the Lord, and great is his power. Therefore, as he has spoken of a great matter, to gather those dispersed throughout the entire world, and the many thousands of men, he subsequently discourses upon his power, disturbing the Jews exceedingly, while inducing them to believe. And of his wisdom there is no number. Do not ask, therefore, how and by what calculation: for his magnitude is infinite. Therefore he also said: *And of his understanding there is no number* (Ps. 144:5). But just as his magnitude is infinite, so also is his wisdom. And therefore, having said, *Great is the Lord our God*, he added: *And of his understanding there is no number*. And his knowledge also is marvelous; therefore he was also saying: *Thy knowledge is become wonderful from me; it is strengthened, I shall not be able to attain to it* (Ps. 138:6). And his judgments are again unsearchable; and therefore he was saying: *Thy judgments are a great abyss* (Ps. 35:7).
2. Since, therefore, he is great, powerful, and wise, do not inquire too curiously into how these things come to be. *The Lord lifteth up the meek, but bringeth the wicked down even to the ground* (Ps. 146:6). For so that some of the senseless might not say, "What is it to us, that he knows the stars with precision?", he speaks of such guardianship also occurring over men; and he did not say, "The Lord helping the meek," but what is much greater, *Lifteth up*, as though discoursing concerning a loving father. What is *lifteth up*? Recovering, bearing, carrying. Have you seen again his power perfected in both respects, in both raising up the humble and humbling those who are desperate? And he does not humble them simply, but with great excess; for this is what *even to the ground* means. *Sing ye to the Lord with praise.* Another, "Rehearse." Having spoken of his righteous deeds, he again calls them to a hymn, saying: *Sing ye to the Lord with praise*, that is, in thanksgiving, with much diligence. *Sing upon the harp to our God.* Another, "To the lyre. Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth." So that none of the senseless might say, "And what is the heavenly to me?", he immediately added the human need, showing by the sequel, for what cause he "covereth the heaven with clouds." "For your sake," he says, "that he may prepare rain for you. And rain for your sake, that it may produce grass." And look at the wisdom: he mentions the general goods which he gave to all, silencing them from the abundance. For if he employs such bounty upon the faithless, so as both to gather clouds, and to move the rain, and to stir the earth, how much more so upon you, who have been named his peculiar people.
*Who bringeth forth grass on the mountains.* Look at the abundance of his providence, when not only on the arable land, but also on the mountains he provides his table in plenty, the sustenance of the beasts of burden which were made for the service of men. Therefore he also adds: *Who giveth to beasts their food, and to the young of the ravens that call upon him.* He mentions another bounty again, when he provides food not only for the beasts that serve men, but also for other irrational creatures: *For to the young of the ravens*, he says, *that call upon him*. And if there is such providence among the irrational, and irrational ones that are wild and do not provide service to men; how much more so among men, and men who sing his praises, whom he also called a peculiar people and his portion? Then, because they were weak and destitute of arms, and stripped of everything, so that they might not be troubled even from this, see how he corrects this weakness of theirs also, saying: *He shall not take pleasure in the strength of the horse, nor shall he be well pleased in the legs of a man. The Lord is well pleased with them that fear him and in them that hope in his mercy.* Another, "In those who wait for his mercy." If you have these things, he says, the fear and the hope in him with precision, you will draw to yourselves his favor; and having drawn it, you will be more powerful than all those who possess horses and arms. One thing, therefore, is what is requested, that you should not be vexed or troubled, but wait for his mercy—for this is hope above all, not to despair or give up when you do not receive it immediately. And he rightly said, *His mercy*. For they did not have boldness from their works. But yet, he says, even if you are betrayed by your works, but hope in his mercy, you will attain his providence and his help; of which may it be granted that we all attain, by the grace and philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power, for ever and ever. Amen.
ON PSALM CXLVII
1. *Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem, praise thy God, O Sion.*
1. Not to the city, but to those who dwell in it he directs his discourse: what he does throughout the whole book, he does here as well. He exhorted them constantly and advises that they should offer thanksgiving to God for his benefits, and that they should trust not in buildings, nor in the safety of walls, but in his providence. Having prepared this in advance, he adds and says: *For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates, he hath blessed thy children within thee*. What is *he hath strengthened the bars*? He established you in safety, he made you impregnable, he says. *He hath blessed thy children*, that is, he made them to increase into a multitude. This is one kind of benefit: another is the *within thee*. Therefore, what he says is this: He caused them to increase, not dispersed, nor scattered, but gathered together and being within thee. Then, also showing another kind of providence, he says: *Who maketh thy borders peace*. For it is possible both to be in safety, and to be many, and to be engaged in war; but here he shows them removed even from this treachery, by speaking thus, and showing that not only the city was delivered from those who plot against it, but also the very borders. Have you seen how many benefits he enumerates? And first and greatest of all,
that he should say, "thy God." For by this word he mentions all these things. He has made you a familiar, he has made you his heir, and though he is the common Lord of all, he is especially yours—which is indeed the first chapter of blessings. Secondly, he has established the city in safety. Thirdly, he has increased them. Fourthly, he has delivered not only the city, but the whole nation also from wars and tumults; and he has done this not merely at one, or a second, or a third time, but he has done it continuously: for he does not say, "Who placed," but, "Who places." And if wars have sometimes occurred, that did not happen because he abandoned them, but because they retreated [from him]; for this was his continuous work—to fortify, to establish in safety, and to provide that they should be free from all war and tumult.
B The fertility of the earth is to be ascribed to the providence of God. Then he speaks of another benefit alongside this one, namely the great annual fertility and the good harvest of fruits, again teaching them here to ascribe all things not to the nature of the earth or the air, but to his providence. What providence? That which he added by saying, "And satiates thee with the fat of wheat." See: he did not say simply, "Wheat," but "with the fat of wheat," showing great prosperity. For the fat of wheat signifies the flower of the fruit and that which is opulent. For such are the gifts of God, proven and flourishing. He says, therefore, that they are most liberally filled here with the best wheat. For by signifying this, he did not say, "Who gives," but, "Who satiates thee." As it is his custom to carry the discourse from private to common, and from common again to private, so he does here too. For after he said, "Praise thy God," lest any unwise person should think him to be the God of the Jews only, he shows how he is the common God of the whole earth, and that his providence is extended through the whole world, leading the discourse from private things to that which is common, and to general providence. And therefore, having said, "Who sends out his word to the earth," he added, "his speech runs swiftly." He said this, showing that he takes care not only of our region, but of the entire world. By "speech" here, he means his command, the operation by which he provides and looks after. Then, showing how easy and how ready it is, he indicated this not just by the word "speech," but also by the term "course"; and he did not think even this to be enough, but also added, "swiftly." Now, what he says is of this kind: Whatever he commands, it happens with the greatest swiftness. For he commands throughout the whole world. And what does he command? Those things which sustain our life, which look to the administration of the air, and the change and vicissitude of the seasons. And therefore he adds, saying, 5. "Who gives snow like wool: he scatters mist like ashes." A certain other interpreter calls this, "frozen dew." But the Hebrew calls it *Chephor Chaepher*. 6. "He sends his crystal like morsels. Before the face of his cold, who shall endure?" Another says, "Before the face of his heat, who shall stand?" 7. "He will send his word and will dissolve them: his spirit shall blow, and the waters shall flow." C Here he explains to me his invincible and infinite power, that he produces substances which are not, and those that are made he transmutes and transforms according to what he wills. Indeed, another prophet signified this, saying: "Who makes all things, and transforms them" (Amos 5. 8). For even if they are bound by the immovable terms of nature, yet when it pleases him, these terms are loosened. For all things give place and concede to him. Sometimes he changes those substances, at other times, while they remain, he changes them into another operation, and he lets that which is attributed to them rest, while he induces the contrary—which he did in the furnace. For it was fire, and did not burn: but those who had been thrown into it perceived a dew most pleasant. There was a sea when the Jews were crossing, and the waters did not overwhelm, but they crossed more solidly than on a rock. Under Dathan and Abiron it was earth, yet it did not bear their bodies, but overwhelmed them more easily than the sea. The rod of Aaron was dry wood, and it brought forth fruit more beautiful than that which had been planted in the earth. That of Balaam was an ass, the most sluggish animal of all, and it defended itself no less well against him who was beating it than a man endowed with reason. When Daniel was thrown into the lake, there were lions, and they showed the mildness of sheep, their nature not indeed being destroyed, but their operation changed. Many other miracles can be seen, even in the creatures. Therefore, lest you count it a small miracle because it happens every year and falls under our view, consider how great it is, that now snow is seen, now water, and in a short moment of time such changes occur. For lest any less wise person should think these things happen by the natural operation of the elements, and that they are absolutely the causes of these things, but should know who it is that commands: to his command he reduces the whole discourse concerning these things, and says: "He will send his word and dissolve them": that is, his command: for the force of the winds does not do this primarily, but God who made the winds. He has led the discourse to the elements, and to the changes which are in the elements, persuading the Jew, who is gross and endowed with scarcely any sense, to know from those things which happen every year the power of God, and that it is easy for him to administer his affairs as he wishes, and to change from contraries into contraries. For just as if there should be a tempest and intolerable ice, it is easy for him, by introducing D tranquility, to dissolve everything: so also those who had been led into captivity and had been vexed by wars, he brings back to peace and to their former prosperity. And he indicates not only this, but also something else, hidden. What is this? That these things which often cause pain are also useful and profitable, and have brought forth much benefit. "Lest he should pain more, again he changes into that which is more pleasant." What does he mean by this and the examples? For he did not just say, "He gives snow," but he added, "like wool," nor did he stop at "mist," but added, "like ashes"—nor did [Balaam's] ass...
[stop there]. It seems to me that by this he indicates the ease and the abundance of the One who works. *He who declares his word to Jacob.* Another [version says]: *Precise reckonings.* Another: *Ordinances.* *His statutes and his judgments to Israel. He has not done so for every nation.* Another: *Similar things.* *And his judgments he has not disclosed to them.* See how he again shifts the discourse from the general to the particular, and [mentions] the unique privileges of the Jews, wishing to rouse them to greater zeal. Having begun the psalm speaking of sensible things and those that benefit the body—such as safety, abundance, and peace—he now leads the discourse to higher things, unfolding the matter of legislation, which is the greatest kind of benefit: to lead away from wickedness, to guide toward virtue, [and] to enlighten the understanding. Hence Moses, turning this over and over, said above and below: *What [nation] is there so great, that has a God so near to them, as the Lord our God [is] in all things for which we might call upon him?* (Deut. 4.7) And David again: *Lending mercies [is] the Lord, and judgment for all who are wronged. He made his ways known to Moses, his desires to the sons of Israel.* And Jeremiah: *This is our God; none other shall be reckoned against him. He discovered all the way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel the beloved of him.* (Baruch 3.36-37)
But perhaps someone might say: "And having not disclosed [it] to the rest of mankind, how does he punish them?" That he does punish both those before the Law and those sinning everywhere in the inhabited world is clear from what Christ says: *The Queen of the South shall rise up, and shall condemn this generation.* (Matt. 12.42) And again: *Men of Nineveh shall rise up, and shall condemn this generation.* (Ibid. v. 41) For surely it was said in this way for that very reason, as even they were held to account, and some were praised while others were punished. If what was to be done were not clear to them, how were they going to condemn them? And how, again, did he say that *the blood shall be avenged from the blood of righteous Abel until the blood of Zachariah*? (Matt. 23.35) And how [did he say], *It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah*? (Matt. 11.24) For by saying "more tolerable," he indicates that they are not suffering a total release, but a lighter punishment for what they sinned. If those who were punished so severely are again paying the penalty, who of the rest shall escape? C We see also those who paid the penalty at the time of the flood, and many others, and Cain himself. And Paul also says, indicating this very thing: *The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all impiety and injustice of men who hold the truth in injustice; because that which is known of God is manifest in them. For God has manifested it to them.* (Rom. 1.18-19) *For his invisible things from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and divinity, so that they are without excuse.* (Rom. 1.20) Then, shifting the discourse to the life [we live], he does not here either leave them unaccountable, saying thus: *Who, knowing the ordinance of God, that they who do such things are worthy of death, not only do them, but also consent with those who do them.* (Rom. 1.32) *Do you reason this, O man, who judges those who do such things, and do them, that you shall escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, and tolerance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness, and impenitent heart, you treasure up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and of revelation and of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his works: to them indeed who by patience in good work, seek glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life; but to those out of contention, who are disobedient to the truth, indeed, but obedient to injustice, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that works evil, of the Jew first, and of the Greek.* (Rom. 2.3-9)
The natural law [is] implanted in all. Conscience [is]... You see through all these things how all men who have ever been, even before the Law, pay the penalty, and all who have concerned themselves with virtue and have been released from impiety enjoy good things? How, then, will either this or that be [the case], if they did not know what was to be done? If they *did* know what was to be done, he says, how does [the text] say: *He has not done so for every nation, and his judgments he has not disclosed to them*? What, then, is what is said, and what does it wish to indicate? Hear. He gave the written law to none of the others; for all held the natural [law] sounding within them, [concerning] what is good, and what is not such. For when God was molding man, he placed this impartial judge in him: the vote of conscience in each person. But for the Jews he managed something unique, which was to disclose the laws even through writings. For this reason, he himself did not say that he did not act in every nation, but, *He has not done so.* That is to say, he did not send them tablets, he did not [send] writings, he did not [send] the lawgiver Moses, he did not [send] the other things on Mount Sinai; but the Jews alone enjoyed all these things in abundance; yet all human nature had the law from conscience [which was] sufficient. Which Paul also, indicating, said: *For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things of the law; these, not having the law, are a law to themselves.* (Rom. 2.14) Hence also, the Jews are worthy of greater condemnation, because having received the written [law] along with the natural [one], they transgressed so much. Thus, the great benefit of God becomes for them a cause of greater condemnation.
negligence becomes an occasion for greater condemnation. Concerning the written words, what has been said is sufficient; but if anyone also desires to take the Psalm in an anagogical sense, we shall not refuse to walk this path as well, not destroying the history—may that never be—but adding these things to those, for the more studious, as far as it is possible. *Praise, Jerusalem, the Lord; praise thy God, O Sion.* Paul knows the heavenly Jerusalem, of which he says: *But that Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother* (Gal. 4:26); just as Sion also knows the Church, when he says: *For you are not come to the mountain that might be touched and that burned with fire and to a whirlwind and darkness and storm, but you are come to mount Sion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem* (Heb. 12:18, 22). Therefore, it is possible to say of it also, according to anagoge: *Praise, Jerusalem, the Lord; praise thy God, O Sion; A because he hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates, he hath blessed thy children in thee.* For He fortified it more strongly than Jerusalem, not with bars and gates, but by surrounding it with the Cross and by the declaration of His own power, through which He raised its borders on every side, when He said: *The gates of hell shall not prevail against it* (Matt. 16:18).
B In the beginning, all emperors and kings, and peoples and cities, and the phalanxes of demons, and the tyranny of the devil itself, and ten thousand other things, assailed the Church; yet all those things were broken and dissolved and perished; but she grew and was raised to such a height that she surpassed the very heavens. *He hath blessed thy children in thee.* Just as when He said in the beginning, *Increase and multiply, and fill the earth* (Gen. 1:28), the word spread throughout the whole earth; so also afterwards: *Go ye and teach all nations* (Matt. 28:19); and, *This gospel shall be preached in the whole world* (Matt. 26:13); and His command occupied the very ends of the earth in a brief moment of time. Wherefore He Himself also said: *Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit* (John 12:24). And again: *When I shall be lifted up, I will draw all things to myself* (Ibid. v. 32). And in the beginning, many were born from one, as the multitude was growing by the law of nature, and for this reason the matter proceeded more slowly; but at the time of the apostles, the multitude was not growing by the law of nature, but by grace; and therefore three thousand were added at once on one day, then five thousand, then ten thousand, then the whole earth, birthed through this beautiful regeneration, were increased and multiplied, and they showed by their deeds the blessing they had received: *For not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh* (John 1:13), but they were born of the grace of God.
C 3. *Who hath made thy borders peace.* This can be said very properly of the Church; for, what is more admirable, while she was being warred against, she enjoyed peace, and while everyone was setting snares for her, she took the greatest pleasure in total security. And therefore He said Himself: *Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you* (John 14:27). *And with the fat of wheat he filleth thee.* This can also be taken otherwise regarding the Church, as spiritual food, namely, that He gave us the bread of life. 4. *Who sendeth forth his speech to the earth: his word runneth swiftly.* What "word"? Tell me, I pray. That which, having been uttered through the apostles, flew faster than any wing over all things. Wherefore David also elsewhere, signifying this, says: *The Lord shall give the word to them that preach good tidings with great power* (Ps. 67:12). But if anyone doubts the words of the foolish, let him take proof from what happens according to the elements, and learn how snow descends suddenly and in a heap, and in a moment of time covers the whole earth, not invading its face over a long course of time, but filling it all suddenly. Therefore, since he was a prophet, and it was becoming that he should foretell things to come and signify them through anagoge, it was fitting that he should dwell on what was said concerning the elements. But what he says is of this kind: The whole earth is to be instructed by the word of God, and that with the greatest speed and in the briefest time. Then, lest anyone doubt, if the Jewish nation, one race on which so much study and diligence was lavished for so long a time, was not proven, how will those who inhabit the whole earth be able to be changed in a short time, and become good and moderate? To confirm what he said, he takes examples from the elements, namely the snow, the mist, the ice, which occur briefly in one moment of time. Do not therefore disbelieve, even if their mind is easily to be changed. But are there many who resist? Yet they too will yield and give place. For if no one can endure a little cold when it becomes more violent, but all yield to it and give place, much more will all things that oppose yield to His word and command. For He can change substances and produce things that are not, and raise them to such powers that these things become intolerable to all. 8. *Who declareth his word to Jacob, his justices and his judgments to Israel.* Here too you will not have erred if you call "Jacob" the spiritual one, and "Israel," whom Paul also knows, saying: *Peace upon them, and upon the Israel of God* (Gal. 6:16); to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
CONCERNING PSALM CXLVIII
*Praise ye the Lord from the heavens; praise ye him in the highest places. Praise ye him, all his angels.*
1. It is a custom for the saints, because of their great gratitude, when they are about to give thanks to God, D to call many to be partners in their praise, and to exhort them to perform this beautiful service with them. This is what the three children also did, when they were in the furnace (Dan. 3), inviting the whole creation to praise and sing hymns to God for the benefit they had already received. This very thing he does here too, calling both worlds, the upper and the lower, the sensible and that which is apprehended by intelligence alone. This is also done by the prophet, as when he says: *Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad, for God hath had mercy on his people…*