English · KJV

Theodoret of Cyrus

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 1,374 passages across 50 books

Commentary

1,061–1,080 of 1,374
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.

Now, things turned out like this both in the case of Hezekiah and in the case of the salvation of everyone. After the Assyrians applied those awful threats and moved the city to weeping, they sustained the blow at night, and in the morning they filled with good cheer those whom they had forced to weep. The divine Isaiah brought Hezekiah the sentence of death in the evening, and towards morning brought him in turn the good news of life. And it happened likewise in the case of the salvation of everyone: the sacred apostles and the believers along with them lamented the passion of the Lord, but toward morning the women came and brought the joy of the resurrection.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 30:3

Psalms 30:12

To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

We have a basis of high repute in the evidence given by the God of all of his great affection for us: “God so loved the world,” Scripture says, “that he has given his only-begotten Son so that all who believe in him may not perish but have eternal life.” “O Lord my God, I shall confess to you forever”: not only in the present life but also after the resurrection I shall offer hymns to you, constantly recounting your extraordinary and ineffable gifts.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 30:6

Psalms 31:3

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

Now, through all the verses occurring here, at any rate, we learn the measure of his prudence: his appeal for divine assistance is made on the basis not of his own virtue but of God’s name and of God’s righteousness and because he hoped in him.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 31:3

Psalms 31:4

Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.

By this he indicated the plot of Ahithophel, which he put into operation against him, as we have spoken about previously. … After frequently encountering many disasters I was freed from them by your aid—thus I entrust my soul to your providence. He calls providence here once again “hands.”

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 31:4

Psalms 31:12

I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.

Everyone has given me up for lost, he is saying, like a vessel mislaid or a corpse occupying a tomb. He brought out the degree of forgetfulness by reference to the worthless vessel: just as when lost it vanishes from the memory of the losers for reason of its worthlessness, he is saying, so too am I in their estimation like someone nonexistent and have become deserving of no esteem.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 31:7

Psalms 31:19

Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!

Now, the verse has this sense: You hide the rewards and prizes for those who fear you, O Lord, many and great and marvelous though these are, and instead you allow them to struggle with sweat and tears. Yet there comes the time when you reveal the rewards, giving cheer to the athletes.… Then he described in detail the providence in their favor.… Your appearance suffices, he is saying (he calls it “presence”), for them to be freed from all human disturbance and commotion, and to conceal them as though admitted to the precincts of some tabernacle and render them invisible.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 31:10

Psalms 31:21

Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.

He surrounded and enclosed me in his habitual lovingkindness, he is saying, as the inhabitants encircle a city with a strong rampart.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 31:11

Psalms 31:22

For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.

This psalm is likely to have been spoken by blessed David at the time of being pursued by Absalom.… I thought that on falling into sin, he is saying, I was far from your care; but you took account of my humble words and did not despise me in my need. Now, he rightly called his sin “departure”: after treading the way of righteousness he left it and turned aside; but he stumbled and fell foul of bloodthirsty brigands. This very thing reveals David’s virtue: he was not in the habit of sinning, but departing a little from his chosen course he suffered that awful slide.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 31:1, 11

Psalms 31:23

O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

You who pass through the present life with divine hope, strengthen your souls with bravery and heed the directions of the pilot, traveling wherever he leads.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 31:12

Psalms 32:1

A Psalm of David, Maschil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

I class as enviable and blessed those who by the Lord’s lovingkindness receive forgiveness of sins apart from their works. To them, in fact, he exercises such generosity as not only to forgive them but also cover over their sins so that no trace of them remains.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 32:1

Psalms 32:5

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.

When David said, “I have sinned against the Lord,” Nathan replied, “The Lord has put away your sin, you will not die.” He did, however, threaten to fill his house with calamities of all kinds; here too likewise, “You put away the impiety of my sin”: immediately after perpetrating such things, he is saying, I should have been consigned to death according to the law, but you applied your lovingkindness and did not so consign me, keeping my treatment to moderate censure.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 32:3

Psalms 32:10

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

All people, even if adorned with the works of virtue, stand in need of divine grace; hence the divine apostle also shouts aloud, “By grace you are saved through faith; this is not of your doing—it is God’s gift.”

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 32:6

Psalms 32:11

Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

So let no one rejoice in his or her own achievements but rather exult in God and find satisfaction in that. This is in keeping with the apostolic statements, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 32:7

Psalms 33:6

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

Effort and time on the part of workers was not required: a word was sufficient for creating on his part. He said, Let a firmament be made, and so it was. Let lights be made in the firmament of heaven, and it was. Such is the surface meaning of the text. True theology, however, gives a glimpse of God the Word with the all-holy Spirit making the heavens and the heavenly powers. The inspired composition of the Old Testament anticipates the Gospel teaching: as the divinely inspired John, the son of thunder, taught the whole world, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; all things were made through him, and without him was made not one thing that was made.”

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 33:4

Psalms 33:12

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

One should declare blessed, he is saying, not those priding themselves on their wealth but those trusting in God and enjoying aid from him.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 33:6

Psalms 33:15

He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.

The God of all looks down … not as ignorant and anxious to learn but as judging and sentencing. How could the one who made the soul be ignorant of its movements?

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 33:7

Psalms 34:5

They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

Whoever approaches him in faith receives rays of intellectual light.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 34:4

Psalms 34:6

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

Learn from my experience, he is saying, to trust in the God of all: though lowly and a mere shepherd, he accorded me his personal providence and rendered me superior to my enemies.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 34:4

Psalms 34:14

Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

The peaceable person entertains peace toward everyone, not purloining the neighbor’s property furtively, not committing homicide, not undermining marriages, not speaking evil, not doing evil, doing favors, showing respect, sharing, lending support, sharing dangers and struggles—such is unalloyed love and genuine friendship.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 34:8

Psalms 34:19

Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

While God allows them to descend into the arena of tribulations, he comes to their assistance and renders them superior to the calamities besetting them, confirming their resolve and making it strong.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 34:10

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