Homily 20, on Psalm 90
Latin source: Germanus Morin (ed.), Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Tractatus sive Homiliae in Psalmos , Anecdota Maredsolana III (Maredsoli, 1897) — public domain. Psalm numbering follows the Septuagint/Vulgate (Morin).
Who dwells in the help of the Most High. "Help" is what Ezra means. Indeed, the prophet Ezra is called βοηθός (boēthos), "helper." This is the one who led the people back from the captivity of Babylon and brought them into the land of promise. Whoever, therefore, dwells in Ezra, whoever dwells in Jesus (for the moment according to the tropological sense), who built for himself a house without hands, as the apostle says — that house which the Lord had built even for the midwives in Egypt: he shall abide under the protection of the God of heaven.
He shall say to the Lord: You are my upholder and my refuge, my God. For many enemies pursue me: therefore you are my refuge. I will hope in him, for he himself will free me from the snare of the hunters. He did not say, "I hope"; but, "I will hope." For as long as we sin, we do not hope: if we cease to sin, we hope. For he himself will free me from the snare of the hunters. There are many hunters in this world, who try to hunt down our soul. Indeed even that giant Nimrod was a great hunter in the sight of the Lord: and Esau was a hunter, because he was a sinner; and nowhere in the holy Scriptures do we find any holy hunter. Fishermen we find to be holy.
For he himself will free me from the snare of the hunters. "Our soul, like a sparrow, has been snatched from the snare of the hunters: the snare has been broken, and we have been set free." What is this snare that has been broken? "The Lord," he says, "will crush Satan under our feet speedily." And the apostle says: "That you may be freed from the snare of the devil." You see, therefore, that this is a hunter, who desires to hunt our souls to their destruction. The devil has many snares, and he has diverse snares. Greed is a snare of the devil, slander is a snare of the devil, fornication is a snare of the devil. And from the harsh word. As long as we are in holiness, our soul is tranquil; but when we begin to think about sins, our soul is troubled, and is shaken as though by certain waves.
With his shoulders he will overshadow you. But this is according to that passage of Deuteronomy: The Lord protects us with his wings like his own chicks, as an eagle does. For it is said there that he protects his chicks like an eagle. Although, therefore, we can say this, that God protects us like a father, and protects us like a hen protecting her chicks, lest they be seized by the hawk: nevertheless we can also say something else. With his shoulders he will overshadow you: he will be lifted up on the cross, he will stretch out his hands, and will protect us. And under his wings you shall hope. You shall look, he says, upon his crucified hands, and if the serpent bites you, you shall be healed. Although you walk in the desert of this world: if a scorpion strikes you, if a basilisk, if an asp, if the other venomous creatures, be secure concerning your healing: the serpent has been lifted up in the wilderness.
His truth shall surround you with a shield. Our shield is round, that is, it hedges us in on every side. Not only is it a shield, but it is also a wall. "Lord, as with a shield of your good will you have crowned us." Does someone crown with a shield? See what he says: Lord, as with a shield of your good will you have crowned us. What does he say? You will protect us, and make us conquer, and after the victory you will crown us. His truth shall surround you with a shield. Since he had said "from the harsh word," and by the harsh word we can understand also that of the heretics, and of the philosophers, and of the Jews, and this, as it were, harsh word is not true, but is false. For it is turbid precisely because it is false; it is turbid precisely because it disturbs our souls through its lie. The Lord therefore, who is truth, and says "I am the truth," his truth surrounds us with a shield, lest we be struck by the burning arrows of the devil. Therefore Christ, who is the truth, sets his shield against them, so that by the shield of truth he may overcome the lie. You shall not fear the terror of the night. The devil is always in darkness: "that he may strike," he says, "the innocent in secret." You see, therefore, that whoever is simple and innocent is always struck in secret. You shall not fear the terror of the night. What he says is this: Although you may be in terror, which is night, nevertheless you shall not fear, because you have the shield of truth.
Of the arrow that flies by day. To this sense there seems to be, as it were, a contradiction: Of the arrow that flies by day. The flying arrow of the devil seems to me to be the discourse of the heretics and philosophers. For these too promise the light of knowledge, and say that they have day; and they cannot deceive unless they promise light. But that light which they promise is from burning arrows. And therefore it is said, Of the arrow that flies by day. Of the business that walks about in the darkness. The arrow indeed flies as though by day, but the business is one that walks about in darkness.
Of the assault and the noonday demon. It is better said in Greek, ἀπὸ συμπτώματος (apo symptōmatos). Symptosis means either an occurrence, that is, when we do not expect it, and something new happens. Or it is called symptoma, when many fall at the same time. See therefore what he says. Although many have been led astray, nevertheless you, who are holy, are not to be led astray. I give an example, so that the simpler ones may be able to understand what is said. If you go into a city as a monk alone, and begin to walk about, and hear a shout in the circus, and someone says to you: Come and watch, it is the circus; and you begin to say to him, It is not permitted, I cannot go: if he shows you countless thousands of men, and says to you, Two hundred thousand men are there: are all those then going to perish, and you alone will be saved? — you ought to understand that it is a symptoma of the devil; that is, you ought to know that many are falling. And the noonday demon. Many indeed say that there are also noonday demons, and this is said among the common folk. But for my part I say plainly that a demon has power over us at the time when we sin. Whether we sin in the morning, the demon enters into us: whether at evening, whether at night, at whatever hour we sin, the demon enters into us. But if we do not sin at noon, he does not enter into us. You see, therefore, how frivolous is what is said among the common folk. What then does he say, Of the noonday demon? Because Abraham received the angels at noon, and Joseph invited his brothers to a meal at noon. For both Abraham and Joseph were holy, and therefore their banquet was in clear light and full sun, therefore they feed at noon. And I too, if I have full knowledge of the Scriptures, although it be the third hour, nevertheless I feed you at noon. Indeed even the bride in the Song of Songs says: "Where do you feed, she says, where do you lie down at noon?" You see that the bridegroom does not feed, does not recline at the third hour, but at noon. Where do you feed, where do you lie down, where do I find you, where do you take your delight, where can I find you, O my bridegroom? Do you wish to find me? At noon, in perfect knowledge, in good works, in clear light. Since therefore we have our noon, therefore the devil too transforms himself into an angel of light, and he himself pretends that he has light, that he has noon. When the heretics promise, as it were, certain mysteries, when they promise the kingdom of heaven, when continence, when fasts, when holiness, when renunciation of the world, they promise noon. But since it is not the light of Christ, it is not noon, but the noonday demon.
A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. The individual words of the Scriptures are individual mysteries. Those rustic words which are thought so by the men of the world are full of mysteries. "For we have this treasure in earthen vessels": we have the treasure of the divine meaning in the most worthless words. A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. At whose side? At the side of him to whom it had been said, His truth shall surround you with a shield, you shall not fear the terror of the night. Who is this? He of whom it was said above, Who dwells in the help of the Most High, he shall abide under the protection of the God of heaven. From him, therefore, who dwells in the help of the Lord, a thousand shall fall at his side, and ten thousand at his right hand. The right hand of the holy man is spoken of: the left is not spoken of, but the side. For see what is said: And ten thousand at your right hand. And how had you said it? A thousand shall fall at your side. For when the right hand is spoken of and the left is not named, in place of the left the side is named. For it could not be just that the just man should have a left hand. "Whoever," he says, "strikes you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well." He did not say, "and the left": for it is not a left cheek that is offered, but another right one. Therefore I say plainly that the just man has two right hands. Indeed even that Ehud, who is written of in the book of Judges, is said to have two right hands for this reason, because he was just, and he killed that very fat king. A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. There are more who lie in wait for our right hand, there are not more who lie in wait for the left: therefore at the side a thousand shall fall, and at the right hand ten thousand. For where the greater battle is, the greater victory. Few lie in wait for the side, more lie in wait for the right hand.
For he has given his angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. This passage the devil interpreted concerning the Lord. For at the time when he tempted the Lord, "If," he says, "you are the Son of God, cast yourself down. For it is written concerning you, that he has given his angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone." The devil said nothing more than this: For he has given his angels charge concerning you, that in their hands they may bear you up, lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone. He left out the middle part. For here it is said, For he has given his angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. This he did not say, To guard you in all your ways: for he knew it was against himself. For the Lord could have answered him: If the Lord guards me in all my ways, then I am guarded from you too. He was silent, therefore, about what he knew was against himself, and set down what was in his favor. Truly the devil, like a devil, interprets concerning the Savior what is not concerning the Savior. For if the whole psalm is about the Savior, as you interpret it, O devil, then it is about him too what is said: I will protect him, because he has known my name. That is, I the Father will protect my Son. Let me interpret it, devil, as you understand it. Let us see whether the sense holds. I will protect him, because he has known my name: that is, I the Father my Son. He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: that is, on the day of the cross. I am with him in tribulation, I will rescue him and glorify him: that is, I will make him rise again. With length of days I will fill him. That is, he shall live forever. And let us understand this concerning the Son of God, With length of days I will fill him. But this that follows, how does it hold with respect to the Savior, And I will show him my salvation? The salvation of God is the Son of God. If therefore it is said about the Son, how can it hold? For the salvation of God is the Son of God. You see, therefore, that you have interpreted badly, O devil. But grant that it be interpreted as you say. You said, For he has given his angels charge concerning you, that in their hands they may bear you up, lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone. Say also what follows. Why are you silent? Upon the asp and the basilisk you shall walk, and you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon: Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.