Psalm 118:
A Commentary
by Saint Theophan the Recluse
(1815-1894)
by Saint John of Kronstadt Press, 2014
Goodreads

VERSE 122:
Receive Thy servant unto good,
let not the proud falsely accuse me.

This is a prayer to be protected from slanderers – slanders, rumors, gossip are the secret attacks of the evil one.

Receive unto good = “into Thy benevolent attention”, which is uplifting, so higher than the level of the arrows sent by slanderers.
Sometimes, when the Lord protects the heart from slander, He still allows their arrows to graze us and give us blessings, somehow.

Receive Thy servant = only the irreproachable testimony of his conscience gives him this boldness to turn to God.
This reminds me of the powerful Theotokion of the Third hour: “Seeing that we have no boldness on account of our many sins…”

VERSE 123:
Mine eyes have failed with waiting for Thy salvation,
and for the word of Thy righteousness.

Mine eyes have failed = because of strenuous desire, with love and faith.
the word of Thy righteousness = promise (Theodoret), the commandments, to fulfill them (Athanasios).
Mine eyes have failed with waiting for Thy salvation = Athanasios also understands this verse as referring to “the divine coming, from which I expect salvation for myself and the whole human race”.

It shows his complete trust in God.

Loyalty to the commandments is the basis of hope;
but the wings of ascent of hope before the face of the  heavenly Father
are given by faith in the Lord Savior…
Faith in God is the door before the face of God;
but the walking to this door and passage through it
are the fulfillment of God’s will and walking in His commandments.
Both — to believe and to fulfill the commandments — are necessary.
page 269

PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THESE NOTES
Any reflection on these quotes?