Psalm 1 [MT 1]
- Wisdom
Commentary from 26 fathers
But his pleasure is in the law of the Lord; and in his law will he meditate day and night.
ἀλλ᾿ ἤ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ Κυρίου τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ αὐτοῦ μελετήσει ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός.
но въ зако́нѣ гдⷭ҇ни во́лѧ є҆гѡ̀, и҆ въ зако́нѣ є҆гѡ̀ поꙋчи́тсѧ де́нь и҆ но́щь.
[The blessed person] meditates on the law of the Lord day and night, not as one who entrusts the words of the law to his memory without works, but as one who by meditating performs works consistent with it, until through the disciplined meditation of the works that the law instructs, he is prepared for excelling in all the things that apply for living perfectly according to the law.
Selections from the Psalms 1:2
Certainly, even if I shall not have been able to understand everything, if I am, nevertheless, busily engaged in the divine Scriptures and “I meditate on the law of God day and night” and at no time at all do I desist inquiring, discussing, investigating, and certainly, what is greatest, praying God and asking for understanding from him who “teaches humankind knowledge,” I shall appear to dwell “at the well of vision.” … You too, therefore, if you shall always search the prophetic visions, if you always inquire, always desire to learn, if you meditate on these things, if you remain in them, you too will receive a blessing from the Lord and dwell “at the well of vision.” For the Lord Jesus will appear to you also, “in the way,” and will open the Scriptures to you so that you may say, “Was not our heart burning within us when he opened to us the Scriptures?” But he appears to those who think about him and meditate on him and live “in his law day and night.”
Homilies on Psalms 11:3
There is no doubt then that, as this instance proves, the undutiful (or ungodly) must be distinguished from the sinner. And, indeed, general opinion agrees to call those men ungodly who scorn to search for the knowledge of God, who in their irreverent mind take for granted that there is no Creator of the world, who assert that it arrived at the order and beauty which we see by chance movements, who, in order to deprive their Creator of all power to pass judgment on a life lived rightly or in sin, will have it that man comes into being and passes out of it again by the simple operation of a law of nature.
Thus, all the counsel of these men is wavering, unsteady, and vague, and wanders about in the same familiar paths and over the same familiar ground, never finding a resting-place, for it fails to reach any definite decision. They have never in their system risen to the doctrine of a Creator of the world, for instead of answering our questions as to the cause, beginning, and duration of the world, whether the world is for man, or man for the world, the reason of death, its extent and nature, they press in ceaseless motion round the circle of this godless argument and find no rest in these imaginings.
There are, besides, other counsels of the ungodly, i.e., of those who have fallen into heresy, unrestrained by the laws of either the New Testament or the Old. Their reasoning ever takes the course of a vicious circle; without grasp or foothold to stay them they tread their interminable round of endless indecision. Their ungodliness consists in measuring God, not by His own revelation, but by a standard of their choosing; they forget that it is as godless to make a God as to deny Him; if you ask them what effect these opinions have on their faith and hope, they are perplexed and confused, they wander from the point and wilfully avoid the real issue of the debate. Happy is the man then who has not walked in this kind of counsel of the ungodly, nay, who has not even entertained the wish to walk therein, for it is a sin even to think for a moment of things that are ungodly.
The next condition is, that the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly shall not stand in the way of sinners. For there are many whose confession concerning God, while it acquits them of ungodliness, yet does not set them free from sin; those, for example, who abide in the Church but do not observe her laws; such are the greedy, the drunken, the brawlers, the wanton, the proud, hypocrites, liars, plunderers. No doubt we are urged towards these sins by the promptings of our natural instincts; but it is good for us to withdraw from the path into which we are being hurried and not to stand therein, seeing that we are offered so easy a way of escape. It is for this reason that the man who has not stood in the way of sinners is happy, for while nature carries him into that way, religious belief draws him back.
Now the third condition for gaining happiness is not to sit in the seat of pestilence. The Pharisees sat as teachers in Moses' seat, and Pilate sat in the seat of judgment: of what seat then are we to consider the occupation pestilential? Not surely of that of Moses, for it is the occupants of the seat and not the occupation of it that the Lord condemns when He says: The Scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; whatsoever they bid you do, that do; but do not ye after their work. Matthew 23:2 The occupation of that seat is not pestilential, to which obedience is enjoined by the Lord's own word. That then must be really pestilential, the infection of which Pilate sought to avoid by washing his hands. For many, even God-fearing men, are led astray by the canvassing for worldly honours; and desire to administer the law of the courts, though they are bound by those of the Church.
But although they bring to the discharge of their duties a religious intention, as is shown by their merciful and upright demeanour, still they cannot escape a certain contagious infection arising from the business in which their life is spent. For the conduct of civil cases does not suffer them to be true to the holy principles of the Church's law, even though they wish it. And without abandoning their pious purpose they are compelled, against their will, by the necessary conditions of the seat they have won, to use, at one time invective, at another, insult, at another, punishment; and their very position makes them authors as well as victims of the necessity which constrains them, their system being as it were impregnated with the infection. Hence this title, the seat of pestilence, by which the Prophet describes their seat, because by its infection it poisons the very will of the religiously minded.
But the fact that he has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of pestilence, does not constitute the perfection of the man's happiness. For the belief that one God is the Creator of the world, the avoidance of sin by the pursuit of unassuming goodness, the preference of the tranquil leisure of private life to the grandeur of public position— all this may be found even in a pagan. But here the Prophet, in portraying in the likeness of God the man that is perfect— one who may serve as a noble example of eternal happiness— points to the exercise by him of no commonplace virtues, and to the words, But his will has been in the Law of the Lord, for the attainment of perfect happiness. To refrain from what has gone before is useless unless his mind be set on what follows, But his will has been in the Law of the Lord. The Prophet does not look for fear. The majority of men are kept within the bounds of Law by fear; the few are brought under the Law by will: for it is the mark of fear not to dare to omit what it is afraid of, but of perfect piety to be ready to obey commands. This is why that man is happy whose will, not whose fear, is in the Law of God.
But then sometimes the will needs supplementing; and the mere desire for perfect happiness does not win it, unless performance wait upon intention. The Psalm, you remember, goes on: And in His Law will he meditate day and night. The man achieves the perfection of happiness by unbroken and unwearied meditation in the Law. Now it may be objected that this is impossible owing to the conditions of human infirmity, which require time for repose, for sleep, for food: so that our bodily circumstances preclude us from the hope of attaining happiness, inasmuch as we are distracted by the interruption of our bodily needs from our meditation by day and night. Parallel to this passage are the words of the Apostle, Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) As though we were bound to set at naught our bodily requirements and to continue praying without any interruption! Meditation in the Law, therefore, does not lie in reading its words, but in pious performance of its injunctions; not in a mere perusal of the books and writings, but in a practical meditation and exercise in their respective contents, and in a fulfilment of the Law by the works we do by night and day, as the Apostle says: Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31) The way to secure uninterrupted prayer is for every devout man to make his life one long prayer by works acceptable to God and always done to His glory: thus a life lived according to the Law by night and day will in itself become a nightly and daily meditation in the Law.
But now that the man has found perfect happiness by keeping aloof from the counsel of the ungodly and the way of sinners and the seat of pestilence, and by gladly meditating in the Law of God by day and by night, we are next to be shown the rich fruit that this happiness he has won will yield him. Now the anticipation of happiness contains the germ of future happiness. For the next verse runs: And he shall be like a tree planted beside the rills of water, which shall yield its fruit in its own season, whose leaf also shall not fall off. This may perhaps be deemed an absurd and inappropriate comparison, in which are extolled a planted tree, rills of water, the yielding of fruit, its own time, and the leaf that falls not. All this may appear trivial enough to the judgment of the world. But let us examine the teaching of the Prophet and see the beauty that lies in the objects and words used to illustrate happiness.
Now the words which stand at the beginning of the Psalm are quite unsuited to the Person and Dignity of the Son, while the whole contents are in themselves a condemnation of the careless haste that would use them to extol Him. For when it is said, and his will has been in the Law of the Lord, how (seeing that the Law was given by the Son of God) can a happiness which depends on his will being in the Law of the Lord be attributed to Him Who is Himself Lord of the Law? That the Law is His He Himself declares in the seventy-seventh Psalm, where He says: Hear My Law, O My people: incline your ears unto the words of My mouth. I will open My mouth in a parable. And the Evangelist Matthew further asserts that these words were spoken by the Son, when he says For this cause spoke He in parables that the saying might be fulfilled: I will open My mouth in parables. Matthew 13:35 The Lord then gave fulfilment in act to His own prophecy, speaking in the parables in which He had promised that He would speak. But how can the sentence, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rills of water,— wherein growth in happiness is set forth in a figure— be possibly applied to His Person, and a tree be said to be more happy than the Son of God, and the cause of His happiness, which would be the case if an analogy were established between Him and it in respect of growth towards happiness? Again, since according to Wisdom Proverbs 8:22 and the Apostle, He is both before the ages and before times eternal, and is the First-born of every creature; and since in Him and through Him all things were created, how can He be happy by becoming like objects created by Himself? For neither does the power of the Creator need for its exaltation comparison with any creature, nor does the immemorial age of the First-born allow of a comparison involving unsuitable conditions of time, as would be the case if He were compared to a tree. For that which shall be at some point of future time cannot be looked upon as having either previously existed or as now existing anywhere. But whatsoever already is does not need any extension of time to begin existence, because it already possesses continuous existence from the date of its beginning up till the present.
The majority of people are kept within the bounds of law by fear; the few are brought under the law by will. For it is the mark of fear not to dare to omit what it is afraid of, but of perfect piety to be ready to obey commands. This is why that one is happy whose will, not whose fear, is in the law of God.
Homily on Psalm 1:11
Meditation in the law does not lie in reading its words but in pious performance of its injunctions; not in a mere perusal of the books and writings but in a practical meditation and exercise in their respective contents, and in a fulfillment of the law by the works we do by night and day, as the apostle says: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Homily on Psalm 1:12
The splendid brilliance of God’s grace never suffers an eclipse. No, it is always at hand to enlighten the inner thoughts of those who really want it. Great good comes to people who, enlightened by the grace of God, make it their habit to apply the truths of holy Scripture to their lives. They receive just such a blessing as the psalmist describes.… Those blessings come because the person who accepts God’s grace is not illumined by mere physical light from the sun, the moon or even the whole host of stars. Rather, he glows all over with the radiant brilliance of God.
Festal Letters 5:1
(Verse 2.) "But in the law of the Lord was his will, and in his law he shall meditate day and night"; that is, blessed is he who does these things with counsel, reason, prudence; for even a small child can abstain from those things which have been said, not by virtue, but by impossibility and ignorance of sinning. Even an irrational beast can comply, to which there is no power of counsel, no sense of error. Therefore, this is the fourth thing that follows, in which the definition of a blessed man is distinguished from a beast; because a wise man is subject to the law by will, not by necessity. For it matters greatly; because in willingness, there is the reward of fruit; in necessity, there is the obedience of dispensation. For thus the Apostle taught us, saying: If I do this willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of stewardship is entrusted to me (I Cor. IX, 17). But the proper order is that you should first love the law, and secondly meditate upon it. Whoever loves, fulfills the commandments of the law willingly; whoever fears, observes them against their will. We have also received this teaching of God's justice in the Law. For it is written: Hear, O Israel: The Lord thy God is one God (Deut. VI, 4). And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt speak of them sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, and lying down, and rising up. And thou shalt bind them as a sign on thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets before thy eyes: and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates (Ibid., 5-9). And below: And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to love the Lord your God and walk in all his ways (Deut. 10:12)? Wisdom also says: Desire therefore my words, love them, and you will have discipline (Wis. 6:12). Wisdom is clear and never fades, and it is easily seen by those who love her, and found by those who seek her. Therefore, we are lawfully taught by the holy Prophet to have the will in the Law and meditation according to the Law. The will in the Law is present not only in intention, but also in action. The first is the will, the second is the operation. Finally, the Lord responded to the one who said to Him: 'If you wish, you can make me clean', 'I will, be clean' (Matthew 8:2-3), in order to demonstrate that our actions should be preceded by a prior will. Ultimately, the law seeks volunteers because the law of the Lord is blameless, converting the soul. However, no one turns unless they turn by their own will. But the volunteer hides and steals the meaning of work.
Therefore, day and night he meditates on the Law; in which the intention of reading is not so much required as the affection for keeping the Law. For he fully meditates who is his own law, having the Law written in his heart. However, the eagle set the day only, not the night. Not so much differing from others, as referring to something else; because whoever meditates on the Law is always in the light, he does not have night. For the work of whomsoever shines, he cannot certainly walk in darkness; because his justice shines like light. Let our life meditate on the Law, let our conversation meditate, let our actions meditate, let our understanding meditate on the mysteries of heaven. For the Law is an example and a shadow of heavenly things, a shadow of future goods, which he who believes in the Law recognizes in the Gospel. Let him meditate in darkness and in light, that is, in adversity and in prosperity. For the law commands that you love your Lord. Whoever loves, in every state, must keep the affection of lasting love. A father loves his son, he loves him even when he rebukes him, he loves him even when he beats him with a stick; for whoever spares his stick, hates his son. The Lord also chastises us, and loves us. Therefore, even when we commit worthy discipline, he still loves us, for he also receives the offender. For the Lord chastises every son he receives. And when you are chastised, love; for you are chastised so that you may be received. For what great thing is it, if you then love the Lord your God, when you have abundance of all things, when you enjoy your desires, when you rejoice in honors, riches, and children. And we are accustomed to show gratitude to the person from whom we have received a favor. Finally, when Job was praised by heavenly judgment, the devil said this (Job, 1, 10 and 11): It is not surprising if he is grateful to God, to whom so great prosperity is present; but it is to be proved then, if he loses all these and performs the duty of a pious worshiper. Therefore, the first virtue is that you are not broken by adversity, nor are you elated by success. The Law teaches you not to relax your purpose in affliction, nor to assume despair; you should not say, 'My strength and my power have brought me this' (Deuteronomy 8:17), but rather recognize that everything is to be attributed to divine mercy.
Isaiah cries out: The one who is in distress will not be put to shame until the time comes (Isaiah VIII, 22). Drink this first (Isaiah IX, 1). What is this, drink this first? Let us separate the mystical, pursue the moral teachings that the letter instructs. Because of serious errors, serious contritions and vexations of the people are said to come; and it is necessary for them to precede, so that mercy may follow. So drink first the tribulation; for through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God; drink, so that the sense of tribulation may be poured into your innermost being: drink with patient affection, mourning the pain. For when you have turned in lamentation, then will you reconcile the offended Lord to yourself. Therefore, drink this first, that you may be in sorrow and distress. Quickly, joy pours forth error. The people, having become fat and thickened, rise up to play, and they turn away from the Lord. It profits you to have a contrite heart. Drink this first, that your sacrifice may be accepted by the Lord. Let the Apostle teach you what this is: Drink this first, that is, the cup of tribulation. For tribulation produces patience. (Rom. 5:3-4) There cannot be patience unless there was first tribulation. Tribulation, it is said, produces patience, and patience produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. And hope does not disappoint. Drink first from the cup of tribulation, so that afterwards the drinks of many virtues may be served to you. And to show you that tribulation is drunk, you heard the Prophet say today: You have given us to drink the wine of compunction. (Psalm 59:5). And in the following he says: And you will give us drink with tears, in measure (Psalm 79:6). In measure he seeks drink, not beyond measure, lest he be unable to bear it. Finally, with what great affection he prayed for this, he approved by his own example, who mingled his drink with weeping (Psalm 101:10), so that the mercy of the Lord might incline towards him.
Therefore, drink this first, so that you may drink the second (for this is the time to insert the mystical). Drink the first Old Testament, so that you may drink the New Testament. Unless you drink the first, you will not be able to drink the second. Drink the first, so that you may quench your thirst; drink the second, so that you may obtain the satisfaction of drinking. In the Old Testament there is compunction, in the New there is joy. See how the Lord has opposed the arts of the devil for his servants. He deceived one with the food of deceit, in order to deceive all in one; but Jesus, with the food of salvation, redeemed all, in order to reform even him who had been deceived. He devised the golden cup of Babylon so that whoever drank more would thirst more; and because the drink could not be pleasing, he lured them to drink with a price of gold. He served his own wine, for which he also sought the approval of metals. But truly the Lord Jesus poured out water from a rock, and all drank. Those who drank in a figure were satisfied; those who drank in truth were intoxicated. Good drunkenness, which would pour forth joy, not bring confusion; good drunkenness, which would establish the step of a sober mind; good drunkenness, which would bestow the gift of eternal life. Therefore, drink this cup of which the Prophet said: 'And thy cup which inebriateth, how goodly is it!' (Psalm 22:5) And let it not trouble you that the golden cup belongs to Babylon; for you also drink the cup of wisdom, which is more precious than gold and silver. Therefore, drink both the cup of the Old and the New Testament; for in both you drink Christ. Drink Christ, for He is the vine; drink Christ, for He is the rock that gushed forth water; drink Christ, for He is the fountain of life; drink Christ, for He is the river, whose torrents gladden the city of God; drink Christ, for He is peace; drink Christ, for from His womb flow rivers of living water; drink Christ, that you may drink the blood by which you were redeemed; drink Christ, that you may drink His words; His words are the Old Testament, His words are the New Testament. The divine Scripture is drunk, and the divine Scripture is devoured when the juice of the eternal word descends into the veins of the mind and the powers of the soul. Finally, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Drink this word, but drink in its proper order. First, drink in the Old Testament: quickly drink, and then in the New Testament. And as he himself hastens, he says: Galilee of the Gentiles and parts of Judea, people who walk in darkness, see a great light; you who dwell in the region of death, a light will shine upon you (Isaiah 9:1-2). So drink quickly, so that a great light may shine upon you; not an everyday light, nor a light of the day, nor of the sun, nor of the moon; but that light which excludes the shadow of death. For those who are in the shadow of death cannot see the light of the sun and the day. And as if to someone inquiring from you about such great splendor, such great grace, it responds: For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us (Isaiah, 6). The child, because he has been born of a Virgin; the son, because he has been born of God, is the author of such a great light. A child is born to us. To us who believe; not to the Jews who did not believe; to us, not to the heretics; to us, not to the Manicheans; he is born to us, because the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; he is born to us, because he took flesh from the Virgin, because a man is born from Mary. Flesh is born to us, the Word is given. What is ours is born among us: what is above us is given to us.
We have strayed far enough, as we think, but not without purpose; to show that even in troubles we must love the Lord and not turn away from Him, since often tribulation follows joy, and joy follows tribulation. Finally, blessed is the one who is not broken by tribulation and follows the law.
Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms
Meditation during the day is, of course, good, but that at night is better. During the day, there is the clamor of our many cares, the mental distraction of our occupations. A double preoccupation divides our attention. The quiet and solitude of the night make it a favorable time for prayer and most suitable for those who watch. With worldly occupations put aside and the attention undivided, the whole person, at night, stands in the divine presence.
Vigils of the Saints 8
'And meditates on his law day and night.' The psalmist has already mentioned three things one must not do: follow the Counsel of the wicked; stand in the way of sinners; sit in the company of the insolent. These three things we must not do, but there are also two things that we must do, for it will not be sufficient for us to shun evil unless we seek good. 'But delights in the law of the Lord.' The psalm does not say fears the law, but delights in the law. There are many who observe the law through fear, but fear as a motive for action is far from meritorious. 'But delights in the law of the Lord' - wholeheartedly he obeys the Lord's command.
'And meditates on his law day and night.' Mere words cannot express adequately what the mind conceives. 'But delights in the law of the Lord.' Some one may say: 'Look, I want to obey the law of God, and so because I want to obey, I am happy.' But consider the words that follow. It is not enough to want the law of God, but one must meditate on His law day and night. 'Meditate day and night.' Someone else may object: 'This is too much for human nature to endure, for one must walk, and drink, and eat, and sleep, and perform all the other necessities of life. How, then, meditate on the law of God day and night, and especially since the Apostle says: "Pray without ceasing"? [1 Thess 5:17] How can I be praying during the time that I am sleeping?'
Meditation on the law does not consist in reading, but in doing, just as the Apostle says in another place: 'Whether you eat or drink, or do anything else, do all for the glory of God. [1 Cor. 10:31] Even if I merely stretch forth my hand in alms giving, I am meditating on the law of God; if I visit the sick, my feet are meditating on the law of God; if I do what is prescribed, I am praying with my whole body what others are praying with their lips. The Jews, indeed, prayed with their lips, but our prayer is works.
Homily 1, on Psalm 1
One learns to be bound by the law through continuous meditation so that one shapes himself by it.
Commentary on Psalms 1:2
"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law will he meditate by day and by night" [Psalm 1:2]. The law is not made for a righteous man," [1 Timothy 1:9] says the Apostle. But it is one thing to be in the law, another under the law. Whoso is in the law, acts according to the law; whoso is under the law, is acted upon according to the law: the one therefore is free, the other a slave. Again, the law, which is written and imposed upon the servant, is one thing; the law, which is mentally discerned by him who needs not its "letter," is another thing. "He will meditate by day and by night," is to be understood either as without ceasing; or "by day" in joy, "by night" in tribulations. For it is said, "Abraham saw my day, and was glad:" [John 8:5-6] and of tribulation it is said, "my reins also have instructed me, even unto the night."
Exposition on Psalm 1
As for myself, I meditate on the law of God, if not day and night, at least during the few moments of time that I can, and lest my meditations escape from me through forgetfulness, I hold on to them by my pen. I am confident that God in his mercy will make me remain steadfast in all the truths that I regard as certain, but if I am minded otherwise in any point, he will make it known to me, either by his own secret inspirations, or through his own lucid words or through discussions with my brethren. For this do I pray, and I place this trust and my own desires in his hands, who is wholly capable of guarding what he has given and of fulfilling what he has promised.
On the Trinity 1:3.5
The memory of the law of God overtakes [the blessed person’s] own will. And day and night he models his behavior through meditation on divine law so that the life that Adam destroyed by his contempt, he himself may find by guarding it, remaining deep in the flowing water of the law, taking hold of the everlasting tree of life; so, finally, whatever he does will prosper.
Commentary on the Psalms 1
When we sing, “Blessed is the one who shall meditate on the law of the Lord day and night,” let us reject useless occupations, stinging jests, idle and wicked conversations, as the poison of the devil. Let us frequently read over and over again the divine lessons, or, if we cannot read them ourselves, let us often and eagerly listen to others read them.
Sermon 75:3
Let us too do this, meditating continuously on the things of God, and by means of the Lord’s law, let our wills be grafted on to him.
Book of Perfection 61
Now the blessedness of man is in God. Ps. 143: "Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord," etc. The right process toward blessedness is therefore, first, that we submit ourselves to God, and this in two ways. First through the will, by obeying His commandments; and so he says: "but in the law of the Lord"; and this pertains especially to Christ. Jn. 6: "I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me." It applies similarly to every just person. And he says "in the law" through love, not "under the law" through fear. 1 Tim. 1: "The law is not made for the just man." Second, through the intellect, by meditating continually; and so he says, "on his law he shall meditate day and night," that is, continuously, or at certain hours of day and night, or in prosperity and adversity.
Exposition on the Psalms of David
In 1:2 we are told that the good man's 'delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law will he exercise himself day and night'. To 'exercise himself' in it apparently does not mean to obey it (though of course the good man will do that too) but to study it, as Dr Moffatt says to 'pore over it'. Of course 'the Law' does not here mean simply the ten commandments, it means the whole complex legislation (religious, moral, civil, criminal, and even constitutional) contained in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The man who 'pores upon it' is obeying Joshua's command (Josh. 1:8), 'the book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.' This means, among other things, that the Law was a study or, as we should say, a 'subject'; a thing on which there would be commentaries, lectures, and examinations. There were. Thus part (religiously, the least important part) of what an ancient Jew meant when he said he 'delighted in the Law' was very like what one of us would mean if he said that somebody 'loved' history, or physics, or archaeology. This might imply a wholly innocent—though, of course, merely natural—delight in one's favourite subject; or, on the other hand, the pleasures of conceit, pride in one's own learning and consequent contempt for the outsiders who don't share it, or even a venal admiration for the studies which secure one's own stipend and social position.
Reflections on the Psalms, Chapter VI: Sweeter Than Honey
And he shall be as a tree planted by the brooks of waters, which shall yield its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not fall off; and whatsoever he shall do shall be prospered.
καὶ ἔσται ὡς τὸ ξύλον τὸ πεφυτευμένον παρὰ τὰς διεξόδους τῶν ὑδάτων, ὃ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ δώσει ἐν καιρῷ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ φύλλον αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἀποῤῥυήσεται· καὶ πάντα, ὅσα ἂν ποιῇ, κατευοδωθήσεται.
И҆ бꙋ́детъ ꙗ҆́кѡ дре́во насажде́ное при и҆схо́дищихъ во́дъ, є҆́же пло́дъ сво́й да́стъ во вре́мѧ своѐ, и҆ ли́стъ є҆гѡ̀ не ѿпаде́тъ: и҆ всѧ̑, є҆ли̑ка а҆́ще твори́тъ, ᲂу҆спѣ́етъ.
“A tree planted by the waterside, that will bring forth his fruit in due season”; that is, learning and charity and discretion are imparted in due time to those who come to the waters of redemption.
Banquet of the Ten Virgins 9:3
In the book of Genesis, it is stated that there stands in the midst of the garden a tree of life and a tree of the knowledge of good and evil; next, that the garden is watered by a stream that afterwards divides into four heads. The prophet Solomon teaches us what this tree of life is in his exhortation concerning Wisdom: “She is a tree of life to all those that lay hold on her and lean on her.” This tree, then, is living; and not only living, but, furthermore, guided by reason; guided by reason, that is, insofar as to yield fruit in its own season. And this tree is planted beside the rills of water in the domain of the kingdom of God, that is, of course, in paradise, and in the place where the stream as it issues forth is divided into four heads.… This tree is planted in that place wither the Lord, who is Wisdom, leads the thief who confessed him to the Lord, saying, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” … The blessed person, then, will become like this tree when he or she shall be transplanted as the thief was, into the garden and set to grow beside the rills of water; and this planting will be that happy new planting that cannot be uprooted, to which the Lord refers in the Gospels when he curses the other kind of planting and says, “Every planting that my Father has not planted shall be rooted up.” This tree, therefore, will yield its fruits.
Homily on Psalm 1:14-15
Now what, you ask, is this fruit that is to be dispensed? That assuredly of which this same apostle is speaking when he says, “And he will change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like his glorious body.” Thus he will give us those fruits of his that he has already brought to perfection in that one whom he has chosen to himself, who is portrayed under the image of a tree, whose mortality he has utterly done away and has raised him to share in his own immortality.
Homily on Psalm 1:15
(Verse 3.) And it shall be like a tree that is planted by the courses of water, which will yield its fruit in its season. And its leaf shall not wither, and whatever it does, it shall prosper. What is this blessedness that is compared to the tree, unless we understand it to be in paradise, that blessed place, the tree of life produced from the earth in the midst of other trees? Among many trees that were beautiful to behold and good for food, even this tree was produced from the earth, and it was in the midst of paradise, so that the other trees flourished with its greenness. What we call this wood, except by which salvation comes to us? And rightly this earth produced it, because the Virgin gave birth to him, who was earth according to the Author's sentence, which was spoken to him: You are dust, and to dust you shall return (Gen. III, 19). It is also beautifully read among other woods; either because it was among the apostles who were learning, or because it was in the midst of the mind and heart, as he himself said: There is one among you whom you do not know (John I, 26). And elsewhere he says: 'But I am in your midst' (Luke 22:27). Finally, he also said about Solomon himself: 'The tree of life is for all who grasp it' (Proverbs 3:18). Therefore, blessed is the one who imitates the Lord Jesus, who is the tree of life, the tree of wisdom, planted in the womb of the Virgin by the will of the Father. It is planted by him to remain forever, in order to bear fruit in its season. For this plantation, which had the richness of spiritual grace within itself, could not wither. Finally, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan. These are the waters that are spoken of in the Gospel: 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' He said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive. (John 7:38).
There is also another tradition, because there are waters which Jeremiah prohibits us from drinking, saying: What have you to do with the way of Egypt, that you may drink the water of Geon (Jeremiah II, 18)? There is also the Tigris river flowing past the Assyrians. There is also the Euphrates flowing into Babylon. There is also the Phison, which in Latin interpretation is called commutation of mouths, encircling the land of Evilath, where there is gold, and the gold of that land is good; and the carbuncle stone, and the green stone. Deservedly there, the exchange was made, so that the faithfulness of promises is not held; but deceit is in their mouth, where there is good gold; for greed breaks faith, and does not hold the simplicity of words. Precious ornaments also change the mind and soul; so that there is one thing in the heart, another in speech. In those regions, the Jews were captives of the rivers, taken to Egypt, and to the Assyrians, and to the Babylonians, where they sat upon the banks of the river Babylon, and wept for their sorrow; and as the Prophet himself testifies (Psal. CXXXVI, 1 et seq.); there they hung up their instruments, and cast away all joy, where they endured more severe things. Finally, the remaining ten tribes were led to the Assyrians; however, the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, because of a more serious crime, went to Babylon. For the daughter of the priest who committed adultery was punished more severely than the others, for she stained the honor of the priestly lineage with shameful disgrace.
Just as they were in very serious temptations, so our Savior subjected Himself to many temptations, so that He would not pass over any of our struggles. Therefore, it is rightly said that He was planted beside the course of these rivers, not in their courses, so that you might understand that He was near, not immersed. This was His first encounter with flesh and blood. Finally, He says: Father, remove this cup from Me; yet not what I want, but what You want (Matthew 26:39). There was the temptation of riches, when all the kingdoms of the earth offered themselves as enemies if the Lord would worship him by bowing down. There are the courses of two rivers, the Gihon and the Pison. He struggled against the princes of the world: there was in his very passion a contest against the tempters, whom the Hebrew interpretation calls Persians, who presented false testimonies. Against those who said, 'Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe him' (Mark 15:32), which the devil suggested. You have the rivers Tigris and Euphrates.
However, the Apostle also includes that there is a fourfold struggle for us, saying: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world's rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens (Ephesians 6:12). These are the rivers that flow out of paradise. Therefore, I believe that anyone who desires to return to paradise must cross these courses of water. The same holy Prophet expressed this not idly, demonstrating that those who would undergo all temptations should already owe themselves the rest of paradise. Thus he says: My eyes descended because of the course of waters (Psalm CXVIII, 136). For just as there is a fiery sword at the entrance to paradise, so that whoever returns may return through fire, burning his sins, testing his gold: so the one who returns, returns through these courses. And the saints rightly say: We passed through fire and water (Psalm LXV, 12). Regarding those journeys, Isaiah says: 'If you pass through water, the rivers will not overwhelm you' (Isaiah 43:2). Which rivers? Listen to David speaking about those who hasten to paradise: 'Perhaps our soul would have passed through intolerable water' (Psalm 124:5).
Although some interpret these four temptations as follows: You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample upon the lion and the dragon (Psalm 90:13). That He walked in His incarnation, trampled in His passion, or may trample in the handing over of the kingdom, which He will hand over to the Father, when He will have emptied all principality. But the Eagle beautifully said that which has been transplanted, that is, transferred, because He was first planted in the Virgin, then transferred to paradise; just as He said to the thief: Amen, I say to you, today you shall be with Me in paradise (Luke 23:43).
Therefore, this tree will bear fruit in its season. Earthly trees are said to not bear fruit, but to bear; but the tree of life and wisdom bears fruit, that is, it bestows and gives. Again, this comes to mind: If the tree is wisdom, why will it bear fruit in its season, and not always? So that it may not be burdensome for us to think this of Christ; but you, who have read that the Lord will set a faithful and prudent steward (Luke XII, 42) over His household, to give them their measure of wheat in due season, in due season, not always, surely should not be disturbed. Wisdom can always bear fruit; but because it is wisdom, it should give wisely, distributing prudently, if ever we are deserving or able to receive full measure. Just as in this final time it will bear fruit, so too will it provide good fruit among the nations; so that we may be able to attain and preserve fellowship in his resurrection. Now we are unable, we cannot endure this hateful age. For here there is corruption, and we must be cautious not to corrupt the good fruit that the tree of life would bring; because now we are corrupt, but there we will be incorruptible: when the dead, he says, will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed. For it is necessary that this corruptible be clothed with incorruption, and this mortal be clothed with immortality (1 Cor. XV, 52 and 53). Therefore, what profit is it for someone who is dying to receive what death will take away from him? Therefore, wisdom knows at what time it should give to whom, which never loses a leaf of its own tree. And so, let us consider what the fruit of wisdom is, that we may contemplate its leaf.
The fruit is internal; the leaf by which the fruit is either protected from the heat of the sun or from the cold. The fruit appears to be faith, peace, doctrine, the excellence of true knowledge, good intention, the reasoning of mysteries. A good life preserves these fruits: even if it perceives evil, it loses them. But God said to the sinner: 'Why do you declare my justices?' (Psalms 49:16) In the mystical sense, the fruit is, in the moral sense, the leaf through the contemplation of heavenly mysteries. For virtues without faith are like leaves; they may appear green, but they cannot be of any benefit. They are blown by the wind because they have no foundation. As much as the Gentiles possess mercy, they possess sobriety; but they do not have fruit because they do not have faith! Leaves quickly fall when the wind blows. And some Jews have chastity, practice reading diligently, and have great diligence; but they are without fruit and are like leaves. These are perhaps the leaves that Jesus found on that fig tree, but he did not find any fruit (Matthew 21:19).
The mystical [sacraments] save and free [us] from death; however, moral virtues are ornaments of beauty, not aids to redemption. Moreover, the Lord Himself teaches that mystical [sacraments] excel moral virtues in His Gospel, saying about Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to His word, while Martha was busy with her service and complained that her sister did not help her in serving at the table: Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her (Luke 10:41-42). If she who served at the table of Christ did not contribute to hearing the word she eagerly desired, to whom can we contribute our diligent efforts to attain eternal knowledge? And yet, let neither our faith lack in her service, nor our knowledge lack in operation like Mary's, so that neither the leaves are without fruit, nor the fruit is unprotected by natural safeguards, and be exposed to harm.
We can also understand this, that Adam and Eve clothed themselves with leaves, seeking earthly garments, because the resurrection of the Lord's body was being prophesied; for the flesh, which had previously been accustomed to perish instead of the leaves, would not perish in Christ; and all the righteous, who, according to the Gospel, were born of the Virgin to imitate the tree of wisdom in their lives and actions. For the Greek says, 'Will he not give his fruit?' which can be translated as 'Will the blessed one not give fruit?', in Greek; but in Latin it is said thus: because the blessed one will give fruit, namely in his resurrection, when he is able to give perpetually. And so it may be understood, that the fruit of it shall be above the wood, referring to the cross, upon which all things shall prosper. In which there is clear evidence that this is said about the Savior. For only His actions can be praised in all things and have prosperous outcomes. But the eagle shall be guided, He says: which also seems to refer to any man whom the Lord directs with heavenly favor. For the steps of a man are directed by the Lord, and the prophet David requested that his prayer be directed in the sight of God (Psalm 140:2). But the Lord himself directed his works so that they were not bent by any twist of error.
Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms
The tree is the wisdom of God; its fruit the mystical and spiritual sense of the Scriptures; the leaves covering its fruits are external words, which besides protecting the fruits display appropriate behavior, and they become the nourishment of good people, who are called beasts of burden on account of their own simplicity.
Fragments on the Psalms 1:3
'He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade.' There are many who interpret these words very simply to mean that just as a tree, if planted near water, will take root and grow and not wither away because it has enough moisture, so in like manner one who meditates on the law of God will derive strength and life from his meditation. This is their simple interpretation. But we shall combine spiritual things with spiritual things [1 Cor. 2:13] and read of the tree of life that was planted in Paradise, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This tree of life was planted in the Garden of Eden and in Eden there rose a river that separated into four branches [Gen 2:9]... Likewise we read in Solomon - if one accepts that book as Solomon's, for he speaks there of wisdom (Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God [1 Cor. 1:24]) then, as I was saying, where Solomon says: 'She is a tree of life to those who grasp her,' [Prov 3:18] he is speaking of wisdom. Now, if wisdom is the tree of life, Wisdom itself, indeed, is Christ. You understand now that the man who is blessed and holy is compared to this tree, that is, he is compared to Wisdom. Consequently, you see, too, that the just man, that blessed man who has not followed in the counsel of the wicked - who has not done that but has done this - is like the tree that is planted near running water. He is, in other words, like Christ, inasmuch as He 'raised us up together, and seated us together in heaven.' [Eph. 2:6] You see, then, that we shall reign together with Christ in heaven; you see, too, that because this tree has been planted in the Garden of Eden, we have all been planted there together with Him.
'He is like a tree planted near running water.' Indeed, it is from that fountainhead that all rivers take their rise. 'That yields its fruit in due season.' This tree does not yield fruit in every season, but in the proper season. This is the tree that does not yield its fruit in the present day, but in the future, that is, on the day of judgment. This is the tree that bears blossoms now, that buds forth now, and promises fruits for the future. This tree bears twofold: it produces fruit and it produces foliage. The fruit that it bears contains the meaning of Scripture; the leaves, only the words. The fruit is in the meaning; the leaves are in the words. For that reason, whoever reads Sacred Scripture, if he reads merely as the Jews read, grasps only the words. If he reads with true spiritual insight, he gathers the fruit.
'And whose leaves never fade.' The leaves of this tree are by no means useless. Even if one understands Holy Writ only as history, he has something useful for his soul. We read in the Apocalypse of John (a book which, although rejected in these regions, we ought nevertheless to know, because it is accepted and held as canonical throughout the west, and in other Phoenician provinces, and in Egypt, for the ancient churchmen, including Irenaeus, Polycarp, Dionysius, and other Roman expounders of Sacred Scripture, among whom is holy Cyprian, accept and interpret it): 'Behold, I saw a throne set up, and one Lamb and a tree alongside a river, and on both sides of the river was that tree.' [Revelation 22:1-2] This means that the tree 'was both on this side and on that side of the river. 'And this tree,' he says, 'bore fruit and was yielding its twelve fruits for the year according to each month. And it had lean's, too, and the leaves for the healing of the nations.' [Revelation 22:2]
'I saw,' he says, 'a single throne set up.' We believe in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that is true, and that they are a Trinity; nevertheless the kingship is one. 'I saw a single throne set lip, and I saw a single Lamb standing in the presence of the throne.' [Revelation 5:6] This refers to the Incarnation of the Savior. Scripture says: 'Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world' [John 1:29] 'And there was a fountain of water coming forth from beneath the middle of the throne' [Revelation 22:1] Notice that it is from the midst of the throne that there issues forth a river of graces. That river does not issue forth from the throne unless the Lamb is standing before it, [Revelation 7:17] for unless we believe in the Incarnation of Christ, we do not receive those graces.
A tree, he says, one lofty tree had been set up. He did not say trees, but only one tree. If there is but one tree how can it be on both sides of the river? If he had said, I saw trees, it would have been possible for some trees to be on one side of the river and other trees on the other side. Actually, one tree is said to be on both sides of the river. One river comes forth from the throne of God - the grace of the Holy Spirit - and this grace of the Holy Spirit is found in the river of the Sacred Scriptures. This river, moreover, has two banks, the Old Testament and the New Testament, and the tree planted on both sides is Christ. During the year, this tree yields twelve fruits, one for each month, but we are unable to receive the fruits except through the apostles. If one approaches the tree through the apostles, he must receive the fruit; he gathers the fruit from the Sacred Scriptures; he grasps the divine meaning abiding within the words. If, therefore, one comes to this tree through the apostles, he gathers its fruit just as we have said. If, indeed, he cannot pluck the fruit, it is because he is still too weak; he is not yet a disciple, but belongs to the throng; he is an outsider, a stranger from the nations. Because he cannot pluck the fruit, he plucks only words, the leaves for the healing of the nations, for it is written: 'and the leaves are for the healing of the nations.' One who belongs to the nations, who is not a disciple, who is as yet only one of the crowd, gathers only leaves from the tree; he receives from Scripture plain words for a healing remedy. Briefly, then, the Scripture says: 'and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations'; in other words, the leaves are medicine. Why have we digressed on the Apocalypse? Simply became of that tree 'that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers.'
Homily 1, on Psalm 1
"And he shall be like a tree planted hard by the running streams of waters" [Psalm 1:3]; that is either Very "Wisdom," [Proverbs viii] which vouchsafed to assume man's nature for our salvation; that as man He might be "the tree planted hard by the running streams of waters;" for in this sense can that too be taken which is said in another Psalm, "the river of God is full of water." Or by the Holy Ghost, of whom it is said, "He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost;" [Matthew 3:11] and again, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink;" [John 7:37] and again, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that asks water of you, you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water, of which whoso drinks shall never thirst, but it shall be made in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Or, "by the running streams of waters" may be by the sins of the people, because first the waters are called "peoples" in the Apocalypse; [Revelation 17:15] and again, by "running stream" is not unreasonably understood "fall," which has relation to sin. That "tree" then, that is, our Lord, from the running streams of water, that is, from the sinful people's drawing them by the way into the roots of His discipline, will "bring forth fruit," that is, will establish Churches; "in His season," that is, after He has been glorified by His Resurrection and Ascension into heaven. For then, by the sending of the Holy Ghost to the Apostles, and by the confirming of their faith in Him, and their mission to the world, He made the Churches to "bring forth fruit." "His leaf also shall not fall," that is, His Word shall not be in vain. For, "all flesh is grass, and the glory of man as the flower of grass; the grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord abides for ever. [Isaiah 40:6-8] And whatsoever He does shall prosper" that is, whatsoever that tree shall bear; which all must be taken of fruit and leaves, that is, deeds and words.
Exposition on Psalm 1
What do you want? To have temporal things and to pass away together with time or not to love the world and to live forever with God? The river of temporal things carries [us] along, but like a tree growing near a river is our Lord Jesus Christ. He assumed flesh, died, rose again, ascended into heaven. He wanted, so to speak, to plant himself near the river of temporal things. Are you being swept headlong? Take hold of the wood. Does love of the world whirl you about? Take hold of Christ. For your sake was the temporal made that you may become eternal.
Homilies on 1 John 2:10.2
The streams from the divine Spirit resemble watering by rivers: just as they cause trees planted near them to flourish, so the spiritual streams are the cause of bearing divine fruit. For this very reason Christ the Lord called his own teaching water.… Appropriately, then, blessed David compared the person devoted to the divine sayings with trees growing on riverbanks, ever green, bearing fruit in season.
Commentary on the Psalms 1:7-8
O blessed cross, which makes people blessed! O cross, from which such great and wonderful fruits are gathered! The fruit of the cross is a glorious resurrection. This fruit of the wood is truly planted “near running water,” for baptism is always joined to the cross. However, this wood produced “its fruit in due season,” at the Lord’s resurrection. It will do so again when he appears from heaven, “is seen on earth,” and with dazzling sign of the cross preceding him, comes from above.
Sermon 112:4
The soul watered by sacred Scripture grows fat and bears fruit in due season, which is the orthodox faith, and so is it adorned with its evergreen leaves, with actions pleasing to God, I mean. And thus we are disposed to virtuous action and untroubled contemplation by the sacred Scriptures.
Orthodox Faith 4:17
In this part the outcome of blessedness is described: and first its diversity is set forth; second, the reason is assigned, at "because the Lord knows," etc. Concerning the first, he does two things. First he sets forth the outcome for the good; second, for the wicked, at "not so the ungodly," etc. Concerning the outcome of the good, he uses a similitude: and first he proposes it; second, he applies it, at "and all things whatsoever he shall do," etc. For the similitude is taken from a tree, in which three things are considered: namely, planting, bearing fruit, and preservation. For planting, earth moistened by waters is necessary, otherwise it would dry up; and so he says: "which is planted near the running waters," that is, near the streams of graces. Jn. 7: "He who believes in me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." And whoever has roots near this water will bear fruit by doing good works; and this is what follows: "which shall yield its fruit." Gal. 5: "But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, long-suffering, goodness, kindness," etc. "In its season," namely now, when it is the time for working. Gal. 6: "While we have time, let us do good to all." But it does not dry up; rather, it is preserved. Certain trees are preserved in substance but not in their leaves; some are preserved also in their leaves, and so it is with the just. Hence he says, "and its leaf shall not fall off," that is, not even in their least and outward works are they forsaken by God. Prov. 11: "The just shall spring up as a green leaf."
Then when he says, "and all things," he applies the similitude, because the blessed shall prosper in all things; and this when they obtain their intended end with regard to all that they desire, because the just attain blessedness. Ps. 117: "O Lord, save me; O Lord, grant prosperity," etc.
Exposition on the Psalms of David
Not so the ungodly;-- not so: but rather as the chaff which the wind scatters away from the face of the earth.
οὐχ οὕτως οἱ ἀσεβεῖς, οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλ᾿ ἢ ὡσεὶ χνοῦς, ὃν ἐκρίπτει ὁ ἄνεμος ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς.
Не та́кѡ нечести́вїи, не та́кѡ: но ꙗ҆́кѡ пра́хъ, є҆го́же возмета́етъ вѣ́тръ ѿ лица̀ землѝ.
The ungodly have no possible hope of having the image of the happy tree applied to them. The only lot that awaits them is one of wandering and winnowing, crushing, dispersion and unrest; shaken out of the solid framework of their bodily condition, they must be swept away to punishment in dust, a plaything of the wind. They shall not be dissolved into nothing, for punishment must find in them some stuff to work on, but ground into particles imponderable, unsubstantial, dry, they shall be tossed to and fro and make sport for the punishment that gives them no rest. Their punishment is recorded by the same prophet in another place where he says, “I will beat them small as the dust before the wind; like the mire of the streets I will destroy them.”
Homily on Psalm 1:19
(Verse 4.) It follows: Not so the wicked, not so; but like dust which the wind drives away from the face of the earth; this is, not so as the blessed man, who is blessed because he has not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of scoffers, desiring to corrupt by either believing or living wrongly; who has delight in the Law and meditates on it; or, as the eagle set forth, he will resound in the Law: so that he may resound the precepts of the Law in his life, and his behavior may be like theirs, whose sound has gone out into all the earth. Perhaps here the sound of human teaching may go out; but there, where it is given to be seen face to face, a fuller expression of the word is seemingly made. Therefore, not like that blessed one who will do these things, who will be like a planted tree, all his deeds will prosper, so will the wicked be. Therefore, he repeated, either the one who wrote, or the one who added afterwards (as some think), by repeating the sentence he may become more confirmed, saying: Not so the wicked, not so, who will be like dust; for they are earthly, and just as dust is thrown away by the wind, so will they be thrown away and scattered by the Holy Spirit, who breathes upon the fertile and fruitful soul like the southern wind used to do.
It is said of this wind in the Song of Songs: Come, O south wind (Cant. IV, 16), that the tenderness of the softer air may relax the fields of our hearts, which were closed by the harsh winter frost and denied the embrace of welcoming seeds. It is good for us that this wind may blow, which may safely guide the ships carrying the necessary provisions for Solomon to his temple into the harbor. But this wind blows only when that heavy wind, the north wind, ceases to blow. Therefore, either the Church or the pious soul says: Arise, north wind, and come, south wind (ibid.); this means: You, north wind, withdraw, and you, south wind, come: blow upon my garden that the flowers may not be scattered but preserved. Therefore, the soul full of the flowers of piety has a garden, or itself is the garden, which bears fruit; the soul that is open to impiety has dust, which is barren of fruit. Indeed, the Lord made that one fruitful; but it gathered for itself the dust of impiety.
Why do you boast, oh full of impiety? Is it because you are powerful in honors and abundant in wealth? Don't you realize that you are dust, and you will be scattered and dispersed? I have seen, he says, the wicked man exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon; and I passed by, and behold, he was no more (Psal. XXXVI, 35 and 36). Why do you glory in the fact that many services surround you, many friends cover your sides, and numerous horses follow you, of which you explain to us the lineage, as if it were the race of your ancestors. You prefer wealth, because you feed your companions at feasts. I wish you would feed the needy; I wish you were not ministers of jokes, but supporters of wishes. You boast that you immediately yield to someone who is promising, and people avoid you like a wild animal or a beast. Do you think these things are anything? Don't you hear that they pass by everyone like a shadow? What use are consular robes, or triumphal cloaks shining with gold? You will leave naked: no one will recognize you as a consul there. What use are countless possessions? They are public, not yours. Today you hold them, tomorrow another does. When you leave, another enters. Hardly have you moved your foot, another puts in a step. How many were there before you, how many will rule after you, and do you think this to be private? Whom have riches ever redeemed from death? Nay, whom have riches not compelled to death? Whom have wealth recalled from the underworld? Whom has power excused from punishment? Dust is wickedness, as the dust is the power of the wicked: it brings darkness, it cannot give salvation. As soon as a strong wind begins to blow, it scatters and dissolves it: it disturbs the air, it lays bare the ground; as dust is thrown, it vanishes like smoke, it melts like wax.
Hence many have raised the question, whether divine Scripture seems to assert that nature will perish; especially because elsewhere it says: I will crush them like dust before the wind, and like mud on the streets I will wipe them out (Psalm 17:43); and elsewhere: Behold, all adversaries will be put to shame and will be ashamed; for they will be as if they were not (Isaiah 41:11). Therefore, first I ask, do they think impiety is according to nature or beyond nature? If they claim to follow nature, it is certain that their opinion is wrong. After all, let them say whether sin is in accordance with nature or not. But it is certain that to sin is to deviate from what is according to nature. What, therefore, is so absurd as to say that it seems less wicked to be a sinner than impious; when it is most bitter of all, whatever seems to be an offense against God? But if to act impiously is not contrary to nature, then to live impiously according to nature is not to be considered a sin, nor worthy of reproach; for no one is reproached who acts according to nature. Therefore it is concluded that impiety is beyond nature. So how does scripture bring about the destruction of customs, of natures that will be destroyed, that is, perishable natures, when impiety is not natural but beyond nature? For what does not have something, does not lose it: nor can that substance perish, which was not. For even a disturbed dust is either transformed into the substance of water, or into air, or into fire, that is, it often seems to transition into another nature. Therefore, it does not perish into nothingness, but it transitions into something else.
What therefore prevents that even he who is crushed by the power and reason of the word, like dust, is not dissipated into nothingness, but transformed for the better; so that he becomes a spiritual man from the earthly, and so that the clay of the streets is erased in such a way that whatever is rough and dirty is removed, and whatever is smooth and clean remains? And what he says about the adversaries of Jerusalem: They are as if they are not; surely he could have said: They will not be. But when he says: They will be confounded and they will reverence; surely you understand that they will exist in substance, and in the progress of conversion, but they will not be adversaries as they were. And so, due to the lack of wickedness, they will not be, they will be changed with faith and devotion. Furthermore, elsewhere it is said from the perspective of a sinner: 'And I will bear the wrath of God, because I have sinned, until he justifies my judgment' (Micah 7:9). For God, desiring to convert the sinner, punishes and burns them in order to purify them. Hence it is said: 'And he will bring me into the light' (ibid.). For even fire burns and melts wax, in order to purify it; and we are tested by fire; and smoke is purified when all material is consumed, and it does not pass through its nature. And so, the soul, purified from every stain, aims at what is lacking, not at what is not. Hence Balaam says: 'Let my soul die the death of the just' (Numbers 23:10), meaning that his fall and certain wicked uses should die, and that he should become accustomed to the life of the just; for God desires all things to be saved. Thus Solomon also says: 'God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living' (Wisdom 1:13). He made the soul to exist; he created man for incorruption, whom he made in his own image. But men, deviating from the gift of nature, have rendered themselves subject to death, so that they may be corrupted like earthly beings. But God compels through tribulations to repentance, so that through repentance that evil accident of wickedness may be burned up and consumed, and perish; and that place of the soul, which was the possession of the accident of impiety, may be open for the reception of virtue and grace. It is certain, however, that the nature of the soul is precious, which, made in the likeness of God, admits the reception of all virtue; since it is not deprived of the fellowship of heavenly knowledge.
Now we think that what is constantly in everyone's mouth is left over, through which reason God, by whose will not even the most worthless sparrow falls, and before whom the hairs of the head are numbered, said through Isaiah: Thus all nations will be like a drop from a bucket, and like a speck of dust on the scales, and they will be valued like spit (Isaiah 40:15). So all nations will perish like a drop from a bucket, and like spit they will perish, and they will be of no use. But you, who know that our God did not consider the nations worthless, as he said to Abraham: All nations will be blessed through you (Gen. XII, 3); and as he spoke to the Son through David: I will give you the nations as your inheritance (Psal. II, 8); and further: All nations will serve him (Psal. LXXI, 11); you who have read that God offered his Son for the salvation of all nations, in order to save sinners (Rom. VIII, 32); you should consider the power of divine sentiment in this passage. For through the contemplation of the celestial creatures, which are many (just as the sky, which is many times greater than the earth, is considered by most to be a mere point in comparison to the sky), the nations were estimated as drops from a bucket, of which the whole fullness belongs. From that heavenly fullness, therefore, the nations are estimated as drops falling down. For how could they seem great, when the very earth in which the nations exist is a small part of the world, and the incline of the scales, by which God has worked all things, is so slight that the nations are like a small portion? At the same time, recognize through this scale that God has created all things with justice, and in the very nations there is naturally something in which justice seems to have even a small amount, and that the spit itself exists as an inner portion of the universality of the whole body.
Therefore, here mercy is preached more, because the one who comes to seek what was lost did not despise that drop of water as insignificant, and he lifted the moment of the scale; and giving him the substance of a good body with his spit, he deigned that all nations be gathered into one body of the Church. However, among the nations and Israel, it can by no means be said that they are devoid of God's divine justice; for Moses himself said of Israel: Behold, a wise people, and tenacious of discipline, a great nation (Deut. IV, 6). And so that you may know that above our merit God's goodness has overflowed, the Apostle, interpreting this prophetic passage, said: God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all (Rom. 11:32-33). And he added: Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? (Rom. 11:34-35). But the Prophet, introducing this passage, says: Thus all nations have been esteemed as a drop from a bucket (Is. 40:15), and the rest, so that you may know that this understanding agrees with the Apostolic interpretation.
But what is more evident than this, that it does not seem to bring about perishable natures, since the holy Prophet himself has subjected: For the wicked do not rise again in judgment. For he did not say: They do not rise again; but he says: They do rise again, but not in judgment. However, whoever rises again, is indeed and remains; but because he did not believe in Christ, he has already been judged; and therefore he does not come into judgment, whom the punishment of judgment already completed remains. And concerning the resurrection, there are indeed many testimonies in the divine Scriptures, which we have not overlooked in the books of consolation and resurrection. But regarding what it says: The wicked do not rise again in judgment; according to the Gospel, this is an absolute statement, because not everyone will be judged. However, the Apostle says: For we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor. 5:10). Many people think that these things are contradictory; and they do not realize that the Savior spoke about the faithless and impious, those who did not believe in the Lord Jesus. For He said: 'Whoever believes in me will not be judged, but whoever does not believe has already been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.' This is the judgment, because the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light; for their deeds were evil. (John 3:18, 19). Therefore it is clear about whom it has been said, that is, about those who have not believed in the Lord Jesus. The Apostle, though he said 'all', certainly spoke about those who have believed, but they will render an account of their own actions on the day of judgment. Moreover, he himself elsewhere says (Rom. II, 15) that the testimony of our conscience will be revealed on the day of judgment, when our thoughts will either accuse or defend ourselves, as it is written, and the hidden secrets of the heart will be revealed. But what is clearer than this, which he says elsewhere: 'We shall all rise again, but we shall not all be changed.' (I Cor. XV, 15) For the just shall be changed into incorruption, while the truth of the body remains. Daniel also says: 'Judgment has sat, and the books have been opened.' (Dan. VII, 10) He therefore shows that there will be future judgment, especially when elsewhere he says the same: 'Many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some unto life eternal, and others unto everlasting reproach and confusion; and they that understand shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and many of the just as the stars forever and ever.' (Dan. XII, 2 and 3)
What is this judgment of sitting judges, and what is it but the open book of our conscience, containing the series of our sins? Although it is despicable to consider this as if it were a judgment similar to human judgment. Christ's judgment is different, where conscience itself reveals itself, which cannot hide from the judge of hidden things: where thoughts shine forth before Him, who still says to those who think: Why do you think evil in your hearts (Matthew 9:4)? When he was speaking to the Jews, he used to say to everyone, lest anyone should think that hidden things could deceive him, lest anyone should think that a witness of hidden error could escape with closed walls. And so the Evangelist also testifies, saying: But Jesus knew their thoughts. How then does he say: The books are open? Surely not written in ink, but by the traces of sins, and the contamination of crimes. The book of your conscience will be opened, the book of your heart will be opened, our fault will be recited. There is a book where there is a tablet; rather, there are books inscribed where there are inscribed tablets, which are inscribed by the Holy Spirit with the Apostolic teaching, as we read, with Paul saying: You are our epistle... inscribed not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God: not on stone tablets, but on fleshy tablets of the heart (II Cor. III, 2 and 3). Therefore, these tablets of the heart, inscribed with the Holy Spirit, will be recited. If you do well, Scripture will remain. See that you do not take away the grace of the Holy Spirit; see that you do not erase, and write down your crimes with ink, lest the day of judgment come, and the Judge say: Let the books be read, let the tablets of his deeds be read; and let Him say to you: I wrote your tablets, why did you destroy my marks? I wrote my gifts, how did you destroy my offerings and write down your insults? Have you not read that I write? Have I not said to you through the mouth of my Prophet: My tongue is the pen of a swift scribe (Psalm 44:2); but judgment belongs to the Word.
Therefore, many who have slept in the tomb will rise from the earth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29). What Daniel says, 'to eternal life,' the Savior says, 'to the resurrection of life.' Likewise, what Daniel says, 'to shame and everlasting contempt,' the Savior says, 'to the resurrection of judgment.' Therefore, it is not profitable for us to come to judgment, nor is it profitable not to come; lest we appear to be condemned or bear the weight of judgment in this contamination of vices. The prophet asks that the Lord not enter into judgment with his servant (Psalm 142:2); how much more should we fear the judgment of the Lord? Consider that the merciful Lord will forgive: how much will be revealed that I thought was hidden? What shame, what embarrassment will there be for me, when the one whom I claimed to teach others, I myself am found guilty in that very thing in which I was accusing others?
And therefore, since both the Savior and John in the Apocalypse spoke of two kinds of resurrection, and John said, 'Blessed is he who has a part in the first resurrection' (Rev. 20:6), these indeed come to grace without judgment. But those who do not come to the first resurrection, but are reserved for the second, will be burned until they fulfill the time between the first and second resurrection, or if they do not fulfill it, they will remain longer in punishment. Therefore, let us pray that in the first resurrection we may deserve to have a share. There are those who rose in the passion of Christ; and these are clearly blessed, who received the grace of Christ and heard His voice, of which it is written: The hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live (John 5:25). And: They entered the holy city (Matthew 27:53). I think that it signifies more the heavenly city than this earthly Jerusalem, which He left, reproached, because they have entered into this one by foot, but into that heavenly one by merits.
But let us also beware that we rise from this earthly tomb. There are those who, while alive, are surrounded and filled with the dead, whose throat is a grave, not the words of life, but of death. If we rise here from the dead, we will also rise there. If we are not dry bones here, but have received the dew of the Word, the moisture of the Holy Spirit, we shall live there. Thus, Jesus will raise us here with His mighty voice, as He raised Lazarus, and through His disciples He will loose us from the chains of death and lead us into Bethany, where Lazarus was, that is, the house of obedience. And He will invite us to His banquet here, and there we shall recline with Him, and there we shall always feast with Him, and there the perfume, which only the betrayer lamented being wasted, will be fragrant to us.
Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms
Even as chaff lies exposed to the gusts of wind and is easily caught up and swept along, so is also the sinner driven about by every temptation; for while a sinner is at war with himself and bears the warfare about with him, what hope of safety does he possess; betrayed as he is at home, carrying with him that conscience that is a constant enemy?
Homilies Concerning the Statues 8:4
Now let us see what Scripture says about the sinner, the wicked man. 'Not so the wicked.' Those universal rewards the just man receives, the wicked man will not receive. 'Not so the wicked.' The psalmist did not say, not so the sinners, for if he had said 'sinners,' we would all then be excluded from reward. 'Not so the wicked.' There is a difference between the wicked and sinners. The wicked deny God altogether; the sinner acknowledges God and in spite of his acknowledgment commits sin. 'Not so the wicked.' In some manuscripts, the words, 'Not so,' are repeated, 'Not so the wicked, not so,' but in the Hebrew there is no such repetition.
We have spoken of the holy man and his likeness to the tree planted near running water, Now for the wicked man, it is exactly the opposite. As the just man is compared to the tree, the wicked man is compared to dust. He who is just is compared to a tree in the Garden of Eden; he who is wicked is compared to dust which the wind drives away. Dust may come from the soil but has ceased to be soil. The wicked are 'like dust which the wind drives away.' (Ps 1:4). Holy Writ says the wicked man will be so unhappy that he is not even dust from the earth. Dust does not seem to have any substance, but it does, of course, have a kind of existence of its own. There is no body to it, yet what substance it does have is really by way of punishment. It is scattered here and there and is never in anyone place; wherever the wind sweeps it, there its whole force is spent. The same is true of the wicked man. Once he has denied God, he is led by delusion wherever the breath of the devil sends him.
Homily 1, on Psalm 1
"The ungodly are not so," they are not so, "but are like the dust which the wind casts forth from the face of the earth" [Psalm 1:4]. "The earth" is here to be taken as that steadfastness in God, with a view to which it is said, "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, yea, I have a goodly heritage." With a view to this it is said, "Wait on the Lord and keep His ways, and He shall exalt you to inherit the earth." With a view to this it is said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." [Matthew 5:5] A comparison too is derived hence, for as this visible earth supports and contains the outer man, so that earth invisible the inner man. "From the face of" which "earth the wind casts forth the ungodly," that is, pride, in that it puffs him up. On his guard against which he, who was inebriated by the richness of the house of the Lord, and drunken of the torrent stream of its pleasures, says, "Let not the foot of pride come against me." From this earth pride cast forth him who said, "I will place my seat in the north, and I will be like the Most High." [Isaiah 14:13-14] From the face of the earth it cast forth him also who, after that he had consented and tasted of the forbidden tree that he might be as God, hid himself from the Face of God. [Genesis 3:8] That his earth has reference to the inner man, and that man is cast forth thence by pride, may be particularly seen in that which is written, "Why is earth and ashes proud? Because, in his life, he cast forth his bowels." [Sirach 10:9] For, whence he has been cast forth, he is not unreasonably said to have cast forth himself.
Exposition on Psalm 1
The outcome for the wicked is the opposite, which is described at "not so," etc. And concerning this he does two things. First he sets forth the similitude; second, he applies it, at "they shall not rise again." But note that here he puts "not so, not so" twice, for greater certainty. Gen. 41: "That you saw it a second time is a sign of its certainty." Or, "not so" do they act in the process, and therefore "not so" do they receive in the outcome. Lk. 16: "You received good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are tormented." They are fittingly compared to dust, which has three qualities contrary to what was said about the just man. For dust does not adhere to the earth but is on the surface. But a planted tree is rooted deep. Likewise a tree is compact in itself. It is also moist. But dust is divided in itself, dry and arid. By which is signified that the good are united by charity like a tree. Ps. 117: "Appoint a solemn day with thick boughs, even to the horn of the altar." But the wicked are divided. Prov. 13: "Among the proud there are always quarrels." Likewise the good are rooted in spiritual and divine goods, but the wicked are sustained by external goods. They are also without the water of grace. Gen. 3: "You are dust," etc. And therefore all their wickedness shall flow away, as a leaf flows from the vine and the fig tree, Is. 34. But of the good it is said here that "its leaf shall not fall off." Lk. 21: "A hair of your head shall not perish." But of those wicked it is said that they are totally cast away from the face, that is, from superficial goods, which the wind, that is, tribulation, "shall cast away from the face of the earth." Job 4: "I have seen those who work iniquity and sow sorrows and reap them, perishing by the blast of God and consumed by the spirit of His mouth."
Exposition on the Psalms of David
Therefore the ungodly shall not rise in judgment, nor sinners in the counsel of the just.
διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀναστήσονται ἀσεβεῖς ἐν κρίσει, οὐδὲ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐν βουλῇ δικαίων·
Сегѡ̀ ра́ди не воскре́снꙋтъ нечести́вїи на сꙋ́дъ, нижѐ грѣ̑шницы въ совѣ́тъ првⷣныхъ.
And even as the righteous who are perfected in good works shall not come into the judgment to be judged, so of the wicked also whose sins are many, and the measure of whose offenses is overflowing, it shall not be required that they should draw near to the judgment, but when they have risen again they shall turn back to Sheol.… All the nations that know not God their Maker are esteemed by God as nothingness and shall not come near to judgment, but as soon as they have risen shall turn back to Sheol.
Demonstrations 22:17
And the Prophet, seeing that the change of their solid substance into dust will deprive them of all share in the boon of fruit to be bestowed upon the happy man in season by the tree, has accordingly added: Therefore the ungodly shall not rise again in the Judgment. The fact that they shall not rise again does not convey sentence of annihilation upon these men, for indeed they will exist as dust; it is the resurrection to Judgment that is denied them. Non-existence will not enable them to miss the pain of punishment; for while that which will be non-existent would escape punishment, they, on the other hand, will exist to be punished, for they will be dust. Now to become dust, whether by being dried to dust or ground to dust, involves not loss of the state of existence, but a change of state. But the fact that they will not rise again to Judgment makes it clear that they have lost, not the power to rise, but the privilege of rising to Judgment. Now what we are to understand by the privilege of rising again and being judged is declared by the Lord in the Gospels where He says: He that believes in Me is not judged: he that believes not has been judged already. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light John 3:18-19 .
The terms of this utterance of the Lord are disturbing to inattentive hearers and careless, hasty readers. For by saying: He that believes in Me shall not be judged, He exempts believers, and by adding: But he that believes not has been judged already, He excludes unbelievers, from judgment. If, then, He has thus exempted believers and debarred unbelievers, allowing the chance of judgment neither to one class nor the other, how can He be considered consistent when he adds thirdly: And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light? For there can apparently be no place left for judgment, since neither believers nor unbelievers are to be judged. Such no doubt will be the conclusion drawn by inattentive hearers and hasty readers. The utterance, however, has an appropriate meaning and a rational interpretation of its own.
He that believes, says Christ, is not judged. And is there any need to judge a believer? Judgment arises out of ambiguity, and where ambiguity ceases, there is no call for trial and judgment. Hence not even unbelievers need be judged, because there is no doubt about their being unbelievers; but after exempting believers and unbelievers alike from judgment, the Lord added a case for judgment and human agents upon whom it must be exercised. For some there are who stand midway between the godly and the ungodly, having affinities to both, but strictly belonging to neither class, because they have come to be what they are by a combination of the two. They may not be assigned to the ranks of belief, because there is in them a certain infusion of unbelief; they may not be ranged with unbelief, because they are not without a certain portion of belief. For many are kept within the pale of the church by the fear of God; yet they are tempted all the while to worldly faults by the allurements of the world. They pray, because they are afraid; they sin, because it is their will. The fair hope of future life makes them call themselves Christians; the allurements of present pleasure make them act like heathen. They do not abide in ungodliness, because they hold the name of God in honour; they are not godly because they follow after things contrary to godliness. And they cannot help loving those things best which can never enable them to be what they call themselves, because their desire to do such works is stronger than their desire to be true to their name. And this is why the Lord, after saying that believers would not be judged and that unbelievers had been judged already, added that This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light.
These, then, are they whom the judgment awaits which unbelievers have already had passed upon them and believers do not need: because they have loved darkness more than light; not that they did not love the light too, but because their love of darkness is the more active. For when two loves are matched in rivalry, one always wins the preference; and their judgment arises from the fact that, though they loved Christ, they yet loved darkness more. These then will be judged; they are neither exempted from judgment like the godly, nor have they already been judged like the ungodly; but judgment awaits them for the love which they have deliberately preferred.
They shall rise, though not to be judged, but to be sentenced. For God needs no lengthy scrutiny, but as soon as the wicked rise again, their punishment forthwith follows.
Catechetical Lecture 18:14
(Verse 5.) Therefore the wicked do not rise in judgment. That is, they do not rise to share in the fate of those who will be judged; nor do sinners rise in the council of the righteous. You see that the wicked arise, but they do not rise in the judgment of the righteous, because sinners, though they do not rise in the council of the righteous, do rise in judgment. Hence, those who have believed well and have also put their faith into action will not be judged, but will rise in the council of the righteous. But sinners who cannot rise among the righteous will rise in judgment. You have two orders. The third remains for the impious, since they did not believe and have already been judged; and therefore they do not arise in judgment, but for punishment: for they loved darkness more than light (John 3:19); and therefore their judgment is punishment, and perhaps the punishment of darkness. And it could indeed be understood that those who have evil deeds, believing nevertheless in Christ, desiring indeed to live rightly; but being overcome by the allurements of sin, they loved darkness more than light: that is, they loved both, but darkness more. But because he warned about those who did not believe, I think that it should be understood that they loved darkness, and not light; for light is Christ. Therefore, those who did not believe in the light are absurd to be believed to have loved the light, which they did not know. For they did not know, nor did they understand, they walk in darkness, as it is written (Psalm 81:5).
Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms
Since we have already discussed at length the just man and his likeness to the tree, also the wicked man and his likeness, and have talked about the present world, it remains for us to meditate on the future life and on eternity. Therefore in judgment the wicked shall not stand, nor shall sinners, in the assembly of the just.' In the Gospel according to John, we read: 'He who believes in me is not judged; but he who does not believe in me is already judged.' [John 3:18] Who is left to be judged if both he who believes will no be judged and he who does not believe is already judged? Who will be judged on the day of judgment?
Let us reflect upon the one who stands between the believer and the non-believer, the one that is to be judged. He who believes will not be judged. Now he who believes does not sin; he who believes according to truth does not sin; he who has true faith does not sin. Actually, when we commit sin, it is because our mind is wavering in faith. When we are giving way to anger, when we are detracting from the reputation of another, when we are committing murder, when we are yielding to fornication, just where is our faith? Hence, the words: 'He who believes in me will not be judged'; there is no need to judge him, he is already blessed. Further, he who does not believe is already judged; he has already been judged un to punishment. Who, therefore, is to be judged? The one who indeed believes and yet yields to sin; he who has goodness, but has evil too; he who performs good acts at the time when he believes, but commits sin when his faith is weak.
Let us at this point consider the meaning of the words: 'Therefore in judgment the wicked shall not stand.' They shall not rise to be judged because they have already been judged, for 'he who does not believe in Me is already judged.' 'Nor shall sinners in the assembly of the just.' It does not say that sinners shall not rise again; but that they shall not stand in the assembly of the just; they do not deserve to stand with those who are not to be judged. If they believed in Me, says the Lord, they would rise up with those who do not have to be judged.
Homily 1, on Psalm 1
"Therefore the ungodly rise not in the judgment" [Psalm 1:5]: "therefore," namely, because "as dust they are cast forth from the face of the earth." And well did he say that this should be taken away from them, which in their pride they court, namely, that they may judge; so that this same idea is more clearly expressed in the following sentence, "nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous." For it is usual for what goes before, to be thus repeated more clearly. So that by "sinners" should be understood the "ungodly;" what is before "in the judgment," should be here "in the counsel of the righteous." Or if indeed the ungodly are one thing, and sinners another, so that although every ungodly man is a sinner, yet every sinner is not ungodly; "The ungodly rise not in the judgment," that is, they shall rise indeed, but not that they should be judged, for they are already appointed to most certain punishment. But "sinners" do not rise "in counsel of the just," that is, that they may judge, but perhaps that they may be judged; so as of these it were said, "The fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall then suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
Exposition on Psalm 1
Then he applies the similitude at "they shall not rise again," because they are like dust. But against this, 2 Cor. 5: "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ." Likewise, 1 Cor. 15: "We shall all indeed rise." To which it must be said that this can be read in two ways. For properly speaking, a man is said to "rise" in judgment when his case is upheld by the sentence of the judge. These therefore do not rise, because the sentence in judgment is not pronounced in their favor, but rather against them; hence another reading has "they shall not be established." But the good do rise, because although they were afflicted by the sin of the first parent, they shall nevertheless have the sentence in their favor. "Nor shall sinners be gathered in the assembly of the just." Because the good shall be gathered into eternal life, to which the wicked shall not be admitted. Or it must be said that this is understood of the restoration of justice, to which they are restored by their own judgment. 1 Cor. 11: "If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged." And with regard to this he says, "they shall not rise in judgment," namely their own, of which it is said in Eph. 5: "Rise, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall enlighten you." Some are restored by the counsel of the good; and in this way also the wicked do not rise from sin. Or "the ungodly," that is, the unbelieving, "do not rise in the judgment" of examination and inquiry, because, according to Gregory, some shall be condemned and not judged, namely the unbelieving; some shall neither be judged nor condemned, namely the apostles and perfect men; some shall be judged and condemned, namely wicked believers. Thus the faithful do not rise in the judgment of examination, so as to be scrutinized. Jn. 3: "He who does not believe is already judged." But sinners do not rise in the assembly of the just, so as to be judged and not condemned.
Exposition on the Psalms of David
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
ὅτι γινώσκει Κύριος ὁδὸν δικαίων, καὶ ὁδὸς ἀσεβῶν ἀπολεῖται.
Ꙗ҆́кѡ вѣ́сть гдⷭ҇ь пꙋ́ть првⷣныхъ, и҆ пꙋ́ть нечести́выхъ поги́бнетъ.
God is ignorant of evil deeds, not because he is unable to understand everything or to grasp it with his own intelligence (for it is wrong to think this way about God) but because those deeds are unworthy of his contemplation.… God is ignorant of the way of the wicked, and he knows the way of the righteous. Further, who is the way of the righteous except the one who said, “I am the way” whom the Father knows? “No one has known the Son except the Father.” The distinction between the knowledge and ignorance of God is referred to in the prophets as “the memory and forgetfulness” of God. Often it is said in prayer: “Be mindful of me” and “Why have you forgotten our poverty?” Just as God removes sinners from his own memory, so does he again receive the repentant and become mindful of them.
Selections from the Psalms 1:6
It is precisely the scheme and system thus laid down in the Gospel that the Prophet has followed, when he says: Therefore the ungodly shall not rise again in the Judgement, nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous. He leaves no judgment for the ungodly, because they have been judged already; on the other hand, he has refused to sinners, who as we showed in our former discourse are to be distinguished from the ungodly, the counsel of the righteous, because they are to be judged. For ungodliness causes the former to be judged beforehand, but sin keeps the latter to be judged hereafter. Thus ungodliness having already been judged is not admitted to the judgment of sinners, while again sinners, who, are yet to be judged, are deemed unworthy of enjoying the counsel of the righteous, who will not be judged.
The source of this distinction lies in the following words: For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Sinners do not come near the counsel of the righteous for this reason, that the Lord knows the way of the righteous. Now He knows, not by an advance from ignorance to knowledge, but because He condescends to know. For there is no play of human emotions in God that He should know or not know anything. The blessed Apostle Paul declared how we were known of God when he said: If any man among you is a prophet or spiritual, let him take knowledge of the things which I write unto you, that they are of the Lord: but if any man does not know, he is not known 1 Corinthians 14:37 .
Thus he shows that those are known of God who know the things of God: they are to come to be known when they know, that is, when they attain to the honour of being known through the merit of their known godliness, in order that the knowledge may be seen to be a growth on the part of him who is known, and not a growth on the part of one who knows not.
Now God shows clearly in the cases of Adam and Abraham that He does not know sinners, but does know believers. For it was said to Adam when he had sinned: Adam, where are you Genesis 3:9 ? Not because God knew not that the man whom He still had in the garden was there still, but to show, by his being asked where he was, that he was unworthy of God's knowledge by the fact of having sinned. But Abraham, after being for a long time unknown— the word of God came to him when he was seventy years of age— was, upon his proving himself faithful to the Lord, admitted to intimacy with God by the following act of high condescension: Now I know that you fear the Lord your God, and for My sake you have not spared your dearly loved son. God certainly was not ignorant of the faith of Abraham, which He had already reckoned to him for righteousness when he believed about the birth of Isaac: but now because he had given a signal instance of his fear in offering his son, he is at last known, approved, rendered worthy of being not unknown. It is in this way then that God both knows and knows not— Adam the sinner is not known, and Abraham the faithful is known, is worthy, that is, of being known by God Who surely knows all things. The way of the righteous, therefore, who are not to be judged is known by God: and this is why sinners, who are to be judged, are set far from their counsel; while the ungodly shall not rise again to judgment, because their way has perished, and they have already been judged by Him Who said: The Father judges no man, but has given all judgment unto the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is blessed for ever and ever. Amen.
(Verse 6.) It follows: For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the wicked shall perish. Pay attention to the meaning: The wicked do not rise in judgment, for the Lord knows the way of the righteous. Certainly He knows their ways, whose steps are directed by the Lord. They are the steps of men who are guided by the Lord. They are guided by the Lord and the ways of man. The Lord knows these ways, which are straight and tend toward that life of which it is said: I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). This is the good way: but the way of the world is crooked. It does not deign to know that way. For it recognizes those who are its own, who do its works: but to those who do wickedness, the Lord says: Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, I do not know you (Luke 13:27). They are not unknown due to ignorance, but because they are unworthy of the knowledge of God.
However, he said beautifully: 'And the way of the wicked shall perish.' Latinus separated 'iter' to mean 'way' and as if distinguished 'iter' from 'via'; but the Greek said 'via' in both cases. However, Latinus did not speak in vain, for the Lord said: 'I am the way,' he did not say: 'I am the journey.' But he said the 'way' of the wicked shall perish, not the wicked themselves. He preserves the substance of those who, if they convert, will lose only the way of wickedness, which neither was nor will be from the beginning. Therefore, what is accidental perishes: what is substantial remains. But the wicked perish in such a way as it is said: The soul that sins, it shall die (Ezekiel XVIII, 4); so that by the sting of sin, they do not perish by the dissolution of their entire substance.
Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms
'For the Lord knows the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.' [Ps 1:6] 'For the Lord knows the way of the just.' Why is it so extraordinary that the Lord knows the way of the just? The Scriptures also say that God knows those whom He deigns to know. [John 9:31] In regard to the wicked, it says: 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.' [Mt 7:23, Lk 13:27] Moreover, the Apostle says: 'If anyone acknowledges the Lord, the Lord will acknowledge him.' 'For the Lord knows the way of the just.' The Lord does not know the sinner, but the just man He does know.
We read in Genesis that when Adam transgressed, when he paid heed to the serpent rather than to God, when he hid himself from the face of God, God came into the Garden and was walking about in the cool of day [Gen 3:8]. Now listen to what the Scripture says. God sought out Adam, not at midday but in the evening. Adam had already lost the sunlight, for his highnoon was over. It was toward evening and God was walking about, for as far as the sinner is concerned, God is not standing, but is walking. He knew that Adam was in the Garden and He was well aware of what had happened, but because Adam had sinned, God knew him not. And God said: 'Adam, where are you?'
We have heard enough on how God does not know the sinner, so we ought to consider now how the just man is known by Him. God said to Abraham: 'Leave your country, your kinsfolk.' [Gen 12:1] Abraham accordingly came into Palestine; he was in Abramiri; he sojourned a long time in Gerara. When his son Isaac was born, he had received the promise: 'In your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.' [Gen 22:18] He took Isaac and offered him to God, and a voice from heaven was heard to say: Spare thy son. Straightway, at the very moment that he offered his son, what does God say to Abraham? 'I know now that you fear the Lord, your God.' [Gen 22:12] Have you just now known Abraham, Lord, with whom You have communicated for such a long time? Because Abraham had such great faith in sacrificing his own son, on that account God first began to know him. Why have we said all this? Because it is written: 'For the Lord knows the way of the just.' Let us put it another way: The way, the life, and the truth is Christ; [John 14:6] let us walk, therefore, in Christ and then God the Father will know our way.
'But the way of the wicked vanishes.' That does not mean that the wicked will perish. If they repent and do penance, they too will be saved. When the Apostle Paul was persecuting Christ and His Church, he was wicked. If the wicked perish, there is no chance for their repentance. It does not say that the wicked shall perish, but that the way of the wicked vanishes, that is, wickedness shall perish. Not the wicked, but wickedness itself; not the man who was wicked will perish, but while he is repenting, wickedness vanishes.
God vouchsafes to instruct us that there are three things we must not do, and two things that we must do. Let us be the just man compared to the tree of life; let us not be the wicked who are compared to dust; let us not be sinners, for sinners shall not stand in the assembly of the just. Let us take heed that the path of evil may vanish; and let us bless God to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Homily 1, on Psalm 1
"For the Lord knows the way of the righteous" [Psalm 1:6]. As it is said, medicine knows health, but knows not disease, and yet disease is recognised by the art of medicine. In like manner can it be said that "the Lord knows the way of the righteous," but the way of the ungodly He knows not. Not that the Lord is ignorant of anything, and yet He says to sinners, "I never knew you." [Matthew 7:23] "But the way of the ungodly shall perish;" is the same as if it were said, the way of the ungodly the Lord knows not. But it is expressed more plainly that this should be not to be known of the Lord, namely, to "perish;" and this to be known of the Lord, namely, to "abide;" so as that to be should appertain to the knowledge of God, but to His not knowing not to be. For the Lord says, "I Am that I Am," and, "I Am has sent me."
Exposition on Psalm 1
Then the reason is given why they shall not rise in judgment: "because the Lord knows," etc. And he speaks properly, because when someone knows what is lost, it is restored; but when he does not know, it is not restored. The just indeed are dissolved through death, but God knows them. 2 Tim. 2: "God knows who are His" -- He knows, that is, with a knowledge of approval -- and therefore they are restored. But because He does not know the way of the ungodly with a knowledge of approbation, therefore "the way of the ungodly shall perish." Ps. 118: "I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost; seek your servant, O Lord, for I have not forgotten your commandments." Ps. 34: "Let their ways be darkness and slippery," etc.
Exposition on the Psalms of David
Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the seat of evil men.
ΜΑΚΑΡΙΟΣ ἀνήρ, ὃς οὐκ ἐπορεύθη ἐν βουλῇ ἀσεβῶν καὶ ἐν ὁδῷ ἁμαρτωλῶν οὐκ ἔστη καὶ ἐπὶ καθέδρᾳ λοιμῶν οὐκ ἐκάθισεν.
Бл҃же́нъ мꙋ́жъ, и҆́же не и҆́де на совѣ́тъ нечести́выхъ, и҆ на пꙋтѝ грѣ́шныхъ не ста̀, и҆ на сѣда́лищи гꙋби́телей не сѣ́де: