John Chrysostom, On Psalm 118

the night of sleep, Ephraim. Hear my voice, O Lord, according to your mercy; according to your judgment give me life. He who boasts in so many good things deems it worthy to receive mercy; and he does not ask for mercy indefinitely, but according to the beneficial decree. He therefore exhorts and beseeches God, that he may have life in the judgments of God, and through himself may guide us to pray for this. Those who persecute me have drawn near in iniquity; but from your law they are far removed. For they are far from the divine laws who attempt to make war on the just man. For the scribes and the Pharisees persecuted the apostles, drawing near to iniquity, to whom the Lord said: He who rejects you, rejects me, and he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me; and, I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will oppose those who oppose you. For this reason they were also far removed from the law of the Gospel, having disobeyed the teaching of the apostles. You are near, O Lord; and all your ways are truth. γʹ. You see, he says, all things, Master; for you have not departed from us, but you fill the inhabited world, and using truth you govern creation. God himself also says this through the prophet: I am a God who draws near, and not a God from afar. For he knows and searches all things, even the depths of our hearts. And the Blessed Paul: For in him we live and move and have our being. From the beginning I have known from your testimonies, that you have founded them forever. He calls heaven and earth testimonies. For having gone down, he says, call heaven and earth to witness against them. For this reason also Moses the great, beginning his ode, said: Give ear, O heaven, and I will speak; let the earth hear the words from my mouth. And in these things the providence of God is seen continually; for all things proceed with great order. From this, he says, I knew precisely that you are near, and you are present in what happens, and nothing of what is done escapes your notice. And in another way, from the beginnings, he says, I knew that the things spoken by you are sure, Master, and your commandments are perpetual. For not as the laws of kings and of cities are changed, so also are those of God; but just as the heaven and the earth remain forever, so also do the commandments of God. For upon them, he says, it is not possible to add, and from them it is not possible to take away. And the Lord also said: Heaven and earth will pass away; but my words will not pass away. Behold my humiliation, and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law. He who humbles himself will be exalted, according to the voice of the Lord; and Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. With this the divine prophet also adorned the other virtues, and holding this fast he proclaims divine help. But there are many kinds of humiliation; for one is humbled both in affliction and in misfortunes and by human insults. But true humiliation is when we turn back on account of our sins; as David himself was humbled when he said and did: I will wash my bed every night, I will drench my couch with my tears; and, Behold my humiliation, and my toil; and forgive all my sins. Likewise, also if we are humbled under the mighty hand of God, lo 55.704 ving and keeping his commandments, concerning which the Lord says: Blessed are the poor in spirit. Judge my cause, and redeem me; for your word’s sake give me life. Since from the primeval enemy through pride the human race departed from God, the prophet prays for the human race to be judged and to receive salvation; and this comes about through the word of the Gospel. For with the Gospel having been preached in all the inhabited world, the devil was overthrown, and the human race has been saved, having been made alive by the Spirit. He therefore reminds the Master of his promises, and from him the

τὴν νύκτα ὕπνου, Ἐφραΐμ. Τῆς φωνῆς μου ἄκουσον, Κύριε, κατὰ τὸ ἔλεός σου· κατὰ τὸ κρίμα σου ζῆσόν με. Ὁ τοσούτοις κομῶν ἀγαθοῖς, ἐλέους τυχεῖν ἀξιοῖ· καὶ οὐκ ἀορίστως αἰτεῖ τὸν ἔλεον, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν ὀνησιφόρον ψῆφον. Παρακαλεῖ τοίνυν καὶ ἱκετεύει τὸν Θεὸν, ἵνα τὴν ζωὴν ἐν τοῖς κρίμασι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἕξῃ, δι' ἑαυτοῦ δὲ καὶ ἡμᾶς καθοδηγήσῃ τοῦτο προσεύ χεσθαι. Προσήγγισαν οἱ καταδιώκοντές με ἀνομίᾳ· ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ νόμου σου ἐμακρύνθησαν. Πόῤῥω γὰρ τῶν θείων νόμων εἰσὶν οἱ τὸν δίκαιον πειρώμενοι πολεμεῖν. Καὶ γὰρ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι κατεδίωκον τοὺς ἀποστόλους, προσεγγίζοντες τῇ ἀνομίᾳ, οἷς ὁ Κύριος ἔφη· Ὁ ἀθετῶν ὑμᾶς, ἐμὲ ἀθετεῖ, καὶ ὁ ἀθετῶν ἐμὲ, ἀθετεῖ τὸν ἀποστείλαντά με· καὶ, Ἐχθρεύσω τοῖς ἐχθροῖς σου, καὶ ἀντικείσομαι τοῖς ἀντικειμένοις σοι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐμακρύνθησαν ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου τοῦ εὐαγγελικοῦ, ἀπειθήσαντες τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ τῶν ἀπο στόλων. Ἐγγὺς εἶ σὺ, Κύριε· καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ ὁδοί σου ἀλήθεια. γʹ. Ὁρᾷς, φησὶν, ἅπαντα, ∆έσποτα· οὐ γὰρ ἀφέστηκας ἀφ' ἡμῶν, ἀλλὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην πληροῖς, καὶ ἀληθείᾳ χρώμενος πρυτανεύεις τὴν κτίσιν. Τοῦτο καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς διὰ τοῦ προφήτου φησί· Θεὸς ἐγγίζων ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐ Θεὸς πόῤῥωθεν. Πάντα γὰρ οἶδε καὶ ἐρευνᾷ, καὶ τὰ βάθη τῶν καρδιῶν ἡμῶν. Καὶ ὁ Μακάριος Παῦ λος· Ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν. Κατ' ἀρχὰς ἔγνων ἐκ τῶν μαρτυρίων σου, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἐθεμελίωσας αὐτά. Μαρτύρια καλεῖ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν. Καταβὰς γὰρ, φησὶ, διαμάρτυραι αὐτοῖς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ Μωϋσῆς ὁ μέγας τῆς ᾠδῆς ἀρχόμενος ἔφη· Πρόσεχε, οὐρανὲ, καὶ λαλή σω· ἀκουέτω γῆ ῥήματα ἐκ στόματός μου. Ἐν δὲ τούτοις ὁρᾶται διηνεκῶς ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρόνοια· μετὰ πολλῆς γὰρ ὁδεύει τάξεως ἅπαντα. Ἐντεῦθεν, φησὶν, ἔγνων ἀκρι βῶς, ὡς ἐγγὺς εἶ, καὶ πάρει τοῖς γινομένοις, καὶ λανθά νει σε τῶν πραττομένων οὐδέν. Καὶ ἄλλως ἐκ προοιμίων, φησὶν, ἔγνων ὅτι βέβαιά εἰσι τὰ παρὰ σοῦ λαλούμενα, ∆έσποτα, καὶ διηνεκεῖς σου αἱ ἐντολαί. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὥσπερ τῶν βασιλέων καὶ τῶν πόλεων οἱ νόμοι μετατίθενται, οὕτω καὶ οἱ τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μένει, οὕτω καὶ αἱ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐντολαί. Ἐπ' αὐ τοῖς γὰρ, φησὶν, οὐκ ἔστι προσθεῖναι, καὶ ἀπ' αὐτῶν οὐκ ἔστιν ἀφελεῖν. Ἔφη δὲ καὶ ὁ Κύριος· Ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ παρελεύσονται· οἱ δὲ λόγοι μου οὐ μὴ παρέλθω σιν. Ἴδε τὴν ταπείνωσίν μου, καὶ ἐξελοῦ με, ὅτι τοῦ νόμου σου οὐκ ἐπελαθόμην. Ὁ ταπεινῶν ἑαυτὸν, ὑψωθήσεται, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνήν· καὶ Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. Ταύτῃ καὶ ὁ θεῖος προφήτης τὰς ἄλλας ἐκόσμησεν ἀρετὰς, καὶ ταύτην προϊσχόμενος τὴν θείαν ἐπαγγέλλεται βοήθειαν. Πολλὰ δέ εἰσιν εἴδη τῆς ταπει νώσεως· ταπεινοῦται γάρ τις καὶ ἐν θλίψει καὶ ἐν συμφοραῖς καὶ ὑπὸ ἀνθρωπίνων ἐπηρειῶν. Ἡ δὲ ἀληθὴς ταπείνωσίς ἐστιν, ὅταν διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν ἐπι στρέφωμεν· οἷον ἐταπεινώθη αὐτὸς ὁ ∆αυῒδ εἰπὼν καὶ ποιήσας· Λούσω καθ' ἑκάστην νύκτα τὴν κλίνην μου, ἐν δάκρυσί μου τὴν στρωμνήν μου βρέξω· καὶ, Ἴδε τὴν ταπείνωσίν μου, καὶ τὸν κόπον μου· καὶ ἄφες πάσας τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου. Ὡσαύτως, καὶ ἐὰν ταπεινωθῶμεν ὑπὸ τὴν κραταιὰν χεῖρα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀγα 55.704 πῶντες καὶ φυλάττοντες τὰ προστάγματα αὐτοῦ, περὶ ὧν ὁ Κύριός φησι· Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύ ματι. Κρῖνον τὴν κρίσιν μου, καὶ λύτρωσαί με· διὰ τὸν λόγον σου ζῆσόν με. Ἐπειδὴ ἐκ τοῦ ἀρχεκάκου ἐχθροῦ διὰ τῆς ἀναβάσεως ἀπέστη τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ, εὔχεται ὁ προφήτης κριθῆναι καὶ σωτηρίας τυχεῖν τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος· αὕτη δὲ γίνεται διὰ τοῦ λόγου τοῦ εὐαγγελικοῦ. Τοῦ γὰρ Εὐαγγελίου κη ρυχθέντος ἐν πάσῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ, κατηργήθη ὁ διάβολος, καὶ σέσωσται τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος ζωοποιηθὲν Πνεύ ματι. Ἀναμιμνήσκει τοίνυν ὑποσχέσεων τὸν ∆εσπότην, καὶ παρ' αὐτοῦ τὴν