Chapter 114

This psalm depicts the feat of those going through the gospel life, their victory according to God and the future crown for their labors. Ps.114:1. I love that the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer. Whom did you love? Lord God with all my heart, with all my mind and with all my strength. And as a reward for love, he “accepted” what he heard. Ps.114:2. And in my days I will call. On what days, if not on the days of heroism, when his soul was in poverty? Ps.114:3. Explaining mortal illnesses to me. He describes the excessiveness of the sorrows that befell him for his piety, which he calls “mortal illnesses, hellish troubles, sorrow and illness.” He says that by the calling of God he overcame them. Why did he say at the beginning: “I will love that the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer.” Ps.114:4. O Lord, deliver my soul. Above, having said in general: “in my days I called,” shows what his calling consisted of. What exactly? Is it not this: “O Lord, deliver my soul?” He said this, knowing that the merciful Lord would hear him. Ps.114:5. And our God has mercy. Mercy is a movement of the spirit, aroused by compassion for the downtrodden. So, since we, having lost our stay in paradise, have become inglorious from being glorious, then God, seeing what we were and what we have become, has mercy on us. For the voice of mercy cried to Adam: “Where are you” (Gen. 3:9)? showing those from where and where he fell. Ps.114:6. God bless the babies. “Children” he calls those reborn in Christ by the Holy Spirit. The Lord Himself protects the children who are valid, according to the commandment of Jesus, because they turned and became “like children” (Matthew 18:3), not allowing their enemies to attack them, because the time for achievement has not yet come for them. But even in a simple sense, the Lord keeps babies in their mother’s womb, in a place that is cramped and filled with moisture, not allowing them to move or breathe. The Lord does not allow them to suffocate, giving them movement and food, and also does not allow them to die from the cold, when the warmth of their mother’s loins emanates into air that is unfamiliar to them. Or another way: since I humbled myself like a baby and accepted the Kingdom of Heaven like a child, “God bless the little ones” saved me. Or in other words: those who are infants according to the commandment of Jesus, that is, those who are converted and become like children, are preserved by the Lord himself, keeping them from experiencing temptations, because the time of achievement has not yet come for them. And I surpassed the children in age, but the Lord, having humbled me with great deeds, kept me insurmountable. Ps.115:7. Turn my soul to your peace. He calls the heavenly abodes his “peace,” which he receives as reward for his deeds. And also peace of soul is abstinence from sins. Ps.114:8. As if my soul was taken away from death. Means death of sin. Fearing to be plunged into it, he did not stop shedding tears, asking him to avoid this death. And therefore his “noze”, that is, his spiritual ascents, became established in standing according to God, becoming above any inclination. And he calls the heavenly Jerusalem “the land of the living” (Ps. 114:8), in which those who strive for God, as valiant victors, will hear: “Good, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). You might be interested in: