John Chrysostom, On Psalm 118

my name unjustly; and, You shall not accustom your mouth to an oath, that is, concerning worldly matters; for Ecclesiastes said: I got me gold, silver, clothing; I made me gardens, vineyards, aqueducts; and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind. 55.696 He who bears the name of God on his tongue for these things, takes an oath in vanity and unjustly. And again the Lord: But I say to you, do not swear at all; and his disciple James: Above all things, brothers, do not swear. Therefore, just as there is a commandment, you shall not murder, you shall not do wrong; so also is, you shall not swear. I was humbled exceedingly, O Lord; give me life according to your word. He did not simply say he was humbled, but humbled exceedingly, and this while being a king and a prophet, and having the boldness that comes from virtue, and boasting in wealth, and prevailing over his enemies. But he never dared to trust in wisdom, nor in courage, nor in righteousness; he supposed these things to be gifts of divine grace. And asking for life from the one who is able to give it, he does not ask vaguely, but for the rational life, the lawful life, the life made splendid by the divine law. And since in living we all slip into sin (for no one is entirely clean from filth before the Lord, not even if his life is but one day), let us embrace groaning, tears, self-control, the wasting away of the body. For this is Humiliation exceedingly. But when the prophet says, Give me life, he is not asking for this life which consists in food and drink, but for the rational, practical, virtuous life, which keeps the divine commandments. Accept, I pray, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me your judgments. Of the achievements of virtue, the divine laws prescribe most of them, but some the will also adds. So also of the sacrifices, some are legal, and others are of the will. For those concerning sin and trespass and ignorance, which the law commanded to be offered, these were paid to God as a kind of debt; but those offered with the generosity of the will, he called gifts. So also now, the evangelical words prescribe temperance and justice; but virginity, and continence after marriage, and poverty, and the solitary life, and living in the deserts, are works of the will, leaping beyond the laws. Such things, therefore, the prophet called freewill offerings. For what is not subject to the necessity of laws, but is the fruit of a God-loving will, is rightly called voluntary. And in many ways, falling into circumstances and tribulations, we are appointed to God, as in, I will pay you my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth has spoken in my tribulation. These things we must by all means fulfill. But the word also has another meaning. Therefore, freewill offerings are whatever is in excess of the commandments of God. It is a commandment of God to be joined to one wife; For marriage is honorable, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. But if someone wishes to practice virginity, this is his voluntary act. Likewise, we are permitted to have food and shelter and clothing; but if we choose to practice poverty, it is our voluntary act. And if we desire to practice the solitary and monastic life, it is our voluntary act. In these things, therefore, the prophet prays that those who wish to do them may be prospered. My soul is continually in your hands; and I have not forgotten your law. For being guarded by your providence, I have banished forgetfulness of your laws. For everyone who has dedicated himself to God commends his soul into His hands, as he also says in another psalm: For you are my defender, O Lord, into your hands I will commend my spirit. But if someone divides himself for pleasures and bodily passions, he in no way places his soul in the hands of God. For if at the time of the divine liturgy we are led away to worldly cares, and our leisure in them by the

ὄνομά μου ἐπ' ἀδίκῳ· καὶ, Ὅρκῳ οὐκ ἐθίσεις τὸ στόμα σου, δηλαδὴ ἐπὶ τοῖς κοσμικοῖς πράγμασιν· ἔφη γὰρ ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστής· Ἐκτησάμην χρυσίον, ἀργύριον, ἱματισμόν· ἐποίησά μοι κήπους, ἀμπελῶνας, ὑδραγωγούς· καὶ ἰδοὺ τὰ πάντα ματαιότης, καὶ προαίρεσις τοῦ πνεύματος. 55.696 Ὁ ἐπὶ τούτων τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπὶ γλώσσης φέρων, ἐπὶ ματαιότητι λαμβάνει τὸν ὅρκον καὶ ἐπ' ἀδίκῳ. Καὶ αὖθις ὁ Κύριος· Ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν, μὴ ὀμόσαι ὅλως· καὶ ὁ αὐτοῦ μαθητὴς Ἰάκωβος· Πρὸ πάντων, ἀδελ φοὶ, μὴ ὀμνύετε. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐστιν ἐντολὴ, μὴ φονεύσῃς, μὴ ἀδικήσῃς· οὕτω καὶ τὸ, μὴ ὀμόσῃς· Ἐταπει νώθην ἕως σφόδρα, Κύριε· ζῆσόν με κατὰ τὸ λό γιόν σου. Οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἔφη τεταπεινῶσθαι, ἀλλὰ σφόδρα ταπεινωθῆναι, καὶ ταῦτα βασιλεὺς ὢν καὶ προφήτης, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς παῤῥησίαν ἔχων, καὶ πλούτῳ κομῶν, καὶ τῶν πολεμίων κρατῶν. Ἀλλ' οὔτε τῇ σο φίᾳ, οὔτε τῇ ἀνδρείᾳ, οὔτε τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ θαῤῥῆσαι ἠνέσχετο πώποτε· τῆς θείας ταῦτα χάριτος ὑπελάμβανε δῶρα. Καὶ ζωὴν δὲ αἰτῶν τὸν δοῦναι δυνάμενον, οὐκ ἀορίστως αἰτεῖ, ἀλλὰ τὴν λογικὴν, τὴν ἔννομον, τὴν τῷ θείῳ νόμῳ λαμπρυνομένην. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ πάντως βιοῦν τες εἰς ἁμαρτίαν κατολισθαίνομεν (καθαρὸς γὰρ ἀπὸ ῥύπου παντελῶς οὐδεὶς ἐναντίον Κυρίου, οὐδ' ἂν μία ἡμέρα ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ), ἀσπαζώμεθα στεναγμὸν, δάκρυα, ἐγκράτειαν, τῆξιν σώματος. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι Ταπείνωσις ἕως σφόδρα. Ὅτε δὲ λέγει ὁ προφήτης, Ζῆσόν με, οὐ περὶ ταύτης τῆς ζωῆς παρακαλεῖ τῆς ἐν βρώμασι καὶ πόμασιν, ἀλλὰ τῆς λογικῆς, τῆς πρακτικῆς, τῆς ἐναρέ του, ἥτις τὰς θείας ἐντολὰς φυλάττει. Τὰ ἑκούσια τοῦ στόματός μου εὐδόκησον, Κύριε, καὶ τὰ κρίματά σου δίδαξόν με. Τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς κατορθωμάτων τὰ μὲν πλεῖστα οἱ θεῖοι νόμοι διαγο ρεύουσιν, ἔνια δὲ καὶ ἡ γνώμη προστίθησιν. Οὕτω καὶ τῶν θυσιῶν τὰ μὲν νομικὰ, τὰ δὲ γνωμικά. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ περὶ ἁμαρτίας καὶ πλημμελείας καὶ περὶ ἀγνοίας, ἃς ὁ νόμος προσφέρειν ἐκέλευε, καὶ ταῦτα οἱόν τι χρέος ἀπεδίδοτο τῷ Θεῷ· τὰ δὲ τῇ φιλοτιμίᾳ τῆς γνώμης προσφερόμενα, δῶρα προσηγόρευσεν. Οὕτω καὶ νῦν τὴν μὲν σωφροσύνην καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην οἱ εὐαγγελικοὶ δι αγορεύουσι λόγοι· παρθενία δὲ, καὶ μετὰ γάμον ἐγκρά τεια, καὶ ἀκτημοσύνη, καὶ μονήρης βίος, καὶ ἡ ἐν ἐρή μοις διαγωγὴ, τῆς γνώμης ἔργα, τοὺς νόμους ὑπερπη δῶντα. Τὰ τοιαῦτα τοίνυν ὁ προφήτης ἑκούσια προσ ηγόρευσεν. Ἃ γὰρ οὐχ ὑπόκειται νόμων ἀνάγκῃ, ἀλλὰ φιλοθέου γνώμης ὑπάρχει καρπὸς, εἰκότως ἑκούσια προσηγόρευται. Πολλαχῶς τε ἐμπίπτοντες εἰς περιστά σεις καὶ θλίψεις, τασσόμεθα τῷ Θεῷ, ὡς τὸ, Ἀπο δώσω σοι τὰς εὐχάς μου, ἃς διέστειλε τὰ χείλη μου, καὶ ἐλάλησε τὸ στόμα μου ἐν τῇ θλίψει μου. Ταῦτα χρὴ ἡμᾶς πάντως ἐκπληροῦν. Ἔχει δὲ καὶ ἑτέραν ἔν νοιαν ὁ λόγος. Ἑκούσια οὖν εἰσιν ὅσα καθ' ὑπερβολὴν τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰσιν. Ἐντολὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστι, μιᾷ γυναικὶ ζεύγνυσθαι· Τίμιος γὰρ ὁ γάμος, καὶ ἡ κοίτη ἀμίαντος· πόρνους δὲ καὶ μοιχοὺς κρινεῖ ὁ Θεός. Εἰ δέ τις παρθενίαν θέλει ἀσκῆσαι, τοῦτο ἑκού σιον αὐτοῦ ἐστιν. Ὡσαύτως ἐπιτρεπόμεθα ἔχειν διατρο φὰς καὶ σκεπάσματα καὶ ἐνδύματα· ἐὰν δὲ ἀκτημο σύνην προαιρώμεθα ἀσκῆσαι, ἑκούσιον ἡμῶν ἐστι. Καὶ ἐὰν τὸν μονήρη καὶ μοναχικὸν βίον ἐπιποθῶμεν ἀσκῆ σαι, ἑκούσιον ἡμῶν ἐστιν. Ἐν τούτοις οὖν εὔχεται ὁ προφήτης κατευοδωθῆναι τοῖς θέλουσι ποιεῖν αὐτά. Ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν ταῖς χερσί σου διαπαντός· καὶ τοῦ νό μου σου οὐκ ἐπελαθόμην. Ὑπὸ τῆς σῆς γὰρ προνοίας φρουρούμενος, τὴν λήθην τῶν σῶν ἐξώρισα νόμων. Πᾶς γὰρ ὁ ἀναθεὶς ἑαυτὸν τῷ Θεῷ, τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ παρατί θεται εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ, καθὼς καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ ψαλμῷ λέγει· Ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ ὑπερασπιστής μου, Κύριε, εἰς χεῖράς σου παραθήσομαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου. Εἰ δὲ με ρίζει τις ἑαυτὸν πρὸς ἡδονὰς καὶ πάθη σωματικὰ, οὐ δαμῶς τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ τίθησιν ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἐὰν γὰρ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς θείας λειτουργίας εἰς βιωτικὰς φροντίδας ἀπαγώμεθα, καὶ ἡ σχολὴ ἡμῶν ἐν αὐταῖς τῇ