THEOSISJerome of Stridon
I will call out to You, O Lord, for the flames have consumed the beauty of the wilderness, and the fire has ravaged all the trees in the land. The creatures of the field, parched and yearning for rain, seek You, for the waters have run dry, and the fire has laid waste to the splendor of the wild. When the prophet or the people, speaking through the prophet, cry unto the Lord because the fire has devastated the wilderness and burned all the trees away, the beasts of the field look up to You like a land in desperate need of rain. Aquila summed this up in a single term, expressing it with the word ὲπρασιώθη.
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They turn to Him due to the drying up of the springs, as the flames have obliterated the wilderness's beauty, comparable to how locusts, worms, and caterpillars can bring desolation akin to fire's destruction of dry grass and shrubbery. By the beauty of the wilderness, referred to as naoth in Hebrew, we can understand areas such as open fields, flowering meadows, or lush pastures that provide sustenance for livestock.
If the people began invoking the Lord through the prophet and the animals looked toward Him, it was due to the devastation caused by fire, which consumed the land's beauty and its trees. This destruction led to the loss of the fruits of the fields, and the drying up of water sources, leaving nothing untouched by the consuming flames. It is crucial to recognize that it was primarily due to need and the absence of comforts that both the prophet and the animals sought the Lord, akin to a once-virtuous man who, upon straying from the right path and committing wrongdoings, finds that his past good deeds cannot save him, and the Lord will assess him based on his present state. The wasteland's beauty reflects the truth behind Isaiah's words, where many barren children are compared to those with husbands.
The flames that destroyed the trees symbolize those fiery darts launched by the devil, eradicating any good within us and leaving behind desolation, for the hearts of the unfaithful burn with desire (Hosea 7). Furthermore, not only the prophet or the people through him, as rational beings, look to You, but also the livestock, as noted in the Scripture: “You will save men and cattle, O Lord” (Psalm 35:7), and in another verse: “I will save cattle with You” (Psalm 72:22). The animals, too, sought the dew of Your mercy, yearning for the waters to which the deer longs, of which the Lord spoke through Jeremiah: “They have forsaken me, the spring of living water” (Jeremiah 2:13). After the waters dry up, which once nourished and revitalized, all that was beautiful within us has been reduced to ash by the flames reminiscent of the fire of which the Lord spoke in the Gospel: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18).