Salmos 23
Augustine of Hippo · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Salmos 23:1
Therefore, He governs you, who carries you. For when you say, The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing of your own to trust in yourself. Therefore, be careful not to boast of your merits. For there were none, when the Lord came to lift you up. He found you naked, not clothed; wounded, not healthy; lying down, not standing; wandering, not returning. Beware of arrogance, beware; for He who mercifully lifted you from the earth half-dead, carries the humble, but hurls down the proud. When you say fearfully, and walk in innocence: The Lord is my shepherd; you will confidently add, and I shall not want. Because nothing is lacking to those who fear Him; and the Lord will not deprive of good those who walk in innocence. — SERMON 366:2
Salmos 23:1
The Church speaks to Christ: "The Lord feedeth me, and I shall lack nothing" (ver. 1). The Lord Jesus Christ is my Shepherd, "and I shall lack nothing." — Exposition on Psalm 23
Salmos 23:2
The pastures that this good shepherd has prepared for you, in which he has settled you for you to take your fill, are not various kinds of grasses and green things, among which some are sweet to the taste, some extremely bitter, which as the seasons succeed one another are sometimes there and sometimes not. Your pastures are the words of God and his commandments, and they have all been sown as sweet grasses. These pastures had been tasted by that man who said to God, "How sweet are your words to my palate, more so than honey and the honeycomb in my mouth!" — SERMON 366:3
Salmos 23:2
"In a place of pasture there has He placed me" [Psalm 23:2]. In a place of fresh pasture, leading me to faith, there has He placed me to be nourished. "By the water of refreshing has He brought me up." By the water of baptism, whereby they are refreshed who have lost health and strength, has He brought me up. — Exposition on Psalm 23
Salmos 23:3
"He has converted my soul: He has led me forth in the paths of righteousness, for His Name's sake" [Psalm 23:3]. He has brought me forth in the narrow ways, wherein few walk, of His righteousness; not for my merit's sake, but for His Name's sake. — Exposition on Psalm 23
Salmos 23:3
"He has converted my soul." This is a confession rightly to boast about.… You will make it truly … and with an unalterable conscience, if you say it, not on account of your merits but for the sake of his name. — SERMON 366:4
Salmos 23:4
"Yea, though I walk in the midst of the shadow of death" [Psalm 23:4]. Yea, though I walk in the midst of this life, which is the shadow of death. "I will fear no evil, for You are with me." I will fear no evil, for You dwell in my heart by faith: and You are now with me, that after the shadow of death I too may be with You. "Your rod and Your staff, they have comforted me." Your discipline, like a rod for a flock of sheep, and like a staff for children of some size, and growing out of the natural into spiritual life, they have not been grievous to me; rather have they comforted me: because You are mindful of me. — Exposition on Psalm 23
Salmos 23:4
As long as you remain in this present life, you are walking in the midst of vices, of worldly pressures, which are the shadow of death. Let Christ shine in your heart, who lights the lamp of our minds with the love of God and neighbor; and you will not fear any evils, since he is with you. — SERMON 366:5
Salmos 23:5
"You have prepared a table in my sight, against them that trouble me" [Psalm 23:5]. Now after the rod, whereby, while a little one, and living the natural life, I was brought up among the flock in the pastures; after that rod, I say, when I began to be under the staff, You have prepared a table in my sight, that I should no more be fed as a babe with milk, [1 Corinthians 3:2] but being older should take meat, strengthened against them that trouble me. "You have fattened my head with oil." You have gladdened my mind with spiritual joy. "And Your inebriating cup, how excellent is it!" And Your cup yielding forgetfulness of former vain delights, how excellent is it! — Exposition on Psalm 23
Salmos 23:6
In the sacred Eloquence we read, "His mercy goes before me," and, "His mercy shall follow me." It predisposes a person before he wills, to prompt his willing. It follows the act of willing, lest one's will be frustrated. Otherwise, why are we admonished to pray for our enemies, who are plainly not now willing to live piously, unless it is that God is even now at work in them and in their wills? Or again, why are we admonished to ask in order to receive, unless it is that he who grants us what we will is he through whom it comes to pass that we will? We pray for enemies, therefore, that the mercy of God should go before them, as it goes before us; we pray for ourselves that his mercy shall follow us. — ENCHRIDION 9:32
Salmos 23:6
"And Your mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:" that is, as long as I live in this mortal life, not Yours, but mine. "That I may dwell in the house of the Lord for length of days" [Psalm 23:6]. Now Your mercy shall follow me not here only, but also that I may dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. — Exposition on Psalm 23