The Judge, the Winepress, and the Dignity of Humanity
Apollinaris opens his commentary on the Psalms by interpreting Psalm 7 as Christ the judge surrounded by nations, then moves to the winepress of Psalm 8, the dignity of humanity, the new worship in the Spirit, David's persecution by Saul, and the hidden punishment of the wicked.
When the judge arrives, he says, many nations surround him, gathered together (Psalm 7:7). He means the church, and he announces that the Lord says they will be gathered to him. When this happens, the judge will turn upward to the height, having handed over the kingdom.
The word uses winepress and harvest, as in the Gospel, to indicate the gathering of fruits at the consummation. The fruits are human works and thoughts, according to Isaiah, who says, 'I am coming to gather their works and their thoughts' (Isaiah 66:18) (Ps 8:1).
But, he says, you, the maker of such great works, care for a human being who is altogether small, and you remembered him when he fell away from you, and you looked after him when he was brought down into weakness (Psalm 8:4). His creation was precious to you from the beginning, and he was made a little less than the angelic glory because of his earthly body. For glory surrounded him as one reigning over the works on earth that you had made, holding all irrational nature under himself—not only the land creatures, easily caught, but also the creatures of the air and the water. Each of these escapes human hands, the one by its movement in the height, the other by its hiding in the deep and its passage through the waters, but they are caught by wisdom and mind, and the earthly man captures the things in heaven and in the waters. From these things it is clear that in his intellectual nature he surpasses the irrational and mindless nature of animals, and he is comparable to the intellectual and angelic nature, while sharing with the irrational animals in his bodily nature.
He speaks of the manner of the new worship of God, the one without blood, and he shows the change that is in the Holy Spirit, according to which we are no longer what we were before, nor do we bear the same names—no longer children of men but children of God (Psalm 16:4; LXX 15:4).
For having been heard before, he says, I ask to be heard now as well. For Paul says we pray with thanksgiving, because the remembrance of former things prepares the favors that follow (Psalm 17:6; LXX 16:6).
He describes the work and the appearance of those who attack him. The work is murderous plotting and flattering words for an ambush. They are fattest in body, fenced about with fat, looking sideways with their eyes like a lion rushing to its prey and lying in wait secretly (Psalm 17:10-12; LXX 16:10-12). Such was Saul toward David, saying that David had found favor in his eyes, ordering him to stand by, and keeping him as an attendant, yet attempting to kill him from ambush.
A hidden punishment has been prepared for them, he says, which will enter into their belly, according to what is said of Judas: 'May the curse enter like water into his inward parts, and like oil into his bones' (Psalm 108 [109]:18) (Psalm 17:14; LXX 16:14c).
Again he sets apart love for God through love for the temple dedicated to him (Psalm 27:4; LXX 26:4). For the one who loves God rejoices in the places dedicated to him, not enjoying his desire in the sight of these things—for it is a small thing to take pleasure in handmade works—but just as someone gladly looks at a garment or a book of the beloved, being stirred through these things to the memory of that person, so the God-loving person is stirred toward God through a house and a vessel dedicated to God (Psalm 27:4; LXX 26:4). This one thing alone I have asked: to dwell in the temple of God, which Hannah does, and to rejoice in the beauty of the building as I look toward it. Now a house of God had not yet been built when David sang these things, but he brought the word up to the tabernacle and left it to those able to hear spiritually to raise the word up to the spiritual house (Psalm 27:5).
In such passages the theology of the one God is made clear, encompassing the Trinity.
Greek
Fragmenta in Psalmos Ps 7,8. 9a Παραγενομένου τοῦ κριτοῦ, φησίν, κυκλοῦσιν αὐτὸν ἔθνη πολλὰ συγκροτούμενα· τὴν ἐκκλησίαν δηλῶν καὶ διαγγέλλων φησὶν ὁ κύριος συναχθήσεσθαι πρὸς αὐτόν, τούτου δὲ γενομένου ἄνω καὶ πρὸς τὸ ὕψος ἐπιστρέψειν τὸν κριτὴν παραδόντα τὴν βασιλείαν. 2 Ps 8,1 Ληνὸν δὲ καθάπερ καὶ θερισμὸν ἐν τῶ Εὐαγγελίῳ τὴν ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ συναγωγὴν τῶν καρπῶν ὁ λόγος δηλοῖ, καρποὶ δὲ ἀνθρώπων ἔργα καὶ λογισμοὶ κατὰ τὸν Ἡσαΐαν Κἀγώ, φησίν, τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς λογισμοὺς αὐτῶν ἔρχομαι συναγαγεῖν. 3 Ps 8,5®9 Ἀλλ' ὁ τῶν τηλικούτων, φησί, ποιητὴς ἔργων μικροῦ παντελῶς ὄντος ἀνθρώπου φροντίζεις, καὶ μνήμην ἐποιήσω μεταπεσόντος ἀπὸ σοῦ καὶ ἐπεσκέψω κατενεχθέντα εἰς ἀρρωστίαν· ἧν δέ σοι καὶ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς τιμία ἡ ποίησις αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς ἀγγελικῆς δόξης ὀλίγον ἠλάττωτο κατὰ τὸ σῶμα τὸ γήϊνον. δόξα γὰρ αὐτῷ περιῆν οἱονεὶ βασιλεύοντι κατὰ γῆν ἔργων τῶν ὑπὸ σοῦ πεποιημένων καὶ τὴν ἄλογον ἅπασαν φύσιν ὑφ' ἑαυτῷ κατέχοντι, οὐ μόνον τὴν χερσαίαν καὶ ῥαδίως ληπτὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἀέριον καὶ τὴν ἔνυδρον, ὅπερ ἑκάτερον μὲν ἐκφεύγει τὰς ἀνθρώπου χεῖρας, τὸ μὲν διὰ τὴν ἐν ὕψει φοράν, τὸ δὲ διὰ τὴν ἐν βάθει κατάκρυψιν καὶ δι' ὑδάτων πορείαν, ἁλίσκεται δὲ σοφίᾳ καὶ νῷ καὶ ὁ γήϊνος αἱρεῖ τὰ ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ὕδασιν· ἐξ ὧν ἀναφαίνεται κατὰ τὸ νοερὸν ὑπερβάλλων μὲν τὴν ζῴων ἄλογον καὶ ἀνόητον φύσιν, ἐφάμιλλος δὲ τῇ νοερᾷ καὶ ἀγγελικῇ κοινωνὸς ὢν τοῖς ἀλόγοις κατὰ τὸ σωματικόν. 4 Ps 15,4cd Τὸν τρόπον λέγει τῆς καινῆς θεοσεβείας τὸν ἄνευ αἱμάτων, καὶ τὴν ἐξαλλαγὴν δηλοῖ τὴν ἐν ἁγίῳ πνεύματι καθ' ἣν οὐκέτι ἐσμὲν οἱ πρότεροι οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ὀνομάτων οὐκέθ' υἱοὶ ἀνθρώπων ἀλλ' υἱοὶ θεοῦ. 5 Ps 16,6 Καὶ πρότερον γὰρ εἰσακουσθείς, φησίν, αὐτῷ καὶ νῦν εἰσακουσθῆναι δέομαι. προσευχόμενοι γάρ φησιν ὁ Παῦλος μετ' εὐχαριστίας· ἡ γὰρ τῶν προτέρων μνήμη χάριτας παρασκευάζει τὰς ἐφεξῆς. 6 Ps 16,10®12 Ἔργον καὶ σχῆμα τῶν ἐπιτιθεμένων αὐτῷ διηγεῖται, ἔργον μὲν ἐπιβουλὴν φονικὴν καὶ ῥήματα κολακεστικὰ πρὸς ἐνέδραν, εἶναι δ' αὐτοὺς λιπαρωτάτους μὲν τὸ σῶμα στέατι περιπεφραγμένους, λοξὸν δὲ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ὑποβλέποντας λέοντι παραπλησίως ἐπὶ θήραν ὁρμῶντι καὶ λαθραίως ὑποκαθημένῳ. τοιοῦτος ἦν πρὸς τὸν ∆αυὶδ ὁ Σαούλ, λέγων μὲν αὐτὸν εὑρηκέναι χάριν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ παρίστασθαι κελεύων καὶ παρεστάτην ἔχων, ὑφορώμενος δὲ καὶ ἐξ ἐνέδρας ἀποκτεῖναι ἐπιχειρῶν. 7 Ps 16,14c Παρεσκεύασται, φησίν, αὐτοῖς ἀπόκρυφος κόλασις ἥτις εἴσω τῆς ἐκείνων χωρήσει γαστρὸς κατὰ τὸ λεγόμενον ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰουδὰ Εἰσέλθοι ἡ κατάρα ὡσεὶ ὕδωρ εἰς τὰ ἔγκατα αὐτοῦ καὶ ὡσεὶ ἔλαιον ἐν τοῖς ὀστέοις αὐτοῦ. 8A Ps 26,4 Πάλιν τὴν πρὸς θεὸν ἀγάπην διὰ τῆς πρὸς τὸν ἀφιερωμένον αὐτῷ ναὸν ἀφορίζει. ὁ γὰρ τὸν θεὸν ἀγαπῶν τοῖς ἀφιερωμένοις αὐτῷ τόποις ἐπευφραίνεται, οὐκ εἰς τὴν τούτων θέαν ἀπολαύων τὸν πόθον (μικρὸν γὰρ τὸ χειροποιήτοις ἔργοις ἐπιτέρπεσθαι), ἀλλ' ὥσπερ τις καὶ ἱμάτιον τοῦ ποθουμένου καὶ βιβλίον ἀσμένως ὁρᾷ ὡς εἰς τὴν ἐκείνου μνήμην διὰ τούτων ἀνεγειρόμενος, οὕτως ὁ 1 φιλόθεος καὶ δι' οἴκου καὶ σκεύους ἀνακειμένου θεῷ πρὸς θεὸν ἀνεγείρεται. ἓν οὖν τοῦτο καὶ μόνον ἐζήτησα τὸν θεὸν ναὸν οἰκεῖν, ὅπερ ἡ Ἅννα ποιεῖ, καὶ τῷ κάλλει τῆς οἰκοδομίας ἀγάλλεσθαι πρὸς ταύτην ὁρᾶν. οἶκος μὲν οὖν οὔπω θεοῦ κατεσκεύαστο. ὅτε ταῦτα ᾖδεν ὁ ∆αυίδ, ἀνήγαγε δὲ τὸν λόγον εἰς τὴν σκηνὴν καὶ κατελίμπανεν τοῖς πνευματικῶς ἀκούειν δυναμένοις ἐπὶ τὸν πνευματικὸν οἶκον ἀναβιβάζειν τὸν λόγον. 9 Ps 32,6 Ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἐμφαίνεται ἡ τοῦ ἑνὸς θεοῦ θεολογία τὴν τριάδα περιλαμβάνουσα.