The authorship of the song is attributed to King David, as evidenced by its first line. Psalm 35 has an interesting story related to the conflict between David and King Saul, who hated and feared David. He was in the service of Saul and became famous for his military exploits, which aroused jealousy, envy and fear of the king. Saul was afraid that David, beloved by the people, might take his place and did everything possible to destroy the brave and honest David.
Knowing about Saul's hatred for himself, David could take advantage of one of the situations to kill the sleepy king, which his comrades encouraged him to do. However, he only cut off the hem of the apostate’s robe, giving him the opportunity to repent of his sins before the Lord and get rid of anger and hatred.
Psalm 35
Finally, to the servant of the Lord David
For execution. The Servant of the Lord David.
1 The word of the most wicked is to sin in yourself: there is no fear of God before his eyes.
1 The wicked man speaks to himself about sin; there is no fear of God in his sight,
2 Because you would flatter him to find your iniquity and to hate him.
2 For he is deceitful to himself, because he wants to find his iniquity and to hate.
3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and flattery; he has no desire to please.
3 The words of his mouth are lawlessness and deceit; he did not want to understand how to do good.
4 Think iniquity in your bed: I present myself to every evil way, but I am not indignant about evil.
4 He conceived iniquity on his bed, he entered into every evil way, but he was not indignant at wickedness.
5 Lord, Your mercy is in heaven and Your truth reaches to the clouds.
5 Lord, Your mercy is in the heavens, and Your truth reaches to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your destinies are many. Save men and animals, O Lord.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your judgments are like a great deep, You will save people and livestock, O Lord.
7 For Thou hast multiplied Thy mercy, O God, and the sons of mankind have hope in Thy wing's blood.
7 How You have increased Your mercy, O God, and the sons of men will rest in hope under the shelter of Your wings.
8 They will be drunk with the fatness of Thy house, and I will give Thy stream of sweetness to drink.
8 They will become drunken from the fatness of Your house, and You will give them drink from the stream of Your sweetness,
9 For You are the source of life, in Your light we will see light.
9 For with You is the source of life; in Your light we will see light.
10 Add Thy mercy to those who guide Thee, and Thy righteousness to the upright heart.
10 Extend Your mercy to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride come upon me, and let not the hand of the sinner move me.
11 Let not the foot of pride come near me, and let not the hand of sinner move me.
12 Then all those who do iniquity fell: they became false, and they could not stand it.
12 There all the workers of iniquity fell; they were cast down and could not rise.
Glory:
Glory:
The word of the most lawless is to sin in oneself: there is no fear of God before his eyes. As if you would flatter him to find your iniquity and begin to hate him. The words of his mouth are lawlessness and flattery, without the desire to please the hedgehog. Think iniquity in your bed: you stand before every evil path, but do not be indignant about malice. Lord, Your mercy is in Heaven and Your truth reaches the clouds. Your truth is like the mountains of God, Your destinies are many in the abyss. Save men and animals, O Lord. For Thou hast multiplied Thy mercy, O God, and the sons of mankind have hope in Thy wing's blood. They will be drunk with the fatness of Thy house, and I will give Thy stream of sweetness to drink. For You are the source of life, in Your light we will see light. Add Thy mercy to those who lead Thee and Thy truth to the right heart. Let not the foot of pride come upon me, and let not the hand of a sinner move me. There, all those who practice iniquity will fall: they have made excuses, and they will not be able to do so.
Psalm 35
The authorship of the song is attributed to King David, as evidenced by its first line. Psalm 35 has an interesting story related to the conflict between David and King Saul, who hated and feared David. He was in the service of Saul and became famous for his military exploits, which aroused jealousy, envy and fear of the king. Saul was afraid that David, beloved by the people, might take his place and did everything possible to destroy the brave and honest David.
Knowing about Saul's hatred for himself, David could take advantage of one of the situations to kill the sleepy king, which his comrades encouraged him to do. However, he only cut off the hem of the apostate’s robe, giving him the opportunity to repent of his sins before the Lord and get rid of anger and hatred.
Text of prayer Psalm 35
In Church Slavonic
Divine services are usually conducted in Church Slavonic or Old Church Slavonic, depending on the state in which the prayer has been preserved. Old Church Slavonic is the closest to the church language, which makes it possible to conduct services in the temple, therefore the text of Psalm 35 sounds in accordance with the established canons:
Finally, to the servant of the Lord David
1 The word of the most wicked is to sin in yourself: there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 Because you would flatter him to find your iniquity and to hate him.
3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and flattery; he has no desire to please.
4 Think iniquity in your bed: I present myself to every evil way, but I am not indignant about evil.
5 Lord, Your mercy is in heaven and Your truth reaches to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your destinies are many. Save men and animals, O Lord.
7 For Thou hast multiplied Thy mercy, O God, and the sons of mankind have hope in Thy wing's blood.
8 They will be drunk with the fatness of Thy house, and I will give Thy stream of sweetness to drink.
9 For You are the source of life, in Your light we will see light.
10 Add Thy mercy to those who guide Thee, and Thy righteousness to the upright heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride come upon me, and let not the hand of the sinner move me.
12 Then all those who do iniquity fell: they became false, and they could not stand it.
In Russian
In order to turn to God, it is not always possible to visit church, so you can pray privately, that is, at home. For a better understanding of the essence and meaning of Psalm 35, it can be read in Russian:
For execution. The Servant of the Lord David.
1 The wicked man speaks to himself about sin; there is no fear of God in his sight,
2 For he is deceitful to himself, because he wants to find his iniquity and to hate.
3 The words of his mouth are lawlessness and deceit; he did not want to understand how to do good.
4 He conceived iniquity on his bed, he entered into every evil way, but he was not indignant at wickedness.
5 Lord, Your mercy is in the heavens, and Your truth reaches to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your judgments are like a great deep, You will save people and livestock, O Lord.
7 How You have increased Your mercy, O God, and the sons of men will rest in hope under the shelter of Your wings.
8 They will become drunken from the fatness of Your house, and You will give them drink from the stream of Your sweetness,
9 For with You is the source of life; in Your light we will see light.
10 Extend Your mercy to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride come near me, and let not the hand of sinner move me.
12 There all the workers of iniquity fell; they were cast down and could not rise.
When and why is Psalm 35 read?
When the soul is in confusion, it needs the help and protection of the Lord. If a person is sure that there are those who intend to harm him, he can read Psalm 35 on Tuesday 5 times a day.
Interpretation
Already at the beginning of Psalm 35 there is an inscription, that is, an indication that it was composed by David, in which he is called a servant of the Lord, that is, a son and a servant, at the same time.
- Verse 1: Without specifying a specific name, it refers to King Saul, the meeting with whom makes a lasting impression. The prophet is amazed by the power of anger that lives in the human soul. It is precisely this that leads to apostasy and lawlessness. A person who has silenced the voice of conscience within himself does not fear God and is not ashamed of people. You should not expect justice and mercy from him.
- Verse 2: Although Saul pretends to repent of his sins and even admits his hostility towards David, there is no sincerity in his words and thoughts. He flatters himself, wishful thinking.
- Verse 3: The theme of Saul's lies and deceit continues. Despite the promises, anger and injustice were not eradicated from the king’s heart. He does not want to see and understand examples of injustice, so as not to commit atrocities in the future.
- Verse 4: Speaking of Saul, David emphasizes that the king's lack of fear of God led him into a path of lawlessness, lies and hatred. He not only pleases himself with self-deception, but also confuses others with feigned repentance and false promises. In fact, even when going to sleep, he cannot get rid of his evil thoughts; when he wakes up, he thinks about lawlessness.
- Verse 5: Having shown in the previous verses the highest degree of moral corruption not only of Saul, but in many ways of the Jewish people, the prophet shows the highest level of God's mercy and goodness. Despite the sins committed and the power of evil reigning in society, the Lord spreads His mercy “from earth to heaven.”
- Verses 6-7: Those who commit atrocities on earth often think that no one knows about them, no one sees them, which will protect them from punishment. However, God's truth and human truth are significantly different. If people can punish and punish, then the truth of the Lord is based on patience and mercy even towards those who deserve the wrath and execution of God. The justice of the Lord is the opportunity for a sinner to repent of his sins and take the path of truth and goodness.
- Verse 8: We are talking about spiritual benefits that will be received by those who have retained human dignity. Understanding the meaning of material gifts is impossible without awareness of spiritual closeness with God and the belief that spiritual life and piety are no less important, and even more so. Spiritual pleasure and God's mercy are no less important than a hearty piece of meat offered at a feast.
- Verse 9: The singer draws attention to the fact that the Lord turns a stream of Divine sweetness upon a person if he believes in the Lord. He gives life not only physical, but also spiritual, which illuminates a person’s life. Deprived of help and support, a person plunges into a gloomy state, feels helpless and abandoned. Turning to God will help you get out of it. He who commits sins is subject to disasters and suffering, his soul dies. Faith and deep repentance for sins can revive it and fill it with the mercy and goodness of the Lord.
- Verse 10: Speaking of spiritual benefits, the singer asks the Lord not to continue to deprive believers of his mercy. Those who are not hypocrites, but believe truly, keep God’s commandments in their souls and follow them through life.
- Verse 11: David asks the Lord to protect him from the pride of his enemies, asks the Lord to strengthen his spirit so that he can resist the wicked and defend the virtues.
- Verse 12: The singer is confident that all apostates and lawless people will be punished and will find their destruction in hell, being “cast into outer darkness.”
If you read Psalm 35 in Russian, its powerful essence becomes much clearer and penetrates deeper into the soul.
Text of Psalm 35
In the church, the prayer is read during the service, using the text in Church Slavonic. This option, according to some, allows the believer to get as close to the Lord as possible. For this reason, many follow the church canon at home, but only those who have studied Old Church Slavonic and understand it well can work with Psalm 35 in this form.
In Church Slavonic
In Russian
A private appeal to the Lord does not imply the use of the Church Slavonic version of the prayer. It is allowed to speak with God in Russian at home. The Russian translation also allows us to better understand the essence of Psalm 35, which is what every righteous person should strive for.
Explanatory Bible Commentary on the Psalter
The first half of Psalm XXXV (Ps. 35:1-5) describes the wicked who constantly plots against the righteous and plots against him; he cannot calm down even at night, which he spends thinking about evil plans. This characteristic is very suitable for Saul, the restless pursuer of David, which is why this psalm, in the absence of any other specific indications in it, can be considered written in the era of persecution from this king.
True piety is possible for one in whom there is the fear of God, therefore the wicked, as someone who does not have this fear, always strives only for evil (2-5). But no matter how great the power of the wicked, the mercy and truth of the Lord towards man are the true and indestructible support of the latter, since only from Him comes the light of life (6-10). This mercy of Yours, O Lord, extend to the upright in heart, and the wicked will perish (11-13).
Ps.35:2. The wickedness of the wicked says in my heart: There is no fear of God before his eyes,
Ps.35:3. for he flatters himself in his own eyes, as if he were seeking out his iniquity in order to hate it;
David clarifies for himself the main, psychological source and cause of the wickedness of the lawless. This reason is the absence in him of “the fear of God before his eyes.” The fear of God is a reverent feeling before God, obliging a person to strive not to offend the Last with any bad thought or deed. The basis of such fear lies in man’s recognition of the purity of His commandments and their high and beneficial significance for man. If a person has such consciousness and such fear of God, then all his efforts will be directed towards coordinating his actions and internal aspirations with the commandments of the Lord. If such a mood does not exist in a person, there cannot be any concern in him for the purity of his actions: his personal good and the satisfaction of his earthly desires become the guiding principle and the beginning of his activity. Therefore, the small self-restraint that the wicked imposes on himself, or more precisely, a certain moral self-assessment of his actions, to which he can sometimes surrender, cannot be understood as concern for moral regeneration, this is self-deception, the revenge of the wicked before himself, as if he “ seeks out his iniquity in order to hate it.”
Ps.36:4. the words of his mouth are untruth and deceit; he does not want to come to his senses in order to do good;
Ps.35:5. on his bed he plots lawlessness, takes the evil path, and does not disdain evil.
The fact that all his words, actions and thoughts are directed towards untruth, deceit and evil depends on the absence of the fear of God in the wicked. Since the activity of the wicked is aimed at personal, petty interest, then the methods of his actions are based on lies, the construction of intrigues, to which he devotes himself even at night - a time of rest for other people.
Ps.35:6. God! Your mercy reaches to the heavens, Your truth reaches to the clouds!
Ps.35:7. Your truth is like the mountains of God, and Your destinies are like a great abyss! You protect men and animals, O Lord!
God rules the world according to the laws of mercy and truth. “His mercy and truth reach to the clouds and heaven; Truth. like mountains. and fate is a great abyss!” The comparisons used by the author are intended to show that in God is all the truth and all the truth and that only by them does He rule the whole world, man and cattle.
Ps.35:8. How precious is Your mercy, O God! The sons of men are at rest in the shadow of Your wings:
“Sons of men” are all people. “In the shadow of the wings” - under the canopy, the protection of God - the same as under the wings of a hen who jealously protects her chicks. So God cares for all living things and especially for man.
Ps.35:9. they are satisfied from the fatness of Your house, and from the flow of Your sweets You give them to drink,
“Knock.” Thy house”, “stream. sweets" - images pointing to the rich gifts of nature that are given to man for use.
Ps.35:10. For with You is the source of life; in Your light we see light.
“In Your light we see light.” Since it was previously said about the external rich sources of a happy existence on earth, which are obtained from God, the said expression should, in accordance with the context of the speech, be understood as follows: we owe our well-being (“we see the light”) to Your mercy (“in Your light”) .
Ps.35:12. Let not the foot of pride come upon me, and let not the hand of a sinner drive me out:
“Let not the foot of pride come upon me.” The source of man's righteousness lies in the fear of God. Pride is the opposite property. It supports in a person the desire to live according to his own will and desires, and not in accordance with the commandments of the Lord. The meaning of the expression then will be this: save me, Lord, from self-will, as the cause of man’s alienation from You, for then You will not protect me. One can understand by pride in general a wicked person, and the entire verse represents a prayer to God for salvation from unrighteous enemies.
Ps.35:13. there the workers of iniquity are fallen, cast down, and cannot rise up.
If the Lord comes to the defense of the righteous, then where He strikes the wicked, the latter will not. will rise up,” that is, they will be completely destroyed.
Work: Seminars on the Book of Psalms
In these seminars, biblical scholar V.V. Sorokin examines in detail the Old Testament book of Psalms, written, according to legend, by King David and which is a collection of sublime sacred hymns addressed to the Creator of the universe. This collection contains materials from several courses - from 2006 to 2012 - which, in total, include 192 lectures. The teacher analyzes the book in great detail chapter by chapter, delves into the features of the original text (including language ones), and explains a huge number of details to students. The cycle will be useful to all people who are seriously interested in the Old Testament, its meaning and spiritual content.
This text is a transcript of a seminar from a course on the Psalms, audio and video of which can be found at https://predanie.ru/sorokin-vladimir-vladimirovich/seminary-po-knige-psaltir/#/audio/
Predaniye.ru is the largest Orthodox multimedia archive on the RuNet: lectures, speeches, films, audiobooks and books for reading on electronic devices; freely available to everyone.
- Psalm 35
Psalm 35
So. Psalm 36 Yours will probably be 35. If someone doesn’t have double numbering, then 35. Although it’s double, except for the Brussels Bible, I don’t know where else it’s available.
My heart is a word about sin addressed to the wicked.
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
Because he is sweetened in his eyes, in order to find sin in him, in order to hate him.
On his lips there is wickedness and lies.
He doesn't know how to change.
He plots sin while lying on his bed, and he takes the evil path.
And he does not disdain evil.
Yahweh, your mercy reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.
Your justice, your justice is a great abyss.
You save man and beast, Yahweh.
How precious is your mercy, O God.
And the sons of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They eat the fruits of your house, and you give them water from your springs.
Because with you is the source of life and in your light we will see light.
Show your mercy to those who know you, and your righteousness to those whose heart is upright.
May the foot of him who towers above me not stand on me.
And let not the hand of the wicked touch me.
There the workers of iniquity, the committers of sin, will fall. They will fall and not be able to get up.
A short psalm this time. There should have been some discrepancies with the synodal text, if you followed it, just in some concepts, which I usually call a little differently. In particular: mercy, fidelity - in the Synodal truth or righteousness, as traditionally translated. But we have said more than once that behind these concepts there are some realities, realities that are fundamentally important for understanding the relationship between God and man, for spiritual life in general. And today we meet with them again. On the other hand, the context here is quite interesting. This is where the wicked comes in, which in itself is probably not that interesting, because we have encountered this more than once. But here he appears in some new capacity, or something: a person who seems to pass himself off as a friend, as a well-wisher. At the same time, to catch a person doing something, to find some kind of sin in him, in order to commit it - how can I say this? It says here: so that he would hate him, and so that God would hate him. In order to discredit a person not only in the eyes of other people, but, if possible, in the eyes of God. Generally speaking, the situation is normal in the eyes of a sinful person, especially for those who are usually called wicked.
In general, we have said more than once that a wicked person - if we take this literally - means a scoffer or a cynic. And if this word is understood this way, then for any such cynic the task is to vulgarize everything, to prove to himself and others that his position is correct and the only possible one. That there is nothing holy, pure, selfless, etc. in the world. That the whole world is exactly as he sees it. And, if it seems that someone is good, pure, righteous, etc., then this really only seems, but in general he is actually the same as everyone else.
I think that any of us have had to deal with this, few people have not had to meet such people, because this phenomenon is, unfortunately, common. And the desire to bring everyone down to this level is a normal desire of any such cynic.
At the same time, such people love frank, cynical conversations. Something like: “Let’s talk honestly, whatever, you understand that you are, in fact, the same as me. And there is nothing good about you. You can be frank with me.” The meaning of the conversation is something like this.
And here we mean a certain similar situation. It is clear that a believing cynic is the same as hot snow. But in any case, there is always, at least as I see it, a challenge to God, perhaps not entirely conscious. Such a person does not want God to exist, and the existence of a righteous person is proof for this person that God exists. And this desire to put everyone down is connected with the desire to prove to oneself and others that there is nothing like that in the world and there is no God either. So this is a challenge not only to man, but also a challenge to God.
Well, the end of the psalm is clear. A person does not want such people to touch him - and this is something very understandable. And here it’s not so much scary as it is disgusting. And this is not just a person’s emotional reaction, but objectively: communication with such a person is spiritually destructive. You need to make special spiritual efforts to communicate with such a person. So that this communication does not have a destructive effect on the spiritual life of the one who communicates with such a person. I think you all imagine this, anyone imagines this. Any person, even if he is not a believer or a weak believer or does not think much about God, but if his spiritual state is not the same, then almost always a person who is not yet a cynic, after communicating with a cynic, feels some spiritual emptiness. Objectively, a cynic has a destructive effect on the spiritual state of another person—the interlocutor. Therefore, reluctance to communicate is a matter of hygiene, rather spiritual. From this point of view, everything is more or less clear.
But there is something else here. It is no coincidence that between the initial and final verses a certain praise of God appears, which, at first glance, has no direct relation to the topic. It’s just a kind of statement of fact and contrast between God and such a person. But in fact, if we think about these verses, we will see that in essence they are talking about an alternative, an alternative to what these same wicked people are offering.
Condemning cynicism is a fairly simple matter. Ultimately, anyone who comes into contact with a cynic feels that there is something wrong with it. Unless, of course, he himself came to such a state. And here it no longer matters whether he is a believer or not. If there is any spiritual health in him, then this person will feel the abnormality of such a view of the world. It is not difficult to condemn such a worldview, such a worldview.
Here it is important to understand one important point, which is connected with the fact that cynicism has its own rightness, a terrible rightness, the relative rightness of the fallen world.
At that seminar, which just ended, and most of them were there, we talked about the fact that, in essence, in order to become the leader of the people of God, as Jacob wanted to become, we need to get out of the situation, in Berdyaev’s words, “ the kingdom of necessity,” where man is naturally born into a fallen world, into the “kingdom of freedom.” Those. move into another spiritual space. This spiritual space does not mean metaphysical space, it is not that there is this world, and there is some other one, where you need to go out with some mystical or some other effort, break out, and there everything will be different. Or, as some people think, die and then go to heaven, where everything will be different. Well, or somehow escape into this paradise during your lifetime. This other reality exists next to the one where we usually live.
The cynic and the righteous live in the same world and at the same time in completely different worlds. The righteous in the same world sees the mercy and righteousness of God, and even justice. The cynic will see the sky, clouds, mountains and everything there. The cynic will most likely never see the light that the author of this hymn speaks of, but if he sees it, he will decide that it was just an illusion. It turns out that two people live physically in the same world, but spiritually in completely different worlds.
It is clear that this will not always be the case. We are talking about times when the Messiah had not yet come to the world and the Kingdom of God had not yet approached. It exists, of course, its entry into this world has not yet begun. It is clear that in the context of the messianic perspective there is the prospect of a complete transformation of this world. But transformation in this case is associated with a change in the relationship of this reality to God. If we talk about what exactly is changing, then we can say that the integrity of this world is being revived, reborn or restored - whatever you want to call it. A fallen world is a torn world, a fallen world is a world in which God is separate, what is sometimes conventionally called spiritual life is separate, and the reality of this world - the physical world - is separate. Many people are generally satisfied with this situation, in particular, many religious people. But the problem of theodicy arises ( Theodicy
(novolat theodicea - justification of God from Greek θεός, “god, deity” + Greek δίκη, “right, justice”) - a set of religious and philosophical doctrines designed to justify the management of the Universe by a good Deity, despite the presence of evil in the world.
The term was introduced by Leibniz in 1710. Source Wikipedia : how to justify God, who created such a bad world.
But the biblical view of the world is completely different: the world is in an abnormal situation, what we have is not the norm, but an anomaly. Moreover, the anomaly begins from the moment of the Fall. But the cynic, for whom this anomaly has become the norm, is right in his own way. If we consider an anomaly to be the norm, then it is difficult to argue with a cynic. That is, if we take the current abnormal state of the world, then he will be right within the framework of this abnormality, because in this world, which is separated from God, there really is no mercy, no loyalty, no righteousness, and if all this exists, then it's not of this world.
And if you look at how God’s attitude towards the world is characterized, then at first glance it may seem that the author of this hymn is not speaking very convincingly. He talks about the mercy of God, about the faithfulness of God, he talks about some justice, the word צדק (meshpat) that is used here can be translated as justice, can be translated as fairness. Moreover, justice is not in a practical sense, not in a worldview sense, but as Socrates understood justice as, on the one hand, discrimination - the ability to distinguish between good and evil, and on the other hand, the ability in a specific situation to choose good over evil. Here צדק (meshpat) is something similar, this is the ability, on the one hand, to distinguish between good and evil, on the other hand, the ability to choose good, and in addition, this is also the ability to judge a specific case in court, i.e. justice in the judicial aspect, in the legal aspect of this concept. צדק (meshpat), in this sense, is a polysemantic word.
The most interesting thing is that the main thing that is missing in the cynic’s attitude towards the world is that very justice. He doesn't know how to choose the best.
If we translate it literally: he cannot choose the best - it says there, in this verse. Again, involuntarily, I have a parallel with Socrates, who said that justice is the ability to choose the best. Almost in the same words. Of course, this was a little later, several centuries later, but, nevertheless, the parallels themselves are interesting. So it turns out that the main thing that the wicked lacks is the concept of justice in the broad sense of the word. But on the other hand, it is clear that this same justice in relation to God is not quite the same as justice in relation to man. Strictly speaking, God is just in the sense that he separates good from evil.
If we talk about a situation related to human life and correlate this concept of צדק (meshpat - justice, justice) in relation to God with the same concept in relation to man, it turns out that here God determines: what is good and what is evil - and indicates a person, how to act in order to choose good. This, by the way, is one of the aspects of the Torah, which is not only a certain legislative text, but also a certain way of life associated with the fact that the next Torah chooses good, guided by the commandments. But on the other hand, this is also an internal state, a certain human skill. In principle, we will still encounter this in the Psalter, but this is also the tradition of books associated with the tradition of the wise: the book of Proverbs and others like it, but especially the book of Proverbs. There wisdom, as such, is understood as the art of righteousness. Those. In the earlier books of Solomon, wisdom is the art of forming relationships with people and governing one's home or entire country in accordance with what is right. Again, almost a Socratic approach: If one person is just, if people are fair, then the whole city, like a community, a society of these people, is fair. The same is true here, with adjustments for other conditions.
But in later collections, wisdom is the art of righteousness, the art of doing righteousness. Precisely, as an art, as a skill, as a practice of a certain righteous life.
So here, too, it is assumed that a person has this skill, then this is something that can be learned, but which a cynic does not learn. And it is clear that the basis of everything here is, on the one hand, the righteousness of God, and on the other hand, that internal state, which is called a “straight heart.” The final lines of the psalm mention the upright in heart: “ to those whose heart is upright.”
We have already talked a lot about righteousness as an internal state of a person and as a way of life that corresponds to this state. But all this, one way or another, applies to humans. In addition, we also said that righteousness is a kind of dynamics, i.e. a righteous person is a person who constantly has a relationship with God, which means it is constantly renewed. Roughly speaking, you cannot become a righteous person and rest on that. You become righteous whenever you choose good, i.e. when you act, in the language of the Greeks, justly or justly, in the language of Scripture. And since justice is not so much an internal state, but every time an action, it turns out that righteousness is a dynamic thing. If you act righteously now, then you are righteous; if tomorrow you act unjustly, then you have ceased to be righteous. This is true if we talk about a person.
But if we talk about God, the situation is more interesting. What does the righteousness that is with God mean? God's righteous act? This in itself is a more than wonderful thing, just like the “act” of God in general. On the other hand, there is a certain likening of man to God here, as well as a counter likening, anthropomorphization ( Anthropomorphism
(Greek ανθρωπος man, μορφή species) - endowing animals, objects, phenomena, mythological creatures with human qualities. Source - Wikipedia) a certain God, when he begins to somewhat resemble a person.
A person becomes like God when he acts righteously. But how does God resemble man? This is an interesting question. After all, such a concept as righteousness cannot be attributed to God; he does not have to choose what to do in a situation, unlike a person. He does not have the path that a person goes through in this world. But there is something different. Of course, in the limit, there is a way, if we mean the God-man. The path that God, in the person of the God-man, traverses in this world.
But now I’m talking about something else, about what was revealed even before the Messiah came to the world. I'm talking about how God reaches out to a person and enters his life. It is no coincidence that a certain insight is mentioned here: “ in your light we will see light.”
Theophany has always been associated in the Yahwist tradition with light, with radiance, one way or another. And, on the one hand, apparently, there is such a light - the presence of God, and there is insight that changes the person himself. And makes a person’s heart straight, i.e. internally whole, but the heart is the spiritual center, the spiritual core of the human personality, if you follow the language of the Bible. In the general Semitic tradition, as they are used, the heart is an organ of thought. But specifically in the Bible, this is not a container of thought, but a container of a person’s “spiritual self,” which manifests itself not so much at the level of thinking or intellect, but at the level of will, decision-making.
And this is where the question of integrity arises. The heart of the wicked is divided; he is spoken of as having a double heart. But the heart of the righteous is straight. It would seem that direct and bifurcated are not exactly antonyms. Why not call it crooked if you need an antonym? But behind this there is an understanding of certain spiritual realities, an understanding that appeared chronologically first of all in the communities of the Lord’s poor, which arose under the influence of the preaching of Isaiah of Jerusalem. Probably, this psalm, although pre-captivity, is quite late, relatively late, although the wings under which the righteous find peace are mentioned. This is a traditional and rather archaic image.
It turns out that a straight and divided heart is not only an ascetic question, not only a question of how integral a person’s will is. This is what we have talked about more than once, namely will, because here is the beginning of everything. This is also a question of how internally integral the whole person is.
Look, before the fall there was a man in the world whose life was connected with the breath of God in him. God blows the breath of life into man's nostrils, and man becomes a living being. Man's life is connected with the breath of life that is in him. And in the same world there were animals, also created by God, but their life was connected with blood. Those. with their naturalness. In man, after the fall, life also begins to be associated more with blood than with the breath of God, more with the animal nature than with the spiritual. But if this is natural for an animal, then for a person it is not. And at the same time, both man and animals lived in the same world from the very beginning, and even the naturalness of the human body did not prevent man from being a different creature, compared to animals, before the fall, qualitatively different. This was directly related to the influence that this very breath of life, which a person subjectively experiences as the spiritual self in himself, has on the entire human being.
Thus, internal spiritual integrity determines what a person’s whole life will be like, and depending on this, a person can see the same world, the same reality in different ways. Simply because the created world has several angles of vision, or rather, angles of view from which one can look at it. It’s one thing how God sees him, how he is turned to God, another thing is his wrong side. This is what I call it conventionally, as you understand, there is a wrong side to the name – there is nothing bad. But if you put something on yourself inside out, it won’t be entirely aesthetically pleasing. It’s the same here: after the fall, we not only see the world inside out, but most often we live in this inside out.
And the cynic is quite happy with this existence. If we limit ourselves only to this reverse side and consider it the only possible form of existence of the world, the only one accessible to us, then the cynic is right: on this reverse side there is nothing holy, bright, joyful, nothing that should not be on it. The problem is that we shouldn't be there either. Initially, God intended for man to live on the other side of the universe, to come into contact with the universe from the other side, from the side that faces God, and not in non-existence. But here everything depends on the person. And the difference between the righteous and the wicked is that the inner integrity of the righteous allows him to interact with both God and the world differently than a person whose heart is divided can do. It is here that values such as the meaning of life, for example, appear, as well as those wonderful things that are spoken of in this psalm: God’s mercy, faithfulness, righteousness, etc.
And when a person acquires this new quality of seeing the world and relating to the world, first of all, thanks to a new relationship with God, then he gains freedom in the space of providence. This is not another dimension, this is another side of the same reality and a different quality of relationship with both God and the world. Therefore, in the Bible there is no mysticism in the classical sense: mysticism in the form of knowledge of other worlds, other being. All biblical mysticism is connected with how a person’s attitude towards God and towards the world changes. It is connected with relationship, with the knowledge of a different quality of relationship, and not a different dimension of being.
And here all the calculations of the cynic turn out to be failures, because from such a point of view of the world, there are many things in it that are missing when you look at the world from the inside out. They are not visible while you are sitting on this wrong side, but once you move to the front side, many of those things that are not visible from the wrong side become quite obvious. The problem of a cynic is a person who sits on this wrong side and considers it the norm, a problem that cannot be solved within the framework into which he has driven himself. From the inside out you won’t understand how to choose the best. Because there is no best and worst, there is only the worst.
And hence all the problems of the fallen world: the problem of the meaning of life, the problem of suffering, the problem of death, finally. They are trying to resolve them, but they are not solvable. They try to find meaning in suffering, for example, but they cannot, because it is not there. But suffering as such exists precisely on this wrong side. They try to come to terms with death and cannot, because death is an anomaly for human life; it should not have existed according to the original plan. And naturally, they do not find reconciliation, because there should be no reconciliation, there should be victory, there should be resurrection. But this is visible from the front side of the creation. And the same in many other things. And it makes no sense either.
A consistent cynic ultimately comes to the idea that life is meaningless and, if he does not commit suicide, then out of deep intuition, which, perhaps, has not completely extinguished, or out of a purely instinctive, almost animal desire to live, it is not clear why, simply because that instinct exists. But, for example, in Dostoevsky, consistent cynics commit suicide. This is a correctly noted detail; only those who are not entirely consistent do not finish.
And, of course, the righteousness of God begins to be noticeable only from the front side, where the insight is not taken as a play of the imagination, but is perceived as reality. God is righteous in that he does not simply place marks for a person; righteousness lies in the fact that he determines his attitude towards this world. This is also an action. It is clear that the creation of the world itself is a certainty, also a volitional act on the part of God, and this is already a relationship. And when God says that the world is good (meaning chapter 1 of Genesis), he is not just stating a fact, he is expressing his attitude. The world, not from the inside out, of course, but from the side from which God sees it, is really good, God likes it. And this means that by giving us the very insights that are spoken of here, showing that same mercy and that same fidelity, he bequeathed us to his side of being to himself, after our fall. His call is his action.
A lot will be done for this call. The life of a righteous person in a world where the righteous are still mixed with the wicked is also a call from God. We talked about the fact that a righteous person is always a witness of God, he is not a sinless person, but he is a witness of God, this is the human side of righteousness. But there is another side to righteousness. Every life of a righteous person is a call addressed to those who have not yet achieved this righteousness, but from the point of view of God, anyone can achieve righteousness. This is not something that is not possible. And the understanding of this was already in the Old Testament. In the book of Deuteronomy, a text somewhere in the 9th century, it says: “And do not ask who ascended into heaven to give it to us (meaning the Torah), or who went down to the bottom of the sea to get it to us because the Torah is not far from each of you.” This means that the Torah is near every person and there is no need to obtain it somewhere in heaven or at the bottom of the sea. And this is an act of God: giving a person the opportunity to become righteous.
But for those who became them, the world became different for them. Until the complete transformation of the world, when the wrong side disappears altogether, the righteous and the wicked will live side by side - this is a completely evangelical thought. Weeds and useful plants grow side by side on the same floor until some point, until the second coming. But the quality of life is different. If there is no righteousness that presupposes internal integrity and normal relationships with God, it is not very clear why a person lives and why he dies. One could say that there is no meaning in death - and this would be correct. We can say that there is no meaning in suffering - and this is correct. But the problem is that on that very wrong side of the universe there is no meaning in life. Because for the reverse side, death is an absolute reality, and life is relative.
This at one time struck such a wonderful person as Buddha, when he really wasn’t Buddha yet, when he was just Gautama, he realized that death triumphs. When he thought this thought through to the end, he realized that then life would not be worth living. If death is inevitable, then you must either die right now or find a way to overcome this death. It is clear that this seems like maximalism to a normal modern person, but if you think through it to the end, you will have to agree with the Buddha, because even a very long life before the infinity of death is zero, like everything relative before the absolute. And therefore, all humanistic attempts to prolong a person’s life are only a postponement of the sentence. Whether she is good or bad is a complex question, good for some, bad for others, but in any case it is a deferment of the sentence. And only that way beyond the wrong side resolves the situation radically.
Of course, as long as a person lives in a world that has not been transformed, suffering and death are inevitable for him. And there will still be no meaning in either suffering or death as such; meaning is visible through this very death, not in them, but through them, in spite of them. For the righteous - it is visible, the righteous understands: why he lives and why and why he dies. And he understands that God leads him through life, takes him and leads him through death. For a cynic, everything is more terrible: why life is not clear, why death is also not clear, but you will have to die. It's the same with suffering.
And this difference in the quality of life of two types of people in the same world is determined only by a person’s relationship with God. Neither religion, nor the sum of knowledge, nor anything else that is usually associated with spiritual life, and not even participation in the sacrament, not in presence in the place where God dwells, but precisely as a person’s relationship with God. We can say that then this same person creates a new world together with God, where he lives with God. When it is said about the kingdom of God that, on the one hand, it is within us and among us, and, on the other hand, it is a reality of cosmic proportions - then this is an antinomian description of that reality.
This is also found in the Old Testament, for example, in the book of Songs or in the book of Proverbs. Where wisdom (in the Book of Proverbs), on the one hand, meets everyone and sets the table for everyone, and on the other hand, is a reality on a cosmic scale. It turns out that on the one hand, this is a universal reality, and on the other, for each person God recreates or rediscovers the world. Or in the book of Songs: the relationship of God with his people is described, where the path of the bride personifies the whole land of Israel, namely the whole land, the flourishing land. A very old motif is touched upon. And where each time the relationship of a person’s meeting with God results is the renewal of the universe for the sake of each person, for the sake of each meeting.
Every time God creates a new world, a new reality and renews the old one for the sake of every righteous person. And therefore, the kingdom of God is within us and among us, God gives it to us, and on the other side is the same house where there are many mansions, many rooms and where there is a place for everyone. So this psalm is about this quality of relationships, about the fact that two people live in the same world, but for one the abyss is empty and the sky is empty, and for others everything is full of mercy, fidelity and righteousness. That's what relationships are.
Reply from the audience: Are there any other provisions?
How can I tell you, since the history of mankind is not yet complete, it means that there are intermediate stages, and different people can be at different stages and move in different directions. The story does not end when God got tired of it: he waited, waited and decided that it was time to end. And when there is nothing more to wait for.
Reply from the audience: what should people who want a relationship with God do?
First, you need to stop being a cynic. If you want to be loved, you must first believe that love is real. Otherwise, a paradoxical situation arises; it happens that when a cynic is loved, he can trample on this love and not even notice. For him there is no love. They really love him, but he thinks that they want something from him, they are waiting to catch him, and they are looking for something to get from him this time.
Reply from the audience: are the wicked and the sinner the same thing?
A sinner is a person who sins. Every person sins, and a righteous person can sin. A sinner is not a cynic. The righteous sins the same, but repents - remember David. A sinner is a person who does not repent so quickly, who believes in God, but always tries to find excuses for his sin: we are all human, it is impossible not to sin, so I will continue to sin. But this is not a cynic who does not believe in anything, because a sinner often understands that there are righteous people, but this is such a position. This is the same intermediate state, but in the end you still have to choose, you have to either move up or move down. A repentant sinner is a movement towards righteousness, an unrepentant sinner is a movement downwards towards wickedness.
Reply from the audience: what about nihilism?
You know, in my opinion, nihilism is an ideological concept.
Reply from the audience: they say that nihilism and cynicism are one and the same.
I read about some nihilists that they were completely moral people, which means they were not cynics in the full sense. True, these people, for the sake of higher moral values, were ready to destroy everything around them. “We will destroy the whole world of violence to the ground...”, and then, if we ourselves remain alive, we will build something better. You just need to first destroy everything to the ground - not everyone succeeded. They were not cynics in the full sense of the word, they simply rejected everything that had happened before.
Bazarov is a nihilist, but I would not dare call him a cynic. Although, materialism contributes to the development of nihilism, so a consistent materialist will ultimately become a cynic. But there are not very many consistent materialists. A materialist who believes in higher moral values is not really a materialist. Because if there is only matter in the world, then what kind of morality is there? And if he believes in the highest moral values, then he believes not only in matter.
Below are answers to questions from the audience.
Psalm 35 – listen and read the text. Interpretation.
Old Testament
Psalter
- Book of Genesis
- Book of Exodus
- Book of Leviticus
- Book of Numbers
- Book of Deuteronomy
- Book of Joshua
- Judges
- Book of Ruth
- 1st Book of Samuel
- 2 Samuel
- 1st Book of Kings
- 2nd Book of Kings
- 1 Chronicles
- 2 Chronicles
- Book of Ezra
- Book of Nehemiah
- Book of Esther
- Book of Job
- Psalter
- Book of Proverbs of Solomon
- Book of Ecclesiastes
- Book of Song of Songs
- Book of the Prophet Isaiah
- Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
- Book of Lamentations
- Book of the Prophet Ezekiel
- Book of the Prophet Daniel
- Book of the Prophet Hosea
- Book of the Prophet Joel
- Book of the Prophet Amos
- Book of the Prophet Obadiah
- Book of the Prophet Jonah
- Book of the Prophet Micah
- Book of the Prophet Nahum
- Book of the Prophet Habakkuk
- Book of the Prophet Zephaniah
- Book of the Prophet Haggai
- Book of the Prophet Zechariah
- Book of the Prophet Malachi
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Here you can listen and read the text of Psalm 35
Interpretation of Psalm 35
This psalm is in the nature of reflection: David, as it were, examines “in his heart” the roots of iniquity and draws consolation from his own spiritual experience, which tells him about the loving character of the Lord, who has mercy and blesses those who believe in Him. At the end of the psalm, he asks the Lord to preserve him in His mercy and righteousness from the destructive influence of the “evil ones.”
In the Russian text, verse 1 corresponds to the inscription preceding the psalm
A. Reflections on the Roots of Iniquity (35:2-5)
Ps. 35:2
. In his heart, the psalmist realized that the wickedness of the wicked is rooted in his lack of fear of God, that is, reverent faith in God. Without it, he is “not afraid” of his own actions and actions and therefore continues to perform them.
Ps. 35:3-5
. If the wicked sometimes thinks about his sinfulness, then such “self-examination” is of a superficial nature: he only flatters himself... as if he were deeply concerned about “his iniquity” and would like to hate it (verse 3). In essence, he calms his conscience and hides his sin from himself; He could feel real disgust for him only by seeing him through the prism of the fear of God, which, however, he does not have. Therefore, everything he says is not true, there is no sincerity and desire to do good in him (verse 4). On the contrary, the desire to do evil controls him so much that even at night, on his bed, he contemplates evil plans (verse 5).
B. Enthusiastic thoughts about the Creator (35:6-10)
Ps. 35:6-7
. Living surrounded by wicked people, David draws consolation from the knowledge that the Lord’s mercy is limitless (to the heavens... to the clouds). The psalmist likens His truth and judgments (and not fate, as in the Russian text), in the sense of “justice,” by which He is guided, ruling the world and the people and animals inhabiting it, in their enormity, to mountains and the “great abyss.”
Ps. 35:8-10
. The psalmist glorifies the mercy of God, which is “stretched out” over the “sons of men,” like giant wings under whose protection they dwell (verse 8 compare with Ps. 16:8; 56:2; 60:5; 62:8 and 90:4 ).
In verse 9, images of the house of the Lord (tabernacle, temple) and even Eden (the Hebrew word Eden is translated as sweets) appear as sources of all kinds of nourishment for people and the Creator’s care for them. They also see here images of nature, in which the Lord has provided everything necessary for man.
God is the source of life (verse 10): the light of understanding of all things and the joys of being are possible for people because the Creator Himself is light.
C. Plea for preservation from evil (35:11-13)
Ps. 35:11-13
. Although verse 12 can (in conjunction with the previous verse) be understood as a prayer for protection from proud and sinful people, its first phrase sounds more like a request from David to preserve him from the corrupting influence of pride. Verse 13 speaks (in the past tense) of the psalmist’s conviction that the lot of “the workers of iniquity” is to be cast down (overthrown).
You can learn more about God and the Bible on the website The Bible about God
Psalm “Psalm 35”. Reason to read
In relation to Psalm 35, we can identify key situations in which reading or listening to an audio version of the psalm will serve as a source of inspiration, support for resolving difficult circumstances:
