THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE Or WORSHIP IN SPIRIT This psalm is the first Asaph psalm. Asaph means "the gatherer." Assaph was the chief of the sacred music, in the tent where the Ark was placed, who played the cymbals. He was also a psalm writer (2 Chronicles 29:30). While the preceding psalms of the sons of Korah (42-49) manifested delicacy and restraint, melancholy and hope, this psalm of Asaph appears vigorous and direct, confident and regal. While Korah was demoted, Asaph was not only put in charge by David and "prophesied under the direction of the king " (1 Chron. 25:1-2) but remained among the upper echelon of temple singers all the way into the postexilic era (Ezr. 3:10). The temple singers of Asaph must have inherited a strong character to interact with prophets like Amos, Hosea,Isaiah and Michah, or their disciples, and yet maintain their own dignity, self-respect and control over the renewal of temple liturgy. In Ps. 50 we detect an interaction with such prophetic pieces as Amos 5:21-22; Hos. 6:1-6; Isa. 1:2-20; Mic. 6:1-8)1. This psalm belongs to the pre-exilic period, when Jerusalem existed in the perfect of beauty [2]. In this powerful prophetic psalm the imagined scene is a majestic theophany, God appearing in fire and tempest at mount Zion to summon the entire world to His judgment seat. But if all eyes are on Him, His eyes are on Israel. The whole psalm is addressed to the covenant-people, speaking first to the unthinkingly religious, and then to the hardened and hypocritical, to bring them a sharp breath of reality. It is the message which the prophets and finally our Lord Jesus had to put to a church that had forgotten that its dealings were with the living God2. The features that recall mount Sinai and the covenant(1-5),the allusions to the Ten Commandments(7,18-20), and the reference to reciting these and to professing allegiance to the covenant(16), combine to give the impression of a ceremony of covenant remembrance and renewal as the setting of the psalm. It treats of the nature of true religion, what it requires of towards God and man. It warns us against hypocrisy and formality in worship; it shows us how exalted and pure is God, and points us to His awful judgments against sinners.It calls us for close self-examination in our worship and our conduct. OUTLINE 1. The majestic theophany [1-3]. 2. Gather My saints together unto Me [4-6]. https://coptic-treasures.com/ 2 3. The Judge appears [7-15]. 4. What God says to the wicked [16-21]. 5. The parting charges [22-23]. THE MAJESTIC THEOPHANY [1-3] "The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken and has called the earth from sunshine to sunset. The loveliness of His beauty has appeared out of Zion God will come visibly; no longer will our God keep silence. A fire will burn before Him, and a mighty storm will rage round Him" [1-3]. The summons is universal; it is addressed to all the inhabitants of the earth that were near and that afar off. The purpose of this call is to show His dealing with His people. He shines forth out of Zion, the Church, the place of His choice and the display of His Kingly glory. He wants his church glorifies Him in her worship and in her conduct, for some believers offered worship in a literal formalities, as if God was in need of it, instead of practicing worship in spirit, as an expression of thanksgiving [14], and in acknowledgment of their dependence upon Him. He summon heaven and earth to judge His people. According to the Septuagint, "beauty" is in apposition to God, while in Hebrew it appears that to Zion. The spiritual beauty of the Church reveals God's beauty, for He bought her by His precious blood and deposit His pure words and gospel to her. The word of God goes forth from the new Jerusalem, the church of the New Testament (Isa. 2:3; Mic. 4:2). The church, where God is worshiped in Spirit and His word is purely preached, is the most beautiful thing in this world. Also the pious believer who worships God in Spirit, meditates in the word of God and fulfills the divine will is very beautiful in the eyes of God. The longer God delays punishment, the more terrible will it be when it comes. God waited a hundred and twenty years with old world; but when the deluge came, it swept all away. Its scenes of horror were more dreadful than imagination has ever conceived4. God will come to judge; He will not keep silence, that is He will show that His long-suffering has long been silent because of His mercy, waiting our repentance. Now in the day of judgment He will reveal Himself a consuming fire. Verse 1 But then who are those gods, or where are they, of whom God is the true God? Another Psalm says, "God has stood in the synagogue of gods, but in the midst He judges gods." St. Augustine See in the same Psalm those to whom he says, "I have said, Ye are gods, and children of the Highest all; but ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes." It is evident then, that He has called men gods, that are defied of His Grace, not born of His Substance. For He does justify, who is just through His own self, and not of another; and He does deify who is God through Himself, not by the partaking of another. But He that justifies does Himself deify, in that by justifying He does make sons of God. "For He has given them power to https://coptic-treasures.com/ 3 become the sons of God." If we have been made sons of God, we have also been made gods: but this is the effect of Grace adopting, not of nature generating. St. Augustine Has spoken many ways. By Angels He has Himself spoken, by Prophets He has Himself spoken, by His own mouth He has Himself spoken, by His faithful He does Himself speak, by our lowliness, when we say anything true, He does Himself speak. See then, by speaking diversely, many ways, by many vessels, by many instruments, yet He does Himself sound everywhere, by touching, moulding, inspiring: see what He has done. St. Augustine He that has called the world, has called even the whole world: He that has called the world, has called as much as He has formed. St. Augustine Verse 2 For in that place were His disciples, who received the Holy Ghost sent from heaven on the fiftieth day after His resurrection. Thence the Gospel, thence the preaching, thence the whole world filled, and that in the Grace of Faith. St. Augustine For when the Lord Himself had come, because He came to suffer, He came hidden: and though He was strong in Himself, He appeared in the flesh weak. For He must needs appear in order that He might not be perceived; be despised, in order that He might be slain. Threre was semblance of glory in divinity, but it lay concealed in flesh. "for if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory." So then He walked hidden among the Jews, among His enemies, doing marvels, suffering ills, until He was hanged on the tree, and the Jews seeing Him hanging both despised Him the more, and before the Cross wagging their heads they said, "If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from the Cross." Hidden then was the God of gods, and He gave forth words more out of compassion for us than out of His own majesty. St. Augustine Hidden then is the God of gods, both to those among whom He walked, and to those by whom He was crucified, and to those before whose eyes He rose, and to us who believe on Him in heaven sitting, whom we have not seen on earth walking. But even if we were to see, should we not see that which the Jews saw and crucified? It is more, that not seeing we seeing we believe Christ to be God, than that they seeing deemed Him only to be man. They in a word by thinking evil slew, we by believing well are made alive. https://coptic-treasures.com/ 4 St. Augustine Verse 3 This God of gods, both then hidden, and now hidden, shall He ever be hidden? Evidently not: hear what followes: "God shall come manifest".He that came hidden, shall come manifest. Hidden He came to be judged, manifest He shall come to judge: hidden He came that He might stand before a judge, manifest He shall come that He may be judge even of judges: "He shall come manifest, and shall not be silent." But why? Is He now silent? And whence are all the words that we say? whence those precepts? whence thosewarnings? whence that trumpet of terror? He is not silent, and is silent: is not silent from warning, is silent from avenging: is not silent from precept, is silent from judgment. St. Augustine He is silent then from judgment, He is hidden in heaven, as yet He intercedes for us: He is doingsuffering to sinners, not putting forth His wrath, but awaiting penitence. St. Augustine "Fire shall go before Him." Do we fear? Be we changed, and we shall not fear. Let chaff fear the fire: what does it to gold? St. Augustine The sweetness of His presence shall come; thou art not changed, thou art not awakened, thou sighest not, thou longest not: thou embracest thy sins and the delights of thy flesh, thou art heaping stubble to thyself, the fire will come. St. Augustine If we believe a judgment to come, brethren, let us live well. Now is time to mercy, then will be time of judgment. No one will say, "Call me back to my former years." St. Augustine "And a mighty tempest round about Him" "A mighty tempest," in order to winnow so great a floor. In this tempest shall be that winnowing whereby from the saints shall be put away everything impure, from the faithful every unreality; from godly men and them that fear the Word of God, every scorner and every proud man. St. Augustine Doubtless this tempest is to make a sort of separation. It is that separation which they waited not for, who brake the nets, before they came to land. But in this separation there is made a sort of distinction between good men and bad men. There be some that now follow Christ with lightened shoulders without the load of the world's cares, who have not heard in vain, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow Me:" to which sort is said, "You shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Some then shall be judging with the Lord: But others to be judged, but to be placed on the right hand. St. Augustine https://coptic-treasures.com/ 5 + God shall come manifestly. (3), not as he came first, in obscurity, but as the Scripture says, "manifestly". for it was fitting that he should come in obscurity so that he might be judged; but he shall came manifestly when he is to pass judgment. (Sermon 263:1). St. Augustine + "For he shall come and shall not keep silence;" when He shall come to judge the quick and dead, to render to every one according to his work; when the terrible trumpet with its mighty voice shall wake those that have slept through the ages, and they that have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation4. St. Basil + when He shall come manifest in His second advent, will not be silent. For although He came first shrouded in humility, yet he shall come manifest in power5 St. Cyprian GATHER MY SAINTS TOGETHER UNTO ME [4-6] "He will summon heaven above and the earth to judge His people. Gather His saints together to Himthose who have made a covenant with Him for sacrifice. And the heaven will declare His justice, for God is judge" [4-6]. Heaven and earth are summoned as the witnesses of His judgment, by which He will separate the sincere believers from hypocrites, or the wheat from the chaff. Who are the saints (chasidim = pious ones) who are to be gathered unto Him? They are the sincere Church members as St. Paul mentions (2 Thess. 2:1), who make a covenant with Him through the sacrifice of His beloved Son [5]; or who place God's covenant above animal sacrifices. As "the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son;" verse 6 clearly points to Our Lord Jesus Christ. God spoke to men from Eden as the Creator; from Sinai as the Law-giver; from Zion (the Church) as the Redeemer, and at the Last Day as the Judge6. Verse 4 "He will call the heaven from above". The heaven, all the Saints, those made perfect that shall judge, them He shall call from above, to be sitters with Him to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. For how shall "He call the heaven from above," https://coptic-treasures.com/ 6 St. Augustine For see the Lord severing in judgment: "He shall call the heaven from above and the earth, to sever His people." From whom but from evil men? Of whom here afterwards no mention is made, now as it were condemned to punishment. St. Augustine For at first He called them together, "when the God of gods spake and called the world from the rising of the sun unto the going down," He had not yet severed: those servants had been sent to bid to the marriage, who had gathered good and bad. But when the God of gods shall come manifest and shall not keep silence, He shall so call the "heaven from above "that it may judge with Him. For what the heaven is, the heavens themselves are; just as what the earth is, the lands themselves, just as what the Church is, the Churches themselves: "He shall call the heaven from above, and the earth, to sever His people." St. Augustine Verse 5 "Gather to Him righteous" The voice divine and prophetic, seeing future things as if present does exhort the Angels gathering. For He shall send His Angels, and before Him shall be gathered all nations. Gather to Him His righteous. What righteous men save those that live of faith and do works of mercy? For those works are works of righteousness. Thou hast the Gospel: "Beware of doing your righteousness before men to be seen of them." St. Augustine Verse 6 Truly this righteousness of God to us the "heavens have declared," the Evangelists have foretold. Through them we have heard that some will be on the righthand, to whom the Householder says, "Come, you blessed of My Father, receive. St. Augustine Truly judge not confounding but severing. For "the Lord knowes them that are His." Even if grains lie hid in the chaff, they are known to the husbandman. Let no one fear that he is a grain even among the chaff; the eyes of our winnower are not deceived. Fear not lest that tempest, which shall be round about Him, should confound thee with chaff. St. Augustine THE JUDGE APPEARS [7-15] "Listen, My people, and I will speak" [7]. or This section opens with an introduction in verse 7 which emphasizes that the speaker is God, Our God, who attributes us to Himself, Saying "My people," and Himself to us, saying, "Your God." He is our Friend, Guide, Law-giver and Savior. Perhaps here He rebukes His people whom He accepts as His own, although He is not so regarded or so treated by them. https://coptic-treasures.com/ 7 Then this section declares the correct appreciation of sacrifice. The principal types of sacrifice are mentioned: communion sacrifice, holocaust or burnt-offering, thanksgiving sacrifice. These were not offered to God as if He was in need of food but for practicing the covenant of life with one another and with God. Verse 7 He shall come and shall not keep silence; see how that even now, if you hear, He is not silent. Hear, my people, and I will speak to thee. For if thou hearest not,I will not speak to thee. St. Augustine When hearest thou? If thou art my people. For,"Hear my people:" thou hearest not if thou art an alien people. St. Augustine Behold God Himself, who shall give, is thine own. What richer than He? Gifts thou wast desiring, thou hast the Giver Himself. "God, thy God, I am." St. Augustine " I find no fault with your sacrifices; your whole burnt offerings are before Me continually. It is not bullocks from your farm I will welcome, nor he-goats from your folds" [8, 9]. God refused to accept the animal sacrifices from the Jews in their wicked state of mind, as if these sacrifices were pleasing Him. He asks not for animal sacrifices, for He is no need of them. These sacrifices are but a shadow of His self-sacrifice that has the power to reconcile us with Him, renew our inner life and top offer acceptable spiritual sacrifices. He looks to the will of the deed, even of offering sacrifices, and not for the deed itself. Verse 8 I will not say to thee, Wherefore hast thou not slain for me a fat bull? why hast thou not selected the best he-goat from thy flock? Wherefore does that ram amble among thy sheep, and is not laid upon mine alter? St. Augustine Verse 9 He says that certain holocausts God will accept. But what is a holocaust? A whole consumed with fire: causis is burning, holon is whole: but a "holocaust" is a whole consumed with fire. There is a certain fire of most burning love: be the mind inflamed with love, let the same love hurry off the limbs to its use, let it not allow them to serve cupidity, in order that we may wholly glow with fire of divine love that will offer to God a holocaust. Such "holocausts of thine are in My sight always." St. Augustine He is foretelling the New Testament, wherein all those sacrifices have ceased. For they were then foretelling a certain Sacrifice which was to be, with the Blood whereof we should be cleansed. "I will not accept calves of thy house, nor he-goats of thy flocks." St. Augustine https://coptic-treasures.com/ 8 + According He neither takes sacrifices from you nor commanded them at first to be offered because they are needed to Him, but because of your sins. For indeed the temple, which is called the temple in Jerusalem, He admitted to be His house or court, not as though He needed it, but in order that you, in this view of it, giving yourselves to Him, might not worship idols. And that is so, Isaiah says: "what house have you built Me? said the Lord. Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool.7" St. Justine the Martyr It soon appears that the judgment scene is not for passing sentence but for bringing truth to light and sinners to repentance. + And the blessed Paul also shows that the service that is by the law is powerless unto justification8. St. Cyril of Alexandria "For all the beasts of the forest are Mine, the herds and cattle on the mountains. I know all the birds of the sky, and all the beauty of the countryside is Mine" [10, 11]. It signifies that God creates all animals and birds for man, and He feeds them wherever they are. If He needs sacrifices, He will not require to seek them of man, as His whole creation stands at His command. Verse 10 Mine are those which thou possessest not, Mine are these which thou possessest. For if thou art My servant, the whole of thy property is Mine. St. Augustine Verse 11 "I know all the winged creatures of heaven," which thou to Me canst not give. The things which thou wast about to slay for Me, I know all: not because I made I know, but in order that I might make. "And the beauty of the field is with Me." The fairness of the field, the abundance of all things engendering upon earth, "is with Me," He says. St. Augustine Thou needest that which is with thee, God needes not the field which is with Him. With Him is field, with Him beauty of earth, with Him beauty of heaven, with Him all winged creatures, because He is Himself everywhere. And wherefore are all things near Him? Beacuse even before that all things were, or were created to Him were known all things. St. Augustine If God knows the beasts, cattle and birds, how much more He is taking care of every man, for whom He created these creatures?! God is not in need of these creatures but asks for man's heart, for He is His own beloved! He asks for spiritual offerings and vow, that is praising God and heartily devotion. The psalmist says: https://coptic-treasures.com/ 9 If i am hungry, I well not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all that is in it. Am I to eat bulls' flesh, or drink the blood of goats?! Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to Most High" [12-14]. The fire, which descended from heaven upon the sacrifices, was considered mystically as the mouth of God, which devoured the flesh of the victims, and it was on that account that had expressly forbidden to consume them by fire obtained elsewhere, because this strange fire, not being that which descended from heaven, could not be regarded mystically as the mouth of God. Perhaps some suppose that God had some physical necessity for food and drink. Therefore he reproaches them, declaring that God is not enjoying more bloody but spiritual sacrifices9. + Now what is a spiritual burnt offering?"The sacrifice of praise." And in what place do we offer it? In the Holy Spirit10. St. Basil 10. On the Spirit, 26 (62). Vow" here means the serious desire of devotion, which relates to a life of holiness. Even in offering the sacrifices of praise or paying vow-sacrifices, we and not God are the beneficiaries, for through love we accept as our Deliverer. Verse 12 These words are said to convince little understanding; not that God has declared His hunger. Though for our sake this God of gods deigned even to hunger. He came to hunger, and to fill; He came to thirst, and give drink; He came to be clothed with mortality, and to clothe with immortality; He came poor, to make rich. For He lost not His riches by taking to Him our poverty, for,"In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden." "If I shall be hungry, I will not tell thee. For Mine is the whole world, and the fulness thereof." Do not then labour to find what to give Me, without whom I have what I will. St. Augustine Verse 13 If thou hast a fat bull, kill for the poor: let them eat the flesh of bulls, though they shall not drink the blood of he-goats. Which, when thou shalt have done, He will account it to thee, that has said, "If I shall be hungry, I will not tell thee:" and He shall say to thee, "I was hungry, and thou gavest Me to eat." "Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or shall I drink the blood of he-goats?" St. Augustine Verse 14 Zacchaeus had this sacrifice of praise in his patrimony; the window had it in her bag; some poor host or other has hadit in his jar: another neither in patrimony, nor in bag, nor in jar, has had anything, had it wholly in his heart: salvation was to the house of Zacchaeus; and more this poor window cast in than those rich men: this man, that does offer a cup of cold water, shall not lose his reward: but there is even "peace on earth to men of good will." "Immolate to God the sacrifice of praise." O sacrifice gratuitous, by grace given! I have not indeed https://coptic-treasures.com/ 10 bought this to offer but Thou hast given: for not even this should I have had. And this is the immolation of the sacrifice of praise, to render thanks to Him from whom thou hast whatever of good thou hast, and by whose mercy is forgiven thee whatsoever of evil of thine thou hast. "Immolate to God the sacrifice of praise: and render to the Highest thy prayers." With this odour the Lord is well pleased. St. Augustine " Then call upon Me in the day of trouble; and I will deliver you and you will glorify Me" [15]. Verse 15 He found tribulation as it were some profitable thing; he had rotted in the slough of his sins; now he had continued without feeling, he found tribulation to be a sort of caustic and cutting. "I found," he says, "tribulation and grief, and on the Name of the Lord I called." St. Augustine Let such tribulations find us: there is a certain tribulation which we ought to seek to find. What is that? The abovenamed felicity in this world, abundance of temporal things: that is not indeed tribulation, these are the solaces of our tribulation. Of what tribulation? Of our sojourning. For the very fact that we are not yet with God, the very fact that we are living amind trials and difficulties, that we cannot be without fear, is tribulation: for there is not that peace which is promised us. St. Augustine WHAT GOD SAYS TO THE WICKED [16-21] This section contains plain words addressed to the hypocrites, addressed not to the heathen but to the nominally believers. God spoke to His people who combined wickedness and worship, for they were involved in offering sacrifices , and preserved in their ritualistic observances outwardly, without offering thanksgiving from their heart, and disregarded kindness towards their neighbors. Here we find God's uncovering sin and His rebuke. He unmasks hypocrisy. God is seen coming in righteousness to judge His people. The way of salvation is mentioned, that is repentance confession, and love. I. To obey the Word of God and not only utter it. "But to the sinner God says: Why do you declare My rights, and take My covenant in your mouth, while you hate correction, and turn your back on My Words?" [16, 17]. Verse 16 We take the Covenant of God in our mouth, and we preach to you the instruction and judgment of God. St. Augustine https://coptic-treasures.com/ 11 Verse 17 Thou hatest discipline. When I spare, thou singest and praisest: when I chasten, thou murmurest: as though, when I spare, I am thy God: and, when I chasten, I am not thy God. St. Augustine + For what does it profit a man to gain the ornaments of heavenly eloquence and the most precious beauty of the Scriptures if by clinging to filthy deeds and thoughts he destroys it by burying it in the foulest ground, or defiles it by the dirty wallowing of his own lusts? For the result will be that which is an ornament to those who rightly use it, is not only unable to adorn them,but actually becomes dirty by the increased filth and mud. For "from the mouth of a sinner praise is not comely:" as to him it is said by the prophet:"Wherefore does you declare My righteous acts, and takes My covenant in your lips?"11 Abbot Nesteros + 'Praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner (Ps 1:16).' For how is it possible for us to praise God with an impure mouth? since things which are contrary to each other cannot coexist. For what communion has righteousness with iniquity? or, what fellowship is there between light and darkness? So exclaims Paul a minister of the Gospel (2 Cor 6:14)12. St. Athanasius of Alexandria + But the heretic, though he use scriptural terms, yet, as being equally dangerous and depraved, shall be asked in the words of the Spirit, 'Why does thou preach My laws, and takes My covenant in thy mouth'(Ps.1. 16)? thus whereas the devil, though speaking from the Scriptures, is silenced by the Saviour13. St. Athanasius of Alexandria + And the Lord himself, even if the demons spoke the truth,-for they said truly: their mouths and suffered them not to speak; lest happily they should sow their evil along with the truth, and that he might accustom us never to speak what is true. for it is unseemly that front the Saviour, should be taught by the devil who has not kept his own order but has gone from one mind to another. Wherefore even when he uses the language of Scripture he forbids him, saying: but to the sinner said God, wherefore does thou declare my ordinances and takes my covenant in thy mouth?14 St. Athanasius of Alexandria + For to declare the righteousness and the covenant of the Lord, and not to do the same that the Lord did, what else is it than to cast away His words and to despise the Lord's instruction, to commit not earthly, but spiritual thefts and adulteries?15 St. Cyprian + In this field the grape is found that was pressed and poured out blood and washed the world clean; in this field is the fig tree, and beneath it the saints will find rest and be renewed by a good and spiritual grace; in this field is the olive tree fruitful in the overflowing ointment of the peace of the Lord; in this field flourish the pomegranate trees, that shelter many fruits with the one bulwark of faith and nature them with the warm embrace of love, so to speak16. St. Ambrose https://coptic-treasures.com/ 12 + For to declare the righteousness and the covenant of the lord, and the same that the Lord did, what else is it than to cast away His words and to despise the Lord's instruction, to commit not earthly, but spiritual thefts and adulteries? While any one is stealing fro, evangelical truth the words and doings of our Lord he is corrupting and adulterating the divine precepts, as it is written in Jeremiah. He says, "What is the chaff to the wheat? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who steal my words every one from his neighbor, and cause my people to err by their lies and by their lightness."Also in the same prophet, on another place, He says, "She committed adultery with stocks and atones, and yet for all this she turned not unto me.17" St. Cyprian "If you see a thief, you run with him, and you throw in your lot with adulterers" [18]. + According to this, fellowship of thought would entail sharing the sentiments of the one doing the work and taking pleasure in it with him... Let us fear, therefore, and obey the apostle when he says, " Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new paste" (1 Cor. 5:7)18 St. Basil the Great + It is not enough that we do no such things ourselves, unless we break all connection also with those who do. "If thou saw a thief," says the Scripture,"thou consented with him." Would that we did not even inhabit the same world with these wicked men! But though that wish cannot be realized,yet even now we are separate from them in what is of the world;for the world is God's, but the worldly is the devil's19. Tertullian 2. Not to be tattler: "Your mouth exaggerates malice, and your tongue weaves deceit. You sit and speak against your brother, and provoke a scandal against your own mother's son" [19, 20]. + Beware too of having a tongue or ears that itch: that is, do not defame others or listen to people who defame others20. St. Jerome + We have become tattlers, nothing remains in our mind. Hear the exhortation of a wise man who says, "Have you heard a word? Let it die in you, be bold; it will not burst you" [Ecclus. 19:10]. And again, "A fool hears a word, and travails, as a woman in a labor of a child"[Ecclus 19:11]. We are ready to make accusations, prepared for condemning21. St. John Chrysostom + When he says 'you sit' he wants to show that the slander was not in passing, nor was he overtaken by surprise and thus spoke evil of his neighbors. 'You sit', that is, at leisure, as if unoccupied for the very purpose of discrediting your neighbor. 'When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?' Let no one deceive himself with false assurance, dearly beloved, thinking that he will not come before the tribunal of Christ to render an account of his deeds. Truly, 'May' the Lord 'our God come and not be deaf to us !' Indeed, now He is said to be silent, because he still seems to suspend punishment.'When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?' except I did not pass judgment, I postponed my severity, I prolonged my patience for your benefit, for a long time I awaited your https://coptic-treasures.com/ 13 repentance? 'When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it? Although I looked for this very thing, that you should repent, you still despised me and refused to heed the Apostle; but 'According to thy hardness and unrepentant heart, you do treasure up to thyself wrath on the day of wrath and of the revelation of the just judgment of God.' 'Think you that I am like yourself?' It is not enough that your wicked deeds please you, you think they also please me. Since you do not suffer God as an avenger at once, you want to keep a partner and to have a companion of your plunder as a corrupt judge. Of the many goods you have seized, you give little alms and still do not desert your sins, you would deceive yourself even if you gave away everything, by losing your money and not redeeming your sins. 'Think you that I am like yourself? I will correct you.' Indeed, when our Lord and God comes, He will not be silent.'I will correct you.' What will I do to reprove you? What will I do to you? Now you do not see yourself, but I will make you behold yourself; because if you saw yourself and displeased yourself, you would please me. Since you do not see yourself, you are satisfied with yourself and will displease both me and you: me when you will rejudged, yourself when you will burn in hell. Indeed, what will I do to you, someone says? 'I will draw you up before your eyes.' In the fact that you want to be concealed from yourself, you are behind your own back and do not see yourself. I will make you see yourself by placing before your face what you put behind your back. You will see your hideousness, not in order to correct it, but to blush at it. Truly,beloved brethren, all lovers of dissipation who commit sin with delight, now throw their sins behind them. But if by chance on some occasion they do something good, they put it before themselves and continually boast of it saying: I freed that man, I did good to him, I gave him so much. While they thus attribute to themselves the good which God did through them, by their vanity they destroy what they seem to acquire by almsgiving. Therefore, before the tribunal of Christ, since they have lost the good things which they kept before them, the sins which they had thrown behind their back will be summoned before their face. Then they will suffer punishment without end, because they refused to procure a remedy for themselves while they lived. This is the case with men who love present things more than future ones. However, men who think more attentive,y about the salvation of their soul act in a contrary manner; they throw the good which they do behind their back, and place before their eyes the evil which has overtaken them. In the present life they blush over their sins, striving with all the devotion of faith to heal what was wounded, to revive what was dead, and to cleanse what was defiled. When these men come before the tribunal of Christ on judgment day, the evil which they had placed before their face and redeemed by good works will be taken away and the good deeds which they had cast behind their back because of vanity will be set before their eyes and they will merit to hear: 'Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom.' Although this is true, we should not despair of those who are still unwilling to correct their vices and do not even blush to defend them. In a similar way hope was not abandoned for that city of which it is written: 'Three days more and Ninive shall be destroyed'; yet in those three days it was able to be converted, pray, bewail, and merit mercy from the threatened punishment. Therefore, let all who are such listen to God while at is possible to hear Him in His silence, that is, not punishing at present; for He will come and will not be silent, and will then reprove when there is no chance of amendment. 'I sill draw you up before your eyes.' Therefore , do you whoever are like this as was already said above, do what the Lord threatens to do to you. Remove yourself from behind you where you do not want to see yourself, hiding your deeds and put yourself before you. Ascend the tribunal of your mind, be your own judge. Let fear torment you, a confession of your guilt result,and say to your God: 'For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always.' Let what was behind you come before you, and when it is before yourself by God the judge and have no place where you may flee from yourself. Now 'Consider this, you who forget God.' You did not think about your evil life; understand yourself,, you that have forgotten the Lord: 'Lest I rend you like a lion and there be no one to rescue you.' What does it https://coptic-treasures.com/ 14 mean, 'Like a lion'? Like someone powerful and strong, whom no one can resist.Those lovers of the world whom we mentioned above seem to praise God with their mouth, but they are proven by their deeds to do far otherwise. According to what the prophet says: 'This people honors me with their hearts are far from me.' To them the Holy Ghost exclaims :'But to the wicked man God says: "Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth?" It is as if He were saying: It does you no good to praise God. It is profitable for those who live well to praise Him, but if you praise Him and do not abandon your sins, it avails nothing. Why do you praise me? Listen to the Scriptures say: 'Unseemly is praise on a sinner's lips.' If you live a wicked life and say good things, you do not yet praise God/ Again, if when you have begun to live well you attribute it to your own merits, you do not yet praise God. I do not want you to be a robber deriding the cross of our Lord, but neither do I want you as His temple to throw away His merits in you and conceal Hos wounds. If you are wicked any persevere in that evil, I will not tell you: You praise will not profit you, but: You do not praise me, because I do not consider it as praise. Again, if you seem just, that is, humble and good, but go along puffed up with your justice, despising others in comparison with yourself or exalting yourself in a boasting way because of your merits, you do not praise me. Neither he who lives a wicked life nor he who lives well as though by his own merits praises me. Was that Pharisee such by himself when he said: 'I thank thee that I am not like the rest of men'? He thanked God that he had some good in himself. Therefore, even if there is some good in you, do not acknowledge it as proceeding from yourself , but admit that you received what is good from God. If you extol yourself above another who does not possess this good, in this you will be considered proud and not yet one who praises me. First of all, then be corrected from your very wicked path. Begin to live well, and realize that you cannot amend your life except by the gift of God; for 'By the Lord are the steps of a man made firm.' When you have understood this, help other men so that they may also be what you are; for you once were what they are. Assist them as much as you can and do not despair. God is not rich only as far as you are concerned, and believe that what He has given to you, He both will and can bestow upon others. Therefore, a man does not praise God if, when he has begun to live well, he thinks it is by himself that he lives well and not something received from God. Nor does a man praise Him if, although he knows the fact that he lives well is a gift from God, still he wants God to be rich only to himself and does not want Him to be merciful to others. For this reason could not the pharisee who said: 'O God I thank thee that I am not like the rest of men, dishonest, robbers, adulterers, or even like this publican,' also say: O Lord, give also to this publican what you have given to me, and fill me with what you have not yet given? Instead he vomited, as though he was satiated. However, what did that poor man or publican say? 'O Lord, be merciful to me the sinner!' Therefore, 'The publican went back justified rather than the Pharisee.' Now listen, both you who live well and you who lead a wicked life: 'He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me.'No one offers this sacrifice to me and is wicked. I do not say: Let not the wicked offer it, but: No wicked man offers it. The man who praises me is good, because if he praises me he lives well. If he praises me, not only his tongue does so, but his life agrees with his tongue. Therefore, I exhort you, dearly beloved. With God's help, let us endeavor as much as we can to praise God by a good life just as we do with words, for it would be better to be silent and do good than to praise Him and commit sin.if a man praises God at the same time by his life and his tongue, equally with words and good deeds, he calls forth the grace of God doubly upon himself. Indeed, if he is unable to praise Him with words, let him do so by good works, continual prayer, and holy thoughts. If we diligently do this, we can both praise the Lord with a secure conscience in this world and happily reach eternally joy on the life to come22. Fr. Caesarius of Arles THE PARTING CHARGES [22-23] "Now consider this, you who forget God, lest death snatch you away https://coptic-treasures.com/ 15 and there is no one to save you. The sacrifice of praise glorifies Me, and this is the way I will show him My salvation" [22, 23]. Verse 22 displays the twin characteristics of God's wrath: that it is reluctantly unleashed, but irresistible once that point is reached. In joy and sorrow, sick and well, at home and abroad, let us abound in praise [23]. The circumstances of SS. Paul and Silas in jail, were very distressing, and so they prayed. Many blessings and mercies remained to them, and so they sang praises23. 1. Sch. p. 252-3. 2. Kidner, p. 186. 3. W. Plumer: The Psalms, p. 552. 4. Ep. 46:5. 5. Treatise 9,23. 6. Plumer, p. 552. 7. Dial. with Trypho, 22. 8. Comm. on Luke, Hom. 74. 9. Plumer, p. 549, 550. 11 .Cassian: Conf. 14:16. 12. Paschal letters, 7:4. 13. Councils of Aminum and Seleucia, 39. 14. Life of Antony,26. 15. Ep. 62 (Oxford 63):18. 16. Jacob and the Happy Life, 2:1:3. 17. Epistle 62:18. 18. Concerning Baptism, Q. 9. 19. De Spectaculis, 15. 20. Ep. 52 to Nepotian, 14. 21. In Heb. Hom. 21:7. 22. Sermon 133.
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