St. Athanasius the Great
Praise of the Song of David
Contents: In the eighty-ninth psalm, having depicted the conversion of the Jewish people, as was natural, he introduces in this psalm the person of those mysteriously guided by Christ and conquering by Him the mental enemies, i.e. the principalities and powers, the rulers of this darkness, the spirits of evil and the most hated Satan. And these enemies in this psalm are called differently: the fear of the night, the arrow that flies by day (Psalm 90:5), the prophet in the passing darkness, the scorpion and the demon of the midday (Psalm 90:6), thousands and myriads (Psalm 90:7), an adder and a basilisk, a lion and a serpent (Psalm 90:13). And over all these enemies the psalm proclaims to man the victory of God.
He who dwells in the help of the Most High. The prophetic spirit blesses man, that is, the one to whom Christ, Who is the Most High, is the help and comfort. And is he not blessed who has been deemed worthy to have the heavenly God as his Patron? He will abide in the shelter of the Heavenly God. He who abides in this help will always be protected and guarded. (Interpretation of the Psalms)
St. John Chrysostom
He who dwells in the help of the Most High, will abide in the shelter of the Heavenly God
Other translators leave this psalm without an inscription. Because of this, however, the inscription should not be denied, but must be acknowledged. It is in the seventy who, by their mutual agreement, proved that they were under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, by virtue of which they inscribed this psalm: “A song of praise. Of David.” This hymn of David should be studied especially carefully, since it speaks of the great and wonderful works of God. “He who dwells… by the help of the Most High will abide under the shelter of the God of heaven.” The help of the Most High is the law of God, because it is given to us to help in the fight against invisible enemies. He who lives in accordance with his commands lives in it. Such a person “will abide under the shelter of the God of heaven,” i.e. in the future life he will be a cohabitant of God, will dwell in the same dwelling with the heavenly Creator, will be overshadowed by God himself, and not by some creature. (Homily on Psalm 90)
St. Luke of Crimea
St. 1-2 He who dwells in the help of the Most High shall abide in the shelter of the God of heaven, and shall say of the Lord: You are my refuge and my stronghold, my God, and I trust in Him
Who dwells in the help of the Most High? Who shall abide in the shelter of the God of heaven? Are all of you, are all baptized, are all Christians? Oh, as hard as it is to say, but I must say: “Not all.”
Do you all live in the help of the Most High? Is the life of all of you directed toward one great and holy goal—to glorify God, to love God, to love people, to do works of mercy, to fulfill the law of Christ?
No, not all. Only those who live like this, live in the help of the Most High, abide in the shelter of the God of heaven, only they dare to say to God: You are my refuge and my stronghold. Only for them is the Lord a stronghold, only for them is He a refuge. Only those dare to trust in Him who honor God with all their hearts, who serve Him with their lives, who serve people with their love. (About Psalm 90)
St. Philaret (Drozdov)
[Praise song of David.] He who dwells under the protection of the Most High rests under the shadow of the Almighty
The entire psalm Psalm 90 is an image of the special and varied Providence of God for man. (Extensive Orthodox Catechism of the Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church. About the first article of the Symbol of Faith. 128. HOW DOES THE HOLY SCRIPTURE SAY ABOUT GOD’S PROVIDENCE?)
Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus
Praise song of David, not inscribed in Hebrew
The psalm has no inscription, but it shows the invincibility of trust in God. For blessed David, foreseeing from afar with his spiritual eyes what would happen to blessed Hezekiah, and seeing how he, having placed his hope in God, crushed the Assyrian army, uttered this psalm, indicating to all people what an abundance of blessings lies in trusting in God.
He who dwells in the help of the Most High, shall dwell in the shelter of the God of Heaven
Whoever relies on God’s care for him, shall take advantage of the protection of the God of Heaven, and shall have this firm protection, this invincible defense. (Interpretation of one hundred and fifty psalms)
Euphemius Zigaben
He who dwells in the help of the Most High, shall dwell in the shelter of the God of Heaven
Whoever says, lives in the help given to him by the Most High God, as in his own house, that is, whoever is not outside of God’s help, and whoever only hopes for it, I say, he will be preserved under the protection of God or will be covered by God, where he calls God the God of Heaven as the Creator and Lord of heaven. And if He is the God of heaven, then it is clear that He is also the God of the earth and of all creatures in general. By the help of God we must understand, according to the words of Athanasius, the law of divine commandments, given by God to men for help, that is, for assistance in the battle against demons; wherefore Isaiah also said: God gave the law for help (Is. 8:20). And he lives in the law, according to the words of the same Athanasius, who lives in accordance with the purpose of the law. The words of Eusebius: Aquila and the fifth edition contain: Sitting in the secret place of the Most High; and this signifies firmness and fearlessness of spirit in the divine man struggling in Christ, so that in the secret of his soul the inhabitant sits and is his helper, the Most High. Hesychius: Do you see what boldness he has before God who lives in the help of the Most High; he, as if having placed himself entirely on Him, has in Him all the hope of his salvation. And such a one is very blessed; he will be filled with all prosperity. Thus blessed David sings in another place: O Lord God of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You; this man, according to Athanasius, will dwell under the protection of the heavenly God. But it goes without saying that in the future life he will be a fellow-dweller of God and will dwell in the same mansions with the Creator of heaven. (Explanatory Psalter)
Archbishop Irenaeus (Klementevsky)
Articles 1–3 Praise of the song of David, not inscribed in Hebrew. He who dwells in the help of the Most High, will dwell in the shelter of the heavenly God, saying to the Lord: You are my defender and my refuge, my God, and I trust in Him. For He will deliver you from the snare of the hunter and from the word of rebellion
Content: This psalm contains an exhortation for people to firmly place their hope in God’s protection. The manner of the conversation is complicated: for in one place the Prophet speaks, in another place a righteous man, in another God Himself. He is filled with high thoughts, and therefore no less difficult than he is beautiful.
Interpretation: Since the majority of worldly people seek various protectors for themselves and in case of unfortunate circumstances they resort to one or another, for this reason the Prophet in the first verse teaches that there is nowhere a better and safer refuge in adversity than in the sole protection of God. Thus all the hopes by which people are mostly deceived, he contrasts with the security of those who rely on God. The same teaching in the second verse confirms and at the same time shows that he speaks from his own feeling and from the experience of faith. Such confirmation on the part of the teacher is very necessary: for then we have a direct understanding of the truth of the teaching, when the teacher not only with his lips, but also with his very heart pronounces what God has revealed to him. Therefore, the Prophet testifies here that his teaching comes from the inward disposition of the heart. These words, He says to the Lord, some translate: “He says about the Lord,” but the translation of the Seventy Interpreters has more force here.
For the faithful do not simply place their refuge in God, but being encouraged by His promises, like friends they converse with Him. Thus the Prophet concludes from the very conversation of the faithful with God, how safe is the dwelling under the shadow of God.
He says to the Lord: You are my defender, and my refuge, my God, and I trust in Him. This holy boast is the greatest triumph of faith, when we fearlessly flee to God, and are undoubtedly assured that He not only hears our prayers, but is always ready to help. In the third verse he says that the hope he spoke of above will not be deceitful or vain: for God will always and in all cases protect His servants and deliver them from all evils.
For He will deliver you from the snare of the hunter, and from the rebellious word. He undoubtedly addresses these words to himself, and in this way encourages himself to a good hope. The snare of the hunter and the rebellious word, or, as the Hebrew text depicts, the pernicious destruction – mean all kinds of unfortunate adventures, so that we know that there is no such disaster in which God would not help us. Others make such a distinction between the snare of the hunter and the rebellious word, as is found between hidden and obvious evil, as the Prophet would say that Satan, even if obvious, even if hidden by secret tricks, has armed himself against us, but God’s help will always be ready. (Commentary on the Psalter, according to the Hebrew and Greek text)
Bishop Irenaeus (Orda)
He who dwells in the help of the Most High, shall abide in the shelter of the God of heaven
Psalm 90 is one of the most elegant, one of the most heartfelt in the whole Psalter. It is an expression of the calm confidence that a righteous person can have, being under the almighty protection of God; and its brief content is this: “if God is for us, then who (or what ) against us?” The LXX, of course, on the basis of tradition, attributes this psalm to David. It is difficult to point to a specific historical reason for its origin. The peculiarity of this psalm is the rapid change of persons. For a proper explanation of it, there is no need to suppose that it was sung in parts by two or even three different choirs; it is enough to take into account that the language of joyfully excited feeling is by its nature different from the language of logical reason. What the psalmist assimilates to everyone (speech in the second person), namely, the protection of God, he repeatedly experienced in himself (speech in the first person); hence the identity of his person with all others who hope in God, the unexpected replacement of one by another.
First, the psalmist expresses the theme of the whole psalm: whoever by faith and hope connects himself with the helping God, becomes His friend and cohabitant, he is in complete security. Whoever by believing hope in God’s help has established himself in God (will settle down), he fears nothing, he dwells under the shelter (shadow, the action of the shelter, protecting from the sun; Ps. 16:9), i.e. under the protection of the Most High (God of heaven). In help – in the house of God. God of heaven (Almighty) or because God created the heavens, telling His glory, or because He reigns in heaven. (A guide to understanding the Psalter)
Lopukhin A.P.
Art. 1-2 He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High, shall abide in the shelter of the God of heaven: He shall say of the Lord: Thou art my refuge and my fortress, O my God: and I will trust in Him
This psalm in the Hebrew Bible has no indication of the name of the writer, but by some features of its content it is possible to definitely indicate the occasion and time of writing. In verses 1-4 a righteous man is depicted, living only by trust and hope in God, preserving him from numerous enemies, miraculously perishing around the righteous man (vv. 7-8). The Lord miraculously extends the life of this righteous man (v. 16). All these features are applicable to Hezekiah, who, when the Assyrians attacked, sought help only from God, who destroyed 185 thousand of the enemy army. Hezekiah’s life, as is known, was miraculously extended by 15 years. The psalm should be considered to have been written during the reign of Hezekiah, but it is unknown by whom, it could have been the king himself. The inscription above the psalm at 70 (both in the Slavic and Russian Bibles) should therefore be understood as an indication that the psalm was written in imitation of David’s songs of praise. As written after God had helped the pious king, the psalm contains praise for the righteous man who lives only by faith and hope in God, in which (faith and hope) is the guarantee of salvation from all the minor and major misfortunes of life.
He who lives by faith and hope in God will find in Him a protector who will save from all the misfortunes and evils of life
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High” – he who lives with hope in God, so deep that he seeks intercession only from Him alone, he “rests under the shadow of the Almighty” – he will enjoy His shelter, protection. The comparison is taken from the custom of ancient Eastern hospitality, when a foreigner, entering the tent of a native, found complete peace and protection in it.
Archpriest Grigory Razumovsky
Praise of the song of David, not inscribed in the Hebrew
And in the Psalter, published by the Russian Bible Society, according to the translation from the Hebrew language, it has the following inscription: “Praise of David”, which inscription corresponds to the inscription of the Vulgate, i.e. the Bible in Latin, without the addition of the words: not inscribed in the Hebrew, but simply: “laus cantici David XC”, i.e. “praise of David”. All this testifies to the fact that in the ancient Jewish collection of psalms there was no inscription above the 90th psalm, and that the short inscription that we have now: “The song of praise of David” was added to the book of psalms later, for example, when creating the Greek translation of the LXX commentators, and was added, of course, not spontaneously, but on the basis of the ancient traditions of the Old Testament Church that reached the God-wise publishers, who attributed the composition of this psalm to David.
In its content, this psalm is laudatory (“The song of praise of David”) and at the same time instructive: here the prophet teaches that man’s hope in God has an irresistible power, and that therefore everyone who connects himself with God who helps him through faith and hope becomes His friend and cohabitant and is in complete safety. The peculiarity of this psalm is the rapid change of persons expressing their thoughts and feelings. Here either the prophet expresses his thoughts about the righteous man, living in full hope in God (vv. 1-2), or, addressing the righteous man, comforts him with those blessings that are poured out on those who trust in God (vv. 3-8, 10-13), or speaks on behalf of this righteous man, completely devoted to the will of God (vv. 2, 9), or on behalf of God Himself, expressing His favor to the righteous man (vv. 14-16). Some of the commentators see in this psalm a general, abstract poetic image of the righteous man, in which all cases of deliverance are taken by the psalmist completely arbitrarily, without any historical relationship, and which is as applicable to David as to Hezekiah, and to any other righteous man. Others point out in it such features that almost all of them remarkably suit the face of the pious king of Judah Hezekiah and the circumstances of his time. Anyone familiar with the history of this Hezekiah will understand that in the above-mentioned image of the righteous man we have a poetic depiction of this history. In view of the clear similarity of the presented image of the righteous man with the history of Hezekiah, already Blessed Theodoret, who generally attributed all the psalms to David, recognized Psalm 90 as a prophecy of David about Hezekiah.
Art. 1–2 He who dwells in the help of the Most High will abide in the shelter of the God of heaven, he will say to the Lord: You are my defender and my refuge, my God, and I trust in Him
The not entirely clear meaning of the sayings of the 1st verse, according to the Church Slavonic translation, becomes clear when reading other translations. Thus, in the translation from Hebrew it reads: “He who dwells under the protection of the Most High (in the shelter of the God of Heaven) rests in the shadow of the Almighty”; and translated from Latin it reads like this: “He who dwells with the help of the Most High, he will abide in the protection of the God of Heaven. He will say to the Lord: You are my protector and my refuge: my God, I will trust in Him.” Here is expressed, on the one hand, the complete devotion to the will of God of a person who does not trust in anyone else, but only in God, and on the other – the complete security of the one who is in close communication with the God of Heaven, under His strong protection. In prayer he turns to God alone and boldly says to Him: You are my protector and You alone are my refuge; and not only in prayer, but also before others he confesses: He is my God and in Him I trust. (Explanation of the sacred book of psalms)
