And he added: Forget, he said, our poverty and our tribulation. About what poverty does the holy Prophet say that it has come into forgetfulness of God? Or what is this poverty, over which our God and Lord complains that it has fallen out of memory? This poverty is not idle; unless perhaps it has what it is accustomed to have, a protector God and a rewarder. For if there is a poverty for which the kingdom of heaven is open, rightly do they consider that their poverty has fallen out of divine senses, who wept over their humiliated soul in the dust, and said that their belly clings to the earth. But those who cling to the earth, seem to be deprived of divine protection. So, listen to what this poverty is: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). Therefore, if blessed poverty is the one that opens up heaven, let us neglect these earthly riches and avoid material excess. Let us follow in the footsteps of the apostles, before whose feet each person would contribute from the price of their own land, so that it would be distributed to the poor. Therefore, these holy men had begun to practice this evangelical poverty long before; and that is why they said: You will forget our poverty. This is similar to that apostolic saying: Behold, we have left everything and followed you (Matthew 19:27). Poverty, therefore, is a good thing that comes from piety and is embraced through the exercise of virtues.
They lament not only their poverty but also their tribulation having come into oblivion of God. Good are the tribulations that are proper to the righteous, who endure them not for their own merits but for piety's sake: in which the righteous is not worn down but enlarged, as the holy Prophet declares, saying: In tribulation thou hast enlarged me (Psalm 4:2). And the Lord Jesus Himself says: In my distress I called upon the Lord, and He heard me and brought me into a large place (Psalm 118:5). He enlarged the holy apostle Paul when He took away the light of his eyes; for in this way he confessed Christ, whom he had previously denied. Therefore, he deserved to be a vessel of election. Finally, so that you may know that the Lord Jesus enlarged Paul, listen to the Apostle himself saying: 'Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians, our heart is enlarged' (2 Corinthians 6:11). Therefore, open your mouth, confess Christ; for He is fullness: where there is fullness, there is also width. And like a good teacher who would wish to have equal disciples, he also encouraged us to expand, saying: Expand yourselves also (II Cor. VI, 13).
But when God expands somewhere in tribulation; then the breadth of the heart will become like the innumerable sand of the sea. What is this breadth? Listen to the holy Solomon saying: I wished, and understanding was given to me; and I called upon, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me (Wisdom 7:7). For in order to receive wisdom from God, he asked not for riches, nor nobility, nor power; but he asked for wisdom, and in that he found all that he did not even ask for. Where the Scripture says that such was the breadth of his heart, as the innumerable sand of the sea (3 Kings 4:29). Hence, to perceive this breadth, he says, knowing about himself: In the breadth of your heart, describe it (Proverbs 7:3). And therefore, let the one who has wisdom not hold it in secret, not for a moment; but let him proclaim it with authority, everywhere that he feels it.
However, Symmachus regarded affliction as tribulation. Whether it be affliction or tribulation, it is necessary for us to remain in the Lord and not depart from Him; for with the Lord as our leader and helper, we can endure any struggle courageously. But if we neglect the Lord and distance ourselves from Him, we create a stronger adversary for ourselves.
On Psalm 46
Preface
(Verse 1.) The title of this psalm is inscribed as follows: To the end, for the sons of Korah, for hidden things, a psalm of David himself. What does 'for hidden things' mean? It means that David had knowledge of hidden things through the revelation of the Lord Jesus, as the holy Prophet also mentions in the fiftieth psalm, saying: 'You have revealed to me the uncertain and hidden things of your wisdom' (Psalm 50:8). But what these hidden things are, we learn in the holy Gospel, where the Son of God says that the mysteries of wisdom are hidden from the wise and revealed to the little ones (Matthew 11:25). These are those things, if I am not mistaken, which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have they entered into the heart of man: which the Lord has prepared for those who love Him. Therefore, let us hide the secrets of wisdom in the hidden depths of our hearts, and not disclose them rashly to anyone; unless it be to companions of the sacraments, whom the Lord has called to his grace, for he desires to be sought in secret; for he alone knows the hidden and secret things.
Finally, the Lord Jesus himself wanted to go up the mountain to receive the Law, only with Moses, but not without Jesus. He also revealed the glory of his resurrection to Peter, John, and James alone out of the whole number of disciples (Matthew 17:1). Thus, he wanted his hidden mystery to be a secret, and he frequently warned them not to easily announce what they had seen so that no weaker person would encounter a stumbling block and would not be able to draw the power of the sacraments with a wavering mind. Finally, Peter himself did not know what to say, who believed that three tabernacles should be made for the Lord and his servants. Then he could not endure the brightness of the glory of the transfiguring Lord: but he fell to the ground, James and John the sons of thunder fell, and a cloud covered them; and they could not rise until Jesus came, touched them, and commanded them to rise and to cast away fear. Therefore, they entered into the cloud, so that they might know hidden and secret things; and there they heard the voice of God saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: him, listen to. What is this, This is my beloved son? This is, do not be mistaken, Simon, that you think the Son of God is to be compared to the servants: This is my Son; not the son of Moses, not the son of Elijah; although the one opened the sea, the other closed the sky. For in the word of the Lord, both have overcome the nature of the elements: but they provided a ministry, he is the one who solidified the waters, closed the sky with dryness, and when he wanted to, he turned it into rain. Where the testimony of the resurrection is accepted, the ministries of the servants are present; where the glory of the risen Lord is shown, the splendor is hidden from the servants. For the rising sun covers the very spheres of the stars, and all their lights disappear beneath the worldly sun. So how could the carnal stars be seen under the eternal sun of righteousness and that divine radiance? Where, then, are those lights that were shining before your eyes with a certain miracle? Darkness is all things in comparison to eternal light. Others hasten to please God in their ministries: He alone is the true and eternal light, in whom the Father is pleased, or in whom it is pleasing to me; may whatever He has done be mine, and may whatever I have done be considered the work of the Son. Hear Himself saying: I and the Father are one (John X, 30). He did not say: I and Moses are one. He did not say that He and Elijah have any share in divine glory. What three tabernacles do you prepare? This tabernacle does not have its place on earth, but in heaven. The apostles heard and fell down in fear and confusion. The Lord came and lifted them up, and commanded them not to tell anyone what they had seen.
Therefore, keep your secrets hidden for this person to whom David entrusted his secrets, saying: Cleanse me, O Lord, from my hidden sins (Psalm XVIII, 13). The receptacles in which the hidden mysteries of piety are found must be cleansed. And therefore, it is said to you: Drink water from your vessels and from the fountains of your wells... and let your waters overflow in the streets, so that you may be cleansed by a flowing fountain (Proverbs V, 15 and 16). Therefore, it is said to you: Let your wine vats overflow (Proverbs III, 10). Therefore it is said: In tribulation you have called upon me, and I have delivered you; I have heard you in the hidden tempest: I have tested you at the water of contradiction (Psalm 80:8). For there is a certain fierce storm within the hearts in times of trouble, when there are external battles and internal fears. The water of contradiction is when our thoughts fluctuate like the heat of a bitter salt, and they are not calmed by any stable definition in the depths of our minds. Then the storm in secret, then the water of contradiction, which can only be calmed by the word of Christ, by which he forgives our sins, as he himself deigned to say: 'Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you' (John 15:3). Speak, Lord Jesus: your word is medicine, your word is light, your word is the cleansing of our pollution, your word is a fountain. You speak, and guilt is washed away.
And because the word of God is spoken of in reference to the hiddenness of the storm and the water of contradiction, everything has been done for us. He became flesh in order to preserve flesh; he became water in order to temper the water of contradiction with his grace and remove the bitterness of impiety. And so it is written: The word is high, deep in the heart of man (Prov. 20:5). Somewhere there is a word, elsewhere there is again counsel; for there is good counsel where there is the word of God, which is good. And that is why the Law says to you: Pay attention to yourself, lest an evil word be in your heart (Deut. XV, 9); and Jesus says: Why do you think evil things in your hearts (Matth. IX, 4)? For God sent His Word to heal man, not to destroy him. This Word is medicine, not punishment. Let this Word be in your heart and on your lips: let this Word be in secret where the devil lies in wait: let the Word enter, let the devil exit. For if the devil creeps in, Christ withdraws; just as He withdrew from Judas after the devil immersed himself in his heart. And so you should say: Cleanse me, Lord, from my hidden sins, lest the devil lie in wait in hidden places, like a lion in its den. But if you faithfully and piously keep Christ's secrets, the devil will not find a place to ambush. Therefore, in the ninth psalm, David, writing about the secret sacraments of the Lord, which are the conversion of sinners, the calling of the Gentiles, the kingdom of God, the preparation of the heart, the judgment of the poor, and the nourishment of the needy, says that the adversary must be exterminated from the secrets and hidden places of your heart, so that he does not sit in secret with the desire to kill the innocent. Therefore, it is said to you: Enter into your room, and with the door closed, pray to your Father in secret (Matt. VI, 6). Let your prayer descend there, where the one who searches the hidden things may hear it: there let him find your patience, either for the purpose of concealing an offense or avoiding boasting; for a wise man conceals his own offense. There is the hiding place of wisdom; for he has set darkness as his hiding place (Psalm XVII, 12). The wicked shall seek me, and shall not find me (Prov. I, 28).
Therefore Abraham dug a well, so that he could find water: therefore Isaac dug a well: therefore the Lord Jesus sat at the well; and there was the well of Jacob. He sat at the well, so that you might seek. There is a well where Christ is. The well is for those who seek the overflowing water; through which all the sins of the flesh may be washed away or the fires extinguished. Therefore, this is the height of the wisdom and knowledge of God; that the evil may not find it, the good may seek it, and they may engage in the pursuit and meditation of acquiring it. Do you want to know how true it is? Listen to the words of wisdom itself: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you (Luke XI, 9). Therefore, knock on the door; for Christ is the door: knock on the door of the Word; so that the mystery of Christ may be opened to you for speaking, and hidden treasures of wisdom in Christ may be found. In Him is our wisdom, in Him our life is hidden; as Paul affirms (Colossians III, 3), who was caught up to the third heaven to hear what is not permitted for a man to speak. How much hidden knowledge there is! It is allowed for a man to know, but not to speak. To know is life, to speak is death.
Therefore, the knowledgeable ones understand that the purpose of hidden things, which is called σκοπὸς in Greek, is this: so that even the unworthy may not grasp the discipline of wisdom, and those who desire it may strive to attain the knowledge of divine sacraments through the merits of life and faith, and they sweat through daily exercises in order to merit the fruit of their intention. Let us read the ninth psalm and the forty-fifth more carefully, so that we may comprehend the hidden wisdom in faithful understanding. For they alone have surpassed others in regards to hidden matters. But now we worship the psalm.
Commentary
Our God is our refuge and strength. What does 'our' mean? It means the ones who believe in you. Similarly in another place: O Lord, you have become our refuge (Psalm 89:1). To us, the ones who believe, not the unbelievers; to us, the ones who seek, not those who flee from the truth. For only someone who puts their hope for salvation in the protection of God alone can say this. Therefore, you have become our refuge, our refuge and strength, who we are from the peoples of the nations. The Jews rejected you, the Jews received you not; and for this reason you turned to the Gentiles, you called us, and became our refuge, and you are our strength. Do you want to know what has been said about us who are from the Gentiles? The cross of the Lord is an offense to the Jews, foolishness to the Greeks; but to us, it is the power and wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). And further: But by him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God (ibid., 30). Certainly, Paul did not speak about the Jews or the Gentiles, but about those who were converted to the Lord Jesus and preached the author of their salvation. So, have you taken refuge in Christ? Do not abandon the foundation, do not forsake your confirmer; so that he who has received you may himself protect you, and as a faithful merchant of our souls, recognize his own reward.
(Verse 2.) Helper in tribulations which have found us too much. He responded very well to both, so that in the tribulations which have found us too much, and helper too much can be understood. For as much as greater the tribulations may be, so much greater and more intense aids are necessary for us. And therefore, it often happens that in more serious and harsh battles we are crowned: because through more frequent tears, groans, and prayers, we obtain the eternal help of divinity.
(Verse 3.) From which it happens that we do not fear, when our land is troubled and mountains are moved; for if God is for us, who can be against us? We cannot fear the weaknesses of this flesh, which is broken by fear and dread, inflamed by desires, softened by indulgence, weakened by pleasures, vaporized by fevers, tormented by pain, and exhausted by afflictions. Or when those mountains are moved into the heart of the sea, of which the Savior said: If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will not only do what is done to the fig tree; but even if you say to this mountain: Be lifted up and thrown into the sea; it will be nothing impossible for you (Matthew 21:21). This mountain sent itself into the heart of Judah, and it troubled his mind with a heavy storm, agitating it with various waves of passions. For just as the soul is compared to the fertility of the land, abundant in good works and the fruits of devotion and faith, like the scent of Jacob, like the scent of a full field; so too is his soul portrayed by the turbulence of the stormy sea, which cannot be at peace and is stirred up by bitter thoughts. Finally, even with his kiss, the Lord Jesus did not temper the bitterness of Judas the betrayer. The traitor received a kiss, poured out poison, inflicted death: whose sting indeed Christ blunted, but the traitor alone did not escape. And to make this kind of mountain manifest to us, also elsewhere when he had commanded a demon to come out of a man, and the apostles asked why they themselves could not cast it out, he said: This kind cannot be driven out except by prayer and fasting (Matthew 17:20). And he added: If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,’ and it will move, hand-signifying which mountain that would be, which perfect faith could transfer. For perfect faith is compared to a grain of mustard seed, as the Apostle says: If I have all faith, so that I could move mountains, but do not have charity, it profits me nothing (I Cor. XIII, 2).
(Verse 4.) There are also those who distinguish it thus: And the mountains are moved; so that it follows: The waters sounded in the recesses of the sea, and its waters were troubled: the mountains were troubled by its strength. Not good are the waters that sound, and are troubled, and cannot give drink. Better are those that pass through; as it is written: The waters shall pass through the midst of the mountains, and all the beasts of the field shall drink thereof: the wild asses shall expect in their thirst (Psalm 103:10-11). Finally, when the legion of demons requested and received the power to enter into pigs, with great force it threw itself into the sea (Luke 8:32): and those waters of its flock were disturbed by their precipitous descent. Elsewhere also the same prophet David has thus written: The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and were afraid (Psalm 76:17); that is, the good virtues, which are peaceful with the knowledge of the heavenly Word, are not terrible with noise and tumult. But what does it say about wicked virtues? And the depths are troubled, a multitude of the sound of waters (Ibid., 17 and 18). The depths do not see God, and therefore they are always subject to disturbances. And it explained what the depths are. A multitude, it says, of the sound of waters. For even that beast, the Antichrist, ascended from the depths, in order to fight against Elijah and Enoch, and John, who were sent to the earth for the testimony of the Lord Jesus, as we read in the Apocalypse of John: to whom was given a mouth speaking great things, so that it might sound forth against God full of the blasphemies and sacrileges of fury (Apoc. XIII, 5 and following).
Therefore, the waters rumbled, that is, the unclean spirits, when they were disturbed, seeing the works of God, fearing judgment as the approach of the coming of the Lord of salvation. The waters also rumbled and were disturbed in the passion of the Lord. Therefore it is said: Why do the nations rage, and the peoples meditate on vain things (Ps. II, 1)? And elsewhere the Scripture says: Their memory has perished with noise (Ps. IX, 8). The devil seeks noise, Christ seeks silence. Finally, just as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth (Isaiah 53:7). And elsewhere: He will not cry out or raise his voice, nor make his voice heard in the street (Isaiah 42:2-3)... until he brings forth justice to victory (Matthew 12:19-20). What is this if not victory over the serpent? In this strength of the Son of God, the mountains were shaken; when the devil and his servants saw the dead rising. These are the mountains that are disturbed: those mountains that are transferred into paradise, of which it is said: Today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43). And another to whom it is said: So I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me (John 21:23). And Enoch who was taken up; so that the wickedness of the world would not be changed.
After the passion of the Lord, what else should follow except that a river flowed from the body of the Lord: when water and blood flowed from His side, which rejoiced the souls of all; for by that river, the sin of the whole world was washed away. There is also a river that flowed from Eden and went around the whole earth, the Word of God by which the intelligible paradise is watered, and every soul is called to the grace of Christ, as the Word of God Himself says: If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. To whom I shall give the water of life, rivers of living water shall flow from his belly (John 7:38-39). For from that one Word of God flow the four rivers of prudence and fortitude, temperance and justice. For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another faith in the same Spirit, to another the grace of healings in one Spirit, to another the working of miracles... For the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one as He desires (1 Corinthians 12:9ff). These are the impetuosity of the river, when it flows into the favor of the ministry of operation and virtue through spontaneous division.
Therefore, that city through which God dwells is irrigated by the waters of the heavenly river; and the tabernacle of the Most High is sanctified, every soul that is inhabited by Christ; or that body which the Virgin generated, of whom the angel Gabriel said: And what will be born of you will be called the Holy Son of the living God (Luke 1:35). A good tabernacle, which no sins could overshadow. An admirable temple of God, and a heavenly hall, which could not be corrupted when it was loosed, but within three days it rose again, resurrected by the same one who seemed dead. It is no wonder, when God was in the midst of his city, that he was not moved, either because the Son of God was not moved by the fall of any sin or stumbled by the offense of any error, or wavered by the impulse of bodily temptation; or because he did not leave his soul by the grace of God, but remained inseparable in it, which remained immaculate from all the pollution of sin. Hence, the Son of God said to the Father: You will not abandon my soul to hell (Psalm 16:10). Therefore, because sin did not reside in him in the flesh, he said divinely: I am in the Father and the Father is in me (John 14:10). And elsewhere: I was handed over and did not go out (Psalm 87:9). He did not go out from him, to whom he later said: I have risen and I am still with you (Psalm 138:18). But when someone sins more gravely, God is moved in him, so that he may pass from him. Hence, he was seen walking with Adam who sinned, and standing with Stephen; because the former fell into transgression, the latter was crowned in martyrdom. And in the book of Zachariah it is written: The Lord walked in the turmoil of His wrath (Zach. IX, 14). Similarly, it is said in the Gospel to the Jews: Behold, your house will be left to you desolate (Matth. XXIII, 38). For the Lord has forsaken the Jews, and immediately the ruin of the Synagogue followed. If Christ had not forsaken it, the final destruction would never have followed. Therefore, we have opened what was said: God will not be moved in its midst.
It follows: God will help her at dawn. By this it is signified that the morning resurrection brings us the assistance of heavenly help, which drives away the night and restores the day, as the Scripture says: Arise, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon you (Ephesians 5:14). But consider the mystery. Christ suffered in the evening; therefore, according to the Law, the great Passover is celebrated in the evening (Exodus 12:6). He rose in the morning; for it is written: Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the entrance (John 20:1). At evening the world is set, with the light fading; for this whole world was in darkness, and would have been wrapped in even greater depths of darkness, had not Christ come to us from heaven as eternal light, to restore the times of innocence to the human race. Therefore, the Lord Jesus suffered and with his own blood forgave our sins, a purer light shone on our conscience, and the day of spiritual grace shone forth. Hence the Apostle says: The night is gone, the day has drawn near (Rom. XIII, 12). Therefore, we have woken up and will no longer sleep. We put on the garment of light, not returning to the dark attire of conversation and worldly desires. We bid farewell to feasts and pleasures that belong to the night and choose sobriety, through which Jacob found the primacy he did not possess.
It is found in other codices as well: God will help her with his countenance. What this also signifies, let the Prophet himself teach us. For he himself said later on: Show your face, and we shall be saved (Psalm 79:4). Therefore, the appearance of God is our salvation, and in his countenance is our assistance. The divine Scripture declares how great this power is, which God showed by regarding the gifts of Abel, but he did not regard the gifts of Cain (Genesis 4:4-5); and therefore Cain was sorrowful, because he knew that his sacrifice was displeasing to God, while his brother's pleased Him. And that which is chanted today in the responsory of the psalm contributes greatly to our assertion: I have waited for the Lord, and he has looked upon me (Psalm 39:2). He who the Lord looks upon, he saves. Finally, in the passion of the Lord, when Peter wavered in speech but not in mind (although Peter's wavering speech is more faithful than the teaching of many), Christ looked upon him, and Peter wept; by this, he washed away his own error. Thus, whoever he appeared to deny with his voice, he confessed with tears.
The nations were troubled, the kingdoms were shaken: the Most High gave his voice, and the earth moved. At the coming of the Lord, the opposing powers with their legion were troubled, commanded to leave human bodies, and pleaded to be sent into the pigs. With the wicked powers troubled, the worshippers of idols had to be troubled as well, and the kingdom of sin had to be shaken. For it was a heavy kingdom that had subjected the minds of all sinners to itself in heavy servitude; for whoever commits sin is a slave to sin. But the kingdom of sin is the kingdom of death, which prevailed for a long time throughout the world. Hence the Apostle says: But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin, in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the future (Rom. 5:14). Truth has come, the figure has ceased: life has come, the kingdom of death has disappeared: the forgiveness of sins has come, and the bonds of sin have been loosened. Even lighter offenses were bound by the bonds of death in the past, but after the coming of the Lord, even more serious sins have been forgiven. Therefore, the kingdoms of spiritual wickedness, which are in the heavens, were inclined; because the worship of idols, and the enticement of sin, began to diminish by the preaching of the Gospel doctrine. The perfidy was inclined after faith began to reign in the hearts of the nations. The kingdoms of sin are inclined, as it is read: Let not sin reign in your mortal body (Rom. VI, 12). All the kingdoms of perfidy were inclined by the voice of the Lord, saying: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you (Matt. XI, 28).
The Most High gave this voice, and all the peoples of the nations followed him, fleeing the harsh kingdoms of sin, and the everlasting horror of death, and the intolerable servitude of all crimes; when he promised rest to the weary, forgiveness to captives, and freedom to the enslaved; and, shaking off the iron yoke of the Babylonian king, he would place his sweet yoke on the necks of the faithful; so that the empty necks of the pagans would not be bound again by the chains of their wickedness. For indeed Christ frees those whom He binds, and He releases those whom He restrains. Furthermore, whoever is called a servant by the Lord is a freedman of the Lord; and whoever is called a freedman is a servant of Christ. Therefore, in his chains, Paul boasts, saying: Paul, a prisoner of Jesus (Ephesians 3:1). What is an insult under others, is glory under Christ. The Lord gave His voice in His passion, and all the elements trembled, the whole earth was shaken (Psalm 23:1); so that the rites of the Gentiles would be dissolved, and the land of the Lord and its fullness would be established, as it is written; the forerunners of the faith, and the sacrificial ceremony of impiety, were put to an end, and the practice of devotion and the study of piety were abolished. The Lord gives His voice daily, and it resounds in the hearts of each individual; so that all earthly things depart from one who believes well with affection, and all the inner senses of their souls are moved from error, from the corruption of luxury and dissolution, to the knowledge of heavenly sacraments, and the pursuit of chastity; from wickedness to virtuous confession.
(Verse 8.) Therefore, he says that those who are on earth were moved, either because all men were on earth, in whom there was earthly corruption; because they did not know how to raise and lift up the eyes of their minds to the sublime grace of heaven; nor could they say: God of hosts is with us; with whom there was only the instigator of downfall, and the author of error. But after the voice of the Lord resounded in the Gospel, the Prophet dares to say: God of hosts is with us. He speaks well; God of hosts is with us; he who believes that the Virgin received and gave birth. We dare to say as well; God of hosts is with us; after Emmanuel, that is, God began to be with us. Wherever Emmanuel is, there is God of hosts with us.