Psalm 94 [MT 95]
Commentary from 4 fathers
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
προφθάσωμεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἐξομολογήσει καὶ ἐν ψαλμοῖς ἀλαλάξωμεν αὐτῷ.
предвари́мъ лицѐ є҆гѡ̀ во и҆сповѣ́данїи, и҆ во ѱалмѣ́хъ воскли́кнемъ є҆мꙋ̀:
And what followed, because He dealt confidently? "Be exalted, Thou Judge of the world" [Psalm 94:2]. Because they imprisoned Him when humble, do you think they will imprison Him when exalted? Because they judged Him when mortal, will they not be judged by Him when immortal? What then says He? "Be exalted," Thou, who hast dealt confidently, the confidence of whose word the wicked bore not, but thought they did a glorious deed, when they seized and crucified You; they who ought to have seized on You with faith, seized You with persecution. Thou then who hast among the wicked dealt confidently, and hast feared no man, because You have suffered, "be exalted;" that is, arise again, depart into heaven. Let the Church also bear with long-suffering what the Church's Head has borne with long-suffering. "Be exalted, Thou Judge of the world: and reward the proud after their deserving." He will reward them, brethren. For what is this, "Be exalted, Thou Judge of the world: and reward the proud after their deserving"? This is the prophecy of one who does predict, not the boldness of one who commands. Not because the Prophet said, "Be exalted, Thou Judge of the world," did Christ obey the Prophet, in arising from the dead, and ascending into heaven; but because Christ was to do this, the Prophet predicted it. He sees Christ abased in the spirit, abased he sees Him: fearing no man, in speech sparing no man, and he says, "He has dealt confidently." He sees how confidently He has dealt, he sees Him arrested, crucified, humbled, he sees Him rising from the dead, and ascending into heaven, and from thence to come in judgment of those, among whose hands He had suffered every evil: "Be exalted," he says, "Thou Judge of the world, and reward the proud after their deserving." The proud He will thus reward, not the humble. Who are the proud? Those to whom it is little to do evil: but they even defend their own sins. For on some of those who crucified Christ, miracles were afterwards performed, when out of the number of the Jews themselves there were found believers, and the blood of Christ was given unto them. Their hands were impious, and red with the blood of Christ. He whose blood they had shed, Himself washed them. They who had persecuted His mortal body which they had seen, became part of His very body, that is, the Church. They shed their own ransom, that they might drink their own ransom. For afterwards more were converted....
Exposition on Psalm 94
For the Lord is a great God, and a great king over all gods: for the Lord will not cast off his people.
ὅτι Θεὸς μέγας Κύριος καὶ Βασιλεὺς μέγας ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν·
ꙗ҆́кѡ бг҃ъ ве́лїй гдⷭ҇ь, и҆ цр҃ь ве́лїй по все́й землѝ:
We have discussed the prayer of holy Job; now let us approach that prayer that we have found in the psalms. David spoke out in many passages in regard to worldly vanity; he often asserted that the supposed goods of this world were vain, especially in the thirty-eighth psalm, in which he says, “And indeed all things are vanity, every one living. Although a person walks in the image of God, yet he is troubled vainly. He stores up, and he knows not for whom he is gathering these things.” And in another passage he says, “How long shall sinners, O Lord, how long shall sinners glory?”—because here they have a shadow of glory, but, when they have departed from life, they will not have the benefit of consolation. Still, the same David introduced into the collection Psalm 72 [LXX]. In it he declares, under the title Asaph, that at first he almost fell, being afflicted with great pain. For he saw that sinners were wealthy and rich in this world and enjoyed prosperity and abundance, whereas he, who was just in his heart, was in afflictions and tribulations. He had committed a rather serious offense in the beginning; later he had been corrected and enlightened through the scourges of the Lord and had learned the course of true surrender by the gift of God’s knowledge.
The Prayer of Job and David 4.1.1
3–4"Lord, how long shall the ungodly, how long shall the ungodly triumph?" [Psalm 94:3]. "They answer, and will speak wickedness, they all will speak that work unrighteousness" [Psalm 94:4]. What is their saying, but against God, when they say: What profits it us that we live thus? What will you reply? Does God truly regard our deeds? For because they live, they imagine that God knows not their actions. Behold, what evil happens unto them! If the officers knew where they were, they would arrest them; and they therefore avoid the officer's eyes, that they may escape instant apprehension; but no one can escape the eye of God, since He not only sees within the closet, but within the recesses of the heart. Even they themselves believe that nothing can escape God: and because they do evil, and are conscious of what they have done, and see that they live while God knows, though they would not live if the officer discovered them; they say unto themselves, These things please God: and, in truth, if they displeased Him, as they displease kings, as they displease judges, as they displease governors, as they displease recorders, yet could we escape the eye of God, as we do escape the eyes of those authorities? Therefore these things please God....Some righteous man comes, and says, Do not commit iniquity. Wherefore? That you may not die. Behold, iniquity I have committed: why do I not die? That man wrought righteousness: and he is dead: why is he dead? I have wrought iniquity: why has not God carried me off? Behold, that man did righteously: and why has He thus visited him? Why suffers He thus? They answer; this is the meaning of the word "answer:" for they have a reply to make; because they are spared, from the long-suffering of God, they discover an argument for their reply. He spares them for one reason, they answer for another, because they still live. For the Apostle tells us wherefore He spares, he expounds the grounds of the long-suffering of God: "And do you think this, O man, who judges those who do such things, and does the same, that you shall escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering; not knowing that the long-suffering of God leads you to repentance?" "But you," that is, he who answers and says, If I displeased God, He would not spare me, hear what he works for himself; hear the Apostle; "but after your hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up into yourself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds." [Romans 2:5-6] He therefore increases His long-suffering, you increase your iniquity. His treasure will consist in eternal mercy towards those who have not despised His mercy; but your treasure will be discovered in wrath, and what thou daily layest up little by little, you will find in the accumulated mass; you lay up by the grain, but you will find the whole heap. Omit not to watch your slightest daily sins: rivers are filled from the smallest drops.
Exposition on Psalm 94
For the ends of the earth are in his hands; and the heights of the mountains are his.
ὅτι ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς, καὶ τὰ ὕψη τῶν ὀρέων αὐτοῦ εἰσιν·
ꙗ҆́кѡ въ рꙋцѣ̀ є҆гѡ̀ всѝ концы̑ землѝ, и҆ высѡты̀ го́ръ тогѡ̀ сꙋ́ть.
For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
ὅτι αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ἡ θάλασσα, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐποίησεν αὐτήν, καὶ τὴν ξηρὰν αἱ χεῖρες αὐτοῦ ἔπλασαν.
Ꙗ҆́кѡ тогѡ̀ є҆́сть мо́ре, и҆ то́й сотворѝ є҆̀, и҆ сꙋ́шꙋ рꙋ́цѣ є҆гѡ̀ созда́стѣ.
5–6..."They have humbled Your people, O Lord; and have troubled Your heritage" [Psalm 94:5]. "They have murdered the widow, and the fatherless: and slain the proselyte" [Psalm 94:6]; that is, the traveller, the pilgrim: the comer from far, as the Psalmist calls himself. Each of these expressions is too clear in meaning to make it worth while to dwell upon them.
Exposition on Psalm 94
Come, let us worship and fall down before him; and weep before the Lord that made us.
δεῦτε προσκυνήσωμεν καὶ προσπέσωμεν αὐτῷ καὶ κλαύσωμεν ἐναντίον Κυρίου, τοῦ ποιήσαντος ἡμᾶς·
Прїиди́те, поклони́мсѧ и҆ припаде́мъ є҆мꙋ̀, и҆ воспла́чемсѧ пред̾ гдⷭ҇емъ сотво́ршимъ на́съ:
For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ ἡμεῖς λαὸς νομῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ πρόβατα χειρὸς αὐτοῦ.
ꙗ҆́кѡ то́й є҆́сть бг҃ъ на́шъ, и҆ мы̀ лю́дїе па́жити є҆гѡ̀ и҆ ѻ҆́вцы рꙋкѝ є҆гѡ̀. Дне́сь а҆́ще гла́съ є҆гѡ̀ ᲂу҆слы́шите,
"And they have said, The Lord shall not see" [Psalm 94:7]: He observes not, regards not these things: He cares for other matters, He understands not. These are the two assertions of the wicked: one which I have just quoted, "These things have you done, and I held my tongue, and you thought unrighteousness, that I will be like yourself." What means, "that I will be like yourself"? You think that I see your deeds, and that they are pleasing unto Me, because I do not punish them. There is another assertion of the wicked: because God neither regards these things, nor observes that He may know how I live, God heeds me not. Does then God make any reckoning of me? Or does He even take account of me? Or of men in general? Unhappy man! He cared for you, that you might exist: does He not care that thou live well? Such then are the words of these last; "and yet they have said, The Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob regard it."
Exposition on Psalm 94
However, with the other class of unbelievers who either believe that there is no divine power or that it has nothing to do with human affairs, I am not sure that an argument should be undertaken on any subject of dutiful devotion, although hardly anyone can be found nowadays who is so foolish as to dare to say even in his own heart, “There is no God.” But other fools are not lacking who have said, “The Lord shall not see,” that is, he does not extend his providence to these earthly affairs. Accordingly, in those books which I wish your charity to read, along with the description of the city of God, if God wills and for whom he wills, I shall justify the belief that not only does God exist—and this belief is so ingrained in nature that hardly any impiety ever tears it out—but that he regulates human affairs, from governing human beings to rewarding the just with blessedness in the company of the holy angels and condemning the wicked to the lot of the bad angels.
Letter 184.a
To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, according to the day of irritation in the wilderness:
σήμερον, ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ,
не ѡ҆жесточи́те серде́цъ ва́шихъ, ꙗ҆́кѡ въ прогнѣ́ванїи, по днѝ и҆скꙋше́нїѧ въ пꙋсты́ни:
8–9What is the topmost pinnacle of the building we are striving to construct? How far does the top of our edifice reach? I'll tell you straightaway: as far as the sight of God. You can see how high that is, what a great thing it is, to see God. Any of you who long for this will understand what I am saying and you are hearing. We have been promised the sight of God, of the true God, of the supreme God. This really is a wonderful thing, to see the one who sees.I mean, those who worship false gods can easily see them, but they see gods who have eyes and do not see. But we have been promised the vision of the God who lives and sees, and so the God we should be yearning to see is the one of whom Scripture says, "Will he who planted the ear not hear? Does he who fashioned the eye not observe?" So does the one who made you something to hear with not hear himself? And does he not see, the one who created the means for you to see with? In this psalm [the psalmist] very neatly prefaces those words with these: "Understand, therefore, you who are unwise among the people; and you fools, come sooner or later to your senses." You see, this is why many people do wrong, imagining that they are not noticed by God. It is difficult, of course, for them to believe he cannot see, but they assume he does not want to. You won't find many people so totally irreligious that they fulfill the text, "The fool has said in his heart, There is no God." Few hold this crazy idea. Just as there aren't many people who are deeply religious, so there aren't many who are totally irreligious. But what I am going to say now is what the crowd says: "Look, do you really think God takes trouble to know what I do in my house, that God cares two cents what I choose to do in my bed?" Well, who is it that says, "Understand, you who are unwise among the people; and you fools, come sooner or later to your senses"? Being a mere human, it takes you quite a lot of trouble to know everything that goes on in your house and to insure that what your slaves say and do gets back to you; but do you imagine it is any trouble like that for God to pay attention to you, seeing that it was no trouble at all for him to create you? Having made your eyes, will he not turn his own on to you? You did not exist, and he created you, to bring you into being. Now that you do exist, will he not care for you, he that summons the things that are not, as though they were?
Sermon 69:3
"Take heed now, you that are unwise among the people: O you fools, some time understand!" [Psalm 94:8]. He teaches His people whose feet might slip: any one among them sees the prosperity of the wicked, himself living well among the Saints of God, that is, among the number of the sons of the Church: he sees that the wicked flourish, and work iniquity, he envies, and is led to follow them in their actions; because he sees that apparently it profits him nothing that he lives well in humility, hoping for his reward here. For if he hopes for it in future, he loses it not; because the time is not yet come for him to receive it. You are working in a vineyard: execute your task, and you shall receive your pay. You would not exact it from your employer, before your work was finished, and yet do you exact it from God before thou dost work? This patience is part of your work, and your pay depends upon your work: thou who dost not choose to be patient, choosest to work less upon the vineyard: since this act of patience belongs to your labouring itself, which is to gain your pay. But if you are treacherous, take care, lest you should not only not receive your pay, but also suffer punishment, because you have chosen to be a treacherous labourer. When such a labourer begins to do ill, he watches his employer's eyes, who hired him for his vineyard, that he may loiter when his eye is turned away; but the moment his eyes are turned towards him, he works diligently. But God, who hired you, averts not His eyes: you can not work treacherously: the eyes of your Master are ever upon you: seek an opportunity to deceive Him, and loiter if you can. If then any of you had any such ideas, when you saw the wicked flourishing, and if such thoughts caused your feet to slip in the path of God; to you this Psalm speaks: but if perchance none of you be such, through you it does address others, in these words, "Take heed now;" since they had said, "The Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob regard it." "Take heed," it says, "now, you that are unwise among the people: and you fools, some time understand!"
Exposition on Psalm 94
Take care, then, to avoid what the great apostle sets forth so fearfully, and when you feel that you do not understand, make an immediate act of faith in what is divinely revealed, that there is both free will in humans and grace from God; and pray that what you religiously believe you may also wisely understand. Indeed, it is for this very reason that we have free will that we may wisely understand, for, unless our understanding and wisdom were regulated by free will, we should not be commanded in the words of Scripture: "Understand, you senseless among the people; and you fools be wise at last." The very fact, then, that we are instructed and commanded to understand and be wise is proof of a demand on our obedience, which cannot exist without free will. But, if it were possible for this to be accomplished by free will without the grace of God, namely, that we should understand and be wise, we should not have to say to God, "Give me understanding that I may know your commandments"; nor would it be written in the Gospel, "Then he opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures"; nor would the apostle James have said, "But if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all people abundantly and upbraids not: and it will be given to him."
Letter 214
where your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works.
οὗ ἐπείρασάν με οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν, ἐδοκίμασάν με καὶ εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου.
во́ньже {и҆дѣ́же} и҆скꙋси́ша мѧ̀ ѻ҆тцы̀ ва́ши, и҆скꙋси́ша мѧ̀, и҆ ви́дѣша дѣла̀ моѧ̑.
9–10"He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? Or He that made the eye, does He not consider?" [Psalm 94:9] "or He that instructs the nations, shall He not reprove?" [Psalm 94:10]. This is what God is at present doing: He is instructing the nations: for this reason he sent His word to man throughout the world: He sent it by Angels, by Patriarchs, by Prophets, by servants, through so many heralds going before the Judge. He sent also His own Word Himself, He sent His own Son in Person: He sent the servants of His Son, and in these very servants His own Son. Throughout the world is everywhere preached the word of God. Where is it not said unto men, Abandon your former wickedness, and turn yourselves to right paths? He spares, that you may correct yourselves: He punished not yesterday, in order that today ye may live well. He teaches the heathen, shall He not therefore reprove? will He not hear those whom He teaches? will He not judge those to whom He has beforehand sent and sown lessons of warning? If you were in a school, would you receive a task, and not repeat it? When therefore you receive it from your master, you are being taught: the Master gives your task into your hands, and shall He not exact it from you when you come to repeat it? Or when you have begun to repeat it, shall you not be in fear of stripes? At present then we are receiving our work: afterwards we are placed before the Master, that we may give up to Him all our past tasks, that is, that we may give an account of all those things which are now being bestowed upon us. Hear the Apostle's words: "We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ," etc. "It is He that teaches man knowledge." Does He not know, who makes you to know?
Exposition on Psalm 94
9–10When, then, that man, so learned in the Scriptures, was commenting on the psalm where it says, "Understand, you senseless among the people; and you fools be wise at last. He who has planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he who has formed the eye, does he not consider?" He said, among other things, "This passage is directed chiefly against the anthropomorphists who say that God has members such as we have. For example, God is said to have eyes: the eyes of the Lord look on all things; the hand of the Lord makes all things; and it says, "Adam heard the footsteps of the Lord walking in paradise." They take these expressions literally, and they attribute our human inadequacies to the magnificence of God. But I say that God is all eye, he is all hand, he is all foot. He is all eye because he sees all things; he is all hand because he effects all things; he is all foot because he is everywhere present. See, then, what it says, "He who has planted the ear, does he not hear?" It does not say, "He who has planted, does he not then have an ear?" and it does not say, "Does he not then have eyes?" What does it say? "He who has planted the ear, shall he not hear? He who has formed the eye, does he not consider?" He brought together the members, he gave the faculties.
Letter 148
Forty years was I grieved with this generation, and said, They do always err in their heart, and they have not known my ways.
τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ καὶ εἶπα· ἀεὶ πλανῶνται τῇ καρδίᾳ, αὐτοὶ δὲ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν τὰς ὁδούς μου,
Четы́редесѧть лѣ́тъ негодова́хъ ро́да тогѡ̀, и҆ рѣ́хъ: прⷭ҇нѡ заблꙋжда́ютъ се́рдцемъ, ті́и же не позна́ша пꙋті́й мои́хъ:
So this Peter, playing the great part I have suggested to you, is questioned by the Lord after the resurrection, as we had it read to us, and he said to him, "Simon of John"—you see, he was called Simon when he was born; he was the son of John—"Simon of John, do you love me more than these?" Who is doing the questioning? The one who knew everything. Is he like someone who does not know, this one "who has passed on knowledge"? It was not that the Lord wanted to be informed, but that he wanted Peter to confess.
Sermon 229P.2
So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.
ὡς ὤμοσα ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου· εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου.
ꙗ҆́кѡ клѧ́хсѧ во гнѣ́вѣ мое́мъ, а҆́ще вни́дꙋтъ въ поко́й мо́й.
Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. [Psalms 94:11] Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
"The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are but vain" [Psalm 94:11]. For although you know not the thoughts of God, that they are righteous; "He knows the thoughts of man, that they are but vain." Even men have known the thoughts of God: but those to whom He has become a friend, it is to them He shows His counsel. Do not, brethren, despise yourselves: if you approach the Lord with faith, you hear the thoughts of God; these you are now learning, this is told you, and for this reason you are taught, why God spares the wicked in this life, that you may not murmur against God, who teaches man knowledge. "The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are but vain." Abandon therefore the thoughts of man, which are vain: that you may take hold on the thoughts of God, which are wise. But who is he who takes hold on the thoughts of God? He who is placed in the firmament of heaven. We have already chanted that Psalm, and have expounded this expression therein.
Exposition on Psalm 94
People argue against this evident truth. What else, after all, could you expect from mere people, who savor the things of humankind, but to argue about God against God? I mean, he is God, they are mere individuals. But God "knows the thoughts of people, that they are vain." With worldly, materialistic people, what they are in the habit of observing entirely governs their manner of understanding. What they are accustomed to see, they can believe; what they aren't, they can't. God performs miracles that go beyond what we are accustomed to, because he is God. It is in fact a greater miracle, so many people being born every day who did not previously exist, than a few having risen again, who did exist; and yet this kind of miracle is not seriously considered and appreciated, but being so common is disregarded as uninteresting. Christ rose again; the case is complete and closed. He was body, he was flesh, which hung on the cross, gave up the soul, was placed in the tomb. He presented it alive, seeing he lived in it. Why are we astonished, why don't we believe? It is God who did it. Reflect on the one who brought it about, and you eliminate all possibility of doubt.
Sermon 242:1
[The praise of a Song by David.] Come, let us exult in the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to God our Saviour.
Αἶνος ᾠδῆς τῷ Δαυΐδ. - ΔΕΥΤΕ ἀγαλλιασώμεθα τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἀλαλάξωμεν τῷ Θεῷ τῷ Σωτῆρι ἡμῶν·
Прїиди́те, возра́дꙋемсѧ гдⷭ҇еви, воскли́кнемъ бг҃ꙋ сп҃си́телю на́шемꙋ: