bringing 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.
Psalmus XCVIII
The Septuagint interpreters indeed edited [it], but ascribed it to David, as if it contained a prophecy concerning the spiritual David, Christ. 1. The Lord hath reigned, let the peoples be angry. He speaks of the peoples of the Jews: for the kingdom of Christ provoked these into anger and fury, so that they said to Pilate: Do not say that He is king of the Jews (John xix, 21); and again, We have no king but Cæsar (Ibid. v. 15). He that sitteth upon the Cherubim, let the earth be moved. He again subjects Judea. For when the Magi came from the East saying, Where is He that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East, and are come to worship Him: Herod hearing [this] was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him (Matt. ii, 1-3). But what He who sitteth upon the Cherubim did, the following things indicate. C ... peoples. For in Zion, having entered with the doors closed, He showed His greatness; and through this miracle He clearly demonstrated that He is the one sitting upon the Cherubim. And therefore whatever that Creator of the creature does, is more excellent than our nature. Then He was shown [to be] high above all people, when He bestowed upon the apostles the gift of the Holy Spirit, who announced His height, not to one people, but to all everywhere. ... is holy. Every name of God is great: for His names must be understood in a way consonant to His glory. For if He is called Lord, He is not called so in the same manner as with us; if King, the dignity of the kingdom is understood differently in Him. But the name of God is great, by which He named Himself, when Moses was saying: Behold I will come unto the children of Israel, and will say unto them: The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto you: and if they ask me, What is His name? what shall I say unto them? He answered him: Thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, He Who Is has sent me unto you (Exod. [iii, 13-14]) ... the prophet commanded. For he who is temporal, although he may be powerful, is yet not very terrible, because after some time has passed his dominion ceases: but He who is always and is eternal, is rightly terrible; for there is no hope that He will either be changed or will cease. But because He says that this name is holy and terrible, understand it to be terrible to enemies, namely to demons, who flee even from the invocation of it; but holy to the faithful, who have sanctification in no other way than through the name of Christ. 4. And the honor of the king loveth judgment. For what is the work of judgment? To absolve the innocent, to declare the guilty: wherefore the honor of the King, that is, His empire and power, loveth judgment. Therefore D781 SPURIA. and possess the sanctification of Christ. *And the king’s honor loveth judgment* (Ps. 98:4). For what is the work of judgment? To release the innocent and to manifest the guilty. Therefore the king’s honor—that is, his dominion and authority—loveth judgment. Whence the rest of the translators, instead of “honor,” have rendered it, some “strength,” others “power.” *Thou hast prepared uprightnesses* (Ps. 98:4). How did he prepare them? By sending forth the Law, in which he set up the commandments as uprightnesses. For it is possible to direct one’s course of life straight if one walks according to these. *Judgment and righteousness in Jacob thou hast performed* (Ps. 98:4). In what way? By the method already mentioned. For the Law that was given in Jacob (meaning the race of Israel) A brought judgment—that is, condemnation—upon those who sin, and showed righteousness to those who live virtuously, according to which one ought to conduct one’s life. Why, then, did he set this forth now? He wishes to secure our hearing and to testify clearly that he who accomplished these things is the same who endured the cross for us. And the following words make this clear: *Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at His footstool, for He is holy* (Ps. 98:5). And why is it commanded not to worship at the throne of God, but at the footstool? And what, indeed, is the footstool? Surely the earth. *For heaven*, He says, *is my throne, and earth is the footstool of my feet* (Is. 66:1). B 2. And yet it is not permitted for us to worship the elements. But he refers to that place which he set forth even more clearly through another Psalm, saying, *Let us worship at the place where His feet stood* (Ps. 131:7); he speaks of Golgotha. For that place truly came to be under the feet of His flesh at the time of the cross. Whence, having said “footstool,” he was not content, but says, *at the footstool of His feet*. And yet it is clear to everyone that the footstool of the feet is a footstool. But here by the feet of Christ he refers to the humanity, since he calls the divinity the head. Golgotha, therefore, came to be under the feet of the humanity, where he who worships exalts Christ. For he considers his sufferings as his own height, because through them he accomplished our salvation. Wherefore he was saying to Nicodemus: *As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up* (John 3:14). This one is rightly called holy, having such a presence of holiness that he makes even sinners holy through participation in him. *Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who call upon His name. They called upon the Lord, and He heard them* (Ps. 98:6). Since they were called holy, and priests, and prophets, but it was not enjoined that we worship at the footstool of these holy ones, he wishes to show how great was the difference between him and the rest of the saints. For he himself was the Holy of Holies. C For this reason he mentioned Moses as lawgiver, Aaron as high priest, and Samuel as the leader of the prophets, who were indeed holy. But nevertheless, they called upon the name of God, and they did not perform what they did by their own power, but by that of the one who was called upon, as he shows more clearly in what follows. *He spoke to them in the pillar of the cloud, because they kept His testimonies and His commandments which He gave them* (Ps. 98:7). These, he says, progressed through virtue, through keeping God’s law and accomplishing the commandments given by Him. And when they were deemed worthy of the vision of God, they saw God in the pillar, not being able to behold His essence. But Christ is not so; rather, he has the Father in himself, and he himself is in the Father, nor did he advance to this dignity through progress. D For see, when Pilate asked, *Art thou the king?* (John 18:37), he led him away from that kind of inquiry: *Thou sayest that I am a king; for this I have been born*—that is, I possess the kingship timelessly, just as I possess my birth. To this one the Psalmist added the following without any ambiguity: *O Lord our God, Thou didst hear them* (Ps. 98:8). *Our God*—of whom? Of those who fought for him through faith and acquired the God over all as their own through the adoption of baptism. For that he is called God in an exceptional sense of those who have believed in him, Thomas teaches: *My Lord and my God* (John 20:28), he cried out, calling the God over all his own Lord and God. This one, therefore, in whom we have believed, was not unknown to the righteous ones of before; wherefore, when they prayed, he heard them, and the following things testify to it: *O God, Thou wast propitious to them, and taking vengeance upon all their pursuits* (Ps. 98:8). Do you see that he is speaking of Christ? For it is his own prerogative to be propitious to our sins, not now only, but also of old; of whom also Paul says: *Whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood, for the manifestation of His righteousness* (Rom. 3:25). He himself takes vengeance upon all the pursuits of the righteous. For since they applied themselves to many things to save the race of men, but the intellectual enemy was opposed to these, the cross took vengeance: having at once established the pursuits of the righteous and at once overthrown the one who was demonstrating their labors to be useless. 782 Concerning whom Jeremiah cried out: *Woe is me, mother! for what didst thou bear me, a man of judgment and a man of disputation in all the earth? I have not benefited, nor has anyone benefited me; my strength has failed among those who curse me* (Jer. 15:10). *Exalt ye the Lord our God* (Ps. 98:9). And what need has that which is high to be exalted? And how shall he who is in the heavens be exalted by men? But he says, “Think high thoughts concerning him.” In what way? *And worship at His holy mountain* (Ps. 98:9). The height, therefore, of the Word of God is the worship in the holy place. For as the trophies in war are a glory to a king, so also is the accomplishment through the sufferings to Christ, which took place on the holy mountain that received the cross. He does not call the mountain holy of itself, but because of the visitation of the one who was crucified there. For this reason he added, *For the Lord our God is holy*. And if he is holy, whatever may happen to be the object of his visitation is made holy.