Psalm 74 (73):22Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He claims, "I cannot see; how can I believe?" I then ask, is your soul not visible? Fool, your body is perceivable: who can behold your soul? If only your body is observable, why are you not buried? He was astonished at my words: if your body alone is seen, why do you not reside in the grave? He responds (for he understands this matter): "Because I am alive." How do I ascertain your life when I cannot see your soul? How can I know? You will reply: "Because I speak, I walk, I engage in work." Fool, I recognize you are alive through your bodily actions; can you not discern the Creator through the wonders of His creation? Perhaps he who asserts, "When I die, I shall cease to exist," learned this doctrine from Epicurus, a philosopher more inclined towards folly than wisdom, whom even his peers labeled as a swine for declaring that the highest good lies in bodily pleasure. May the waters of Etam dry up! Let these heathen doctrines perish and let Jerusalem flourish! Let them believe what lies beyond their sight in their innermost beings! Indeed, all the things now visible across the world were once not present when God accomplished salvation upon the earth; when foretold, they did not yet exist; now, they stand fulfilled, yet still the fool proclaims in his heart that there is no God. Woe unto the corrupt of heart, for the things that will remain will surely manifest just as the prophecies that were once made and have now come to pass. Has God truly met all His promises to us, or has He deceived us only on the Day of Judgment? Christ was absent from the earth; yet He made promises, and He fulfilled them: no virgin has conceived; He promised, He fulfilled: no precious blood has been shed to erase the debt of our sins; He promised, He fulfilled: no flesh has yet been raised to everlasting life; He promised, He fulfilled: the Gentiles have not yet believed; He promised, He fulfilled: heretics claiming the name of Christ have not yet contended against Him; He foretold, He fulfilled: the idols of the Gentiles remain unvanquished on earth; He foretold, He fulfilled: when considering all that He predicted regarding the Day of Judgment alone, did He mislead us? It is assuredly coming, just as these other events came to pass; for these too were once futures, foretold and then fulfilled. It shall arrive, my brethren. Let no one assert, "It will not come," or "It will come, but not for a long while." Yet, it is imminent for you to depart from this life... If you have embraced the desires of the devil and ignored the commands of God, the Day of Judgment will dawn, unveiling the truths that God has revealed and the lies that the devil has promised... Take heed of the reproaches that come from unreasonable men every day. For Christ remains reviled even now, and there will be no shortage of vessels of wrath throughout the ages, right up until the end of time. Still, they exclaim, "Christians preach in vain!" Still, they say, "The resurrection of the dead is a curious thing." Remember these reproaches. But what are these slanders but the words of the unreasonable directed at us ceaselessly? Does a reasonable person utter such things? No, for a reasonable man is considered far-sighted. If a person is wise and perceptive, he sees far beyond by faith, for it is challenging to discern what is right before one’s feet.

For had He not died and conquered death, it would have been inconceivable to resolve the discord among humanity, as the Apostle explains: Christ died and resurrected to have dominion over both the living and the dead. Recall the scorn directed at You, which the foolish continually express throughout the day. They deride King Titus and all Roman soldiers as insane. Consider once more, O Lord, the disgrace perpetually cast upon You by these deranged Romans, as previously mentioned: as long, O God, as these enemies persist in their taunts against You.

The severity of their wickedness is compounded by the fact that these foes do not merely revile Him for a single day; rather, they incessantly spew their venom, ridiculing Him day after day. This behavior underscores the urgency for God to remember such defiance. Furthermore, even if the adversaries lacked the courage to act openly due to their deep-seated enmity toward God, the Prophet illustrates that they stand boldly against Him like legendary giants, their arrogance rising to the heavens without limit or end: the pride of them that hate Thee is lifted up.

It is also important to note how the Holy Spirit intertwines the truths of Christian faith with Jewish history, thereby comforting the Jew who receives these words in their simplest form while bringing joy to the Christian who perceives their deeper significance (Theodoret, Euthymius).