HOMILY 55
HOMILY 55
ON PSALM 145 (146)
II..
RAISE THE LORD, 0 my soul.' The title of this psalm is: fiEi3 'Of Aggai and Zacharia.'l In the first place, we should
.... know that this title is not found in the Hebrew text, but in the Septuagint translation. We should say a word, however, about the superscription, 'Of Aggai and Zacharia,' that appears in the popular edition. Because the restoration of Jerusalem is implied in the verse: 'The Lord shall reign forever; your God, 0 Sion, unto generation and generation,'2 some exegetes are of the opinion that the psalm refers to the restoration of Jerusalem that took place under Aggai and Zacharia.
'Praise the Lord, 0 my soul.' The psalmist did not say, 'Praise, 0 my body,' but 'Praise, 0 my soul,' because he condemned the body, but because he censured the works of the flesh.s 'Praise the Lord, 0 my soul.' The soul is earnestly encouraging itself, just as if David were to say: Praise the Lord, o David, even so the soul says: Praise the Lord, 0 my soul.
'I will praise the Lord in my life.'4 Notice that the soul is urging itself strongly and responds to its own exhortation.
What does it say? It says to me: 0 my soul, praise the Lord.
I answer: I will praise the Lord in my life. In my present state, I cannot give praise; I am oppressed with sins. Whenever I attempt to open my lips to praise God, the consciousness of my sins seals them shut. 'I will praise the Lord in my
1 Cf. Ps. 145 (146).1. LXX.
2 Cf. Ps. 145 (146).10.
3 Cf. Homily 54 on Ps. 143, p. 380.
4 Cf. Ps. 145 (146).2.
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life.' Rightly did the psalmist say, 'I will praise,' and not, 'I praise: When I shall be with my Lord, then, I will praise
Him in my life. Now I am in death, I cannot utter praises.
In my life, I will praise. Our life is Christ; let us praise the Lord in life. 'I will sing praise to my God while I live.' Just realize what that means: when we perform deeds of justice, we are alive; when we sin, we cease to be. There is much we could say, but our sermon must hurry along.
'Put not your trust in princes, in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation.'5 To everyone in general the prophet says: PUt not your trust in princes, not in emperors, not in governors, not in judges of this world. Do not trust in princes. Who are princes? The sons of men. Who are sons of men? Those for whom there is no salvation.
'When his spirit departs he returns to his earth.' When he has returned to his earth, what happens? 'On that day his plans perish'; all the self-reliance of princes vanishes; all their plans perish. Do not trust in princes. Many have put their trust in a prince. Today, he is; tomorrow, he is no more.6
Today, an army marches before him; tonight, he lies in his grave. After so much power, so much splendor, no time intervenes; in but a moment, Christ does His work. 'In the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation.' Who are princes?
Sons of men. If men themselves are nothing, what are their sons? 'When his spirit departs.' Whose? Man's. 'When his spirit departs.' The psalmist used 'spirit' here for 'soul.'
'Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.'7 When his spirit departs he returns to his earth; not that the spirit returns to earth, for the spirit is not of earth; the spirit takes flight, and man returns to his dust. On that day, all his plans perish. We ourselves, who are not princes, how much we plan today and say: 'I shall do it tomorrow; I will pull down my barns, and build them up again tomorrow.' To me the 5 Cf. Ps. 145 (146).3.
6 Commentarioli in ps. 145.2, 3.
7 Luke 23.46.
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words apply: 'Thou fool, this night do they demand thy soul of thee; and the things thou hast provided, whose will they be?,g This is said of those who set their hopes in princes.
What does it say of the saint?
'Happy he whose help is the God of Jacob.' 'Some are strong in chariots; and some in horses; but we call upon the name of the Lord, our God.'9 They have many more helpers; still they are but princes; they are but men; they fall to their destruction. We have one helper and He has the power to save. 'Whose hope is in the Lord, his God.'
Let us turn our thoughts to the three boys in the fiery furnace in Babylonia, and listen to what they say when
N abuchodonosor summons them before him and compels them to worship Bel. What is their answer to Nabuchodon(). sor? 'King, there is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If our God whom we serve can save us from the white-hot furnace, may he save us! But even if he will not, know, 0 king, that we will not worship the statue which you set Up.'lO Look at their faith! We believe, it says, that He is able to save us; but if perchance our sins prevent
Him, we still believe in Him who wills not to deliver us. We do not believe in this life, but in the future life; nor do we believe in Him in order to escape burning here, but in order to escape passing from this fire into another fire. Go ahead, then, prepare your furnace; this heat, this fire, is our purgation. Happy he whose help is the God of Jacob! Do not miss the significance of the words, 'whose help.' 'And because of their unbelief, he did not work many miracles there.'n God is our helper. While we labor with determination, He delivers us and works together with us; when we are slothful, supine, irresolute, He does not set us free.
'Whose hope is in the Lord, his God.' Felicitous word, 'hope'; even if He does not liberate us in the present, not8 Luke 12.20; cf. Letter 127.11, PL 22.1094 (959).
9 Cf. Ps. 19.8.
10 Cf. Dan. 3.16-18.
II Matt. 13.58.
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withstanding, there is hope for the future.
'Who made heaven and earth.' He is the God who made heaven and earth, 'The sea, and all that: is in them.' In comparison to heaven and earth and the sea, we men in our creaturehood are as the ant or the flea. Does it stand to reason that He who created heaven and earth does not have the power to save man whom He made?
'Who keeps truth forever.'12 If we are crushed by falsehood and deceit, let us not grieve over it; the Lord is the guardian of truth for all eternity. Someone has lied against us, and the liar is given more credence than we who are telling the truth. We must not despair; the Lord keeps faith forever.
Aptly said, 'keeps.' He keeps truth and keeps it in His own treasury; He pays back to us what He has stored away for us. 'Who keeps truth forever.' Christ is truth; let us speak truth, and Truth will safeguard truth for us. 'Secures justice for the oppressed.' Even if justice delays its coming, do not give up hope; 'it will surely come,'13 and bring salvation.
'Secures justice for the oppressed.' May our conscience testify only that we are suffering unjustly. May we be always conscious that we are not suffering on account of our sins and that we are not guilty of the charge brought against us.
'Gives food to the hungry.' Here is instruction in the very letter of the words; even in their simplest sense they edify the listener. 'Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow, or reap; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.'14 'Gives food to the hungry: to the hungry, not to the belching. Let, then, the monk who does not have food receive it with confidence; he who is filled to eructation should not take any. You know that you are hungry, that you have no food; if you hunger and are in want and someone should give you food, by taking it you are rendering a greater kindness than that bestowed upon you. If, however, you have food and are not hungry,
12 Cf. Ps. 145 (146).6.
13 Cf. Hab. 2.3.
14 Cf. Matt. 6.26.
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you ought not take it from the hungering for the sake of your own satiety. Take what you need and not anything to save; take a garment to cover your body, not to put away.
'Gives food to the hungry: So much for the literal interpretation.
Now let us consider another meaning. Let us hunger for Christ, and He will give us heavenly bread: 'Give us this day our daily bread:15 They who pray thus are hungering; it is they who long for this Bread. He who prays: Give us this day our daily bread, surely prays in hunger. 'Gives food to the hungry: Someone is of the opinion that the prophet is referring to the heavenly Bread of the Sacrament. We, indeed, accept such exegesis, for it is truly the Body of Christ and truly the Blood of Christ. Let us, however, push the interpretation a little further. The Bread of Christ and His
Body is divine utterance and heavenly doctrine. Now whoever receives this bread and receives it with abundance, what happens to him?
'The Lord sets captives free.' If this bread, the divine word and heavenly doctrine, refreshes our soul, it releases our feet immediately from their shackles. 'The Lord sets captives free: Lazarus had been in bonds, and the Lord said: 'Unbind him:16
The Lord unbinds the fettered. The daughter of Abraham for eighteen years suffered the fetters of a bent back;
He loosed her from her bonds and she looked straight up at the heavens. Note the Gospel: 'Behold, there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent over and utterly unable to look upwards:17
Because she had an infirmity caused by a spirit, she was unable to lift up her head. sets captives free: Works also are shackles, since, indeed, the same sins that bend down our necks bind also our feet. The man that is fettered cannot run in the stadium of Christ, for his feet are weighted down
15 Matt. 6.11.
16 John 11.44.
17 Luke 13.11; d. Letter 147.9, PL 22.1202 (1092).
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with shackles that pin him to the ground; fetters fasten us to earth. 'The Lord sets captives free: Note the order. He gives food to the hungry: first, we hunger; next, we receive food. When He has assuaged our hunger, He unshackles our feet. When we begin to walk with freedom, what follows?
'The Lord gives sight to the blind: Mark that if the psalmist were speaking of the organically blind, he would have said: The Lord gives sight to the blind. That, however, is not what he actually said. According to the Hebrew and Greek truth, what did he say? 'The Lord makes the blind wise.'18 1£ he were speaking of the eyes of the body, he would have said: The Lord gives sight to the blind; in fact, his words were: The Lord makes the blind wise. '1£ you were blind,' the Lord says, 'you would not have sin:19 Our heart grows blind from the darkness of sins. Foolishness and stupidity are the darkness of our eyes. When, therefore, we have been refreshed in our hunger, and our feet have been released from their fetters, then, with the eye of our heart, we begin to see the light that we had at sometime lost, and we grow in wisdom. When, finally, we have become truly wise, what follows?
'The Lord raises up those that were bowed down: Even if you are lying prostrate, be at peace; the Lord is reaching out
His hand. 'The Lord loves the just: I see two points for consideration here: He loves and He protects. He who loves, loves, as it were, his own; he who protects, protects one who is in danger. 'The Lord loves the just: The just and perfect man the Lord loves, but He watches over the stranger who has not entered the service of the Lord.
'The Lord protects strangers; the fatherless and the widow he sustains: This verse, even in its literal sense, is profitable for meditation. He sustains the fatherless and the widow. o martyr, you who are a prisoner and are pouring out your blood for Me, do not be anxious for your children, for your
18 Cf. Commentary on lsaia 54.15, PL 24.527 (641).
19 John 9.41.
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wife; they have Me in your place. Now, for its spiritual message. He sustains the fatherless and the widow: the fatherless, who lost God the Father through sin; the widow, the soul that has lost Christ, its Spouse. Note that the psalm did not say He protects, He saves the fatherless and the widow; but He sustains them, if the soul returns to the Father, if it comes back to the Spouse.
'But the way of the wicked he will destroy.'2o The prophet did not say He will destroy sinners. This is in agreement with the words of the first psalm: 'The way of the wicked vanishes.'21 If Christ is the way of the just, the way of the wicked is the devil, but the way of the wicked He will destroy. The way, then, of all the wicked is the devil; him He will destroy, but He will preserve us who were walking in the midst of that way but now do so no longer.
'The Lord shall reign forever.' When the way of sinners shall vanish, then, the Lord will reign forever. The prophet did not say, He will reign in the present world, but forever.
As long as the way does not vanish, Christ does not reign in us; as long as the way of the wicked does not vanish, Christ does not reign in us. As long as our feet walk in the path of the devil, Christ does not reign in us. I give way to anger against my brother without cause,22 I am walking in the way of the devil; Christ does not reign in me. I malign the reputation of my brother; I am going the way of the devil;
Christ does not reign in me. In whatever kind of sin I walk, I am walking the devil's way and Christ is not reigning in me.
My mind is vain and preoccupied with distractions of all sorts. I am in one place and my mind is wandering all over the world. It hunts for angels; it settles on kings; it captures an army; it embraces the world; of one monk, however, it does not take hold.
Why am I saying this? For the benefit of those who wander 20 Cf. Ps. 145 (146).9.
21 Ps. 1.6; d. Commentarioli in ps. 145.9.
22 Cf. Against the Pelagians 2.5, PL 23.565 (747).
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over the whole world and cannot settle down in one place.
'Your God, 0 Sion, from generation to generation.'2:; 'Your God, 0 Sion.' We have frequently mentioned that usually
Sion typifies a watchtower, or the Church, or a soul contemplating God. 'Your God, 0 Sion, from generation to generation': in the first generation, of the Jews; in the second, of the Gentiles. In all of Holy Writ, and in all of the psalms, generation unto generation symbolizes two peoples. We may, however, express the verse differently: Your God will reign forever, 0 Sian, in this generation and in the generation to come. May Christ reign in us. 'Do not let sin reign in your mortal body.'24 'The king's heart is in the hand of God.'25
May we be kings; may we govern our body and bring it into subjection, and may our heart be in the hand of Christ. To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
23 Cf. Ps. 145 (146).10.
24 Rom. 6.12.
25 Cf. Provo 21.1.