Salmos 6
John Chrysostom · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Salmos 6:1
When you hear of anger and rage in God's case, do not get the idea of anything typical of human beings; the words, you see, arise from considerateness. The divine nature, after all, is free of all these passions. — COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 6:1
Salmos 6:2
He constantly invokes this word Lord as though adducing some claim to pardon and grace. This, after all, is our greatest hope, his lovingkindness beyond telling, and the fact that he is such a one as to be ready to pardon. — COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 6:5
Salmos 6:5
[When the psalmist says] "for in death there is no one to remember you," [he is] not implying that our existence lasts only as far as the present life: perish the thought! After all, he is aware of the doctrine of resurrection. Rather, it is that after our departure from here there would be no time for repentance. For the rich man praised God and repented, but in view of its lateness it did him no good. The virgins wanted to get some oil, but no one gave any to them. So this is what this man requests, too, for his sins to be washed away in this life so as to enjoy confidence at the tribunal of the fearsome judge. — COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 6:4
Salmos 6:6
Let those who have beds of silver listen to what the bed of the king was like: not jewel-encrusted or gilt but washed with tears. His were not nights of repose but nights of mourning and lamenting. Many cares would beset him at night, a time that all people devote to rest but that he would devote to confession, lamenting the more earnestly then. You see, while it is always good to weep, it is particularly so at night, when no one resists this wonderful experience, but given good will one is able to give free rein to it. Those who have tried what I speak of know the great elation stemming from such a flood of tears. Tears like this can extinguish an unquenchable fire, can stem the flood sweeping us to our condemnation. Hence Paul too wept night and day for three years, correcting unnatural passions. Far from correcting our own, we give ourselves over to merriment and indulgence and bury the night in utter stupor. Some are sunk in a sleep resembling death, while others pass sleepless nights more dire than death, devising fraud and usury and other schemes at that time. Not so are sober people, tending their souls' welfare, applying their tears like a shower, promoting the growth of virtue. The bed that receives tears like that gives no access to any evil or licentiousness. The person who sheds such tears places no value on things of the earth and instead frees the soul from any siege, rendering the mind clearer than the sun. Do not think I am directing these remarks only to monks; in fact, the exhortation is for people in the world as well, and for them more than the others, they after all being in particular need of the remedy of repentance. The one uttering groans like this will rise with spirit in better condition than a calm haven, expelling every passion; such a one, filled with great joy, will approach the house of God in confidence, will converse with neighbors pleasantly, no anger lurking within, after all no lust inflamed, no hankering after possessions, no envy, nothing else of this kind. All these passions, you see, like savage beasts lurking in their dens, those groans and tears in the night succeeded in taming. — COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 6:4
Salmos 6:7
Our life is a struggle, and our existence beset with countless foes who prove to be stronger when we fall into sin. Hence we should do everything to escape their clutches and never come to terms with them; this, after all, is the surest path to insecurity. Paul touches on the horde of those enemies in saying, "Our wrestling is not with flesh and blood but with the powers and the authorities and the cosmic rulers of darkness of this age." Since, then, the horde of enemies is of this kind, we must constantly be on the alert and avoid the assault of sin. — COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 6:5
Salmos 6:10
It is as if we saw someone about to fall down a cliff and stopped him with the words, "Fellow, where are you heading? A cliff lies in front of you," just so does this author demand that the evil people reverse their course. Likewise, too, unless you were quick to restrain a galloping horse, it would soon be lost. Likewise, too, when as frequently happens the poison of some serpent spreads through the whole of the body, physicians very promptly stop its spreading further, canceling its harmful effect. In exactly the same way do we behave, very promptly checking the evil in us lest it develop further and aggravate the ailment. The wounds of sin, you see, get worse when neglected, and the effects of disease and ill health do not stop short at wounds but even bring about undying death; similarly, if we dealt with small beginnings at the outset, greater consequences would not develop.… Accordingly, let us not be indifferent to the slightest sins but suppress them with great severity. — COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 6:6