HOMILY 31
HOMILY 31
ON PSALM 104 (105)
(tB IVE THANKS to the Lord, invoke his name'; give thanks , to Him and say: we, indeed, are sinners but You are merciful, have pity on us. 'Invoke his name.' There will be no setting up of idols in our hearts, but we shall call upon the Lord and He Himself will be our redemption.
'Make known among the nations his deeds.' Shame on the Jews who say that His miracles and works were performed only in Israel.
'Sing to him, sing his praise: He who understands the Sacred Scriptures, who meditates constantly on the law of the Lord, and contemplates the things of heaven, he is the one who sings to God. He, moreover, who possesses all virtue and is skilled in good works, fashions, as it were, a harp of virtues and sings praise to the Lord. 'Proclaim all his wondrous deeds: Psalm 106 says: 'They who sailed the sea in ships, trading on the deep waters, these saw the works of the Lord and his wonders in the abyss:l 1£ in our bodily ship we shall sail through life unimpaired, and never a storm founder us nor dash us against a rock and shatter our ship into pieces, we shall be able to proclaim the wondrous works of God. And truly a grand miracle it is to sail through this world without a blemish.
'Glory in his holy name: This is a prophecy concerning the Gentiles: that we are to be and to be called Christians from the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. 'Rejoice, 0 hearts that seek the LordI' Let monks rejoice, for hearts that seek
1 Ps. ]06.23,24.
HOMILY 31
the Lord rejoice. If the hearts of those who seek the Lord are full of joy, how much more the hearts of those who find
Him? They, indeed, who find Him never let Him go.
'Look to the Lord in his strength.' Before we sought the Lord, we were weak and inconstant; now that our hearts are set on Him, we are strong and brave; if we find Him, how much greater, then, will our perfection be? 'Seek to serve him constantly.' The Hebrews were required to appear before the Lord2 three times a year. What justice was that? What was there so extraordinary in appearing before God three time a year? In Exodus, the Sacred Scripture was speaking to little ones; here, however, the prophet is urging those who believe in God to seek Him always, as the New Testament bids us that we prayS without ceasing.
'Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,' in Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the desert.
'You descendants of Abraham, his servants, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!' If anyone is a descendant but not yet a son, may he heed the message of the Gospel: 'If you are the children of Abraham, do the works of your father.'4 They, therefore, who are full of pride, are not sons; and if they are descendants, they are servants constituted under the law of fear, not having perfect love which casts out fear.5 We are sons of Jacob, of him who supplanted his brother and carried off his birthright: 'for many are called, but few are
'Wandering from nation to nation.' There are many who think that this refers to the captivity of the Jews. That is not so, however, for the psalmist is speaking of Abraham, that he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans and went into Meso· potamia; from there he went into the promised land, and then into Egypt. 'And from one kingdom to another people.'
2 Exod.23.17.
3 1 Thess. 5.17; d. Luke 18.1.
4 Cf. John 8.39.
5 1 John 4.18.
6 Matt. 20.16.
SAINT JEROME
We pass through many realms in order to reach the land of promise.
'He let no man oppress them'; He did not permit Pharao to harm Abraham in Sara nor Abimelech to harm Isaac in Rebecca. 'And for their sake he rebuked kings.' This, likewise, refers both to Pharao and to Abimelech. 'Touch not my anointed, and to my prophets do no harm.' The psalmist is speaking of the patriarchs themselves. Shame on the Jews, therefore, who say that unless one is anointed with the royal unguent, he cannot be called 'the anointed.' They say that our Lord is not the Christ because He was not anointed with the kingly ointments, but before the law, the patriarchs had not been anointed with royal unguent, yet are called 'the anointed.'7 The anointed, moreover, are those whom the Holy Spirit anoints; hence, our Lord is justly called the Christ. This they deny and in so doing go counter to the Sacred Scriptures.
'When he called down a famine on the land.' It often happens that what seem to be contradictions take place for the best in the providence of God. If Joseph's brothers had not been jealous of him and sold him, how was he to go down into Egypt? If there had been no famine, how were the patriarchs to go into Egypt and there be recognized by their brother? How was Pharao to be struck by the ten plagues?
How were the chosen people to go out from Egypt; how was water to be struck from a rock in the desert; how were the mysteries to come to pass that were performed in the desert in type? We, of course, understand all this in its spiritual signification. If Judas had not betrayed the Lord, how were we to be saved? If the Jews had not crucified Him and been incredulous, how were we to believe? So it was that Joseph went into Egypt to prepare hospitality and food for his brothers. 'He sent a man before them.' This speaks of Joseph
7 Cf. Commentary on Habacuc 3.13. PL 25.1325 (654); Commentarioli in ps. 104.15.
HOMILY 31
himself. 'Joseph, sold as a slave.' A man, a holy man and well born, is sold.
'They had weighed him down with fetters': because he would not consent to the seductions of the Egyptian woman.
'They had weighed him down with fetters,' but they could not crush justice. When he was sixteen years old, a woman fell in love with him and, although he was at the age that easily surrenders to passion, he refused to yield to evil, for he feared more the danger to his soul. 'The iron pierced his soul.'S These were the iron chains of sin that kill the soul; or the versicle may mean that he was in danger, accused of a terrible sin by the wife of his master. The woman was all aflame for him, just as it is written: 'They are all adulterers, with hearts like ovens.'9 'Till his word came,'l0 the Word of the Lord Himself who delivered him.
'And the word of the Lord inflamed him.'ll If he had not been inflamed by the Holy Spirit, he could not have con· quered lust. The Spirit of the Lord enkindled him and burned out the fire of lust. 'The king sent and released him.'
Historically, it was Pharao who sent and released him; by another interpretation, however, anyone tempted by wanton desire cannot escape sin unless the Lord appear and release him.
'And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.' The just man is never a permanent dweller upon earth, but only a pilgrim.
'He greatly increased his people.' About seventy-five souls went down into Egypt, and six hundred came out from Egypt.
8 Cf. Ps. 104 (105).18.
9 Cf. Osee 7.4, 6, LXX.
10 Cf. Ps. 104 (105).19.
11 Ibid.