From the early Church Fathers to now.
3 Patristic · 1 Jewish · 1 Catholic
“But the countenance of the Lord is against them that do evil things: to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.”
“The cry of the just is a spiritual one, having its loudness in the secret recess of the heart, able to reach even to the ears of God.… They sought after nothing petty, nothing earthly, nothing lowly. For this reason the Lord received their voice, and he delivered them from all their tribulations, not so much freeing them from their troubles as making them victorious over the circumstances.”
“"The righteous cried, and the Lord heard them, and delivered them out of all their troubles" [Psalm 34:17]. Righteous were the Three Children; out of the furnace cried they unto the Lord, and in His praises their flames cooled. The flame could not approach nor hurt the innocent and righteous Children praising God, and He delivered them out of the fire. [Daniel 3:28] Some one says, Lo, truly righteous were those who were heard, as it is written, "The righteous cried, and the Lord heard them, and delivered them out of all their troubles:" but I have cried, and He delivers me not; either I am not righteous, or I do not the things which He commands me, or haply He sees me not. Fear not: only do what He commands; and if He deliver you not bodily, He will deliver you spiritually. For He who took out of the fire the Three Children, did He take out of the fire the Maccabees? [2 Maccabbees 7:3] Did not the first sing hymns in the flames, these last in the flames expire? The God of the Three Children, was not He the God also of the Maccabees? The one He delivered, the other He delivered not. Nay, He delivered both: but the Three Children He so delivered, that even the carnal were confounded; but the Maccabees therefore He delivered not so, that those who persecuted them should go into greater torments, while they thought that they had overcome God's Martyrs. He delivered Peter, when the Angel came unto him being in prison, and said, "Arise, and go forth," [Acts 12:7] and suddenly his chains were loosed, and he followed the Angel, and He delivered him. Had Peter lost righteousness when He delivered him not from the cross? Did He not deliver him then? Even then He delivered him. Did his long life make him unrighteous? Haply He heard him more at last than at first, when truly He delivered him out of all his troubles. For when He first delivered him, how many things did he suffer afterwards! For there He sent him at last, where he could have suffered no evil.”
“What then do we say about the martyrs, since it is well known that they were not freed from the torments of the tyrants? They were certainly set free when they were conducted to the kingdom of heaven; they were plainly released from all their troubles. For the cry of the just is always heard, not only for this life, but most of all for their eternal benefit.”
“The face of the Lord His angry face, les ires in Old French, ire, as (in Lev. 20:5): “And I will direct My face, etc.” So did Menachem (p. 143) associate it.”
“Then when he says, "The just cried out," the effect of divine providence is presented. And first, with regard to the good. Second, with regard to the wicked, at "The death of sinners." Concerning the first he does two things. First, he shows how the ears of the Lord are open to the prayers of the just. Second, how the eyes of the Lord are upon them, at "The Lord is near." Concerning the first he does three things. Because first he presents the prayer of the saints. Second, he presents the hearing, at "And the Lord heard them." Third, the effect of the hearing, at "And from all." He says therefore, "They cried out." The prayer of the saints is called a cry: Is. 19: "They shall cry to the Lord from the face of the oppressor": Jas. 5: "Their cry has entered the ears of the Lord of hosts." A cry is a loud voice; and the prayer of the saints is a loud voice for two reasons: namely because of the greatness of the affection, and because of the greatness of the petition, since they seek eternal things: Mt. 6: "Seek first the kingdom of God." "And the Lord heard them," because he himself gives me the ability to ask: Ps. 119: "To the Lord when I was in trouble," etc. There follows the effect of the hearing: "And from all their tribulations," etc., namely so that they do not endure tribulations. Or if they suffer them, yet not so as to be overwhelmed by tribulations: Heb. 11: "They became valiant in battle." Or, because they were delivered from Limbo: Zech. 9: "You also, by the blood of your covenant, have sent forth your prisoners from the pit," etc. Ps. 33: "This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and from all," etc.”
The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.