18. (Vers. 102.) I have not turned aside from Your judgments; for You have set a law for me. It has been explained what it means to keep one's foot from the evil way; to not turn aside from divine judgments, and to firmly and immovably hold the path of steadfast innocence, not to deviate from the course of discipline, but to walk not only in the ancient paths of Sinai, but also to follow the clarity of the new Law according to the Gospel.
19. The law of the Gospel is also (spoken of here by the Prophet): “Appoint, Lord, a lawgiver over them; that the Gentiles may know themselves to be but men.” We understand that the coming of the Lord is prophesied, as well as the calling of the Gentiles, who were formerly buried in the mire of this body's corruption, clinging to their lusts as to filth; for they did not know the Lord. And therefore, being angry: “Let the wicked be turned into hell;” that they may not see the soul of the Lord Jesus while it is descending and ascending, and be converted unto the Lord, whom they refused to be converted unto while they lived. But concerning those nations who forget the Lord (Ibid).
Therefore, they recognized and they forgot: nevertheless, by the kindness of the prophecy, he prays that the Lord may arise, and that man may not prevail; so that earthly thoughts, and all the fervent movements of this body may rest. Let the nations be judged; for then the Lord is known, when the affections of those who fear are converted, with the weighty terror of judgment: And let the nations learn that they are men, corruptible mud, and formed by hardening clay: that those who had not received the Law before do not know (ibid., 20). The Prophet, as if disturbed by contemplating the fragility of earthly things, says: 'Why, O Lord, have you gone far away?' It is good for one who knows himself to be human to fear, but because we, who are sinners from the Gentiles, fear even more, he prays that he may not be far from his own people. So that we, who were far away, may begin to be nearer, and may know that we are human, made in the image and likeness of God, to whom Christ himself became like through the birth of the Virgin. Therefore, it is rightly understood both in terms of weakness and in terms of grace. Let the nations know that they are human beings: the one through a certain common and carnal fellowship with animals, the other through the image of God and the dignity of the sacrament of the Lord's flesh, which seemed ignoble.
21. Therefore, rightfully so, the people of the nations did not turn away from the judgments of God, who can say: For you have given me the law. Not through Moses, not through the prophets, but you yourself, Jesus, have given me the law, that is, the Gospel. Therefore, I have not turned away from the way; for I have seen you, I have known you, following your paths, I have come to know the true way.
22. (Verse 103.) Therefore, hearing the preaching of the Gospel which the prophetic spirit foretold, he says: How sweet are your words to my throat, more than honey and the honeycomb to my mouth! And indeed sweet are they, by which the remission of sins is preached, eternal life, even the resurrection of the dead, which have tempered the perpetual death and bitter bitterness. Through these we have begun to not fear death, we who have begun to say: Where, O death, is your victory? (1 Corinthians 15:55)? And sweet things flow well through the throat; because spiritual grace is infused into the deepest bowels.
23. Honey and honeycomb, he says, are sweet to my mouth. And because your words have become sweet to us, you say to the Church: Your lips drip honey, O Bride (Song of Songs 4:11). Teach us, Solomon, what honeycomb is. For you have said: Good words are like a honeycomb (Proverbs 16:24). And truly, the good honeycomb which the Church eats is filled with the spiritual abundance of many prophets, like honeycombs overflowing with sweet honey. This is the honey of which it is said: I have eaten my bread with honey; I have drunk my wine with milk (Song of Songs 5:1). The mystical discourse of the heavenly Scriptures is like bread, which strengthens the heart of man, like a more powerful nourishment of the Word. The persuasive one, however, is ethical, sweet, and softer; because by ethical preaching, the internal mind is soothed: bitter for fevers, that is, for repentance of sins, sweetened by gentle words. The lips of the preacher drip honey, when the broken limbs of fallen souls are refreshed by being brought into contact with harsh cases or ruins.
24. There is also a more intense power of expression, like that of wine. There is also a clearer eloquence in the form of milk. 'Eat, drink, and be intoxicated,' it says, 'my nearest ones.' Good intoxication, which causes a certain excess of the mind towards better and pleasant things, so that our mind, forgetful of worries, may be delighted by the wine of joy. Good spiritual intoxication of the table. Finally: How splendid is the intoxicating cup! But you also have it elsewhere: 'Intoxicate its streams, multiply its generations,' for when the intoxication of the earth is infused with heavenly rain, it is accustomed to awaken seeds and multiply fruits. Therefore, the word of God, which descends like rain from heaven, has inebriated the veins of our earth, the souls and minds, with divine preaching, and has stirred up the pursuit of various virtues, and has nourished the fruits of faith and chaste devotion; and deservedly it is said to Him: You have visited the earth and have inebriated it (Psalm, 10). For He visited by taking on a body, in order to heal the sick; He inebriated with spiritual grace, in order to soothe the anxious with joy.
Therefore it is rightly said to the Bride: Your lips distill honey, O Bride: honey and milk are under your tongue (Song of Songs 4:11). For the mouth of the righteous distills wisdom: from the mouth of the righteous sweetness and mercy flow: in the mouth of the righteous there is no deceit, no falsehood, no bitterness of sin. The Church hears the words of the righteous, the people of God hear the precepts of the wise, and they delight in the sweetness of discourse, they are soothed by the pleasantness of moral disputation, saying: How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Because honey of bees pleases for an hour, but its taste quickly disappears, and often it harms the internal organs; however, even though the words of morals sting like honey, they do not harm. Yet, find out whom they are believed by; for it is written: Do not speak anything into the ear of a fool, lest he deride your wise words (Prov. 23:9). For the fool will vomit and reject your words, as he cannot perceive their sweetness.
26. (Verse 104.) It follows: I have understood from your commandments: therefore I have hated every way of iniquity. The consequent of this verse is: Desiring wisdom, keep the commandments (Sirach 1:33). But no one can keep them unless they understand. Finally, every word of the Law is daily given back by some elders of the Jews, and none of them can keep the commandment. For I would not say that a tree keeps the fertility of nature, which flourishes in leaves but fails in fruit: nor would I say that the earth keeps its fruits, which yields the despised fern to farmers and does not produce corn: nor does the shepherd seem to keep his flock, who does not know how to choose profitable pasture, guard against wolves, enclose his sheepfolds with dogs, or provide water when necessary. For to produce only a dumb flock without any care is the same as reading the Scriptures only for the Jewish people. Where are the spiritual pastures of the sacrament, where the letter kills, where the understandable wolves attack, where there is rest for refreshment, where is the hope of resurrection, who are the dogs that can bark as guardians of the flock, the people themselves are more ignorant than the flock.
27. Therefore, if someone says, 'I keep the commandments,' the response is: 'But you truly hate discipline, and you have cast my words behind you. If you saw a thief, you ran with him, and with adulterers you shared your portion. Your mouth overflowed with wickedness, and your tongue framed deceit. Sitting against your brother, you slandered him.' (Psalm 50:17-20). This is not to keep the commandments, but to transgress them; it is to do the opposite of what is commanded, not to understand, but to be ignorant. How can the words of God be sweet in your mouth, when there is bitterness of wickedness? How can honey and milk be under your tongue, when your tongue utters deceit: so that you conceive one thing in your heart, and pretend another in your public discourse, in order to deceive the unwary: whereas the Apostle Peter tells you to put away all malice, and all guile, and deceit, saying: As newborn babes, desire the rational milk without guile (1 Peter 2:2). For it shows us what it means to have honey and milk under the tongue; so that we may not speak ill of those who speak ill, but rather bring forth a blessing: let us not know how to hate except the path of iniquity; so that we may avoid doing what we detest, with reluctant desire. Therefore Paul guarded against evil in his flesh; because he hated it (Rom. VII, 15). Therefore John warns in his epistle not to love the world: For everything in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastfulness of life (I John II, 16).
28. It is therefore within us to both hate something good and love something good. Just as we can truly love the servants of God and truly love our enemies according to the Word of the Lord (Matthew 5:44), so can we truly hate the enemies of God, hate iniquity, hate treachery, hate evils, hate the vanities of this world. Therefore, those things which belong to this world should be hated; so that the allurements of pleasure, which insidiously approach with soothing and idle flattery, do not ensnare with their snares. It is easily understood by the eyes the beauty of a promiscuous whore, unless they are blinded by rightful hatred, and the soul turns away from impurity in indignation. It often inflates people, and deflates the arrogance of nobility and the abundance of secular possessions, with swelling disdain; unless it is more shameful for you to be praised for others rather than your own achievements. Christ, although wealthy, became poor: He redeemed you in poverty, not in riches. He commanded those who confessed the Son of God to be silent; so that God may be recognized through works rather than words; and you call yourself noble, when you are made of earth? King David says: Remember, O Lord, that we are dust (Psalm 102:14): and you, in this perishable and muddy kind, boast and think yourself wealthy, when tomorrow you can be a beggar; for your life does not depend on your abundance, but on God's mercy. To whom be honor, glory, praise, everlastingness from age to age, now and always, and unto all ages. Amen.
Sermon 14. Nun.
1. Now, the Hebrew letter is the fourteenth, the interpretation of which is 'Only begotten' or in another interpretation 'Their Passover.' Behold, the Hebrew letters themselves testify that the Lord Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father, the Word of God. Finally, in the very first verse David says about the only Son of God: 'Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.' Therefore, we understand that this psalm is arranged with Hebrew letters so that our humanity, like a little child and formed from infancy by the elements of letters to which our childhood is accustomed, may grow up to the maturity of virtue. However, each individual letter is like a title of the verses that are attributed to them, declaring the sequence and content, just as here the single letter signifies and prophesies about the portion of this psalm concerning the only begotten Son of God and the brightness of his eternal light.
Moreover, there is also found in another codex the interpretation of these letters. For what are our pastures, that is, those of the faithful, if not Christ? The Prophet rejoiced that he had been placed in his pastures, saying: In a place of pasture, there he has set me (Psalm 22:2). For he himself feeds and nourishes us. The divine sacraments are good pastures. You gather there the new flower, which has given the sweet fragrance of resurrection. You gather the lily, which is the splendor of eternity. You gather the rose, which is the blood of the Lord's body. The books of the heavenly Scriptures are also good pastures, in which we are nourished by daily reading, in which we are refreshed and restored; when we taste what is written, or more frequently ponder it with our highest voice. The flock of the Lord is nourished by these pastures.
Good are also the paschal feasts of Christ, who feeds among lilies, in the splendor of the saints: good also are the paschal feasts of the mountains of the valleys. For Christ also feeds in them, like a roe deer or a young deer of the forests. The mountains are the valleys, shining with diligent humility like the lights of this world, surpassing with their merits the diverse virtues they possess. They are those of whom it is said: 'They are not of this world, just as I am not of this world' (John 17:14); for those who follow Christ are above the world. But the world is a valley of tears; for in this world there are tears and weeping. And the Lord, seeing this, has made His Covenant in this world, so that we may weep for our sins and preserve what is to be mourned.
These verses also refer to our Easter, which we are going to discuss today. In them, David says: 'I used to feed my father's sheep, showing the true light, teaching humility' (1 Samuel 17:34). In such pastures, the true David, truly humble, and with a strong hand, who did not consider himself equal to God in robbery, but emptied himself; and the man born through the birth of a Virgin humbled himself unto death, feeding the sheep of his Father through divine preaching; when he proved his coming according to the Scriptures (Luke 4:21), when he satisfied many thousands of people with five loaves and two fish. (John 6:9 and following)
5. (Verse 105.) Therefore, these are our pastures, these are the pastures of those who can say: How sweet are your words to my taste! (Sup. v. 103) These are their pastures, who say: Your word is a lamp to my feet, O Lord. For our mouth is fed by the word when we speak the commandments of God's Word. And our inner eye is fed by the light of the spiritual lamp, which shines for us in this night of the world; so that, walking not in darkness, we may not stumble with uncertain steps and may not be able to find the true way. Therefore, the steps of the feet are understandable, and the lamp is also understandable; because the Word of God is a lamp. Wasn't this Word with God in the beginning: how then is it a lamp? Wasn't this the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world: how then is it called a lamp? Isaiah cries out: The people who were sitting in darkness have seen a great light (Isaiah 9:2): so how is it called a lamp here?
6. But let us see lest perhaps the same Word of God be a great light to some, a lamp to others. To me it is a lamp, to angels a light. To Peter it was a light when an angel appeared to him in prison, and a light shone around him (Acts 12:7). To Paul it was a light when a light from heaven shone around him as he was going to persecute the Christian people, and he heard someone saying to him: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? (Acts 9:4). And indeed it was a great light. Finally, the light of Paul's lamp vanished, when the splendor of the divine light shone forth.
7. And truly Christ is a lamp to me, when he is recently presented to me by means of this our prayer. He shines in the mud, he gleams in the earthen vessel that treasure, which we have in earthen vessels. Send oil, lest it fail you; because the light of the lamp is oil, not earthly oil, but that oil of heavenly mercy and grace, with which the prophets were anointed. Your oil is humility, by which the hardness of our necks is softened; your oil is your mercy, by which even the bodies broken against the rocks of sins are nourished. This oil was poured on the wounded man by the Samaritan descending from Jerusalem to Jericho, who, seeing him, was moved with compassion and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. (Luke 10:33-34). This oil heals the sick; for mercy frees from sin. This oil shines in the darkness, if our works shine before men. This oil shines in the solemnities of the Church. Finally, those who lacked oil did not lack the light of faith; but they deserved to enter the bridal chamber with lamps: but those who did not bring oil in their vessels, that is, who did not have faith, prudence, and mercy, the souls confined in this body were rightly excluded from the faith. (Matthew 25:10-12). Therefore, you must always have a burning lamp or a shining torch. For if neither your lamp nor your torch shine, you are called a foolish virgin, and you will not enter the chamber of your superior Spouse, but you will remain in the darkness of blindness, as one who hates light; so that your wicked deeds may not be exposed. For everyone who does evil hates the light. (John 3:20). Have faith, have prudence, so that you always have the oil of mercy, the grace of devotion in your vessels; for the wise have received oil in their vessels with their lamps. Unite, O people, your lamps: when you fast, anoint your head. Let us pour oil into our minds, so that our body may be radiant. May the lamp of the Word of God always shine for you: may your eye also be a lamp of your body. Your shining conscience is a good light in this body of the lamp; for it is your eye. May your eye be pure. If your conscience is clean, your flesh is clean: but if your conscience is dark, your body is also dark with the darkness of your conscience. Therefore, we are like candles, covered with our whole body, hardly having anything small from which we can shine.
8. Finally, John was a lamp, as the Lord said about him: He was a burning and shining lamp (John 5:35). A good lamp that received light from Christ, so that it could shine in this world: burning deservedly, shining deservedly; because he was a messenger of Christ, illuminating the hearts of each through the preaching of faith. But he also gave these lamps, so that they would be the light of the world, saying to the apostles: You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Therefore, if the glory of the saints now shines like a lamp, now like the light of the world shines in this age, what do we say about the Word of God, which is also a lamp to my feet?
9. And perhaps where there are no shadows, there is no lamp of the Word of God, but above the lamp; for He is the light. Those who see the light have no shadows. Finally, then, the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matthew 13:43). And perhaps according to the Law, the lamp is the Word of God, according to the Gospel, the light is great. The lamp is for the Jews, and the lamp is under a bushel. The Law shines, but it is not seen; for their teaching is hidden and their thoughts are of vice, and they are blind in their unbelief: but to the people from the nations, the light is. Finally, the people who sat in the region of the shadow of death, a light has risen for them (Isaiah 9:2). Open therefore your windows so that the radiance of great light may enter for you. Prepare your candlestick so that your light is not covered by the covering of your body and the measure of this earthly frailty, but rather shine above the measure of bodily weakness with the power of your soul. Or if you are tender-hearted, see that the measures themselves do not exceed the limit, so that they do not overflow, but rather be content with good seeds. Let your words not be pointless, let your speech not be idle; lest the lamp be placed under a basket. God is powerful to set your lamp on the candelabrum; so that it may shine for all those who are in the house, so that those who enter may see the light. Our main candelabrum is the Church. Put your words on your main [candelabrum], and let them shine for all those who enter the Church. Take another candelabrum as well. Consider your mouth, consider your speech. Is not your mouth a lamp, and your word a light, when it is spoken from your mouth? Let this light always shine for you, that is, let your word shine, and never be extinguished.
You ask how I may teach that it cannot be extinguished? It is written: The light of the righteous is always inexhaustible, but the light of the wicked will be extinguished. (Job. XVIII, 5). This light was the light of the lamp that shone in the tabernacle of the Testimony, and today it is the light that shines in the Church, the wise man. This is the eye of the Church, which does not speak with hands, that is, with actions, but with a mind that is not sharp to understand: You are not necessary to me. Therefore, he who said, Our conversation is in heaven, shone upon the candlestick. (Philip. III, 20). For David was already conversing with his whole mind in heaven, and yet he said: Your word is a lamp to my feet. Or perhaps, like a good teacher, he wanted to go before me so that I might learn to follow the light and walk in his footsteps. Therefore, he showed me that I should learn to follow this lamp in the darkness of that ignorance, in the darkness of that bodily covering, so that, following Christ, I would not stumble on any stumbling stone. Peter was wandering in the darkness of ignorance, denying that Christ would die; because he still did not see that he would die and rise again for us. The Lord turned to him and said: Get behind me (Matthew 16:23). He showed him the light that he should follow, saying, 'Follow me.' Having followed the word of God, he was strengthened: afterwards he began to cleave to Christ, fearing to fall into error again. Did he not also who said, 'Your word is a lamp unto my feet,' hasten to this lamp, when he said on the sea, 'Lord'? Command me to come to you on the water (Matthew 14:28)? But because he did not follow the light, he was moved and stumbled, disturbed by the weight of a stronger force of nature.
11. Let us therefore follow this light, and let us walk as in the night to the light. Many pits, many cliffs in the darkness of this age are not seen. Prefer for yourself the light that the Prophet showed: see to where you should transfer your step, look where to place the foot of your inner mind: take care with each step: trust no one of your own, unless the light of this lantern goes before, guiding your progress. For where you think it shines, there is a whirlpool; it seems to shine but it pollutes; and where you think it is solid or dry, it is slippery there. But even if the journey is long for you, let faith be your precursor on your journey, let divine Scripture be your path. The heavenly guidance of the Word is good. Light this lamp from that lamp, so that your inner eye, which is the lamp of your body, may shine. You have many lamps, light them all, for it has been said to you: Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning (Luke XII, 35). For there are many darknesses, many lamps are necessary, so that the light of our merits may shine in such great darkness. The Law declared that these lamps should always shine in the Tabernacle of Testimony, not the ones that the Jews light every day. Those lamps shine in the shadow and are extinguished daily, because they do not see what they do, they do not understand what they read, receiving in the letter what is commanded in the spirit. For the Tabernacle of Testimony is this body of ours, in which Christ has come, through a more spacious and perfect Tabernacle, as it is written, to enter into the holy places with His own blood, and to cleanse our conscience from every work of the dead and stain, so that in our bodies, which testify to the hidden and secret thoughts of our own testimonies and qualities, the clear light of our virtues may shine like lamps. These are the burning lamps that shine day and night in the temple of God. If you preserve the temple of God in your body, if your members are members of Christ, your virtues shine, which no one can extinguish unless they extinguish your crime. May our festivals shine with the light of a chaste mind and devout solemnity.
12. Let your light always shine. Christ also rebukes those who use a lamp; if they do not always use it, saying: Let your loins be girded, and your lamps burning (Luke XII, 35). Let us not rejoice in the light for an hour. He rejoices for an hour, who hears the word in the Church and rejoices: but when he goes out, he forgets what he heard, and neglects it. This is the one who walks in his house without a lamp; therefore he walks in darkness, who does the works of darkness, in revelry and drunkenness, in beds and impurities, in contention and jealousy, clothed in the garments of the devil, not Christ. These things happen when the lamp of the Word does not shine. Therefore, let us never neglect the Word of the Lord, from which the origin of all virtues is for us, and the process of all works. If the members of our body cannot operate correctly without light (for the feet stumble without light, and the hands wander), how much more should the footsteps of our souls and the steps of our minds be directed towards the light of the Word! There are also the hands of the soul that touch well, as Thomas touched the signs of the Lord's resurrection (John 20:27), if the light of the present Word shines for us. Let this lamp be lit in every word, in every work. May our footsteps be guided by this lamp both in public and in private.
13. But now let us proceed to the rest, and may the word of God be a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths. A lamp is sufficient for walking with the feet, but it is not sufficient for illuminating the paths. Yet the same Word is both a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths, because he is the only begotten Son of God, who is a defender for those who sin and a rewarder for the strong, a forgiver of sins and a giver of rewards.