The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 94
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 95 in the KJV and most English Bibles
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The praise of a Song by David. Come, let us exult in the Lord; Let us make a joyful noise to God our Savior.
Αἶνος ᾠδῆς τῷ Δαυίδ. Δεῦτε ἀγαλλιασώμεθα τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἀλαλάξωμεν τῷ Θεῷ τῷ σωτῆρι ἡμῶν.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, And make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
Προφθάσωμεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἐξομολογήσει, καὶ ἐν ψαλμοῖς ἀλαλάξωμεν αὐτῷ.
"Let us prevent His face by confession". Confession has a double meaning in Scripture. There is a confession of him who praises, there is that of him who groans. The confession of praise pertains to the honour of Him who is praised: the confession of groaning to the repentance of him who confesses. For men confess…
For the Lord is a great God, And a great king over all gods: For the Lord will not cast off his people.
Ὅτι Θεὸς μέγας Κύριος, καὶ βασιλεὺς μέγας ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς θεούς·
For the ends of the earth are in his hands; And the heights of the mountains are his.
ὅτι οὐκ ἀπώσεται Κύριος τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς, καὶ τὰ ὕψη τῶν ὀρέων αὐτοῦ ἐστιν.
What does the Psalm add? "In His hand are all the corners of the earth": we recognise the corner stone: the corner stone is Christ. There cannot be a corner, unless it has united in itself two walls: they come from different sides to one corner, but they are not opposed to each other in the corner. The circumcision…
For the sea is his, and he made it: And his hands formed the dry land.
Ὅτι αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ἡ θάλασσα καὶ αὐτὸς ἐποίησεν αὐτὴν, καὶ τὴν ξηρὰν χεῖρες αὐτοῦ ἔπλασαν.
"For the sea is His and He made it". For the sea is this world, but God made also the sea: nor can the waves rage save only so far as to the shore, where He has marked their bounds. There is therefore no temptation, that has not received its measure...."And His hands prepared the dry land." Be thou the dry land:…
Come, let us worship and fall down before him; And weep before the Lord that made us.
Δεῦτε προσκυνήσωμεν καὶ προσπέσωμεν αὐτῷ, καὶ κλαύσωμεν ἐναντίον Κυρίου τοῦ ποίησαντος ἡμᾶς.
"O come, let us worship, and fall down to Him; and mourn before the Lord our Maker"....Perhaps you are burning with the consciousness of a fault; blot out with tears the flame of your sin: mourn before the Lord: fearlessly mourn before the Lord, who made you; for He despises not the work of His own hands in you. Think…
For he is our God; And we are the people of his pasture, And the sheep of his hand.
Ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ ἡμεῖς λαὸς νομῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ πρόβατα χειρὸς αὐτοῦ·
"For He is the Lord our God". But that we may without fear fall down and kneel before Him, what are we? "We are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand." See how elegantly he has transposed the order of the words, and as it were not given its own attribute to each word; that we may understand these very…
Today, if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, According to the day of irritation in the wilderness:
σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ, κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πικρασμοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ,
Therefore, "Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts". O my people, the people of God! God addresses His people: not only the people of His which He shall not cast off, but also all His people. For He speaks in the corner stone [Ephesians 2:20] to each wall: that is, prophecy speaks in Christ, both to…
Where your fathers tempted me, Proved me, and saw my works.
οὗ ἐπείρασάν με οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν· ἐδοκίμασαν, καὶ εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου.
Forty years was I grieved with this generation, And said, They do always err in their heart, And they have not known my ways.
Τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ εἶπα, ἀεὶ πλανῶνται τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν τὰς ὁδούς μου.
"Forty years long was I very near unto this generation, and said, It is a people that do always err in their hearts; for they have not known My ways". The forty years have the same meaning as the word "always." For that number forty indicates the fullness of ages, as if the ages were perfected in this number. Hence…
So I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.
Ὡς ὤμοσα ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου, εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου.
Every note is a real passage, quoted word for word from a published English translation, with its source. Nothing here is summarised or written by us. Some verses have many notes and some have none, because the Fathers wrote more on some passages than others.
All of these translations are in the public domain. The passages were matched to their verses by the Historical Christian Commentaries project, which also hosts the full texts we link to. The Fathers are a treasury of the Church's mind, and they are best read alongside the life of the Church: if a passage raises a question, bring it to your priest.