The inscription of the psalm: "In the end, O those who desire to be changed, into a pillar of David, for teaching: Burn the center of Syria and Syria of Sobal, and Joab returned, and smite Edom in the thicket of salts twenty thousand." It follows from the inscription that David fought in Syria, in the area of Soval. Sowal is a Syrian region located between two rivers. This war is not told in history books. Then, as interpreters suggest, the Edomites invaded David's kingdom from the south. David's commander Joab returned from Syria with part of the army and defeated their 12,000-strong army in the battle in the Salt Valley.

The most famous commentary on this psalm belongs to St. Maximus the Confessor. He interprets the psalm strictly allegorically. His exegesis of Psalm 59 can serve as a model of allegorical interpretation. As an example, let us consider the interpretation of the inscription.

"In the end, O those who desire to change." "At the end of time, as a result of the coming of Christ, there takes place, by the voluntary will and choice of everyone, a change and transition of people from unbelief to faith, from depravity to virtue, and from ignorance to the knowledge of God; and also because then, in the completion of the ages, thanks to the same Saviour and our God, there will take place, through the longed-for Resurrection, a universal and natural in grace renewal and change of the entire human race from death and corruption to eternal life and incorruption."

"Into the pillar of David" – that is, to Christ Himself, because thanks to His Divine incarnation, like a pillar, the destruction of depravity had already taken place in Him, as in the Founder and Saviour, and after Him in those who live piously according to Christ; and also because through Him there will still be a complete destruction of death and corruption."

"For instruction, when thou hast burned the center of Syria, and Syria of Sobal" – the psalm is inscribed as a teaching to us, who are changing and will be changed (it is clear that we are talking about a praiseworthy and divine change) by the spiritual David, that is, Christ God (our). For He alone is the true King of Israel, who sees God, for He is the Destroyer of all wickedness and ignorance, and the Conqueror of all time and nature, through which wickedness arises in us. He burned the Center of Speech, communicating with us through the flesh, that is, He burned (our) state of depravity, which is flooded with unnatural carnal passions. And Syria of Sobal, that is, our sinful spiritual disposition, enslaved by time or seduced by this age. For Soval is interpreted as "seven," and this clearly indicates the peculiarity of time, which is sevenfold. After all, the devil is in the habit, contrary to virtue and knowledge, to bring nature and time into consonance with himself, starting an invisible battle..."

"And Joab returned, and smote Edom in the wilds of Soleus, 12 thousand." For every commander of the spiritual king David, that is, our Lord Jesus, wages war against the opposing forces, and smites 12,000 men in the valley of Soleus. The valley of Soleil is flesh, which, through disobedience, has become a contemptible land of passions. In it, as in a valley, every pious and God-loving person strikes down nature and time by means of reason and contemplation. Or (in other words): in such people, due to the loftiness of their virtues and knowledge, the irrational anticipation of the soul is in no way in the power of the laws of nature and time. And the number twelve signifies these nature and time, since nature is fivefold because of the senses (St. Maximus here has in mind the five senses – sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch), and time is seven-fold (St. Maximus means the six days of creation and the day of rest), as is obvious to everyone. And five combined with seven makes twelve."

The entire psalm is interpreted in a similar way. Let us consider the exegesis of another passage from the psalm. Take verse 10 as an example: "Upon Edom I will stretch out my boot." The literal meaning is as follows: King David, referring to the revelation of God, expresses confidence that Edom will submit to the God of Israel, will be, figuratively speaking, under His boot. St. Maximus is faithful to the allegorical method of interpretation. "Idumea," he says, "is interpreted as 'blood-red clay.' It can also be understood as the flesh of the Lord, in which, as in shoes, He came to people. For otherwise it is impossible for the creature to comprehend the Creator, since by nature He is boundless and incomprehensible. Idumaea can also be understood as the flesh of each of us. The boot extends to it, that is, asceticism and abstinence, which protects the soul from the evil thorns and thorns of the devil – this is how the boot should be understood. For without asceticism and abstinence, the fighter of piety is unable to overcome the passions of the flesh.

The boot of the soul can also be understood as a feeling that is mortified by reason and contemplation. Through this sense, the soul enters into communion with sensible things, and, passing unharmed through this age, by means of sensation (as through a boot) it perceives the logoi of sensible things, represented in their figurative and visible differences. Then it focuses on the cognition and comprehension of the single, unique and reigning word."

Псалом 114.

Псалом 114 является благодарственным. Некоторые толкователи полагают, что в нем содержится благодарение за возвращение еврейского народа из вавилонского плена. Псалом считается мессианским.

Ст. 3 - 4: «Объяли меня болезни смертные, муки адские постигли меня; я встретил тесноту и скорбь. Тогда призвал я имя Господне: Господи! Избави душу мою». Это место рассматривается как пророчество о крестных страданиях Спасителя.