In Psalmum 139

On Psalm 139: "Deliver me, O Lord, from the wicked man." 1. I marvel why the prophet did not pray to be delivered from demons, or lions, or dragons, but from a wicked man. It is clear, then, that wicked men are worse than lions. For lions respected Daniel, but Jews crucified the Lord; ravens fed Elijah on the mountain, but Joseph's brothers, while selling him, devoured him, and even when he begged they disregarded him. For the boy entreated them not to be sold to foreigners; but they, with an excess of cruelty, disregarded his supplication, and neither pitied his tender age, nor respected brotherly bonds, not that the same sower had sown them and nearly the same land had sprouted them, but with an excess of cruelty they sold the most noble and their brother as a slave. "Deliver me, O Lord, from the wicked man." Wild bees fed John in the desert, but Herodias beheaded him at a banquet. Dragons, horned vipers, and asps were ashamed before the man, but a wicked woman did not shudder at the prophet. Daniel in Babylon killed the dragon, but David could not overcome Saul's envy. The serpent only deceived Eve; but Cain murdered his brother by guile. The dog Cain, when beaten, submits to its master; but Judas, even while being fed, betrayed his master. "Deliver me, O Lord, from the wicked man." Not from wild beasts; for wild beasts possess their wickedness openly, but wicked men conceal their wickedness under the guise of gentleness.

And just as those who give deadly poisons often smear the bitterness with honey for sweetness, so also wicked men carry the sweetness of words in their mouth, but hold the bitterness of their ways in their heart; they bear honey on their tongue and forge a sword in their mind, appearing one way outwardly and concealing another inwardly. Thus, then, the wicked man is more dangerous than a wild beast; and how, listen. A wild beast, lacking reason, does not devise evils against man; for it does not reason, nor does it possess the reason and deceit that dictate such things. But the wicked man, possessing reason, uses it for wickedness, and whenever he wishes, he devises traps through his reasoning. "Deliver me, O Lord, from the wicked man," not from a wicked angel. For there are also wicked angels, as when David says, "He sent against them the anger of his wrath, wrath and anger and affliction, a sending through wicked angels.

He made a path for his wrath. The wicked man is worse than the evil angel. For the evil angel keeps the commands given to him; but the wicked man corrupts the commands given to him. What is more wicked than the devil? Yet, having envied Job, he did not dare to approach him without a divine command. But the wicked man, hearing, "Love your enemies," not only does not love his enemies, but even hates his benefactors, and kills them, as Saul did to David. For David, having slain his adversary Goliath with a sling, drove away fear; but Saul breathed murder against him. David drove away his demon with his psalmody, but Saul, having sharpened his sword, hurled it against him. For such is the wicked man: the more he is benefited, the more he is inflamed with envy. For the strength of envy serves as fuel for the wicked man who is benefited. Deliver me, Lord, from a wicked man; not from demons. For demons are driven away by the sign of the cross, but the wicked man opposes the Lord Himself. Paul, indeed, drove out demons with a word, but he was not able to overcome the wickedness of Alexander the coppersmith; for he says, "Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; may the Lord repay him." Deliver me, Lord, from a wicked man; not from a good man. For the good man brings forth good things from the good treasure of his heart; but the wicked man brings forth evil things from the evil treasure.

And just as from some root, each of them brings forth the shoots from the heart, the good man his goodness, and the wicked man his wickedness. And just as from a bitter root the branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit are also bitter, so also the walk, the glance, the bearing, and the hands of a wicked man are wicked. Concerning feet, as when Wisdom says, "Turn aside from them and deviate, for their feet run toward wickedness." Concerning hands, as when the prophet prays, "Deliver me, Lord, from the hand of a sinner, from the hand of one who transgresses and does injustice." Concerning the evil eye, as when the Lord cries out, "Is your eye evil because I am good? Deliver me, Lord, from a wicked man." Such a man weaves deceits, practices hypocrisies, forges envy in his heart. "From a wicked man," not from a righteous man. For a righteous man has pity even on the souls of beasts, as it is written; but unjust men even take away the lives of men. A righteous man has pity on the souls of beasts, as Moses, running up the mountain, watered the thirsty sheep of Jethro; but the unjust Pharaoh drowned the firstborn of the Hebrews in the river. And one watered sheep with water, while the other killed men with water. Therefore one must flee wickedness and injustice as much as possible; and not only flee, but also rescue those who are wronged from the hand of those who do wrong, as Abraham rescued Lot when he was taken captive from the hand of the foreigners, and as Lot himself rescued the angels from the lawlessness of the Sodomites.

For even if the nature of angels is incapable of receiving such things, yet the audacity (or rather the boldness) of human beings is ready. As Moses delivered the people of the Hebrews from the hand of the Egyptians; as David delivered Saul from the violence of the demon; as the angel who descended with the three youths delivered them from the burning furnace; as faith delivered Daniel from the lions' den; as repentance delivered Jonah from the belly of the whale; as Abimelech the eunuch delivered Jeremiah from the pit of mire; as in Babylon, Susanna was delivered from the judgment of the lawless by Daniel; as the Lord delivered all humanity from the hand of the devil; as the apostles delivered those possessed by spirits and diseases. But not only does the word command men to do this, but it also teaches women. For many women delivered many from death and dangers: as Sarah delivered Abraham from the hand of Abimelech, having cunningly claimed he was her brother; as Rebecca delivered her son Jacob from the hand of his brother Esau, advising him to flee; as Rachel delivered her father from idolatry, having stolen the lifeless idols—for she stole them for no other reason than to deliver her father from idolatry; as Rahab the harlot delivered the spies from the hand of the foreigners, having hidden them in the flax; as Michal delivered David from the hand of Saul, having reported the secret to him; as Abigail delivered Nabal from death, having fallen at David's feet; as the mother of Moses delivered the infant from the hand of Pharaoh, having placed him in a basket; as Martha and Mary delivered their brother Lazarus from Hades, having wept before the Lord.

as the widows rescued Tabitha from death, having shamed Peter; as faith rescued the woman with the issue of blood, and fasting the Ninevites. "Deliver me, O Lord, from a wicked man, and rescue me from an unjust man." Let us see from whom the prophet specifically prays to be rescued. For the wicked man is Doeg, and the unjust man is Saul. Thus David was fleeing from the face of Saul to Nob, the city of the priests, and there Ahimelech the priest gave him the spear of Goliath the Philistine and provisions. Then Doeg the Edomite, who was over Saul's mules, being present and seeing what was happening, went and informed against David and Ahimelech the priest, saying: "Yesterday I was in Nob the city, and there was David; and Ahimelech the priest gave him provisions and the spear of Goliath the Philistine." Then Saul, enraged and filled with wrath, says to the soldiers running beside him: "Slay the priests in the city of Nob." But they did not dare to lay hands on the priests, their hands restrained by fear of God, and before their hands, their minds. Then Saul, turning to Doeg, says: "You put to death all the priests of the Lord, and spare none, neither elder, nor younger, nor woman, nor virgin, nor infant, nor suckling; even the donkey, the sheep, and the calf, kill all for extermination." Then Doeg, turning back and dividing the people under his command, runs, and he prepared some to surround the city so that none might flee and procure safety, and he ordered others to set fire to the city.

He himself, like a lion eager for prey, rushed against them in the city, as against penned-up sheep, and on that day slaughtered three hundred and fifty priests bearing the Ephod, and spared neither elder, nor younger, nor virgin, nor woman, nor nursing infant, nor even sheep, calf, and donkey, and set the city ablaze with fire. Then David, seeing this, said as he fled: "Deliver me, O Lord, from a wicked man; rescue me from an unjust man." For truly one could see the most savage things: the blood of the young and of infants mingled together, and the tips of infants' mouths still attached to their mothers' breasts, and untimely hair cut before its time, and ears of grain reaped before their season, and grapes not yet ripened destroyed by the fury of hail. Women's tresses, which ought to be hidden, paraded as a shameful spectacle. For when the linen head-covering was torn away, the bare skull was exposed, stripped of its hair, and breasts laid bare, which are ashamed even to see the light of the sun, and the organs of childbirth, which nature itself taught to conceal. And who could be strong enough to describe the calamity that occurred then? Since, therefore, the wicked man and the unjust man do such things, let us never cease earnestly beseeching God and saying: "Deliver me, O Lord, from a wicked man; rescue me from an unjust man." And let us not only pray these words with our mouth, but also through good works make ourselves worthy of having our petition heard.

For thus, when we entreat God, we shall be heard, and not only will he deliver and rescue us from a wicked man and from an unjust man, but he will also redeem us from our unseen enemies, and together with earthly goods, he will deem us worthy of his eternal goods. Above all, let us preserve guileless and sincere love for one another, and consider the progress of our neighbor as our own gain. For in this we become imitators of God, as far as is possible for humans. For our God is and is called love. Glory and power to him, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.