“...Behold the Psalm soundeth; it is the voice of some one (and that some one are ye, if ye will), of some one encouraging his soul to praise God, and saying to himself, "Praise the Lord, O my soul" (ver. 1). For sometimes in the tribulations and temptations of this present life, whether we will or no, our soul is troubled; of which troubling he speaketh in another Psalm. But to remove this troubling, he suggesteth joy; not as yet in reality, but in hope; and saith to it when troubled and anxious, sad and sorrowing, "Hope in God, for I will yet confess to Him." ...”

“אהללה ה' בחיי. "I will praise the Lord while I live.": Seeing in the Holy Spirit the ingathering of exiles, he spoke on behalf of Israel, saying, "Hallelujah," and likewise to his own soul, "Praise the Lord with them and without them." אהללה ה'. "Praise the lord": Now, while I am still alive, I will praise Him and sing to Him and proclaim Him in public. And he said to them:”

“But who saith it, and to whom saith he it? What shall we say, brethren? Is it the flesh that saith, "Praise thou the Lord, O my soul"? And can the flesh suggest good counsel to the soul? However much the flesh be conquered, and subjected as a servant to us through strength which the Lord imparteth, that it serve us entirely as a bond slave, enough for us that it hinder us not. ...For the body, inasmuch as it is the body, is even beneath the soul; and every soul, however vile, is found more excellent than the most excellent body. And let not this seem to you to be wonderful, that even any vile and sinful soul is better than any great and most surpassing body. It is better, not in deserts, but in nature. The soul indeed is sinful, is stained with certain defilements of lusts; yet gold, though rusted, is better than the most polished lead. Let your mind then run over every part of creation, and ye will see that what we are saying is not incredible, that a soul, however blameable, is yet more praiseworthy than a praiseworthy body. There are two things, a soul and a body. The soul I chide, the body I praise: the soul I chide, because it is sinful; the body I praise, because it is sound. Yet it is in its own kind that I praise the soul, and in its own kind that I blame the soul: and so in its own kind I praise the body, or blame it. If you ask me which is better, what I have blamed or what I have praised, wondrous is the answer thou wilt receive. ...So you speak of the best horse and the worst man: yet thou preferrest the man thou findest fault with to the horse thou praisest. The nature of the soul is more excellent than the nature of the body: it surpasseth it by far, it is a thing spiritual, incorporeal, akin to the substance of God. It is somewhat invisible, it ruleth the body, moveth the limbs, guideth the senses, prepareth thoughts, putteth forth actions, taketh in images of countless things; who is there, in short, beloved brethren, who may suffice for the praises of the soul? And yet such is the grace given to it, that this man saith, "Praise the Lord, O my soul." ...It is not the flesh that saith it. Let the body be angel-like, still it is inferior to the soul, it cannot give advice to its superior. The flesh when duly obedient is the handmaid of the soul: the soul rules, the body obeys; the soul commands, the body performs; how then can the flesh give this advice to the soul? Is it then perchance the soul herself, who saith to herself, and in a manner commandeth herself, and exhorteth and asketh herself? For through certain passions in one part of her nature she wavered; but in another part, which they call the reasonable mind, the wisdom whereby she thinks, clinging to God, and now sighing towards Him, she perceives that certain inferior parts of her are troubled by worldly emotions, and by a certain excitement of earthly desires, betake them to outward things, leaving God who is within; so she recalleth herself from things outward to inward, from lower to higher, and says, "Praise the Lord, O my soul." ...The soul itself giveth itself counsel from the light of God by the reasonable mind, whereby it conceiveth the wisdom fixed in the everlasting nature of its Author. It readeth there of somewhat to be feared, to be praised, to be loved, to be longed for, and sought after: as yet it graspeth it not, it comprehendeth it not; it is, as it were, dazzled with brightness; it has not strength to abide there. Therefore it gathers itself, as it were, into a sound state, and saith, "Praise the Lord, O my soul." ...And then the soul, weighed down, as it were, and unable to stand up as is fitting, answereth the mind, "I will praise the Lord in my life" (ver. 2). What is, "in my life"? Because now I am in my death. Therefore first encourage thyself, and say, "Praise the Lord, O my soul." Thy soul answereth thee, I do praise so far as I can, slightly, poorly, weakly. Wherefore? Because, "while we are in the body, we are absent from the Lord." ...”

“To these were added the sons of Maximin, with whom he had already shared imperial honors and whose features he had displayed publicly in portraits. Those who previously had boasted that they were related to the tyrant and tried to lord it over others endured the same sufferings and disgrace, for they did not accept correction or understand the precept in the sacred books:Put not your trust in princes, In the sons of men who cannot save. His breath shall depart and he shall return to his earth. In that day all his thoughts shall perish. When the impious were thus removed, the rule that belonged to them was preserved secure and undisputed for Constantine and Licinius alone. They had made it their priority to purge the world of hostility to God, and, acknowledging the blessings he had conferred on them, they showed their love of virtue and of God, their devotion and gratitude to the Deity, through their edict in behalf of the Christians.”

“"Put not your trust in princes" [Psalm 146:3]. Brethren, here we receive a mighty task; it is a voice from heaven, from above it sounds to us. For now through some kind of weakness the soul of man, whenever it is in tribulation here, despairs of God, and chooses to rely on man. Let it be said to one when set in some affliction, "There is a great man, by whom you may be set free;" he smiles, he rejoices, he is lifted up. But if it is said to him, "God frees you," he is chilled, so to speak, by despair. The aid of a mortal is promised, and you rejoice, the aid of the Immortal is promised, and are you sad? It is promised you that you shall be freed by one who needs to be freed with you, and you exult, as at some great aid: you are promised that Liberator, who needs none to free Him, and you despair, as though it were but a fable. Woe to such thoughts: they wander far; truly there is sad and great death in them. Approach, begin to long, begin to seek and to know Him by whom you were made. For He will not leave His work, if He be not left by His work.”

“"Do not" - There are those who say [that the psalmist is speaking] about a human being [in the sense that he is one] who does not have a true salvation [by which] to save you. What seems right in my eyes is [that the psalmist is speaking] about a human being [in the sense that] he is unable to save himself.”

“אל תבטחו. "Do not trust":, as Jeremiah said, "and from them their heart departs" (Jeremiah 17:5). If one trusts in a person, they should place the primary trust in God, who puts it in the heart of the generous person to help. The idea is repeated with different words: "in whom there is no help," meaning that if it is not God's will, a person cannot save his fellow from distress. For salvation belongs to God alone, and He brings it about through people, just as He brought about the salvation from the Babylonian exile through Cyrus. Similarly, in the future, He will bring about the redemption of Israel through the kings of the nations, stirring their spirits to send them, as it is written, "And they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an offering unto the Lord" (Isaiah 66:20). This will happen because Israel trusted in God alone during their exile.”

“There are many uses of the word spirit in general in the sacred Scriptures, and a person could easily become confused from ignorance, if he did not know to what sort of spirit the particular text refers. Therefore, we must be sure of the nature of the Holy Spirit according to Scripture. For example Aaron is called Christ (anointed), and David also, and Saul and others are called Christs, yet there is only one true Christ; similarly since the name of spirit has been given to many things, we must determine what in particular is called the Holy Spirit. Many things are called spirits; our soul is called spirit; this wind that is blowing is called spirit; great valor is called spirit; impure action is called spirit; and a hostile devil is called spirit. Take care, therefore, when you hear such things, not to mistake one for another because of the similarity of name. Scripture says of the soul, "When his spirit departs he returns to the earth"; and again of the soul, "Who forms the spirit of a person within him." It says in the Psalms of the angels, "Who make your angels spirits";16 it says of the wind: "With a vehement spirit you shall break in pieces the ships of Tharsis"; and "As the trees of the woods are moved with the spirit";18 and "Fire, hail, snow, ice, spirit of storm." Our Lord says of his blessed teaching: "The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life," that is, they are spiritual. The Holy Spirit is not an utterance of the tongue; he is living, granting wise speech, speaking and discoursing himself.”

“"His breath shall go forth, and he shall return to his earth: in that day shall all his thoughts perish" (ver. 4). Where is swelling? where is pride? where is boasting? But perhaps he will have passed to a good place, if indeed he have passed. For I know not whither he who spake thus hath passed. For he spake in pride; and I know not whither such men pass, save that I look into another Psalm, and see that their passage is an evil one. "I beheld the wicked lifted up above the cedars of Libanus, and I passed by, and, lo, he was not; and I sought him, and his place was not found." The good man, who passed by, and found not the wicked, reached a place where the wicked is not. Wherefore, brethren, let us all listen: brethren, beloved of God, let us all listen; in whatsoever tribulation, in whatsoever longing for the heavenly gift, "let us not trust in princes, nor in sons of men, in whom is no salvation." All this is mortal, fleeting, perishable.”

“"[His spirit] shall leave]" - That [spirit] which dwells in his heart. "He shall return to his earth" - For the bones are, in their structure, of earth, and they are the foundations of the body. The meaning of the word "עשתונותיו" is "his thoughts", like [it says in Yonah 1:6]: "Perhaps God will think (יתעשת) [of us and we will not be lost]." [this being] like saying "God will think, will think of me."”

“תצא רוחו. "His breath goes forth": And how can a person have salvation if he does not have control over his spirit to preserve it? For his spirit may depart suddenly, and he returns to his earth. Whatever he plans to do, he will not be able to accomplish, for once his sustaining spirit departs, on the day of his death, his thoughts perish.”

“What then must we do, if we are not to hope in sons of men, nor in princes? What must we do? "Blessed is he whose Helper is the God of Jacob" (ver. 5): not this man or that man; not this angel or that angel; but, "blessed is he whose Helper is the God of Jacob:" for to Jacob also so great an Helper was He, that of Jacob He made him Israel. O mighty help! now he is Israel, "seeing God." While then thou art placed here, and a wanderer not yet seeing God, if thou hast the God of Jacob for thy Helper, from Jacob thou wilt become Israel, and wilt be "seeing God," and all toil and all groans shall come to an end, gnawing cares shall cease, happy praises shall succeed. "Blessed is he whose Helper is the God of Jacob;" of this Jacob. Wherefore is he happy? Meanwhile, while yet groaning in this life, "his hope is in the Lord his God."”

“Hold most firmly and never doubt that the holy Trinity, the only true God, is the Creator of all things, visible and invisible—concerning which it is said in the psalms, "Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them." Concerning this the apostle too says, "For from him and through him and in him are all things. To him be glory forever."”

“Praiseworthy is he in whose help is the God of Jacob, for the Holy One, blessed be He, promised him (Gen. 28:15): “Behold I am with you, and I shall guard You, etc., and I shall return you.” Now why is He praiseworthy? Because He made heaven and earth and the sea, and since all is His, He has the power to guard him on the sea and on dry land; but a mortal king, although he watches him on dry land, cannot watch him on the sea.”

“"Fortunate" - The meaning is that [fortunate is one] that leans on none but God, and does not request help from man. And the meaning of "...the God of Ya'akov as his aid" is [based on that which] he(Ya'akov) said [in Bereshit 28:21]: "and Hashem will be as God for me," as I explained [that verse] in its place.”

“אשרי שאל יעקב בעזרו."Happy is he who has the God of Ya῾aqov for his help": He mentioned Jacob our forefather because he trusted in God, as his brother sought to kill him and he fled from him. Jacob trusted in his heart that God would provide for his needs, even as he went towards him, for God had said to him that He would give him bread to eat and clothes to wear. Similarly, the children of Israel, who trusted in God, were brought out of exile by Him. This repeats the idea using different words.”

“...Who is this, "Lord his God"? ..."To us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things." Therefore let Him be thy hope, even the Lord thy God; in Him let thy hope be. His hope too is in the lord his god, who worshippeth Saturn; his hope is in the lord his god, who worshippeth Neptune or Mercury; yea more, I add, who worshippeth his belly, of whom is said, "whose god is their belly." The one is the god of the one, the other of the other. Who is this "blessed" one? for "his hope is in the Lord his God." But who is He? "Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them" (ver. 6). My brethren, we have a great God; let us bless His holy Name, that He hath deigned to make us His possession. As yet thou seest not God; thou canst not fully love what as yet thou seest not. All that thou seest, He hath made. Thou admirest the world; why not the Maker of the world? Thou lookest up to the heavens, and art amazed: thou considerest the whole earth, and tremblest; when canst thou contain in thy thought the vastness of the sea? Look at the countless number of the stars, look at all the many kind of seeds, all the different sorts of animals, all that swimmeth in the water, creepeth on the earth, flieth in the sky, hovereth in the air; how great are all these, how beautiful, how fair, how amazing! Behold, He who made all these, is thy God. Put thy hope in Him, that thou mayest be happy. "His hope is in the Lord his God." Observe, my brethren, the mighty God, the good God, who maketh all these things. ...If he mentioned these things only, perhaps thou wouldest answer me, "God, who made heaven and earth and sea, is a great God: but doth He think of me?" It would be said to thee, "He made thee." How so? am I heaven, or am I earth, or am I sea? Surely it is plain; I am neither heaven, nor earth, nor sea: yet I am on earth. At least thou grantest me this, that thou art on earth. Hear then, that God made not only heaven and earth and sea: for He "made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them." If then He made all that is in them, He made thee also. It is too little to say, thee; the sparrow, the locust, the worm, none of these did He not make, and He careth for all. His care refers not to His commandment, for this commandment He gave to man alone. ...As regards then the tenor of the commandment, "God doth not take care for oxen:" as regards His providential care of the universe, whereby He created all things, and ruleth the world, "Thou, Lord, shall save both man and beast." Here perhaps some one may say to me, "God careth not for oxen," comes from the New Testament: "Thou, Lord, shalt save both man and beast," is from the Old Testament. There are some who find fault and say, that these two Testaments agree not with one another. ...Let us hear the Lord Himself, the Chief and Master of the Apostles: "Consider," saith He, "the fowls of the air; they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feedeth them." Therefore even beside men, these animals are objects of care to God, to be fed, not to receive a law. As far then as regards giving a law, "God careth not for oxen:" as regards creating, feeding, governing, ruling, all things have to do with God. "Are not two sparrows sold for one farthing?" saith our Lord Jesus Christ, "and one of them shall not fall to the ground without the will of your Father: how much better are ye than they." Perhaps thou sayest, God counteth me not in this great multitude. There follows here a wondrous passage in the Gospel: "the hairs of your head are all numbered."”

“"He who makes" - the meaning is that God can do all He desires, for He is the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the Seas and All that is in Them. "Heavens" - these are the angels, and the great host are the attendants [of God], and on the earth [there are] the birds, animals, and humans, and in the sea [there are] great creatures. "He who keeps truth for all time" - These are the categories of all species that are on the earth and in the sea, only [that] in the heavens all those in them in their specificity are kept for all eternity [without God keeping them], therefore you(flying creatures) do not fear man that he might oppress you, and he slaughters for you your apportioned sustenance (i.e. man kills and buzzards feed on the carcasses), and he will release your bonds.”

“עושה שמים."who made heaven": In Him it is fitting to trust, for He makes everything and has the power to elevate and humble, and to do with His creations as He wills. "Earth" refers to the dry land, thus he mentioned the sea as well. The meaning of ואת כל אשר בם. "and all that is in them" is related to the three mentioned elements: in the heavens, the angels and the great hosts, and the seven ministers; on the earth, the animals and birds; and in the sea, the great sea creatures and all living beings that move therein. He fulfills the needs of all of them. He is the one who keeps truth forever, meaning He keeps His promises for a long time, as He did for Israel. He promised to bring them out of exile, and after they had been there for a long time, until all the nations despaired of their redemption, He brought them out. Thus, you see that He alone is worthy of trust.”

“"Who keepeth truth for ever." What "truth for ever"? what "truth" doth He "keep," and wherein doth "He keep it for ever"? "Who executeth judgment for them that suffer wrong." He avengeth them that suffer wrong. There cometh at once to thee the voice of the Apostle: "now therefore there is altogether a fault among you, that ye go to law one with another: why do ye not rather suffer wrong?" He urged thee not to suffer annoyance, but to suffer wrong: for not every annoyance is wrong. For whatever thou sufferest lawfully is not a wrong; lest perchance thou shouldest say, I also am among those who have suffered wrong, for I have suffered such a thing in such a place, and such a thing for such a reason. Consider whether thou hast suffered a wrong. Robbers suffer many things, but they suffer no wrong. Wicked men, evil doers, house-breakers, adulterers, seducers, all these suffer many evils, yet is there no wrong. It is one thing to suffer wrong; it is another to suffer tribulation, or penalty, or annoyance, or punishment. Consider where thou art; see what thou hast done; see why thou art suffering; and then thou seest what thou art suffering. Right and wrong are contraries. Right is what is just. For not all that is called right, is right. What if a man lay down for you unjust right? nor indeed is it to be called right, if it is unjust. That is true right, which is also just. Consider what thou hast done, not what thou art suffering. If thou hast done right, thou art suffering wrong; if thou hast done wrong, thou art suffering right. ... "Who giveth food to the hungry." Behold, from thee I look for nothing: "God giveth food to the hungry." Who are "the hungry"? All. What is, all? To all things that have life, to all men He giveth food: doth He not reserve some food for His beloved? If they have another kind of hunger, they have also another kind of food. Let us first enquire what their hunger is, and then we shall find their food. "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." We ought to be God's hungry ones. ...”

“For it is not free will but the Lord who "looses those who are bound." It is not our strength, but the Lord who "raises those who have fallen." It is not our diligence in reading, but "the Lord who enlightens the blind" where the Greek says kyrios sophoi typhlous, that is, "the Lord makes wise the blind." It is not our care, but "the Lord who cares for the stranger." It is not our courage, but "the Lord who assists (or supports) all those who are down."”

“We not only do not hold back, but even encourage, compassion, wisely and divinely set up by the church, that even for such people you should pray to the Lord with us. We also, with tears of sorrow, have pity on the downfall of misled souls. Following the example of the apostle's compassion, "we are made weak with the weak," and "we weep with those who weep." We hope that the mercy of God may be gained with many tears and requisite satisfaction on the part of those who have lapsed. While we live in this body, no one's rehabilitation is to be despaired of. We should desire the amendment of all, with the Lord helping us, who "raises up those who have been broken down, sets captives free, gives sight to the blind," to whom is honor and glory "with the Father and with the Holy Spirit" forever and ever. Amen.”

“עושה משפט לעשוקים."Who executes judgment ": In every generation, He executes judgment for the oppressed against their oppressors. Similarly, He will act on behalf of Israel, who are oppressed in Babylon, as it is said, "The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together," and all their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. נותן לחם לרעבים."who gives bread to the hungry": In every generation, He gives bread to the hungry. Likewise, He did for Israel in exile and upon their departure from exile through the deserts, as it is said, "They shall neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them." ה' מתיר אסורים."The Lord looses the prisoners": In every generation, the Lord looses the prisoners. Similarly, He did for Israel by releasing them from the bondage of their exile.”

“She owed her recovery to none other than to [God] with the result that people were no less impressed by her unexpected recovery than by her misfortune. They concluded that the tragedy had happened for her glorification through sufferings—the suffering being human, the recovery superhuman. This will provide a lesson for people in the future who exhibit a high degree of faith in the midst of suffering and patience in calamity, but in a still higher degree experience the kindness of God that she received. To God's beautiful promise to the righteous "though he fall, he shall not be utterly broken," has been added a more recent one, "though he be utterly broken, he shall speedily be raised up and glorified." For if her misfortune was unreasonable, her recovery was extraordinary, so that health soon replaced the injury, and the cure became more celebrated than the illness.”

“"The Lord looses them that are fettered; the Lord lifts up them that are dashed down; the Lord makes wise them that are blind" [Psalm 146:8]. Perfectly has he by this last sentence explained to us all the preceding ones: lest perchance, when he had said, "the Lord looses them that are fettered," we should refer it to those fettered ones, who for some crime are bound in irons by their masters: and in that he said, "He lifts up them that are dashed down," there should occur to our minds some one stumbling or falling, or thrown from a horse. There is another kind of fall, there are other kinds of fetters, just as there is other darkness and other light. Whereas he said, "He makes the blind wise;" he would not say, He enlightened the blind, lest you should understand this also in reference to the flesh, as the man was enlightened by the Lord, when He anointed his eyes with clay made with spittle, and so healed him: that you might not look for anything of this sort, when He is speaking of spiritual things, he points to a sort of light of wisdom, wherewith the blind are enlightened. Therefore in the same way as the blind are enlightened with the light of wisdom, so are the fettered set free, and those who are dashed down are lifted up. Whereby then have we been fettered? Whereby dashed down? Our body was once an ornament to us: now, we have sinned, and thereby have had fetters put on us. What are our fetters? Our mortality...."The Lord loves the righteous." And who are the "righteous"? How far are they righteous now?”

“"God" - See here that the meaning is [that] it is not appropriate that a man lean on another man and if a man is to be strengthened from him, [it should be that] he leans on him in his prayer to God(i.e. the man is a conduit for salvation which is requested in prayer to God), and so too if he is hungry or he is imprisoned [he will be saved], and so too if he gets an affliction of the eyes, or he was continually forced to stay in bed [because of sickness], he should not lean on a doctor. And the meaning of "God loves the righteous" is that he will guard them and they will not be oppressed or hungry or bound or blind or coerced.”

“ה' פוקח עורים. "The Lord opens the eyes of the blind": Those who are blind from an eye disease, He will heal them. This ailment is mentioned because blindness, like imprisonment, prevents a person from moving from their place. Alternatively, it can mean those blinded by extreme distress, as suffering is likened to darkness and salvation to light. There are many verses in Scripture that attest to this. Similarly, He did for Israel, who were blinded in exile, as it is said, "We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as in the night." ה' זוקף כפופים. "The Lord raises those who are bowed down":, meaning the poor, as we have explained. ה' אהב צדיקים."The Lord loves the righteous":, and similarly, He loved Israel who were righteous among the nations.”

“For as long as your blessed husband was with you, you enjoyed honor and care and zealous attention. In fact you enjoyed such as you might expect to enjoy from a husband; but, since God took him to himself, [God] has taken his place with you. And this is not my saying but that of the blessed prophet David, for he says, "He will take up the fatherless and the widow," and elsewhere he calls him "father of the fatherless and judge of the widow." Thus in many passages you will see that he is earnestly concerned about the cause of this class of people.”

“Just as you have; "the Lord, guards proselytes" [Psalm 146:9]. "Proselytes" are strangers. Every Church of the Gentiles is a stranger. For it comes in to the Fathers, not sprung of their flesh, but their daughter by imitating them. Yet the Lord, not any man, guards them. "The orphan and widow He will take up." Let none think that He takes up the orphan for his inheritance, or the widow for any business of hers. True, God does help them; and in all the duties of the human race, he does a good work, who takes care of an orphan, who abandons not a widow: but in a certain way we are all orphans, not because our Father is dead, but because He is absent.”

“But what excuse for despondency will we have left if we take to heart God's own promises and the hopes of Christians: the resurrection, I mean, eternal life, continuance in the kingdom, and all that "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of people, the things that God has prepared for them that love him"? Does not the apostle say emphatically, "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not even as others which have no hope"? I have known many people who even without hope have got the better of their grief by the strength of reason alone, and it would indeed be extraordinary if they who are supported by such a hope should prove weaker than they who have no hope at all. Let us then, I implore you, look at the end as a long journey. When he went on a journey, we used indeed to be sorry, but we waited for his return. Now let the separation sadden us indeed in some degree, for I am not exhorting what is contrary to human nature, but do not let us wail as over a corpse; let us rather congratulate him on his setting forth and his departure hence, because he is now free from a world of uncertainties and fears no further change of soul or body or of corporeal conditions. The strife now ended, he waits for his reward. Do not grieve too much for orphans and widows. We have a greater Guardian whose law it is that all should take good care of orphans and widows and about whom the divine David says, "The Lord relieves the fatherless and widow, but the way of the wicked he turns upside down." Only let us put the rudders of our lives in his hands, and we shall meet with an unfailing providence. His guardianship will be surer than can be that of any man, for his are the words "Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yet will I not forget you." He is nearer to us than father and mother for he is our Maker and Creator. It is not marriage that makes fathers, but fathers are made fathers at his will.”

“"God guards converts" - Who have no aid as they are from another nation. And the word "יעודד" - I have explained it [already]. And the meaning of "He will twist" is that he will switch causes. He will prepare outcomes to twist their way, that their request not be fulfilled and their desires will not be.”

“ה' שומר את גרים. "The Lord preserves the strangers (or the converts).": The stranger (or the convert), the orphan, and the widow are weak because they have no helper, and He guards them. Therefore, the Torah warns about them in several places, and the Lord protects them. Similarly, He guards Israel, who were strangers among the nations and weak like an orphan and a widow. יעודד.: This means He will elevate them. ודרך רשעים יעות. "but the way of the wicked he makes crooked": Just as He elevates the weak, He will make the way of the wicked crooked; they will be pushed away and fall on it.”

“"And the way of sinners He shall root out." What is, "the way of sinners"? To mock at these things which we say. Who is an orphan, who a widow? What kingdom of heaven, what punishment of hell is there? These are fables of the Christians. To what I see, to that will I live: "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." [1 Corinthians 15:32] Beware lest such men persuade you of anything: let them not enter through your ears into your heart; let them find thorns in your ears: let him, who seeks to enter thus, go away pierced: for "evil communications corrupt good manners." [1 Corinthians 15:33] But here perhaps you will say, "Wherefore then are they prosperous? Behold, they worship not God, and commit every kind of evil daily: yet they abound in those things, through want of which I toil." Be not envious against sinners. What they receive, you see, what is in store for them, do you not see?...Will you not believe even the Lord your God, who says, "Broad and spacious is the way that leads to destruction, and many there be that walk by it"? [Matthew 7:13] This "way the Lord will root out." And, when "the way of sinners" has been "rooted out," what remains for us? "Come, you blessed of My father, enjoy the Kingdom;" [Matthew 25:34] "The Lord shall reign for ever" [Psalm 146:10]. "O Sion, your God" shall reign for ever; surely your God will not reign without you. "For generation and generation." He has said it twice, because he could not say it for ever. And think not that eternity is bounded by finite words. The word eternity consists of four syllables; in itself it is without end. It could not be commended to you, save thus, "for generation and generation." Too little has he said: if he spoke it all day long, it were too narrow: if he spoke it all his life, must he not at length hold his peace? Love eternity: without end shall you reign, if Christ be your End, with whom you shall reign for ever and ever. Amen.”

“ימלוך. "(He) Reigns": And when will this be? When the Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, from generation to generation, as it is said, "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth," (Zechariah 14:9) meaning the entire world will recognize His kingship. Zion is mentioned because from there, instruction will go forth to the whole world, and they will acknowledge Him as king over everything after He executes judgment on the wicked, as in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Or when the Lord reigns, all the people of the world will praise the Lord (Haleluya) and recognize His kingship, and then your song will be good and pleasant, and your praise will be perfect.”