Sacrifice And Righteousness

Θύσατε θυσίαν δικαιοσύνης, καὶ ἐλπίσατε ἐπὶ Κύριον. Καὶ διὰ τούτων τῶν ῥημάτων τὴν νομικὴν λατρείαν, ὡς περιττὴν, ἀποπέμπεται, καὶ τὴν τῆς δικαιοσύνης θυσίαν προσφέρειν νομοθετεῖ· πάσης γὰρ ἑκατόμβης καὶ χιλιόμβης τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἡ κτῆσις θυμηρεστέρα τῷ Θεῷ, συνημμένης αὐτῇ δηλονότι τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν ἐλπίδος. Ἐπεὶ πολλοὶ καὶ Ἑλλήνων καὶ Ἰουδαίων, καὶ τῶν τἀναντία φρονούντων αἱρετικῶν, καὶ σωφροσύνην, καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἔστιν ὅτε μετίασιν· ἀλλὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐστερημένοι, καρπὸν ἐντεῦθεν οὐδένα πορίζονται. Διὸ τὸ πανάγιον Πνεῦμα διὰ τοῦ θεσπεσίου Δαβὶδ παρεγγυᾷ, οὐ μόνον θῦσαι θυσίαν δικαιοσύνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐλπίσαι ἐπὶ Κύριον. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ ὁ Δεσπότης Χριστός φησι τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς, Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινὴ, ὑμεῖς τὰ κλήματα, καὶ ὁ Πατήρ μου ὁ γεωργός ἐστι. Πᾶν κλῆμα ἐν ἐμοὶ μὴ φέρον καρπὸν, αἴρει αὐτό· καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἶπε, Μὴ φέρον καρπὸν, ἀλλ' ἐν ἐμοὶ μὴ φέρον καρπὸν, τουτέστι, κατὰ τὰς ἐμὰς ἐντολὰς, κατὰ τὰς ἐμὰς νομοθεσίας, μετὰ τῆς εἰς ἐμὲ πίστεως ὥς τινων καὶ δίχα τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν ὁμολογίας διὰ δόξαν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀρετῆς ἐπιμελεῖσθαι δοκούντων. Πολλοὶ λέγουσι, Τίς δείξει ἡμῖν τὰ ἀγαθά; Αἰνίττεται οὓς βαρυκαρδίους ὠνόμασεν, ὡς δυσχεραίνοντας ἐπὶ τοῖς προσπίπτουσι λυπηροῖς, λέγειν τοῦτο τολμῶντας. Ἐσημειώθη ἐφ' ἡμᾶς τὸ φῶς τοῦ προσώπου σου, Κύριε· ἔδωκας εὐφροσύνην εἰς τὴν καρδίαν μου. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν τοιαῦτα καὶ λογίζονται καὶ φθέγγονται· ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ τῆς σῆς θεογνωσίας τὴν αἴγλην δεξάμενοι, καὶ ταῖς παρὰ σοῦ φωτισθέντες ἀκτῖσι, καὶ ἐν αὐταῖς ταῖς ἐπανισταμέναις ἡμῖν συμφοραῖς ἀποχρῶσαν ἔχομεν παραψυχὴν τὴν εἰς σὲ ἐλπίδα. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἑρμηνεία εἰς Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός Δ´ Source: Migne PG 80.892c-893a

'Sacrifice a sacrifice of righteousness and hope in the Lord.' 1 By these words he casts down the law's worship as something useless, and he commands that a sacrifice of righteousness should be offered, for against every sacrifice of a hundred or a thousand bulls the possession of righteousness is more pleasing to God, if however it is joined to hope in Him. Because many Greeks and Jews and heretics, whose thoughts oppose us, yet do sometimes exercise themselves in temperance and righteousness, even so, deprived of piety, they gain no fruit from it. Whence the Holy Spirit gives exhortation through the blessed David not only to sacrifice a sacrifice of righteousness but even to hope in the Lord. So the Lord says to His disciples, 'I am the true vine, you are the branches, and my Father is the farmer. He cuts off every branch that does not bear fruit in me.' 2 He does not simply say, 'That does not bear fruit,' but 'That does not bear fruit in me,' that is, according to my commands and my laws, with faith in me, because without doubt some seem to have care for virtue without the confession of God, for the sake of glory among men. 'Many say, who shall show us good things?' He shows those he has named 'heavy in heart', are those who, indignant in the adversities into which they have fallen, dispute the Divine Providence, and dare say this. 'The light of your face is sealed upon us, you have given joy to my heart.' They, then, think and say such things, but we receiving the light of the knowledge of God from you, and enlightened by your rays, even in the same calamities which befall us, we have sufficient comfort in hope in you. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 4 1 Ps 4.6 2 Jn 15.1-2