Salmos 46
Basil of Caesarea · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Salmos 46:1
Do not flee what you do not need to flee, and do not have recourse to him to whom it is unnecessary. But one thing you must flee: sin; and one refuge from evil must be sought: God. Do not trust in princes; do not be exalted in the uncertainty of wealth; do not be proud of bodily strength; do not pursue the splendor of human glory. None of these things saves you; all are transient, all are deceptive. There is one refuge, God.… God is the true aid for the righteous. Just as a certain general, equipped with a noble, heavy-armed force, is always ready to give help to an oppressed district, so God is our helper and an ally to everyone who is waging war against the wiliness of the devil, and he sends out ministering spirits for the safety of those who are in need. — HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 18:1-2 (PS 46)
Salmos 46:4
Some give the definition that a city is an established community, administered according to law. And the definition that has been handed down of the city is in harmony with the celestial city, Jerusalem above. For there it is a community of the first-born who have been enrolled in heaven, and this is established because of the unchanging manner of life of the saints, and it is administered according to the heavenly law. Therefore, it is not the privilege of human nature to learn the arrangement of that city and all its adornment. Those are the things "eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the human heart, what things God has prepared for those who love him," but there are myriads of angels there, and an assembly of saints and a church of the firstborn that are enrolled in heaven. Concerning that David said, "Glorious things are said of you, O city of God." To that city through Isaiah God has promised, "I will make you to be an everlasting glory, a joy unto generation and generation, and there shall not be wasting nor destruction in your borders, and salvation shall possess your walls." Therefore, having raised the eyes of your soul, seek, in a manner worthy of things above, what pertains to the city of God. — HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 18:4 (PS 46)
Salmos 46:5
Since God is in the midst of the city, he will give it stability, providing assistance for it at the first break of dawn … sending out equal rays of his providence from all sides to the limits of the world. Preserving the justice of God, he apportions the same measure of goodness to all.… Now, the perceptible sun produces among us the early morning when it rises above the horizon opposite us, and the Sun of justice produces the early morning in our soul by the rising of the spiritual light, making day in him who admits it. "At night" means we are in this time of ignorance. Therefore, having opened wide our mind, let us receive "the brightness of his glory," and let us be brightly illumined by the everlasting Light, "God will help it in the morning early." … For those on whom the spiritual light will rise, when the darkness that comes from ignorance and wickedness is destroyed, early morning will be at hand. Since, then, light has come into the world in order that he who walks about in it may not stumble, his help is able to cause the early morning … who on the third day, early on the morning of the resurrection, gained the victory through death. — HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 18:5 (PS 46)
Salmos 46:7
Our protector, he says, is not another God besides him who was handed down by the prophets. But [he is] the God of Jacob, who spoke in an oracle to his servant, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." — HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 18:6 (PS 46)
Salmos 46:8
Just as … great distances make the perception of visible objects dim, but a nearer approach offers a clear knowledge of the objects seen, so also in the case of objects of contemplation in the mind, he who has not drawn near to God is not able to see his works with the pure eyes of his mind. Therefore, "Come," first approach, then see the works of the Lord, which are prodigious and admirable.… He who has heard the call and has approached and cleaves to the One commanding will see him who through the cross made all things peaceful "whether on the earth or in the heavens." — HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 18:7 (PS 46)