English · KJV

Arnobius the Younger

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 72 passages across 2 books

Commentary

41–60 of 72
Psalms 33:17

An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.

You will not be safe any more than the man who trusted in his own horse, of whom it was sung, “He cast the horse and its rider into the sea.” The horse failed to save him. And so even if you are a giant in courage you are not safe in your own strength.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 33

Psalms 33:18

Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;

For the eyes of the Lord are not looking on those trusting in their own strength but those hoping in his mercy. He will snatch their spirits from death and shelter them.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 33

Psalms 33:21

For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.

Even in this hour, we are hungry and thirsty and naked, yet our spirits act patiently and are not disturbed, for the Lord sustains us. He is our helper and protector, and, as it says in the heading of the psalm, we are commanded to “rejoice in the Lord, righteous ones, let your heart be joyful in him, and hope in his holy name.” He brings his mercy over us as we hope in him.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 33

Psalms 34:6

This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

Draw near to him who is pure of heart, draw near and be enlightened. Let your faces not be ashamed in their poverty. If you remember the wealth of the Lord of heaven and earth was made poor for the sake of your poverty, tried for the sake of our tribulation, you will not be ashamed, nor will you fail. For that poor one cries from the cross. Who is this poor one? He who, although rich, was made poor: “Made obedient even to the cross” so that he could free you from crosses. He shouted, and the Lord heard. He sent his angels to guard his body and removed the stone and snatched him from the tomb.

COMMENTARY ON PSALM 34

Psalms 34:8

O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Taste the body of life and see how sweet is the Lord. He has life in himself who eats his flesh and drinks his blood, and then he will be blessed.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 34

Psalms 34:9

O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

Fear the Lord, all his saints, because the ones fearing him lack nothing—nothing of excellence in the present, nothing of perfection, nothing of future joy.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 34

Psalms 34:10

The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

The rich dwell in uncertainty concerning the things the world gives. The riches that God gives do not fail, but they remain because these riches arise in the fear of the Lord.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 34

Psalms 35:17

Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.

So you will apply this to the suffering of the Lord so that then you may draw out the logic of the explanation having begun, because the passion of the Lord happens so that we may be built up. The more you cling to God, the more the demons beset you with floggings. They tempt you, mock you and gnash their teeth. You call out: Lord, look down and restore my spirit from their evil deeds, my very self from the lions. Our spirit is one in number and disposition. When, therefore, you restore it in good will and you free me from their evil deeds, then I will confess you in the great assembly and the great throng of people, not by summoning solemn processions or by playing roles, but by guarding your respect amongst serious people; in this there will be constant attention by me, and I will praise you before those same people. Therefore, let them not triumph, the evil ones who turn against me, who hate me and wink with indulgent eyes. As I have said, apply these things to the suffering of the Lord so that you do not thoroughly overlook the message of your edification.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 35

Psalms 35:20

For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.

Daily the demons speak peacefully to us. This peace is the fruit of lust, but through anger they devise deceits, just like sweet food on a hook in our sight—it is deadly to eat. They open wide their mouths against me, and lovers of this age daily commit unspeakable crimes, and nothing is thoroughly denounced by anyone.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 35

Psalms 36:1

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD. The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.

There is no fear of God in the sight of one who sins against himself that he may find his own iniquity and hate it. He praises injustice as the unjust one is praised. He does not wish to understand good actions by which he will be made worthy in the recesses of his own heart. He meditates on evil as he draws near to the way that is not good, and he does not abhor evil.

COMMENARY ON THE PSALMS 36

Psalms 36:6

Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.

The truth is Christ, whose justice is just like the mountains of God, whose judgments are an abyss, who saves people and beasts by his advent, that is, both Jews and Gentiles. For people who, being without hope, standing in the sin of Adam, hope in the protection of his wings, that is, in the expanse of his hands fixed on the cross.

COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 36

Psalms 37:12

The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

Be careful, for daily the devil considers you and gnashes his teeth over you; but [as it says in the next verse] the Lord mocks him because he knows his day will come.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 37

Psalms 37:34

Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

The law of God is in the heart [of the righteous person], and his step is not supplanted. The devil considers him and desires to humiliate him, but God does not abandon him or curse him when he is judged. Await the Lord and guard his ways so you may inherit the land; in time you will see sinners perish.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 37

Psalms 37:38

But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.

The wicked will perish when salvation comes to the just from God, their protector in time of tribulation. The Lord helps and frees them and snatches them from sinners and saves them since they hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 37

Psalms 38:4

For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

“Our head is Christ.” When we do something against his precepts, our iniquities go over our head, and we are pressed as a heavy burden on us.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 38

Psalms 40:7

Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,

That is, it is written about me in the beginning of the Psalter: “Blessed is the man,” so I may do your will.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 40

Psalms 41:10

But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.

O Lord, as you have raised your Son from death, so lift me from sin. Lift me, and I will repay them. In this I know that you suffered for me so that my enemies may not rejoice over me. You have not refused even to die for me. I feared you lying in the tomb, but since you have arisen my enemy will not rejoice over me. You have sustained me on account of my innocence. The church speaks in the apostles and prophets because the farmers and fishermen raised up by God, not the philosophers and teachers, have built the church that God has confirmed in his sight forever.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 41

Psalms 41:12

And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.

Be not offended, careful reader, that we draw a mystical matter from a moral explanation. For just as the Pharisees beset Judas to betray the Lord by offering him his own safety to turn him over, so also unclean spirits beset my outer man which eats my bread and offer to it now money through greed, now luxury through desire, by which, if it accepts, it fails, and when it fails they drive him “to hang himself in a noose,” that is, so that he despairs that he is able to be freed by repentance. But he says to them: He who sleeps, will he not arise?… Let us cease to harm ourselves, and let us be made innocent so that each one may say rightly to God: On account of my innocence you have sustained me, and you who had cast me away from your countenance because of sin, now through repentance strengthen me in your sight forever.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 41

Psalms 42:5

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

Do not be sad, spirit, but hope in the Lord because I confess to him. He is the Savior of my countenance, that is, my God is the restorer of his own image.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 42

Psalms 42:7

Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

When deep calls deep, the Son calls the Father from the depth of land and river, and you have opened the cataracts of heaven. As the Holy Spirit descends, the Father addresses the Son from the height of the heavens. When he calls from the deep to deep, the glory of the Lord comes to me.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 42

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