, then it acts as something alien. The light of knowledge means so much in life that without it life cannot be successful. That is why, although this teaching stands behind others, in reality it is always ahead. The training mentioned here occurs in a spiritual manner. It is drawn from the word of God, grafted by God’s grace into the heart of one who turns everything he knows into action. The basis of learning is faith. If a student does not trust the teacher, then he will not learn the alphabet. Moreover, you cannot learn spiritual life if you do not approach it with full faith that these are the commandments of God, that they lead to God, make them pleasing to Him and lead directly to the inheritance of eternal bliss. Only unwavering faith in all this supports zeal for learning and gives strength and strength to complete it. Ps.119:67. Before I even humble myself, I have sinned, for this reason I have preserved Your word. From this verse onward, God's teaching is depicted from the outside. It talks about learning through sorrows, troubles and hardships; in the next verse - through the happy course of life. “Here, as Zigaben explains, the prophet says: before I was subjected to suffering, I sinned; but, having sinned, he attracted punishment and was humbled by it. Having been admonished by this, I came to my senses and began to keep Your law, and I do so, so that, having sinned, I would not again be subjected to humiliating punishment.” Saint Athanasius writes: “Having been given over to troubles for the sins I had committed in the past, I was brought to humility, having endured this according to the righteous judgment of God. Therefore, having undergone healing, I ask you to teach me and bring me to the knowledge that the humility to which I have been brought serves to benefit and to my admonition.” Here is the word of blessed Theodoret: “I myself, says the prophet, have brought upon myself punishment; there is not the slightest injustice in the determination of my punishment; Sin was followed by punishment, and punishment was followed by keeping the laws. I was sick, suffered a section from the doctor, and became healthy.” “See the goodness of God in mercilessness,” Saint Ambrose cries. Punishment is a sign of love, not rejection. The Lord is good in everything, both when he forgives the repentant and when he punishes the sinner: “Whoever the Lord loves, he punishes” (Heb. 12:6). The prophet says something like this: the punishment seemed bitter to me for a while, but it brought good fruit - it called me out of sin: “The Lord punished me with punishment, but He did not give me over to death” (Ps. 117:18). Hence, to everyone who is humbled by circumstances, this is the lesson: “don’t be ashamed to admit your guilt and correct yourself, and then be careful not to sin again.” The prophet only points out how sorrows and hardships turn one towards the path of virtue. Experiences that this really happens are everywhere. But in the hands of God’s Providence, which saves us, they sometimes serve as a sure, and often exceptional, means to keep the person corrected on this path and raise him to possible perfection. The prophet does not say that the circumstances that humbled him changed when he began to keep the word of God, but only indicates what change they made in him. For others, the narrow and regrettable path is the most reliable guardian of virtue, and, perhaps, for most of us. It is not without reason that adherents of moral perfection, after a mature discussion of the matter, find that it is much better, leaving everything behind, to lead a life amidst deplorable deprivations. If human prudence finds this way, then how much more so does Divine wisdom? Or is it not because human wisdom acts this way because it follows the suggestions of God, or the examples of Divine orders in arranging the fate of those who work diligently for Him? Let us listen to the instruction of St. Paul on this subject: “My son, do not despise the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. For the Lord punishes whomever he loves, and beats every son whom he receives. If you suffer punishment, then God treats you as sons; for is there any son whom his father does not punish? If you remain without punishment, which is common to everyone, then you are illegitimate children, not sons. Moreover, if we, being punished by our carnal parents, are afraid of them, then should we not much more submit to the Father of spirits in order to live? They punished us according to their own will for a few days, but this one was for our benefit, so that we might have a share in His holiness. Any punishment at the present time seems not to be joy, but sadness; but afterward it brings to those who are taught the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen your bowed hands and weakened knees, and walk straight with your feet, so that what is broken will not be broken, but rather be made right” (Heb. 12:5-13). Ps.119:68. Thou art good, O Lord, and by Thy goodness teach me by Thy justification. For one, sorrows are understandable, but for others they can embitter. Such a person would rather be brought to his senses by unexpected happiness than by any losses. It is this kind of person that the prophet takes here and, as if fearing that a blow from above might soon follow, he prays: do not punish, but, as you are Good, teach me with Your goodness! And in medicine, not all medicines are bitter and not all plasters tear or burn: there are sweet medicines, and there are plasters that have a pleasant effect. A good doctor, when he sees that he can use the treatment without pain without harm, always chooses the latter on his own, and even more so when he is asked to do so. Isn’t it all the more likely that our compassionate Heavenly Father, who sees better than anyone else what is good for someone, will do the same? “Look at the doctor,” says Saint Ambrose, sometimes he uses bitter medicines, cutting and cauterizing, sometimes he uses pleasant ones and does not produce anything painful. But when the patient, due to his temperament, cannot endure painful treatment, then the doctor’s duty is to avoid bitter medicines or to formulate them in such a way that the bitter is hidden in the pleasant. This is how the Lord acts on us, healing our moral infirmities.” We are often confused by the question: why is the fate of people unequal? – No one has yet managed to explain this to tactile evidence in detail. But the general law of God's providence in this regard is clearly revealed in the word of God, and, moreover, the most comforting. Wealth and poverty, fame and obscurity, predominant dominance and humble obedience, and everything else with which human life on earth is dotted, are moral educational means in the hands of God. Whatever suits someone better in this regard is served to him. A bright life is better - light is served; better low - served low; better than average - average is given. And there’s no way to get into an argument: how good it is, but meanwhile it’s not that good at all. Why do you know that maybe if you diminish his well-being, he will become even worse? It is equally impossible to say: if only someone were lucky, how much good would come from him! Do you know that if his condition improves, he himself will become better? Everyone is given such a fate in which alone he can do the greatest amount of good. With a different fate, he cannot do so much, and to change it for worse or for better means plunging him into significant evil. The purpose of our existence on earth is moral perfection, for the proper preparation of ourselves for eternity. Everything is directed here by the Lord. The full solution to the diversity of our fates will be there. There everyone will see how well everything was arranged, but here we still live in darkness. The wisest of all is the one who, having completely surrendered his fate and that of all people into the hands of the Lord, keeps himself calm in relation to its inequalities. There is a legend about how one lived by the labor of his hands and distributed everything that he produced to the poor, keeping to his share only as much as was needed for living; nothing was saved for the morning. One of the godly people, seeing how he was doing charity, thought: what if he had wealth, how much good he would do! - and began to pray that God would send him contentment. God sent; but he, having become rich, not only did not help the poor, but also drove them away from himself with bitterness. Seeing this, he again prayed that the Lord would better return him to his former toiling life. The Lord returned him, and he again began to live as before, sharing what he earned with the poor. All other amendments to human fate that we sometimes come up with with our prudence and justice would be of the same kind. The same applies to changes in fortunes: for some it is better to have a constantly equal state, for others it is better for it to rise or fall, and for others it is a one-time change from better to worse or from worse to better. Job is either extremely happy, then extremely unhappy, then happy again; Abraham lives his entire life in complete contentment; Joseph from a slave becomes the ruler of an entire kingdom; Saul ends his life miserably and puts an end to his royal greatness for his entire family. The Lord acts this way not because he has the power and strength to change the fate of people, but because it is best to act this way for themselves, for their ultimate goals. And since the Lord leads to goodness through happiness, the prayer is very appropriate: “by Thy goodness, O Lord, teach me by Thy justification.” Ps.119:69. The iniquity of the proud has multiplied against me, but with all my heart I will test Your commandments. This verse and the next show how human vain lies contribute to moral perfection. In the hands of God, they also turn into tools for educating a person and teaching him goodness. The Savior told the holy apostles, and through them all the faithful, that He would take them out of the world and that for this the world would hate them. If, He says, you were from the world, then the world would love you as its own offspring; Now, since I have taken you out of the world, the world will not cease to hate you. This is how it always happens: whether a zealot for pleasing God comes into contact with the people of this age or not, the mere knowledge that he is such turns away those who live in self-pleasing from him. And this is understandable: he exposes them with himself. They cannot deny that they themselves should be the same as him; but they can’t stand it when they are reminded of that. And even though he doesn’t say anything to them, the thought of him, and even more so his presence, disturbs their conscience, which begins to sharpen them; that means he is to blame. Without meetings, hostility towards him silently moves through the heart; but at the first meeting it is revealed by unkindness and a desire to interfere in everything and harm him; desires turn into actions, and the further, the more. Without guilt, a guilty, God-fearing person is showered with reproaches, lies, insults, and insults from all sides. He cannot help but see this, and although he endures it complacently, he righteously testifies before God that human unrighteousness has multiplied against him, and is multiplying more and more. "Multiply." The prophet does not complain, but only testifies to this in order to say: they are theirs, and I am mine. “The more diligently someone works for the Lord,” says Saint Ambrose, the more he arouses enemies to himself, like that courageous fighter who calls out numerous rivals against himself, so that, having overcome them, he can win the brightest crown of truth.” "Not true." That's what's inspiring is that it's not true. That you endure sorrows, says Saint Peter, do not worry too much about this. Just take care of one thing, so that it is not your fault. If you suffer only because you zealously serve the true God, then rejoice. “If you are reproached in the name of Christ, you are blessed: for the glory and Spirit of God rests upon you. As long as you share in the passion of Christ, rejoice, for even when His glory is revealed, you who are glad will rejoice” (1 Peter 4:13-14). "Proud." The Prophet calls proud those who generally live in oblivion of God, who do not want to know the commandments of God, but at the same time the mighty of the earth, who hold any kind of power in their hands, or the noble and rich. And in ordinary sinners, even in a bad external situation, pride is the main cause of sin, and even more so among those who for some reason are higher than others. Man becomes arrogant, forgets God, and begins to despise His law. Then all God-fearing people and strict followers of God’s commandments are no longer liked by him. But no matter how angry they are, I “will try Your commandments with all my heart.” “No matter how much untruth multiplies, explains Blessed Augustine, my love for Your commandments will not dry up. This is what he says who learns in sweetness from the justifications of God. The commandments of God are sweet to him, and he examines them with love, so that he can do what he knows and by doing he can know it; because what is known is known more perfectly when it is fulfilled by action.” “I will test” - I will examine and delve deeper into the meaning of Your commandments in order to understand them in the entire breadth of Your will expressed in them, without cutting them off or shortening them just because I encounter obstacles and that this is disgusting to the sons of the age. As I know, so will I fulfill, that is, I will demonstrate the experience of fulfilling Your commandments perfectly, in the face of Your enemies and all righteousness, who hate me. I determine myself to be always faithful to Your commandments, not taking into account the opposition of the proud; I will even learn from them, for this must be and is Your real will, against which they rebel more. And I will also learn from the fact that I will begin to invent how, despite their opposition, I will always carry out deeds pleasing to You. Ps.119:70. Their hearts are as wet as milk, but they have learned Your law. What came of the increase of injustice by the proud and of faithfulness to the commandments of a God-fearing man? “The hearts of those have hardened or grown fat, but this one has fully learned the law of God.” “Hard heart”, hardened like cheese. Milk, having thickened and hardened, becomes cheese, and the heart of the proud, soft by nature, becomes hardened by untruth. “They stretched out their pride to such an extent,” says Saint Athanasius, that their hearts became like cheese.” “This is similar,” writes Theodoret, with the prophetic saying: “For the heart of these people is clothed, and their ears are hard to hear, and their eyes are closed” (Is. 6:10); is also similar to what is said in the book of Exodus about Pharaoh: “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened” (Ex. 8:19). That is why the prophet says: they have a stubborn heart, and they themselves have turned its softness into roughness, just as they thicken and ferment milk, but I melted, learning Your law.” The meaning of this is one and the same - stubborn resistance to God and God's orders: “make it thicker, wider, and forget the God who created it” (Deut. 32:15). “The heart of the saints,” says Saint Athanasius, “is refined, but the heart of the proud is thick.” This happens to the poor human heart because untruth leads it into the wrong sphere, in which it should be by nature; This is where it shrinks. “Milk,” writes Saint Ambrose, is by its nature pure, pleasant to look at and mobile, but when it spoils, it sours. Likewise, the human heart is by nature pure, soft, warm, but when vice is mixed into it, it grows cold, hard and gloomy. Milk, having oxidized, shrinks and no longer has its characteristic pleasantness; Likewise, a person, until he is damaged by untruth, is pleasant in words and in treatment, but when he deviates into untruth, he changes, because his heart becomes different. Untruth compresses him, and, instead of pleasant goodwill, it is filled with the bitterness of ill will. This is how the heart becomes strewn with pride and hostility when its natural meekness, which exudes kindness, is damaged by the leaven of malice and guile.” The heart hardens from the first experiences of untruth and then becomes more and more hardened; the end of this is a state of hardening. In contrast, in a God-fearing person, under the influence of untruths, training in the law, agility for all good, and firmness in bringing good deeds begun to completion matures. And since he stood in goodness not only out of a sense of duty, but with all his heart, out of love for him, and especially for the One who gave the law, then the more he persists in it, despite fierce resistance to it, the warmer his heart is warmed by love, the softer it is, and the more kind-hearted the person. He himself is always warm and spreads warmth around him. The Prophet says: “I have learned,” learned, learned, discussed everything, or studied it in practice, and I know firmly, keeping it in my heart. Whatever happens to me, there is no need to rack my brains to figure out what is best to do: my heart itself will tell me so. Just as from a vicious heart, according to the word of the Lord, evil thoughts come at various encounters, so from a good heart come good thoughts, indicating what good and how to do it in certain circumstances. “Let us learn” - the apostle’s word reminds us of feelings trained in the reasoning of good and evil. Thus, the fact itself is justified that the unrighteousness of the proud, directed, by God’s permission, against those who fear God and keep His law, is, according to His providential dispensation, a school for teaching these latter in goodness. And the prophet, saying that he has learned, testifies that the goal of learning has been achieved, that this school really brings those entering it to what requires study and why they are introduced into it. So in life everything depends on the spirit with which one meets the happenings. None of them, by their nature, leads to evil: evil comes from will. What did Pentefriev’s wife do that was harmful to Joseph? - Nothing. She only showed his chastity in greater brilliance, while others themselves are asking for sin. Be strong; and external cases that could lead you into sin will not only not harm you, but, on the contrary, will serve to strengthen you in goodness. One resilience will pave the way for another, and so on. In the end, you will achieve perseverance in goodness - not easy, but loving, heartfelt, attractive. Ps.119:71. It is good for me, for you have humbled me, so that I may learn through your justification. Just as someone who has successfully completed a course in any institution expresses heartfelt gratitude to those who taught him, so the prophet, who has gone through God’s school of moral training through the sorrows of life and human vain, thanks God, who introduced him to this sorrowful path of learning and led him through it with success. When he says: “so that I may learn,” he does not indicate God’s goal in his humility, but testifies to its achievement. His thought is this: the Lord brought me into this school to teach me; I took this course, and now, thank God, I am educated; Otherwise I wouldn’t have learned. Saint Athanasius writes: “The Prophet seems to say this: I am content in weaknesses, in insults, in needs, in persecutions, in hardships, if only to appear worthy of Your justifications, seeking that which is otherwise impossible to learn.” “The prophet,” says Theodoret, will thank the doctor for his cruel healing, having learned that they have restored health.” The Lord could have taught without leading into hardship and sorrow, but truth and goodness require this. A sinner who repents and corrects himself, that is, learns the commandments, comes out of the area of ​​sin in the opposite way to how he plunged into it. Having loved sin, he acquired sinful habits and became attached to many things that satisfy these skills. Such things are valuable in his eyes. The Lord removes this illusory value from them by taking them away, showing by deed how insignificant they are and how much they sin, acting to please people. He repays for this by repenting, complacently enduring false accusations from people - sometimes even from those whom he previously pleased. Deprivation and false accusations are a cleansing path. Let us also recall the tactics of the enemy, who intervenes everywhere with his malicious intent. While the penitent and the reformed have not yet evaporated sympathy for the objects of passion, until then he hopes to return to himself again the one who has fled from his area, arousing evil thoughts and wishes. But when this sympathy dries up, and sobriety and purity are established in the heart, then this method of seduction no longer gives him any hope of success. He turns to someone else: I haven’t had time to drag him into lust, so I’ll arrange things in such a way as to drag him into hatred. To do this, he raises people at his disposal against his dislike; and so they begin to shower him with insults, ridicule, insults, oppression, persecution, all sorts of lies, sometimes not even understanding why they do this. But the worker, who understands where all this comes from and for what purpose, endures everything complacently, and, no matter how sensitive the lies may be, tries in every possible way not to fall into hostility towards anyone and thus not to allow the enemy to triumph over himself and not to deprive him of the fruit and all the previous labors raised in the fight against lust. The Lord Himself, who allows such temptations, helps him to resist. Then the enemy stops fighting him from this side as well, seeing that only the crowns are preparing his attacks for the worker, and they are not helping his malicious intentions. When the enemy lags behind, then human vain lies stop: some reconcile with him, others leave him alone, moving away from him. This pattern of affairs is repeated everywhere. That is why we see in the writings of the fathers that when someone is subjected to false accusations from people, it means that he is elevated to the highest degree of perfection. The one who has passed these tests is purified, like gold in a crucible, and shines with the lightness of a God-loving disposition, humility, contrition, meekness, righteousness, mercy, purity, peacefulness and peacemaking. He is one of those about whom the holy Apostle testifies: “They who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with passions and lusts... against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:23–24); because it is not prescribed to them from outside, but appears within them, installed in their heart. Ps.119:72. The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver. This is the perfection with which the worker emerges from the crucible of temptation, as indicated before this. The law is good for him, because he is completely imbued with it; neither thought - movements, nor desire - aspirations, nor heart - has sweetness outside the law, but everything revolves in it. The mind finds in it a satisfactory solution to all its questions, the heart - the satisfaction of all tastes, the will - the achievement of all desires. That is why it is good, because it gives the highest good that a person can desire, namely, peace of spirit. The Apostle, in the Epistle to the Philippians, explains why this is so: “other things,” he says, “my brother, if there is truth, if there is honor, if there is righteousness, if there is great pure, if there is great love, if there is good praise, if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think about this...do this; and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil.4:8-9). The law is the expression of the will of God. If everything inside is full of law, it means it is full of the will of God; the Divine element is accepted inside and merged with the whole being of man. He serves as a guide for moving inside God, and prepares a worthy dwelling for Him. And the inquisitive God moves in; and where God is, there is everything desired and most desirable. And the Lord’s goal of strict training, which was mentioned ahead, is to, having cleansed the soul, prepare for himself a dwelling in it. Even in creation in His image and likeness, He appointed it for this purpose, but the fall upset the matter. It brought into us the impurity of passions, which alienated the Lord. It became impossible for Him to enter into communication with the soul while passions were in it; it is necessary to expel them first, and they are expelled by accepting and merging with the soul the commandments that are contrary to them. Then, just as a thing made of iron is soft and unreliable until it is hardened, so the soul that has accepted all the commandments is hardened by the Lord in the crucible of all-round temptations, from which it emerges not only well-made in all parts, but also hard and durable - that is, a reliable vessel for containing the Lord. He moves in. “Blessed are those who are pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8) - they will see it not outside, in front of themselves, but within themselves, at home. This benefit is given by the law; that is why he is good. “More than thousands of gold and silver.” The words gold and silver here represent all the blessings of this world, and “thousands” – their number is countless. Collect, he says, countless blessings of the world; they are all nothing to me compared to the law of the mouth of God. And do not think that there is any stretch in this expression. For those who have tasted through fidelity to the law, as much as the Lord is good, all other blessings arouse not sympathy, but disgust. There are things that disgust a person; and what he experiences when encountering such things is what he who tastes the Lord experiences when encountering the blessings of the world - not as the work of God’s hands, but as objects offered in opposition to the law of God. Others may think: well, this is too much. No, not too much; but this comparison is still not enough to explain how a heart that has tasted the benefit of the law relates to thousands of gold and silver. Why does someone else give away everything with the same greed that no one else collects? - Because he paid off everything; everything is alien to him, all this is rubbish that needs to be swept away. And in conclusion of all, he gives his life, his most precious possession, for the law of the mouth of the Lord; and all because with his heart, and his thoughts, and his consciousness, he is no longer on earth, but in another world, where he strives, throwing off this mortal clothing that prevents him from being face to face with the Lord. This, however, is a natural course of development of spiritual life; Those who have it even in the rudiments easily understand this, since the demand of the spirit from the very beginning strikes such a disposition. But in perfection it appears at the last stages of development of the spirit, under the influence of the Spirit of God. The tenth eight-line goes under the word “iod” - “hand”. The hand is a symbol of the omnipotence of God. He created everything, He contains everything in His right hand and provides for everything. This corresponds to the content of this eight-line. Having remembered the creation of himself by God and the gift of understanding to fulfill his purpose (verses Ps. 119:73, 74), the prophet further prays that the Lord will improve his external destiny to the glory of a godly life. Righteous, he says, You, Lord, have humbled me (verse Ps. 119:75); but may Thy mercy be upon me and Thy tender mercies come upon me, firstly, according to Thy word (verse Ps. 119:76), secondly, may I live (verse Ps. 119:77), thirdly, may they be ashamed of pride (verse Ps. 119:78), fourthly, may those who fear You turn to me (verse Ps.119:79). But most importantly, arrange that my heart may be blameless in Your justifications (verse Ps. 119:80). This eight-line, in content, is very similar to the previous one, for it considers moral life in the same respect. Ps.119:73. Thy hands made me, and ye create me: give me understanding, and I will learn Thy commandment. The prophet remembers creation not in order to expound on this subject, but in order to receive reinforcement in this action of God for his prayer for God’s help for his moral success. I am Your creation, Lord; and You created me not so that I would perish, but so that I would be rewarded with eternal bliss. And since for this it is necessary to fulfill Your will, expressed in the commandments, then enlighten me and teach me how to do this. By remembering creation, the prophet brings to mind the final goal of man and, in pointing to it, gives an incentive to a godly life. Man was created in the image of God and likeness in order to live God-like and through God-likeness to enter into living communion with God. The Lord is good—be you also good; The Lord is long-suffering - be patient too; the Lord is righteous - keep the truth and you; the Lord is true - love the truth too; the Lord is meek and humble in heart - be so you too; The Lord has mercy - farewell you too; in a word, as the Lord was pleased to reveal Himself, so be you. That is why it is said: “Be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). But if we collect all these properties of God and, accordingly, express our obligation to imitate them, then we get the whole circle of God’s commandments. Thus, it turns out that living in God-likeness means living according to the commandments of God. The Prophet says directly: “Give me understanding, and I will learn Your commandment.” “Give me some understanding and I will learn.” You have given me reason, Lord; but reason is not the source of truth, but the force that receives truth. He cannot see everything that should be as it should be; but he is able to understand everything that Your wisdom will reveal to him. This is how You created him; This is how it is with me: give me some understanding; put into my mind the understanding of everything that is necessary for the fulfillment of Your commandments, that is, put the very knowledge of the commandments with recognition of their urgency, and the firm intention to live according to them. Then I will learn by doing how to fulfill them and by experience I will learn how blessed life is according to them and how directly it leads me to my final goal. “The prophet, argues Saint Ambrose, begins his speech by presenting himself as the work of God’s hands, in order to more conveniently incline the favor of the Creator to His creation; for although the material for our body is taken from clay, although we are covered with flesh, sewn together with bones and sinews, no one will doubt that man is the best creation of God. Look at one structure of the body, and you will find that nothing can be more beautiful and more comfortable than it. However, the forms of the bodily members are also excellent in other animals, but besides this there is nothing to praise in them; and man is excellent not in what is visible, but in what is invisible, which, contained in a mortal body, is destined for eternity, which, while remaining in an earthly inn, lives in heaven and is in living union with God. Therefore, Solomon righteously cried out: “Great is man” (Proverbs 20:6), for he is an interpreter of the Divine worldview and an imitator of God. Then man was created after heaven and earth had already been arranged, and not with the word: “let it be,” but according to some Divine consultation: “Let us make man in Our image and likeness” (Gen. 1:26). God began a kind of special work, not because it was not the same for Him to create great as well as small, but in order to show the peculiarity of man. “And I will blow into his nostrils the breath of life” (Gen. 2:7). Listen to yourself, O man, and strive towards Him, whose breath you are inspired by. Find out why you are great, and strive to be great in that. What is earthly in you is not so great, but what is great is that which bears the image of God within itself. This advantage is indescribably great! Take care, take care and do not destroy this great gift. How to do this, the prophet teaches you, praying and instructing you to pray: “Give me understanding, and I will learn Your commandment.” Conscious of himself as spiritual, he asks for the gift, the first among the gifts of the Spirit, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, not in order to explore heaven and earth, but in order to accurately understand the will of God and faithfully fulfill it.” Ps.119:74. Those who fear You will see me and rejoice, because they trust in Your words. “I will be a reason for joy for the pious,” says the prophet, because I trusted in You and have reached the end corresponding to this hope.” This is how Theodoret explains this passage. “The Prophet teaches, says Saint Athanasius the Great, that he will not alone receive this gift (that is, that, having been admonished, he will learn the commandments of God), but that it will be extended to all who fear the Lord; for (who has learned the commandments) is pleasing only to the pious, tangibly cognizable by them both in the word and in the plans of the wisdom that he possesses; for others it is difficult to see him, because his life is not like the life of others and is different from their paths. That is why he says: “They will rejoice, for they have trusted in Your words.” Having received admonition from the Lord, the prophet hopes that, with the help of Divine wisdom, he will learn to live well according to the commandments of God, that is, he will appear morally perfect. Now he says that all God-fearing people, seeing him like this, will rejoice. Why? - “For I trusted in Thy words,” or that is, that I did well, placing my trust in Thy words, wholeheartedly surrendering to them and fulfilling them perfectly, or that I did not trust in vain, but achieved what I hoped for. One or the other – it’s all the same. The blow of thought is not on this, but on the fact that the God-fearing, seeing his moral progress, will rejoice. The prophet of God is not special, but recognizes himself as being in union with all God-fearing people, who are usually interested not only in their own personal success, but most of all in the success of others who are zealous about pleasing God. They see the glory of God and the glory of a godly life in the fact that a godly life flourishes, that the number of people living according to God multiplies, and that everyone, having begun his work, brings it to the end, without stopping halfway. But, putting this before the Lord to beg Him for help for himself, he makes it clear that the Lord Himself is pleased to see such general joy in successes in a good life. The Lord created us for joy; “The wicked cannot rejoice” (Is. 48:22), only God-fearing piety rejoices. And so the Lord, seeing how such joy expands, is consoled by this, for this means that His goal in creation is being achieved. In heaven, the faces of the angels are ever rejoicing in their general composition; on earth, following their example, the community of God-fearing people also rejoices with common joy. The joy of life spreads everywhere. The Prophet implores the Lord with the consolation that He has from seeing the joy of the God-fearing. From this it is clear that not only the consciousness of a living union with God, but also the consciousness of a living union with all those pleasing to God is included in the composition of a spirit that is pleasing to God as an integral feature. One wise man said: I don’t see this union. No wonder; because it is invisible and arranges itself without much effort or searching. In each locality, those who are equally attuned to God naturally know each other, for, seeing the same aspirations, they converge and rejoice with each other. “The pure,” says Saint Ambrose, is naturally disposed towards the pure and rejoices in it; the merciful is disposed towards the generous and rejoices with him; faster to faster, prayer book to prayer book.” Although they are not together in body, they are always inseparable in spirit. If someone happens to be in another area, there he will soon become acquainted with those who are unanimous and become one spirit with them. More terrain - more communication. Thus spiritual communication spreads all around. He who sits in a cramped corner is in a living heartfelt union with all the known saints and holds them in his thoughts more than anyone else, being face to face with anyone. This communication is the strength of life. Whoever recognizes himself as alone before God, let him not boast that he appears worthily before God. God does not want and does not favor such loners. What about the hermits? – Hermits carry the whole world in their hearts: they are not alone in spirit. Ps.119:75. I understood, Lord, that Thy destiny is true, and Thou hast truly humbled me. It is assumed that the prophet received wisdom and learned the commandments, entered into an alliance with the God-fearing and delighted them all with his perfection. Therefore, this spiritual side is light. Now he begins to ask the Lord to bring his external fate into line with her. In the first place is the consciousness that if she is not yet bright, then there is nothing wrong in holding her like that: I myself am to blame; You have righteously, Lord, humbled me. “The Prophet,” Theodoret interprets, says this, mainly expressing his gratitude. I know for sure, he says, that You rightly and righteously pronounced judgment on me, and subjected me to all kinds of misfortunes.” “Reason...” when is this? - After he repented, he began to live properly and, having asked for admonition, he learned the commandments of God. Until then, what happened? – Until then, it never even occurred to me to look at my life from this point of view, that is, how and why the hand of the Lord directs its course. Or if it did, then the basis and reason why she was like that did not include her own sinfulness and guilt. A sinner, while in sin, is blind and does not see the finger of God over him, and even though he is surrounded by sins, he does not have in mind that in the changes of his fate he bears punishment for sins, but rather is inclined to the conviction that he endures in vain, and is ready to grumble about the orders of God’s Providence. His mind is so twisted! And no wonder, because through sin the enemy, the father of lies, gained access to it, who fulfills it with his false interpretation. But when grace touches the heart of the sinner and he awakens from his sinful sleep, then the darkness that covered his mind begins to dissipate. When repentance is completed, I decide to live properly - it becomes quite light around him. Living a correct life according to the commandments enhances this light. When a virtuous disposition is completely established, then the mental atmosphere is cleared, and the mind clearly sees why what happened in his life. Then he speaks to the prophet: “I have understood,” - now that is, I clearly see, “for the truth of Thy destiny, and Thou hast truly humbled me.” “Whoever, writes Saint Ambrose, understands the ways of God’s Providence can use the same words that Saint David speaks here. Nothing happens without the knowledge of God; everything that happens happens according to His judgment. But what leads to the knowledge of this is what he prayed for above, that is, that God would instruct him how to learn the commandments. Having received such admonition, he also understood the righteousness of God’s judgments. This understanding is the property of a perfect husband. It is another thing to believe, and another to understand. Faith is in the one who has received the fear of God; understanding is in the one who has already gained wisdom for salvation... I was humble to understand this, because those who are arrogant do not have eyes to see such truth. When we humble ourselves, then we recognize our sins, and with our very humility we cleanse our failures. “He humbled himself,” he says, and “saved me” (Ps. 115:5). Truly humble is he who humbles himself for salvation; He who was directed by them to repentance was not in vain subjected to sorrows. But there is a distance between the understanding of the said truth and the fear that led to repentance. The Lord says to the believing Jews: “If you continue in My word... you will understand the truth” (John 8:31–32). You see, it is not from the very beginning, as soon as someone out of fear of God hears His word, that understanding is given.” Ps.119:76. Be Thy mercy, may Thy servant comfort me according to Thy word. “Thy servant” can be referred to both “Thy word” and “Let Thy mercy be upon Thy servant.” The latter is better, because the former goes without saying. This is how Saint Athanasius interprets: “I beg you, that, according to Your word, Your mercy will be a consolation and encouragement to Your servant; for many, having accepted consolation, indulge in deception, as if they had acquired it through their own prudence. So that I may not fall into the same error, may Thy mercy be upon me, Thy servant, according to Thy word.” What connection does this have with the previous one? – Here’s the one: “But the time has come,” says Theodoret, for love of mankind and consolation, for You have promised Your favor to the repentant. God said the same thing through the mouth of Isaiah: “When you return to breathe, then you will be saved” (Is. 30:15), and through the mouth of Malachi: “Turn to Me, and I will return to you” (Mal. 3:7). What, then, should one ask for? - Mercy of consolation, according to the word of the Lord. However, it can be understood this way: change the sorrowful circumstances that humble me into comforting ones. The patch has had its effect, so take it off. Although the Physician of souls and bodies himself knows about this far better than us, it is not inappropriate to pray about this, just not unconditionally, but with the implication: if it pleases You, Lord, if it will be saving for me; to pray, that is, without going beyond the bounds of devotion to the will of God, which constitutes the soul of a godly life. We see from experience that the Lord sometimes changes the sorrowful into the comforting, as, for example, in Job; and sometimes until the end of his life he keeps him in a straitjacket position, as we see with Lazarus, who was taken from his rotting place and into Abraham’s bosom. Saint Ambrose believes that the prophet prays only for the grace of consolation, without touching upon humiliating circumstances and submitting to the will of God to change them for the better or leave them that way. “Another,” he says, humbled by disasters, prays that temptations will cease, that the Lord will tame the storm of troubles raging against him; and the prophet, as a strong and courageous fighter, who understands how adversity and sorrow raise the soul to perfection, does not want to remove sorrow, not to reject reluctance, - he asks to stop not everything that causes fatigue and labor, but prays that during his difficult struggle against the storm of temptations, consolation will be given to him, so that he can endure what is inflicted with a courageous spirit, and so as not to weaken from the attacks of sadness and despondency. Thus, he begs the goodness of God not to allow him, being deprived of the help given by consolation, to stop without finishing the good warfare he has begun. In heaven there is undoubtedly ready consolation for all those who suffer for virtue, and the greater the consolation, the greater the sorrows raised; but even here, for fear of falling under the weight of disasters, pray to the Lord to grant you consolation, as he gave to St. Paul, who testifies: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of tender mercies and the God of all comfort, who have comforted us in all our affliction, that He may be able to comfort us in every affliction, with the consolation in which we ourselves are comforted from God” (2 Cor. 1:3-4). But one cannot help but see that, in addition to spiritual consolation, the prophet also expects external consolation, as the flow of speech makes clear. Below he says, so that the enemies will see this and be ashamed, and the God-fearing ones will also turn to him (verses Ps. 119: 78-79). Both are possible only when consolation is not only poured into the heart, but also externally provided. Ps.119:77. May Thy compassions come to me, and I will live, for Thy law is my teaching. “The Prophet,” says Theodoret, having lost God’s favor, considers himself dead; therefore he begs that he may come to life again, according to God’s love for mankind.” “Let your compassions come to me, consumed by sorrow, Zigaben explains, Lord, and I will live by them; may they come to me because the object of my constant thought and care is Your law, and not any good of this world.” “Generosity” is compassion that bestows benefit, not only as goodwill, but as showing generosity by deed itself. “Let them come, - mercy,” as it was said above, “let there be, and let bounties come,” - mercy, as a constant cover, and bounties, as an intermittent sending down of the necessary benefits that come and go. “And I will live” - and I will come to life. Just as one who was heartbroken and then rejoiced, or one who, having become poor, becomes rich again, or, having been dishonored, again comes into honor, is said to “come to life,” so the prophet asks for bounties in order to come to life in the feelings of the heart. This revival here, like the previous grace of consolation, stands with the prophet in contrast to humiliating or humiliating circumstances, righteously sent from God, as he confessed above. Therefore, in the flow of speech, they refer to the correction of the external life of the repentant and reformed. That it is appropriate to ask for this, this is clear from the Lord’s Prayer, in which, along with high spiritual benefits, there is also “give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). But at the same time we must keep in mind: if the Lord so desires. If You see, Lord, that this and that is useful for my salvation, then grant it to me. Of course, it is decent to ask only for the spiritual benefits of repentance, maintaining the determination to live well, understanding the will of God, prayer, patience, etc. For external blessings one should always pray conditionally, or even better – surrendering one’s fate to the will of God. And “I will live” can, according to the way Saint Ambrose understood: “let him comfort me” in the previous verse, also be understood as the revival of the patient spirit of courage. Tight circumstances produce two types of effects: they induce sadness and undermine energy. In the previous verse the prophet prayed for the grace of consolation, which drives away sorrow, but here he prays for the revival of energy. Let, as he would say, let everything remain as it is - let me be under a humbling oppression, but my hands are giving up, my courage is weakening: breathe into me unshakable firmness and undaunted vigor of heart, so that I myself realize, and others see that no matter how cramped it may be for me, I am not weakening in the least in my moral strength, but I am still the same, still vigorously stepping out to fight against hardships and sorrows. “For Thy law is my teaching.” This is what the prophet bases his hope that his prayer will be heard. I have only thoughts, he says, about Your law; I am only occupied with how best to fulfill it; and according to Thy judgment, blessed are those whose will is in Thy law, and who learn in it day and night. Was it not You who said: “I love Me who loves Me, and those who seek Me will find grace?” ( Proverbs 8:17 ). “Therefore,” adds Saint Athanasius, “as Thou hast promised consolation, do so, giving mercy to Thy servants.” The prophet asked for the mercy of consolation for himself, as for a slave; and asks for the bounty of revival, as a zealot of the law. Both teach that only those who work hard and try in every possible way to please Him can reliably approach God with petitions in prayer. We often complain that our prayer is not heard: we did not work for God - and our prayer was not heard. Ps.119:78. Let pride be ashamed, for I have committed unrighteousness against me; but I will mock Your commandments. The prophet calls those who despise the law proud, who, not loving the law, do not love the zealous executors of it, despise them, mock them and do not think of causing them any harm. Seeing those who are zealous about pleasing God by fulfilling the commandments of God in a humble position, they rebel even more against them and the rules of their life. This means it is unjust to commit lawlessness against them. The prophet prays: take away from them, Lord, this reason to speak contemptuously about the law and treat its executors in the same way. Return me to a bright state and thereby put an end to their triumph. Let it become clear in the face of everyone that it is not in vain that Your servants strictly fulfill Your law, and these proud ones, who reproach Your law in the face of everyone, will be put to shame. Everyone who sees a change in me for the better, instead of previously looking at me and Thy law with an unkind eye, will after this begin to treat those very proud with contempt and laugh at them. External shame may not be accompanied by shame before oneself and one’s conscience; it may leave unchanged the previous attitude towards the law and its adherents; but in the words of the prophet one can also see a desire for the proud to be ashamed of the fact that they were such, to change and correct both their view of the law and their life in relation to it. “The prophet, says blessed Theodoret, does not curse his enemies, but prays for them, because shame paves the way to salvation. Having used such healing himself, he wants to have it too.” Saint Ambrose continues the same thought: “Having been healed, he became a doctor and wants to heal even those who hurt him, so that, realizing their wrongness, they would be ashamed of their bad deeds. Shame mostly serves to correct us. When a person begins to be ashamed of any of his actions, he is thereby encouraged to leave what causes shame. This is what the prophet wants for them, that is, he wants them to realize how badly they acted, and so that, having realized this, they would be ashamed, and having been ashamed, they would leave behind their previous untruths.” Saint Athanasius also develops this thought: “If, he says, you change my fate for a better one, then the proud will be ashamed, and I will not be proud that they are ashamed, but “I will mock your commandments.” This will not weaken my zeal to please You by fulfilling Your commandments, but, on the contrary, will strengthen it. “I’ll mock” - I’ll sit down, I’ll intensify my diligence and work, I’ll do it as relentlessly as someone else diligently does what he loves. When the tightness goes away, it’s as if my hands will be untied. I will direct the forces directed towards bearing the burden that lies on me to fulfilling the law: I will study it more, come up with greater means to fulfill it and apply it to life in my improved circumstances. The prophet prepares a decision to do so that when what is asked comes, he is ready to act in this way, and not say to the soul: “I have many good things that lie ahead for many years; rest, eat, drink, be merry” (Luke 12:19). Ps.119:79. Let those who fear You and those who know Your testimonies convert me. Blessed Theodoret reads this passage as follows: “may they turn to me,” and expresses the thought of the text as follows: “The Prophet begs to be again in unity and have fellowship with the righteous. Symmachus expressed this more clearly, he notes: may those who fear You return me, may they return me, of course, to themselves, may they accept me, that is, into brotherly fellowship.” "Let them convert me." Since he imagines himself already converted from sin to virtue, and not only converted, but also successful on this path, it is no longer convenient to understand such a conversion here. Therefore, it is better to understand this word as follows: “let them turn me to themselves.” They kicked me out for my sins, as unworthy to be in their community; My humble position turned me to the path of virtue, but it also covered my correction, or, if it could not cover it, because it is transparent, then it could not help but cast doubt on whether I was accepted back into Thy mercy. The righteous would be ready to enter into communication with me, but, believing, due to my dark fate, that I am under Your anger and displeasure, they do not dare to do so. When You change my fate for the better, the righteous will see that You have returned Your favor to me and turned me to Yourself, they will call, accept, turn to me with open arms and will again enter into a brotherly heartfelt union with me. The righteous do not interrupt visible communication with those who fall into sin; on the contrary, they enter into their situation and try in every possible way to return them to the path of truth; but the intimacy between them naturally ceases, since they no longer have the same speech, the same thoughts, the wrong activities. It is no longer convenient for the righteous to have a conversation with them: the righteous talk only about what is in their hearts - about God and pleasing God, while the sinners talk about everything about the things of the world. They are bored with each other, so sincere communication between them stops by itself. When a sinner is converted, the righteous cannot help but see this, rejoice at it and help establish him on the good path. But, taught by the experience of his falling away, they keep themselves somewhat distant from him, that is, they do not immediately begin to live soul to soul and tell him the secrets of their heart, the secrets of spiritual life. When he shows true evidence that he has established himself on a good path, then they turn to him with an open heart. All this happens according to the direct laws of mental relationships. The prophet gives a sign that he has completely reformed by the return of the Lord's bounty to him. When they return, the righteous will also turn to him, but not for the return of bounties, but for the sake of that moral perfection, a sign of which is his return. “Those who fear You and know Your testimonies,” that is, not only those who fear God, but also those who have been tested in fulfilling the law, and who know faithfully all the secrets of life according to God. Here it was deliberately added: “those who bear Thy testimonies” to signify the point at which heartfelt communication is again established - communication based on mutually confiding the secrets of a godly life for mutual creation in the spirit and helping each other to advance in spiritual life. Ps.119:80. May my heart be blameless in Your justifications, so that I will not be ashamed. There are two sides to moral life: good conduct and integrity of heart. It is no wonder to direct and maintain good behavior, but to acquire and maintain an immaculate heart is great work. Everything that the Lord has arranged for our salvation boils down to making the heart immaculate, and its depravity consists of passions grafted onto it. Although they are unnatural, they entered deeply into us and became along with natural needs, so that making the heart immaculate is the same as re-creating it. Obviously, no one except the Creator can do this. He did everything for this: he arranged a method of justification, bestowed new life, filled with strength, established sanctification and correctional rites, established fatherly leadership. Grace comes and lays the foundation of integrity; then the works of self-resistance and self-correction under the guidance of the sanctification rites drive out passions one after another and plant good dispositions in their place. At the end of the labors, the heart is completely blameless, filled with all the fruits of the Spirit that St. Paul mentions: “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23), or as the Lord depicts it in the beatitudes: contrite and humble, meek, truth-loving, merciful, pure, peaceful, patient, hopeful. An immaculate heart is not only alien to everything vicious, but also full of all goodness - good. “Let me not be ashamed.” The Prophet does not mention how and where “let him not be ashamed.” The closest shamelessness occurs during an uprising of internal battles. The enemy raises a storm of thoughts and unkind movements, but when the heart is pure and good, then these attacks, approaching it from the outside, are met in the opposite good dispositions, rooted in the heart, with a strong reflection: anger is reflected by meekness, pride and vanity - by contrition and humility, impurity - by purity, selfishness - by righteousness and mercy, resentment - patience, and whatever unkind movement approaches, it will find a rebuff in the opposite good mood of the heart. No matter how hard the enemy tries, he cannot defeat the one whose heart is pure: the latter will never be ashamed before the former. The second moment of non-shame is the time of death and ordeal. No matter how wild the thought of ordeals may seem to smart people, they cannot be avoided. What are these Mytniks looking for in those passing by? - Whether they have their goods. What is their product? - Passion. Therefore, whoever has an immaculate heart and is free from passions, they cannot find anything to which they could become attached; on the contrary, the quality opposite to them will strike them themselves like lightning arrows. To this, one of the many scientists expressed another thought: ordeals seem to be something terrible; but it is very possible that demons, instead of something terrible, represent something lovely (flattering, insidious). Seductively and charmingly, according to all types of passions, they present to the passing soul one after another. When passions are expelled from the heart during earthly life and virtues opposite to them are implanted, then whatever charming thing you imagine, the soul, which has no sympathy for it, passes it by, turning away from it with disgust. And when the heart is not cleansed, then for which passion it most sympathizes, that’s why the soul rushes there. The demons take her as if they were friends, and then they know where to put her. This means that it is very doubtful that the soul, while it still has sympathies for the objects of any passions, will not be ashamed at the ordeal. The shame here is that the soul itself is thrown into hell. But the final shamelessness is at the Last Judgment, before the face of the all-seeing Judge, before the host of angels and all saints. All God’s saints constantly had this picture in their minds and tried in every possible way not to retreat in their minds from the moment when the words “go away” or “come” would come from the mouth of the Judge, so that they would have the urge to protect themselves not only from obvious sins, but also from sinful thoughts and feelings. This alone burned away all that was bad among them, and planted all that was good. Therefore, there is no doubt that in the words of the prophet in this place, this last non-shamefulness is primarily meant, since the thought of it is the best means of planting chastity in the heart. The eleventh eight-line goes under the letter “kaf” - “palm”. A slap is given with the palm of the hand, which is offensive to the one receiving it; they touch the cheek of their beloved with their palm to kiss it sweeter. Thus, it is both an instrument of resentment and insult, and an instrument of the warmest love. This title suits this verse very well, since in it the prophet represents a person who is insulted, oppressed unrighteously and turning to God in confident prayer for help and intercession. He says something like this: “They beat me, but caress me, Lord!” Everything that is said here is very applicable to Job, to the holy martyrs and, in many ways, to those struggling with passions and lusts. Ps.119:81. My soul disappears for Your salvation, I trust in Your words. “Disappears for salvation,” that is, he strongly desires to receive salvation from You, and, moreover, so strongly that he reaches the point of frenzy. “Those who desire something strongly,” says Blessed Theodoret, but those deprived of what they want say about themselves that they seem to disappear. This is what happens to those who are very thirsty and have no water; This is what happens to those who wait from hour to hour for the return of one of their acquaintances and, not seeing his arrival, disappear from desire; so those who are struggling with any misfortunes and waiting for God’s protection, when they see it slowing down, seem to disappear.” “I trusted in Your word,” that is, in the promise,” explains Saint Athanasius. The prophet now devotes the third eight-verse to depicting those in need and oppressed for their loyalty to the will of God and His commandments. And here, salvation means deliverance from humiliating and humiliating attacks, sorrows and deprivations for the word of God. What is said here is very fitting for Job in the pit or for any martyr who languished in chains for a long time and was often tortured, as well as for any innocent sufferer. But you can take these words separately from others and see in them the cry of a soul thirsting for salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ from sin and eternal destruction. Saint Athanasius, Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine think so. Saint Athanasius writes: “The Prophet teaches us to desire words and to be filled with love for God’s salvation; and what other salvation is there except the coming of the Lord?” Saint Ambrose says: "Disappears; - whoever goes into what he loves with all his soul thinks about it, talks about it, is attached to it, drinks into it with all his soul. This is the feeling experienced by a mother awaiting the return of her beloved son, as Tobiah’s mother experienced. What does it mean: “the soul disappears for salvation”? – Here’s what: a soul that cleaves to the Lord, as it were, ceases to be a soul, but becomes “one spirit with the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:17). The holy and God-fearing man desires nothing but the salvation of God, which is Christ the Lord; He lusts only for Him, desires Him, rushes to Him with all his might, warms Him in the bosom of his mind, opens up to Him and pours out his soul before Him, and fears only one thing, lest he be deprived of communication with Him. In another place the prophet says about himself: “My soul thirsts for You,” and a little lower he adds: “My soul clings to You, but Your right hand accepts me” (Ps. 63:2, 9). He who is thirsty wants to be at the source and desires nothing more than to get to the water as quickly as possible. This is how the soul rushes to the Lord. And the Lord, having taken her into His right hand and poured His power into her, does what she seems to cease to be: I live, she says, “to no one, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). How the soul disappears for the salvation of God is well depicted by the holy prophet Jeremiah: “and quickly,” he says, “it was like a fire burning in my heart, scorching in my bones, and I weakened everywhere, and I could not bear it” (Jer. 20:9). He said well: “in words of trust,” - first hope is kindled, and then disappearance follows. Reflecting on what he read in the word of God, and seeing that, being in the body, as if bound by some bonds of this life, he defended himself from the salvation of God, longed for it, strove for it, disappeared in it, poured out into it with all his heart. This is how the spirit of the one who, having denied himself, cleaves entirely to Christ the Lord, disappears. Whoever, disappearing into himself, cleaves to Him, loses what is his and receives the Divine, eternal, completely calming.” Ps.119:82. My eyes have disappeared into Your word, saying: When will You comfort me? “Here,” explains Blessed Theodoret, the promise of God is called a word. The one who awaits the fulfillment of God’s promise and the end of the evils that surround him disappears into it.” And in ordinary speech they sometimes say about someone who has been waiting for a long time for someone with a strong desire to see him: “he looked through his eyes.” So, burdened by grief, prayerfully turning his eyes to God, he asks and waits for help - he waits for days, months and years, but help still does not come. How can he not cry out: “When will you console me?” This does not express the impoverishment of hope, but the strength of desire. It was fitting to cry out like this to a martyr who had been tortured for twenty-eight years; they will torture you - and again you will go to prison; he recovers a little, they torture him again - and again he goes to prison; It was also fitting for a thirty-eight-year-old paralytic, who every summer before his eyes someone received healing, after which he fell ill and did not lie at the font for so long; It was fitting for the blind man of Jericho, who sat by the way and waited with great effort for his salvation to pass by. Both in the word of the prophet and in these examples there is a strong lesson for us - not to lose hope when requests for deliverance from the needs that oppress us are not quickly fulfilled and, crying out: “When, Lord, will you console us?” – don’t lose hope. The above-mentioned holy fathers also understand this passage about a soul seeking salvation in the Lord. But when the soul clings to the Lord and has Him in itself, then what else can it desire? – One thing: the complete fulfillment of what she expects from the Lord. Forgiveness is pronounced to the repentant in the sacrament of repentance; but the feeling of forgiveness, or the inner confirmation that sins have been forgiven, does not come quickly. It is fitting for a spirit grieving over this to cry out: “When will you console me?” One elder imprisoned a great repentant sinner in a cell and, after three years, said to her: “God revealed to me that all your sins have been forgiven.” During this period of time, wouldn’t it have been appropriate for her to cry out: “When will you console me?” Whatever leads to repentance leads to every spiritual gift in Christ Jesus. Nothing is given or appropriated to the soul immediately: everything has its time; and confirmation in every virtue comes only in its own time. You cannot snatch anything from the hand of the Lord without permission: seek, pray, wait - hence the cry: “When will you console me?” St. Augustine writes: “With the words “when you console,” the prophet shows how painful it is to slow down in getting what you want. But the giver delays in giving so that the receiving will be all the more pleasant and the received will be more vigilantly observed. The Lord knows what to give to whom, for He always has measure, weight and number for everything.” Saint Ambrose's cry - "when you console" refers to the soul that longed for the grace of contemplation. Active perfection is the first stage of Christian life, and contemplation is the second, highest. They ascend to it after the purification of the soul, but not on their own, but are raised by the Lord and the grace of the Spirit. Meanwhile, the one who desires it himself directs the eye of his mind there; but, with all the tension, he himself sees nothing. The Lord and His grace have their time for everything. Hence the cry: “When will you console me?” All the mysteries of God are revealed in the word of God, but are comprehended only when grace allows them to be comprehended. Suddenly the mind sees in the word something that it had not previously seen in it, although it has read and pondered it several times. Ps.119:83. It would never be like fur on the slang; I have not forgotten Your excuses. In the first two verses, the prophet expressed only a strong desire for help and grief that he did not soon receive what he wanted; now he sets forth reasons why it would be righteous to hasten the fulfillment of the promise and end his suffering. The first reason is that I, he says, became like fur on the slope, in the cold, on ice or snow; and yet, still, I have not forgotten and do not forget Your justifications. “Fur, Zigaben argues, freezes in the cold, shrinks, deteriorates, and becomes worthless.” I became, he says, worthless, look at me - no matter what, and all this is from sorrows, deprivations, attacks and oppression. There is no condition, and the strength of the body is exhausted: no stake, no yard, hungry, naked and barefoot; Besides, I’m blind, lame, and paralyzed, I can barely move. To whom is it more appropriate to rush for help? After all, this is all for Your justifications - because I am faithful to You and do not deviate from Your law. How such a speech would suit Lazarus in his rot! And yet, Lazarus was left as he was until the end of his days. Therefore, one must always understand in the words of a prophet that he takes upon himself the face of various kinds of sufferers and, entering into their position, from their face extends a word of prayer to God, without, however, eliminating devotion to the will of God, which constitutes the soul of prayer and is an integral quality of those who please God as they should. The Holy Fathers, interpreting this passage in a moral sense, in comparison - “like fur on the glory”, see an indication of self-mortification, the first condition for advancement in the spiritual life, which St. Paul strictly fulfilled: “I mortify my body,” he says, and “I enslave, so that by preaching to others, I myself will not be enslaved” (1 Cor. 9:27). Saint Athanasius writes: “The righteous, while still in life, become dead from suffering; therefore they become more like furs than people, having cooled like hardened frost. The one who wears out (crushes into dust) his flesh becomes a fur in the glory, does not leave anything inflammable and lustful in it, but, as it were, freezes it.” In the same sense, Saint Ambrose says: “Fur is made from the skin of an animal that has ceased to live; so we also need to die to sin and the flesh if we want to live for the sake of God. Then we will become new wineskins into which we can reliably pour new wine. Whoever wants to nourish the body and preserve grace is looking for the impossible. The fur on the face is the one who always carries the death of the Lord on his body, who does not fatten his body, like those about whom it is said: they ate, drank, and went to dance (Ex. 32:6). Let him who is drunk not with wine, but with the Spirit, boast, like David, that he has become like a bottle of wine.” “When spiritual desires are inflamed, writes Blessed Augustine, carnal desires cool down. This is what the prophet is talking about here. Under the word “fur” he points to the lustful flesh, and under “slania” - a heavenly gift, which, like frost, kills carnal lusts. The consequence of this is that God’s justifications do not fall out of memory, because then one does not think about anything else, when “carnality is not created in lust” (Rom. 13:14). Ps.119:84. How many days are there of Your servant? When will you bring judgment on me from those who persecute me? The prophet says something like this: days after days go by, years after years; I wait for Your intercession, but it does not come. It’s already the end of life, and I’m still under oppression, while my enemies are triumphant. When, Lord, will You execute judgment on those who persecute me, when will You put them to shame and raise me from humiliation? How natural is such a cry for one around whom the enemies of him and God rejoice! Just as soon as death strikes, will these enemies really remain unpunished? Of course, he also hurts for himself, but does not separate himself from the interests of God. Inspired to such a bold word by the feeling of God's truth, he seems to say this: will You really allow Your truth to be insulted with impunity? Here lies the second reason why it would be necessary to speed up assistance to the suffering. St. Augustine likens this cry to the cry of the apocalyptic massacred: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood from those living on the earth?” (Rev.6:10). In both, there is evidence that unrighteous offenders are avenged on earth, that not everyone is given the opportunity to live out their untruths until death, without earthly retribution. If this were so, people would forget that there is a Judge. Full retribution for all is postponed until the general judgment; but even here sometimes the Lord rewards as evidence that the path of unrighteousness is an unreliable path. Others even live to the grave in happiness, so that, as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus showed, they may receive goodness for certain virtues in their bellies. This cry also has its own meaning in a moral sense. Those who succeed in the fight against passions and lusts, supported by the secret influences of the enemy of our salvation, seeing that life is running out, and yet the passions are still in force, and fearing that they might pass unpurified into another life, righteously cry out for judgment over the incessant persecution and oppression of them, through the incitement of passions, by Satan. The meaning of the prayer is this: repel and drive him away from me; then it will be easier for me to deal with the remnants of sin in me in the days remaining for me; and perhaps, at least at the end of my life, I will taste the sweetness of heartfelt purity. Saint Athanasius writes: “Short are the days of men on earth; Therefore, the prophet prays that in their continuation Satan will soon be crushed under his feet and that he himself will subdue the soul to the Divine Word that descended into it.” Saint Ambrose speaks about this in more detail: “Having established himself on the solid foundation of virtue, the prophet prays that he would be given the power to trample not a person, but one who is accustomed to seizing for himself a position of dominion in a person. And the apostle teaches that through the judgment of sin in man (during repentance and rejection of sin), judgment is carried out on Satan and that his head is crushed through the overcoming of sin: “God,” he says, “may he quickly crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20). Thus, the prophet asks that God allow him, with the feet of his faith, to erase the enemy and trample him like dust - so that while still in this body, despite the shortness of the days of life, he can triumph over him. This triumph over the enemy occurs when he is allowed to feel over himself the power and strength of a person whom he previously held in the bonds of sin and passions. This happens when the grace of God revives and transforms a person. The Lord gives such a soul the power to attack his enemies and crush their heads through his faith, deeds and exploits. This way anyone can overcome the enemy. When we do indecent things, the enemy is proud of us; but when we are zealous for the deeds of purity, truth and abstinence, then we trample on this serpent and scorpion.” Ps.119:85. The lawbreakers have told me mockery, but not like Thy law, O Lord. Here comes the third reason why one cannot help but hear the cry of the prophet, or the cry of the one on whose behalf he speaks. Lawbreakers, he says, led me astray, asking me to follow the rules of their life. Of course, if I listened to them, I would get rid of their attacks and insults; but I did not agree to this, because what they proposed were obvious fables and mockeries of all truth. This is not Your law. Therefore, wouldn’t it be righteous to spare me and deliver me from the oppression of the enemies of truth? How did the torturers not seduce the holy martyrs? And they exposed the truth of their malice, and they denigrated faith in Christ the Lord Crucified, and offered happiness and contentment - the holy martyrs, not all in words, but all in deeds, answered them: “All this is mockery, all this is your own fabrications and lies, with which you deceive yourself and want to deceive others. This is not the law of God; This is not God’s will for our salvation!” And at any time there are many people who are subjected to deprivation and oppression from those who do not love the truth simply because they do not want to participate with them in their untruth. Consequently, at all times these words meet people who find it fitting to address them to God in their prayer. Morally, the application of these words is extensive and everywhere. By the name of lawbreakers here we mean outright sinners, who with their speeches sometimes try to lead astray the zealots of goodness from the good path, and passions with sinful habits, who, instead of words, present their demands under the guise of the law, and most of all, unclean spirits, who interfere everywhere with their proposals and suggestions, inclining them to leave the law of God’s will and live according to their own, that is, according to their will. All these enemies of truth never offer sin, like sin and lawlessness, but always cover it with a cloud, under which it seems tolerable, permissible, and sometimes even inevitable. A lover of God's law, accustomed to walking in His ways, has feelings trained in the judgment of good and evil, and easily exposes flattering covers and exposes lies: all this, he says, although it looks like a law, is in fact “not like Your law, O Lord,” and he turns away from it. None of those who truly follow the path of God are free from such deceptions; therefore, each of these can include these words of the prophet into the words of his prayer. But not everyone has such a mind, and not everyone can discover the hidden charm for themselves. Therefore, the inexperienced should turn to the most experienced to explain the matter and indicate what is right. The enemy sometimes starts a hundred miles away to bring someone to bad deeds. The inexperienced does not yet see anything except ordinary affairs; but further and further, and without noticing it, he stumbles and falls into sin. Evil spirits participate in our affairs more than we think and guess. There is not a single step to prevent them from getting into something, and everyone is wondering if they will be able to grab someone and laugh at him. That is why the Lord so insistently says: “I say to everyone, watch” (Mark 13:37). We must be vigilant, warming up the bad; but we must be no less vigilant, considering even the bad things that come to mind as something good and useful. Ps.119:86. All Your commandments are true, having persecuted me unrighteously, help me. The Prophet confirms with this why he did not listen to the mockery of the lawbreakers and remained faithful to the law: therefore, he says that “Your law is the truth,” and then draws a conclusion from this: therefore, they began to persecute me unrighteously; to pursue the truth - what is the truth here? That’s why he prays: “help” me, O Lord, Patron of all truth, who is unjustly persecuted! This is the fourth reason why you should help him. “I prefer,” writes Theodoret, “Your law, because I see all Your commandments adorned with truth; but the fact that they are persecuting me is a great untruth.” The conviction that the path we are following is the true one is the basis for the firm determination to follow it unswervingly, despite any obstacles. It gives courage and inspires, but at the same time it does not take away the feeling of sorrow of persecution and does not cover up their unrighteousness. Therefore, with such conviction, the prayer is appropriate: “help me”; it even gives the greatest boldness to prayer for help. He who endures righteously does not suffer persecution, but bears punishment (teaching). How can he pray: “help me”? - This is possible for him only under the condition of repentance. But even in this case, the more appropriate prayer is: “I endure righteously; forgive and have mercy!” Saint Ambrose writes: “The prophet did not say: because they persecute me, help me; but “having persecuted me unrighteously, help me.” After all, someone can endure persecution, but righteously; there is a righteous persecution of vice. But when someone suffers persecution for truth, for purity, for faith, it is fitting for such a person to say the words of the prophet: “Having persecuted me unrighteously, help me.” In the words “help me” one can see both a prayer for deliverance from persecution and a prayer for help in enduring the sorrows of persecution. The zealots of virtue have at the forefront the conviction that God knows better than we do what is useful for us in our external destiny. “Like a good warrior,” says Saint Ambrose, the prophet does not run away from battle and is not afraid of battles with the enemy, having become accustomed to war; but, as a faithful and experienced one, he prays for help to be sent from above and reverently revives his courage. He does not ask for the persecution to subside, but prays for help in enduring it. He knew that those who want to live piously cannot do without persecution, therefore he willingly meets them, just to stand in piety. We have many persecutors, both visible and invisible; We are haunted by unclean spirits, heretics, pagans, and Jews. All those who want to live piously are certainly under the yoke of persecution, so that it is difficult for a zealot of piety to seize even a moment free from persecution. And, perhaps, one can even conclude that when we do not tolerate persecution, it is true because we do not live entirely piously; for if the saying is true that “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12); it is also true that whoever does not endure persecution has not yet begun to live truly piously in Christ Jesus. When there is no struggle, then, I am afraid, is it because there is no one willing to enter into a struggle with me? The Lord said: “If you cast out Me, you will also be cast out” (John 15:20). Saint David heard this word in the spirit before the incarnation of the Lord and, like a disciple of Christ, did not shy away from war, but boldly entered into the fight; for he knew that this would confirm him in piety, secure his salvation and bring him a crown of glory. Ps.119:87. I have not yet died on earth, and I have not forsaken Your commandments. “Barely,” explains Saint Athanasius, “I did not lose my life from persecution.” “They, adds Zigaben, knocked me to the ground; a little more, they would have lost their lives; but even in such extremity I did not abandon Your commandments; I learn from them and keep them.” At first the enemies approached with flattering speech, wanting to win me over to their side; but since I did not give in to them, they took up something else and razed me to the ground, depriving me of everything and bringing me to the point where I could even die. But I endured these mortal sufferings, and yet I did not deviate from Your commandments. This was exactly what was performed on the holy martyrs. This is the fifth reason why it is right to give help and get rid of oppression. Here I am brought to the last extreme, but I still stand. If You are testing me, Lord, then it seems that the test has already taken place completely and it is time to put an end to it; and since, despite the extremes of death, You still preserve my life, then from this I conclude that You are finally ready to reward me with peace, and therefore I pray: deliver. In moral terms, here one can see an indication of the most powerful impulses of sinfulness and resistance against them. Here is the last limit to which the work of human will extends in the fight against passions - not to agree to the bad. Agreement and disagreement are always a matter of freedom; No one can rape him, not even God Almighty Himself. But success goes no further than this, since it depends on will. To tame passions, to cut them off from our nature, to make them insensible, or, what is the same, to bring them to purity, is the work of God’s grace. The prophet speaks in the face of the betrothed: oh, how strong the excitement was! As a stormy wind bends a weak plant to the very ground, so it was with me; but I didn't give in. Now I have done everything that depended on me, so, Lord, complete the work with Your grace and tame the passions that fight me. And perhaps it also expresses fear: I managed to resist, but who knows whether I will resist later? Better take these passions from me, Lord! Saint Ambrose expresses the last thought: “It was not in vain that he resorted to Divine help, knowing that he was fighting against strong enemies and that he had many battles with them: either unclean spirits attacked, or the flesh rebelled with its baits. Even though you resist them, you are still afraid that you might fall. Let us learn from this to fear most of all our domestic enemy, whom we always carry with us. He is not so much strong as he is flattering and varied in his attacks. He is inflamed by wine, he burns with lust, he is kindled by the sight of a woman passing by by chance, he is nourished by hope, but does not weaken from hopelessness, he is excited by lures, but does not end in satisfaction. And here are his astonishers: fear breaks him, labor exhausts him, and suffering crushes his head.” Ps.119:88. Live for me according to Thy mercy, and I will preserve the testimonies of Thy mouth. The purpose of present life is the fulfillment of God's commandments. Whoever holds on to this carries within himself the foundation of what, according to God’s providence, his life can rest on. “But,” notes Blessed Theodoret, the prophet decorated his words with humility, because he asked for life not as a reward for truth, but as a gift of mercy, promising to keep the testimonies of God for this. As in the previous eight-verse, I begged and begged and finally said: let it be as Your will pleases, only let my heart be blameless - so here: I begged and begged and in conclusion says: well, let the enemies triumph; only save my life, so that I may be more successful in preserving Your testimonies,” concludes, that is, devotion to the will of God, which constitutes the essence of prayer. Morally, this prayer should be a prayer for grace-filled revival. Saint Ambrose interprets this verse as follows: “The passions arise and prevent me from faithfully fulfilling Your commandments; send grace, or increase the grace that enlivens my spirit. Then holy spiritual movements will drown out the movements of weakened sin, and I will unhinderedly keep Your testimonies. I abstain from sinful deeds; but cut off the passions themselves, so that when I look, for example, at my wife, I do not lust after her even in my heart.” Or you can do it this way: “live me,” keep me for an eternal life. Even if this life is too tight, but do not deprive me of eternal bliss; and I promise to keep Your testimonies, fidelity to which is an urgent condition for obtaining bliss in eternity. “With the words: “Live for me,” says Saint Ambrose, the prophet asked, of course, not what he had, that is, life, for he lived, but what he desired, that is, to live in eternity, meaning a blessed life. Knowing, however, that in this much-worried body it is difficult to maintain the good mood of the soul unchanged, he asks for mercy to be constantly revived by the Spirit and through this always live for God and be dead to sin. For when sin is dead in us, life will be alive for God, and keeping the commandments will continue uninterruptedly and constantly, and will pave the way to eternal life in God.” The twelfth eight-line follows the letter or word “lamed” - “teach.” To teach means both to teach others and to learn and memorize yourself. Only the last meaning is applicable to the present eight-line. It talks about studying the law of God, so that, that is, understanding the will of God and acting in accordance with it. This subject is vast, and the prophet has already drawn attention to it several times. In the present case, he shows to what conviction his teaching in the law of God led him and what benefits it brought him. Having studied the law, I was convinced, he says, that if anyone wants to truly live, then he cannot achieve this otherwise than by conforming to the law of God, which expresses God’s will for us. Look: in the invisible sky and in the visible sky, and on earth, and in all its phenomena, everything submits to the will of God. If you want to live among creatures so constructed, then guide yourself according to the will of God; otherwise you will be overwhelmed by such a general movement if you go against it (verses Ps. 119:89–91). I decided to act this way, and this is what I got: under all the humiliating circumstances, I did not die (verse Ps. 119:92); acting according to God's justifications, I came to life (verse Ps. 119:93); Having sought them out, I was assigned to God and feel saved (verse Ps. 119:94); the enemies laid nets for me, but they did not arrange my destruction, because understanding the testimonies of God taught me to unravel their intrigues and avoid them (verse Ps. 119:95); Finally, having entered the path of God's will, I feel that I have entered into space and freedom, entered an area that has no limit (verse Ps. 119:96). Beginning to explain this eight-verse, Saint Ambrose prays like this: “Come, Lord Jesus, open for us the door of this prophetic teaching, since it is closed for many, although at first it appears to be open.” Ps.119:89. For ever, O Lord, Your word remains in heaven. In verses Ps.119:89–91 the prophet depicts how everything in creation submits to the will of God. In this verse it says that the word of the living God is immutably fulfilled in the mental and material heaven; in the next one he will say that everything exists on earth because God arranged it this way according to His wise will; and then he will add that all phenomena on earth, from great to small, such as, for example, the succession of days and nights, everything takes place according to the will of God, in order to deduce from all this: “for all things are Your work.” “For ever, O Lord, Thy word endureth”: What word? - That which was spoken by God when He created the world. God spoke: let there be light - and there will be; God said: let the firmament be - and be; God said: let there be the sun, the moon and the stars - and they appeared. And everything for which it was then said: “quickly,” remains so. The will of God for the existence of the world was realized by its existence; but he also abides because by his abiding he fulfills the will of God about his abiding. God wants everything to remain, and it does, and, moreover, it remains as He pleases. The Word of God, the Council of God and His definitions are unchangeable. “Forever” also means “from time immemorial,” from the very beginning of the existence of the universe. But it can also mean this entire age, from the beginning of existence until the end of the world, after which the “new heaven” will appear. That is why it is not said: forever and ever, or forever and ever, but only “forever.” This is how Saint Hilary, Anthimus, and others explain the word. Throughout the entire period of the present way of being of the world, just as everything began to be in heaven, so it remains and will remain until the end of the age. Blessed Theodoret writes: “To you, Master, says the prophet, everything is convenient and possible, because your commandment is kept by the motionless vaults of heaven.” He said the same thing in Psalm 149: “I have established commandments forever, and they will not pass by” (Ps. 149:6). Saint Ambrose draws the following conclusion from this: “You see, what is in heaven must abide in you. Keep the word of God in your heart, and keep it so that it is not forgotten. Keep the law of God and learn from it. If you want to know the power of prophetic speech, ascend from the visible to the mental and take moral lessons from it. If the word of God abides in heaven, let us imitate heaven, where it abides. Take an example from heaven for your life. Is there any illegality in the sun? Doesn't it always follow its usual course? And doesn’t the moon always diminish or enlarge its disk in the same order? And isn’t the relationship of stars and the (visible) movement across the sky always the same? So everything in heaven keeps its law and remains in its order. So let the word of God invariably remain in you, determining the way you act.” When the prophet says that the word of God abides in heaven, he directly means the visible heaven; but upon reflection, nothing prevents one from ascending from the visible heaven to the invisible - the hosts of angels and saints. “With this same saying,” says blessed Theodoret, the prophet makes it clear that the hosts of angels living in heaven keep the law of God and are free from any stumbling.” Saint Ambrose, Saint Hilary, Anthimus, and Zigaben also come to a similar thought. However, even in this heaven a violator of God’s will appeared, but he was soon thrown out from there along with everyone whom he managed to captivate; and now the intelligent heaven remains pure, brightening in the angels with the word of God, which abides and constitutes the unchanging norm of all their movements, both internal and external. The will of God is fulfilled there in such perfection that the Lord gave us a commandment to always pray, so that it may be in us just as it is in angelic heaven. Dwelling on this thought, Saint Ambrose encourages us to zealously create a similar heaven on earth. How is this possible? “And here’s how: listen,” he says, to what the apostle writes: “For as we have put on the image of the earthly, let us also be clothed in the image of the heavenly” (1 Cor. 15:49). Here comes the sky! Such people have complete boldness to say: “our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20), for here the qualities are faith, abstinence, renunciation from everything—heavenly life. Just as the one who has fallen from heavenly grace through the violation of the commandment and became bound by earthly passions is called earth, so it is fair to call the one who is jealous of the angelic life by renunciation from all earthly things. Heaven is where heavenly virtues are inherent, even if it were on earth. “Heaven is My throne,” says the Lord to the prophet. This is not a material heaven, I believe, but rather the one into which Christ enters and in which He sups, having previously irritated by knocking the loving desire to receive Him. And He does not enter alone, but with the Father, as He Himself said: “I and the Father will come and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). Continuing the same guidance, Saint Hilary says: “When the prophet said that the word of God abides in heaven, that is, in the angelic world, one should not think that it is no longer on earth, that is, in the hearts of rational creatures. Of us (the baptized) there is no one who would be deprived of the gift of heavenly grace and who would not have the word of God abiding within himself when he is sober, lives peacefully with everyone, abstains, is merciful, in general, when he obeys the commandments of God, fulfilling the deeds assigned to us by them. In those the word of God abides as in heaven, in whom it is not violated by anger, lust, wickedness, or man-pleasing.” Ps.119:90. Thy truth forever and ever; You founded the earth and it remains. After indicating the persistence of heaven from the commandments of God, it would be necessary to indicate the persistence of earth from the same commands; but the prophet inserts into the midst (middle) one extremely significant saying: “To generation and generation Thy truth.” With what thought? These words can be put in relation to the previous verse: against “forever” will stand – “to generation and generation”, and “Thy truth” will stand against – “Thy word”. In this case, they will serve as an explanation of that verse. And “Thy truth” will mean the same immutable laws of the existence of heaven, which are expressed by the word: “Thy word...”. I look at the sky, and it inspires me that Your word endures forever; The generation before us and the one before us saw the same thing. The truth of the immutability of the orders established by You in heaven passes from generation to generation. But we can believe that these words contain a moral application of everything said in the first three verses of this eight-verse (Ps. 119:89-91) about the immutability of the orders of the physical world. He indicated this immutability in heaven, and he will also indicate it on earth: “thou founded the earth and remains.” “By Thy command the day endures.” It would then be necessary to add: this is how it works in the material world, but it does not work differently in the moral world; and here – “to generation and generation” abides the “truth” of God. The prophet decided to place this not at the end, but above, so that this, according to the height of heaven, high truth would not be distant from the indication of the immutability of God’s orders in heaven. Thus, the prophet teaches that just as in the visible world the laws of existence laid down by God are unchangeable, so in the moral world the truth of God abides in all generations. What truth is this? - And the one about which heaven will tell everyone that there is God, the Creator, the Almighty, the Provider and the Judge of the universe. Which rational creatures must please by faithfully following the laws laid down in conscience. This truth is confessed by all; in every generation and generation, it mainly governs the life of nations, and there is no force that could drown out its voice. She abides for generations and generations and will remain for all generations and ages of ages. And especially the truth that is communicated to people through Revelation. God revealed His will to Adam, Noah, the patriarchs - the ancestors of the chosen people, especially Moses at Sinai. But even after him, He did not cease admonishing His people through holy men, to whom He appeared Himself or sent His angels to them. The Prophet David himself experienced such revelations. But these revelations often concerned individual cases. Which of the revealed truths remains to generation and generation? - The one who had the Savior come and save our race. This truth constituted the soul of all the revelations and all the institutions of God among His people. Saint David received it from previous generations and passed it on to those who followed, depicting in his God-inspired psalms the Savior who was about to come as if he had seen Him with his own eyes. This truth was professed for generations and generations until Saint David; and he foresaw that it would be professed in subsequent centuries also throughout the generations. Each generation receives this truth from the one that preceded it, passes it on to the next, and, having confessed that it existed before it in generation and generation, guarantees that it will remain unchanged in all generations after it. And there is no force that could stop the march of this truth from generation to generation. For the prophet this truth was only expected, but for us it is an accomplished fact. But at the same time, as soon as it was accomplished, it ceased to be the property of one people of God, but became the property of all nations. And, once established in one well-known people, it already abides from generation to generation and will abide in all generations forever and ever. With this saying of the prophet, our interpreters mainly dwell on the transition of the revealed truth from one people to the property of all other peoples. Thus, Blessed Theodoret writes: “"To generation and generation is Thy truth." Thou preserved it to the Jewish generation and to the other that came after it. We mean the people of the pagans who received salvation from our Savior Jesus Christ." Saint Athanasius says: "There are two kinds of people who have received the truth of God: the Jewish people, who have the law and the prophets, and the Church. Therefore, the truth of God is not in generations, but to the first generation and to the second. The other nations remained in error. But when the first generation rejected the truth and said: “Take, take away from the earth” (Acts 22:22); then the truth passed from the first generation to the second.” “So, concludes Saint Ambrose, truth reigns in all nations only in the Church, for all believers constitute one generation. unites, and she alone possesses the truth.” Ps.119:91. The day endures through Your teaching, for all kinds of work are done by You. The end of the previous verse: “you founded the earth” and “abides” is combined in interpretation with the present verse, since together they express one thought, namely that on earth and in heaven everything happens and moves according to the will of God. “God founded the earth,” that is, assigned it a place in the chain of planets of the solar system, and established its relationship to the sun, moon and other bodies; and as He established, so all this remains to this day, and will remain as long as it pleases God that it remain so. And God founded everything on the earth itself. He arranged air, water and earth, earth layers, salts, metals in harmonious proportions - all the work of His hands, and where something is destined to lie, there it lies. The different genera of plants did not appear by themselves, but came out of the earth at the command of the creative word of God; Likewise, the air, water and earth were filled with animals because the Lord of all commanded so. This is how God founded the earth with everything that is in it and on it, and as he founded it, so everything remains. “By Thy command the day endures.” “To the earth,” says blessed Theodoret, You gave longevity, and it remains as You commanded. You have separated the day from the night, and they walk according to Your laws.” The rotation of the earth around itself, with a certain relation to the sun, gives rise to the change of day and night. But since God determined the earth to revolve around itself and to be in such a relationship to the sun, then the change of days and nights was part of the plan for the foundation of the earth. We are accustomed to this change, and therefore it does not seem to us anything great; but in fact this change, on which the change of seasons depends, determines the cycle of life of all creatures existing on earth. When the prophet says that “the day endures by the order of God,” he wants to lead us to think that the orders of change on earth are all determined by God so that creatures can live on it, and if they live, it is because, according to God’s order, those orders remain unchanged. “For all things work for You.” This is a conclusion from everything that has been said and a confirmation of it. Everything slavishly submits to God, and it cannot be otherwise. The Creator is also the Almighty, and holds what is held as it pleases Him. When the prophet says: “Everything is done for God,” he does not exclude anything. The cloud moves and carries rain where God commands, to irrigate some fields and leave others to the scorching heat of the sun. The storm rushes where God directs it, and executes the judgments of His righteousness or mercy. The fire ignites and sometimes consumes cities and villages, because God commanded it so. And nothing happens by chance; everything moves according to the laws of God’s mercy and truth, wisely and expediently. So both in heaven and on earth everything submits to God; but he submits because he cannot help but submit, not having freedom. Some rational creatures have received freedom and, among the general slavery of creatures, walk independently, like kings, not constrained by the bonds of unchanging laws. God honored them with autocracy, but not so that they would be self-willed, but then so that they would freely and self-willingly submit to the same will of God. God gave them laws and wrote them in their hearts; but he did not bind their freedoms, but left them to their own devices - to fulfill them or not, warning only that if they fulfill them, they will be blessed, and if not, they will suffer. He placed the slavery of all creatures before their eyes so that they would have an incentive and reminder in it. If everything works for God, then it is not appropriate for you to deviate from the general order. Bend your freedom under the yoke of God's will willingly. When in some multi-component machine - let's say, in a mill where there are many wheels - one wheel does not want to obey the general movement, all the other wheels, without ceasing to act under the influence of their driving force, will wear it out and crush it. So it is with a free creature: although it is free, it is still necessary to submit in common with all creatures to the will of God in order to live a blessed life. She had the courage to deviate from the will of God - and now all creatures rub and crush her, instructively reminding her of her deviation from the common order and carefully calling her to return to the common order, so that together with everyone she can work for God with all her soul, with all her heart, with all her strength and with all her mind. Ps.119:92. As if it were not for Your law, my teaching, then I would have perished in my humility. Having explained how everything in the world works for the Lord God, the prophet is silent about the fact that, as a result of this state of affairs, he also made a firm intention to always walk in the will of God - he is silent because this is an inevitable matter for anyone who has reason, and speaks only about what good consequences this had for him. The first is that in humiliating circumstances, only teaching in the law of God saved him from destruction. We see that from childhood the prophet David clung to God with all his heart and tried in every possible way to please Him. For this reason he was elected king of the chosen people and, after defeating Goliath, went on a happy path to exaltation. Now he is Saul's son-in-law; but the enemy aroused envy of him in his father-in-law, and David was forced to flee from the royal palace and wander amidst every minute fear for his life. God alone preserved him in these circumstances. The Prophet saw this clearly and did not stop confessing it when happy days returned to him. Why did God show him such mercy? - Because he remained faithful to Him and did not allow himself to deviate from the conscious will of God in anything. Whatever happened to him, he looked not at how it would be as he himself wanted or how to make it more profitable and better, but on what God wanted from him in this or that case; He looked at the law and learned from it which path he should choose, so that it would be pleasing to God. What would be better and more convenient than to kill Saul when he lay before him without protection? But it never even occurred to him, because he considered the face of God’s anointed to be inviolable. The fear of God, always inherent in his heart, kept him from evil not only deeds, but also thoughts. And since he was always so determined and always had the assurance in his conscience that he did not violate the will of God to please himself, his heart was full of hope in God, and such strong hope always attracts the mercy of God and His protection. Remembering this, he now confesses that then, in humiliating circumstances, he would certainly have died if the law of God had not been a mentor, which he followed in everything. If it weren’t for this, there would be no protection of God over him; and over those who do not have the protection of God, they are suppressed by human malice and the machinations of the primordial enemy of our salvation. This is how all the righteous were saved from destruction. What helped Joseph not to get lost in Egypt and go missing? – That he learned from God’s law how to behave in unexpected and unexpected circumstances of his life. The fear of God was the reason that he maintained chastity, and from here all the mercies of God came. What saved the youths in Babylon? - The fact that, learning from the law of God, they had it as their only guide on how to act among the infidels, in whose hands their lives were. Hence their wisdom and salvation even in the fiery furnace. What saved Job before all of them in the extremely abrupt upheaval of his life? - That he always learned from the law of his God and remained faithful to him, despite all temptations. Blessed Theodoret writes: “This can be said to any of the pious who fall into disaster: Joseph, who escaped slavery, adultery and slander, and Daniel, who was forbidden to pray, and the three youths forced to bow to an idol, and the victorious martyrs who endured all kinds of executions. So David had the right to speak, expelled by Saul and forced to live with foreigners and evil people. Perhaps he too would have joined in their wickedness if he had not continually studied God’s law.” Any ascetic can confess the same thing when he has passed the storm of passions and strong confusion from demons. The fear of God and unshakable fidelity to the law of God protect him from falls. That is why, after passing the temptation, they always speak from the heart in the words of St. Athanasius the Great: “I would have perished from the attack of evil thoughts and the attack of opposing forces if Your law had not become a support for me.” Ps.119:93. I will never forget Your justifications, for You have revived me in them. Previously, the prophet said that he experienced salvation from learning in the law of God and from faithfulness to it; Now he speaks of his determination as a result of this: since You have guarded my life, “Thou hast quickened me,” and left me alive because I studied in Thy law and followed it in everything, then in the future I will never forget Your justifications, following which a person is right before You. “Having learned from experience, explains Blessed Theodoret, that Your justifications give life, I will retain an indelible memory of them.” “I will not forget,” not only in memory and thought, but in deed and life—I will not forget, that is, to walk in them, to fulfill them. Experiences of the good consequences of fulfilling God’s commandments and justifications inspire my determination to remain faithful to them forever. Nothing can compare with this sweet revival that life according to the will of God gives. Desiring to remain forever in such revival, I no longer want to know anything other than Your justifications. “Just as someone who has recovered from any serious illness, says Didymus in Zigaben, never forgets about them, so the prophet, being revived by God in the justifications that he had from Him, says that he will never forget them, exposing his motivation for this as his revival in them.” The word of the prophet points not only to the preservation of bodily life, for the sake of fidelity to God’s justifications, but moreover, to the revival of the soul, which is always in force, even if the preservation of life does not follow. That is why he says: “For in them you have quickened me.” This is the same as saying: I feel in myself the life that is qualitying in me through Your justifications. And indeed, where there is no conviction of conscience, where there is no preference for self-pleasing over pleasing God, despite the voluntary and involuntary deprivations accompanying such a way of life, there alone there is real life; and, like a real one, it cannot help but anoint the soul with the oil of joy, penetrating all its constituents and leaving traces of contentment and peace everywhere. Therefore, Saint Athanasius writes regarding this place: “I will look to Your laws, because in them I find life, just as You told me that “whoever created that man will live in them” (Lev. 18:5). Consequently, one righteous man lives, although apparently he dies; and the unrighteous are dead, although they seem to be alive, because the former in themselves have the basis of life - truth, and the latter, not having this basis, are like inanimate things that are not set in motion by themselves, but from the outside.” Thus, we can say that if others are unfaithful to the commandments of God, it is because they have not had time to experience how life-giving their fulfillment affects the soul. Unbelief does not allow them to be tested: they do not believe that this is so, and do not make experiments in self-sacrificing fulfillment of the commandments; while the opposite life seems to them to offer experienced pleasures, although these pleasures always respond with bitterness. You must believe and take the path of the commandments. The sweetness of life according to the commandments is not immediately given to taste in order to test faith through this and allow it to become stronger. But it exists and is expected by those who have embarked on this path. When the test has passed, then it is possible to feel the sweetness of life, such as evidence that the revival of the soul has begun under the beneficial effect of fidelity to the commandments, and the further, the more palpable this revival is. Finally, the fullness of life enters the heart. This is when the Lord comes with the Father and the Holy Spirit and makes an abode for himself in the soul, for the sake of its long, constant and patient fidelity to the commandments. Ps.119:94. I am Thine, save me, for I seek the justification of Thy demands. God Himself appropriates to Himself those who faithfully fulfill His will, calling them His slaves, His faithful servants, friends, sons and daughters; and those who enter the path of the commandments feel that they are entering into some kind of relationship with God, becoming one of His own. This also happens between people: when someone faithfully serves someone, he does not consider himself a stranger to him and believes that the one whom he serves does not consider him a stranger to himself. So it is in the work of God. This mutual appropriation constitutes the spiritual union of God with the faithful souls and the souls of the faithful with God. It is this kinship with God that the holy prophet professes here: I am Yours, he says, because “I have sought Your justifications”; I sought Your justifications, and became Yours. I believe that You now have me as Yours; save me as your own. “Your az, save me!” “I am your servant,” says Saint Athanasius the Great, “I am your son by grace, I am your servant.” “Not everyone,” adds Blessed Theodoret, can say this: “Whoever is a slave to sin lies, calling himself a servant of God: “Whoever is overcome, to this he also works” (2 Pet. 2:19). Therefore, if we, having freed ourselves from sin, set the intention to follow God’s laws, then we can speak about ourselves in the words of the prophet.” Oh, what a great gift, what an unspeakable advantage sin deprives us of!.. “Godly” - such a title is given to those who do the commandments of God, and not only a title, but the most essential property and kinship with God! Whoever devotes himself to serving God, having sought His justification, God, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, transforms him into a new man, and he becomes God’s, as born of God. What do all the titles and all the earthly advantages mean before this!.. And yet few people think about this, carelessly indulging in sin in the self-indulgence of the flesh, while sin not only gives nothing, but wastes even what a person has from the generous giver - God. That is why we do not have the right to say: “I am yours.” What kind of “His” are we, really, when our conscience loudly tells us that all we do is create carnal knowledge in lust? Carried away by the advantage of such a title, another, perhaps, would rush to say: “I am yours, Lord,” but his closest gentlemen, for whom he works, rise up and clamp his lips. “Lust comes, Saint Ambrose explains this thought, and says: you are mine, because you are a carnivore, you sold yourself to me for the love of such and such; I paid for you with your fall with such and such a harlot. Covetousness comes and says: my you; the silver and gold that you have is the price of your slavery; what you own is payment for your autocracy (on my part) and the sale of freedom (on your part). Luxury comes and says: you are mine; a one-day feast is the price for your whole life; these luxurious dishes are payment for your head; I bought you with cups of wine, acquired you with expensive dishes. Ambition comes and says: you are mine; Don’t you know that for this reason I gave you power over others, so that you would submit to me? You are my slave because I subjugated others to you. All other vices and passions come, and each of them says: you are mine, and the one to whom they say this in truth does not dare to turn his tongue against them. How can someone like that dare to say to Christ the Lord: “I am yours”? - No, He will answer you: “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Not everyone who says to Me: “I am Yours” is Mine. You are Mine, unless your conscience convicts you of the falsity of your words, unless your speech contradicts the deeds and thoughts of your heart. I do not deny that he is Mine who does not reject this himself, or, better yet, who rejects himself. I don’t want to have as a slave someone who slaves to many masters; for how will he be Mine who says with his tongue: “I am yours,” but denies this with his deeds and shows by his life that he is betrayed to the devil? He who is inflamed by lust is not Mine, for with Mine is purity; He is not Mine who is outraged by quick-moving anger, because I am meekness; He who enjoys feasts is not Mine, because I have strict abstinence in everything. I have peace, and I know no quarrelsomeness. What do I care about whom the devil can say: “He is mine; He bowed his neck to me, and I find a lot of myself in him? He bears Your name, but serves me.” The Holy Prophet David righteously said: “I am Yours,” because I was always devoted to the Lord, “as I sought Your justifications,” that is, I did not look for anything alien to You, but I always wanted one thing that is Yours: “I sought Your justifications.” They are my only asset; and through them You Yourself are my part, O Lord.” Ps.119:95. Waiting for a sinner to destroy me, I understood Your testimony. Sinners - those who hated me, my enemies - laid an ambush so that I would fall into their hands in order to destroy me. But since I knew nothing and did not want to know anything except Your testimonies, Your goodness was pleased to accept me under Your protection, and I was delivered from their hands; sinners were waiting for a favorable opportunity, but they did not receive it. If a skillful pilot knows how to guide a ship among pitfalls, then doesn’t the Lord even more know how to guide His own among all the dangers that surround them and beset them? It seems to have been missed here: You took me under Your protection; but this thought directly follows from the previous one: “I am yours, save me”; here only the hearing of this prayer is understood. Saint Athanasius writes: “It would be appropriate to say: I listened with my mind (Thy information) and with the thought of You (by prayer), attracting Thy help, and brought their evil plans to fruition.” Or, perhaps, this is the thought here: sinners are plotting feats (malicious intentions, intrigues) against me, hoping to destroy me; but I, always remaining faithful to Your commandments and directing my steps according to them alone, bypass their fetters and am saved. I don’t even know what’s going on there or here; but since I always try to act only as Your testimonies suggest, then I walk the safe road and make their attempts futile. These words can be applied to the martyrs. What did the tormentors not use to deviate them from the faith and thus destroy their souls! But both their caresses and their intrigues remained in vain before the strong-willed believers, because they did not want to know anything except the clear will of the Lord, which commanded them to confess Him before men. First one torture, then another, was used by the tormentors, expecting that those who were tormented were about to reject the Lord Christ; but their expectations were not met. Saint Ambrose says: “The saint, having emerged from the court where the death sentence was pronounced upon him, could say: “I waited for the sinner to destroy me,” that is, they used all kinds of executions and torments; but they could not distract me from my confession. Faith has overcome the lures of life and the torment of the body. Sinners expected to triumph over me; but thanks be to Christ the Lord, who granted me to triumph over my tormentors! Remain defeated, you who hoped to win! “Where are you, death, the sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55). Not yours, but ours, is already beginning to be a victory, because we are now winning in you, in which we were previously defeated. So, it is fitting for a martyr to say: “I was waiting for a sinner to destroy me.” A minute later (after the beheading) he sees the choirs of angels and says in joy: those who rejoice in the salvation of every soul were waiting for me to take me from the earth; he sees the glory of the saints there and says: the righteous were waiting for me to take me into their cohabitation; he sees the Lord Jesus and says: Christ the Lord was waiting for me to crown me.” It is proper to say this to all those who strive to please God. The world is arming itself against them, both with its charms and with its hatred; The primordial enemies of our salvation are building hidden feats against them; Both of them expect success, but when the person with whom they enter into a struggle is occupied with all his mind only by the testimonies of God, then all their attempts to destroy him remain unsuccessful. Like a web, he tears apart all the networks of his enemies, and all their arrows bounce off him, like from an indestructible cliff. His soul is full of others, his mind hovers in another world, his heart has compassion for other objects; That’s why temptations do not carry him away, but give rise to hostility against himself, inspired by the spirit of prayer. Saint Ambrose puts the following words into the mouth of the ascetic: “Sinners laid snares for me to entice me into sin and destroy me through its infection; but the lures of sin did not turn me away from contemplating the objects of Divine knowledge and did not divert my attention from deepening in Your commandments, Lord. I was in Your testimonies with all my mind and only understood them. If I had not been so devoted to them, then perhaps sin would have carried me away, and I would have perished: but “behold,” by Thy grace, “I am” (1 Cor. 15:10). Ps.119:96. I have seen the end of every end: Thy commandment is great. “Death” - the end of a business, can mean the business itself, an enterprise and an undertaking. “The end” is the limit. The Prophet says: I saw the limit of every business or enterprise and undertaking; it begins, continues and comes to its end. Your commandment is very wide, that is, it has no end; start performing it and you will never get to the point where you say: I’ve finished, no more is required. And one more thing: every undertaking and work occupies a certain circle in which it acts and beyond which its influence does not extend. The commandment of God is limitless and so broad that even a limit cannot be assigned to it. In what sense can one say this about the commandments? – Firstly, there is no limit to success in every commandment. The degrees of ascension or improvement in each of them have no end. Each commandment obliges the virtues inherent in it; but no matter how high a level you reach in any virtue, you can never say: “enough,” because there is another degree of it, higher than the one on which you stand. Take mercy: is it possible to think that anyone has reached the final limit of perfection in it, when this limit is set by the mercy of the Heavenly Father, in Whom everything is limitless? And whatever virtue anyone takes, its final limit will be perfect likeness to God. And since this limit is never attainable for a creature, it will forever ascend to it and never reach it. When the Lord said: “Be ye perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48), then He pointed to the duty of those created in the image of God to strive for infinite perfection in every virtue. If it is necessary to achieve this - and no one can say about himself that he has already achieved - then it naturally follows that humility is the most natural feeling for all those who succeed in virtues, and the higher one is in virtues, the more humble he is, for an endless path opens before him that he still has to go through. If infinite, then everything that has passed is nothing; the path seems to have not yet begun. That is why such people, despite all their efforts and aspirations, usually say: “I have not attained... I will pursue, even if I comprehend” (Phil. 3:12). Saint Athanasius writes: “These are the words of one who has ascended with all success to the very top of virtue, who has achieved perfect good, who has laid both the beginning and the end of many things. For the end of the first perfection serves as the beginning of the next, according to what has been said: “When a man dies, then he begins” (Sir.18:6). Secondly, the commandment is broad because he who enters its path enters the realm of the will of God, which embraces everything that exists and happens. This thought is in agreement with the thought of the first three verses of this eight-verse, that is, that everything in heaven and on earth is subject to the will of God. Since a commandment is an expression of the will of God, he who begins to walk according to the commandments enters the boundless expanse where the will of God reigns. Whereas he who does not live according to the commandments, thereby leaving the limits of the will of God, is subjected to oppression and pressure from everything that submits to the will of God, he who lives according to the commandments of God is in harmony with everything, and his favorable attitude towards everything gives him unhindered scope for being and action. From here it follows, thirdly, that the commandment is broad because it gives latitude, or complete freedom, to the one who fulfills it. Only the one who walks according to the commandments possesses himself, and who manages all his deeds and all his relationships in God’s way, does not submit to the external, but, on the contrary, subordinates the external to himself. Every passion and passionate habit is a bond of freedom, by which a person becomes a slave to it. Everyone knows this and experiences it for themselves. The commandments are given as an antidote to passions: he who has learned to fulfill any commandment kills the passion opposite to it. But he who goes, or follows all the commandments, kills all passions; if it kills, then it destroys the knitting property in them; and if this property is destroyed, then, therefore, a person receives complete freedom. This is precisely what the holy apostle says, “the freedom of the children of God”; This is the mystery of redemption. The thirteenth eight-line goes under the letter or word “mem” - “spot”. A stain is the same as a defect or defect in a thing, as well as some kind of moral deficiency and, finally, a sin. Arguing from this point of view, we encounter the questions: what are the shortcomings or vices that stain a person, and where do they come from, what consequences are they accompanied by and how to correct them? In this eight-verse, the prophet shows how the main spiritual vices are corrected: blindness of the mind, wrongness of the will and hardening of the heart, insensibility. All of them are corrected by teaching in the law of God and faithfully following it. Living according to the commandments opens the eyes of the mind, and then it understands everything clearly (verses Ps. 119:97-100), returns justice to the will, ordering all its undertakings (verses Ps. 119:101, 102), restores in the heart the forgotten feeling for everything holy and divine (verses Ps. 119:103, 104). Ps.119:97. Since I have loved Your law, O Lord, I have my teaching all day long. “If I have loved Your law, O Lord,” that is, how dear Your law is to me! This is how the soul cries out, having experienced the beneficial effects of life according to the commandments of God. He who begins to fulfill the commandments can begin to do so out of fear of punishment, out of the shame of vice before people, out of the conviction of the mind that this is how it should be, without yet feeling an attraction to them, without knowing what taste is hidden in them; here he is led like a follower and works like a beast of burden. But then, little by little, he begins to feel the benefits of this way of life and get a taste for it, and the further, the more; finally, he becomes convinced that there is nothing more blessed than to move away from evil and do good, studying in the law of the Lord day and night. Here he adheres to the law not out of consciousness of duty or any other impulse, but out of heartfelt love for it, for it is impossible not to love what is good. Blessed Theodoret writes: “Not everyone who fulfills the law of God fulfills it out of love, but others fulfill it out of fear and fear of punishment, and others - seeking glory from people; sincere lovers of virtue try to fulfill God’s commands out of a disposition for good.” Saint Hilary says: “One could say: how accurately I fulfill Your law! But since there is more value when someone does something out of love and not out of fear, the prophet says: “If I have loved Your law!” Following the will of God out of love is far removed from fulfilling one’s duty out of fear. The Prophet testifies that his obedience to the law comes from devotion and love, and not from anything else. Many observe fasting only because they are afraid of reproach for it from the shepherds; others give to the poor only so as not to be accused of stinginess; others go to church simply to avoid the shame of being reprimanded for such negligence. Everyone does this not because they love it. Love is characterized by self-willed zeal for work done with joy and pleasure. He who loves something desires it willingly.” He who loves something constantly thinks about it. And the prophet, who loved the law, studied in it all day; He learned in every case so that his work would be pleasing to God and would not offend Him; He also studied while free from work, preparing examples for cases, so that when meeting them he would not be at a loss as to what to do; I also learned from the one thing that such teaching nourishes the soul with the heavenly Divine elements of good thoughts and good feelings. The latter type of teaching can take place more often, and it is also easier to implement. It is in the rules of the fathers - to read the word of God in depth in the morning, until you attack a place that falls on your heart. Such a place will then occupy you all day, like a key that starts a gaming machine. Others, in order to keep the mind occupied all day with the Divine, advise memorizing psalms and then rereading them. Others, who are stronger in mind, having established their mind in the thought of God in the morning, do not leave their thoughts from God all day long. All this, although a different activity, is the same fulfillment of what the prophet says: “All day long is my teaching.” For one who does this, night is like day, or, better yet, for him there is no night, but all day. That is why, perhaps, the prophet said: “all day,” without mentioning the night, as he did in the first psalm: “one will learn in the law of the Lord day and night.” Saint Athanasius writes: “A successful person has a day when he lives according to the law, and a night when he does not learn from him with all his heart and does not do what he should do according to the law. But for those who have succeeded and become saints, there is no longer night, but all day.” Saint Hilary says the same thing: “What the prophet loved, he was constantly busy with: he loved the law, and studied in it continuously all day long. Other activities do not distract him and do not make him forget the worries and bustle of this age. He is always the same, and always in the same way. He is all about teaching in his beloved law, which makes his whole life one continuous day.” Ps.119:98. Thou hast made me wiser than my enemy through Thy commandment, even as I am forever. The prophet begins to explain how devotion to his commandments drove away blindness from the eyes of his mind. The enemies of our salvation, through the fascination of the charms of the world or through the confusion of thoughts filled by them, often darken the mind, so that it, like a blind man, sees nothing and acts at random. At this time his enemies direct him to do worse; he falls. The prophet assures that he was delivered from such troubles by the commandment of God. She made him wise by revealing the machinations of his enemies and making all their attempts to destroy him or do some kind of dirty trick to him unsuccessful. He who knows the commandments automatically imagines in his head one general standard of life. It illuminates all the paths of life and all the interweaving of circumstances. Perplexities do not confuse him, and the question of what to do does not await resolution: everything is resolved immediately. But it goes without saying that such good does not belong to knowledge alone, but to knowledge established in life. He said, You have made me wise, O Lord, by Your commandment, that is, by teaching me how to walk in the commandments, by prescribing and giving me the strength to fulfill them. The experiences of living according to the commandment have made me wiser, and my enemies will no longer be able to deceive me: I have become wiser than them; It is not so much that they are cunning in the arrangement of evil, as I am wise in doing good, according to Your will. Blessed Theodoret writes: “The Prophet, having confessed that he passionately loves the law of God, attributes everything to God’s grace and says: having received wisdom and knowledge from You, I have loved Your law, because You have given me greater knowledge than my enemies.” One of the enemy’s tricks is to suggest: just sin once, and then, having repented, you will again take up good deeds. Against this, the prophet sets forth an unrepentant determination, expressed once and for all: never to deviate from the commandment of God; even to die, but not to break God’s commandments. This is what he expresses with the words: “as in my age there is.” Such determination always keeps the thought undivided, not allowing reflection - should I cut myself some slack? The enemy tries in every possible way to instill such harmful suggestions; but in the one who holds in his heart: “In my age there is” a commandment, they leave no trace, but as they come, so they go. This determination: “in my age there is,” is only possible with readiness for death, if without it it would be impossible to remain faithful to the commandment. Hence its unshakable strength. Who doomed himself to death, something that can already be shaken? And whoever goes to work with self-pity carries within himself a traitor who, in the hour of battle, will betray him to his enemies. Such a one will not outwit his enemies, but is in their hands like a ball, which they throw wherever and however they please, for their amusement and his ridicule. Saint Isaac speaks of such: “Because at the very beginning they did not dare to give themselves up to death, then in all battles they turn out to be last and unmanly. They are so fearful and spare their bodies most of all. And the enemy drives them away like a storm, because he does not see in them the spiritual strength that he usually sees in saints.” Ps.119:99. More than all those who taught me, I understood that Your testimonies are my teaching. There is nothing marvelous about being wiser than an enemy in the commandment of God, but it is marvelous that the prophet, learning from the law of God, became more knowledgeable and wiser than all his teachers. Who are these teachers and how did the prophet surpass them in understanding? The prophet does not say the first. But whoever they were, they were still people, and the prophet understood them better, because after them the Lord took him under His science, as he said before this. Since the Lord made him wiser by commandment, he became not only wiser than his enemies, but wiser than his teachers themselves - people. Therefore, these words do not express any self-exaltation or proud opinion of the prophet, but a confession of God’s mercy in the fact that He, by His grace, allowed him to understand His will more fully and perfectly than as the teachers conveyed it to him. Saint Ambrose says: “These words might seem like an inappropriate claim if the prophet had not preceded them with what was said before this, that the Lord had made him wise. The one who was taught by Wisdom herself could not fail to understand more than anyone else. That’s why he says in another place: “Blessed is the man whom You chastise, O Lord, and teach him from Your law” (Ps. 93:12). When the Lord teaches someone, He opens the mind and puts into it the treasures of knowledge, or takes the spirit of a person and leads him into direct contemplation of the things revealed to him. The mind, under the influence of God, sees what the Lord wants to show it, just as definitely and clearly as a person sees with his sensory eyes during the day things that are in front of him at a certain distance. And all this can happen instantly, and the measure of what is revealed and contemplated can be so great that no human word can contain it. Thus Saint Paul saw, caught up to the third heaven; This is how the apostles matured when the Lord, appearing after His resurrection and communicating the Spirit to them with a breath, opened “their minds to understand the Scriptures.” In an instant, their minds saw everything hidden in the Old Testament Scripture about the New Testament events that had taken place. And the Lord then only drew a general conclusion from what the apostles saw: “so it was fitting for Christ to suffer and to be brought into His glory” (Luke 24:45–46). Thus, the Lord instantly and completely reveals the heavenly things to everyone whom he considers worthy. But such enlightenment of the mind is extraordinary. The usual procedure for enriching the mind with Divine knowledge, and with the direct assistance of the Lord, is the enlightenment of the mind by studying the revelation already given. The Prophet says that he understood more than those who teach, “for Thy testimonies are my teaching.” He worked on studying the testimonies of God with faith and prayer, and the Lord, seeing his zeal and love, put into his mind such a comprehension of what was written that was inaccessible to the personal efforts of the mind. Someone said that sometimes, at the hour of prayer, his mind enters into the contemplation of Divine truths, so clear and definite, which neither his own research nor reading the research of others had previously provided. From this we can conclude that true knowledge of the revealed is only that which instills itself in the mind precisely in this way. The work of research and deepening into knowledge prepares, and grace, in the hour of prayer, completes knowledge, illuminating the mind with contemplation and imprinting what it sees in the heart. Every other teaching is external: this one is internal, spiritual, Divine and fruitful. Ps.119:100. Moreover, the elder understood that I have sought Your commandments. In every nation, elders are revered as people who are wise not only in teaching, but also in the experiences of life - persons who form the stronghold of society, who guide the new generation that has entered into the work with their advice and combine the past with the future. There were such people during the time of the holy prophet in Jerusalem, and, of course, he often used their advice in establishing beneficial orders in his kingdom in all branches of government. But these same experiences made him realize that he understood every matter much better and more faithfully than the elders. And the reason for this is the same as for his superiority over his teachers - namely, that the Lord Himself made him wise. Saint Ambrose says this: “And this is not difficult, so that the one whom the Lord teaches understands more than the elder. Grace replenishes years, and the wisdom of old age becomes the property of those who are not old in years. Since “the age of old age means living undefiled” (Wis. 4:9), then learning to live undefiled represents the understanding of old age. When Saint Jeremiah, due to his youth, refused the prophetic ministry, he was told: “Do not say that I am a child” (Jer. 1:7). God’s court did not consider him a youth because, of course, he had gray wisdom, which shone in him with God’s all-sanctifying grace.” Thus, God’s grace enlightened the prophet David, and therefore he understood the works of God more than the elder. But what is this grace for? - Because he sought the commandments of God. Since from childhood he made it the law of his entire life to please God by steadily fulfilling His commandments, he imagined within himself a strong vessel to contain the currents of Divine wisdom. It was poured into him. “Wisdom will not enter into a soul that is evil” (Wisdom 1:4). If people do not put precious aromas into unclean or leaky vessels, will the Lord put heavenly wisdom into a soul that serves the passions and is therefore unclean and broken? And if, out of the abundance of grace, He had condescended to do so, then the evil soul would not have had anything to accept this wisdom. Her mind is filled with insignificant, low and false concepts - how can she accommodate the lofty Divine truths? The dispositions of her heart are all directed towards earthly, sensual objects - how can she comprehend the goodness of pure unearthly goods in order to approve them and place them above all? She has become accustomed to the earth, and cannot imagine another life; how can she understand the lessons, the final goal of which is in another life? Meanwhile, her pride has no measure, and she will not think to say to the Lord Himself: “Go away, I don’t want to know Your ways!” The prophet calls himself one who sought the commandments not in the sense that he tried in every possible way to find out what the commandments of God were, but in the sense that he took every care to succeed in fulfilling each of them and to acquire such skill in this that they all seemed not to be instructions only from the outside, but natural dispositions of the heart. The heart is naturally tuned to all good, but the incoming passions disfigure it and pervert it. When the active pursuit of the commandments suppresses passions and restores good dispositions, then they themselves become indicators of what is required by the commandment in this or that case. Just as a skilled artist, no matter what task presents itself, immediately understands how to begin it, what materials to use and what tools to use, so one who has sought the commandments and has become accustomed to fulfilling them immediately understands how to act in what case: active wisdom sits down on his heart and interprets it. Because for another it is the subject of a difficult discussion, it does not present any difficulty for him. Just as it is natural for a person to breathe, so timely lessons of wisdom always come naturally from his heart. Ps.119:101. I have forbidden my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Thy words. Blindness of mind is driven away; Instead, they began to quality knowledge and wisdom, the likes of which are not among people who should be distinguished by them, and all this was achieved by teaching in the commandments and faithfulness to them in life. Now the prophet points out how the wrongness of the will has also been corrected; and this, he says, was accomplished in the same way. I began to forbid my feet from every evil path and not to deviate from the destinies of God, and my will was corrected, I learned to keep the words of God and was established in this. Our conscience always inspires us to flee from evil, but we lack the will to follow it. The lure of self-indulgence overpowers it, and the person goes to evil. And having done evil once, he will not be able to resist another, and then the habit of a certain kind of self-indulgence will soon form in defiance of conscience. This is how one habit is formed, then another, a third, dozens, hundreds. When a person comes to his senses and decides to walk in the right direction, to please God, then he finds himself bound and entangled on all sides. How can this be? Maintain a firm determination to keep the words of God, warm up and support it in every possible way, keeping in your heart the fear of God, the memory of death and the judgment of God, and then forbid your feet from every evil path. You cannot suddenly love what is good and, out of this love, hold on to it. Start by not doing bad things, and even though your habitual will will rush to do bad things, keep it within the limits of what is proper by the strength of your determination. Evil began in the heart and grew stronger in habitual activities. To destroy it, go the opposite way: stop doing things, and through them you will reach the suppression of evil in the heart. Do not go where you are accustomed to satisfy a bad habit; stop relations with the comrades of sin and change all the orders of life that fed sin. This means to forbid the feet. When an opportunity for sin is before your eyes, how can someone who is accustomed to it resist it? And when the cases are distant, even though thoughts of sin will come, they will make some noise in their head and go away. And then it is more convenient to drive them away than when not only thoughts, but also eyes, ears, touch, and smell will bathe you in sinful steam. The Holy Fathers liken someone who stands before temptation to someone who stands on the edge of an abyss: as soon as the enemy takes his fancy, he can throw him there even with a slight push. And they liken the one who moves away from temptations to someone who is far from an abyss: when the enemy drags him into the abyss, he still has time to fight him off or call for help and get rid of trouble. Deviation from evil ways puts evil aside and restores goodness in the soul. But this is external labor; to it must be added the internal one - prohibition to the mental feet from the evil ways of the mind. The evil mental path is this: an evil thought begins, attracts sympathy, arouses desire and inclines to action. When this mental path to sin ends, then the external path to committing sin in action follows. You stopped these outward trips to sin - a good deed. But don’t think about stopping there, but try to cut off the internal paths to it; for, despite external deviations from evil paths, mental wanderings do not immediately stop, but often go there and wander there. So, forbid your mental feet from evil ways, so that they do not lead your physical feet there. Drive away bad thoughts, destroy sympathy, and most of all, beware of inclining towards evil. Until this happens, you are still safe; but when it appears, you are already in danger. Although it is still possible to bypass it, it is better not to be subjected to this, for there will be a struggle. The abyss is still far away, but the enemy has already grabbed hold of him and is dragging him there. The main thing in this matter is to avoid evil thoughts; They buzz like mosquitoes: drive and do not weaken. If you hasten to replace evil thoughts with good ones, then your work will be a hundred times better and easier. Ps.119:102. I have not deviated from Your judgments, as You have laid down laws for me. I forbade my feet from evil ways, and did not deviate from the destinies of God, that is, I did what I myself advised others: “turn away from evil and do good” (Ps. 33:15). This followed naturally. You can't be without things to do; but if he avoided evil deeds, then, of course, he did not shy away from good ones. “It is impossible,” says Blessed Theodoret, to suddenly follow two paths - the path of lewdness and chastity, rightness and untruth. But one must avoid opposite paths and follow the right path. Only in this way can one become a keeper of God’s laws.” The destinies of God are judgments on how we should live, determinations of the will of God, or the same as commandments. Therefore, not deviating from God’s destinies is the same as not deviating from fulfilling God’s commandments. To do this, there is no need to go overseas to find an opportunity to fulfill the commandments: opportunities for this are always before your eyes. As soon as you forbid your feet to step on the evil path, at the same time you have the opportunity to step on the right path. They ask for alms - the evil way is not to give it, but God’s award is to give: give, and you will forbid the evil way, and you will not deviate from God’s fate. If anyone has offended, the evil path leads you to revenge, and God’s determination leads you to forgiveness: when you forgive, you will prevent your feet from the evil path, but you will not deviate from God’s destinies. So it is in everything. Therefore, non-deviation from the destinies of God, one might say, consists of the following: look vigilantly around you and at your feet and do not miss a single opportunity that presents itself to you to do good. The opportunity for good that you see before your eyes is the same as God’s direct command to you to do this good. If you deviate, you will defy God. The Prophet motivates us to not deviate from such destinies of God and delivers: “as You have laid down laws for me.” The consciousness that in this or that case, as if verbally, God decrees to do such and such good, is the strongest motivation for the God-fearing to not deviate from that good. When someone is visited by this consciousness, then an irresistible moral force flows from him to submit to the command of God. He who lives in the fear of God will not deviate from it, even if it costs not only his possessions, but also his life. The source of such a mood is a strong faith in the Providence of God, which determines all the incidents of our life, directing them all to ensure that our salvation is accomplished in the most reliable way. Nowadays we have many charitable institutions. Do not think that, having made a regular contribution, you can consider yourself already free from private charity. This is in its own way, and this is in its own way. Although this is not arranged without the will of God, the immediate and direct will of God is the chance for good that is before your eyes. If you let it go, you will defy God. God has many giving hands, and without you there will be those who will help; but God did you the honor that you would help and in your person represent the beneficent right hand of God. Be careful not to shy away from this honor, like those called to marriage in the parable. Remember often the Samaritan, who, having found himself beaten by robbers on the way, did not hesitate, but immediately did everything he could, and for this he boasts of the Lord of all and is offered as an example to everyone. Ps.119:103. How sweet is Your word to my throat, more than honey to my lips? It remains to warm up the heart, which is cold to everything holy and Divine. Man is created in the image of God; therefore, everything Divine should find a warm feeling in him. But when a person fell from his rank and tasted the blessings of the senses, the taste for the spiritual was closed, and that region became an unknown land for him; He completely forgot what these spiritual and divine blessings are. Just as a blind man does not understand what flowers are, the beauty of which they tell him about, just as a deaf man looks even at instruments, the harmonic sounds of which enchant everyone, and cannot understand anything that is happening around him, so the one who has a closed feeling for the spiritual, seeing, does not see it, and hearing, does not hear, for “his heart is white” (Acts 28:27). Who knows this fatness, coarsening and insensibility of the heart? All those who fear God and walk the path of His commandments know him. But at times this is only a sudden sinking of the heart; and where passions and various predilections are strong, there insensibility and coldness towards the Divine is already a constant state. Here the soul is dead; its resurrection begins with a revival of the sense of the spiritual. The first blows to this feeling are very painful. It is struck by the fear of death, judgment and eternal torment. From here, in the usual way, the fear of God is born, which revives the conscience and, along with it, leads to repentance and determination - to leave the evil path and cleave to the Lord by pleasing Him through the fulfillment of His commandments. But even here it is only the beginning of the revival of spiritual feeling. The patient got up, but he still has no appetite for anything: he eats and drinks out of the conviction that he must eat and drink so as not to die. Such is the one who has entered the path of God through repentance: he forces himself to do good and resists evil, but still does not find taste in his deeds, he does it out of conviction that it is impossible otherwise, out of vow and determination to do everything according to the commandments. Consistency in self-compulsory doing then begins to gradually revive the feeling. The soul begins to feel pleasantness and sweetness in what it previously had no taste for. And prayer begins to delight, and the villages of God (churches) become beloved, and almsgiving brings consolation, and every abstinence brings joy. Here the same thing happens as with cholera ossification: they rub the patient without pity and little by little return warmth to his chilled limbs. And in the soul, struck by the cholera of sin, the same thing is done: a person begins to rub himself with self-forced acts of goodness - alms, fasting, prayers - and little by little he wipes away his frozen spiritual feeling. From here it finally comes out that he finds only pleasure in deeds pleasing to God; only he is drawn there, on which there is the stamp of the will of God; It is only there that he is pleased, where he can be with God and in the affairs of God. Whoever has achieved this, the spiritual feeling in him has come to life. It is this state that the prophet expresses with the words: “If Your words are sweeter to my throat than honey to my lips.” Words mean the commandments of God. The sweetness that honey leaves in the larynx, he says, is not the same as the fulfillment of the commandments in the soul. Ps.119:104. I understood from Your commandments, and for this reason I hated every way of unrighteousness. The feeling has two sides. If one finds sweetness, then the other, opposite to that, finds bitterness, and as many are disposed towards the first, the same number turn away from the second. While a person lives in self-indulgence and sensuality, spiritual things are tasteless for him; when, having repented, he leaves self-indulgence and follows the will of God, then, finally, sensual and self-pleasing things become tasteless for him. These are the most decisive indicators of a person’s moral state. Look at what you find taste in, what your heart shows sympathy for, and by that determine whether you are on a good path or an evil one. It should be noted that sympathy for the carnal, passionate, self-indulgent things continues to break out of the heart for a long time, both after conversion and after experiences of working to cleanse the heart. We can say that at first sympathy lies entirely on the side of the former passionate life; it is only kept within limits by the force of determination. Then sympathy for good begins to appear; further it is balanced with the opposite sympathy for the passionate; then takes over the latter; then sympathy for the passionate dies, and finally everything passionate, carnal, self-indulgent becomes unpleasant, the soul begins to loathe with it. This is already, as the holy fathers note, evidence of the cleansing of the heart from passions. This is what the prophet speaks about here: “I have hated every way of unrighteousness.” How did he get to this point? - “I understood,” he says, “from Your commandments”; I understood that walking according to Your commandments is “only for need” (Luke 10:42), and I entered on their path; walking with them, I loved them, because they produced sweetness in my soul; and this love and sweetness gave me the opportunity to feel the bitterness of untruth and develop hatred for it. This is the end of healing the soul and the limit of eradicating its shortcomings! Saint Basil the Great to the question; “What is the sign of the purification of the heart?” - he answered more than once: “The one when a person hates sin.” He gave the same answer to the question, what is the sign that a person’s sins have been forgiven. And Saint Barsanuphius has the same answers. The latter says that while there is still even a little sympathy for something passionate, it means that the soul is still unclean. If we call passionate things pus, then this idea is justified by comparison with healing wounds. The wound does not heal until all the pus is drawn out; so the wound of the soul has not yet healed while sympathy for sin breaks out in it. From here comes the following lesson: it is dangerous to rest on the confidence that I do not do bad things. For, perhaps, circumstances have developed in such a way that it is better for you not to do bad things, and you don’t do them, but it lives in your heart. If God looks at a person according to the mood of his heart, then look at what you stand for and what you should expect. Do not boast about the correctness of external behavior, but delve into where your heart lies. Saint Macarius says: if you have gone into the depths of your heart and killed the serpent hiding there, then boast; There is nothing to boast about in visible deeds alone. How many there will be at God’s judgment to whom God will say: “We do not know you” (Luke 13:25), despite the fact that they themselves and others considered them zealous knowledge of God! The fourteenth eight-line goes under the letter “nun”, which means “tribe”. Tribe - father, grandfather, great-grandfather, son, grandson, great-grandson, with all other branches of offspring. There is also a tribalism in the manifestations of spiritual life. Saint John Climacus interrogates every virtue and every passion: who are their father and mother, who are their children and daughters, and who are their other relatives? This means that he represents each type of virtue, as well as the entire virtuous life in the form of a good tribe with their ancestors and their descendants. It’s no different than what the holy apostles do when they survey the entire sum of virtues at once. The Holy Apostle Peter writes: you have received gifts of grace; Now, “having added all your diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue, understanding, and to understanding, self-control, and to self-control, patience, and to patience, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love” (2 Pet. 1:5-7). What is this if not a census of a tribe of virtues? Saint Paul describes the same tribe when he counts the fruits of the Spirit: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). And isn’t the same thing seen in the Savior’s words about the beatitudes? What virtues lead to heaven? – Humility, contrition and crying for sins, meekness, love of truth, mercy, purity, peacemaking, patience, pilgrimage for everything (detachment from everything). This is a heavenly tribe! Similarly, in the present eight-verse, the prophet depicts the tribe of virtues in his own image, in each verse pointing to one or two of them, the most essential in spiritual life. We do not list them in advance: examination of each verse will allow everyone to see what virtue he praises in it, as well as in what relation he puts it to other virtues adjacent to it or, in general, to spiritual life. Ps.119:105. Your law is a lamp for my feet, and a light for my paths. Who can say this except faith, true, undoubted, not allowing any splitting of thought? Accepting without hesitation the law of God, or the will of God expressed in Revelation, faith stands and walks firmly along the path indicated there, just as a traveler walks firmly and with confidence along the road which he knows leads straight to his native home. This is how faith leads us to our Heavenly Fatherland. Everything is clear to her, and it never happens that any cloud obscures the paths and that she is forced to discuss how to step and where to place her foot. Here is an urgent condition for a reliable procession! Imagine a man walking on a bent and shaking board through a deep ravine - what fear, what a sinking heart, what a constant danger of falling! A step or two - and the person either falls or returns back, not finding the opportunity to walk along such a crossbar. Imagine also that, by some chance, all the objects surrounding the person will begin to spin, the earth will seem to move, and he will certainly fall. But whoever walks on a solid bridge and sees that all the objects surrounding him are in their places, in the usual order, does not experience anything like this. So is a believer. Just as the eye sees all material objects, so faith sees spiritual objects, each in its place, in its order and in its relationships to others; That is why the procession in the light of such faith, which fills the soul with confidence, giving the walker the courage to step fearlessly along the path ahead, is never accompanied by hesitation, fears and whirling thoughts, and therefore is completed successfully. On the contrary, one who walks without faith cannot be free from fears; Sometimes he too walks, but as if walking over knives. That’s why he can’t continue the procession, but when he tries, he gives up. Faith is a gift of grace, but its seed is placed in our nature. Our mind should clearly perceive the spiritual and transmit it to guide the soul. The mind is a natural window into the spiritual world. But since it was closed by sin, and it is impossible for a person to live without knowledge of the spiritual, the merciful Lord was pleased to give an external word for the revelation of hidden spiritual and divine things. When this word is accepted by living faith, then the same thing happens as if the mind itself saw those objects. Faith wipes this tarnished window facing the spiritual world. Walking the path of faith cleanses the mind and, through the action of grace, restores to it the ability it had lost to see the spiritual and divine. Then he too, having merged with faith and the power of the Spirit of God, again becomes a window into the Divine world. There is no other way there. No matter how much sophisticated philosophy tried to unravel that area, it always gave rise to only illusory ideas, sometimes very beautiful, but always false (Isaac the Syrian, Sl.55). Ps.119:106. I swore and vowed to preserve the fate of Your righteousness. The determination to please God and constant zeal for this is the first daughter of faith. What do we say in baptism? – I renounce Satan and all his works and all his ministry, and unite myself with Christ the Lord, with a vow to always do His will in everything. Don’t we repeat the same thing in repentance, when we have the misfortune of falling bitterly after baptism? All this is the same as “I swore and vowed to preserve the fate of God’s truth.” “I swore and made it,” that is, with an oath I made a law for myself as the rule of my whole life. “The Prophet, writes Theodoret, called the firm decision of the soul “an oath,” since most of the deeds are confirmed by an oath.” “Preserve the destinies of Thy righteousness: the destinies of righteousness” - awards, definitions of God’s truth, the same as the will of God, expressed in His revealed word. He who has sealed himself with such a decision and is jealous to be faithful to his word will sooner die than break his oath. Hence the martyrs, hence the ascetics and all those who have succeeded in holiness of life. This zeal constitutes the soul of a holy and godly life. It is the same as a locomotive on railways or a steam engine on ships. While she is alive, the movements of spiritual life do not stop and success in her grows and grows. Saint Isaac the Syrian in many places, touching on faith, says that in its initial inception it produces fear, imprinting on the mind and bringing to the heart the thought that the sinner will certainly have to answer before the righteous Judge, Who does not have any partiality at judgment. This fear awakens conscience and, together with conscience, leads the sinner to repentance. The meaning of repentance is this: if you have sinned, forgive; I won’t, even if I die. This is the determination to please God, strong as death, with undying zeal for this. Thus is born the firstborn daughter of faith! Having given rise to jealousy, faith then illuminates the entire path of the zealot. She says what should be done in general, what to do in some particular case, when the road branches and gives many paths; She also instructs how to behave when everything is favorable to our cause; she teaches how to act in the face of universal opposition to him. Thus, whoever walks in the light of faith, having accepted without reflection the entire Divinely revealed will of God, walks as if in the light of a brightly shining sun and will never stumble. And the procession of such a person is powerful; his faith, cutting off all reflection, concentrates his strength on one thing and makes the actor powerful. True faith does not notice obstacles; she walks above everything, and nothing strikes her with fear. Was the path of the youths cut off by a fiery furnace, and Daniel by a ditch full of beasts? Did the feet of the holy martyrs revolt at the terrible torment that lay before them? Did the horrors of the desert, erected by the primordial enemies of salvation, turn the ascetics from marching after the Lord? “We are victorious in all things” (Rom. 8:37), says the holy Apostle. Such is the zeal generated and inspired by faith! Do you want to succeed? – Pray: Lord, give me faith, strong and not wavering! Ps.119:107. Humble yourself to the core, Lord, live me according to Your word. Jealousy generated by faith is intensely jealous, but without arrogance, without appropriating anything to oneself. She can say that “all things” are possible, but not otherwise than “through the Lord who strengthens her” (Phil. 4:13); That’s why he confesses: “It is by the grace of God that I am” (1 Cor. 15:10). “I have humbled myself to the point”: I am blind, and poor, and naked, and leprous, and paralyzed, and I don’t know what to do; and if I somehow found out something, I don’t know how to get down to business; my desires are scattered into different things against my will, and the sympathies of my heart turn to what is not pleasing to You. I am dead in spirit to everything spiritual: “Live therefore, O Lord, according to Thy word.” You yourself said: “As I live... I do not want the sinner to die, but to be converted... and I live to be him” (Ezek. 33:11). And I want to convert - convert me! And I, ulcerated and dead, seek revival - live me too according to Your word! If You don’t help, “in a little while my soul will dwell in hell” (Ps. 93:17). “The Prophet, writes Blessed Theodoret, not only said: “humbled,” but “humbled to the point,” and he says this, being a king and a prophet, having the boldness acquired by virtue towards God and towards people, abounding in wealth and conquering all his enemies. But even here he did not want to place his hope either in wisdom, or in courage, or in his truth. Asking life from Him who is able to give life, he does not ask for unconditional life, but for rational life, in accordance with the law, finding its glory in God’s law.” This is how all zealots of salvation and pleasing God feel and think. They know that this must be accomplished through the interaction of free will and grace-filled help; but, having experienced many times that “whatever they want, they do not find what they want” (Rom. 7:18), they value their own free will and expect everything from the one and only grace-filled help. That is why it is asked exclusively in prayer; They attribute every work they do to her, not appropriating anything to themselves, and always imputing themselves to nothing and not giving themselves any value, no matter how perfect people consider them. Humility is the hallmark of successful people. The more someone succeeds, the more he humbles himself. When you began to consider yourself somewhat righteous, you know for sure that you have gone backwards. This also includes the instructions of the elders - not to measure oneself, and it is clear: whoever counts himself as nothing has nothing to measure; and whoever begins to measure means that he feels that he means something. Therefore, the elders have the first prayer, which they advise others to repeat: “grant me, Lord, to see my sins and always mourn them with contrition of heart, counting myself as nothing, feeling myself worse than every person, worthy of all contempt “here” and all torment “there.” Only in Thy grace teach me to seek help and to place the hope of salvation in Thy goodness alone, who will not, lest he perish.” Ps.119:108. Grant me the freedom of my lips, O Lord, and teach me Your destinies. “Free lips,” that is, what my lips self-willingly utter, then “deign” to accept, O Lord. “And Thy destinies,” that is, that which is awarded and determined by Thy will, which constitutes Thy direct commandment, “teach me,” teach me to recognize this in any case, and to fulfill it with skill, to please You. In the Old Testament there were sacrifices determined by law, and there were arbitrary sacrifices, which everyone, according to the desire of his heart, vowed to offer to God. So it is in the circle of moral affairs: some are directly determined by law, while others are left to their own devices, to testify to the most ardent zeal for pleasing God. “Most of the progress in virtue,” says Blessed Theodoret, is prescribed by Divine laws, but he adds something of his own and good will. So are the sacrifices: there were some legal ones, some arbitrary ones. The law commanded that sacrifices for sin and crime, sacrifices for ignorance; they, as if some debt, were repaid to God; and sacrifices made out of good will were called gifts. So it is now: the word of the Gospel prescribes chastity and truth, but virginity and abstinence from marriage, non-covetousness, hermit life, staying in the desert, these are deeds of good will, not within the limits of the law. The Prophet called these kinds of things “free” because they are not subject to legal obligation, but are the fruit of God-loving will, and therefore are rightly called “free.” The fruit of God-loving will can occur with any good deed. So, when an opportunity presents itself to help another, then the other does it to the extent determined by the Apostle, that is, not so that there will be contentment for him, but sorrow for us; and another can exceed this measure and give everything to another, depriving himself of everything and being left with nothing, with only strong hope in the protection of God. Whoever does this brings forth the arbitrary fruit of God-loving will. It is also necessary to pray to God, and whoever does not pray violates God’s commandment; but the measure of prayer depends on God-loving will: everyone, with the advice of his spiritual father, takes a prayer rule for himself and then each time can shorten it or lengthen his prayer. Thus, one who decides to stand in prayer for a quarter of an hour or an hour, when, instead, out of a movement of zeal, one prays for half an hour, an hour or two, then one bears the “free” fruit of God-loving will. So it is in all other matters. Movements of God-loving will must be revived in every action. We have an unfortunate accident - turning everything into form. Actions undertaken with lively zeal, without any extraneous motives, with the sole desire to do what is pleasing to God - such actions are accomplished the first time with all the liveliness of feeling and attention, the second time these internal movements are weaker, the third time they are even weaker, and, finally, such actions begin to be accomplished without any participation of the soul, and only an external form emerges. Some good things are done, but everything is the same, no matter how much it was done, because God looks at what happens in the heart, and if there is no work being done there, then God does not see it. And how many fruitless deeds and labors perish from this! It is as if someone sowed and indiscriminately threw the seeds both over the border and onto the road, where they were wasted. To avoid such an accident, experienced fathers advise to always act as if you were doing something for the first time: just start every day. So it is with a good life in general, because it can be turned into form, and so it is in relation to every matter. No matter how much you walk along the good path, behave as if you had just set foot on it; No matter how many times you do a good deed, always do it as you would do it the first time. In this way you will always offer to God a sacrifice of your God-loving will, a living sacrifice offered with full heartfelt zeal, and only this is of great value in the eyes of God. Ps.119:109. I will take my soul into Your hand, and I will not forget Your law. A believing zealot for pleasing God surrenders himself entirely to the will of God. His only concern is not to transgress God’s commandments under any circumstances; and as a result, he does not even think about himself, about his fate, because his soul is entirely in the hand of God. If someone has offended him, he strives not to defend himself and retaliate for the offense, but to avoid getting angry, to prevent the movement of revenge, to not feel hostility towards the offender and to dispose himself to forgive him with all willingness. But they will say: if you forgive everyone, then it will be impossible to live - they will stab you to death. The believer submits this to the will of God. My business, he says, is to forgive from the heart, but what happens next is not my business; God Himself takes care of me: my soul is in His hand. Such surrender of himself to the will of God gives him inspiration for good deeds and fills him with moral strength. Every business, no matter what, is surrounded by dangers or possible unpleasant consequences. Take fasting: how many fears are sown when it begins! And the stomach will be upset, and the disease will seize, and things will stop, and something will not be said! But whoever said once and for all: my soul is in the hand of God, will not be disturbed by such fears. So it is in every business, and in all life. Whoever does not have devotion to the will of God, every step he takes, there is a lion on the way, and robbers on his sides (Proverbs 26:13). So he deviates from the right path, thinking that he has already avoided troubles, but meanwhile, this is why he plunges himself into them. “The righteous man walks like a trusting lion” (Proverbs 28:1), for he knows that his Almighty Patron is always with him. Concerns about virtue usually disturb those who are thinking of shaping their own destiny. Just as everything that a person might come up with to protect himself is nothing more than a cobweb, and he knows this from repeated experiences, he cannot possibly rely on his own methods of protecting himself. And he comes up with them and puts them into action, but everything shakes like a leaf. Such is the fate of all who rely on themselves. And God, because they do not surrender their souls to Him, does not provide them with His help. He seems to be telling them this: “You yourself want to settle everything in your life in your own ways—well, settle it! I'm not your help." The Lord does this to admonish the arrogant, so that the experiences of the failure of his methods will prompt him to look for the most reliable supports. But where will you find them, if not in the providential hand of God? So, it is better to hand over your fate to the Lord, and direct all your concern only to faithfully fulfilling the commandment set before you in any case. By acting this way, you will find peace and have success, if the Lord deigns to make you happy with it. Ps.119:110. The sinners have laid a net for me, and from Your commandments they will not go astray. They stretched out, says the prophet, a net in front of me, but I still did not get lost. This is a direct consequence of devotion to the will of God. He who has laid his soul in the hand of God does not walk on the earth, but grief hovers in the air. The nets are spread out on the ground, and he flies on top of them without getting caught. That is why, no matter how cunningly the networks are woven, he continues to steadily follow the path of the commandments. But this avoidance of being entangled in enemy nets and flying over them is only comparatively easy; in fact, this is a difficult matter, and the strength that cannot be overcome is patience. The networks of sinners are baits and intimidations from the world and peace lovers, and from demons. Whether the attractions of the passionate and sinful side, aroused by lures, or whether troubles, persecution, deprivation, and the dangers of life attack one walking the path of pleasing God in order to deviate him from the commandments of God - in both cases, in order to stay on the path, one cannot do without patience. Patience overcomes adversity, patience also withstands temptations. It is the basis of unquestioning life, constantly faithful to the commandments of God. Without it, a step cannot be taken on this path. Blessed Theodoret also conveys the thought of the prophet: “Many people and demons weave all kinds of intrigues, but I decided (with patience) to follow the unblemished (free from temptation, pure) path of Your commandments.” The mother of patience is also faith. Faith believes that everything encountered in life comes from God, and everything is directed towards our eternal salvation. God does not send anything that could plunge us into sin and serve to our destruction; and if, by God’s permission, any temptation occurs, it is so that, having overcome what draws us to sin, we may receive the crown of righteousness for firm fidelity to the commandments of the Lord. Therefore, endure only this time of temptation, and what seems so difficult will bring joy “here” and prepare oil for eternal joy “there.” Believers endure this way; there is no force that can overcome their patience. Patience by faith is the power of God working in the hearts of those who endure. Patience gives constancy in goodness, and this constancy makes all the efforts of enemies fruitless and breaks all their networks. Constancy itself is the fruit of the power of God, infused into the heart for the sake of its faithfulness to God. Just as there is a seething in our thoughts until the light of God dawns on the mind, so in the will there is a changeability of desires until the power of God dissolves with it and establishes it. A light thread sways back and forth in a light wind, but if you hang some kind of weight on it, a rather strong wind will not sway it. Here is an example of constancy in goodness! From the grace-filled power comes a certain gravitation towards one good and makes our desires motionless from this direction. One thing in it is to direct everything to please God, to the glory of the Most Holy Name of God. When this has matured in your soul, then lay out whatever nets you want - the tempted one will not follow God’s commandments. He would rather agree to die than to deviate in any way from what is pleasing to God. Ps.119:111. I have inherited Your testimonies forever, for the joy of my heart is the essence. Patience suggests something harsh, bleak. In appearance, it really appears like this; but a consolation moves within him, so sweet that no worldly or everyday consolation can compare with it. Spiritual joy is an urgent possession of those who persevere in goodness with patience. This is what the prophet expresses here: “I have inherited,” he says, “Your testimonies,” - I accepted them as one receives a rich inheritance, adopted them for myself and will never part with them, for they delight my heart, not only promising joy in the future, but now filling my heart with joy, and therefore they are “the joy of my heart.” Think about it, really, what do we all want? - Happiness. What is happiness? - A state that pleases the heart. Happy is the one who is pleased with everything that is in him, with him and around him. Here is the means for you to do this: accept the testimonies of God, the definitions of the will of God, attested by God Himself, with all love and desire, and abide in them with the firm intention of being faithful to them forever - and this will pour into your heart a joy that will not depart from it forever, so that the transition from this life to another will be for him nothing more than a change from the joy here to an endless joy and undescribed. That this is so, the prophet assures us of this through his own experience. The Lord inspires us with nothing else in His preaching about the beatitudes. The entire content of His conversation in brief words is this: if you want to be blessed, that is, completely happy, be humble, contrite in heart, meek, truth-loving, merciful, pure in heart, peaceful, patient and complacent. And what is this if not “take My meetings as an inheritance and do not part with them forever”? “The wicked cannot rejoice” (Is. 48:22), not only the one who directly rebels against God and His holy testimonies, but also the one who, although correct in outward behavior, in his heart places his last good not in God and not in communion with Him. All such people do not have true joy in the heart, but only momentary impulses of joy, giving way to the strongest tautness of the heart, just as after lightning at night, a moment’s lightness is replaced by the thickest darkness. If they don’t give it to the heart, it won’t rejoice; rushes to something else, believing that this is something that can truly please him, but, having tasted it, he immediately turns away from it, letting him know with his tightness that this is not what he needs. This tug is common to all lovers of peace and lovers of sin. They drown it out a little, chasing joys without interruption, but they cannot drown it out completely. Little by little, and she rises with all her strength. The mercy of God has arranged it in such a way that those who move away from His commandments always hear within themselves a voice calling them to the path of meetings that can truly make them happy. They will say: what about martyrs, what about ascetics? How much suffering the former have, and how much hardship the latter have! But that’s what’s amazing, that neither suffering nor deprivation took joy away from the heart, faithful to the testimonies of God, but, on the contrary, aggravated it, and not only with hope in the future, but with the actual taste of joy in the present. It is impossible not to believe this; when those who suffered and suffered hardships did not only express the joy of their hearts in words, but showed it in deed. Ps.119:112. Incline my heart to create Your justifications forever for reward. I have inclined, says the prophet, my heart forever to the fulfillment of Your justifications: what prompted me to incline? - Hope for reward. The joy of the heart felt here from fidelity to the testimonies of God does not exhaust all the benefits provided by the fulfillment of God’s justifications. This joy here is only the beginning and a guarantee of indescribable joy in eternity. True, it alone strongly supports fidelity to the commandments of God; but, so that it would not weaken from habit or, having appeared in a small measure, would not give a reason to be satisfied with this and weaken zeal for the fulfillment of the commandments, in the thought that the goal has already been fully achieved, the Lord was pleased to announce that those who are zealous for the fulfillment of His justifications will in the future expect joy, which cannot be compared with anything here. That joy is indescribable; Meanwhile, it also has its own measures, and these measures depend on the labors in observing the justifications here. The more someone works “here”, the more joy he will be awarded “there”. It was in this thought that the prophet decided within himself: if this is so, then I will forever observe the decrees of God, and then he announces to everyone about his decision, that is, that he inclined his heart to create excuses forever in the hope of reward. Obviously, the hope here is directed to the future, but the earthly stay also lasts a long time and, therefore, has its own future within the limits of its continuation. The youth awaits manhood, the mature man awaits old age. So it is in moral life: the beginner seeks to join the ranks of the successful, and the successful seeks to join the ranks of the accomplished. It is here that the force moving forward is hope, which, promising the best, beckons further and further and causes tension in forces. Achieving this has its own measure of reward. He who enters the path of virtue first enters out of the fear of God and the demands of his conscience. Although from the very beginning he hopes for this true well-being for the sake of life, this very hope is maintained only by faith in God, who is true in His promises, and he does not yet receive reinforcement from life itself. This reinforcement is accepted only when, after some life experiences of this kind, the soul begins to feel the fruits of it. The feeling of fruits is the receipt of reward, but this does not stop hope, due to the fact that if you have received it, then what else can you hope for? Because, no matter how strong the feeling of well-being from walking along the path of the commandments, it will never reach the extent of what hope promises, which, to the extent of that sensation, itself exalts its promises. So for all degrees of spiritual perfection; and whoever has ascended to the very top of perfection, before him she already opens the gates of eternity and revives him with the aspiration of the endless and indescribable blessings there. This is what a reviver and comforter the Lord God has given us in hope! Hope comes from faith; but when this feeling becomes frequent, then it reinforces faith itself. Thus, hope pays tribute to faith as its ancestor. Under their mutual influence, a holy life will be sung, with the ultimate goal of creating love in the heart. Faith, inspired by hope, teaches you to walk faithfully in the commandments and justifications of God. This labor of walking is their direct business; but from it finally degenerates love, complete, pure, all-consuming. The flame itself, it turns both faith and hope into flame; then the whole spirit of man becomes a flame. This serves as evidence that he became pure, and God, worshiped in the Trinity, began to rest in him, by the favor of the Father, by the holiness of the Spirit and by the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. The title to this eight-verse is “samekh” – “support”. There are moral dispositions and decisions of the will and God’s dispensations related to this, which serve as the support of all godly life, spent in the faithful fulfillment of the commandments. The holy prophet speaks about such dispositions and God’s dispensations in this eight-verse. The first support here is the decision of the will to love the law - on the part of man (verse Ps. 119:113), and always ready help for this - on the part of grace (verse Ps. 119:114). Neither grace will act without such a decision of the will, nor can such a decision of the will do anything without grace. When they unite, then the action of man and the weak becomes powerful. In the feeling of this power, he boldly sets out on the path of pleasing God (verse Ps. 119:115), not on his own, however, hoping for strength, but in God's help, hoping to succeed in everything, with her assistance (verse Ps. 119:116). This is the inner structure of one who acts according to God. Further, the prophet indicates how to support these very pillars of a godly life, namely: prayer (verse Ps. 119:117), remembrance of God’s mercilessness of sinners (verse Ps. 119:118), consideration of how dreary their life is (verse Ps. 119:119), and especially the fear of God, which is aroused by the presentation of the terrible judgments of God (verse Ps.119:120). And the tribe of virtues in life according to God, depicted in the previous eight verses, is of the same nature. Therefore, the present eight-line can be called a continuation of the previous one. Ps.119:113. I have hated the lawbreakers, but I have loved Your law. The word “lawful” here refers to people or a set of people - the world, and the evil thoughts aroused by the world and all its customs; he hated, he says, not only the crime of the law, but also everything in contact with it and leading to it; “I have loved your law.” He turned his heart away from this, but clung to this. Not only the cessation of sin is the correction of morals, but also a heartfelt aversion from it; and not only doing legal deeds is turning to the path of good, but also heartfelt love for them. This mood is the complete beginning of a godly life, and at the same time its strongest support. As long as there is sympathy for something sinful and passionate, until then one cannot consider one’s state to be safe. Just a little something - and weak sympathy will increase into feeling, irritate attraction, arouse desire - and this is the edge of the ditch of fall. The same thing happens here as with a spark smoldering in the ashes. As soon as a breeze blows away the ash covering it and brings in anything flammable, it will immediately begin to smoke; do not extinguish it - it will flare up; do not suppress the flaring flame - and there will be a fire. An hour or two later, and the house disappeared, no matter how richly decorated it was. This happens with moral fires and the destruction of homes of the heart. Look more carefully to see if there is any sympathy for sin and passion hidden in your heart; and if you find it, don’t be lazy to destroy it. Let this be a test for you so that when an object of passion appears before your eyes or in your thoughts, you not only treat it coldly, but have the desire to push it away with your foot, like an unclean animal. Not suddenly, as soon as a person turns from sin to virtue, such hatred of sinful things appears. True, it is here too, but it is still weak. The period of struggle with sin grows and nourishes it, because only this struggle makes us feel all the hostility of sin towards us and the anger of its leader - the devil. Feeling this malicious enmity on the part that is contrary to good will finally give her the strength to repay her in kind. And that sin is nothing, not an enemy, but a friend - such a thought will not allow hatred towards it to arise in all its strength. Hatred of sin grows along with love of virtue. The support of a good life is actually this love, and hatred of sin manifests itself only at the moment of sin’s appearance with the goal of luring people to oneself. Then love for good is revealed by hatred of evil and scorches evil at its first appearance. Satanic malice itself cannot resist this movement of love. Ps.119:114. You are my helper and my protector; I trust in your words. The prophet does not pray: May you be my helper, but confesses that God is already his helper on the good path. Establishing the beginning of a good life, the beginner prays: “I will try to do good, only You, Lord, do not forsake me with Your help” - and, believing that God will not abandon him, he embarks on the path of good. But the experiences of life, in which God’s help and God’s protection are tangibly visible, root in the heart the conviction that this is exactly the case, that the Lord is near to all who call on Him and guards their entry and departure. From here a person becomes confident in the constant readiness of God’s help and God’s intercession, as in his own being. And he says to himself and confesses to others: The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid of what the evil of the enemy will do to me! There are hordes of him around me, and I go to bed and calmly fall asleep, sleep and get up, without experiencing any anxiety, for I know that the Lord will not fall asleep, nor will he fall asleep, but protect me in His goodness. “I trusted in your words,” that is, in the promises given to people from God, with confidence in their immutability: “you just begin, and I will not leave you.” Trusting in these promises, a person enters the path of good. But then, when the experiences of life confirm him of the everlasting goodness of God and ready help from Him, he confesses before God: now I have completely placed my trust in Your words. There might still be some hesitation at first; and now there is no more room for them. Without God's help it is impossible to succeed in good. “Without Me you can do nothing,” says the Lord (John 15:5). It is in this help that we must place our hope, and having placed our hope in it, we must desire it and seek it. The first movements of good are aroused by the Lord, regardless of a person’s will, but then, when a person enters the path of good, He comes to his aid only upon demand, although He is nearby. The Lord God was pleased to arrange it this way so that man would not become arrogant and would not consider works of grace a duty, for from here comes murmuring—the destruction of souls. Hope is already the seeking of God's help. This is without words - a word that strongly appeals to God, since God looks at what is in the heart. Trust in God's help is the most life-giving force on a good path. That is why the enemy tries in every possible way to prevent it from entering the heart and, when it does, he takes care to weaken it. At first, it inspires: God, Whom you have insulted so much, will help you! - and then, on the path of virtue, the slightest temptation, he does not miss the opportunity to jot down thoughts: you see, God has abandoned you! So a man walks with hope, now rising, now weakening. And yet it still grows and grows. Experiences of God's help nourish him and grow him. When it becomes stronger, then a person confesses with all his heart: “Thou art my helper, O Lord, in Thy words I trusted.” The same thing happens here as with a person swimming to the shore and struggling among the waves, when he breaks out and stands on solid ground. In another comparison, a person who trusts is truly and completely the same as a child in his mother’s bosom: he is warm and at peace, and is not afraid of anyone. But you have to reach such a state. Ps.119:115. Turn away from me, you evildoers, and I will test the commandments of my God. He who feels strong in himself boldly says to those who block his path: go away! So he who has loved the law of God and has risen to the point of strong trust in God, in a feeling of strength not of his own, but of God, says to demons, and evil people, and evil customs and thoughts, in a word - to everything that can prevent him from following the path chosen from him: “deviate from Me!” This expresses the courage and boldness with which he who loves the commandments follows their path. That's how it should be; otherwise there is no hope that this journey will be completed safely. Anyone who, having gone to some distant place, begins to grunt and be afraid from the very first steps, will not reach the end of the path. When someone who is about to fight, as soon as he sees his opponent, begins to shake with fear, he has already been defeated before the fight. Likewise, one who embarks on the path of virtue to fight all the enemies of salvation, if he is not inspired from the very beginning by courage or is not inspired by it upon entering the path, is not able to complete it. Such courage is not rash courage or valor, characteristic of inexperienced youth, which gets cocky without properly weighing the strengths of its opponent. No, it sees in the smallest detail all the difficulties of the path, calculates all the forces of the enemies, but does not retreat in front of them, and in the hope of God’s help is ready to rise and overcome them all. It already raises them in advance, trying on how to overcome this or that difficulty and overcome this or that enemy. It is ready for all kinds of work, for all fatigue and exhaustion, for all kinds of wounds and defeats, even for death itself. It experiences all this in feeling before it experiences it in reality, and if fear does not creep into the heart of such a person, he courageously sets out on the path, thirsting for opposition, struggle and work. That is why when he meets them, he meets them not as something unexpected, but as something long desired: which is why they do not produce the effect on him that those who arrange them would like. The courageous one moves like a ship cutting through the waves. Moral courage is inherent in man by nature, for he possesses a god-like spirit, which is more powerful than those aspects of our being in which sin and passions reside and through which the enemy acts. He who, under the influence of the fear of God and conscience, enters the path of virtue goes over to the side of the spirit, therefore he is a participant in both the power of the spirit and the courage characteristic of it. But since the spirit, although it exists, is sometimes hidden, so courage, although it is inherent in others, does not manifest itself without being evoked. Sometimes they say in the hostel: where does everything come from? In life according to God, you can most often find the application of this saying, as well as another: thunder comes from clouds. A weak person sometimes displays such moral strength that surprises the most powerful. Perhaps it would not be unfair to say to everyone who has entered the path of virtue: “Take courage and let your heart be strong” (Ps. 26:14); Go, don’t be timid, you are stronger than all your enemies and more powerful than all obstacles. Get inspired; the enemy relaxes you with insurance, but just act boldly and he will be gone. Ps.119:116. Intercede for me according to Your word, and I will live, and do not disgrace me because of my hope. He who courageously sets out on the path of virtue says to thoughts and demons: “deviate from Me.” I have decided to walk and will walk only in the commandments of God; none of your flatteries and intrigues will lead me astray; I will test the commandments of my God and practice them. “Not just,” explains Blessed Theodoret, “I will follow them, but I will test them in all accuracy, so that nothing in them hides from me and so that I fulfill everything that the Lord of all has commanded.” If we take these words out of connection with the whole, then they seem to echo with self-confidence, which has never led anyone to anything good. In connection, they mean only a spirit breathing courage, drawing it from strong trust in God, to Whom it turns in prayer: “intercede”; “Vouchsafe,” says blessed Theodoret, Thy intercession for me, who have accepted the intention of walking along the path of Thy commandments, so that, having been deceived in hope, I should not be filled with shame.” This is what unshameable hope says, drawing the power of God to itself and resting on it. “I can do all things,” it says, but only “through the Lord who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13), and it believes that the Lord is near. But since He Himself laid down the law, so that both those who are courageous and those who dare cry out to Him for Him, the prophet also cries out: “intercede,” although he is confident that God’s intercession is already protecting him, according to His false promise. “And I will live,” I will drive away my enemies, and I will remain intact in all my moral structure. And since the Lord, helping the one who trusts, acts through the soul to overcome its enemies, it cannot help but feel this influx of God’s power, and, consequently, revival through Him. If the Lord does not take back what was given, then what was given, on the occasion of revival, remains in the soul; and after overcoming her enemies, she cannot help but recognize herself as more alive than she was before their onslaught. Whoever has experienced this once, the next time, asking for help, cannot help but have in his mind what it is accompanied by. “And I will live,” that is, I will receive greater life from You. “Do not disgrace me because of my desire.” The prophet does not stand for himself, but for the glory of God, and he trusts in Him. Everyone knows that he trusts in God and trusts in His word. If God allows his enemies to overcome him, it will seem that he trusted in God in vain, and even more so that God is unfaithful in His promises. That is why the prophet often repeats in his psalms, when he turns to God with a prayer for help: “Let me not be ashamed, for I trusted in Thee” (Ps. 24:20), not as if I were powerless and unable to help. He who is courageous is courageous because he trusts in the power of God. In it the combination of human power with the power of God takes place. On the part of a person, inspiration is required; but since at the same time his strength is exhausted, then when it is completely exhausted, then the power of God begins to act. From this it follows that the one who is courageous experiences a complete feeling of powerlessness and cries out: “It is time for the Lord to do something,” - it is time for You to act, Lord; “Rise up, arise!” (Ps.3:8, 34:2) So, no matter how much you are struck, and although temptations strongly shake you and bend you down, like a strong wind bends flexible stems to the ground, do not allow the thought that you are abandoned by God: the Lord is near and is only waiting for the moment of action. This moment will come, and the enemies will scatter, just as fog or smoke dissipates from the wind. “Be patient with the Lord, and He will do it” (Ps. 26:14, 36:5). The law of His will is such as not to allow anyone to be tempted above his strength, but always to his strength. Know this, and do not be timid, but boldly look your enemies in the eyes. Ps.119:117. Help me, and I will be saved, and I will learn from Your justifications. “Although, as Saint Athanasius explains this verse, the prophet said: “Thou art my protector,” but he feels the need for constant help, because while a person is still here, he cannot say affirmatively: I will be saved.” Hope does not cancel prayer, nor does courage cancel hope. Pray - help will come and your courageous inspiration will be crowned with success. Since you cannot know when enemies will approach and raise a storm of thoughts and passionate movements, then pray unceasingly: “God, come to my help! Lord, seek my help!” (Ps.69:2) He who trusts and prays in hope will never be taken by surprise by enemy attacks, or even dare to approach him. Confident prayer covers the soul with a kind of overshadowing; That’s why the enemies can’t see where to aim their arrows. There are legends that other saints were attacked by evil people, but God covered them, making them invisible. Enemies will search and search for such things and leave without anything. Likewise, God covers the soul from invisible enemies, so that they do not see it. Perhaps the light of prayer affects their vision, just as material light affects the vision of some birds, which therefore cannot see in broad daylight. It happens that other villains come to rob a house, and at this time the owner talks to someone for a long time; the villains do not begin their work until they hear that the conversation has ceased. Had it lasted all night - all night - they would have stood there, afraid to take up their villainous deed. So you, if you want your enemies to leave you idle, do not stop your conversation with God: God, attend to my help, Lord, strive for my help! This speech, although silently, will be made mentally in the soul, but it will be heard loudly by the enemies, and while it continues, they will never dare to approach you, because they know what and with whom you are talking, and that they will get a hard time for the insolence of the attack. Another will say: here I am praying, but passions still overcome me. Prayer to prayer - discord. True prayer will never give offense; on the contrary, if, due to inattention, passions sometimes become irritated in the soul, then resort only to prayer and do this work as it should, and the evil movements raised will immediately subside. Although this will not follow immediately, especially when passions arise due to our fault, they will not resist in any way. Prayer will in no way allow those who are engaged in it to be overcome by them. If something like this happens to someone, it is true because his tongue was praying then, and his soul was slyly looking at the passionate. There was no prayer here, but only one form of it. Real prayer, according to St. John Kolov, is what it looks like. I am sitting, he says, under a tree and I see animals approaching from a distance. Not having the strength to fight them, I climb a tree. The animals will come up, stand there and walk away. This climbing of a tree is devoting oneself to prayer in the hours of approaching passionate temptations. A person who prays is like a bird soaring high in the air. You can’t catch her with a net, nor can you reach her with an arrow. But when she, having noticed the tasty grains, flies from above and begins to peck at them, then she can get entangled in the net, and it’s convenient to shoot her. Likewise, the one who prays is elusive to enemies, for his prayerful spirit lifts high. But if, having left what is above, he descends to what is below and begins to enjoy first one thing and then another, then it is no wonder that they will catch him and drag him into obscene deeds. And who is to blame? If I hadn’t given up prayer, she wouldn’t have allowed me to fall. Ps.119:118. Thou hast destroyed all that depart from Thy justifications, for their thoughts are unrighteous. What is the support for a good moral mood here? – In thinking about God’s judgments on sinners who deviate from God’s justifications. When the enemy tempts, he suggests that sin is nothing: God is merciful and will not punish you. It is he who inspires even the zealots of virtue, thus weakening their decision to always be faithful fulfillers of the holy commandments of the Lord. In order to dispel such a suggestion, the prophet himself cites and advises others to bring to mind how God punished and shamed those who were arrogant and did not want to know His commandments. Indeed, God is abundantly merciful, and abundantly merciful to the point that if you look at His mercy on sinners alone, it may seem that He seems to be merciful to sin. So that such an unrighteous thought does not tempt (deceive) anyone, God Himself, through the same prophet, teaches that His mercies should not include indulgence in sin. “I was silent,” He says to the sinner, and did not punish you, waiting for your conversion; and you thought that I was like you, that I would indulge sin; no, I will reprove you, and I will show you before your very eyes how much I hate sin” (Ps. 49:21-22). And so that they don’t think that God threatens only in words, He sometimes brings His threats into action. And His astonishing judgments against sinners passed and continue from generation to generation, sobering those who relax and awakening those who indulge in negligence. It is this action of God’s judgments that the prophet mentions here: “I will,” as he says, according to the interpretation of Blessed Theodoret, “I will have zeal to fulfill Your commandments, knowing that those who violated them were humiliated and put to shame by You.” So, let each of us go through the judgments of God more often in our minds and let us try, on the one hand, to kindle with them zeal for good, and on the other, to weed out the lures of sin. How much care and concern the Lord God showed in creating and organizing the life of our first parents! And when they sinned, he did not look at anything; expelled them from paradise, and with them subjected our entire family to the humiliating state in which we now find ourselves. Under Noah, the entire human race gave in to wickedness, and when they did not listen to God’s admonitions, God did not look at the fact that there were many of them, but destroyed them all with a flood. He did not spare Sodom and Gomorrah and other cities, but burned everything with fire and filled it with water, which to this day, with its peculiarities, inspires everyone with how terrible the judgments of God are. Lotov’s wife only turned around to look at the exterminating conflagration, but since this was a violation of the will of God, announced face to face, she at that very moment became a “pillar of the slan.” And the judgments of God over Pharaoh, over the nations who occupied the Promised Land, over the Israelites themselves, with their repeated deviations from the will of God, their Assyrian and especially Babylonian captivity, and then their dispersion for deicide, what else do they mean if not that God is always ready punitive measures for sinners and that if He does not always put them into action after sin, it is only because He is waiting repentance or leaves people to complete the measures of sins in order to then strike them more completely. Bring all this to memory in reflection with yourself, and sober your heart from relaxing thoughts. If you look around, then in your life and in the lives of those you know, you will find that, in addition to the mercies with which God covered you and others, there have been many such cases that obviously represent the character of God’s righteous judgment for admonition. If this was the case then, then why can one think that the same will not happen now? Protect yourself with the fear of God's judgments. Pay attention to the subsequent words of the prophet: “for their thoughts are unrighteous”; Perhaps this is the thought that he puts forward in other places: God does not seek, God does not see. But it is better to see here an indication of every unrighteous thought, every evil thought that is contrary to the will of God and inclines to sin and passion, and remembering that it is not only God who punishes deeds, but also the thoughts of the heart, cherished in secret. Why were Ananias and Sapphira killed? – For the unrighteous thought that one can lie to the Holy Spirit. Why was Simon rejected? – For the wrong thought that you can buy the gift of the Holy Spirit. Yes, God sees in your heart and is ready to punish you for what is wrong there too. Look there, and before God’s judgment, expel all unrighteousness from there. Ps.119:119. Transgressing all the sinners of the earth, for this sake I have loved Your witness. I have gone over, says the prophet, in my thoughts all the sinners of the earth who transgress Thy will, and “for this reason I have loved Thy witness.” This means this: one glance at the state of sinners is enough to inflame with zeal for fulfilling the commandments of God. The prophet does not say what he saw in sinners, but only - he reconsidered them and through this he loved Your law - “he turned, adds blessed Theodoret, all zeal to fulfill God’s words, as if he knew the harm of breaking the law.” Therefore, the harm of breaking the law is imprinted on the face of those who transgress it. Their external situation is not always disastrous; it is more flourishing, and even better, than that of those who are faithful to the law of God; but their inner life is always miserable. The poison of sin, without being exhausted by external evil, turns entirely inward, and there it produces its complete destructive effect. Just as moth wears away a dress and rust eats up iron, so sin melts away and exhausts the soul in all its strength. All this, however, happens inside and is invisible not only to outsiders, but also to the sinner himself; and this is because although this evil is in a person, a person is never inside himself, but is always outside, and therefore does not know himself. If he had to look into himself and see what he is, then with horror he would recoil from sin, as if it were a monster devouring him, and, stronger than a prophet, would cling with love to the testimonies of God in order to get rid of such a villain. Read St. Paul's depiction of a sinner, and you will see what sin is, how evil this flatterer is, flattering the entire universe, attracting to himself by deception and then mercilessly torturing his victim. Look at how, according to the testimony of the apostle, sinners walk: “they walk in vanity of mind, darkened in meaning, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their hearts: those who, in hopelessness, have given themselves over to the work of adultery, to the practice of all uncleanness through covetousness” (Eph. 4:17-19). How beautiful is such a face of a sinful soul! And every sinful soul really is like that. What the prophet says, “the wicked cannot rejoice,” is what every sinner experiences over himself. Although he almost always laughs and laughs, this does not at all prove spiritual joy, but only impulses to drown out the inner tightness. If you want to know how much joy he has in his soul, look at him when he is left alone with himself in the darkness of the night. Like a mountain, the burden of his mental state crushes him and squeezes heavy sighs from his heart. And what are his undertakings? - Feverish. I don’t remember, it was said somewhere: a sinner is always in a state of floating. In appearance, this seems to be a mental state, but its entire fruit is directed towards the practical side. This hovering swarms businesses; one after another they arise in the soul, call forth plans, and lead to the assimilation of means and the beginning of a business. One thing is not over, another is being planned, a third, and so on. The troubles are continuous, until I drop. He doesn't have time; he always has no time. This drains your strength and at the same time does not allow you to come to your senses. This is how sin kills the sinner! Who doesn’t know that there is a God, that He provides for everything, that He must be pleased by the fulfillment of His will, that death is just around the corner, and after death there is a report, and after the report there is a decision? - Yes, even the sinner knows this and, perhaps, will tell you everything perfectly; but he never remembers this and does not derive any application from it to his life. Such and such blindness is brought upon him by sin, or, more precisely, by the enemy, the chief leader of sin. The sinner lives as if there is no almighty God, no death always ready to take him, no judgment at which he can never be justified. Far ahead - well, he doesn’t even look: now, tomorrow, and then he doesn’t go further. For the most part, even this does not happen, and his gaze is limited to the present. Blindness, tireless fussiness and tightness - this is what is in the soul of a sinner, to a greater or lesser extent. That is why his soul is covered in darkness. Someone writes that if the eyes of our souls were enlightened and allowed us to see the souls of others, then the souls of sinners would appear to us as dark shadows that arouse horror. This is how the heavenly powers and the saints of God always see them. Because of such darkness, demons see them as their own, enter into them and commit their characteristic atrocities in them. The prophet saw all this, and “for this reason he loved the testimonies of God.” Remind yourself often how harmful the consequences of sin are in the soul, and through this zeal warm up to endure death rather than indulge sin. Ps.119:120. Nail my flesh with Thy fear, from Thy destinies I fear. From these thoughts the fear of God is born; and if fear already exists, then it is supported and nourished by them, and then it itself supports and nourishes the zeal to always please God by fulfilling His holy commandments. With the fear of God, saving life according to God begins, as the Holy Church sings: “Fear for Thy sake, the spirit of salvation was received and given birth in the womb.” But even then, throughout the entire procession along the path of the commandments, he does not leave the soul, and as a faithful guardian watches over it, and as a wise leader leads it along an unforgettable path to the final perfection, teaching deeds and deeds that directly lead to success. This fear, along with progress in life according to God, changes, but always remains fear, sobering, calming, teaching attention and vigor, so as not to allow anything wrong to happen. Keep the fear of God, warming it with thoughts about the judgments of God, as the prophet did. Look at what he actually prays for: “nail,” he says, “my flesh to fear Thy.” There is a higher side in us - spiritual, and there is a lower side - mental, animal, carnal. That one is appointed for God, and this one is for life on earth; she lies towards God, and this one is cold towards Him. When there is fear there, this one is not touched by fear; and without moving, it can go on a rampage, rebel against the spirit, and not only disturb, but also defeat it. Knowing this, the prophet prays that the fear of God will penetrate this lower part of his being: “nail,” he says, “my flesh with Thy fear,” so that just as my spirit reveres before You, so my lower powers, imbued with Thy fear, do not dare to rebel against Your commandments, but silently submit to them. Blessed Theodoret puts the following speech into the mouth of the prophet: “My soul is clothed in Thy fear, but since the body and members of the body resist the soul, I beg you to nail them with this fear, so that, becoming dead to sin, they will follow the guidance of the soul. This is the same as the saying of the Apostle: “put to death your evils that are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5); and again: “I have been crucified with Christ: but no one liveth, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:19-20). Thus, nailing the flesh with nails of the fear of God, or, what is the same, killing the flesh and all the souls “on earth”, is the last and, it must be said, the most reliable support of good morality. The flesh is the seat of passions; indulgence to it, even a small and necessary one, sets passions in motion, just as rain sets in motion already withered, starved worms. Do not be lazy in mortifying the flesh, and for this purpose do not cease to carry the banner of the fear of God in your heart. The flesh is an evil slave; she cannot obey reasonable suggestions; it must be calmed down with the scourge of the fear of God. And how to perceive the fear of God, learn from the prophet. Think about the judgments of God, think about the unwashed (incorruptible, impartial) truth of God, about the ready death, and about the judgment that has to decide your eternal fate. With such thoughts, pray to the Lord that He will overshadow you with fear and give him the strength to crush all the lusts of your flesh. A drop breaks through a stone, falling to one place; so is prayer. If you practice it often, it will break through the hardness of your heart and introduce fear into it; having entered the heart, he will begin to do things according to his kind. There has never been a person who did not succumb to the saving effect of the fear of God. When it is really established in him, then all that remains is to maintain this saving fear, not allowing it to go out. And this is done in the same way that fear is born. Stay in this establishment of your spiritual order, and you will remain in the fear of God, and this fear will teach you everything good. This is the whole science of holy living. If we did not allow fear to weaken within us, sin would not dare to appear in us, and the soul would not dare to accept it into its arms, leaving God, the Creator, the Benefactor, its Savior. The title for this eight verse is ayin – eye. The eye is a window through which the soul sees everything that is and happens outside of it. But there is also a spiritual eye in us, through which the spiritual, divine world is contemplated. This is the mind or spirit that knows God, confesses His Providence, teaches obedience to Him in everything, strives for Him and sees in Him its last good. These are the initial natural instructions of our spiritual eye. But in its natural state this eye is darkened and does not see clearly. It opens to clear vision by the grace of the Holy Spirit in a Christian believer, and only after this does the real action of spiritual vision begin. Whoever follows his instructions, his spiritual horizons expand more and more, and the invisible world opens up before him in greater clarity. This state is a state of contemplation. All Christians are destined for him, and true Christians really achieve him (Isaac the Syrian, f. 55). The mysteries that the spiritual contemplator sees are the same as those revealed to us in the word of God, but with the difference that he sees them essentially, and not just mentally. However, there is no great benefit in talking about this a lot; It is more useful to know the structure of the contemplating spirit. Faith represents his entire content, love embraces all his movements, hope forms the basis or support of his standing. All of them determine life in God, the concentrated manifestation of which is devotion to God. A devotee of God lives in God, abides, that is, in Him inseparably with his consciousness and attention. So, when someone, opening a window, encounters interesting objects and cleaves to them with all his attention, he fixes his eyes on them and forgets everything around him, as if, besides, there was nothing. Such is the devotee of God. With the eye of the mind he cleaves to God and forgets everything outside, as if he were not there. In this alone is its sweetness and paradise; all his desires strive here; This is where all his energy comes from, this is where all his goals lie. The holy prophet very often speaks about such aspiration of the intelligent eyes to God: “I will lift up my eyes to the Lord” (Ps. 24:15); “My eyes are towards You, O Lord” (Ps. 140:8); “I lifted up my eyes to the mountains” (mountain, to heaven) (Ps. 121:1); “My eyes are lifted up to You” (Ps. 122:1). This is how he expresses the “loving” aspiration of his intelligent eyes towards God. But even more often the prophet speaks of “trusting” eyes directed toward God, in devotion to the will of God: “my eyes have faded away from my hope in my God” (Ps. 68:4); “the eyes of all trust in Thee, O Lord” (Ps. 144:15); “Like the eyes of a servant in the hand of his masters, like the eyes of a slave in the hand of her mistress, so are our eyes towards the Lord our God, until he will show mercy to us” (Ps. 122:2). The holy prophet speaks about this last thing in this eight-verse. An abbreviated expression of the content of this eight-verse can be called the verse Ps.119:123: “my eyes disappear for Thy salvation.” The Prophet points out certain circumstances that evoke hope with special force and are overcome only by it, while clarifying the main condition for the effectiveness of hope, which consists in fidelity to the will of God through the fulfillment of His holy commandments. Essentially, it happens like this: when the conscience is unclean, there is no place for hope. True, it also makes its way in a sinful state, but not otherwise than after the sinner decides in his heart not to sin anymore and to begin pleasing God. Thus, the one who trusts directs one eye in the hand of God, in the hope of receiving the mercy of the Lord, and the other on the commandments, so that by betraying them he does not force the truth of God to squeeze His hand, which is ready to restrain. Saint David speaks about this in many places, as well as in this eight-verse: “For this reason I have loved Your commandments” (verse Ps. 119:127). Ps.119:121. Having created justice and righteousness, do not betray me to those who offend me. And a devotee of God is surrounded by troubles, sometimes visible, but always invisible. God is the Patron of those who are His own, and those who work for God are aware of this, confessing before everyone and before themselves that if they are still alive, it is only because the right hand of the Lord covers them. The Lord take away His right hand, and the enemies of the living will devour them. In the feeling of this always threatening misfortune, they cry out: “don’t betray me.” But at the same time, conscience can block the lips of another: you cry out - “do not betray,” she tells him, but you betray yourself to what God hates - you betray yourself to sin and all unrighteousness. The prophet assures that this is not behind him, that he does not recognize anything wrong with himself and therefore boldly says: “I will create justice and righteousness,” or like this: “You, Lord, have no reason to hand me over to my enemies, no reason to take away from me Your right hand that protects me.” But, however, who is pure before the Lord? - “No one, even if he lived for one day on earth” (Job.14:5). How can one say: “I have created justice and righteousness”? – It is possible, but in this sense: I do everything that depends on me in order to be faithful to the truth; I will not consciously go against Your commandments and against Your will: my conscience does not convict me of this. I always want and strive to be true to the truth. There are sins, but sins of weakness, ignorance, accidents; but to conceive a sin and maliciously bring it into action, this does not happen to me. Very few people can say that. Blessed Theodoret asks: “Who has such spiritual purity to boldly repeat the words of the prophet? - He who, like the apostle, can say: “This boasting of ours is the testimony of our conscience” (2 Cor. 1:12). It is because of this testimony that the prophet speaks thus. True, he also had a grave sin, but he cleansed it with sincere repentance. Repentance washes away the impurity of sin and, after sin, gives the conscience boldness to testify: “I have done justice and righteousness,” especially when forgiveness is spoken directly from God Himself.” So, if you want hope to overshadow your soul and you can boldly say to God: “Do not betray me,” be faithful to the truth, or to the commandments of God. Hope is the most delicate flower in the spiritual garden, but also the strongest. As soon as the corruptive breath of sin blows on him, he withers; but when this is not there, no force can crush it; on the contrary, he himself strengthens everything with his fragrance. Take care of this flower, keeping yourself from sin. If you sin, hasten to cleanse yourself with sincere repentance so that you can hear forgiveness from God in your conscience. The prophet Nathan spoke it to David, but your spiritual father, who is endowed with the power to bind and decide, will speak it to you. And again the flower of hope will come to life in you and, having penetrated all parts of your nature with its fragrance, will impart to it an indestructible strength. This is how salt acts on substances that are themselves sluggish and decomposing. Ps.119:122. Consider Thy servant for good, so that pride does not slander me. Enemies do not always openly attack and offend a person; They often do this secretly. Their most common means of doing this is slander and slander. Bad rumors spread, and an innocent person sees himself abandoned by everyone and suffers all kinds of troubles. He falls in public opinion, falls in his well-being, then - poverty and misfortune after misfortune, and where all this comes from is not visible. The main figure in this case is Satan – the slanderer. He sows slander, suspicion, gossip among people, slandering even before God, as, for example, against Job. Slander is the most sensitive evil. Against those who offend, the prophet says: “do not betray”; and against slanderers: “take it,” that is, take me in your arms, lift me to such a height that the arrows of slander do not reach me, as if on earth, among slanderers, even God’s protection is not able to protect from defeat by these arrows soaked in poison. “Take it for good,” that is, in Your favor, in Your benevolent attention, since raising above the level to which the arrows of slander can reach does not mean raising the body, but what is opposite to slander - maintaining a good opinion, and even exalting it. The Lord God has many means for this, and He often shows this to be the case; but He does not always want to repel slander, although He still accepts the slandered “for the good.” It happens that, leaving slander in its evil effect among people, He allows the slandered to feel His favor towards him and at the same time the benefit from the slander itself. In this case, slander does not affect the heart; her arrows fly past, or at least take a hit, but bounce off without causing a wound. Such good is a direct gift of God to the slandered; you cannot bring it into your heart by any effort of will, by any considerations to console yourself. This is what the prophet prays for. But the basis of that hope that he will be heard is the same as above, that is, diligent work for God in fulfilling His holy commandments. That is why he says: “Receive Your servant.” Diligent work for God, impeccable testimony of conscience - this is what gives boldness to resort to God’s intercession in the event of slander and what exudes sweet consolation in the heart! To the innocent and devoted to God, slander does not cause pain, but strengthens the aspiration of his mental eyes towards God and kindles more and more jealousy to remain faithful to Him. And he who knows his own sins is as if caught in the act of slander. Consolation may come to him, but only after immediate and sincere repentance, which gives boldness to God. Ps.119:123. My eyes disappear into Your salvation and into the word of Your righteousness. “Iskezoste” means an intensified desire - the fruit of love and sincere faith in God the protector. “I do not hesitate at all,” says the prophet, in trusting in You, hoping with all my confidence to attract Your intercession. “My eyes are gone for Thy salvation,” which I hope to receive from no one else, but from You alone, Lord.” “The word of truth,” according to Theodoret, means “or a promise, in the thought that I constantly expect from You salvation and the fulfillment of the promise,” or, according to Saint Athanasius the Great, this indicates that the eyes of the one who trusts are fixed not only on the all-protective and generous right hand of God, but also on the word of truth, that is, on His commandments, “which I shall do.” He says something like this: “Although others, living lawlessly and not having the fear of Thy before their eyes, rejected Thy law, I only fulfilled it at all times, constantly learning from it.” From this it is clear that this verse is a complete picture of one who truly trusts in God. The immutable truth is that one who is unfaithful to God’s commandments cannot raise the trusting eyes of his mind to God. And the Savior says that the Father will hear everyone who asks in His name, but only when he loves Him and keeps His commandments (John 14:14-15). One cannot ignore without attention the guidance from this verse made by Saint Athanasius the Great, who says: “my eyes disappear for Thy salvation,” that is, at the Divine Coming, from which I expect salvation for myself and the entire human race.” Fidelity to the commandments is the basis of hope; but faith in the Lord the Savior gives wings to the ascent of hope before the face of the Heavenly Father. Therefore, the Lord said that he who prays to the Father will be heard not only because he fulfills His commandments, but if, while fulfilling the commandments, he also asks in His name. Faith in God is the door before the face of God, and the procession to this door and passing through it is fulfilling the will of God and walking according to His commandments. Both: believing and fulfilling the commandments is necessary. Ps.119:124. Deal with Thy servant according to Thy mercy, and teach me Thy justification. The Prophet expressed before this his complete devotion to the Lord and his complete readiness to remain in His will; Now, both out of such devotion and out of readiness, he prays: “Do unto Thy servant according to Thy mercy.” Confessing his slavery to God, he does not hide the fact that he walks in His will; but at the same time he realizes that in this there is no solid basis for receiving the benefits expected from Him, because conscience itself assures him that even if he did everything commanded, he would still be nothing more than an unbreakable slave: that is, he did only what he should, and is not only subject to recovery, and not that he received the right to reward. Moreover, let us assume that you created everything that was done; Is it as pleasing to God as you think? You think that everything you do is good, but the all-seeing Lord can see everything you do as bad. Where is the praise here? That is why the apostle says: “I have nothing in myself, but I am justified in nothing” (1 Cor. 4:4) - as God, that is, looks at us. Perhaps He will not see anything good in all our goodness. Therefore, it is better to always resort to the mercy of God, and not to enter into competition with Him according to the laws of truth. Blessed Theodoret sees such a thought in the proposed words of the prophet: “The doer of great virtue (that is, the holy prophet) desires to be worthy of mercy and asks by mercy to gain salvation; does not demand rewards, but seeks philanthropy.” Saint Ambrose says the same thing: “And in another place the prophet expresses the same feeling, saying: “Do not enter into judgment with Your servant” (Ps. 142:2). And in fact, recognizing ourselves as sinners, we must resort to mercy rather than rightfully demand: mercy is always lenient, but truth is exacting. What hope do people have of entering into competition according to the laws of righteousness with God, from Whom even the hidden does not escape, from Whom not a single sin of ours is hidden? Knowing this, the prophet confesses: “To you alone have I sinned” (Ps. 50:6). Without rejecting the fact that even a righteous person can sin, because there is no man without sin, he prays: “Do unto Thy servant according to Thy mercy.” Although he may have done something good, he had to do it more like a slave. Thus, even though we have done everything commanded, it is not appropriate for us to immediately ascend, but it is more appropriate to humble ourselves; for as soon as we do something, this does not mean that we have already done everything that lies on us as slaves.” “Create by mercy” can be understood as a prayer for grace-filled help. With all my desire to be faithful to You, I do not hope to appear so; Therefore, I ask Your mercy to help me. “The Prophet, writes Saint Hilary, said: “Do with Thy servant,” but since our slavery, in order to continue in its rank, needs the merciful assistance of God, he added: “according to Thy mercy.” Our nature is weak to achieve good goals. It may desire and seek God's household, but to do this is a work of God's mercy. She helps those who want, strengthens those who are beginning, and accepts those who are approaching. But we need to start so that she brings our work to the end.” The subsequent prayer is consistent with this thought: “And teach me through Your justification.” This seems to be the answer to the question: what mercy should I show you? “I don’t want any other one,” he says, except that You teach me Your justifications. I burn with the desire to be pleasing to You in everything, but I don’t know well what pleases You; and even if I knew, I would not be able to make my work pleasing to You. Teach me both to know and to do. But don't you have a written law in your hands? Read and find out. “So it is,” says Saint Hilary, but not everything that is read is immediately understood. There is depth of wisdom in the law, and its simple word contains great mysteries. Where can I get to that? Enlighten my mind, lead it into the contemplation of what is hidden, and I will understand the wonders of Your law.” “Teach by justification.” For someone who cannot help but be guilty at almost every step, the greatest need is to know how to escape (save) from guilt and justify himself. The law prescribes for every sin its own method of justification; but the strength of all of them is not in themselves, but in Him Who is the Creator of the law. He gives real justification, not only the removal of guilt, but also righteousness itself, a holy moral mood. It is to see Him through the shadow of the law that the prophet prays, so that, having been justified in Him, he may always remain righteous in Him. Christians, always being with the Lord, draw justificatory strength and influence from Him. Their essence is tearful repentance, which forms the lining of all life. There is not a moment when a Christian does not repent, and therefore there is no moment when justification does not dawn on him. But you have to learn this too. That is why it is fitting for us to pray: teach us, O Lord, your justifications! Ps.119:125. I am Thy servant: give me understanding, and I will hear Thy testimony. When you are a slave, it means you work; If you work like a slave, then of course you know what and how to work. What else can you ask for - “bring some sense”? It would seem to work, and that’s all. But no, “I am Your servant,” he says, thereby expressing his always readiness to work faithfully for the Lord, but knowledge and skills are not yet visible. I am wholeheartedly devoted to You; I desire nothing more than to walk in Your will, as servants walk according to the will of their masters; just show me what to do, and I will do it right away, sparing my strength and belly. In this case, he appears to be a warrior, fully armed, ready for battle and only waiting for a command. Just as a warrior, after a command, no longer reasons, but immediately rushes to where he is ordered, so is the servant of God in relation to the will of God declared to him: just to know it - and there he immediately sets about fulfilling it, without hesitation. It is this very mood that the prophet expresses: “I am Your servant,” he says; just tell me what to do and I will do it. The stop is not for me, but for the order; As soon as I accept the order, I immediately get to work. Blessed Theodoret writes: “By nature, all people are servants of God, and by disposition, they are slaves who willingly surrender themselves to the rule of God. The prophet calls himself a slave, as one of the latter, and begs to be granted understanding in order to know God’s testimonies.” The continuation of this speech can be recognized as the words of Saint Hilary: “There is not one of us who, in prayer or in ordinary conversation, would not call himself a servant of God - what special does the prophet express when he says about himself what everyone boldly ascribes to himself? But it is another thing to say about yourself that you are a slave, and another thing to be a slave. Our word expresses only the consciousness in our conscience of the need to be slaves, and not that this is how it is with us. The prophet could confess himself to be a servant of God - and he truly was such in all the activities of his life: whether he walked or sat, slept or was awake, whether he ate food or fasted, was hungry or was filled - he never deviated from the known will of God. Therefore, without embarrassment, he freely confesses: “Thy servant seven times.” "Tell me some sense." He already asked: “teach”; now indicates how he would like to be taught. You can put the teaching in writing and give the book of laws into your hands. When necessary, refer to this book, there you will find the required instructions. But such learning is external, and with it you will never be properly taught. The prophet does not want such teaching, but that the image of God’s will either be written in his mind at the same time, or appear written in him whenever it is required. “Take it into your understanding,” he says, put it into your mind, so that I always carry it with me and every time I recognize the outline of Your will emanating from my mind. When this is accomplished, then the law will appear inscribed not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh of the heart. The prophet foresaw what the grace of Christ had to bestow, and with the aspirations of his heart he embraced this wondrous good. Saint Athanasius writes: “To ask for reason, given by God and, as it were, kept in His treasury; because the spirit of “wisdom and understanding” and other blessings are God’s gifts.” “Understand and understand.” Put it into my mind, and I will know - and not just know, but know with the confirmation of my conscience that this is exactly Your holy will. That is why he says: “I will appreciate Your testimony”; I will understand, that is, that this is a testimony emanating directly from You about Your will. The most precious benefit, imparted only to the true servants of God, is to accurately know the holy will of God, good and pleasing, in all circumstances and in all complicated mutual relationships. The ability to clearly see for oneself and determine for others the will of God is what the Holy Fathers call the gift of “reasoning thoughts.” There are so many thoughts that seem to be good, but following them can lead to a very unkind end! He who receives admonition from above will immediately figure out where the ambush and trick are hidden - and will avoid evil. For us, the weak, what guidance? – “Ask the elders, and they will tell you” (Deut. 32:7). It is the great mercy of God when He raises up such men among us; and when they don’t happen, it’s God’s punishment. Then it is appropriate to cry: alas! “The venerable one is impoverished,” for with this impoverishment is connected “the diminishment of the truth among the sons of men” (Ps. 11:2). Everyone then follows the will of his heart, deviating from the true intentions of God. Ps.119:126. It is time for the Lord to do: I have destroyed Your law. A zealot for a godly life is not only zealous about always being correct in everything, but also about ensuring that everyone with whom he lives is distinguished by fidelity to the commandments of God. He sees the glory of God in the prosperity of good morals. According to his strength, he tries to promote this prosperity, driven by love for God and devotion to Him. Success in this makes him happy, but failure makes him grieve and suffer, as, according to the apostle, Lot suffered among the Sodomites - he suffers, but does not remain inactive: either by his own example, or by a word of conviction at the right time, he tries to influence the reduction of evil and the return of strength to the principles of good. Having such concern, he earnestly prays that the Lord Himself, by His influence, whether internal or external, will ascend into the midst of the spreading evil and, having destroyed its nest, dispel, weaken and destroy it. This is precisely the position in which the holy prophet presents himself in this verse. With a heart broken by sorrow for God, he saw how fearlessly everyone and everywhere was destroying the law of God, and, seeing the futility of his efforts to counteract evil, he cried out to God with confidence: “You have destroyed your law, Lord! It's time for you to act; human efforts will no longer help here.” He uses the word “time”, gaining insight into the plans of God’s Providence. God tolerates sins; but when evil already increases excessively, He punitively strikes people to suppress evil. There were many such experiences. According to this law, there was a flood, there was the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the defeat of the Egyptians, and the extermination of the Canaanites. Bringing this to mind, the prophet calls out: “time.” This is how blessed Theodoret understands it: “God,” he says, who controls everything in weight and measure, endures human sins for a very long time; but when he sees that with His long-suffering wickedness increases, then He imposes punishment.” Therefore, the prophet says here, as it were: “Time, Master, to rise to the aid of the offended, for the enemies have completely trampled upon Your law.” To cry out in this way is prompted by zeal for the glory of God, and love for people as brothers, and, to some extent, shame that this is the case. When a few Russians do something bad, all Russians feel ashamed, in the knowledge that those few will disgrace the entire Russian people; So the prophet, uniting all people in his consciousness and seeing how they act wickedly before God, is ashamed of them all and prays to God Himself to take away this shame, as if he is afraid to stand before God while the people among whom he lives bear the stain that they have destroyed the law of God. The prophet Isaiah also revealed such a feeling when, expressing fear from the vision of the glory of God, he said, among other things: “I live among people who have unclean lips.” Our interpreters believe that Saint David spoke this, standing in a prophetic spirit before the appearance of the Son of God through the incarnation for our salvation, when wickedness and debauchery reigned everywhere. His prayer is a prayer for the coming of the Deliverer. The disease is ripe; It’s time for You, the all-powerful Doctor, to come and heal sick humanity from it. Saint Ambrose writes: “He said well: “it is time to create; For there is a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Eccl. 3:7). The time had come for him to speak - he spoke, reminding him that the time had come for the coming of the Lord. Since the law has been destroyed, may the perfection and fulfillment of the law - the Lord Jesus - finally come and grant us remission of sins and, having torn the handwriting on us, save all sinners. “Time,” cries, “to create.” This happens when the illness intensifies and endangers the life of the sick person, then they run to the doctor and ask him to go quickly, so as not to be late and not allow it to become impossible to help. A doctor is then especially desirable when the patient is suffocated by the most severe attacks of illness. So the prophet: seeing how all people have become morally sick, how sins have multiplied everywhere, he runs to Christ, the Only Physician of such diseases, and urges Him through prayer to hurry, since it is impossible to delay any longer: “it is time to create.” The words “time to create the Lord,” without context, can be used before the beginning of any work dedicated to God, especially prayer. When approaching it, everyone can say to themselves: you have been doing the things of life, now is the time to begin the work of God, to do it for God. These words are used in this sense in our service book before the beginning of the liturgy. Ps.119:127. For this reason I have loved Your commandments more than gold and topaz. “This,” says Saint Athanasius, is in accordance with what was said in verse 72: “the law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver, and again: accept punishment, and not silver,” and “the mind has been tempted more than gold... Better is the wisdom of precious stones, but anything honorable is not worthy of it” (Prov. 8:10-11). “They, explains Blessed Theodoret, have despised Thy law, but I consider Thy commandments more worthy than gold and precious stones.” The sinfulness spreading around irritated the already undying zeal for God and kindled a greater love for the commandments of God. God is forgotten; The glory of God has faded among people who have given themselves over to all sin. But a true lover of God is not carried away by the general flow, but is inspired by zeal to restore this glory through his fidelity to the commandments, reminding those around him that there is a God, a champion of righteousness and an avenger of iniquities. The weak in spirit is carried away by an unkind environment, but the strong are armed to resist. “For this sake,” that is, for the sake of everything that has been said, for the sake of the fact that faithfulness to the commandments brings one closer to God, brings one into affinity with Him and fills them with trustworthiness, one faithful to the commandments looks to God with an open face, faithfully surrenders to Him and boldly expresses to Him his needs, both spiritual and material, with the confidence that he will be heard. Since everything is in God and from God, this fidelity obviously leads to the source of all blessings, always open and inexhaustible, and makes it possible to taste them. One who has tasted this cannot help but be filled with a feeling of well-being, and this is the final goal of all human quests. How can you not love the commandments when they put you in such a state! This is the only thing needed! Our nature is complex. Each part of its composition and each force in its composition has its own need, the satisfaction of which they require by their very presence in nature. But the top of all needs are those that direct a person from creatures to God, from earth to heaven, from time to eternity. These, in fact, are human needs; they indicate the norm of human life. By their strength and comprehensiveness, they are such that, having been satisfied fully and truly, they dull the severity of all other needs, do not allow them to be felt, and drown out their bothersomeness. That is why satisfying them is the only thing needed! He who has reached this state is satisfied, even if all other needs are not satisfied or are not fully satisfied. On the contrary, one who does not have this satisfaction is betrayed by the unpleasant and annoying influence of all other needs, and is tormented by them into disarray. Having lost the one thing, he loses the norm of where and how to direct the demands that trouble him from all sides, and inevitably falls into many things. Then a multitude of goals opens up for him, to the goals - a variety of means to both, in action - a varied combination of favorable and unfavorable circumstances, benefits and obstacles. Caught in this cycle, he rushes about, not understanding himself what he is doing and why. This is the vanity of vanities, the recognition of which is given, however, only to those who have emerged from it. “More than gold and topaz” will generally mean more than all other objects with which other needs are satisfied. The heart deviated from them, having experienced in practice that they do not satisfy, but only kindle greed and thirst. Having experienced, on the contrary, by deed that walking in the commandments has a calming effect on the whole nature, the heart surrenders to them and cleaves to them with love, more than any other attachments. It is impossible to do without such items as food, clothing, shelter, for others - family, books, paintings, connections; but all this does not occupy the heart so much as to be too persistently concerned with acquisitions or to grieve much over their deprivation. Both they themselves and taking care of them are an afterthought, not the main thing. And time and energy are given to them, but in proportion to their value in front of that one thing that occupies the whole heart. Why is there a time when people appear dissatisfied with their condition? - Because they lost the one thing; Having tried everything else, they were convinced that it did not give satisfaction - and stood in the middle: they fell behind of that, and this became like grass - the taste was dulled. This is where suicide comes from. Ps.119:128. For this reason, I was guided by all Your commandments, and I hated every path of unrighteousness. The prophet continues the thought expressed and sets out in more detail what his love for the commandments of God demanded of him and in what it was expressed. “I loved,” he says, “the commandments”; but what did this love testify to? Thoughts, in words? - No, I testify to this not in word, but in deed, for I direct all my actions according to Your commandments and hate every path of unrighteousness. Just as, teaching the fear of God, he instilled in everyone who wants to be alive and wants to see good days: “Turn away from evil and do good” (Ps. 33:15), so now he testifies of himself that he did not sit idly by, but was guided towards all the commandments of God, and did not look with indifference on the paths of unrighteousness, but hated them with all his heart. Love for the former gave birth to, aroused and supported hatred for the latter. Where does this strength come from? – From the concentration of all the forces of nature in the “one”. For us sinners, the mind with its way of thinking goes in one direction, the heart with feelings and sympathies in the other, the will with its desires and undertakings in the third. That is why we have no harmony in anything - neither in our inner life, nor in its external manifestations. The same person appears in different fields, and it can be difficult to determine his characteristics. Among the saints of God, who have dedicated themselves to God and His commandments, there is no division: everything inside is directed towards one thing, and then everything outside is permeated with one spirit, like homogeneous beads strung on one thread. Why is it so there, but different here? - Because there the person is not in his rank, but here in his; he who is not in rank is naturally out of order, out of order, while he who is in rank is always in order. The reason for the first is sin, and the second is to please God. Let us consider our natural dispensation. Man consists of spirit, soul and body. The spirit living in God rules over the soul and body and all their actions, unites everything in itself, uniting itself with God. Sin separates the spirit from God and deprives him of power over soul and body. Then these multi-component parts of our nature, equipped with many forces and revealing many needs, rush in different directions, like a flock without a shepherd, and tyrannize over a person, imperiously directing him here and there - and he lives in confusion and disorder. But the grace of God comes and revives the spirit. Then the window into the world of God opens again for the spirit. The rays coming from there arouse the fear of God in him, move his conscience and lead to the decision to work tirelessly for the Lord again. This decision is sealed by means of grace; the spirit is introduced into the mysterious communion with God, begins to zealously walk in the will of God and through the labors of good deeds and asceticism again ascends into tangible communion with God. And here again he is strong, again he unites everything in himself, uniting with God. The visible expression of such a state is one: the desire to fulfill all the commandments and hatred of the ways of unrighteousness. The title to this eight-line is “ne” – “mouth”. The mouth of God speaks commandments and commandments; The lips of God-fearing people, having confessed their complete submission to God, beg Him to teach and give strength to exactly fulfill everything that is spoken by His lips, expressing contrition and repentance if it happens that they deviate from that. All this constitutes the subject of this eight-line poem, in different shades and expressions. Ps.119:129. Wonderful is Thy testimony, for this purpose I am tested, my soul. “Testimonies,” or testimonies of God, embrace all Divine revelation about the Most Perfect God, and about His properties and works, about His creation, providence, and most of all about the arrangement of our salvation in Jesus Christ, which was contemplated by faith even before His coming in the flesh. But since the present psalm discusses everything about the commandments of God, that is, not about God, but about how to please Him, then in this verse, by testimonies we should understand the commandments of God, the rules of life. Yes, and all Divine Scripture primarily teaches how to live, but mentions everything else as if in passing, for its task is not to prepare wise men, but holy people. Why are these testimonies, these commandments, “wonderful”? That God is marvelous, all His perfections are marvelous, His creation and providence are marvelous, and especially salvation in the Son of God, this is self-evident: but how marvelous are the commandments? “Wonderful because they are complete and perfect, because they embrace everything together, and each one does not have the slightest defect. This is how we talk about things that are beautifully arranged: “Wonderfully good, I wouldn’t want to take my eyes off them!” God’s “testimonies” based on fruits are marvelous, for they place the person who faithfully fulfills them in his rank and elevate him above all created things, clothing him in God-likeness. They are also wondrous because where they lead: having clothed themselves with God-likeness here, after death they lead into the region of eternal peace and bliss. Marvelous and because, finally, in many ways incomprehensible. In addition to moral prescriptions, the testimonies of God determined the entire order of worship of God. This rite was both simple and mysterious, for it served the dawn of future blessings. The prophetic spirit saw this coming through the shadows, and could not help but marvel at its height, without, however, comprehending it. Blessed Augustine says: “It is marvelous that a law was given that could not give life, but which nevertheless constituted an inevitable path to true life.” If we abstract ourselves from the old and turn to the new, then the wonder of God’s testimonies is imprinted here on every feature of them. What is it that the Son of God and God had to come, be incarnate and suffer? What is it that without faith in the coming, incarnation and redemption by death of the Son of God, one cannot even think of appearing pleasing to God and approaching Him, no matter how well one lives? What is it that, despite such a sacrifice, the Lord had to ascend to heaven after the resurrection and send another Comforter in His place? What is it that without this ascension, as if paving the way, it was impossible for the Spirit of God to descend and dwell in us? What is it that whoever wants to please God and save his soul must receive the Spirit of God into himself, and, moreover, in such a way that, in addition to faith, desire for God and complete surrender of oneself to His all-action, it is necessary to partake of the mysteries, in which alone the invisible Spirit is communicated through the medium of visible matter? What is it that without the omnipotence of the Spirit of grace, real moral life is impossible, and moreover, in such a way that this Spirit does not act without the omnipotence of freedom and man’s own powers? What is it that in order to be clothed with new spiritual life, one must die, even if not physically? What is it that without actual communion with the cross of Christ, through sorrowful self-mortification, deprivation and painful struggle to the grave, life in the spirit is not given?.. These are all marvels in the general order of Christian life, but in particular, how many marvelous commandments! If someone hits you on the cheek, substitute another; If anyone wants to take your outer clothes, give them your underwear too; If someone pulls you by force to go the same mile with him, go with him twice; love the enemy, do good to the villain, forgive the offender every insult; whoever asks for anything, give it, without demanding or expecting a return, etc. And all this is instilled as the most perfect way of action, leading more quickly and directly to the goal, as the most obvious seal of true Christianity. Considering all this, how can one not exclaim: “Wonderful is Thy testimony, O Lord!” Consciousness of the wondrousness of God’s visions encourages one to marvel at them, that is, to look at them, to go deeper and explore them, with love and the desire to realize them later in one’s life. This activity stands at the transition to the execution of their business. Therefore, the prophet says that, marveling at the testimonies of God, his soul began to explore them, and not just somehow, but with all zeal: “for this reason I tested my soul.” Tests - I began to intensively investigate, according to the interpretation of Zigaben and Anfim. Such study keeps the memory and attention all on how to live; and having comprehended the beauty of the rules of life, he is attracted to them and kindles jealousy to live according to them. That is why he who learns the law of the Lord is day and night, “like a tree planted by the waters that come out, which yields its fruit in its season” (Ps. 1:3). Scripture does not know scientific research in the form of naked knowledge: it is all about life and its structure. Scientific research is born of carelessness about life in order to cover up one’s idle idleness with this appearance. Ps.119:130. The manifestation of Your words enlightens and makes children wise. What is the “phenomenon of words”? When the king is in his chambers, no one sees him; and when he goes out onto the balcony, everyone can see him. Likewise, the testimonies of God, while they remain in the mind of God, remain invisible, but when they come out of His mouth, they become obvious. It is this phenomenon of words that the prophet speaks about here. It’s the same as if he said this: the words that come from Your mouth enlighten and make children wise. One more thing that can be understood here is this: only the manifestation of Your words enlightens. Without this phenomenon, there would be no enlightenment. Although conscience testifies to what should be done, it is not always clear, not always complete, not always convincing and effective; That’s why it doesn’t focus on action and remains fruitless. The Word that comes from the mouth of God is clear, complete and effective. It falls on the conscience and, exciting it, passes to the separation of soul and spirit, members and brains. “Enlightens and makes wise...” When the sun rises, it illuminates everything, and all objects, all paths among them, with all their ramifications, are then obvious. Then the traveler will walk cheerfully and fearlessly. So the word of God, proceeding from the mouth of God, illuminates all the paths of a godly life, and the one who is eager to follow them clearly sees where to go, and walks boldly, without fear that he will stumble. How great this good is can be seen from comparing the state of those who do not have the enlightening word of God with those who have it and live according to it. The sparkle of the eyes and the lightness of the face testify that behind them there is a soul, enlightened by the word of the mouth of God. Enlightenment indicates the orders and rules of life, and wisdom teaches how to live and act according to them. This is the most necessary aspect for a doer. The ability to live and perform deeds of virtue always in its own time, in its place and in its own measure, imparting attractive beauty and fruitfulness to deeds - such a skill is a great gift of God. He dwells through the words of the mouth of God. They often directly indicate how something should be done; moreover, by the power of their influence, they tune the mind and conscience so that at the right hour they comprehensively determine the way of action in the way the all-ruling Lord wants to appear to him. Those who remain faithful to the word of God always reach this point. But the word of God enlightens and makes “little children” wise. You can think like this: the word of God’s mouth is so adaptable to our concept that even a little-minded child can understand it and learn from it. You can understand instead of children and simple, uneducated people. But here we mean more simply those who are simple in heart, even if they were highly educated. The Word of God enlightens and makes wise those who ingenuously accept it, do not torture why and for what, do not hesitate to think: yes, that’s enough, right? - and directly, as they hear, they will follow it, no matter what it commands. The coming wisdom will not leave the simplicity of the word of God without damage and will only disturb the steps of those who want to follow his instructions. He must be brought under the word of God; and then the infantile acceptance of the word with the heart will make it fruitful, just as the earth bears fruit, unquestioningly opening its bowels to receive seeds. Ps.119:131. My mouth was opened, and my spirit was drawn, because I desired Thy commandments. These words literally express the same thing as our usual turn of phrase, when someone, after searching and striving for something for a long time and strenuously, finally achieves what he wants. “Thank God, they say then, I can finally breathe freely; I achieved what I wanted!” In relation to this, Saint David describes his inner state, which he experienced when he acquired the commandments and entered on their path. He strongly desired to know and, having them in his heart, to live according to them, in order to please God through this and to remain in God’s love. But who can say that he can reach that point on his own? The holy prophet did not dare to do this, but sought. And so, when he heard the commandments that came from the mouth of God, wondrous, enlightening and wise, when he loved them with all his heart and rushed to their path, then he could not resist crying out: “Glory to God! I breathe a sigh of relief, because I have achieved what I wanted: I learned the commandments and followed them; Now I'm on the way to my goal. There is nothing more to wish for, just not to stray from this saving path.” What freshness of spiritual life! What a lively and heartfelt attitude towards the commandments! He does not have a cold attitude towards this way of life, assimilating only its form, but with all his soul he strives towards it, not seeing any other good on earth except to be faithful to the commandments and the will of the Most High God. This is the root, the source of truly moral life, strong, abundant, inexhaustibly flowing. But all our interpreters: Athanasius the Great, Theodoret, Saint Ambrose, Augustine, Hilary, Anthimus, Zigabenus and those cited by this last Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Gregory of Nyssa, Saint Nilus - do not stop at the letter, but see a deeper meaning in these words. They mean by the opening of the mouth an opening of the mind and heart - an expression of the thirst of the human spirit, and by the attraction of the spirit - the desire and acceptance of the Spirit of grace, affirming and assisting in the fulfillment of the commandments, beloved with all the heart. “With lips,” says Saint Athanasius the Great, the prophet here calls the zeal of the heart, because, explains Blessed Theodoret, it attracts the grace of the Spirit, just as in another place he says: “enlarge your mouth, and I will do it” (Ps. 80:11). “Understand, teaches Saint Ambrose, what a mouth is. This is the heart, or the aspiration of the inner man. And the soul has its own mouth. Open them to Christ in order to attract His Spirit.” “The heart, opened by faith, longs to be fed with heavenly truth,” argues Saint Hilary; but the Spirit writes it on the tablets of the heart (2 Cor. 3:3). The prophet seeks to attract him, since the Spirit does not come except when he is sought. Consequently, one must desire, seek, attract Him in order to be nourished from Him with spiritual food, just as an innocent child is nourished with milk from its mother’s breast.” “What, writes Blessed Augustine, did the prophet so earnestly desire? - Fulfillment of God's commandments. I wanted it, but I didn’t expect to achieve what I wanted. That’s why he opened his lips in order to attract that through which he could achieve it - he opened it, asking, seeking, pushing; and in thirst he was drunk with the good Spirit, so that by His power he could accomplish what he could not do on his own, that is, fulfill the commandment “holy, righteous and good” (Rom. 7:12). For if we, “who are evil,” know how to “give good things to our children”: “How much more will the Father who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13). Not those who act by their own spirit, but those who are “led by the Spirit of God, these are sons” (Rom. 8:14). And the more they become good sons of God, the more abundantly the good Spirit is given to them from the Father.” Ps.119:132. Look upon me and have mercy on me, according to the judgment of those who love Your name. He has already loved the commandments, entered their path, realized the safe fidelity of this path, attracted the Spirit of grace - what else does he want? - Continuity of God's protection and God's favor. In spiritual life, you cannot indulge in carelessness for a minute: there are obstacles everywhere, enemies from everywhere, and you won’t see how they will sneak up and crush you. Only the eye of God sees everything; Only the protection of God will protect you from everything. Hence the cry: “Look upon me and have mercy on me. Have mercy,” show that is, mercy and favor, “according to judgment,” or according to the order of “those who love Your name.” “The Prophet,” says Blessed Theodoret, begs to be honored with God’s favor, but not simply, but as usual for You, God, to show Your mercy to those who love You. I beg you to give the same definition about me as about them.” “Just as, explains Saint Athanasius, You have determined to look upon those who love Your name and to vouchsafe them Your great visit, so vouchsafe me the same mercy!” Thus, he who diligently pleases Him by fulfilling the commandments recognizes himself as constantly being held in the hands of God; and yet, seeing the abyss beneath him, he prays that the Lord will not take His right hand away from him. True life in the spirit is maintained by the constant, so to speak, interaction of God to spirit and spirit to God. When there is a living aspiration of our spirit towards God and an effective attraction of the Spirit of God to our spirit, then spiritual life is in motion. This is the spiritual breath by which spiritual life is supported, just as bodily life is supported by bodily breathing. There is no life in a bodily organism without breathing; there is no life in the spirit without said communication with God. And there is nothing incredible about this. God is everywhere and fulfills everything. When the heart opens with faith, seeking, and devotion to God, God enters and fulfills it. This is the life of the spirit! One must only marvel at the fact that we do not all live this life. Many do not even know what kind of life this is, for it is invisible and, as it were, intangible, although it is all-effective. Others mean by it something completely different from what it is. And this is even more pitiful: they deceive themselves, believing that they have, when they have nothing at all. This is the wisdom of getting on the true path. But whoever is attracted by the Heavenly Father always finds her. The words: “according to the judgment of those who love” also indicate God’s love. This is what God Himself promised: “I love those who love Me” (Proverbs 8:17). The love of God accepts the heart of the beloved and feels its warmth. And one’s love for God is a warm feeling. Warmth with warmth, merging, ignite the burning of the spirit inside a person, a burning that is not consuming, but life-giving. This happens to all those who follow the real path. Since God is light, those loved by God are overshadowed by a cloud of light, which makes them visible to all who love God and are loved by God and hides them from enemies and fighters against God, blinding them. The love of God is the natural covering of those loved by Him and those who love Him. This is the rite of those who love the name of God. This is what the prophet prays about: “Have mercy on me, according to the judgment of those who love Your name.” May my soul always be clothed with the cover of light exuding from Thy love, so that, warmed by its warmth, it may live joyfully within itself and, illuminated by its light, repel enemies, residing, as it were, in some kind of indestructible fortress. Ps.119:133. Direct my steps according to Thy word, and let not all iniquity possess me. The prophet continues to express what he needs after he has found, loved and decided to do the commandments spoken by the mouth of the living God, visible and loved by him: “direct my steps according to Thy word.” He is already walking, but he is still afraid that he will take the wrong step, for there are many things that seem worthy, but are not so. The enemy’s most dangerous net is built on this, with which he catches those who are jealous but have not yet been tempted. He presents them with something good to do that is either out of place or out of time, out of place for the person acting or the persons in contact. The inexperienced does; and since this kind of thing is accompanied by confusion of thoughts and feelings, then, as a result, he is subjected to the strongest attack of the enemy, who is a great master of catching in this confusion, muddying the lordship of consciousness. Then suggestions that are no longer good are given, but only those whose impurity is not so clear behind the confusion. Take a step on them - you’ll already be half-falling, and then it’s not far from falling. That is why all God-fearing people always have the most sincere prayer: “direct my steps according to Your word.” “God Himself,” says Saint Athanasius the Great, directs the procession of those who, having abandoned vice and ignorance, have entered the path of virtue and knowledge.” “And only those,” adds Blessed Theodoret, who are worthy of such guidance and surrender to it, walk safely and faithfully. Those who have given themselves up to God are never abandoned by God, and when we add more zeal to this, God gives help and directs our procession.” Just as the holy apostles said about themselves that they could not even think of anything expedient on their own in the affairs of their apostolic ministry, so every zealot confesses this about the work of his salvation, which, at the same time, is also the work of God, the first and most desirable to Him. How the instruction is given, how it is accepted, acknowledged and approved, no one can know or explain this except the one who is worthy of it. But even here everything happens as it happens in ordinary cases, that is, after some investigation, and then a decision; Otherwise, one cannot avoid being ambushed. It happens that a feeling directly determines, but only those who have already acquired and trained feelings in reasoning about good and evil will directly follow it. “And let not all iniquity possess me.” Where does this cry of prayer come from, with such zeal, with such closeness to God, with such wondrous leadership? Why on earth can there be possession of lawlessness here? – Exactly, it doesn’t take place, but it can take place. Fearing this, the prophet prays not to fall under such violence. Sin does not lag behind the one who has entered God’s path of virtue, and the sinful, like a flock of mosquitoes, hover around the head of the one walking like that, buzzing and trying to hurt him. These are thoughts, temptations, attractions. Who is free from them? But for those who are true to their decision, they both come and go - with nothing; they beckon, but do not captivate, because they only walk around, hovering above your head. But there are also those who go inside, and some of these are old friends; they can so envelop and attract with such force that the one experiencing it is led, as if on a pretext, not for good. If help does not come from above, how long before the fall? That is why the prophet prays: do not allow, Lord, that sinful impulses that are contrary to You should ever prevail over me, overcome me and draw me into evil, to offend You. Ps.119:134. Deliver me from human slander, and I will keep Your commandments. Before this, the holy prophet remembered the internal temptations leading to sin, and prayed that they would not prevail over him; Now he prays for deliverance from temptations from the outside, exposing the most sensitive of them - slander: “Deliver me from slander.” And the visible attack and falsehood are bitter, but the invisible one is more bitter, when, without attacking visibly, they cause evil secretly, spreading slander. Slander, having reached the ears of the slandered, before it causes any visible harm, already compresses the heart, weakens the energy for good deeds and cools it. A person walking along a well-known path, having accidentally received a blow to the chest, although he does not fall, still stops in bewilderment. This is how slander strikes one who walks the path of virtue. Of course, the testimony of conscience is a strong rebuff to slander, but it also wavers somewhat and for a while succumbs to the evil influence of slander. The sympathy of others, although it is not the productive force of virtue and should not be such, it is a very favorable atmosphere for its blossoming and fruiting. Its absence, and even more so the presence of the opposite, crooked interpretation of affairs, affects their work like frost on plants in spring. After this, it is clear why the prophet’s vow is combined with deliverance from slander: “And I will keep Your commandments,” that is, as it were: and I will keep the commandments without hindrance, or: and then it will be easier and more convenient for me to keep Your commandments. To avert such an evil influence of slander on the workers of virtue, Christ the Lord, inspiring its zealots, added at the end: “Blessed are you when they slander you... and they say all kinds of evil things against you who lie, for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is abundant in heaven (Matthew 5:11–12). Slander isolates you from others and kills you with a feeling of loneliness among many. The prophet also experienced this, expressing it in another place like this: I look around, and I don’t see anyone familiar, as if everyone were strangers to me. So what? His legs, he says, gave way: “I perished in flight from Mene.” Where can a person abandoned by everyone turn? - Nowhere but the sky. “I cried to You, O Lord, and said: You are my hope” (Ps. 142:5–6). Having left the world and everything in it, such a person must emigrate with the hopes of his grief, and there calm down, believing that the word of the Lord is not false: “Blessed are those who reproach you.” Comparing this text with the previous one, where the prophet prays so that internal temptations to sin do not prevail over him, one can think that here, praying for deliverance from slander, he prays for deliverance from its harmful effect on the soul, that is, so that slander does not prevail over him, does not compress his heart, does not strike him and does not cool him to goodness. God is able to stop the mouths of slander, but He does not always do this. Instead, leaving the slander to live and walk, He sends consolation into the heart of the slandered and thereby delivers from the danger to which the soul is exposed when it succumbs to sorrowful feelings. Ps.119:135. Make Thy face shine upon Thy servant, and teach me Thy justification. By the face they guess the disposition of the person they meet towards the person they meet - good or bad, favorable or unfavorable. A gloomy face means disfavour, a bright face means favor, a loving attitude, and in the highest - both a patronizing and protective gaze, with the desire to do all good. Therefore, saying: “make your face shine,” the prophet prays for God’s loving favor towards himself. The face of God is invisible, but is contemplated by the mind. At the same time, conscience makes it known what the relationship of the one contemplating God is to the contemplated, all-seeing God, and the feeling reflects God’s favor or displeasure towards him, depending on the testimony of conscience. This is not something imaginary, but something that really happens in the spirit from the actual influence of God on it. God is everywhere and contains everything; It also holds the spirit of a person. This holding is reflected in the spiritual feeling, according to the structure of the spirit. Therefore, “enlighten your face” can also mean: grant to me. Lord, always look at You with intelligent eyes without fear or embarrassment for my failure before You. Grant that I will “be foreseeing” (Ps. 15:8) You before me and never dare to offend You with anything and force Your goodness to darken Your bright face. In a peaceful, undisturbed, bold outlook towards God is the joy and strength of those who are zealous for pleasing God. It fills the spirit with sweet warmth and keeps all the forces in tense readiness to immediately begin work to please the Lord, as soon as current circumstances indicate it. This is the most salutary state - to look with a bright face at the bright face of God. It alone can replace all ascetic methods, although without them it is difficult for him to establish himself and stand, if not impossible. But who is clean? And besides our consciousness, how many malfunctions and impurities there can be! The Lord condescends to infirmities and covers them with His mercy. But a zealot for pleasing God, breathing love for Him, cannot be indifferent to this and desires to be completely pure in everything before God. That is why he prays: “teach by Thy justification,” teach to always be right before You in deeds, words, thoughts, feelings and undertakings, and not only in those that are manifested, but also in the most hidden ones, known and visible to You alone. The Lord gradually introduces those who pray so sincerely into the knowledge of their hidden defects and teaches them to correct and smooth them out, so that they can finally appear completely pure and impeccable before the face of God Himself and be certified as such on the Day of the Lord. Ps.119:136. My eyes have seen the coming of the waters, but I have not kept Thy law. The Prophet gave before this the thought of unconscious faults, and here he remembers conscious faults, with testimony that this kind of consciousness removes two sources of tears from his eyes. This means sincere repentance for everything that he consciously allowed in his external life and in his internal movements to be displeasing to the Lord, contrary to His clear will, expressed in the commandments. A traveler or a person busy with work will inevitably become dusty and dirty his clothes; That’s why he sometimes needs to wash himself and change his clothes. Likewise, one who follows the path of spiritual life, with all the labors of doing good, often sins, sometimes due to short-sightedness, sometimes due to inattention and random scattering of thoughts, and sometimes due to escaping sympathy and passion. All this, in varying degrees, is impurity that weighs on the conscience—burdensome, I say, but not overwhelming. Having realized them, a jealous person comes into motion and hurries to cleanse the unclean - with what? - water of tears. He is not content with admitting only to a malfunction and intending to prevent it; but he grieves and laments so deeply and sincerely that from the anguish of the heart the eyes become “flowing waters.” Tears of contrition are spiritual washing. And it is not something dreamy, but actually happens. The one who has cried is renewed. But this renewal is imprinted only on those who receive permission through confession. So the man became clean again. If you get dirty again, use the same ablution again, and so on for the rest of your life. There are such lovers of bodily cleanliness that every day they change their linen and take ablution. If this is done for the body, then how much more diligently should the same be done for the soul! What brings such water out of the eyes of the penitent? – Not fear or fear for oneself, but love. Fear and fear for oneself can only result in a decision to improve and beware of future malfunctions, and tears that wash away moral defilement are tormented by love. Love cannot tolerate performances from the will of the beloved. Between people, such cases are often covered up by the fact that the loved one does not know about the deviation from his will, this consoles and calms the lover; but in relation to God such a refuge is inappropriate. He knows every violation of His will. He who has realized this is also aware that it is known to the Lord and cannot help but offend Him. Love, which always sees the face of the Lord, cannot help but see how it is darkened by this or that insult, and seeing this, cannot help but lament; while lamenting, he cannot help but shed tears. So Saint Peter, after renouncing the Lord in some incomprehensible oblivion, having met the accusatory gaze of the Lord with his eyes, “went out from the courtyard of the bishop” - the place of insult to the Lord, “weeping bitterly” (Luke 22:62). The eighteenth eight-line goes under the letter “tsade” - “side, side.” Since the prophet is all about the commandments, then in this eight-verse we must look for indications of different aspects, either of the commandments themselves, or of their relationship to us. The sides of this latter are indicated here. We can imagine in the middle a body of commandments that can be approached from the east, west, north and south. On each side, the attitude towards them is expressed by a special disposition. From the east there will be “faith” - confidence that the commandments of God are truth and immutable truth (verses Ps. 119: 137–138); from the west - “zeal” emanating from this confidence for the fulfillment of all these commandments and one’s own love for them (verses Ps. 119: 139–140); from the north - “humility with hope” (verses Ps. 119: 141–142); from the south - “patience” of everything found because of fidelity to the commandments (verses Ps. 119: 143–144). This is the content of this eight-line. Ps.119:137. Thou art righteous, Lord, and Thy judges are just. The prophet confesses the righteousness of the Lord, raising the conviction that nothing unjust can come from the mouth of God: “thou art righteous, O Lord”; but he confesses this not in the form of abstract contemplation, but as the basis of the justice of God’s judgments. The judgments of God also mean judgments in general, that is, everything that is to be is judged by God: this introduces us into the realm of God’s providence and fills us with tranquility in devotion to the will of God. But since we are talking about commandments here, as can be seen from the following verse, which is similar in content to the present one, then by “judgements” it would be closer to understand the judgments by which God determines how we should live, determines, that is, not our fate, but how we should act, regardless of our fate. The Greek word that corresponds to the word “right” leads us to this thought - “straight”, straight, that is, the paths that Your commandments show us, O Lord, they lead directly to the goal. In these two verses (Ps. 119:137, 138) the prophet expresses confidence in the righteousness and truth of the commandments. In the first, he draws this confidence from the contemplation of the righteousness of God, and in the second, from understanding the properties of the commandments themselves. Direct, he says, are the instructions of Your commandments, O Lord, because You Yourself are righteous and nothing unjust or indirect can receive approval from You. When You said: Live this way and that way, and when I have no doubt that this is exactly what You said, then it cannot even occur to me that there was any indirectness in the ways of Your commandments. As much as I am confident that You are righteous, I am equally confident that the paths You indicate in Your commandments are straight. They are straight, and they are always the truest and closest path, like a straight line between two known points. I draw confirmation of this from the confidence in Your truth. The rays of Your truth that I contemplate rest on the commandments and brightly color them with Your righteousness. If the prophetic view of the matter of the commandments is such that confidence in their correctness should come from faith in the righteousness of God, then how do others think to build lasting laws for true human morality apart from faith in God and His Holy Revelation? – No matter how hard you try, you won’t even get to the point of building your own system, much less attracting people to it with confidence in the truth of its instructions. How many different paths are indicated by the morals and customs that take root among people! How many crossroads are seen from double vision due to the influence of one’s passions and wrong inclinations! How do you know the straightest path and how do you make sure that the one we choose is the truest? Just as on the sea, in areas that hide many pitfalls, only a skillful and experienced pilot can navigate a ship safely, so in the sea of ​​life, only the all-seeing, all-knowing and all-righteous God can indicate the straight and safe path among various paths and collisions. Only from faith in Him can confidence flow in the correctness of the paths we choose, when, that is, you see that God Himself indicated them. Ps.119:138. Thou hast commanded the truth of Thy testimony, and the truth greatly. From the height of contemplation of the righteousness of God, descending to the commandments, attested by the word of His mouth, the prophet confesses that they, being in themselves righteous and truly true, give us the most direct, true and immutable rule of life. The idea is the same as in the previous verse, but there the prophet stood with his attention on the righteousness of God, and here he stands on the truth and truth of the commandments, however, in such a way that just as there he saw in the righteousness of God the rightness of the commandments, so here in the commandments he sees the rightness of God, confessing that they are as immutably right and true as God Himself is immutably righteous, having confirmed them so high with His testimony dignity. Saint Athanasius the Great writes: “You commanded the testimony as the real and most obvious truth. The most direct rules of Your judgments demonstrate Your righteousness. Your testimonies are Divine Scriptures: they are truth according to moral commandments, and truth according to the meaning contained in the words themselves.” The commandments are right and truly true because they perfectly correspond to our nature, our present state and the various circumstances and situations of our life; As a result, they bring down deep inner peace to the one who performs them, give him firmness in troubles, imperceptibly lead him out of confusion, lead him straight to the goal and lead him into blissful eternity. The prophet carried such convictions about the dignity of God’s commandments in his heart, and he wants to place such convictions in our hearts, for in this conviction is the basis of the strength of moral life and the courage to steadily follow its paths. Just as every entrepreneur, convinced of the correctness of his plan, goes to the goal and applies the invented means to the business, not embarrassed by any obstacles, in the confidence that he will achieve what he is looking for, so courageously walks the path of the commandments, one who deep in his heart contains the conviction that their path is the only true path and that, following them, he will undoubtedly come to the most desired goal - eternal bliss. Ps.119:139. Thy jealousy has consumed me, for I have forgotten Thy words. What should someone who is confident in the high dignity of the commandments do? – Love them and zealously live according to them. This is what the prophet testifies to following the previous verse. But zeal for the commandments cannot be limited to one’s personal fulfillment of the commandments; she seeks so that all others would fulfill them so zealously that the name of the Lord who commanded them would be glorified and life according to His will would prevail not only in the environment where the zealot lives, but everywhere. It is this side of jealousy that the prophet expresses in this verse. “Your jealousy has faded away,” he says. True jealousy is fiery; He who feeds her burns in spirit, burns, but is not consumed. This feeling is not destructive, although highly exciting; and, being highly excitable, does not require indomitable action. The prophet expresses all this in a soft word: “Your jealousy has consumed me,” that is, that which the Lord Himself has, since He is a “zealot.” The “prophet” in this case expresses his imitation of the Lord. Just as the Lord is zealous for His commandments, wanting everyone to fulfill them, so do I, try to do the same with everyone. Or this: “Thy zeal” is zeal for You. The prophet says: loving You, Lord, I am zealous for You, so that Your will is fulfilled by everyone everywhere and that Your Most Holy Name is glorified through that. Both are an inseparable part of a truly pious spirit. He who is zealous with the zeal of God where the will of God is unknown, tries to spread knowledge about it, and where it should be known and is apparently forgotten, he grieves and laments. It is regrettable, he says, for me to see how they dare to forget Your will, “my enemies.” Perhaps the prophet is pointing this out to his personal enemies; or perhaps he wants to express that those who forget the words of God and thus declare a hostile disposition towards God, being enemies of God, are also His enemies. Jealousy for You, Lord, irritates zeal against them, as if they were personally at enmity with me. That's how love is. She cannot consider anything that concerns her beloved to be alien to her. That is why he is jealous of everything that pleases him. Saint Athanasius the Great describes the state of the prophet depicted in this verse in this way: “How jealous I became, how quickly I saw someone forgetting Your words! And he not only became jealous, but melted away from jealousy for You if he saw those forgetting Your words. About this zeal, expressed on behalf of the Lord in the psalm, “I will remember the disciples, for zeal for Your house consumed me” (Ps. 68:10; John 2:17). Blessed Theodoret gives other examples of such jealousy: “The Prophet mourns those who live in lawlessness and, seeing how the Lawgiver is neglected, rightly becomes indignant. Such jealousy made Phinehas famous; she made the great Elijah ever-honored; Stephen, inflamed by her, exposed the unbelief of the Jews; keeping it within himself, the divine Paul cried out: “Who faints, and does not faint? Who is tempted, and I am not liquefied?" (2 Cor. 11:29). And blessed Luke says about him that “at Athens his spirit groaned in him, beholding an idol full of the city" (Acts 17:16). Ps.119:140. Thy word is kindled with great heat, and Thy servant is loved. Having placed in front of him jealousy, which makes him melt away from the oblivion of the words of God by others, the prophet could expect the objection: “What do you care about others! What are you like?” That’s why he says: I love, I love the words of my Lord and, like a servant, I submit to Him. But he speaks about this not to the lawless, but when talking with the Lord: “Thy word is kindled.” “Kinned” is pure, unalloyed, as he says about this and in another place: “the words of the Lord are pure words, the silver is kindled, the temptation of the earth is purified by the sevenfold” (Ps. 11:7). The word of the Lord is pure and perfect, and therefore attractive; and being attractive, it arouses self-love. I, he says, loved him; but I loved it not only because it is pure, but more because it is from the Lord. Conscious of myself as a servant of the Lord, I submit to His word, and all the more willingly because His word is always complete and unalloyed truth, dear and attractive to my heart. For the God-fearing, the delight in the word is not abstract or only speculative, but is always accompanied by a feeling of commitment to it and love, moving to do things according to its instructions. The word “kindled” also conveys the idea that it is fiery, imbued with fire. Like fire, it warms, and not only warms, but also kindles, and by kindling, it cleanses; it is not only pure itself, as if purified by fire, but also purifies those who receive it with its fiery action. Saint Paul also points to this effect of the word: “the word of God is living and effective, he says, sharper than any two-edged sword, even piercing to the dividing of soul and spirit, members and marrow, and judging by the mind and the thoughts of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). Man is a mixture of good and evil. The Word of God, acceptable by faith, enters inside him like fire, and, acting on good, revives him, and scorches evil; and then all good contemplations, movements and feelings are restored in the spirit. And since through this he enters into his rank, he cannot help but feel good in this state. And he feels and delights in this, and, loving this state, loves the word of God, which delivers it to him. Just as it is joyful for someone who comes out of a stuffy room into the clean air, so it is joyful for the spirit, freed by the word of God from the stuffiness of bad thoughts, feelings and desires into the joyful freshness of thoughts of God and love of goodness. Ps.119:141. I am the youngest and humbled, I have not forgotten Your justifications. How is this so? How young is he when he is already old? What kind of humiliated one is this when he was a revered king by all? Or maybe he remembered the time when Samuel came to his father’s house and ordered to show him all his children, and when his father, having shown all the elders, said: “That’s all,” and forgot about him, as not worth showing him to the prophet. This is what Blessed Theodoret, Saint Ambrose and Hilary think. Or maybe it’s the fact that, having volunteered to fight Goliath, he heard from his compatriots: “Where are you going, little bird! He’ll crush you right away.” Remembering, Saint Ambrose reasons, this and that, he now says: “And no one wanted to look at me, for the sake of my youth. I saw this, but I did not forget Your commandments; or this way: they thought nothing of me, but You exalted me because I did not forget Your commandments.” Or again: You have exalted me; Therefore I will never forget Your commandments, seeing how faithfulness attracts Your favor and is clothed with Your power. This is the thought of blessed Theodoret. But isn’t it better to believe that he speaks this way about himself in a feeling of humility, as Saint Athanasius thinks. There’s no point in me, as if I’m young, and there’s nothing in me for which one could even slightly praise me, I’m not worth anything; I do not stand - but I still do not forget Your commandments, knowing their beauty and greatness, I still duck under their shadow in order to cover up my insignificance with their dignity. I put on them like clothes, so that because of their lordship they would forget about my insignificance. Or perhaps this: I forgot about myself as the most insignificant, but I never forgot Your justifications. And so on: I am nothing, despite the fact that I have never forgotten Your excuses or commandments, for, with all my efforts to always remember them and walk on them, I cannot say that I have completely fulfilled them, since “Your commandment is very broad” (earlier, verse Ps. 119:26). In this sense, he expresses here the same thing that the Lord commanded to feel to all who do His commandments: “When you have done all that is commanded you, say, for we are unworthy servants; for what we ought to create by the beg, we will create by the beg” (Luke 17:10). Ps.119:142. Thy righteousness is righteousness forever, and Thy law is truth. The idea here is the same as in the first two verses of this octet. The only unnecessary word here is “forever.” The thought of the holy prophet, starting from his youth and throughout his entire life, was transported into eternity and saw throughout this entire period the only truth that remained unchanged was the truth of God. “Your righteousness is righteousness forever.” Why? - Because she alone gives a law that is not only true, but is itself the truth. Fed by this confidence, as it were, the prophet says: “I am inspired by the hope that, walking in the path of Your law and remaining faithful to Your righteousness, I adhere to that which is the only truth, not deceptive and infallible. There, beyond life, I see the crown with which fidelity to Thy law and Thy righteousness will be crowned.” Saint Athanasius writes: “Truth is attributed to people for a short time to those who judge righteously; God’s truth gives eternal justification.” Blessed Theodoret adds to this: “He who follows the commandments of God has eternal life as a reward for his labors.” Humility (previous verse) does not see anything in itself that could justify itself, and yet the truly humble does not lose heart - why? - Because he is inspired by the hope that the most merciful Lord will not punish him. What is this hope based on? - On the consciousness that he sincerely believes and always, with all his might, tries to be faithful to what he believes in. His conscience does not convict him of laziness, oversight, and deliberate evasion of God’s law. Therefore, although he finds himself insignificant compared to what he should be, he does not lose hope of being saved, for he has done and is doing everything that depends on him. Such was the holy Apostle Paul. “The time,” he says, “has come for my departure... I have passed on, I have kept the faith; otherwise a crown of righteousness will be kept for me” (2 Tim. 4:6–8). Tell me, isn't this presumptuous? - No. “I have nothing wrong with myself” (I don’t know anything bad about myself), he confesses, “but I am justified in no way” (1 Cor. 4:4). He who justifies us is the Lord; and if the Lord justifies someone, then who will condemn him? What is the attraction of the Lord's justification? – “Faith makes progress through love” (Gal.5:6). Be faithful to the Lord and, with humble feelings, be inspired by the hope that for the sake of this faithfulness you will not be neglected by the Lord. Ps.119:143. Sorrows and needs have found me, Your commandments are my teaching. With inner lightness, outer lack of lightness is the fourth side of fidelity to the commandments! Sorrows and needs almost always, as if with darkness, cover those faithful to the commandments. Thy commandments, says the prophet, are my teaching. I keep them in my mind, cherish them in my heart, disappear into them with all my attention, and along them, like a carpenter’s cord, I direct my life. And yet, what do I meet on the way? - Sorrows and needs, constant clashes that hurt my heart and weigh me down. Why is this so? - Because God wants it that way. And why He wants it this way - He alone knows. Bow your head under the strong hand of God and be silent. Who are you, opposing God? Be content with the faith alone that if God is your God, and you are God’s, then everything is yours. The will has already been written and legally sealed. A little more and you will be brought into the inheritance, but now you are still under trial. The time will pass, and you will enter into the rank and glory of your son, to which the right, of course, is now yours, but is not given to you, because you are still a minor. Saint Anthony the Great once, in response to why the lordship of life in Christ Jesus is covered with external sorrows and internal upheavals of various impurities, answered: so that you do not stare at this lordship and ruin yourself. If you look at it, you will dream about yourself; having dreamed, you will become proud; If you become proud, you will drive away the grace of God from yourself. Then the enemy will rush in and crush your bones. You yourself should have hidden yourself from yourself, but since it is impossible to rely on you, and the Lord wants your salvation, He decided to hide you from you with a special arrangement of your life, in which you see nothing good in yourself, for the sin living in you often rises up and covers everything, but from the outside only sorrows and needs find you. Bless the Lord, who so wondrously saves you, and humbly walk your path, without falling into inquisitiveness and without trying to dispel the darkness that envelops you with a weak breath of the mind. And in the darkness of faith you see a bright point ahead; there and direct your path, not paying attention to what is around you. Ps.119:144. The truth of Thy testimony endures forever: give me understanding, and I will live. Everything that is found must be endured complacently, caring only about unswervingly following the path of the commandments, believing that this is the only true path. Sorrows and needs try to darken the lightness of this faith, but you dispel such darkness and restore the lightness of your faith, repeating to yourself: no, the commandments are eternal truth. God Himself testified to their immutability. And at the same time, turning to the Lord Himself, pray: “Give me understanding, and I will live”; grant me, Lord, to always keep in my mind the conviction of the immutability of Your commandments - “and I will live”; that is, I will live according to them, or: and no temptations will disturb the evenness of that life, which, by Thy mercy, has been established in my spirit, or: having lived this life undeviatingly from Thy commandments, I will pass over to another life faithful to You. There You will endow me with an eternally blissful life - and I will forever live with You and in You. With such thoughts and appeals the one who endures strengthens himself, and his life flows smoothly and undisturbed, although from the outside it seems like a fragile boat, which the waves of life throw here and there, and are ready to crush and scatter across the expanse of waters. Let us now bring together all aspects of life according to the commandments. Believe by faith and there will be light; Be jealous with zeal, and you will live enlivened by love; humble yourself with humility, without losing hope, and you will never say to your jealousy: “enough”; With patience, endure complacently, seeing through the darkness and darkness of the present a bright future. The program is short but challenging. Get inspired; for it is not written: those who enjoy rest will delight in the Kingdom of God, but “the needy will delight it” (Matthew 11:12). Those who are in need, that is, those who force themselves and act intensely, without sparing themselves, like someone else, groaning under a burden, with difficulty climbs a mountain. And the bread of spiritual life is consumed, no less than that of the body, by the sweat of the brow. This is how the merciful God judged. Of course, this would be easy if sin did not trouble our ways. But let him! The Lord has blessed us with the light of hope. Work a little, and you will enter into the lordship of your Lord. “Where I am, says the Lord, there will My servant also be.” And this servant was told: “Take My yoke upon you and work.” In the evening, at the hour of retirement, you will receive what you do not want. You yourself will be amazed, and all the witnesses of your reward will be amazed. Just don’t be lazy, don’t be discouraged, don’t hesitate, and your journey will be blessed. The nineteenth eighth line comes under the letter or word “kaf”, which means “monkey”. The monkey gave reason to call everything between people similar to its character ape. It is clear that this means imitativeness, but imitativeness is not reasonable and not in a good spirit. Leaving aside, however, what is bad in it, and paying attention only to what is good in it, we receive from the monkey a lesson about diligent imitation, which cannot be treated indifferently. Imitation is necessary in all matters, but in moral and religious matters it is elevated to the most perfect norm of life. “Be imitators of me,” says the holy Apostle Paul, “as I was of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). And the Savior raises us to the Heavenly Father Himself and gives Him as a role model: “Be merciful,” He says, “as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). “Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). To imitate God means to form one’s character according to those Godly properties that He was pleased to show to us. If we left this to our free determination, we might differ in this understanding. The Lord freed us from this, outlining for us a model of a worthy life in His commandments. They have become the norm of life for us, and such that, forming our character based on them, we cannot help but be sure that through this we are imitating the Lord Himself, and through the commandments we cannot help but look to God. This is mainly what the prophet inspires in this lengthy psalm, motivating us to continually look to God as a model, and even more so, as the Giver of strength to imitate Him. We can see these suggestions in abbreviation in the present eight-line. The prophet presents to our eyes the Lord who is near to existence, and from His presence the commandments that proceed, as the urgent eternal law of our life (verses Ps. 119: 151–152). To say this means to say everything, because it is clear what is required. The Prophet does not add anything, but only offers examples of appeals to God by a spirit that desires to be faithful to this law and does not find the strength to do so. “I called out with all my heart... I prepared for the morning... Hear, save.” And what does he offer? - “I will seek Your justifications... I will keep Your testimonies.” There is zeal; help, Lord, and the work will happen (verses Ps. 119:145–148). He seeks to persuade the Lord to listen through mercy and judgment (verse Ps. 119:149), completely placing this matter into the hands of God. Just quickly, Lord, show, he says, help, for here are the enemies (verse Ps. 119:150). Ps.119:145. I cried with all my heart, hear me, O Lord, I will seek Your justification. “I called out” - I didn’t say it in my ear, I didn’t say it through my teeth, but, as they say, with my whole chest. However, he wants to indicate here not what he said loudly, but the power of spiritual aspiration towards God. This is how blessed Theodoret interprets it. “I cried not with my voice,” he says, “but with my heart, and not with any part of my heart, but with all my heart, from the depths of my heart, to the full breadth and height of my feelings and thoughts—I cried with my whole being, so that there was nothing left in me that did not cry out to You, Lord. This is what our prayer should be! Not just loud, but deeply heartfelt and intelligently intense. So Moses prayed, and God said to him: “Why are you crying to Me?” (Ex. 14:15), although he was silent with his lips, he was silent, but the cry of his heart was so strong that it passed through the heavens and ascended before God Himself. This is how we are forced to cry out by the extremity of the external situation or extreme spiritual need. The prophet does not express either one or the other. Perhaps this was due to the strong and uncontrollable thirst that a God-devoted spirit usually feeds. He doesn’t bother: give this, take that, but only prays: “hear me, Lord.” The Lord sees what our hearts ache about, and not only sees, but, speaking humanly, even feels this pain. And only He knows what to do in relation to this pain. That is why the prophet teaches us to pray: just hear, and he does not dare to indicate what further. Thy will be done! “Hear...” and I, “I will seek Your justification.” The justifications of God are commandments, to seek which means to fulfill them faithfully and diligently - to seek out and look out for where any commandment is applicable, and immediately fulfill it with all diligence. Isn’t this also the subject of intense appeal? I earnestly appeal to You, help me, and my desire will become reality. He, of course, has already looked for, and is looking for, these justifications; but when help comes from above, the search will be more successful, will follow the most direct path and will begin to be accomplished in a manner most pleasing to God. Hidden here is also the indication that, apart from this, I am not looking for anything and do not want to look for it. Having decided by law to educate himself according to the commandments, he does not take his eyes off them. This is what a painter usually does when he wants to paint a true portrait. Just as the latter is chained with his eyes to the face he is sketching, so is he chained to the commandments that he wants to reflect in his character. Ps.119:146. I called upon You, save me, and I will preserve Your testimonies. And another cry, and in the same strength, of course; only instead of: “hear,” it is said definitely: “save me”; but what is meant again is the same thing: “And I will keep Your testimonies.” With the eyes of his mind and the desires of his heart, he embraced these experiences and strives for one thing: to translate them into his life and based on them to form his character so that there is no difference between them as a prototype and his own internal and external structure, and the latter represents a faithful copy of the first. This matter is as desirable as it is difficult. If one desire were enough for success in him, then all that remained was to exalt such a desire, strain the forces accordingly - and the goal would be achieved. But since you cannot cross the sea without a ship, no matter how much you wish and strain your strength; So you cannot become a complete implementer of God’s commandments without help from above, no matter how strong your desire and intense your efforts. That is why the prophet first says: “save,” and then “I will preserve.” From the joint expression of desires: “save and preserve,” it is obvious that in the word “save” he combines the receipt of everything that is necessary to preserve the testimonies of the Lord. He says something like this: grant me saving powers, and I will preserve Your testimonies, since without this I will not be able to preserve them, I will not be able to accomplish the work that You also require of me, which I also desire with all my desire. St. Augustine writes: “Salvation (that is, receiving what is meant here by the word “save”) gives the soul the opportunity to accomplish in deed what it recognizes as obligatory and due, and where this salvation is not present, the soul falls in exhaustion.” The prophet does not indicate what exactly this saving thing is, begging for here, but he who gets down to business recognizes it well and firmly knows it. Although one can guess about it mentally, it is essentially recognized in practice. Often the same thing that is needed is one way, and another thing is different; that is why, perhaps, he did not define this precisely. In a word: “I will preserve” the prophet does not express arrogance, but the fact that as soon as this saving thing is achieved, then the necessary consequence of this will be the preservation of testimonies. It will not be he who preserves, but that saving power itself will preserve, as soon as possible. Ps.119:147. I went ahead in hopelessness and cried out, trusting in Your words. “Godlessness” ... will come out like this: “previously” not at the usual hour. Everyone is still asleep, and I, anticipating everyone, get up and stand in prayer, calling on You. He does this because he trusted in the words of God, in the promise to hear the prayer of those who pray: “he will call to Me, and I will hear him” (Ps. 90:15). In this sense, the intensity of the quest is expressed here, with an indication of what inspires it. To search, sparing no effort and without sparing oneself - to search, inspired by hope - is the real structure of the spirit, wanting to please God and praying for it. Blessed Theodoret writes: “The Prophet was a king burdened with thousands of worries; in addition, he carried out military feats, but still offered prayers to God, and not only at dawn, but even in the middle of the night, without waiting for the roosters to crow. So he loved the Creator God; I so diligently asked Him for help.” The subject of the search and hopeful cry is the same as above—receiving saving power to educate oneself according to the commandments in order to become pleasing to God. Each of us must seek this wholeheartedly and most of all, imitating the prophet, who for this sake did not give sleep to his eyes. The burning spirit of the thirsty drove away his sleep. But if this is the case at night, what about during the day? In another place it is expressed: I sleep, but my heart is awake. This is the true quest! It is continuous. But “timelessness,” like ours “timelessness,” can mean the futility of one’s work, the insufficiency of what is necessary, the constraint of one’s situation. This is how Saint Athanasius understands this word. “The prophet calls darkness, or the vagueness of circumstances, by hopelessness,” he says. In this case, this is what will happen: being in extremes, we “previously”, that is, first of all hastened to turn to You, Lord, as in another place he says: “let us precede His face” (Ps. 95:2), let us hasten, that is, to turn to Him. What extreme is this? What kind of darkness and vagueness of circumstances is this? Perhaps he also understands the cramped external situation; but since we are talking about the most faithful conformity with the commandments, then, according to Saint Ambrose, it is better to think that this refers to those extremes that happen within to those who are zealous for moral and religious progress. The darkness of thoughts finds itself and darkens the brightness of consciousness; a storm of unclean lusts arises and drives away the sobriety of the heart; one knows where relaxation comes from and undermines all energy; the butts (pierce the edges) of restless feelings of sorrow, despondency, fear, and make you rush back and forth, like one stung. All this, combined together, shakes the most fundamental intention and jealousy - to be unswervingly faithful to the Lord and His commandments. Where to turn in such extreme and languid hopelessness? – Hasten to anticipate the face of the Lord. “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and will save the humble in spirit” (Ps. 33:19). Be patient and don’t stop praying, trust - and the Lord will equalize, pacify and arrange everything as He knows. Ps.119:148. Prepare my eyes for the morning, to learn from Your words. Early, says the prophet, I hasten to open my eyes, I force myself to wake up “in the morning,” as soon as it’s light, then to learn the words of the Lord. “Study” - read the word of God from memory or from a book and meditate. Blessed Theodoret writes: “Not only during the day, but also in the mornings, he studied God’s laws. And we, living in poverty, freed from all worries, spend our nights resting on our beds, and when the day comes, we do not offer hymns to the Giver of blessings.” Saint Ambrose inspires: “How sweet it is to begin the day by contemplating, for example, the beatitudes that are written about in the Gospel! How beneficial it is from the lips of Christ the Lord, who speaks these beatitudes, to receive inspiration to the virtues that are indicated there, and to set the intention to implement them throughout the day!” Anyone who has decided to educate himself according to the norm outlined by God in His word needs to study this word in order to see what to adopt and learn how to succeed in this. The general prototype of how we should imagine ourselves, although it is carried around in mental contemplation, such is the fate of our thoughts that, without being repeated and purified in consciousness, they fade, become darkened and forgotten, and through this the thread that can lead in the labyrinth of life is lost. This means, without relying on yourself, you need to cleanse this prototype in order to revive both jealousy and the ability to be jealous. In addition, a life that is united in spirit must be diversified in its manifestations so that its liveliness does not fade. Nowhere can beneficial suggestions for this variety of actions be found so conveniently as in the word of God. The Spirit of God, inherent in His word, deposits, when taught in it, in a heart open to it, the seeds of saving undertakings, which, having been received sympathetically, are then brought into action with appropriate zeal and, among other actions, turn out to be both appropriate and fruitful. Ps.119:149. Hear my voice, Lord, according to Your mercy, live for me according to Your destiny. Having expressed the aspirations of his heart to form himself according to the will of God, expressed in the commandments of God, groaning about his weakness to achieve this, the prophet offers a prayer for help from above and revives the prototype of life outlined in his mind with teaching in the word of God. Realizing then that everything is from God, both beginnings and deeds, he prays: “hear, Lord,” you see what I want, what I strive for, what I cry out for—hear and help! Hear - “by mercy”, and “live”, that is, send down life-giving power, or grant my life to open up - according to “Thy fate”, according to Thy judgment, as You find beneficial and saving for me. “Blessed Theodoret asks, interprets, mercy, and not just asks for mercy, but according to the definition, meaning benefit.” By asking for mercy, he expresses hope that compels him to receive mercy; submitting the gift of it to God's judgment, expresses humility, which is a deep and wide vessel for the acceptance of gifts of mercy, irritating, so to speak, the generosity of God. The words: “live me according to Thy destiny” mean not just one measure of life-giving gifts, but also the entire fate of the one who receives them. But since the paths of each of those who accept are unexplored, it is appropriate to pray like this: “Whoever weighs fate, save me.” Not everything suits everyone, and not every path is suitable for everyone. Some with a great mind perish, others with a mediocre one are saved; For one, happiness is an obstacle, for another, a cramped life is more beneficial; one is enlivened by benefits, while difficulties lead to tension. We cannot know for sure what is best for us. Therefore, it is more reasonable, when praying, not to cry out: give this, take that, but, surrendering everything to God’s discretion, humbly cry out: “live me according to Your destiny”; that is, as you award better, so arrange my life. It is possible to reflect in oneself the norm of moral and religious life, as it was outlined by the Lord Himself, in any state and with any degree of talent, for that side of our being in which this norm is reflected is independent of the one by which the state is based and the talents are revealed. It is behind this or above it, and, because of its height, it can safely “be prospered and preserved”, despite the unprepossessing appearance of the external situation and the poverty of the everyday manifestations of life valued by people. Ps.119:150. Those who persecute me with iniquity have drawn near, but have departed from Your law. Those who persecute me, says the prophet, through iniquity, or lawlessness, have drawn near; to whom, or to what? - To him, ready to grab him. Trouble - as if he were saying so - is over my head, my enemies are about to strike me; help, save, - one can further understand here. And why this is so is explained in the following words: because they have departed from Your law. In my presence they pursue Thy law; That is why they are not only my enemies, but also yours. Intercede, not for my sake, but for the sake of Your law. Zigaben writes that others read - not “coming closer to lawlessness,” but to “lawlessness.” This also suits the composition of the verse better, for the second part will directly answer the first: they are close to lawlessness, but far from Your law, and is more consistent with the flow of speech. The entire eight-verse speaks of approaching the standard of life indicated by the commandments. In the same verse, the prophet intended to shade this bright side of life with its opposite. I, he says, am looking for how to form my character according to Your law, how to get closer to it in life; and those who persecute me, people of the opposite direction, are concerned about how to succeed more and more in lawlessness, to get closer to them, to become a real lawlessness. But the more they succeed in this, the more they move away from Your law, from the norm by which You determined for people to form their character, they move away from the main goal of man, and through this they become, as it were, not human. Why does the prophet mention this here? - To arouse your jealousy. I, he says, cling to Thy law, O Lord, and those, where have they gone? I see where their path leads and how their plans will end. They will reflect lawlessness in themselves and become walking sin, and through this they will take on the image of the father of all sin and lawlessness, the ugliest opponent of all good - the image of Satan. I see this, and not only do I turn away from that path, but I am also horrified by it. I consider evasion from Your law the most disastrous step in life. This is the same as an attempt on life, for the center of life is not in the body, but in the soul; the soul that moves away from Your law, and through this from You, is dead. Each act of removing such is a mortal blow to the soul. Realizing this, I am zealous for Your law and pester You for help, not paying attention to what my external situation will be. Ps.119:151. Thou art near, O Lord, and all Thy ways are the truth. The Lord is near everyone and everywhere, as omnipresent. But not everyone is aware of this, and having realized it, not everyone keeps it in constant attention. The fault of this is not in the Lord, but in us. When the body is healthy, it pleasantly feels the warmth surrounding it, but when it is upset (in a fever, for example), it happens that not only does it not feel warmth, but, on the contrary, is overwhelmed by cold. So it is here: the Lord is near and embraces everyone. There are those who feel His embrace, and there are those who do not feel it or want to break out of it. Those who live according to God's commandments feel it. The commandments of God, turning into morality through their constant fulfillment, through virtues, form in the soul aspects of God-likeness and through this points of contact with God, to whom she became likened by virtues, not only externally, which is the content of all omnipotence, but internally, which is the indwelling of God, like the penetration of iron by fire. He who has become like this bears God, and cannot help but confess that the Lord is near; and realizing that this was given to him for the sake of fidelity to the law, he cannot help but testify that this law is the truth. This is how the Lord works nearby—in action, in living proximity. But this is preceded by our closeness to Him - through thought, contemplation, and search. He who forces himself to draw closer to God attracts the living closeness of the Lord to himself. This compulsion extends to all the powers of human nature. He who forces himself with his mind to be near the Lord keeps the memory of Him and walks in His presence, imitating the prophet who says: “I have seen the Lord before me, as he is at my right hand” (Ps. 15:8). He who forces himself to draw closer to the Lord with his heart cuts himself off from all attachments, so that his heart is not occupied with anything other than the Lord. And always contemplating the Lord with his mind and turning His face in his heart, he tries to imitate Him in everything in order to be like and pleasing to Him. The characteristics of the Lord are reflected in His law; That is why, from contemplating them, he is naturally transferred to the contemplation of the commandments and, seeing that they are completely the same, he confesses: and here, in Thy law, it is the same as in Thy face, which I contemplate mentally. Your Law is a true reflection of Yourself and is true to the extent that You Yourself are the Truth. Whether I begin to imitate You or fulfill Your law, I will be near You in both ways and will be rewarded with the fact that You will also be near me. This is the only true path. Ps.119:152. From the beginning I knew from Your testimonies that I founded the age. The law of educating oneself according to the commandments of God is to first contemplate in them the Lord Lawgiver nearby as beings, and then to have Him near oneself and in oneself. This law is eternal; it is laid down for eternity and can neither be canceled nor changed. The prophet speaks about this here, adding to this how and when he learned this. “First of all”, from the first time, that is. As soon as I realized myself, as soon as I began to live according to the commandments, I immediately knew that they were founded forever. How did he know this? - “From dating.” If the testimonies are taken only as evidence, then it will be: I knew from Your testimonies and certificates, Lord. You yourself, giving the commandments, said that they are eternal and unchangeable. If by testimonies, as in the entire psalm, we directly understand the commandments given by God and sealed by His authority, then it will be: I knew from the very commandments, from the properties, from the content, from their action, that they are eternal. The seal of immutability lies on their forehead; I just looked and saw that it was so. With this conviction he strengthens all the previously used expressions of his decisions and impulses to live according to the commandments: “I will seek, I will keep.” He says something like this: it’s impossible otherwise. Such is the structure of my spiritual nature, such is the will of the Almighty God, such are the orders of all things that I should live as reflected in the commandments of God, and not otherwise. Why does he imprint this on his consciousness or call it out of it? In order to bring tension and energy to your moral and religious forces. A decisive “it cannot be done otherwise” gives rise to a feeling of hopelessness, and this feeling does not allow one to sit idle. Whoever sees that he must either act this way or that way, or perish, cannot, even if he thinks about it, restrain himself from immediately starting to act; for who will allow himself to perish when there is an outcome, no matter how difficult it may be? Where do the violators of the commandments get the courage to break them? – Out of that false self-confidence that “maybe it’s nothing; It’s possible that way.” Who has a living conscience, what does he say to his own and others’ suggestions to break some commandment? - No, you can’t. They reassure him that it is possible otherwise, but he repeats one thing: no, it is impossible; no matter what you say, it’s impossible. And this “impossible” saves him from crime. An intact conscience is valuable because this wall of enclosure is erected and stands firmly in it: “impossible.” The twentieth eight-line goes under the letter “resh” - “head”. The head is usually taken to mean something main, essential, as, for example, in the following words: “the head of those who speak” (Heb. 8:1). This is the same as the essence of a matter or object, its essential features and accessories, without which it cannot be what it should be. In moral life, this word can mean the main dispositions of the heart on which this life with all its manifestations rests and is set in motion - the structure of the heart, saving and pleasing to God. The Savior indicated such dispositions in the presentation of the beatitudes, namely: humility, contrition, meekness, love of truth, mercy, purity of heart, peacefulness, patience, hope. Saint Paul also indicated similar dispositions in calculating the fruits of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a believer: “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). There are similar instructions in other places in Scripture. The present eight-line verse should also be included among them. It indicates humility, purity of conscience, seeking justification, hope of salvation, patience, zeal for the good morals of others, God-devoted love and, finally, conviction in the immutability of God’s commandments. Ps.119:153. See my humility and forgive me, for I have not forgotten Your law. Humility is such a disposition of spirit by which, adorning themselves with many perfections, they consider themselves as if there was nothing good in them, and therefore they place themselves below everyone else. Realizing themselves powerless to do anything worthwhile, they ask God for strength for every good deed - to start it, continue it and finish it; and, having completed it, they give thanks to God as the Perfecter, without attributing anything to themselves. This disposition of spirit is the root of spiritual life. Without it, do not expect God’s help, and without God’s help you will not succeed in anything. The Prophet puts this arrangement in the “chapter”. Humility is also called when someone is humbled by external circumstances - deprivation, oppression, illness, need, loss of loved ones, and the like. It may seem that it is precisely this humility that the prophet remembers here, for, having said: “see my humility,” he adds: “and remove me,” that is, remove me from external humbling circumstances. There is no doubt that although this happened, the prophet, bypassing that, fixes the gaze of God on humility of heart - the only thing worthy of His gaze. Only on the basis that it was inherent in the heart could he boldly cry out to God: “take me away.” This is equivalent to a patient asking a doctor: remove the bandage; the wound has already healed. I submit, I humble myself, I realize that I am nothing. Look, Lord, at this self-abasement of mine and free me from regrettable accidents, “for I have not forgotten Your law.” And a great sinner may sometimes come to a self-deprecating sense of his lewdness, but it is not proper for him to cry out to God: “See...” It is also impossible for him to cry out to him: “Exterminate me,” for why should he be taken away when he has been wallowing in lusts all his life? Only that self-abasement is valuable before God, which exists with complete fidelity to His law, and only that cry, forgive me, is strong when with it the conscience does not reproach that the law of God has ever been forgotten in anything. The humble is faithful to the law, but he does not appropriate anything to himself, does not consider himself worth anything, does not think that prosperity is his inalienable lot, and therefore he prays: “change,” asking for this as a mercy. Saying: “For I have not forgotten Your law,” he only wants to say that he is a servant of God. I am Your servant, in no way violating Your will; “take away” “me,” for the glory of Your name, so that everyone can see that those who do not forget Your law are not strangers to You. Ps.119:154. Judge my judgment and deliver me; live me by Your word. The one who has suffered false accusations or insults goes to the judge and says to him: look into my case. The courage to say this gives him the consciousness that he is right. But you can turn to people for righteous judgment and without realizing that you are right, in the hope of somehow covering up your wrong. You cannot turn to God for righteous judgment when your conscience convicts you of being wrong, and your consciousness is inherent in the conviction that God sees your wrong. Such a person, even before the trial, is already self-condemned before God. If a prophet turns to God for judgment, it is because he has a clear conscience and that conscience does not convict him of anything before God. Maintaining such purity of conscience is one of the fundamental dispositions of the heart that pleases God. What does a sinner say when he turns to God in repentance? - I sinned, I won’t. I will no longer sin, I will not allow myself to consciously deviate from Your commandments, neither in word, nor in deed, nor in thought. What concern does he have then, having received forgiveness and being accepted again into the number of those who strive to truly work for God? - So that in no matter, whether big or small, you do not act against your conscience, enlightened by the knowledge of God’s commandments. Therefore, whatever he decides to do, he decides on the basis of a clear and definite consciousness that his cause is right before God. This is how all his affairs go; his conscience is a clear sky; there is not a single cloud darkening it. As soon as something happens—whether in thoughts, feelings, or movements of desires—it is immediately purified by repentance, and the lightness of consciousness is restored. This lightness and purity constitute the joy of living according to the commandments, despite all the difficulties, external and internal. In it is the support of such a life; it also contains boldness before God. Like an innocent child, he walks boldly before God with a pure conscience and turns to Him in prayer without embarrassment. Yes, prayer cannot be conceived and matured otherwise than under the consciousness of purity of conscience. All true ascetics make her the driver or door of prayer. Such a state is seen in the prophet when he boldly calls out to God: “Judge my judgment.” Do you want to reach the opportunity and call out just as boldly? – Keep your conscience clear in everything. But place your hope that you will be heard not in this, but in God’s mercy alone; That is why the prophet adds further: “Live me by Thy word.” “Live me” is the same as “deliver me.” External sorrows make a person seem lifeless, which is why they say: “a murdered person.” Deliverance from grief is the revival of the grief-stricken. The prophet prays to revive him through deliverance from what made him killed. For what? - “For the sake of words.” What is this word? – The word of God’s promise is to be a covering for those who are faithful to Him not only outwardly, but according to the testimony of their conscience. The word of promise is this: “he will call to Me, and I will hear him, I am with him in tribulation, I will destroy him... and I will show him My salvation” (Ps. 91:15-16). Remembering this promise, the prophet cried out: “Live me by Thy word.” His conscience assured him that he was not guilty of anything, but since pardon is not contained in this assurance of conscience, but is found in the merciful right hand of God, he calls out to it: deliver, as You promised, Lord, for although my conscience does not reproach me for anything, perhaps its eye is not so keenly vigilant as to see everything down to the smallest detail, among which something worthy may be hidden. reproach. Only the eyes of God, “brighter than the sun,” see into the innermost (Sir.23:27). Therefore, although the prophet was not afraid of God’s judgment, according to the judgment of his conscience, but, remembering that it can sometimes, even without distortion, unintentionally not see any malfunction, he places all his hope in the merciful promise of God. “I have nothing in myself, but I am justified in nothing” (1 Cor. 4:4). Such should be the state and disposition of those who are zealous to truly please God. Ps.119:155. Salvation is far from the sinner, for I have not sought Your justifications. Purity of conscience depends on the unforgiving fulfillment of everything that conscience considers obligatory for itself and on the arrangement of all its activities, both external and internal, such that nothing incompatible with the commandments of God sneaks into it. But a person’s activity cannot acquire such a character if he lives as he lives, without sharp-sighted attention to himself and to everything that is around him, and without looking at all this through the prism of the commandments. Only then is this possible when he carefully monitors everything that is happening, compares it with the commandments and, having determined from them the obligatory course of action for himself, then acts that way. Conducting his affairs in this way, he will arrange his life righteously. And this is the collection of justifications. Whoever does not have it, salvation is far from him, but whoever has it, it is close to him. It is this last thing that the prophet wants to instill, “through opposition,” as St. Augustine notes. The collection of justifications is not only research and consideration: it is only the beginning and preparation. To seek means to know and do. A person following footprints in the desert, as soon as he is convinced that one or another trace is real, immediately steps on it and follows it, without hesitation, until he encounters another crossing trace. Having decided here which trail to follow, he again walks without stopping along the trail that he recognized as real. So it is in moral life: consideration of what is right is only an initial and guiding task, and life itself consists of acting according to what is considered. And salvation is not far from the one who acts this way, and not from the one who only looks at it without moving. The latter resembles a man who, sitting in a quiet armchair, writes routes. It is good to talk about what is right, but there is less need for this than to strive for what is right. The general rules of what is honorable are known to everyone and are on everyone’s tongue. If anything remains to be supplemented, it is their particular application to the presenting case. But even this, it seems, should not be the issue, and maybe there isn’t, because our natural logic is within us, and our conscience is here. They now predict what should be, so that after them there is rarely any work and special reasoning, except in the case of some intricate combination of accidents. It's not about this, but about what's going on there, inside. Some people, with principles that are completely contrary to God’s justifications, torment sound logic, and torment not by the thoroughness of their presentations, but by the fact that they always meet secret sympathy for themselves somewhere in the depths of their hearts or behind it, which gives strength to their presentations, no matter how empty and insignificant they may be. As soon as such a presentation appears, all sound reasoning crumbles to dust, and the matter is distorted. To prevent this from happening, you must put in your heart warm zeal for the worthy and jealousy for him. This jealousy and zeal will, like a wall, reflect everything opposite, and things will always go right. Give an honest person just a hint about something dishonest - he will immediately rebel against it with anger, and no matter what you present to him, he will not listen. This also happens to those who have become zealous about what is morally worthy. No contrary presentations will confuse him. This kind of zeal is actually the collection of justifications, and investigation and investigation are only helping matters. Why is life not fulfilled according to God’s justifications? – Because there is no diligence for them, even though there is a lot of knowledge. That is why the prophet rightly placed the collection of justifications among the main conditions for saving life. Without it, the very flow of such life does not exist: it is stopped. Ps.119:156. Thy bounty is many, O Lord, live me according to Thy destiny. And there is a search for justifications, and, moreover, so diligent that even conscience does not convict of any oversight, but still this is not the basis of salvation. “Who is clean from filth... even if he lived only one day on earth?” ( Job 14:4–5 ). And in whom does the eye of God not see much worthy of condemnation? Where to turn? - To the bounties of God. Cry out unceasingly: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions, cleanse my iniquity” (Ps. 50:3). Besides, today you are standing, but can you say that tomorrow you will stand? – If not, then look for the right support. And where will you find it, except the One who is always the same and, containing everything, holds you in His right hand? Place yourself in this right hand, both with your will and with the whole structure of your dispositions, crying out with your whole being: “According to Your destiny, O Lord, live me,” or in other words: “By Your destinies, save me,” for life is only a saved life, and the Lord arranges the salvation of each of us, according to His destiny, that is, as He knows and as He wants. And no one will be saved except those who completely surrender themselves into the hands of God. The bounties of God are “many deeps” (Ps. 35:7), an all-encompassing and all-consuming abyss, but salvation does not lie in them. You have to be jealous yourself, and not only be jealous, but also work, work to the last effort. But salvation does not lie in this again, but in the fact that God Himself begins to work His salvation in us. But God will not create it if we do not surrender ourselves completely to Him, without at the same time stopping our all-powerful action. This is the mystery of true life! We ourselves should act with all our might for salvation, and those who do it should recognize the one and only Lord; do not dare to rely on anything and nourish the hope of salvation that is not false, recognizing it as occurring within ourselves, apart from our efforts, although not without them, but among them, as well as among all the random disorganizations of internal and external, by some hidden power, acting in an unknown way, although sometimes tangibly. This is drowning in the bounty of God for many, with surrendering themselves into the hands of God, under which and in which the hope of salvation rests and matures - an inspiring, strengthening and comforting force on the paths of a godly life. The hope of salvation has more than one degree. It first sees him in the distance, then attracts him to itself, and finally feels like its owner. And yet, however, it is only the hope of salvation, like receiving what lies ahead. Thus, someone sailing in a ship over the abyss of water, although he feels safe, still only hopes to be carried across the waters and step on solid ground. This feeling is the most intimate and at the same time the most characteristic among the dispositions that determine the fidelity of salvation. Ps.119:157. The many who drive me out and persecute me do not turn away from Your meetings. The hope of salvation gives strength to endure and overcome all adversities encountered on the path of salvation. There are many of these opposites, inside – from passions, outside – from people with passionate and unclean forces. This is what it is - “those driving out and chilling many.” They surround and oppress everyone who does not deviate from the testimonies of God because he does not deviate from them. But it is not a problem for anyone who does not shy away from the testimonies of God on this occasion, for “the blessings were driven out for the sake of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs” (Matthew 5:10). And it’s not that this kingdom will be theirs, but it is; and not just that they will be blessed, but the essence. Sorrows, misfortunes and hardships for faithfulness to the testimonies of God themselves exude sweet consolation, which disposes us not to shun them and reject them, but rather to desire and seek, and rejoice in the fact that they exist. Just as someone desires bitter seasonings for his food, so he who tastes their sweetness desires sorrows on the path of salvation. Anyone who has experienced how, under a burning and tearing plaster, a pleasant feeling comes, due to the perceived healing it produces, will somewhat understand how the same thing happens with burning and tearing sorrows on the path of salvation. The condition for this is non-deviation from the testimonies of God, and the consequence of this is great jealousy for such non-deviation. Both nourish themselves mutually and give birth to a fruit - complacent patience. Patience seems to be something that drains life, but in reality it is the aging (moisture) of life, just as a tree becomes languid (fat) when water comes out (sources); it is only necessary that it be based on fidelity to the testimonies of God. After the fall, God filled our lives with things that give us reasons to endure. Since we were not fit for the right life in paradise, everyone suffers, and there is no one who is free from such a judgment from God. But, having judged this, God did not abolish the fundamental law of life characteristic of man - that it should always and in everything be in accordance with the will of God, expressed in His commandments; on the contrary, he strictly confirmed it and confirms it, not as a burdensome yoke, but as a means of relief and a source of consolation in enduring it. This is how it happens: whoever is faithful to the commandments or testimonies of God, it is comforting for him to endure, no matter what he endures. The Prophet says: “There are many who suffer from cold; but let them! I know my business, and I am only jealous about this, so as not to deviate from the testimonies of God.” We see that everyone is breaking away from the bonds of what they have to endure, but they still cannot escape, even with great resources. Why is this so? - Because we took the wrong road. We must enter on the path of God’s testimonies and complacently endure what we have to endure. Then this very thing that is undergoing will begin to exude consolation. This is paradise, despite its disgusting appearance! Those who want to establish heaven on earth in any other way are only working in vain. The Wise One also told them: “vanity of vanities” (Eccl. 1:2) Ps.119:158. I have seen those who do not understand and have fallen short, because I did not keep Your words. “If I saw, says the prophet, someone who did not understand, then, regretting him, I melted away out of zeal for God” (St. Athanasius). “So blessed Paul lamented about the Jews; Thus, the Master Himself expressed regret about Jerusalem; thus the divine Jeremiah mourned the iniquity of the people” (Blessed Theodoret). Those who do not understand are not that weak-minded or uneducated ignoramuses, but those who go mad out of their own evil will, although they know how they should live, they live completely contrary to this, they act disgracefully, and thereby ruining themselves, and dishonoring their Creator and Savior. He who loves God also loves his brothers. He who loves good morality cannot look indifferently, not grieve and not be contrite in heart, surrounded by people who, having forgotten God, fearlessly trample on His holy law. The prophet testifies to himself that, looking at this, he melted away, just as a candle melts when consumed by the power of fire. This is true love for God! She not only keeps herself on the paths pleasing to Him, but she is jealous that all the brethren should adhere to the same paths, so that the well-pleasing God will be comforted by everyone and rest His favor on everyone. The prophet does not say anything about what he did, or what should be done by someone who loves the words of God when he sees that they do not want to know them, and, turning to God, he testified only to Him how painful it is for him to constantly fail to comply with the words of God, which are clear, definitely expressing exactly what God requires from whom. Isn't this really the best way to express jealousy for good morality in people? Live yourself as you should, not merciful to yourself in any way, and, seeing others who do not keep the words of God, be consumed by sorrow about this and cry out to God how painful it is for you, begging Him through this very thing to stand up for His word and sober up the madmen. Teach and admonish with life; leave it to those who have been given the word to admonish in word, and to admonish by deed to those who have been given the power to do so, praying with warm prayer that God Himself will come forward to defend His cause. This will not be indifference, although it can be covered up by acting in this way, but a matter of prudence. You can start to act, but instead of improving the situation, you will only upset it more. Better pray, so that the Lord will bring out the workers. But if such a way of acting is appropriate in a community, then those to whom the word has been given, and those to whom power has been given, cannot be excused in any way if the former do not raise their voices, having ascended to the roofs, and the latter madly carry the sword given to them to settle and intimidate the evil ones. This power is not in the hands of the government only, but also in the father over his children, in the husband over his wife, in the master over the whole house, in the elders over the younger, in the mentors over the students; likewise, the word is not only with shepherds, but also with everyone who understands the matter and is moved to humbly express the admonishing truth orally or in writing. How many writers we have! If none of those who wrote wrote evil, but everyone wrote the same truth, would anyone dare to be dishonest in word or deed? Like the voices of a trumpet, their broadcasts would fill the air and, calling everyone to good war, would strike those who were unwilling with fear, not allowing them to even appear outside. Then lawlessness and wickedness would not have dared to walk through the haystacks brazenly and openly, and if it had not been completely exterminated, it would have hidden somewhere in wastelands and crevices, like bats. Ps.119:159. See that I have loved Your commandments. Lord, by Thy mercy live for me. Just think: the prophet lives so regularly that his conscience does not despise him for anything; when others oppress him for his loyalty to the law, he does not deviate from it; when he sees others not keeping him, he is consumed by grief - what other proof of love for the law is needed? And yet, he says: “See that I have loved Your commandments,” and he says to the One about whom he knows that everything is open before Him. What does he want to express with this? - The fact that he is not only an outward lawyer, but a warm-hearted one. “He doesn’t just say,” explains Blessed Theodoret, “I kept the commandments, but I loved them, although nothing forced me to fulfill them.” The commandments lie in the depths of my heart, in the very origins of life, and govern all its manifestations. I love not just deeds according to the commandments, but the very moral purity they require, the very perfection of the life they depict; I love not just deeds of humility, but also humility itself; not just abstinence from impulses of anger and impurity, but meekness and chastity itself; not just deeds of mercy, but mercy itself, and so on. And what the prophet says to God - “see”, by this he wants to express only what he says so not frivolously, not out of conceit, appropriating for himself what does not exist, but by examining himself, in the light of God’s omniscience; coming together with him in his heart, he sees not in self-delusion, but in fact, that he wholeheartedly loves the commandments of God. This disposition is the beginning from which good morality should proceed: love for the commandments for the sake of love for the virtues that they inspire. This love is not forced, but takes root by itself, or, more precisely, ignites, as soon as someone tastes virtue. This is because virtues are not alien to us, but constitute our original spiritual structure. Created in the image of God, we carry within us the seeds of all God's goodness. They would alone shine in our hearts, if through the fall the passions that darken, cover and distort them had not been grafted onto us. Passions are the reason why in us there is coldness towards virtues, resistance and, finally, aversion from them. If there were no commandments of God, perhaps passions would bring us to the point where we would completely drive away all virtue from the face of the earth. But the commandments, having been heard, enter inside through the ear and awaken there the memory of virtues and the lightness of the state in which they place a person, in contrast to the darkness of passions. This memory encourages us to obey the commandments, for the sake of the power hidden in them to return to us the lost, but longed for, bright spiritual state - and we obey. For the first time, this obedience is both caused and supported by the mere aspiration of spiritual good from the commandments and is produced by exertion of will. But constancy in their implementation, killing passions, revives the virtues that were suppressed by them in the heart, revives the revived ones and allows one to taste the sweetness of the restored ones. The tasted sweetness of virtue cleaves the heart to it and makes it inalienable, because it does not come from outside, but shines from within and embraces the heart. This is where love comes from. So the virtues, one after another, embrace the heart and become the object of his love. Not all at once, but gradually; everything has its time. When the fullness of virtues shines in the heart, then in spiritual joy one can cry out with the prophet: “See that I have loved Thy commandments,” not only them, but also the virtues hidden in them. This is spiritual paradise! This love is the enjoyment of all the bliss from tasting the sweetness of virtues. This is how the Kingdom of God comes within us! Then God is here not as a temporary guest, but as a permanent resident. That is why, when after this the prophet prays: “Lord, by Thy mercy live me,” he expresses no other desire than that the Lord should continue to live in him and, living in him, revive him. The Lord is the source of life, and wherever He goes, abundant streams of sweet and all-blessed life open up. He who has experienced this, when he prays: “Live for me,” then expresses this: do not leave me, believing that if only the Lord does not depart, then life-giving will flow from Him by itself. The Lord willingly dwells in a heart full of love of kindness and kindness itself, but is not bound by it, but freely attends. He attends and departs when and as He pleases. But when it leaves, there is darkness and coldness in the heart. Therefore, one cannot help but pray: do not deprive me, O Lord, of the mercy of Thy presence in me, but continually live me, according to Thy mercy. Ps.119:160. The beginning of Thy words is truth, and the whole destiny of Thy righteousness endures forever. If all the words of God are represented under the guise of a body, then its head is the truth. If we imagine these words under the guise of a code, then its title or inscription is the truth. The conviction that all the words of God, which determine our proper way of life, are immutably true, serves as the basis for living according to these words. Convinced that one must live this way, and not otherwise as depicted in them, one cannot expect any opportunity to evade them or invent any pretext or reinterpretation of them, so that, while fulfilling them, one does not perform them in the same force as the words themselves say. Therefore, one cannot help but keep in mind and heart that one of two things is inevitable: either to live according to the word of God, or to doom oneself to eternal destruction—eternal, because “in the age of all the destiny of God’s righteousness,” that is, the power of God’s decisions, righteously determining through the commandments how we should live, extends to all eternity. And into eternity the commandments of God will follow us and will be there either as intercessors for us or as our accusers. Having realized such inevitability, is it possible to still think and hesitate which way to go? The enemy knows the power of these convictions, and therefore makes every effort to dispel them. And he succeeds, through oblivion and diversion of attention with other objects or through some strange decision: “maybe, I suppose.” As soon as the soul fell for it, life flowed as it had to, carried away by the contiguous currents of the common life, in which there is confusion and all sorts of disorder. And the enemy is here; he catches his prey and enriches with them his eternal abode, awarded to him and his minions. He who remembers the commandments and has the conviction that they are immutable stands without hesitation. There are waves all around, and he seems to be on a cliff; The winds are raging nearby, but he feels like he’s in a cozy room. And the enemy cannot do anything with him. There are, of course, approaches to him, but they do not move him from his place and do not change the direction of his life. That is why he always has the same order, both in his mind and in his heart, and the same order in his outer life. The duration of his stay in the same thing confirms him even more in that - and he finally passes unchangeably into the shadow of death and enters the eternal realm, for an eternal stay again in the same thing, in the same destinies of the truth of God. The whole world, the limits of which we do not even know, stands on the destinies of God’s truth, but it does not stand on its own: the omnipotent right hand of God holds it in this. And since he does not stand on his own, he cannot retreat from these destinies on his own. We are free: we need to freely subordinate ourselves to these destinies and keep ourselves in them in order to enter into agreement and harmony with the entire totality of creatures. “All kinds of work” (above, verse Ps. 119:91) to the Lord, Creator and Almighty. Running away from this yoke, imposed by nature, although it has the ghost of courage, there is no point in it, because staying under it is our good, both temporary and eternal. Those who are under it feel within themselves that this is how it should be; and those who run away from under it feel that this should not be so, even though they are foggy and dizzy. This octet is denoted by the letter or word “shin” - “tooth”. In the animal kingdom, teeth are an instrument of protection and nutrition, and in humans, moreover, they help speak. Imagining one who walks in the law of God as a living being, surrounded by hostility against his very walking in the law, one can ask: how is it given to him to defend himself against it? – The prophet answers with fear of breaking the law (verse Ps.119:161), hope of blessings from its fulfillment (verse Ps.119:162), love for it (verse Ps.119:163). If you gather under one review all those who live according to the words of God, you will see that it is these spiritual weapons that reflect any movement that is contrary to God’s words. At the end, the prophet adds to them walking before God (verse Ps. 119:168), which is even stronger than those three and even gives strength to them. Here are his teeth. What is this guy doing with his speech? – Praise of God, precisely for the benefits flowing from the destinies of God’s righteousness (verse Ps. 119:164). What does he eat? – Those blessings with which his soul is filled from fulfilling the commandments (verses Ps. 119: 165–167). This is the content of this eight-line. Ps.119:161. The princes have driven me into obscurity, and my heart has feared because of Your words. In the words: “the princes persecuted or drove me away in vain,” one must mean: “there was no time.” The prophet alludes to Saul and the king of Gath, at the beginning of the persecution against him, or to Saul and his entourage, when they were chasing him in the desert and when Saul completely fell into his hands and was not killed only because the fear of God bound not only the hands, but also the thoughts of David’s heart. They drove me away, he says, and chased after me, but I was not afraid. My heart only feared Your words, O Lord, and thus refrained from all unrighteousness and from every evil deed. In relation to us, Christians, the Holy Church can always cry out in this way, remembering the persecutions she endured, both in the first time of her existence, and in many other close periods of her existence. This is how she cries out in her songs when she glorifies the holy martyrs. So can every Christian, oppressed and persecuted on his immaculate path by the princes of this age, the spirits of evil and their novices from people, always internally, but often externally. All the spirits of evil have risen against me to lead me astray from the path of Your commandments, Lord; but in vain. My heart is full of Your fear, the fear of breaking Your words, and with this fear I reject all the temptations they raise in me. Your fear is my fence, a weapon against which no seductive thoughts can resist; they scatter before him like dust before the wind. The fear of God is natural to our spirit and always lives in the heart. Passions suppress and muffle it, but do not destroy it. As soon as the grace of God blows into the heart, the first fear immediately comes to life and raises conscience with it. Then the two of them, under the influence of grace, bring about repentance and the sinner’s conversion from sin to virtue; and then they keep him on this new path, not leaving him until the last degrees of perfection in the new life. The fear of God rules everywhere. Love itself, driving out one fear, accepts another. Let them persecute outwardly, let waves of evil thoughts rise within; but when the fear of the words of God is intact, then there is nothing to be afraid of. The heart then is a fortress inaccessible to temptation. There is in him a faithful guard, an irresistible weapon against the enemy. We can say: take care of the fear of God, and do not be afraid of falling. Fuel this fear, and you will not need any other means to arouse energy in your spirit. This fear is stronger than the fear of death. But if the fear of bodily death leads to such a tension in the strength of the defender that he himself becomes terrible for the attackers, then why is the fear of spiritual death, threatening eternal death, not strong enough to produce when the life of the spirit is in danger? Plant Thy fear, O Lord, into our hearts! Ps.119:162. I will rejoice in Your words, for I have gained much gain. The second weapon for repelling sin and protecting virtue is the sure expectation of self-interest from virtues. This self-interest is the fruitfulness of a virtuous life, which here shines primarily in the perfection of the inner life, and in the future it will also shine in the body, outwardly, in the external position. The pledge of the future rests in the present; hope is established in anticipation. The virtuous here already find “a lot of self-interest,” taste it and enjoy it. This pleasure is for them an instrument of their defense and self-preservation, no less powerful than the fear of the words of God. Fear is always the beginning of virtue and keeps a person on its path at first alone, but then he shares his work with the taste of self-interest from virtue. Fear turns one to the path of virtue and keeps one on it, as if outwardly, forcing one, as if against the will, and by the mere sense of self-preservation, bending the stubborn will under the yoke of the commandments. Just as a whip drives a slave to work and forces him to work, so at first fear drives virtue and forces him to do its deeds. Spiritual feelings do not suddenly come to life, they do not suddenly gain the ability to find taste in insensible things; but just as friction restores feeling to a numb member, so the work of doing good restores spiritual feelings in the heart. Then it begins to feel the sweetness of every virtuous deed and every achievement undertaken for its sake. A person continues to do it no longer because he expects to receive self-interest or good fruit, but because he already has it and carries it within himself. The highest good in this case is peace of conscience. What can compare with this blessing! The heart itself puts nothing above him after he returns, having been lost for a time by unreasonable inattention to himself. It looks boldly towards God and looks into the eyes of all people without embarrassment. The second benefit is harmony in business, both inside and outside. In this case, thoughts, intentions, and enterprises are given a unity of purpose, which itself selects the means and methods of execution according to its type. From here the third benefit naturally follows—prosperity. Everything here takes place within, which is in the power of man; the external is not an essential condition, and even its unfavorability turns to prosperity within. These three are enough for every virtuous person to cry out sincerely: I rejoice in Your words, O Lord, as one who gains much gain from them! Ps.119:163. I have hated and detested injustice, but I have loved Your law. The third spiritual weapon is love for the law of God with complete disgust from lawlessness and untruth. This love is generated by the experience of spiritual fruitfulness from the fulfillment of the law, but the fruitfulness itself falls out of attention, and only the beauty of the law is seen. Just as we begin to love a benefactor because he does us a good deed, and having loved once, we continue to love because he is good in himself, so love for the law begins from tasting the good fruits from him, and after being saturated with them, love for him reigns in the heart for the sake of his perfection and beauty. “The law,” says the apostle, “is holy, and the commandment is holy, and righteous, and good” (Rom. 7:12) But when love for one object takes root in the heart, then for objects opposite to it there can no longer be love there, but a feeling opposite to it takes place - not love, but disgust and hatred. In ordinary things, perhaps such a contrast of feelings is not inevitable, but in relation to law and lawlessness it cannot be otherwise. For lawlessness also creeps in—it tries to occupy a heart already occupied by the law. Just as you get rid of any impudent person creeping into your room by pushing him in the chest, so you will get rid of the lawlessness that obsessively creeps into your heart in no other way than by punching him in the chest, that is, striking him with hatred and disgust. In the order of moral changes in the heart, this hatred of sin and lawlessness does not suddenly form, for in him, even after leaving sin, sympathy for sin remains a thing for a long time. But as you work in legal goodness, it evaporates, and when a good character is established, according to the outline of the law, then it completely disappears and is replaced by hatred and disgust, due to the annoying persistence of sin and because the heart has an inherent feeling of all the evilness of it. Thus, in the hands of the heart there appears a two-edged sword, one blade of which is love for the law, and the other is hatred and disgust for untruth and sin. Both of them cut hard, and there is no way to resist their defeat. Whoever has this is safe from falls. He is terrible to all hordes of spirits of evil. Among the holy fathers, leaders in life, we find that the first among the rules of spiritual warfare for everyone is hatred of sin: “they say, put it forward first” (Hesychius). It is, let us add, an indestructible and all-defeating spiritual battery, and when it operates, it continuously fires an uncountable number of shots. She stands on the outskirts of the heart; The city of the heart does not remain empty - it is occupied with the love of the law. What can sin do in this case, when it cannot act otherwise than through thoughts, which, although they are also arrows, are straw? Ps.119:164. During the seventh day we praise Thee about the destinies of Thy righteousness. Teeth, as accomplices of the word, suggested the glorification of God, marvelous in the destinies of His truth, since among the objects of the word there is no higher word about God, and between these words there is no higher glorification. This is what the prophet sets forth, making it clear that whoever has achieved it has reached the extreme limits of the use of the word and, let us add, the use of the mind. When praise of God begins to pour out from the heart, this means that the mind has truly begun to enter the realm of knowledge of God, which, diverting his attention from everything else, as incomparably lower, rivets his gaze to the one God and reveals before his eyes the brilliance of His glory, wondrous in His being, in His properties and in actions - in creation, providence, redemption and the arrangement of salvation for everyone being saved. Contemplating this, he moves from amazement to amazement and, with each object of contemplation, he cannot utter anything except praise: glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee! But there are also degrees between the objects of contemplation of God. According to the testimony of Isaac the Syrian, contemplation of “how” God has revealed and reveals Himself in creatures is the first degree; and the contemplation of God, “as” He is Himself in Himself, is the second, highest. The prophet dwells on the first, for the destinies of truth, for the sake of which he praises God, mean righteous judgments, awards and determinations of God, how things should be, and how what has already happened and is happening in reality. Remembering this, the prophet cannot restrain his tongue from praising God, who is wondrous in His destinies seven times a day, or praises Him many times a day. Saint Athanasius the Great writes: “As someone who has studied the laws of creation and God’s providence, he confesses about the destinies of God’s truth, about those destinies according to which God created various creatures and provides for each of them. The word “septenary” makes it clear that he does not cease to praise, saying as it were: “I always remember Your destinies.” His soul irresistibly strives for praise of God. Wanting to satisfy this thirst, he begins to sing praises and, having quenched it somewhat, stops. But as soon as he stops, the same thirst again begins to excite him and raise him to his feet - and so on all day long. “The Prophet, says Blessed Theodoret, expresses his fiery love by this, since he did not reach the point of satiety in divine hymn.” Why are others bored? - Because they did not attack an object that would occupy them comprehensively and satiate them completely. There is only one such subject - God and the destinies of His righteousness. Give Him your work, time and attention, and you will never be bored; on the contrary, you will be as in paradise, for nothing can compare with the sweetness of thoughts of God and praise. Having experienced this, the holy fathers devoted all their time to this; on the same basis, the Holy Church commanded to gather for prayer many times a day. The ancient “septenary” has now been reduced into a “trinity”, which, however, combines all seven rites of liturgical doxology: liturgy does not count. Just as Easter between feasts is a feast of feasts, so the liturgy between services is a service of services. Ps.119:165. There is peace for many who love Your law, and there is no temptation for them. The prophet begins to show what and how the faithful fulfillment of God’s law nourishes the soul. He puts peace in the first place, and the world is not small, but abundant - “the world is many.” The condition for this is not simply the fulfillment of the law, but a loving fulfillment: “there is peace for many who love the law.” Without this love, the law is a burdensome yoke, but with love it is nourishing manna. Hence peace, that is, a comprehensively satisfied state. When we love the law, it means that it is in our hearts. If it is in the heart, then there are no passions there, for each commandment of the law, having been loved, drives out the passion opposite to it, and everyone drives out all passions. Thus, in a heart that has loved the law, there is no longer room for passions. If there are no passions in the heart, then there is nothing more to disturb its peace. It rests in peace, or in much peace. But this peace and quiet is not a sluggish state of inaction, but a blissful state of a peacefully living life. Peace is the fruit of dispassion; dispassion restores a person to his natural rank and to his original relationship with all that exists. But initially it was determined that, combined with everything that exists, a person would receive influxes of life-giving forces, elements, and influences from everything. All this returns to him the law that he loved. And from God, and from the angelic world, and from the human world, and from nature, continuously beneficial influences and influences come to him and nourish his entire nature - body, soul, and spirit; by nourishing, they satisfy completely, and by satisfying, they establish peace, which, due to such satisfaction with beneficial influences, is a sweet and richly nourishing world. The deeper the world, the more nutritional value has arrived. Such “bear” and “temptation”. And we say: to create a scandal, that is, to make noise. Thus, the prophet, saying that there is no temptation for those who love the law, means that the law, beloved by them, fills them with such deep peace that nothing can disturb their inner peace. Even if the whole world were to fall upon them, they would not be embarrassed, for they have that which is greater than the whole world and which no power, even greater than the world, can deprive them of. Blessed Theodoret writes: “Inflamed by Divine love and keeping the commandments, those who acquire peace with God, although all people would arm themselves against them, live in joy. Witness to this is the divine Paul, who cries out: “In everything it is sorrowful, but not cold; hopeless, but not despairing; persecuted, but not abandoned; cast down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor. 4:8–9). And the Lord, sending the apostles throughout the universe, “like sheep in the midst of wolves” (Matthew 10:16), said to them: “My peace I give to you, My peace I leave with you” (John 14:27). Ps.119:166. I have longed for Your salvation, O Lord, and I have loved Your commandments. The second source of spiritual nutrition supplied by fulfilling the commandments is the hope of salvation. I, he says, have longed for Your salvation, I have formed myself in such a way in my heart that there is nowhere for salvation to come to me except from You; I have given my salvation into Your hands with the undoubted hope that it will ultimately be arranged, as Your wisdom knows, Your goodness will desire, and Your providence will be put into action - I have rested entirely in You. But since I could not have such a surrender of myself to You, such hope in You, such peace in You, if I had been unfaithful in anything before You, I decided to faithfully fulfill the commandments of Your law, to fulfill them not just as a yoke and duty, but as the need of my heart, which loved them: “I have loved Your commandments.” “The hope of salvation, says Saint Ambrose, gave birth to love for the commandments, active love for the commandments became the support of hope, hope calmed in God.” What a wondrous chain of spiritual changes, or births, and what a wondrous fruit from them - tranquility in God! A child in his mother’s bosom is warmed and nourished by the very warmth of his mother’s love for himself and his mother, and so our spirit is nourished by the very fact that it surrenders itself to God and rests in Him, for God is close to him, so close that nothing can be closer to Him; and God is the fullness of everything, the overflowing fullness. Open yourself to Him, and everything you need and can contain will be poured out from Him into you, and will be continually poured out as long as you remain open to Him with your unshakable faith, undoubted hope and fiery love of kindness. The Lord says: “Behold, I stand at the door and talk: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him” (Rev. 3:20). And He enters into everyone who opens, not to impose chains, like a ruler, but to treat, delight, satiate, like a generous giver. His supper is with Him always; That's why He says; “Come to me... and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). And he gives rest to everyone who rests himself in Him with unrepentant rest. The same will happen to you; It's like you'll be in heaven. Just hasten to ascend to peace in God, hurry up, for although the Lord is near, the path to Him is not short for us. Begin by patiently walking in the commandments in the hope of salvation. Don’t feel sorry for yourself, without pity, with some cruelty towards yourself. If you do this, the difficult walking in the commandments will be reborn into an inspiring love for them, and the hope of salvation will be reborn into the vision and taste of salvation; both will end in peace in God, from whose hand no one will snatch you, as the Savior Himself assured: “My Father... is the greatest of all, and no one can snatch” My sheep “from the hand of My Father” (John 10:29). Ps.119:167. Preserve Your testimonies, my soul, and I will love you dearly. The third source of spiritual nutrition received from fulfilling the commandments is love for them. Just as those who love themselves mutually feed each other, so that when they are together, each of them feels as if some kind of nourishing and delighting element is coming into him from the other, so it is with the one who loves the commandments: from them comes and enters into him, so to speak, a spiritual stream that nourishes and delights him. This is what he feels on every occasion when he is presented with the fulfillment of a commandment. The surge of nourishing warmth does not deplete in him from the first encounter of such an occasion throughout the continuation of the good deed required by him, and after it for a long time, until another incident of the same nature stops him. When we feed on certain food, the nutritional element hidden in it is extracted from it by our organic force. Likewise, the nourishing spiritual element is hidden in every good deed set before us. This is the measure of the commandment that applies to it. This element is extracted from him by love for the commandment, which allows one to feel its presence in that deed, extract its nutritional value and attract it to oneself in the very performance of the deed. Only love for the commandments can and knows how to do this. That is why doing good without love does not nourish. It is the same for the spirit as indigestible food is for the body: there is no taste, no nutrition. Another, perhaps, will say: “Well, if I have no taste for doing good, and even doing good is like eating grass for me, then why should I do good?” - And in order to reach the love of the commandments this way. Do you see how the prophet speaks? First: “keep my soul safe,” and then: “I love you,” and not just “love,” but “love dearly.” Begin to keep the commandments, and you will love them dearly. There is love, let’s say, mental, consisting in the conviction that the commandments must urgently be observed and loved. From it, emotional or heartfelt love is then born, and is born through the active fulfillment of the commandments. There are types of food that you don’t like at first, but are accepted, however, out of necessity, and then the body gets used to finding a taste in them and finally becomes so addicted to them that without them, dinner wouldn’t be lunch. This is exactly what happens to us in relation to the commandments. At first, it’s as if a coldness emanates from them, and then they become so close to the heart that it has no peace unless something happens to satisfy it. Just as a lover grieves when he does not see his beloved object for a long time, so the soul that loves the commandments also grieves if for a long time it does not find an opportunity to fulfill them. Do not look at the fact that you still have no taste for doing good, but continue to keep the commandments, only with diligence and self-sacrifice. If you find a taste, you will love them, you will love them dearly. Ps.119:168. I will keep Your commandments and Your testimonies, for in my ways I am before You, O Lord. The prophet again returns to the means of protecting and preserving a godly life according to the commandments and, as the most important of them, points to the consciousness of the presence and all-vision of God everywhere. This seems to be a consequence of his previous thoughts. The fear of breaking the commandments and the hope of fruitfulness from fulfilling them lead to love. He who loves the commandments cannot help but love the One who commanded him, and having loved, he cannot forget Him, and constantly carries the memory of Him in his heart, for such is the property of love. He who remembers God with love always has Him before his eyes, walks before His eyes and recognizes himself in all his paths and undertakings open before Him. And such a consciousness arouses what fear in the heart, what hope and what love! And how, therefore, what is powerful combines in itself a means of preserving and maintaining life according to the commandments! The Prophet confessed this more than once; and here he certifies that, realizing how all his paths were open before the Lord, he strictly fulfilled all His commandments; and before he said that he deliberately maintained this consciousness in himself, so as not to stray from the right path: “I have seen the Lord before me, as he is on my right hand, so that I will not move” (Ps. 15:8), and he explained the deviations of other people into crossroads by nothing other than the fact that they “have not set God before them” (Ps. 53:5). Like him, Sirach produces a receptivity to sin from the false confidence of sinners that no one sees them, because the darkness around them and the walls cover them. But they do not understand that “the eyes of the Lord are in darkness, even more than the brightest of the sun, despising all the ways of man and looking into secret places” (Sir. 23:25–28). If we understood this and remembered this, we would not sin. That is why all the holy ascetics had and taught others to first establish in themselves the memory of God, so that it merged with consciousness - which they called walking before God; for after this, no matter what a person does, he cannot do it otherwise than with the thought that God is before him and looks at what and how he does. And this is for both internal and external affairs. Hence the careful selection of only one thing pleasing to God and the doing of what is chosen most diligently, in the thought that the chosen thing pleasing to God is dedicated to God and is therefore the work of God - one of those for which, if anyone does it carelessly, he incurs an oath. Therefore, if you want to keep yourself blameless in all your ways, confirm in your memory that all your ways are open before God and that the eyes of the Lord are fixed on you, on your deeds and on the thoughts of your heart. How to establish yourself in this? – Start working to acquire such a skill, and the very work will teach you how to succeed in it. Just desire earnestly and strive zealously. The last eight-line goes under the letter “tav”, which means “sign”. Saint Isaac the Syrian writes as a guide for those who follow the path of inner life towards mental and heartfelt union with the Lord, so that he keeps in mind the signs by which he can determine whether he is walking or standing, and whether he is walking right or wrong. “Put it down,” he says, and, going inside yourself, see what passions have become exhausted in you and have retreated from you; Is it clear that amidst the festering of your ulcer, living flesh, that is, spiritual peace, began to grow; Do you really find that your thoughts have begun to clear? does the soaring of thoughts come at the hour of prayer; Do you feel within yourself that your soul is overshadowed by meekness and silence; does your mind admire, without the participation of the will, the concepts of the incorporeal; does joy suddenly flare up in you, incomparable to anything and irresistibly drawing your mind inside” (Isaac the Syrian. Sl. 45). In other places he indicates other signs of success - some for the contemplative, others for the active life. Each degree of both has its own signs. The prophet points out something similar to this in the present eight-verse - that is, he points out the signs by which one can determine whether someone is on the good path and whether he is following it as he should; this is the most beneficial conclusion of all his moralizing instructions. We will not, however, list in advance what exactly is indicated as a sign in this sense: the content of each verse itself will tell us about this. Ps.119:169. May my prayer come closer to You, O Lord; give me understanding according to Your word. All father-leaders have a lesson - not to trust your mind. Thus, if in every case, without trusting yourself, you seek admonition from the Giver of all wisdom, then you are rightly going wrong. By doing this, you are imitating the prophet who prayed to God: “Lord, give me understanding according to Your word.” Give understanding - teach, that is, how to understand something encountered in life or in Scripture, or how to act in a given situation. Our mind itself, according to the ability given to it by God, can understand and interpret a lot; Each also has his own measure of prudence for arranging external affairs and his own measure of sensitivity of conscience for showing what is morally worthy, but even that ability and these measures are not too broad. That is why, even with them, there is a wide circle of perplexed people, the resolution of which is desirable not out of curiosity alone, but out of essential necessity. You can turn, as we sometimes do, to the smartest and most experienced of us, but their measure is not immeasurable, and trust in them is not unconditional. Thus, one who realizes his meager measure cannot help but turn in many cases to the Source of reason with a prayer for admonition. If we take into account that even in those cases that are resolved at home, there is always some hesitation left from the resolution as to whether it has been decided - hesitation that can only be eliminated by suggestions from above - then it is better in all cases in general, without distinction, to turn to God for admonition, despite the striving of the activity of your mind and even its seeming comprehension of the essence of the matter. They will say: “Wait, someday admonition will come!” Whoever has sincerely and unrepentantly given himself up into the hands of God and no longer returns to his ways, for him admonition is a matter of a moment. As soon as he seeks, he will immediately receive, for the Lord is near. Neither from here nor from here thoughts begin to be generated and the truth is revealed. It’s as if your mind is working, but sometimes it’s carried around by an outside force at this time. It happens to him the same as with a person who knows some place unknown to another - he takes him by the hand and leads him to that place, and he can only call out: here it is! There are people who spend their whole lives, even in ordinary cases, behaving according to such admonitions. It is more difficult to know that the decision born in the soul is precisely a guiding admonition from above: this cannot be achieved even by a definitive indication of signs. Both sincerely seeking such admonitions and receiving them and discerning them is a state possible with a certain degree of spiritual progress. For those who have achieved this measure, everything related to this is clear, but for those who have not achieved this, there is no way for them to explain it. It's like speaking in an unknown language. This measure comes by itself after cleansing the heart of passions. Then the Spirit of God dwells, the Spirit of truth, leading all the depths of God: then, according to the Apostle, the anointing itself teaches (1 John 2:27). Ps.119:170. May my petition come before You, O Lord; deliver me according to Your word. A person who is oppressed in some way or tied up usually seeks deliverance. There is no one who is not in this position every minute, but not everyone behaves in it equally. Some hope to eliminate all tightness and unravel all knots in their own ways and therefore limit themselves to these alone; others do not give any strength to their methods, and although they do not shun them at all, they hope for lasting deliverance from the one God, and therefore they trustfully turn to Him in all cases - both large and small. These are the ones who act right. What misunderstandings are for the mind, so are cramped conditions and bonds for life. Perplexities of the mind are resolved by admonition; bonds of life - help from above. It is unknown how the tightness is moved apart and the obstacles are removed, the “troublesome” is “in the right, and the sharp edges in the path are smooth” (Luke 3:5). Everything is submissive to the wave of God. Submit yourself completely to the Lord, and all deliverance will be ready for you. “Because I trust in Me, I will deliver and cover and... I am with him in his tribulation, I will take him away and glorify him” (Ps. 90:14-15), says the Lord. Because of this, the prophet teaches us to pray for deliverance: deliver me according to Thy word, thereby not presenting the right to deliverance, but reviving only our hope before the All-Seeing One. He who has reached such a measure, in a sense of strength from God, “like a trusting lion” (Prov. 28:1) walks. This does not mean that he no longer uses any of his methods and sits idly by, no, he uses everything in his power, but does not rely on anything, knowing that everything is as unreliable as a spider’s network. He places all his trust in the Lord and recognizes himself as strong from the power of God acting in him. Hope, however, is not the suppression of active forces, but the mood of the heart, resting, during intense activity, but in addition to it, on the right hand of God. Here, the cry for deliverance is not always necessary, because hope itself without words is already a ceaseless cry. The seeking of admonition and deliverance is mediated by the prophet by the approach and entry of prayer before the face of the Lord: “may my prayer come near before Thee... may my petition come before Thee.” This is also one of the signs of success. Prayer is then similar to the smoke of a censer, which sometimes spreads along the ground, then spreads in the air, then rises like a “stem” of grief (Song. 3:6). The latter depicts undistracted prayer, in which the mind, without being occupied with anything extraneous, soberly stands before God, who is omnipresent and all-seeing. Such prayer, by its very nature, approaches the Lord and enters before Him. It is formed simultaneously with the installation of hope and love in the heart and is inspired by them, and only it attracts admonition and deliverance. All this together is a sign of the highest degree of spiritual state, in which the God-devoted spirit abides in God and God abides in it, having found a beneficial dwelling in it, due to the purity established within. Ps.119:171. My lips will burst forth with song, when Thou teachest me Thy justification. They “burp” by themselves, without any tension or premeditation. A song to God will be born in the heart, erupted from the lips and carried to heaven. This is a song of praise, thanksgiving and all prayer. If this has begun to happen to you, then know that you are already in your rank, in the rank of angels, praising and glorifying the God they see intelligently. At first, the mind prays with tension, forcing itself to pray through willpower. And this, of course, is mental prayer. Mental prayer little by little warms the heart and introduces it into another prayer – mental-heart prayer. The heart, having learned to pray under the influence of the mind and having warmed up, itself begins to move toward prayer and draw the mind into it. This heartfelt prayer is real prayer, as it should be, a prayer that embraces the whole being of a person, for where the heart is, there is the whole person. This state is revealed by an inward pull that occurs during prayer, reading, meditation, and even without all this, while doing something. The latter is higher than the former. This is precisely the state that Saint Isaac understood when he asked: “Does your mind, without the participation of the will, admire the concepts of the incorporeal? Does joy suddenly ignite within you, incomparable to anything? Does a certain pleasure emanate from the heart and is the mind completely attracted? If so, then this is a sign that the person experiencing this has gone far along the path to perfection. Further, Saint Isaac describes this state as follows: “At times, some kind of pleasure and joy enters the whole body; carnal language cannot express it. Sometimes this delight flows from the heart during the hour of prayer, or during reading, or as a result of intense thought. And sometimes it happens without all this, during sharing, and at night, when you are between sleep and awakening, as if awake and not awake. But when this delight comes upon a person, beating throughout his whole body, then he thinks at that hour that the Kingdom of Heaven is nothing other than this same thing.” How can one who is in such a state not “burp” the singing after this? But you need to know that it is not the fruit of one prayerful work, but a consequence of an entire godly life, all works of good deeds and asceticism, and is revealed when the heart begins to approach purity. The Prophet indicates this in the words: “Teach me always by Your justification.” Excuses are commandments. Learning them, of course, is not memorizing written commandments, but actively becoming accustomed to them, just as one learns any skill. When this happens, then the commandments take root in the heart and form a constant structure that governs all its movements, so that in any case, before any thought, an indication of how one should act naturally comes from the heart. Such a heart is a holy and pure heart, from which comes one that is right and pleasing to God. It is this that the prophet places as the source of regurgitation through the lips of thanksgiving, or praise, or prayerful singing to God. Pray: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb” (Ps. 50:12). Ps.119:172. My tongue proclaims Your words, for all Your commandments are true. Doctors recognize the state of physical health by language, and speech exposes the state of mental health. Smart speeches show an intelligent person, pious speeches show a God-fearing person, and depraved speeches show a depraved person. What hurts someone’s soul is what they talk about. If your tongue speaks delightfully only about the words of God, then this is a sign that your soul hurts about them, that is, it loves them, wants to fulfill them itself and see them fulfilled by others. If you are so disposed, it means that the words of God - the commandments - are not contained in your mind, but are embraced by your heart, fulfill it and form its structure; and this shows that you are no longer a slave, but a son, acting not under compulsion, but self-willingly, according to your good undertakings, as one who has entered into the plans and intentions of your father. This is natural: when you love the words of God, then you talk only about them, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and it is impossible to keep them from speaking about them. But other motives must also come here, namely, thanksgiving to God and love for the brethren. The Prophet, still in repentant feelings, said: “I will teach the wicked in Your way, and wickedness will turn to You” (Ps. 50:15). Repenting, he makes a vow that not only will he always walk in the ways of God, but he will also teach others to do the same, for in multiplying the number of those who walk these paths lies the glory of God, the Founder and Pointer of those paths. If even at the time of repentance he was so inspired, will he remain silent after receiving permission and purification? One saint in humility used to say: “I have lost my way and am mired in the mud; and although I myself still remain mired in it, I shout to others: don’t come here, otherwise you will get mired just like me.” Another, in the same humility, had the custom of saying: “I am a pillar that is placed on the roads, and although I myself do not move from my place, I faithfully show the way to others.” Whether in one disposition or another, the words of God are proclaimed by the tongue out of goodwill towards one’s brethren. Having experienced in practice that sin binds, but the commandments give freedom, and, moreover, in diverse relationships, who can resist telling others where the path is and where the crossroads are? The prophet speaks with his tongue the words of God, because they are all true. If you want to live a real life, live as the commandments command, for any other life is not life. If broadcasting the words of God is a good sign, then silence about them is a bad sign, and speech contrary to them is the worst sign. Where they speak as if scientifically, but not according to God, where they talk all about empty things, and even more so about shameful and sinful things, there both those speaking and listening have obviously become alienated from the words of God; and the alien words of God are alien to God who proclaimed them; and whoever is a stranger to God and God, what is he? The Apocalypse mentions the depths of Satan (Rev. 2:24). And indeed, there are meetings that cannot be given any other name. Ps.119:173. May Thy hand be to save me, as I have willed Thy commandments. This is the same as the prophet says: “I am yours, save me.” “The commandments,” he says, “are Your will,” that is, I have no other will, no other desire, except to walk in Your commandments; they occupy all the thoughts of my mind, all the feelings of my heart and all the endeavors of my will. And since this is in me, then I am all Yours; and if it is Yours, then be pleased that Your hand will always be with me, “to save me.” What is a good sign here? - And in the very boldness to cry out to God like this, and in such a will. The latter constitutes the condition of the former. It is impossible to have boldness towards God if first a person does not wholeheartedly surrender to the commandments of God and exhaust all his strength in fulfilling them. Only in this way can the feeling of appropriating oneself to God and God to oneself be revived in him - a feeling that is secretly arising, strengthening and then forming the basis of all reverent relationships towards God. Leaning on it, the prophet says: I am not a stranger to You, Lord, but all Yours. “Let Thy hand be to save me.” Boldness towards God is a sweet feeling, but it is impossible with a bad conscience. Boldness comes before the very face of God, but a burdened conscience weighs down. It happens that even a strong bird cannot rise from the ground when its wings are covered in mud and it itself is covered in mud. She needs to shake off the dirt and wash herself; then, relieved, she will soar with her characteristic soaring. Likewise, the soul must shake off iniquities and make itself pure by introducing goodness into itself, so that, having thereby entered into the divine element characteristic of it and moving freely in it, it will be able to reach the throne of God. But even when standing before God, how can one look at His face, if somewhere inside there is hidden something that is not in accordance with His commandments: after all, everything is open before God, and the soul that appears before His face clearly recognizes this. Thus, true, unfeigned, sincere boldness towards God is a sign of great moral purity. Boldness is not contrived, but arises by itself in the heart, as a result of labor in fulfilling the commandments and the purity of heart acquired through this. Approaching God in prayer and the very act of praying is already a sign of boldness; but not everyone who prays or does prayer is already bold, just as “not everyone who says: Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven; but do the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). We pray, with hope; but boldness is the highest fruit of hope, even though it is conceived and matures together with it. And hope is real and not real. It often happens that a person thinks that he has hope, when he does not have true hope. Boldness cannot be invented: it is a state, not a separate action. It comes from the fusion of the power of God with the powers of man. He who realizes this acts authoritatively, like a son, without doubting that he will do something inappropriately, for he sees himself not acting, but in everything influenced by the power of God. The hand of God is under him, above him, around him and inside him. Feeling this and resting in the all-action of God, he surrenders himself to God: so be it, may Thy hand be with me and in me as it is; then my salvation is certain and is my undoubted destiny. Ps.119:174. I have desired Your salvation, O Lord, and Your law is my teaching. Just as before this the will of the commandments, so here the desire for the salvation of the Lord and the constant teaching in the law express one thing - ardent zeal for salvation through the faithful fulfillment of the commandments. This zeal is the driving force for a godly life according to the commandments. There is this jealousy - there is life; if there is no life, there is no life. Saint Isaac the Syrian depicts the meaning of this zeal in the economy of an active life according to God: “For every thought of a good desire, at the beginning of its movement, there follows a certain zeal, its ardor likened to fiery coals. Usually it protects this thought and does not allow any resistance, obstacle or barrier to approach it, since it acquires great strength and indescribable power to protect the soul from relaxation or from fear when all kinds of constraining circumstances are directed at it. And just as the very first thought is the power of holy desire, naturally planted in the nature of the soul, so this jealousy is a thought driven by an irritable force in the soul, given by God for our benefit, to observe the natural limit, to express the concept of our freedom by fulfilling the natural desire found in the soul. This is virtue, without which no good is produced; it is called zeal because from time to time it moves, excites, inflames and strengthens a person to neglect the flesh in sorrows and in the passionate temptations that confront him, to constantly surrender his soul to death and go to meet the apostate force for the sake of accomplishing the work that the soul strongly desired. Someone clothed in Christ in his words called such zeal a dog and a guardian of both the law of God and virtue, which is the fulfillment of the law of God. This power of jealousy is strengthened in two ways: it is awakened and ignited for the safety of the house, and also in two ways it is brought to exhaustion, drowsiness and laziness.” “The first two methods are the following: firstly, fear, which makes a person fear for the good that he has acquired or intends to acquire, lest it be stolen or destroyed by some event. When this fear is aroused in nature, then jealousy, which we call a dog, flares up day and night like a blazing furnace and awakens nature. And like a cherub, a person awakens and hourly pays attention to what is around him and, as the person mentioned above says, if a bird passes by him, he begins to move and barks with speed and unspeakable swiftness. There is another way to irritate our dog, this is when the desire for virtue grows most in the soul; for to the extent that this desire grows in the soul, to the same extent this dog, that is, natural zeal for virtue, is inflamed.” Accordingly, there are also two ways to cool jealousy. “The first is when the desire itself decreases and ceases in the soul; and the second - when some thought of confidence and courage enters the soul and takes hold in it, and a person begins to hope, think and hold on to the thought that there is no reason for him to be afraid of being harmed by any force, and therefore he lays down the instrument of jealousy, and it becomes like a house without guards: the dog falls asleep and leaves the guard for a long time” (Isaac the Syrian. Homily 32). This is the whole production of jealousy - how it arises, grows and diminishes. Go inside yourself with these indications and determine whether there is jealousy in you, and whether the ways in which it is supported are in action? If yes, then you live; if not, then you are dead or asleep. Ps.119:175. My soul will live and praise You, and Your fate will help me. This is another way of maintaining zeal and, at the same time, a sign of one who flows well - confidence, extending to the vision that the chosen path leads directly to the goal, as determined by God, indicated and protected by Him. “My soul will live,” - what confidence this word breathes! Not a shadow of hesitation. The Lord said: follow Me, according to My commandments, and you will be saved, you will receive peace and you will live forever. The man believed and went, saying within himself to the Lord: I believe, Lord, that it will be so: “My soul will live,” being still here quickened by grace as a guarantee of eternal life in You and with You. “My soul lives and will praise Thee.” He is already there with his soul - at the place of achieving the goal and, as having already found what he was looking for, he praises the Lord. It will be as You promised, Lord! I will enter into Your rest and will glorify Your name forever. But, nourishing such confidence, he does not rely on himself, but on the all-round help of God, or on the all-action of God in souls who are completely devoted to Him. “And Your fates will help me.” So God Himself promised: “I am with Him, I will destroy him, and I will glorify him... and I will show him My salvation” (Ps. 90:15–16). All this lies in the depths of the soul of someone who follows the right path and testifies to the rightness of his course from the inner side of his mood. It flows, works with all its might in undoubted hope, without, however, appropriating anything to itself and not relying on anything of its own with its trust, but resting entirely on the generosity of God. The certainty of salvation is nourished and maintained by the fact that the path of salvation was established by God, and was traversed by Himself, our Savior, in human nature. Having passed this path and remaining in glory, the Savior calls out: “Follow this path, and you will all be right there.” Who, believing this and seeing this, will be shaken by bewilderment? And they do not hesitate; everyone is confident that his soul will live if, without wandering, he follows the path he entered upon at the direction of God. But will it pass? That’s the question. It will pass if he does not rely on himself, but surrenders everything to the Lord to work within himself. Just, says the Lord, move your feet and do not rest, and I will undoubtedly bring you to the end of the road, to refuge and resting place. Presumption in the hope of salvation is destructive; and who is sure that God, who wants to save everyone, will save the one who seeks salvation, the one who does not lie down, but acts with all his might according to the instructions of God, and will save him with the message of destinies, and showing the path, and giving strength; For him, such confidence is holy and serves as a sign not only of right-handedness, but also of great success in the spirit, since it appears as a result of consistent work, considerable purification of the heart and a tangible test of God's protection and intercession. Ps.119:176. I have gone astray, like a lost sheep, seek Thy servant, for I have not forgotten Thy commandments. After such success, the signs of which are indicated before this prophet, why should we still cry: “Seek, I am a lost sheep”? “But this is what is wonderful in the matter of salvation, that the more someone succeeds in it, the more he sees himself debased and bad, so that, moving towards the better, he seems to plunge more and more into the worst and sees himself as most indecent, although he does not despair of his salvation. In the legends about the asceticism of saints about one of the greatest ascetics, it is noted that throughout his entire life he used to say about himself: “I was plunged into the mud up to my neck, and only my lips remained free to cry out: “God, have mercy on me!” Saint Anthony noted that God Himself hides prosperity from the eyes of the successful both by external humiliation of them and by allowing internal disorder, at the sight of which he cannot help but confess that I am worthless and cry out in the publican’s voice: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13.) Such a humble and self-abasing confession is the surest sign of good progress and prosperity. One of the saints remarked: look, as soon as you begin to give in to righteousness, know that you have begun to lose your way, for a sure sign of the salvation procession is humility and self-abasement. This is exactly the meaning that Saint Athanasius the Great finds in this verse: “In what, he says, has the prophet succeeded, if he again says about himself that he is a lost sheep? - In the fact that he maintained humility, according to what was said: “When you have done all that is commanded you, say, as we are unworthy servants” (Luke 17:10) What is the hope of salvation when the consciousness of lewdness is so deep among the greatest achievers? - On the consciousness that they do not forget the commandments of God. Every such person, confessing that he is worthless, at the same time falsely testifies that he knows the commandments, is aware of their complete obligation for himself and that since his conversion he has never allowed himself to consciously violate even the slightest of them. This consciousness gives courage to hope that, although he is worthless, the Most Merciful, in His mercy, will not abandon him, but will seek him out like a lost sheep, and, taking him on his frame, will bring him to the place of salvation. With this feeling of indecency in the hope of salvation in the Lord, a proper life of repentance begins, sealed by a vow of unswerving fidelity to the commandments of God. This feeling fulfills the soul throughout the life of the repentant, indicating that the current good flows. It leads to crying, as St. Isaac the Syrian describes, “first intermittent, and then continuous, lasting for years until it dries up, by God’s will, leaving behind again the same feeling of lewdness rooted and lying in the very depths of the heart of the one being saved and purified.” What, therefore, is a decent conclusion to the entire psalm that this verse constitutes? – He elevates moral perfection to the very top, indicating it, however, not in self-praise or appropriation of something to oneself, but in self-abasement and lack of vision. something worthy of yourself. The unbreakable servant, the lost sheep - these are the appeals of the true servants of God, pleasing to God and attracting His favor! Blessed Theodoret concludes the interpretation of this psalm as follows: “Having made a brief explanation of this psalm, we ask those reading not to be content with what is written and not to think that this is all that belongs to the prophet, that is, this is all that the prophet wanted to say. On the contrary, let everyone extract what is actually good for him and let him prepare for himself a protective cure for his own ailments.” Blessed Augustine also writes something similar to this. “With all my strength and how much the Lord helped me, I interpreted this great psalm. The wisest and most learned of me, of course, have already done this better or will do it, but this should not have freed me from serving this cause as much as I could, and especially when my brothers strongly urged me to do so.” If they could conclude their interpretation with such words, then all the more useful it is for me. Please excuse the repeated repetitions of the same thoughts. No matter how much one wanted, it was impossible to avoid this, because due to the length of time, what was written before was naturally forgotten and, with a new start to the matter, the old seemed new. It also happened that another thought was abandoned because it seemed as if it had already been stated more than once, and therefore was replaced by another, which seemed new, whereas in fact that one was, perhaps, new, and this one was old. I take comfort in the fact that those who love the truth will not get bored with such repetition, because it gives what is kind and what is pleasant, just as it is pleasant to meet a friend, no matter how many times it happens. Let me add to this: all one hundred and seventy-six verses speak about the commandments of God and our attitude towards them, and they speak clearly. There is almost not a single verse, the understanding of which would be difficult and require special explanations. Therefore, all concern was not focused on this, but on how the moral matter indicated by the verse stands in the chain of moral deeds and phenomena. The meaning of the letters was taken into guidance on how to indicate exactly that side of the matter. It gave a thought, onto which then, like a thread, all the thoughts contained in all the verses beginning with the same letter were attached. As soon as a thought appeared that ran through all the verses, further interpretation no longer presented much difficulty. To the question: yes, that’s it, is this how we should look at everything? - I will answer that it cannot be said that every verse “should” be understood necessarily as I have stated it; but that “can” be understood in this way by each of them, I dare to hope that no one will deny. Anyone who has to read this entire interpretation in a row cannot help but notice the unevenness in the tone of speech, in the degree of vividness of thought and feeling. I beg your indulgence, I am a changeable man. Moreover, the matter was not done at once. There are so many techniques, so many different moods that naturally found their way into the word.