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Evagrius Ponticus

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 114 passages across 8 books

Commentary

61–80 of 114
Psalms 26:3

For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.

If Christ our God is truth, as indeed he said, “I am the Truth” and if David in truth was pleasing to God, surely David was pleasing to God in God.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 25[26].3

Psalms 26:6

I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD:

Our mind is the rational altar on which we burn all irrational thoughts with the fire sent from the Father.… When the soul reflects on itself, it encompasses the altar of God, nor does it seek a corner of corruption.… Contemplation is the altar of corporeal and incorporeal things by which my mind is cleansed. One who embraces it, that is, learning, declares all the marvels of God.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 25[26].6

Psalms 27:3

Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

One who follows the active life wages war by his own virtues with alien virtues. One who follows the contemplative life using true dogmas destroys every thought opposed to the knowledge of God.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 26[27].3

Psalms 27:14

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

The strong heart is that which is not filled with false doctrines or impure thoughts.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 26[27].14

Psalms 29:7

The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.

The voice of the Lord extinguishes the burning arrows of evil. That voice is the spiritual teaching that calls the ones believing in Christ grounded in wisdom.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 28[29].7

Psalms 30:4

Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

All who are mindful of the mercy of God confess him.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 29[30].5

Psalms 30:5

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

In the same way that wrath arises from the indignation of God, so even life is generated from his will. If “life” indicates knowledge, … then wrath denotes lack of knowledge. Death is a turning from life. Wrath, then, indicates death, a deprivation of contemplation.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 29[30].6

Psalms 30:11

Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;

Mourning turns to joy and the understanding of God to action.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 29[30].12

Psalms 31:1

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.

Not only does God free us into righteousness but also into temperance, fortitude and love. He uses “righteousness” to embrace all virtues. Perhaps he understands “Christ” for “righteousness.” “He is made wisdom to us by God and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 30[31].2

Psalms 31:3

For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.

He leads through right faith and works and nourishes through his own understanding.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 30[31].4

Psalms 31:5

Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

Here spirit indicates mind. The mind that clings to God is one spirit.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 30[31].6

Psalms 31:8

And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.

The reasons of temptation, when they are realized, provide a broad plane for the soul.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 30[31].9

Psalms 31:9

Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.

Nothing darkens the mind like unbridled wrath.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 30[31].10

Psalms 31:18

Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

One who speaks falsely receives mercy when he becomes silent. He gives up deceit.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 30[31].19

Psalms 32:3

When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

Strong spirits do not wax old from continual shouting to God, but they are renewed from day to day. From silence they wax old, entangling people who are corrupted through false desires.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 31[32].3

Psalms 32:5 · 2 passages

I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

A righteous person accuses himself at the beginning of his speech.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 31[32]: 5, 6

Pray first to receive tears, so that through compunction you may be able to mollify the wildness that is in your soul, and, having confessed against yourself your transgression to the Lord, you may obtain forgiveness from him.

CHAPTERS ON PRAYER 5

Psalms 32:9

Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.

He calls the irrational movement of spirit “horse” and “mule.” Intellect is rational thinking and judgment.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 31[32].9

Psalms 33:1

Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.

The Lord is wise, so by rejoicing in the Lord, the righteous rejoice in wisdom.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 32[33].1

Psalms 33:7

He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.

Praise is the movement of the spirit translated from ignorance to virtue and knowledge.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS 32[33].8

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