John Chrysostom, On Psalm 94

In Psalmum 94 [Sp.]

OF THE SAME, ON "Come, let us rejoice in the Lord."

55.615 The sound of the trumpet rouses the hoplite for war, and presents him ready for battle against the enemy; and the end of winter has compelled sailors to leave the harbor and board their ship. And today the melodist David, sounding a festive melody on the harp, has brought us to this spiritual banquet. For what does he say? Come, let us rejoice in the Lord, let us shout for joy to God our Savior. Let us come before his face 55.616 with thanksgiving. O voice of David! O good calling! O spiritual food! Come, let us rejoice in the Lord, let us shout for joy to God our Savior. Let us come before his face with thanksgiving. O compassion of the Master! O prophetic exhortation calling to repentance.

Have you seen, beloved, the goodness of the Master's compassion, and the cheerfulness of the prophetic message; how it urges us all to repentance and calls us to piety and salvation, saying: Come, let us rejoice in the Lord. The Lord commanded, the prophet called, let us obey. For he did not call us to a perishable meal, wishing 55.617 to satisfy the desire of the stomach. Thus he calls us through the sweet-sounding lyre: Come, let us rejoice in the Lord. Therefore, let all of us who have bound ourselves with the cords of His love, and we who bear the yoke of obedience, draw near to the Master, having made a purification of the evils done during the day. For the present life is for repentance, but the coming presence is for threat and judgment. Hear the prophet himself saying: But in Hades who will give you thanks? Let not our mind, then, be bound with intricate chains, but let us beseech him with our whole heart; for he is ready to hear the prayer of those who ask; only do not you neglect to ask him. God is more ready than you. You have no need of a long journey, nor to cross seas; but hear him saying: The kingdom of heaven is within you. You have no need of many expenses and costs, but turn away and groan, and immediately you have made the Master merciful. Hezekiah once turned toward the wall, not the one made of stones, but the one built through prophetic and apostolic teaching. I mean that wall, about which Paul boasts, saying: As a wise master builder, I have laid a foundation; I mean that wall, upon which the cornerstone was laid; I mean Christ, concerning whom Scripture said that Holy stones shall be rolled about; I mean that wall, through which the temple of God was built.

What are you doing, O Hezekiah? Why do you turn toward a wall? He says, I seek him, the giver of life and the deliverer from death; I seek him, and I take refuge in him. Nevertheless, having turned and repented, he reaped life, and escaped the sentence of God brought against him, and God added fifteen years to his life; and when the enemies had surrounded it with a wall, and encircled the city, an angel became its defender, and he laid low such great multitudes of the Assyrians. So powerful was repentance. For an angel of the Lord, it says, went out, and in the camp of the Assyrians he killed one hundred and eighty-five thousand; but their leader Sennacherib he sent away alive, for no other reason, as I think, but that God was calling him to repentance. At any rate, when God saw that he was not persuaded, nor had he turned away from his own wickedness, but was a certain relentless and

In Psalmum 94 [Sp.]

ΤΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΕΙΣ ΤΟ, ∆εῦτε, ἀγαλλιασώμεθα τῷ Κυρίῳ.

55.615 Ἐγείρει τὸν ὁπλίτην πρὸς πόλεμον ἡ τῆς σάλπιγγος βοὴ, καὶ τοῦτον ἕτοιμον πρὸς μάχην τοῖς πολεμίοις παρ ίστησιν· καὶ ναύτας παρ' ὅρμον βαίνειν ἐπὶ νηὸς ἡ τοῦ χειμῶνος ἔκβασις κατηνάγκασεν. Καὶ ἡμᾶς ὁ μελῳδὸς ∆αυῒδ διὰ τῆς πυκτίδος πανηγυρικὸν ἠχήσας μέλος, ἐπὶ τὴν πνευματικὴν ταύτην εὐωχίαν ἤγαγε σήμερον. Τί γάρ φησιν; ∆εῦτε, ἀγαλλιασώμεθα τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἀλαλάξωμεν τῷ Θεῷ τῷ σωτηρίῳ ἡμῶν. Προφθάσωμεν τὸ πρόσωπον 55.616 αὐτοῦ ἐν ἐξομολογήσει. Ὢ ∆αυϊδικῆς φωνῆς· ὢ κλήσεως ἀγαθῆς· ὢ πνευματικῆς ἐδωδῆς· ∆εῦτε, ἀγαλλιασώμεθα τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἀλαλάξωμεν τῷ Θεῷ τῷ σωτηρίῳ ἡμῶν. Προφθάσωμεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἐξομολογήσει. Ὢ δεσποτικῆς εὐσπλαγχνίας· ὢ προφητικῆς παραινέσεως καλούσης εἰς μετάνοιαν.

Εἶδες, ἀγαπητὲ, δεσποτικῆς εὐσπλαγχνίας ἀγαθότητα, καὶ προφητικοῦ κηρύγματος ἱλαρότητα· πῶς πάντας ἡμᾶς προτρέπεται εἰς μετά νοιαν καὶ πρὸς εὐσέβειαν καλεῖ καὶ σωτηρίαν, λέγων· ∆εῦτε, ἀγαλλιασώμεθα τῷ Κυρίῳ. Κύριος ἐκέλευσε, προφήτης ἐκάλεσεν, ἡμεῖς ὑπακούσωμεν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ φθαρτὸν ἄριστον ἐκάλεσεν, γαστρὸς ἐπιθυμίαν κορέσαι 55.617 βουλόμενος. Οὕτως ἡμᾶς διὰ τῆς ἡδυφώνου λύρας καλεῖ· ∆εῦτε, ἀγαλλιασώμεθα τῷ Κυρίῳ. Πάντες οὖν οἱ ταῖς σειραῖς τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ συσφίγξαντες, καὶ τὸν ζυγὸν τῆς ὑπακοῆς βαστάζομεν, προσέλθωμεν τῷ ∆εσπότῃ, καθάρσιον τῶν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ πεπραγμένων κακῶν ποιήσαντες. Μετανοίας γὰρ ὁ παρὼν βίος, ἀπειλῆς δὲ καὶ κρίσεως ἡ μέλλουσα παρουσία. Ἄκουσον αὐτοῦ τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντο· Ἐν δὲ τῷ ᾅδῃ τίς ἐξομολογή σεταί σοι; Μὴ τρίνυν πολυπλόκοις σειραῖς δεσμείσθω ἡμῶν ἡ διάνοια, ἀλλ' ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας ἱκετεύσωμεν αὐ τόν· ἕτοιμος γάρ ἐστιν ἀκούειν δεήσεως αἰτούντων· μόνον σὺ μὴ ὀλιγωρήσῃς τοῦ αἰτήσασθαι αὐτόν. Ἑτοι μότερός σου ὁ Θεὸς πάρεστιν. Οὐ χρεία σοι ὁδοιπορίας πολλῆς, οὐδὲ πελάγη διατεμεῖν· ἀλλ' ἄκουσον αὐτοῦ λέ γοντος· Ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστιν. Οὐ χρεία σοι ἀναλωμάτων πολλῶν καὶ δαπανῶν, ἀλλ' ἀποστραφεὶς στέναξον, καὶ εὐθέως ἵλεω τὸν ∆ε σπότην κατέστησας. Ἐστράφη ποτὲ Ἐζεκίας πρὸς τὸν τοῖχον, οὐ τὸν ἐκ λίθων συγκείμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸν διὰ προφητικῆς καὶ ἀποστολικῆς διδασκαλίας οἰκοδομούμε νον. Τοῖχον ἐκεῖνον λέγω, περὶ οὗ Παῦλος καυχᾶται λέ γων· Ὡς σοφὸς ἀρχιτέκτων θεμέλιον τέθεικα· τοῖχον ἐκεῖνον λέγω, ἐφ' ᾧ ὁ ἀκρογωνιαῖος λίθος ἐτέθη· λέγω δὴ Χριστὸν, περὶ οὗ εἶπεν ἡ Γραφὴ, ὅτι Λίθοι ἅγιοι κυλισθήσονται· τοῖχον ἐκεῖνον λέγω, δι' ὃν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ ᾠκοδομήθη ναός.

Τί ποιεῖς, ὦ Ἐζεκία; τί ἀποστρέφῃ πρὸς τοῖχον; Φησὶν, ὅτι ἐκεῖνον ζητῶ, τὸν ζωῆς δω τῆρα καὶ θανάτου λυτῆρα· ἐκεῖνον ζητῶ, καὶ ἐπ' αὐτὸν καταφεύγω. Ὅμως στραφεὶς καὶ μετανοήσας τὴν ζωὴν ἐκαρπώσατο, καὶ ἀπόφασιν Θεοῦ κατ' αὐτοῦ ἐξενεχθεῖσαν ἔφυγε, καὶ δεκαπέντε ἔτη ζωῆς προσέθηκεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεός· καὶ πολεμίων κύκλῳ περιτειχισαμένων, καὶ κυ κλωσάντων τὴν πόλιν, ἄγγελος ὑπέρμαχος ἐγένετο, καὶ τὰ τοσαῦτα πλήθη τῶν Ἀσσυρίων κατεστρώννυεν. Τοσοῦτον ἴσχυσεν ἡ μετάνοια· Ἐξῆλθεν γὰρ, φησὶν, ἄγγελος Κυρίου, καὶ εἰς τὴν παράταξιν τῶν Ἀσσυ ρίων ἀνεῖλεν ἑκατὸν ὀγδοήκοντα πέντε χιλιάδας· τὸν δὲ τούτων ἡγούμενον τὸν Σεναχηρεὶβ ζῶντα ἀπέλυ σεν, δι' οὐδὲν ἕτερον, ὡς ἔγωγε νομίζω, ἀλλ' ἢ εἰς με τάνοιαν αὐτὸν προσκαλούμενος ὁ Θεός. Ἀμέλει γοῦν ὡς εἶδεν αὐτὸν ὁ Θεὸς μὴ πεισθέντα, μηδὲ ἀποστραφέντα, τῆς αὐτοῦ κακίας, ἀλλ' ἀμειλικτόν τινα καὶ