Psalm 42 [MT 43]
Commentary from 16 fathers
For thou, O God, art my strength: wherefore hast thou cast me off? and why do I go sad of countenance, while the enemy oppresses [me]?
ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ Θεὸς κραταίωμά μου· ἱνατί ἀπώσω με; καὶ ἱνατί σκυθρωπάζων πορεύομαι ἐν τῷ ἐκθλίβειν τὸν ἐχθρόν μου;
Занѐ ты̀ є҆сѝ, бж҃е, крѣ́пость моѧ̀, вскꙋ́ю ѿри́нꙋлъ мѧ̀ є҆сѝ; и҆ вскꙋ́ю сѣ́тꙋѧ хождꙋ̀, внегда̀ ѡ҆скорблѧ́етъ вра́гъ;
The person, however, who has once tasted virtue and has come to understand its nature by his own experience of the good is no longer the kind of person who must be dragged away from his passionate attachment to evil by necessity and warning and compelled to look to virtue. On the contrary, he has an excessive thirst for what is superior.… [He] “thirsts” for participation in God more than “the hart” longs for “the fountains of water.” And it follows that the person who finds the fountain after this excessive thirst draws in as much water as the abundance of his desire draws off. But he who has received what he desired in himself is full of what he desired. For that which has become full is not again emptied on the model of physical satiety, nor does that which was drunk remain inactive in itself. In whomever the divine fountain has come into existence, it transforms the one who has embraced it to itself and imparts to this person a portion of its own power.
On the Inscriptions of the Psalms 1:5.40-41
"My soul is thirsty for the living God" [Psalm 42:2]. What I am saying, that "as the hart pants after the water-brooks, so longs my soul after You, O God," means this, "My soul is thirsty for the living God." For what is it thirsty? "When shall I come and appear before God?" This it is for which I am thirsty, to "come and to appear before Him." I am thirsty in my pilgrimage, in my running; I shall be filled on my arrival. But "When shall I come?" And this, which is soon in the sight of God, is late to our "longing." "When shall I come and appear before God?" This too proceeds from that "longing," of which in another place comes that cry, "One thing have I desired of the Lord; that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." Wherefore so? "That I may behold" (he says) "the beauty of the Lord." "When shall I come and appear before the Lord?"...
Exposition on Psalm 42
Christ the Lord is the fountain of waters from which flows everything that restores us. Flowing streams can often run dry, but a fountain is always supplied with water. So we are rightly invited to hurry to the liquid of the sacred source; there our desire is never able to experience thirst.
Explanation of the Psalms 42:2
First, therefore, he is sought without being found, so that afterward, when found, he may be held more tightly. For holy desires, as we have said, grow by delay. But if they fail by delay, they were not desires. With this love burned whoever was able to reach the truth. Hence David says: "My soul has thirsted for the living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?"
Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 25
But is there a fountain of waters in God? Yes; hence he says, "My soul has thirsted for God, the living fountain." A fountain is called one that springs forth and produces living waters, and that unceasingly and unfailingly sends forth waters. Every water of graces flows from that fountain, namely from God the Father. Jer. 2: "They have forsaken the fountain of living water." Likewise it flows from the Son, also insofar as he is God. Ps. 36: "With you is the fountain of life." "The fountain of wisdom is the word of God," Sir. 1. Likewise from the Holy Spirit. Jn. 4: "It shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life." And Jn. 7: "This he said of the Spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive." Therefore, because he himself is the fountain, my soul has thirsted for him. Thirst designates desire with anxiety. Thus this man signifies that he suffers anxiety, not only from the delay of the thing desired, but on account of the evils that afflict here. Mt. 5: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied." But from this fountain he desires this, namely, "When shall I come?" These are the words of one who desires, and they express the desire of the catechumen for Baptism; and thus the sense is: when shall I come to the sacred Baptism of Christ? Mt. 11: "Come to me," etc. Ps. 34: "Come, children," etc. This, as Augustine says, is fitting for catechumens, because from the beginning catechumens, until they became adults, were not admitted to the sacred mysteries but could attend only until the Gospel. Hence he says, "When shall I come and appear?" Literally, with others, before the face of the Lord, that is, to the sacraments of Christ. Likewise it is fitting for perfect men, and the sense is: "When shall I come and appear," that is, so that I may see you face to face, because now I am far from you, since I see you through faith? But when I shall see you through direct vision, then I shall be near. Phil. 1: "Having a desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ." And he does not say, "The Lord will appear to me," but "I will appear before the face of the Lord"; because from the fact that I shall see the face of the Lord, I shall be made conspicuous to all, far more than Moses who saw him in this life. 1 Jn. 3: "It has not yet appeared what we shall be; we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him." Rom. 8: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared," etc. As if to say: I shall be part of the company of those who see God, and from this I shall be conspicuous and glorious. But the hypocrite is excluded from this vision. Job 13: "No hypocrite shall come into his sight."
Exposition on the Psalms of David
I do not define the essence of religion as belief in God and immortality. Judaism in its earlier stages had no belief in immortality, and for a long time no belief which was religiously relevant. The shadowy existence of the ghost in Sheol was one of which Jehovah took no account and which took no account of Jehovah. In Sheol all things are forgotten. The religion was centered on the ritual and ethical demands of Jehovah in the present life, and also, of course, on benefits expected from Him. These benefits are often merely worldly benefits (grandchildren and peace upon Israel), but a more specifically religious note is repeatedly struck. The Jew is athirst for the living God, he delights in His laws as in honey or treasure, he is conscious of himself in Jehovah's presence as unclean of lips and heart. The glory or splendor of God is worshiped for its own sake.
From my own point of view, the example of Judaism and Buddhism is of immense importance. The system, which is meaningless without a doctrine of immortality, regards immortality as a nightmare, not as a prize. The religion which, of all ancient religions, is most specifically religious, that is, at once most ethical and most numinous, is hardly interested in the question. Believing, as I do, that Jehovah is a real being, indeed the ens realissimum, I cannot sufficiently admire the divine tact of thus training the chosen race for centuries in religion before even hinting the shining secret of eternal life. He behaves like the rich lover in a romance who woos the maiden on his own merits, disguised as a poor man, and only when he has won her reveals that he has a throne and palace to offer. For I cannot help thinking that any religion which begins with a thirst for immortality is damned, as a religion, from the outset. Until a certain spiritual level has been reached, the promise of immortality will always operate as a bribe which vitiates the whole religion and infinitely inflames those very self-regards which religion must cut down and uproot. For the essence of religion, in my view, is the thirst for an end higher than natural ends; the finite self's desire for, and acquiescence in, and self-rejection in favor of, an object wholly good and wholly good for it.
God in the Dock: Religion Without Dogma?
And to me in particular there came back the memory of a corrugated iron hut used as an R.A.F. chapel — a few kneeling airmen — and a young chaplain uttering the prayer, 'Teach us, O Lord, to love the things Thou standest for.' He was perfectly sincere, and I willingly believe that the things in question included something more and better than 'the Western values', whatever those may be.
And yet... his words seemed to me to imply a point of view incompatible with Christianity or indeed with any serious Theism whatever. God is not, for it, the goal or end. He is (and how fortunate!) enlightened; has, or 'stands for', the right ideals. He is valued for that reason. He ranks, admittedly, as a leader. But of course a leader leads to something beyond himself. That something else is the real goal. This is miles away from 'Thou hast made us for Thyself and our heart has no rest till it comes to Thee.' The Maenads were more religious.
Revival or Decay?, from God in the Dock
I want to stress what I think that we (or at least I) need more; the joy and delight in God which meet us in the Psalms, however loosely or closely, in this or that instance, they may be connected with the Temple. This is the living centre of Judaism. These poets knew far less reason than we for loving God. They did not know that He offered them eternal joy; still less that He would die to win it for them. Yet they express a longing for Him, for His mere presence, which comes only to the best Christians or to Christians in their best moments. They long to live all their days in the Temple so that they may constantly see 'the fair beauty of the Lord' (27:4). Their longing to go up to Jerusalem and 'appear before the presence of God' is like a physical thirst (Ps. 42). From Jerusalem His presence flashes out 'in perfect beauty' (50:2). Lacking that encounter with Him, their souls are parched like a waterless countryside (63:2). They crave to be 'satisfied with the pleasures' of His house (65:4). Only there can they be at ease, like a bird in the nest (84:3). One day of those 'pleasures' is better than a lifetime spent elsewhere (84:10).
Reflections on the Psalms, Chapter 5: The Fair Beauty of the Lord
Send forth thy light and thy truth: they have led me, and brought me to thy holy mountain, and to thy tabernacles.
ἐξαπόστειλον τὸ φῶς σου καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειάν σου· αὐτά με ὡδήγησαν καὶ ἤγαγόν με εἰς ὄρος ἅγιόν σου καὶ εἰς τὰ σκηνώματά σου.
Послѝ свѣ́тъ тво́й и҆ и҆́стинꙋ твою̀: та̑ мѧ̀ наста́виста, и҆ введо́ста мѧ̀ въ го́рꙋ ст҃ꙋ́ю твою̀ и҆ въ селє́нїѧ твоѧ̑.
Nothing nourishes like that which nourishes the spirit. Blessed are those who weep, for they will laugh.
Notes on the Psalms
Seeing that God is Creator, he is in everything made; seeing that he is excellence and wisdom, he is in all holy powers.… God is even in people sometimes in excellence, sometimes in accomplishment: it is of angels to behave always according to God; of demons, never; of people to behave sometimes rightly, sometimes not.
Notes on the Psalms 41[42].4
"My tears have been my meat day and night, while they daily say unto me, Where is your God?" [Psalm 42:3]. My tears (he says) have been not bitterness, but "my bread." Those very tears were sweet unto me: being thirsty for that fountain, inasmuch as I was not as yet able to drink of it, I have eagerly made my tears my meat. For he said not, "My tears became my drink," lest he should seem to have longed for them, as for "the water-brooks:" but, still retaining that thirst wherewith I burn, and by which I am hurried away towards the water-brooks, "My tears became my meat," while I am not yet there. And assuredly he does but the more thirst for the water-brooks from making his tears his meat...."And they daily say unto me, Where is your God?" For if a Pagan should say this to me, I cannot retort it upon him, saying, "Where is yours?" inasmuch as he points with his finger to some stone, and says, "Lo, there is my God!" When I have laughed at the stone, and he who pointed to it has been put to the blush, he raises his eyes from the stone, looks up to heaven, and perhaps says, pointing his finger to the Sun, "Behold there my God! Where, I pray, is your God?" He has found something to point out to the eyes of the flesh; whereas I, on my part, not that I have not a God to show to him, cannot show him what he has no eyes to see. For he indeed could point out to my bodily eyes his God, the Sun; but what eyes has he to which I might point out the Creator of the Sun?...
Exposition on Psalm 42
There is a weeping that springs from contemplating eternal good and longing for future light, and tears of joy and desire cannot help but break out as the soul is athirst for the mighty living God.
Conferences 9:29
"My tears have been." Here he describes whence he has this desire or anxiety. And first he sets forth the cause. Second he sets forth the remedy he has against it, at "These things I remembered." And first he sets forth the greatness of his sadness. Second he sets forth the cause of this sadness. Concerning the sadness he proceeds thus: first he expresses the greatness of the sadness; second, the effect; third, the continuity. He shows the first when he says, "My tears have been my bread," into which, namely, a man bursts forth from abundant sadness. And this sadness is either over sins that impede the attainment of the thing desired, or over the troubles caused by others. He shows the second when he says, "bread." Bread refreshes; and thus also tears refresh, for a twofold reason. One is that to everyone the activity suited to his state is delightful. Hence the activity suited to sadness is delightful to the sad person, and weeping is the activity of sadness. The other reason is that when heat evaporates outward, it diminishes. And therefore he says that tears are to him like bread, as refreshing him. Or, like bread, because just as he is sustained by bread, so he is sustained in good by tears. He shows the third when he says, "day and night," namely in prosperity and adversity. Jer. 9: "I will weep day and night." And the cause of this is: "while it is said to me daily: Where is your God?" These, if they are the words of pagans, are referred to catechumens; as if to say: we, say the pagans, have a God whom we see, namely the sun. But where is your God, whom you fabricate? Respond: God can be seen, but not by you, because you are not pure of heart. Likewise, if it is said to a converted Jew by an unbelieving Jew: "Where is your God?" Let the Jew converted to the faith respond: where my God is, appears in your punishment, namely of the Jews, because you are scattered. Likewise these are the words of the sinner to the just man placed in affliction; as if to say: where is your God? Why does he not deliver you from the affliction you suffer? Let the just man respond: because these temporal things are not the reward that God gives to his servants, but heavenly things are.
Exposition on the Psalms of David
And I will go in to the altar of God, to God who gladdens my youth: I will give thanks to thee on the harp, O God, my God.
καὶ εἰσελεύσομαι πρὸς τὸ θυσιαστήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ, πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν τὸν εὐφραίνοντα τὴν νεότητά μου· ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι ἐν κιθάρᾳ, ὁ Θεός, ὁ Θεός μου.
И҆ вни́дꙋ къ же́ртвенникꙋ бж҃їю, къ бг҃ꙋ веселѧ́щемꙋ ю҆́ность мою̀: и҆сповѣ́мсѧ тебѣ̀ въ гꙋ́слехъ, бж҃е, бж҃е мо́й.
"I thought on these things, and poured out my soul above myself" [Psalm 42:4]. When would my soul attain to that object of its search, which is "above my soul," if my soul were not to "pour itself out above itself"? For were it to rest in itself, it would not see anything else beyond itself; and in seeing itself, would not, for all that, see God. Let then my insulting enemies now say, "Where is your God?" aye, let them say it! I, so long as I do not "see," so long as my happiness is postponed, make my tears my "bread day and night." Let them still say, "Where is your God?" I seek my God in every corporeal nature, terrestrial or celestial, and find Him not: I seek His Substance in my own soul, and I find it not, yet still I have thought on these things, and wishing to "see the invisible things of my God, being understood by the things made," [Romans 1:20] I have poured forth my soul above myself, and there remains no longer any being for me to attain to, save my God. For it is "there" is the "house of my God." His dwelling-place is above my soul; from thence He beholds me; from thence He created me; from thence He directs me and provides for me; from thence he appeals to me, and calls me, and directs me; leads me in the way, and to the end of my way.. ..
Exposition on Psalm 42
After the sad events, therefore, he proclaims pleasant ones and ahead of time teaches that they will quickly secure their recall, and with the guidance of God’s grace, they will return to the land of their desire and will rebuild God’s house, will celebrate the customary festivals and welcome into their ears the festive sound and spiritual melody.
Commentary on the Psalms 42:3
Rejoicing refers to the singing of psalms, while confession must include lamentation over sins. The combination of these two things undoubtedly makes for a complete Christian.… What is sweeter and more salutary than to praise God and to continually accuse oneself.
Explanation of the Psalms 42:5
"These things I remembered." Above, the Psalmist set forth his desire, and the cause of the desire; here, however, he sets forth the remedy against the cause, namely sadness. And concerning this he proposes or does two things. First he sets forth a remedy from his own meditation. Second, from divine help, at "Within myself." Concerning the first he does two things. First he proposes the remedy. Second, through this remedy, the impediment of sadness, at "Why are you sad?" In the remedy he proposes first the meditation. Second, the delight of the mind, at "I poured out." And he assigns the reason for this, at "Because I shall pass." He says therefore, "These things I remembered," namely the taunts of the unbelievers saying, "Where is your God?" Lam. 3: "Remembering I shall remember." And I had consolation of mind, because "I poured out my soul within me." When a liquid is poured out, it is expanded. Hence, because the breadth of heart pertains to joy, which is a certain delight, therefore in the pouring out of the soul is designated delight. Ps. 62: "Pour out your hearts before him." Another reading has, "I poured out my soul upon me." And according to this it is read differently, and the sense is: they say, "Where is your God?" And I, remembering these things, first searched insensible creatures to see if I might find my God; but I found in them certain vestiges of God. Rom. 1: "The invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made." But I proceeded further into the intellectual realities of the soul. "And I poured out my soul upon me," that is, searching carefully I sought whatever is in them, as placing all things before me; like one who extracts everything from a vessel to examine whatever is within. And yet my God is not there. But there is still something above this, and this I did: "Because I shall pass over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God"; as if to say: all the solace I could have is the hope of tending toward God. And he says two things: namely, where he tends, and how, at "With the voice," etc. Concerning the first, the following imagination is to be taken. In the Old Testament there was a twofold place dedicated to divine worship: namely, the tabernacle, about which we read in Ex. 36. Afterward, as the state and devotion of the people grew, the house of God was built, namely the temple—not like the tabernacle, but as a fixed structure. And David wished to build this, but was forbidden by God. 2 Sam. 7: "Shall you build me a house?" Likewise 1 Chr. 17. But it was promised to him that his son would build the house of God; hence he himself prepared the expenses. And therefore he says: they say to me, "Where is your God?" And so, remembering these things, I delight that I shall find him; and therefore with all my affection I shall tend toward him. "And I shall pass over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle"; as if to say: I shall not rest until I find him. And he says, "I shall pass over," because by the tabernacle, which was mobile, is signified the state of the present Church, which is not perpetual nor stable except until the consummation of the age, and then it will be transferred. And this is said in Rev. 21: "Behold the tabernacle of God with men," that is, the present Church with men, that is, as long as men shall be in this life. And from this I shall pass over to the stable house of God. Ps. 65: "We shall be filled with the good things of your house." Jn. 14: "In my Father's house," etc. And thus he intimates going into the wonderful tabernacle and into the house of God. And it is called the wonderful tabernacle on account of the wonderful things he does for his saints. "With the voice." Here is described the manner of passing over to the house of God. And here likewise a certain imagination is to be taken. Now it was the custom that when some went in groups to the tabernacle, they went with joy. Is. 30: "You shall have a song as in the night of a holy solemnity, and joy of heart." Thus one who goes with a pipe goes joyfully; and therefore he says, "I shall go into the place of the tabernacle," etc. And with joy, because "With the voice of exultation and confession, the sound of one feasting." Another reading has, "The sounds of one feasting"; as if to say: I shall go with the sound of one feasting, because at banquets there is a sound of joy; and this is more evident according to the other joys that are there. Let us therefore refer this to the entrance of joy, because there will be three things there. First, there will be exultation over the goods possessed. Is. 35: "They shall obtain joy and gladness." Second, there will be confession of the benefits of grace, because they will acknowledge that they obtained those things through the grace of God; and therefore thanksgiving will follow there, and the voice of praise. Third, there will be spiritual refreshment. Is. 65: "My servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry; my servants shall drink, and you shall thirst," etc. Mt. 5: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice," etc.; and therefore there will be the sound of one feasting. Likewise of festivity, that is, perpetual exultation. Bar. 5: "Look, O Jerusalem, toward the east, and see the joy that comes to you from God."
Exposition on the Psalms of David
Wherefore art thou very sad, O my soul? and wherefore dost thou trouble me? Hope in God; for I will give thanks to him, [who is] the health of my countenance, [and] my God.
ἱνατί περίλυπος εἶ, ἡ ψυχή μου; καὶ ἱνατί συνταράσσεις με; ἔλπισον ἐπὶ τὸν Θεόν, ὅτι ἐξομολογήσομαι αὐτῷ· σωτήριον τοῦ προσώπου μου καὶ ὁ Θεός μου.
Вскꙋ́ю приско́рбна є҆сѝ, дꙋшѐ моѧ̀; и҆ вскꙋ́ю смꙋща́еши мѧ̀; ᲂу҆пова́й на бг҃а, ꙗ҆́кѡ и҆сповѣ́мсѧ є҆мꙋ̀, сп҃се́нїе лица̀ моегѡ̀ и҆ бг҃ъ мо́й.
Troubled by the hazardous turnings of this world, David says, “Why are you sad, O soul, why do you trouble me? Hope in God, for I will give praise to him, the salvation of my countenance and my God.” Therefore, when we are distressed and apprehensive, let hope strengthen us with the expectation of things that are to come. Look to each phrase individually. “Hope, for I will give praise,” he says; not “I give praise,” but “I will give praise.” This means: I will give praise better at that time when I shall behold the glory of God with face unveiled and be transformed into the same image. As he was consoling himself, suddenly turning to himself, he says, “My soul is troubled within myself”; that is, I, who ought to strengthen others, am myself disturbed, and because I do not have strength of myself, let us receive it from the Creator.
The Prayer of Job and David 4:3.12-13
But seeing, brethren, so long as "we are at home in this body, we are absent from the Lord;" [2 Corinthians 5:6] and "the corruptible body presses down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weighs down the mind that muses on many things;" [Wisdom 9:15] even though we have some way or other dispersed the clouds, by walking as "longing" leads us on, and for a brief while have come within reach of that sound, so that by an effort we may catch something from that "house of God," yet through the burden, so to speak, of our infirmity, we sink back to our usual level, and relapse to our ordinary state. And just as there we found cause for rejoicing, so here there will not be wanting an occasion for sorrow. For that hart that made "tears" its "bread day and night," borne along by "longing to the water-brooks" (that is, to the spiritual delights of God), "pouring forth his soul above himself," that he may attain to what is "above" his own soul, walking towards "the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even unto the house of God," and led on by the sweetness of that inward spiritual sound to feel contempt for all outward things, and be borne on to things spiritual, is but a mortal man still; is still groaning here, still bearing about the frailty of flesh, still in peril in the midst of the "offenses" [Matthew 18:7] of this world. He therefore glances back to himself, as if he were coming from that world; and says to himself, now placed in the midst of these sorrows, comparing these with the things, to see which he had entered in there, and after seeing which he had come forth from thence;
"Why art you cast down, O my soul, and why do you disquiet me?" [Psalm 42:5]. Lo, we have just now been gladdened by certain inward delights: with the mind's eye we have been able to behold, though but with a momentary glance, something not susceptible of change: why do you still "disquiet me, why are you" still "cast down"? For you do not doubt of your God. For now you are not without somewhat to say to yourself, in answer to those who say, "Where is your God?" I have now had the perception of something that is unchangeable; why do you disquiet me still?
"Hope in God." Just as if his soul was silently replying to him, "Why do I disquiet you, but because I am not yet there, where that delight is, to which I was, as it were, rapt for a moment? Am I already 'drinking' from this 'fountain' with nothing to fear?"...Still "Hope in God," is his answer to the soul that disquiets him, and would fain account for her disquiet from the evils with which this world abounds. In the mean while dwell in hope: for "hope that is seen is not hope; but if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." [Romans 8:24-25]
Exposition on Psalm 42
Do not be sad, spirit, but hope in the Lord because I confess to him. He is the Savior of my countenance, that is, my God is the restorer of his own image.
Commentary on the Psalms 42
And because all these things exist imperfectly in the Church, he adds, "Why are you sad, O my soul?" Here he applies the remedy against the cause of sadness. And first he removes the feeling. Second he removes its effect. He says therefore, "Why are you sad, O my soul?" When you ought to rejoice, because you are in the tabernacle, and because I shall go to the house of the Lord. Why then are you sad? For small evils are not to be regarded in consideration of eternal goods. Sir. 30: "Drive sadness," namely of the world, "far from you." 2 Cor. 7: "The sadness of the world works death." The effect of sadness is disturbance, because from the disorder of the affections, reason itself is disturbed. And who is speaking? The soul, according to this sense. The soul has two parts: namely, the sensitive part, which he here calls the soul on account of its animality; and the higher reason, which names itself, because each person is most of all that which is best in him. And therefore the higher reason says to the lower: "Why do you disturb me?" And what is the cause? He shows, moreover, that it should not be sad, because there is hope of future confession; and therefore he says, "Hope in the Lord, for I shall yet praise him"; as if to say: hope in God himself, because you will yet come to that which you desire, because, namely, "I shall yet praise him," that is, I still hope for his countenance, either on the way or in the homeland, which is especially the matter of joy. Jas. 5: "Is anyone among you sad? Let him pray. Is anyone in good spirits? Let him sing psalms," etc. "The salvation of my countenance." Here the word "salvation," according to the Gloss, is in the nominative case, and the sense is: I say that I shall praise him. And whom? Namely Christ, in whom there are two natures: the human, namely, by which he is like his mother; and therefore he says, "The salvation of my countenance," that is, bearing my countenance. Lk. 2: "My eyes have seen your salvation," etc. Gen. 49: "I will wait for your salvation, O Lord." Likewise the divine nature; and with respect to this he is my God; therefore he says, "My God." Rom. 9: "From whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all things, God blessed forever." Or, according to Jerome, "salvation" is in the accusative case; as if to say: I shall confess to him salvation, that is, the salvation by which he saved me. And what follows, "my God," is joined with what follows.
Exposition on the Psalms of David
[A Psalm of David.] Judge me, O God, and plead my cause, against an ungodly nation: deliver me from the unjust and crafty man.
Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυΐδ. - ΚΡΙΝΟΝ με, ὁ Θεός, καὶ δίκασον τὴν δίκην μου ἐξ ἔθνους οὐχ ὁσίου· ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ἀδίκου καὶ δολίου ῥῦσαί με.
Ѱало́мъ дв҃дꙋ, не надпи́санъ ᲂу҆ є҆врє́й,Сꙋди́ ми, бж҃е, и҆ разсꙋдѝ прю̀ мою̀: ѿ ꙗ҆зы́ка не преподо́бна, ѿ человѣ́ка непра́ведна и҆ льсти́ва и҆зба́ви мѧ̀.