Psalmus LXXXVIII
The title mentions the eighty-seventh Psalm; for that one was called Eaman, this one Aetham. Perhaps they were kinsmen or fellow citizens, which is why both were called Israelites, a name they acquired either from their kinship or from their location. This Psalm is also entitled "Of Understanding," for it treats of great things pertinent to the knowledge of God.
2. "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever." By "for ever" he means the present age. Here, he admits that mercy is not of one kind, but of many: baptism, repentance, alms—by using each of which, the sinner can obtain mercy and indulgence. "I will proclaim your truth from generation to generation with my mouth." "From generation to generation," namely the present and the future; for we tell the truth of God in both, now learning it from the divine Scripture, and later receiving it by works themselves, gazing upon the clear truth shining in our own criterion when each one receives the reward for his own deeds. But the following verses show why he gives mercy a share in the present age, and truth in both the present and the future.
3. "For you have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever in the heavens; your truth shall be prepared." He says that God’s decree has established both things already mentioned. What is it, or of what kind? Perhaps the preaching of God: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near" (Matt. 3:2). This is a saying that urges and incites sinners to repentance; therefore he says, "Repent." Because now mercy has a place and the architect of our salvation has built up indulgence for us here; but he adds, sealing this statement: "For the kingdom of heaven has drawn near," showing that when the kingdom of heaven arrives, there will no longer be a place for repentance, because the Judge has prepared his truth in heaven; and the truth of the Judge exercises judgment without any compassion. In what way is mercy built up, that is, prepared, and how is truth prepared in the heavens? By the judgment going before it; but both occur through the advent of Christ; wherefore he most clearly exhibits it in what follows. A
4. "I have made a covenant with my elect." Which one? The evangelical one, concerning which the prophet Jeremiah says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the covenant which I made with your fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt" (Jer. 31:31-32). And who is the mediator of this covenant? "I have sworn to David my servant: 5. I will prepare your seed for ever, and I will build up your throne from generation to generation." You see that the one who came forth from the seed of David is the mediator of this covenant. He says he does not complete this mystery in an instant, but prepares it in heaven. For the advent of Christ was an ancient and true plan. Therefore he promised that he would prepare the seed of David for ever. He speaks indeed of Christ, about whom Paul also wrote to the Romans: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh" (Rom. 1:1-3). God promises that he will build up this throne—that is, the kingdom—from generation to generation. For he who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh possesses not only this royal power, but also the future one, of which Daniel spoke: "And to him was given honor and empire and a kingdom; all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him; his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his power shall not pass away" (Dan. 7:14). The Spirit introduced the Diapsalma here because he shifted the discourse to the person of the prophet. B
6. "The heavens shall confess your wonders, O Lord; indeed, your truth in the assembly of the saints." By "the heavens" understand here those who think on heavenly things. Such a man is indeed called a heavenly man even by Paul. Therefore this same prophet says elsewhere: "The heavens declare the glory of God" (Ps. 18:1); he is indicating the apostles, as he does even now. These confess—that is, they proclaim with thanksgiving—the wonders of God and his truth in the assembly of the saints. Of whom? Of those who were in Jerusalem; which Luke clearly stated regarding Barnabas and Paul in the Acts of the Apostles, when the apostles and elders were gathered to deliberate upon the proposed question: for he says thus: "All the multitude kept silent, and were hearing Barnabas and Paul recounting what signs God had done through them among the Gentiles" (Acts 15:12).
7. "For who in the clouds shall be compared to the Lord?" He speaks of the angels and of the powers established on high. "He shall be like the Lord among the sons of God." Here he takes the comparison from the holy ones; yet neither an angel nor a holy person can be compared with the Creator, who is above all things. But he appropriately spoke of the angels, saying "He shall be compared," since they too are incorporeal, yet they do not have equality with God, inasmuch as they are in places and are circumscribed; wherefore they are an infinite multitude; but of the holy ones, "He shall be like." For even if they keep and guard the multitude and the image that they received from God, yet that is only in part and is given by God; wherefore the comparison according to this does not speak of a full similarity. For how could he who received be like the one who gives, who can take back what was given? C
8. "God, who is glorified in the counsel of the saints, is great and terrible above all those who are around him." And he considers this glory his very own; yet he is terrible to them. For these are around him because they draw near to him through a life full of holiness; but he is terrible to them even when they sin; for he does not in any way grant grace to those who sin against the righteous; indeed, he is rather terrible even to those who do not sin, so that Job might address him thus: "Withdraw your hand from me; and let not your fear terrify me" (Job 13:21). But he terrifies them not by hating, but by sparing; for "Blessed are all those who fear the Lord."
9. "O Lord God of hosts, who is like you?" (Ps. 88:9). The prophet repeats this utterance frequently, not asking, but astonished, and proclaiming the incomparable things of God. Wherefore he called him not simply Lord, but God of hosts; namely, of the angels, archangels, or other powers hidden from us; each one of which is subject to God’s command. How then can they be like their Lord? "You are mighty, O Lord, and your truth is all around you." He spoke of the excellence of God above the creatures; lo, now he narrates his equality with the Son, lest perhaps you might imagine, as certain impious men do, that the Son is dissimilar to the Father, whom he called the truth of the Father, inasmuch as he proceeds from him; and he says that he is around the Father, because he alone can comprehend the Father: "For I," he says, "am in the Father, and the Father is in me" (John 14:10). And he can comprehend as the great one the great one, as the mighty one the mighty one. And therefore, having said to the Father, "You are mighty, O Lord," he added: "And your truth is all around you": that you might learn that the Father is the greatest and mighty, and that no one can be compared with him; yet the Son is equal to him, so that he is said to be around him. D
10. "You rule over the power of the sea, and you mitigate the motion of its waves." Translating the glory of God from invisible to visible things, he fittingly commemorated the sea, as it is terrible; which he rules to such an extent that he has established the sand as a boundary for it; he mitigates its waves and calms the storms, drawing back the winds, which, while blowing, stir it up and lift it on high. 11. "You humbled the proud one as one who is wounded." He speaks of the devil; for from pride he was woun-
A Thus Isaiah says: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” This is he who scattered the enemies of God, the Jews; concerning whom the prophet introduced the text saying, “They became [as] enemies.” He scattered them by destroying the place in which their worship according to the letter occurred. “Yours are the heavens, and yours is the earth.” It is clear that he alone employs them as he wills. “You have founded the world and its fullness.” Man is the fullness of the world. For his sake, and for the sake of the needs of our own [nature], he obtained his lot, having been brought forth while the other living things served merely for utility. He founded this, therefore, having given it a natural law, which happens to be the foundation of all human goods. Thus it is not shaken, if it preserves its own foundation intact. “The north and the sea you created.” Other translators, instead of “sea,” have rendered “south” or “right hand,” implying the south through the right hand, since it is arranged at the climate lying to the right of those who face the east. But the sea is rightly placed after the north; for in the God-inspired Scripture, it is the custom for this word to be understood in regard to the western region. B Whence the Book of Numbers, in setting forth the tribes—those of which some were stationed to the east, others to the south, and others to the north of the tabernacle—signified by this word those stationed to the west of it: “The order of the camp of Ephraim [shall be] by the sea, with their forces.” But here he has joined the west with the north, because both climates are dark and wintry. And because some ascribe these parts of creation to an evil creator, dividing creation with an impious and blasphemous way of thinking, he, wishing to remove their error, testifies that these also were created by the common Creator. “Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in your name.” 3. And for what reason did he mention only these mountains, unless it is because Tabor, being adjacent to Hermon, received the transfiguration of Christ? And for this reason it is said that they both rejoice in him; the one as having been entrusted with such a great mystery, and the other as having obtained the blessing from its neighbor. Wherefore he assigned the blessing to it in another Psalm; for he says: “As the dew of Hermon that descends upon the mountains of Sion.” C “Your arm [has been] with power.” With what power? That of the cross. For the word of the cross, as Paul says, to those who are perishing is foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. And what is the power? The conversion from our error; for this the Son, the arm of the Father, accomplished through the cross. The following verses declare this: “Let your hand be strengthened, let your right hand be exalted.” Let it be strengthened, not that it might obtain power—for it had it—but that it might be manifested when the mystery receives its end, which Christ himself promised, saying, “When I am lifted up, I will draw all to myself.” For that the Only-begotten is called the arm of the Father and the right hand has been demonstrated to us sufficiently by what has preceded. These things are said because the Father works all things through him as through a hand; for “All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that has been made.” “Righteousness and judgment [are] the preparation of your throne.” Of what? Of that which is to come; wherefore he mentioned preparation. D For from here, from the things we experience, our Judge prepares his own righteousness and judgment for himself, making a path for that future judgment by his actions. “Mercy and truth shall go before your face.” Mercy goes first, and truth follows naturally. For if mercy does not go before, who will be able to endure the truth of the Judge? And how is the truth communicated with mercy? Because the Judge does not show mercy to all, but to those who, regarding the things in which they sinned, have worked with mercy, either by repenting or by showing mercy to their neighbor. “Blessed [is] the people that knows the shouting.” The shouting is called the voice of soldiers who have conquered in war. Whosoever, therefore, when they have defeated the devil, either by performing virtues or by repenting for the things in which they transgressed, these know the shouting, and the blessedness—some as being about to obtain crowns, others as reaping the punishments—they do not possess the common [lot]. For you have learned that not only are “Blessed are the undefiled in the way,” but also, “Blessed are those whose iniquities were forgiven, and whose sins were covered.” To these, the following verses also apply: “Lord, they shall walk in the light of your face, and in your name they shall rejoice all the day.” All their life, that is, they shall walk in the light of God, that is, in the law. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths,” and they shall rejoice in his name, as fleeing for refuge to God, whose name is above every name, whose servitude is freedom, and whose kinship is [the] lordship over all creation. And in your righteousness they shall be exalted; these same ones. What, then, is that which provides them with exaltation? “Because you are the boast of their strength, and in your good pleasure our horn shall be exalted.” 4. The Jews indeed boast in Moses, and they pride themselves in Abraham as having been born from him; the Greeks trust in woods and stones, or they pride themselves in the wisdom of the devil; but our strength is Christ, and the boast of our strength is the Father; and our horn is exalted in the good pleasure of the Father; wherefore it shall not be broken; for who will be able to weaken the glory of God? And in what way is it exalted? Through the good pleasure of the Father, he says, from which we were called to adoption in him, just as Paul wrote to the Ephesians; for he says concerning the Father: “Having predestined us in love to adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” “For the protection is of the Lord, and of the Holy One of Israel, our king.” See also David proclaiming with Paul and saying the same things; to me it is not tiresome, and to you it is safe. For behold, in many consecutive verses he circles around the discourse concerning the Savior, calling him Lord and Holy One as God; and Israel and our King, as being from the seed of the king David, and Israel being called [so] according to the Spirit. “Then you spoke in vision to your sons.” Then, when? “In vision to your sons,” that is, in the vision concerning your sons. He calls those saved from the nations the sons of God, to whom Paul was saying: “Therefore you are no longer slaves, but sons.” When, therefore, he beheld those from the nations having the fitness for salvation, and feeling for the Lawgiver through the natural law, yet not grasping—for it happened that they were weak in these things because of the error that had ensued—then he spoke the following: “And you said: I have placed help upon [one who is] mighty, I have exalted an elect one from my people.” Christ is mighty, as also being called the power of God. Upon him for us, that is, through him (for not through a lawgiver, nor through a prophet, but through his own Son) he placed help for the nations and salvation. In what way? The Psalm itself has clearly added, “I have exalted an elect one from my people.” You see, he speaks of Christ. For he was exalted on the cross and drew the erring to himself, being an elect one from the people of humanity. For he existed as one chosen from myriads, as he says in the Canticles, having had many advantages before the other men because of the flesh: to be born from a virgin, not to have sins, and whatever are similar to these. “I have found David my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him.” 4. Having prophesied of Christ above, here he clearly signifies the discourse concerning the people according to Christ. Whence he says, “I have found,” as if for one who was wandering and had stumbled. For we were the lost and the wandering sheep, which the shepherd, leaving the ninety and nine, sought out. But he also calls himself a servant, as no longer serving idols; and David [is called so] because of his kinship with Christ, but at the same time as one able with the hand; for David is interpreted as “capable with the hand.” The people of the nations are capable with the hand, who alone, having brought down the war against the idols, has thus been anointed with the holy oil, that of baptism; concerning which John the Theologian wrote: “And you have an anointing from the Holy One.” You all know why he is anointed, that he might strip for the struggle; upon which he also needed the help that follows for him. “For my hand shall help him, and...”
A And with his arm he will strengthen him; for by "hand" he signifies the one who is valiant. By "hand" is signified the people of the Gentiles, as being the only ones who have brought the war against idols to its conclusion; thus he was anointed with the holy oil of baptism, concerning whom John the Theologian wrote in his Epistle: "And you have an anointing from the Holy One" (1 John 2:20). But you all know why one is anointed: that he may arm himself spiritedly for the struggle; which is why from that point he had need of His aid.
22. "For my hand shall aid him, and my arm shall strengthen him." For surely, how could he, who had previously been subject to them, fight against principalities, against powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness, unless he had been strengthened by the hand and arm of God (Ephes. 6:12)? Therefore, he does not say simply, "He shall aid him," but also, "He shall be a patron to him"; that is, he shall aid and patronize, showing that He is the heavenly hand that will be a companion in the contests and a participant in the labors.
23. "The enemy shall not profit against him," that is to say, the devil; for he shall not be able to lead us away from faith in Christ. "And the son of iniquity shall not add to harm him." He speaks of the Antichrist, whose arrival was expected, concerning whom Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: "Unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and is exalted above everything that is called God or that is worshipped" (2 Thess. 2:3-4). This one shall not harm those who believe in Christ; for they have laws teaching them how to turn away from him, and how to flee from his error; which things are all reported in the words of Christ concerning the consummation.
24. "And I will cut down his enemies from his face, and those who hate him I will turn to flight." Our enemies and those who hate us, as we have often said, are the demons. In his first coming, He cut them down and rendered them as if wounded by a sword, by the cross; but in the second B coming, He will turn them entirely to flight, so that they may no longer be able to stand against us in battle.
25. "And my truth and my mercy shall be with him, and in my name his horn shall be exalted." He protects the faithful everywhere, so that he may know how he attained salvation; from whence his horn was exalted, how he was made stronger than his enemies. By Christ, of course, who is mercy and truth from God; and furthermore, the name of the Father; for in Him, as Son, He is recognized, and all the individual things that are said were done.
26. "And I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers." He calls baptism the sea here; for He says concerning the devil: "I will destroy his face in the first sea" (*Joel*); [and he refers to] the rivers as the gifts of the Spirit; for Christ says: "He who believes in me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of water" (*John 7:38*). Hence the writer of the Gospel adds, to interpret what was said: "But this he said concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in him were about to receive" (ibid. v. 39). We therefore have both His hand and right hand in these; for in them we obtain that we may have power.
27. "He shall invoke me, 'You are my Father'." Not daring to say this of himself, but permitted to do so by the Savior, who constituted us both His brothers and conformed to Himself; and for this reason He commanded us in prayer to say: "Our Father who art in heaven" (*Matthew 6:9*). "My God, and the supporter of my salvation." For even if by grace He has become our Father, we shall not cease to call Him God, and likewise the supporter of our salvation. For when He found us to be eaten by the devil, and as carnal beings impugned by one who is not carnal, He became our patron, making His enemy the one who was our enemy, and becoming a party to our side. But these are the words of our invocation; what, however, does He promise us in return for them?
28. "And I will set him the firstborn." The Jew, therefore, has been cast out from the birthright. "I will set," He says, demonstrating that we were not of old, but were made firstborn afterwards, just as if having stolen the blessing of the old people of Jacob. C Those who are truly called kings of the earth admire the sublimity of our mysteries, and therefore they consider us to be very exalted; thus many desired to see what we see, and to hear what we hear (*Matthew 13:17*).
29. "In eternity I will keep for him my mercy, and my covenant shall be faithful to him." Not the people of the Jews can boast from these words, but only the people from the Gentiles. For God keeps mercy for them unto the age; since He constituted that our mystery should stand immovable unto the consummation; and we possess the covenant of God as faithful, approaching Him in faith, and standing for Him even unto blood, which the contests of the martyrs seal.
30. "And I will set his seed unto the age of the age." We do not await this reward here like the Jews: for our seed is to bear fruit for us in the future, "things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Cor. 2:9). For "our citizenship is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20). "And his throne as the days of heaven." Here you may think either of the blessed life of the angels, or of infinite time: because God is without end, who is said to dwell in the heavens.
31. "If his sons forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; 32. if they profane my justices, and keep not my commandments: 33. I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes." They forsake the law of God even if they skip over small and moderate things from among those written in it; but they wish to fulfill the precepts of the law according to their own purpose, not according to the legislator's; nor do they walk in the judgments of God, while they revere the rich or have pity on the poor while they judge. But God is not so: rather, He desires equal judgment to be provided for all. They also profane His commandments, those who feign virtue, and treat the commandments with contumely because they do not approach them with a sincere heart. Therefore, they are said not to keep them, because they go beyond the purpose of the One commanding. He visits the iniquities of these with a rod, and their injustices with stripes. Therefore, when we are beaten, let us not censure, nor blame, nor even if we exercise fasting or perform any other virtue: for because we do not perform good works as we ought, for that reason we have need of stripes. But after correction, He promises clemency.
34. "But I will not disperse my mercy from them, nor will I harm in my truth." But He promises that He will use much clemency toward us: first, because He receives the sinning with stripes: "For whom the Lord loves he chastises; and he scourges every son whom he receives" (*Hebrews 12:6*). He judges them worthy of His... D consequently He does not disperse His mercy from us. How? Because after the stripes He pities all. But He also says that He will not harm in His truth. What does His truth mean? That whoever has believed in Him, if he has died, is to be called back to life; that is, even if he has sinned, he is to be saved through conversion. Therefore the other interpreters produced "faith" instead of "truth." He established the faithful, therefore, so that through conversion they might attain salvation. Nowhere, surely, can it be found that He has violated His promise concerning faith: which the following things more clearly indicate.
35. "Nor will I profane my covenant: and the things that proceed from my lips I will not make void." He clearly explains the things which were promised to the faithful in the Gospels: wherefore, because He mentioned the covenant, lest you think it was that of Moses and the other prophets, He added: "And the things that proceed from my lips I will not make void"; so that you may think of those things which we lately mentioned that Christ uttered with His own tongue.
36. "Once I have sworn by my holy one, if I lie unto David." The oath of God is His promise, which is called inviolable: wherefore also elsewhere David introduces Christ speaking in this way: "If I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest" (*Psalm 94:11*). Whom could He swear by, He by whom all swear? What was promised to David, and He does not lie?
37. "His seed shall remain for eternity, 38. and his throne as the sun in my sight, and as the moon perfected unto the age; and a faithful witness in heaven." [He was] consulting with the Father when He said these things: of whom also Isaiah says: "Be you my witnesses: and I am a witness, says the Lord."
A And I will establish your seed after you, who is from your belly, and I will prepare your kingdom. He shall build a house for my name; and I will establish his throne forever; calling Christ the seed of David because of the flesh. Wherefore Matthew also wrote the opening of the Gospel: *The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.* And Paul also says concerning Christ: *Concerning his Son who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.* His throne is as the sun; for in light he possesses his kingdom. But that you might not imagine anything small concerning him, he added, *Before me*; that is to say, equal to me. For the prophet took the word "before" here not in the sense of opposition, but equality. *But as the day it is prepared forever.* He calls the present life an age, as we have often said; in which he is no longer prepared like the sun, but like the moon. For just as the moon has certain eclipses and new moons, so also the glory of Christ in the present time is eclipsed among some, being manifest to the ungodly; but among the pious it is exalted. And sometimes he yields to those who persecute him, and allows those who believe in him to be delivered to bonds, and prisons, and death; which is considered an eclipse of his glory; but at other times he suddenly casts down the persecutors, and raises up his own glory to such a degree that those who have borne witness for him are worshipped by kings. For this reason the kingdom of Christ is likened to the moon in the present life. B The prophet necessarily introduced the *Diapsalma*, especially since, having quoted the words up to now from the person of God, he now brings in his own conversation with God. *But you rejected and despised.* The change of persons strikes those who are more simple; yet it is customary for David, since such a scene is fitting for him, or he established it through chanting and playing the lyre. Furthermore, he indicates by what has now been said that the promises were to happen concerning the nations (for it was not concerning the Jews); for he says that he rejected the people of the Jews, and despised them, that is, made them of little worth and deemed them worthy of nothing. In what way? Hear what follows: *You have put away your Christ.* For he deferred his arrival for a time, as they were not fit to receive him. And not only this, but the subsequent things written also show the postponement and the disdaining of the Jews. *You have destroyed the covenant of your servant.* And what covenant, or with whom, did he destroy, if not that with the Jews? Having wiped out all the laws that were upon them and overturned them; whom he now calls servants, not as those serving the commands of God, but wishing to draw God into compassion; while at the same time he hints at the slothful servant who hid the talent, who bears the image of the Jewish people. *You have defiled his sanctuary unto the ground.* This needs no clarification; for the once-sanctuary of the Jews is vile in the eyes of all, being trodden upon by all not only of men, but even of unclean cattle. *You have broken down all his hedges.* He means the legal precepts, called hedges of necessity, on account of the curse upon them, holding the rank of thorns. *You have set his strongholds in fear.* For those things in which they formerly trusted as if fortified, concerning these they are now fearful, their way of life having been changed for them, not daring to offer sacrifices, nor to keep the feast, nor to perform any other legal rite. C *All those passing by the way plundered him.* You will call the way the life; for Christ says in the Gospels: *Be in agreement with your adversary, while you are in the way with him.* Those who have believed in Christ pass through this, journeying through life incidentally and as it happened, not concerned with any of the things in it, but even hastening to pass through it quickly; by whom the people of the Jews have been plundered of the law and the prophets, which is the true wealth. *He has become a reproach to his neighbors.* We are necessarily called neighbors of the Jews; and we necessarily consider them reproachful, because, when salvation comes from them, they do not wish to be saved. *You have exalted the right hand of those who afflict him.* Behold, he says this of those who hold the Roman empire; for it is evident that these are the ones who afflict it; but they have also been exalted in their right hand, that is, their dominion, having gained a wider kingdom from the time they ravaged the things of the Jews. *You have gladdened all his enemies.* If he means the nations as enemies, he gladdened these, not those whose land he ravaged, but those through whom he granted grace to us. But if he says the demons are enemies, he gladdened them, since he stripped the Jews of his own hand and gave them over to those who wished to plot against them. *You have turned away the help of his sword.* The sword of a pious man is in every way the command of God; for by it we turn away the opposing powers; wherefore Paul also said: *For the word of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.* But the sword peculiar to the Jews was the Law of Moses. He turned away its help. For he invalidated its use as mere letter. *And have not helped him in the war.* In what war? The one against us; for frequently they engage us from the Law and the prophets; but God does not provide help to them, but to us, having drawn all the written things into an accusation against them, but into a defense for us. *You have brought him to an end from his cleansing.* In what way? By legislating the true cleansing, which is baptism. For the whole cleansing having been proclaimed, the cleanings of the Jews which were in part were necessarily abolished. Whence the sixth edition of the translators rendered "You have brought to an end" as "You have cast down." D *You have cast down his throne to the ground.* Whether you call it the royal, the teaching, or the priestly throne, all the thrones of the Jews were broken, and for this reason they are said to have been cast down to the ground, where the kings, priests, and teachers of those people also held their mind. *You have shortened the days of his time; you have poured upon him shame.* For their way of life has not remained to the end, nor has it been ordained like that of the nations until the consummation; wherefore they are also reasonably said to be poured with shame. For it is evident that the time of their way of life was shortened on account of lawlessness; and it reveals what God ordained concerning the temple to Solomon: *If you and your children turn away from me, and worship other gods, I will remove Israel from the land which I gave them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, I will cast away from my face.* The *Diapsalma* necessarily follows the prophecy, since, having left the person of the Jews, he brought forward an entreaty on behalf of humanity. *How long, O Lord, will you turn away until the end?* He calls the postponement of the coming of the Savior "turning away until the end," that is, a complete postponement. For the Creator could not otherwise show compassion toward our race than by taking the first-fruits into the mass of the dough. *Your wrath shall burn like fire.* That is, it will consume those who gathered it against themselves. For this is the property of fire. But why does he not say, "It has burned," but, "It shall burn"? Because since we have sinned, God is angry indeed, as a father, but also is patient, until we, adding sin to sin, kindle the impetus against ourselves unto punishment according to the fire of Gehenna. *Remember what my substance is.* It is brittle, he says, and vile; for we are of earth, and return to earth; and for this reason we need all of providence for our restoration; and the following shows this: *For have you created all the sons of men in vain?* That is, the creation of men has not been a work of yours labored at in vain, just to be seen, like other animals, and to vanish; but so that they might shine among the created works, and through being seen, show the useful things of creation. But now the thing turns to the opposite, with death being introduced; for the prophet lamented this to what follows. *Who is the man who shall live, and shall not see death, shall deliver his soul from the hand of hell?* The sentence of death, he says, holds sway over all; all souls, even those of the righteous, are held in hell; and the dignity of the image within us has been corrupted on account of the tyranny of death. But the prophet uses these words everywhere, hastening the coming of the Savior. For no one can deliver himself from death, nor lead his own soul from hell, before the coming of the one who lords over death by death. The *Diapsalma* is inserted again here, because he changed the prophecy to the people of the Jews. *Where are your mercies?*