Theodoret of Cyrus — Commentary on Scripture

The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

So while they practice their evil ways against me, you, the righteous Judge, seated on your heavenly throne and making your own special appearance in the temple on earth, view the whole world, though sufficient for you is a mere glance of your eyes to learn about all human affairs. You know precisely the doings of the righteous and the unrighteous, and you measure out repayment for work done.

Psalms 12:2

They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

Regard for truth is in danger of being snuffed out, with everyone, you might say, suffering from distrust in one another.… They pretend friendship and perform the actions of enemies.… Some use their lips to direct falsehood into their neighbor’s heart; others return the compliment.

Psalms 12:4

Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?

With mouths agape they heedlessly utter whatever occurs to them, scornful of divine long-suffering and giving no thought to their falling under the lordship of God.

Psalms 12:7

Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

Guarded by your grace we shall not only escape the wiles of the present generation but shall also be provided with everlasting salvation.

Psalms 13:3

Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

By night I am overwhelmed by my problems, in the grip of discouragement like a kind of sleep. But if the light of your assistance shines, it will disperse the darkness of trouble and put an end to the sleep of discouragement. If, however, you delay your help, I am afraid the sleep will turn into death, as the distress becomes stronger than my resolve.

Psalms 13:5

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

It is clear also from this that he uttered this psalm after the sin: he relies not on his righteousness but on mercy and says it is in this that he trusts.

Psalms 14:1

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

[Like the Assyrian army in the days of Hezekiah], all will come to know through experience the one fighting against them; fear will strike them from a source they did not expect. I mean, who would have thought they would be destroyed by an angel? That God cares for the Jews? Those who mocked the counsel of poor and lowly Hezekiah for trusting in God rather than arms will realize that the one who made himself dependent on God enjoyed a hope that was not disappointed.

Psalms 15:1

A Psalm of David. LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?

Since the psalm before this also prophesied salvation for the inhabitants of Jerusalem and forecast the return of those already made captive, it is right for him to introduce exhortation in this psalm and propose a way of life proper for them to live who are under God’s command and enjoying such wonderful assistance.

Psalms 15:2

He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.

It is necessary, he is saying, for such a one to rid himself of evil and be free of all blame, and to practice every virtue studiously.… He must keep free of falsehood not only his tongue but also his mind, and be rid completely of the double deceit so that on their part no harm results to their neighbor. Now, it was very logical for him to make mention first of the heart, then of the tongue and then of the deed: word precedes action; and thinking, word.

Psalms 16:1

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

The psalm is spoken in the person of the Savior but is spoken from the viewpoint of his humanity, as are also many other such statements that we find in the sacred Gospels.… In this psalm also he asks to be protected and is protected by himself: while he asks as a human being, as God he grants the request, his own Father of course being pleased and cooperating.

Psalms 16:2

O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;

The abundance of good things, he is saying, comes to me from your grace.

Psalms 16:10 · 2 passages

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

So at this place, too, Christ the Lord in human fashion says, “Constantly supported by the divine nature, I am in the midst of my saving passion and find gladness in the hope of resurrection. My soul, you see, will not be abandoned in hades, nor will my flesh suffer natural corruption. I shall achieve a rapid resurrection and return to life, giving all people a glimpse of this path.”

This psalm refutes the folly of Arius, of Eunomius and of Apollinaris: the former ones said God the Word assumed a body without a soul, whereas Apollinaris called the body that was assumed ensouled though denying it a rational soul; I do not know where he found his doctrine of these two souls—the divine Scripture nowhere teaches it. Yet the all-Holy Spirit through blessed David made undisguised mention of a soul, thus giving clear refutation of each heresy.

Psalms 16:11

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

He will be in unceasing joy, having become immune to suffering, to change, to death, even in his human nature. As God, you see, this was always the case, and of course even in his human nature once formed in the womb it was easy to provide him with this. But he allowed the nature he had assumed to travel through the sufferings so as by these means to loose the sway of sin, put a stop to the tyranny of the devil, undo the power of death and provide all people with the basis of a new life. So as man he assumes both incorruption and immortality.

Psalms 17:3

Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

Although many times [David had] Saul in his grasp, he refrained from doing away with him and instead rendered good for evil; hence he recalled even the night in which he did this, when by night he saved the sleeping Saul from death and allowed no one to deal him a lethal blow. Now, in a figurative manner he calls his disasters “nights” on account of the gloom of discouragement, as likewise he refers to the test as burning: “you examined me by fire,” he says, “and no wrong was found in me.” In other words, just as you would test gold of some sort, you found me unadulterated, O Lord; so far be it from me to harm the enemy that I even kept my tongue free of abuse against him, and what he continues to do I refrained from mentioning.

Psalms 17:8

Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

His prayer is to enjoy such protection as does the apple of the eye, which has eyelids as a kind of rampart and eyelashes for a palisade; it also has eyebrows as mounds, conducting the stream of sweat to the temples and warding off from the faculty of sight any harm from that source.

Psalms 19:1 · 2 passages

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

We learn three kinds of divine laws from blessed Paul. One unwritten kind he said was given to human beings in creation and nature: “From the creation of the world,” he says, “his invisible attributes have been understood and seen in created things”; and again, “For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, practice the obligations of the law instinctively, despite having no law they are a law to themselves.” … Another law was provided in writing through the mighty Moses: “The Law was added because of transgressions,” he says, “ordained through angels in the hand of a mediator.” He knew also a third one imposed after these, the law of grace: “For the law of the Spirit of life,” he says, “has set me free from the law of sin and death.” Blessed David in this psalm teaches human beings the harmony between these, following the same order: first, the one the Creator preaches in creation; then the one given through Moses, instilling a greater knowledge of the Creator to those willing to attend; after that, the law of grace, perfectly purifying souls and freeing them from the present dest…

We learn three kinds of divine laws from blessed Paul. One unwritten kind he said was given to human beings in creation and nature: “From the creation of the world,” he says, “his invisible attributes have been understood and seen in created things”; and again, “For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, practice the obligations of the law instinctively, despite having no law they are a law to themselves.” … Another law was provided in writing through the mighty Moses: “The Law was added because of transgressions,” he says, “ordained through angels in the hand of a mediator.” He knew also a third one imposed after these, the law of grace: “For the law of the Spirit of life,” he says, “has set me free from the law of sin and death.” Blessed David in this psalm teaches human beings the harmony between these, following the same order: first, the one the Creator preaches in creation; then the one given through Moses, instilling a greater knowledge of the Creator to those willing to attend; after that, the law of grace, perfectly purifying souls and freeing them from the present destruction. This in fact is the reason the psalm also refers us “to the end,” naming the New Testament in the end.

If you observe a most mighty and magnificent building, you admire the builder; and if you see a skillfully and beautifully designed ship, you think of the shipwright; and at the sight of a painting the painter comes to mind. Much more, to be sure, does the sight of creation lead the viewers to the Creator.

Psalms 19:2

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

The ordained succession of night and day illustrates the boundaries set by the Creator … the visible things are inanimate, being a kind of mask that teaches everyone to be led from visible things to the invisible God and to offer singing to him … by putting forth neither words nor verbal expressions but the norm, and demonstrating their own order, they summon all land and sea to the divine singing.

Psalms 19:7

The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

He calls the Mosaic law Law, testimony, judgments, command, decrees.… It is called Law in that it regulates and prescribes the best way of life; testimony in testifying against sinners and highlighting the punishment for transgression; judgments in teaching what is right, forbidding what is wrong and declaring virtuous people righteous; command in commanding what is to be done and giving orders authoritatively; decrees in revealing the divine verdicts and teaching what goods the observant will enjoy and to what punishments the transgressor will be consigned … the law of God, being free of every fault, corrects people’s souls and makes them faultless; the testimony gives wisdom to the immature and simple by frightening them; the judgments gladden the heart by revealing the basis of judgment; the command gives light to the mind’s eye, teaching what constitutes service to the God of all. While piety and the fear of God, in suggesting observance of these, procure enjoyment of the eternal good, it was right for him to speak of the fear of God as pure—that is, free from blame—for the reaso…

He calls the Mosaic law Law, testimony, judgments, command, decrees.… It is called Law in that it regulates and prescribes the best way of life; testimony in testifying against sinners and highlighting the punishment for transgression; judgments in teaching what is right, forbidding what is wrong and declaring virtuous people righteous; command in commanding what is to be done and giving orders authoritatively; decrees in revealing the divine verdicts and teaching what goods the observant will enjoy and to what punishments the transgressor will be consigned … the law of God, being free of every fault, corrects people’s souls and makes them faultless; the testimony gives wisdom to the immature and simple by frightening them; the judgments gladden the heart by revealing the basis of judgment; the command gives light to the mind’s eye, teaching what constitutes service to the God of all. While piety and the fear of God, in suggesting observance of these, procure enjoyment of the eternal good, it was right for him to speak of the fear of God as pure—that is, free from blame—for the reason that human fear is blameworthy, being synonymous with dread. Now, he called the decrees true and justified on account of their conferring on people both honors and warranted punishments. In conclusion, he said these are worth more than gold and precious stones and sweeter than honey—not to all human beings, however, but to those truly human, whose life is not comparable with the brute beasts.