1. DISCOURSE on Psalm 3.

DISCOURSES ON THE PSALMS

VOLUME 5 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Psalms of David, offered in this volume, belong to his best works, and their origin dates back to the most flourishing period of his preaching activity in Antioch (from 393 to 397), although the final form of these discourses could have been given later. It can be thought that the great teacher consistently gave an interpretation of the entire Psalter in his Discourses, but not all of them have come down to us, so they begin directly with the explanation of the 3rd Psalm.

DISCOURSE ON PSALM 3

"The Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. God! how my persecutors have multiplied! Many rise up against me" (v. 1, 2). 1. A psalm to David, when he struck his son from the presence of Absalom, 2. O Lord, why hast thou multiplied me by the cold? Many rise up against me, 3 many say to my soul: There is no salvation for him in his God. 4 But thou, O Lord, art my intercessor, my glory, and lift up my head. 5 With my voice I have cried unto the Lord, and thou hast heard me from thy holy mountain. 6 I am asleep, and sleep, I am asleep, for the Lord will intercede for me. 7 I will not be afraid of those people who are round about attacking me. 8 Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God: for Thou hast struck down all my enemies in vain, Thou hast broken the teeth of sinners. 9 Salvation is the Lord's, and thy blessing is upon thy people.  1 The Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.  2 Lord! How my persecutors have multiplied! Many are rebelling against me.  3 Many say to my soul, There is no salvation for him in his God.  4 But thou, O Lord, art my advocate, my glory, and thou liftest up my head.  5 With my voice I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me from his holy mountain.  6 I fell asleep, slept, and arose, for the Lord will protect me.  7 I will not be afraid of the multitude of people who are attacking me all around.  8 Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For Thou hast smitten all those who are enemies against me in vain, Thou hast broken the teeth of sinners.  9 Salvation is from the Lord, and Thy blessing is upon Thy people. The meaning of the inscription: "The Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son." – Why was David persecuted by Absalom? "What is the source of sin is also the scourge of punishment. – Most people have their own family as enemies because of their sins; this is confirmed by the example of David, the Israelites in the time of the Judges, Adam, Daniel, and the prophet from Judah. – Exhortation – to destroy the source of evil is sin. The death of Absalom and David's sorrow for those who are perishing. Kings erect victory statues in honor of the victorious commanders; Likewise, the rulers set up victorious images and pillars in honor of charioteers and wrestlers, and make the substance with an inscription, as if with the lips, announce victory. Others set forth the praises of the victors in books and letters, wishing to show that in praise they themselves are stronger than those whom they praise. Orators and painters, carvers and sculptors, peoples and rulers, cities and villages, are amazed at the victors; but no one has inscribed images in honor of him who flees and did not fight, as David does now, for it is said, "A psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son." And when does the fugitive receive praise? When does an exile deserve an inscription? Fugitives are caught by announcing them in writing, rather than glorifying them with inscriptions. But find out, brother, the reason for such an inscription (psalm) and preserve your soul; let this narration serve you to correct your life; let this persecution of the righteous be a barrier to your mind. Find out why David was persecuted by Absalom, so that you, having established yourself on this, as if on a foundation, may be built up by the fear of God, for as a building without a foundation is unstable, so the Scriptures, if you do not see their purpose, are of no avail. Blessed David in this psalm had the goal of teaching a virtuous and chaste life, never to do evil and not to despise the laws of God, so that the sinner would not suffer the same thing that he himself suffered. David fled from his son, because he had withdrawn from purity; he fled from his son because he had broken his chaste marriage; fled from his son, because he fled from the law of God, which says: "Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:13,14). He brought a strange lamb into his house, killing her shepherd, and the lamb of his own house began to butt his shepherd; he brought war into another's house, and from his own house war rose up against him. This is not my reasoning, but the utterance of God; and where God explains, there no one can contradict. And that his son really rose up against David, because he killed Uriah and took his wife, listen to God, who said to David through the prophet Nathan, "I have anointed you king over Israel, and I have delivered you out of the hand of Saul": "And I have given you your master's house, and I have given you the house of Israel and Judah": "And I have given you the house of Israel and Judah." if this is not enough, I would add more to you. Why then hast thou despised the word of the Lord, having done evil in His sight? Uriah the Hittite thou hast slain with the sword; he took his wife to be his wife. And so shall not the sword depart from thy house for ever" (2 Samuel 12:7-10). Thou hast cut another man's house with the sword, and I will prepare a sword against thee in thy house: "Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thy house," not from without, but "from thy house" (2 Samuel 12:11). From whence comes the source of sin, whence comes the scourge of punishment. Therefore he fled from his son, because he became a fugitive and an exile in relation to the commandment of God. "The Psalm of David," when he fled "from Absalom his son." It is better to show the cause of the war than to narrate the war itself, so that when we see the fall of the righteous man, we ourselves may warn ourselves against the fall and avoid such a punishment. For many even now wage war in their own homes: one meets war from his wife, another is besieged by his son, another suffers trouble from his brother, another from his servant, and each is tormented, vexed, fights, causes war, and is struck down by war; but no one thinks, reasoning within himself, that if he had not sown sins, thorns and thistles would not have grown in his house, but if he had not planted sparks of sin, his house would not have been set on fire. And that domestic calamities are the fruits of sins, and that God appoints his household as the executors of punishment for the sinner, this is evidenced by the divine Scriptures, which are more reliable. Does your wife make war on you, meets you like a wild beast at your entrance, sharpens her tongue like a sword? It is regrettable, of course, that the helper has become an adversary; but examine thyself to see if in thy youth thou hast plotted anything against a woman, and behold, the insult of a woman is avenged by the woman, and the wound of another is healed by thy own wife. Although the actor herself does not know this, the physician – God does. He acts upon you with it as with iron, and as iron does not know what it is doing, but the physician who heals with iron knows, so here, although the woman who smites and the husband who is afflicted do not know the cause of the affliction, but God, as a physician, knows what is beneficial. And that an evil wife is a scourge for sins, the divine Scripture testifies to this; it says that a wicked wife will be given to a sinful husband (cf. Sirach, chs. 25 and 26). It will be given to him as a bitter medicine that destroys the juices of sin. And that attacks from children are also punishments for sins, David is a witness, persecuted by his son Absalom for unlawful relations, as the above words show. And that brethren are enmity against brethren also for sins, the book of Judges testifies. When some of the tribe of Benjamin committed fornication with the concubine of the traveler, and she, unable to endure the immeasurable offense, died, the eleven tribes began war against one; but since the eleven tribes departed from God and adulterously turned to idols, all eleven were defeated by one tribe, and moreover were repeatedly defeated by it alone, while over it they gained only one victory – and the brothers fought with the brothers, because God for their sins destroyed the center of sin (Judg. 19 and 20). When one tribe committed fornication with a woman, and eleven tribes committed adultery with idols, then both were destroyed by God, as it is written: "Thou destroyest every one that departs from Thee" (Psalm 77:27). Thus, the brothers fought with the brothers for sins. When your brothers attack you, do not so much complain about them as look at yourself and carefully examine for what sins your brothers have become your enemies. However, not everyone suffers attacks from brothers for sins. Thus Joseph endured attacks from his brothers, but not at all for sins; and Job was subjected to his wife's calumnies, but not at all for sins. For most people, the household is an enemy because of sins. It happens that friends turn into enemies for their sins, and those who formerly loved begin to hate and abhor them, because God allows such hatred between them for reasons known to Him. Thus it is written about the Egyptians in Psalm one hundred and four: "He stirred up hatred in their hearts against His people" (Psalm 104:25). And God would not have allowed hatred, if their love had not been vicious before. To whom love has served to perdition, hatred becomes a motive to virtue. Both slaves and subordinates often rebelled against their masters for their sins. Thus, look, when Adam had not yet sinned, then the beasts also served and obeyed him, and he called them names as his servants; but when he stained his face with sin, then the beasts did not recognize him, and from slaves they became his enemies.

Thus, the rebellion of slaves is also a retribution for sins. Daniel was righteous, and the lions acknowledged his dominion; they saw him not tasting sin, and left him untouched by punishment (Dan. 6:22). The prophet who lied sinned, and a lion met him on the way and killed him (1 Kings 13:24); he stained himself with lies, and the lion did not recognize him. If the lion had seen in him a prophet like Daniel, he would have honored him; but he found a false prophet, and therefore attacked him as a stranger; the lord lied, and the servant rejected his dominion. But what do I say about domestic calamities, if our very body, which is nearest and dearest to us, if it also sometimes enmity against us when we sin, taking revenge on us with fevers and other diseases and sufferings, if the servile body also punishes the ruling soul when it sins, not because it wants to, but because it is commanded to do so? Christ testifies to this, who said to the healed paralytic: "Behold, you are healed; sin no more, lest something worse happen to you" (John 5:14). And so, having learned, brethren, that wars from family, relatives, and slaves, and bodily illnesses are for the most part due to sins, let us destroy the source of evil – sin. When the streams of passions do not flow, then the rivers of God's waters rejoice the soul. David took a married wife as a foreign kingdom (for for every husband a wife of one accord is a kingdom, and it is not so much the king who loves the purple and the diadem as the husband loves his wife), and therefore the son of his own wife rose up against him as a tyrant, intending to take the kingdom from his father. He took by force, and he himself was subjected to violence; I have sinned secretly, and have been exposed openly; wounded himself in secret, and in front of everyone he tested the hand of a physician, according to the word of God: "You have done it secretly, but I will do it before all Israel and before the sun" (2 Samuel 12:12). However, Absalom's malice did not reach its goal, and rightly so, so that the parricides did not take his act as a rule of parricide; but, having served as an executor of punishment, he himself was killed as a condemned. As in spectacles wild beasts attack some, and others kill themselves, so Absalom, having attacked David, was killed by Joab (2 Samuel 18:14)

Then one could see a wonderful sight: riding on a horse, he was held by the thick branches of a tree by his thick hair, and the branches held the tyrant's hair, causing him pain in the very place where he wanted to wear his father's diadem. Absalom could be seen hanging between heaven and earth. Heaven did not accept him, because if it rejected the first troublemaker, the devil, how could it accept the second troublemaker? The earth turned away from him, not tolerating defilement at the feet of the parricide – for if it swallowed up Dathan, who spoke against Moses, if it opened its mouth against him who opened his mouth to evil (Num. 16), then how could it tear off the feet that rushed against the parent? So when Absalom was hanging high on a tree, Joab the captain of the army came to him and thrust three arrows into the heart of the heartless man, and thus struck him in the very place where the receptacle of iniquity was. And as he hung high on the tree, David sang to him a beautiful funeral song: "I saw a terrible wicked man, expanding like a tree rooted with many branches; but he has passed away, and behold, he is gone; I seek it, and find it not" (Psalm 36:35, 36). "The Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son." He fled from his son, not because he was afraid, but because he feared to kill him; he himself spared him as a son, but those who were with him would not spare him as a troublemaker. That is why David, being persecuted by his son and reproached for him by Shemey (2 Samuel 16), himself generously endured everything; but since many were offended by him, those who were especially indignant with Absalom rose up against him, as if forsaken by Providence, and said, "Now David is forsaken, utterly devoid of all help; now God has departed from him, as He once did from Saul; as then He departed from Saul and was with David, so now He has departed from David and turned to Absalom; let us rise up and attack him; there is no salvation for him in God, – since they spoke such words, David, grieving more over this than over the audacious actions of his son, asks God: "Lord! How my enemies have multiplied! Many rise up against me"? I am besieged by temptations, surrounded by streams of evil, a rain of calamities has come upon me, rivers of enemies have come, the winds of evil spirits have blown, and have attacked my house, seeking to separate my soul from Thee; but, being built on the rock of faith, I do not fall, but fall down to know: "Lord! How my enemies have multiplied! Many rise up against me"? He who is from me is against me, but You are with me. My womb is waging war against me, my people are following Absalom, my army is arming themselves against me, my sheep have become wolves, my lambs have become lions, my lambs have become mad dogs, and my rams have become gored oxen; but I grieve not for myself, but for their destruction (To Thee I offer thanks to the Saviour, because to Thee is due glory and dominion, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.

2. DISCOURSE on Psalm 4.

"As I called, the God of my righteousness heard me" (v. 2)

1 В конец, в пeснех, псалом Давиду,

2. Внегда призвати ми, услыша мя Бог правды моея: в скорби распространил мя еси: ущедри мя и услыши молитву мою.

3 Сынове человeчестии, доколe тяжкосердии? вскую любите суету и ищете лжи?

4 И увeдите, яко удиви Господь прподобнаго своего. Господь услышит мя, внегда воззвати ми к нему.