PRAISE OF RESURRECTION The previous praise is offered to God by those redeemed, as thanksgiving for the blessings of salvation granted by God to His people. This praise is “a Psalm of resurrection” (Is. 26: 19), through which the people proclaim their trust in God. Isaiah is looking forward toward the return of the people from captivity, carrying the spirit of conquest and victory, while Babylon and all its unique walls fall to the ground (Is. 26: 12), as a living portrait of the resurrection from the dead. That is why he utters praise, confirming his trust in God as the Grantor of life and resurrection. Some scholars believe that what came here concerning the resurrection from the dead (Is. 26: 19) is the first text dealing openly with this issue in the Old Testament1. 1. A psalm motivating trust in God 1-4. 2. Fall of the enemy 5-6. 3. God supports His righteous 7-16. 4. His people pass through distress 17-19. 5. God, the Savior of His people 20-21. 1. A PSALM MOTIVATING THE TRUST IN GOD “In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah.” (Is. 26: 1) By this introduction the psalm begins. It is the song of the New Testament. As it was impossible for the men of the Old Testament to sing it, he says “In that day.” The blessings that the old people enjoyed at the return from captivity do not provide permanent joy, unless it symbolizes the joyful salvation realized by our return from the captivity of sin, through the work of the cross. This psalm is praise for Jerusalem, the city of God, because of the power and strength it enjoyed, together with open gates, righteousness, honesty and peace of its inhabitants “We have a strong city.” (Is. 26: 1) He means Jerusalem as a symbol of the heavenly Jerusalem; and also of the Church of the New Testament, being the city of God where He, Himself, dwells with His people. “God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks.” (Is. 26: 1) The works of salvation of God are the walls of the city, and its military instruments. The enemy may be able to fight it, and may try to seduce it, but cannot overcome it as long as it is honest to God. The Fathers of the Church, particularly St. Augustine, often spoke of our inner life, as a Church of Christ, as a heavenly city of the Lord, which is, in its essence, a dwelling place of God - the Love - with His people. Love is its foundation, its treasure, its language, and its law. The city of the Lord is the city of love! As you acquire the perfection of knowledge, and become in love, the throne of God, you turn into a heaven! The heaven we see with our eyes when we look upward is not of such great value to God. The righteous souls are His heaven... Every soul is Zion... It is obvious that Zion is the city of God; and what is His city, but the holy Church? As men love each others, and love God who is dwelling in them they become His city... It was written, “God is love.” (1 John 4: 8) Whoever is filled with love, 1 Cf. J. Collins: Collegeville Bible comm.. 13, Isaia p. 59. is filled with God2. We are taught that there is a city of God; its founder inspired us to love; that made us yearn to be citizens in it3. St. Augustine By love, God set up every soul to be His fortified city and His holy heaven, He set it up as His heavenly bride, united with Him, who has the same possibilities of her Savior Groom, raised to heaven, to have the ancient gates opened before Him, that the King of glory may come in (Psalm 24: 7 - 10). She is also His bride, who carries His righteousness and honesty. Before her, the gates of heaven will open, to let her sit on the right hand of her Groom King, and in His bosom. No power can deny her crossing the heavenliest to reach to His throne. She would be like “Esther” the queen, who crossed all the gates of the palace, to reach to where the king was sitting, who held out to her his golden royal scepter, to give her permission to approach him, and to grant her wish. Isaiah enjoyed these prophetical inspirations, when he saw in spirit those returning from captivity, entering through the open gates of Jerusalem; entering as though in a procession of conquest, in a joyful feast in the Lord. So he said: “Open the gates that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in.” (Is. 26: 2) “Lift up your heads, O you gates.” (Psalm 24: 7) Let us head straight to heaven. I wish to hear the trumpet of the prophet call in loudly: “Lift up, you heads of the air, the gates that you set up in the peoples’ minds...”4 St. Augustine St. Ambrose comments on the phrase, “Lift up your heads O you gate, and be lifted up, your everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in” (Psalm 24: 7), saying, [A new way had to be set up before the new “Conqueror,” for He is as He had always been greater than anyone. Yet, although the gates of righteousness, those of the Old and the New Testaments, through which heavens are opened, are everlasting gates, truly unchangeable, they, nevertheless were lifted up, as the One who is entering, is not a man, but the whole world, represented by the Savior of all... The angels, realizing the approach of the Almighty, the First and only Conqueror of death, they ordered the heavenly hosts to lift up the heads of the gates, saying in love and worship, “Lift up your head, O you gates, that the King of glory may enter”5 .] As heaven is opened before believers who are united with our Lord Jesus, to be lifted up with Him to His heavens, they live here in true peace, and in trust in the Savior; thus the prophet says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Is. 26: 3) A wonderful expression of the perfect comfort granted by God to His true believers. He gives them peace, followed by peace, until they reach the ultimate conquest, because of their trust in Him. By those whose minds “are stayed on You” he means those with steadfast goal, or those with balanced unshakable minds, who are not forced, by the storms of events, to lose their trust in God, Jehovah, “the Rock eternal” (Is. 26: 4; Psalm 18: 31) “Trust in the Lord forever, for YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength” (Is. 2 On Ps. 55. 3 City of God 11:1. 4 On Ps. 24. 5 .729- للمؤلف: الحب الإلهي، 727 26: 4) Miserable are the people who deviate from God... As to our peace, we enjoy with God in faith, now, and face to face in the eternal life6. St. Augustine Every one of us should reform himself; live in peace with himself, with no schism in his conscience. For if man makes peace with the whole world, but not with himself, he gets no benefit; while he, who makes peace with himself, would be as though he did that with the whole world, and would be honorable in the eyes of the Master of all. Have compassion, O Lord, on the soul flared with love for You, as it is a dwelling place for peace. Do not leave a trace of sin in the conscience, where You dwell, but burn it with the fire of Your love7. St. John El-Tabaisy 2. FALL OF THE ENEMY “He brings down those who dwell on high. The lofty city He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground; He brings it down to the dust. The foot shall tread it down. The feet of the poor and the steps of the needy” (Is. 26: 5, 6) If Babylon arrogantly thought of itself as dwelling on high, God will cast it down to the dust, to be trampled by the feet of the poor; she previously trampled under its feet. That would be the ultimate end of all the proud who oppose the truth; he would drink from the same cup that he offered to others. God’s permanent work is to glorify the humble humiliated Jerusalem, to set it as His own city, and to lay low the haughty Babylon. And as St. Mary said: He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent them empty.” (Luke 1: 52, 53) You taught me the ways of humility, through which humans return to life, having fallen because of pride8. St. Augustine Through pride, we lean on wind, and with it we jump into rough sea. Do not get infected with the germ of pride; do not get robbed by the enemy. In a man of humility, the spirit of wisdom dwells. St. Ephram the Syrian 3. SUPPORT OF GOD TO HIS RIGHTEOUS In this psalm, the prophet presents to us a magnificent portrait of the righteous man, who finds his pleasure, his protection, and his glory in the Lord. At the same time he calls upon us to practice praying in our secret place, together with commitment to God’s laws and abiding to His commandments, in order to enjoy His free salvation. a. God’s laws and commandments are not a heavy burden on the soul of the righteous; that is why he seeks and desires them with joy and pleasure of heart, saying, “Yes, in the ways of Your judgments, O Lord, we have waited for You.” (Is. 26: 8) As if the commandment or the word of God is the object of hope, pleasure and joy of the soul. The psalmist says, “I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will delight myself in Your statutes... Your testimonies are my delight and my counselors” (Psalm 119: 14, 16, 24) 6 City of God 19:26,27. الحب الإلهي، ص 7 .965 8 On Ps. 16. The righteous rejoices in God’s commandments because he discovers in their depths an encounter with Christ the Word of God, and an enjoyment in Him as salvation and life. St. Augustine says, [We should understand that there is no faster, higher, shorter, or safer way, than that of Christ, concerning the statutes of God, “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2: 3) That is why the Psalmist says, that in Him he rejoices, as one rejoices in great riches. These are the testimonies by which he emphasizes to us to what extent Christ loves us.9] b. The source of the righteous’ delight is his union with God, his Savior, holding Him fast: “The desire of our soul is for Your name, and for the remembrance of You. With my soul I have desired You in the night. Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek you early.” (Is. 26: 8, 9) The soul realizes that in the night of this world, she is in need of the light of the Savior to shine on and in her. She seeks Him by night, after tasting bitterness all the daylong. She desires to encounter Him within her, to find in Him her comfort, peace, and satisfaction, desiring “the kisses of His mouth” (Song 1: 2); saying to Him, “His mouth is most sweet. Yes, He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.” (Song 5: 16) The soul desires to keep close to Him all through the night of this world until eternity shines on her, to stay eternally in His bosom. She seeks Him within herself, to find Him seeking her; goes early to Him, to find Him coming early to her; addresses Him: “O God, You are my God. Early will I seek You. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for you in the sanctuary, to see your power and Your glory” (Psalm 63: 1, 2) To hear Him answering her: “I love those who love Me; and those who seek Me diligently will find Me. Riches and honor are with Me, enduring riches and righteousness.” (Proverbs 8: 17, 18) c. The destiny of the righteous will be his enjoyment of the divine glory, something the wicked would be denied, of whom the prophet says, “In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.” (Is. 26: 10) The righteous will enjoy the glory of God; He will reflect His splendor to turn into an icon of Him, while the wicked will be denied this eternal gift. Blessed thrice, and even multi-blessed, will be those who are counted worthy of that glory! While the wicked, as the prophet says, “will not behold the majesty of the Lord.” (Is. 26: 10 LXX) God forbids that we get denied beholding His majesty. For then, the time would come to say to ourselves: ‘It would have been better for us not to be born!’ Why are we living? Why are we breathing? What would we be if we fail to behold that majesty of the Lord? If those who cannot see the sunlight, count life as more bitter than death, how would it be for those who get denied beholding that splendor?10 St. John Chrysostom It is fitting to understand that for the sake of this perfection “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3: 2) We shall be granted this gift when it will be said to us: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the earth.” (Matthew 25: 34) At that time, those on the left will go to eternal suffering, while those on the right will enter into eternal 9 On Ps. 16. 10 In Loan, hom 12. life11. St. John says, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (I John 3: 2) This likeness is beginning to be realized in us as from now; while the inner man is being renewed day after day according to the image of his Creator12. St. Augustine So will it be, that God will become the mystery of glory of His righteous, not only in the world to come, but their glory will start now within them, through beholding the glory of God and His splendor, as a sort of an pledge of the eternal face to face encounter with Him. For His believers, He will be the King of peace; while, for those who deny Him, He will be a consuming fire; as the apostle says, “To the one, we are the aroma of death to death, and to the other the aroma of life to life.” (2 Corinthians 2: 16) For this the prophet proceeds to say, “Lord, when Your hand is lifted up, they will not see. But they will see and be ashamed for their envy of people. Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them. Lord, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our works in us.” (Is. 26: 11, 12) God raises His hand to chastise His children, for their sins13, to grant them peace and growth. As for the wicked, the punishment would be a consuming fire, “to wipe out all memory of them.” (Is. 26: 14) 4. HIS PEOPLE PASS THROUGH TROUBLE (DISTRESS) The prophet realizing the blessings of distress for the people of God, says, “You have increased the nation, O Lord, You have increased the nation. You are glorified. You have expanded all the borders of the land. Lord, in their trouble they have visited You. They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.” (Is. 26: 15, 16) It is as though God’s chastisement causes distress from outside, yet it results to continuous growth in glory. The cause of strength is not in the distress, but in the hidden hand of God, capable of raising from the dead. The prophet saw his people like a woman writhing in the pains of labor; to deliver, after all the trouble, only wind; namely nothing. With the intervention of God, though, even if man, in his pains, reaches to death, God is capable of granting him resurrection, of giving him a new resurrected life, filled with joy and praise. The wicked suffer as though in labor, to give birth only to wind or vain pride, while the children of God also suffer, yet they give birth, with the spirit of God, to a likeness of Him. Pain outside the Lord Christ delivers wind, while in Him it delivers resurrection! The Prophet says, “As a woman with child is in pain and cries out in her pangs, when she draws near the time of her delivery, so have we been in Your sight, O Lord. We have been with a child, we have been in pain. We have as it were, brought forth wind. We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth... Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall rise.” (Is. 26: 17 - 19) The Psalmist says, “The kings assembled; they passed by together. They saw 11 On the Holy Trinity 14:19:25. 12 On the Spirit and the letter, ch. 37. 13 St. Chrysostom: In Heb. Hom 5:5; the Paralytic let down through the roof 6. it, and so they marveled. They were troubled, they hastened away. Fear took hold of them there; and pain as a woman in travail.” (Psalm 48: 4 - 6) St. Augustine14 sees that the kings are the believers who conceive of the fear of God, and enter into a condition of labor, to deliver salvation through faith. When we see their pain, we expect a new birth, as the old man dies together with all his works, and a new man with the image of his Creator is born. St. Augustine addresses the virgin soul, attached to Christ, her Groom, saying, [Good for you, O virgin soul... with your virginity you keep in your heart whom you have given a new birth (the new man); and keep in your body whom you have delivered, as you have conceived of the fear of God, and given birth to the spirit of salvation15.] 5. GOD THE SAVIOR OF HIS PEOPLE As, God gets angry, not to avenge Himself, but to chastise, proclaiming His love for our salvation, He called the duration of His wrath “a little while” that soon passes by, anticipating to reward His believers, while the wicked would drink from the cup of their evil, they filled up by themselves. Our whole life, with its pains, is but “a little while” that soon passes by, not to be compared to a glorified limitless eternity with no end. That is why St. Augustine says; [There is a comfort in death, of which the prophet says, “Come, My people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past.” (Is. 26: 20)16] How wonderful to end this praise of resurrection by the magnificent phrase: “See, the Lord is coming out of His dwelling to punish...” (Is. 26: 21). He is a heavenly Father, who does not like to punish, yet, if He chastises, He is as though He comes out of His place, that is to say out of His compassionate mercy. It is our transgression and rebellion that make Him, as though coming out of His place to punish. Even, in His coming out, He seeks to embrace us, to get us back to the throne of His mercy. 14 On Ps. 48. 15 On the Holy Virginity 39. 16 Ep. 36:31. Ep. 36:31.
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