Yet all who were upon the earth came into a share of the joy, as the preceding verse narrated. But understand the "wood of the forest," as being fruitless, to be the sinners, concerning whom Isaiah said: "Let not the eunuch say, I am a dry tree" (Isaiah 56:3), that is, fruitless. But even for them the advent of Christ provided cause to rejoice. "Because He comes, because He comes to judge the earth, to judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in His truth." Not in vain does he repeat that word, "He comes." For since He wishes to signify both of His advents, above he signified indeed the first advent, when he wrote that it would be without judgment: "For He did not come then to judge the world, but to save" (John 12:47); but here he indicates the second, in which He shall judge the earth and the world; that is, man, rightly so called as having B sprung from the earth, and the world, as having become the dwelling-place of God. "For the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). And not only does He judge the earth itself and the world, but also the "peoples," not just the "people," because of the difference of languages and states, which break off fellowship, both in celebrating the glory of God and in other necessary matters as well. But if it is said that He will judge the "world" in righteousness, it is also added, "and the peoples in His truth," as if the habitable world were nothing other than the peoples. For if the peoples were not, by whom would it be inhabited? Thus there is no righteousness without truth; for the one embraces the other. Neither is there righteousness without truth, nor truth without righteousness; therefore Christ is said to be both.
Psalm XCVI
This psalm, among the Hebrews, lacks an inscription; but the Seventy interpreters devised a title for it, congruent with the prophecy. For since this prophetic modulation was composed concerning the kingdom of Christ and the glorious deeds done in Him, it necessarily consecrates it to the spiritual David, and says, "When the earth was established for Him," that is, when human nature was placed in its own proper state: for C previously it had fallen from a sound mind. "The Lord has reigned; let the earth exult, let many islands rejoice." God always reigned, as the Maker and Lord of the whole earth; but because He turned away from the human race for a certain time and left it subject to the tyranny of spiritual enemies, and now has subjected these to Him and freed that, He rightly says, "The Lord has reigned," calling the destruction of error and the ruin of idols the kingdom of God, at which the earth rejoices, seeing itself freed from those things over which it previously groaned together with the rest of creation (Rom. 8:22). And "many islands" rejoice, namely, the Churches of the nations: for the destruction of error provided them an entrance. But why does he call the Churches islands, unless just because, as islands are inhabited in the midst of the waters, so too are the Churches in baptism? He rightly said that many islands rejoice, but not all, showing that there are other islands, namely, those of the heretics: which indeed also boast of the baptism of the Church; but it is not right for them to rejoice, because on account of their impiety toward the Divinity, they derogate from the grace of baptism.
2. "Clouds and darkness are round about Him," that is, about the King. For he says that Christ, whose body, as being subtle and undefiled, is called a cloud. And darkness is added, which Symmachus interprets as "mist." For the flesh like a mist turned away the eyes of many, so that they did not recognize the dignity of the divinity of the Only-Begotten: just as elsewhere this psalmist said: "He made darkness His hiding-place; round about Him is His tabernacle" (Ps. 17:12). "Righteousness and judgment are the correction of His throne." For these things perfected the kingdom of God. This is clear from the fact that we have been freed from those who had unjustly subjected us; but they have been condemned. But let us also exercise righteousness and judgment, if indeed we wish to reign with Him.
3. "Fire shall go before Him, and shall inflame His enemies round about." Here he clearly recalls the future judgment. D Certainly he does not say of the fire, "It goes before," but "It shall go before," which shall inflame His enemies, namely, the sinners: who are the enemies of God, because when He was calling, they did not obey, and when He was exhorting, they did not comply, and when He was offering His hands to reconcile them to Himself, they were unwilling. Paul testifies to this, saying: "We act as ambassadors for Christ, as though God were exhorting through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:20). "It shall inflame His enemies round about," that is, all of them. It will not cease to go round and run about until it catches all the guilty. This fire Daniel also recalled, as one who would run before the Judge. "I was watching," he says, "until thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days sat: and His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was a flame of fire, and the wheels of His chariot a burning fire. A fiery stream issued and flowed before Him" (Dan. 7:9-10).
4. "His lightnings shone to the world." We shall understand "lightnings" as His splendors, which do not await the future age, but already from here illuminate the world. I would therefore have you consider the difference of fire. For that which is His, illuminates; but that which is not His, but runs against Him, burns: for it was established for that purpose. He therefore calls the apostles "His lightnings," because as participants in the true light, they themselves are rightly called light: for this reason the Lord said to them: "You are the light of the world" (Matt. 5:14). "The earth saw, and was moved." For it is right that the earth, which has stood ill, should be moved, that it may attain a firmer state, if indeed architects, when they discover that walls are unsound, shake them, so that they may lead them back to a better state. Therefore the earth, namely, the human race, upon seeing the apostles, was moved, so that the Thessalonians said of Paul and Silas: "These who turn the world upside down are present here" (Acts 17:6); namely, that it might be established more firmly.
5. "The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of all the earth." As hills are higher than the earth, so too are prophets higher than other men, and therefore they are called hills. Rightly, therefore, at the advent of the Only-Begotten, who is the Lord of all the earth, namely, the human race, from whose entire mass the Lord, taking the first-fruits, became man, the prophets melted like wax; for previously their prophecy had been covered over by a letter, so that it was unknown to the nations. But upon the arrival of the Only-Begotten, it flowed out, that is, it became soft, so that all might use it to portray the appearance of the mystery of the Only-Begotten: and as if with wax softened by fire, they might depict the divine images. "They melted," he says, "at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the operation of the Spirit." For since he mentions the face of the Lord twice here, it is clear he calls the Son the face of the Father, and the Holy Spirit the face of the Son: so that the prophetic wax is dissolved not only through the advent of the Only-Begotten, but also through the gift of the Holy Spirit. For they could not have understood the prophecies concerning Him after the advent of Christ, unless He had given them the Holy Spirit: this, indeed, Christ declares, addressing them thus: "O foolish and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken" (Luke 24:25).
6. "The heavens have announced His righteousness, and all the peoples have seen His glory." Even if the heavens have often announced the righteousness of God—that is, Christ—for a voice was brought down from heaven: "This is My beloved Son" (Matt. 3:17 and 17:5); not only at the baptism, but also on Mount Tabor: and again when Christ cried to the Father, "Father, glorify Your Son," a certain voice was brought from the heavens, "And I have glorified, and will glorify again" (John 12:28)—yet the heavens declaring the righteousness of God are properly the apostles: for they were not earthly, but heavenly, and therefore they are called heavens. They saw His glory, when they perceived the unlettered becoming orators, and demons put to flight by the shadow of the apostles.
7. "Let all those who worship graven images be confounded, who boast of their idols." Not only those who received the written law must be ashamed concerning manufactured idols, but also those who have the natural law. For to whom is it not manifest that it is the work of God alone to create? How then is it God, if it is the work of another...
[GREEK COLUMN] 777 SPURIA clearly, that to act is proper to God? How then is that which another has made called God? Whether, therefore, one worships or does not worship, but boasts as if he himself had made the things worshipped by another, he also is worthy of shame, having gathered a grievous stumbling-block for our life. A Worship him, all you his angels. Necessarily he added here the worship of the angels, so that we might not be ashamed to worship the God whom the angels worship. At the same time, let us know that we rise to the rank of angels by worshipping God; furthermore, that to worship is proper to angels, not to be worshipped. Therefore demons, having fallen away from the dignity of angels, will not be able to be worshipped. B He heard and was glad, Zion, and the daughters of Judea rejoiced because of your judgments, O Lord. By "daughters of Judea" he called the Churches throughout the whole earth, since confession is practiced within them; for this is what Judea is interpreted to mean. But he placed Zion first as the proto-Church. This one, he says, heard and was glad: it heard of the shame of those who worship idols, but also of the worship of the angels, which they offer to God; and reasonably it was glad, as worshipping the one God, the Father of creation, who is worshipped. As for the daughters of Judea of this one (and we say these are the Churches), having shared in the joy, they reasonably rejoiced. And these are the judgments of God, by which joy is rightly proclaimed. Since, therefore, those who worship graven things and boast in idols are condemned by God, but how these things have been done, learn from the following. That you are the Lord, the Most High over all the earth, you are greatly exalted above all the gods. Since he sets forth the judgment effected through the cross, and the cross is the height of the Only-begotten; for he says, "When I am lifted up, I will draw all to myself;" lest at any time anyone might think that Christ was not high before, C he proclaimed him not only high, but the Most High over all the earth. And having said "the earth," from the part he has called creation, matter. But yet he was exalted through the cross above all the gods, that is, the falsely so-called; since by the cross they were cast down and have learned by experience how high God is, so that through the supposed weakness he might overcome those who were thought to be powerful. You who love the Lord, hate evil. So that having found pure love, he might accept the lovers as true and genuine; for whoever says he loves God, has clung to evil and to whatever is encountered, or loves anything belonging to life, he deceives himself. "For the friendship of this world is enmity toward God," says James. D The Lord guards the souls of his saints, from the hand of the sinner he will rescue them. Behold how great are the goods we enjoy from pure love toward God. For we become saints, and we have God as the guardian of the greatest possession, our soul, so that we may not fall under the hand of the enemy; but if we should happen to, he does not overlook it, but rescues us, binding the one who is truly a sinner and the root of sin, the devil, while for us he gives a hand, so that we may flee from the one who rose up unjustly. Light has dawned for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. The law of God has been established as a lamp and light for the righteous. Wherefore elsewhere David says, "Your law is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths." And the same is also gladness for the upright in heart, that is, for those who walk straight; for it shows them what they pray for, and urges them toward virtues, which they strive for out of their own will. But do you also understand the Only-begotten to be the light that has dawned, concerning whom John the theologian wrote: "All things were made through him, and without him was nothing made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men." Whence also Malachi called him the sun, and, just as David, set forth that he would dawn for the righteous; for he says, "There shall dawn for you who fear the Lord the sun of righteousness, and there is healing in his wings." Be glad, you righteous, in the Lord. Blessed for joy, reasonably, are the righteous. For they are not glad in any of the worldly goods which are temporary, but in God, in whom is every good gift and every perfect gift from above, as you have learned from the Epistle of James. And confess the memory of his holiness. A Whether you call confession thanksgiving, or the declaration of offenses; for this is appropriate even for the righteous; but since there is no one who will live and will not sin; necessarily it is offered upon the memory of the holiness of God, that is, upon the remembrance. For it is necessary to thank him, because he has imparted sanctification even to men; and it is necessary even for sinners to confess themselves. For however righteous one may be, compared to the holiness of God, he is found a sinner; so that Isaiah could say: "All our righteousness is as a menstruous cloth before you." [Psalmus XCVII]
To David. Alleluia. Psalm XCVII
. B Not in vain is the Psalm inscribed to David; but because it prophesies the mysteries concerning Christ, and David is to be understood as Ezekiel the prophet, but rather the Spirit who acted upon him; for he says: "And I will raise up for you a shepherd, my servant David." And yet he had already died many generations before; but he calls Christ David, not only as being from David, and as king; but servant, as having received the form of a servant. For this reason even now the Psalm is not inscribed "of David," but "To David." C Sing to the Lord a new song. For what reason? Because he has done wonderful things. This, therefore, is the subject of the new song, that God has done wonderful things, or also "portents," as Symmachus set forth. And what are these? His right hand and his holy arm have saved him. And what is wonderful about that, unless it is that man was rendered destitute through the excess of wickedness, so that Isaiah says: "Every head is in pain, and every heart in sorrow. From feet to head, there is no wholeness in him, neither wound, nor bruise, nor festering sore. It is not possible to apply a poultice, nor oil, nor bandages." And David thus: "All turned aside, together they were rendered useless; there is no one doing kindness, there is not even one." D For which the right hand and arm of God were necessarily needed, that is, his Only-begotten. For he characterizes each of the things spoken of; concerning whom Isaiah also says: "As a shepherd he will shepherd his people, and with his arm he will gather lambs;" whom the Psalmist did not in vain call holy, but wishing to show him in his own hypostasis. Therefore he saved this very creation that was lost; for he did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. But that the prophet hints at the arrival of the Only-begotten (for this alone saves the human race), Isaiah declares, having said, "Not an ambassador, nor an angel, but the Lord himself will come and save us;" and the following things also declare it. The Lord has made known his salvation, before the nations he has revealed his righteousness. The Word has demonstrated many times through the preceding things that Christ and righteousness are spoken of as "Salvation." But here he shows the precision of the prophetic words, how he says that he was made known first, and revealed afterwards. For he made him known first to the prophets, who were entrusted with the knowledge of him, by the vision of the Spirit, so that the Lord says: "Abraham our father rejoiced to see my day; and he saw and was glad." But he was revealed afterwards through the flesh; and furthermore through the apostolic miracles, which stripped bare the power of the Only-begotten. "Before the nations." For these, having believed, received the manifestation of Christ. Otherwise, since the destruction of idols is a clear proof of the presence of the flesh, the Only-begotten can necessarily be revealed before the nations. He remembered his mercy to Jacob, and his truth to the house of Israel. For what reason, having said Jacob, was he not content, but added also the house of Israel, unless to declare clearly that he who did the things now being prophesied, this was the one who named Jacob "Israel"? Wherefore also he wrestled with him of old, wishing to prefigure the mystery of the incarnation by a foreshadowing; for to wrestle and to entwine is proper to flesh. He remembered, therefore, the things toward Jacob and Israel, and by grace fulfilled the mystery toward them. How this? Clearly that he came to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel," not by giving them the law (for they were not worthy), butbringing in, and working righteousness: but it was this: The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be A (Gen. xlix, 10). To which those things that follow most aptly agree: All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. For He came to the Jews as if to His own. But they, closing their eyes (for Isaiah says, they have shut their eyes, lest they should see), saw the salvation of God, which they had not seen before. He brings about that of which Christ also marvelled, saying: For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind (John ix, 39). 4. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth. Rightly indeed, since the benefits are common: for the mystery was not ordained for a single region, such as was Judea, nor for a single nation, but for the entire human race, for which He bids us to make a joyful noise, as victors in a common war. For He called the "earth" man in general, as is more clearly stated in what follows. Sing, and rejoice, and give praise. It is not, therefore, of the element of dry land, but of men that He proposes to speak. Wherefore, since He holds discourse to the multitude, He commands them first to sing, then to rejoice, and lastly to give praise, that we may have the beginning and the end of divine joy in the glorification of God. 5. Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm; 6. with trumpets blown of metal, and the sound of the cornet. Make a joyful noise before the Lord the King. Even if there was a time when they used these instruments to glorify God, let us understand the harp as the harmony of virtues, which in no other way can be obtained unless we mortify the flesh, so that we may perfect the concert of virtues as with those strings, and send up the voice of a psalm pleasing to God into heaven. But since after the harp He mentioned the trumpet, the harp certainly signifies the Old Testament, in which it was commanded to sing a psalm: for it was commanded that psalmody be harmonized with the harp: but the trumpets [signify] the Gospels, in which we are deservedly commanded to make a joyful noise in the presence of the Lord the King, that is to say, Christ, who through the evangelical discipline have conquered our spiritual enemies. And therefore He mentioned many trumpets and one, because the Gospel, although it is one according to its power, is nevertheless distributed into four Gospels by the evangelists who wrote them. Observe, however, the accuracy of the prophetic utterance. For He calls the trumpets, which He mentions in the plural as referring to the persons of the evangelists, "ductile" [beaten/wrought], that is, of bronze; for the tongues of the evangelists were made of bronze, through the gift of the Holy Spirit. But the trumpet B is "corneal" [horn-like], which is the evangelical word and the mystery contained therein, because it has Christ for its head, who is appropriately called a horn: for in Him we can strike our enemies with a horn: to this Gospel, therefore, He necessarily attributes the voice, saying, In the sound of the cornet. Since, while many explain the history, the voice of the one Gospel is heard through all, who most harmoniously describe the mystery. 7. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. We have already said above that the sea and its fulness, namely the marine animals, should move to perform dances. Furthermore, by the fear of the miracles performed by the Lord in the sea, you may rightly say that it itself is moved. For it received not only the Lord but also Peter walking [on it] (Matt. xiv, 25 sqq.): and at the command of Jesus, it brought forth the fish which had the stater (Matt. xvii, 26). You may say the same also of the world and of those who dwell therein. For the miracles performed by Christ and by the prophets were able to move it also. For when they prayed, many things were shaken, as Luke narrates (Acts iv, 31, and xvi, 26). 8. Let the floods clap their hands together. You may call the floods the operations of the Spirit, which were said to clap their hands, as if gathered into one, at the time of the advent of Christ; concerning which He said: He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John vii, 38). You may also say that the sensible rivers clapped their hands and performed dances when the Jordan received Christ undergoing baptism. For this was the common joy of rivers and waters. 9. The mountains shall exult at the presence of the Lord, because He cometh. We have already said above that the prophets are called mountains because of the sublimity of their contemplation. They will deservedly exult at the presence of Christ, because their prophecy has gone forth into work: for if you understand [it of] sensible things, this also will rightly exult in this way, since the Jewish people were wont to sacrifice to idols in the high places, as is narrated in the book of Kings: but afterwards, in the advent of Christ, this ceased. Because He cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with equity. How does He say that He is coming, except because, being a prophet, he saw what he was announcing as future, as if it were present? But first He speaks of the advent in the flesh, which was the former; but secondly of His second advent, in which He is about to come as judge. But in His first advent he receives the benefits that have come from it; but he thinks the second advent is already at hand out of the fear of judgment. It is very useful to have terrible things before one's eyes, and to look upon them as if imminent, so that we may thus prune away our sins. And what is the economy of the judgment? Righteousness and equity. Let us therefore flee injustice, and let us avoid that which is tortuous, that we may not trust in deceits, and that we may not pursue avarice. For these are contrary to the judgment of God, and lead those who are addicted to them into condemnation.