Psalms 93

To sit at the right hand of the Father is a mystery belonging to the incarnation. For it does not befit that incorporeal nature without the assumption of flesh; neither is the excellency of a heavenly seat sought for the divine nature but for the human. Thus it is said of him, "Your seat, O God, is prepared from thence forward; you are from everlasting." The seat, then, on which the Lord Jesus was to sit, was prepared from everlasting, "in whose name every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth; and every tongue shall confess to him that Jesus is Lord in the glory of God the Father;" of whom also David says, "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool." Referring to these words the Lord in the Gospel said to the Pharisees, "If therefore David in spirit calls him Lord, how is he his Son?" By which [Jesus Christ] showed that according to the Spirit he was the Lord, according to the flesh he was the Son of David. Also the Lord says in another place, "Truly I say to you, henceforth you shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the power of God." And the apostle Peter says of Christ, "Who is on the right hand of God, seated in the heavens." And Paul also, writing to the Ephesians, "According to the working of the might of his power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and seated him on his right hand."

Thy testimonies are made exceedingly credible. This is what is said in the seventeenth psalm: 'The testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones.' To what little ones? 'Father, I give thee thanks, because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent of the world, and hast revealed them to little ones.' Holiness becometh thy house, O Lord. See what he says. Whoever seems to himself to dwell in the house, if he has not holiness, is a stranger to the house, because the house would not have its ornaments. Holiness becometh thy house, O Lord. If, according to the apostle, we are the temple and house of God, then the holiness of our manner of life ought to be the ornament and adornment of the Church; but if sins and vices are caught in us, we are the disgrace and foulness of the Lord's house, not its beauty. Holiness becometh thy house, O Lord. The house of the Lord is the Church. And the Church, according to the mystical understandings, was already prefigured in the flood by the ark, in which the clean animals, at the Lord's command, were multiplied the more. And although, on account of the unclean and the clean, beasts of diverse kinds dwelt there, nevertheless the clean animals became the Lord's house, which by their uneven number already prefigured the sacrifices of virginity: from which Noah, delivered from the perils of the flood, offered to the Lord a worthy holocaust from the clean animals. There are many things that might be said, but the hour shuts us out, and let it suffice to have said a few things concerning the praises of the Lord. To whom be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

It has been said concerning the Lord's reign and concerning the beauty of his garment, it has been said concerning his strength, it has been said concerning the round world which shall not be moved: now the prophet's speech is directed to the Lord himself, reigning and thundering. And what does he say? Thy throne is prepared; from then thou art, from everlasting. This that he said, He is clothed with strength and hath girded himself, comes down from the lowliness of the flesh: but for the rest, thy kingdom has always been. Thy throne is prepared: always prepared, never beginning. From then. From when? From what time? It has no definition, because it has no beginning either. However often you say, 'from then,' the time never gives out, but you leave it in uncertainty. Because when you say 'then,' it is fitting that you be asked: When? You see, therefore, that the prophetic speech is set down without a definition, since you perceive that it admits of a question. From then thou art, from everlasting. Beautifully he said, thou art; he did not say, from everlasting thou didst begin, but, from everlasting thou art. Thou art who ever art, who saidst to Moses: 'Go, and say to the children of Israel: He who is hath sent me to you.'

The floods have lifted up, O Lord, they have lifted up their voices; from the voices of many waters, wonderful are the surgings of the sea. As many words, so many meanings: as many little verses, so many sacraments. The floods have lifted up their voices. This is what is said in another place: 'The rush of the river maketh glad the city of God.' And in another place: 'The rivers shall clap their hands together.' The floods seem to me to be those which water the whole world, the apostolic and prophetic dignities. The floods have lifted up their voices. Proclaiming the praise and glory of the Lord, announcing his judgments through the whole world. 'Their sound went out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the round world.' From the voices of many waters. The voices of many waters have furnished us with three mysteries. Let us see what those mysteries are. From the voices of many waters, wonderful are the surgings of the sea, wonderful is the Lord on high: thy testimonies are made exceedingly credible. If we understand the sea mystically as this world... for it is bitter and full of tempests, in which those who sail behold many wonders of the Lord. On account of which he says: Wonderful are the surgings of the sea. For we see many, lifted up by swelling waves, suddenly collapse; but others we see, oppressed by the billows, again raised up to the heights. For nothing in this world is found firm, nothing stable. Where you think there is calm, there is shipwreck: where the appearance of quiet is shown, there the assault of the tempest and the whirlwinds lie hidden; and unless we cry out, 'Master, save us,' we suddenly perish. Wonderful is the Lord on high. Whoever has been able to withstand firmly the billows of this world's sea, dwelling steadfastly upon the rock, he will be able to understand how wonderful is the Lord on high. 'For the exalted one dwells in the exalted places, and the holy one in the holy'; as he also says elsewhere, 'Be ye holy, as I also am holy, the Lord your God.' But the man whom the consciousness of his sins humbles, and who cannot lift up his eyes to heaven together with Jesus, in his sight the Lord is not wonderful on high, but terrible to those beneath.

The title of the present psalm is this: A psalm of praise of David, on the day of the sabbath, when the earth was inhabited. On the sabbath day is our rest, and the inhabiting of the earth is ours. 'And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.' Our earth, therefore, has been inhabited. Let us see, then, what this dwelling accomplishes, and with what praises it is extolled.

The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded himself. For he hath established the round world, which shall not be moved. These three little verses are spoken by the prophet concerning the Lord and Savior; but the rest that follow are directed to the Lord himself. The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty. The Lord hath reigned, he who before had served. He is clothed with beauty. What does Isaiah say? 'We saw him, and he had no comeliness of his own: a man laid under a stroke, and knowing how to bear infirmity.' The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty. What he says is this: He who before had been an object of horror in the lowliness of the flesh, now shines resplendent in the majesty of the Godhead. For whatever in him is unshapely, let it be reckoned to our condition; but whatever there is of beauty will be fittingly applied to his own majesty. And he hath girded himself. This that he says, he hath girded himself, must signify some mystery. When we are ungirt, our tunic is let down all the way to the feet: unless it has been drawn up by a belt, the whole garment hangs down. So then, we too, because we could not bear the full strength of the Lord, he girded his majesty with flesh. This is what is said in another place: 'Thou shalt not be able to see my face; thou shalt see my back parts.' It is also said of Elijah in the book of Kings that he stood on Mount Sinai in a cleft, and thus saw the Lord passing by. See how, set in the cleft, he is said to have seen the back parts of the Lord and Savior. If the Lord and Savior is interpreted as the rock... 'And Christ,' says the apostle, 'was the rock.' For when we are set in the cleft of the rock, we behold God through the flesh. Why have I said all this? Because we embrace the following verse also with the same exposition: he is clothed with beauty, and hath girded himself. Just as the Lord and Savior is seen through the cleft of the rock, so too through the girdle his majesty is beheld.

For he hath established the round world, which shall not be moved. If we understand this world to have been so established by God that it is disturbed by no commotion ever, how is it said elsewhere, 'Heaven and earth shall pass away'? But if heaven and earth shall pass away, how is it said here, He hath established the round world, which shall not be moved? The οἰκουμένη (oikoumenē) in this place, which in our tongue is rendered 'the inhabited world,' seems to me to be the Church, of which it is said in the Gospel: 'I and my Father will come, and will make our abode with him.' Rightly, therefore, is it called a habitation, which has as its inhabitant the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. What, then, we have understood concerning the inhabited world—that is, concerning the round earth established forever—let us understand also concerning our soul. For if we have as our inhabitant the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, our earth shall not be moved forever.

"Thy testimonies, O Lord, are very surely believed" (ver. 5). The Lord, who dwelleth on high, is mightier than the mighty overhangings of the sea. "Thy testimonies are very surely believed." "Thy testimonies," because He had said beforehand, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation." ...He added, "but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." If then He saith, "I have overcome the world," cling unto Him who overcame the world, who overcame the sea. Rejoice in Him, because the Lord, who dwelleth on high, is mightier, and, "Thy testimonies are very surely believed." And what is the end of all these? "Holiness becometh Thine house, O Lord!" Thine house, the whole of Thine house, not here and there: but the whole of Thine house, throughout the whole world. Why throughout the whole of the round world? "Because He hath set aright the round world, which cannot be moved." The Lord's house will be strong: it will prevail throughout the whole world: many shall fall: but that house standeth; many shall be disturbed, but that house shall not be moved. Holiness becometh Thine house, O Lord!" For a short time only? No. "Unto length of days."

"Thy throne is established from thence, O Lord" (ver. 2). What is, "from thence"? From that time. As if he said, What is the throne of God? Where doth God sit? In His Saints. Dost thou wish to be the throne of God? Prepare a place in thy heart where He may sit. What is the throne of God, except where God dwelleth? Where doth God dwell, except in His temple? What is His temple? Is it surrounded with walls? Far from it. Perhaps this world is His temple, because it is very great, and a thing worthy to contain God. It contains not Him by whom it was made. And wherein is He contained? In the quiet soul, in the righteous soul: that is it that containeth Him. ...He who said, "Before Abraham was, I am:" not before Abraham only, but before Adam: not only before Adam, but before all the angels, before heaven and earth; since all things were made through Him: he added, lest thou, attending to the day of our Lord's nativity, mightest think He commenced from that time, "Thy throne is established, O God." But what God? "Thou art from everlasting:" for which he uses "ap' aiwnoj" in the Greek version; that word being sometimes used for an age, sometimes for everlasting. Therefore, O Thou who seemest to be born "from thence," Thou art from everlasting! But let not human birth be thought of, but Divine eternity.

"The floods lift up their voices" [Psalm 93:3]. What are these floods, which have lift up their voices? We heard them not: neither when our Lord was born, did we hear rivers speak, nor when He was baptized, nor when He suffered; we heard not that rivers did speak. Read the Gospel, you find not that rivers spoke. It is not enough that they spoke: "They have lift up their voice:" they have not only spoken, but bravely, mightily, in a lofty voice. What are those rivers which have spoken?...The Spirit itself was a mighty river, whence many rivers were filled. Of that river the Psalmist says in another passage, "The rivers of the flood thereof shall make glad the city of God." Rivers then were made to flow from the belly of the disciples, when they received the Holy Spirit: themselves were rivers, when they had received that Holy Spirit. Whence did those rivers lift their voices? Wherefore did they lift them up? Because at first they feared. Peter was not yet a river, when at the question of the maid-servant he thrice denied Christ: "I do not know the man." [Matthew 26:69-74] Here he lies through fear: he lifts not his voice as yet: he is not yet the river. But when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, the Jews sent for them, and enjoined them not to preach at all, nor to teach in the name of Jesus....For when the Apostles had been dismissed from the council of the Jews, they came to their own friends, and told them what the priests and elders said unto them: but they on hearing lifted up their voices with one accord unto the Lord, and said, "Lord, it is You who has made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is;" [Acts 4:24] and the rest which floods lifting up their voices might say, "Wonderful are the hangings of the sea" [Psalm 93:4]. For when the disciples had lifted up their voices unto Him, many believed, and many received the Holy Spirit, and many rivers instead of few began to lift up their voice. Hence there follows, "from the voices of many waters, wonderful are the hangings of the sea;" that is, the waves of the world. When Christ had begun to be preached by so powerful voices, the sea became enraged, persecutions began to thicken. When therefore the rivers had lift up their voice, "from the voices of many waters, wonderful" were "the hangings of the sea." To be hung aloft is to be lifted up; when the sea rages, the waves are hung as from above. Let the waves hang over as they choose; let the sea roar as it chooses; the hangings of the sea indeed are mighty, mighty are the threatenings, mighty the persecutions; but see what follows: "but yet the Lord, who dwells on high, is mightier." Let therefore the sea restrain itself, and sometime become calmed; let peace be granted by Christians. The sea was disturbed, the vessel was tossed; the vessel is the Church: the sea, the world. The Lord came, He walked over the sea, and calmed the waves. How did the Lord walk over the sea? Above the heads of those mighty foaming waves. Principalities and kings believed; they were subdued unto Christ. Let us not therefore be frightened; because "the Lord, who dwells on high, is mightier."

"The Lord reigneth, He is clothed with beauty; the Lord is clothed with strength, and is girded" (ver. 1). We see that He hath clothed Himself with two things: beauty and strength. But why? That He might found the earth. So it followeth, "He hath made the round world so sure, that it cannot be moved." Whence hath He made it so sure? Because He hath clothed Himself in beauty. He would not make it so sure, if He put on beauty only, and not strength also. Why therefore beauty, why strength? For He hath said both. Ye know, brethren, that when our Lord had come in the flesh, of those to whom He preached the Gospel, He pleased some, and displeased others. For the tongues of the Jews were divided against one another: "Some said, He is a good Man; others said, Nay, but He deceiveth the people." Some then spoke well, others detracted from Him, tore Him, bit and insulted Him. Towards those therefore whom He pleased, "He put on beauty;" towards those whom He displeased, "He put on strength." Imitate then thy Lord, that thou mayest become His garment: be with beauty towards those whom thy good works please: show thy strength against detractors. ...

The spiritual meanings are called rivers — and also those men who understand in a spiritual manner — because they have their origin from the Scriptures and are confirmed by the Scriptures, and because, from these spiritual meanings, other meanings are derived. Hence in the Psalm: "The floods lift up, O Lord, the floods lift up their voice; the floods lift up their tumult. More powerful than the roar of many waters." Why? Because "powerful on high is the Lord," God's voice had to be loud.

The spiritual meanings are called rivers — and also those men who understand in a spiritual manner — because they have their origin from the Scriptures and are confirmed by the Scriptures, and because, from these spiritual meanings, other meanings are derived. Hence in the Psalm: "The floods lift up, O Lord, the floods lift up their voice; the floods lift up their tumult. More powerful than the roar of many waters." Why? Because "powerful on high is the Lord," God's voice had to be loud.

It is hierarchized also in relation to the Church Militant, in which there is a distinction by reason of processes, of ascents, and of practices, for this is how the Church is seen, and in no other way: in it, there is one head, one body, and one food. Paul speaks much of this, for he was well versed in this consideration. Likewise, the Psalter speaks much of it. And sometimes it speaks in the name of such a person [the Church], and at other times, in the name of another. Hence in the Psalm: "The Lord is King, in splendor robed," it refers to the Church's head and to its four orders.