444
being commanded to bring to God. Since it is necessary not only to speak of him as God with words and correct doctrines, but also to offer sacrifices, he adds: Take up sacrifices, and enter into his courts, worship the Lord in his holy court. Let all the earth be moved from his presence; say among the nations: the Lord has reigned, and so on; by sacrifices he means the rational and spiritual ones, which we see continually offered on behalf of the pious, and sacredly performed by the priests, and such also are the virtues; and by courts the churches, in which the sacrifices of the New Covenant are offered, the spiritual worships, the fruit-bearings through works, the thank-offerings. Moreover, he did not command these things to the Jews, lest anyone suspect the sacrifices of the law; but to the families of the nations, concerning whom God says through another prophet when speaking to the Jews: I have no pleasure in you, and I will not accept a sacrifice from your hands; for from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering. And it is well said, "Take up sacrifices," that is, "Elevate your understanding of sacrifices, not slaughtering oxen in a base manner, and killing the other animals, but thinking loftily on the things signified through them, the spiritual and heavenly sacrifices, of which the sensibly offered sacrifices were types and shadows." What sacrifices the psalmody requires, the blessed Paul recounts, saying: "Present your bodies as a pure, living sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your rational worship." "And enter," he says, "by what path do you come? Through faith, clearly; for this is the entry to salvation." Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, let the sea be moved, and its fullness. The fields will be glad, and all that is in them. Instead of, "Let the sea be moved," according to Aquila, "It will thunder," or according to Symmachus, "It will sound." By these things the word signifies that the evangelical proclamation will pass through both the seas and the islands upon the sea, and the people dwelling in them, who are called its fullness; which itself has also reached its fulfillment. For immediately the Churches of Christ fill all the islands, and it increases daily, and the saving teaching spreads, extending even to those who inhabit the Ocean. And then shall all the trees of the forest rejoice before the face of the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his truth. TO DAVID, WHEN HIS LAND WAS ESTABLISHED. 2. The Lord has reigned, let the earth rejoice, 23.1225 let many islands be glad. Since the inscription is found in the Septuagint translation, we will say that David, having often fallen into misfortunes, at one time when he was persecuted by Saul, and pursued the deserts, and had his sojourns among the foreigners; and at another time when he was occupied with wars, sang, I think, the present psalm at that time when his land was established, when both his mind and his kingdom were established in tranquility and peace and calm after the destruction of all his enemies. Therefore, the prophet, being in a peaceful state, is moved by the divine Spirit to the teaching of the things set forth. But since neither "ode" nor "psalm" is inscribed in the Hebrew, you might say that the things set forth are a prophecy and a simple teaching concerning the second and glorious coming of our Savior; of which Daniel also, making mention, says: "I saw, and behold, upon the clouds of heaven a Son of man was coming, and he came even to the Ancient of days. And to him was given dominion and honor
444
Θεῷ κομίζειν προσταττόμενοι. Ἐπεὶ δὲ δεῖ μὴ μόνον λόγοις καὶ ὀρθοῖς δόγμασι θεολογεῖν αὐτὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ θυσίας προσφέρειν, ἐπάγει· Ἄρατε θυσίας, καὶ εἰσπορεύεσθε εἰς τὰς αὐλὰς αὐτοῦ, προσκυνήσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν αὐλῇ ἁγίᾳ αὐτοῦ. Σαλευθήτω ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ· εἴπατε ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι· ὁ Κύριος ἐβασίλευσε, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· θυσίας μὲν λέγων τὰς λογικὰς καὶ πνευματικὰς, ἃς ὁρῶμεν διηνεκῶς ὑπὲρ τῶν εὐσεβῶν προσφερομένας, καὶ ἱερουργουμένας ὑπὸ τῶν ἱερέων, τοιαῦται δὲ καὶ αἱ ἀρεταί· αὐλὰς δὲ τὰς ἐκκλησίας, ἐν αἷς τῆς Καινῆς ∆ιαθήκης θυσίαι προσφέρονται, αἱ πνευματικαὶ λατρεῖαι, αἱ δι' ἔργων καρποφορίαι αἱ χαριστήριοι ἀναφοραί. Ἄλλως δὲ οὐδὲ Ἰουδαίοις ταῦτα προσέταξεν, ἵνα μή τις τὰς νομικὰς ὑποπτεύσῃ θυσίας· ἀλλὰ ταῖς πατριαῖς τῶν ἐθνῶν, περὶ ὧν δι' ἑτέρου προφήτου φησὶν ὁ Θεὸς πρὸς Ἰουδαίους διαλεγόμενος· Οὐκ ἔστι μου θέλημα ἐν ὑμῖν, καὶ θυσίαν οὐ προσδέξομαι ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν· ὅτι ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου μέχρι δυσμῶν μέγα τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι, καὶ ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ θυμίαμα προσφέρεται τῷ ὀνόματί μου καὶ θυσία καθαρά. Εὖ δὲ καὶ τὸ φάναι, Ἄρατε θυσίας, τουτέστι, Μετεωρίσατε τὸ περὶ θυσιῶν νόημα μὴ χαμαιζήλως βουθυτοῦντες, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ σφάζοντες ζῶα, ἀλλ' ὑψηλῶς τὰ διὰ τούτων δηλούμενα διανοούμενοι, τὰς πνευματικὰς καὶ ἐπουρανίους θυσίας, ὧν ὑποδείγματα καὶ σκιαὶ ἦσαν αἱ αἰσθητῶς προσαγόμεναι θυσίαι. Ποίας δὲ θυσίας ἀπαιτεῖ ἡ ψαλμῳδία, ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος διαμνημονεύει λέγων· Παραστήσατε τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν θυσίαν καθαρὰν, ζῶσαν, εὐάρεστον τῷ Θεῷ, τὴν λογικὴν λατρείαν ὑμῶν. Καὶ εἰσπορεύεσθε, φησὶ, διὰ ποίας ἐρχόμενοι τρίβου; διὰ τῆς πίστεως δηλονότι· αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ τῆς σωτηρίας εἰσβολή. Εὐφραινέσθωσαν οἱ οὐρανοὶ καὶ ἀγαλλιάσθω ἡ γῆ, σαλευθήτω ἡ θάλασσα καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς. Χαρήσεται τὰ πεδία, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, Σαλευθήτω ἡ θάλασσα, κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν, Βροντήσει, ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον, Ἠχήσει. Σημαίνει δὲ διὰ τούτων ὁ λόγος διελεύσεσθαι τὸ εὐαγγελικὸν κήρυγμα καὶ τὰ πελάγη καὶ τὰς ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης νήσους, τούς τε ἐν ταύταις κατοικοῦντας ἀνθρώπους, πλήρωμα αὐτῆς ὠνομασμένους· ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ τέλους ἔτυχεν. Αὐτίκα γοῦν Ἐκκλησίαι Χριστοῦ τὰς νήσους ἁπάσας πληροῦσι, πληθύει τε ὁσημέραι, καὶ ἐπιδίδωσιν ἡ σωτήριος διδασκαλία μέχρι τῶν τὸν Ὠκεανὸν οἰκούντων παρεκτεινομένη. Καὶ τότε ἀγαλλιάσονται πάντα τὰ ξύλα τοῦ δρυμοῦ πρὸ προσώπου τοῦ Κυρίου, ὅτι ἔρχεται, ὅτι ἔρχεται κρῖναι τὴν γῆν. Κρινεῖ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, καὶ λαοὺς ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ αὐτοῦ. ΤΩ ∆ΑΥ῭Ι∆, ΟΠΟΤΕ Η ΓΗ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΚΑΘΙΣΤΑΤΟ. ʹ Ὁ Κύριος ἐβασίλευσεν, ἀγαλλιάσθω ἡ γῆ, 23.1225 εὐφρανθήτωσαν νῆσοι πολλαί. Ἐπειδὴ ἐν τῇ τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα ἑρμηνείᾳ φέρεται ἡ προγραφὴ, ἐροῦμεν, ὡς, πολλάκις συμφοραῖς περιπεπτωκὼς ὁ ∆αυῒδ τότε μὲν ὅτε ὑπὸ Σαοὺλ ἠλαύνετο, καὶ τὰς ἐρήμους μετεδίωκε, τάς τε παρὰ τοῖς ἀλλοφύλοις διατριβάς· τότε δὲ ὅτε πολέμοις ἐσχόλαζε, τὸν προκείμενον, οἶμαι, ψαλμὸν κατ' ἐκεῖνον ᾖσε καθ' ὃν κατέστη ἡ γῆ αὐτοῦ, ὁμοῦ καὶ τῆς διανοίας αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς βασιλείας ἐν ἀταραξίᾳ καὶ εἰρήνῃ καὶ γαλήνῃ καταστάσης μετὰ τὴν πάντων τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἀναίρεσιν. Τότε οὖν ὁ προφήτης, ἐν εἰρηναίῳ καταστήματι γεγονὼς, ὑπὸ τοῦ θείου Πνεύματος ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν προκειμένων διδασκαλίαν ἀνακινεῖται. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ μήτε ᾠδὴ, μήτε ψαλμὸς ἐπιγέγραπται παρ' Ἑβραίοις, εἴποις ἂν τὰ προκείμενα προφητείαν εἶναι καὶ διδασκαλίαν ἁπλῆν τὰ περὶ τῆς δευτέρας καὶ ἐνδόξου παρουσίας τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν περιέχουσαν· ἧς καὶ ὁ ∆ανιὴλ μνημονεύων φησίν· Ἐθεώρουν, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ Υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου παρῆν, καὶ μέχρι τοῦ Παλαιοῦ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἔφθασε. Καὶ αὐτῷ ἐδόθη ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ ἡ τιμὴ