Pseudo-Athanasius — Commentary on Scripture

Exodus 3:14

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

As there is one Beginning and therefore one God, so one is that Essence and Subsistence which indeed and truly and really is. It is this One who said “I am that I am,” and not two, that there be not two Beginnings; and from the One, a Son in nature and truth, is its own Word, its Wisdom, its Power, and inseparable from it.

Psalms 7:2

Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

Cush is the one who went to Abasalom in the guise of a traitor, and brought to naught the counsel of Ahithophel and saved David from death. When David learned of these things, he knew that his Savior was not a man but God.

Psalms 9:13

Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:

The Lord does not forget the cry of the poor, and especially of those who in the spirit ask of him vengeance for wrongs brought against them by demons. Those who pray that there may arise a Savior for those on earth in order to repress the second tyrannical man who waxed strong against us and to impose on us the spiritual law of the gospel, from which people who are rational may learn, no more to imitate senseless animals. They are also hastening to his coming, hoping for salvation.

Psalms 13:5

But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

In this I trust, that I shall receive forgiveness of my sin, in that I hope in your mercy through which you have worked salvation for all people.

Psalms 16:1

Michtam of David. Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.

The words in [this psalm] are sung as if by the person of Christ, who although he is noble as Lord by nature and has under his feet creation as a handmaid, yet he asks to be preserved by the Father as the head of the body of the church.… He made those sanctified by the Spirit a marvel in the land—in his church—teaching them the will of the Father as an angel of mighty counsel. They hastened to hear the preaching, not through blood [sacrifices] or practices of the law to please God, but through praise and bloodless sacrifice. Nor with names that befit their former works did he say, I shall call them, that is, idolaters and polytheists and atheists; but called and holy and pious, and who have a share in the Lord. Because the latter was obedient to the Father to death—which he calls a cup—for this reason he gave him as a portion and inheritance to the Gentiles. And he binds it to him with cords—fetters of spiritual life.… He is on [the Father’s] right hand in that we gain through his hands his heavenly Father as helper, and like a rod of power he has supported our weakness. Therefore he…

The words in [this psalm] are sung as if by the person of Christ, who although he is noble as Lord by nature and has under his feet creation as a handmaid, yet he asks to be preserved by the Father as the head of the body of the church.… He made those sanctified by the Spirit a marvel in the land—in his church—teaching them the will of the Father as an angel of mighty counsel. They hastened to hear the preaching, not through blood [sacrifices] or practices of the law to please God, but through praise and bloodless sacrifice. Nor with names that befit their former works did he say, I shall call them, that is, idolaters and polytheists and atheists; but called and holy and pious, and who have a share in the Lord. Because the latter was obedient to the Father to death—which he calls a cup—for this reason he gave him as a portion and inheritance to the Gentiles. And he binds it to him with cords—fetters of spiritual life.… He is on [the Father’s] right hand in that we gain through his hands his heavenly Father as helper, and like a rod of power he has supported our weakness. Therefore he also says to him: My flesh will reside in hope. The hope, then, is that his flesh will again assume the soul that was constituted. For his soul was not left in Sheol, nor did his body see the corruption of the grave.… For these things are granted us in him as the head and firstborn of the resurrection and because we have grown rich with his poverty. And again we shall be in unfading delights, which the saints will receive on the day of his manifestation from him who is the Father’s right hand.

Psalms 17:7

Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.

He teaches us that even if we are virtuous, we should trust not in ourselves but in God, and that we should pray to him that like the pupil of the eye he protect the mind—our soul’s eye—from evil of the opposing powers.

Psalms 17:13

Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

The soul of each of the righteous—clearly of those who pull sinners from impiety to piety—is as a sharpened sword against the spirits of evil. This sword, O our Lord, which you sharpened against your enemies, save from the enemies of your hand.

Psalms 18:8

There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

In this and the following verses, he posits as a sign the smoke, which in his descent from heaven he made as darkness under his feet; it indicates the incomprehensibility of his dispensation. And in his ascension, he flew on the wings of the Spirit, as on cherubim, that is, the cloud that received him. And because in his church, which is his tabernacle, he mysteriously dwells and operates, he says, “He set darkness as his hiding place.” Again, because the remarks about him are made obscurely in the holy prophets, he writes, “Dark waters in the clouds of the airs,” which he showed to be clear and obvious when he openly came to earth.

Psalms 21:1

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!

Friends of David also delivered this psalm, as if he were now pleased for the salvation that was born from his seed for the world; this was a glorious crown for him, and length of days and glory and magnificence, and delight and joy and hope and unshakeable grace.

Psalms 24:1

A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

This verse teaches about God’s kingdom to come, in which he will reign over all. And in order to make known that as maker and natural Lord he will reign over it, he said [in the next verse], “He is its foundations.”

Psalms 25:13

His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.

The person who fears the Lord, his seed—which is good works—will cause him to inherit the spiritual land, which he will acquire by humility and labor with the forgiveness of sins.

Psalms 28:9

Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

He aids and saves the people that were anointed for inheritance and the priestly kingdom, and he tends and exalts them forever, showing us to be raised up and glorified in future infinite ages.

Psalms 29:2

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

He commands us to worship the Lord in his holy court, teaching that it is not allowed to worship outside the church which holds the orthodox faith.

Psalms 29:10

The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.

God dwells in the flood, that is, in the multitude of those who believed in Christ, who [as it says in the next verse] gives power to his people and blesses it in peace. For we are strengthened in Christ, who also gave us his peace.

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 God’s wrath is anger, but in his will is life, because his will is life.… He is led to anger because of our sin. And although mourning will continue all night, in the morning he makes for us a rejoicing, when through repentance we strip off the burden of evil.

Psalms 30:7

LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.

Without your power I cannot rise from my fall. Bring it to pass that the grace of my soul shine out again, not averting your face as previously.

Psalms 31:16

Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.

In this I trust, that I shall be saved if you make your face to shine on me, hiding your back from me.

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.

People have special need of [understanding], for when they have lost it, they become like horses and mules. Thus he says: I was turned to misery when thorns were thrust in me—that is, the sin that tormented him. On that account he says to God: I have shown you my sin, and my lawlessness I did not hide from you; and you removed my wickedness. The first duty of repentance is for a person to confess his sin, according to [the saying]: God will have mercy on him who confesses his sins and abandons them.

Psalms 32:10

Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.

Even if there are many scourges of the sinner, yet mercy will surround one who trusts in the Lord, and the just will rejoice because their boast is in the Lord.

Psalms 33:19

To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

Those who fear him, those who hope for his mercy, he saves from spiritual death and nourishes in a spiritual way, that they may also say, “Let your mercy be on us, Lord, as we have hoped in you.”