Basil of Caesarea — Commentary on Scripture

Psalms 29:7

Although fire seems to human intelligence to be incapable of being cut or divided, yet by the command of the Lord it is cut through and divided. I believe that the fire prepared in punishment for the devil and his angels is divided by the voice of the Lord, in order that, since there are two capacities in fire, the burning and the illuminating, the fierce and punitive part of the fire may wait for those who deserve to burn, while its illuminating and radiant part may be allotted for the enjoyment of those who are rejoicing. Therefore, the voice of the Lord divides the fire and allots it, so that the fire of punishment is dark, but the light of the state of rest remains unkindled.

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 13:6 (PS 29)

Psalms 29:8

The thick woods, the woody souls in which, like some wild beasts, the varied passions of sins lurk, are cleared out by that word, which is “keener than any two-edged sword.”

HOMILIES on the PSALMS 13:7 (PS 29)

Psalms 29:9

One who is in the temple of God does not speak out abuse or folly or words full of shameful matters, but “in his temple all shall speak his glory.” … This one duty, referring glory to the Creator, belongs to every army of heavenly creatures. Every creature, whether silent or uttering sound, whether celestial or terrestrial, gives glory to the Creator. But wretched people who leave their homes and run to the temple, as if to enrich themselves somewhat, do not lend their ears to the words of God; they do not possess a knowledge of their nature; they are not distressed, although they have previously committed sin; they do not grieve at remembering their sins, nor do they fear the judgment; but, smiling and shaking hands with one another, they make the house of prayer a place of lengthy conversation, pretending not to hear the psalm that solemnly protests and says, “In the temple of God all shall speak his glory.” You not only do not speak his glory, but you even become a hindrance to the other, turning his attention to yourself and drowning out the teaching of the spirit by your own cla…

One who is in the temple of God does not speak out abuse or folly or words full of shameful matters, but “in his temple all shall speak his glory.” … This one duty, referring glory to the Creator, belongs to every army of heavenly creatures. Every creature, whether silent or uttering sound, whether celestial or terrestrial, gives glory to the Creator. But wretched people who leave their homes and run to the temple, as if to enrich themselves somewhat, do not lend their ears to the words of God; they do not possess a knowledge of their nature; they are not distressed, although they have previously committed sin; they do not grieve at remembering their sins, nor do they fear the judgment; but, smiling and shaking hands with one another, they make the house of prayer a place of lengthy conversation, pretending not to hear the psalm that solemnly protests and says, “In the temple of God all shall speak his glory.” You not only do not speak his glory, but you even become a hindrance to the other, turning his attention to yourself and drowning out the teaching of the spirit by your own clamor. See to it that you do not at some time leave condemned along with those blaspheming the name of God instead of receiving a reward for glorifying him. You have a psalm; you have a prophecy, the evangelical precepts, the preachings of the apostles. Let the tongue sing, let the mind interpret the meaning of what has been said, that you may sing with your spirit, that you may sing likewise with your mind. Not at all is God in need of glory, but he wishes you to be worthy of winning glory. Therefore, “what a person sows, he will also reap.” Sow glorification, that you may reap crowns and honors and praises in the kingdom of heaven. This statement, “In his temple all shall speak his glory,” was made not unfittingly in a digression, because some in the temple of God talk endlessly until their tongue aches; and these enter without profit.

HOMILY ON PSALM 13:8 (PS 29)

Psalms 29:10

God sits in the soul that shines from its washing, as if he were making it a throne for himself.

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 13:8 (PS 29)

Psalms 30:4

One does not sing to the Lord by simply uttering the words of the psalm with his mouth, but all who send up the psalmody from a clean heart and who are holy, maintaining righteousness toward God, these are able to sing to God, harmoniously guided by the spiritual rhythms. How many stand there, coming from fornication? How many from theft? How many concealing in their hearts deceit? How many lying? They think they are singing, although in truth they are not singing. For the Scripture invites the saint to the singing of psalms. “A bad tree cannot bear good fruit,” nor a bad heart utter words of life. Therefore, “make the tree good and its fruits good.” Cleanse your hearts, in order that you may bear fruit in the spirit and may be able, after becoming saints, to sing psalms intelligently to the Lord.

HOMILIES on the PSALMS 14:3 (PS 30)

Psalms 30:6

As the prosperity of a city is dependent on the supply of goods for sale in the market, and as we say that a country is prosperous that produces much fruit, so also there is a certain prosperity of the soul when it has been filled with works of every kind. It is necessary first for it to be laboriously cultivated and then to be enriched by the plentiful streams of heavenly waters, so as to bear fruit thirtyfold, sixtyfold and a hundredfold and to obtain the blessing that says, “Blessed shall be your barns and blessed your stores.” One, therefore, who is conscious of his own constancy, will say with sure confidence and will strongly maintain that he will not be turned away by any opponent, like a full field that the Lord has blessed.

HOMILIES on the PSALMS 14:5 (PS 30)

Psalms 30:7

God is said to turn away his face when in times of troubles he permits us to be delivered up to trials, in order that the strength of him who is struggling may be known.… We pray always for the face of God to shine on us, in order that we may be in a state becoming to a holy person, gentle and untroubled in every way, because of our readiness for the good. “I am ready,” he says, “and am not troubled.”

HOMILIES on the PSALMS 14:6 (PS 30)

Psalms 30:7

They who are engaged in the examination of the reason for virtues have said that some of the virtues spring from contemplation and some are noncontemplative … beauty and strength are noncontemplative virtues since they follow from the contemplative.… But, for this, namely, that beauty may exist in the soul and also the power for the fulfillment of what is proper, we need divine grace.… For I was beautiful according to nature but weak, because I was dead by sin through the treachery of the serpent. To my beauty, then, which I received from you at the beginning of my creation, you added a strength that is appropriate for what is proper. Every soul is beautiful that is considered by the standard of its own virtues. But beauty, true and most lovely, that can be contemplated by him alone who has purified his mind, is that of the divine and blessed nature. One who gazes steadfastly at the splendor and graces of it receives some share from it, as if from an immersion tingeing his own face with a sort of brilliant radiance.… Moses also was made resplendent in face by receiving some share of…

They who are engaged in the examination of the reason for virtues have said that some of the virtues spring from contemplation and some are noncontemplative … beauty and strength are noncontemplative virtues since they follow from the contemplative.… But, for this, namely, that beauty may exist in the soul and also the power for the fulfillment of what is proper, we need divine grace.… For I was beautiful according to nature but weak, because I was dead by sin through the treachery of the serpent. To my beauty, then, which I received from you at the beginning of my creation, you added a strength that is appropriate for what is proper. Every soul is beautiful that is considered by the standard of its own virtues. But beauty, true and most lovely, that can be contemplated by him alone who has purified his mind, is that of the divine and blessed nature. One who gazes steadfastly at the splendor and graces of it receives some share from it, as if from an immersion tingeing his own face with a sort of brilliant radiance.… Moses also was made resplendent in face by receiving some share of beauty when he held converse with God. Therefore, one who is conscious of his own beauty utters this act of thanksgiving: “O Lord, in your favor, you gave strength to my beauty.”

HOMILIES on the PSALMS 14:5 (PS 30)

Psalms 30:11

The joy of God is not found in just any soul but, if someone has mourned much and deeply his own sin with loud lamentations and continual weepings, as if he were bewailing his own death, the mourning of such a one is turned into joy.… The mourning garment, which he put on when bewailing his sin, is torn, and the tunic of joy is placed around him and the cloak of salvation, those bright wedding garments, with which if one is adorned, he will not be cast out from the bridal chamber.

HOMILIES on the PSALMS 14:7 (PS 30)

Psalms 30:12

When you granted me pardon because of my repentance and led me back into glory, taking away the shame of my sins, for this I shall give praise to you for all eternity. In fact, what space of time could be so great, that it could produce in my soul forgetfulness of such mighty benefits?

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 14:8 (PS 30)

Psalms 33:1

“Rejoice,” therefore, “in the Lord, O you righteous,” not when the interests of your home are flourishing, not when you are in good health of body, not when your fields are filled with all sorts of fruits, but when you have the Lord—such immeasurable Beauty, Goodness, Wisdom. Let the joy that is in him suffice for you.… For the just person, the divine and heavenly joy is lasting, since the Holy Spirit dwells in him once and for all. “But the firstfruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace.” Therefore, “rejoice in the Lord, O you just.” The Lord is like a place capable of containing the just, and there is every reason for one who is in him to be delighted and to make merry. Moreover, the just person becomes a place for the Lord when he receives God in himself.… Let us, then, who are in the Lord and who, as much as we are able, observe closely his wonders, so draw joy to our hearts from the contemplation of them.

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 15:1 (PS 33)

Psalms 33:2

It is necessary to praise the Lord on the harp; that is, to render harmoniously the actions of the body. Since, indeed, we sinned in the body, “when we yielded our members as slaves of sin, to lawlessness,” let us give praise with our body, using the same instrument for the destruction of sin. Have you reviled? Bless. Have you defrauded? Make restitution. Have you been intoxicated? Fast. Have you made false pretensions? Be humble. Have you been envious? Console. Have you murdered? Bear witness, or afflict your body with the equivalent of martyrdom through confession. And then, after confession you are worthy to play for God on the ten-stringed psaltery. For it is necessary, first, to correct the actions of our body, so that we perform them harmoniously with the divine Word and thus mount up to the contemplation of things intellectual.… One, therefore, who observes all the precepts and makes, as it were, harmony and symphony from them, this one, I say, plays for God an a ten-stringed psaltery.

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 15:2 (PS 33)

Psalms 33:3

The loud noise is a certain inarticulate sound, when those who are fighting side by side in a war shout out in unison with each other. Sing, then, in harmony and in agreement and in union through charity.

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 15:3 (PS 33)

Psalms 33:4

“If you see the heavens,” he says, “and the order in them,” they are a guide to faith, for through themselves they show the Craftsman; and, if you see the orderly arrangement about the earth, again through these things also your faith in God is increased. In fact, it is not by acquiring knowledge of God with our carnal eyes that we believe in him, but by the power of the mind we have perceived the invisible God through visible things. Therefore, “all his works are done with faithfulness.” Even if you consider the stone, it also possesses a certain proof of the power of its Maker. Likewise, if you consider the ant or the gnat or the bee. Frequently in the smallest objects the wisdom of the Creator shines forth. He who unfolded the heavens and poured out the boundless expanses of the seas, he it is who hollowed out the very delicate sting of the bee like a tube, so that through it the poison might be poured out. Therefore “all his works are done with faithfulness.” Do not say, “This happened by chance” and “that occurred accidentally.” Nothing is casual, nothing indeterminate, nothing…

“If you see the heavens,” he says, “and the order in them,” they are a guide to faith, for through themselves they show the Craftsman; and, if you see the orderly arrangement about the earth, again through these things also your faith in God is increased. In fact, it is not by acquiring knowledge of God with our carnal eyes that we believe in him, but by the power of the mind we have perceived the invisible God through visible things. Therefore, “all his works are done with faithfulness.” Even if you consider the stone, it also possesses a certain proof of the power of its Maker. Likewise, if you consider the ant or the gnat or the bee. Frequently in the smallest objects the wisdom of the Creator shines forth. He who unfolded the heavens and poured out the boundless expanses of the seas, he it is who hollowed out the very delicate sting of the bee like a tube, so that through it the poison might be poured out. Therefore “all his works are done with faithfulness.” Do not say, “This happened by chance” and “that occurred accidentally.” Nothing is casual, nothing indeterminate, nothing happens at random, nothing among things that exist is caused by chance. And do not say, “It is a bad mishap,” or “it is an evil hour.” These are the words of the untaught. “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And yet not one of them will fall” without the divine will. How many are the hairs of your head? Not one of them will be forgotten. Do you see the divine eye, how none of the least trifles escapes its glance?

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 15:3 (PS 33)

Psalms 33:5

The Judge wishes to have mercy on you and to share his own compassion.… But if he sees your heart unrepentant, your mind proud, your disbelief of the future life and your fearlessness of the judgment, then he desires the judgment for you, just as a reasonable and kind doctor tries at first with hot applications and soft poultices to reduce a tumor, but, when he sees that the mass is rigidly and obstinately resisting, casting away the olive oil and the gentle method of treatment, he prefers henceforth the use of the knife. Therefore, God loves mercy in the case of those repenting, but he also loves judgment in the case of the unyielding.

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 15:3 (PS 33)

Psalms 33:6

Where are those who set at naught the Spirit? Where are those who separate it from the creative power? Where are those who dissever it from union with the Father and Son? Let them hear the psalm that says, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were established; and all the power of them by the spirit of his mouth.” The term “Word” will not be considered as this common form of diction that consists of names and expressions; nor will the Spirit be considered as vapor poured out in the air but as the Word, which was in the beginning with God, and as the Holy Spirit, which has obtained appellation as its own. As, then, the Creator, the Word, firmly established the heavens, so the Spirit, which is from God, which proceeds from the Father, that is, which is from his mouth (that you may not judge that it is some external object or some creature but may glorify it as having its substance from God) brings with it all the powers in him.… Since, then, the Savior is the Word of the Lord and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit from his mouth, both joined with him in the creation of the heavens and the p…

Where are those who set at naught the Spirit? Where are those who separate it from the creative power? Where are those who dissever it from union with the Father and Son? Let them hear the psalm that says, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were established; and all the power of them by the spirit of his mouth.” The term “Word” will not be considered as this common form of diction that consists of names and expressions; nor will the Spirit be considered as vapor poured out in the air but as the Word, which was in the beginning with God, and as the Holy Spirit, which has obtained appellation as its own. As, then, the Creator, the Word, firmly established the heavens, so the Spirit, which is from God, which proceeds from the Father, that is, which is from his mouth (that you may not judge that it is some external object or some creature but may glorify it as having its substance from God) brings with it all the powers in him.… Since, then, the Savior is the Word of the Lord and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit from his mouth, both joined with him in the creation of the heavens and the powers in them, and for this reason the statement was made: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were established; and all the power of them by the spirit of his mouth.” For nothing is made holy except by the presence of the Spirit.

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 15:4 (PS 33)

Psalms 33:7

The reasons according to which he dispenses all things individually are stored up only in the knowledge of God. In fact, we learned in another psalm, which said, “Thy judgments are a great deep,” that the judgments made about each one are called a deep. Therefore, if you seek to know why the life of a sinner is continued but the days of sojourning of the just are cut short; why the unjust thrive but a just person is afflicted; why the young child is snatched away before coming to maturity; whence are wars; why there are shipwrecks, earthquakes, droughts, heavy rains; why things destructive of people are created; why one person is a slave, another free, one is rich, another is poor (and the difference in sins and in virtuous actions is great; she who was sold to a brothel keeper is in sin by force, but she who immediately obtained a good master grows up with virginity); why this one is treated with kindness and that one condemned; and what is the reward in the case of each of these from the Judge; taking all these questions into your mind, consider that the judgments of God are the de…

The reasons according to which he dispenses all things individually are stored up only in the knowledge of God. In fact, we learned in another psalm, which said, “Thy judgments are a great deep,” that the judgments made about each one are called a deep. Therefore, if you seek to know why the life of a sinner is continued but the days of sojourning of the just are cut short; why the unjust thrive but a just person is afflicted; why the young child is snatched away before coming to maturity; whence are wars; why there are shipwrecks, earthquakes, droughts, heavy rains; why things destructive of people are created; why one person is a slave, another free, one is rich, another is poor (and the difference in sins and in virtuous actions is great; she who was sold to a brothel keeper is in sin by force, but she who immediately obtained a good master grows up with virginity); why this one is treated with kindness and that one condemned; and what is the reward in the case of each of these from the Judge; taking all these questions into your mind, consider that the judgments of God are the depths and, because they are enclosed in the divine storehouses, are not easily grasped by those encountering them. To one who believes, a promise is given by God: “I will give you hidden treasures, unseen ones.” When we have been deemed worthy of knowledge face to face, we shall see also the depths in the storehouses of God.

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 15:5 (PS 33)

Psalms 33:10

It is possible to refer these things to the time of Jesus’ passion when they thought that they were crucifying the King of glory, but he through the economy of the cross was renewing humanity. For in the resurrection the counsel of nations, of Pilate and his soldiers, and of whoever was active in the matter of the cross was brought to nought; the counsels of the princes were rejected, and also those of the high priests and scribes and kings of the people. In fact, the resurrection destroyed their every device.… Therefore, when you hear someone making great threats and announcing that he will bring on you all sorts of ill treatment, losses, blows or death, look up to the Lord, who brings to nothing the counsels of nations and rejects the devices of the people.

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 15:6 (PS 33)

Psalms 33:13

Consider the lofty spectator; consider him who is bending down regarding the affairs of humankind. Wherever you may go, whatever you may do, whether in the darkness or in the daytime, you have the eye of God watching. “From his habitation that he has prepared.” The gates are not being opened, the curtains are not being drawn together, the habitation of God is ready for viewing. He looks on all people. No one escapes his sight; no darkness, no concealing walls, nothing is a hindrance to the eyes of God. He is so far from failing to look on each individually that he even looks into the hearts, which he himself formed without any admixture of evil. God, the Creator of humankind, made the heart simple according to his saving image; but later we made it, by union with passions of the flesh, a complicated and manifold heart, destroying its likeness to God, its simplicity and its integrity. Since he is the Maker of hearts, therefore, he understands all our works. But we call both words and thoughts and, in general, every movement of a person, his works. With what feelings or for what purpos…

Consider the lofty spectator; consider him who is bending down regarding the affairs of humankind. Wherever you may go, whatever you may do, whether in the darkness or in the daytime, you have the eye of God watching. “From his habitation that he has prepared.” The gates are not being opened, the curtains are not being drawn together, the habitation of God is ready for viewing. He looks on all people. No one escapes his sight; no darkness, no concealing walls, nothing is a hindrance to the eyes of God. He is so far from failing to look on each individually that he even looks into the hearts, which he himself formed without any admixture of evil. God, the Creator of humankind, made the heart simple according to his saving image; but later we made it, by union with passions of the flesh, a complicated and manifold heart, destroying its likeness to God, its simplicity and its integrity. Since he is the Maker of hearts, therefore, he understands all our works. But we call both words and thoughts and, in general, every movement of a person, his works. With what feelings or for what purpose they are, whether to please people or to perform the duties of the commands given us by God, he alone knows, who understands all our works. Therefore, for every idle word we give an account. Even for a cup of cold water, we do not lose our reward, because the Lord understands all our works.

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 15:8 (PS 33)

Psalms 33:16

All things that are at once human, when compared with the true power, are weakness and infirmity.

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 15:9 (PS 33)