Commentary on the Psalms

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS

EUSEBIUS UPON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS: AN INTERPRETATION OF CERTAIN TERMS, DESCRIBED BY WAY OF COMPENDIUM

There are one hundred and fifty psalms; and the number fifty is indeed sacred, for it is by that cycle of days that Pentecost is established, and the Jubilee, as the Hebrews call it, is celebrated by the same number of years. Nabla is the Hebrew name for the psalterium; it is the most upright of all musical instruments, and it is not played for its sound from the lower parts, but is furnished with ringing brass from the top. ^A Therefore, those are called "psalms" which are performed solely by the striking of instruments, without the blending of voices. A "canticle" (canticum) is that which is sung with a sweet and steady voice; a "canticle of a psalm" is that which allows for harmonious voices along with the instruments; a "psalm of a canticle," on the other hand, is when the sound of the musical instruments precedes the voices. If the matter is taken allegorically, a psalm is a rhythmic movement of the body toward the performance of a good work, even if little contemplation follows it. A canticle is the apprehension of truth, mixed with no work, with the mind enlightened by the contemplation of God and His oracles. A "canticle of a psalm" is said to be when knowledge precedes action, according to that saying: "If thou desire wisdom, keep commandments, and the Lord will provide it for thee" [(Eccli. 1, 33)]. ^B A "psalm of a canticle" is an act admitted under the guidance of knowledge, which teaches, namely, in what manner and at what time one must act; wherefore, in the inscription of the psalms, the word "psalm" precedes "canticles"; for the holy man does not start from contemplation, but altogether runs by faith to the works that must be performed. ^C Toward the end there are many canticles. But where the steps (gradus) are present, nowhere is a "psalm" inscribed, neither by itself nor with another accompanying word, but only "canticles" are placed there; for where there is an ascent of steps, there only contemplation is viewed. Furthermore, the *diapsalma* does not exist in Aquila or in the Hebrew; but in its place, it is always written [τὸ ἀεί (always)].

ARGUMENT OF EUSEBIUS PAMPHILI

This is the division of the Book of Psalms, as both the more accurate copies and the Hebrew text itself confirm. Nor indeed, as one might perhaps suppose, are all the psalms David's, but they are also of other prophets who were uttering prophetic oracles while chanting. Therefore, among the Hebrews, the entire scripture of the psalms does not bear the inscription of David, but is called indefinitely the "Book of Psalms." Furthermore, the children of the Hebrews divide the Book of Psalms into five parts: ^D the first part comprises from the first to the fortieth psalm; the second, from the forty-first to the seventy-second; the third, from the seventy-second to the eighty-eighth; the fourth, from the eighty-ninth to the one hundred and fifth; the fifth, from the one hundred and sixth to the end. There are nineteen psalms without inscription, and one hundred and thirty-one with them. Of those with...

inscription, the divisions are as follows: of David, seventy-two; of the sons of Core, eleven; of Asaph, twelve; of Ethan the Israelite, one; of Solomon, two; of Moses, one; anonymous, seventeen; those inscribed "Alleluia," fifteen. Those are called anonymous which possess an inscription, but do not declare whose they are.

ARGUMENTS OF THE SAME EUSEBIUS TO THE PSALMS.

1. Exhortation to the worship of God, and turning away from the contrary. 2. Prophecy concerning Christ and the calling of the nations. 3. Prophecy of the good things to be conferred upon David. 4. Prophecy to David concerning what he has suffered. 5. Prayer from the person of the Church. 6. Instruction in confession. ^B 7. To David, a confession and instruction on the calling of the nations. 8. Prophecy of the calling of the nations. 9. The death of Christ and his resurrection, and the reception of his kingdom; and the destruction of all his enemies. 10. A song of victory for one struggling according to God. 11. Accusation of the wicked, and prophecy of the advent of Christ. 12. The uprising of enemies, and expectation of the advent of Christ. 13. Accusation of the wicked, and prophecy of the advent of Christ. 14. The restoration of him who is perfect according to God. 15. The election of the Church, and the resurrection of Christ. 16. The prayer of a perfect man, or of Christ himself, for those who shall be saved through him. 17. Thanksgiving of David and prophecy of the advent and assumption of Christ. 18. Theology with moral instruction. 19. Prayer of the righteous who were working with David. 20. Intercession of those who were working with David. 21. Prophecy of the sufferings of Christ, and the calling of the nations. 22. Instruction and the introduction of a new people. 23. Prophecy of the calling of the nations, and the perfection of those who attain salvation. 24. Instruction in confession. 25. Intercession of one progressing according to God. 26. Thanksgiving and request for good things. 27. Supplication with prophecy. 28. Enigmatic prophecy with theology. 29. Thanksgiving with confession. 30. Confession with supplication. 31. Prophecy of those who shall be saved through Christ. 32. Exhortation to sing hymns, with theology. 33. Instruction in thanksgiving. ^C 34. Supplication of a righteous man, and prophecy concerning Christ. 35. Refutation of the impious with theology. 36. Instruction in a godly life. 37. Instruction in confession. 38. Intercession with confession. 39. Thanksgiving of one saved according to God, and remembrance of the Church. 40. Prophecy concerning Christ and concerning the traitor. 41. Supplication of the prophets concerning the rejection of the Jewish nation. 42, 43. Concerning the same argument. 44. The manifestation of the kingdom of Christ. 45. The preaching of the Apostles. 46. The calling of the nations. 47. A hymn to God concerning the Church, and the destruction of persecutions. 48. Instruction in divine judgment. 49. The overthrow of the law of Moses concerning sacrifices, and the introduction of that of the New Testament.

^A 50. Instruction of confession. 51. Refutation of wicked character, and the end thereof. 52. Saving manifestation, and deliverance from godlessness. 53. Prayer of one who struggles according to God. 54. Declaration of the things dared against Christ. 55. Thanksgiving of a just man delivered from enemies. 56. Thanksgiving of David and prophecy regarding the calling of the nations. 57. Instruction concerning God’s righteous judgment. 58. Calling of the nations and rejection of the Jews. 59. Rejection of Judaism and calling of the nations. 60. Supplication with thanksgiving. 61. Therapeutic instruction. 62. Thanksgiving of one who is perfect according to God.

^B 63. Instruction of the God-fearing athlete. 64. Calling of the nations. 65. Calling of the nations and testimony of the apostles. 66. Calling of the nations and preaching of the apostles. 67. The becoming-man (Incarnation) of Christ and the calling of the nations. 68. The sufferings of Christ and the rejection of the Jews. 69. Supplication of a just man, and of Christ himself. 70. The sufferings and resurrection of Christ. 71. Prophecy of Christ’s kingdom and the calling of the nations. 72. Confession of human weakness regarding the prosperity of the wicked and the long-suffering of God.

73. Foretelling of the final siege of the Jews, which occurred under Vespasian and Titus. 74. Theology of Christ and reminder of the divine judgment seat. 75. Vengeance against the wicked from the judgment of God. 76. Concerning the long-suffering of God and his wondrous works. 77. Christ’s distinction toward the Church, concerning the transgression of the former people.

^C 78. Prophecy of the things that befell the Jews under Antiochus; or history as it is in the books of the Maccabees. 79. Prophecy of the siege by the Assyrians, and supplication concerning the manifestation of Christ. 80. Calling of the nations and instruction concerning the things that befell the former people. 81. Refutation of the rulers of the Jewish nation. 82. Supplication concerning the mournful people who have suffered, and prophecy concerning the end of the enemies of Christ. 83. The becoming-man (Incarnation) of Christ and concerning the Churches. 84. Prophecy to Christ and those redeemed through him. 85. Prayer of David and prophecy of the calling of the nations. 86. The becoming-man (Incarnation) of Christ. 87. He prophesies the death of Christ. 88. Christ’s kingdom from the seed of David. 89. Rejection of the Jews. 90. The victory of Christ and of everyone who is perfected according to him.

^D 91. Concerning rest according to God. 92. Hymn of the kingdom of Christ at his first appearing. 93. Concerning dogmas against the Church. 94. Calling of the Jews and their despair. 95. Calling of the nations and the appearing of Christ. 96. Hymn of the kingdom of Christ at his first appearing. 97. Calling of the nations and the appearing of Christ. 98. Hymn of the kingdom of Christ. 99. Calling of the nations. 100. Hymn of the one who is perfect according to God. 101. Lamentation over the former people, and prophecy, and the calling of the nations.

102. Teaching of thanksgiving. 103. Teaching of confession. 104. Teaching to the nations concerning the benefits conferred upon the former people of God. 105. Teaching concerning the impiety of the Jewish nation. 106. Prophecy of the calling of the nations, and of the appearing of the Word of God to men. 107. Calling of the nations. 108. Sufferings of Christ. 109. Victory of Christ. 110. Thanksgiving of Christ. 111. Teaching of Christ. 112. Calling of the new people. 113. Teaching of the new people. 114. Progress of the new people. 115. Consummation of the new people. 116. Calling of the nations. 117. Victory of those who struggle in Christ, and prophecy concerning Christ. 118. Alphabetical chapters of the instruction according to God. 119. Sojournings. 120. Return from Babylon and the Dispersion. 121. Good tidings of blessings. 122. Of prayer. 123. Of thanksgiving. 124. Of restoration. 125. Expectation of things to come. 126. Edification of the Church. 127. Calling of the nations. 128. Victory of the army of Christ. 129. Prayer of the martyrs. 130. On humility. 131. Prayer of David and the manifestation (of Christ). 132. Of the perfect people. 133. Of the coming people. 134. Introductory teaching. 135. Thanksgiving of the redeemed. 136. Voices of the saints in captivity. 137. Thanksgiving with prophecy. 138. Intercession of the righteous man with theology. 139. Voices of the one who struggles according to God. 140. Prayer of the one who is perfect according to God. 141. Voices of the one who is warred against according to God. 142. Prayer of the one who confesses. 143. Thanksgiving of the one who has conquered. 144. Hymn with theology. 145. Hymn with theology. 146. Hymn with theology. 147. Hymn with theology. 148. Hymn with theology. 149. Hymn with theology. 150. Universal exhortation to offer a hymn.

EUSEBIUS ON THE PSALMS

^D The psalmus (psalm) appears to have been so named from the psalterium (psaltery) due to the consonance of the words. Now the psalterium is a musical instrument, distinct from the cithara in its shape, in which the song sounded forth on it is called a psalm. But an ode is a musical utterance produced melodiously without an instrument. A psalm is said to be of an ode, when the melody of the ode having preceded it, it is played upon the psaltery; and an ode is of a psalm, conversely. As is related in the histories of Kingdoms (Kings) and Chronicles, King David, after the death of Saul, when he had brought back the Ark of the Testament of the Lord, which had sat in the house of Obed-Edom for twenty years since it had been transported from the Azotians, and established it in Jerusalem, he chose from the tribe of Levi by lot the psalm-singers...

four leaders of song, to play and sing before the ark to the Lord, and to raise a voice of gladness in confession and praise with harmonious instruments, and songs, and cinyrae, and nables, and tympani, and cymbals, and psalteries, and horn-trumpets: namely Asaph, Heman, Ethan, and Idithum; to whom a set number of songs was prescribed, two hundred and eighty-eight singing, with seventy-two to each: thirty-two from the progeny of Cham, twenty-five from Sem, and fifteen from Japheth. These, standing before the ark of the Covenant of the Lord, played and sang to the Lord; one with a cinyra, another with cymbals, another with a cithara, another with a psaltery; in the midst of whom stood the blessed David, ^B himself the leader of the leaders of song, holding the psaltery in his hands. And each one sang and played, hymning God as ordained by the Holy Spirit. Whenever, therefore, the Spirit would leap upon one of the leaders of the singers, the others would remain silent, standing by and responding in concert to the one singing, Alleluia.

In the Hebrew book of the Psalms, ^C all are inscribed without the addition of numbers, and vary. Some are joined together, others are divided. Indeed, the first and second are joined according to the Hebrew; and again, the ninth, which is joined among us, is divided into two in the Hebrew text. It must be noted, however, that the order of the psalms is not established according to the sequence of the times of history, but is much interchanged, as the book of Kings and this very order declare. Since, therefore, the Jewish people were held by much idolatry, they say it came to such a pass that they obliterated the native scriptures from memory, so that neither was the book of the Mosaic law found any longer, nor did they preserve the memory of the piety of their fathers. Thus, they killed the prophets who convicted them of their impieties. ^D Nothing, therefore, is surprising if, in such a condition of the times, some psalms that formerly occurred in the book of the Psalms should have fallen out through the long course of years due to neglect. But after this, they say that either Ezra or certain other prophets took upon themselves the care of collecting them, and thereafter consecrated the book of Psalms, not all found at once, but at different times. And they set first those which were found first; and hence it happened that those which were written by David do not lie in sequence, but are mixed with those that are inscribed to the sons of Core, and to Asaph, and Solomon, and Moses, and Heman, and Ethan, and Idithum, and again of David, being arranged in the book not according to the times in which they were spoken, but according to the times in which they were found. From this it came about that those which were later in time, being found first, were taken up earlier; and those earlier ones found after this were placed in the second position; and you might find the same thing to have happened in the prophets. All things are stored in the book of Psalms as in some large and common treasury. But one must also note...

^A that the book of Psalms contains a new teaching after the legislation of Moses, and that this book exists as a second instructional writing after the Mosaic law. After the death of Moses and Joshua, and after the time of the Judges, David arose, who was accounted worthy to be called the father of the Savior; and he first delivered to the Hebrews a new manner, namely, that of psalmody, by which he abolishes note: that is, removes the sacrificial laws, not by abolishing them in practice, but by announcing that they are to be abrogated those things which had been legislated concerning sacrifices under Moses, and introduces a new manner of divine worship through hymns and jubilation; and he teaches many other things throughout his entire work that far exceed the law of Moses.

Eusebius of Caesarea on the Diapsalma

PSALM I

*And hath not stood in the way of sinners, and hath not sat in the seat of the pestilent.* The first are those who are possessed of knowledge falsely so called, who have nothing firm or stable, but following their own whim, are moved by unexamined thoughts regarding whatever they might wish—the ungodly. The second are all those who fall into sins after understanding the truth. The third are the pestilent, not only being sick themselves but also corrupting the vir

^Atuous through their own bad teaching, whether by knowledge or by practice, or by both; these are settled in evil, the second [group] being those who stand in sins, and the first [group] being those who walk on the path of error. But he who is removed from all of these is blessed.

'But his will is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he will meditate day and night.' Since there is a great difference between those who are compelled to do good by the fear of punishment, and those who choose the good itself by their own will, for this reason he says: 'In the law of the Lord is his will.' By "law" he does not entirely mean the shadowy and typical law, but much rather the spiritual word hidden within it. Perhaps the law of the Lord might also be that which is naturally sown in all humans, by which guide it is said that the saints who were before the law of Moses lived righteously; concerning whom the Apostle says: "For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law—that is, the written one—do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law unto themselves."^B Or, the law of the Lord might be the evangelical word proclaimed to all nations by the Lord and Savior himself.

'And he shall be like the tree planted by the streams of waters, which will give its fruit in its season.' He who spends his entire life and every moment, night and day, in the divine law, and is watered by the rational streams coming from it, is most fittingly compared to a tree rooted by waters; wherefore this man is truly blessed, inasmuch as he is watered by divine teachings and yields his fruit ripe.

Then, since the Son of God is the tree of life, according to Solomon who said concerning Wisdom: "She is a tree of life for all who lay hold of her and rely upon her as upon a sure Lord," ^C rightly is the man declared blessed compared to the Son of God, who is [planted] by the streams of the waters, being witnessed and proclaimed by the teachers of divine Scripture and the prophets—who are also called in the divinely inspired Scripture "streams of waters." To this man, therefore, the one who is declared blessed is likened, being watered by the streams of spiritual springs from divine Scripture, and bringing forth good fruit.

'And his leaf shall not fall, and all things whatsoever he does shall prosper.' And his leaves, as another says, being different from the perfect fruit—namely, the affairs of this mortal life and human living, in which that perfect fruit is observed and kept and does not fall away—are preserved so long as he takes care to live uprightly; ^D and therefore, in all things he does, he shall be guided to success by God. In another way, the blessed man, being watered throughout by the rational waters of divine teaching and experiencing the proper cultivation in this present life, shall give his own fruit in his own time. And his time is the age to come,

^A because it is not his own in the present, but belongs to another; wherefore, in that time of his own, he shall render to God the fruits of the cultivation here. And in another way, too, he who is called blessed, having been transplanted from the mortal life, shall have the promise of being in the paradise of God, like the tree which is planted by the watercourses.

VERS. 4. *Not so the ungodly, not so, but as the dust which the wind drives away from the face of the earth.* Such is the blessed man, as the Word has described; but he is rare and found only among a few. ^B Many, however, are the ungodly, who, having nothing, speak evil of the blessed man; for having acquired fruit that is temporary, scattered, and perishing, they have become as the dust which the wind drives away from the face of the earth.

VERS. 5. *Therefore the ungodly shall not rise in judgment, nor sinners in the counsel of the just.* You should understand "in the counsel of the just" generally, so that the meaning is this: Since the ungodly brought forth nothing fertile, nothing vital, nor any fruit worthy of God—such as the righteous have given—therefore, in the time of judgment, neither sinners nor the ungodly shall rise in the counsel of the just. ^C Instead of "counsel," Aquila and Theodotion have translated "synagogue," and Symmachus "assembly." One should therefore understand "counsel" here to mean the assembly of the saints, as was said in the beginning. In a secondary sense, the assembly of the ungodly is signified by the phrase "in the counsel of the ungodly." Nevertheless, they shall rise for punishment and retribution: *For God shall bring every work into judgment for every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.* Note, however, that David is the first to have clearly taught both the resurrection and the judgment that will follow the resurrection, as well as the promise of the future life, whereas Moses delivered nothing of this nature.

VERS. 6. *For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the ungodly shall perish.* I would have you note here generally, that the good is indeed known by the Lord, but the evil is not at all. ^D For the way of the righteous is good, and he does not say, "The Lord knows the way of the ungodly," that is, of those who perish, but: *The Lord knoweth them that are his.* And the way of the righteous is he who said, *I am the way*; and that: *See what the good way is.* To these the psalm refers.

PSALM OF DAVID II.

VERS. 1. *Why did the nations rage, and the peoples imagine vain things?* He brings forward a prophecy in which the advent of Christ is announced; how, namely, he is to be plotted against by the Jews, but will rule over all nations, and how all who have placed their hope in him will be happy through his works. The first psalm, therefore, speaking sparingly, pronounced him alone blessed who has attained salvation; but this present psalm calls a multitude to this blessedness. For it embraces the calling of all nations, and invites the kingdoms of the earth to salvation. And he predicts that all these good things will come to men through Christ, most consistently. For it was necessary that we, having learned beforehand regarding

the two ways, should next be instructed in matters concerning the Savior; through whom all men, having escaped the way of the impious, have attained the way of salvation through faith in him: which the Word ^A makes clear, saying: Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

VERS. 2. The kings of the earth stood round about, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. The Savior, the Christ of God, has visited men; the Savior, I say, and the light for all nations, the teacher of piety, the leader of temperance, the minister of justice, the cause of all virtues and of true divine knowledge. Why, then, he says, do the nations rage at the arrival of so many good things? If he has come who fulfills and perfects the law of Moses, as he himself teaches, saying: I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill, and if through him the oracles of the prophets have reached their end; what cause is there that those who meditate on these things and strive to have them in their mouths—the peoples of the Jewish nation, that is—should have engaged in vain meditation and concern against him? Nay, but the rulers of the nations throughout the whole habitable world, and the kings of the earth in various ages—having suffered what distress, or having what cause worthy of slander to speak of—did all together, at the same time, join in ^B this wicked conspiracy, so as to weave one plot and determine upon one impious resolve against the Lord and King of all, God, and against his Christ? Those kings and rulers of the earth, therefore, who waged war against the Savior of men sent by the Lord and God of all, and who persecuted his teaching and his Church at various times, have failed to perceive that they were extending their impiety not only against Christ, but also against him by whom Christ was sent. We have it, then, clearly expressed in this prophecy that Christ was specifically the object of men's plots; but in what follows, he is called the Son of God; and it is taught that all the nations and the ends of the earth will be given to him as an inheritance from the Father: all of which is shown to be fulfilled in our Savior alone. Since, however, there were other Christs among the Jews—priests, that is, and kings of that nation—weigh for me, I pray, which of them the things said in the prophecy have befallen: whether anyone else was the object of plots; whether anyone else has been called the Son of God; whether anyone else has ruled over all the nations; whether anyone else has been known as Christ ^C throughout the whole habitable world. But no one would be able to say so; for our Savior Jesus Christ alone has filled the whole world with his own name, having filled the entire habitable world with Christians so called from him; and in him alone has each of the things mentioned found its fulfillment.

Diapsalma. In the Septuaginta interpreters the diapsalma is present, but it is not in Theodotion and Symmachus. And yet they are accustomed to use this word frequently, just as the Septuaginta interpreters do. Wherefore, ^D even if here the person...

^A has changed, it is nevertheless right that the same musical rhythm be preserved, and for this reason Theodotion and Symmachus did not add the *diapsalma*. "Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us. He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall have them in derision." We believe these [verses] are provided for in the same way as the first verses, those preceding the *diapsalma*.

Vers. 3. "Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us." The nations, bound by the chains of their own sins and not being free, are tied by their own evils; and Christ speaks, either to the angels ministering to him, or to the Father and the Holy Spirit, or thirdly to his apostles and the heralds of the Gospel, exhorting them to the breaking and shedding of such ^B bonds: "Let us break their bonds asunder." But the peoples, who are detained corporally under the yoke of the Law, the disregard of which he himself is the author, inasmuch as it contains laws that are not good and statutes that are not good, being brought through Christ to the spiritual law which has good laws and good statutes, set aside the heavy yoke of the killing letter, the Saviour saying to his aforementioned ministers: "Let us cast away their yoke from us." Now the word "from us" can be understood in this way: Let us throw it far from ourselves, hesitating in nothing, and not moved by the supplication of those who are burdened by that yoke. In this way, too, it is permitted to understand "from us." I myself, who live and dwell among the peoples who meditate vain things, am under their yoke, being circumcised. "And let us cast away their yoke," that is, from me and from those who agree with me and observe the law, which brings no salvation, as if it were saving. Or in this way: because we judge that to be a burden imposed upon us, let us cast away their yoke. For we dare to affirm that this affection is in Christ, on account of his love toward those who are oppressed by the yoke; such as is also found in all men of mercy, who count the sins of others as their own.

^C Vers. 4. Let these things be said concerning men, both the Gentiles and the Jews. But now that which follows—"He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh"—must be joined with this, "The kings of the earth stood up," whom God, who dwelleth in heaven, shall laugh at, as being possessed of an earthly mind. For they have not understood the divine economy concerning the incarnation of Christ and his wisdom. But the phrase, "and the Lord shall have them in derision," is to be referred to this saying: "The princes assembled together," that is to say, so that those princes might be mocked by Christ who have gathered against the Lord and against his Christ. Now these words are suitable for the Son of the good God; because, even if the nations have raged, and the peoples have meditated vain things, yet let us break the bonds of the raging nations, and let us cast away the yoke of the peoples who meditate on vanities.

But because the aforementioned kings of the earth and the princes no longer accept the remedy so easily, the Holy Spirit commands, [concerning] the nations and peoples, the kings and ^D the princes, regarding those things [done] against the Lord and against his Christ

^A to break the bonds of idolatry, and to cast off the heavy yoke of sin from their own soul, to which we were previously subjected, being enslaved to other masters; so that, having been liberated from them, we might take up the light yoke of the Savior, to which he invites us saying: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for it is easy." These things were spoken to the nations given to Christ by the Father, the discourse anticipating those who were about to approach the teaching of Christ, and exhorting them no longer to bear the ancient yoke upon their shoulders, nor to remain in the chains of their former sins. ^B But even if some were formerly their masters and bitter princes—namely, the evil demons of old who tyrannized the nations, and whom they actually called gods, imposing upon them a heavy and burdensome yoke, causing their souls to bow down to the lowest things, and binding them with the bonds of impiety—they are commanded to flee the dominion of all these; and to take refuge in the Redeemer and Savior, who has received them as an inheritance from his own Father. Let us, he says, do these things, we who have been made worthy of Christ's inheritance, knowing that "He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them"—namely, the nations and the peoples who have risen up against his Christ—"and the Lord shall have them in derision." These things were long ago foretold prophetically; but the Jewish nation suffered them, having been besieged immediately ^C after their plot against the Savior. And as time has gone on, the enemies of the Church of Christ, always fought by an invisible hand, have experienced the same [fate] from the Lord who dwells in the heavens, whom they themselves were attacking with war.

"Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and in his fury he shall trouble them." Truly, in the time of judgment, they will face the danger of divine wrath, and all the enemies of the saving word will be troubled by his fury. Since he himself who was nailed by them and delivered to death, who dwells in heaven and encompasses all things, will laugh at them, and his Father, who is fought against along with Christ, will hold them in derision and will exact from them the punishment they deserve, if indeed the words of threat are words proclaimed in anger. ^D

"But I have been established king by him upon Sion his holy hill, declaring the command of the Lord." These things, he says, will be suffered by those who have gathered against the Lord and against his Christ, and such will be the end for them. But as for me, that after such a plot and so many sufferings I have been established king by the Father himself, and am to declare to you the paternal command—this would be the evangelical proclamation. But if the holy hill of God is the heavenly one, concerning which Paul says: "Ye are come unto mount Sion," and again: "But that which is above

^A Jerusalem is free," ^A he says that the kingdom is established for him there; and that which is on earth is a part of the heavenly Church, since it also strives toward the same end. It is possible, however, to understand how Christ was established as King by the Father in the heavenly Sion, from what is said to him: "Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." For what enemies, if not those mentioned above, who gathered against him, and the rulers, kings, nations, and peoples who stood by? For the Father has promised to subject these under his feet.

^B Verse 7. "The Lord said unto me: Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee." The word "today" is a name of time, and signifies the same as "the present day." A day is a certain interval of time. Why, then, does the Lord say to him: "This day have I begotten thee"? Clearly, he spoke concerning the temporal generation which took place through the economy; for concerning that which is without beginning, David himself says: "From the womb, before the morning star, I have begotten thee." He is begotten today, then, not receiving the beginning of existence at his birth, but coming into adoption according to the fleshly economy. And whoever receives from him the power to become a child of God, when, regenerated by baptism, he becomes a son, being something else before he was a son, he is then ennobled. It is said that the proper meaning of the Hebrew text is "I have brought forth," which Aquila has also used. But the Apostle, being learned in the law, made use of the Seventy Interpreters in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

That these things have been fulfilled in our Savior Jesus Christ, and not in another, is declared; for that: ^C Verse 8. "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession," no one could say had been seen and fulfilled in any other of the ancient prophets of God. For neither did Moses rule over all nations, nor David, nor Solomon, nor any other of those prophets or kings who have been from the ages: but to our Savior alone does the manifestation of the facts testify; since "their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world."

Verse 9. "Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Having received authority over all, you shall shepherd those former ones who raged against you and meditated vain things, but also those kings of the earth and rulers who stood by and gathered against you, not with the pastoral rod of gentle sheep, which consists in discourses and saving teachings; for by such a rational rod the sheep of Christ are guided in his folds, in the Churches and in the spiritual pastures of the holy Scriptures; but with a rod of iron, by which you shall dash both them and their thoughts in pieces,

^A in the manner of [a potter’s] earthenware vessel, he says. He calls the Roman Empire a rod of iron, for it became more powerful after the appearance of our Savior. For from that time, when the many princedoms of the nations and the ethnarchies of the various regions were abolished, the Roman Empire became sole sovereign, which the prophecy of Daniel also called iron, saying concerning the image: "its legs and feet are of iron," and providing the interpretation by saying: "The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; for just as iron ^B breaks in pieces and subdues all things." But concerning the vision of the prophet: "And behold," he says, "a fourth beast, terrible and dreadful, and its teeth were of iron, eating and breaking in pieces, and it trampled the rest with its feet." Therefore, the Word asserts that this is also indicated in the present instance: "You shall shepherd them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel." For by a hidden and invisible power, having received from the Father the nations of the whole world as his inheritance, Christ shepherds those who have recognized him and have come into his fold, bringing them in and leading them out to good pastures, so that his flock—for it was a rational one—says: "The Lord shepherds me, and I shall lack nothing. In a place of green pastures, he has there made me to dwell; he has nurtured me by water of rest, he has restored my soul." But those of the nations who are unruly and exalt themselves against his sheep, he subjects to the rod of iron, taming and crushing them through the Roman sovereignty. Thus it happens that the spirits and impulses of the insatiable nations against the Church of God are checked through the Roman threat, for the rulers of cities and the populace would not have allowed the teaching of Christ, which is subversive of their polytheistic error, to stand in their midst, had not the Roman fear been fixed upon them, and had not orders ^C that crushed them and did not allow them to raise their heads bridled and crushed their tempers. And also, by another divine and ineffable power, Christ shepherds his own sheep gently, never departing from them, according to the promise he made, saying: "Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst." And again: "Behold, I am with you all the days, even unto the end of the world." But those who rise up against his flock in times of persecution, he himself again pursues, punishing them with a hidden and invisible power with a rod of iron, but he also crushes their pride and the elevation of their arrogance like potter’s vessels; so that already thousands of them, driven by his divinely-sent scourges, have given glory to God and confessed their impieties. "You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel"—he does not crush them in order to destroy and consume them, but in order to reform them; for this is the purpose ^D of the potter, when he shatters his own vessels, when they still...

^A offer no resistance to the fire. The blessed prophet Jeremiah bears witness to these things, speaking as if from God: "Shall I not be able to do to you as the potter, O house of Israel, saith the Lord?" that is, to reshape those who have fallen and, in turn, to restore them to their original form.

VERS. 10-12. *And now, O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, all ye that judge the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto him with trembling. Lay hold on discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry.* He is clearly expounding the evangelical law, having transferred his language from there to the princes and kings who are to be shepherded with a rod of iron. He says: "Heus! Ye who are wise and understand how great is the power of him who has received the nations from the Father as an inheritance, and what sort of iron rod it is that is raised up against you, cease warring against him; but rather, having received understanding and rational discipline, yield yourselves to be instructed."

VERS. 13. *When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, blessed are all they that trust in him.* The blessed Paul declared that wrath and fury are not passions in God, by saying: "But according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath" (Rom. ii, 5). ^B By this he signifies that the punishment of sins is called fury and wrath. "They," he says, "who trust in Christ himself, who is prophetically foretold throughout the whole of this psalm, will be found blessed before long, for the present life is brief." By these words he records in writing those things which were lacking in the first psalm. For it is not enough not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor to stand in the way of sinners, and to meditate in the law; but one must not meditate in vain, but from those things it is fitting to come to the knowledge of Christ, and to enter into his portion and inheritance, and to trust in him through faith and works. Since, therefore, the sentiment of these two psalms is one, they are rightly joined together among the Hebrews.

EXPLANATION OF PSALM III

He necessarily notes the time so that he may connect the history of the Books of Kings with the words he has spoken, and so that we might learn that after the sin committed with the ^C wife of Uriah, he brought forth so much fruit of repentance that he was again inspired by the divine Spirit to sing psalms. For the rebellion of Absalom against his father follows the history of what was done regarding Uriah. From this, an example is taken by others of repentance and of a change from former evils to a better life; and this teaching will be one of sincere conversion to God. And besides this, it is proper for the righteous to be afflicted; wherefore the Savior says: "In the world you shall have distress (John xvi, 33); and narrow and strait is the way that leadeth to life" (Matt. vii, 14).

VERS. 2-4. *Lord, why are they multiplied that afflict me? Many rise up against me. Many say to ^D

my soul: There is no salvation for him in his God. But Thou, O Lord, art my protector, my glory, and the lifter up of my head.* ^A All who have chosen to live according to God must expect persecutions. For, as the Apostle says: "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (II Tim. iii, 12). But in all things it is fitting to endure hardships bravely, since the struggle for us is neither for a short time, nor against a few, but against many and strong opponents—not only men, but also invisible enemies. And according to the historical account, David, having been attacked in war by Saul from his youth, and afterwards by thousands of others, and finally driven from his kingdom and put to flight by his own son, spoke these words during the time of his flight. It is characteristic of enemies to rush upon and rise up against those who fall into misfortune. Wherefore, after David’s sin with the wife of Uriah, many—those, clearly, who rejoiced in the misfortunes of others—rose up against him. For a long time, and from ages past, the head of him who is exalted according to the body is raised up, ^B looming over the heads of the lowly, which are bowed downward, through envy. In the same way, while the soul of the blessed man grows and is raised to a higher degree of magnitude, as is fitting for souls, God indeed assisting and drawing to Himself into heaven him who offers himself to be led to higher things. But whereas He who is munificent bestows upon man much more than he himself can attain by his own desire, and surpasses with His gifts him who works for good according to his ability, Paul, therefore, ascribing the cause of every good to God, says: "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy" (Rom. ix, 16). God, therefore, and the virtue of the holy man, grant increase to the soul and raise it entirely to higher things; but malice and its ally, the power that is hostile to men, constricts and reduces to a narrow space the soul that does not follow God; and it becomes so short and stunted that, as the outpouring of malice overwhelms it, such a soul is reckoned as nothing, according to Isaiah: "For sinners were counted as nothing." And like as dust is the smallest of all bodies, so wholly wicked souls, ^C being greatly diminished, are as the dust which the wind driveth away. One must understand the reasoning faculty to be the head of the soul; for it is impossible even to imagine anything more excellent than this, just as the head excels the body. This reasoning faculty, therefore, which is called the head of the soul in a more figurative sense, is in some raised upwards, while it looks to things above, and transcends not only the earth but all bodies as well, so that it reaches even to God. But it must be observed that God is celebrated here in a triple manner, and is expressed in the first, then the second, and finally the third order. For he says first that God is his protector, then his glory, and finally the lifter up of his head. And He is our protector—and the name itself clearly signifies one who ^D supports—so that He may deliver us from the many who afflict and rise up and despair of the salvation of him who says these things.

After saying "sustainer," he follows with "glory": first God sustains, then He bestows glory, and finally He exalts the head of the one who has been glorified. For if he has risen with Christ, and minds the things that are above, not those upon the earth, his head shall be exalted by the Lord, who is the Word, being the glory of the One who contained Him, which is the glory that he who does not receive glory from men seeks from the only God. You will understand how the head of David was exalted if you give heed to how the name of David has been proclaimed throughout the whole inhabited world and among all nations on account of Christ the Son of God, who was born from his seed according to the flesh; for he was not so glorified and exalted when he was among men and ruling only over Israel—and especially after the rebellion of Absalom and the war waged against him—as he has been adorned with glory through the saving theophany of Him who came forth from his seed according to the flesh. ^A

Next is "glory" to the sustainer; first, "With my voice I cried to the Lord, and He heard me from His holy mountain." The preceding psalm also makes mention of this mountain, where it said: "But I have been established as king by Him on Zion, His holy mountain." But it was Christ who was saying those things in that place; and now, therefore, David testifies that he is to be heard by Him from His holy mountain. And who does he say will hear him, if not the Lord who has been established as King on Zion, His holy mountain? For he believed that through Him alone he would obtain remission, and that He is his glory and the One who exalts his head. Since, therefore, he had clearly foretold that he would be glorified and that his head would be exalted, he now declares when this would happen to him with these words: "With my voice I cried to the Lord, and He heard me from His holy mountain." ^B

VERS. 6. "I slept and took my rest; I arose, for the Lord will sustain me." He prophesies future events here as if they were past; for just as it was said in the second psalm: "Why did the nations rage, and the peoples meditate on empty things? The kings of the earth stood up and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ," and yet these things were understood as being in the future, so too now, the passage "I slept and took my rest" is spoken prophetically, to mean: "I shall sleep and shall take my rest, and I shall arise, for You, O Lord, are my sustainer, my glory, and the One who exalts my head." For in this he signifies the time when these things are to happen to Him; for after He has slept, he says, He shall arise, because the Lord will sustain Him. By "sleeping," he signifies death, after which he prophesies that these things will occur for Him, referring to the time of the Savior's life, upon the completion of which the prophecy reached its end; when the Son of Man, Christ, descended even to Hades and was revealed as Savior to those waiting there for His arrival, such that at the time of His resurrection from the dead, many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose together with Him, among whom it is probable that the soul of David was numbered. Relying on the power of the resurrection of the ^{C D}

of David. Trusting in the power of the resurrection of the Savior, ^A by which he himself was also to be raised after sleeping, he says:

VER. 7. *I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of the people surrounding me.* For he foresaw that ten thousand opposing powers would desire to hinder the resurrection of the saints, envying their salvation; all of whom, he says, I will count as nothing, trusting in my Defender, the victor over death, who by shattering the bronze gates and breaking the iron bars, opened the gates of death which had been closed from of old, and provided a way of resurrection for his acquaintances located there, of whom David was one. Therefore, in another psalm he said: "You have made known to me the ways of life; you will fill me with gladness with your face" (Ps. XVI, 11).

VER. 8. *Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God. For you have struck all who are hostile to me without cause; you have broken the teeth of sinners.* Salvation is of the Lord, and your blessing is upon your people. Having believed in the foreknowledge of what was to happen to him after his sleep—that is, death—through saving grace and benefit, and believing that it would not be otherwise than with the resurrection of the Savior himself, he consequently prays for the Lord's resurrection to be hastened, so that through it he too might attain salvation; for which reason he says: "Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God." Knowing the Savior to be the victor over all the machinations ^B against the human race, against the evil demons and the opposing powers, he says: "For you have struck all who are hostile to me without cause." The Hebrew text does not have "without cause" here, but "the cheek"; however, the Seventy translators rendered it "without cause," either because the ancient copies were different, as some of the Hebrews testify, or because they were avoiding the baseness of the word. And by representing God as though he were sleeping when he delivered us for the sake of trial to the opposing powers, he rouses him from sleep. And perhaps even then the Father was "sleeping," when he delivered our Savior for us all; but he is aroused to confer salvation upon him and strike his enemies, both the Jews and the intelligible enemies who hated him without cause. For even toward those who hate him, the holy man is peaceful, loving his enemies; it is more human to want to take vengeance on one who hates without cause, but it is more godly to do so for the sake of telling the truth. ^C For Paul said: "Am I become your enemy by telling you the truth?" (Gal. IV, 16), which is similar also to that in the Psalms: "Did I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?" (Ps. CXXXVIII, 21). But one must not understand this as a hostile enmity, but as a preventative one, as wickedness is being poured out upon many. For one ought to apply the powerful help through oneself or through another, or lastly, to pray for the correction of the evil habit, that is, for it to be rooted out of the one who possesses it; of which the teaching is also: "Pray for those who mistreat you," and "Love your enemies." But he who does not love simply, but also [seeks] for his own good ^D

or seeks that it be rooted out from him who is so affected—a matter taught by the seventh psalm which says: "If I have rendered evil to those who render evil to me, I shall fall empty from my enemies,"—clearly teaches that no one should be hated. How then is it said: "Did I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?" Or rather, who is so godless as to hate him whom he believes to be God? It is clear, therefore, that those who hate and curse Jesus hate God; for "He who receives me," he says, "receives him who sent me," and "He who confesses the Son has the Father also." Consequently, he who hates the Son hates the Father too. And every sinner hates God, for he hates wisdom and justice, which Christ is. And what is surprising, seeing that the sinner hates himself? For according to Solomon: "He who rejects instruction hates himself." Therefore, he who hates those who hate God will, except for prudent and religious men, hate everyone, and indeed [will hate] his own self when he sins. We must not think that it is living creatures that hate God, but rather the evils that befall men, such as wickedness; and the unjust man, insofar as he is unjust, hates God, because the wickedness that is in him acts in this way. And we must hate these things, as they are enemies, primarily to ourselves. And just as justice and temperance come from perfection, so too does hatred of this kind. Therefore, everyone who hates someone hates him rashly and in vain, which is what I undertook to demonstrate; of this kind also is the saying, "They hated me without a cause."

Regarding those who earlier said of his soul, "There is no salvation for him in his God," he now says: ^{C B} "You have crushed the teeth of sinners," meaning that you have taken away the words and blasphemies uttered against me, and indeed you have crushed those who spread such things against me—impious men who rejoice in the misfortunes of others—and you have confounded their voices. And you have granted [the resurrection] not only to me after my decease, but to all your people who were to be yours. It is to be noted that in the place of the word "salvation," the Hebrew vocable is used, which expresses the name of Jesus; and indeed, the conclusion of the whole psalm comprises two heads of doctrine: that the power of the Lord is salvation, and that he himself will grant a blessing to his own people who have attained salvation through him. This blessing is, of course, entirely spiritual, according to the dictum of the Apostle who said: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." Hence, at the birth of the Savior, it was said to Joseph by the angel: "And you shall call his name Jesus; for he himself will save his people," who are also called blessed by the Word. These things have been spoken by way of contemplation of the matters before us. One could also say that these things were fulfilled to the letter, having been foretold prophetically by David in the time and circumstances, when the son

^A of his was pursuing him; yet it was brought to an end not long after, when in the collision of battle Absalom fell, and likewise those who stood with his faction also fell. And that prediction of David prevailed, which said: "For you have struck all those who are hostile to me without cause; you have broken the teeth of sinners. Salvation belongs to the Lord, and your blessing is upon your people." These things, therefore, were spoken prophetically, as if the people were already saved and brought under David’s rule.

ENARRATIO PSALMI IV.

^B(1)

In the end, in hymns, a psalm of David.

^A For it is the voice of the saints: "We are troubled in every way, but not distressed" (II Cor. IV, 8). He also turns back those who happen to be of a heavy heart, those who love vanity and seek after lies. The "melody," beyond the "song," seems to indicate the artificiality of a mystical rhythm; and if it is led to the correct standard of understanding, it is a way of life oriented toward the glory of God, along with sound doctrine and words arranged for the benefit of others.

^B VERSE 2. *When I called, the God of my justice heard me; in tribulation thou hast enlarged me.* The previous psalm was spoken when David was fleeing from the face of Absalom his son; the present one seems to have been uttered after that one, namely, after the victory was won over Absalom. With this deed, he consecrates to God, the giver of victory, a triumphal hymn—this very psalm—by which we also are instructed not to be unmindful of the benefits of God toward us. Deservedly, therefore, in the former he said: "Lord, why are they multiplied that afflict me?" and in this one: "In tribulation thou hast enlarged me." He is speaking here of the calamity brought about by Absalom, in which, when he had called upon God, he found Him to be propitious; and having been in tribulation for the sake of the people and the Ark of the Lord, he obtained rest and enlargement when the war ceased and the deepest peace enveloped both him and all the people. ^C Or perhaps he says these things on the occasion of the fall with the wife of Uriah, the rebellion of his son, and all the other calamities that befell him at home. For when, on account of all these things, he had given himself over to affliction, and had turned himself to repentance and confession, and as if in competition had taken upon himself the punishment for his sin, he rendered God propitious through fruits of justice and good works of every kind of well-doing. Having obtained a good promise, by which he was moved to say prophetically in the previous psalm: "But thou, O Lord, art my protector, my glory, and the lifter up of my head," and the rest that the previous discourse set forth, he consequently declares in the words before us: "When I called, the God of my justice heard me; in tribulation thou hast enlarged me. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer." And first, being heard when he called upon the Lord, he is not puffed up with pride, ^D nor does he fall into sloth; but immediately, being anxious about the future, he prays again, beseeching God to be propitious to him forever. He entreats to be heard out of mercy, not out of debt. For even if some fruit of justice was present in him, he said that he did not trust in this, but in the mercy and compassions of God.

VERSE 3. *O ye sons of men, how long will you be of a heavy heart, why do you love vanity and seek after lies?* He has called "those of a heavy heart" those whose mind is dulled and who are slow to listen to the divine word, or those whose conscience is laden with wicked thoughts. Rebuking them with the word, he says: "How long will you persevere in your sins, when you ought to hasten..."

unto repentance and confession beloved by God?" If, however, the history is considered, David seems to address those who are troubled by temptations and various events, and who do everything rather than take refuge in God. What need is there, he says, to be troubled and in an uproar because of the circumstances of the times? Why does it help to give yourselves over to vanity, O heavy-hearted men? Why seek out falsehood, having abandoned the truth? But because you have learned from this that God and the Lord is the overseer and provider of all things, who never forsakes any of his ^A saints, but is always showing forth wonders on their behalf, strive yourselves to become saints, knowing well and accurately that the Lord will heed you just as he also heeds me, when you cry out to him. And when the Lord has heard you, there is no need for any further anxiety, since you have the assurance of his help. Now, the "sons of men" may be the glory of the divine word, according to Aquila and Symmachus; for Aquila has it thus: "How long, O my glorious ones?" But Symmachus says: "How long, my glory?"—that is, on account of the soul which is endowed with the power of understanding and is rational, made in the image of God. The Psalmist rebukes those whom he calls heavy-hearted men and sons of men for distorting themselves toward worse things, whereas they ought to have been ^B sons of God, according to the text: "I said: You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High."

And know that the Lord has made his holy one wonderful. The Prophet instructs us about Christ, who is the true holy one, as is held in the 15th Psalm; and the apostles also bore witness that this was spoken as a prophecy concerning Christ, saying: "You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will you give your holy one to see corruption." Yet it is possible for us to be taught here concerning any saint. But believing that the Lord has made his holy one wonderful is not the same thing as knowing, just as it is not the same thing to believe the truth and to know the truth, and to believe God and to know God. The apostles certainly believed the truth; but while they believed it, they did not entirely know it. The evidence for these things is the Gospel, where it is said: "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." For he says that those who believe ^C the truth will know the truth; for according to the prophets, one must believe before one understands and speaks; Isaiah saying: "If you do not believe, neither shall you understand"; and David: "I believed, therefore I have spoken." That there is a difference between knowing God and believing him is described in the Psalms with these words: "Be still and know that I am God"—for he does not say to those who do not believe: "Be still and know that I am God." Since, therefore, the word calls us to knowledge, it indicates at the same time the knowledge of what it is we ought to attain; namely, to become wonderful ones and saints, ^D

^A brought near by wonders to the ineffable mysteries and holy contemplations, and themselves becoming wonderful on account of the grace of God Himself and divine inspection.

VERS. 5. *Be angry, and sin not: what you say in your hearts, be pricked in your beds.* He advises restraining the passion of anger, if at any time it is stirred up in a resentful manner, and exhorts us not to move into action under the impulse of wrath. He does not speak these things unseasonably; but since those who stood with David were going forth to war against Absalom, as was natural, in anger, being indignant at the rebellion of the son against the father; for this reason he seems to speak such things to them: "You indeed, O men, my fellow soldiers, who are truly my glorious ones, being as it were sons of men with heavy hearts, and clinging to the vanity of this mortal life, knowing not the just judgment of God against the impious, are angry against the impious son; and being justly moved, and indignantly enraged, you go forth to war. But I warn you all: although your anger is reasonable, yet you ought not to forget your own forbearance, nor be so inflamed as to fall into sin. Wherefore I say: Be angry, ^B but do not sin." And if, according to Aquila, you are also shaken in your souls on account of the things audaciously committed by Absalom, yet take care lest, by persisting in anger, you add a new sin to the former ones. Moreover, you will find in the history that he himself had commanded them greatly to spare the lad.

VERS. 6, 7. *Offer the sacrifice of justice, and trust in the Lord.* Even if, as mortal men, you are much occupied with many thoughts, and are moved to anger through the day, yet in your beds, at rest when you are by yourselves, and reflecting on what you have done during the day, feel compunction. Do not, therefore, be stirred to anger against those who attack you with crimes, ^C nor against the son who is rebelling against his father; nor, even if the impious provoke you and incite you to wrath, should you fall into sin; but rather, if you desire to dwell in safety, offer the sacrifice of justice, and trust in the Lord, and be no longer troubled, having been made familiar with the Lord through justice. Since He delights in works of justice and right actions more than in every sacrifice; for it is much better to act thus than to be angry and strive to avenge yourselves. On this account, when the son rebelled, this alone was my concern, that I might appease God through justice; ^D whence, *In my calling, the God of my justice heard me:* and, *In tribulation Thou hast enlarged me,* because, having offered the sacrifice of justice, I hoped in Him.

*Many say: Who will show us good things?* Some indeed, he says, thinking otherwise, and especially those who are sons of men with heavy hearts, who love the vanity of life, not knowing what are truly good things, and neither hoping nor believing that they will ever see these, say: *Who will show us good things?* For they do not perceive

them, because they are not illuminated by the light of thy countenance; wherefore, supposing only earthly and corruptible things to be good, they are busy about these and pursue them. But if anyone should speak to them of things divine and heavenly, they are accustomed to ask: "And who, then, is he who will show these things to us?" Such, then, are they. But we, upon whom the light of thy countenance, O Lord, has been marked, and who have attained to the knowledge of them through thy light, know well both who shows them and who bestows them: *Thou hast put gladness into my heart.* ^B

Vers. 8. *From the fruit of their corn, wine, and oil they are multiplied.* Since in many places of the Scriptures corn and wine are set forth among the promises and blessings for the saints, while the deprivation of these is announced for sinners, it is worth the effort—for the sake of the simpler among the believers, as well as those who, because of the scantiness of the promise, wish to worship another god whom they invent for themselves—to withdraw them from an opinion and judgment of this kind, which is conceived from the wretchedness of the literal sense. And we must take the greatest pains to refer those various bodily foods to other things, by which each soul, being refreshed according to its merit, is made holy, enjoys good health, and receives strength for the task of performing the works that are its duty. I for my part think that these things are also to be referred to the future age. And that we may not seem to be making such pronouncements about such great subjects without witness, it will suffice for us to bring forward Paul, teaching this very thing in the Epistle to the Colossians in these words: *Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day: which are a shadow of the things to come.* ^C

Vers. 9, 10. *In peace in the same I will sleep and I will take my rest; for thou, O Lord, hast uniquely established me in hope.* This seems to signify an innocent rest and the soul’s relaxation, which, as is fitting for the divine word, is to be taken after the contemplation of the most excellent things. For perhaps, just as after bodily food and drink we are in need of that rest which is taken through sleep, so, since the soul cannot always and without intermission be free for contemplation, at a certain time it regards spiritual things and reflects upon them according to its own power; then, however, it rests: which rest we think is signified by: *In peace in the same I will sleep and I will take my rest.* ^D

Truly, he says, those who are many in number—for many walk in a broad and spacious way—not hoping that someone is present who will show them what are good things according to the truth, yet abounding in wine, oil, and corn, suppose that they are enjoying these as if they were truly good things. But to me, whom thou hast deigned to illumine with the light of thy countenance, O Lord, thou hast given gladness of heart; not that which pertains to the flesh and body, nor that which is afforded by corn, wine, and oil, but the gladness which is perceived by the mind. For having learned from the Saviour and from thy promises that, even if sorrows and afflictions and temptations and calamities do not cease for me in the present life, nevertheless there will be for me...

^A a time when I shall depart from the body, and shall sleep in peace, and be liberated from the body; for I am truly and accurately persuaded that then the end and completion of gladness will be present to me, when that sleep—the sleep of death—seizes me. For then thou thyself, O Lord, having taken me up with this good hope, wilt settle me in the heavenly mansions. Observe, furthermore, in this place also the breaks in the diapsalms, which indicate either a change of thought, or perhaps a variation in the melody being modulated, or the rhythm.

Asterius the Arian set forth this psalm as follows: Why is this psalm inscribed, "unto the end, in hymns"? Because he began well, and ended his life well; or because he began badly, when he beheld the wife of Uriah bathing and committed adultery; but did well in that, having completed his repentance, he ended his life. And therefore, let it be said "in the beginning in reproaches," but "at the end in hymns." "A Psalm of David," that is to say, works of repentance, because "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" 51. Wherefore he says: "When I called, the God of my righteousness heard me." David calls his repentance his righteousness. God saw the soul cleansed, and accepted the prayer. Or perhaps because in the preceding psalm, when he was being attacked by the war of Absalom, he was lamenting, and a prayer intervening removed the tyrant; as if, when asked by what means he conquered Absalom, he replies at the beginning of the psalm. For as, he says, when I sinned God raised him against me, so to me having repented he granted the victory over him. But why was David heard at the very time of his calling? Because, being rebuked by Nathan, he turned instantly to repentance: for which reason, when he prayed, he was immediately heard. For God, who "does all things whatsoever he wills" 59, hears instantly; and while the man is yet speaking, God says: "Behold, I am here" 63.

Then, after he had told those near him how quickly he had been heard, he turns his speech toward God, and gives thanks to him who had been propitious to him: "In tribulation thou didst enlarge me." The waves of tribulations, he says, a sudden calm dispersed, and me, worn out by famine, thou didst enrich with the fruit of corn and wine and oil, so that not only I, but also all those under me might enjoy that abundance. Wherefore he subjoins these things below: "By the fruit of their corn and wine and oil they were multiplied: the abundance of their heart became gladness to me." But we learn this from the history itself. For when, being warred upon by Absalom, he fled into the deserts and into the mountains, he was oppressed by famine and necessity as in a persecution; but God comforted his distress. For first Siba, a servant from the house of Saul, brought to him two hundred loaves, and wine, and cakes of dried figs, and raisins; then after him, Berzelli the Gileadite, and

he brought him ten beds, that he might not lie on the ground, and tapestries, which are now called tylotapetia, earthen vessels of wine, wheat, and barley, and flour, and beans, and lentils, and honey and butter, and sheep, and sucking calves. Giving thanks for these, therefore, he says: "In tribulation Thou hast enlarged me."

But why, saying "I was heard," did you not construct a long speech? Why did you not write a long page of names and words? By no means, says David: for God does not require wordiness, He who is satisfied with a mere groan. This alone I said while praying: "Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer." ^B Might not the robber on the cross also say these things to the Lord? For having spoken and called upon Him in his tribulation: "Remember me, O Lord, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom," he was heard, and in place of the cross he inhabited paradise, and became a citizen of heaven. He will also cry out to the Jews: "Ye sons of men, how long will ye be heavy-hearted? Behold creation suffering with its Creator." If, seeing Lazarus running from the tomb on the fourth day, you did not believe, now at least worship the power of the Crucified: the earthquake raised the dead, and you sleep in your unbelief. Why are you heavy-hearted? This is because you are not pricked by the miracles, and this is because in your folly you are aggrieved against Christ. The Scripture is a witness, saying: "Heavy is a stone, and unstable is sand; but the anger of a fool is heavier"; because it is neither softened by counsel, and even when seeing miracles, it conceives anger.

"Why do ye love vanity," ^C having preferred Barabbas to Christ, the murderer to the Life-giver, the kingdom of Caesar to the kingdom of the heavens, sin, which is heavier than the sand of the sea, to justice, temporal things to eternal, corruption to incorruption? But, in addition to these, you also seek a lie, hiring false witnesses against the truth who say: "We found this man perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar. He stirs up the people teaching." If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to you. And what evil has he done? Because he healed the sick, because he put demons to flight, because he raised the dead, because he fed in the desert five thousand men, not counting women and children, with five loaves? The food was still in their throat, while the lie was in their mouth. And David said to those who had alienated themselves with Absalom: "Why have you cast your lot with the unruly son? ^D Why do you incite the son against the father? Why do you follow the vain counsel of Achitophel? If he who speaks evil of father or mother is worthy of death, how many deaths and punishments is a son who sharpens a sword against his father worthy of?" Why then do you love vanity and seek a lie? By "a lie" he now calls every vain work, which has a swift fall and change. "Nevertheless, vain are the sons of men, lying are the sons of men in the balances, to act unjustly."

INTERPRETATION OF PSALM V

^A 1. *To the end, for her who inherits, a psalm of David.*

To the end, a hymn of thanksgiving is sung for the soul, or the Church, which is led into the divine inheritance prepared for those who serve God. For there is an inheritance prepared for those who serve the Lord; and this is not corruptible, nor does it consist in wealth that moves the senses. For it is said that its heirs are to be led into an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven. Calling the worthy into this, the Saviour says: "Come, you who are at my right hand, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you." Having caught the longing for this, he who recites the present psalm sends forth a prayer to God who prepared it, that he may be deemed worthy to be revealed as an heir of it according to the new covenant; just as he signifies, through the inscription "for her who inherits," his own soul.

^B VER. 2. *Give ear to my words, O Lord, understand my cry.* The words, indeed, uttered by the mouth are perceived and heard by the ears; but the cry is not by way of words, even if they themselves might profess to know the God of the universe and confess Him with their lips; but it exists in their heart—that is, in their mind—and not even one true thought about God existed. Such, in truth, was the whole human race before the coming of our Saviour. And he who denies God is most truly and naturally called a fool. For if the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God, fearlessness and the setting aside of God would be the opposite of wisdom.

^C VER. 4. *For I will pray to thee, O Lord; in the morning thou shalt hear my voice: in the morning I will stand before thee, and thou shalt see me.* By these things, the soul that receives the inheritance is taught to consecrate the first-fruits of its daily works to divine worship; which, indeed, it would not do if it came to forget Him even in the very bed.

VER. 5, 6. *For thou art not a God who wills iniquity, nor shall the evil-doer dwell near thee, nor shall the unjust stand before thine eyes.* Inasmuch as she who inherits has been deemed worthy to receive the inheritance of the promised goods, she sets the wicked before her eyes. For the wicked, even if before they transgressed they dwelt near thee, as did those who received the law of Moses, yet once they have become transgressors they do not remain; but thou hatest those who have withdrawn from the worship of God, for as long as they perform things worthy of hatred.

^D VER. 7, 8. *Thou hatest, O Lord, all who work iniquity, thou wilt destroy all who speak a lie. The Lord abominates the man of blood and deceit.* Not only those who once did so, but also those who even now work iniquity, if indeed they persist in malice, God hates; and above all others He delivers to destruction those who not only calculate falsehoods through deceit, but also...

^A utter them and are ministers of them to others, such as are the atheists and heretics. And over all these things, the Lord abhors the man of blood, and for him He also intends a like punishment in turn. Now, an abomination signifies an extreme aversion of the one who abominates toward the one who is abominated, as though toward some great transgression, and sets forth the one who is abominable as something detestable.

VERS. 9. Domine, deduc me in justitia tua: propter inimicos meos dirige in conspectu tuo viam meam. Now, Christ is righteousness; for He Himself has been made for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.

VERS. 10, 11. Quoniam non est in ore eorum veritas, cor eorum vanum est. Vain also is the heart of the exotic philosophers, concerning whom it is said: "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain"; whose throat exhales dead dogmas, not teaching the life-giving Word of God, but uttering falsehoods and dead words. Judge them, O God, who lie in wait for my hopes regarding the inheritance; for these are they who provoke You to ^B bitterness. Judge them; for while You are busy saving, they wage war by plotting. Yet He wills that they, being judged even now, might benefit by having departed from the multitude of their impieties.

VERS. 12. Et lætentur omnes qui sperant in te, in æternum exsultabunt et habitabis in eis. Now, at the advent of the Savior, those who had anticipated His incarnation rejoiced; a hope which was held by the prophets and those who understood their sayings. For God the Word arrived, having become flesh, by the assumption of flesh, so that He might dwell among those who have believed in Him, according to what is said: "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." And they shall rejoice forever, seeing the glory of the incarnate Word as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth; they who also say: "Even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him no longer," possessing a contemplation of His glory according to which He is the Only-begotten from the Father.

VERS. 13. Et gloriabuntur in te qui diligunt nomen tuum, quoniam tu benedices justo. Seeing that there is a word of boasting, concerning which Paul says: "Let no one boast in men," and the prophet says: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom," and so forth; the boasting of the one who says: "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," and, "He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord," is not of this kind. Such are those about whom the discourse is now, who have loved His name. For by their own choice, and not by fear, they honored and boasted in God. The cause of this kind of boasting is the attainment of heavenly blessings; concerning which ^D the Apostle says: "Blessed be God, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." And the end of good things is the promised inheritance.

^A The crown of justice, which will be obtained by those who are able to say with Paul: "Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of justice," ^B which God willed to use as a weapon for keeping safe from every incursion of enemies attacking his own.

PSALM OF DAVID VI

The octave is the saving day of the resurrection of Christ the Lord, in which we believe there is a purification of all sins; in which symbolically every infant was circumcised, but in truth every soul born in God is purified through regeneration. And it is so much more excellent than the seventh day that the law of the Sabbath is dissolved on it if the eighth day of the infant happens to fall on the day of the Sabbath; for a man is circumcised even on the Sabbath.

VERS. 2-4. O Lord, rebuke me not in your fury, nor in your wrath chastise me. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am infirm; heal me, O Lord, for my bones have been troubled. For every sin arises ^C from infirmity, because the soul is always inclined toward base affections; therefore it flees to the Savior and physician, the Son of God. For when He comes into a rational soul, as the Word and Reason of God, He removes its irrational impulses; as Wisdom, He frees it from foolishness; as Justice, from injustice; and as Truth, He delivers it from falsehood. Furthermore, he indicates the robust powers of the soul when he says his bones are troubled, by which he was accustomed to virilely resist violent movements of the soul; which he clarifies in the following by these words: And my soul is troubled exceedingly. Now the remedy for the infirmity of the soul is the power bestowed by God, ^D which whoever obtains says: "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me." That he is not speaking of sensible bones, that statement makes manifest: "All my bones shall say: O Lord, who is like to you?" and this also: "Our bones are scattered beside the abyss."

And you, O Lord, how long? He declares the long-term duration of his repentance. For that wise physician of souls does not hear the suppliant immediately, nor at the first request, so that he may remain longer in that state of fairness and goodness, and may exhibit a firm and stable repentance; but after perseverance in confessing appropriate thereto: You have entreated me, he says, "in an acceptable time I have heard you." For to those who do not invoke him in sin, he will say: "While you are still speaking, Behold I am here."

VERS. 5-9. For there is no one in death who is mindful of you; and in the abyss who shall confess to you? I have labored in my groaning, I will wash my bed every night, I will water my couch with my tears. Being wise, David did not ignore that the time of the present life is opportune for healing, after which no one is able to act correctly. And he does nothing but strive to be healed,

before he is seized by the common debt. Wherefore he says: "For one night in which I sinned, for all the nights I make confession," endeavoring to wash myself and the bed upon which I sinned with tears of repentance. For I know well that even if He promises remission, I shall never reach an end of weeping. And what follows, "Who will confess to Thee?" is put in place of the word "no one," for here it does not signify scarcity.

^A Vers. 8. "My eye is troubled by indignation; I have grown old among all my enemies." The memory, he says, of Thy indignation and anger has troubled my mind; which the Savior Himself taught in these words: "The lamp of the body is the eye." For it is not possible that one of the two eyes should be the lamp of the body; nor is the bodily eye troubled by the indignation of God. But instead of a good deed, he recounts his own sufferings, ^B among which must be reckoned that affliction and abjection which he endured for a long time among his own enemies.

Vers. 9-11. "Depart from me, all you that work iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication, the Lord has accepted my prayer. Let all my enemies be ashamed and troubled, let them be turned back and ashamed very speedily." Having obtained the hearing of God, he turns his prayer to Him again, and exhorts that his enemies depart and be ashamed, having failed in those things for which they plotted against him, through which God granted him salvation. ^C He also asks that they be greatly troubled, which will certainly come upon them at the time of God’s righteous judgment.

PSALM VII OF DAVID

Vers. 2, 3. "O Lord my God, in Thee have I put my hope; save me from all those who persecute me, and deliver me, lest at any time he seize my soul like a lion, while there is no one to redeem nor to save." I have not placed my hopes in men, nor in the counsels of men, ^D nor in a multitude of armies; wherefore deliver me from so many enemies who ever beset me. For not only now from Absalom and Achitophel and those with them, but even long ago when I was young, from Saul, and from many of those who secretly fought against me through them—the demons, concerning whose prince it is said: "Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour." From whom I especially pray to be delivered.

Vers. 4, 5. "O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have rendered to those who rendered evil to me, then let me fall empty from my enemies." What great boldness he has from not holding a grudge! For this is an excellent achievement of

^A the saints, yet it finds evidence not in the same things, but in the specific kind of struggle in which each excelled. David, therefore, who always sought patience and the forgetting of injuries, contends before God that he might obtain the same in return. For he had learned from the divine Spirit that future promise of the Savior: "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you your trespasses." Therefore, after sufficient repentance, he obtained forgiveness.

VERS. 6. *Let the enemy pursue my soul, and let him take it, and let him trample my life into the earth, and bring my glory down to the dust.* Insisting on these words at greater length, he says: If I have not acted rightly, may I not be delivered from sin before death, nor recover my glory; but may I be caught in these very sins, so that, just as when I sinned, my enemy may always trample my soul until it returns to the dust of death. But if I have acted rightly, may I obtain the same by being redeemed, and not remain in the dust of the carnal sin into which I have fallen. The life of him who bears the image of the earthly man has been trampled upon the earth by the enemy; and this person, even if he seems at times to be endowed with glory, his glory lies in the dust—such are those who act for the sake of glory, seek praises, or hunt for reward from men. ^{B C}

VERS. 7, 8. *Arise, O Lord, in your anger, and be exalted in the borders of your enemies. Arise, O Lord my God, by the decree which you have ordained, and the assembly of the peoples will surround you.* He exhorts the Lord, as if he were the commander of an army, to rise up with indignation against the prince of the army of invisible enemies, calling upon him thus: "Do you yourself, you who have commanded us men to struggle against the invisible powers, do this thing yourself. For if these are routed and destroyed by you, I shall be saved; and not I alone, but also the Church of the Gentiles will surround you, with all the error of the demons having been driven away." Being in the midst of her, as it were in a chorus, you shall send up a hymn befitting the Father, as you said: "I will declare your name to my brothers, in the midst of the Church I will praise you." ^D

VERS. 9. *And because of this return on high; the Lord shall judge the peoples. Judge me, O Lord, according to your justice, and according to my innocence that is in me.* Since God will bring every creature into judgment, and it is necessary for all to stand before the tribunal of Christ, David, having learned that He is about to judge the world in justice and the peoples in uprightness, says rightly: "Be a judge for me also, O Lord, not according to my other deeds, but according to my simplicity and my justice."

^A "Let the wickedness of sinners be brought to an end, and thou shalt direct the righteous, O God, who searchest the hearts and reins." It is a wise and great thing to ask for an end to be put to wickedness, and for the guidance of the righteous to be such that they may no longer be tossed by storms. Since he speaks of the righteous judgment of God, he declares Him to be the only righteous judge, as He alone searches the hearts; for He Himself renders to each according to his works. For man looks to the face, but He is the judge of the thoughts and the perceptions of the heart; there is no judgment hidden before Him. Having shown God to be such, with a confident conscience he says: "My help is from God, who saves the upright in heart." For he hopes for good things from the One who searches the hearts and reins, because he has nothing crooked in his heart.

^B "If you do not turn, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready." Perhaps these things are spoken silently and obscurely of the devil; for he it is who has travailed with injustice against men, and the rest. "Behold, he has travailed with injustice, and has conceived pain, and brought forth lawlessness. He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, and he shall fall into the ditch which he has wrought. His pain shall turn upon his own head, and his lawlessness shall descend upon his crown." These things were expressly fulfilled in Ahithophel. For having been outperformed by Hushai, and as a wise man having despaired of the affairs of Absalom and fearing the punishment to come from David, he withdrew into his house and hanged himself, suffering what he had plotted that David should suffer, and he wiped his own wickedness against him upon his own head. And in general, all men, by the works they have committed, bring their own judgment upon themselves in the day of trial.

^C "I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness, I will sing to the name of the Lord Most High." As one who has plotted against no one, nor dug a pit, but rather despising the wicked as they perish in judgment, "I will give thanks," he says, "to the Lord according to His righteousness," having set forth my own righteous deeds as if in a court of law; "and I will sing to the name of the Lord Most High," trusting that I shall be counted worthy of the choir of those being saved by Him.

PSALM 8

These things which are now prophesied regarding the consummation of the ages are the cause why the inscription "For the end" was placed there. But "For the winepresses" is said on account of the Churches which exist throughout the whole earth, which are allegorically called winepresses. For when there was one people, namely Israel, there was for them a tower, which among them was called the temple, and a "before-the-winepress," that is, the altar before the temple, according to the voice of Isaiah. But the multitude of the winepresses now signifies the many altars, ^D divided among the particular churches. Wherefore also in the 83rd Psalm, which is inscribed with the same

^A inscription as the present one, many altars, tabernacles, and courts are mentioned in prophecy, according to that saying: "How lovely are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord," to which he adds: "Your altars, O Lord of hosts."

VERS. 2, 3. "O Lord our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth! For your magnificence is elevated above the heavens. Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have perfected praise because of your enemies, that you might destroy the enemy and the avenger." ^B It was not wonderful of old in all the earth, but it became wonderful after the advent of the Savior, when a synagogue of peoples surrounded Him, which is certainly consonant with the saying in the present psalm: "Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have perfected praise," and so forth. For He teaches that the new and living ^C synagogue was constituted after His assumption on high from souls that were in the state of infancy, because of the regeneration in Christ which was practiced everywhere throughout the world after His assumption. Wherefore, when the children were acclaiming Him, "Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord," He addressed those who were indignantly bearing it, saying: "Have you never read that 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have perfected praise'?" and that other saying: "Because of your enemies?" ^D These things were indeed written because of the chief priests and the Pharisees; for it is of them that it is said "the enemy," "the avenger," and in the preceding psalm, "the lion." But what is most wonderful is that such an enemy and lion, the prince of this world, has been removed from the midst by infants and nursing babes; and this having been done, God is marvelous among all men everywhere, while he prepares snares to trip them up into sin and punishes those who have sinned thereafter.

As to how the name of the Lord, which was formerly unknown to anyone, became wonderful, He clarifies this in the following words: "For your magnificence is elevated above the heavens." And the third clause which is added, "Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have perfected praise," truly has an affinity ^D with that saying: "A synagogue of peoples shall surround you." For He teaches that the new and living synagogue, which surrounded God after His assumption on high, was collected from infants—that is, in spirit—and nursing babes; and in this way He calls those peoples who were regenerated in Christ. For after He ascended on high and entered into heaven, the Lord who is announced through prophecy took to Himself a synagogue of peoples, fashioned on earth from infants and nursing babes.

VERS. 4, 5. "For I will see the heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have founded. What is man, that you are mindful of him? or the son of man, that you visit him?" Even if, he says, your handiworks are wonderful, the heaven and what is in it, which you have founded so that they might stand for all time; for

them forever, as he says in another place, and he set a decree, and it shall not pass away; yet these are not reckoned as great things to you, but as small things fashioned by the power of your ^A fingers, for thus he calls the lesser powers of God. And these things indeed remain established; but I am struck with wonder as I contemplate man, who passes away one by one, watching how you remember him and care for him; which you would not have done if he were a small and corruptible animal; but he is worthy of so much honor, that a hymn is fashioned for him from the mouths of infants and sucklings. Even if he is small, therefore, in body, yet in his soul, which is made according to the image, he has been honored; so that through him your name might become wondrous in all the earth.

The divine Spirit wonders and glories in the very admiration, saying: I see indeed the heavens which encompass the whole world; I see also the moon and the stars, and I clearly ^B know that all these are great and wondrous parts of the whole creation; yet, although they are such, I know that they happen to be the very least of your works. For these are indeed the works of your fingers; not of your hands, nor of any great power; but, as one might say, of the tips of your fingers, the powers of God being thus designated tropically, by which he established the sensible and visible works.

VERS. 6. You have made him a little lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor. For indeed God crowned man with glory and honor in another way, since he said of man alone: Let us make man in our image and according to our likeness, and appearing in a diverse manner to the holy men, he bestowed upon them the Holy Spirit and heavenly power, so that they might foreknow future things, drive away diseases, and raise the dead; and, most excellent of all, he honored man by the advent of his Only-begotten.

VERS. 7-9. You have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, sheep and all oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heaven, and the fish of the sea, that pass through the paths of the seas. For to the rational nature, as being made in the likeness of God, he granted dominion and power over all things. Man truly received the image of God, and as God is ^D king of all, so he himself was constituted prince of all earthly things. And if these things are stated generally, "And you have set him over the works of your hands," and it is said elsewhere, "And the works of your hands are the heavens," it follows that he has also been set by God over the heavens. And perhaps he secretly alludes to his future dwelling in heaven for those who are transferred there from the earth, when they are about to inherit the kingdom of heaven, as has been promised. For Paul says: "Heirs indeed of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." Thus also the phrase, "You have put all things under his feet," is to be understood now concerning animals; but since the life

^A which is like that of the angels is laid up for men in heaven, he who is established there over the works of His hands shall be a spectator of the heavens and those things which are in them. The blessed Paul also understood this to be about the Savior, as that which would come to pass in the age to come. Therefore the Father says to him: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."

PSALM OF DAVID IX

VER. 9. "And He himself shall judge the world in righteousness, He shall judge the peoples in equity." If those who dwell in the world had not performed similar deeds, the judgment of God would not be just; for in like manner He punishes the sinners and glorifies the just. "He shall judge the peoples in equity." By "world" He means the Church, which is inhabited by the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, according to that saying: "I and the Father will come to him, and make our abode with him." By "peoples" He calls all the others who dwell outside the Church, or those who are from the circumcision. For "as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law," with those who have sinned without law perishing without law.

VER. 10, 11. "And the Lord has become a refuge for the poor, a helper in due times, in tribulation. And let them hope in thee who know thy name, because you have not forsaken those who seek you, O Lord." For to what poor man has the Judge ^D become a refuge, if not to him who in his first course of life...

has walked upon the narrow and straight path, and to the one who is called blessed, the poor—namely, in spirit? Once they have learned this, those who know your name, and know that in the time of just judgment you will not forsake those who seek you now, let them from this point hope in you, waiting through all things for the sake of the rewards. ^A

VERS. 16, 17. *We will rejoice in your salvation; the nations have been fixed in the destruction which they made. In this snare which they hid, their foot has been caught. The Lord is known by doing judgments. By the works of his own hands the sinner has been caught.* A song of diapsalma. Indeed, while they were laying snares for pious men, they cast themselves into ruin and destruction. Then, however, God will be known for having used just judgment. A "song of diapsalma" is said to signify a change—whether of rhythm, according to the Hebrew word, or of melody, or even that the sense of the words themselves has been shifted to another meaning. ^B

VERS. 18. *Let sinners be turned back into hell, all the nations that forget God.* For even if they are not yet moved to sense, the time of judgment will indeed come. Yet the man of God, even if he seems to be neglected by God himself while he is afflicted with intolerable evils by sinners, by no means comes into oblivion. For the poor in spirit will not be neglected by God unto the end; but on account of his present patience, he will attain both his fruit and a good end.

VERS. 20, 21. *Arise, O Lord, let not man be strengthened; let the nations be judged before you. Appoint, O Lord, a legislator over them; let the nations know that they are men.* He stirs God up, since by his tolerance and by the wealth of his kindness and patience, God had granted a duration of hardships to himself, but a time of vexing to impious men. But after he has prayed that the nations be judged in the sight of God, he now follows up by asking that, before the future judgment, a legislator be appointed for the nations, so that they might learn that they are men and not brute animals; for the law is by no means given to brute animals. And he certainly would not mean Moses, who had long ago been removed from the midst of men, nor the law which had been given only to the Jews; nor does he expect there to be another law, such that the law of the New Testament should pervade the whole world. For Christ is the legislator, and the preaching of the Gospel has prevailed among the nations. Concerning him the Father says through the prophet: *Behold my child whom I have chosen, my elect in whom my soul is well pleased. He shall bring forth judgment to the nations. He will not contend, nor cry out, nor will his voice be heard. A bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax he will not extinguish; but he will bring forth judgment unto truth. He will shine out and will not be crushed, until he shall set judgment upon the earth, and in his name shall the nations hope.* But the Hebrew and all the remaining interpreters have given forth: *And in his law shall the nations hope.* ^{C D}

PSALM X ACCORDING TO THE HEBREWS

^A VERS. 1, 2. Why, O Lord, have you stood afar off? Why do you hide yourself in times of need, in tribulation? While the wicked prides himself, the poor is burned; they are caught in the counsels which they plot. Or is it that because God is—according to the Apostle—the one who catches the wise in their craftiness, he now calls for this very thing to come to pass? For when many see them, even though they are involved in many impieties, faring prosperously and falling into no calamities, they judge them blessed and worthy of praise. And both they themselves, and the imitators of their wickedness, are harmed by a great detriment.

VERS. 3-5. For the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul, and the unrighteous is blessed. The sinner has provoked the Lord; according to the multitude of His wrath, He will not seek. God is not before his eyes; his ways are polluted at all times. Your judgments are taken away from his face; he will gain dominion over all his enemies. He lashes out at the present condition of the wicked, so as to prove the necessity of the future judgment. Furthermore, as to the word *provoked*, Aquila translated it as *mocked*. For they do, in very truth, mock the words concerning God’s judgment. But while anyone persists in sins, he is hindered from seeking God, and gathers to himself a multitude of wrath. For this reason, do not seek after *natural* notions concerning God while your own paths of life are polluted, and this for the very reason that you do not call to mind the judgments of God, even when you have been granted dominion over all your enemies.

^B VERS. 7. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness and deceit; under his tongue are labor and sorrow. For the mouth of the heterodox is full of cursing, as they rail against the Creator, and so too the slanderers; it is full of the bitterness of the irascible, and the deceit of the deceitful.

VERS. 8. He sits in ambush with the wealthy in secret places, that he may kill the innocent. But while he does this, he deceives himself, as though God were not watching.

VERS. 11. For he said in his heart: God has forgotten, He has turned away His face so as not to see forever. The wicked man carries out all these things against God’s poor, mocking himself and imagining, in his own thoughts, that God is not an overseer.

^C VERS. 12-15. Arise, O Lord my God, let your hand be exalted, do not forget your poor forever. You see, for you behold labor and sorrow, that you might deliver them into your hands. To you the poor man is left; you were a helper to the orphan. Break the arm of the sinner and the malicious; his sin shall be sought, and it shall not be found. He rouses God’s long-suffering to render judgment upon the wicked. Now by the *exalted hand* he signifies judicial power; for while it does not punish the wicked, it can appear as though it ^D were overcome. But when it renders to each what is just, it is said to be exalted, and no one is able to escape it.

^A Therefore he says: To deliver him into your hands. Wherefore that poor man of yours, having heard your words saying: "Do not avenge yourselves, beloved; but give place to wrath. For vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID X.

Since it is also written for David "to the end," and according to Aquila "to the victor," but according to Symmachus "a triumphal song of David," you shall say that David too, after the calamity that befell him, was uttering the things set before us. "In the Lord I put my trust; how will you say to my soul: Flee to the mountains like a bird?" This is the voice of a perfect man, who is able to say according to the Apostle: "Who shall separate us from the love of God?" Not in the manner of an imperfect person, who migrates from place to place in flight to escape those who pursue him. If such a one, like a bird, is able to escape the hunters, he might rightly say: "Our soul has been delivered like a bird from the snare of the hunters." "For [the things] you have perfected they have torn down; but what has the righteous man done? The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes look upon the poor; His eyelids examine the sons of men. The Lord examines the righteous and the ungodly." ^B God alone, being righteous and a judge, when He saw His own being warred against, what did He do? While dwelling in heaven and possessing an unshakable kingdom, He overlooks nothing of the things upon the earth. He grants to the poor man oversight of His beneficent powers, which He calls eyes; just as, therefore, [He calls] his eyelids his critical and all-discerning providence. And because of righteousness He will judge even the righteous, lest he too have committed some error. "He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone upon sinners, and a blast of a storm shall be the portion of their cup." The cup denotes grievous punishments in many ways, as in Isaiah: "Awake, awake, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk the cup of ruin, the cup of wrath." God also says to Jeremiah: "Take the wine of the undiluted from my hand, and you shall make all the nations to whom I send you drink of it." What is the cup presently spoken of, ^C whose contents are fire and brimstone and a blast of a storm, of which indeed the things brought upon Sodom were symbols? The fire indicates the threat of burning; the brimstone [indicates] the matter that makes the fire blaze up all the more; and the blast of the storm [indicates] the gathering of temptation. For it is said in Isaiah: "As a storm over the desert passing through, coming from the near [a place]; a terrible vision and a hard one has been announced to me." There is also for the pious a cup that makes one drunk as with the most excellent [wine], concerning which perhaps that also has been said: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup." ^D And through good works one thing is to be fled from, and the other to be chosen.

^A VERSE 8. "For the Lord is just and he loved righteousness; his face beheld equity." For as being just, he looks upon the poor, but chastises sinners; and he is just by his own nature, not by participation. Yet, even so, he loves the righteous acts which are found in many good men, accepting the intention of each. But there is also a sort of justice in each of the judgments of God; and there are many judgments of God, concerning which it is written: "The judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves." Therefore, there are many righteous acts, too. He also sees equity, that is, a sound judgment and doctrine of the Word; for he rejoices in its practitioners, even if he sees them assailed by reproaches and curses. However, there are never as many [kinds of] equities as there are many righteous acts in his judgments. And his face sees equity ^B because he approves of it. For God is found to be present both in the works of providence and in the effect of his judgments.

PSALM OF DAVID XI

To the end, concerning the octave.

This is the same as the inscription of the sixth psalm. We have said, moreover, that he even annuls the law of Moses, if he leads an infant to be circumcised on the Sabbath, when the eighth day of circumcision happens to fall on it; and that the Lord's Day has the same power and preeminence, which is ennobled by the resurrection of the Lord, and, being from the first day, is the eighth, and is held to be the first also by its own nature; for it is purifying for every soul.

VERSE 2, 3. "Save me, O Lord, for the holy man has failed, for truths have been diminished from the sons of men." ^C They spoke vanity, each one to his neighbor; deceitful lips in the heart, and in the heart they spoke. He condemns that whole generation of his time; for in what follows he will say: "You, O Lord, will preserve us and keep us from this generation forever." For such is that former generation, concerning which the Savior also says: "The men of Nineveh shall rise in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; and the queen of the South, and the rest," and again: "So shall it be to this wicked generation." And the Prophet says: I do not accuse it unjustly; but because there is no holy man in it, no one who is truthful. Since, therefore, I find no author of salvation for myself, be such an one to me, O Lord. Moreover, he refutes the unbelief of the Jews, concerning whom Moses also says: "Children in whom there is no faith." And that they spoke vanity, laying snares for the Savior and approaching him deceitfully, ^D the writing of the Gospels clearly testifies.

VERS. 4, 5. "May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips, and the tongue that speaks proud things. Who have said: Our tongue will we magnify, our lips are our own; who is lord over us?" For it was of God, not of man, to overcome their malignity

and to suppress the words that blaspheme Jesus. Just as Pharaoh said, "I know not the Lord," so they too say, "Who is our Lord?" thinking that through the efficacy of their own words they had the power to extinguish the Savior’s doctrine, as if they were indeed autonomous. These were the lips of the Pharisees and Sadducees, who approached the Savior with hypocrisy, calling him Rabbi while secretly conspiring against him. Proud-speaking were the elders and the chief priests of the people, who dared to examine the Savior and say to Him: "By what authority doest thou these things, and who gave thee this authority?" ^A

VERS. 6. "For the misery of the needy and the groaning of the poor now will I arise, saith the Lord. I will set him in safety; I will deal confidently in him." It is also possible to interpret it in this way: Those who for my sake have become beggars and poor in spirit, always groaning with a humble affection, adhering to my word, and keeping their faith steadfast—for their sake I will arise, and as is consistent with my resurrection, I will bring salvation to all men; in which matter, as in one gloriously accomplished, I will deal confidently. ^B

VERS. 7. "The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in the earth, purified seven times." And silver, being frequently refined by fire, is free of any other matter; in exactly the same way, the words of the Lord are void of all falsehood.

VERS. 8. "Thou, O Lord, shalt keep us and preserve us from this generation and for ever." When Thou hast guarded Thy beggars and hast walled us about in the future generation, which is called eternal; then those lawless ones, excluded from Thy grace which is poured out upon all men, shall walk in a circle, that they may look upon those who shall obtain salvation; and this shall come to pass when the lowly among men shall have been exalted. ^C

VERS. 9. "The wicked walk in a circle; according to Thy height Thou hast multiplied the children of men." Because a circle is the opposite of a straight line in terms of crookedness and rectitude, and since the wicked walk in a circle, the pious, by contrast, walk in a straight path.

TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID XII.

For the sake of the end, which he was to obtain in the presence of God, he contended most manfully before the end. But the end is the fruit of toils, procuring both eternal life and the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, he sends up the song to God for the end; but at the beginning, as one still engaged in the contest, he utters these first cries: ^D

VERS. 2. "How long, O Lord, wilt Thou forget me unto the end? How long dost Thou hide Thy face from me?" God makes Himself forgetful of those who, through sin, are forgetful of Him; and He turns away His face from those who commit any shameful acts, judging them unworthy of His presence: for which reason, stung by his conscience and fearing the judgment of God, he adds:

^A *How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrows in my heart by day and by night? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Look upon me, and hear me, O Lord my God.* ^B Illuminate my eyes, lest I sleep in death, lest at any time my enemy say, "I have prevailed against him." The enemy is exalted against the one who is weighed down by sin, but it is otherwise with the one who lives righteously. Since he does not wish to be heard beyond his merits, he places "Look upon me" first, asking that He might consider his good deeds. Or perhaps he speaks this way because God is accustomed to hear none but him who is just. Now the face of God, full of light, is a certain power looking toward the bestowal of benefits, by which whoever becomes a partaker will be illuminated, as if enjoying the solar rays. But if He should turn away, the soul, no longer illuminated, is held in darkness, because the interior eyes—that is, the thoughts of the mind—effect nothing. When he perseveres in sin, and darkness prevails all the more because the face of God remains completely turned away, then, with malice acting on this, he becomes as if incurable; and no longer keeping watch for his own salvation, he may rightly be said to have sinned unto death.

UPON THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID XIII.

*The fool has said in his heart: There is no God. They are corrupted and become abominable in their practices: there is none who does good.* Among the atheists, some have thought that God does not exist at all, but that it is a hollow name; others, after ejecting God, have feigned others that do not exist at all; others have said that God indeed exists, but that He does not look upon the things on earth. But all who hold either of these opinions have fallen into atheism, or a disregard for all religion. And even though, because the knowledge of God is implanted in all by nature, they did not dare to declare this openly, they spoke such things not with their mouth, but with their heart; for with their mouth they professed many gods. But by their deeds it was argued what they held in their minds: for the tree is known by its fruit. For, refraining from no sort of wickedness, and polluting their life in every way, even if they professed an infinite number of gods, it was clear that they held no sound opinion about God. ^D Truly, therefore, the life before the advent of the Savior was foolish. If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then not to fear God and to despise Him is the opposite of wisdom.

*All have turned aside, they have together become unprofitable: there is none who does good, there is not even one.* These things seem to me to contain a certain tacit accusation of the Jewish people themselves. For if, having looked down upon the whole life of men,

^A, the Lord, observing all those upon the earth, found that they had turned aside and become worthless, so that not a single person among men could be found—not even so much as one—who had not become worthless and had not turned aside, it follows that the Jewish nation itself, and even those called Israel, must be included with them all. Yet the Scriptures set before us ^B clearly declare that all have turned aside, at the same time having become worthless, so that there was none doing good, not even until one. For it was necessary that the magnitude of the disease that had taken root in men before the coming of the Savior be set forth, so that his arrival might appear necessary to all. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace. Isaiah accords with this same thought in what he says, when addressing himself to the synagogue of the Jews: "Behold, for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions I have sent away your mother; because I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was no one to answer." For "because I came" would be similar to "The Lord looked down from heaven upon the sons of men"; and the clause "there was no man, and there was no one" to answer, is similar to "All have turned aside, and become worthless."

VERS. 4. "Shall not all the workers of iniquity know, who devour my people as a meal of bread?" It seems to me that he is prophesying that a change will come for the nations, from a beastly life and an ignorance of God, to a gentle and god-fearing way of life; which is a fact to be confirmed by eyes having perceived the truth of the prophecy. Read then what is set before you interrogatively, as the word inquires and says: If all turned aside before the coming of Christ and became worthless, will not all the workers of iniquity therefore acknowledge him in the time that follows thereafter? We supply ^C: "the Lord," and again we take the following words in common. For will not they themselves, who formerly devoured the people of God like bread and never called upon the Lord, finally acknowledge him? Isaiah also agrees, prophesying about these same people and saying: "To whom it was not told of him, they shall see: and they who have not heard shall understand." ^D "There they feared with fear, where there was no fear. For God is in a righteous generation." Who could these be, if not the workers of iniquity, and those who previously did not call upon the Lord? For there will be a time when they shall acknowledge him, according to which they shall also take upon themselves the fear of God and a good trembling. That it is a good thing to receive the fear of the Lord is clear from what is said: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Those indicated, therefore, shall fear there with fear; that is, at that time. But whom shall they fear—

^A or the Lord? But where, if not in the generation that is to come? Wherefore he adds:

VERS. 6. *For God is in the righteous generation. You have confounded the counsel of the poor, but the Lord is his hope.* Just as in other judgments pertaining to contracts and relationships of business, one must not look to individuals, so too in deliberations one must not look at rank or wealth, but at a mind that is well-ordered and possesses a good conscience. One must consider, if possible, that the preceding words refer to the Jews, who were hastening to confound the counsel of the Savior because they supposed Him to be a poor man and did not consider the wealth of His divinity. And so they always contradict His teaching and slander His miraculous powers, as if they were produced not by divine power, but by some other means. ^B

VERS. 7. *Who will give salvation to Israel out of Sion? When the Lord turns back the captivity of His people, Jacob shall exult and Israel shall rejoice.* Since all had turned aside and were rendered useless, the time had arrived to turn the discourse to prayer, such that, in the manner of an embassy, it might be said: "Who will give salvation to Israel out of Sion?" For there was need of Him who would thenceforth grant the remission of sins and be the author of eternal salvation. This salvation, which according to the flesh proceeded from the seed of David, is given out of Sion: "For the Redeemer shall come out of Sion, and He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." You may also accept in the same sense the saying: "Out of Sion is the beauty of His comeliness," so that it may be aptly understood that that salvation ^C came from the heavenly Sion, since it is said that Christ holds the kingdom therein. Wherefore our aim and our hope for the upward calling is the kingdom of heaven. Furthermore, he declares the freedom that is to be brought about for all men by that very salvation. And consider, I pray you, how he says that while others are redeemed, others exult; for when the Lord's people shall be freed from captivity, he says, "Jacob shall exult and Israel shall rejoice." Since, then, it was to be that souls once led into captivity by demonic error would attain freedom through the salvation of God, and men from all nations would turn to the Lord, those righteous men and prophets who long ago died in God, who can truly be called Israel and truly Jacob, shall exult and rejoice ^D because the prophecies they uttered concerning us have been fulfilled, and because they rejoice with us over the salvation that has been attained. Therefore, also Symeon, when he had said concerning the Savior that He "will be a Light for the revelation of the Gentiles," added, "and the glory of Your people, Israel."

TO THE END. PSALM OF DAVID XIV.

VERS. 1. *Lord, who shall dwell in Your tabernacle? or who shall rest upon Your holy mountain?* Proceeding from the closer-at-hand duties, he describes the perfect man.

^A A sojourn is a temporary stay, joined with the hope of a better one. Wherefore David also says: *I am a stranger and a sojourner, as all my fathers were*. For Abraham was a sojourner, owning not even a footstep of ground, and with difficulty purchasing a burial place. This is a symbol that it behooves one who lives in the flesh to be a sojourner, and upon departing from it, to rest in his own proper places. And he calls him blessed who, while sojourning among strangers, has not become attached to what is on earth as if it were his own possessions. Now the tabernacle of God is the flesh granted by Him to the human soul for it to dwell in. Who then, having used it as something alien, shall return it fruitful to the Giver, so that it might become a tabernacle of God, who dwells in the saints? Then he advances to greater things: *And who shall rest upon Your holy mountain?* Not in the earthly Sion, as the Jews think, but of that regarding which Paul says: *You have come to the mountain of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem*. Therefore, whoever has passed through this flesh and mortified his members that are upon the earth, having perfected sanctification, [shall dwell] in that holy city, the dwelling place, for which David, yearning, said: *I will pass into the place of the wondrous tabernacle, even to the house of God*; and, *How beloved are Your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!* Moreover, the use of "who" indicates the rarity of such men; of the same sort is that: *Who has known the mind of the Lord?* and that: *Who shall announce to you the eternal place?* and that: *Who is the faithful and wise steward?* Might it be that, having asked God, he received an answer: ^B *Lord, who shall dwell in Your tabernacle? or who shall rest upon Your holy mountain?* Perhaps one who is transferred into heaven, as if coming from foreign abodes, is said to dwell there; for the tabernacle of God is heaven. See also whether he who remains fixed in the discipline of the Law, which can be held to be a pedagogue unto the discipline of Christ, dwells in the tabernacle of the Lord, bestowing his care upon the tabernacle of the testimony; whereas he who has reached Christ and the evangelical teaching dwells on the holy mountain of God, regarding which it is prophesied: *The mountain of the Lord is manifest*. And consider again, whether the holy mountain of God is the Word of God; and His tabernacle, the man whom He assumed; and whether it is necessary first to know Christ according to the flesh, and then to dwell on the holy mountain of God, having seen his glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten from the Father; and to say: *If we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him no longer*. For to such a one has it been said: *Go up upon a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Sion*. ^C Otherwise, let the mountain of God be that which shall be inhabited only by holy souls made perfect in righteousness; that is, heaven itself, and the kingdom of heaven proclaimed by the Savior. This is the heavenly Jerusalem; this is the mountain of Sion, and the city of the living God...

according to the holy Apostle who says: ^A *You have come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem* (Heb. XII, 22). By the tabernacle itself, one ought to understand that which is established above on the mountain, as it is said: *But Christ being come an high priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation* (Heb. IX, 11).

When these things came into David's mind, he cried out, saying: *Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle?* For such a man in truth, who is worthy of an ascent of this kind and a heavenly dwelling, is extremely rare and not encountered everywhere, so that one hardly finds one in a thousand. That heavenly tabernacle, therefore, already mentioned, shall be the dwelling place of God himself; but man, as if about to remove from the captivity of his sojourn on earth unto that heavenly tabernacle, will be there as a stranger and a sojourner, ^B as one having migrated from elsewhere and having come from another country; wherefore it was said: *Who shall dwell in thy tabernacle?* But blessed is he who has been established and confirmed upon that very mountain; since we are taught that this mansion, prepared for worthy men, shall be stable and perpetual.

VERS. 2. *Who walketh without blemish, and worketh justice.* For it is not a single deed that leads a vigorous man to perfection; but he must persist in the works of virtue throughout his whole life; so that in this way we may be judged blameless and irreproachable. And this is that saving knowledge which He himself brings forth with these words: *I am the way* (John XIV, 6). For after an initial good work has been brought forth, one must exercise care and concern for each of the subsequent deeds, so that they may be performed with justice.

VERS. 3. *Who speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue.* It is not fitting, therefore, for any of the simpler ones to exalt themselves ^C after having accomplished the things mentioned; lest, having suffered a kind of shipwreck, he lose his good things.

VERS. 4. *In his sight the malignant hath been brought to nothing; but he glorifieth them that fear the Lord. Who sweareth to his neighbor, and deceiveth not.* Here he reasonably decides that for one thing alone it is possible to swear, provided that he who swears does not violate the oath. And what is that thing, if not friendship and intimacy joined with someone by a covenanted bond? Such is the oath of such a man, blameless and harmless, by which is confirmed that: *Yes, yes, and No, no* (Jas. V, 12).

VERS. 5. *Who hath not given his money to usury, nor taken bribes against the innocent.* Because it sometimes happens that one who has already performed the aforementioned good deeds ^D stumbles and suffers from the sickness of greed and usury, he applies a remedy to this disease as well. For he who, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, and from that very love and philanthropy toward his neighbor, does this...

gives indeed, but not with the intention of receiving a reward from men. Rather, he lays it up for himself as in a treasury, and keeps it for the future retribution from God. ^A *And he has not taken bribes against the innocent.* He might perhaps accept a gift, provided it causes no trouble or loss to those who offer it; but if by chance it should result in the injury of another, and he were to accept the gift, he would completely overturn what was said above.

THE INSCRIPTION OF PSALM XV

^B To David is the psalm inscribed, or, according to other interpreters, *David’s*. I have called it a psalm through an improper use of custom; for, in strict accuracy, no one would call it a psalm, since the inscription does not wish to signify this; but it is a *stēlographia* (inscription on a pillar), containing an admirable prophecy, and worthy of eternal writing, as if engraved upon a pillar.

*Preserve me, O Lord, for I have hoped in Thee. I said to the Lord, Thou art my God, for Thou hast no need of my goods.* ^C That the things contained in the prophecy have been proclaimed through David is manifest to everyone. But if it is asked to whom the things spoken must be referred, the apostle Peter would be a worthy and suitable teacher for us, who, in the Acts of the Apostles, mentions the things therein contained. For after he had gone through the words of the psalm to the people, and had instructed them that these things were spoken concerning the Savior, he adds and says: *“Men and brethren, let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on His throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.”* ^D These things being thus spoken, it would be superfluous henceforth to seek to whom the prophecy ought to be referred, once we have been instructed by the testimony of such a man. According to the Seventy, this prophecy is called a *stēlographia*, because it comprehends the victory over death won by the Savior through His resurrection from the dead. For as the greatest and most marvelous contests of athletes struggling in the stadium are deemed worthy of a pillar, and trophies of victory over enemies in war are erected for long remembrance, so too the great trophy of the Savior, which He raised up after overthrowing him who had the power of death, had long since been engraved from the prophetic times in their writings as if on a pillar; wherefore it is called a *stēlographia*.

*For Thou hast no need of my goods.* Not that He may repay a worthy reward for the things which we have offered Him. Others say that it is spoken as from the person of the Savior.

^A for the psalm is spoken according to the human nature, after the manner of many things which we find in the holy Gospels; such as this: *Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt;* and: *I go to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.* Thus we find Him praying continually, and bending His knees. In the same way, therefore, in this psalm also He asks to be preserved, while yet He is preserved by Himself. For He asks as a man, but He grants the petition as God, the Father clearly consenting and cooperating. *For Thou hast no need of my goods.* Symmachus interpreted this in another way: *There is no good for me without Thee.* Every abundance of good, he says, is bestowed upon me through Thy grace. Both readings, moreover, are equally conducive to piety. For we enjoy the goods granted by God, nor does He need our good deeds, but He ordains them for our own benefit.

^B *To the saints who are in His earth, He has made wonderful all His desires in them.* Ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. Taking to Himself the trials of His Church as if they were His own, He could speak from its person: *To the saints who are in His earth, He has made wonderful all His desires in them. Their infirmities were multiplied.* Others interpret His earth as the Church; from which also the desires of God become wonderful. And the desires of God are the individual virtues which are cultivated with Him standing by and helping, according to that: *I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who shall do all my desires*, that is, His desires, in the manner explained above. And indeed, God does wonderful things in His saints, because in that very exercise of virtue, those who are wise according to God excel other men. For the fortitude of the martyrs of the truth, of the prophets, and of the apostles, is not the same as that of those who are otherwise courageous; nor, indeed, is the temperance and continence of those who keep that which Joseph and Susanna possessed the same as the temperance of others. In exactly the same way, God makes the other virtues of the saints wonderful, so that they excel the rest of those who are diligent in virtue with an incomparable preeminence in every matter. ^D Since, therefore, the desires of God in His saints are so wonderful, the infirmities of the saints are multiplied when they see that they are far unequal to the divine power and greatness. Nevertheless, even if their aforementioned infirmities are multiplied, they do not cling for long, nor do they abide in them, but depart immediately. For they have barely noticed them when they forthwith vanish, because they have great strength, with Christ granting them power, according to that: *In God we shall do strength.* I think also that by these words is signified that former old condition of the idolaters, in which when they were atheists.

and idolaters, they did not fall into one single class of error. For there was a multitude of them ^A in polytheism, idolatry, and infirmity. But because, having changed from those very things through the saving grace, they have become saints of God, therefore it is said: *To the saints who are in his earth, he has made all my desires wonderful in them;* and since there is joined to it: *Their idols were multiplied,* or *their labors,* or *their infirmities.* For all these things were present to them who were later saints, before the change from their worse ways to the better. But after these things they hastened, not having been negligent, nor delaying, but having shown repentance with speed after the grace that came upon them, through which all the desires of the Savior were made wonderful in them. Wherefore, granting forgiveness for their former sins, he says: *I will not assemble their assemblies from bloods,* or according to Aquila: *I will not pour out their libations from bloods.* For long ago, he says, they were offering libations from bloods—the Jews indeed offering sacrifices to God according to the law, but the Greeks [doing the same] when they worshipped demons. But I, having delivered to them new sacrifices, will no longer accept their libations of blood; nor will I pour these out, as I, being the High Priest, have received from their hands and poured them out; but having delivered new mysteries to them, and new sacrifices which are bloodless and without smoke, and rational, I will teach them to use these. Neither will I remember their old names through my lips. For long ago, the people from the Gentiles were called by names worthy of their deeds: profane, and unclean, and idolaters, and ^B polytheists, and atheists; but now I shall no longer remember those names, but will change them for others instead: I will name them pious, and God-fearing, and saints, and called, and elect, and Christians.

*Dominus pars hæreditatis meæ et calicis mei, tu es qui restituis hæreditatem meam mihi.* It is fitting to recall the words spoken in the second psalm. For there also, the Father addresses him in a human manner: *Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.* And in the holy Gospels, he himself thus speaks to his Father concerning the holy apostles: *Father, those whom thou hast given me were thine, and thou hast given them to me; and none of them perished, but the son of perdition.* But just as here he speaks in a human manner, asking that he might receive, so elsewhere he shows that he is the Master of all: *For my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life;* and again: *And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.* In the present psalm, however, he speaks thus in a human manner: *The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup;* calling the kingdom over the nations his inheritance; as for the cup, that which for us

^A he endured death. For thus he also said in the holy Gospels: *Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;* as if he said more clearly: And of my Church, which is my inheritance, the Lord is the portion; and he himself has become the portion of my cup, that is, of death.

*Thou art he who restores my inheritance to me.* For of old, he says, my inheritance was another, and my boundaries were other. For *when the Most High divided the nations, the portion of the Lord became his people Jacob, the cord of his inheritance Israel.* But at that time the portion, and the inheritance, and the cord, were that former people; and since they fell away and were rejected because of their impieties, other portions and other cords, and other lots, in the place of those former ones, were given to me in the most excellent manner. For this second inheritance, he says, is excellent and pleasing to me. ^B

*VERS. 8. I beheld the Lord before me always, because he is at my right hand, that I might not be shaken.* The holy man, since he considers the Lord to be always with him before his eyes, does not waver; but rather, the Lord stands firm at the right hand of the righteous man. Conversely, regarding Judas, it is said: *And let the devil stand at his right hand.*

THE PRAYER OF DAVID XVI

*VERS. 1. Hear, O Lord, my justice, attend to my supplication. Give ear to my prayer, not in deceitful lips.* By his prayer he beseeches God to be a hearer, not of his voice, nor of his words, but of the virtue ^C within him, which, as it were, cries out through the deeds of justice and softens the divine hearing. For no one, conscious of evil deeds within himself, would easily utter such a voice. Furthermore, the clause *Attend to my supplication* would be fittingly said by that proven and practiced man, who, in praying, sends forth supplications worthy of God, who does not ask for small and trivial things, nor does he pray to God for mortal and human affairs. The Savior himself taught such things, saying: *Ask for the great things, and the little things will be added unto you.* And for the third time he prays that he might also hearken to the very words of the prayer, and, if I may say so, judge the voice itself, that it might not be uttered ^D with deceitful lips. For often we speak excellent things, and we use words taken from the divine Scriptures, but not with purified lips. Now, there occur frequently men who, having used indiscriminate insults against some, or slanders, or lies, or deceits, or perjuries, or obscene utterances, or other absurd voices, immediately changing their discourse, invoke God in prayer. But only the holy man purifies both his tongue and his lips, and his very voice, and the common words he uses, knowing what is said: *Of every idle word you shall give an account in the day of judgment.* For God hearkens to a prayer not offered through deceitful lips, but through a tongue that has been purified, and is accustomed to meditate upon the divine words. Therefore, when he speaks of justice,

“Hear,” he says; “with deprecation, attend”; with the voice uttered by the lips, “give ear.” Thus he asks for three things through the aforementioned, and placed the most excellent before the other two.

^A VERSE 3. “You have tested my heart and visited me by night; you have examined me with fire, and no iniquity was found in me.” How much this sentiment of such words transcends human infirmity! For who will boast of having a pure heart? And who will confidently say, “I am pure from sins”? These things, indeed, only Christ could truly and properly say. Has He not, perhaps, called His descent into Hades—that place in the region of death—the “night,” in this present instance? For even if He was in the night and in the time of temptations, and in the dark and lightless place of death, yet, having been tested, He was deemed worthy of visitation from the Father through the resurrection which He obtained. For, like gold cast into the fire, He remained bright and pure. For He alone, of those who have been from the ages, committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth, according to Isaiah.

VERSE 4. “That my mouth may not speak the works of men; because of the words of Your lips I have kept hard ways.” Symmachus, by saying, “I have kept the ways of the transgressor,” presents a different meaning; as if he who utters the prayer avoids every man who is a transgressor and turns away from all the paths of such men, and their wicked deeds, as being hard and harsh.

VERSE 5. “Perfect my steps in Your paths, that my footsteps may not be moved.” The Savior provides an example for us through these words, admonishing us both not to be broken in spirit and not to think great things of ourselves, but to be clearly and precisely convinced that we are always in need of divine assistance, so that our footsteps may not be moved, and that we may rightly set our feet in His paths. ^B

VERSE 7. “Make Your mercies wonderful, You who save those who hope in You.” “Saving those who hope in Him,” he says, not those who are of the seed of Israel, nor those who live according to the law of Moses, but, as if having found a new way, He appeared saving those who hope in Him. For there remain, says the Apostle, faith, hope, charity; these three are intertwined, as if bound by a single bond. Wherefore he connects faith with hope, saying: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Furthermore, these arise from one charity toward God; and by them, in turn, charity toward God is strengthened. ^C

VERSE 8, 9. “Keep me, O Lord, from those resisting Your right hand, as the apple of the eye. You shall shelter me in the shadow of Your wings from the face of the impious who have afflicted me.” Every righteous man, when praying, should earnestly beseech God to deem him worthy of His protection; and let him confess that he is, in the face of the multitude of his adversaries, by no means capable of being his own guardian: let him ask also that he may

^A be guarded as the apple of an eye; for he sees certain enemies standing against the right hand of God, enemies to the eye of his soul, wishing to blind him. But also, since there are many impious ones who "distress him," that is, who try to demonstrate that he is wretched, and who shoot arrows at him, let him take refuge under the wings of God, and be deemed worthy of the shelter that is under Him. But also our Savior, on behalf of His Church—which is His body—was sending up these voices to the Father. By "wings," you are to understand the powers of His providence.

VERS. 10-12. My enemies have encompassed my soul; they have closed their fat; their mouth has spoken pride. Casting me out, they now compassed me; they set their eyes to decline into the earth. They laid wait for me as a lion prepared for prey, and as a lion’s whelp dwelling in secret places. In place of "Casting me out, they compassed me," Symmachus interpreted it thus: "Proclaiming me blessed, they immediately compassed me," and, he says, "they set their eyes against me, so as to make me decline." For they were eager to shake and remove me from that state and progress which is according to God, imitating our adversary the devil, who, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour [*1]. And they laid wait for me as a lion prepared for prey, and as a lion’s whelp dwelling in secret places. For they did not devise their machinations against me openly, but were lying in wait secretly.

VERS. 13, 14. Arise, O Lord, prevent them, and trip them up: deliver my soul from the ungodly, thy sword from the enemies of thy hand. O Lord, divide them from the few of the earth in their life; and their belly has been filled with thy hidden things. They have been sated with sons, and they have left the rest to their infants. And in this also I shall receive some profit. But "your sword," he says, "deliver from the hand of the enemies"; for there would be cause for fear, lest the enemies, having snatched your sword—which I trust to use against them—from my hand, and having taken it away from me, should use it against me. Now that sword would be the word of God, which is living and more piercing than any two-edged sword [*2], which has been given to the soul in place of a sword for the warding off of enemies; which happens often, when the enemies of God, having cast aside and perverted the sayings from the Divine Scriptures and the readings, aim them at simpler souls, and thus conquer them. This is the reason why he prays that the sword of God be rescued from the enemies of God, and from the "few of the earth," in place of which Aquila rendered: "from the dead by sinking," and Symmachus, "from the dead by those who slew." For he prays to be delivered from the enemies of God, and from the few of the earth, in place of which Aquila has set forth: "from the dead,"

from those who have fallen. For he prays to be delivered also from those who are already reckoned among the dead, because they are utterly deprived of that life which is according to God. ^A And in place of the phrase, "divide them," Aquila interprets it as: "their part in life"; but Symmachus, "their portion among the living." By these things he teaches that the portion, the lot, and all the wealth of the impious and of the often-mentioned enemies of God, reside in this present and mortal life, in which their belly is filled with every kind of food, every happiness, and every pleasure. But he also says, "from thy hidden things," for which Symmachus interprets: "and from thy stored-up things." For they have possessed all the precious things that occur in this mortal life and mortal existence, which are considered stored up and hidden.

They, therefore, searched out gold and silver and all the metals of the earth, and they scrutinized all kinds of precious and costly stones, and they were filled with all these things; and they were satisfied with children, and sons, and daughters. ^B Therefore he adds: "They were satisfied with children." And not only were they themselves satisfied with these things, but after they themselves had used them to satiety, they left behind inheritances and successions to their grandchildren after them. Another says: "Even if it be easy for you, O Lord, to strike them down with death, yet I beseech you, while they live, to scatter them, and to break up their wicked concord, that they may pay the penalties stored up by you for their wicked deeds." For thus in the great canticle of Moses, God Himself says: "Lo, are not all these things gathered with me, and sealed in my treasuries? In the day of vengeance I will repay, at the time when their foot shall slip." And Symmachus interprets this thus: "Their sons shall be satisfied, and they shall leave their remnants to their little ones." He says: I know that you will bring upon them not only the just punishment due to them, but also upon their sons and their grandchildren, if indeed they imitate the wickedness of their ancestors. But the phrase, "they shall be satisfied," means that they shall give themselves over to evils until they are satiated and disgusted by them.

^C "But as for me, I will appear in justice before your face; I shall be satisfied when your glory appears to me." Those men will pay such penalties; but I shall enjoy the good things prepared by your just providence, having received the greatest proof of your beneficence. I, indeed, confident in the justice and virtue which you have been the author of for me, shall appear with confidence before your face. And this is my hope, and this is my great inheritance, with which I shall be filled, and I shall be satisfied with every pleasure, when your glory shall appear in the kingdom of the heavens.

PSALM XVII

VERS. 1. In the end, to the servant of the Lord, David, who spoke to the Lord the words of this canticle, in the day that he delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of

Saul, and he said. Symmachus: ^A Triumphal canticle of the servant of the Lord, David.

For it was necessary for us to learn from the psalm itself that David, having won a victory over his enemies and foes, consecrated this triumphal hymn to the author of all victory, who is therefore called "the victory-maker" (nikopoios), ^B because he makes men victors. And that this triumphal hymn or ode is said to be David's. And it is inscribed "To the end," either because it was spoken during the final years of his life, and after all the deeds of his that are reported in history; or because it contains a prophecy of things that are to happen at the close of the age; or, thirdly, because it directs the reader to the ends of the words contained in the hymn before us, in which "ends" are the calling of the Gentiles and the prophecy concerning Christ. He prophesies in this manner, including Saul together with all the others. And he also delivered him from the hand of Saul in another way, for the "hand" is often understood as the "work." Therefore, he who delivered David from all his enemies, rightfully and consequently binding him with greater benefits, also rescued him from this "hand" of Saul—that is, from his work—so that he would not suffer the same things as he did.

VERS. 2, 3. *I will love thee, O Lord, my strength: The Lord is my firmament and my refuge, and my deliverer. My God is my helper, and I will hope in him: my protector and the horn of my salvation and my sustainer* ^C ... And further, he calls God his strength, confessing human weakness, and that he could do nothing without God; and so Paul said: *I can do all things in Christ who strengtheneth me.* But Aquila and Symmachus interpreted "firmament" as "rock"; and the great Apostle also said: *But the rock was Christ.* By laying the foundation of his house upon this rock, David was like the wise man who built his house upon the rock. Therefore, he proved superior to all his enemies, who were impinging upon him like rain, winds, and floods. But he did not trust in his satellites ^D or his army, but in God, whom he had as his helper, fully equipped with all kinds of armor and the horn of salvation, so that he himself might say: *In thee we shall push down our enemies with the horn.*

VERS. 5-7. *The sorrows of death surrounded me, and the torrents of iniquity troubled me. The sorrows of hell encompassed me, and the snares of death prevented me. In my tribulation I have called upon the Lord, and I cried to my God. And he heard my voice from his holy temple, and my cry before him shall enter into his ears.* By these things he teaches in what manner, being troubled by the torrents of iniquity and beset by the other aforementioned evils, when he felt himself to be in danger, he fled to the port of his own salvation. Wherefore he says: In tribula-

- tion my own, I called upon the Lord, and to my God I cried out. ^A Then he teaches that he did not miss the mark by hoping for such things; for hope does not put to shame. Therefore he adds: He heard from his holy temple my voice, and my cry in his sight shall enter into his ears. But what temple of God must we understand to be spoken of here by David, when the house in Jerusalem had not yet been built, unless it be the heavenly city of God and that Jerusalem above, of which the temple constructed on earth was an image?

^B VERS. 8. The earth was moved and trembled, the foundations of the mountains were troubled and were moved, because God was angry with them. By this he most clearly prophesies the future descent of the Lord on account of death, and also on account of the torrents of iniquity, the pains of hell, and the snares of death, which were the cause of his descending from heaven. And what happened at his descent, he previously set forth in these words: The earth was moved and trembled; for which Aquila interprets, The earth was set in motion and shaken. And indeed, the event itself bears witness to the truth of this statement, for when the Son of God was dwelling on earth at the time of his manifest coming in the flesh, all who inhabited the element of earth were moved and shaken; and every ear, both Greek and barbarian, was filled with the report concerning him. But the things mentioned as the foundations of the mountains were troubled and moved—or, according to Symmachus, were overturned—because he was angry with them. ^C But the mountains were the heights raised up against the knowledge of God, certain opposing powers that for long ages had led all those on earth into the superstition and error of polytheism. The foundations of these mountains, therefore—that is, their depths and reasonings—upon sensing the power of the Lord, were troubled, because he was angry with them.

VERS. 9, 10. What, then, the wrath accomplishes against those mountains handed over to it, he next teaches by saying: Smoke went up in his wrath. For just as when a burning brand is set on fire and then extinguished, smoke is given off, in the same way the opposing powers, having long ago been cast into a fire, were burning and setting aflame the souls of men; but when their fire was extinguished by the wrath of the Lord, the smoke sent up from them signaled their extinction. ^D Then he proceeds to say: And fire from his face shall burn; coals were kindled from him. For these things the Son of God was working invisibly against the opposing powers, having put out their fire with another, stronger and more powerful fire. That is why it is said by Moses: Our God is a consuming fire, and in the Psalms: Fire shall go before him, and shall burn his enemies round about; and again: God shall come manifestly, our God, and shall not keep silence: fire shall burn in his sight, and a violent storm round about him. This is the fire the Savior also indicated when he said: I have come to send fire

upon the earth, and what I desire if it is already kindled? All these things came to pass, because he bowed the heavens and came down. And he did not bow only one heaven, but all that exist. For the humiliation of his height and the emptying of his divinity are indicated by the aforementioned words. For with the greatest emphasis he signifies his descent by these words: He bowed the heavens; and he expresses his descent in a completely corporeal manner. ^A

VERS. 11-13. And darkness under his feet. And he went up upon the cherubim and flew, he flew upon the wings of the winds. By that darkness and gloom he secretly and in a hidden manner adumbrates his economy according to man. Finally, he returns to where he had set out from; and he ascended into the heavens with the cherubim, and flew—even though he had not descended with the cherubim themselves; for without the cherubim he had bowed the heavens himself and descended. But in his return it is said: And he went up upon the cherubim and flew, with the body, that is, which he had assumed. ^B Moreover, those divine powers, having seen him ascending in this way, standing round him like a retinue, escorted the Lord, celebrating his ascension and thus shouting: Lift up your gates, you princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting gates, and the King of glory shall enter in. These things were fulfilled at the time which is narrated in the Acts of the Apostles: And when he had said these things, while they were looking on, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And as they were gazing into heaven as he was going. ^C

He indicates that hidden and concealed sojourn of the Savior with men, which he still makes even now after his ascension, saying: And he made darkness his covering, his tabernacle round about him, dark water in the clouds of the air. For it is hidden from no one how he dwells with us according to that which was said by him: Behold I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age. By his tabernacle he signifies nothing other than his holy Church, in which he promised to place his tabernacle when he said: Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Since, however, the prophecies concerning him are also delivered in a dark and hidden manner, it is reasonably added: Dark water in the clouds of the air. From the brightness before him the clouds passed away, hail and coals of fire. For that the divine Spirit is accustomed to call the prophets clouds, and the rain falling from them—that is, the prophetic words—Isaiah will teach, calling the people allegorically a vineyard, as has been said, and the clouds as no longer bringing rain upon it. ^D

VERS. 14. And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High gave his voice. In the present text we are taught those things which

^A after the Savior’s ascension were accomplished through his power, and he clearly set forth His ascent through the preceding words, saying: *And the Lord thundered from heaven.* For how could he who is described above as having bowed the heavens and descended have thundered, unless he had surely ascended? This is what is indicated by the words: *And he went up upon the cherubim and did fly; he did fly upon the wings of the wind.* It is therefore demonstrated that he descended, then ascended with the cherub, and afterwards thundered from heaven, and subsequently accomplished the things written against his enemies. First of all, by his radiance, *his clouds passed before him: hail and coals of fire.* For just as it is said concerning Egypt in the seventh plague: *And the Lord gave a voice, and hail, and the fire ran along the ground; and the Lord rained upon the land of Egypt. And the hail was, and the fire flaming in the hail. And the hail struck all the land of Egypt* (Exod. ix, 23, 24). And all these things happened so that the people of God might be able to obtain freedom from the slavery under the Egyptians. In the same way, here too, the Lord who ascended upon the cherub, when liberating the Churches gathered from the nations and the souls of men from the subjection of impious idolatry and wicked demons, sent against these intelligible Egyptians hail and coals of fire. I believe that those powers appointed for the punishment of the ungodly are called hail and coals of fire. Those avenging and punitive powers, therefore, invisibly serving the will of the Lord against the demons who were inciting the polytheistic error, drove them all away. Wherefore almost all their oracles have failed, and their divinations have been abolished; their temples have become desolate, and their shrines have been plundered by the invisible and hidden power of the Lord, who accomplished all these things after his ascension into heaven.

*And he sent forth his arrows, and scattered them; and he multiplied lightnings, and discomfited them. And the fountains of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were discovered, at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy wrath.* By the foundations of the world you shall understand the powers of the wisdom of God, through which the whole of nature was ^B founded of old, and afterwards the world was established, which shall not be shaken. But if you wish to understand the *world* as the Church of God, and imagine its foundation, you would primarily think of that unbreakable and solid Rock upon which it is built, according to the word: *Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it* (Matth. xvi, 18). And the Rock was Christ (cf. 1 Cor. x, 4), or as the Apostle signifies when he teaches saying: *For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ* (1 Cor. iii, 11); then, after the Savior himself, you may consider the foundations of the Church to be the prophetic and apostolic discourses, according to the Apostle who said: *Built upon the foundation*

^A of the apostles and prophets, *Christ Jesus himself being the corner-stone*; you would not be falling outside the truth. These foundations of the inhabited world, therefore, were revealed once the enemies of God—who long obscured the eyes of our soul so that they could not behold divine things—were removed and put to flight, dispersed by the arrows sent by the Lord, and having fled from the rebuke of the Lord and from the breath of his spirit of wrath. We, therefore, having been justly liberated from these things and having recovered our sight, have beheld the springs of waters and have surveyed the foundations of the inhabited world. And this has occurred among us in many regions.

*He sent from on high, and took me; he took me from many waters.* For God and Father of all, having sent his own Son, took him, who had been swallowed up and captured like a prisoner. And he teaches where he took him from, adding: *from many waters.* For he says also in the sixty-eighth Psalm: *Save me, O God, for waters have entered even unto my soul; I have stuck in the slime of the deep, and there is no substance.* ^B Accordingly, giving thanks for these things in the present passage, he says: *He took me from many waters.* And he signifies more clearly what those waters are, saying: *From my strong enemies and from them that hate me, for they were strengthened over me. They prevented me in the day of my affliction.* The Holy Spirit proclaims through this that he was taken from many waters, and that he attained freedom from the enemies who long ago had held him under their power.

*And the Lord became my protector; and he brought me into a wide place; he will save me, because he wanted me. And the Lord will reward me according to my justice.* He says: since God had already heard my confession, prayers, and supplications, he became my protector. Standing by me when I was very nearly brought to subversion and ruin—for I had fallen completely into apostasy after my sin—he became my support and protector ^C when, having sent his prophet Nathan, he brought upon me the conviction of my sin and raised me up. Moreover, he *brought me into a wide place*, or, according to Symmachus, *into a broad space.* For he rescued me when I was constrained and nearly despairing of my own salvation, and brought me into a wide place, so that, having been brought into a broader space, I might be able to recover myself and take care of my healing. But he also says that he will deliver me completely, granting forgiveness of sin according to the time prophesied of his coming. And the Lord will do this, benefiting me *because he wanted me*, or, according to Aquila, *because he delighted in me*; for I would not have been converted, nor would I have been convicted of sin, nor would his prophet have been sent to me, if he had not wanted to save me. For I know and am perfectly convinced that, at the time of his righteous judgment, he will not make mention of my sin and the deeds which I committed in the day of my misery. ^D

For he will weigh my other deeds—those done in virtue and righteousness—using a balance and scales, and when he sets them against my sin, he will find that they far outweigh the sin that was committed. Therefore, he will not hold me to account for what I sinned (for he has already rendered payment, having brought me to task in this present life through the afflictions that have overtaken me); rather, he will reward me for my remaining deeds, those done in righteousness, on the day of his righteous judgment, and he will grant a reward for the purity of my hands, for I have washed away the filth that was formerly upon them. And I shall be blameless before him, and I shall keep myself from my iniquity. And the Lord will render to me according to my righteousness, and according to the purity of my hands he will render to me.

Subsequent to this, he narrates what his righteousness was, and how he washed his hands.

VERS. 22-25. Because I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not acted impiously toward my God. For all his judgments are before me, and I have not turned his ordinances away from me. And I shall be blameless before him, and I shall keep myself from my iniquity. Since, therefore, I have acquired these things for myself after the sin, and have gathered such remedies for myself, it is reasonable that, having resumed the same account in the second part, I should say—because of what has been said before—And the Lord will render to me according to my righteousness, and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes; in place of the phrase "before his eyes," Symmachus rendered it "over against his eyes." For I did not strive to show my purity to the eyes of men, nor did I act so as to please the many, but over against the eyes of the judge himself, I exerted all concern for my own purity.

VERS. 26-28. With the holy you will be holy, and with an innocent man you will be innocent; and with an elect person you will be elect, and with the perverse you will act perversely. For you will save the humble people, and you will humble the eyes of the proud. Does he not, in a prophetic manner, through the "humble people"—or, according to Aquila, the "poor," or, according to Symmachus, the "meek"—allude to the apostolic choir? And does he not call those "proud" who formerly took on a haughty spirit: the high priests, doctors, and rulers of the people of the circumcision, whom, when they previously used proud eyes against our Savior, God humbled, while saving his own humble and poor and meek one, namely, that people of our Savior, [the people of his] apostles and disciples?

VERS. 29, 30. For you will light my lamp, O Lord my God; you will light my darkness. For using you as my shield I shall be delivered from temptation, and by my God I shall leap over a wall. Now, seeking the lamp of David, I found that it is carried in the 131st Psalm: "There I will make a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my

^A Christ." But what else would the lamp prepared for Christ from the seed of David be, than that offspring which came forth according to the flesh by the succession of David, in which the Christ, having come into that fruit of David, acted, and made the rays of his power and the orient light shine forth to all men? Wherefore, in the words before us, David prophesies, saying: *For you shall light my lamp, O Lord.* For you yourself, he says, O Lord, who are the true light, having been united in an ineffable manner to the lamp that would be born from me, shall light it; but you shall also entirely remove the darkness that once grew upon me, so that not even the memory of it may arise in my mind. And I know well that, having been deemed worthy of the power and strength from you, I shall scale the wall in the heavens; and having been placed in safety, I shall then obtain the salvation that comes from you. Or: *I shall pass over and leap over all the fortifications of the enemies, and the hedges and the wall,* which they strive to build around me to hem me in. ^B

VERS. 31, 32. *My God, his way is unblemished; the sayings of the Lord are tested by fire; he is a protector to all who hope in him. For who is God besides the Lord? Or who is God besides our God?* He declares that his administration and the dispensation of his providence is unblemished, that is, blameless. But his sayings also are "tested by fire," that is, examined and proven; there is nothing in them to be investigated, nor can there be found in them any admixture of foreign matter, such as is the case in the sayings of the wise men of this age, which sometimes present a certain semblance of dignity, but are full of all contempt for religion and of impiety. What, then, do the sayings of the Lord, "tested by fire," teach? That he is a protector to all those who hope in him; and that there is no other God except our Lord alone, nor is there any other mighty one except our God; ^C and for this reason he is rightly called the protector of all who hope in him, since no one else can be found who is able to stand against such a one and such a protector.

VERS. 33, 34. *God who girds me with power, and has made my way unblemished. Who makes my feet as the feet of deer, and sets me on the heights.* He does not, he says, provide patronage and protection while being idle and sluggish; rather, he performs this duty while they themselves contribute to their own salvation by striving and defeating their enemies. Thus, also, arming me with his own powers, he strengthens my mortal and human force by his grace; so that, as a man having his loins girded by his strength, I may stand against ^D the enemies. But just as it was said above, "God, his way is unblemished," so, wishing me also to be after his image and likeness, he has made my way unblemished, and by doctrines, admonitions, and all kinds of disciplines, has polished and perfected my way, that is, my life and my manner of living. For "unblemished," Aquila has given "perfect." Furthermore, concerning "who makes my feet as the feet of deer," of which

^A much is written in the holy writings. But if one should examine the propositions at leisure, one would find their meaning referred to the holy men of God, those who are destroyers of every creeping and venomous creature. For such is the nature of the deer, being a killer of serpents and a destroyer of every reptile. And the animal is a mountain-climber and swift-footed, just as the saints of God look toward things above, and not at things upon the earth, and pursue high things, out of desire for the kingdom of the heavens. Therefore, David, supported by the grace of God, ascribes to himself a likeness to the holy ones, saying next, "And setting me upon the heights." For although others try their utmost to drag us down and cast us into the depths and valleys of wickedness, yet our God, like some superintendent of the games, instructing us to be good runners, encourages us toward the heights appropriate for us, and His grace does the same. For it is not our own power that establishes us in our own heights; for by nature the dwelling of the human soul is celestial; and those heights are not foreign, but its very own; wherefore he says, "Setting me upon the heights."

"Instructing my hands for war, and you put a bronze bow on my arms. And you gave me protection of salvation, and your right hand supported me." In addition to all these things, you have given me protection of salvation, having sent your Son to fight on my behalf with his own shield. ^B For you will accurately perceive what that salvation of God, foretold throughout the whole of Scripture, ever is, concerning which even Simeon said in the Gospel: "Now you dismiss your servant, O Lord, according to your word, in peace, because my eyes have seen your salvation." And "Your right hand supported me." Perhaps it is the right hand of God by which He established the heaven: the only-begotten Word.

"And your discipline fixed me in the end, and your discipline itself will teach me." Symmachus published: "And your hearkening will increase me." But Aquila: "And your gentleness increased me." ^C "You have broadened my steps under me." The steps by which I pass over from wickedness to virtue, and from sensible things to intelligible, and from the present to the future age, you have broadened under me; for at the beginning they appeared narrow and laborious to one traveling the straitened road; but having become above them through progress, I saw them broadened. For he who has become above progress, by having reached the end, no longer feels the narrowness, the labors, and the sweats that were in the progress, having come into broad space. "And my tracks did not weaken." If I were continually laboring, my tracks would indeed have weakened, that is, the legs of the inner man; but since, ^D after those labors undertaken for the sake of virtue, rest succeeds, my tracks do not weaken; rather, they are strengthened.

so that one might say: "You have set my feet in a spacious place." Further, he who follows Jesus also tracks his footprints; by the very act of treading the path worn smooth by Jesus, he gains strong footprints, as if to say in deed: "My tracks did not weaken in the narrowness of my tribulation."

"I will pursue my enemies and overtake them, and I will not turn back until they fail. I will crush them and they shall not be able to stand; they shall fall under my feet." ^B And what a number of enemies and foes he has overcome by the help of God! And this too, he says, has been granted to me by your grace, that my feet were not hemmed in, nor was I cut off by the nets of my enemies and the stumbling blocks they placed in the way. For all these things having been removed by you, my God, you have prepared for me a free and level path. But concerning the phrase, "they shall fall under my feet," you will interpret it in a manner worthy of the prophetic spirit if you recall that promise made by the Savior to the apostles, where he says to them: "Behold, I give you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy."

^C "You have girded me with strength for battle, and you have made all who rise up against me fall beneath me." He says you have endowed me with courage and strength. Having said previously, "God who girds me with strength," he shows here that it is a finished work with these words, "and you have girt me with strength for battle; and you have given my enemies to me as a back"—that is, those who, being brought to repentance, have now cast off their enmity; because they do not yet possess the confidence that arises from virtue, they have been placed by the Father at the back of Jesus; for in this way, being placed behind, they will be able to follow him. Perhaps this too might be said: The valiant and upright man, equipped with confidence toward God, stands in the presence of the Lord; but the wicked man, cast out behind because of his own malice, will be placed at the back of the Lord. ^D For since those wicked men themselves were the first to turn their backs to him, and not their faces, he also, turning his back to them, will have them at his back. And if every just man were to say these things, you would say that the wicked powers, if they come face to face, harm those who look upon them because they are hideous to behold; but if they are thrown behind, they will be able to contrive nothing evil against them, according to the text: "Upon my back the sinners have wrought."

"The Lord lives, and blessed be my God, and let the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God who gives me vindications and subjects peoples under me, my deliverer from my wrathful enemies." For although he humbled himself as he bowed the heavens and came down, yet he is exalted, according to the text: "God has highly exalted him and has given him a name which is above every name." It is God who gives me vindications and subjects peoples under me, my deliverer from my enemies.

For concerning the disobedient and contradictory people, it is said that he will bring upon them vengeance and punishments; or, according to Symmachus, "O God, who grantest vengeance to me." But the other rank, concerning which it was spoken above, says: "Thou wilt set me as the head of the nations. A people whom I have not known has served me." To this one he grants the ^A obedience to be under him. Wherefore he adds, according to Symmachus: "And subjecting peoples under me." He says that this one also became my deliverer from my wrathful enemies, and exalted me from those rising up against me, and the same one also delivered me from the unjust man. By these things he clearly indicates certain enemies and those who withstood him, and besides these, another man, truly full of every injustice. By these things, the discourse prophetically points out the rulers of the Jewish nation and ^B the traitor Judas, who was worse than any unjust man, for he, having been deemed worthy of such things by the Savior, repaid Him with the opposite [treatment].

"Therefore I will confess to thee among the nations, O Lord, and will sing to thy name. Magnifying the salvations of his king, and showing mercy to his anointed David, and to his seed forever." He moves on to the other, or as one might say, the right-hand rank, and it is possible to perceive this in [his] very works and before [our] eyes; just as David, after the coming of our Savior, can be considered as if he were still living and conversing with men, and through his own writings, odes, and hymns sings to the God of all among all the nations; and He who was born from the seed through him, to whose person the things set forth are referred, having in like manner become superior to those who plotted against him, might say, "And ^C thou shalt exalt me from those rising up against me." He abandons those [enemies] then, but imparts his grace and truth to all the nations; and even now, being present everywhere in the world and standing in the midst of those who have hoped in him, he confesses to the Father through His own Church; wherefore he says: "Therefore I will confess to thee among the nations, O Lord, and will sing to thy name."

TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID XVIII

The present psalm also happens to be among those transmitted unto the good end; but it is also inscribed as a thanksgiving ode, spoken as a triumphal song for those who have defeated their enemies. Wherefore, according to Symmachus, it is said: "A triumphal song of David." But also, because it is consecrated to the God who bestows victories, it is denominated, according to Aquila, "A melody to the giver of victory."

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament announces the work of his hands." It contains a doctrine expressive of the great work of God. For ^D because the hidden and invisible [nature] of the bodiless and unbegotten and divine substance, on account of not being grasped by the eyes of the flesh, was cast out by those who were blinded in the eyes of their soul from the existence of beings, having declared with atheistic mouths that there is no God, nor does anything exist superior to those things that are in bodies

^A but rather to have originated spontaneously and by irrational chance, aimlessly and in vain, without any cause, the present discourse, by way of the psalm, necessarily sets forth the theology through demonstrative proof and with the creative power of the All, going through such a line of reasoning. The nature of mortals is small and weak; the thoughts of men are timid, and our conceptions are unstable; wherefore we fall far short of the doxology befitting God. For it is impossible for human voices, or a carnal tongue and lips, to think that they can ever render befitting words about God.

But if it should please anyone to hear that efficacious, greatest, and God-worthy doctrine—that is, if one should have mental faculties that are sufficiently robust—let him apply his mind and rouse himself to listen to the things that are here proclaimed regarding that immensely great power of God, which the heavens themselves, enclosing the whole, put forth, celebrating their Creator and Maker of all, God, with songs and doxologies. For these heavens, which are the highest of all and lie above the firmament that is placed below, enclosing the entire sensible and spiritual creation, do not announce the glory of God in the Greek tongue, nor do they use any other dialect, but they teach the immensely great power of the one who is the cause to them of such motion by their very works, through their own order and their well-tuned, harmonious, and all-wise constitution. For from the magnitude and beauty of ^B created things, their Maker is proportionately contemplated, and: "The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made; even His eternal power and Godhead."

Whoever, therefore, thinks that the heavens have established their own substance without any creative reason and without any divine power, and attributes the cause of such great magnitude, such form, and such stable and orderly motion to their bodies, is a fool and impious. Wherefore it is right for those who possess a sound mind to agree that they as good as hear the voice of the heavens crying out through their very work, sending forth the befitting glory to their Maker and Creator, God.

^C In the same way, the firmament, which Moses declared to have been made on the second day of the creation—this firmament, I say, which is different from the aforementioned heavens, likewise preaches to all and cries out, teaching that it did not come into such a form spontaneously; but that it too is the work of the Creator of all things, God. Wherefore it is said: "And the firmament showeth His handiwork." For Moses knew that the heaven was created before the construction of the firmament, or even before the day was made; for he says: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." And then, after the first heaven was created, he introduces the power and genesis of light, and teaches that the light was called day, and says that there was evening and there was morning, one day. Then, ^D beginning the second day, he…

^A introduces the creation of the firmament. Scripture, however, acknowledges and admits several heavens; wherefore it says: "Praise the Lord from the heavens" (Ps. CXLVII, 1); and again: "Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and the water that is above the heavens" (Ps. CXLVIII, 4). Elsewhere, too, it is said: "The heaven of heaven belongs to the Lord" (Ps. CXIII, 16). The firmament is also called heaven, and the Savior promises the kingdom of heaven, and in prayer instructs us to say: "Our Father who art in heaven" (Matt. VI, 9); and: "The powers of the heavens shall be shaken" (Luke XXI, 26).

Verse 3. *Day unto day poureth forth speech, and night unto night declareth knowledge.* Day teaches, and night also teaches those who desire to be instructed, how ineffable is the wisdom and how incomprehensible the power of God, who has measured out for them the intervals of time. For if there were no one who had appointed the spaces and intervals for these seasons and times, but they existed by some temerarious and thoughtless motion and by chance, then truly the days would not have been ordained with equal intervals from the beginning, nor would the seasons have been ordered; and the times of the nights, likewise, would revolve by chance and fortuitously. For disorder is a kinsman of temerarious chance, and confusion follows after a fortuitous event; just as, conversely, reason directs proper order, and wisdom administers the harmony and concord of all things. Now their mutual vicissitudes and concessions—for sometimes the days, with the night yielding, are longer, and sometimes the nights reclaim the debt owed them by mutual allowance as winter and the storm-season increase—these, I say, all but cry out, and with a loud voice, as it were, proclaim that most wise order established by the God of the universe, and announce to men the knowledge of God. Thus, even by the very deeds and works of the days and nights, their voices cry out to those who are capable of hearing, so that their teaching reaches the ears of all.

^B The whole inhabited world of men is filled with this rhythmic and mutual dance; wherefore it is said: Verses 4, 5. *There are no speeches or words whose voices are not heard. Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.* It is manifest that this refers to the days and nights, and to the heavens that declare the glory of God, and to the firmament that announces the work of His hands. ^C And here it occurs to me, as I contemplate this, to marvel at how the holy Apostle applied that saying: *Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world*, to the disciples, evangelists, and apostles of our Savior in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. X, 18). But as I weighed the apostolic statement in my mind, ^D I discovered that he had made this adaptation quite appositely and opportunely; for he does not speak as he does in other places—now saying, *But Isaiah crieth concerning Israel* (Rom. IX, 27); now, *As Isaiah hath said before* (ibid. 29); again, *As it is written* (Rom. X, 15); and yet again, *As it is*

written, for the Scripture does not—I say—cite that passage, *Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth*, with a similar addition. For if he had prefixed anything of the sort, there might perhaps be some who would think that he had done violence to the saying of the Psalm. But here he appears to have used the sentiment of the Psalm in a simple manner; so that it can justly be said that he applied this testimony in a timely, useful, and appropriate way. ^A

VERS. 6, 7. *In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his race.* ^B Besides what has been said, the sun is also introduced as a teacher of the giving of glory to God, inasmuch as it observes the inviolable law of the Lord and great King. For it never dares to enter upon any course other than that which is prescribed for it, nor does it transgress the bounds defined in the heavenly constitution. But in the morning, as if from a remote and inaccessible bridal chamber, it comes forth, beautiful as a bridegroom and adorned with the bloom of light; and after it passes the eastern horizon, it permeates the whole world, never weary, completing its own proper course. Furthermore, it circles like a giant, exceedingly strong and invincible, starting from the highest center of the eastern horizon, as if from a starting-post, and within the space of a single day and night it traverses the entire world, so that no one is bereft of its warmth. ^C It does this as one obeying the command of its Maker, who established it in the firmament. Hence it is said: *In the sun hath he set his tabernacle.* Although this is stated clearly, it is even more explicitly explained by the other interpreters; for Aquila has it thus: *For the sun he set a tabernacle in them;* Symmachus, *For the sun he ordained a tabernacle in them;* Theodotio, *For the sun he set a tabernacle in them;* and in like manner the fifth edition also declares it. For in the aforementioned heavens and in the firmament, God set the tabernacle and dwelling-place for the sun, according to that which was said by Moses: *And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars. And he set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth* (Gen. I, 16, 17). ^D Through these, the sun declares, and all but shouts, that it is by no means master of itself or free, but that it provides the knowledge of Him who is Master both of itself and of all.

VERS. 8-12. *The law of the Lord is undefiled, converting souls; the testimony of the Lord is faithful, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring for ever and ever: the judgments of the Lord are true, being justified*

to the same: desirable above gold and much precious stone, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. For indeed thy servant keeps them, and in keeping them there is great reward. All these things the law of God has encompassed for the conversion of the soul. For it contains, first, testimonies, and justifications, and precepts. Then, to all these it appended, as a corrective staff, fear, and upon all, as a crown, it set the judgments of God. But to each of the things mentioned he joined a property; to the law, which is here named in a general sense, the conversion of the soul; yet how the soul is converted, he sets forth in what follows, by speaking of a faithful testimony through which he who is an infant in Christ is made wise. Then, the justifications of the Lord, and adding to these their property, which is that they are upright and provide to those who partake of them the fruit of gladness. And in addition to these, the commandment of the Lord, whose property he also set forth, calling it bright and enlightening the eyes of the soul. To the fear of the Lord he joined purity, and to purity, everlasting and eternal life. And above all and after all, he added the judgment of God, and joined to it truth and righteousness.

Vers. 13, 14. Who shall understand trespasses? Cleanse me from my secret faults, and spare thy servant from others. In place of "spare thy servant from others," Aquila gave: "And keep thy servant from the proud." Very necessarily does he send forth this prayer, that he might be delivered from pride. For since a certain frequently arrogant thought follows those who perform deeds well, while the soul, conscious of good works, is exalted and thinks magnificently of itself; and then, having fallen into the evil of pride, it is prostrated and falls down in another way; therefore the Apostle says: "Lest being puffed up he fall into the judgment of the devil." Necessarily, indeed, after he had said, "For thy servant keeps them," and had professed himself a follower of the commandments of God, he asks to be delivered from pride, and adds: "If they do not get dominion over me, then shall I be blameless, and I shall be cleansed from great sin." For as long as, at the present time, even if I have called myself a guardian of the commandments of God, yet since I do not yet know myself to be cleansed from my secret faults, and am still struggling and anxious that I might be delivered from pride, I speak reasonably, inasmuch as I have not yet achieved perfection. Then I shall clearly know myself to be blameless, and then I shall be cleansed from great sin, when neither my secret faults get dominion over me, nor does an arrogant thought enslave me, nor evil demons. And he calls the "apotelesmatic" sin, the great one. For if I were not cleansed from my secret faults, they remaining in me into a certain evil... [original-script column: see facsimile]

^A action, would transfer me, and I would become liable to a great sin. VERS. 15. *And the words of my mouth shall be for good pleasure.* When these things have been bestowed upon me by You, then the words of my mouth, which I have offered in praying, in celebrating You with hymns, and in giving thanks to You, shall be for good pleasure. Those words, indeed, are for good pleasure which are worthy of approbation and praise. *And the meditation of my heart is in Your sight always.* The meditation of my intellect, being perfected in thoughts and perceptions, while it is free from all blame, is in Your sight always. Indeed, the blamelessness of this meditation has its origin nowhere else but from You, who have cleansed me from my secret faults.

*O Lord, my helper and my redeemer.* With You helping, O Master, I shall be cast down by no one of those who fight against me spiritually. But if, through my own lack of attention, it should happen that I am caught by adversaries, You deliver me from their hands, being found at once ^B my helper and redeemer.

TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID XIX.

VERS. 2-4. *The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob protect thee. Let him send thee help from his holy place, and let him support thee out of Sion. May he be mindful of all thy sacrifices, and let thy whole burnt offering be made fat. Diapsalma.* The psalm is indeed assigned to David, according to the inscription. But consider whether, if the history is observed, it may be the prayer of someone else, which is a helper to the supplications of David. He who asks and beseeches David, that God may be present as his savior, and may struggle with him against enemies and foes. For it is probable that to him, while he was doing these things, a choir of holy angels or even God-loving men, those very sacred ministers of God, were present, joining with him in prayer and saying: *The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble,* and the rest; and also that: *And the name of the God of Jacob support thee.* For such an invocation and address is sufficient for the repelling of all enemies. These things do not befit David alone, but ^C also any other who, in a similar case, offers through prayer spiritual and pure sacrifices to God; to whom, as is fitting, those sacred virtues and the choirs of holy angels are present as joint-participants and helpers of the prayers and supplications.

VERS. 5-7. *The Lord grant thee according to thy heart, and fulfill all thy counsel. We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we shall be magnified. The Lord fulfill all thy petitions: now have I known that the Lord has saved his anointed.* Beginning from the *diapsalma*, those who pray utter a prophecy, that God will grant to him who offered those rational sacrifices all that he asked in mind and heart, and will perfect his counsel, provided it be not alien to the counsels of God themselves. "We will enjoy these goods with thee," they say, "and we will rejoice in thy salvation"; for we are aware, the Holy Spirit revealing it, that that offspring ^D that is to come forth from thee shall be the salvation of all men; in which we too shall be magnified in the name of our God. May thy petitions also be fulfilled; for indeed these are worthy of God.

^A He will hear him from his holy heaven, in the powers is the salvation of his right hand. The right hand, and all saving and right actions, are in powers; for by powers, signs, and wonders, he will dispense his benefits to men.

These in chariots and these in horses, but we shall call upon the name of the Lord our God. They were fettered and fell; but we rose and were set upright. O Lord, save the king, and hear us in the day that we call upon thee. For experience of the facts would be a proof of the better way. For the enemies, trusting in horses and chariots, having been fettered, shall fall just like Pharaoh who was drowned in the Red Sea; but we, armed in the name of the Lord our God, and struggling with prayers along with thee who dost send up sacrifices, shall rise again and be set upright, since thou hast lifted up the victories over the enemies. But these things, they say, shall be even now at the time of the manifestation of the salvation that was given. ^B For then especially all opposing powers, and the unseen and invisible enemies of God, being routed by the Salvation itself, shall fall. And all who have received the Salvation shall arise from their former fall. Therefore Simeon was saying concerning him: "Behold, this one is set for the fall and rising of many"; for the fall, of course, of his enemies and foes; but the rising of those who had formerly fallen, but have been raised up by him. And these things shall happen then; but now, O Lord, save for us the king David, and at every time that exists, and in the day that we call upon thee. These things are also suitable, as another says, to Hezekiah. You will understand these things also according to the rule of anagogy.

TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID XX.

O Lord, in thy strength the king shall be glad. I think that these things set before us are also spoken by those who prayed well for David before this. For David, having now learned from the oracles that came to him the things concerning the salvation that was to come forth from his seed, and the power in that salvation, will be glad and will exult exceedingly in these things. And ^D trusting in these, and being superior to his enemies through them, he attributes the prizes of victory to thee, the victory-making God. And he rejoices and exults exceedingly, being saved by thee from the ambush of the enemies; and he does not exult so much at his own salvation as that his salvation comes from thee. For indeed, having desired the salvation from thee, and having sent up for this purpose a supplication with his own lips in his prayers to God, he shall not fall short of his hope, nor shall his petition be in vain.

And he shall rejoice exceedingly in thy salvation. For God, he says, will fill him with joy, when He makes him a spectator of His own glory face to face. Wherefore Symmachus says: Thou shalt make him glad with the joy of thy countenance. For at the time of justification, when David standing in the midst of those who have attained salvation shall gaze upon the face of the great King, and his head shall be crowned with a precious stone, adorned with glory and magnificence, he shall be filled with divine joy and heavenly gladness. ^B

VERS. 3-7. *The desire of his heart thou hast given him, and the petition of his lips thou hast not withheld from him. Selah. For thou hast prevented him with the blessings of sweetness, thou hast set upon his head a crown of precious stone. He asked life of thee, and thou hast given him length of days for ever and ever. His glory is great in thy salvation, glory and great magnificence shalt thou set upon him. For thou shalt give him for a blessing, etc.* HAVING predicted these promises to David, he subsequently brings forward the reason why he shall obtain such things. And what is that reason, if not hope in the Lord, through which, having obtained mercy, he shall not fall away from that hope given to him by God the Most High, nor shall he waver in that firm and solid state? For hope does not confound. ^C

VERS. 9, 10. *Let thy hand be found by all thy enemies, thy right hand let it find all who hate thee. Thou shalt set them as an oven of fire, in the time of thy countenance: the Lord in his wrath shall trouble them, and fire shall devour them.* Those who pour forth their prayers address God in this way, as if they were saying: Even though those who have made themselves enemies to Thee, O God, do not cease from attacking the souls devoted to Thee and all the saints enrolled in Thy family, yet they shall not escape Thy inevitable hand and Thy invincible power. For as long as those enemies of Thine are permitted to exercise Thy athletes, they lift themselves high; but since they have exalted themselves for a short time, not long afterward Thy hand shall overtake them, and Thy right hand shall hunt down those who flee. And what will it do when it has overtaken them? *Thou shalt set them as an oven of fire in the time of thy countenance.* For at the time of the shining forth of Thy countenance, in which Thou shalt manifest Thy kingdom, Thou shalt cause those who have brought the fire of wickedness upon themselves to kindle the just punishment for themselves, so that they become an oven of fire unto themselves. ^D Just like those who suffer in illnesses and labor under bodily fever; for with no one applying fire from without, they foster the fire within themselves. In the very same way, He says, Thou shalt set Thy enemies and those who hate Thee as an oven of fire. Wherefore it shall be said to them: *Walk in the light of your fire, and in the flame which you have kindled.*

VERS. 11. *Their fruit thou shalt destroy from the earth, and their seed...*

from the sons of men. For there have been numberless successions of impious and godless men; yet it often happens that from wicked fathers, pious and God-loving sons have emerged. But the seed of the godless, and the fruit of the impious, are their words, and their teachings, and their godless dogmas, which, after their decease, happen to be manifested among men. Which things, indeed, God, as being good, hands over to destruction and oblivion, so that neither the fruit of the impious nor their seed remains. ^A

*For they turned against thee evils; they reasoned concerning plans which they shall not be able to establish.* *For thou shalt put them to the back; in thy remnants thou shalt prepare their face.* Again, he sets forth the cause for which they shall suffer these things, saying: *For they turned against thee evils.* In place of *they turned*, Symmachus says: *For they conspired against thee unto evil.* For even if they seemed to be warring against men, since they did not lay snares for them for any reasonable cause, nor on account of any evil deed they had committed, but solely for their godliness toward thee, one might justly say that they had laid snares against thee, the God, and that all the machines which they contrived against thy holy ones had been contrived against God himself. Therefore, because of the aforementioned things, they shall be overtaken; nor shall they be able to escape thy hands. ^B For they indeed were contriving and doing all things with an impious mindset, thinking against thee, the God; but thou wast making them turn back and flee, so that, being driven by thy wrath, they shifted their backs.

1. TO THE END CONCERNING THE MORNING HELP, A PSALM OF DAVID. XXI.

The inscription ^C of the psalm assigns the entire subject matter of the things carried within it to the time of our Savior’s resurrection from the dead. Therefore it is entitled, *Concerning the morning help.* And what the things of the morning help were, the evangelists will again demonstrate; for Luke writes as follows: *But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. But having entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in gleaming raiment, who also said: Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen; remember how he spoke to you, while he was still in Galilee.* ^D In a similar manner the other evangelists also speak. Do you see how the things of the morning help were being fulfilled according to the time of the resurrection of our Savior? Therefore the Holy Spirit refers the entire economy of the Savior’s passion to his resurrection, and sends the prophecy toward that very end through the aforementioned inscription: *To the end concerning the morning help, a psalm to David.* And how, indeed, was the prophecy which contains the resurrection of our Savior, and of his Church the con-

- ^A caption, and of all the nations the calling, and of the generations, and of the foreknowledge of the people who were to be born, contained within it? For the Holy Spirit begins the psalmody with these things, as if rejoicing over great blessings.

*Verse 2. O God, my God, look upon me; why hast thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my transgressions.* But since the expression "look upon me" does not appear in the Hebrew exemplar, but is inserted into the first verse only among the Seventy Interpreters, it is justly omitted by our Savior as he cries out these things.

And I ask you to consider, in what way did all the other translators fail to mention transgressions? For it was not fitting to ascribe transgressions to the person of our Savior, who "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." ^B But on behalf of those of the people who were committing acts worthy of tears and weeping, and on behalf of his apostle Judas, who had slipped and fallen from his own dignity, he continually lamented and cried out: "Far from my salvation are the words of my groanings." The words, he says, of my deeds, constantly performed on behalf of the people, have become far from my salvation, since the people have gained nothing from the salvation which I provided for them. But in order that we may not seem to be using the interpretation of the Seventy to refute those who interpret the psalm differently—as if we were using it from mere cleverness—we will make use of the interpretation of the Seventy. For even those others, by observing and noting this reading, have said that this psalm does not apply to the Lord. Let them hear, therefore, John crying out: "Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world"; ^C and the divine Paul saying: "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God"; and again: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for our sake." Therefore, just as, being the fountain of righteousness, he took upon himself our sin, and, being a sea of blessings, he received the curse that was coming upon us, and endured the cross, despising shame, so he also offered the words on our behalf. For if he willingly underwent the discipline determined for us—for "the discipline of our peace was upon him," as the prophet says—much more did he use the words on our behalf and instead of us, and cries out: "Far from my salvation are the words of my transgressions." Do not look, he says, to the transgressions of nature.

*Verse 3. O my God, I will cry by day, and thou wilt not hear; and by night, and not for lack of understanding on my part.* The Savior, having confessed these things concerning us, ^D says: "Though I cry thus, I know that thou wilt hear"; for it must be read with a pause. "And by night I will cry, and let it not be reckoned to me as lack of understanding," whenever the things around me are gloomy. For many are enveloped in darkness in the midst of perplexities, so that they even become ignorant of what it is necessary to say when crying out to God; but I know well on account of what the nocturnal condition is around me.

^A But Thou in holiness dwellest, the praise of Israel. And indeed, You dwell in all Your saints, always being with them and always hearing them. In this, therefore, You are accustomed to be the praise of Israel, that is to say, of every saint. But if God dwells in all the saints, how much more does He dwell in His own Only-begotten, and how much more graciously will He hear Him?

In Thee have our fathers hoped, they hoped and Thou didst deliver them. To Thee they cried out, and they were saved; in Thee they hoped, and they were not put to shame. ^B Although, he says, I know clearly that all our fathers, trusting in Your aid, were not deceived in their hope, and calling upon You for help, enjoyed Your providence: But I am a worm and not a man, the reproach of a man and the outcast of the people. A worm is considered the most insignificant of all living things, and it has its existence from the corruption of bodies; and it is destructive and corruptive to whatever it touches. The prophet Isaiah makes mention of this, saying: Fear not, worm of Jacob, O little Israel; I have helped you, says the Lord who redeems you, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I have made you as the wheels of a threshing wagon, new, fashioned like a saw; and you shall grind the mountains and beat small the hills, and make them as dust; and you shall winnow them, and the wind shall take them, and a storm shall scatter them. But you shall rejoice in the Lord. By these words, the prophecy, while calling Him a worm and saying "little" because of the insignificance and smallness of the animal, has joined great power to it, saying: You shall grind the mountains, and beat small the hills, and make them as dust, and shall winnow them.

And so, when the Savior says, in the texts set before us: But I am a worm and not a man, He indicates the insignificance, the weakness, the rejection, and the abandonment of His Passion, as well as the destruction of the opposing powers. For He was about to undergo death, and having entered into that very place of the dead, like a worm, He was to deliver the opposing powers to corruption. And in another way you might say He was called a worm and not a man because He did not have origin of flesh like men, from the union of male and female. In a third way, He signifies His own death and His lifeless corpse; wherefore He adds: But I am a worm and not a man; the reproach of men and the outcast of the people. ^C For the dead is no longer a man. But if He had been altogether dead, it would have sufficed to say: "But I am not a man"; but because He was equipped with a certain power destructive of death, He rightfully called Himself a worm and not a man. For in truth the Savior and our Lord became the reproach of all, having taken upon Himself for our sake the shameful cross. For this reason, another prophecy, speaking from His own person, says: The reproaches of those who reproached You have fallen upon Me. ^D Other men, therefore, had Him as shameful at the time of His passion...

^A What order and kind of men were these, different from those, and having Him as an object of scorn? Who were they, if not the people from the circumcision? Therefore, the text adds next, "and the outcast of the people." For these men, mocking and ridiculing Him, said, "Ah! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days. He saved others; let Him save Himself. If He is the King of Israel, let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him."

VERS. 8, 9. Concerning this same matter, the text says the following in what follows: "All who see me have ridiculed me; they have spoken with their lips, they have moved their head. He hoped in the Lord; let Him deliver him, let Him save him, since He desires him." ^B And these things were fulfilled during the time of the saving passion, as Matthew narrates in these words: "And those who were passing by were blaspheming Him, moving their heads and saying, 'Ah! You who destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down now from the cross.' Similarly, the chief priests also, mocking Him with the Pharisees and scribes, said, 'He saved others, Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God; let Him deliver Him if He desires Him, for He said, I am the Son of God.'"

VERS. 10, 11. "For You are He who drew me from the womb, my hope from my mother's breasts. Upon You I was cast from the womb; from my mother’s belly You are my God; do not depart from me." He declares that He was not constituted by the common usage of nature, nor in the same manner as other men and the rest of beasts, ^C by the union of male and female, nor was His birth in that same manner; but that He had something beyond the ordinary order of nature.

VERS. 12-14. "For tribulation is near, for there is no one to assist. Many calves have surrounded me, fat bulls have beset me." You would not at all be in error if by "fat bulls" you said were signified the leaders of the Jewish nation, or the chief priests, scribes, and elders. Mention of this matter is made in the sixty-seventh Psalm with these words: "Rebuke the wild beasts of the reeds: the congregation of bulls among the heifers of the peoples." Here, indeed, He called the peoples "heifers" and the leaders of the peoples "bulls." ^D And in the present Psalm, in place of "Many calves have surrounded me," Symmachus has it thus: "Fat, fatted bull-calves have beset me," he says, "and have surrounded me"; but according to Aquila, "The mighty ones of Basan have made a spectacle of me," it is said, with the Word hinting at the military band of Pilate, which it called "Basan," who, having woven a crown of thorns, placed it upon His head in place of a diadem. "They have opened their mouth upon Me, as a lion ravaging and roaring," crying out, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him." His blood be upon us and upon our children.

^A Aquila says: "As a lion," he says, "catching and roaring"; but according to Symmachus: "As a lion hunting and roaring." For they who thirsted for blood, and who involved their own children in guilt for the blood of the Savior, differed in no way from a roaring lion.

VERS. 17-19. "For many dogs have encompassed Me, a congregation of the malignant has besieged Me." After the Jews, he mentions the soldiers of the Gentiles. For it was to them that the Jews delivered Christ. Wherefore the prophecy preserved the order of events. With reason, then, did he call the former bulls, but these dogs; for the former were under the yoke of the law, even if they were openly transgressing the law; but the latter were, according to the law, unclean. Thus also the Lord Himself named the Canaanite woman. "For it is not meet," He says, "to take the children's bread, and to cast it to the dogs." Yet nevertheless, after the passion, those who were once dogs have, through faith, moved into the order of children; while those who once enjoyed the care of children have received the name of dogs, inasmuch as they have raged like dogs against the Master. Touching them the blessed Paul cries out: "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision." The prophetic word, however, having called them dogs, says: "A congregation of the malignant has besieged Me; they dug My hands and My feet, they numbered all My bones." And this is clear and evident even to those who are very contentious; for we hear in the holy Gospels the Lord Himself saying to His holy disciples: "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself." ^C And indeed, He showed Thomas the marks of the nails, and the wound from the lance. Then, furthermore, "they numbered all My bones"; that is, they so stretched Me out while nailing Me, that it was easy for anyone who wished even to determine the number of the bones. "But they considered and looked upon Me"—in place of jeering and laughing—"they divided My garments among themselves, and upon My vesture they cast lots." And this too the history of the holy Gospels teaches more clearly.

"You that fear the Lord, praise Him; all you the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; let all the seed of Israel fear Him." Since the entire Jewish nation is divided into three orders—first into the common multitude of the nation, which was called Israel; then into the priestly order, which was the house of Aaron; and third into the ministers of the priests, which was the house of Levi—another psalm, having enumerated these three, introduces a fourth order beside those aforementioned: that of those who fear the Lord. And this was the ^D multitude of those from the Gentiles who were converted to God. For it said: "House of Israel, bless the Lord; and in like manner, house of Aaron, and house of Levi; and at the end, you who fear the Lord." In that psalm, indeed, those from Israel were placed before those who fear the Lord; but here, after the resurrection of the Savior,

those who fear the Lord are placed before Israel. For it was necessary, since He had said, "I will declare your name to my brethren, in the midst of the Church I will praise you," that the hymn be delivered first to those of His Church. These, moreover, were those from the nations saved by Him, whom He signifies when He says, "You who fear the Lord, praise Him." Quite accurately, He promises to declare the paternal name to His own brethren and disciples, as being better and more capable; but to the Church and the multitude of the people, He does not deliver that paternal name—for these were not able to receive it—but He teaches them a hymn. Then He commands the seed of Jacob to glorify Him, setting the Jewish order second, after the people from the nations; whom He also calls not Jacob, but the seed of Jacob and Israel, very accurately because of their lineage from the patriarch. For not because of that paternal zeal, nor because of any likeness to their father, were they worthy to be called Jacob, but for the sake of the seed they obtained this way of naming: "Because He has not spurned nor looked with disdain upon the supplication of the poor; nor has He turned away His face from me, and when I cried to Him He heard me."

VERS. 26, 27. "The poor shall eat and be satisfied, and those who seek Him shall praise the Lord; their hearts shall live for ever and ever." Here He says, "shall eat"; but in the following [verses], "all the fat ones of the earth have eaten and worshipped." But after they have eaten, they have become fat, who before they ate were called poor, whom He promises will use the food supplied by Him. "The poor," He says, "shall eat." These, moreover, were those whom He places before the rest in the beatitudes, saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," to whom He also promises the things which are added immediately after: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." But after, He says, the poor have eaten, and being filled with food, or as Symmachus says, satisfied, then they shall praise the Lord who seek Him; and eating the food supplied to them by Him and seeking Him, they shall possess that great fruit which is declared thereafter: "For their hearts shall live for ever and ever." ^D For the bread of life, being supplied to them by Him, will be for them the author of immortality and eternal life, just as He Himself taught by saying: "I am the bread of life which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world," and again: "If anyone eats of my bread, he shall live for ever," and the rest. Do you see how these harmonize with these words of the psalm: "The poor shall eat and be satisfied; and their hearts shall live for ever and ever"?

VERS. 28, 29. "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship in His presence. For the Lord's kingdom, and He is the master of the nations." For to the Savior…

^A light having shone upon them, they shall remember that there was for them a Lord, who truly is the Master of all; for those whom they had supposed to be lords were not the Lord. But having come to the remembrance of their own Master, they shall take refuge in Him; and He whom they had formerly turned away from, owing to some treachery of the enemies, they shall acknowledge to be their own Lord, and they shall turn to Him. But lest anyone might think that these things are said about the Jewish nation, the word accurately adds that these things shall be fulfilled for all the nations throughout the whole world; and then, having turned, what shall all the families of the nations do in His presence? For which Symmachus and Aquila have rendered, "all the kindreds of the nations," and indeed most accurately. For what nation does not have kindreds turned to the God of all? And what city, or what country, or what house does not have some set apart and chosen for God? And how were the kindreds of the nations going to lay aside their own forgetfulness, and make a remembrance of the God of all; and how were all the ends of the earth going to turn to Him? ^B It adds next: "For the Lord's kingdom, and He is the master of the nations." For the demons and the devil, who formerly held dominion, have been abolished, and only the kingdom of the God over all has prevailed. The discourse therefore uses order and sequence, having first said, "They shall remember," then secondly, "they shall turn," and thirdly, "they shall worship." And all these things shall come to pass, "For the Lord's kingdom, and He is the master of the nations."

"They have eaten and worshipped, all the fat ones of the earth; in His presence shall fall all those who go down into the earth. And my soul lives for Him, and my seed shall serve Him."

It is possible on each resurrection day of our Savior, which is called the Lord's day, to see with one's own eyes those who partake of the holy food and of the body of the Savior, and after eating, to worship the Giver and Provider of this life-giving food, and to wonder at the result of the words, and at the fulfillment of the prophecy through the deed itself, regarding the clearer meaning of the passage. Instead of "the fat ones of the earth," Symmachus interpreted "the nourished of the earth." And by these are indicated those who, from the heavenly food, are robust and strong in their state of mind. But these, then, "have eaten and worshipped." ^D Since, however, it is necessary that "every knee should bow to Him, of those in heaven, and those on earth, and those under the earth," [*] it is justly added thereafter, "In His presence shall fall all those who go down into the earth"; for which Aquila has rendered, "In His presence shall bow all those who go down into the dust." And clearly through these the manner of those who bow the knee in the Church of God is demonstrated, where, having bowed their knees and pressed their foreheads to the earth, they are accustomed to worship Him in this manner.

^A And hereafter it is said: *And my soul shall live to Him; and my seed shall serve Him.* Symmachus interpreted this more clearly, having conjoined and said: *Before Him shall bow all who go down into the dust; and my soul shall live, and my seed shall serve Him.* For all of them, he says, having bowed and bent the knee, shall worship; those whose hope is that their soul shall live, and whose seed shall serve Him. But if one should wish to hear these words from the person of the Savior who is speaking—*And my soul shall live to Him*, according to the Septuagint translation, and *my seed shall serve Him*—he might say that these things are spoken by the Savior, who is leading the whole of this psalm through concerning every soul dedicated to Him, and concerning His own seed. And what would you call His seed, if not those who are born to Him as sons through the generation of the Holy Spirit, who, having also served His Father, shall partake of eternal and blessed life?

Vers. 32. *A generation to come shall be announced to the Lord; and they shall announce His righteousness to a people yet to be born, whom the Lord hath made.* The Savior, having previously named His seed in the words, *And my seed shall serve Him*, openly reveals what this seed is, when He commemorates a generation to come and a people that shall be born. For just as things that are born take the beginning of their existence from seeds, in exactly the same way He declares that the people to be born and the generation to come—being new and fresh—would have its beginning from nowhere else than from His own rational seeds, which He, while present on earth, was sowing through His apostles, namely, the Spirit of adoption. Moreover, for that which says, *A generation to come shall be announced to the Lord*, Symmachus, in a wonderfully surprising way, writes: *It shall be inscribed in a book for the Lord* (1). The generation to come was to be announced; but further, a book of prophecy was to be dedicated to the Lord concerning the generation to come, and the people to be born.

PSALM 22 [RSV 23]

Vers. 1, 2. *The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall want nothing. He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment; He hath converted my soul. He hath led me.* The condition of sheep represents a middle state between the progress of the perfect and the condition of those who, because they wallow in the depth of wickedness, are therefore compared to reptiles and wild beasts. For the perfect man is one whose soul, having been made to the image and likeness of God, is distinguished by habits fashioned for virtue: he who writes down the Lord as King, not as Shepherd. But he who has fallen from such a state, and who by the self-chosen impulse of his own will has changed into beastly habits, would worthily be called a stallion, or a rapacious wolf. And the Scripture is wont to call such men serpents, ^D broods of vipers, swine, dogs, and foxes. But those who from such a wretched condition return to a better state, then, having progressed as if to the entrance and vestibule of divine knowledge, would rightly be called sheep of God; and having progressed toward more perfect things

they are called men. When, however, they are sheep, ^A led by the shepherd indicated by Ezekiel by the name of David—that is, by our Savior Christ—they are instructed to say: "The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall lack nothing." And when they are nourished by the intelligible and new food and pasture of the holy Gospels, they will say: "In a place of pasture he has there settled me." But he who is initiated in Christ, and who drinks water because he is not yet able to drink the wine of the true vine, since he is still reckoned in the number of sheep, yet is refreshed by that saving water of which the Savior cries out, saying: "If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink," and again: "He who drinks of the water that I shall give him, rivers of living water shall flow out of his belly," and again: "He who drinks of the water that I shall give him will not thirst forever"—he might well say: "He has nurtured me upon the water of rest." But also, having laid aside every burden of old sins through the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit, he might well say: "He has nurtured me upon the water of rest." For indeed, such water is truly ^B of rest, by which a person, having cast off the heavy and laborious burden of sins pressing upon the soul, and having wiped away every filth and stain and spot, and having been loosed from those tangled bonds, experiencing the joy of these things, will say: "He has nurtured me upon the water of rest." Then, as one who formerly failed in spirit, but through the grace given to him and through the saving water is restored to a better state—as if recalled from death—he will say: "He has converted my soul." All these things will befall the man who is shepherded by the Lord through the aforementioned David.

^C VERS. 3, 4. "He has guided me upon paths of righteousness for his name's sake." He does these things, he says, so that his name might not be blasphemed because of sheep that are lost or poorly led. "For even if I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will not fear evils, for you are with me." For sin is far from everyone who enjoys fellowship with God. He calls common death the shadow of death, and the soul's separation from the body, in contrast to the death of the soul, concerning which it is said: "The soul that sins, it shall die," and: "There is sin unto death." For it is not a shadow of death, but the true death, which is the destruction of the soul. Since, therefore, they have learned that he who believes in the Son of God shall not die forever, but has passed from death unto life, they very accurately say that ^D death does not come upon them, but rather the shadow of death; by this they denote the dangers that happen according to man, and indicate that bodily death is nothing other than the separation of the soul from the body. "Your rod and your staff, they have comforted me." These, therefore, comfort him who is being struck and chastised, convinced that God scourges every son whom he receives.

^A VERSE 5. *You have prepared a table before me in the presence of those who afflict me. You have anointed my head with oil, and your cup, which inebriates, how excellent it is!* For they know the spiritual oil, by which their head is anointed, and that inebriation which strengthens and does not dissolve, and also that spiritual food which he who adds the condition of a spouse to the office of a pastor sets before us. By these, he says, let us enjoy good things and rejoice, while in the meantime our enemies grieve and are worn away, because those who were once servants have experienced such a change: "You anointed my head with oil."

VERSE 6. *And your mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and that I may dwell in the house of the Lord for a length of days.* Confiding in your mercy and your grace, I know for certain that, established by your mercy all the days of my life, I shall never fall, since that hope is placed in you. This mercy of yours, therefore, this grace of yours, has deigned to confer upon me this good thing, that I might possess your house and Church as my dwelling; where, having remained, as if in the sacred house of God and in the holy temple, I shall obtain length of days with you and eternal life. For since I dwell in your house, never going forth from it, nor turning aside elsewhere, I judge this to be the cause that I shall obtain length of days, with your own light shining. For that expression, "in length of days," Symmachus interpreted as "in duration of time," denoting the interminable space and immortality of that life which is according to God.

^B

PSALM OF DAVID XXIII

^C VERSES 1, 2. *The earth belongs to the Lord, and its fullness, the world and all who dwell in it. He has founded it upon the seas, and upon the rivers he has prepared it.* For if, he says, the divine Word had not presided over it, and if the Wisdom of God had not founded it in this manner, it would have long since, by its natural downward weight, been swallowed up in the depths. But far more excellent than it was that power of the Lord, the producer of miracles and wonders, which had decreed that so great a mass and so great a fullness of earth, and the world with its inhabitants, should be carried aloft and be placed upon the back of the waters. Therefore, he says, "he founded it upon the seas." For the earth itself, heavy and inanimate, did not consolidate itself over the abysses; but the Creator of all, the Son of God, who by divine creation willed the solid and heavy element of the earth to be borne upon the backs of the sea and to be established above the humid nature, and in this way founded it. ^D By another manner of reasoning, he teaches that the earth did not exist of its own accord, nor was it fashioned in such a form on all sides by some rash and irrational chance. Wherefore he adds, "and upon the rivers he has prepared it." For if—

^B it had been entirely smooth and level in all its parts, according to the sphere of the Greeks, it would never have admitted the collection of rivers, nor would it have been suitable for agriculture, as the rains flowing from every side would have dispersed. Conversely, if it were one single flat surface, stretched out into plains and fields, in that case, too, rivers would not have formed within it—neither those flowing from perennial fountains, nor those that gather from winter rains; rather, they would long since have flooded the whole land, rendering it unfit for sowings, for plants and trees, or for agriculture. Nor would it have been suitable or useful to its inhabitants, since everything would have been inundated and washed away by the deluge of waters. These things, then, would surely have come to pass, had not some creative Word and the wisdom of God fashioned such a form for it with great artifice. But as it now is, it has been so constructed that it is shaped into mountains and dales, hills and ravines, so that rivers may make their exits without obstruction; mountains, forests, and trees are allotted to the animals; and lands and plains are marked out for the dwellings and agriculture of men. Who, then, would not acknowledge that these things proceed from a truly wise providence? For it, foreseeing the future before the fullness of the earth and the things that are in it came into existence, fashioned it in such a way, modeling it with a fitting pattern so that it might be suitable for all. And in a more mystical sense, the earth has become the Lord's.

"Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?" By this, we must understand the ultimate good and God the Word, to which whoever progresses aspires to reach its summit. But such persons are rare; wherefore it is said, "Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?"

"Innocent of hands and clean of heart, who has not received his soul in vain, and has not sworn in deceit to his neighbor. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Savior. This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek the face of the God of Jacob." Diapsalma. "Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates, and the King of glory shall enter in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." ^D Perhaps through this question and answer they instruct all men concerning the sovereignty of our Lord Jesus Christ—if, that is, one should think that they [the heavenly powers] were ignorant of it. Some, however, are of the opinion that the second question and answer were not made to higher powers, but to the same ones as the former. The Diapsalma placed before "Lift up your gates, O ye princes" seems to introduce only a change of melody, since the thought in the following verses is the same. But when he says that he is about to enter, he has implicitly foreshadowed his departure as well. Furthermore, because he was not the only one meant to enter into his kingdom, the Word commands all the gates to be thrown open and unbarred for the sake of those

^A who were to inherit the kingdom of heaven along with the Son of God. For he opened many and various gates of entry into the heavens, since "in my Father's house there are many mansions." And consider, I pray, whether the question of the psalm might be resolved here, which says: "God has ascended with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet." Here, indeed, the Holy Spirit provides for both the shout and the sound of the trumpet. For at the ascension of the Son of God into the heavens, it was fitting that the angels who had served him in the economy for mankind should run before him, and prepare for him the gates of heaven, and send forth voices and angelic cries, which are set forth in the psalm—which he termed a "shout" and the "sound of a trumpet" when he said: "God has ascended with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet." ^B

OF DAVID, XXIV.

VERS. 2, 3. "To thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul, O my God, in thee I have trusted; let me not be ashamed, nor let my enemies mock me; for indeed all who wait for thee shall not be ashamed." He says these things as one who has been raised on high and transferred; for he has withdrawn his soul from lowly things and made it sublime, and by his affection has set it on high and near to God, and turning away from mortal and human concerns, he has converted himself with a sincere heart to God. And then he says: "Not in myself, but in thee, my God, having trusted, and using great confidence, have I undertaken such a thing." He who has despised all things that fall under sight and sense, and has lifted up his own soul to the incorporeal and invisible God, confidently invokes God, as having become his own possession; which is why he says: "O my God, in thee I have trusted." These things, he says, that pertain to me are so. ^C But moreover, I have need of prayers and of thy divine aid, that I may not wander from the mark, nor fall and be shattered as if from a lofty peak. Wherefore I beseech and pray that I be not suffused with shame by my enemies and mocked; which I shall surely obtain by the aid of thee, my God. For the first things indeed proceeded from my own choice of will, that is to say, to lead and direct my own soul however I wish; but the second require thy patronage and assistance.

VERS. 4. "Let them be ashamed that work iniquity in vain." It is fitting to persist only in one's purpose, and not to change one's opinion, or to fail in faith. For those who are unstable and double-minded, and are carried about by every wind, may ^D at some time suffer the shame

and those who have learned to say, "Waiting, I waited for the Lord." Instead of "those acting wickedly," the other translators and the Fifth Edition have ^A interpreted it as "those who apostatize," clearly declaring that transgressors, and those who do not remain in their previous purpose, are to be covered with shame. For having found the fruit of their own apostasy to be vain, as those who have apostatized from God in vain, they will be put to shame.

VERS 5. "Make known to me thy ways, O Lord, and teach me thy paths. Guide me in thy truth and teach me, for thou art God my Savior, and I have waited for thee all the day." The ways of the Lord are his providential administrations, by which he governs all things; concerning which the divine Apostle, teaching, said: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" In the same way, his paths are the ^B individual administrations of all things, by which, as if traveling through heavenly things and things on earth with his providential power, he shows his paths and progressions to those able to understand; wherefore, according to Symmachus, it is said, "and teach me thy progressions." While teaching me these things, establish me in thy truth, so that I may not stumble by thinking falsely, and imagining other things in place of others in the contemplation of natural things, as happened to those who did not obtain thee as their teacher, but who, by mortal and human reasoning, guessed about the nature of things, and were carried far from the truth. Having been taught by thee that thou art not only my Creator and Maker and God, but also my Savior, I have ^C reasonably waited for thee all the day, that is to say, all my life, having learned that all who wait for thee shall not be put to shame.

VERS. 6, 7. "Remember thy compassions, O Lord, and thy mercies, for they are from old. Remember not the sins of my youth, and my ignorances." I do not think these words suit David so much as those who have been taught to confess their own past sins. For we do not find David to have sinned in his youth, nor in his childhood—nor even to have done anything through ignorance. Might this teaching, therefore, have been delivered like medicine by a physician ^D to those who have become ill, and who, having come to the knowledge of God in the bloom of their youth, have wallowed in youthful sins, so that, having been instructed, they might confess the things committed by them in ignorance, uncovering them to God, and, as if exposing the old wounds of their soul to him, asking to obtain healing and recovery through his mercy, for the sake of thy goodness, O Lord?

"Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he will give a law to those who sin in the way. He will guide the meek in judgment; he will teach the meek his ways." He says, "Good,"

^A and upright is the Lord," who rightly manages all things, who loves the straight path, and who leads the crooked into the straight path. For this reason, he does not turn away, nor does he overlook them, or allow them to be corrupted by their own sins, but, as a humane and good Savior, he takes more care of the sick than of those who are well; and he gives laws to them, pointing out to them paths of repentance, and setting before them laws appropriate for their salvation. For there is also a path of salvation shown to those who sin—that of conversion, repentance, and confession—which is different from the path handed down to men who are perfect. For when God gives the law, he shows one path to those who sin, another to those who turn from sin, another to those who are progressing in virtue, and yet another to those who are more perfect. Wherefore, he shows a way to those who sin; but he will guide the meek in judgment, and will exercise care for them as being better. For this reason, he deems them worthy of beatitudes, according to the saying: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." These, too, he teaches his ways. In place of "his ways," Aquila and Symmachus said, "his own way." For the Savior walked this very way himself, according to what is said: "Learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." Leading them by this path, therefore, he becomes their guide and protector. Wherefore, as a wise legislator, he shows one path to those who sin, and another to those who are meek.

^C VERSE 10. "All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to those who seek his covenant and his testimonies." There are many, he says, path of the Lord, but in all of them his mercy runs ahead; and with mercy, truth moves in company, for he has mercy on all things and hates nothing of what he has made; for he did not create anything that he might have in hatred. In each path, then, of the divine administration and providence, his mercy runs ahead, and truth follows after mercy. But to those who inquire with commitment, He who said, "Seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you," provides the true knowledge of the things sought. His covenant, taken in a general and collective sense, is named as all the divinely inspired Scripture delivered to men. His testimonies are as many as are either prophetically spoken of him in the divine Scripture, ^D or whatever, by his own testimony, are enjoined as precepts upon those being instructed in divine matters.

VERS. 12, 13. "Who is the man that feareth the Lord? He will set him a law in the way that he hath chosen. His soul shall lodge in good things, and his seed shall inherit the earth." Let every man who fears the Lord, he says, and who walks in the one way he might have chosen, hear what awaits him. Now, indeed, he will suffer evils, as is fitting, since he is being exercised in the struggles of religion and piety. But there will come a time when his soul will lodge in good things; and in what good things, if not those of which it is said: "Things which the eye has not seen," and the rest?

^A His seed, moreover, which he cast into the earth while he lived upon the earth, will inherit many, becoming to many the cause of salvation. And what would you call this seed if not his teaching, his discourses, and his writings, or the men who were born to God and instructed by him? By means of whom, even after his rest in good things, countless numbers will attain to the inheritance from God, having received good seeds and having been benefited by their divine fruitfulness.

VERS. 14. *Firmamentum est Dominus timentibus eum, et testamentum ipsius ut manifestetur illis.* Aquila rendered it *secretum Domini*; Symmachus, *colloquium Domini*; Theodotion and the Fifth edition, *mysterium Domini*. For it is from this that one who fears the Lord, ^B as was mentioned above, arrives at such great felicity, because the *colloquium* of the Lord, and his *secret*, and his *mysterium* had become known to him, as well as the mysteries contained in his Testament, that is, in the divine Scriptures.

VERS. 15-17. *Oculi mei semper ad Dominum, quoniam ipse evellet de laqueo pedes meos. Respice in me et miserere mei, quia unicus et pauper sum ego. Tribulationes cordis mei multiplicatae sunt, de necessitatibus meis erue me.* It is not for my righteous deeds that I ask for salvation as if it were a debt; for I know that, even after doing all that lies within my power, I still stand in need of your mercy. Therefore, "Look upon me, and have mercy upon me." For I know myself to be poor and helpless and unable to provide for my own salvation. It is, however, the characteristic mark of all who are righteous and friends of God ^C to afflict themselves in tribulations, in necessities, in straits, and in persecutions; but they are not ignorant of what the end of these things will be; wherefore, desiring to attain it, they supplicate God with these words: "Bring me out of my necessities," so that, having passed through the necessities, the calamities, and the afflictions of this life, they might one day be able to say: "We went through fire and water, and you brought us out into a place of refreshment."

VERS. 18-20. *Vide humilitatem meam et laborem meum, et dimitte universa delicta mea. Respice inimicos meos quoniam multiplicati sunt, et odio iniquo oderunt me. Custodi animam meam et erue me: non erubescam quoniam speravi in te.* As for what concerns me, I apply myself to my duty, but I implore your help. ^D I indeed punish myself, and as though exacting a penalty for those things in which I formerly offended, I take vengeance upon myself, humbling myself in toils and labors; but you, O God, as if you were an arbiter of the contest, observing my struggle and my labors, grant the remission of sins, and forgive whatever I have committed in my transgressions. But also, having beheld my enemies, how many they are who laid snares for me, and how they hated me with an unjust hatred, be a keeper of my soul,

and from the snares of my enemies rescue me. Having achieved and besought these things, I request that I might not be put to shame. For having placed my hope in you, ^B I know accurately and am persuaded that hope does not put to shame. VERS. 21, 22. Innocents and the upright have cleaved to me, because I endured for you. Deliver, O God, Israel out of all his tribulations. And this achievement of mine, when compared with other things, was great, and to you, O God, acceptable; for I became to many an example of endurance, of a godly life, of repentance, and of confession; wherefore innocent and upright men cleaved to me as if joined by glue, and sought my company, for no other reason than that I endured while persevering, and suffered everything, having set you as my hope. Following these things, he adds: Deliver, O God, Israel out of all his tribulations; namely, he names himself Israel on account of the aforementioned achievements of his; for such is he who is Israel according to the soul. Or otherwise, being instructed not to guard only himself, nor to be solicitous only for himself, and to pray to God only for himself; but after having achieved and rightly ordered his own affairs, he sends up petitions for the whole people of God; and he beseeches that, just as he previously was deemed worthy to be rescued from his own tribulations, so too he might act for the whole people of God, who are, by a certain way of understanding, named Israel.

PSALM OF DAVID XXV

^A The present psalm contains petitions, in which it is written: "Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence," etc. You will say, therefore, since David truly began, as god-fearing men have been seen to excel in the achievements of their own lives in a certain kind of virtue, in which each one of them has shown himself particularly distinguished—as for example, Joseph in continence, Job in patience under afflictions, Solomon in wisdom and prudence; Abraham is said to have been justified by faith; and another again is proclaimed to have shone forth in a different struggle of virtue. Similarly, David is also recorded to have acquired a singular virtue, namely, the forgetting of injuries; by which he also endured Saul, who had afflicted him with countless evils, which he is recorded to have borne gently and with long-suffering. Since, therefore, this was the pre-eminent virtue of David, I mean that of gentleness, humility, and long-suffering, he gathered all these together and called them "innocence"; and as he had succeeded most in this area, in his petition to God he says: "Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence." And since he had declared something great about himself, as if boasting of his singular achievement of innocence or simplicity, he checks ^B himself and adds necessarily in what follows: "And hoping in the Lord, I shall not be weak." He necessarily, therefore, associated himself with hope in the Lord, and accuses himself, as one who is capable of being shaken, led astray, and weakened. Yet he confidently asserted that he would suffer nothing, because of his hope in God: for he knew that "hope does not disappoint," according to the Apostle.

"Prove me, O Lord, and try me; burn my reins and my heart. For thy mercy is before my eyes, and I have been well-pleased with thy truth." Not as if boasting or lifted up did he say: "Prove me, O Lord, and try me; burn my reins and my heart," but as if in prayer he was requesting to be purified by God through the fire, if he were in need of purification. He requests, therefore, that his previously mentioned virtue, by which he has been shown to be distinguished, be tested and tried, not trusting in himself, but in the mercy of God. Thus, he says, by having Thee, O God, and Thy mercy always before my eyes, I directed my whole life and all my deeds, so as to be well-pleasing in Thy truth. For I have walked and lived not ^D with any hypocrisy, but in truth, striving to please God alone.

"I have not sat with the council of vanity, and I will not enter with those who do evil. I have hated the assembly of the malignant, and I will not sit with the wicked." If, therefore, men who were not virtuous were gathered together in the same place, and were not meeting to deliberate upon virtuous things, but were conducting their meeting for vain and unnecessary matters, them, he says, I avoided, so as not to be involved in their vanity, or...

to be seen daring to act against the divine law. ^A And those, I avoided still more, refusing to enter with them into the path of error. And if ever I saw some holding an assembly, and not gathering for vanity, nor even for lawless works, but for wicked and impious dogmas, ostensibly holding their assembly in a church, these I verily deemed most worthy of hatred compared to those previously mentioned. And knowing another class besides those already mentioned—that of the impious, who know not God, and are wallowing in idolatries and error—I withdrew from them, so as not even to wish to sit with them, nor to linger long with them, lest in any way, from their gathering, some contagion of impiety might cling to me. Wherefore I say: And I will not sit with the impious.

Verses 6-8. I will wash my hands in innocency, and I will compass thine altar, O Lord, that I may hear the voice of praise, and tell of all thy wondrous works. O Lord, I have loved the beauty of thy house, and the place of the tabernacle of thy glory. ^B By walking around thine altar, I sent forth hymns instead of sacrifices, and made my voice audible to those standing near, so that all might hear my voice praising thee, the God, and recounting all thy wondrous works. For in the hymns composed to thy praise, I included thy wondrous deeds, which thou didst manifest to our forefathers. And I did not merely go around thine altar, but I also loved thy whole house, O Lord, and especially its beauty, which is observed in pious dogmas and discourses, and in the divinely inspired readings. But the beauty of the house of God is also the decency of those gathering, their blameless life, the virtue of the multitude, and the harmony and concord of those who come together. ^C But since the very seats of the houses are, on account of the excellence of the love toward God, lovable to religious souls, even if they are different from the beauty of the house of God already described, he rightly adds: And the place of the tabernacle of thy glory.

Verses 11, 12. But as for me, I have walked in my innocence: redeem me, O Lord, and have mercy upon me. My foot stood in uprightness, in the churches will I bless thee, O Lord. Since, therefore, with what measure we mete it shall be measured to us again, and with what judgment we judge, we shall be judged, ^D for this reason he frequently puts forward innocence—that is, the oblivion of evils, and tolerance and meekness toward those who have sinned against himself—so that he himself might obtain equal indulgence from God for the fault that has occurred to him. And having prayed for these things, being moved by the divine, holy, and prophetic Spirit, he proceeds thus: My foot stood in uprightness, in the churches will I bless thee, O Lord. For he prophesies that, even if sometimes there has been reeling and shaking and movement in his feet, yet he will not fall because of these, but will stand in uprightness, being about to bless God in the churches, having pre-announced for himself the memory throughout all the churches of God; for even until today...

^A throughout the whole world in the churches of Christ, David blesses the Lord.

DAVID XXVI

VERS. 1, 2. *The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?* What, furthermore, does the prophetic Spirit teach here? It teaches how it behoves a man who is devoted to God to render thanks to Him, and what kind of things it is proper to ask of Him. This discourse indeed contains a thanksgiving. Rightly and deservedly, therefore, is neither "psalm," nor "canticle," nor anything similar inscribed, but "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" He who rolls his soul in night and darkness, not knowing whither he is carried or upon what he stumbles, will fear ten thousand evils, ^B as one who is completely dragged hither and thither; wherefore, suspecting every kind of terror, he shudders and denies his confession to God. But he who has the eyes of his soul illuminated by the radiance of the Lord, first of all and before all things contemplates his own champion and Saviour, and what a one he is; and then, after he has learned even from the very things that are done, that the Lord of all and patron is for him a shield, an impregnable weapon, and a protector, he then becomes fearless. And, as one who has the eyes of his soul tranquil and illuminated, he sees all his enemies—whether they be men ignorant of God, or invisible and wicked powers—as devoid of such a Saviour and helper, and views them as though already fallen; wherefore, he mocks all their treachery, confident in his own champion. For this reason he says: "If such a helper were not present with me, illuminating my soul and protecting my life, ^C I would rightly have feared the principalities and the powers and the world-rulers of this darkness, and the spiritual hosts of wickedness," and those who are stirred up by these and rise up against the athletes of God. For these were sufficient to disturb my soul, had it not been illuminated; but since the Lord of all himself, the Son of God, happens to be my light, and he himself is also my Saviour, I might rightly say, "Whom shall I fear?" For I shall not look toward any of so many enemies, nor shall I be afraid of any of them, being confident in the protector of my life. ^D Again, you will here notice that the phrase "My Saviour" in the Hebrew text contains the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ in the very Hebrew characters in which the name Jesus would be written.

He who says these things describes how, having experienced what sort of Saviour he had, he mocked the treachery of the enemies; wherefore he says: "When the wicked draw near upon me to eat my flesh, my oppressors and my enemies, they themselves were weakened and fell." They pressed upon me like untamable beasts, all but wishing to swallow me and to tear my flesh itself. Wherefore it is said in Symmachus: "When the evildoers draw near to me, that they may devour my flesh,"

^A they who devised such things against me, and were already close to my flesh, experienced, I know not how, the very things they had meditated to inflict upon me. For they themselves, he says, grew weak and fell, without my having done anything against them; but clearly, it was because the power of my Light and my Savior, in an ineffable and divine manner, waged war against them and cast them down, so that I might be delivered from their conspiracy and suffer no harm, and they themselves might be benefited, having been weakened in their own wickedness, and having gained by not increasing their own malice through the injury done to me. In some copies it is inscribed: "A Psalm of David, before he was anointed."

VERS. 4. "One thing have I asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the delight of the Lord, and to visit his temple." The beauty of the Lord, and his comeliness and delight, are seen in the house of God, that is to say, in His Church, ^B through the divinely inspired and sacred teachings, in which is the true beauty of the Word, and the true comeliness, in which God himself delights and dwells. You would not be in error if you were to call that comeliness the temperate and upright life, and the entire virtuous conduct of those who are preeminent in piety.

VERS. 5, 6. "For he hath hidden me in his tabernacle; in the day of evils he hath protected me in the secret place of his tabernacle. He hath exalted me upon a rock." All these things my Savior granted me when the evildoers drew near to me to eat my flesh. For they grew weak and fell; but I was protected by His right hand, dwelling in the tabernacle — for I was then passing my time in desert places, because the house of God had not yet been built, nor did His temple exist. But He Himself protected me in the day of evils, that is, in the time of persecutions and trials; in no other place than in the secret place of His tabernacle. Moreover, you shall derive the interpretation of this saying from those things which Moses wrote concerning the tabernacle, and concerning the innermost parts of the tabernacle, which were inaccessible to all, which they called the Holy of Holies. These were the secret things of the tabernacle. Thus, therefore, in the time of trials, my Lord and Savior Himself protected and hid me ^C in the innermost part of His tabernacle; not that He stationed me in such a place in reality, but in a state of soul which is sanctified and separated from the commonality of the multitude. And these things, he says, happened to me, until the day of evils should pass, according to that which is said in another place: "Go, my people, enter into your chambers, shut your door, hide yourself for a little moment, until the wrath of the Lord pass over." ^D But since He did not wish me to be hidden forever, nor to lie concealed in the secret place of His tabernacle, and for me alone to receive the benefit, and since He had decided that I should also become useful to others, at the end of the day of evils, He exalted me upon a rock...

^A For the rock, says the Apostle, was Christ. For by His own word, and by His own wisdom, and by His saving power, He exalted me, having formerly hidden me in His tabernacle, and having protected me in the secret place of His tabernacle in the day of evils. For having brought the evils and the season of the enemies and of the foes harassing me to an end, He placed me in a calm and peaceful harbor; and having brought him who was formerly hidden into the light, He raised him on high and set him aloft, so as to be seen by all and glorified by all, firmly fixed and founded upon His unbreakable and most secure rock.

And now He has exalted my head above my enemies. You will perceive, by paying attention to how it is said by the Apostle: "As long as it is called today." For in this very way you will admit that the continuity of time in the present is signified. ^B For the man of God, having received the trophies of victory over his enemies, is always rendered superior to the head of the enemies; and thus David himself, even up to the present time, is lifted up and exalted, being sung of throughout the whole world and celebrated by the voices of all nations; and his head has truly been exalted above all who were once his enemies—the invisible powers, that is. But the man of God, exalted in this way, does not give himself over to sloth or inactivity, but applies greater zeal to the worship of God. Wherefore he adds, "I went around and sacrificed in His tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation." These, indeed, were the sacrifices sent forth through voice and theology, and through hymns and thanksgiving. In the previous psalm, the man instructed in divine things was taught to say in the future tense: "I will wash my hands in innocence, and I will go around Thy altar, O Lord"; ^C but here, as one who has already advanced and attained the result of the promise following his prayer, he says: "I went around and sacrificed in His tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation." And in the former [psalm] it was said: "To hear the voice of praise"; but here it is said: "I will sing and make melody to the Lord."

VERS. 7-10. Hear, O Lord, my voice which I have cried; have mercy on me and hear me. To Thee my heart has said, My face has sought Thee; Thy face, O Lord, will I seek. Instead of "To Thee my heart has said, My face has sought Thee," Symmachus interpreted it more clearly, saying: "To Thee my heart was speaking; my countenance was seeking Thee." For the countenance ^D of the soul was longing for the inspection appropriate to it. This same thing Moses once asked to obtain, addressing God and saying: "Behold, I have found grace in Thy sight; show me Thyself, that I may clearly see Thee," so that with unveiled face he might behold the glory of the Lord. Wherefore he says: "Thy face, O Lord, will I seek; do not turn Thy face away from me." For if perfection has arrived at the summit, and that final progress according to God is indeed that which, namely, to the...

^A presence of God leads, so as to stand before Him and enjoy the rays of His divinity.

But knowing that God very often turns Himself away from those who are not able to endure His face, and who are not reckoned among His sons, and shows His back—just as He said to Moses: "Thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen by thee"—in order, then, that the one who is signified through the things set forth might not suffer this, he supplicates and entreats, saying: "Turn not Thy face away from me; decline not in wrath from Thy servant." "Be my helper, do not cast me off, and do not forsake me, O God my Savior. For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord has taken me up." Do not, because I have dared such things, turn away from me, Thy servant. For it is not permitted to a man clothed in flesh to attain such a dignity; wherefore Thou didst say to Moses: "No man shall see my face, and live." For mortal life is not capable of contemplating Thy face; therefore, rather be my helper, that I may obtain the things asked for. "Do not cast me off," for which Symmachus published, "Do not reject me," and Aquila, "Do not forsake me." Then he adds: "And do not forsake me, O God my Savior." For with Thee Patronizing and reaching out Thy right hand, there is hope that I shall attain all good things. Because no other helper is present for me; for there could be no intimacy among men closer or dearer than that of father and mother; but these very ones have left me, because I have withdrawn from all of them in order to have leisure for Thee alone, O God. Whence I also give thanks, that, deserted by all and left behind, I have been taken up by Thee. ^{B C}

Ver. 11, 12. "Set a law for me in Thy way, and guide me in a right path because of my enemies. Do not deliver me into the souls of them that afflict me, for unjust witnesses have risen up against me, and iniquity has lied to itself." When the divine Apostle had frequently declared these things about himself and had said: "For I was nothing behind those who are over-abundant apostles," to these he added, saying: "Not that I have already received or am already perfect: but I follow after, if I may in any way apprehend"; and again elsewhere: "I discipline my body and bring it into servitude, lest perhaps, having preached to others, I myself should become reprobate." For as far as human comparison and estimation were concerned, he was conscious that he had progressed and had attained human perfection; but as far as the truth of the matter went, he knew that he was lacking in many things, and for this reason he confessed himself to be imperfect. In the very same frame of mind, he who speaks in the present passage seems to me to have returned due thanks to God for past blessings, and, being a man, to have suspected the fall of human infirmity. Wherefore ^D he asked God for the future, that He Himself might be his legislator. For, he says, the legal ordinances of Moses are not enough for me; for that law was not prescribed for the just, but for the unjust and the disobedient, for the impious and sinners and those akin to them. To these

^A Moses gave the law, accommodating it to the hardness of their hearts. But I, he says, have not subjected myself to the law of Moses. Therefore, neither did I promise a sacrifice through the slaughter of animals, but a sacrifice of jubilation, in a manner more new than the legal ordinances of Moses. Wherefore I ask to obtain a new law from thee. Do thou, therefore, show me thy way; or illuminate me, according to Aquila. And do not only show or prescribe to me, O Lord, but also guide me in a straight path, that I may not strike my foot against a stone, because of my enemies. Do not deliver me into the souls of those who afflict me. For I ask that thou mightest lead me for the time of my life along a plain and peaceful path. For not only are there enemies, but also unjust ^B accusers and false witnesses, and those who do all that the enemies do. Then indeed does iniquity truly lie to itself, when it is not directed toward the facts, nor does it prevail over those against whom false testimony is given.

I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. Perhaps he is also referring back to the previous request; by the good things of the Lord he means the aforementioned countenance of his, concerning which he said: "Thy face, O Lord, I will seek. Turn not thy face away from me." Wherefore, according to Aquila, it is said: "I believed that I would see in the good of the Lord"; but according to Symmachus: "I believed to see the goodness of the Lord." But the countenance of the Lord and the goods of the Lord shall truly be seen, not in a terrestrial place, nor in the region of the dead, but in the land of the living, which the Saviour also promised, saying: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

OF DAVID XXVII

For this is made clear by the psalm itself as it proceeds, saying: Hear the voice of my supplication when I ^D cry out to thee. And what meaning does the word of supplication contain, come, let us understand...

^A He says that he cries out to the Lord and calls upon him as his own God. For, he says, you are the one who deigned to be named my God, according to the promise given to the holy men, where it is said: "And I will be their God, and they shall be my people." Accept my supplication. And do not be silent to me, lest you be silent to me, and I be made like them that go down into the pit. He said these things while he was in an agony, lest he might perhaps be compared to those who, after the departure of this mortal life, go down into the pit of death. For even if he said in the previous psalm, "I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living," nevertheless, as a man still clothed in flesh, he struggled due to the weakness and instability of life. Since even the Apostle struggled, lest perhaps, having preached to others, he himself might be found a castaway. Now, divine Scripture is accustomed to call the dwelling place of souls in what is termed Hades a "pit"—which same thing David himself makes clear not far from here in the 29th Psalm, saying: "O Lord my God, I cried to thee, and thou didst heal me; O Lord, thou didst bring up my soul from Hades; thou didst save me from them that go down into the pit." Do you see how he joined Hades and the pit together in these words? But in the present psalm he sends forth his cries to God, praying not to be made like those who go down into the pit; whereas in the twenty-ninth ^B he testifies that his prayer turned out favorably for him, saying thus: "O Lord, I cried to thee, and thou didst heal me; thou didst save me from them that go down into the pit." And fittingly is the dwelling place of souls in Hades called a "pit." For just as a pit is a receptacle for waters flowing into it from above and from on high, in the same way the region of death, which is called Hades, receiving the souls that flow down into it from the life of men above, is fittingly called a "pit." Therefore, he asks not to be dragged down into the indicated pit. And this, he says, will happen if I become like the rest of men who are not heard by you, which is a sign of your aversion and hatred. Instead of "do not be silent to me," Symmachus has "do not be quiet from me," saying: "Lest perhaps, you being quiet away from me, I be made like them that go down into the pit."

^C VERS. 5. Because they have not understood the works of the Lord, and into the works of his hands, thou shalt destroy them, and shalt not build them up. By "works of the Lord" you might call the substance of all created things, by which the Maker of all, God, brought everything from non-existence into being; and by "the works of his hands," the administration of created things, by which he provides for and governs all things, as if with his own providential powers for hands.

VERS 6, 7. Blessed be God, because he has heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my helper and my protector; my heart has hoped in him, and I am helped.

^A And my flesh has flourished again, and with my will I will confess to him. The God who is without falsehood, confirming his own promises through those things which he has announced, saying: "While you are yet speaking, I will say: Behold, I am present," as one standing near those who call upon him with a pure heart, and not being far from him who makes his petition by the rite mentioned above, he offered himself as one who hears the previously mentioned supplications. Then, as if he gives a sign through the prophetic spirit to the soul of the one who has prayed, that it has been heard. But that soul, perceiving this, changes the supplicatory voices into thanksgiving, and confesses that it recognizes the benefit bestowed upon it; wherefore it says: "Blessed be the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my helper and my protector; my heart has hoped in him, and I am helped." For it felt the right hand of God stretched out as far as it, and taking hold of it so that it would not be dragged down into the mentioned pit. From the exceeding greatness of joy, the Prophet testifies that not only his soul, but also his flesh, has rejoiced and been renewed because of that good hope promised even to the body itself in the resurrection of the dead; wherefore he adds: "And my flesh has flourished again." To which he attaches: "And with my will I will confess to him," which seems to me to be similar to: "I will sacrifice to thee willingly." But instead of "And my flesh has flourished again," Symmachus says: "My heart has blossomed"; and Aquila: "My heart has gloried"; and Theodotion: "And my heart has flourished again"; and the fifth edition: "My heart has been strengthened." ^B And again, instead of "And with my will I will confess to him," Symmachus published: "And I will celebrate him in my songs"; and Aquila: "And from my song I will confess to him."

VERS. 8. The Lord is the strength of his people, and he is the protector of the salvations of his Christ.

VERS. 9. Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance, and feed them and extol them for ever.

^A his sheep." And again: "My sheep hear my voice." And again: "I am with you until the consummation of the age." At a suitable time, having raised them up to a height, he will deem them worthy of the heavenly kingdom.

PSALM OF DAVID XXVIII.

^B Vv. 1, 2. "Bring to the Lord, O you sons of God; bring to the Lord the sons of rams." "Bring to the Lord glory and honor; bring to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in his holy court." I consider these to be equivalent in meaning to what is said in the ninety-fifth psalm regarding the calling of the gentiles, which is stated in this manner: "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name, announce from day to day his salvation. Declare his glory among the gentiles, his wonders among all peoples. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; he is terrible above all gods." Following these words, it continues: "Bring to the Lord the glory of his name. Take up sacrifices and enter into his courts; worship the Lord in his holy court." By these things, he predicts the evangelical grace that has been poured out upon all the nations throughout the whole world, and, having mentioned the new song—that is, the New Testament—he then commands them to bring to the Lord glory and honor, and the rest. And he commands not the Jews to bring these things, but the families of the gentiles, or, according to the other interpreters and the Hebrew truth, the families of the peoples. These things, then, were prophesied in the ninety-fifth psalm concerning the gentiles. Here, however, the word commands "the sons of rams" to bring the same things to the Lord; whom I consider to be no different from the "families of the gentiles" or the "families of the peoples." For it is not the rams themselves who are commanded to bring what is ordered, but the sons of the rams. ^C I say this according to the Hebrew record, in which the phrase "Bring to the Lord, O you sons of God" does not appear. For this reason, it is marked with an obelus among those of the Seventy, as it does not exist in the Hebrew exemplar nor among the other interpreters. But if one must look to the edition of the Seventy, I say that the Word commands the sons [of God] to bring to the Lord not rams, but the sons of rams, along with the glory and honor and the other things added to these. By comparison with the ninety-fifth psalm, I would say that these things are prophesied concerning the conversion of the gentiles.

Nor would we be mistaken if we declared that those here called "sons of God" are the disciples, apostles, and evangelists of our Savior, by whom it is clear that the ^D calling of the gentiles was accomplished; to whom the word before us commands...

to bring to the Lord, first of all, the sons of rams, but not rams; since it was said to the Church gathered from the gentiles in the forty-fourth Psalm: "Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee." And the Word commanded it to forget its fathers, saying: "Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear, and forget thy people, and thy father’s house; and the King shall desire thy beauty, for He is thy Lord." For these things were spoken to no other than the Church of Christ, with the divine Spirit exhorting her to forget her former people and her father’s house, because of the error of many gods and the superstition of her fathers. ^B And then, since He had commanded her to forget her fathers, He necessarily adds, saying: "Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee." He calls these "sons of rams" because of their lack of reasoning. Then He adds: "Bring to the Lord glory and honor." You will understand this meaning from the admonition of our Savior to the disciples, through which He exhorts them, saying: "Let your works shine before men, so that, seeing your good works, they may glorify your Father who is in heaven."

And furthermore, a third thing: the Psalm before us, which the ninety-fifth echoes, commands to bring to the Lord glory to His name. For we bring glory to Him through sound doctrines; but we also bring Him honor if we obey the command that says: "Honor the Lord with thy righteous labors, and offer to Him the first-fruits of the fruits of righteousness." We attribute glory to His name when our works shine before men, so that, seeing them, they may glorify our Father who is in heaven. ^C But how His name is glorified among the gentiles, the word through the prophet also demonstrates, addressing the Jewish nation and saying: "I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord Almighty, and I will not accept a sacrifice from your hands; for from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name is glorified among the gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to My name and a pure sacrifice; for My name is great among the gentiles, but you profane it."

In addition to all these things, the aforementioned sons of God, or sons of the rams, are commanded to worship the Lord in His holy court. For He does not will that they should worship Him outside the court, nor separately and in isolation, but by meeting together in His Church. And concerning the phrase, "in His holy court," Aquila rendered it, "in sanctified splendor," and Symmachus, "in holy splendor." ^D For the Word wishes us to perform our worship with the proper adornment and with the righteousness that is pleasing to God, those who have become sanctified and who reside in splendor.

^A VERSE 3. *The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thundered; the Lord is upon many waters.* Because, while it was serene on the peak of Carmel, he heard the voice of many waters. And, in short, if someone were to gather together everything that is written in the Old Testament concerning water—how the Spirit of God was borne above the water; and that command: *Let the waters bring forth leaping creatures of living souls, and flying creatures that fly*; and one may also apprehend those things which were done in the flood, how indeed, when all things were submerged by waters, only Noah, with those who were in the ark, escaped safely; and also those things which [happened] in Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and those in the Jordan, by which means the sons of Israel passed through on dry foot—he will see it.

VERSE 4. *The voice of the Lord is in strength.* For he who can do all things in Christ who strengthens him, he hears the commandments of the Lord and does them. The voice of the Lord, therefore, is not in a weak and listless soul, but in one that is robust and actively performs good works. *The voice of the Lord is in majesty.* Not only through those things which have been said to us about the waters, he says, is the voice of the Lord declared, but also through his strength and majesty, which anyone can perceive with his eyes if he contemplates the whole world at once round about, and its parts individually, and likewise [its] ineffable magnitude, unspeakable beauty, and the wisdom, visible in many varieties, which resides within them. These things certainly clearly demonstrate the power and strength of the Creator of all things. Hence it is that the prophetic discourses derived their theology from his greatness of work. Thus it is said in Jeremiah: *The Lord who made the earth in his strength*, and the rest.

^B VERSE 5, 6. *The voice of the Lord of him who breaks the cedars; and the Lord shall break the cedars of Lebanon, and he shall bruise them like the calf of Lebanon, and the beloved like the son of unicorns.* You may interpret this in this way: by "the calf of Lebanon, the son of unicorns," he seems to indicate Jerusalem, and that same long-beloved son of unicorns. For they were descended from holy fathers who were once called unicorns, because they used the one God as if He were a horn: on which account they boasted in these words: *In Thee will we push down our enemies with the horn.* Their sons were the leaders of Surion ^C from the circumcision—for thus they are called in other editions, by which term princes are signified. He crushed them with His threat, together with Jerusalem, which he calls the calf and Lebanon. For clearly the prophet Ezekiel portrayed this, saying: *Thus saith: A great eagle with great wings, long in its extension, full of talons, which has the intention to enter into Lebanon, and took the choice of the cedar, the tops of the tender fronds, and carried them into the land of the Chaldeans.* Which he even interprets in the following [verses], saying: *When the king of Babylon shall come against Jerusalem, and*

shall take its king and its prince. ^A For he calls these the choice and top branches of its tenderness. He calls its altar its calf, on which they offered calves and sacrifices; all of which, together with the Sarii, that is, its princes, have been shattered. Thus, he says, he will also shatter the impious among the remaining nations, who were lifting themselves up like the cedars of Lebanon.

The voice of the Lord shaking the desert, the Lord shall shake the desert of Kadesh. For truly the whole world of men, being previously a desert empty of the knowledge and piety of God, was shaken through the evangelical preaching, so as to pass over from wickedness to virtue, and from ignorance to divine knowledge. Thus, from a desert, it has become an inhabited world.

The voice of the Lord of those preparing harts, and he shall reveal the thickets, and in his temple every one says glory. For, he says, the Lord prepares harts, a creature that loves the desert, is a destroyer of serpents, and horned, and according to the law is clean, which he sent forth into the aforementioned desert. They who traverse this desert, trod under their feet the serpents within it, and drove far away all the poisonous creatures in the desert; and when these were done away with, the thickets were revealed. ^B And in his temple every one says glory. It is said with very great precision: And in his temple every one says glory; for no longer are they Jews, nor the people from the circumcision alone, but every one who among all nations has turned. The Lord will give strength to his people; the Lord will bless his people in peace.

PSALM CANTICLE

OF THE DEDICATION OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID XXIX

But someone might perhaps say in response to this, that no mention is made here of the structure of a house or temple; nor is there any argument in the Psalm capable of being fitted to the dedication of a house, so that one might think the proposed Psalm was uttered for the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. But since it is prefixed, A Psalm, a canticle of the dedication of the house, I pray you, consider whether he might ^C not here shadow forth his own soul by "house," in which, though the divine Spirit had formerly dwelt as if in a temple, at a certain time it left it desolate and departed on account of the crime committed against Uriah and his wife. Because of which he had even descended as far as death, having sinned unto death; and in effect he was then dragged down both into the pit and into Hades, and truly descended into corruption, so that for these reasons he gave himself over to lamentations and wore sackcloth instead of royal apparel. But because, having shown worthy repentance, and having chastised and punished himself, and having persevered ^D long enough in confessions, he received the promise of the remission of sin through the Christ who was to proceed from his seed, who was destined Himself also to descend even unto Hades; rightly, having passed from sorrow and the confession of his crimes, he sends up thanksgiving to God, saying:

^A *Lord, you have brought up my soul from Hades, you have saved me from those who go down into the pit.* He indicates that his mourning was turned into gladness by the words he uses: *You have turned my lamentation into joy for me; you have torn off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.* Since it has been demonstrated that this house signifies the soul of David, the things said here are to be applied to the dedication of such a house.

VERSES 2, 3. *I will exalt you, Lord, for you have taken me up, and have not made my enemies glad over me. Lord my God, I cried to you, and you healed me. Lord, you have brought up my soul from Hades; you have saved me from those who go down into the pit.* David says these things in the present Psalm; but in the twenty-seventh he cried out thus: *To you, O Lord, I will cry, my God, do not be silent [to me], lest at any time you be silent to me, and I be made like to those who go down into the pit.* But because he prayed thus there, ^B here he gives thanks as one who had previously been thrust down and fallen into the pit, but has now been brought back and delivered from it, and did not suffer the same things as those who, having descended into it, never afterwards emerged from it. For while it is blessed first of all not to sin, yet because the infirmity of human nature is subject to sins, one might say that the second navigation is to turn oneself toward the good, and after sickness to restore oneself and recover one’s natural health.

VERSES 5, 6. *Sing to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to the remembrance of His holiness. For anger is in His indignation, and life in His will.* He asks that they congratulate him for his repentance, and give thanks, that is, offer thanksgiving to the remembrance of His holiness; as if he said, that they might stir up the memory, and not forget the good things which the Lord has provided for men. But it is right, above all, to persist in acts of thanksgiving, mindful of the divine ^C benevolence, which is so great that it never wishes evil to come to men. But if it happens that anyone stands in need of chastisement because of his own wickedness, he procures for himself the anger of indignation. Certainly the will of God does not seek death for men, but life. Wherefore it is said in another place: *As I live, says the Lord, I do not desire the death of the sinner, but rather his repentance.* In the same manner it is said here also: *Life is in His will;* for anger is not in His will. For it is contrary to the purpose of God and contrary to His will that indignation and anger are prepared for those who sin: a thing which the Apostle declares thus: *Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that ^D the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will render to everyone according to his works.*

^A *I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved.* He confirms the judgment of the Lord to be just, while confessing whence his fall came about. For it is necessary for him who stands before God to remember the saying: *Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall*, and to acknowledge his gratitude to God for that standing. But he, not having reasoned rightly, imagined that he stood amid the finest things by his own virtue; and he declared himself both immutable and unchangeable. *O Lord, in your will you endowed my beauty with strength.* Since he was not rightly evaluating the aforementioned things, he came to know that that standing of his, and the prosperity, and the beauty that he then possessed, were not from himself, nor did they exist for him by his own cause. Therefore, making confession of these things, he speaks, having received the test of his own weakness in deed: *But you turned your face away, and I became troubled.* You yourself, indeed, did nothing further; you neither pushed nor cast me down. Rather, you performed just this one thing because of my arrogance: you abandoned me alone and empty of your aid. *You turned your face away;* and I, immediately refuted, became troubled, falling into my own sins and into the hands of my enemies.

^B *To you, O Lord, I will cry, and to my God I will make supplication. What profit is there in my blood, in my going down to corruption?* But according to Symmachus: *When I was in evils, I said: To you, O Lord, I will cry, and I will entreat you, my Master; what gain is there in my blood, when I have been carried down into corruption?* *Shall the dust confess to you, or declare your truth?* I make these and similar supplications, sending up cries from the lowest part of the deepest pit, asking, as if from a teacher, provided one might learn from you, O God. What benefit accrues either to me or to others from my blood? Or what more will exist for men from my coming down into corruption? For indeed, in the blood of another, there will exist much and great benefit to the whole world; when your Lamb, who takes away the sin of the world, shall come as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent. ^C For from this one’s blood, redemption and freedom from evils shall come to all those who are to be saved through him. Yea, and his descent even to those who are corrupted and have come into death will be a cause of salvation for many. For much dust and much earth, namely of the men of old, carnal and earthly, will confess to you; they who, having been changed to a better condition, will declare your truth. Shall there, then, also be in my blood some such good to the world? Or will anyone derive any benefit if I am dragged down by death? Or will dust—that is, man taken from the dust and become human—having been changed from the earthly and become spiritual, declare your truth? But indeed, nothing of that sort will come from me; for this reason, I entreat not to be made like those who go down into the pit. ^D

^A

Verses 11-15. *The Lord heard, and had mercy on me; the Lord became my helper. You turned my lamentation into joy for me; You tore off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.*

He says that, as I was praying, the Lord, who is not far from those who call upon Him purely and faithfully, heard me—He of whom it has been said: *The Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth* (Ps. CXIV, 18). And having heard, He had mercy on me and demonstrated the reality of His compassion toward me; for He became my helper. After having addressed us with these words and recounted what had happened to him, he again turns his thanksgiving back to God Himself, enumerating the benefits bestowed upon him. For You had mercy on me, he says, and became my helper; and thus You changed my old tears, my lamentations, and my mourning into laughter, joy, and exultation, fulfilling the beatitude later spoken concerning those who weep and mourn, according to the words: *Blessed are you who weep, for you shall laugh; and blessed are you who mourn, for you shall be comforted* (Luc. VI, 21; Matt. V, 5). You stripped off from me the symbols of mourning, the sackcloth in which I was afflicting and punishing myself, and You girded me with a sash of gladness. And You provided all these things for me so that I might not remain dust and ashes, failing to confess You, but so that my glory might sing to You. ^B For if I had descended into corruption, there would have been no benefit either to me or to others. For I would have been deprived of that life which proceeds from You, and others would not have attained salvation through me at all.

But when You turned my lamentation into joy for me, and when You tore off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, not a small benefit followed from this; for having received back my former glory, through it I shall sing and chant to You, not with a corrupt conscience, but with a confident and pure mind. Therefore he says, *So that my glory may sing to You, and I may not be pierced.* And so I shall continue throughout the entire age, confessing to You and recounting the benefits You have always bestowed upon me. *The Lord became my helper.* It should be noted furthermore that the term "became" does not always signify a received essence, but sometimes also a certain status or condition. If, therefore, such a statement is uttered regarding the Savior, it signifies a relation to something, not an essence brought into being.

*You turned my lamentation into joy for me.* That word, "lamentation" (signifying a beating of the breast), indicates a perception, as the act itself displays, for hands beat the chest. He, therefore, who has come to an awareness of his own sins, and who effectively rouses his perception through spiritual hands—having been translated from mourning—will receive joy, the fruit of the Holy Spirit. ^C furthermore, "You turned" declares that change from lamentation and mourning into gladness; and that final phrase, "I may not be pierced," means "I shall not change my resolve." That "glory" which sings to God by the one who speaks to Him in this way is a right way of life and pure knowledge. *O Lord my God, I will confess to You forever.* That is, for all the things that have happened, not only joyful ones ^D

but also for the hardships, I give thanks to You, O Master. ^A

TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID, OF AN ECSTASY. XXX.

Neither in the Hebrew Scripture, nor among the other interpreters, does the inscription put forth "of an ecstasy." Perhaps, because in the Psalm it is uttered: *But I said in my ecstasy: I have been cast away from the face of Your eyes,* some person added this addition to the inscription, referring it to the time in which, having been placed in an ecstasy, he said: *I have been cast away from the face of Your eyes,* sending back what is brought to the Word? Nevertheless, the present inscription also refers those who encounter it to the end, either because of the things which are said towards the end, where by necessary admonition it brings forth these words: *Love the Lord, all you His saints, because the Lord seeks out truths,* and the rest; or because it prophesies somewhat concerning the things done at the time of the passion of our Savior, which were destined to occur at the completion of the age. But since the discourse also sketches out good hopes for David, which were destined to be rendered to him in the future time, it rightly refers the inscription to the end. The whole Psalm contains a supplication of David, who hung his whole self upon God, and he entreats that he might not fall from ^B hope.

*In You, O Lord, have I hoped, let me not be confounded forever; in Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me. Incline Your ear to me, hasten to rescue me.* Although he was overflowing with much wealth, and was adorned with the victories which he had brought back over his enemies, nonetheless he was convinced that nothing of these could contribute to his security, and that only hope in the Lord could provide it; for which reason he was entreating that he might never fall away from this, but he was also teaching us, who seek and think the same things as he, to say likewise. Yet, in place of *in Your righteousness*, Symmachus put *in Your mercy*. *Be to me for a God as a protector, and for a house of refuge to save me. Because You are my stronghold and my refuge, and for the sake of Your name You will lead me and nourish me.* These things he said also in the seventeenth Psalm. ^C

*You will lead me out of this snare which they have hidden for me, because You are my protector, O Lord. Into Your hands I will commend my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.* From the things which I have already experienced in times past, I am convinced that even now You will lead me out of every snare prepared for me by my enemies. For as long as I happen to be in this mortal life, I know I am being warred against; and right up to my final breath I have been set in agony, even because of the snares of my enemies. But I am convinced that, having suspended my hope upon You, I shall not be confounded forever. And he appropriately and fittingly named God "of truth" in relation to the things being said; for it is not possible for him who has hoped in You to be belied, nor for him who has believed in Your ^D promises to be confounded.

*You have hated those who observe vanities, to no purpose. But I have hoped in the Lord; I will exult and...*

rejoice in Your mercy.* It is with good reason that You rejoice in the lovers of truth and receive them; therefore it is said, "The Lord seeks truth." But those who occupy themselves with vanity, as though they were pursuing a lie, You justly turn away and hate. For vanity is full of falsehood; wherefore You admonish, saying: "Sons of men, how long will you be heavy-hearted? Why do you love vanity and seek falsehood?" But I, having turned away from vain things, have hoped in You alone, my Lord; wherefore I am persuaded that I have not entrusted myself to You in vain. For the end of the hope placed in You is joy and gladness.

VERS. 9. *For You have looked upon my humility, You have saved my soul from necessities; and You have not shut me up into the hands of an enemy; You have set my feet in a spacious place.* You had looked upon my humility at other times as well; and when my soul had often fallen into necessities brought upon it by enemies—with me doing nothing other than humbling and afflicting myself—because of the prayers I sent up to You, my God, You Yourself, my defender and protector, not overlooking me but approving my humility, saved my soul from necessities and did not shut me up into the hands of an enemy. And beyond expectation, when I had already fallen into nets and been delivered into the hands of enemies, You snatched me away and set me free, and You placed my feet in breadth and in a spacious place, and having released me, You granted me to walk wherever I wish. Furthermore, history narrates that even when he was often taken by Saul, and at one time even shut up in the cave, he escaped his hands; and at another time he escaped the Gittites by pretending to be insane.

VERS. 10. *Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am troubled; my eye is turned in anger, my soul, and my belly.* I beseech, he says, and I pray that You might have mercy, for I am troubled; in place of which Aquila says, "For it is narrow for me." For I walk a narrow and distressed path for Your sake and for the sake of Your promises. But the eye of my soul, even the mind and the rational power within me, was troubled in anger; in place of which Aquila says, "My eye has become squalid in indignation," and Symmachus, "My eye is troubled because of indignation." For when I provoked indignation, he says, and stirred up anger for myself, having dared to commit things worthy of fury and wrath, then confusion, and disturbance, and squalor occupied the rational power of my soul. But my soul also, he says, and my belly, it too was troubled and confused at the time of my indignation. But just as we have understood the eye of the soul by transference from the physical eye, so too you would not be mistaken if you took its belly to be the power of memory, in which, as if in a belly and stomach, it is accustomed to store up all the nourishment perceived through words. Wherefore it is said somewhere: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, His holy name." And the Savior says: "Whoever drinks of the water that I will give to him, rivers ^D

^A of living water will flow from his belly, springing up unto eternal life." Here, then, the Savior has called the power of memory, or even the governing principle of the soul itself, the "belly." Being troubled, therefore, in the eye of the soul, and having surrendered my belly, I offered myself to medicine and healing, abandoning my life to pain, groans, and poverty, as if being healed through certain cycles. And for the words, "My strength is in my poverty, and my bones were troubled," Symmachus interpreted it more clearly by saying, "Because of my affliction, my strength and my bones wasted away." For in this way, he says, I was wasting myself, so that through the intensity of the affliction, my strength would fail and be weakened, and the very bones of my soul—those faculties by which I once acted manfully—would rot away; or, according to Aquila, "And my bones were dried up." These things, moreover, are necessary as a discipline and example for those who long to obtain forgiveness for their own trespasses ^B.

VERS. 12-14. "I have become an object of reproach above all my enemies, and to my neighbors exceedingly, and a fear to my acquaintances. Those who saw me fled from me; I was forgotten as one dead from the heart; I became like a lost vessel." We refer these things to the time of the passion of our Savior, which might fittingly be said by Him, when His enemies, seeing Him hanging, mocked Him with reproaches, as it is written in the Gospels; and His acquaintances, both disciples and friends, seized by fear, retreated and abandoned Him; when even the leader of the chorus of His disciples denied Him thrice. Then indeed He was forgotten as one dead from the heart; nay, He was even considered to be like a lost vessel. Nevertheless, if these words are referred to him who confesses in the psalm, they declare his extreme misery and affliction. For he so wasted himself away that his life failed in pain, and his years in groaning, his strength was weakened in poverty, and the bones of his soul were troubled; in which matter he was also mocked by his enemies, as if ^C he were tormenting himself in vain and to no purpose. And he was not only an object of reproach among his enemies, but also among his neighbors, who, because they lived nearest, knew him very well. For these, seeing him wasting himself away in the confession he uttered to God, mocked him and burdened him with reproaches. But his relatives and friends, who were accustomed to visit him, were struck with fear, as if they had seen him raving and out of his mind; so that they withdrew and fled from him, despairing of his salvation, consigning him to oblivion as one already dead, and treating him as a lost vessel. He testifies that he suffered all these things while he was afflicting himself in confession and repentance. But they indeed, he says, acted thus toward me. But I, for my part, did not conduct myself in this way without cause and reason, but because I heard the reviling of many dwelling round about, who then, conspiring together, were planning ^D to take my soul; for they...

^A were hidden and invisible enemies who, when I had fallen into sin, banded together to snatch away my soul. Wherefore I, becoming aware of their snare, gave myself over to such great punishment, hoping that perhaps God, seeing such humiliation of mine, might be moved by mercy to deliver me and save me from the snare of the enemies.

“But I have hoped in thee, O Lord; I said: Thou art my God, my lots are in thy hands.” These things, he says, while my enemies were plotting against me, I did—I hoped in thee, O Lord; and I said that thou alone sufficest to be my helper. “For thou art my God, my lots are in thy hands.” Instead of this, the Hebrew reading and other translators have given “my times.” For even if my enemies are now prevailing to the greatest degree, as if they had found an opportune time against me, yet my times are kept in thy hands; in which times I know that my lots are guarded by thee. Wherefore, quite naturally, I supplicate and pray in this present time to be delivered from my enemies and from those who persecute me.

“Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; save me in thy mercy; O Lord, let me not be ashamed, for I have called upon thee.” Just as when the sun rises, the darkness is dispersed; but when it has passed under the earth, night takes possession of everything, and wild beasts and men who are workers of iniquity ^B come forth from their own dens; so, when God turns away, the enemies of the soul rise up and set upon it. But when he sends forth the light of his own divinity, which Scripture is accustomed to call the “face of God,” then all who perform works that are friends of darkness are turned away and take flight, and everything contrary to God is dissolved. Therefore, he who earlier made his confession, saying, “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant,” now says again, “I ask to obtain salvation, not because of my works, but because of thy mercy”; and again, “Since I have called upon thee,” he says, “let me not be ashamed, for I have hoped in thee.” For shame is proper to the impious, to those who do not know thee to be God; wherefore he says, “Let the impious be ashamed and be brought down to Hades” (or according to Aquila and Symmachus, “Let them be silenced in Hades”). For now they speak many audacious things, but when they shall have been brought down to the place appropriate for them, then they shall put an end to their arrogance; then those lips which at present utter many things with pride against the righteous man shall be mute; then, too, vengeance shall be taken for the despising of righteous men. ^C

“How great is the multitude of thy goodness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for those who fear thee! Thou hast wrought for those who hope in thee in the presence of the sons of men. Thou shalt hide them in the hiding-place of thy face from the disturbance of men. Thou shalt shelter them in a tabernacle from the gainsaying of tongues.” These things, he says, I have prayed for—that thou wouldst make thy face to shine upon thy servant, and that I might obtain salvation by thy mercy, and not be put to shame because I have called upon thee, being persuaded

that thy gentleness is great and ineffable, and that it teems with much wealth. Wherefore it was also said by the Apostle: "Or dost thou despise the riches of his goodness and patience and long-suffering?" ^A But now, indeed, thou dost not make thy goodness manifest to all, but thou hidest and reposest it, keeping it for them that fear thee. Since thou hast also wrought it for this very purpose—I mean, for the sake of bestowing it upon those who hope in thee—and thou shalt display it at the opportune time before the eyes of the sons of men, so that all may behold thy goodness, given at the time of the recompense of good things to the worthy. Wherefore, in this life also, thou deemest the souls dedicated to thee worthy of thy protection during the times of trials, and hidest them, delivering them from the disturbance of men, and as if under a shelter, thou coverest them under thine own hand from the gainsaying of tongues, so that they are not harmed either by those who attack them with words or by those who construct their engines against them.

^B "Blessed be the Lord, for he has made his mercy wondrous in a city of siege." Having made his supplication to God through so many [petitions], he who makes confession concludes his discourse with a good end, blessing God that "he has made his mercy wondrous in a city of siege," which Symmachus interpreted thus: "Blessed be the Lord who has shown his mercy to me, as in a fenced city." For by me, he says, God has been glorified, because, when countless enemies stood against me and attempted to besiege my soul like a great city, my guardian, throwing a fence around me, showed his mercy to be wonderful, thus saving me just as a city surrounded by a strong wall. And such didst thou become to me, O my Lord, when I humbled myself in the ecstasy that came upon me, in which "my eye was troubled in wrath, and my soul, and my belly." I did not linger, but I humbled myself, as if cast out from thy sight because of my sin. And these things I said, making confession; but thou, O humane and good God, didst not cast off thy servant, but according to the promise that says, "When having turned thou groanest, then thou shalt be saved," thou didst hear me saying these things, and because of this thou didst make thy mercy wondrous to me in a city of siege.

TO DAVID, AN UNDERSTANDING. XXXI.

^C VERS. 1. "Blessed are they whose iniquities have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered." Having greatly afflicted himself for the transgression that had occurred, and having uttered the voices set forth in the thirtieth [psalm], David, being anxious and troubled concerning the judgment of God for those things of which he was conscious within himself; then, knowing by the Holy Spirit and by the prophetic power the remission of sins that was about to be granted to all men through the saving grace, and how the idolaters from among the Gentiles [and the atheists, entangled in myriad evils, will at some time obtain the forgiveness of sins...]

through the laver of regeneration, he declares these thrice-blessed in the words before us. "I," he says, "wasting away with groans and frequent tears because of my sin, and having fallen into manifold calamities on account of this, pronounce those men enviable and blessed who, without such miseries, have received the forgiveness of sins through the kindness of God." For He exercises such zeal and liberality toward them, that He not only forgives, but also covers their sins, so that not even a trace of them remains.

VERS. 2. *Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin, and in whose mouth there is no guile.* What was said above is stated generally, and relates to all who are to attain the forgiveness of their sins through grace; but what is stated here declares by what rite the forgiveness is granted, in the words: *To whom the Lord shall not impute sin.* For it signifies that a sin once committed cannot be made to have never been committed; but it is in the power of the Lord, in His reckoning, either to impute or not to impute the deed to the sinner, and to grant forgiveness and indulgence. But because all who come for the remission of sins, ^B which is granted through baptism, attain forgiveness through the confession offered to the Savior, through faith in the God of all, and through a sincere confession, the Word very accurately adds the following clause: *And there is no guile in his mouth,* or, *in his spirit;* for it is read in both ways in the text. For that man is blessed who makes his confession with a pure spirit, and utters the words customary at the laver of regeneration. But if guile be found in his mouth, or in his spirit and soul, insofar as he has deceived himself so as not to obtain forgiveness, he will even increase his own evils, having heaped up for himself greater wrath on the day of wrath.

VERS. 3, 4. *Because I kept silence, my bones waxed old, through my crying all the day,* etc. Those men, indeed, are blessed, whom I recognized in the Spirit and pronounced blessed. But I, after having labored much with outcries and confessions, was wearied and kept silence. For this, Symmachus interpreted, "Because I was silent," and Theodotion, "Because I labored." ^C And for "through my crying," Symmachus gave, "Through my lamenting all the day." And his bones waxed old, worn out, of course, by that continuous affliction with which he macerated himself in confession; for there, the powers of the soul, which are called bones, were being exhausted. Wherefore, according to Aquila, it is said: "Because I was dumb, my bones were worn out in my roaring"; according to Symmachus: "Because I was silent, my bones waxed old, through my lamenting all the day." He did not macerate and exhaust himself for a single month, but all the days.

VERS. 5. *I made my sin known, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said: I will confess against myself* ^D

^A iniquity to the Lord, and you forgave the impiety of my heart. Selah. Others, however, have set it forth not as "impiety of the heart," but "impiety of my sin." Symmachus interpreted this more accurately by saying: "That you might take away my sin." For he says, "I did this and that, in order that such things might happen to me." He was not already in possession of the forgiveness, but as one doing everything in order to obtain it, he said these things according to Symmachus. And such an interpretation is indeed consistent; for if he were declaring others blessed, whose iniquities were forgiven, as one who had not yet himself received the forgiveness, how could he here say, "And you forgave the impiety of my sin"? Therefore, I say that according to Symmachus it was more accurately stated: "That you might take away the impiety of my sin."

^B VERS. 6. *For this shall every saint pray to you in an opportune time. But in the flood of many waters, they shall not draw near to him.* For this reason, every saint, having taken an example from what was done for me, will pray to you most readily and confidently, if ever a time calls him to come to a prayer like mine. And when he prays according to my example, you will hear him, and you will provide him the salvation that comes from you, so that he suffers no harm even if infinite floodwaters are carried against him. For as one who has built his house upon a rock, and has hung his hopes upon you, the great Savior, he will remain unshaken and steadfast; for because of your protection, they will not even be able to approach or come near him. ^C And indeed, the interpretation of Symmachus sets forth this meaning, saying: "For this matter every saint will pray," instead of "For this reason every saint will pray to you when he has found an opportune time, so that many floodwaters may not approach him." But if it is said according to the Seventy, "For this shall every saint pray," we shall explain it thus: "for this," namely, for the remission that happened to me. For because of your mercy and the philanthropy shown to me, every saint will be expectant of receiving the same from you, should a similar offense and a time requiring the same confession and prayer as mine ever befall him, as a man clothed in flesh.

VERS. 8. *I will bring understanding to you and will instruct you in the way in which you shall go; I will fix my eyes upon you.* ^D This is what is spoken through the prophet: *While you are yet speaking, I will say: Behold, I am here*, and it was fulfilled in the case of David. For as he was praying and sending up his supplication, the divine Spirit deigned to answer him, ordering him to be of good cheer. "For I," he says, "will bring understanding to you and instruct you," for which Aquila says: "I will make you knowing and will enlighten you in this way in which you shall go"; but Symmachus says: "I will make you prudent and will show you the way in which you shall walk." For he promises that the way will be shown to him by the One who said: *I am the way.* And this was the Word of God, who leads those who are traveling toward the happy end.

^A Instead of, *I will fix my eyes upon you,* Symmachus says: *I will consult regarding you with my eye.* For since *the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer,* he deservedly deems him who has prayed for such things worthy of his own eye, so that, having his understanding illuminated by those rays sent forth from the divine eye, he may discern the way promised to him. Wherefore the eyes of the Lord are not upon all, but only upon the righteous; for he turns his eyes away from the ungodly.

Verse 11. *Be glad in the Lord and exult, you righteous; and boast, all you upright in heart.*

Psalm XXXII.

According to the Hebrew reading and according to the other translators, this psalm lacks a title, and it possesses much harmony with the one before it. For since he had said at the end of that one, *Be glad in the Lord and exult, you righteous,* he begins the present one with almost the same words, verse 1: *Exult, you righteous, in the Lord.* And it seems to me that the things being spoken prophetically in the present passage are directed toward the person of those indicated in the preceding psalm, according to the passage: *Blessed are they whose iniquities were forgiven, and whose sins were covered over.* For it seems to be calling out, *Exult, you righteous, in the Lord,* to those who have obtained the forgiveness of sins through saving grace. ^C Do not trust in yourselves, nor in any worldly things, but trusting in the Lord, and priding yourselves in Him, and boasting in Him, exult, you blessed ones, whose iniquities were forgiven, and whose sins were covered over. For, he says, it is fitting for all the upright to offer praise to God. But according to the

^A psalmist, "Praise is comely for the upright." Since a hymn is not comely in the mouth of a sinner, it is fitting that the praise of God should belong to those who possess pure minds and pure lips.

"Give praise to the Lord on the harp; sing to Him with the psaltery of ten strings." These are written according to the first tradition of the Law. And he who keeps both his inner and outer senses pure and blameless sings to God on a ten-stringed psaltery. "Sing to Him a new song." The old song, being upon an old harp and an old psaltery—inanimate instruments—was sought after by the former people as if through symbols and images; but the new song is sent up to God more magnificently and more worthily of God through a living harp and the aforementioned ten-stringed psaltery. "Play skillfully with a shout of joy." This shout of joy is mystical; wherefore it is said somewhere: "Blessed is the people that knows the shout of joy." But instead of oxen and calves, and those sacrifices of blood, he who said the following claims to have sacrificed a sacrifice of a shout of joy: "I went round and sacrificed in His tabernacle a sacrifice of a shout of joy." ^B

"For the word of the Lord is right, and all His works are in faith. He loves mercy and judgment; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord." Let things pertaining to the comprehension of existing things be left to us through faith, but those pertaining to the practical life through mercy and judgment. For the upright word of the Lord loves these, inasmuch as it has fashioned us to be critical and discerning of both the good and its opposite. Wherefore, He wills that we do nothing without judgment, nor be carried away irrationally by the impulses of the passions, but that we deliberate discerningly concerning the things to be done, and in all respects be merciful, becoming forgiving toward those who sin, and sympathetic and philanthropic toward those who are in need of mercy.

"By the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and all their power by the spirit of His mouth." Therefore, every heavenly power was established by the Father; that is to say, they have intensity, firmness, and stability in sanctification and every virtue appropriate to the holy powers, from the aid of the Spirit. Here, then, "the spirit of His mouth" is written. We shall find elsewhere "the word of His mouth" also mentioned, in order that the Savior and His Holy Spirit may be understood. Both worked together in the creation of the heavens and the powers in them; for this reason it is said, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and all their power by the spirit of His mouth." For nothing is sanctified without the presence of the Spirit. The Creator Word, the Maker of all things, provided the angels their passage into existence, while the Holy Spirit brought with Him their sanctification; for the angels were not created as infants. ^C

"Let all the earth fear the Lord; but let all the inhabitants of the

world. Very consequentially, ^A having set forth the great works of God, and having all but demonstrated before our eyes how great the Lord, the Creator of such things, is, He commands that He be feared. And He proclaims the good news that one should no longer apply the mind to idols, nor worship demons, but the Creator of so many things. In place of "let them be moved," Symmachus published "let them be in awe." You will understand how all the inhabitants of the world were going to be moved by Him, if you apply your mind to how, through the evangelical preaching and saving doctrine, Churches were established for God throughout the whole world; and every ear was filled with the word, and all men were moved by such great power, changing from their former error regarding idols, and coming to a remembrance of true piety: "For He spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created."

VERS. 10. *The Lord dissipates the counsels of the nations, and rejects the thoughts of the peoples, and rejects the counsels of princes.* Since the prophetic spirit saw that those who were about to withdraw ^B from that former superstition and who were turning away from the polytheistic error, but turning toward the Lord of all, were to be afflicted by persecutions, He necessarily commands those who have acknowledged the Creator of all things not to fear the terrors and threats sent by the nations persevering in infidelity. For even if they devise ten thousand things against you, yet, He says, they will be able to accomplish nothing to your ruin. For the Creator of all and the Lord himself, to whom you have fled for refuge, will with a single nod dissipate the snares and the thoughts devised against you by the nations and the infidel peoples. And if even rulers and kings should at some time be stirred up against you, yet He will also bring to nothing their counsels; but only His own counsel will endure forever. ^C And indeed, the thoughts of His wisdom will not be rendered vain like the thoughts of men; but His judgments remain to generation and generation. For He keeps His thoughts for those worthy of Him; and because in every generation and succession of men some are found worthy, He justly and deservedly keeps His thoughts for them, extending them into all generations. ^D And these things, indeed, were long ago predicted prophetically; but we have received the fulfillment of these words in the very events themselves. For how great the things they devised against His Church, and what kind of persecutions they raised against us, and what kind of counsels the rulers of this age entered into against us, cannot be recounted with the gravity the matter deserves; nor can it be enumerated how all these things were dissipated by the power of God; and not in our age alone, but they have been fulfilled in fact through individual generations beginning from the time of the theophany of our divine Savior.

VERS. 12-15. *Blessed is the nation whose Lord is its God, the people whom He has chosen for an inheritance to Himself.* For of old, Israel was His portion and inheritance; but since he despised it, grace has been transferred to the nations. *The Lord looked down from heaven,

He saw all the sons of men. *From His prepared habitation He looked down upon all who dwell on the earth.* *He who fashioned their hearts singly, He who understands all their works.* In order that we might know how the nation which is called blessed was established, and whence the people which He chose for an inheritance to Himself received its constitution, He consequently teaches that it was the Lord Himself who, having looked upon all the sons of men who dwell on the earth, established out of all of them the aforementioned nation and the people spoken of, not employing other ministers. But as for the phrase, "From His prepared habitation," Aquila interpreted it as "From the foundation of His seat," while Symmachus rendered it, "From the seat of His habitation He looked down." His Word, moreover, was ministering salvation to those who were to be saved; for, "He sent His word and healed them, and rescued them from their destructions."

Why, indeed, did the Lord look down from heaven, and what is the cause of His deeming all the sons of men worthy of His visitation? He sets this forth next by saying, *He who fashioned their hearts singly*, for which Symmachus says, "He who fashions singly each heart of theirs." For if He had constituted the human mind in the same way as brute animals, there would certainly have been no necessity for Him to look down upon the sons of men; for that universal providence, providing equally for all, would have sufficed. ^B But now, since the soul of man is a certain preeminent substance—inasmuch as it is testified of man alone that it was said, "Let us make man in our image and according to our likeness," and "God made man; in the image of God He made him"—it is fitting that He, as one providing for His own image, should look down from heaven and see all the sons of men. This is what the present text sets forth, saying, *He who fashions their hearts singly*; but "singly" is said instead of "distinctly," as opposed to the other animals. By speaking of hearts, He indicated their thoughts, because every man has his own mind closed up like a repository, so that no one else can perceive the thoughts of others. No one of men, therefore, knows the things of a man, save the spirit of a man which is in him. ^C Wherefore, regarding our Savior alone, for the declaration of His Divinity, it was said, "For He Himself knew what was in man," and again, "Knowing their thoughts." This is also established in the matters before us; for after "He who fashioned their hearts singly," there is conjoined, "He who understands all their works." For He alone understands from what sort of choice of will the works of men are produced, since no other is able to understand from what purpose and from what impulse each of the sons of men does what he does.

^D *A king is not saved by much power, and a giant shall not be saved by the multitude of his strength. A horse is a false thing for safety; neither shall he be saved in the abundance of his power. Behold, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him, upon those who hope in His mercy, to rescue their souls from death, and to nourish...*

them in famine. ^A These things cohere with the aforementioned sentiments. For after the discourse had summoned all men upon earth to the fear of God with these words, “Let all the earth fear the Lord,” he then, in order to encourage their minds, so that they might not falter in spirit or fear the persecutions that were about to come upon them, added by way of precursor, “The Lord dissipates the counsels of the nations,” and the rest. Maintaining the same train of thought, he says through the aforementioned words: “Take courage,” all you to whom this discourse is addressed. If, then, you approach His fear, you will obtain His eyes and His discerning power, which watches over you and rescues you from all enemies and plotters. “For behold, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him, upon those who hope in His mercy, to rescue their souls from death.” For without those eyes of God, there is no other hope of salvation, neither for a king trusting in military power, nor for a giant priding himself on a multitude of strength and force, nor for a horse trusting in the speed of its feet. For all these things deceive, lead astray, and mislead those who have placed their hope in them. But take courage, you who invoke the Lord and have taken upon yourselves His fear. Do not fear the counsels of the nations, which the Lord dissipates, nor the thoughts of the peoples, which the Lord renders void, nor the counsels of princes, which He Himself subverts; furthermore, do not be struck with terror by a king relying upon a military force, nor by a giant swollen with physical strength and power. ^B Having as a great protection the eyes of His providence, place your hope in Him alone and in His mercy, so that He may rescue your souls from death. Now, mortality of the soul would be the denial of God and total apostasy, and sins that lead to death; so that even if it happens at some time that the bodies of those who hope in God are delivered to common death for the sake of their witness to Him, nevertheless, the eyes of the Lord, caring for what is better, have rescued their souls from death. Nor do they provide only this; they also make provision to nourish them in famine. For in times of persecution, when teachings and the readings of the divine Scriptures are often hindered, and there are few who present spiritual food to the souls of men, nevertheless, the eyes of the Lord, by the influx of the divine Spirit, nourish their souls and make them taught by God, so that even without ^C any human instruction, they are nourished by a certain secret power.

UPON THE THIRTY-THIRD PSALM OF DAVID

When he changed his countenance before Abimelech, and he dismissed him and he went away.

Some have suspected that the inscription of the present psalm refers to the history wherein it is recorded that David, fleeing from the face of Saul, came to Achish, king of Gath; when, feigning madness, he was beating upon the gates of the city, and was being carried off, ^D

and he was carried along, and he fell, and his spittle flowed down upon his beard; so that Achish said to his servants, "Why have you brought to me a man seized with epilepsy?" But that he had changed his countenance, such persons heard; but because it is next joined, "before Abimelech," they seem to me to have overlooked something. For Achish was the king of the foreigners inhabiting Gath; ^B but Abimelech is recorded as a priest of God, to whom also it is related that David went before his presence before the presence before Achish; for Scripture says: "And David comes to Nob to Achimelech the priest, and Achimelech was struck with fear at his meeting him, and said to him: Why are you alone and no one with you? And David said to the priest: The king ^C has charged me with a matter today, and said to me: Let no one know the matter concerning which I send you, and concerning which I have charged you, and I have testified to the boys in the place called 'Faith of God.' And now if there are loaves under your hand, give into my hands what has been found." And the priest answered David and said: "There are no common loaves under my hand, except only holy loaves; if the boys have kept themselves from women, eat." And David answered the priest and said to him: "Certainly we have refrained from women since yesterday and the day before, when we went out on the road, and the boys were sanctified; for this road is polluted; but it shall be sanctified today because of my vessels." And Achimelech the priest gave him the loaves of the presence, because there was no bread, except only the loaves of the face which had been removed from the face of the Lord that hot bread might be placed, on the day he took them.

1 Reg. xxi, 1-6.

This narrative regarding Achimelech contains these things; then it is joined next how David arose and fled on that day; and having departed from Achimelech, he came to Achish the king of Gath. ^D Now someone might say, since it is not carried in the history concerning Achimelech that "David changed his countenance," that the name of Abimelech was placed by a scribal error for the name of Achish; for clearly it is said in the case of Achish: "he changed his countenance," when his spittle also flowed down and he played the drum. But I think it a bold and rash deed to dare to declare that divine Scripture has erred, and contains such a blunder such that instead of a foreign man, a priest of the Lord is placed; especially when the Hebrew reading and all the remaining interpreters contain "Achimelech." It would therefore follow, if the superscription is true, to inquire how and when David changed his countenance before Abimelech, and he released him, and he departed. It seems to me, then, that solutions to the question might be supplied from the comparison of the rest of the interpreters. For Aquila and the fifth edition translated it in this manner: "Of David, when he changed his taste at the face of Abimelech, and he cast him out, and he departed." Perhaps on account of the loaves of the presence, which when he had received from Abimelech, he ate himself and the boys who were with him,

^A he is said to have changed his taste before Abimelech. For, having partaken of sanctified food and of the priestly loaves, which were not permitted to be used by any but the priests alone, he changed his taste. But Symmachus, when he says, "Of David, when he transformed his manner before Abimelech," introduced another meaning, saying that David's manner was changed before Abimelech because, when asked what the cause of his journey was, he lied and deceived the priest; for it was alien to David's character to use deception, which nonetheless he used at that time, and so changed his manner, according to Symmachus. From what has been said, one may also adapt the interpretation of the Seventy to the history concerning Abimelech, which narrates that David changed his countenance before Abimelech because he did not declare to him the true reason for his flight, but deceived him by saying one thing instead of another; so that he even received the sword of Goliath from him, which became a cause of destruction to him. For Saul, having learned after these things what had been done, sent and killed Abimelech himself and all the priests of the Lord, and smote Nob, the city of the priests. And all these things were done because David changed his manner or his countenance before Abimelech. The Scripture of the Kingdoms contains "Achimelech"; let no one be moved by the change of a letter, for it was set forth differently owing to the similarity between the letter *Beth* and the letter *Caph*, as the Hebrews call them; for the figure of the two elements is almost one and the same, distinguished only by a very small apex. ^B Moreover, the Savior in the Gospels mentions this history concerning David, saying: "Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and ate the loaves of the presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, except for the priests alone?" This, indeed, is said in the Gospel according to Matthew. But since it is written in the Gospel according to Mark that the Savior spoke thus: "Have you never read what David did, when he had need, and was hungry, himself and those who were with him? How he entered into the house of God under Abiathar the high priest, and ate the loaves of the presence?" who would not be perplexed as to why the Savior here makes mention not of Abimelech, but of Abiathar? To which one might say that Abimelech had two names, so that he was the same as Abiathar. For indeed, his son also named Abiathar is mentioned in the book of Kingdoms; who, having alone escaped from the slaughtered priests, was with David. Another might say that the history remembers Abimelech as the priest, but that in this place the Savior said Abiathar was the high priest at that time: "He entered," he says, "David into the house of God under Abiathar the high priest." Truly, the history recording the slaughter of Achimelech and the priests by Saul ^C mentions nothing

^A of the high priest having been slain. Let these things, then, be said for us towards the inscription of the Psalm.

Vers. 2. *I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall ever be in my mouth.* David gives thanks that he was deemed worthy of priestly food. Not in the present alone, he says, but through the whole course of my life, I will not make an end of giving thanks and blessing, nor shall my mouth ever be empty of his praise. For I have been instructed so that, in place of sacrifices and whole burnt offerings, I might offer to him a sacrifice through my lips.

Since, ^B to me as I flee, there is no helper present, nor any refuge, nor safety; and I have prepared only the Lord as the guard of my soul, and upon him, not upon my own righteous deeds, my soul relies; reasonably, *in the Lord shall my soul be praised; let the meek hear and be glad.* And having taken me as an example, let all the meek and humble and gentle, because of their piety towards God, be confident and be filled with gladness, expecting the same things as I, and setting the Lord himself as their hope. And since he departed after taking the sword of Goliath the alien from Abimelech: "But not in this," he says, "will I boast, but in the Lord, by whom I acquired this sword"—just as even the priest said to him: "Behold, the sword of Goliath ^C the Philistine, whom you struck in the valley of Ela, wrapped in a garment. If you wish to take this, take it for yourself, for there is no other beside it." Having heard these things, David says: *In the Lord shall my soul be praised.* That sword brought great glory to David; for, being a young lad, and unskilled in bearing weapons of war, he overcame Goliath, being fortified by faith in God; so that for this reason, that sword alone had been deposited in the sanctuary in place of a votive offering: which indeed the priest signified by saying, *And there is no other.* For it was not permitted to lay aside weapons of war in the tabernacle of God. But this one alone was deposited in memory of the victory won by David over the alien, as if deposited in thanksgiving to God who had given him the victory.

Vers. 3. *Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.* For those who, by their works and a life lived with virtue, adorn the image of God placed within them, they surely glorify and exalt him. *I sought the Lord and he heard me.* Since to the voice, *I sought*, that other is added in turn, *he heard me*.

Vers. 6-8. *This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his tribulations.* Here again, as in what went before, he provides himself as an example of instruction for others. For setting himself forth as "poor" because of the humility and modesty of his soul, he [speaks] as if concerning another concerning himself

^A teaching us and saying: "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him." But do not think, he says, that I alone have attained this, I who am indeed considered king and ruler of the entire nation, but in soul am poor on account of the fear of God. But it is accurately understood that the same Lord, being present to those who are poor like me—I mean those who fear Him—will hear them. "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who hopes in Him." He who exists as a man who hopes in God perfectly and unceasingly is blessed. Nor would anyone inappropriately apply the present saying to the interpretation according to Aquila; since in the title according to Aquila it was said: "Of David, when he changed his taste before the face of Abimelech." Since, therefore, he himself, after eating the loaves of the presence, changed his taste, and thereafter perceived from that taste the divine power bestowed upon him, for this reason, according to the saying, "I have received without guile, I communicate without envy," he exhorts others to hasten toward a similar taste for themselves and to pray to be fed by the Bread of Life, of which those loaves of the presence mandated by the Law through Moses were a symbol and image. Wherefore David, having understood of what the bread of the presence was an image, does not encourage us to hasten toward bodily bread, ^B but toward the one indicated by the bodily bread. We, therefore, who dwell on the earth, become partakers of the Bread that descended from heaven and of the Word who emptied and humbled Himself; while they who are in the kingdom of heaven partake of Him in full and perfect measure, nourished by His divinity and enjoying the contemplations of wisdom, of which it is fitting that we, too, should hope to partake at some time; wherefore it has been said: "Blessed is the man who hopes in Him."

VERS. 9. "Fear the Lord, all His saints, for there is no lack to those who fear Him." All these things David brings forth in the manner of maxims for the benefit of others, having himself first enjoyed them when he sought the Lord and found Him propitious. Therefore, he instructs God's saints to have His fear before their eyes; for by that very fear they are made saints. Hence it is said in another psalm, "The fear of the Lord is pure," meaning "making pure." ^C Wherefore also the divine Law says: "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." And this would be a clear sign of fearing the Lord: that one be pure and empty of all defilement and wicked deeds, and preserve himself holy in both body and spirit. For those who fear the Lord, and who are sanctified through the fear of Him, never will anything be lacking, inasmuch as they have found in the fear of the Lord itself great riches and an excellent treasure.

OF DAVID XXXIV

1. Judge, O Lord, those who wrong me, fight against those who fight against me. 2. Take hold of weapon and shield, and arise for my help. 3. Draw out a sword and shut the way against those who persecute me. For

^A in Ezekiel much is said concerning the sword; for it says: "Sword, sword, awake, and eat the blood of the wounded." And again: "If a land shall sin against me, I will also send a sword upon it." But he releases all these things against the wickedness in men, being good, for the advantage of those who are held by it; since he also saves from wars, as a physician cutting and cauterizing the afflicted parts of the body for the health of the whole. For this reason he brings in the following, saying: "Say to my soul, I am your salvation," believing and being accurately persuaded that what is spoken by God does not go forth in vain, but that what is said is carried out by deed and fact. And in this he was denying his own salvation and rejecting his own life, but he was praying that the salvation of the Lord be granted to his own soul, so that he also might be able to say: "I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me." For he himself is our salvation; this, indeed, the very interpretation of the name Jesus signifies.

^B "Let them be ashamed and confounded who seek after my soul." For he says this: O Lord, once this has been done by you, and you have heard my prayer, they will be ashamed and confounded as having attempted it in vain; wherefore they also failed in what they were striving for. "Let them be turned back and disgraced who plot evils against me." For they will no longer stand before my face; but having turned their backs, they will yield to me the victory. "But those who are fleeing and moving backward will be consumed by dispersion. For let them become as dust before the face of the wind, and let the angel of the Lord be pressing them," not allowing them to be gathered or to turn back, but let him himself persist in pressing them—that is, punishing them. "Let their way be darkness and slipperiness, and let the angel of the Lord be pursuing them." He calls the wicked life by the name "the way of the ungodly," along which they made their journey.

"Because they hid for me the corruption of their snare without cause." For which Symmachus published it thus: "Because they hid for me the corruption of their nets without cause." For when they had suffered no previous harm from me, they were lying in wait for me without cause and for no reason, hiding a snare by which they prepared corruption for me. For even if they did seem to be warring against me through men—whether through Saul or through others—yet I was not ignorant of those who were the causes of Saul's jealousy, and the instigators of the rest of the enemies. ^C For there were others who were hiding their snares and trying to destroy my soul, and who "reproached my soul" in vain; for which Symmachus published: "Without cause they undermined my soul." For they were doing everything, wishing to drive his soul from the gentleness and long-suffering inherent in it, and so that, filled with fury and wrath, he might turn to vengeance and do some evil to Saul. These things, then, are about the many enemies; but regarding the leader among them, he adds: "Let a snare come upon him which he does not know, and let the trap which he hid catch him, and into the snare let him fall in..."

^A it." These things, delivered by David as if in prayer, were a proclamation of things to come and a prophecy of things about to happen. Thus, it was also said above in a prophetic manner: "Let them be ashamed and turned back," meaning, "They shall be ashamed and turned back"; and again: "Let them be turned back and disgraced, and let them become like dust," meaning, "They shall be turned back and disgraced and shall become like dust." For he was predicting what was to happen to his enemies. There will be some who think that these things were spoken concerning Saul, because this evil befell him not long after; but we, mindful of what was said at the beginning of the psalm, shall interpret these things as referring to one of the spiritual enemies, who was more powerful in malice, namely the devil. ^B

VERS. 9, 10. "All my bones shall say: Lord, who is like unto thee? Who delivers the needy from the hand of those stronger than him, and the needy and poor from those who plunder him." The "bones" of the soul are its intellectual faculties, as has been said before; when these are illuminated by His presence, they will say: "Lord, who is like unto thee?" For if you had not been present with the needy, and had not deemed him worthy of your help, who, I ask, and how great would that man be, who could by himself be compared to so many and such great enemies? You will grasp the meaning of what is said even from the simple history, if you recall how David, while fleeing, was reduced to such poverty ^C that he lacked bread and necessary sustenance, and came to the necessity of daring to eat the loaves of proposition. For he did not approach this for the sake of luxury, nor carried away by his own righteousness, nor in disregard of the law, but out of great lack of food. Wherefore the Savior says: "Have you not read what David did when he hungered?" And he himself was a needy man fleeing with a few; but those pursuing him were powerful; for Saul was king of the whole nation, and the princes who were with him, and the leaders of the foreign enemies were stronger than David, from whose hands, while he was escaping, he did not fail to know who his helper was. And these things may be said regarding the history; but if you understand the hidden and invisible enemies of the righteous soul, you will see that we stand in need of no other helper and Savior than Christ himself in the battle against ^D those intellectual foes who are always attempting to plunder his soul. You will also consider whether "the needy" is different from "the poor," and whether they differ in substance or only in thought—since it is possible for the same man to be both needy and a beggar, in that he has fallen away from the wealth which he previously had, and also poor, in that he provides for his living through labor.

VERS. 11. "Unjust witnesses rising up asked me things I knew not." Those who are not witnesses of righteousness, but of iniquity, rising up and exerting themselves, deceitfully ask about things I do not know. For the virtuous man knows nothing of evil things; that is to say, he is not mingled with any of the wicked. His testimony, however, is this: "He who keeps the commandment shall not know an evil thing." And here

it is a hallucination to think that he who keeps the divine commandment does not know an evil thing. For, having obtained the discernment of good and evil, and having turned away from all other matters, he has come to keep the commandment. The meaning, therefore, of what he says is this: Since I had no experience, nor knowledge, nor conception of evil things, those who were provoking me questioned me about them, just as the Egyptian woman did to Joseph, and the elders to Susanna.

"They returned to me evil for good, and barrenness to my soul." While I was striving to perform my duties to all men in an irreproachable manner, if it were possible to live in peace with all men, they returned to me evil for these good deeds, manifesting themselves as enemies and hostile in all things; and as much as lay in their power, they attempted to destroy the fruitfulness of my soul in good things. If, therefore, ^B by being persuaded by their questions, I had become the kind of person they wanted to make me, my soul would have been made barren, no longer receiving the divine seeds of the Bridegroom. And if disciples are called the children of the teacher, in that way also is the teacher's soul made barren, having fallen into his own stumbling block through errors, destroying those who were brought forth from him through instruction. Instead of "barrenness to my soul," Symmachus translated it, "perverted things against my soul."

Since the matters here set forth are connected with those already discussed in the thirty-third Psalm—those, indeed, made mention of the history concerning ^C Abimelech, before whom, as was stated above, he changed his countenance—perhaps these things that are presently being dealt with can be related to those. For when Saul learned from Doeg that David had arrived at the house of Abimelech and, having received loaves, had been saved, he put to death all the priests of the Lord, and Abimelech himself with all his kin. David, therefore, was able to say these things in the person of Saul, such that the whole psalm is referred to that time when Doeg bore false witness against Abimelech before Saul; and perhaps the Holy Spirit, describing the slaughter of the priests, uttered the things set forth, saying: "Judge, O Lord, those who wrong me," and so forth. And those things which are spoken ^D singularly concerning one man, such as that, "Let a snare come upon him which he does not know, and let the trap that he concealed trip him, and let him fall into the snare himself," can be applied to Doeg. But that, "Unjust witnesses rose up, asking me things I knew not; they returned to me evil for good, and barrenness to my soul," might have been spoken in the person of Abimelech. And it is likely that it was David who said these things; for the psalm is inscribed to him, and he might be thought to have spoken in an apostolic manner: "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I do not burn?" And, "If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it." And one might perhaps say further that the "unjust witnesses" were all those who slandered David before Saul; for in those days the Ziphites

^A came and said: "Behold, David is hidden among us," and at another time others, wishing, as it seems, to gain favor with the king, would speak many false testimonies against him, and would attribute to him things he had neither known nor thought. The phrase, "They rendered me evil for good," can also be referred to David himself. For since Saul had often been treated kindly by David, he rewarded him with the opposite, devising terrible things against his soul and causing sterility in his soul. Now, sterility of soul occurs when the seeds it casts for the benefit of others, or which it emits through teaching, do not bear fruit. So, therefore, although David generated many good things for Saul, Saul caused sterility in him, not bringing forth fruits worthy of the things sown for him.

^B VERS. 13. "But I, when they were troublesome to me, I put on sackcloth. And I humbled my soul in fasting, and my prayer will be turned into my bosom." In addition to what has been offered, consider, I ask, whether these things can suit the person of our Savior, and whether they have been prophetically foretold concerning Him. See, therefore, whether in that way the sense may turn out plain, without any obstacle. For let our Savior be speaking according to His humanity to His own Father from the beginning of the Psalm until that point: "And close up against those who pursue me." And in the twenty-first Psalm, which is clearly spoken by Him, it is said: "Attend to my help." Nay, even in the Gospels He is reported to have devoted Himself to prayer. And truly, the things written here He fulfilled in deed after the crime was committed by the Jews against Him. ^C For the military sword and the Roman war came upon them not long after, and not without the judgment of God. For it was God who was fighting against them through the army of the enemy. The Savior Himself signifies this through a parable to those who had refused the invitation to the wedding and had killed the messengers; for He says that the king sent his armies and burned their city. Thus, therefore, the things we are now treating were fulfilled. For because they acted unjustly toward the Son of God, they were condemned, and vengeance for His blood was taken. And because they had shown themselves enemies of Christ, they were warred upon by God Himself, who attacked them with missiles, shield, and sword. For the divine vengeance did not come upon them secretly, but through ^D human armies. It is truly a marvel how it was said: "Draw forth the sword." For the war no longer pursued them partially as in the old days, but a hostile sword was drawn forth against them; for which reason it is said: "But wrath has come upon them to the end," and elsewhere: "Pour out Thy wrath upon them." But who, passing through the Histories of Flavius Josephus and learning from them how, caught in a siege, they perished by famine and sedition, would not marvel at the saying here: "And close up against those who pursue me"? What follows after this is fitting for the Savior alone to say to His own Father, according to his humanity: "Say to my soul: I am your salvation," and the rest, until that which says: "And the angel of the Lord constrains"

^A them. And these things were indeed fulfilled when, being driven from their own metropolis, they were scattered among all the nations. Then it is said: "Let their way be darkness and a slippery place." Their way, in which they walked of old, was that carnal worship which became for them darkness and a slippery path; and what is more, "the Angel of the Lord [was] pursuing them." These were the rewards for the crimes of their own committers against Christ. But I would not have you take the things that are said as though the Savior were glorying in the destruction of his enemies, He who commanded His own disciples: "Pray for those who inflict trouble and injury upon you." Rather, hear these things as spoken prophetically and as foretelling the things that were to happen to them. And the reason for which He prophesies that these things will befall them, He next explains by saying: "Because they hiddenly prepared for me the destruction of their snare, in vain they reproached my soul."

And these things, indeed, refer to the multitude that gathered against Him; but the things which follow are no longer spoken about many, but about one, and can rightly be interpreted as referring to Judas, who, concealing his conspiracy against Him and feigning friendship, betrayed the Master with a kiss. Therefore, it is said of him: "Let a snare come upon him which he does not know, and let the trap that he hid take him, and let him fall into the snare itself." And these things have been said about these matters.

But knowing well what a good outcome the plot prepared against Him would have, He also sets this forth, saying: "But my soul shall exult in the Lord, and shall delight in His salvation. All my bones shall say: O Lord, who is like You? Delivering the needy from those who plunder him." Now in the 21st Psalm, which is clearly pronounced from the person of the Savior, it is said: "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are scattered," ^B by this indicating the dispersion of His apostles and the flight which occurred at the time of His passion, when that which was written was fulfilled: "I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered." For His first disciples were the bones of His body, who were then scattered, having been scandalized in Him, just as He Himself declared, saying: "All of you will be offended in me this night." But after the resurrection, having beheld Him, they were filled with joy and exultation. And in the passage now before us, it is likewise said concerning them: "All my bones shall say: O Lord, who is like You?" The things which are added to these are likewise very fitting to the person of our Savior, running as follows: "Unjust witnesses rose up, they asked me things I did not know. They repaid me evil for good, and childlessness to my soul." You will find things similar to these also in the 108th Psalm, in which it is said: "And they fought against me without a cause; instead of loving me, they slandered me; and they set against me evil for good, and hatred for my ^C love." They were preparing childlessness for Him who did everything to gather them together and regenerate them unto Himself; which He Himself thus ^D

^B revealed, saying: "How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not?" Thus, indeed, they rendered Him evil for good, and childlessness to His soul.

But for the rest, by prophesying these things, in what follows He declares His own gentleness and long-suffering, saying: "But as for me, when they were troublesome to me, I was clothed in sackcloth." But for the phrase, "when they were troublesome to me," Aquila, in a manner most wonderful, says: "But I, in their infirmity, my clothing was sackcloth"; Symmachus: "When I was in their infirmities, my clothing was sackcloth"; and Theodotion and the fifth edition have said: "But I, when they were afflicting me." For since the Savior, sympathizing with their evils and the infirmities of their soul, makes the symbols of mourning and lamentation, putting on sackcloth for them, He was also humbling His soul in fasting. Wherefore He was teaching, saying: "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death"; and, "Now is my soul troubled." For He endured these things by the power of His meekness, just as a father grieving and mourning ^C vehemently over the destruction of his children. Wherefore it is said concerning Him in the prophets: "A man in a plight, and knowing how to bear infirmity"; and again: "He bears our sins, and suffers for us"; and once more: "But He was wounded for our sins, and by His stripe we were healed." Therefore, even amid their infirmities and when they were afflicting Him, the Savior, foreseeing the destruction that would seize them and their final ruin, was putting on sackcloth for them and humbling His soul in fasting. But they were conducting themselves in such a way that His prayer offered for them might not reach the ears of the Father; but, as if thrust back by the greatness of their impiety, it would be drawn away and return to Himself: wherefore He said, "And my prayer shall return into my own bosom." For if they had been about to attain salvation and return from their impieties, the prayer of the Savior would have arrived at the ears of the Father on a straight course and without any obstacle. And let these things be considered as having been thought out by me after I had explored the individual sentences where it was necessary.

^D VERS. 15, 16. "And against me they rejoiced and gathered together; scourges were gathered together upon me, and I knew not. They were rent asunder, and were not compuncted." These things are to be understood in two ways, as we have already said. For either David recounted these things concerning himself when he was being pursued by Saul, or they are said prophetically by the Holy Spirit concerning the Savior. But in place of the words, "And against me they rejoiced," Aquila, serving the Hebrew letter, says: "And in my limping they rejoiced, and were gathered together"; Symmachus: "And when I was limping they rejoiced and were gathered"; the fifth edition: "And in my infirmity they rejoiced." By which I think it is signified the time of the passion, in which, according to the Apostle, he was crucified in weakness, but lived

^A by the power of God. He also endured a limping for our sake, having willingly endured the infirmity for us. For he made himself weak, not being conquered by another, but by his own exceeding power he emptied himself and took the form of a servant, and concealed and humbled himself and made himself weak even unto death. Therefore in the limping and infirmity they gathered together; but they also laid lashes upon him, which is also indicated in another prophet, saying from his own person: "I gave my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to the smiting. And I did not turn away my face from the shame of spitting." [Isa. L, 6.] These things were fulfilled at the time of his passion. And Symmachus says: "And they who were breaking [me] did not rest." For they did not know, he says, the cause for which they were scourging [me]; for they had no reasonable pretext for the blows which they were inflicting upon me. And instead of: "They tempted me with mockery," Symmachus says: "With hypocrisy in feigned words, they gnashed their teeth against me." Indeed, you would find many things in the Gospels descriptive of these things; and how the Pharisees approached tempting him, and at other times mocked him, and how they gnashed their teeth against him, grinding them ^B at the multitude of those being discipled by him.

Vers. 17. "Lord, when will you look? Restore my soul from their wickedness, my only one from the lions." Instead of: "When will you look?" all the other interpreters concordantly have said: "Lord, how much will you look?" The Savior marvels at the Father’s long-suffering and exceeding forbearance. Therefore he says: "How much will you look?" Then he prays, saying: "Restore my soul." This would be similar to this: "Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with you before the world was." [Joan. XVII, 5.] Next, he prays to be delivered, his only one, from the lions. Since the twenty-first Psalm is related to this, as was declared above, as it comprises similar things, it says: "Save my only one from the mouth of the lion, and from the hand of the dog." [Psal. XXI, 21, 22.] For there too he mentioned the only one, and the dog, and the lion; not only these, but also the unicorns, saying: "And from the horns of ^C the unicorns my lowliness." [Ibid. 22.] By which I think he indicates the opposing powers, which at the time of the passion laid snares for his only soul. And in place of that, "my only one," Aquila interpreted it as "my solitary one," but Symmachus as "my solitude." And if David says these things, it is not at all incongruous to apply the meaning to him as well.

Vers. 18. "I will confess you in the great assembly." The twenty-first Psalm also, being spoken from the person of our Savior, after the prophecies brought forward concerning his passion, remembers his Church with these words: "In the midst of the Church I will praise you." [Ibid. 23.]

^A And these things were said there after that: "Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only one from the hand of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth, and my humility from the horns of the unicorns." To these, therefore, is added that which follows: "I will declare your name to my brethren; in the midst of the Church I will praise you." In the present psalm, similarly, after he had said: "Restore my soul from their malice, my only one from the lions," he added: "I will confess to you in the great church; in a grave people I will praise you." But for that "grave," Aquila rendered "osseous," that is, "strong": for the bones of all things that exist in the body are the strongest and most robust. He is, therefore, "grave" who is founded upon the rock, remains immovable and unbroken. To the Father, then, he makes confession, giving thanks to him in his great church. For truly great is this Church, which in the twenty-first psalm he called "great," saying: "With you is my praise in the great church." The Father, therefore, provides glory to the Son in the great church; but the Son confesses to the Father in the *great* [many] church, which is established, clearly, throughout the universal Church. ^B

VERS. 19-21. "Let not those who are my enemies unjustly rejoice over me, who hate me without cause, and wink with their eyes. For to me they spoke peaceably, and in their wrath they devised deceits. And they opened wide their mouth against me; they said: Aha, aha, our eyes have seen." If, after the passion of our Savior, no auspicious outcome of events had been seen, those who had conspired against him might perhaps have had room to rejoice over him and mock him, inasmuch as, having been taken from the midst, he would have accomplished nothing; but since his great and many-membered Church shines forth throughout the whole world, and he himself still stands even now in the midst, gathering his grave and powerful people, and through them makes his confession to his own Father—for "where two or three are gathered in his name, there am I in the midst of them"—rightly have those who rejoice in others’ evils, suffused with shame, turned back. For what indeed did they suffer worthy of such enmity that they conceived such hatred for him? Wherefore Aquila interpreted it as "without cause." "They winked with their eyes," mocking him, and traducing the doctrines of my wisdom which were given for salvation. Afterwards, "To me indeed," he says, "they spoke peaceably, but in their heart they devised deceits and wrath." ^C And these things were fulfilled then, when the Pharisees, seeking an opportunity, said to him: "Master, we know that you are truthful, and you teach the word of God in truth, and you care for no one; for you do not look at the person of man. Tell us, therefore: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?" These voices indeed they brought forward with deceit; wherefore, having anticipated this, he hinted at it in the words: "To me indeed they spoke peaceably, and in their wrath they devised deceits." But here, indeed, they carried on their conversations with him deceitfully; at the end, however, during the time of the passion, they shouted with full mouth, seeking his blood upon themselves and upon their children: which

indeed he sets before us through the words before us, saying: "They opened their mouth wide against me." ^A Since he was handed over to them like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a blameless lamb before its shearer is dumb, seeing his passion they shouted: "Euge, euge, our eyes have seen it." "Thou hast seen, O Lord; do not keep silent." And he had said earlier: "When wilt thou look?" And through the present words: "Thou hast seen, O Lord." And what did he see? How they approached him deceitfully, and how they opened their mouth against him, and how, having done according to their desire, they shouted: "Euge, euge, our eyes have seen it." But thou, O Lord, having watched these things, and having endured and been long-suffering, do not keep silent; but having taken up the judgment seat of thy justice, say: "These things hast thou done, and I kept silent"; and again: "I have been silent, shall I be silent forever?" He supplicates in human fashion, saying to his own Father: "Do not depart from me," and, "Arise and give heed to my judgment, my God and ^B my Lord, to my cause." For during the time of the passion for our sake, he uttered such voices, that he might be believed to have truly become man, and to have voluntarily undertaken death for our sake. "And let them not rejoice over me, let them not say in their hearts: Euge, euge, our soul! Neither let them say: We have devoured him." For if thou, he says, shalt avenge these deeds, and judge according to thy justice, they will not rejoice, nor will they say in their hearts: "Euge, euge, our soul has prevailed." For even if they have sometimes spoken this with their mouth, they shall not say so in their hearts; nor will they say: "We have devoured him," when they see my resurrection and the planting of my Church throughout the whole world. For he is indeed devoured who once having gone into the deep has not risen again; for thus did death once swallow when it prevailed. But even there, those who were swallowed have returned; wherefore it is said: "And again the Lord took away every tear from every face." ^C And here, therefore, even if for a certain time they seemed to swallow him, yet not to the end, he says, shall they speak, prophesying thus prophetically: "Let them be ashamed and disgraced together, who rejoice at my evils; let them be clothed with shame and disgrace who speak great things against me." And how these things, being referred to the person of our Savior, attained their end, it is easy to see. For from that time to this present day, they who formerly flourished in many gifts have been cast out and rejected. But those from all the nations who have accepted him who was slain by them have been freed from the error of polytheism, and continue to worship the God over all. And so, the former, having poured shame upon themselves for what they did, have been disgraced, while the latter are filled daily with joy and boldness; so that the oracle of Moses, which spoke to the people of the Jews, is fulfilled:

^A *The proselyte who is among you shall be above you, above you, but you shall be below, below; he shall be your head, and you shall be his tail* (Deut. xxviii, 43).

VERS. 27, 28. *Let them exult and rejoice who desire my righteousness, and let them say always: Magnified be the Lord, they who desire the peace of his servant. And my tongue shall meditate upon thy righteousness, all the day thy praise.* The beginning of the prophecy threatened judgment and war against those who had acted impiously and had waged war against Him who is spoken of in the prophecy itself; the middle parts censured their character, while the final parts described the ignominy and confusion with which they were to be afflicted. But the sum of the whole prophecy announces exultation, joy, and good things ^B to those who desire His righteousness. By His righteousness, indeed, you should understand His divinity; since *He was made for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption* (1 Cor. i, 30). Those, therefore, who understand this, He says, let them exult and rejoice; and He instructs them also to say always, "Magnified be the Lord," if indeed they embrace peace with Him who is spoken of in the prophecy; since those who have taken up enmity against Him have paid the fitting penalty for it. Now this peace will be that very one which He bestowed upon His disciples, saying: *Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you* (John xiv, 27). And these things concern those who desire and love His peace and honor His righteousness. Finally, speaking of Himself, He seals the end of the discourse, saying: *And my tongue shall meditate upon thy righteousness, all the day thy praise*. To these, He says, having been done both to those who love me and to those who hate me, I shall not cease to meditate upon Thy righteousness, all the day Thy praise: not on all days, but on one day alone, and that an infinite and perpetual one. For that mansion and sojourning with Thee is an eternal day. I shall meditate upon it, however, singing hymns, according to which, by judging justly, Thou hast deemed worthy of Thy grace and calling not one nation alone, but all, throughout the whole inhabited world. According to another interpretation, because we are the body of Christ, and members in part, those who are exercised in the divine disciplines may be called His tongue, so that these things may rightly be referred to them.

TO THE END, FOR THE SERVANT OF THE LORD, DAVID, XXXV.

Neither psalm, nor canticle, nor anything of the sort is inscribed; but it contains a teaching which, at the beginning, reproves everyone devoid of the fear of God and piety, who for this reason is given over to every kind of wickedness, and at the conclusion signifies the end of such people. Having said, therefore, at the beginning: *The transgressor says that he might sin in...*

himself, at the end he says, *There fell all they that work iniquity, they were thrust out and shall not be able to stand.* But in between, he includes theology and the good hope of godly men. These things, moreover, were spoken to the servant of the Lord, David; for the inscription signifies this: that David, having separated himself from the rank of the transgressors, offered himself as a suppliant to God, and enslaved himself to the Law and to the commandments of God. He also teaches other men to do the same as he does, and not to be led away with the transgressors.

^B The transgressor says that he might sin in himself: *There is no fear of God before his eyes.* *For he acted deceitfully in his sight, that his iniquity might be found to be hated.* Symmachus interpreted the preceding passage more clearly, offering it in this way: *My heart says concerning the faithlessness of the impious one: The fear of God is not set before his eyes.* For his affairs seem to rush to ruin, in order that his iniquity may be found to be hated. David certainly enunciates these things: "My heart and my reasoning have perceived these things concerning the impious man." For as to his power of vision, through which he could have known the fear of God, he acted deceitfully, having twisted the eyes of his mind. And so, according to the Hebrew reading: *In his eyes it is said to have acted deceitfully, that his iniquity might be found and [he might] hate [it].* Thus, he says, he distorted himself and cast the fear of God from his own eyes, so that his iniquity might become manifest and visible to the eyes themselves and be found, and for this reason, might be worthy of hate. Openly, indeed, such a one surrendered himself to sin, so that the words of his mouth were iniquity and deceit. And these things he chose quite willingly, being indeed possessed of free will and able to pursue the good path, yet not wishing to do so; wherefore it is said: *He would not understand how to do good; but he meditated on iniquity upon his bed.* For not even during the time of quiet, in which—after the day's labors—men yield themselves to rest, stability, and sleep, was such a man in a state of calm; but even in that season he meditated on iniquity upon his bed.

^C *Lord, your mercy is in the heaven.* Very consistently, after the description of the wickedness of the transgressor, he presents the excelling wealth of God's longsuffering, by which He endures even transgressing and impious men, teaching that the wealth of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering is filled with great mercy. And this mercy of God happens to be the cause of the life and cheerfulness of sinful and impious men. Therefore he says that the treasure of His mercy is stored up in heaven, but also that His truth is with Him, filling all the supercelestial realms; yet it extends even unto the clouds, or, according to Symmachus, unto the ether. Thus, at any rate, in another psalm it is said: *In heaven thy truth shall be prepared.*

^A Truth, then, is with God in heaven, but it distills down to the earth like rain carried through the clouds. Therefore it is said: *And thy truth unto the clouds.* Now, the truth of God is poured out from the clouds—which are said to be such—unto men; and Scripture is accustomed to call the prophets or the angelic powers, by whom the truth of God has been brought down to men, "clouds." Thus it is said in Isaiah: *And I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it* (Isa. v, 6), namely, upon the people of the Jews, who are figuratively called a vineyard.

Admit, however, that *thy justice*, O Lord, he says, *is great and high, compared to mountains, or rather the mountains of God; and besides these, thy judgments are incomprehensible.* For just as what is called an abyss is measureless and incomprehensible to men—which is what the Word signifies by saying, *He layeth up the abysses in stores*—so also thy judgments, O Lord, which proceed from thy justice, are like a "great abyss." But for the phrase "thy justice is like the mountains of God," Aquila translated it as, "thy justice is like strong mountains." All these things the Word mentions at the appropriate time, showing that through the mercy of God which is in heaven, and through his truth and his justice, and through that declaration that *his judgments are a great abyss* and incomprehensible, not only the impious, the atheists, and the sinners enjoy life, but they also enjoy the other goods provided by his goodness. ^B

VERS. 8. *Wherefore it is added: Men and beasts thou shalt save, O Lord, how thou hast multiplied thy mercy, O God.* For because of thy judgments, which are as a great abyss, and because of thy justice and thy truth that is in heaven, men and beasts at the same time obtain salvation. Thus hast thou multiplied thy mercy, O God, so that not only those who are worthy enjoy the life provided by thee, but also those men who are of beastly character and foolish. Since many complain and expostulate with him in these words: "Why do the impious prosper, and enjoy the good things of God?" it is necessary for him to teach that his mercy is great. But if there existed only mercy and clemency, nothing would deter one from entering upon a life of sin. But he teaches that truth and justice are mingled with mercy, so that after mercy, justice and truth are to lay hold of the sinners. ^C For if they derive no benefit from the mercy and patience of God, his justice and truth will overtake them; for they shall be subjected to a just judgment. For there are, truly there are, I say, the hidden judgments of God; a great and measureless depth, or, as Scripture says, a "great abyss" is contained in the reason of his judgments. These, therefore, await the impious. ^D

VERS. 9, 10. *But the children of men shall hope under the cover of thy wings. They shall be inebriated with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure. For with thee is the fountain of life; in thy light we shall see light.* Since thy judgments [are a great abyss... next page]

[I]s ^A abyss, you rightly provide not only for men, but also for beasts; thus you have multiplied your mercy, O God. There is, however, besides these, another excellent order of those who, after the aforementioned, are called the sons of men; who, having something more than the men and beasts that are saved by you, have been counted worthy to hope in the covering of your wings; or, according to Symmachus, *they are secure under the shadow of your wings*. For those who have hoped in you, and are separated from the order of those who are reprobated, you yourself, O God, cherish and cover with your own wings. And because they have conceived a great hope—for *hope does not disappoint* ^B —*they shall be inebriated with the abundance of your house, and you shall give them to drink of the torrent of your pleasure*. The house of God is his Church; the abundance of the house is the divinely inspired readings; that inebriation is moderate and sober, the benefit proceeding from the readings; the torrent of pleasure, with which those are watered who have hoped in the covering of his wings, is the river flowing in the Church of God, concerning which it has been said: *The river's current makes glad the city of God*, and, *The river of God is filled with water*. The torrent of pleasure is Christ, because of his temporal presence among men. *For with you is the fountain of life.* We learn from evangelical teaching that Christ is life, as the Savior himself teaches in these words: *I am the light, the truth, and the life*. But also, *what was made in him was life, and the life was the light of men*. Wherefore here too, the light is subjoined to the life, consistently with the Gospel; for after saying, ^C *For with you is the fountain of life*, it is added, *In your light we shall see light*. For this life happens to be a provider of rational light; therefore it is said, *And the life was the light of men*. And those who partake of these shall have for their end the contemplation of the light.

*Stretch out your mercy to those who know you, and your righteousness to those who are upright in heart.* To those who do not know him, the mercy will be temporal; but to those who know you, O Savior, stretch out your mercy and your righteousness, in which, judging according to the worth of things, you will render to some according to their works, and to others you will confirm your promises. Instead of, *And your righteousness to those who are upright in heart*, Symmachus put forth, *And your mercy to those who are simple in heart*. *Let not the foot of pride come to me, and let not the hand of sinners move me.* ^D *There the workers of iniquity have fallen. They have been driven out and will not be able to stand.* May I not acquire the hand and deeds of sinners; for these are accustomed to shake and move from the stability in you, O God, those who are to be driven away into the outer darkness. Instead of *There they have fallen*, Symmachus put forth, *Where the workers of iniquity fall*. For he says: may I not be there, where those who have been shaken fall, and having fallen are driven out, and being driven out can never return. Consequently he relates these things, after he has described what the end will be of those who have hoped in the covering of God, taking up again the impious, who at the beginning…

who was saying within himself that he would commit sin, and of those similar to him. ^A

OF DAVID. XXXVI.

Do not emulate the malignant, nor be zealous of those who do iniquity. Since in the preceding psalm he had introduced the sinner inciting himself to sins, and had described the life of such a one, as well as the end of his destruction, consequently in this psalm he exhorts one to avoid the ways of the impious, and not to be zealous of their works. But since "to emulate" (ἀμυλᾶσθαι) and "to be zealous" (ζηλοῦν) are different things, you would say that to incite and to stir up to jealousy—this is what "to emulate" (παραζηλοῦν) means. Whence Aquila translated: "Do not strive (dimica) with the malignant"; but Symmachus: "Do not contend (altercare) with- malefactors." ^B You will understand this saying also from: "They provoked me in that which was not God, and angered me with their idols; and I will provoke them with that which is not a people, and will anger them with a foolish nation." Thus also the Apostle, writing to the Corinthians, said: "Do we emulate the Lord? Are we stronger than He?" Now, zeal—or the will of anyone to obtain that which he thinks another possesses—is good. And there is a middle zeal, often such as the same Apostle describes with these words: "They are zealous for you not well, but they wish to shut you out." Envy, indeed, can never be good; for it is pain at the prosperity of a neighbor; but zeal is sometimes good, as we have explained. ^C Here, then, according to Aquila, he advises not to strive with the malignant; according to Symmachus, not to contend with evildoers; according to the fifth edition, not to be irritated with malignant persons; but according to the Seventy: "Do not be zealous nor be provoked," he says, "if you see others doing evil, nor let the wicked, by prospering, provoke you, so that you too wish to perform the thing well." For they, acting in prosperity and in delights, are inciting you; but do not you emulate or be provoked, nor even be zealous of those who do iniquity; do not call them blessed, nor think they are living in good things: and do not desire to achieve the same result in the same way.

VERS. 2-9. For they shall quickly wither as grass.

Then he reveals the cause, saying that their end is like the exit of grass; which, when it has flourished for a little while, quickly withers. For "all flesh is grass, and all its glory as the flower of grass. The grass has withered, and the flower has fallen." ^D But also, as the green herbs of the field quickly fall. They are not even worthy to be compared to herbs cultivated in a field. What cause then is there that we should emulate them, who, when they have flourished for a short time, are tomorrow cast into the oven, as the Savior teaches? "Hope in the Lord, and do goodness, and dwell in the land, and you shall be fed on its riches. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give..."

^Ayou all the petitions of your heart. After he has in the preceding words diverted you from the emulation of the wicked, he immediately sets out the straight and royal road from the opposite side, indicating the way in which one must walk. Therefore, he says: "Look upward, O you, and behold the Governor of all, and place your hope in Him; take heart, ^B as one firmly anchored to a great anchor." And let your mind possess this hope; but with your actions, practice and do goodness, as if casting seeds for yourself toward the harvest of good fruits. Having obtained these two things, be no longer anxious about anything. Dwell in the land without care, and pass this temporal life as if in a tent, remaining for a short time; for you shall be fed like a good animal, tended by a good shepherd. For if there is among men a true wealth of the soul—that which is beheld in divine doctrines and in the lessons of the divine readings—by enjoying these, you shall be able to say: "The Lord shepherds me, and I shall lack nothing." Nothing, indeed, shall you lack if you are fed in the riches of the good Shepherd, which are bestowed upon men still being fed on the earth. In place of the words, "And you shall be fed in its riches," Symmachus published, "And be fed continually," and Aquila, "And be fed in faith."

Following this, just as he described the end of those who act wickedly and do iniquity, so he enumerates all the goods that shall come to you who hope in the Lord and do goodness. For first, you shall be fed in the true riches of the good Shepherd; second, you shall delight in the Lord; and third, He will give you the petitions of your heart. But he who has the senses of his soul cleansed will be able to delight in the Lord, so as to be able to eat the living bread and His life-giving flesh, and to drink His saving blood. Nourished and fattened by these, and enjoying a divine intoxication: "Delight in the Lord, and He will give you the petitions of your heart." For already from this point he will delight in you, having desired that you entrust yourself to Him. Ask Him also for the things to come, the reception of which you anticipate. For He who has abundantly given the present things, will also bestow those which "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have they entered into the heart of man." ^C

In place of the words, "Be subject to the Lord, and supplicate Him," Aquila says: "Be silent to the Lord, and wait for Him"; but Symmachus: "Rest in the Lord, and supplicate Him." For it is proper for him who practices the things mentioned before, and has hope in the aforementioned things, to be silent for the time being in the present, and with quietness to wait for the things promised. "Do not emulate the one who prospers in his way, in the man who performs iniquities. Cease from anger and leave behind wrath, do not emulate so as to do evil. For those who do evil shall be utterly destroyed, but those ^D who wait for the Lord, they shall inherit the land." He repeats the word necessarily. For since you have known, he says, what kind of treasure is stored up for you, do not emulate the man addicted to iniquity, who is seen to act prosperously in the present life; lest you be provoked, nor [in the way of] this man's

the wrath and righteous judgment of God. Therefore do not be provoked, nor be angry against the impious person who is thought to prosper, nor emulate him so as to wish to commit the same wicked deeds as he; for know well and be firmly persuaded that the end of those who do evil is ruinous. For those who do evil shall be destroyed, but only the patient and those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. For if there is a good land promised to the saints, those who wait for the Lord shall inherit it; for together with the other good things enumerated, this heritage itself shall be given to them. And if in the heavens there is Jerusalem and the mountain of God, the heavenly Sion, it is consistent to think of a heavenly land promised to the worthy.

Verses 10, 11. And yet a little while, and the sinner shall not be.

Verse 12. The sinner will watch the just, and will gnash his teeth against him, etc.

^A the Lord, who once laughed them to scorn, turns their sword against their own hearts and shatters the bows of the wicked that were prepared against the righteous. For He will overtake them; He will no longer be laughing at what they devise, but will use against them the justice that is appropriate. That these are not mere words but true deeds, evidenced by the very working of events, our own experience, as those who are now relating these things, has confirmed to us. We have, in fact, perceived with our own eyes how sinners, in the persecutions raised against us, drew the sword against the righteous and bent their bows to cast down the needy and the poor and to slaughter the upright in heart, and how they acted, cast down, and destroyed in various types of deaths the holy martyrs who stood bravely for God. But just as we have learned of these things, so too have we witnessed the justice of God that overtook them, a justice that came to pass in such a way that the one who said truly that their sword had entered into their own hearts and their bows had been shattered did not err.

^B “Better is a little to the righteous.” This has been announced not only in words but has been fulfilled by deeds, and will be in time to come as well. The righteous man, while leading a life of poverty, is content with a little, having been taught in prayer to say: “Give us this day our daily bread.” [Luke XI, 3.] The sinner, however, overflowing with riches, thinks he is enjoying some good. “But I know,” he says, “and I teach others, that far better is the righteous man who receives his daily bread from God than the wealth of sinners.” And if you ask for the reason, learn it: because he who is content with a little has the Lord supporting his soul and life and living, and providing for him more than all riches. But the arms of sinners do not remain strong, nor is their wealth stable; for they will be shattered before long, becoming like green herbs and like drying grass.

“The Lord knows the ways of the blameless, and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in an evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be filled, because sinners shall perish.” Because the Lord not only sustains the life of those who are in the right-hand rank—I mean, of the righteous—but He also knows accurately the days that await them in the world to come, and the inheritance prepared for them, about which it was spoken above. Wherefore, ^C neither the brevity and sorrow of the present life, nor the being in need and poverty for the sake of the Lord, shall harm them at all. For their struggle is an exercise of their resolve, by which, while walking the narrow and afflicted way, they shall attain the things promised. In place of “knows,” Symmachus translated: “The Lord foresees the days of the blameless.” And another great good shall be theirs: for in an evil time they shall not be ashamed, and in the days of famine they shall be filled. ^D “An evil time,” that is

^A the time of wrath against the ungodly, in which they will indeed experience the righteous judgment of God, while those who are in the right order will attain glory, honor, and incorruption, as those who have sought eternal life. Indeed, at the appointed time, the righteous, having partaken of divine nourishment, shall be satisfied; but sinners shall perish from hunger and the lack of rational food. And who, having beheld with his eyes those among us who were ungodly—who were admired for their wealth, glory, and dignities, and held sway over great nations—suddenly fallen from this height, would not confess that the oracle is true: “But the enemies of the Lord, as soon as they were honored and exalted, failing away like smoke, they failed”? Smoke is a sign of an extinguished fire; wherefore these, having ^B blazed for a season like fire, were then extinguished, and are likewise held up as an example.

VERS. 21, 22. “The sinner borrows, and does not pay back; but the righteous is merciful and gives.” Having nothing, and having often borrowed useful and saving words from the righteous man, or having received benefits from God, he does not pay the debt. For, having been helped, it behooved him to show works and deeds worthy of what he had received. But he does not pay back, and remains destitute of the works of righteousness. The righteous man, however, abounding in the wealth that is according to God, is merciful and gives to the needy. But even those who bless the righteous shall become his co-heirs. For the very same ^C heavenly inheritance which the Word promised to the righteous, He also promises to those who bless the righteous, in accordance with the oracle that concerns Abraham, saying: “And I will bless those who bless you.” And that which says, “But those that curse him shall be utterly destroyed,” is akin to the word spoken to Abraham: “And those who curse you I will curse.” For just as one who throws a stone on high casts it upon his own head, so he who attacks the righteous with curses—because a curse cannot cleave to the righteous man—will receive it turned back upon himself.

VERS. 23, 24. “The steps of a man are directed by the Lord.” In addition to the things mentioned, these advantages also ^D belong to the man of God: God makes his paths level, so that his life may flow happily, and he may act religiously without any obstacle, and be supplanted by no one, because of the One who directs his steps and desires his way, for He prepares it to be worthy of approval; so that it is said, “And He will desire his way.” “When he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down, because the Lord supports his hand.” If it should happen that he stumble at some time and fall into a temptation, and, having slipped, collapse into some sin, he shall not be utterly cast down; but like a noble athlete, when he has endured force and given way for a little, he will immediately recover himself.

VERS. 25, 26. “I was young, and indeed I have grown old, and I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed ^B

^A seeking bread.” But from a boy until old age I have scrutinized the life of the righteous man. For there has not been a single time during which the righteous man has been left desolate, but he always possesses his own Lord as his advocate and helper. Therefore he says: “I was younger” — or according to Symmachus, “I was a youth, but I have also grown old, and I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread.” For how was it possible for the seed of the righteous man to be in need of bread, since he himself, through the wealth provided to him by God, “all the day shows mercy and lends”? You will understand this by learning through the intellect that, having received talents from the householder and the *mina* from the Lord, he uses these for business, in obedience to Him who said: “You ought to have put my money to the bankers.” The oracles of the Lord are pure oracles, silver purified by fire, proven on the earth. Whoever, therefore, devotes himself to the exercise of divine words and gathers many rational riches, knows how to do nothing else but to show mercy and lend all the day long. According to Aquila, ^B “all the day he gives and lends”: to some he gives, to others he lends. He gives doctrines for contemplation to those who are capable of receiving them, but he lends moral precepts, so that those who have received them might by their works return the fruit of the loan. Thus you will hear Moses also promising such things to those who keep the divine laws: “You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.” And in this way the divine apostles did lend to many nations, and most especially Paul; and for this reason those who were discipled by them, being their seed, were never in need of bread, inasmuch as they had those who supplied them with rational food, of which, partaking, they were filled with blessings. Therefore it has been said: “And his seed shall be for a blessing.” And if one were to consider according to the literal expression how it was said by the Savior: “And in this age he shall receive a hundredfold,” and were to behold the statement being fulfilled in actual deeds through His disciples, he will perceive how the righteous ^C man shows mercy and lends all the day long. For if the soul and heart of all the believers were one, and no one said that anything was his own, but all things were common, and as many as were owners of estates, selling them, laid them at the feet of the apostles, and they distributed to each, according as anyone had need; it is manifest that they were showing mercy and lending all the day long.

VERS. 27–29. “Turn aside from evil, and do good.” Having freed yourself from every wickedness—for this is within your power, and if you wish you will be able—you will not yet be perfect for having done this, unless the second thing is also present for you; and this is to do what is good. For alongside the fact that one must not steal, it is fitting also to share one's own possessions with those in need; and alongside the fact that one must not be greedy, something else is required, namely, to do good to the needy; and alongside abstaining from wickedness, there is a need also to deliver others from wickedness. ^D “When you have done these things, then,” he says, “inhabit for age of age.” Wherefore the

^A For which Symmachus issued, *And you shall rest forever.* For this is the end of eternal life that awaits you. For since the Lord is a judge, He loves judgment, and He will not abandon His holy ones, but will preserve them forever. The unrighteous shall be punished and the seed of the impious shall perish. But the righteous shall inherit the land, and shall dwell forever upon it. Consistently with what has been said before, he teaches that those unrighteous men who have not kept the commandment shall pay an eternal penalty; and just as it was said that the seed of the righteous shall be in blessing, so the seed of the impious shall perish. But the righteous shall inherit the land promised to the meek, and shall dwell in it forever. Commonly, the discourse promises these things, and confirms the promises by repetition: for He wishes us to dwell assiduously on these sayings and mediate upon them, as if we were chewing rational food, towards the distribution of the food being well digested in our soul. ^B

VERS. 30-33. *The mouth of the righteous shall meditate on wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment. The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps shall not be tripped. The sinner watches the righteous, and seeks to put him to death. But the Lord will not abandon him into his hands, nor will He condemn him when he is judged by him.* Persisting in the exhortation of the word, he urges us to become emulators of the righteous man, and enumerates his riches. For in addition to what has been said above, these things further belong to him; God has endowed him, man though he be, with a great gift, when He implanted in him the knowledge of true wisdom. For wisdom is the science of things divine and human, through which all things were made: for He made all things in wisdom. And this is the God the Word, who in the beginning was with God, through whom all things were made. Thus, God has scattered the voices, sayings, and disciplines of this wisdom among men, so that the righteous man might not be idle, sluggish, and void of good things; but that, at the same time, he might have the mouth and the meditation of wisdom, so that, using it as celestial food, he might first strengthen his own soul, and then impart it to others. Wherefore it is said, *The mouth of the righteous shall meditate on wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment.* ^C But knowing that the law of God is spiritual, since he delights in the law of God according to the inner man, he has received in his very heart the contemplation of the law and the depth of the mysteries within it; and on account of this exercise, his steps shall not be tripped, since it was said above that his steps were to be directed by the Lord. But if by chance a sinner, envious of his progress, should lay snares for his life, he will truly be called a fool for attempting things that are impossible. For that, his great patron, shall not abandon him into his hands, nor shall He condemn him when he is judged by him. But Symmachus says, *Nor will He condemn him in judgment.* ^D

^A *I have seen the impious one highly exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon.* Thus he declares that in the present case he has learned by experience the end of the impious. For he says that he did not receive these things by hearsay from what others had maintained long ago; but, he says, I myself have seen blasphemous and atheistic men admired by all, puffed up and exulting, and imagining they would live forever. But as I was still debating within myself how they, despite being impious, had obtained such great things, desiring to behold them a second time, I lifted up my eyes; but they were nowhere to be found, and had suddenly become invisible. Then, wishing to discover a trace and a remnant of them, I was not even able to find the place where they seemed to have stood. Therefore, since such is their end, do you, who are being discipled, flee this way of the impious, and wash away every malice from yourself, and love the straight path. For there remains a remnant and a good hope for him who follows after peace and friendship with God, and who for this reason has become a man of peace. According to Symmachus, he says, *Keep simplicity, and behold the straight, for there are things to come for the man of peace.*

PSALM 37 OF DAVID

*O Lord, do not rebuke me in Thy fury, nor chasten me in Thine anger.* By the very same words and the very same syllables the sixth Psalm begins in a way similar to this one, and the remaining parts of the sixth turn out to be akin to those in the one currently before us. But in the sixth, the superscription contained: *To the end, in hymns, for the eighth, a Psalm of David*; whereas in the present one, none of these things appears, only *a Psalm of David, for remembrance*. The addition, *for remembrance*, seems to refer us back to the superscription in the sixth, so that the present things are understood as being *to the end*, and *in hymns*, and *for the eighth*; for *for remembrance* would be indicative of all these things. But since, in going through the contents of the sixth, we have already spoken of the matters falling under its superscription, we shall refer the reader to that remembrance. It seems to me that David, having variously confessed in many places the transgression he committed, had set this psalm aside for himself specifically *for remembrance*, so that he might always and at all times carry it in his mouth. And he would use it like a soothing bandage for the healing of his own soul. He sends up a supplication to God, through which he turns away the anger hanging over all who sin, and he renders the good Lord propitious to himself with the voices of an exceeding confession. ^D When he says, *O Lord, do not rebuke me in Thy fury*, he is not refusing the rebuke, but the one accompanied by fury; nor does he flee from being chastened, but from the one accompanied by anger. It is as if someone subject to a physician, who is offering remedies for the healing of an ailment through cauterization, iron, and bitter antidotes, were to say: Do not heal me through fire, nor through iron and incisions, but through milder and gentler medicines. For such a person does not refuse the healing, but the harsher manner of rendering assistance. Furthermore, we have often said that anger

^A and fury, when attributed to God in the divinely inspired Scriptures, do not signify passions within God, for the Divine nature is devoid of all passion; rather, the language of Scripture is accustomed to name such things by way of metaphor, just as it speaks of the eyes of God, and ears, hands, fingers, feet, and the rest of the limbs—all of which are dispensed usefully for humans, in accordance with the childishness of the hearers. Thus, then, even the punishments brought upon those who sin according to the judgment of God, which are grievous and painful to those who suffer them, are represented as if they were brought on by anger and fury. This, at least, the holy Apostle teaches, saying: *But according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his works.* It is as if someone were to call the punishments imposed by the law upon a murderer "anger and fury"—not that the law is truly angered or enraged, but that he who is undergoing the punishment conceives it to be the anger of the law. Accordingly, even evil demons, ^B who are the ministers of punishments inflicted upon the impious, as well as the administrative powers of God of this kind, have been called "anger and fury." In this way, indeed, it is said in the passage regarding the ten plagues brought upon the Egyptians: *He sent upon them fury and anger, a mission through evil angels.* Thus, the "right hand" of God is said to be those things which are supplied through the right and good powers to those who are worthy of them. David therefore supplicates that he may not be rebuked by evil powers, nor disciplined through the mission of sad angels; but he asks to be disciplined instead through saving words and useful teachings. In another way, too, he asks that he not be kept for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, but that he might cleanse away his sins here in the present life before death—which, indeed, he attained. ^C For it is evident that he gave satisfaction through the things he suffered before his death, as we have learned from the history of the Books of Kings. And in another way, he punished himself by submitting to all kinds of hardships in the manners of his confession. And he says yet another thing: If I have committed any such deed for which it is worthy to be rebuked by fury, I pray, having repented, to be rebuked by the Word, and not by fury; and to be disciplined by teaching, and not by anger.

VERS. 3. *For thine arrows are fastened in me.* The athlete Job, indeed, having endured all kinds of temptations, did not ignore ^D whence these things were coming to him; wherefore he said: *For the arrows of the Lord are in my mouth, the fury of which drinks up my blood.* But David, not smitten in his body like Job, but pierced in his soul itself with a mortal wound, does not say like Job: "The arrows of the Lord are in my mouth," but: *For thine arrows are fastened in me, and thou hast pressed thy hand upon me.* Now, the former makes mention of the hand of God with these words: *For it is the hand of the Lord that has touched me.* And the devil said to the Lord: *Stretch forth thy hand and touch all that he has,* and again: *Stretch forth thy hand, and touch his flesh.*

^A But there was another hand and other arrows that touched his flesh and his bodily possessions. Here, however, since it is David’s own soul that is ailing, he signifies that he has been pierced by other arrows and that the other hand of God has touched him, as we have said before—namely, the rational arrows, or rather the very words of God, which pierced his soul and took vengeance upon his conscience itself. Or does he perhaps also signify the devil himself and the devil’s fiery darts, the passions and desires that inflamed him with concupiscence for the wife of Uriah? Concerning these, the Apostle also instructs us, saying: *Take unto you the armor of God, that you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one.* Just as Job called the devil’s arrows and the sores inflicted upon his body “arrows of the Lord,” because they happened by the permission of God, saying: *For the arrows of the Lord are in my mouth, the fury whereof drinketh up my blood;* so it is likely that David here also spoke of the “arrows of the Lord,” because it was by the Lord’s permission that the adversary campaigned against him, so that he might learn not to say: *I shall not be moved forever.* For since he had once felt great confidence in himself, supported by the grace of God, to the point of being so bold as to say: *And I said in my abundance: I shall not be moved forever,* for this reason he was rightly handed over to the tempter, who, having laid hold of his soul, did him greater harm than he did to Job. But if the words of God, which remind us of His just judgment and teach us of the anger hanging over those who sin, are sharper than arrows and pierce the conscience, then you might say that David, being pierced by these sacred and divine arrows, rightly begs off the reproach brought with fury. For he says: The darts sent against me by you, which have forestalled your anger and fury, take sufficient vengeance upon me and punish me enough; but your hand also has touched me through the calamities repeatedly brought upon me.

^B

Vers. 4. There is no health in my flesh, because of thy wrath; there is no peace for my bones, because of my sins.

^A But we do not say that these things happened only to the inspired David, but also to many others; nay, rather, it happens even until now to the saints who are being tempted. For unexpected circumstances often arise, so that the uprisings of those akin to us—whom we have said are tropically called “bones”—are more difficult to bear than the war waged by our enemies. But if these things are common to all, the mode of this prayer would be common to all. For it is suitable for everyone who is being tempted and suffering, and who is longing to obtain gentleness from God.

"For my iniquities have soared over my head; as a heavy burden they have weighed heavily upon me. My wounds have putrefied and rotted." ^B By these things, the Word teaches us not to hide our own evils, nor to keep our sins like some blackness and rot within the depths of our soul. "I went about mourning all day long, because my soul is filled with the delusions of those who mock." You will also understand it in this way: since he indicated in the title that the psalm was for a remembrance, he is rightly led back to it, and he repeats the things that formerly happened to him. And he teaches what condition he came into after falling into the slip of sin, for which cause he enacts this whole confession. "For I have come into all these things," he says, "because at one time my heart was troubled, and my strength abandoned me, and the light of my eyes, and it itself was not with me." For at the time of sin, the power of my understanding suffered no small confusion, being confounded and darkened by the one who was the author of the sin for me. For then indeed his strength abandoned him; for he was no longer able to say, "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me," having been defeated by his passion and exhausted. ^C And he says that something else grevious happened to me: "For the light of my eyes" (and this was the prophetic Spirit, which illuminated the vision of his soul) "and it itself was not with me," having abandoned me and departed; because "Wisdom will not enter into a malevolent soul, nor will it dwell in a body subject to sins." For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from deceit and will depart from thoughts that are without understanding.

But even his friends and neighbors who were with him before, who spent all their time with him, left him and stood at a distance, no longer being able to remain with him but standing far off to deplore the calamity of their friend. Who were these, if not those who recently rejoiced at his previous good things, namely the good angels and ministers of God, who are accustomed to rejoice together at the salvation of men? ^D With these having been placed far from me, certain others, the authors of sin, standing near, used violence and mocked my soul. For these, having formerly thirsted for my blood, and for a long time having hoped to see my fall, as if having found an opportunity when they saw that my strength had abandoned me, and the light of my eyes had departed from me...

and my friends and those near me had become far off, they suddenly leaped upon me and were tearing at my soul; and as if they were maliciously inclined, they spoke vanities to me, craftily suggesting ^A evil thoughts within my soul; they were baiting me with good things while dragging me down into sin.

For my part, I was like a deaf man and did not hear, and as a mute who does not open his mouth. And I became like a man who does not hear, and who has no reproofs in his mouth. For, he says, because I was filled with shame regarding these things, I had nothing to say; for no argument occurred to me for a defense, nor did I have anything to say to my enemies, having been once defeated by them; not trusting in myself, nor having any other hope before my eyes than you, I prescribed for myself this path to healing. Since, therefore, I have hoped in you, Lord, and hope does not put to shame, for this reason you will listen, because you are a lover of mercy, and do not desire the death of the sinner, but his repentance. Therefore, having hoped in you, I beseech you to obtain healing from you: “Lest my enemies rejoice over me,” for they have not yet rejoiced completely. ^B But they will rejoice if I do not obtain your mercy. But in order that my enemies, who have already spoken boastfully earlier when my feet slipped, may not rejoice over me, I have taken refuge in you, and I say: Let me not be put to shame forever. For I have not been utterly overturned, nor have I fallen into such a ruin as those who have become your apostates.

TO THE END, ON IDITHUM, A CANTICLE OF DAVID, XXXVIII.

There is much similarity between the things said in the present canticle and those in the preceding psalm. But David composed the former for his own remembrance while singing; in this one, however, he narrates that others have suffered similar things, whom he instructs to zealously imitate and take him as an example, unless perhaps the Holy Spirit was teaching David to say these things through the ministry of Idithum. For Idithum himself had also been deemed worthy of a prophetic spirit. We learn, moreover, through the present matters, that it is fitting for each person to converse with himself, and not to await teachers from without, but for the man himself to converse through his own reasoning and mind.

Vers. 2, 3. I said: I will keep my ways.

^A the one who says, “You sinned, be at rest.” Therefore, I was silent, not being in good. And I was not only made deaf and silent from good things, but my pain also was renewed. For the pain of my soul and the wound generated in me from sin, lying deep within and having pierced the conscience itself, was renewed, rising up again to me and reproaching me of the one who had wrought the sin. ^B

VERS. 4–6. *My heart grew hot within me.* Remembering, he says, the sin, I was inflamed as if by fire with despondency, being scorched by this very conscience, *and I spoke with my tongue: Lord, make known to me my end.* And after my confession, I judge it worthy to learn what kind of end I shall meet. Being burdened, he said these things, thinking this temporal and mortal life to be very long on account of its heaviness. Therefore, he desired that the time of his departure be made known to him, so that having received the auspicious message of his freedom and his escape from temptations, he might act with alacrity. In those things that follow, however, he says: *I am a stranger with you and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.* *Behold, you have made my days measurable, and my substance is as nothing before you.* Instead of this, Symmachus published, *Behold, you have given my days as a hand's breadth.* Another might say that the days of men are called “wrestlers” (palaias) because they are filled with contest, struggle, and trials. And next to this he says: *And my substance is as nothing before you*; instead of which Aquila interpreted: *And my submersion is as if it is not in your sight*; but Symmachus: *And my mode of living is as nothing before you.* For the whole time of a man’s life, when compared with the life of God and the infinite ages, is as nothing in the sight of God. Therefore it is said in another place: *The heavens shall perish, but you remain, and all will grow old like a garment; and like a cloak you shall wrap them up, and they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will not fail.* But also, all human endeavor is *vanity of vanities; and all is vanity, every man living*; or, *every man established*, according to Aquila; or, *every man standing*, according to Symmachus. For he who stands now, and in the present time runs through his mortal life, would truly be vanity. If, therefore, there were no hope of immortality to men, and of eternal life and the kingdom of the heavens, ^C every man living would reasonably be thought to be something vain. ^D

VERS. 8–12. *And now what is my expectation? Is it not the Lord?* etc. Symmachus rendered the proposed sayings thus: *Now, therefore, what do I expect, O Lord? My abiding is in you. Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me a reproach to the foolish. I was made mute, you will not open my mouth; for you are the one who made me.* After all the things previously said, he says, nothing is left to me, O Lord, except to expect you and in you...

^A to have hope; for with you is the substance of the soul. Therefore I supplicate and beg to be freed from these evils, and to be rescued from my iniquities. For once I have fallen into foolishness, concerning which I also spoke above: "When the sinner stood before me, I was deaf, and was humbled, and was silent from good things." Immediately, then, having been delivered over to foolishness, I have become a source of reproach; rightfully, therefore, as if wrestling with the knowledge of where I have sinned, I was deaf and did not open my mouth, because you have done it. For the fear of you caused me to be deaf, striking me for the things in which I sinned, and imposing silence so that I should not speak. And in place of the phrase, "You have given me as a reproach to the foolish," Aquila says, "Do not set me as a reproach to one flowing away"; but Symmachus says, "Do not give me as a reproachful object to a fool"; and the fifth edition, "Do not give me as a reproach to a fool." ^B This signifies the supplication of one who has sinned, begging not to be delivered over to reproach by a fool. If, however, the Lord himself delivers the one who has sinned over to a fool, to be reproached by him, even this you could say happens for the benefit of the one being reproached, so that, being afflicted, he might offer a greater confession concerning the sins committed; which is what David prayed not to suffer, inasmuch as he was performing all things pleasing to God of his own accord. "Remove from me your blows; for from the strength of your hand I have failed. With rebukes for iniquity you have corrected man, and you have caused his soul to wither like a spider; nevertheless, every man is vanity." Diapsalma.

In the preceding psalm he offered himself to ^C corrective blows, like an ingenuous disciple to a master; which is why he said, "I am ready for blows." But since later he had sufficiently experienced the blows that were persistently afflicting him, he begs that at last an end be given and the blows stop here, and he confesses in the following words, saying, "I have failed from the strength of your hand." And concerning this hand, it was said above as well: "You have pressed your hand upon me." Then he teaches that the hand did not correct in vain, nor did it scourge to no purpose, but for the benefit of the one who has sinned. Therefore he says, "With rebukes for iniquity you have corrected man." For on account of the iniquity that was committed, and because of the sin that was perpetrated, while reproving the one being chastised, you brought the blows and the aforementioned hand; and by these very things you also caused the soul of the one being chastised to wither, it being humbled ^D and thinned for its own benefit. For during the time he lived in luxury, he slipped into sins, according to the passage: "Jacob ate and drank, and the beloved kicked and grew fat, and departed from God who was nourishing him" (Deut. xxxii, 15). Therefore, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord, the flesh is delivered over to destruction (1 Cor. v, 5); and as this [flesh] is punished, the soul withers and is exhausted like a spider; which is why he says: "And you caused his soul to wither like a spider." And he adds: "Nevertheless, every man is vanity," again lamenting him who in this life toils and suffers in vain and to no purpose.

^A Vers. 13, 14. *Hear my prayer, O Lord, and my supplication: give ear to my tears. Be not silent, for I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.* Here he confesses that he is a stranger and a sojourner; and he knows of another life of refreshing, which he earnestly desires to attain, saying: *Relent towards me, that I may be refreshed.* Thus, it is not without reason that he calls every man a stranger, and he sends up his supplication with weeping and tears, knowing precisely that *Blessed are they that weep, for they shall laugh*, and *Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted*. And he describes his own accomplishments afterward, concluding his discourse: *For I am a stranger and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.* Indeed, rare is the man who is able, in imitation of the godly fathers and prophets of God, to lead a temporary life not as an inhabitant, but as a stranger; in which matter the speaker boasted, regarding the human life as strange and alien. *Relent towards me, that I may be refreshed before I depart, and be no more.* For which Symmachus says: "Withdraw thou from me, that I may smile before I depart and cease to exist." For unless I smile here, having my tears changed into laughter through Thy grace, and unless in this present life Thou relents towards me regarding my sin and grantest forgiveness for my transgressions, so that I may recover myself and be refreshed, after exiting from this life there will be no time for repentance. And if I do not obtain forgiveness, I shall no longer exist in the life that is with Thee; but having been cast out, I shall be likened to those who descend into the pit. Wherefore ^B I supplicate in this life, saying: *Be not silent from me, lest Thou be silent from me, and I be likened to those who descend into the pit.*

TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID XXXIX.

Vers. 2-4. *Waiting I waited for the Lord, and He attended to me.* Since *tribulation works patience, and patience probation, and probation hope; and hope does not confound.* Justly, indeed, does the righteous man not wait in vain, but extending his hope and not despairing of the salvation that is from God, he perseveres in patience. Even if, upon praying, he is not heard immediately, he nevertheless remains hoping and persists in supplications and prayers. And if he should ever fall into a fault, as happened to David, he confesses that he is not ignorant of the depth of evils into which he has come. But if, afterward, repenting, he withdraws himself from his fall, he will give thanks, and will make known to all out of what depth of misery the physician and savior of his soul has drawn him; wherefore he will say: *He brought me up out of the pit of misery, and out of the mire of the dregs. ^C* And this he will obtain, because *waiting he waited for the Lord.* One would not wrongly call the "pit of misery" the depth of sin, and the "mire of the dregs" the sensual pleasures of the muddy body, into which the soul, having slipped, is submerged and as it were overwhelmed in the abyss. He, therefore, who has emerged from these, and has been drawn up by the right hand of the Savior, and has subsequently made firm the steps of his soul in a pure and upright account

having established his footsteps, he fittingly says: "And he brought me up out of the pit of misery and from the mire of the clay; and he set my feet upon a rock, and directed my steps." He calls the rock the foundation in comparison to the solid word, upon which everyone who has advanced will say: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine?" and the rest. ^A Not only did he set his feet upon the rock, but he also makes it possible to walk and run upon it through the practice of good things; wherefore he adds: "and he directed my steps." Then, consistently, as one having been changed from worse to better, he puts aside the ancient song, with which he lamented in the preceding psalms, and takes up a new song of the One who saved him, who also put a new song and hymn into his mouth, having stripped off the old man with his deeds and put on the new man, who is being renewed according to the knowledge of God. After all these things, he becomes an example to many, so that ^B others too, seeing his transformation, might take up good hopes and make the transition from worse to better; wherefore he says: "Many shall see and shall fear, and shall hope in the Lord." What shall they see? This very thing, he says: how into a depth of evils, into the pit of misery and the mire of the clay I had been submerged, and from thence, by the grace of God, being drawn up, I stood upon the rock and my steps were directed, and I was deemed worthy of a new song. For many, having seen these things, will sketch for themselves the fear of God, regarding which it has been said, "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord," and will take up a like hope.

"Blessed is the man whose name is the Lord his hope, and who has not looked upon vanities and false madness." He who has come by experience to know the grace of God proclaims to all the benefits that have come to him, and brings forth a universal declaration from the things that have happened to him, teaching that it is possible for all men to attain that which he has attained. For I am not, he says, the only one who, having been deemed worthy of such things, would be blessed; ^C but the same path lies open to all, and is not open to some and not to others. Therefore, everyone who has placed his hope in God shall not fall away from the blessedness of which I also have been deemed worthy. But vanities and false madnesses are all the cares regarding things present and vain; since "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity"; and it was spoken of in the preceding works: "But all things are vanity, every man living"; and again: "But in vain they are troubled. He treasureth up, and he knoweth not for whom he shall gather these things." And false madnesses are the cares undertaken by many in vain and for a futile purpose. Therefore, a wise madness is this renunciation of the present life, on account of which the prophets of God seemed to many to be out of their minds. ^D The just man glories in this very ecstasy, saying: "I said in my ecstasy: Every man is a liar." And the Apostle, having experienced this same thing, said: "For whether we were beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we are sober, it is for you."

Verses 6-9. Many things hast thou done, O Lord my God, thy wonders.

All thy wonders, indeed, are innumerable and incomprehensible; yet in those things which I have been able to grasp, I have found this: that in the present time thou hast not willed the sacrifices and offerings given by Moses, but instead of them, thou hast perfected my ears and my obedience to thy sayings; and instead of holocausts and sacrifices for sin, I myself have offered myself to thee. Wherefore he says: "Behold I come," called by thee, and most promptly obedient. "I come," hastening to do thy will: for I am persuaded that thou wilt accept this instead of every whole burnt offering. And this is written in the volume of the book concerning me; for what, I ask, is this, other than that thy will is to be preferred to sacrifices and holocausts? And thy law is to be carried out not according to the obvious reading, nor by the same reasoning as ^C the many who observe the law of Moses, but "in the midst of my belly"—or as Symmachus has it, "I desired thy law in the midst of my viscera." For if there is a belly of the soul, so called tropically, of which it has been said in the Gospels: "Rivers of living water shall flow from his belly, leaping into life eternal," in this hidden and secret storehouse of the soul, he says, I have wished to observe thy law, and to fulfill the precepts concerning sacrifices and holocausts in a spiritual manner and according to the mind. For these to thee

^A I have known to be dear, and far better than those which were given to the Jews in a carnal manner.

VERS. 10-16. *I have preached justice in the great congregation; lo, I will not restrain my lips; O Lord, thou hast known it. I have not hid thy justice within my heart; I have spoken thy truth and thy salvation.* By truth, he means that which is contrasted with the shadow. You may understand the passage in this way: the blessed David promises that in the great congregation—that is, the one gathered from the whole world by divine grace—he will preach the justice of God, the truth of prophecy, the salvation worthy of admiration, and the immense mercy. Similarly, the assembly of the faithful, as if promising to make recompense for the salvation offered, says that it, in turn, will perform this: by gathering into the church, opening its lips to sing hymns, preaching the just judgment of God, recounting his ineffable providence, and declaring the truth of the prophetic promises. *But thou, O Lord, remove not thy mercies from me: thy mercy and thy truth have always upheld me.* Having attained salvation, the Church of God again has need of this same help, due to the various and frequent assaults of men and demons, of which mention is made in what follows. *For evils without number have surrounded me: my iniquities have overtaken me, and I was not able to see. They are multiplied above the hairs of my head: and my heart hath forsaken me.*

Let no one think that these words are inconsistent with the explanations given. For the three youths ^B, endowed with the highest virtue and adorned with a triumphal crown, while praying in the furnace said: *We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have acted unjustly, and we have departed from thy commandments, and we have not kept thy justifications.* In this way the admirable Daniel, in this way the sublime Jeremiah, in this way the divine Isaiah, in this way the most wise Paul: *For Christ,* he says, *came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief*; and again: *I am not worthy to be called an apostle.* Thus, then, in this place, the Church of God, buffeted by the storm-tossed waves of the ungodly, does not think proudly as if it were being attacked, but attributes what is happening to sins and transgressions, and prays to obtain help from the Savior. Moreover, the whole Church of God is not constituted entirely of perfect persons; it also has those who live in sloth, those who embrace an inactive life, and those who desire ^C to serve their passions. And since it is one body, both these things and those are put forward as if from one person.

You may also understand it in this way: Because one ought not to pronounce a man blessed before his death, rightly the Apostle, although he is an apostle and called and chosen by Christ Jesus, nevertheless does not fear to say: *I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway.* David ^D also does this same...

^A after having shown in many places that he had found God gracious, and had been delivered from the pit of misery and the miry clay, and was now at last standing in safety, as if his feet were firmly set upon a rock, and had been deemed worthy of a new song—of the true doctrine concerning sacrifices, that is to say, of the preaching which has been proclaimed in the great Church of God. For this was the new song, for the sake of which he said above, *And he hath put a new song into my mouth.* Nevertheless, having obtained such great things, because of the corruption of human life he takes up again the words of supplication, and asks and entreats to be kept by the grace and mercy of God. For he was ruminating on these things in his mind and calling back to memory the evils that had happened to him previously. The memory of old evils, therefore, makes us more cautious, so that we may not fall into the same things again; but the remembrance of the change from worse to better also makes us grateful and more attentive to vigilance. Reasonably, therefore, does he repeat the memory of his former iniquities, and he teaches how his iniquities had at one time covered the eyes of his soul, having been poured over the vision of his mind like a mist.

The remaining parts follow upon what has been said: *Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: O Lord, look upon me to help me. Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to take it away. Let them be turned backward and put to shame that desire evil to me. Let them bear their confusion straightway that say to me: Euge, euge.* Even now he perceives many adversaries of his soul surrounding him, and for this reason he sends forth this present prayer. For they do not cease to be envious, even toward those who are already perfect and walking upon the rock. Wherefore he prays to be delivered from them, intending that those who seek his soul to take it away should be confounded and put to shame, while he himself is hedged about by His right hand. They are put to shame and act basely (for so Symmachus translated it)—those who seek the soul of the just man—when, having devised every engine against him, they remain unsuccessful; then, as those who have been able to accomplish nothing, they depart in despair, suffused with shame. ^D Wherefore, after he stated that they were affected with shame, dishonor, and reverence, he adds: *Let them be turned backward and put to shame that desire evil to me.* For since they have been able to accomplish nothing, and there is no hope left for their affairs to be brought to a good issue, they turn around and depart backward; then, having gone away and placed themselves at a distance, they shall receive the consequences of their wickedness. Wherefore after these things it is said: *Let them bear their confusion straightway that say to me: Euge, euge.* For which Aquila translated: *Aa, aa,* using the Hebrew word itself, as it stands. This word itself is a lament of those who have already been defeated, and have withdrawn backward, and have brought upon themselves confusion. According to the Septuagint Interpreters and Symmachus, it is said thus: *Who say of me: Euge, euge.* And perhaps the enemies of the just man, who had laid many snares against him, hoping that they would prevail, were saying at every one of them: *Euge, euge.* But since they have said these things many times, he says, by your grace may they now depart, bearing away their own shame.

ON THE END, PSALM OF DAVID XL.

^A Blessed is he who considers the needy and the poor; in an evil day the Lord will deliver him. May the Lord preserve him and keep him alive, and make him blessed in the land, and not deliver him into the will of his enemies. May the Lord bring him help on his bed of pain; you have turned all his bed in his sickness. As the discourse proceeds, it adds: For the man of my peace, in whom I hoped, who ate my bread, has magnified his supplantation against me. The Savior and our Lord is recorded as having spoken these things in the Gospel according to John, as if in his own person in his discourse to the disciples; by which he said: Amen, amen, I say to you: The servant is not greater than his lord, nor is the apostle greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I do not speak of all of you; I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled: He who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me. ^B Now no other Scripture is found that says this, apart from this one alone, by which it is said: He who ate my bread has magnified his supplantation against me. It is reasonable, therefore, to accept the things brought forward in this psalm as having been spoken prophetically concerning his own person. Wherefore it is inscribed "to the end," as these things refer us either to the consummation of the age, at which time the things written were fulfilled, or to the final things declared through the psalm. If, then, the things set forth be referred to the Savior, one might say that he is called blessed who is able to understand for what cause he took upon himself poverty for our sake. For, being rich, he became poor for us, that we might be enriched by his poverty; and "being in the form of God, he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant," as the divine Apostle clearly taught. And another might understand "needy and poor" differently, hearing him saying in the Gospels: "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me"; to which he adds: "As long as you did it to one of these my least brothers, you did it to me." And so, truly blessed is he who considers the ^C needy and poor one accounted in this way. But if the things said are to be referred to David, you would say that these are aptly linked to the psalm preceding this one. For since, near the end of the 39th [Psalm], it was said from the person of David: "But I am a beggar and poor," and these things were said by such a great king, who had gathered inestimable riches for the preparation of the temple afterwards built through Solomon, humbling himself ^D

^A and becoming lowly, and being humble in soul, and truly poverty-stricken in his disposition. For this reason the present psalm is joined hereto, pronouncing blessed him who understands toward one so poor. But the word "pauper" (the needy one) is not found in the Hebrew copy, nor among the other interpreters. And according to a fourth sense, one might say that the discourse is sententious and exhorts to benevolence and love of the poor. For it is fitting to be sympathetic and generous toward those more commonly called poor, understanding that it is God who, deciding that they should beg, has led them to this state; and at the same time He exercises them through poverty, while also desiring those who abound in worldly goods to provide the good fruits of their own purpose through the alms given to the needy. The rich man is therefore tested through the poor man—whether he is hard and unfeeling and heartless, or humane and merciful. For this reason, much is said in the divine precepts concerning the poor and needy. ^B

And according to a fifth explanation, you may find another order of the poor, which is pronounced blessed by the Savior according to that word: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." By these words the Savior pronounced blessed those who philosophize according to God, and who live in poverty for the sake of divine discipline, as were His disciples and apostles. Blessed, therefore, is he who understands concerning the needy, concerning him who is needy and poor in that manner; for he shall receive the fruit of that good and most happy understanding, which is indicated next: "For in the evil day the Lord will deliver him;" or, according to Symmachus, "In the day of affliction." For if any temptation should befall, or he should ever fall into calamity and distress, just as he himself understood regarding the needy and poor, so will the Lord opportunely understand his affairs, measuring to him with the same measure with which he had measured. ^C

"May the Lord preserve him and keep him alive." But He will also preserve him and cause him to live; or, according to Symmachus: "He will guard him and save him." And a third thing He will bestow upon him: "He will make him blessed in the land," or, according to Symmachus, "He shall be to be pronounced blessed in the land." For while he still abides in this land, he shall attain to the blessedness from God, while the heavenly goods promised after these remain for him. To these He adds: "And may He not deliver him into the hands of his enemies," for which Symmachus says: "And He will not deliver him into the souls of his enemies." ^D

It must be known that the words, "I said, O Lord, have mercy on me," are thought by some to be spoken from the person of David: for they consider them either as having been inserted into the middle, or as bounding the things spoken by him up to this verse.

"For the man of my peace, in whom I hoped, who ate my bread, has magnified his supplanting against me." According to Symmachus, however: "But even the man who had peace with me, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread together with me, has magnified himself following me"; or according to Aquila: "Has magnified..."

^A And Judas was the man of the Savior's peace, who had himself heard the Savior saying with the other disciples: "My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you."

But also, "In whom I trusted," he says; or according to Aquila: "I confided"; or according to Symmachus: "I relied," since he had shared with him the same gifts equally with the rest of the apostles. For the Savior confided in him, and had good hopes of him, because there was free will in him. For Judas was not by nature unable to be saved, but he was able, if he had wished, to be instructed by the Son of God, just as the other apostles, and to become a good and virtuous disciple. Being a table-companion to the Teacher, he not only ate the common bread with Him, but was also deemed worthy to partake of that which nourishes the soul, of which the Savior said: "I am the bread which came down from heaven, and which gives life to men." ^B This man, therefore, having been deemed worthy of so many benefits, raised his heel against the Savior as if kicking; wherefore it is said: "He has magnified supplantation against me." Instead of "supplantation," as said by the Seventy, the Hebrew reading contains "heel." Thus, therefore, Aquila, serving the Hebrew letter, published it. Whence also the evangelist John, being as it were a Hebrew born of Hebrews, recorded the Savior as having said "heel" and not "supplantation."

Concerning the passage: "For my innocence you took hold of me" — or according to Aquila and Symmachus: "For my simplicity" — [these things should be said] because "as a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth"; and, "When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten." ^C Showing extreme longsuffering, he remained silent when accused, and answered nothing when falsely testified against. But he even gave his back to scourges and his cheeks to blows, and did not turn his face from the shame of spitting. Wherefore he says: "But for my innocence you took hold of me, and established me before you forever."

At the end of all these things, the prophetic Spirit sends up a hymn of thanksgiving to God, saying: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from age to age; may it be, may it be"; or according to Aquila: "Faithfully, faithfully"; and according to Symmachus: "Amen, amen." Hence our Savior and Lord, in his own discourses, is accustomed to adopt this for the confirmation of the things said by him: "Amen, I say to you." ^D Aquila explained its meaning more clearly by saying: "Faithfully, faithfully."

Now, since the entire book of Psalms is divided into five parts, the first part ends here, beginning from the first psalm and terminating at the one in hand. It is time, therefore, to pass on to the second, which begins from the forty-first psalm, and concludes at the seventy-first.

TO THE END, FOR UNDERSTANDING TO THE SONS OF CORE XLI.

^A The first part of the book of psalms contained forty psalms, all of which are David's; but this which we have in hand contains thirty-one: of these, eight are of the sons of Core, one of Asaph, and one of Solomon; the rest are David's. Since those of the sons of Core are the first of these, we shall examine them, for the sake of understanding what is said. The sons of Core urge us by their inscriptions not to use the reading of what is said listlessly. The present psalm introduces the prophetic choir as sorrowful and despondent in soul at the fall of the people of the circumcision; it asks for redemption and freedom from evils through the Savior's help. This is also sealed at the end of the discourse by the words: "Hope in God, for I will confess to him; the salvation of my countenance and my God."

The inscription contains neither "psalm," nor "ode," nor anything of the sort; and rightly so. Because the things that follow are filled with rather sorrowful words, for this reason it is inscribed simply "to the end." For it contains predictions not of events that were already existing, but of things that were at some time to come. For the sons of Core existed in the desert during the time of Moses. ^B Then, when their father Core had stirred up sedition against Moses and perished with his faction, it happened that his sons did not perish with their father, because they did not share in their father's impiety; but having shown repentance and very great piety toward God, they were deemed worthy of such approval before God that they were even granted the gift of prophecy. ^C And from their succession, in the time of David, there arose another Core, of the same name as the former, and other sons were born to him. Whether, then, it be these later ones, or the former ones, they prophesy through the work in hand the captivity of the people which happened a long time later, and the dispersion of the Jewish nation into all the nations. Proceeding, therefore, they say: "And those who hate us plundered for themselves. You have given us as sheep for food, and you have dispersed us among the nations. You have sold your people without a price, and you have made us a reproach to our neighbors." For history does not contain that these things happened in the time of David; for this reason it is inscribed "to the end." And because ^D it is fitting to think of these things as happening in future time, by divine understanding it was necessarily said "for understanding." But for "to the sons of Core," Aquila and Symmachus consistently interpreted it as "of the sons of Core," teaching that the prophecies are theirs—those who confessed that they themselves thirst for God himself, and that they were possessed by love, longing, and desire for the fountain which is with him, concerning which it was said: "For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we shall see light." On account of this they said:

VERS. 2, 3. "As the deer longs for the fountains of waters, so my soul longs for you, O God." The deer is a horned animal, but also pu-

pure according to the Law, and lethal to serpents and killer of all reptiles—as well as those that frequent deserts. Such was the prophetic chorus, loving solitude and retreat; they are said to have spent their lives in wildernesses, mountains, and caves. But they were also lethal to every opposing power and to every reptile of the mind ^A, as those who themselves had the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. They were also horned, so that they could say: "In you we shall push down our enemies." But they were also pure in soul, if ever any were; for this reason they were compared to a deer. For the Bridegroom himself in the Song of Songs was likened to a young deer, and in Job it is said: "You have kept the months of the hinds, and their births; you shall send them away." Such rational hinds the Lord is said to prepare in the twenty-eighth Psalm, which says: "The voice of the Lord preparing the hinds."

These hinds, therefore, when the fountain failed them on account of the iniquities of the people and the turning away of God, wept by themselves, and used their own tears for food, mourning day and night for the destruction of the people. They confessed that they thirsted—not in their bodies and flesh, which have pleasures congenial to them, but as the soul itself, according to Symmachus, is said to be held by desire and longing for the journey towards God. Wherefore they said: "So my soul longs for you, O God"; and again: "My soul has thirsted for the living, strong God." For they knew ^B that the Lord is living, according to what is said: "Who alone has immortality," and that He alone has life with Himself, according to that: "For with you is the fountain of life." And this is the living water. Later, however, when this fountain—the one provided according to the prayers of the prophets—did itself manifest, the Savior instructed that He would provide it to men, saying thus: "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will have in himself a fountain of water leaping up into eternal life." And again: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water shall flow from his belly." The prophetic chorus, thirsting for this drink, said: "My soul has thirsted for the living, strong God," and, "When shall I come and appear before the face of God?" For seeing themselves placed far from ^C that face-to-face vision of God, they said these things. But also, realizing that the face of God had turned away from the people, and that the power which always exercised providence over them was no longer looking upon them, they lamented their sojourn on earth and offered prayer that they might one day stand before the face of God; wherefore they said: "When shall I come and appear before the face of God?" Being filled with much boldness and a good conscience, they used such voices. For as those who were entirely sound in their souls, and purified from every stain, ^D blemish, and filth, they asked to be set before the face of God. The sinner, however, flees from such a face,

and declines it through prayer and supplication, saying: "Turn your face away from my sins." Turning away from all things on earth, and loathing all pleasure among men, and using only bread as a necessity, and that mixed with tears, he will say: VERS. 4-8. "My tears have been my bread day and night." ^A The prophetic chorus, when it saw the face of God turned away from the whole people, and considering the destruction of the many to be its own calamity, took upon itself the mourning for all. And those men of God arrived at such a pitch of affliction that they were nourished by their own tears, and day and night, even refusing to take bread itself, they gave themselves wholly to weeping. They did this especially, and suffered these things, when they heard the people, and especially the impious who associated with them, saying: "Where is your God?" For it was not likely that the enemies and adversaries were saying this to them every day, but it is probable that the faithless among the people were blaming the prophets as worshipping God in vain and laboring to no purpose, and were saying to them: "Where is your God?" ^B Hearing these things from brothers, kinsmen, and acquaintances, they increased their mourning; wherefore they say: "I remembered these things, and I poured out my soul upon me." For I did not display my perturbation outwardly, but kept my pain hidden within my own soul, and was confounded within myself. The Apostle suffered something similar when he said: "But we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves" (II Cor. 1, 9). Just so, then, now also, they say: "I poured out my soul upon me." But it belongs to a perfect man to be able to say this. "When those who reproached me said to me, 'Where is your God?' ^C I was stung by pain and was sorrowful in spirit, struck by the words of the impious. Yet I kept my thoughts within myself, so as not to be poured out exteriorly, nor to fall from my hope placed in God. For I called to mind the end that awaited me, since I was not ignorant that 'Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted' (Matt. 5, 4). Therefore, knowing precisely that after these gloomy things I shall cross over into a place of a wonderful tabernacle, as far as the house of God, with the voice of exultation and confession of the sound of one feasting, I remembered these things; and I did not fall from my hope, but within myself I poured out my soul. ^D And because he had prescribed such hopes for himself, he rightly cures himself and says: 'Why are you sad, my soul, and why do you trouble me? Hope in God, for I shall yet confess to him, the salvation of my face and my God'; for he encourages himself to confidence and to the courageous endurance of present tribulations. But when Symmachus says: 'For I will go out to the tabernacle, I will be carried even to the house of God, with the voice of blessing and confession of the multitude of those gathering for the celebration'—

^A — or according to Aquila: "Of praise and thanksgiving of a crowd celebrating a feast"—he declares what the end shall be for those who have strenuously endured all the trials in this present life. For the most blessed end will receive them, namely, that admirable tabernacle of God, and the house of God which is situated in its innermost parts, into which holy men will be carried, and being lifted up by angelic powers, will be brought in. The Apostle, being aware of this, said: "We shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

He terms it the admirable tabernacle of God in distinction to another which is not admirable, such as that which was built on earth in the time of Moses. But ^B you should understand the truly admirable tabernacle to be that which the blessed ones of God set for themselves in hope. This, moreover, was the heavenly one, the types of which Moses fashioned in the desert. Concerning this admirable tabernacle, the divine Apostle also, teaching us, said: "We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man"; to which he further adds: "Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make **[The footnote in the text is skipped]** all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount." But these things were images and symbols of heavenly things; however, Christ, ^C having come as a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. And if there is joy in the heavens among the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth, it is reasonable that, when a God-loving soul, after completing the course of this present life, is granted because of its exercise/discipline an entry into those heavenly holies, a voice of blessing should arise from the multitude celebrating the feast and giving thanks for the salvation of the one being saved. Now, when he who has been instructed in such disciplines is convinced that these things are true, he rightly addresses himself: "Why art thou sad, O my soul, and why dost thou disquiet me?" Or according to Symmachus: ^D "Why art thou discouraged, O my soul, and why dost thou stir up trouble against me? Wait on God, for I will continually confess to Him the salvations of His countenance"; or, "for the salvations of His countenance," as Aquila has it. For when I have all but reached the tabernacle of God, and, carried by the holy angels on account of its height and its heavenly elevation, I shall stand before the countenance of God and attain to the vision of His salvation; having been deemed worthy of these things, I shall in due time send forth the confession and the debt of thanksgiving unto Him.

^A These things, then, are laid up for me in hope. But, as I was troubled by many things for the time being, I was not so moved as to fall away and clearly become something to those who trouble me; but, as I said above, I poured out my soul upon myself; and so it is that my soul is troubled within me here too. According to the version of Symmachus, he says: "On me my soul is poured out [or: melts], when I remember thee from the land of Jordan and from Hermoniim, a very small mountain." ^B "Deep calls unto deep at the sound of thy cataracts." It seems to me that the meaning of what has been said contains this sense: after the death of Moses, when Joshua had led the people into the land of promise, as the priests stepped into the Jordan carrying the ark upon their shoulders—and the Jordan, as the Scripture says, was completely full to its brink, as at the time of the wheat harvest—the waters that were descending from above stood in a single heap. That which was descending came down into the Salt Sea. And all the sons of Israel passed through on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while the lower stream was flowing into the salt sea, but that which had come from above was, by the power of God, wondrously held back and moving backward. And indeed, the streams flowing down from the sources of the Jordan above, having no exit, were curved, and a single heap arose as the waters flowed together in abundance, because the outlet had been closed. Then, indeed, deep called to deep, as the waters were held back and raised to a height. Reflecting, therefore, in my memory upon the grace of the providence that occurred for the people at that time, I naturally melt in my soul at the present moment, because no such providence of God is granted to us. For they passed the Jordan wondrously, and the mountain adjacent to it called Hermoniim — which is very small. But to me, who speaks these things, nothing of this kind has been granted; but "all thy height and thy waves have passed over me," or, according to Symmachus, "All thy storms and thy waves have passed over me." ^C Rightly, therefore, is my soul troubled within me; or, "In me my soul melts, when I remember thee from the land of Jordan," according to Symmachus, "and from Hermoniim, a very small mountain." For in these very places, deep once called to deep at the sound of thy cataracts, as the water was held back so as not to cause any trouble to those passing through the Jordan. But then, indeed, these things happened through the providence watching over them at that time; but now all thy storms and thy waves have passed over me, drowning and submerging me, with no one to hold them back. The choir of the sons of Core says these things rightly, prophetically lamenting the final rejection of the Jewish nation, whose calamities it took upon itself. ^D VERS. 9, 10. "In the day the Lord will command his mercy, and in the night his song." Even if, he says, all thy storms and thy waves have passed over me, yet I well know and am fully persuaded that there is no time in which thou dost not show mercy; for God is merciful

and compassionate and long-suffering. Therefore, sustaining myself with good hopes, knowing that by day the Lord bestows his mercy, I continue to occupy my nights with his song. For by day, seeing the deeds of men and the calamities that surround us, and thy swells and thy waves, I mourn to myself; but at night, when there is a respite from those who trouble me, I ponder the mercies of the Lord; and remembering how by day he bestows his mercy, I send up songs and hymns to him, keeping my quiet through the nights. Wherefore it is said: *And by night his song is with me*; but according to Aquila: *And at night his song is with me*. Not only this, but also a prayer to the God of my life. For by day I sing a hymn of thanksgiving, having been taught to give thanks in all things, refreshing myself with expectations of future good things. But for the sorrows that currently beset me, I send up a prayer to the God of my life; for I know that I have him as the author of my own life. Praying to him, I say: *My protector*; or according to Aquila and Symmachus: *My rock*, upon which standing I shall not be overturned; *why hast thou forgotten me?* For I have not forgotten thee; but I know thy mercies and thy compassions; I also know the hopes laid up for me; wherefore I perpetually keep thy song within myself. But thou hast forgotten me: why? I desire to learn the cause, on account of which all thy swells and thy waves—that is, the temptations and so many tribulations—passed over me with thy permission. For there must be some great cause for the forgetfulness concerning me. ^C When, however, the prophetic chorus says this, it claims for itself, as I have said, the condition of the people; and it seems to me to indicate hereby the final rejection and the ruin of the whole nation, which occurred after their unbelief toward our Savior and Lord. And to him, questioning and saying, "Why hast thou forgotten me?" he might perhaps reply with that evangelical word: *How often would I have gathered thy children, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not?* Since, therefore, it was because of their own wickedness that they came to be forgotten, the prophetic chorus, because by natural reason, when one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, rightly adds, as if mourning for its own body, according to Symmachus: *Why do I walk in sadness, while the enemy afflicts me?* and *As if breaking my bones, my adversaries reproached me*; or: *While my bones were being shattered, those who trouble me reproached me.* For when the prophetic bones—that is, the faculties of the soul—are shattered through weeping and lamentations, the enemies of God among the people, as if no one were helping, rose up reproaching and saying: *Where is thy God?*

PSALM XLII

^A neither has it a title among the other interpreters. But since it seems to be a part of the one preceding it, as is demonstrated both from the similar words in both and from the kindred meaning, I say therefore that in this present instance, too, the prophetic choir recounts these things concerning the people, as having been cast off and delivered to nations ^B and wicked men, and as begging and entreating to obtain vengeance, and to be rescued from the hands of the enemies. And just as, because of the distress of the people, the righteous also happen to suffer and grieve along with them, and to be afflicted by the common calamity, so in the same way the righteousness of God-loving men provides a communion and sharing of good things. Wherefore, taking upon themselves the sufferings of the people, they poured out prayers for the multitude and sent up a common supplication to God. With reason, then, as if from one mouth, they uttered these cries.

VERS. 2. *Judge me, O God, and discern my cause from an unholy nation; from an unjust and deceitful man deliver me. For thou art my God, my strength; why hast thou cast me off? Why do I go mourning while the enemy afflicts me?* Someone might say that this is spoken by one or another person who was found to be righteous in the whole of the Jewish nation. ^C He himself, then, whether one or a rare man, such as was Jeremiah or some other like him, should lament and send up these cries, entreating to be delivered from an unholy nation—by which seemingly those from the circumcision are indicated—and from an unjust and deceitful man, so that he might never himself become unjust and deceitful. And let him entreat God, saying: *Thou art my God, my strength; why hast thou cast me off, leaving me in the midst of such a people?* These things, moreover, correspond to the prophet Elijah, who, supplicating the Lord against the people, said: *O Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and have digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.* ^D And Jeremiah clearly teaches that every righteous man had failed from the people, saying: *Run ye to and fro through the ways of Jerusalem, and see if there be any one that understandeth, and I will be propitious to them.* Then, because the multitude of wicked men provided affliction to the righteous man, he said that he was sad for this reason: *Why do I go mourning while the enemy afflicts me?* And otherwise, when the nations and enemies brought calamity and had become superior to the Jewish people, that man devoted to God grieved in his soul, being filled with zeal at the prosperity of the godless and wicked men. Wherefore he also sent up a supplication, so that God, having judged and discerned his case, and having brought forward the fitting sentence concerning him, might bestow the reward due to his righteous deeds upon the whole multitude of the people, and for his sake might rescue all from the hand of the enemies; in order that, just as he had become a partaker of the people’s wrongdoing, so also the people might share in his righteous deeds. And just as righteous men who have a lawsuit in the courts entreat the judges to hear them,

^A a religious man addresses God with these words: "Judge me, O God," not truly "Judge me," for according to Symmachus, it is said, "Judge for me." Be yourself my judge and adjudicate this suit of mine, that having obtained vindication, I may contribute my own righteous deeds to the salvation of the whole multitude.

VERS. 3-6. *Emitte lucem tuam et veritatem tuam, ipsa me deduxerunt et adduxerunt in montem sanctum tuum et in tabernacula tua.* You may understand it in this way also: Having obtained the light that is from you and the truth that is from you, I shall be guided, being illuminated by the light, and led by the hand by your truth unto your holy mountain which is heavenly, and unto your tabernacles therein, concerning which I said in the preceding psalm: "For I will pass into the place of the wondrous tabernacle, even to the house of God." In the voice of exultation and confession of a sound that keeps festival; as though ^B celebrating holy rites for you, O God, I shall reach the innermost parts and up to the altar, and I shall come to you, O God, who gladden my spiritual youth. "I will confess to you on the harp, O God." By the harp he means the body, by which the mind is accustomed to be struck, and through the senses, as if through strings, to emit a harmony becoming to God. Plainly through these things the prophetic choir entreats the light of God to be sent forth, and his truth, as if it were not yet shining on the earth at that time, nor was truth somehow existing with men when he uttered these voices. But the light being sent would be different from the one who sends it, concerning whom it is said: "That was the light which lightens every man coming into the world." And the Savior himself teaches this in his own person, saying: "I am the light and the truth and the life." "Why are you sad, my soul, and why do you trouble me? Hope in God, for I shall confess to him, the salvation of my countenance and my God." But Symmachus says: "Why do you flow away, my soul, and why do you trouble me? Wait for God, for I shall always confess to him, to the salvation of my countenance and to my God." Wait, he says, so that you too might one day be able to say: "Waiting, I waited for the Lord, and he attended to me." But also hope in God; for hope does not put to shame. For why is there any need to be troubled? Why become sad, when so many good things are awaited? For yet a little while, ^C and he who is coming will come and will not delay, and the light shall be sent, and the truth shall arrive, and the things prophesied will attain their end; and the end of every discourse is the salvation of the countenance, he himself my God. For when I am deemed worthy to stand before God, to behold face to face the salvation, concerning which there is much discourse throughout all the Scriptures, then indeed I shall confess to him as God. ^D And he beautifully joined light to truth: for what light is for corporeal eyes, moving the sense, the same is truth for the eyes of the soul, observing the nature of things, being no longer deceived, but illuminated through the perception of things, and attaining the knowledge of truth. Therefore, the Word himself is the power of spiritual light, by which…

the truth is made manifest. With good reason, therefore, the Savior, delivering these things to his own disciples, taught them, saying, "I am the light, and the truth, and the life." And you shall adapt the end of each of the other editions accordingly, whether they speak these things to those in Babylon, or to those of the Gentiles who have not yet believed.

TO THE END, FOR THE SONS OF KORAH, FOR UNDERSTANDING, XLIII

^B The words set before us do not contain in the title the word "psalm," nor "ode," nor "hymn," nor anything of the sort, since the meaning of the words contained in them does not refer to such a vision; but they are prayers similar to the preceding ones, and of the same subject matter: namely, concerning the downfall of the Jewish people, brought forth from the person of the prophets by the sons of Korah. In the present case, they declare the meaning more clearly, through which they had lamented in the preceding passages. Thus, they recount the sufferings brought upon the people. Wherefore, they rouse us to understanding, and in the title, they remit us to the end, because these things were to happen at the end, even if the sons of Korah prophesied them as if they had already occurred. Therefore, by the preceding ones they lamented, and declared their own pains to God; but in the present text, they go out into the sufferings themselves.

^C "O God, we have heard with our ears," etc. For the phrase, "Who commandest salvations for Jacob," Symmachus says, "You are my king, O God, command concerning the salvation of Jacob." ^D "In you we shall push down our enemies with the horn." Those who behave properly among the people, and the prophets among them, would say these things, confessing that they do not procure salvation for themselves by their own power, nor by bow and sword, but by the power of their horn. Now, the Scripture of Daniel calls kingdoms "horns," but the Lord himself is called the horn of the saints; wherefore he says, "In you we shall push down our enemies with the horn." And it is said elsewhere, "My protector and the horn of my salvation." Therefore, he himself is the horn; and I would like you to ask how it is said in another place, "His confession is above heaven and the earth, and he shall exalt the horn of his people," as if there were another who raises up the mentioned horn. Observe, I pray, whether the Word of God, the Lord himself, is clearly the horn of the people, and he who raises it up is the Father who begat him. For because he humbled himself even unto death, and the death of the cross, therefore God exalted him, according to the Apostle. Trusting, therefore, in this horn and in their King, they confess that they will not overcome their enemies by bow, nor by sword, nor by their own virtue, but by the power of their King. Then, since they have obtained the Lord himself as King and horn, they rightly say that they will not be subject to enemies, but will overcome them.

having acquired Him, the Lord, they rightly say that they would not be subject to their enemies, but would be stronger than their foes. This, then, they signify by saying: "You have saved us from those who afflict us, and have put to shame those who hate us." And since the enemies had heaped shame upon them, but they themselves were saved not by their own power, but by the horn of their strength, they rightly add: "In God we shall be praised all the day long," or according to Aquila, "In God we shall glory," or according to Symmachus, "We shall praise God all the day long, and to Thy name we shall give thanks forever." The Scriptures are accustomed to use the word "confession" to mean thanksgiving; so that it is fitting that those who have been saved by the virtue of their King should claim to glory, to sing hymns, to praise and be praised, to give thanks, and to make confession. ^B But these things have been spoken in the person of the choir of the prophets; those that follow them, the same persons recount again, appropriating to themselves the things that had happened to the multitude.

"But now You have cast us off and put us to shame, and You will not go forth in our powers." Since the multitude of the entire Jewish nation, trained in all kinds of impieties and lawlessness, was not foreign to the prophetic body, those who spoke the former things, rightly appropriating to themselves the things that had happened to the multitude—with a *diapsalma* interposed for the extension of the change in the things about to be said—now proceed further. "Our fathers announced to us, and we heard with our own ears, what deeds You wrought in their days," and the rest. But now we see no such things; rather, we see the opposites. For You have cast us off, O God, You who of old saved our fathers; because of our sins, You have put to shame those who of old thought great things in You and boasted in You, leaving them deserted and helpless in the encounter with their enemies. For You did not go forth with our powers, or according to Symmachus, "with our armies." And because of this, You turned us back before our enemies; or, according to Symmachus, "You have set us behind every adversary, and they that hate us plunder for themselves. You have given us as sheep for food, and have dispersed us among the nations. You have sold Thy people for no substance, and have not increased the price of them; You have made us a reproach with mockery to those round about us. You have made us a parable among the nations, a shaking of the head among the tribes. All the day long my shame is before me, and the confusion of my face covers me, from the voice of the one who reproaches and blasphemes, from the face of the enemy and the avenger." ^C Such are the many things the prophetic choir recounted in its supplication to God, taking upon itself the sufferings of the people. It has been made clear, therefore, in the things set before us, what the cause of their weeping in the preceding part had been.

"All these things have come upon us, and we have not forgotten You." Just as, when the people had once acted impiously in the wilderness and were afterwards delivered to the destroyer, Aaron took the censer and offered incense for the people; and God was appeased toward the multitude on account of ^D the priest's oblation; in the same way, the prophetic choir, and the

those among the people who have attained righteousness, send up their rational sacrifice through prayer on behalf of the people, offering their own good deeds to God in place of sacrifice and sweet-smelling incense for the multitude. For it is not appropriate for the multitude to say these things, nor for those who, because of their own impieties, had been delivered to their enemies; but just as the prophets took upon themselves the afflictions of the people, and professed themselves to have suffered such things, so too do they share their own good deeds with all. For they were not unaware that they were members of the whole body; and it was consistent ^B that when one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, and when one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it. Everything, therefore, they say, which we have recounted, we have suffered; but nothing among these things has turned us away from the memory of you, and we have not acted unrighteously in your covenant, or, according to Symmachus: "Neither have we dealt deceitfully with your covenant, and our heart has not turned backward." In place of: "And you have turned our paths from your way," Symmachus more clearly expounded it, saying: "Neither have those things which direct us been removed; in the place of affliction." Or, according to Aquila: "You have crushed us in a barren place, and [(1)] you have covered over for us the shadow of death." We have not forgotten you, nor have we transgressed the covenants entered into with you.

^C VERS. 21–22. "If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we have stretched out our hands to a strange god; shall not God search these out?" etc. We call you, he says, to witness; you are judge and examiner of our words and of the thoughts which lie hidden in our mind from the many. You yourself, therefore, know if, having suffered such great things and having been humbled in a place of affliction, and covered by the shadow of death, we have brought about a forgetfulness of your name; or if, filled with confidence in your name, we have not boasted; or if, despairing of help from you, we have approached some other, and stretched out our hands to another god. You are the judge of these things: for you know the hidden things of the heart and the thoughts in which, by dwelling, we are put to death daily for the sake of piety. For he who has purposed in single temptations to undergo death for the sake of the truth, such a one has died in potentiality regarding the virtue of his purpose. This also the Apostle said, since the persecutions were frequent and ^D successive, and the distractions threatening him with death. But he, in each temptation, was prepared to struggle firmly even unto death; therefore he rightly said that he died daily. With this intention, therefore, the prophets of God of old were saying these things through the words before us: "For in our hidden places we were put to death every day; nay, we were even accounted as sheep of the slaughter." For when we once offered ourselves as if for a sacrifice on behalf of the whole people, in mind and purpose we were immolated, as you yourself, O God, bear witness: for you alone know the hidden things of the heart. Since, therefore, we have suffered such great things, bearing...

we quite naturally turn to you with boldness and rouse you as though you were sleeping, and we say: "Why do you sleep, O Lord? Arise, and do not cast us off forever," or according to Symmachus: "Why are you as one sleeping, O Master? Awake, and do not cast us off forever." For even if you have cast us off in part because of the sins of the people, nevertheless we pray that you do not cast us off forever, but that you accept our good deeds on behalf of the whole people. ^A It should be noted that the discourse points to a duality of persons.

"Why do you turn your face away? Do you forget our poverty and our affliction?" Symmachus: "Why do you hide your face, do you forget our misery and affliction?" You hide your own face, O God, and turn it away so as not to look upon those things which are shameful and unseemly, and alien to your sight. But since we possess boldness regarding the aforesaid good deeds, why do you hide your face? And since we are afflicted and suffer so many things for the sake of your piety, why do you forget our misery, or our poverty, according to the Seventy? For even if these are great deeds as far as we are concerned, yet as far as you are concerned, they are all poor and small and very slight. ^B Nevertheless, insofar as they are ours, they are great. Therefore we supplicate you not to show forgetfulness of our poverty, but to remember also our affliction, which we have endured for your sake. And since our soul is humbled to the dust, we beseech you to forgive our infirmities. And elsewhere, by the same logic, he implores God, saying: "Remember that we are dust; man is like grass, his days are as the flower of the field." But also: "Our belly has cleaved to the earth." For it ought to have been filled with holy streams and with a fountain of water leaping up into eternal life, but because of excessive drought our belly has cleaved to the earth. ^C By "belly" of the soul, understand its faculty of memory, or the leading part, in which it gathers all disciplines and contemplations: in which, having received the seed, it becomes pregnant; and after it has been in labor, it brings forth a spirit of salvation, according to the one who said: "From your fear, O Lord, we conceived in the womb and were in labor, and we brought forth a spirit of salvation." Such were the means of entreaty which the prophets of God of old, and those who performed righteous deeds among the people, employed when they begged to obtain deliverance; and this indeed came to pass, for while they were still speaking, God, having heard them, ^D changed their lamentations into something more joyful. Wherefore, in the following, those who had lamented so much on behalf of those who were to be changed prophesy, and they sing a song on behalf of the Beloved, through whom the good God, having heard those who prayed, granted freedom from evils and the redemption of souls to the whole race of man.

^A TO THE SONS OF KORE, FOR UNDERSTANDING, A SONG CONCERNING THE BELOVED. XLIV.

VER. 2. *My heart hath uttered a good word, I tell my works to the king: my tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly.* Those who had shed so many and such great tears in the preceding parts, now, instead of their former wailings, produce songs and chants, declaring that the author of their change from their former calamities was the Beloved of God, whom they therefore extol with praises throughout this entire ode. But since these things were going to happen in times long after, they rightly bestow the inscription Upon the end, or they write it as a triumphal song, or to the Author of victory, because of the victories won over spiritual enemies. They added to the inscription, *For those who shall be changed*, because even those who utter these words have made a change from a sad discourse to a more joyful song. Nay, even the things that are contained in the whole ode are filled with frequent change. For when the Beloved of God emptied himself, taking the form of a servant and being found in fashion as a man, he appeared to undergo no small change, even though, as God, he is immutable and unchangeable: while those who, through his work, have been redeemed from the captivity of the devil and brought over to the liberty of the children of God, have indeed experienced a most beautiful change. ^B Therefore, the queen mentioned in these passages is commanded to forget her own people and her father's house, and the alien daughter of Tyre is summoned to this beautiful change; virgins, too, and certain children born in place of the fathers, and peoples confessing to God, have been deemed worthy of the same change. For the sake of all of them, the song has been inscribed *For those who shall be changed*; or, according to Aquila, *Concerning the lilies*; or, according to Symmachus, *For the flowers*. For those who have been changed, breathing forth a sweet odor and having become fresh flowers of the Church, have been called by this name. Therefore, in order that these things might be understood, *For understanding* was necessarily added to the inscription, so that we might understand that the whole series of the address comprises a song for the Beloved, or, according to Symmachus, *A song for the Beloved*. And when you have reached this point, you should bring together everything that is said concerning the Beloved; such as that in Isaiah: "I will sing to my Beloved a song of my Beloved concerning my vineyard. The vineyard was made for the Beloved." ^C By these words it is signified that the vineyard is the house of Israel, for this is declared in what follows; but that Beloved one is the Only-begotten Son of God, whose portion and prior inheritance that aforementioned vineyard was. Besides, since every beloved one has one who loves him, it is clearly demonstrated by these words that that vineyard was the possession of the Beloved of God, for whose sake the present song has been inscribed *For the Beloved*. It is also said in the Psalms: *The Lord will give the Word to those who preach it with great power.*

^A *The King of the virtues of the Beloved*; where the Lord God of the universe is openly and specifically mentioned; and again, specifically the Beloved; and finally in the third order, those evangelizing the Beloved, to whom, as was said above, the Word is given by God Himself; and thus the testimony concerning our Savior is established. It is also said in another place: *And the Beloved [is] as the son of unicorns.* To these let there be added, to seal the whole discourse, the saving Gospel which, with a fatherly voice, pointed out the Beloved among men by a proclamation: *This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.* With so many and such great things set forth concerning the Beloved, the prophecy laid before us, having stated in its superscription ^B *A song for the Beloved*, must at last be clear and incontrovertible. That this was Christ, distinct from the Father who anointed Him, is declared later in the same psalm. Let these things be said concerning the superscription; the prophetic chorus, which narrated the earlier things, again sets forth what follows.

Some have supposed that the psalm or song is spoken in the person of the Father concerning the Word who was in the beginning with Him, whom He brought forth, as it were, from His heart, or from His very bowels, saying, and *a good word* went forth *from a good heart*. To me, however, these things seem to be ^C referred to the prophetic person; for the things that follow the statement no longer smooth out for us the exposition concerning the Father in the same way. For the Father would not have said concerning His own tongue: *My tongue is the pen of a scribe writing swiftly. Beautiful in form beyond the sons of men.* For He does not derive the superiority of His beauty from comparison with men. And going forward, he says: *Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness*; for He did not say: *I, God, have anointed you*, but, *He has anointed you*; so that from this it is clear that it is another person who is speaking. Who, then, is this, if not the prophet who received into himself the ^D energy of the Holy Spirit that came upon him?

But for the words, *My heart has poured forth*, Symmachus says: *My heart has been moved by a good word.* For as if another were announcing the word, he says that he himself has been moved through hearing. In saying, *I speak my works to the king*, he signifies no other king than the Beloved Himself, to whom also the things that follow have been spoken. For to Him, he says, I will tell my works; or, according to Aquila and Symmachus, *I will declare my justifications.* The chorus of prophets, full of great boldness regarding their good works, has dared to say these things. And if you desire to know what the works of the prophets were, you might learn through the things mentioned before, where they said: *All these things have come upon us, and we have not forgotten you, and we have not dealt unjustly in your covenant*; and again: *Because*

^A for your sake we are killed all the day long. It was indeed a great task to prophesy about things to come through the tongue, and to serve the king with the song of good news. Instead of "the pen of a scribe who writes quickly," Aquila says "the stylus of a swift scribe," while Symmachus says, "My tongue is the stylus of a swift scribe." It is very wondrous that he calls his tongue not the hand of a learned scribe, nor a scribe, but the pen of a scribe who writes quickly; declaring that the prophetic tongue is an instrument of another who uses it, namely the Holy Spirit. He is truly the scribe whose pen and stylus was the tongue of the prophets; so that one was the scribe writing quickly, namely the Holy Spirit, another the prophet, and a third the prophetic tongue, which stood in the place of a pen and a writing-case, being an instrument ^B of the Holy Spirit who used it.

It should be known that, according to the Septuagint interpreters, the meaning is conjoined to "the pen of the scribe," and the whole statement is encompassed in one verse, as follows: "My tongue is the pen of a scribe who writes quickly, beautiful in form beyond the sons of men." But because the Hebrew text and the other interpreters, having circumscribed the preceding sentence, used a different beginning in their exposition, we also have consistently taken "Beautiful in form beyond the sons of men" from a different beginning. Aquila, therefore, interpreted it in this way: "With beauty you are adorned beyond the sons of men"; Symmachus, "In beauty, you are beautiful beyond the sons of men"; so that what is placed at the beginning of the canticle serves as a proem. For when the prophetic chorus was about to begin its discourse concerning the Beloved, and to deliver the canticle about him, it used a proem that closes with this sentence: "My tongue is the pen of a scribe who writes quickly." ^C Thenceforth, it begins the canticle in the person of the Beloved, and thus addresses him: "You are fair in beauty, you are beautiful, or with beauty you are adorned, or with beauty you are beautified, O Beloved, beyond the sons of men." For even if you truly are one of the number of the sons of men, and were numbered among those who dwell on the earth, yet there is no beauty comparable to yours. Clearly this is said regarding virtue; for thus it would not seem that Isaiah says things contrary to these when he states: *And we saw him, and he had no form nor beauty; but his form was disreputable, failing beyond the sons of men.* For those words foretold the cross and the passion, which were full of insolence and contumely; wherefore the prophet added, *A man in a plague, and knowing how to bear infirmity, he was dishonored and not esteemed*. But the Psalm proclaims his beauty, not that of the body, as we said, but that of virtue, which admits no stain of sin. ^D Following these, it is said: *Grace is poured out in your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.* Moses, therefore, found a certain grace; Noah again found a certain grac

grace before God; and each of the righteous participated in grace. But since the entire paternal grace was poured out into the Beloved—for the Father was speaking in the Son—the grace that ministered to his arrival among men was therefore called "full." For in him it pleased all the fullness of the divinity to dwell bodily; therefore all the saints have received from his fullness. ^A

It is permissible, however, to treat this in another way: The first work of the Beloved is grace, which, according to the stated understanding, is poured out in his lips; and in another sense, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Since, in granting everything, he acted by forgiving sins for some, healing the diseases and infirmities of others, and bestowing the Holy Spirit upon still others. Wherefore it was rightly said to him: *Grace is poured out in your lips.* Following this, those who previously mourned, and described their own servitude under enemies, opportunely beseech the Beloved to hasten and come to them, girded with weapons of war against the encroaching enemies, so that, having put them to flight, he might lead them away from the captivity under them. Wherefore they say: *Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one.* You are indeed fair and beautiful, yet beyond your appearance and beauty, take up your armor for us, your suppliants; gird the sword upon your thigh, and thus, having assumed your power, bend your bows. Then, having struck down the enemies, proceed prosperously and reign. ^B

By the sword of the Beloved, understand the power that is destructive and avenging to enemies. *For the word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword.* The prophet Ezekiel also makes mention of a sword of God in these words: *Thus says Adonai the Lord: I have said: Sword, sword, sharpen yourself, and be enraged that you may slaughter victims; sharpen yourself, so that you may be for shining, ready for destruction.* And again: *Cry and wail, son of man, for it was against my people, against all the princes of Israel.* And further: *Appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to enter; they shall go forth from one land,* and the things that follow these, by which he calls the sword of the Lord the sword of Nebuchadnezzar brought upon the people. You also read in the Gospels that the king who made a wedding for his son, when those who refused the invitation and killed the royal servants were to be delivered to death, said: *And sending his army, he burned their city.* But the army of the king signifies the Roman hand that besieged Jerusalem. ^D Since, therefore, there was a need for such a sword against those who rose up against the Beloved, the prophecy rightly says to his person: *Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one. With your beauty and with your loveliness, bend your bow, and proceed prosperously, and reign.*

^A Then he adds: *Because of truth and meekness and righteousness, and your right hand shall lead you wonderfully.* These things he explained similarly to the others: *Your arrows are sharp, and the peoples shall fall under you, in the heart of the king’s enemies*; which is placed with a hyperbaton. You are to join the meaning in this way: *Your sharp arrows [are] in the heart of the king’s enemies.* For first he says: *Your sharp arrows will be against the heart of your enemies*; then, *peoples shall fall under you*, once the enemies have been driven away by the mission of your arrows. Then, therefore, the peoples, having obtained liberty and breathing again from the evils that oppressed them, will run to your feet. But you should understand the arrows of the Beloved, sent against the heart of the enemies, as certain invisible and hidden wounds against the princes of this age; pierced by these darts, the demons once said: "Leave us alone, what have we to do with you, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" ^B

That the Beloved of God was handsome, beautiful, full of grace, a blessed king, and the victor over his enemies, we have learned in the preceding; but that he is, besides this, God, we are taught in the present passage. For the Holy Spirit addresses his person thus: *Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever*; or according to Aquila: *Your throne, O God, is for ever and beyond.* Since, however, he had previously addressed him as king, he rightly adds: *A rod of righteousness is the rod of your kingdom.* For there is nothing crooked or twisted in him. And so that no one, taking the matter in a Jewish sense, might suppose that the Beloved of God was some mortal man similar to the many, he necessarily teaches that the throne of his kingdom was from eternity and will remain and endure for ever and ever. That these things are not announced concerning the person of the Father, but concerning the person of the Beloved and only-begotten Son, he declares further on, saying: *You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you.* For who would this God anointed by God be, if not the one who is preached in the Gospels as God: *And the Word was with God, and the Word was God?* This God, the Word, therefore loved righteousness and hated iniquity. ^C For which Aquila more accurately translated: *You have loved righteousness, and hated impiety.* For with right judgment he loves those who are righteous and subject to him, and hates those who are opposed to them; wherefore he is anointed with the oil called "of exultation," which is more excellent than that of his partakers, and he is anointed by God his Father himself; or "with the oil of gladness," according to Aquila; or "with the oil of splendor," according to Symmachus. Now since there are many partakers of him, or his friends, who are sharers in his grace, they might indeed say: *We have become partakers of Christ.* Some have read the present passage in this way: *Therefore God, your God, has anointed you, O God*; and they have used this reading, serving the Hebrew letter. Since God is called *Elohim* in the Hebrew scripture, it is said thus: *In the beginning of your throne, O God, for ever and beyond.* Therefore the Septuagint and Symmachus say: *Your throne, O God...* ^D

^A Aquila, however, serving the Hebrew word, said *Dee* (O God). But this same Aquila, having now said *Dee*, when he further proceeds to where *Elohim* is repeated in the phrase, *Therefore God has anointed you*, no longer interprets it as *Dee*, but as *God*, saying: *On this account your God has anointed you, O God*. Yet he ought to have been consistent with himself, and here too used *Dee* for the same expression; by interpreting it this way, he would have said: *Therefore he has anointed you, O God, your God*.

^B VERS. 9. *Myrrh and aloes and cassia from your garments, from ivory palaces.* For "ivory palaces," Aquila said *from temples of tooth*. For here the "temples" of the Bridegroom are called the Churches, and the souls dedicated to Christ, which have all their strength in rational food. Now teeth are a symbol of food and of words. Hence, the teeth of Christ himself are said to be whiter than milk in the prophecy concerning him, which says: *His eyes are sparkling from wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.* According to the other interpreters, his temples or palaces are called "ivory," because ivory decoration comes from a dead animal; and those who are conspicuous for virtue in the Church shine for no other reason than that they have "mortified their members which are upon the earth," as the apostolic precept directs.

VERS. 10. *The queen stood at your right hand, in gold-woven garment, arrayed, variegated.* The daughters of the kings—that is to say, of Christ and his Church—are the individual souls. But the queen herself, the mother of the daughters, stood at his right hand in a gold-woven garment, arrayed, variegated. Who could this be but the entire Catholic Church, gathered from the ends of the earth to its ends out of all nations? Which he built for himself upon the rock, so that the gates of hell might not prevail against it. You might more appropriately say that by this is signified the heavenly Church, which is the mother of the holy men living on earth. ^C This, at any rate, the divine Apostle taught when he said: *But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother.* He also names her the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, in the gathering of myriads of angels, and the Church of the firstborn who are written in the heavens. This, then, would be the perfect bride of Christ. You would not be wrong to say that the Church on earth is her daughter. And she is a queen, as one already reigning together with her own bridegroom; wherefore it is said that she stood at the right hand of the King, ^D as being his bride, receiving the seeds from him, and conceiving and bringing forth always a spirit of salvation; and she also puts on the royal garment, the luminous garment of incorruption; which, being entirely spiritual, is wrapped around the angelic powers in heaven.

^A This term the present passage also calls "golden." But the phrase "wrapped and embroidered" is carried neither in the Hebrew reading nor among the other translators; for this reason it has been marked with an obelus.

VERS. 14. *All the glory of the king’s daughter is from within, in golden fringes, wrapped about with varieties.* How she is adorned with golden fringes, you will properly understand if you listen to Paul saying: "We know in part, and we prophesy in part." For the knowledge which is in part puts a golden ornament around her only at the extremities. "But when that which is perfect has come," he says, "that which is in part shall pass away." After she who is currently being raised on earth like an infant has been translated into the heavenly Church, then she shall put aside the golden fringes—that is, the knowledge in part—and shall be adorned with a golden garment.

VERS. 15, 16. *Virgins shall be brought to the King after her; her companions shall be brought to you.* The daughter who has been frequently mentioned above does not remain on earth forever, but will be translated at the proper time. Yet not all will be deemed worthy of such a translation in the same way; but those who are worthy of the first rank in this kingdom will be brought to the King, only in part. These truly are they who keep their virginity in Christ, both in body and soul, and are holy in spirit. After the first order, those who are nearest to them shall be brought; for "in my Father’s house are many mansions." These, indeed, are they who, for the sake of an honest and continent life, occupy the place nearest to the virgins. ^B And how they shall be brought, he declares by saying, *in gladness and exultation.* You will properly understand the reason for this statement if you apply this apostolic voice, as he says: "We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." For the virgins will not come or approach the King, but they shall be *brought*, with others bringing them—namely, the divine angels, who will lift them up and carry them on high, so that they may easily make the journey above. They shall be brought in gladness and exultation, and shall be led into the temple of the King, into the royal house, being deemed worthy of the kingdom of heaven. The temple, moreover, is the house of God, so that the King to whom they are brought is God. Those who provide them with instructions also bring them, namely the Law and the prophets. ^C

VERS. 17. *Instead of your fathers, sons were born to you.* The others have rendered the meaning of these words more clearly; for Aquila has it thus: *Instead of your fathers there shall be sons to you*; but Symmachus: *Instead of fathers your sons came to be.* The interpretation of the word holds this meaning: Your sons, who have been born in you and by you, shall be to you instead of fathers. For you shall have as fathers those whom you yourself have brought forth. You will understand the outcome of the word if you consider how foreigners from the nations, approaching the Church of God and being regenerated in her, become her sons; and afterwards, when they have increased in progress, they are established as her fathers, being promoted to her ^D leadership and to the priestly ministry.

But how will you interpret them as being instead of fathers, speaking more clearly? *You shall make them princes over all the earth.* The Word speaks these things to the Church upon earth, which extends from the ends of the earth to its ends; over whom the Church of God herself establishes her own sons as princes and fathers. ^A *Therefore, peoples shall give you praise forever and ever.* The aforementioned daughter of kings, and this was the Church upon earth, perceiving the power of the paternal name, since he bestowed upon her the name which is above every name, so that *at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth*, having had the promises spoken to her, and having believed the voices, she is filled with joy and gladness.

TO THE END, FOR THE SONS OF KORE, CONCERNING THE HIDDEN THINGS, PSALM XLV.

^A As if He said more clearly: "And to make every man’s own household his enemies." What need is there to say how whole cities and peoples and nations of every kind were thrown into confusion by the evangelical doctrine, because it removed their ancient superstition from their midst? But while these were troubled and confused, the sons of the Church and her leaders say, *We will not fear.* They claim God as their own, saying, *Our God*, in contrast to those who are mistakenly called gods among the nations. And if men alone were being troubled, it would have sufficed to say, "Though the earth be troubled, we will not fear"; but since hidden powers and malignant demons also suffered commotion and tempest because of the saving doctrine, rightly does he also adumbrate them as occult and hidden from the sight of others, saying that the mountains were translated ^B into the heart of the seas.

Ver. 4. *Their waters roared and were troubled: the mountains were troubled in his strength.* You shall understand these mountains, according to the evangelical teaching, to be the spiritual hosts of wickedness. For when the Savior healed the lunatic, He brought forth thoughts, saying to the disciples: *Amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain: Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you;* calling the aforementioned demon a mountain. In what way the mountains are translated into the heart of the seas, you may learn from the Gospel according to Luke, where it is said that the demons besought the Savior that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. The Scripture is accustomed to call the seas the abyss, as it is said in ^C Job: *Hast thou come into the sea, and walked in the footsteps of the abyss?* Regarding this abyss, Moses also taught in the creation of the world, saying: *And darkness was upon the face of the abyss.* But while these things are happening, he says: *We will not fear*—though their waters roar and are troubled, and the mountains are shaken in His glorious manifestation, according to Symmachus. This glorious manifestation of the Savior was the increase of the Church, and the multitude of those believing in Him, and the overthrow of the error of many gods.

The *Diapsalma* effects a distinction between what has been said before and what is to be said after this. Therefore, as if the discourse passes into another order, it again signifies through enigmas the peaceful state of the Church, which he calls the City of God on account of its religious manner of life. ^D For the City of God is the assembly of those who order their life according to God; this already fills the whole world. Indeed, from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof, it is possible to find such a City of God established by the Church, which, having the heavenly Word springing up and distilling within it, is filled with every divine joy. Aquila and Symmachus say: *The divisions of the river make glad the city of God.* And what those divisions are, you shall rightly perceive

^A if you hear Paul saying: *There are divisions of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are divisions of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are divisions of operations, but the same God, who works all things in all.*

*The Most High has sanctified His tabernacle.* According to Symmachus: *The holy thing of the habitation of the Most High.* For since the city is great and populous, there is a certain part of it that excels the rest. For of those who dwell in the Church, there is indeed a vast multitude, but very few are those who devote themselves to holiness and observe the commandment that says: *You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.* And it is in these holy ones that the habitation of the Most High is said to be; for in them alone the voice of God, which says: *I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people,* finds a place. ^B

*God is in the midst of her, she shall not be shaken; God shall help her in the morning, early.* Another again says: I think he hints at the morning assemblies, in which we are accustomed to gather in churches throughout the world. And in another way, the oracle rouses us and urges us to morning prayers, so that we may offer them to Him as the first-fruits of our own life; for at these times, the mind, being undisturbed and purified, is accustomed to make offerings to God after the manner of a priest. *Diapsalma.*

*Nations were troubled, kingdoms were shaken; He gave His voice, the earth was shaken.* Here He introduces the men dwelling on the earth as being troubled, and the kingdoms on earth arming themselves against the Church, and waging war against the evangelical word. ^C Then, as in battles, when the side of the victors prevails, the opposing side is troubled and takes to flight; so now, with the evangelical word prevailing, nations were troubled and kingdoms were shaken, or "overturned," according to Symmachus. But also, as He gives His voice, the earth was dissolved. For when the evangelical word was recently brought into life, the nations, struck by the novelty of the thing, and seeking to vindicate their former superstition, were moved; and their kings rose up against the Church. But because God was her refuge, all were turned to flight, with our Savior giving nothing more than His voice alone. For *He gave His voice, and the earth was shaken.* What voice, if not that given through the preaching of His apostles? Therefore, we who said above: *Our God is our refuge and strength,* rightly repeat the same confession, ^D saying that such great accomplishments were not by our own power, but that He who works these things, the Lord of Hosts, was with us. And He Himself was our protector, the God of Jacob. Opportune it is that they here also made mention of the God of Jacob, referring us to Him who appeared to Jacob in the form of a man. For a man wrestled with Him who said to him:

^A *Thy name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall thy name be, for thou hast prevailed with God.* And Jacob arising called the name of that place, The Appearance of God, saying: *For I have seen God face to face.* For this is that very One who appeared to Jacob in the form of a man. He Himself is the Lord of hosts with us, and He Himself is our helper, the God of Jacob. For through Him we have successfully accomplished all the things written above.

VERS. 9, 10. *Come and see the works of the Lord, what wonders He hath placed upon the earth, taking away wars even to the ends of the earth.* He shall crush the bow, and break the weapon in pieces, and burn the shields with fire. It is permitted for anyone who considers the times with himself to discover that these things have been fulfilled to the letter. For before the advent of our Savior, principalities and dominions existed in individual regions and cities, and wars were waged in every corner of the earth, so that even the rustics who inhabited the land would arm themselves with spears, swords, and every kind of weapon. But after the divine advent of the Savior, one Roman empire began to occupy very many nations, and the salutary Gospel, which sprang up at one and the same time, reached all nations. Then also another prophecy was fulfilled, uttered by the voice of Isaiah in these words: ^B *And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; and nation shall not take up sword against nation, neither shall they learn to war anymore.* These things, therefore, are manifested by the present discourse, and attained their end, literally indeed, as in the history mentioned above; but according to the hidden sense, through the destruction of spiritual and invisible enemies. Moreover, the spears, weapons, and shields of the opposing powers are seen to be the inanimate carved images and statues brought in through the error of many-goddedness, or even the godless men and impious thoughts, which are cast into the minds of men by invisible spirits, by which they shoot and throw blazing darts against souls that are unguarded and not protected by faith. ^C

VERS. 11. *Be at leisure and see that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth.* Since at last wars had ceased and the disturbance was taken away, and a deep peace had been secured for all who were on the earth; it is right to wish to use the opportunity for what is good, and it is expedient to attain a salutary leisure for the soul. Wherefore He says: *Be at leisure and know*; for it is in no other way possible for anyone to share in divine knowledge, unless he be at leisure from those things which draw him to the contrary. Whence, the king of Egypt, being righteously prejudiced against such leisure as this, answers those who were saying: *We will go a three days' journey, and serve the Lord our God*, with these words: *Ye are at leisure, ye are idle.* ^D Then, not wishing them to have leisure for God, he afflicted them with the work of mud and brick. But for us, those who have been appointed rulers over the whole world call out to us that we may have leisure

promising as the fruit of this leisure, divine knowledge. God himself speaks through them, saying: "Know that I am God"; and also, "that I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." For in times past I was known only among the Jews, when "God was known in Judea, and his name was great in Israel"; ^A but now I command you to have leisure, that you may learn and know in what manner I shall be exalted even among all the nations, being glorified by them more than by those who in the past were thought to know me.

FOR THE END, FOR THE SONS OF CORE, PSALM XLVI.

"All nations, clap your hands; shout unto God with a voice of exultation; for the Lord is most high, terrible, a great king over all the earth."

It seems to me that the inscription is incorrectly placed. For it ought to have been inscribed, not "for the sons of Core," but "to the sons of Core," or "of the sons of Core," just as in the previous inscriptions. For the other interpreters and the Hebrew copy present an inscription similar to the previous ones. And since the discourse most clearly exhorts the nations, holding nothing hidden, the words of the inscription do not reasonably incite us to investigate or take them to be for things hidden; but it is called a psalm simply, or a melody, or a song, according to the rest of the interpreters. But the phrase "for the end" was necessarily placed there, because the prophecy was to be fulfilled in later times. ^B And the Holy Spirit commands, very consistently with what was said before concerning the Beloved and his heralds, that all nations provide symbols of joy, by clapping hands as if for weddings being celebrated between a bridegroom and bride; and by shouting to God, as for a king being praised for victory over enemies. And rightly, after the victory of the Savior over the enemies—having evidently received the Church for his bride—does the Holy Spirit call upon all to hasten to the festival. Wherefore he cries out ^C to all the nations throughout the world, saying, "All nations, clap your hands; shout unto God with a voice of exultation." He teaches the cause of the exhortation in what follows, saying: "For the Lord is most high, terrible, a great king over all the earth." For previously the Lord himself, the Most High, reigned only over those in heaven; but he was unknown to those on earth, at the time when demons ruled over men on earth. But now, through the Beloved, the Most High has illuminated those on earth with his own grace, and has become terrible to those enemies who were producing the error of polytheism; ^D for he drove them all out and kept them far from the flock of men. And when leisure was obtained, a great king of the nations over all the earth was proclaimed. Therefore the discourse exhorts those under his reign to clap with their hands, that is, with works and deeds, as if to emit voices worthy of the kingdom of the Most High, and to shout unto him with a voice of exultation; so that not only by works and by life

but also by right dogmas and by theology, they might celebrate him; for it would have been a disgrace to him if his words and his boasting were not fulfilled. ^B VERSES 4, 5. *He hath subdued the peoples under us, and the nations under our feet. He hath chosen for us his inheritance, the beauty of Jacob, whom he loved.* That to the sons of Core neither were peoples subdued, nor have nations been placed under their feet, is manifest to everyone. It is not, therefore, as if from the person of the apostles that these things have been spoken. For they, having been commanded by the Savior himself to make disciples of all nations, and having been inspired by his power, set out on the journey to all the nations, passed through the barbarian tribes, and traversed the whole inhabited world. It is reasonable, therefore, that these things are said in their person to those who have received the proclamation. For even if the Lord who is preached by us is not grasped by the body and by the eyes of the flesh, learn from the very work itself who he is and how great he is. Do you not see us, who are his heralds, what sort of men we are, base and private individuals? Yet, the word proclaimed by us prevails so much that it fills the entire inhabited world. Whence, then, is such power, which has subdued to us peoples and nations under our feet—both those former peoples who have become obedient to our teaching, and the nations who still remained in unbelief, whom, though they often rose up and attempted to make war both against us and against the word proclaimed by us, the great King has subdued to our feet, so that we might even come upon them and trample upon the prostrate? Straightway, even when they resisted, we established Churches for our God in the midst of their own cities and lands. And he has chosen for us his inheritance, which he promised to his Beloved, saying: *Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and for thy possession the ends of the earth.* This Church, therefore, gathered from the nations, he chose and distributed to us, his apostles. For it is elect, having originated by a choice from all the nations, and not by succession of lineage. But in place of "his inheritance," the others have rendered "our inheritance" or "our possession." For just as to the former people, those who were with Joshua the son of Nun, having expelled the former inhabitants, distributed the land of promise by lot, in the exact same manner the heralds of the kingdom of God, having traversed the whole inhabited world, took as their portion by lot the aforementioned peoples, having driven away the invisible and unseen enemies. This inheritance, he says, is the beauty of Jacob; or, according to Aquila, the "excellence" of Jacob; according to Symmachus, the "glory" of Jacob; according to the fifth edition, the "boasting" of Jacob. For the Church of Christ has become the glory and boasting of the ancient prophet Jacob on account of the predictions made by Jacob himself concerning the nations; for it would have tended to his ignominy if his words had not been true, but that they have been fulfilled in works is his glory and boasting.

^A VERS. 10. "The princes of the people are gathered with the God of Abraham, for the mighty ones of the earth are greatly exalted." In addition to those previously mentioned, the princes of the peoples are gathered into one Church, having become the people of the God of Abraham. For thus did Symmachus marvelously interpret it, rendering it: "The princes of the peoples were gathered, the people of the God of Abraham." For those who were formerly princes of the peoples, worshipping idols and abandoned to every superstition of error, these have become the people of the God of Abraham, having known the God of Abraham, invoking Him in their prayers, and holding their assembly with Him. Theodotion, too, who is one of the more accurate interpreters, interpreted it in a way similar to Symmachus, saying: "The princes of the peoples were gathered, the people of the God of Abraham." But why did the Seventy say "with the God of Abraham"? Because the Hebrew language writes "with" and "people" with the same letters. For it is said *am Elohim*, which can be explained both as "with God" and as "the people of God."

CANTICLE OF A PSALM FOR THE SONS OF KORE, 47

VERS. 2, 3. "Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised, in the city of our God, in His holy mountain, well-planted; with the jubilation of the whole earth, the mountains of Sion, the sides of the north, the city of the great king." The three ^B first psalms inscribed for the sons of Kore contained words of calamity and grief; the fourth signified a change toward a brighter state, and for this reason was inscribed "A Canticle for the Beloved"; likewise the fifth was "concerning the hidden things," and the sixth psalm was of the same character. But the one now in hand, containing a theology greater than the preceding ones, is rightly inscribed "A Canticle of a Psalm for the sons of Kore"; for in the same way, some praised God by shouting with their voices, while others played the same canticle on musical instruments, making the harmony concordant with the melody. They send up a hymn on behalf of the Church to Him who won the victory over the enemies and delivered His Church from bitter and harsh slavery. The preceding psalm, therefore, instructed the nations to clap and shout to God with a voice of jubilation, and to sing to Him, because "God is king of all the earth," and to play "skillfully," because "He has reigned over the nations." But it was necessary for those commanded to do these things to learn both the manner of the shouting and the psalm itself, as if from a teacher; wherefore the present discourse necessarily teaches this. The nations, therefore, converted from godlessness to divine ^C instruction, are trained to acclaim their own Lord and to say: "Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised," or "and to be hymned exceedingly," according to the others. You will understand how He is called "great" if you look toward heaven and contemplate the whole universe, according to Isaiah who said: "Lift up your eyes to the height and see who has shown all these things." For from the greatness and beauty of created things, the Creator is proportionately perceived; not by corporeal magnitude, but by incomprehensible power; and indeed even by wisdom ^D

^A and goodness, and long-suffering, and philanthropy, and the other divine powers conceived in Him; wherefore it is said: *And to thy thoughts there is no one who shall be likened to thee.*

He ^B [censures] certain atheists and authors of incantations to demons, who established his own kingdom upon the earth, and fulfilled all the aforementioned things among men. And not only is He great, but also exceeding praiseworthy; not, however, among all men or in every place, but in the city of our God and in His holy mountain. For those who are outside His city, being unskilled in divine doctrine, know not how He is to be celebrated, nor can they speak worthily of divine things; wherefore they have cast that adorable name upon inanimate matter, or upon the kinds of irrational animals, or upon the elements—earth, water, air, fire—or upon the parts of the world; and others in other ways have thought impiously about God; and on this account, being alien to the city of God, they have fallen from the true hymn. Now the city of our God is the Church, which the words above also indicated, by which it was said: *The streams of the river make glad the city of God: the Most High has sanctified his tabernacle.* And these things indeed concern the Church which is on earth; of which it is said: *I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.* But if there is some other city better than this, of which He Himself is the artificer and founder, consider how He is great and praiseworthy and exceeding laudable in that city as well, since He is there understood according to His dignity and is celebrated with divine words. ^C And where in the land that city is situated, the psalm teaches, saying: *On his holy mountain well-rooted*; that is, well-founded and rooted, and a joy to all the earth. And as to what that mountain might be, the great Apostle teaches, saying: *We have approached Mount Sion, and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the assembly of many thousands of angels, and the Church of the firstborn who are enrolled in the heavens.* And that this same one is the true city of God, he himself makes clear, saying: *But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother.* Now the mountain worthy of God is heaven itself. But because He did not disdain men living on the earth from His own kingdom—for this was indicated by the preceding psalm, saying: *God is king of all the earth, sing ye intelligently; God has reigned over the nations*—justly, then, a city was also established for Him on earth, namely, the pious way of life dedicated to the worship of God, consisting throughout the whole world through the evangelical preaching. ^D And do not hesitate to say that the mountain of God in which this way of life is established is the Word of God, that is to say, Christ; since His Church is built upon the rock, and He Himself was the rock. He, therefore, is himself the mountain and the rock and the foundation of the Church, He alone would be, according to him who says: *For other foundation can no one lay beside that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ;*

and it is also the exultation of the whole earth. ^A

Latera Aquilonis (The Sides of the North)

Verses 4–8. God is known in her houses

Following these things, there is joined the incursion of the enemies against the Church of God; it is said: *For lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together.* And according to Symmachus: *For lo, he says, the kings conspired, they came against me.* But what kings are these, if not the enemies of the God-fearing community who conspired ^D

^A together and established written laws to make war against the Church of God? Yet the great miracle of the God who is known in her palaces ^B is then revealed, when kings, gathered together, raise war against His Church, and stirring up persecutions, and plotting ten thousand snares against her, prove unable to accomplish anything. Wherefore he adds: *They seeing it so marveled*; for by the very deeds having perceived His power, they so marveled, whereas before this they did not marvel at all. *Afterward they were troubled*, as having become enemies of God; *they were shaken, and trembling took hold of them. There were pains as of a woman in labor.* For then at last the reason for the judgment of God, whom they were fighting against, became visible to their eyes. Wherefore according to Symmachus it is said: *They seeing it so marveled, they were troubled, they were struck with amazement, a shivering took hold of them, pains as of a woman in labor.* For *pain* according to the scripture: *Behold, he has been in labor with injustice, he has conceived sorrow and brought forth iniquity. He has dug a pit and uncovered it, and he will fall into the ditch which he made. His sorrow will return upon his own head, and his iniquity will descend upon his own crown.* These things completed by deeds, we have received by our own eyes: which it is likely even our incredulous descendants, when they hear, will not believe. All those who in our age became enemies of the Church of God, the princes of this world and tyrants, being mangled by divinely inflicted scourges, some endured bodily decay, so that while still alive they teemed with worms ^C amidst an unbearable stench; others, while yet living, were deprived of their sight, so that they perceived the divinely inflicted scourge upon them, and sang a palinode, and confessed the God of the Church to be the great and true and only Lord; and commanded with great haste that the city of God, formerly assaulted by them, be restored and built up anew throughout. The next words, *With a violent spirit you will crush the ships of Tharsis*; or according to Aquila, *In a scorching spirit you will crush the ships of Tharsis*; or according to Symmachus, *By a violent wind you will dash in pieces the ships of Tharsis*; you will understand, if you note that it was said that the ships of Tharsis once brought great wealth to Solomon, as is narrated in the history of the Kingdoms. Thus then, the word hinted that the wealth and dominion of the aforementioned kings would be crushed, and fully go down into the depths, and be utterly destroyed, through the shattered ships of Tharsis. ^D *As we have heard, so have we also seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God; God has established her forever.* The ancients used to hear this only from the prophetic voices of the holy readings; but now we, by the very deeds themselves, see the fulfillment of the prophecies.

Wherefore, in saying these things, the Savior addresses them thus: *Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see what you see,* and, *But blessed are your eyes, for they see.* ^A This utterance may well apply to us also, who have seen similar things fulfilled in our own times in the aforementioned city, which no man, but God Himself, has founded for all eternity. For then, most especially, its foundation is seen to be eternal, and its structure not raised by men, but by God Himself, since, with so many enemies besieging it, it remains invincible and indestructible.

Verses 11 and 12. "According to thy name, O God, so also is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of justice."

Since His right hand, the beneficent one and the provider of all good things, is full of equity and justice, and there is no respect of persons with Him, rightly was the Gospel preached to all the nations. Wherefore the Apostle says: *For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and to the Greek. For the justice of God is revealed therein.* ^B Following these things, it is added in order: *Let mount Sion rejoice;* this was also indicated by what was said before, when the foundation of the Church was being discussed. The rock, therefore, and the mountain itself was Christ. He rejoices, therefore, and is filled with every joy because of the great structure founded upon Him and because of the invincible city; and the Lord who saves them congratulates those who have attained salvation. Moreover, the daughters of Judea* also rejoice because of the judgments of God. Who would these be, if not the apostolic souls and the entire choir of the disciples and evangelists of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which arose from the Jews? They were surely glad and were filled with every exultation and joy of soul because of the just judgments of God, since by their ministry the saving Gospel was proclaimed to all nations and all men at once.

Verses 13–15. "Compass Sion, and embrace her: tell ye in her towers. Set your hearts on her strength, and distribute her houses, that ye may relate it in another generation. For this is God our God, he shall rule us for ever."

All the preceding words contain the theology of Him who accomplished so many and such great things among men. ^C But these words following are addressed to the person of certain ones, so that they might approach the aforementioned city of God, encompassing it and embracing it with their own hands, so that, standing around it on all sides, they might protect it. But who is it commanded to do these things? I believe it is the divine powers that guard the Church of God and the religious order within it, and also the holy angels. To these very ones, therefore, the Holy Spirit speaks, saying: *Compass Sion, and embrace her*; or, "Wall her about," according to Symmachus. For the words, *tell ye in her towers*, ^D Aquila says, "Count them."

^A For the most renowned of the buildings and the most fortified of the city, as being more excellent and more necessary than the rest, are handed over to the aforementioned guardians to be watched carefully by number, so that they may return safe and whole the number they have received. You will understand what is said from the Savior’s own words, by which He addressed those very disciples and apostles, who, as towers, stood out and were distinguished from the rest of the building: *But the very hairs of your head are all numbered*. For He who raised them to such a height and established them as the towers of His Church, so that they might suffer no harm from their enemies, hands them over to greater guardians—namely, to the holy angels. ^B Hence, in the Acts of the Apostles, knowing that each of the Savior’s disciples is entrusted to certain angels, when the slave girl announced that it was Peter who had knocked at the door, the rest of the disciples said, *Might it be his angel?* Further, the Savior teaches about the little ones in the Church, saying, *For their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven*. Rightly, then, the present Word commands these same ones, saying: *Count her towers; and after that*, *Set your hearts upon her power, and distribute her houses*; but according to Symmachus: *Set your hearts upon her circuit; measure her palaces.* All these things the guardians of the Church are commanded to do. *For the angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear Him, and shall deliver them*. But what "houses" does He mean, if not those regarding which it was said earlier, *God is known in her houses, when He shall take hold of her*? We have already said that the "city of God" is understood as the entire pious polity established throughout the whole world, and by "houses," the individual churches set in various places. ^C Now, these individual houses are ordered to be distributed by the present Word. For He desires that individual angels be set as guardians of the individual churches entrusted to them. Afterward, He concludes in this manner: *That ye may tell it to another generation*. For it was the task of the angels to be able to recount the virtues of God through different generations. *And that this is the God, our God for ever and ever; He shall feed us for ever.* For you would be tutors and, as it were, guardians of the flock; but the shepherd of the sheep would be someone else. And who is this, if not He who said: *I am the good shepherd?*

TO THE END, FOR THE SONS OF KORE, A PSALM XLVIII.

It was necessary for the sons of Kore, who had set forth the former things in their time, and had announced the second things, and had, moreover, proclaimed the calling of the nations and had handed down the things concerning the Church of God, after all these things ^D to bear witness concerning the consummation of the present life and the divine judgment; in which God shall bring every creature into judgment, and we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God, that each one may receive the things done through the body, according to what he has done.

^A Necessarily, therefore, He calls all the nations to the hearing of what is to be said. For just as He exhorted the whole race of men to salvation, in the same way He also invites them all together to the instruction of the divine judgment, saying:

VERS. 2, 3. *Hear these things, all ye nations, give ear, all ye that inhabit the world; both those born of the earth and sons of men, together the rich and the poor.* Because some of the nations happen to be more savage, dwelling in deserts, while others pursue a civilized life and inhabit cultivated lands, it is necessary to use a distinction; and after having called them "nations" by a common name, He introduces a special order of those who "inhabit the world." Wherefore He says: *Give ear, all ye that inhabit the world*—or, according to Aquila and Symmachus, "ye that inhabit the lurking-place"; for thus He calls the cities, the villages, and the houses in which those who dwell within them hide themselves. ^B Next, He again divides the inhabitants of the earth, saying: *Both those born of the earth and sons of men*; since He admits to hearing not only the free, but also the servile class, or those who pursue a more rustic life as well as those who are otherwise well-born and deemed worthy of a liberal education; or certainly "those born of the earth" are those who have chosen to inhabit the desert, and "sons of men" are the more civilized ones. Symmachus interpreted this in this way: "Humanity, and in addition the sons of each man," so that by the former the whole race of men is signified in a general way, and by the latter each one is indicated individually.

VERS. 4, 5. *My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. I will incline my ear to a parable, I will open my problem on the psaltery.* These things can also be spoken by the apostles. He calls obscure sayings "parables." For the Lord, when speaking to the crowds parabolically, would afterwards explain these to the apostles at home. ^C Now, therefore, the choir, carrying the wisdom of God—which is Christ, for Christ was called the power of God and the wisdom of God—was saying: *My mouth shall speak wisdom.* For they were preaching Him to all men. And since they were instructed with a sharp mind, they understood all the parables of Christ before His own interpretation. Wherefore, when the Savior said after these things, *Have you understood all these things?* they say to Him, *Yes.* Their heart, therefore, was meditating on the understandings which they would open to those unable to follow, with the corporeal instrument ministering to the soul dwelling within. For this is what He took instead of a psaltery for the sounding forth of divine hymns through these things, each part being skillfully moved within it.

^D VERS. 6. *Why should I fear in the evil day? The iniquity of my heel shall encompass me.* If it is the person of the Lord who is speaking, you may discover His heel to be Judas, who was the last of the body and closer to the earth; the body

^A of the Lord are the apostles. I will not fear, therefore, the betrayal of Judas at the time of the cross. Since indeed no one is condemned for the iniquity of another, I have indicated that this is the heel of iniquity. No one is condemned for another’s wickedness. Yet I said that the inobedience of Adam is the iniquity of the heel, because the serpent has power against his heel.

VERS. 8, 9. *Brother does not redeem, shall man redeem? He shall not give to God his propitiation, and the price of the redemption of his soul.* You may understand this also in this way: neither brother shall redeem brother, nor friend friend; for each shall receive his own reward, and the fire shall test what each man’s work is. Nor shall any man give propitiation to God in that day on his own behalf, nor shall he deposit a price as if for his own redemption. Therefore, riches are useless, unless one is found in the present life to be a faithful and prudent steward, who distributes the measure of wheat to his fellow servants at the proper time. For he who has sown unto righteousness in this life shall then reap the fruits of life. For the redemption of a man, says the Wise Man, is his own riches. But those who do not pride themselves on riches or on the strength of the body, but spend their present life in labor, shall be deemed worthy of the promised life. For the phrase, *He labored into eternity*, Symmachus says: “But having rested in the age, such a one shall continue living into the age.” He who labors through the practical life shall live unto the end through knowledge.

VERS. 11, 12. *And they shall leave their riches to aliens, and their sepulchres are their houses into eternity.* Another says: They shall leave to others their riches that move the senses, their sensible riches, and those which they have recorded in writing. For they shall receive no profit from them on the day of judgment. For their soul shall be led away, bringing nothing else but the sepulchre—that is to say, the body and the corruption in which it is buried as if in a sepulchre. And in another way, no one shall derive any more from earthly possessions than a place for a grave, in which, having died, he shall lie as a corrupted corpse. But their tabernacles, in which they dwelt while they were yet alive, shall come to other, alien people, and shall be handed down from generation to generation.

VERS. 15. *As sheep they are laid in hell, death shall pasture them.* When he had spoken of the things that are to befall the impious before death, he now declares what they shall suffer once they have come into hell. For they shall be the cattle of death, pastured by it. According to Symmachus, however, “they have set themselves as the cattle of hell.” For they did not wish to ^D be placed under the good shepherd; and for this reason they have become the cattle of death—and He shall lead some into the eternal fire; others where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth; and others into the outer darkness. But for the phrase, *And their help shall grow old in hell from their glory*, Aquila says, “And their character [to destroy hell...*

* Prov. XIII, 8.

from his precious habitation].” For the character ^A which they fashioned for themselves, having obliterated from themselves the image and likeness of God, and having clothed their soul with the forms and shapes of irrational animals and creeping things through various modes of wickedness, shall be worn away in the habitation of Hades. According to Symmachus, *And their strength Hades shall make old from his precious habitation.* For that strength which they seemed to acquire for themselves through the wickedness innate in them, Hades shall make old in the habitations placed therein. And such is the end of the impious. But the pious at that time, gifted with the morning and new light, shall have dominion over the rising of the impious; or, according to Aquila, they shall rule; or, according to Symmachus, they shall subject them to themselves. For when the impious have humbled the upright here, He shall there deliver the soul so that it may not be carried away with the impious, ^B but be in other places and sheepfolds.

*Because his soul shall be blessed in his life, he shall confess to thee when thou dost good to him.* A righteous man blesses the Lord at all times; but a sinner confessing at that time blesses God when some good happens to him from God.

PSALM OF ASAPH XLIX.

Those inscribed to Asaph are all twelve in number. In the following ones, however, there are another eleven, which begin from the seventy-second, from which the present psalm was detached—and not without cause. But because the psalm before this one was discoursing concerning the judgment of God, and the present one is of similar argument, ^C it was reasonably given succession after this one. But it also overturns the legislation through Moses, and delivers the mode of the New Testament handed down to the nations. And this also happened in the psalms of the sons of Core; which themselves also happen to be twelve in number. But the eight preceding ones were arranged in sequence, from which were detached the remaining four, and set after the psalms of Asaph; perhaps because the psalms of Asaph all, so to speak, prophesied the rejection of Israel, and the dispersion unto all nations, after which the grace of God visited all the nations; whence the remaining psalms of the sons of Core succeeded them, foretelling the calling of all the nations.

*God of gods, the Lord hath spoken, and called the earth.* The other three translated: *The Mighty God having spoken hath called the earth.* But the Seventy called gods the princes and judges, which is proper to God alone. Wherefore in the eightieth psalm, after He had stated, *God stood in the congregation of gods, and in the midst he discerns the gods*, He added, *How long do you judge iniquity?* So also the law ordains: *Thou shalt not speak evil of gods, and the rulers of thy people thou shalt not speak ill of.* ^D Reasonably then would they be called gods who have kept the image [of God] in themselves; their God gathers the whole inhabited world to the judgment; He Himself being the Lord, the Word of God, having become man, spoke through the Gospel, and calls all, yet not all have obeyed the Gospel. But

^A those who have obeyed obtain the promised things; but to those who despise the grace, He threatens fire at His glorious coming, being about to come from the heavenly Zion, concerning which Paul says: "But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother"; and, "You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." The "beauty of splendor" is His glorious theophany; this is what the saying, "God shall come manifestly," indicates. In His first advent, therefore, while He was being judged by men, He was silent; and though He suffered so much, He did not take revenge, nor did He show His own divinity to all. But then, he says, He will come manifestly, and will not be silent. ^B And the fire going before His kingdom purges, consuming every matter capable of being burned, so that neither wood, nor hay, nor stubble may appear before His face. He will rebuke and at the same time approve, saying to some: "Come, you blessed of My Father," but to others: "Depart from Me." "Fire shall burn before Him." "I have come to cast fire upon the earth." Here he calls the doctrine of the Word of God fire: because fire indeed burns up wicked habits, but tests those who are pure. On account of this, "a mighty tempest [is] round about Him"; for "as many as wish to live godly in Christ shall suffer persecution," but He also says, "You shall have tribulation in the world."

^C VERS. 4, 5. He shall call the heaven from above, and the earth, to judge His people. Gather unto Him His saints, who have established His covenant with sacrifices. In another way, He declares the distinct judgment of the former people, calling heaven and earth, since, when He delivered the Law through Moses, He said: "I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today." And again in the great canticle: "Attend, O heaven, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words from my mouth." Wherefore Isaiah also says: "Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: I have begotten and exalted children, but they have rejected Me." Now also He will call these same ones as witnesses; and just as the Savior in the Gospels discerns His own fold, that is, those who are of the Church, setting the sheep on the right, but the goats on the left; in the same way the Lord Himself now also discerns His people. The Hebrew exemplar and the others say, "Gather to Me." For as it is said in the Gospels: "And He will send His angels, and they will gather all the nations"; so also now He commands the same. ^D He wishes the saints to be separated before the impious, inasmuch as they ought to obtain the promised things.

VERS. 13. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? The food of God is that concerning which He said: "I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me to drink," etc.; nourished by whom, I will say: "Inasmuch as you did it to one of these least, you did it to Me." One can, however, be offered as a sacrifice through divine words and thanksgiving; and since when anyone promises to God what is fitting, [and performs it] by deeds...

the Scripture calls these promises "vows," as when it says: "If you vow a vow, do not delay to pay it" (Deut. xxiii, 21). It is better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Just as, therefore, having sown for righteousness, hope that you will reap the fruit of life.

VERS. 16. "But to the sinner God said: 'Why do you declare My statutes, and take up My covenant through your mouth?'" The discourse has a transition from the order of the just to the order of the wicked. For the latter had something more, namely, the knowledge of the New Testament. He calls him a "sinner," not as one alien to the Scriptures, but as a transgressor. He rebukes him, not for a transgression concerning sabbaths or sacrifices or similar foods, but for the violation of the natural laws, the discipline of which, provided by God, he held to be foolish—for he cast these aside by sinning. For the natural law is this: not to do to anyone what we do not wish to suffer. Adulterers, therefore, are the impious idolaters, and thieves are those who steal the truth. ^B Sometimes, therefore, He says, "You were confident in malice," and at other times, "You were treacherously plotting, and pretending to speak sincerely and as if with brothers, while secretly speaking evil of them; you were lying in wait even for those born from the same mother as you, that is, from the Synagogue, or even from the Church; concerning whom I was silent when I assumed human nature." Or, in another way: "You were proceeding to worse things, despising My kindness, patience, and long-suffering; therefore, I will no longer endure it." For you were disposed as if you thought that I approved of your deeds, or that no one would remember them. But I, reproving you, will set all things before your eyes, so that, upon seeing them, you may be shamed.

TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID 50.

^A Your face from me, and I became troubled; having been taught by Your mercy: 'Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it have labored in vain.'"

VERS. 7. "Behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins my mother conceived me." These things would be similar to those found in Job: "Cursed be the day in which I was born, and the night in which they said: Behold, a male." Why then was it cursed, except because he was conceived in iniquities? For it was logical that a curse should follow sin. Jeremiah used the same words, saying: "Cursed be the day in which I was born, and the night in which my mother conceived me." For it would have been blessed not to have the first woman sin, and not to give effort to a corrupt offspring, but to remain in paradise, made like the divine angels; but by the envy of the devil, death entered the world. Moreover, generation through blood and flesh ministered to death, for the continuous succession of the mortal race. Wherefore, conception, as being subject to death, was accused by blessed men. But Symmachus says: "In injustice was I gestated, and in sins my mother brought me forth." Gestated, he says, was I in the womb, so that I might pass into injustice, and so that, being born in sins, I might be convicted according to this way of thinking. Not in my mother's iniquities, he says, was I conceived, nor in her own iniquities did she bring me forth; but I was born into injustice, clothed in mortal flesh; and I say these things, because You have loved truth. ^B

VERS. 9. "You shall sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed; You shall wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Hyssop is a symbol of the voiding of passions, and washing signifies knowledge: for through the voiding of passions we are cleansed, and through knowledge we are whitened.

VERS. 11. "Turn Your face away from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities." In another way, he who has a soul purged from an evil conscience might say to God: "Your face, O Lord, I will seek; do not turn Your face away from me." But he who beholds the foulness of his soul's wounds, hiding himself, rightly says to the great Judge: "Turn Your face away from my sins; but not from me myself, but as one who cures a sick man." ^C

VERS. 14. "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation." The distinction between that which is among the Hebrews as "of your salvation," which frequently occurs, and that of "the saving gift," is declared. For that, "Your saving gift," among them is written *Jesuach*, which clearly expresses the name of our Savior Jesus, for so everyone interprets it; but that of "your salvation" is *Isuach*.

VERS. 19. "A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; a heart that is contrite and humbled, God will not despise." Another said: "To the healthy, indeed, the sacrifice of praise is appropriate; but to the sick, the sacrifice of a contrite and ^D humbled heart."

^A Since my heart has become broken, according to Symmachus, I rightfully prayed to have a pure heart in me instead of a broken one; and for a contrite spirit, according to Symmachus, I said: "And a right spirit renew within my inward parts." A contrite spirit is one that breaks itself through confession; and the heart that humbles itself through repentance is similar. For God will accept such a heart, having become so after the swelling of sin, as a sacrifice.

^B VERSE 21. *Then you shall accept the sacrifice of righteousness, oblation, and whole burnt offerings.* But to this, one might say: why, after having just said, "For if you had desired a sacrifice, I would have given it," does he now say, as though God is about to accept a sacrifice after the restoration of the city, "Then you shall accept a sacrifice"? But he did not say simply "a sacrifice," but added "of righteousness." For when you favor Sion and the walls of Jerusalem are built, such a sacrifice shall be offered to you. For the religious polity may well bear an image of the heavenly city of God; wherefore the Church of God is also called by the same name, whose walls he says are the angels surrounding it, or those holy defenders of it. Symmachus, however, said "you shall accept" in place of "you shall be well pleased with." But one should understand the oblation and the whole burnt offerings as being of righteousness, and furthermore the calves. For all things that are rendered are of righteousness, in proportion to the unbloody and spiritual sacrifices which are offered in the Church of God throughout the whole world. ^C And indeed, it has been said to the Jews in another prophet: "My will is not in you, says the Lord Almighty, and I will not accept sacrifices from your hands. For from the rising of the sun even to its setting my name has been glorified among the nations; and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice." This is now called the sacrifice of righteousness; it is also that of praise, as he said above: "Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise."

1. ON THE END, CONCERNING DAVID.

The thirty-third Psalm was spoken by David when he changed his countenance before Abimelech, and he dismissed him, and he went away. ^D This one, however, according to the history, follows that one. For the Scripture of Kings says: "And there was there one of the servants of Saul on that day." And it signifies the time in which David came to the house of Abimelech and ate the loaves of proposition, having received them from the high priest. For at that very same time Doeg the Syrian, who pastured the mules of Saul, arrived and came to Saul and said: "I have seen the son of Jesse coming to Nob to Abimelech the son of Ahitub the priest, and all the sons of his father; and he inquired of the Lord for him, and gave him provisions." And the king sent to call Abimelech the priest, and

all the sons of his father, the priests of the Lord who were in Nob, and they all came to the king. ^A Since Saul had commanded it, that same Doeg put to death the priests of the Lord and the men carrying the ephod, and he struck the city of Nob of the priests with the edge of the sword, from man even to woman, from infant even to the nursing child, and calf and ass and sheep. When David learned that this had been done in such a manner, he brings forth the present words, which are written as neither an ode, nor a hymn, nor anything of the kind. For how, in the disaster of so many priests, was it possible or fitting to sing odes and psalms for them? Wherefore no such title is prefixed; only, it is said "to the end," and "of understanding," because the things held under "the end" announce good things, where he says: *But I am like a fruitful olive*, and what follows. But the sense of the words presented here requires understanding from God. ^B When, therefore, having come to Abimelech, he tasted the priestly food, having changed his taste or his manner, according to the interpretation of the others, he sent up blessings and thanksgivings to God, saying: *I will bless the Lord at all times, always is his praise in my mouth*, and the rest. But now, when he recognized the deed of the slanderer Doeg, and how he had slain so many priests, employing a diabolical work, he addresses the present words to him, saying: ^C *Why do you boast in malice, O mighty one? Your tongue has plotted iniquity all the day*, and injustice. And these things indeed were spoken long before the history of the fiftieth Psalm occurred. For while Saul was still living, and before David reigned, both the deed had been done and the words spoken. But after a long time, after the death of Saul and towards the final years of his reign, David brought forth the confession expressed in the fiftieth Psalm, which, however, he prefixed to this psalm, because of its affinity with the forty-ninth psalm, as has already been shown. But the psalms from the fifty-first to the seventieth, twenty in number, inscribed with David’s name, have taken their subject from another beginning, and they seem to have been spoken while Saul was still alive, before David reigned. For the one we are now treating was spoken while Saul was alive: *When Doeg the Edomite came and reported to Saul, saying: David came to the house of Abimelech*. But also the fifty-third was spoken then: *When the Ziphites came and said to Saul: Does not David lie hidden with us?* And the fifty-fifth is inscribed: *When the Philistines seized him in Gath*; which time was also before the reign of David, while Saul was still surviving in life. And the fifty-sixth has the title: *David, when he fled from the face of Saul into the cave*. Similarly also the fifty-eighth: *When Saul sent, it says, and watched his house to kill him*. But the fifty-ninth, even if it were spoken after the death of Saul,

^A already reigning, yet he himself also before the act committed regarding Uriah; which is indeed signified by the superscription, which declares the time, saying: *When he burned Mesopotamia of Syria and Syria of Zobah; and Joab returned and smote the Valley of Salt, twelve thousand*. These things, then, in time precede the confession made in the 50th Psalm. Furthermore, the 62nd Psalm was also spoken by David when he was in the wilderness of Idumea, while Saul was still alive. And observe how almost all in the second part of the Book of Psalms of David, except for the 50th, have included those things said by him long before the times of the act regarding Uriah. Indeed, the first part of the same book, from the first up to the 40th, possesses the opposite order; for that part contains those spoken after the confession of the 50th. ^B The third psalm, at any rate, was spoken by David when he was fleeing from the face of Absalom his son. He was fleeing from his son after the history of Uriah. But also in the 6th, on account of the same act, he was weeping, saying: *I have grown weary in my groaning; every night I will wash my bed, with my tears I will drench my couch*. And also the 7th, spoken *concerning the words of Chusi, the son of Jemini*, would be of the same times. For Chusi, having become a chief friend of David, had joined with Absalom. Furthermore, the 17th has also been shown to have been spoken around the last days of David's life. But also the 37th, inscribed *for remembrance*, having the same meaning as the 6th, begins from the same words, saying: *O Lord, do not rebuke me in your wrath, nor discipline me in your anger*. Proceeding, he performs ^C the same confession as that which is in the 50th, both in other places and by that which he says: *For my iniquities have risen above my head. My wounds have putrefied and decayed from the face of my foolishness*. And you, too, collecting it for yourself, would find most of the things in the first part of the Psalms spoken after the times of the history of Uriah, and those after the 50th in time preceding the act regarding Uriah. Why, then, are the ones first in time not ranked first according to the sequence of times, but those spoken while Saul was yet alive are in the second part of the Psalms, and those in the first are the ones that were later in time? I think that this order has been taken so that the discourse might not decline from the better to the worse; for the phrase, *Do not destroy for the end*, seems to have been observed also ^D upon the order of the Psalms. Therefore, the sadder things were placed first, that the better might be kept as second ones, with the worse being covered and made to disappear by the better things placed in the second position. And it is likely that David wished to cover the sin committed by him later by means of those former good works. And one might say, that

^A out of an extreme sense of piety he ordered his first confessions; since a just man is his own accuser in his first declaration. But since so many things have been set forth by us regarding the prescribed order, it is now time to proceed to the words set before us of the fiftieth Psalm.

He writes the assigned words, therefore, having learned what Doeg the Syrian had done in his calumnies against him. For this reason, he addresses him as if to his face, saying: *Why do you boast of malice, O mighty one?* or perhaps he is addressing the devil who worked within him. ^B For he was not ignorant of the one who was always opposed to him, and who warred against him constantly, sometimes through Saul, now through Doeg, and at other times in other ways through others. Now he who is weak, powerless, and of little account in malice, with better ways prevailing in him—for he is weaker in malice—will hide himself while sinning, and, being pricked by his conscience, he might repent, and seek out for himself a remedy for his own malice through confession and sincere repentance; but he who is mighty in malice is puffed up by it and boasts, as if exulting in some great achievement. And it seems to me that the present discourse describes a manner the opposite of that which is designated in the fiftieth Psalm concerning the one who confesses. For in that one, he who had once fallen into malice would eventually repent, and would beat his breast while confessing, and would weep for his own evil deeds. But to the one now being addressed, who abides in malice, he says:

VERS. 7-9. *And he shall pluck you out of your tabernacle, and he shall root you out of the land of the living forever; so that the righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, and say: Behold the man who did not set God as his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and grew strong in his calamity.* ^C These things are spoken as if concerning Doeg, who was a Syrian by race, but was living in the midst of Israel; and perhaps he even came into the tabernacle of God along with the multitude, pretending to be pious. These things are also spoken concerning every man who is mighty in malice, using his tongue instead of a sword for the destruction of souls, whom the Husbandman of souls shall pluck up like some bitter and destructive root, even if he seems for a brief period to have been planted in the tabernacle of God and in His Church. ^D And such a one, having been plucked out and cast far away from the tabernacle of the saints, will be a pitiable spectacle for the benefit and correction of those who see him; for they, having perceived with their own eyes the terrible judgment of God against such a man, will take care and will guard themselves against falling into similar states. Then, recalling to mind the former arrogance, loftiness, and pride of the one mighty in malice, and seeing the abasement and destruction that subsequently overtook him, they will deem him worthy of laughter, observing from what a height he has fallen; they will approve of the judgment of God, admitting it to be just. Following this, they will go through the causes for which he has suffered these things, declaring that the judgment of God is righteous. It was fitting that

the ungodly, justifying the judgment of God. For one ought not to grow proud over wealth, nor be lifted up by the vanity of the present life, but rather to place God alone as one's hope and helper, and not to waver in this hope. But he, having abandoned the good anchor of his own soul and having hung his hopes upon vain wealth, has mocked himself, gaining nothing more than ridicule for his vain and foolish boastfulness.

Verse 10. But I, like a fruit-bearing olive tree in the house of God, have hoped in the mercy of God forever and unto the age of ages.

^A attributing the cause of ^A all good things to the Administrator of them, saying: "I will confess to Thee for ever, because Thou hast done it." For I did not, he says, make myself as a fruit-bearing olive tree, but Thou hast made me; for grace is from Thee; wherefore I shall never cease to be mindful of grace toward Thee, and to confess to Thee. But having once hoped in the mercy of God, I shall await Thy name. For when good hope is present, there is need for patience. Wherefore, he says, I shall await Thy name, because it is good in the sight of Thy saints; or according to Symmachus, "Because Thy name is good in the sight of Thy saints." Having known, therefore, that it is good, and a producer of good things, not for those powerful in malice, nor for the abject among the living, but for the saints, ^B I shall justly await Thy name, ^B enjoying the good hope that I shall never fall away from Thy mercy. Thus, therefore, I have hoped in Him for eternity and for the age of the age.

4. TO THE END, FOR MAELETH, UNDERSTANDING FOR DAVID LII.

Verses 2-6. "The fool said in his heart: There is no God. They are corrupted and become abominable in iniquities, there is none that doeth good." The fiftieth psalm embraces the manner of confession of one who repents for the sins he has committed; but the one following it describes the madness of the man who is powerful in malice and of an ungodly character; and what kind of end overtook this man, as well as the former. For to him who boasted in his own evils it was said: "Therefore God will destroy thee forever, will pluck thee up, and remove thee out of thy tabernacle"; but from the person of the confessor, there is subjoined: "But I, as a fruitful olive tree in the house of God, have hoped in His mercy for ever." ^C But the present ^C passage is not a psalm, for it is not so inscribed; nor is it a canticle, nor anything of the kind, but it contains a prophecy of the salutary advent of God, which many prophets and righteous men desired to see. Being present, therefore, as if in the ruin of all men, and as if in a common shipwreck, he prays this: "Who shall give out of Sion the salvation of Israel? when the Lord shall turn away the captivity of His people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad." For when one, confessing and declaring one's own sins through the salutary advent of God, was about to obtain cleansing; when the ungodly and those powerful in malice among the ways of men could be healed by no other than the one Savior, who avails to heal the incurable diseases of the soul. And let these things be said concerning the sequence.

Observe, furthermore, that the present prophecy is borne twice in the book of Psalms: in the first part, in the thirteenth psalm; in the second, in the one we are now treating. For from beginning to end, the thirteenth psalm lies with almost the same words as the present one; ^D beginning with these words: ^D "The fool said in his heart: There is no God"; and ending with: "Who shall give out of Sion the salvation of Israel? when the Lord shall turn away the captivity of His people, [the….]

Jacob shall exult and Israel shall rejoice." ^A Small variations of words produce a difference in both. For in the heading of the thirteenth psalm it is said "unto the end, for David"; but the present one, while presenting the same sense, adds in addition, "for Maheleth, for intelligence." Aquila interpreted it as "concerning a choir," Symmachus as "for a choir," Theodotion as "concerning a choir," and the fifth edition likewise. It is called "for intelligence" necessarily, because we require intelligence to grasp what that choir is which is indicated in the title, and for what reason a prophecy once uttered in the thirteenth psalm is repeated here a second time.

Now, the phrase "unto the end," which is read in both, would signify the time at which those things which are prophesied are to reach fulfillment. For since at the consummation of the age, the Salvation of God, having appeared to men upon earth, established a choir gathered from all nations in His Church, for the hymns and glorification of His Father, the discourse rightly urges us toward an understanding of this choir. ^B And behold the paradox: he inscribes it "concerning a choir" or "for a choir," yet he introduces no good man upon earth, nor one doing kindness, not even one, saying next: "The Lord looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there were any that understood or sought after God. They are all gone aside, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

If, therefore, such things were the case among men, that no good man was to be found among the sons of men, why does the inscription signify that the psalm is said "for a choir"? But you will say that since all have gone aside, not even one remaining, and those who were on earth were corrupted and became abominable in their iniquities, the prophet rightly prayed in what follows, saying: "Who shall give out of Sion the salvation of Israel? When the Lord shall turn away the captivity of ^C His people, Jacob shall exult and Israel shall rejoice." For he foresaw by the foreknowledge of the prophetic Spirit that the captivity of the people was about to return and be freed from the dominion of enemies through that Salvation; and these things being accomplished, the choir of God was to consist of those very persons who had been freed from captivity.

Rightly, therefore, are these words referred "unto the end," and it is said "for Maheleth," that is, for a choir, as if it were explained more clearly: "for those who are to be freed from captivity"; wherefore it also refers us to intelligence. The prophecy is said to be "David's," because it was uttered by David himself; wherefore among the other interpreters it is inscribed as "David's." And it is possible to say that David himself prophesied: "But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God, I have hoped in the mercy of God," ^D knowing well that he would not attain to mercy in any other way than through that Salvation which was being prophesied. Wherefore in the fiftieth [psalm] he said: "Restore to me the joy of thy Salvation"; but in this one, "Who shall give out of Sion the Salvation of Israel?" He was indeed asking for the common good for himself

The thirteenth [Psalm] also has a great affinity with the preceding one, namely the twelfth. For after the same person in the twelfth asked and said, "How long, O Lord, wilt thou forget me unto the end? How long dost thou turn thy face from me?" and added certain things thereafter, he concludes thus: "But I have hoped in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy Salvation." And because in the twelfth he mentioned that Salvation, in the thirteenth he consequently asks: "Who shall give out of Sion the Salvation of Israel?"

On the Choreography of the Church and the Wickedness of Humanity before the Coming of Christ

^A The inscription, therefore, which requires much understanding, was said on behalf of the choir that was to be established among men through the Salvation; which was brought to pass in reality after the appearance of our Savior Jesus Christ, through whom one choir was established for God throughout the whole world, such as never had been seen before, namely the Catholic Church of God, founded upon the firm and immovable rock of the saving word. But the things said at the beginning of the prophecy introduce a kind of shipwreck of ^B all men who are on earth. For he says: "The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God. They are corrupt, and become abominable in iniquity: there is none that doeth good." The same things are likewise shown in the thirteenth [Psalm], especially according to the Hebrew language, in which the same words and the same letters are carried in both psalms, even if in our version they appear to prefer certain different terms. For instead of that, "They are corrupt, and become abominable in iniquity," the thirteenth [Psalm] has, "They are corrupt, and become abominable in their ways"; ^C and again instead of that, "There is none that doeth good," it holds, "There is none that doeth kindness"—for the diversity is carried only among the interpreters.

By these things, the word signifies that the common thoughts concerning God had utterly lapsed, and that an impious and irreligious sentiment had prevailed over all mankind before the appearance of our Savior. For when God had cast the good seeds of the knowledge of Himself into the common thoughts of men, such a subversion had seized every fool among men that he held an impious sentiment in his mind, and thought that there is not, nor has ^D there existed in the universe, any God. This man indeed was truly an atheist and utterly foolish, who would define that neither a providence overseeing all things, nor that universal mind, nor the substance exceeding all things and the Maker of all, existed. But the remaining men, delivering themselves over to the error of many divinities through idolatry, fell into the worship of no God in another mode of foolishness. They even extinguished those sound seeds about God sown within them and gave themselves over to the abomination of the idols of the dead, worshiping things that were of no value and truly execrable. Wherefore it is said: "They are corrupt, and become abominable in iniquity." Symmachus interpreted this more clearly with these words: "They are corrupt, and have practiced abomination with iniquity." For they practiced abomination

making those things which were not, as if they were, by fashioning idols along with the highest iniquity. For what other iniquity could there be worse than this, by which, while professing to be wise, they became fools and "changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things," ^A according to the holy Apostle?

Then, consequently, acting on their impious and perverse pursuits, they have fallen into every kind of wicked life. Wherefore it is subjoined next: "There is none that doeth good." God looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there were any that did understand, or seek God. "They are all gone aside, they are all together become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no, not one." The fool, indeed, deceived himself, saying in his heart that there is no God; and all the rest likewise became abominable, practicing abomination. But the true doctrine teaches that God and Lord, who is over all things, not only exists and encompasses all things, but also watches over and visits not only the general parts of the whole, but also the particular ones, and the sons of men ^B who pass their days upon the earth.

And since, while providing for the sons of men, he descends from his own magnitude, and as it were from the highest summit of his own supreme and all-transcending power, he lowers himself toward the judgment of men upon earth, investigating if there is anyone who understands the administration of his providence, and if there is anyone who, having put aside all the deceits of this life, has taken up the search for him. And because, when searching, he did not find any such person, because all had turned aside and together had become useless, so that he did not find one who did good, he justly threatens those who corrupted themselves, saying the following: "Shall not all the workers of iniquity know, who eat up my people as they eat bread? They have not called upon the Lord: there were they in great fear, where no fear was." Because ^C God, looking down from his own dwelling-place, that is, from heaven—where he is said to dwell because of those who attain his kingdom there—saw that all the sons of men had become unprofitable and had turned aside from the straight and right way, he justly, as a certain good shepherd caring for his flock existing among men, threatens the authors of the perversion, saying: "Shall not the workers of iniquity know, who eat up my people as they eat bread?" And it seems to me that these things are said regarding the opposing powers, the invisible enemies and foes of the human race. For these made the human race their own food, as savage beasts devouring their souls, according to what is said in the prophecies: "Who eat up my people as with a whole mouth." ^D These, then, he says, as those who do not set God before their eyes, have now done these things against the people and against my rational flock among men. Shall not

^A therefore, those who continue to do these things until the end, be called to account? Let it be that now they have not called upon God, acting in ways contrary and hostile to God; shall they not at some time know the retribution that is to come upon them? And truly, there shall be a time in which they will tremble with fear. And what time would that be, if not when, ^B following the illumination of the Savior, fear will no longer beset my sheep, but the dreadful beasts and those hidden and invisible demons will be seized by fear in that place where there will be no place for fearing? For then, while for those who are worthy of good things there will be no fear, upon those who are now rising up against my people shall fall the fear of the wrath that is to come upon them, which, when it arrives, will scatter the bones of those who please men; at which they shall also be put to shame, since then the Judge of all will count them as nothing. Regarding the phrase, "For God has scattered the bones of those who please men," Symmachus interpreted it in this way: "For God will scatter the bones of those who encamp around you; you shall be put to shame, because God has rejected them." And Aquila adheres to the same sense, saying: "For God has scattered the bones of those who have encamped against you; you were put to shame, because God has cast them away." The meaning of the discourse ^C shows that the powers of the aforementioned plotters against the people—that is, of those invisible enemies and hidden foes—are to be destroyed. For "the bones" of the enemies being scattered would be the powers of their malice, which the Word threatens that God will scatter at the appointed time. For then they shall also be put to shame, when God rejects and despises them, proving them to be nothing. Deservedly did the Word of God, the guardian of men, utter these threats; for having looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, and having searched among them to see if there were any who understood or sought after God, He found none; but He caught them all having turned aside from the plots of the enemies and having become useless, so that not even one was left who was a doer of good works. The initial verses, then, the thirteenth Psalm contains likewise; but the following ones differ. For in the thirteenth, there is joined to these the following: "For God is in a righteous generation; you have confounded the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his hope"; whereas here, "For God has scattered the bones of those who please men, they were put to shame because God despised them." But those things which concern the thirteenth Psalm have been provided with their own interpretation in their proper places. As for the things now being discussed, the manner in which we have explained them is clear to every reader. ^D

VERS. 7. Quis dabit ex Sion Salutare Israel? cum converterit Deus captivitatem plebis suæ, exsultabit Jacob et lætabitur Israel. Since the Prophet, from the revelation of the Holy Spirit, had conceived great things in his mind regarding the destruction of the enemies of the human race, he then added that phrase, "Who shall give from Sion salvation?" as if he were saying: "Who shall grant that these things now be fulfilled in deed?" For in no other way will liberation from evils be ratified for the sons of men, except through the sole advent of the Savior God, [about whom…]

much is spoken throughout all the Scriptures. ^A He prays therefore, saying: "Who shall give out of Sion the salvation of Israel?" We have frequently said that Christ of God, our Savior and Lord, is called by this name in the prophecies; for they are accustomed to call him "Salvation," which they proclaimed would be known to all nations, both in other passages and in this saying: "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name; proclaim his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations." And again: "Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. The Lord has made known his salvation; in the sight of the nations he has revealed his righteousness." And Isaiah says: "The Lord shall reveal his holy arm in the sight of all the nations," and so forth. And we have already often set forth the fulfillment of these words, confirmed by the testimony of Simeon, who, when he took our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ into his arms while he was still an infant, cried out, saying: "Now you dismiss your servant, O Lord, according to your word, in peace; because my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples."

^C But these things were indeed fulfilled in the Gospels. The ancient prophets, however, foreseeing what was to come by the Spirit, and being seized with desire and love for those good things, cried out in their prayers, sometimes uttering this: "Show us, O Lord, your mercy, and grant us your salvation," and sometimes saying in prayer: "Who shall give out of Sion the salvation of Israel?" For what was to happen after the advent of the Savior, the text subsequently explains, saying: "When the Lord shall turn again the captivity of his people, Jacob shall be glad, and Israel shall rejoice." Do you see how, upon the advent of the Savior, he prophesies that there will be a conversion of the captivity, according to that saving voice which is spoken in the prophet from his own person: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to preach the gospel to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind"? This prophecy the Savior himself, taking it in the synagogue of the Jews and reading the passage, confirmed, saying: ^D "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears." Therefore, when the captivity has been released, choirs are hereafter formed from it, sending up hymns to the King who has set them free. "Then Jacob shall be glad, and Israel shall rejoice." Then—when else, if not at the time of the mentioned liberty of the people of God, such that you understand one people to be the one liberated, and others those who rejoice at his salvation? For this is what the meaning suggests when the text says: "When God shall turn again the captivity of his people," and so forth. For these will rejoice when the Lord turns again the captivity of his people. Thus he declares these two orders.

the one of those who have not fallen into captivity, and the other of those who, having fallen into it, have obtained freedom through the Savior. You will affirm, therefore, that the prophets of old and the just, the patriarchs, and all who have remained pure from the error of idolatry, are those who have not fallen into capture by the spiritual enemies; but that those from the nations who have turned aside into godlessness, and those who have been enslaved by the error of polytheism, or even those from the circumcision who have been sold to their own sins, and in short, all who were previously described when it was said, "The fool said in his heart: There is no God; they are corrupt and have become abominable in iniquity," are those who have suffered captivity. When these are delivered through the saving advent, the prophetic choir—which has long since rested in God, and which is properly named Jacob and Israel because of the things signified by these names—will exult and rejoice, congratulating through its own members those who have obtained liberty through the Savior.

TO THE END, IN HYMNS, A POEM OF UNDERSTANDING BY DAVID, WHEN THE ZIPHITES CAME AND SAID UNTO SAUL: DOTH NOT DAVID HIDE HIMSELF WITH US? LIII.

^C VERSES 3, 4. Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me in thy strength. Just as it was shown that the psalms in the first part of the book were pronounced after the fall involving the wife of Uriah, by the title placed before each one; so now, too, the inscriptions of the individual psalms bear the mark of the time in which they were spoken. For instance, the present one immediately sends us back to the first book of Kings, so that we might learn from there the circumstances under which David sent forth this hymn presently before us. The history is as follows: David was dwelling in the wilderness of Masedec in the ^D straits, and was staying on the mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. Then, as Jonathan, son of Saul, came to him and said to him: "Fear not, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt reign over Israel, and I shall be unto thee as second, and Saul my father knows this." And they both struck a covenant before the Lord, and David remained, and Jonathan went away to his house. To which it is added thereafter: "And the Ziphites went up from the arid place to Saul onto the hill, saying: Doth not David hide himself with us in Mesara in the straits, in the new?" Having learned this, Saul turned to the pursuit of David. And he was already close to taking him captive; for it is written: "And Saul heard and pursued after David into the wilderness of Maon. And Saul and his men were going along the side of the mountain; and David was managing to go from the face of Saul; and Saul and his men were camping against David and his men, to take them." And a messenger came to Saul saying: "Hasten and come, for the strangers have fallen upon the land!" And Saul returned, desisting from pursuing David, and marched to meet the strangers. These are the things which the history

^A presents. Having been saved from the hand of Saul for these reasons, David committed this hymn to writing, noting by the inscription the time and the very matter itself. Wherefore he provokes us to an understanding of the affair which is narrated, saying: "To the end, in hymns, understanding of David." According to Aquila, however: "To the victory-maker, in psalms, of knowing David"; according to Symmachus: "A triumphal song, through psalteries, of the understanding of David." Because, while fleeing and traversing the desert, he carried with him the instrument of the psalter as a protection, making use of it and sending up to God hymns through it; paying out spiritual songs and psalms instead of sacrifice, and instead of sweet-smelling incense, performing a spiritual ministry through prayers.

When the Ziphites came, therefore, and said to ^B Saul: "Lo, is not David hidden with us?" When David learned this, either by a revelation of the prophetic spirit or from some one of those accustomed to convey such reports, having immediately taken the psalter in his hands, he offered through it a rational sacrifice to God, saying the things set before us, by which he asks to be saved by God, not otherwise than through His name; wherefore he says: "O God, in thy name save me." For he knew that there is a certain name which is above every name. For just as in incantations against venomous serpents there are certain words and names of such demonstrated power that they lull to sleep or even kill the most fearsome of reptiles, in the same way he knew that the name which is above every name was indeed saving for those who are worthy of salvation, and put to flight ^C enemy and opposing powers. He wished, therefore, to be saved in the name of God, and he did not wish it without examination, but if he were found worthy of salvation. Wherefore he adds: "And in thy power thou shalt judge for me"; or according to the other translators, "thou shalt do me justice." For he first asks to be judged and for justice to be done for him against those who drive him or who have slandered him; then, if he should appear to be treated unjustly, to obtain vengeance from the judge, who would attack those who do the injustice. Having said these things, he adds, saying: "O God, hearken to my prayer, give ear to the words of my mouth," as if making a plea before the judge of himself and those who do him injustice. And in order that the matters of his plea may be accepted, he sends up the prayer which he also asks to be heard, saying: "O God, hearken," and the rest. And what the prayer desired, and what plea it contained, he sets forth next by saying:

"For strangers have risen up against me, and the strong have sought my soul, and they have not set God before them." These were the things of his plea. And behold how he does not extend the words ^D into a long discourse, but as one reasoning with God who knows all things, he makes a reminder to Him alone, passing over the long explanation of the affairs in silence. But does he perhaps imply by the "strangers" the Ziphites, who

^A had accused him before Saul? But as for the "mighty" who sought his soul—men who did not set God before their sight—they pursued one who had done them no injury, deceiving themselves with the thought that they could inflict any evil upon him against the will of God. This, indeed, was the mark of men who had not set God before them.

^B These things, says the Apostle, were written for our admonition, that we might become imitators of the saints if ever we should fall into similar circumstances. For there is never a time when all who wish to live piously are not persecuted, and are not hated with an unjust hatred by those who have chosen a contrary way of life. And indeed, these things are necessary for our instruction, that we too, like an incantation, might use these same words, sending them up to God whenever, having fallen into the hands of our enemies, we are attacked by their snares and calumnies and are in danger; being persuaded that the words of prayer will not be useless, but will be of great assistance to us, as indeed they were to those who first prayed them. Thus, having prayed these things, David immediately found God propitious and was deemed worthy of His aid. For when it was near that he should be captured and delivered into the hands of Saul, he was unexpectedly saved by God, when a messenger drew Saul away to other business, according to the history already narrated. Wherefore he says later: *For behold, God helps me; the Lord is the upholder of my soul.* ^C *He shall turn back the evil upon my enemies, and in thy truth destroy them.* "Diapsalma." The diapsalma signified a change in the train of thought. For the former words were sent up to God as if in prayer; but the latter ones he adds prophetically, foretelling salvation for the one who prayed, but destruction for the enemies from whose hands he had begged to be rescued. These things, therefore, he prophesies by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in these words signifying what concerned himself: *For behold, God helps me; the Lord is the upholder of my soul.* But as to what pertains to his enemies—namely, the Ziphites who had slandered him to Saul, or even certain spiritual and invisible foes who envied his progress according to God and for this reason conspired against him—he expresses this in the words: *He shall turn back the evil upon my enemies, and in thy truth destroy them.* According to Symmachus: *He shall render,* he says, *evil to those who take away my walls; in thy truth make them silent.* And see whether these things do not agree with the history. ^D For the Ziphites, while he wished to be hidden among them, as if stripping him naked and taking away the walls of his defense, were slandering him before Saul, using diabolical words against him; wherefore he quite rightly indicated them with these words: *He shall render evil to those who take away my walls, and in thy truth make them silent.* For silence is good for them, so that they might not use such calumnies against me. And with great appropriateness he called God the "upholder," or "support" (according to Symmachus), of his own soul. Since, as I said above, the mighty were seeking his soul, that neither...

by choosing to plot against his body as much as against his soul, it is natural that he should name the Lord the upholder of his soul. For he cared nothing for the body, nor for external things, nor for this temporary life, but only for his soul.

"I will freely sacrifice to thee; I will confess to thy name, O Lord, for it is good." Having sent up prayer and supplication to God with his first words, and having set forth his defense, in the second part, filled with the Spirit, he prophesies both the things that were to happen to himself and the things that were to befall his enemies. Then, logically, in the third part, he promises to fulfill ^B sacrifices and thanksgivings to God for the good things he had received. For, as one who had been saved and delivered from the plotting of his enemies, and who had not only witnessed the destruction of his enemies, he promises to sacrifice and confess to the name of the Lord; and he predicts these things, prophesying them before the outcome of the events. For when the Ziphites came to Saul and said, "Behold, David is hidden among us," when the history recorded the commencement of these things and the Ziphites were still slandering him, then he himself prophesies the end of the matters, anticipating as if they had already happened what would occur later. Wherefore he says, "For thou hast delivered me out of all my tribulation, and mine eye has looked down upon my enemies." For although these things happened later, yet by the foreknowledge of the Holy Spirit he declares them as if they had already occurred, and he gives thanks for them, and promises that he will sacrifice and confess to the Lord, saying, "I will freely sacrifice to thee." But Aquila says, "I will sacrifice to thee with willingness." Since, being homeless, cityless, and without a hearth, he was spending his time in the deserts, he devised a new manner of sacrifice. And what was this? "With willingness," he says, "I will sacrifice to thee." For willingness and purpose suffice, through which I will send up the sacrifice to thee. For he was not unaware that God rejects sacrifices through blood and the slaughter of animals, and welcomes the rational sacrifice—that of praise—as he had already learned, "Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay thy vows to the Most High." This, then, he says, "I will freely sacrifice to thee," a sacrifice by offering to thee the very willingness that is in me, my will and my purpose, and by offering to thee thanksgiving itself instead of a sacrifice. Wherefore he adds next, saying, "I will confess to thy name, O Lord, for it is good"—confession most clearly being accepted on this occasion for thanksgiving. For because he had been delivered from all tribulation, and his eye had looked down upon his enemies, for these things he sends up thanksgiving and promises that he will render the sacrifices of willingness to God. ^{C D}

TO THE END, IN HYMNS, AN INSTRUCTION FOR DAVID, FIFTY-FOURTH.

"Give ear, O God, to my prayer, and despise not my supplication." As for the history...

^A of these things, it would seem that what is set before us was spoken by David at the times when he was fleeing from the face of Saul, spending his time in the deserts. Accordingly, he says further on: "Lo, I have wandered far in flight, and lodged in the wilderness." And since Saul, together with his ministers, was plotting against him even to the point of death, he might well have said in his own person: "I was grieved in my meditation, and troubled at the voice of the enemy, and at the tribulation of the sinner." "For they turned iniquity upon me, and in anger they were troublesome to me." Now, to apply these things to the person of David is not difficult; but the following verses are not so, in which he adds: "For I saw iniquity and contradiction in the city day and night; round about it upon its walls, and iniquity and labor in the midst of it. And usury and guile did not fail from its streets. For if an enemy had insulted me, I would have endured it," and so on. For what city does he mean to signify, in which he has seen these things which he says he beheld? No one could tell ^B from the history. And who is this person to whom he addresses himself, saying: "But you, O man of like soul, my guide and my acquaintance, who together with me did sweeten my meals?" For if, he says, I had suffered these things at the hands of an enemy, or if someone who confessed to having hatred for me had done these things, it would be nothing surprising. But as it is, he was neither hostile nor an enemy to me, but an associate and a friend—nay, a man of like soul—appointed by me as a leader, deemed worthy of a common table, and one who, perhaps, had entered into the house of God with me and shared in my prayer. Have you dared to attempt such things against me? Now, that David should say these things in his own person, I do not see on what grounds this could stand. For Saul was neither of like soul nor a friend to him, or, according to Symmachus, he was not "of one custom." How could there be a similarity of character in the lives of two men who differed from each other so greatly? But Saul was never a man of like soul to David, nor is it ever recorded in history that they walked in the house ^C of God in harmony. Rather, it is evident that Saul was always the known enemy of David; therefore, he quite rightly fled from him and hid himself, guarding against him as a manifest enemy. Moreover, neither do the things narrated concerning the aforementioned city accord with the history of David. For in what city did he see, as he says, iniquity and contradiction—day and night, moreover—and toil, and pain, and injustice, and usury never failing from its streets? For the city of Saul was said to be Ramah, and his residence was Gibeah, since Jerusalem had not yet been brought under Israel, but still belonged to the foreigners. As for the fact that David seems to imprecate curses, saying: "Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into Hades," ^D what harmony could this have with the noble renown of that celebrated virtue of his, concerning which it is recorded that he said: "If I have repaid those who render me evil, may I then fall from my enemies empty-handed"? For to pray for such curses against enemies would not be the act of long-suffering David, who, always holding Saul in honor and high esteem, would not even dare to lay hands upon him, even when he had him at times under his power.

^A His words have been softened more than oil, and yet they are darts. Who could one point to as having done these things to David? From all these things, I believe that the preceding words have no place being referred to the person of David; rather, I believe they were spoken by a prophetic power and were fulfilled solely in our Savior and Lord. This happened when the rulers of the Jewish nation, having gathered together in Jerusalem, held a council and deliberation on how to destroy Him. In this, some indeed voted for His death, while others opposed it, like Nicodemus, who said, “Does our law judge a man unless it first hears from him?” Thus, the Holy Spirit prophetically foretold these things through the preceding words, saying, “For I have seen iniquity and contradiction in the city day and night.” Furthermore, the scripture of the Gospel clearly bears witness to the prophecy, applying to the traitor Judas the passage: “If my enemy had reviled me, I would have endured it, and if he who hated me had spoken boastfully against me, I would perhaps have hidden myself from him. But you, O man of one soul with me,” and so forth. Since, therefore, the sequence of the words is proven to be fulfilled in no other way than by the crimes committed against the Savior, and the testimony of the evangelical citation refers the aforementioned part of the reading to the traitor, it would be consistent for us also to take this prophecy regarding the time of the Savior’s passion and to show that each of the things contained therein found their end at the time of the plot against our Savior. ^B Therefore, the words of the inscription stimulate us now to an understanding of what is contained herein, and refer us to the end, because these things have been fulfilled in actual deeds at the consummation of the age. It is said, “in hymns,” or, according to Aquila, “in psalms,” or, according to Symmachus, “by psalteries,” because the end of the Savior’s passion, through the resurrection and the salvation of those redeemed through it, is celebrated with hymns, psalteries, and canticles. ^C And these, indeed, are the things regarding the inscription.

As for what concerns the prophecy, he asks God to give ear to the speaker, and this is the first thing he entreats Him to grant; second, to acknowledge the petition and supplication sent up through prayer, and not to disregard it; and third, to look upon the condition of the one sending up the prayer, and thus to vouchsafe to grant him His hearing. Therefore, he adds: “Attend to me and hear me.” For when the one sending up the prayer shows himself to God, he entreats Him and says to God, “Attend to me,” and then he sets forth his own condition, saying, “I was grieved in my meditation, and I was troubled by the voice of the enemy and by the tribulation of the sinner.” For he reveals his own grief and trouble to God, and what he calls meditation, as being worthy of His vision. Wherefore, he says, “Attend to these things: how I was grieved, how I was troubled, and how I was filled with meditation; and having accepted these things, hear me.” These things, furthermore, the prophet, inspired by the Divine Spirit, says concerning the ^D future resurrection and his salvation.

^A For he saw the deeds that were to be boldly perpetrated by the Jews against the Son of God, as if they were already present; and being confused and troubled by these, and filled with grief and helplessness—which he termed “worry”—he continued on. He was grieved and troubled, indeed, and he was anxious, feeling helpless and at a loss regarding those bold deeds which he would recount a little later, saying: “I have seen iniquity and contradiction in the city,” and what follows. These things, which would later come to pass in reality, the prophet, foreseeing by the Holy Spirit, was grieved and troubled and anxious, being filled with despondency at those who dared such things. Wherefore, he also entreats God to be the overseer of his own state, saying: “O God, give ear unto my prayer, and despise not my supplication; hearken unto me and hear me.”

Placed in such a state of affairs, he then prayed, saying: “Overwhelm, O Lord, and divide their tongues.” By this he besought that their conspiracy against the Savior be scattered, and that their haughtiness and the swelling of their arrogance be brought low, so that he might not be worn down, and their evils might not increase. Since, furthermore, he was asking for things consistent with reason, he supplicated that he might not be despised; but he was also filled with grief, perturbation, and worry, saying: “At the voice of the enemy and from the tribulation of the sinner,” meaning the enemy and the sinful people. For those who dared such things caused tribulation to the prophetic spirit. Then he adds later: “For they turned iniquity against me, and in anger they were hostile to me,” taking to himself the things that were dared against the Savior. ^B And from the person of the Savior, these things—and others—can also be spoken: “For they turned iniquity against me, and in anger they were hostile to me,” or, according to Symmachus: “For they inscribed impiety against me, and were contrary to me in anger. My heart was troubled within me, and the fear of death fell upon me,” and the rest. The prophet confesses that he suffered all these things because he had foreseen by the prophetic spirit the aforementioned city filled with iniquity and contradiction, and toil, and pain, and injustice; and that familiar friend of our Savior, who had turned into his enemy and adversary. For by these things he declares to God his own compassion, and the reasonable perturbation he was suffering, of which he said above: “I was grieved in my worry, and was troubled”; and now again: “My heart was troubled within me.” But according to Aquila, ^C he says: “My heart travailed within my bowels”; and according to Symmachus: “My heart was agitated within me.” But also, “the fear of death fell upon him,” that is, of the saving death, on account of which the prophet was filled with fear—moved by human reasoning—or of the death of those souls that were to perish because of such bold deeds. But also, fear and trembling, because of the excess of his piety, fell upon the prophet as he saw the Beloved of God suffering such things at the hands of the impious. Darkness also covered him, or, according to Aquila, a “whirlwind”; or, according to Symmachus, “horror,” inasmuch as he was seeing things horrible and worthy of darkness enacted against the Savior. You may understand these words, moreover, by the example of those things which happen to us in dreams. For usually, those who are dreaming,

^A and seeing certain fearful things—either beasts pursuing them, or reptiles, or enemies attacking them—we are troubled in our soul and are beside ourselves, filled with trembling, anxiety, and sweat. In the same manner, I think, the soul of the prophet, perceiving by the light of the prophetic spirit, stamped upon the eyes of his mind, the vision of events not yet present but about to come to pass, was troubled, and was filled with fear, and timidity, and trembling because of the excess of the evils he beheld. Then, as if caught in the middle by those committing these deeds, having no escape, and nowhere to turn himself to be outside of these evils, he prays to be lifted on high and to escape through the air like a bird. For this reason he adds:

*And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly away and be at rest?* For he was asking for the wings of an innocent dove to escape and fly away, so that he might flee from the evils. Therefore, he was saying above for this reason: *Hearken, O God, to my prayer*, so that he might obtain the wings of a dove and fly away; for only in this way, and in no other, was he able to be far from the city of the impious. ^B According to Symmachus: *And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, to fly away and be settled? I would have made my departure far off, I would have lodged in the wilderness. I would have made my escape suddenly, from a spirit that lifts up.* For he says: I would have made my departure far off if I had obtained wings, fleeing from those who were daring to commit the aforementioned deeds, and I preferred the wilderness more than the aforementioned city. And thus, being in the wilderness, I would have awaited Him who saves me from the faint-heartedness that was invading me, and from the storm that had overtaken me. *Cast down, O Lord, and divide their tongues*, and so forth. He reveals the reason why he prayed to obtain wings, so that he might fly away and flee, and why he chose to dwell in the wilderness rather than the aforementioned city, teaching through the things set forth by saying: Since I saw by the foreknowledge of the prophetic spirit that such and such things would be done in the city, for this reason I reasoned that I should flee from here away from the multitude of evils. For I see the first impiety of those who inhabited the aforementioned city as coming from their tongue. ^C For all, having conspired together in evil, sharpened their tongues against the Son of God; therefore, not bearing this wicked and impious conspiracy of theirs, I pray, saying: "O Lord, cast down and divide their tongues." Or, according to Symmachus: "Make them to be sunk, O Master, and make their tongue discordant." For discord would be much better than a wicked conspiracy, as it renders malice more feeble and weaker. This, then, was the first of their evils. For the leaders of the nation, the teachers of the law, and the chief priests, and the remaining rulers of the people, approaching Him deceitfully, dared to tempt Him, ^D and were lying in wait for an occasion, and weaving snares against Him. Which another psalm also hinted at, speaking such things from his person: *Many bulls have compassed me, fat bulls have beset me.*

They opened their mouth against me as a lion ravaging and roaring. ^A For there, too, he hinted at the rulers of the people; wherefore, again, he made mention of their mouth because of the plots and schemes against Him.

And the Gospels record just what kind of cries the whole people of the Jews uttered against Him before Pontius Pilate. This is also represented in that psalm which says: *For many dogs have compassed me, the congregation of the wicked hath beset me.* And all these things were performed in the aforementioned city; wherefore it is said in what is set before us: *Cast down, O Lord, and divide their tongues.* Then he adds: *For I saw iniquity and contradiction in the city; day and night it shall compass it about,* and the rest; for which Symmachus interpreted it this way: *For I beheld violent iniquity and injustice in the city, day and night compassing its walls, sorrow and misery within it, abuses within it, damage and assault inseparable from its streets.* ^B Now the works of iniquity were the outrages dared against the Savior, and truly violent injustice. For instead of loving me, he says, they slandered me; and they set evils against me for good, and hatred for my love. And there was contradiction among them, and injustice, as many witnesses came forward against Him and said nothing true or consistent. And these things were done not by day only, but also by night. For thus Peter also denies Him by night, when Judas approached with lanterns and torches. But it was also night when they led Him away, at one time to Annas, at another to Caiaphas, dishonoring Him with all sorts of insults. But when it was morning, they bound Him and led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate, and carried out the matters concerning the Passion. ^C All of which the prophet, foreseeing by the Spirit, proclaimed, saying: *For I saw iniquity and contradictions in the city day and night compassing it,* according to Symmachus. And these things were indeed in the city; but around its walls was iniquity and labor, or, according to Symmachus, *sorrow and misery.* And he signifies the things done outside the city, when they led Him out and brought Him to the place called Golgotha. And the things that were done outside were of such a nature, truly full of sorrow and misery; but again, as for the things inside it, he says he saw them full of abuses, ^D and damage and assault; and injustice was in the midst of it, and usury and deceit did not fail from its streets; for which Aquila interpreted *debt and assault*, but Symmachus, *damage and assault*. For they were filled with every kind of evil, they who wove the plot against our Savior.

VERS. 13-15. *For if an enemy had reviled me, I would have endured it; and if he who hated me had spoken great things against me, I would perhaps have hidden myself from him. But thou, O man of like mind, my guide and my acquaintance, who didst partake of me

nas to me as food, in the house of God we walked in harmony. ^A Applying to his own person the things that would be dared against our Savior, the Prophet reasonably said that he had been troubled and filled with the fear of death. For most of all, he says, the whole city was filled with lawlessness and contradiction, not by day only, but also by night; and the things outside the city, around its walls, were full of lawlessness, and pain, and misery; nay more, the souls of all of them were also filled with loss and assault. But the worst of all is that even one of those who were my peers in soul, and who were very well known and familiar to me, played the wanton against me in such a way that it is unbearable and not to be endured. For the things coming from enemies and those who admit that they are openly opposed and full of hatred could perhaps be endured, because it is possible to be on guard against enemies and to hide oneself from them, and not to consider the reproaches of enemies as anything strange. But when a friend who is a peer in soul—when one who has been deemed worthy by me of honor and selection, when a disciple who shared my table, when one who has often entered with me into the house of God, and has prayed with me, and has partaken of the mystical food, and has shared in the secret words concerning the kingdom of heaven—when such a one acts against me in this way, these things could no longer be endured. And these things, following ^B after the things previously stated concerning what was dared in the city, were prophesied specifically concerning the betrayer Judas. Symmachus interpreted this way of these things themselves: "For it is not an enemy who has reviled me, that I might bear it; nor through hatred for me did he magnify an assault upon me, that I might hide from him. But you, man, peer to me in character, familiar and known to me, with whom we shared sweet conversation; in the house of God we walked, living together."

^C VERS. 16. Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into Hades; for wickedness is in their dwellings, in their midst. It has already been demonstrated to us many times, even through the preceding parts, that it is the custom of divine Scripture to express future events in the imperative mood; here, therefore, instead of "Death shall come upon them, and they shall go down alive into Hades," the things set before us are stated in the imperative mood. The Holy Spirit prophesies the things that will happen to those who have dared the things aforementioned. Aquila certainly interpreted more correctly by saying, "He will bring death upon them." And who will bring death upon them if not their own works? For these will be for them the cause of death rather than He who judged them worthy of death because of their impious deeds. But the death that invades the impious is not to be thought of as the common one; for that one has come upon all the just as well, who even after the common death live before God; just as the Savior taught, saying: "God of Abraham, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, is not the God of the dead, but of the living"; and the death of souls is also made clear by Ezekiel, who says: "The soul that sins, it shall die." Since, therefore, those of whom we spoke above, ^D

^A have separated themselves from life, and our Savior was life—for "what was made in Him was life, and the life was the light of men"—rightly, having cut themselves off from Him, were they delivered over to the death of the soul; not in such a way that it is destroyed and vanished into non-existence, but in such a way that, while possessing a living and immortal essence, it passes its existence in that death which has been spoken of. Therefore it is said: "And let them go down alive into Hades." He did not signify the destruction of souls by saying, "Let death come upon them," but their separation from the life which is according to God, and their dwelling in Hades. Or perhaps they went down into Hades alive in another way, by sinning against knowledge, and knowing indeed that the Savior is the Christ of God, but pretending that He was not? ^B Wherefore He foretells that they, like those around Dathan and Abiron, would be swallowed up and would go down alive into Hades. But instead of "Wickedness is in their habitation, in their midst"—for the gatherings and the councils against the Savior were wicked—Aquila says: "For wickedness is in their company." Since, therefore, they did not assemble for a good purpose, but held wicked gatherings and councils, He rightly prophesied what end would overtake them.

VERSES 17-20. "I cried unto God, and the Lord saved me," and the rest. Even if, he says, by the prophetic Spirit illuminating me, I foresaw the iniquity that was to come to pass in the aforementioned city, and was exceedingly grieved in my exercise ^C and troubled; nevertheless, having looked upon the end and outcome of events, I know well that by crying unto God I shall not be forsaken, but shall attain salvation, with the grace of the common Savior reaching even unto me. The Prophet says these things according to the Seventy, explaining what was to be as if it were past; wherefore it is said: "I cried unto God, and the Lord saved me." But according to the other interpreters, he prophesies these things as future. Indeed, Aquila says: "I will call unto God, and the Lord will save me," and Theodotion: "I shall cry unto God, and the Lord will save me." For such things being about to be perpetrated against the Savior, I, who formerly said, "My heart is troubled within me, and the fear of death fell upon me: fear and trembling came upon me, and darkness covered me," having suffered these things because of the vision of the things revealed to me, I cried unto God. And He, not despising me, ^D deemed it worthy to make these things manifest to me; just as He had previously shown the more grievous things, so He now presented the more joyful ones—I mean the resurrection of the Savior and His glory with the Father. And seeing these things, I was saved; wherefore I say: "I cried unto God, and the Lord saved me." And being saved, I no longer am quiet, nor can I hold my peace; but I preach and proclaim good news to all men, declaring day by day and hour by hour, and announcing to all the things which in the holy and prophetic Spirit I have contemplated. Wherefore

I say: "Evening and morning and at noon I will tell and proclaim." And while I am crying these things to all from that time until evening, and in the very brightest light of the midday sun am proclaiming the salvific ends, He who has deemed me worthy of such knowledge will hear my voice; and He will no longer allow my heart to be troubled within me, nor the fear of death to weigh upon me. And having carried all these things away and dispersed them from my soul, He will redeem it in peace from those desiring to trouble it. Wherefore I say: ^A "He will redeem my soul in peace from those who draw near to me; for they were many with me." For which Symmachus has edited: "For many were they who came against me." For they who desired to trouble my soul were some minor ones, whom God, who exists before the ages, will humble, having heard my cry.

These things, then, are as if spoken by the Prophet in his own person, uttering the set phrases. But if these words were spoken by the Savior Himself through the prophetic Spirit—since that which is said, "If an enemy had reproached me, I would have endured it," and the rest, was spoken in His person—then the Savior would consistently say these things also: ^B "For it was not an enemy, but a friend; and not one who hated, but one who a little before loved, who has dared such things against me." But I was doing nothing more than crying out to God; and I had Him, as a Father, ready to hear. But indeed, although they were plotting against me, He was saving me; wherefore I shall not cease, evening and morning and at noon, from telling of the Father's virtues to all, and from proclaiming the saving Gospel so that it may be heard by all men. And the Father, hearing this voice of mine, will redeem my soul in peace from those who draw near to me, that is, from those who wage war against me from nearby and not from afar; who were many in number; whom God, who exists before the ages, will also humble. For the opportunity that arose for them ^C for a short time, in which they boasted and filled their city with lawlessness and gainsaying, will not remain theirs; but before long they shall be humbled, the wrath of God coming upon them and their city, so that the famous temple placed in it might be utterly destroyed, and the worship accustomed to be performed therein be taken away. Thus, therefore, God having heard my cry, will humble them.

"For there is no change for them, and they did not fear God," and the rest. The aforementioned impious ones will be humbled by God, who exists before the ages; and they shall be humble and will remain such for a very long time, since there ^D shall be no one to give a ransom for them. For since the Son of God once gave Himself as a ransom and exchange for sinners, He rescued those who believed in Him, and set them free from all their former sins; but He left the others humble, because they did not accept the price given for them, nor did they believe in the precious blood of the Redeemer and Savior of all mankind. Wherefore the Word says concerning them:

^A “There is no exchange for them.” And why is there no exchange? He teaches next, saying: “Because they did not fear God.” For He, being good and wishing all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, stretched forth His saving hand to share His own blessings with them as well; but they did not accept what was offered by the right hand of God, but profaned His covenant, rejecting the new, evangelical law. Wherefore, according to Symmachus, it is said: “He stretched forth His hand to those who were at peace with Him; they transgressed the covenant.” And according to Aquila: “He sent His hand upon those at peace with Him.” For He Himself reached out a peaceful right hand to those coming to accept the peace from Him, but they transgressed His covenant, not accepting the peace offered to them. Wherefore, peace being exchanged for war, they were divided by the wrath of His countenance. For because they did not accept grace, being justly delivered over to wrath, they were scattered far away, and dispersed, they were dissipated among all the nations.

Concerning the passage, “And ^B his heart approached; his words were made softer than oil, and they are darts,” Symmachus has interpreted it more clearly, saying: “Their mouths are smoother than butter, but the heart of each one of them fights. His words are softer than oil, while being cutting.” Observe how the discourse here displays two distinct groups: one of many together, concerning whom he speaks in the plural, saying: “Their mouths are smoother than butter, but the heart of each one of them fights”; the other, as if it were of one person alone, concerning whom he concludes individually: “His words are softer than oil, while being cutting.” These were the two groups indicated earlier: that of those living in the city, of whom it was said, “For I saw iniquity and contradiction in the city”; and that of the traitor, to whom these things refer: “For if an enemy had insulted me, I would have endured it.” ^C Here, therefore, since the rulers of the Jewish people approached the Savior with hypocrisy and flattery—sometimes addressing Him as Master, but not with a pure heart, and sometimes saying to Him: “We know that You are truthful, and You teach the word of God in truth, and You do not care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of a man”—rightly does the discourse here say concerning them: “Their mouths are smoother than butter, but the heart of each one of them fights.” And again, specifically concerning the traitor, because he called Him “Rabbi” and Master and offered symbols of affection and friendship while he was plotting betrayal, rightly was it said of him: “His words are softer than oil, while being cutting,” or according to the Seventy: “His words were made softer than oil, and they are darts.”

^D VERS. 23, 24. “Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will not give a shaking to the righteous for ever,” and the rest. They indeed, with deceit and simulation...

softening their words in public, but inwardly sharpening them more than arrows—nay, even he who became the betrayer of the Savior—it has been declared what end they shall meet. But you, who are listening to these things, having ^A become prudent from the outcome of those things previously recounted, and whosoever has given yourself entirely to Him who is spoken of in the prophecy, take heart, having cast your own care upon Him, as one instructed by the New Testament, through which the Savior Himself teaches, saying: “Do not be anxious about what you shall eat, or what you shall drink,” and, “Do not acquire gold, nor silver, nor copper for your belts.” Having kept these things, therefore, “cast your burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain you,” giving you the supersubstantial bread and the rational and heavenly food; providing also the things necessary for life. For He has promised this to you, saying: “For your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” He Himself will sustain you, as He does every righteous person; for He has never abandoned any of the righteous so as to allow him to suffer ^B a shaking, to be shaken and to fall. Wherefore it is said next: “He will not give a shaking to the righteous for ever”; or according to Symmachus: “He will not permit the righteous to be shaken forever.” Wherefore it is said in other places: “I was younger, and indeed I have grown old, and I have not seen a righteous man abandoned, nor his seed seeking bread.” Having said these things, he next adds concerning the plotters against the Savior: “But You, O God, shall cast them down into the pit of destruction”; or according to Symmachus: “But You, O God, will bring them down into a pit of destruction”; concerning which pit numberless things have been said previously, as in: “Waiting, I waited for the Lord, and He attended to me, and brought me up from the pit of misery ^C and from the mud of the mire”; and again: “Lest at any time You be silent to me, and I shall be made like those who go down into the pit”; and elsewhere: “O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Hades, You have saved me from those who go down into the pit.” But the righteous man is indeed preserved so as not to be carried down into the pit that is meant; but the ungodly are carried down into it, being cast down by God as into a place appropriate for them. For the logos is accustomed to call the place of death a pit of misery, mud of mire, and a well of destruction; into which the souls of the ungodly are cast down, like waters carried down from above into pits. And since through what ^D preceded he indicated the murderers of our Savior, consistently he now says concerning the same: “Men of blood and deceit shall not halve their days”; or according to Symmachus: “Bloody men and deceitful shall not halve their days”; or according to Aquila: “Men of blood and of attack shall not halve their days.” You will understand how these things were also fulfilled if you observe how, immediately and after no long time of the plotting against our Savior, the whole race of the men mentioned was handed over to destruction, when wrath invaded them during the siege carried out by those bringing war against the Romans. Indeed, even in the present time of this mortal life, since they had not even fulfilled half of their days, those men of blood and deceit of this kind

were delivered to such destruction. But after their departure from here, what awaits them has been declared beforehand by the words: *But Thou, O God, shall bring them down into the pit of destruction* (Ps. LIV, 24). These things, then, they themselves shall suffer; *But I will hope in Thee* (Ps. LIV, 24). This is said either by the prophet who is prophesying these things, or even by Him who is being prophesied.

TO THE END, FOR THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN REMOVED FAR FROM THE HOLY ONES, OF DAVID FOR AN INSCRIPTION, WHEN THE ALLOPHYLI SEIZED HIM IN GETH. 55.

VERS. 2-4. *Have mercy on me, O God, for man has trampled upon me; all the day long he has troubled me, fighting against me* (Ps. LV, 1-2).

The people who have been removed far from the holy ones, as far as the history is concerned, seem to be those who were fleeing with David from the face of Saul; they were six hundred in number, as the Scripture of the Books of Kings testifies. Since he was twice ^B among the Allophyli in Geth—first, when he was caught alone inside the gates and feigned madness, when he beat upon the gates of the city like a drum and his spittle flowed down upon his beard; and another time, when he fled with six hundred men to the king of Geth, who assigned to him Sicela as a dwelling-place—this present inscription seems to have been composed by David at the time when he was sojourning among those in Geth with the six hundred men who were fleeing with him, who received him and kept him among them as a friend, at which time he was also held in honor by the king of Geth. Wherefore the inscription contains: *To the end, for the people who have been removed far from the holy ones, for David, an inscription, when the Allophyli seized him in Geth.* According to Aquila it is said: *To the victory-maker for the mute dove, of the removals of David the humble, the perfect, when the Phylistines seized him in Geth.* According to Symmachus: *A triumphal song for the dove, for the rejected people of David, the humble and blameless, when the Phylistines kept him in Geth.* The fifth edition: *To the victory-maker for the dove of impeded tongue, of the hidden things of David, for an inscription, when the Allophyli seized him in Geth.* Theodotion, instead of *For the people who have been removed far from the holy ones*, rendered it *for the dove*, in common with the others. ^C Perhaps those who uttered "mute" or "impeded tongue" dove were hinting at David himself while he was among the Allophyli, when he was not able as usual to speak forth prophecies in the Holy Spirit, nor to offer up hymns with boldness. Hence they called him a "dove of impeded tongue" or even a "mute" one. And in the preceding psalm it had been said: *Who will give me wings like a dove? And I will fly and rest. I would have made my removal far off, and would have dwelt in the wilderness* (Ps. LIV, 7-8), according to Symmachus. Since, therefore, the Holy Spirit, who was working in the Prophet, and who is related to have descended in the form of a dove upon the Savior, ^D when delicate in

^A nature and innocent, was driven by Saul—who was pursuing David—and he, while being driven, did not defend himself, but was like a mute dove pushed far away and repelled by his pursuers; for this reason, according to the rest of the translators, it has been said "for the dove." But instead of "for a monument" (or "for an inscription"), Aquila interpreted it as "of the humble perfect one," and Symmachus as "of the humble and blameless one," indicating the manner by which the virtue of the Prophet was granted by God, as if by a monument and for eternal memory. For the greatest attainment of David was humility and lowliness of mind, in accordance with which he displayed a perfect virtue, which brought upon itself no blemish. Therefore, he sends forth the present words to God, containing examples of outstanding and perfect humility, saying:

"Have mercy on me, O God, for man has trampled upon me," ^B clearly indicating Saul, who was making an attack upon him, and not for one day only, but even for many days was assiduous in the war waged against him; therefore he adds: "All the day long, warring, he has troubled me." Then, since by the divine Spirit he perceived that Saul was not so much the cause of such great zeal against him, as were certain hidden and intellectual invisible enemies—namely, powers and evil spirits inciting and rousing Saul to war against him—he rightly adds: "My enemies have trampled upon me all the day," or, according to Symmachus: "Those who trouble me were wearing me out through every day." ^C But who these enemies and those who trouble him are, who were working through Saul, he clarifies next, saying: "For many are they who war against me from on high." For he was not ignorant that his struggle was not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness, by whom Saul was sharpened and was vainly driving and warring against one who had never harmed him in any way. Then afterwards he says: "In the day I will fear, but I will hope in Thee." This is what Symmachus clarified, saying: "In whichever day I fear, I trust in Thee." For even if a man seems to have trampled upon me—Saul having become great against me—yet my ^D enemies and those who war against me from above, casting their own arrows against my soul from a height, are many in number. But I have learned to despise all these because of Thee, my champion and protector. For trusting in Thee, if ever fear should befall my soul, I ward it off, relying on Thee my protector.

"In the Lord I will praise my words; in God I have hoped; I will not fear what flesh will do to me." Instead of "in God I will praise my words," Symmachus published: "Through God I will sing the praises of His word"; and Aquila: "In God I will sing the praises of His words"; and the fifth edition expressed it: "In God I will praise my word." If ever, he says, fear arrived to me from the disturbance of those who were warring against me, I warded it off by hoping in Thee; and instead of incantations and amulets, I would sing

^A psalms; for by singing Thy word I was assisted, so that I would not turn my face toward any of my persecutors. Thus, hoping in God and carrying His words in my mouth, I despised all the conspiracy of men, not fearing what flesh might do to me. For what, indeed, could flesh and blood do against a God who helps? "For if God is for us, who is against us?" says the Apostle. Saul was flesh, thinking of the things of the flesh: which the Apostle clearly shows by writing to the Corinthians: "For where there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh, and walking according to man?" And he called even Saul—who was filled with jealousy and strife, and for this reason was driving David out—flesh, saying: "I will not fear what flesh can do to me." Then he says: "All the day they abhorred my words, all their cogitations were against me for evil." ^B Symmachus interpreted this more clearly, saying: "All day long they occupied themselves with words about me; all their reasoning against me was for evil." As if they had nothing else to do and no other words to stir up, they devoted all their leisure to words about me and to thoughts against me, devising nothing good concerning me, but spending their zeal entirely on evil and for the sake of evil.

VERS. 7, 8. *They shall dwell and hide; they themselves shall watch my heel.* *As they have sustained my soul in vain, Thou shalt save them; in anger Thou shalt cast down the peoples, O God.* These things, said obscurely among the Seventy Interpreters, were interpreted more clearly by Symmachus in these words: "They gathered secretly, and watched my footsteps, lying in wait for my soul because of iniquity. Deliver me from them, in anger bring down the peoples, O God." ^C For, he says, they occupied themselves with me all day long, stirring up words about me, and all their reasoning was against me; so that they were eager to gather plots together against me, and not stopping at that, but also carefully observing my heel—that is, the path of my life—to see if, by tripping me, they might be able to cast me down. They also watched my footsteps, wherever I might walk, and how they might catch me. These things, then, did those who were persecuting me without cause devise against me. But do Thou, O Lord, my hope, deliver me from their unjust conspiracy, and, attacking them with Thy wrath, cast them down from that arrogance and high-mindedness; for this will be useful to them. For, being puffed up and exalted, they were doing these things for their own destruction; "for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Therefore, I beseech Thee, cast down all those rising up against me—or, according to Aquila, bring them down—so that, having received a moderate mind and thinking humbly, they might obtain great benefit.

VERS. 9, 10. *My life I have announced to Thee, Thou hast set my tears before Thee; as also in Thy promise, my enemies shall turn back, in whatever day I shall call upon Thee.* And this ^D Symmachus...

^A interpreted more clearly, saying thus: "Thou didst count my inward parts; Thou hast set my tears before Thee." Does it not happen that, when Thou dost count them, then my enemies shall turn back, in whatever day I shall call upon Thee? My enemies, he says, were stirring up words against me all day long, and against me were all their reasonings; but as for what reasonings I was gathering within myself, and what thoughts I had, Thou Thyself, as the God who knows hearts, knowest. For Thou hast counted all my inward parts, and Thou knowest my secrets and the thoughts of my soul; wherefore Thou hast set my tears before Thee, and hast not turned them away; but just as in Thy promise Thou didst pledge, saying: "While thou art yet speaking I will say: Lo, I am here," so, acting consistently with Thy promises, Thou hast set my tears before Thee. And according to the interpretation of the Seventy: "My life," he says, "I announced to Thee," as one acting with confidence and not being ashamed of my own life. And Thou, accepting my life, didst not reject my tears, but didst set them before Thine eyes, confirming Thy promises. Wherefore it happened, when I was heard, that my enemies retreated; whence I say: "In whatever day I shall call upon Thee, my enemies shall turn back." But according to ^B Symmachus: "Does it not happen," he says, "when Thou countest, then my enemies shall turn back?" When, sifting, Thou purifiest and settest apart those worthy of Thee, and makest an enumeration of those who are to stand on the right, and those who are to depart to the left, then, when Thou makest this enumeration, my enemies shall turn back.

"Lo, I have known that God is for me. In God I will praise the word, in the Lord I will praise the speech. In the Lord I have hoped; I will not fear what man shall do to me." But according to Symmachus he says this: "I know that there is a God for me. I will celebrate God, through God I will turn the speech into a hymn; I have trusted in God, I will not fear what man shall do to me." By the very deeds, he says, I have received, and I have known truly, that I have not hoped in vain, but have gained God as a helper. And the proof of this is that Thou hast set my tears before Thee. Then, to me indeed Thou becamest one who hears, but my enemies were retreating; wherefore "In God I will praise the word"; or, according to Aquila, ^D "In God I will boast of the word"; or according to Symmachus, "I will celebrate God." But also "In the Lord I will praise the speech," or according to Aquila, "In the Lord I will hymn the speech," or according to Symmachus, "Through the Lord I will turn the speech into a hymn." And again, as I have said above: "In God I have hoped, I will not fear what flesh shall do to me," and now I say: "In God I have hoped, I will not fear what man shall do to me." For flesh and man are one and the same, since it is said: "But ye like men shall die," and "For when there is among you jealousy and strife,"

^A are you not carnal, and behave yourselves after the manner of men?"

VERS. 12, 13. *In me are, O God, the vows which I shall pay, praises to thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, and my feet from stumbling, that I may please before God in the light of the living.* Regarding that, "In me are, O God, the vows which I shall pay, praises to thee," Symmachus has interpreted it more clearly, saying: "I receive, O God, what I have prayed for; I will pay praises to thee." For, he says, I have not forgotten the things which I prayed for; but they are within me, and I keep in my memory all things whatsoever I promised in praying, which, as a certain debt, I will discharge by offering sacrifices of praise, according to that word: "Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay thy vows unto the Lord." I will therefore offer to thee a sacrifice of praise, being conscious that I owe much for my own salvation. For thou didst truly deliver my soul from death. For my enemies were, to the extent of their power, driving it away, and were using great force to cast it down into death. ^B Indeed, while they were driving me, and forcing me to dwell in the midst of the Philistines and foreign races, they were putting my soul to death as much as was in them; for it was a near thing that I might have approached the idolatry of the Philistines, living in their midst. Being at the time among Achish in Gath and among the Philistines, I would have long since fallen from the life which is with thee, and would have been dead in soul; but thy grace and mercy did not permit this to happen, since thou didst protect me even while I was dwelling among the Philistines, so that no harm accrued to me from their company. Therefore I say: "Thou hast delivered my soul from death; and thou hast even delivered my feet from stumbling." For who would not have been perverted, as if fallen into mud and cast into slippery places, being left in the midst of so many godless and idolatrous men? But in this condition of affairs thy mercy and grace were present, delivering my feet from stumbling; for I do not ascribe these things to my own virtue; because I was not so strong in spirit that I should remain immutable, when I had been cast into the midst of so many men, unless thou hadst been my helper. Wherefore, confessing, I give thanks that thou hast delivered my feet from stumbling. ^C And this thy mercy granted to me, that I might please before thee in the light of the living; or, according to Symmachus, that I might walk in the sight of God by the light of life. Therefore, while tarrying among the Philistines, he does not deviate from the right and royal way; but he says: "I was walking in a manner pleasing to thee, led and illuminated by thee; not enjoying only that common light, present to all, both rational and brute, to beasts and reptiles, to the dead and inanimate; but also that which is destined only for those who live with thee." Furthermore, you will understand that light of the living by which David and all the prophets and righteous men acceptable to God were illuminated, if you attend to the evangelist who says: "That which was made in him," namely, in the Word of God who was in the beginning with God, "was life, and the life was the light of men"; and again: "There was the true light which illuminates..." ^D

^A every man coming into this world. In the world he was, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him." He was, therefore, in the world; and by that light those who were deemed worthy of the life that is with God were illuminated. Afterwards, he also came to his own; and as many as received him, he gave them power to become children of God. Such power was present in the light of the living, that it made those who received it children of God; knowing this, David had it as his prayer to be well-pleasing before God in the light of the living.

TO THE END, DO NOT DESTROY, A DAVIDIC INSCRIPTION, WHEN HE FLED FROM THE FACE OF SAUL INTO THE CAVE. LVI.

2. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for my soul has put its trust in you. ^B Just as it is shown from the history that David, being for a second time among the foreigners in Gath, while dwelling there had recited the fifty-fifth psalm, so too it appears that he had come into a cave on two occasions: the first time when, feigning madness, he escaped the hands of Achish and the Gathite foreigners, and from there found safety in the cave of Adullam, where all his brothers and his entire father's house went down to him. And there gathered unto him everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and every soul that was bitter; and he was their leader. There were about four hundred men. The second time, however, was when Saul had returned from behind the foreigners, and it was reported to him, "Behold, David is in the desert of Gaddi"; and he took with him three thousand chosen men from Israel, and he set out searching for David and his men toward the front of Engedi. And he came to the flocks of sheep that were along the way. And there was a cave there, and Saul went in to attend to his needs; and David and his men were sitting in the inner part of the cave. And the men of David said to him, “Behold the day of which the Lord said to you, that he would deliver your enemy into your hands, and you shall do to him whatever is good in your eyes.” And David arose and secretly cut off the hem of Saul’s cloak. And it happened after this, that David’s conscience struck him, because he had cut off the hem of his cloak. And David said to his men, “May it not be so for me before the Lord, if I do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to lay my hand upon him; for he is the Lord’s anointed.” And David persuaded his men with words, and did not allow them to rise up and kill Saul. We must inquire, therefore, at what times David wrote the present inscription, and while dwelling in which cave: whether in

^A the cave of Odollam, or in the cave of Engaddi. But since two psalms are said to have been spoken by him in a cave—the one set before us being a

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It seems to me, therefore, being moved by the words contained in each, that the

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But while he prayed these things in a great struggle during the aforementioned time, the

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^A opportunity was there then to take up a psaltery and harp while hiding in the innermost part of the cave? Just as, on the other hand, he had no reason, while he was living at ease and in tranquillity in the cave of Odollam with four hundred men who were with him, to say, "Refuge has perished for me," and, "Bring my soul out of prison."

Let these things, then, be said concerning the difference between the matters at hand. ^B Let us move on to the exposition of the passage before us: *To the end, destroy not, for David, for the inscription of a title*, and what follows. Saul was driving David away, but he, putting into effect the work of that which says, "If they persecute you from this city, flee to another," was running away, so that he might not be present to provoke the enemy and become the cause of murder for him. For David knew better than anyone the saying, "Do not kindle the coals of a sinner," wherefore he withdrew and gave way, even though he was loved by the whole nation and had very many who suffered with him and grieved with him, and who were able to receive him into their homes and hide him. But so that he might not become a cause of danger to others also, he fled to the deserts and delighted in living in caves. And it seems to me that the holy Apostle also alludes to his memory, saying: ^C "Wandering in deserts, and mountains, and caves, and holes of the earth." And just as the one preceding the present one was not a psalm, but an inscription of a title—which Aquila interpreted as *humilis perfecti* (of the humble perfect one), and Symmachus as *humilis et inculpati* (of the humble and blameless one)—so also this present discourse, indicating the height of David’s virtue of gentleness and forbearance, is *humilis perfecti* and *humilis et immaculati*; and furthermore, the inscription of the title displays a humility worthy of, as it were, eternal memory. Moses also was testified to as being endowed with this virtue, and our Savior and Lord exhorted to this, saying: "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart." But since this virtue required perseverance and long-continued guarding (for "whoever has persevered to the end, he will be saved"), therefore it is inscribed: ^D *To the end, destroy not*. For many, having begun well, did not continue until the end. But the Holy Spirit, commending David’s flight and his stay in the deserts, and his most patient habitation in caves, says to him, "To the end, destroy not; but remain such throughout, so that you may obtain the inscription of a title and eternal memory." And he who is engaged in these things does not, after the manner of the Cynics who profess the wisdom of this world, become puffed up with pride, nor does he think highly of himself or boast of his endurance of life; nor is he swollen with the pride of a multitude of followers and disciples of his school, nor as if with satellites and companions...

^A but presenting himself as meek and humble, perfect and truly lowly-minded and blameless in his works, he cried out to God, saying: *Have mercy on me, O God, for my soul trusts in thee; and in the shadow of thy wings I will hope.* For I know that thy wings and thy shelter are set apart for perfect souls; but I, being small and humble, will not hope in thy wings, but in the shadow of thy wings, until iniquity pass by; or, according to Aquila, until the treachery pass by; or according to Symmachus, until the slanderer pass by. But when iniquity has passed by, and the treachery prepared against me, and he who is called the slanderer, then not in the shadow, but in thy wings themselves, as one who has progressed and been freed from every iniquitous action and sin, I will hope.

VERS. 3, 4. *I will cry to God most high, to God who has done good to me. He sent from heaven and saved me; he gave those who trampled upon me to reproach. Diapsalma.* It is the custom of righteous men to send cries and shouts to God, not with a loud voice, but with transcendent power of soul. Therefore, even when silent, they often cried out in spirit; for the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings to God, according to the Apostle. Thus, then, David also cried out to God. Then, as one who had received many proofs of his Savior, he proceeds with a grateful heart: *to God who has done good to me.* When he says, however, *He sent from heaven and saved me*, he indicates that some Savior was sent from God. Who this is he does not explicitly declare here, but teaches in another place, where he says: *He sent his word, and healed them, and rescued them from their destruction.* The Word of God, therefore, was that which was sent in former times, and became the Savior of those who were worthy of his salvation. Knowing this well, David ^B said: *He sent from heaven and saved me.* Thus, the Most High saved the one worthy of salvation through the Savior; and He himself, judging justly, gave those who rose up and trampled upon the righteous to reproach: would that he had also made them better and caused them to repent through these reproaches!

VERS. 5. *God sent his mercy and his truth, and rescued my soul from the midst of the lion's whelps*, and so forth. He has explained the sentiment that was wanting above by these words. For since it was asked whom he had sent from heaven to rescue David, he makes it clear here by saying: *God sent his mercy and his truth.* And what could the mercy and truth that were sent be, if not the Word of God, concerning whom it was said: *He sent his word, and healed them, and rescued them from their destruction*? And the same is likewise called light when it is sent, in the psalm that says: *Send forth thy light and thy truth; they shall lead me.* Now light, truth, and the Word, sent by the most high God, not ^{C D}

are not without essence, nor are they without substance; for it is impossible for a thing that has no substance to be sent. ^A Just as the Word is understood as the author of healing and salvation, so in the present passage the same is called mercy, as if it were the minister of the Father’s kindness toward humanity; and likewise truth, as existing truly and being substantiated by an active power. Truly, our own word, having substance in syllables, words, and names, and being uttered through the tongue and voice, could not be called word in a proper and true sense. For it has another that begets it, which one might properly and truly call word, which they say is the inherent word. Just as the inherent word within us, which could also be properly called true word, happens to be substantial, existing according to essence, and being different from the one who sends it—wherefore it was said above: *He sent from heaven and saved me.* ^B But whom he sent, he teaches in the present passage, saying: *He sent his mercy and his truth, and he delivered my soul from the midst of the young lions, in the midst of which I lay*, he says, *disturbed.* For having been caught in the midst of the young lions of the Gittite Philistines, or of other enemies attacking me, as much as in me lay by my human weakness, I slept disturbed. But the most high God, having sent his aforementioned Word and his truth and his mercy, delivered my soul, so that it might suffer nothing from the disturbance of the young lions. According to the other interpreters, however, he says: I did not sleep disturbed while caught in the midst of lions, but I was fearless and confident. ^C Thus Aquila says: *In the midst of voracious lionesses I will sleep*; and Symmachus: *In the midst of lions I slept confident.* Who the lions were, or the young lions and the lionesses, he declares immediately after, saying: *Sons of men, whose teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.* For a base and wicked man would be worse than any wild beast, venomous creature, or reptile, especially one who devotes himself to slanders and backbiting, and who plots against the souls of those beloved by God, not with weapons and spears, but with secret and hidden instruments of destructive words. ^D Therefore such men use the wall of their teeth as a kind of defensive weapon, enclosing the words that lie hidden within the partition of the teeth; and they use their tongue and the slanders sent forth from it as if hurling certain arrows. Yet that same tongue of theirs would differ in no way from a sharp and piercing sword that performs slaughter. Indeed, such are the human lions and the aforementioned young lions. But I escaped their plotting through the Savior sent to me from God, who delivered my soul from the midst of the young lions. Whether these things were spoken concerning Saul, or concerning those who slandered David before Saul, or concerning the Philistines of Gath, or concerning invisible enemies, I would wish you to judge for yourself.

^A Verse 6, 7. *Exaltare super coelos, Deus, et super omnem terram, gloria tua*, and the rest. The Prophet addresses the Helper and Savior sent to him by the Most High, who humbled himself through his descent to men and delivered his soul from the midst of the lion's whelps, saying: "Since you descended from your own greatness and, making yourself small, cared for my lowliness and delivered my soul from the midst of those aforementioned, be exalted then, and take back your own throne and the kingdom of the heavens that is becoming to you." For even so, the earth will not be deprived of your glory, even if you dwell in heaven. For just as the sun, pursuing its own course, does not deprive those who dwell on earth of its radiance, in the same way you too, O Lord, ^B even if you did stretch down to my lowliness due to the exceeding philanthropy of the Father who sent you, be exalted then above the heavens, and dwelling in the bosom of the paternal divinity, fill the whole earth with your glory. I say these things rightly, having become free from all evil, and delivered by your visitation from the aforementioned whelps and lions; who prepared traps for my feet, and, as far as it depended on them, bowed down my soul; but they also dug a pit before my face. These things they designed for their own destruction, not for mine, by reason of your protection. For they were the first to fall into this pit of their own. Therefore, because you who were sent by the Father have accomplished such things, be exalted, and take back the heavenly mansions as dwellings proper and habitual to your divinity.

Verse 8-12. *Paratum cor meum, Deus, paratum cor meum, cantabo et psalmum dicam*, etc. In his teaching to the disciples, the Savior said these things concerning the Holy Spirit: "If you love me, keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth" (John xiv, 15-17): and again: "These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you; but the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and suggest them to you" (ibid. 25, 26); and again: "I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will tell you the truth, because he will receive of mine, and will announce it to you" (John xvi, 12, 13). By which he declares that those things of his are too great to be grasped by the apostles: "For you cannot," he says, "bear them now; but the Spirit of truth, who is given from him and sent by him to the apostles, will announce to them all the truth." ^C If, therefore, these things are understood in this way, David, after having said to the God sent for his help, *Exaltare super coelos, Deus, et super omnem terram gloria tua*, rightly asks of him next that he send him the Spirit, the Paraclete, the prophetic one; saying that he himself is prepared for receiving him: namely, that the temple set within him, the receptacle of his soul—that is, the very mind—is purified.

the Advocate, the prophetic power, saying that he himself is ready to receive Him, because the temple within him and the vessel of his soul—that is, the very faculty of understanding, which the Word is accustomed to call the "heart" figuratively—has been purified, which he demonstrates by saying: *My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready.* For he says that his heart and his intellect are indeed prepared. But do Thou, therefore, send forth Thy Spirit. For when He is present and seated upon my soul, I shall sing and chant in my customary manner, offering my own service and ministration to the power of the prophetic Spirit. And having said these things, and having been immediately heard, according to the words, *“While you are yet speaking, I will say, Behold, I am here,”* he perceived the presence of the Holy Spirit. Then, as if He were standing at the doors, the Prophet turns and stirs himself up ^B for the service of prophecy; wherefore he adds: *Awake, my glory.* For my glory is to prophesy. Then he adds: *Awake, O psaltery and harp;* signifying the soul by the psaltery, and the body by the harp, or perhaps taking up these usual instruments in his hands in order to play what is suggested by the Spirit. To these he adds, saying: *I will awake early.* For being now enlightened by the presence of the Spirit, and having come into the day of divine light, I am ready to prophesy. And having said these things, he dedicates himself entirely to the Spirit; and He, as though by an instrument through the Prophet, proclaims good tidings and announces the Gospel to all nations, saying: *I will confess to Thee among the peoples, O Lord, I will sing to Thee among the nations.* For because, at the present time, the Jewish nation and their populace drive away Thy prophets, so that no place of refuge is left to them; and there shall be a time when all the nations of the whole earth and all the peoples who are among men shall share in Thy mercy, in such a way that I, the prophetic Spirit, having come into them at the appointed time, shall fill all peoples at once, and shall confess to Thee and give thanks, when I also sing to Thee, not among the Jewish people, but among all the nations throughout the whole world—for this reason I say: *I will confess to Thee among the peoples, O Lord, I will sing to Thee among the nations.* And I state as the cause of this that the prophetic Spirit is to reside in all the peoples throughout the whole world and among all the nations. And he declares next that the prophetic utterances announced of old are to be fulfilled in deeds, saying: *For Thy mercy has been magnified unto the heavens, and Thy truth unto the clouds.* For this was the paradoxical thing, that I said heavenly things were deemed worthy of mercy, and earthly things of truth. For even if the things in heaven seem especially to be purified, and all things perfect and advanced to the summit of virtue, nevertheless they too have been fashioned as such by Thy mercy. For they do not enjoy such happiness from themselves or by their own power, but from Thee, the provider of all good things. Or in another way, *For Thy mercy has been magnified unto the heavens,* being poured out upon all men. Which likewise was said above to have been sent in these words: *God sent His mercy and His truth.* For that mercy, having been sent, produced such fruits in men that I, the Holy Spirit, might confess to Thee among all the peoples, and sing to Thee among all the nations: whence it came to pass that it is magnified unto the heavens; because it drew up to the heavens the men who were making progress; so much so that for them the kingdom of the heavens

has been given as a promise. But, he says, your truth [reaches] even unto the clouds. Clouds are the servants of the rain, for they minister to the will of divine Providence. In this way, the discourse shows that God provides for men, in that His dispensation and the truth of His oversight extend even to the ministry of the clouds. ^B Furthermore, Scripture is accustomed to call "clouds" those perfect souls among men—that is, the prophetic ones—who, like rain, furnish the doctrine of God to the souls that are in need of it. When, therefore, the prophet Isaiah was threatening the Jewish nation with desolation, he introduced God as saying: "I will destroy its hedge, and it shall be for plunder; and I will destroy its wall, and it shall be for trampling. And I will abandon my vineyard, and it shall not be pruned, nor shall it be tilled; and brier and thorns shall come up in it. And I will command the clouds not to rain rain upon it." By these words of the divine prophet, clouds are clearly called those who, filled with the heavenly Spirit, provided rational rains to the souls of men. Since, therefore, the truth of God and His mercy, concerning which he said a little before, "God sent forth His mercy and His truth, and He delivered my soul from the midst of lion whelps"—having of old delivered the soul of David, and being destined afterwards to visit all the nations—the Holy Spirit, Who announces these things and says that it will come to pass that He will confess among the peoples and sing to God among all the nations, ^C reasonably adds the cause of this matter, saying: "For Your mercy is magnified unto the heavens," and so forth.

Then he adds a seal to all these things, saying: "Be exalted above the heavens, O God, and Your glory above all the earth," repeating the same discourse concerning God a second time. It is fitting for You, he says, to be exalted, even if for the sake of men you accommodate Yourself to our abjection, calling peoples and nations by Your grace. But be exalted, and take up again Your throne. For thus, having Your dwelling in the heavens, and remaining in Your own deity and kingdom, You will be able to fill the whole earth with Your glory. This is also what Moses describes, introducing God as saying concerning the Jews on account of the calf they fashioned: "Let me alone, and being kindled with wrath, I will utterly destroy them"; but concerning the calling of the nations, he adds that which is written: "As I live, and my name lives, for the whole earth shall be filled with my glory." And among Isaiah, the seraphim, surrounding the Lord Sabaoth, cried out: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Sabaoth, all the earth is full of His glory." ^D To these things, those in the 71st Psalm, which clearly accounts concerning Christ, are akin: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, and blessed be the name of His glory, and all the earth shall be filled with His glory." This present prophecy, therefore, confirms these things by saying: "Be exalted above the heavens, O God, and Your glory above all the earth."

TO THE END, DESTROY NOT, OF DAVID, FOR THE INSCRIPTION OF THE TITLE. LVII.

^A Ver. 2, 3. "If in very deed ye speak righteousness, judge uprightly, O ye sons of men." The present discourse exhorts each person not to destroy at the end, but for each to observe his own ends. Both indeed, this one as well as the preceding, bear the same inscription, namely: "To the end, destroy not, David," and "For the inscription of the title." The time, furthermore, although not in the present, is declared in the preceding, when it adds: "When he fled from the face of Saul into the cave." Therefore, it seems clear to me not only from what has been said, but also from what follows, that the present one was pronounced at the same time. For since the inscription of the title in the preceding spoke about the sons of men, saying: "Sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows," this inscription of the title also immediately from the beginning addresses these same sons of men, saying: "If in very deed ye speak righteousness, judge uprightly, O ye sons of men." And because in the preceding it was said: "He rescued my soul from the midst of lion's whelps," or, according to the others, "from the midst of lions," it is consequently introduced in the present: "The Lord shall break the molars of the lions." For it was necessary for us to learn how He rescued the soul of David from the midst of the lion's whelps. And again, concerning the teeth of those who were calumniating him, in the preceding it was said: "Sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows"; in the present, however: "God shall crush their teeth in their mouth." By these things, the agreement between both titles is clearly ^B proven. And someone might say for another reason that, since the preceding contains the calling of the nations, it is reasonable that the present inscription of the title should be joined to such a prophecy, which relates to the sons of men the reason for the just judgment of God, and commands all peoples to come to the teaching of the Word with a sincere will and a pure conscience, and not to feign piety toward God. Wherefore, addressing all the aforementioned peoples and all the nations, concerning which it was said: "I will confess Thee among the peoples, O Lord; I will sing to Thee among the nations," the present discourse adjures them, saying: "If in very deed ye speak righteousness, judge uprightly, O ye sons of men." For if anyone truly lays claim to justice, it will be proven by no other means than by judging uprightly. And he judges uprightly who has judged and decreed within himself to act according to right reason, and to do nothing crooked or perverse. Then, as the sons of men were speaking rightly with their lips and ^C professing justice with their mouth, but were caught by their deeds thinking the opposite, it subjoins: "For in your heart ye work iniquities in the earth": of which thing, he says, your works are the proof, in- ^D

^A that your hands weave injustice. Do ye therefore judge righteously, O ye sons of men, and consider within yourselves if your works conform to your words. For if ye speak righteousness, why do your hands weave injustice? From which it is shown that you are planning iniquities in your heart, and while you consider one thing, you speak another with your mouth. If, therefore, you truly speak righteousness, judge rightly and act, and do not work iniquities in your heart, nor let your hands weave injustice.

^B VERS. 6. "The sinners are alienated from the womb, they have gone astray from the belly, they have spoken lies." These things also, he applies to the sons of men who profess themselves to worship God and to follow the laws of righteousness, yet do not judge rightly. He calls out to them, therefore, thus: "O ye men, hear, ye who speak righteousness with your mouth, but with your hands work injustice, and at the same time weave together many sins; nothing of those things which each one revolves in his mind remains hidden from the great Judge. For even if one may seem to be hidden from the eyes of men, let him know that he is led by a huge error and deceives himself. For he will not be hidden from the great Judge of all, before whose tribunal we shall all stand. But how could these men be hidden from God, when even before they came into the light, they were known to Him who knows all things before they come to be? Wherefore, before they were born, He foresaw them as already existing and being such as they now are; and from that time they were already reprobate before Him. "The sinners are alienated," therefore, "from the womb." And even if today they pretend to speak righteousness, while approaching things contrary by their deeds; yet they are not considered such for the first time by God now; but before they came forth from the womb, nay, even before they were conceived in the receptacle of the womb, they were reckoned by Him among the number of those who go astray, and He himself was not ignorant that they would be such. And from that time he knew that they would speak falsehoods, and that there would be anger in them according to the likeness of the serpent. The Greeks are also accustomed to call the soul "anger" (thymos). Since, therefore, the ancient serpent who deceived Eve used a pleasantly and friendly-seeming discourse, made mention of God, and with a certain show of piety said to the woman: "Why did God say: 'Ye shall not eat of every tree which is in the paradise'?" ^D and again: "For God knew that on whatever day ye eat from it, your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil": and while simulating with such words, and pretending to know God, he spoke to the woman, yet in his heart he was working iniquities and by his deeds wove injustice; deservedly these men also are said to have anger and a soul similar to the aforementioned serpent. Which thing God himself anticipated by His foreknowledge. For these men, having heard the divine discourses and having been instructed by sacred words, produce nothing of utility, because they stop their ears, nor do they receive the virtues of the divine incantations, but are like the deaf adder and

one stopping its ears, so as not to hear the voice of those chanting, and the remedy of the wise serpent-charmer. They are therefore likened to the serpent on account of their hypocrisy and their feigned conversation about God; but to the adder ^A because they hide lethal poison within themselves. But if they were to be compared only to the adder, there would be hope that they might eventually receive some utility: for that wild reptile, by the incantation and artifice of certain people, sometimes casts off its venom, puts aside its fury, and is, as it were, extinguished in regard to its malice. But if such bitterness of an adder can be weakened and withered by the power of certain words, and casts off its poison, what should one say about the human soul, which was made in the image of God, unless it be that it, much more than that reptilian species, would have changed for the better, having ^B laid aside the poison of malice, if it had offered itself to the utility of divine teachings and to truly divinely inspired incantations? Therefore, the discourse did not accurately compare such a soul simply to an adder, but to a deaf adder, which is not deaf by nature, but has become such by its own will. For this reason it is said, "Like a deaf adder and one stopping its ears." For thus, sometimes, a man not listening to divine words is deprived of hearing, not because his soul has become deaf, but because of his own will; for he voluntarily makes himself deaf, doing violence to his own nature. For God did not make the soul deaf, nor blind, nor maimed, nor entirely crippled, but He created it ^C robust and endowed with all its faculties; for He created man in His own image and likeness. Yet each person procures for himself deafness and blindness, and corrupts the substance of his own soul. This is what the people of the circumcision are convicted of doing through the prophet Isaiah in these words: "The heart of this people is grown fat, and they have heard heavily with their ears, and they have closed their eyes, lest by any means they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them" (Isa. VI, 10). Thus, therefore, he who is disobedient to the divine words is likened to a deaf adder stopping its own ears. ^D Whence it is said according to Symmachus: "Like a deaf adder, stopping its ear, that it may not hear the voice of the whisperers, one wisely instructed in incantations." But while a man now living, who has made himself such, is known to many when he does these things, to God he was known even before his birth, and long before his conception in the womb, that he would be such. Vainly, therefore, does he deceive himself who promises to speak justice, while with his hands he weaves injustice, and afterwards hides iniquity in his own heart, as if he could be hidden from God Himself in the divine tribunal.

"God shall break their teeth in their mouth," and the rest. This knowledge concerning sinners is...

^A for you, O sons of men, both because they were foreknown by God, and, before they passed unto men, it was known to Him that they would be such, hear what kind of end shall overtake them. For since, having been created with a free and self-determined nature, and being capable of discerning both good and evil, and possessing within themselves the inclination toward either side, they did not rightly use their judgment, nor did they love the straight path, even though they knew it, nor did they pursue righteousness with their works, which they professed only with words and lips, and having become like the ancient serpent, proved themselves worse than the deaf adder; for this reason, hear and learn what awaits them also, that God, the judge of all, shall break their teeth, which in no way differ from lions, and that after all things they shall be dissolved like water flowing away. For instead of, "They shall be brought to nothing like water passing away," Symmachus interpreted it, "Let them be dissolved as water passing away for itself." For because they pretend to righteousness with their mouth, justly shall God break their teeth in their mouth. And because it did not suffice them to be likened to the serpent and the aforementioned deaf adder, but already causing harm to others, they were compared to lions and lion's whelps, from whom David prays that his own soul be delivered, saying in the previous psalm: "And he delivered my soul from the midst of the lion's whelps," or, "from the midst of the lions." ^B It is said that God will break their grinders, that is to say, the powers of their malice, which they used for the destruction of many. But when God shall have crushed their teeth and grinders, then at last they shall be as if reduced to death, and they shall be dissolved like water passing away for itself. And such indeed shall be the end of all the impious. This it is necessary for you to know, O sons of men, so that if you truly speak righteousness, you may judge rightly, and not enter into the way of the aforementioned men, nor work iniquities in your heart, nor let your hands devise injustice, nor show yourselves like the serpent, nor be like the deaf adder stopping its ears, nor be led along with the aforementioned impious and sinners; whom God, anticipating with His foreknowledge before they came into the light, knew would be such, yet nevertheless He permitted them to be born and to come into the light, having granted His grace to them as well, so that their intent might be made manifest. ^C Since God, foreknowing, also knew the order of the just, which by its own will would enter upon the straight and in no way crooked path. Then He left the self-determined impulse of both orders free, having permitted them as in a stadium to complete their course. And since He had established all of them similar in nature, He permitted all alike by their own will to choose the better things. But they, inasmuch as they were masters of themselves, and were independent and free as to their movement, were separated by their own choice, some choosing the straight path, others the crooked. Therefore that just judge, as the arbiter of the contest for both orders, rewards them with a fitting and due end: not after the manner of men, according to the result of the actions of each ^D

learning the character of each from the outcome of events, but as God, knowing all things even before their creation. For this reason, some were estranged from Him even before they were known to others; but the saints were deemed worthy of election, like Jeremiah the prophet, to whom God says: "Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee." The Apostle also declares this, saying: "As He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ"; and again: "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory." ^B Do you see how he says that they were chosen and predestinated to adoption before the foundation of the world, according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things? He sets forth the same thought when he says: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that

^A love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." And here, too, the Psalmist speaks of a fire falling upon them, and that they have not seen the sun.

Before your thorns can feel the briar, as if living, as if in wrath, he shall swallow you up.

and punishing them until they grow weak. But those who are struck by the burning arrow will be dissolved like wax being melted by a fire. Hence it is said: "As wax melts, they shall be taken away; fire has fallen." For just as wax, when fire falls upon it, is dissolved and disappears, in the same way those indicated by the wrath that seizes them will be taken away, so that they will not be deemed worthy even to behold the sun of righteousness with the eyes of the soul; moreover, even before their thorns can grow up and turn into a bramble, while their thorny deeds are still fresh, wrath will seize and consume them. ^B

Verses 11, 12. The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he shall wash his hands in the blood of the sinner. And a man shall say, "If indeed there is a fruit for the righteous, then there is a God who judges them on the earth."

Symmachus: "The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the ungodly." Just as those who speak righteousness with a lying mouth, while in their works they entangle themselves in injustice, have had their end described beforehand; so it was necessary, conversely, for a good end to be declared for the true righteous man, who manifests righteousness through his works. What good shall come to such a man? For the present, he says, when he does not see the vengeance to be taken upon the ungodly, he often suffers and groans, saying, "Why do the ungodly prosper? They have grown old in riches; their seed is as they desire, their children rejoice, taking the psaltery and the harp." And now he himself, being humbled, says: "But my feet were almost moved, my steps had well-nigh slipped, because I envied the lawless, seeing the peace of the sinner." But when he sees the end of the ungodly and the vengeance taken upon them, then he shall rejoice and be glad—not rejoicing in the destruction of the ungodly, but glad in the righteous judgment of God. And he shall wash his feet in the blood of the ungodly—not that he is a bloodthirsty man and fond of war, but because he is cleansed through their punishment and made better through the chastisement of others. Or in another way: "He shall wash his hands in the blood of the sinner," that is, he shall show himself innocent, blameless, and pure from their destruction. When, therefore, the ungodly have paid the deserved penalties, and the righteous man has been vindicated and filled with gladness and joy, and has washed both his hands and his feet, according to the rest of the interpreters, in the blood of the sinner, according to the stated understanding, then deservedly every man, every voice, and every tongue shall declare, "If indeed there is a fruit for the righteous, then there is a God who judges them on the earth." For if there is fruit for the righteous, concerning which fruit it is spoken in the first Psalm: "And he shall be like the tree planted by the streams of waters, which shall yield its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not fall off, and whatsoever he does shall prosper." If, therefore, there is a reward and fruit for him who has worked righteousness, which he will receive at the time of God's righteous judgment; hence it is consistently understood that even before the judgment there is a God who

observes and judges those living a mortal life on earth. ^A For even if His judgments are not typically seen in the present, human actions are nonetheless not without judgment and examination before Him. For if the just were to perish together with the unjust, and there were no fruit for the just, one could well say that God does not care for human affairs; but because there will be a time when the just shall rejoice and the sinners will meet the aforementioned end, it is in no way right for men to waver, but rather to confess and declare that there is a God who judges all those dwelling on earth, and is the inspector and observer of human deeds. And let these things be said on this matter.

It should be noted ^B whether this prophecy at hand, which coheres completely and is joined in a single series with those preceding it, describes the ends of those who meditate on the prophecies concerning Christ and speak justice with their mouth, yet did not receive Him when He came, nor hear His voice when He cried out to them, saying: *He who has ears to hear, let him hear*; who have made themselves like the serpent, and have prepared their ears like the ^C deaf asp, and stopping up its ears. Moreover, they themselves sharpened their teeth and their molars through their blasphemies against our Savior. With good reason, therefore, would it be said of them: *God shall crush their teeth in their mouth; the Lord has broken the molars of the lions*. These things can also be said of all who have stitched together atheistic dogmas and impious, false opinions in atheistic heresies, and of those who profess the wisdom of this age, who have sharpened their tongues against the saving doctrine; nor should we be loath to include with these as many as in the Church occupy themselves with slanders and detractions for the destruction of their neighbors. To all of whom might be said that which follows: *If in truth you speak justice, judge rightly, O you sons of men*; knowing that *God will bring every creature into judgment*; and, *we must all appear before the judgment seat of God, that each one may receive his own things of the body, according to what he has done, whether good or evil*.

UPON THE INSCRIPTION, WHEN SAUL SENT, AND WATCHED THE HOUSE TO KILL HIM. LVIII.

VERS. 2, 5. *Eripe me de inimicis meis, Deus meus, et ab insurgentibus in me libera me.* We have already observed previously that the psalms from the fifty-first were pronounced before David reigned, while Saul was still living; but those which are counted in the first part of the book, almost all, ^D with few exceptions, were established after his fall; and because of the eminence of his piety, he placed those who profess confession earlier in the book,

^A even if they were later in time; and he joined those who are first in time to those who are second, so that the matters of confession might be covered by the memory of his righteous deeds. This, therefore, is also established by the present psalm; and let it be said in the customary manner, since it also happens to be a "pillar-inscription" mutilation note: Greek original uses term στήλη, Migne's Latin uses "tituli inscriptio", noting the time in which it was uttered; and this was: "When Saul sent and guarded his house, to kill him." The first book of Kings sets forth the history at greater length, having it in this manner: "And it came to pass that war broke out again; and David prevailed and fought the Philistines, and he struck them with a very great blow, and they fled from his face. And a spirit of evil came upon Saul; and he himself was sleeping in his house, and a spear was in his hand; and behold, David was playing with his hands. And Saul sought to strike David with the spear; and David retreated from the face of Saul, and the spear struck the wall. And David withdrew and was saved. And it came to pass in that night, and he sent messengers into the house of David to guard him, to kill him in the morning. And Melchol, his wife, announced it to David, saying: Unless you save your soul this night, tomorrow you will be killed. And Melchol let David down through the window, and he went away and fled and was saved." At which time he composed the present inscription of the title, wherefore the title has it thus: "To the end, do not destroy, for David an inscription of a title, when Saul sent and guarded his house to kill him." That, therefore, "To the end, for David," and that, "Do not destroy," and the inscription of the title, has already been stated in sequence for the third time. But the first ^B indicated a different time, by the title which has it thus: "When the Philistines seized him in Geth"; the second, likewise, "When he fled from the face of Saul into the cave"; but here, "When Saul sent and guarded his house to kill him." Now the cause of Saul's treachery against David was envy. For when he had brought back victory against the Philistine Goliath, and was celebrated by all on this account, for this reason he directed his mind toward his slaughter; and most especially when he saw that the Lord was with David, and he understood the matter clearly, and all Israel and Judah loved David. Then, indeed, jealousy was inflamed, when he observed him to be superior in wars by the help and assistance of God. The Scripture therefore says: "And Saul saw that the Lord was with David, and all Israel loved him. And he continued to be afraid of David. And David became an enemy of Saul all his days." And when war was set in motion again, and David prevailed and fought the Philistines, and struck them with a great blow, and they fled from his face; the spirit of envy once again suffocated Saul, so that he now wished to pierce the man with his own hand. He attempted, therefore, to strike with the spear, and when he had missed the blow, not secretly any longer, but openly, having sent guards into the house of David, he wished to inflict death. He, however, in such a calamity composed this ^C inscription of the title, and having raised a cry, besought God with these words: "Deliver me from mine enemies, O God, and from those rising up against ^D

me deliver me: deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from the men of blood. Through these words he asks to find in God a guardian, a helper, and a savior, so that he may not be captured by his enemies, nor fall into their hands; or further, that he might not be pronounced like unto them, nor be reckoned in the number of the workers of iniquity, nor be counted among the men of blood, of whom it was said above: *Men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days; but I will hope in thee*. ^A That he recognized not only visible enemies, but also occult and invisible ones, who even agitated Saul—for there was an evil spirit in Saul, by which he was moved and inflamed with envy against David—has already been shown by us frequently. Here, therefore, it is written that he overcame his enemies, and for the most part carried off victory over the foreigners. Yet his occult enemies and foes were cruel and grave, whom he declares with these words: *For behold they have hunted my soul, the strong have laid wait for me*. According to the history, indeed, he seems to have had no other enemies than Saul. For Scripture signifies this when it testifies that he was loved by all the people; and that this was the primary cause of the jealousy against him. If, therefore, ^B all loved David, and Saul alone, incensed with envy on that account, prepared snares for him, why does he here speak in the plural: *Deliver me from my enemies, and from those rising up against me*? And again: *For behold they have hunted my soul, the strong have laid wait for me*? But here, occult and invisible enemies are clearly indicated, of whom the Apostle says: *For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness*. These, therefore, incited Saul against David; and for this reason he asked God that he might be delivered from them. For against Goliath and against the rest of the foreigners, he himself alone ^C sufficed, attacking them all according to the law of war; but against occult powers and invisible enemies, he asked that God be his champion. And that he was driven in vain by Saul, when he had brought no harm upon him, the history narrates, and he himself recounts in what follows: *Neither my iniquity, nor my sin: without iniquity I have run and directed*. But for, *without iniquity I have run and directed*, Symmachus says: "When there is no sin, they rush, that they may drag me away." For when there was not even the slightest cause, those above-mentioned [powers] assaulted him with such great force. And, I pray, observe that David acts with confidence in the present, he who in the first part of the Psalms said: *For my iniquities have gone over my head, as a heavy burden they have weighed heavy upon me. My sores have rotted and are corrupted because of my foolishness*. These and such things he confessed in what preceded; but in the present he says: *Neither my iniquity, nor my sin, O Lord; without iniquity I have run and directed*. Furthermore, you will understand the course which David was running, if you apply that apostolic word: *I have fought a good fight*. ^D

I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: as to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice* ^A.

*Arise to meet me, and behold, even you, O Lord God of hosts, God of Israel.* Like a good runner and an excellent athlete, contending in the good fight, in regard to those things in which he had spoken with confidence: *Neither my iniquity, nor my sin; without iniquity I have run and directed*, he rouses the judge of the contest to the inspection of his own virtue, and asks Him to be willing to observe that his works accord with the words he has stated. This is also demonstrated by history, in which he is seen to have suffered countless evils at the hand of Saul, yet having done nothing painful against him himself; but on the contrary, often having rescued him immediately when he was captured. And when the evil spirit was choking him, David appeared as his savior, indeed playing the instrument, but by the power of the divine Spirit within him he was driving out the contrary power within Saul. Therefore, showing his own forgetfulness of injuries, his meekness, and his patience toward God, he said: *Neither my iniquity*, and so forth. *Arise to meet me, and behold.* ^B

Then, having used such great boldness, he is illuminated by the prophetic Spirit, and learns that there will be a certain time in which Christ of God will also be pursued and plotted against by the nation of the Jews, and will become the Savior and overseer of all the nations; in which time the deeds and virtues of David himself will also be sung and celebrated among all the nations. And having known this by the suggestion of the Holy Spirit, he prays that this time might eventually come. Therefore he says next: *And you, O Lord God of hosts, God of Israel, attend to visiting all the nations.* For Israel, the one who was formerly called your people, having received many benefits and having been deemed worthy of many good things, has displayed no fruit worthy of you; but always and at all times has fallen into various impieties of every kind, at one time worshipping idols, at another time slaying your prophets; and in the end, having laid hands on Christ himself your anointed. ^C

Having, moreover, learned wonderful things from your Spirit concerning the conversion of the nations, he rightfully prays that that time may come, knowing that there is no respect of persons with you. For since you govern all things with justice, you know how to grant salvation to even foreign and alien nations if they turn from error; you also know how to exclude from such a calling those who are thought to be of your own lot if they are found to be unworthy. Therefore, for the nations indeed I pray, saying: *Attend to visiting all the nations*; but concerning the other part I say: *Do not have mercy on all those who work iniquity*. But when he says "all" without distinction, he means Israel himself in that...

^A he includes also those who in former times had become such within him. For what profit, he says, came to Saul, who sprang from the race of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, and was ordained king of such a great nation, and yet undertook so many things in vain and for nothing against him who had harmed him in no way? But if, later, there are others found who ponder or perform deeds akin to the acts of Saul, it is not necessary that such men achieve salvation because they are reputed to be of your portion; just as conversely, if there are some found among foreign nations who are fit for salvation, nothing would prevent them from obtaining your visitation according to the rationale of justice. Therefore I say: "Attend to visiting all the nations; but do not have mercy on those who work iniquity, from whatever stock they may be." He recalls those who work iniquity also above, saying: *"Rescue me from those who work iniquity, and save me from the men of blood"*. Thus he called those who laid impious hands upon our Savior. He also hinted at the same in the fifty-fourth Psalm, saying: *"For I saw iniquity and contradiction in the city; day and night it will circle around it"* 75; and again: *"They have defiled his covenant, they were divided by the wrath of his countenance"* 76; and again: *"Men of blood and deceit shall not halve their days, but I will hope in thee"* 77. ^B

VERS. 7, 12. *They shall return at evening, and they shall suffer hunger as a dog, and they shall go around the city*. Having very consistently prayed for the visitation of the nations and for retribution upon those who work iniquity, he subsequently prophesies as follows: "They shall return at evening". Who are these, if not those who work iniquity and the men of blood? But why "at evening"? Because these things were destined to happen at the consummation of the age. But for that which is written, *And they shall suffer hunger as a dog*, Aquila interpreted, "And they shall tumultuously rage as a dog"; Symmachus, "And they shall sound together as dogs"; Theodotion, "And they shall cry out as a dog"; and the fifth edition likewise, "And they shall cry out as dogs". Plainly through these words he named as "dogs" those who, late at last, at the time of the coming of our Savior, were to fight against the Christ of God in the same manner as the Saul of that time pursued the innocent. For the Holy Spirit himself explains the same thing through the prophet Isaiah, saying: *"All dogs are dumb, not knowing how to bark"* 78; and in the twenty-first Psalm, ^C which describes the sufferings of our Savior, it is said from the person of the Savior himself: *"Many dogs have surrounded me, a congregation of evildoers has beset me"* 79. Therefore, those who work iniquity and the men of blood, even if they indeed seem for now to be very strong and to possess the kingdom like Saul for the present time, yet all who have rendered deeds akin to his shall turn back late at last, and at evening they will tumultuously rage and cry out; they will say nothing articulate, nor will they bring forth words worthy of memory from a rational mind, but just like dogs they will emit howls and contumelious voices ^D

and impudent cries. ^A Why do they suffer famine, being deprived of the bread of life? Because they did not receive the saving and heavenly food, namely Him who says: *I am the bread which came down from heaven, and which gives life to men.* Wherefore another prophet, prefiguring this famine, cried out saying: *Behold, those who serve Me shall eat, but you shall hunger; behold, those who serve Me shall drink, but you shall thirst.* Being deprived, then, of the eternal food and having rejected the bread of life, they shall no longer be regarded as the sheep of the good shepherd; rather, they shall be compared to dogs. Then, too, they shall be driven out from their own city, which they inhabited wickedly; and they shall be excluded from it, so that they no longer dare to approach it, because those who dwelt in it filled it with blood. Wherefore it was said in the aforementioned place: *For I have seen iniquity and contradiction in the city.* But there, the crimes perpetrated by Israel in that very Jerusalem against the Savior were indicated; here, however, the Holy Spirit by His foreknowledge inscribes in Scripture, as if on a monument, what subsequently befell them; for which reason it is called a "monumental inscription" (stele). The outcome of events confirms the fulfillment of the word. For after the schemes they prepared against our Savior, the Romans came upon them and brought the prophetic words to their conclusion; for by the law of the victors, the entire Jewish ^B nation was forbidden from entering those places, since an inescapable retribution hangs over the transgressors of the law. Wherefore, to this very day, those approaching to certain boundaries in the vicinity remain far off; neither is it granted to them even to gaze from afar upon that which was once considered holy ground. But circulating outside, they confirm the truth of the Scripture now under discussion, which says: *They will return at evening, and will hunger as a dog, and will circle the city.* Subsequently, the cause for which they shall suffer these things is added; for it says: *Behold, they will speak in their mouth, and a sword is in their lips, for who has heard?* Indeed, they have suffered all these things because of those impious and wicked voices which they uttered against our Savior, crying out to Pilate: *Away with him, away with him, crucify him. His blood be upon us and upon our children.* Which signifies what the Word says: *Behold they will speak in their mouth, and a sword is in their lips.* But instead of "For who has heard?", Symmachus interpreted it more clearly, saying: ^C *As if no one were hearing, they were shouting.* For they were barking such things against the Savior as if no one were observing, and as if God were not listening to their voices. But while they were shouting as if no one were hearing, You, the inspector and judge of all, were not only hearing them barking such things, but You were also exposing them to ridicule. And how were they not ridiculous, those who thought they could overcome the Creator of so many miraculous works by their own malice? And in the second Psalm it is said: *He who dwells in the heavens shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall mock them.* ^D

^A *Thou wilt bring to nothing all the nations.* But in place of *Thou wilt bring to nothing all the nations*, Symmachus translated it: *He will obstruct all the nations*. By these words, it is signified that a rebuke is to be brought by God upon all the nations. For since it was said above, *Attend to visiting all the nations*, he consequently teaches that God, as the inspector, will first rebuke all nations, and then will convert them from the error of many gods and from idolatry. ^B It is possible to understand the result of this discourse if one observes that, after the coming of our Savior, the nations most addicted to the error of polytheism, who at the beginning of the preaching rejected the reception of the Word, were brought to their senses through sieges and various other distresses, God thus addressing and chastising them. So, therefore, having afterwards returned to a better way of life, they were made subject to the saving Word. Wherefore, it is then subjoined from the person of the Savior: *I will keep my strength unto thee, for thou, O God, art my assumer, my God, his mercy shall prevent me. God shall show me against my enemies*, or, according to Symmachus, *He will make me look down upon those who have removed my walls*. And it is said elsewhere: *And my eye has looked down upon those who rose up against me being wicked, my ear will hear.* But also David saw the ruin and death of Saul, and he looked down upon the fall of his death. *Do not kill them, lest they forget thy people.* Again, in the plural, *Do not kill them*, he says, *scatter them, and bring them down*; even though, at the time when these things were uttered, no other enemy to David is mentioned in history besides Saul alone. ^C But indeed, the prophetic Spirit declares these things also from the person of the Savior, regarding those who rose up against him, concerning whom it was said: *And the peoples have meditated on vain things. The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers have gathered together in one against the Lord, and against his Christ.* These, therefore, who have meditated in vain upon his prophecies, and their princes and leaders, *do not kill*, he says, *but scatter and bring them down*. He prays that they be cast down from their rank—which indeed has also come to pass. There is no longer a king, nor a chief priest, nor a prophet; but neither are there Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees among them. Yet he does not ask for them to be killed. Wherefore their race subsists, and the succession of their children increases. For they were not killed, nor wiped out from among men; but they are still survivors ^D up to this time; yet so that they have been cast down and deprived of the honor with which they were once endowed by God. But also, *scatter them*, he says, *in thy power*; or, according to Symmachus, *Make them exiles by thy power*. And the event of things declares this more clearly than any word, with the Jewish people having been scattered among all nations and made exiles; so that if the Jews conceive high thoughts on this matter, that they fill all nations and live among the barbarians and in the midst of the Greeks, they may know that this was foretold concerning them by the words of the curse. This prophecy, therefore, speaks thus of them: *Scatter them in thy power, and bring down*

and being a vagabond; so that if the Jews should feel proud ^A of this, as though they were filling all nations and living as much among the foreigners as in the midst of the Greeks, let them know that these things were prophesied to them under the heading of a curse. For the present prophecy says concerning them: "Scatter them in thy power, and bring them down, O Lord my protector." But it also signifies that they were not to be utterly blotted out from among men, saying: "Slay them not, lest they should forget thy people." For if they had been blotted out from among men, and were in no wise among the living, they would not have seen, he says, my people, nor would they have known my blooming Church; but that they may see it and behold my people, "slay them not," but "scatter them" all over the earth, wherever my Church is destined to be established; so that, seeing my people and the Church founded by me throughout the whole world, they might be moved to a zeal for piety, and by the example of the people converted from the Gentiles, they themselves might also one day put an end to the incurable and untreatable evil of idolatry among them. Therefore, the Savior also prayed these things on their behalf, beseeching the Father that they should not be put to death, but remain in life and be preserved, in order that they might see His people and receive great profit from them.

^B "Delictum oris eorum sermonem labiorum ipsorum; et comprehendantur in superbia sua" [The sin of their mouth, the word of their lips; and let them be taken in their pride]. Here again he reveals the cause of those things mentioned above. For he necessarily explains why he asked that they should suffer these things, saying: "Because of the sin of their mouth, and because of the word of their lips." And one may well wonder at the accuracy of the prophecy of the Holy Spirit. For since the Jews themselves did not, at the time of our Savior, inflict death upon Him, but this was carried out by the Roman hand—with Pilate passing judgment, the ^C soldiers handling and leading Him away, and the Jews having performed none of these actions—rightly does he attribute to them not the act of killing itself, but the cause. For the rulers of the Jews, holding a council, moved every engine so that they might destroy Him; and the false witnesses and sycophants, seeking their favor, stood in the presence of the Savior; and the whole people with their own voices and lips sought His blood upon themselves and upon their own children. Rightly, therefore, the present text mentions not the act of death, which Pilate decreed and his soldiers carried out, but the conspiracy of the high priests, the testimony of the sycophants, and the voice of the multitude crying out ^D against Him. Wherefore he says: "The sin of their mouth, the word of their lips," as if he were saying more clearly: "Because of the sin of their mouth, and because of the word of their lips." For because of these things, "scatter them in thy power, and bring them down, O Lord my protector." According to Symmachus, he says: "By the sin of their mouth and by the word of their lips shall the things foretold be inflicted upon them." And he adds: "And may they be taken in their pride," or according to Symmachus, "Let them be taken with their pride." For being proud and arrogant, they could not endure the confidence of our Savior. Wherefore, in a very proud manner, they approached Him and addressed Him thus: "Who gave..."

Thee this authority? And with what authority do You do these things?" For since we are in control of the temple and are the leaders of the entire nation, who are You, and from where do You dare such things? Therefore, on account of these words, it is said here: ^A *And let them be taken in their pride, and they shall be announced for cursing and lying.* For which Symmachus interpreted: "Let them be taken with their pride, speaking cursing and lying." Then he continues: *In consumption, in the wrath of consumption, and they shall not be.* For which Symmachus again rendered more clearly, saying: "Consume in fury, destroy that they may not be." Now, the prophetic Spirit does not utter curses against those who were about to suffer these things, but rather predicts what is to come, as the sense of the passage suggests. For because of the sin of their mouth, and the word of their lips, they shall be taken in their pride, and they shall be taken speaking cursing and lying; and they shall be in consumption and in the wrath that consumes them, so that they no longer exist. But according to Aquila it is said: "Finish in wrath, finish, and they shall not exist." Just as also according to Symmachus: "Finish in fury, destroy, so that they may not be." By these things, the Word foretells that those who had dared such things would no longer exist in the aforementioned city; and that the worship long diligently practiced in the city, and the kingdom established therein, and all the goods previously bestowed upon them by God—namely, the presence of the prophets, the appearances of angels, and the remaining ^B oversight with which He deemed them worthy—would reach an end. And these things truly reached an end through the wrath brought upon them. That it is concerning these things that "Finish in fury, destroy, that they may not be" is said, is evident from what is said next. What was that? *And they shall know that God rules over Jacob of the ends of the earth.* For if it were said concerning the nation itself and those men, "Finish in fury, destroy, that they may not be," how, having been consumed and no longer existing, could they know that God rules the ends of the earth? How also was it said above, "Slay them not"? For it would seem to be contrary to "Slay them not" to say, "Finish in fury, destroy, that they may not be." But it is not said here, "Destroy them"; rather it is indefinite: "Finish in fury, destroy, that they may not be," meaning that we ourselves must supply and understand from outside the phrase: "that they may not be as they were before," and "that they may not exist in the honor they formerly possessed before God." That being removed, and those things they once possessed having been taken away, left bare and cast down from the height of their pride, and scattered to all the nations, they came to know by the very works themselves that He who was once called the God of Jacob rules no longer over Jacob or Israel alone, but over all the ends of the earth. For he aptly remembered the God of Jacob here, signifying Christ. For He Himself was the one who appeared in the appearance and form of a man to the patriarch Jacob, when a certain man wrestled with him, and changed his name, saying: "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name": whereby

^A you have prevailed with God, and with men you shall be powerful. He himself, therefore, who was called the God of Jacob, will rule over the ends of the earth, and will be called Lord and Prince among all nations. In order that those who denied him may perceive this with their own eyes, that word was necessarily prefixed: "Do not kill them, lest they forget my people"; and here: "And they shall know that the God of Jacob will rule over the ends of the earth."

"They shall return at evening, and they shall suffer hunger as a dog, and shall surround the city." In confirmation of what was said above, he repeats the argument, resuming the same prophecy and foretelling that they will not be destroyed from among men, nor will they be killed, but that they will return—that is, they will at some point arrive at an understanding at the late hour and "evening." They shall suffer hunger as a dog; or, according to Aquila, they shall be in a tumult as a dog; or, according to Symmachus, they shall be troubled as dogs, and shall surround the city. These things were also foretold before; but there the cause was added next in these words: "Behold, they shall speak with their mouth, and a sword is in their lips, and because of the transgression of their mouth and the word of their lips." Here, however, after the passage, "They shall return at evening, and shall suffer hunger as a dog, and shall surround the city," it is added: ^B "They shall be dispersed for food; and if they are not satisfied, they shall murmur." Symmachus interpreted this in this way: "Let them be cast down at day, let them be troubled as dogs going about the city, wandering, so that they may not pass the night wanting." Being dispersed, therefore, into all nations, like starving dogs they seek food; and not finding rational food, they fail. But if at any time they take food from the mere reading of the divine Scriptures, yet neither tasting solid nor life-giving bread, they remain unsatisfied; and not being satisfied, they murmur, just as they once murmured in the desert. For that was their custom. Wherefore the Apostle addresses us thus: "Neither murmur you, as some of them murmured, and were destroyed by serpents."

^C VERS. 17, 18. "But I will sing of your strength, and I will exult in the morning [of] your mercy, because you have been my supporter and my refuge in the day of my tribulation. My helper, to you I will sing, because you are my God, my supporter, my God, my mercy."

These things, therefore, those who rose up against me shall suffer; but I will sing of the strength of my Father. These things are said by the person of the Savior in a prophetic spirit, just as it was said elsewhere by his own person: "I will declare your name to my brethren; in the midst of the Church I will praise you." "And I will exult," he says, "in the morning [of] your mercy," which Symmachus ^D

^A interpreted. "And I will sing in the morning your mercy." By this he signifies prophetically the service performed in the morning and at every dawn of the day of resurrection, throughout the whole world, in His Church. For when it is said, "In the midst of the Church I will praise you," the place is indicated in which Christ promised He would praise the Father; but by the words, "And I will sing in the morning your mercy," the time is represented in which His Only-begotten, rejoicing and exulting in it, praises the Father's mercy poured out upon all nations through His own people. "And all these things," he says, "I will render to you: because you have become my helper and my refuge in the day of my tribulation." For, adorned with all these benefits from the Father, rightly will I praise your mercy, and I myself will sing to you: because you have been my helper, and my God, and my mercy. For no one of those who are below was able to reach out a hand to me, but you alone, Father, who are above me. Wherefore I confess that I depend upon you, I will sing of your power, and I will ascribe to you alone my helper ^B and refuge. These, then, would be the voices of the Savior, teaching all to be pious toward His Father.

TO THE END, FOR THOSE WHO ARE TO BE CHANGED, FOR AN INSCRIPTION, TO DAVID HIMSELF FOR INSTRUCTION, WHEN HE SET FIRE TO MESOPOTAMIA OF SYRIA, AND SYRIA OF SOBAL, AND JOAB RETURNED AND STRUCK THE VALLEY OF SALT TWELVE THOUSAND LIX.

VERS. 5-6. "O God, you have cast us off and destroyed us; you were angry and had pity on us." This discourse also pertains ^C to the inscription of the title, which, however, was not pronounced at the same time as the former ones. For those were uttered while Saul was still living, and before David had come to reign: the first, indeed, "when the Allophyli [Philistines] seized him in Gath"; the second, "when he was fleeing from the face of Saul into the cave"; and the last, "when Saul sent and guarded his house to kill him." But this one David uttered after the death of Saul, when he was already governing the kingdom, and after much time of his reign had already passed, being inspired by the Divine. And the inscription itself indicates this with the words: "When he set fire to Mesopotamia of Syria, and Syria of Sobal, and Joab returned and struck the valley of Salt twelve thousand." You may find the history in the Second Book of Kings, where it is written: "And David struck Adrazar the son of Jaab, king of Soba, as he was setting out to lay his hand upon the river Euphrates. And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. And David paralyzed all the chariots, and there remained for him one hundred chariots. And the Syria of Damascus came to help Adrazar king of Soba. And he struck twenty-two thousand men of the Syrians. And David placed a garrison in Syria which is by Damascus. And the Syrian ^D became a servant to David, bringing tribute. And the Lord preserved David in all things to which he went." Under these, however, a few

^A lines are inserted: "And David reigned over Israel: and David did judgment and justice unto all his people. And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host." And again after other things it is said: "And the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah, a thousand men, and the men of Tob, twelve thousand men. And David heard, and he sent the host, even the mighty men. And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate: and the Syrians of Zobah, and of Rehob, and of Tob. And Joab saw that there was battle set against him before and behind, and he chose of all the chosen men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians," and what follows these. To which is subsequently added: "And when the servants of Hadarezer saw that they were smitten before Israel, ^B they made peace with Israel, and served them." By these things, the history makes mention of the Euphrates, and Zobah, and Syria, and Joab, and the thousands, and how David became master of all his enemies; and how his commander-in-chief, Joab, having set himself in array against the aliens, had taken them captive. The present inscription of the title, therefore, signifies those very people against whom these things were done. According to Symmachus, the title stands thus:

A victory song for the flowers of the humble and blameless David, for succession, when, having burned the Syria of Mesopotamia and the Syria of Zobah, Joab returned and smote Edom in the valley of Salt twelve thousand.

^A when Israel was prevailing over the foreigners and was superior to its enemies, yet was destined eventually to endure a change and become subject to its enemies, the inscription says, "For the end, for those who shall be changed." Symmachus says, "For the flowers," and Aquila, "Upon the lilies." For just as the lilies of the field and the hay seem to be beautiful for a short time, but are suddenly changed and wither, so too the affairs of the people, though flourishing at that time, were soon to change. Wherefore the Savior also said in his teachings, "Consider the lilies of the field," and again, "If the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven..." And furthermore, "All flesh is grass, and all its glory as the flower of grass; the grass withered, and the flower fell; but the Word of the Lord abides forever"; to which the Prophet, according to the other interpreters, adds, saying, "Truly the people is grass; the grass withered, the flower fell," clearly designating the Jewish nation. These very things, then, the Holy Spirit now also testifies through David, foretelling the change and alteration that was to befall the people. ^B Therefore, according to Aquila, it is said, "Upon the lilies of testimony"; according to Symmachus, "A testimony for the flowers"; and according to the Seventy interpreters, "For those who shall be changed, for an inscription upon a pillar." This would have much consistency with what was said in the preceding psalm. For that psalm indicated the rejection of the nation with the words, "They shall return at evening, and they shall suffer hunger as dogs, and they shall go about the city," and the rest. To these he added the following regarding the calling of the nations: "And thou, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, attend to visit all the nations." Regarding the inscription of the title in the present passage, as in others, Aquila interpreted it as, "of the humble, perfect David," and Symmachus as, "of the humble and blameless David." For the modesty of such a great king was worthy of a monument. For although he had waged so many wars successfully, and had subdued peoples even as far as Mesopotamia and made them tributary, he preserved the customary demeanor with which he had been adorned when he was being driven out by Saul and was living as a fugitive in the deserts. ^C For even then, as a humble, perfect, and humbly-minded and blameless man, he was deemed worthy by Divine Scripture of eternal monuments. And now, when he was reigning and invading so many enemies, and gathering the wealth of all, he persevered in the same disposition; wherefore he was deemed worthy of both the title's inscription and the prophetic spirit. ^D Observe, furthermore, I would wish, how at this time, when Israel under the reign of David held dominion as far as Mesopotamia and received tribute from the surrounding nations, the promise of God made to Abraham was being fulfilled in deed, by which he had promised that he would give to his seed all the land from the river of Egypt, as far as the river Euphrates. Since indeed, under the reign of David, the deeds [cont.]

history of the Books of Kings which has been set forth testified. ^A But indeed, the Prophet, being illuminated by the Holy Spirit, prophesies those things which are to come to pass in future times. He teaches what these were by saying: "For the end, for those who shall be changed." ^B Following this, he proceeds to add: "O God, thou hast cast us off and destroyed us," and the rest; to which, after other matters, he adds: "God hath spoken in his holy one; I will exult and will divide Sichem, and will measure out the valley of the tabernacles," and the rest. By these things, he signifies God’s reconciliation with the aliens. For God, he says, has spoken, and having spoken in his holy one to Gilead, and to Manasseh, and to Ephraim, and to Judah, he includes Moab and Idumea and all the remaining aliens. "Moab," he says, "is the cauldron of my hope," for which Symmachus issued: "Moab is the cauldron of my security," and Aquila: "Moab is the cauldron of my washing." Then, concerning Idumea, he himself promises, saying: "Upon Idumea I will extend my shoe," or according to Symmachus, "Upon Idumea I will mount up with my shoe." And these things indeed he promises to Moab and Idumea. Regarding the aliens, he adds again: "To me the aliens have become subject," or according to Aquila: "The Philistines act as allies to me," and according to Theodotion: "To me the aliens have acted as friends." ^C These very same things, in the same words and expressions, are spoken in Psalm CV, in which, according to the Seventy Interpreters, it is foretold that the aliens would become friends of God. It is written, therefore, in that text: "Moab is the cauldron of my hope. Upon Idumea I will extend my shoe; to me the aliens have become friends." And these things he recounted regarding the aliens. Following this, the prophecy again adds, speaking from the person of the Jewish people: "Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off, and wilt thou not go forth in our powers?" These things would be similar to those spoken at the beginning in "O God, thou hast cast us off and destroyed us," by which they clearly say that they themselves have been cast off and destroyed, and that they do not have God as a helper in their own powers; whereas the aliens have collectively all become friends to God, and specifically Moab has become the cauldron of his hope, or the cauldron of his washing, or of his security, and Idumea has been deemed worthy of the shoe of God. ^D These things, therefore, having been illuminated by the divine Spirit, David makes common as if from the person of the whole people and says: "O God, thou hast cast us off and destroyed us," or according to Symmachus: "O God, thou hast cast us off and broken us," clearly signifying their rejection and breaking. Then he adds: "Thou hast been angry and hast pitied us," but according to Aquila: "Having been angry, thou hast turned us back"; according to Symmachus: "Thou wert angry and hast led us about"; according to the fifth edition: "And thou hast led us about." The outcome of events declares these things more than words.

^A Since therefore after the coming of our Savior, all these things have been experienced by them, when wrath reached them unto the end, they were repelled and destroyed and cast out; they were cut off and led about, scattered into all nations. "But thou hast shaken," he says, "the earth, and troubled it," because of the myriad evils coming to pass therein; I mean their land, that is to say Jerusalem, in which the kingdom, and the sanctuary, and all the venerable things of the Law were brought to fulfillment; or also their whole country, or their souls, which are figuratively called earth. All of which things were suddenly shaken and troubled on account of their lawless deeds. Nevertheless, the Prophet beseeches in what follows, saying: "Heal her breaches, for she has been moved." For the aforementioned land, having been moved and shaken from its proper place and position, acquired breaches and fractures. Wherefore it is added directly after: "Thou hast shown thy people hard things," and he gives them to drink of the wine of compunction; or, according to Aquila, "the wine of slumber"; or according to Symmachus, "the wine of reeling." And it is permitted to say that the word of the divine Scriptures, which is a reproof of their unbelief in the Christ of God, is the wine of compunction, their conscience being pricked and wounded by the prophecies concerning the Savior; and [also] by the events actually encompassing them, and by the conversion of the nations. ^B For these things, even if they seem unfeigned, nonetheless wound their conscience, striking them and leading them to a consciousness of their unbelief toward our Savior and Lord. But for those, he prophesies that such things are to come. But to those who are about to run to the Christ of God, and to accept the salvation through Him, he gives good tidings, saying in what follows: "Thou hast given a sign to them that fear thee, that they may flee from before the bow." And according to Aquila: "Thou hast given, he says, to those who fear thee a signal, to be signaled from before firmament"; ^C and according to Symmachus: "Thou hast given to those who fear thee a sign, to escape from before the arrow." If then those who were declared above had been marked with this sign, they would not have been repelled, nor destroyed, nor delivered to wrath; but since they were unwilling to accept the saving sign, they have deservedly fallen into these things. But those who fear the Lord (and this is how the Word is accustomed to call those who believe from the nations, as we have often shown at length), having received the sign and made use of it, and being sealed upon their face, found a way to flee from before the bow, with no intelligible and invisible enemy daring to strike them because of the sign lying upon them, as was also given to the ancients. ^D For Moses indeed commanded the doorposts of the houses of the Israelites to be marked with the blood of the paschal lamb for the averting of the destroyer; and in Ezekiel also, when the city was about to be destroyed, it is written that God said to him who was then wearing the garment of the high priest, whoever he was: "Go through the midst of the city" INDEX: entries preserved

^A and set the marks upon the foreheads of the men who are groaning and grieving for all the lawless deeds that are being done in their midst." Then it was said to others: "Go through the city after him, and strike; do not let your eyes spare, and do not pity old man or youth, or infants and virgin, and slay the women for destruction; but do not come near any on whom the sign is, and begin from my sanctuary." Do you see how some perished, while those who bore the sign upon their forehead were saved? Such also were those whom the present inscription portrays, saying: "Thou hast given a sign to those who fear thee, that they might flee from the face of the bow." For he does not say, "Thou hast given to Israel," but "to those who fear thee." ^B That it is the custom of prophecy to call those from the nations who have fled to God "those who fear the Lord," we have often demonstrated, as was said before. Just as, therefore, those who were in Egypt once fled the plagues from the face of the destroyer by using the sign of the blood, in the same way, for the averting of the enemy and foe of human souls—who is accustomed to attack them with missiles and lead them into the error of idolatry—the sign mentioned here is given to those who fear the Lord.

VERS. 7. That thy beloved may be delivered, save with thy right hand, and hear me.

^A just as it was teaching what was said before. And indeed after the first things, through which was indicated the casting off of the former people and the sign that will be given to those who fear him, with the diapsalma having been inserted in the middle, the Holy Spirit sends up a prayer to God, saying: "That your beloved may be delivered, save with your right hand, and hearken to me." He supplicates these things, asking how God, using his own right hand, might rescue and save his beloved; and he does not supplicate simply, "Save," but he adds, "with your right hand," first to rescue, and second to save. And he knew no others as the beloved of God except those humans made according to his image. For even if they have fallen into sin most of all, nevertheless because of the substance of the soul, which is intellectual and rational, they are called the beloved of God. The Word therefore entreats God through the mention of his beloved, and exhorts him to rescue them from intellectual enemies and foes, and once rescued, to grant them salvation through his own right hand. But what else would one call the right hand of God, if not his Christ, figuratively called so? For just as elsewhere he is called strength and wisdom, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so here too he might be called the right hand, since he was about to procure right-hand and saving things for all men. ^B

VERS. 8, 9. "God has spoken in his sanctuary," and the rest. Since the Holy Spirit had prayed that the beloved of God might be saved, God does not delay, but responds with these words: "I will be exalted and will divide Shechem." ^C The Holy Spirit, hearing these things as God spoke through his Word as if through an interpreter, teaches us also to know them; wherefore he says, "God has spoken in his sanctuary." Now the demons never once ignored the Holy One of God, who took the form of a servant; wherefore they were crying out, saying, "We know who you are, the Holy One of God." But also in the 88th Psalm it is said: "Once I have sworn by my holy one, if I will lie to David." For just as a father does regarding a beloved son, so does the God of all swear concerning his Son. And here therefore, "God has spoken in his sanctuary," or, according to Aquila, "God has spoken in his sanctified one." When was this fulfilled, if not when in the last of the days he spoke to us in his Son? And what did he speak, if not following these things, saying: "I will exult and will divide Shechem"? For in the 107th it is said, "I will be exalted, and will divide Shechem," very fittingly; since in that one it was said before: "Be exalted above the heavens, O God, and your glory above all the earth." For regarding the "be exalted," the "I will be exalted" is introduced; but here, regarding the "save with your right hand," and regarding the "that your beloved may be saved," rejoicing in the salvation of his beloved, he makes the response, saying, "I will exult," or, according to Aquila, "I will boast," or according to Symmachus, "I will boast and will distribute Shechem." But this was the portion formerly assigned to Joseph by a certain prerogative, ^D concerning which the Jews formerly, and now the race of the Samaritans, used to think great things. That same place is Shechem.

which Jacob gave to Joseph; where also the well and the fountain of Jacob occur, of which the Gospel makes mention, saying that the Savior had arrived there, and that many of them believed in Him. But even after His assumption, the apostles, being in Samaria, performed signs and wonders there, so that it is narrated in the Acts of the Apostles that the Holy Spirit was given to those dwelling in that place, and that great joy had occurred there. It is written, therefore, that Philip, having descended into the city of Samaria, was preaching Christ to them. And the crowds heeded the things said by Philip unanimously, as they heard and saw the signs that he was performing; and there was a great voice of joy in that city. And next it is said: ^B "And when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them; who, having descended, prayed for them, so that they might receive the Holy Spirit." And he adds: "Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Spirit." These things, therefore, happened in Samaria, the promise near at hand being fulfilled, which says: "I shall be exalted and I shall divide Shechem." For He distributed the Holy Spirit to those in Samaria after His assumption, and after He was exalted, when "ascending on high He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men." And these things happened after the disciples of the Savior were persecuted from Jerusalem. The Scripture says, therefore: "And there occurred a great persecution against the Church which was in Jerusalem; and all were scattered;" and again: "They, therefore, who were scattered went through, evangelizing the word." Next it is said how they were evangelized to those in Samaria, and how the apostles were imparting the Holy Spirit to them. It is demonstrated, therefore, how it is said, "I shall be exalted and I shall divide Shechem;" for after the Savior was exalted, all these things were fulfilled. Another might say that because the place belonged to the Jews of old, but now, after the assumption of our Savior, it has been granted to Gentiles and Samaritans, for this reason it was said, "I shall be exalted and I shall divide Shechem;" but also, "I shall measure the valley of the tabernacles." ^C The prophetic word is accustomed to call the dwelling-place of all men "a valley;" wherefore it is said elsewhere: "He has disposed it in the valley of weeping." This, therefore, is the dwelling-place of all men, and this valley, he says, I shall fill with my churches; which he indicates by the words, "I shall measure the tabernacles." And Aquila also interpreted this in this way: "I shall measure the valley of shadows." Then, "Just as," he says, "Gilead became mine, and Manasseh became mine at one time, and Ephraim was at one time, when it existed, the strengthening of my head,"—or, according to Symmachus, "the strength of my principate,"—"and in the same way just as Judah was at one time my king," ^D or, according to Aquila, "Judah is my diligent inquisitor;" in the same exact condition will be the region and city of the strangers which is called Moab: for it will be made "the cauldron of my hope," or, according to Aquila, "the cauldron of..."

my washing," or "the cauldron of my security," according to Symmachus. He called Ephraim the "fortitude of my head," or "the strength of my power," because those from the tribe of Ephraim who once reigned in Samaria ruled over the nine and a half tribes of Israel. ^B And since there were two sons born to Joseph, Ephraim and Manasses, those of Ephraim, separating themselves from Jerusalem, established their kingdom in Samaria and in the aforementioned Sychem, which is also Sichima; wherefore it is said, "Ephraim is the strength of my head," or "the power of my authority." But those who were from the tribe of Manasses possessed Galaad; wherefore it is said, "Galaad is mine, and Manasses is mine." For the place was called Galaad, and the inhabitants were named Manasses. Thus, he says, as these were mine—namely, the sons of Manasses who inhabited Galaad, and the sons of Ephraim who held the power over the people in Sichima—and even as those who reigned in Jerusalem itself from the tribe of Judah were mine and were kings of my portion, so too shall the nations of the strangers be mine one day. He indicates all strangers through Moab and Idumaea, embracing all the rest through those two nations to whom it was forbidden to enter into the Church of God. For it is written: "The Ammonites and Moabites shall not enter into the Church of the Lord, even unto the third and fourth generation, and unto the age." ^C But Moab and Ammon were sons of Lot, born of that unlawful union with his daughters, and from the Sodomite seed; whose succession, namely the Moabites and Ammonites, the law of Moses rejects. But the present law proclaims the most beautiful things to Moab itself, saying: "Moab is the cauldron of my hope," and to the other nation, which arose from Esau, it signifies good things, adding immediately after: "Over Idumaea will I extend my shoe." Now Idumaea received its name from Edom; and this was Esau, of whom it is said: "Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, like Esau." Myriads of other prophecies are also uttered against the Idumaeans and against Idumaea. Yet the present discourse proclaims the most beautiful things to them as well, as God says: "Over Idumaea will I extend my shoe." Then, indiscriminately, it adds concerning the remaining nations: "The strangers have been subjected to me," or "have become friends." ^D He calls Moab the cauldron of his hope, or the cauldron of his washing, or his security; because it would not have been permitted for him otherwise, since he was once rejected, to approach the Church of God, unless through the washing of regeneration. Therefore, as one washed and cleansed of his former impiety in a cauldron, he is gifted with grace, and thus obtains security. And these things, having been fulfilled in deed, one may perceive with one's own eyes if one travels in the region of the Arabs, seeing the Moabites and Ammonites, who are in great numbers among them, filling the Churches of God. And likewise, he says, "Over Idumaea will I step with my shoe,"

according to Symmachus. ^A And it would not be at all difficult to see this prophecy fulfilled, for those who visit the land of the Idumaeans and behold the multitudes of the Churches of God there do not hesitate to confess that a true stepping has taken place in those regions. For this reason it was said above: "God has spoken in his sanctuary; I will exult." For since the entire human race was to be recalled to salvation, fittingly for His love for mankind, He rejoiced in the salvation of those being saved. And in another sense, you would not be wrong to call the apostles His shoe, or even the ministers of His preaching to this very day. Indeed, God wrought all these things when, in the last of the days, He spoke to us in His Sanctuary.

According to another interpretation, God having spoken in His sanctuary, He recalled to His grace all Jews and Greeks alike, and all the nations across the whole world; wherefore He enumerated Shechem, and Gilead, and Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Judah, and Moab, and Idumaea, and all the foreigners, ^B having deemed worthy of the equal invitation the entire human race; yet He calls those from Israel first. For it was necessary that the first fruits and the primacy of the evangelical preaching be accorded to them first, because of the promises made to their fathers, for which reason the Savior himself also preached the Gospel to them first, testifying and saying: "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And He instructed His apostles to preach the Gospel to them first, saying: "Into the way of the Gentiles do not go, and into a city of the Samaritans do not enter; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Thereafter, He commanded His disciples to preach the Gospel to all nations in His name.

Thus, therefore, in the present text, God, the Lord of all, is prophesied to dwell in His sanctuary, and in it and through it to speak to men; and He says that He will receive both Ephraim, Manasseh, and Judah together and at once—those who were once divided when Judah reigned in Jerusalem, ^C and Ephraim in Shechem and Samaria, and Manasseh dwelt in Gilead. So, with no further separation or discord existing among them, He calls them first; then the Moabites and Ammonites, the Idumaeans, and all the rest of mankind dwelling throughout the whole world.

You may learn from the history of the Gospels how, at the times when the Holy One of God was sojourning in Shechem, and in Samaria itself, and in Jerusalem, Israel was then united, and no division existed among them; so also He sent His own apostles first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel; but after this, using them as it were like shoes, He deemed the entire human race worthy of saving grace.

^D "Who will lead me into the fortified city? Or who will guide me as far as Idumaea? Will not you, O God, who have cast us off; and will you not go forth in our armies?" Having applied his mind to the...

meaning of the preceding words ^A, the Prophet is utterly astonished at the miracle of the paradoxical change in the alien nations. Then, when God has said, "Over Idumaea I will extend my shoe," he marvels at the statement, wondering whether God Himself might ever be about to use a shoe to tread, not upon Jerusalem, nor upon Samaria, nor any other city of Israel, but upon the alien Idumaeans. For this reason he calls those blessed to whom God was about to come, and he pours forth a prayer that he might himself be deemed worthy to see these things; wherefore he says: "Who will lead me into the fortified city? Or who will guide me as far as Idumaea?" For he was praying to be guided and for the days of his life to be extended to that time when God was about to extend His shoe over Idumaea, so that he might behold that great spectacle: God plainly visiting men and walking about in Idumaea, and the aliens subjected ^B and becoming friends to Him; wherefore he says: "Who will guide me as far as Idumaea?" He calls the Church of God a "fortified city," hedged about with a firm and most strong wall—namely, with saving power—which he also longed to see; thus he said: "Who will lead me into the fortified city?" Observe how he did not pray to be guided to Jerusalem, or to Galaad, or to Sychem, or to Ephraim, or to Judah; but, as if struck by the unexpected nature of the promise—that the descendants of the hated and fornicating Esau should be graced with such a favor as to have God tread upon them—he prays, saying: "Who will guide me as far as Idumaea?" And it is very noteworthy that it is not said that God will walk about with bare feet, but with shoes; the word hinting at those souls that are ministers of His will, through whose labor, with the calling of the nations accomplished throughout the whole earth, He established His own city—I mean, of course, His Catholic Church ^C and the system of the commonwealth of the pious; concerning which it is said elsewhere: "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God," and, "The streams of the river gladden the city of God." Because the Prophet longed to see this fortified city, he said: "Who will lead me into the fortified city?" or "into a city surrounded by a wall"—for so Symmachus interpreted it. For gates and doors and bars of divine powers hedge it about, so that it may never be overcome by any siege. Therefore the Savior said concerning it: "Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." The Prophet, therefore, longing to see this hedged-about city, said: "Who will lead me into the fortified city?" And desiring also to behold with his eyes the salvation of the aliens, he added, saying: "Who will guide me as far as Idumaea?" Then, having said "Who?" first and second, he acknowledges that he knows only the One who is able to show these things; and this was God—He who at the beginning of the matter set before us ^D

this title's inscription said: "O God, Thou hast cast us off and destroyed us." ^A Therefore, looking to that voice, he here brings forward the same sentiment, saying: "Is it not Thou, O God, who hast cast us off?" For who else, he says, could show us Thy promises and the fulfillment of Thy words, if not Thou Thyself who hast cast us off? Or, according to Symmachus, "Unless Thou, O God, who castest us away, and dost not go forth with our armies?" For Thou hast cast us off, O Lord, and hast destroyed us; but Thou who wast formerly accustomed to go forth with us and fight alongside our forces, now that the calling of the nations has been accomplished, Thou hast cast us off and no longer goest forth with our forces. There is, therefore, no other hope for us to behold Thy promises, unless Thou Thyself shouldst will it. For when Thou willest, it is possible for us, Thy prophets, to be numbered in Thy walled city, and to be led as far as that Idumaea which has been declared.

"Give us help from tribulation, and vain is the salvation of men. In God we shall do strength, and He shall bring to nothing those who afflict us." Those who have been deemed worthy of the promises are taught by the things set before them to be sober and watchful, and to be prepared for tribulations, and to say to their own King in their prayers: "Give us help from tribulation," for all hope placed in man is vain. Then, having prayed these things, they show signs of their alacrity, saying: "In God we shall do strength, and He shall bring to nothing those who afflict us." Such was Paul, who said: "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me," and again: "Yet not I, he says, but the grace which is with me." These things those who have come from Idumaea and from foreign nations to the grace of God are taught to say. If, however, these things are spoken from the person of the prophetic choir, it would be fitting for them, having lamented the rejection and ruin of the former people, to send up a prayer for their common body, and to offer these words to God.

1. TO THE END IN HYMNS, TO DAVID, LX.

"Hear, O God, my supplication, attend to my prayer." Those which are inscribed with "for a stele-inscription" continue in sequence to the fifty-ninth until the end; and there are six in all that have this inscription, both those aforementioned and the fifteenth, which is situated in the first part of the book of Psalms. ^D However, the hymn which is now in hand, being also "to the end," sends up a prayer because of the very useful promises that are brought forward at the end of the hymn. There are five in all that are inscribed "In hymns": two indeed in the first part of the book, namely the fourth and the sixth. But those are indeed called "Psalms in hymns"; whereas those in the second part of the book, three in number, are inscribed only "In hymns," the fifty-third, and the fifty-fourth, and the one now in hand. Those therefore "In

^A hymns" seem to have been spoken with the musical instrument called the psaltery, since they required the action of the body, which is the instrument of the soul, on the part of the one singing. But those which are simply called "hymns" were spoken by the sole voice of the one offering the hymn, without the accompaniment of the striking of the psaltery, because the words within them require only the contemplation of the mind. This, indeed, the hymn now in hand demonstrates by saying: "From the ends of the earth I have cried to thee," by which he signifies that the Prophet, having been rapt by God, was as if outside the state of the body. Nor am I unaware that the other interpreters have rendered it in another way. But David, through the words before us, entreats, saying: "Hear, O God, my supplication." For being in need of certain great and divine things, he beseeches that he might obtain them. Then, in order to show himself worthy to be heard, he adds: "Attend to my prayer." ^B Being confident that his prayer was filled with a great and profound understanding, he asked God to look upon it, to gaze upon the words in it, and to examine what was being said, as being worthy of His ears. Then he also reveals the reason for which he invited God to be the spectator of his prayer; wherefore he adds: "From the ends of the earth I have cried to thee." And since the other interpreters have rendered it harmoniously—Aquila saying, "From the extremity of the earth I will cry to thee"; Symmachus, "From the ends of the earth I will call upon thee"; and the fifth edition, "From the ends of the earth I will cry to thee"—who would not reasonably inquire after the meaning of the statement? For how can anyone, having crossed the whole inhabited world and having arrived beyond the Ocean itself, cry out: "From the ends of the earth I have cried to thee"? But I would have you consider whether every friend of God might not reasonably be called the "ends of the earth." For the wicked man who runs around the forum and the crowds, the council chambers and the law courts, and is entirely buried in bodily pleasures, ^C may justly be said to dwell in the depths of the earth; but those who "went about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented," and fled from the midst of cities, and made their dwellings in deserts, and on mountains, and in caverns and holes of the earth—even if they were not entirely exempt from the body, and even if they were outside of it, living within it nonetheless and using it as an instrument, they were not at all submerged in the evils of life; but touching only here and there upon the necessary food and the other things required for use, they lived, and were justly seen to be at the extremities and the ends of the body. Such was Paul, who said: "For walking in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh," and, "I have been crucified with Christ; and I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me." He, therefore, who is so disposed may justly say to God: ^D "Attend to my prayer," having much boldness of speech because of such a life, nor would he lie in saying: "From the ends of the earth I have cried to thee." He adds the reason in these words, "While

[From the ends of the earth I have cried to You.] And he adds the cause, saying: ^A “At the time when my heart is overwhelmed,” or, according to Symmachus, “At the time when my heart is distressed.” For every soul that loves God is overwhelmed and distressed while it dwells in this mortal life; for which reason one might say, I think, “For my sojourning has been prolonged.” And we, too, who are in this tabernacle, groan, being burdened. ^B Paul also groaned, being distressed by the extension of the mortal life; for which reason he lamented, saying, “Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?” He is also overwhelmed and distressed out of love for humanity, seeing the multitude of those who are perishing; since “wide and broad is the way that leads to destruction.” Thus, also, he himself mourns for many, of whom he said, “I shall mourn for many of those who have sinned before, and have not repented of the sin and iniquity and impiety which they committed.” And the same man, suffering exceedingly and sympathizing with others, cried out, “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not inflamed?” Similarly, the prophets also lamented for the people of old, just as David did. Therefore, he fled from the middle of the earth, and becoming established in its extremities, he cried out to God; and regarding the destruction of many, and of Saul himself, he lamented with a grieving soul. ^C “On a rock You exalted me, for You became my hope, a tower of strength from the face of the enemy,” and the rest. According to the Seventy, the discourse contains a thanksgiving. These things, he says, which I have spoken of above, were present to me; because You Yourself, O God, lifted me up and exalted me, setting me upon the rock which is with You, which is the Word proceeding from You; for “the Rock was Christ.” Since, therefore, You exalted me in Your Word and made me lofty, so that I no longer dwell in the middle of the earth, but have come to be in its extremities, and since You have already guided me so as to reach near to You; You have become my hope, for which hope I shall not be confounded; but also, with many mortal enemies and foes pressing upon me and seeking my soul, You alone sufficed against them all, having become a strong tower for me, and fencing me about in the safety of the salvation which is with You, ^D so that I fear none of my enemies. Naturally, having obtained all these things, I send up hymns to You, as the One who became the cause of all good things for me. But instead of “On a rock You exalted me,” and the rest, Symmachus provided another meaning, saying: “When the strong rises up against me, You will guide me. For You became my security, a high tower from the face of the enemy.” And Aquila likewise provided the same meaning, saying: “In a strong place You were exalted by me, You will guide me,” and the rest. By these words the discourse teaches us to fear none of those who rise up against us, but to become entirely of God, trusting in Him alone. He, therefore, who is furnished with good hopes, and who has acquired God as a tower of strength, or, according to Aquila, a “tower of power,”

or, according to Symmachus, a “fortified tower,” will say, “I shall dwell in Thy tabernacle unto the ages; I shall be hidden in the shelter of Thy wings.” “For I shall not,” he says, “find courage in myself, but in the shelter of Thy wings.” Now, the Word is accustomed to call the providential powers of God by this name, under which the man who loves God is sheltered, never departing from the shelter of God, but dwelling within it for ages; indeed, he is already enjoying His Church and the beauty of His house, so that he may say, “O Lord, I have loved the beauty of Thy house, and the place of the habitation of Thy glory,” and, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, this will I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the delight of the Lord, and to visit His temple.” But if there is also a heavenly tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man, ^B the image of which Moses was commanded to make, referring to that tabernacle, he would say, “I shall dwell in Thy tabernacle unto the ages.” For the perfect man has received this promise, not considering the things that are seen, but the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal.

VERS. 6. “For Thou, O God, hast heard my prayers; Thou hast given an inheritance to them that fear Thy name.” If the prayer now set before us, which was sent forth by David, were some ordinary prayer, it would not have been necessary for it to be recorded in the book of Psalms; for it is likely that he had offered six hundred other prayers to God, just as we too pray daily and at various times, offering ^C different prayers at different times. But because, very often, while he was praying, or playing the psalms or offering up hymns, he was filled with prophetic power, the things said were worthily marked not as ordinary prayers, but as other prophetic utterances, and those who had received the grace of the discernment of spirits recorded them in the divine books. Thus, then, here too, after the aforementioned words, with the *diapsalma* inserted in the middle, the Prophet performs a change of speech, perceiving the arrival of the Holy Spirit, and being illuminated by Him, and knowing that he had attained the hearing of God regarding the prayer he had previously offered. Wherefore, previously ^D praying, he said, “Hear, O God, my supplication,” but here, after the *diapsalma*, he says, “For Thou, O God, hast heard my prayers.” Do you see how he perceived that he was heard? And this was that which was promised by God through the prophet Isaiah to those who are worthy: “While you are yet speaking, I will say, Behold, I am present.” For while the Prophet was yet speaking, the Spirit, standing by, revealed to him that he had indeed been heard. Therefore he says, “For Thou, O God, hast heard my prayers.” And the same thought is presented according to the other interpreters; for according to Aquila it is said, “For Thou, O God, hast heard my prayers,” and according to Symmachus, “For Thou, O God, hast heard my supplications.” He continues then: “Thou hast given an inheritance to them that fear Thy name.”

For Thou hast already heard me, and I have learned, being enlightened by Thy Spirit, that Thou wilt give not to me alone, but to all who fear Thy name, fruit worthy of Thy fear, namely the inheritance which Thou hast promised to them. By saying in an indefinite manner, “to them that fear Thy name,” He extended grace to all men. For the inheritance was not promised to Israel, nor to the Jewish nation only, but to all who fear His name. “To the Jew first,” says the Apostle, “and to the Greek.” It has often been demonstrated by us that Scripture is accustomed to call all those from the nations who approach God those who fear the Lord. To these, then, He says, Thou hast given an inheritance; and what kind, He does not say, but has left it for us to inquire. To Israel, indeed, He promised through Moses the land flowing with milk and honey; but what inheritance He gives to those who fear Him, He has left to be sought. You will find this in the beatitudes of our Savior, where it is said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”; and again you have the promise of our Savior, in which He says: “And in this age he will receive many times more, and in the world to come he will inherit eternal life.” And because of this inheritance the fifth psalm was inscribed, “Unto the end, for her who receives the inheritance”; and in the fifteenth psalm the same inheritance was denoted according to the saying, “The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; Thou art He who restores my inheritance to me. For my inheritance is excellent to me.”

^B “Days upon days of the king Thou shalt add; his years even unto the day of generation and generation shall abide forever in the sight of God. Mercy and truth, who shall search for them?” Having said beforehand, “Because Thou, O God, hast heard my prayers,” He joined through a hyperbaton the passage, “Days upon days of the king Thou shalt add.” For He says, “Hearken to my prayers; Thou hast added days upon days to me.” In the middle, however, the mention of those who fear the name of the Lord was inserted, because the prophecy promised the inheritance to them as well. And that inheritance was eternal life, which is signified by these words: “Days upon days of the king Thou shalt add.” Great things, therefore, did God promise to King David, who prayed through the Spirit, that He would add days upon days, and his years even unto the day of generation and generation. For this was the inheritance He promised him; which is also made clear in the twentieth psalm, where it is said: “O Lord, in Thy strength the king shall be glad. Thou hast given him the ^C desire of his heart;” and following this: “He asked life of Thee, and Thou gavest him length of days for ever and ever.” For since he was desiring heavenly things, and coveting the goods that are with Thee, he prayed; He heard him, He says, and having heard him, “Thou hast given him the desire of his heart, and the will of his lips Thou hast not ^D denied him.” For what that con-

concupiscence of his was, and what that petition of his lips, He teaches in the following words: “He asked life of thee, and Thou gavest him length of days for ever and ever.” ^A In the present instance, therefore, David prayed in a similar manner, and having prayed, he was heard; and having been heard, he obtained this promise, by which it is said: “Days upon days of the king Thou shalt add, his years unto the day of a generation and a generation;” or, according to Symmachus, “Days to the days of the king Thou shalt add, his years as long as generation and generation; he shall dwell for ever in the presence of God; mercy and truth shall encompass him.” All these things he shall obtain who has been able to say: “From the ends of the earth I cried unto Thee, while my heart was troubled.” For of such progress he shall receive the worthy fruit, namely, eternal life. But when the Word says, “His years unto the day of a generation and a generation,” it signifies that David is to be remembered not only during the time of his own life, but through every single generation; or, according to two generations, by which the Word hints at the people from the circumcision and the Church from the Gentiles. As long, therefore, as the first generation encounters the divine Scriptures, it keeps David in memory; and the second generation, which is the election from all the Gentiles, likewise never ceases to remember David, because the Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ the son of David is always on its lips. This, then, the Word hinted at by saying, “His years unto the day of a generation and a generation.” ^B And among men, indeed, he shall obtain this longevity; but before God Himself, He says, he shall never perish; but having obtained an immortal and infinitely enduring life, “he shall dwell for ever in the presence of God.” But how human nature can endure and be prolonged to be on a par with the life of God, He teaches in the following words: “And mercy and truth, who shall seek them out?” This Symmachus has interpreted more clearly, saying: “Mercy and truth shall encompass him;” and Aquila likewise: “Mercy and truth shall preserve him.” For these shall be the causes of his immortality, namely, the mercy and truth of God; of which every God-loving man partaking, as if seasoned with salt, shall be preserved for eternal life. For he will not live in a similar way because he is similar to God in substance, but because he is preserved by the mercy and truth of God. ^C

VERS. 9. “So will I sing a psalm unto Thy name for ever and ever, that I may render my vows day by day.” When the Holy Spirit had breathed these things into the soul of David, as if taught by a master, he seals the word with faith, crying out: “So will I sing a psalm unto Thy name for ever and ever.” He does not say simply, “I will sing [a psalm] unto Thy name for ever and ever,” but with the addition of the word, “So.” “So,” in what way, unless as the Holy Spirit taught above in the words, “Mercy and truth shall encompass him”? For thus, encompassed and preserved by Thy mercy and by Thy truth, I will sing a psalm unto Thy name for ever and ever. For I trust in mercy and truth

not my own virtue, that I shall obtain eternal life and the immortality which is with Thee. Therefore, “I will sing a psalm unto Thy name for ever and ever, that I may perform my vows from day to day,” or, according to Symmachus, “Performing my vows each day.” I shall certainly never cease from keeping my promises, as if they were perpetual and salvific debts for me. For I will persevere in rendering them even throughout infinite ages. Since I will not be idle or without work in that eternal life, but will provide there the labor fitting and due to God. This, indeed, is the perpetual thanksgiving due and fitting to Him.

TO THE END, CONCERNING IDITHUM, A PSALM OF DAVID LXI.

^B “Shall not my soul be subject to God? For from Him is my salvation.” This psalm is indeed attributed to David, but there is added to the inscription, “for Idithum,” by which we are taught that David, having composed the psalm for Idithum, committed it to him for meditation, so that when a calamity befell him, he might use it as a kind of incantation for a remedy. Likewise, the XXXVIII [Psalm] is inscribed: “To the end, to Idithum, a canticle of David,” in which likewise David delivered a teaching to the same Idithum under a similar, I suppose, circumstance of events. For here it is said: “I shall be moved no more. Till when do you rush upon a man? You kill, all of you.” ^C But in the XXXVIII: “When the sinner stood against me, I was deaf and was humbled, and I kept silent from good things, and my pain was renewed”; and again: “Deliver me from all my iniquities; Thou hast given me as a reproach to the foolish.” Observe, moreover, in what manner he signifies concerning both that he was examined in some temptation and had suffered grievous things; for which reason he uttered these expressions. In the present psalm, therefore, he proceeds to say: “Nevertheless, vain are the sons of men, lying are the sons of men in the balances; they themselves are from vanity for the same thing.” But in that other, it was similarly said: “Nevertheless, all is vanity, every man living,” and again: “Nevertheless, vain is every man,” things which would differ in no way from these: “Nevertheless, vain are the sons of men, they are from vanity for the same thing.” To these you shall find in the XXXVIII it is said: ^D “Nevertheless, man passes in an image; nevertheless, they are troubled in vain. He treasures up and knows not for whom he shall gather them”; to which these words said in the present [psalm] are in harmony: “Do not hope in iniquity and do not covet plunder; if riches flow, do not set your heart [upon them].” And if you, at your leisure, compare the words placed opposite one another in both the psalms mentioned, you will find the same interpretation. David, therefore, upon a temptation befalling the same Idithum, and perhaps a fall, [composed] these

^A of the same mind. David therefore seems to have handed down a medicinal instruction for the one who has fallen into some temptation, or perhaps a lapse, so that he might recover himself and regain his position after the fall that had befallen him. He was teaching him, then, in the 38th [psalm], to exhort himself and to commune with himself, saying: 'I said, I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue. I set a guard on my mouth, when the sinner stood before me. I became deaf, and was humbled, and was silent from good things, and my pain was renewed,' and what follows these. Among which also was this: 'Deliver me from all my iniquities; you have made me a reproach to the foolish. I was deaf and did not open my mouth, because you did it'; and again: 'Remove your stripes from me; I have failed by the strength of your hand.' Idithum was taught to say these things and the like, and to send up such prayers to God in that [psalm]. In the one now at hand, David ^B likewise teaches the same man to commune with himself and to say: 'Shall not my soul be subject to God? For from him is my salvation.' He signifies that he had been shaken and had suffered some agitation in his soul. Since, therefore, upon the assault of those tempting him, some weakness had come upon him, and he perceived in himself—not as he who said, 'But as for me, my feet were almost moved,'—but [that he had] truly been moved, he is necessarily taught to say: 'I shall not be moved anymore'; or according to Aquila, 'I shall tremble greatly'; and according to the fifth edition it is said also, 'I shall not be moved anymore.' The meaning of the present teaching is consonant with the prophecy that says: 'Woe to those who draw sins as with a long rope, and iniquities as with a heifer's cart-strap'; and with that: 'Does he who falls not rise again, ^C and does he who turns away not turn back? Why does [this people] turn away with a shameless turning? says the Lord.' For all these things teach the one who has once sinned not to remain in the sin, nor to despair of himself, nor to offer himself surrendered to the current of the place of temptation. Wherefore Idithum is necessarily taught to chant these things to himself and to say the things set forth: and first, to take refuge in the great Savior and physician of souls; then, to subject his soul, no longer to men, nor to those who inspire terror; but to place only the one great judge and God before his eyes, and to subject his soul to him alone, and to free it from every extraneous fear. Wherefore he says: 'Shall not my soul be subject to God?' and so forth. Again, here too, [the word] 'salvation' ^D is presented in the Hebrew tongue by the self-same elements by which the name of our Savior Jesus is written.

One reading these things might opportunely ask: What is the reason that, when there are only two [inscriptions] 'for Idithum' or, according to Aquila, 'concerning Idithum,' they do not lie in sequence one with another, but are found separated by a long interval? The cause of this, when

^A proceeding from the grammatical demonstrations we have offered, we have already clarified on that same Psalm, by bringing forward the history from the Paralipomenon, by which it is shown that he was one of those chosen to offer praises to God. For it is written: “And they left there before the ark of the Covenant of the Lord Asaph and his brethren to minister before the ark,” and next it is said: “Eman and Idithum, and the rest who were chosen by name to praise the Lord, because His mercy is for eternity;” and again: “With them Eman and Idithum, with trumpets and cymbals for sounding, and instruments of the songs of God; the sons of Idithum at the gate,” and again: “And King David and the captains of the army set apart for the works the sons of Asaph and Eman and Idithum, who prophesy with the harp and the psaltery and the cymbals.” Instead of “who prophesy,” Aquila gave “prophets,” but Symmachus “those who prophesied by the lyre;” ^B so that we must consider those mentioned to have been prophets. And again next it is said of Idithum: “The sons of Idithum: Godolias and Suri and Aeas and Sedeas and Matthias, six after their father Idithum, sounding with harps.” Instead of “sounding with harps,” again Aquila gave “prophesying with a cithara,” but Symmachus “by the lyre of him who prophesies.” Therefore Idithum was one of those who prophesied by the lyre; wherefore one might reasonably say, having taken the argument from this, that David did not compose the Psalm and give it to Idithum, nor did Idithum fall into the temptation and stand in need of healing from David. For Scripture nowhere introduces Idithum himself as guilty; rather, it teaches that David had fallen into temptation. Therefore it may be reasonably said that Idithum himself, being a prophet, composed the two aforementioned ^C psalms and delivered them to David, so that he might receive utility and a remedy from them for the evils that had happened to him. Symmachus also seems to contribute to this understanding, having interpreted the inscription in this manner: “A triumphal song through Idithum for David.” Perhaps after the transgression that occurred to David regarding the wife of Uriah, when he could no longer prophesy in the primitive manner, but many temptations and successive calamities were assailing him, Idithum, inspired by the Holy Spirit, composed these words and delivered them to him, as if they were remedies prepared for the healing of the soul, so that he might receive consolation from the doctrine in them? Since we have brought forward two opinions on the present argument for our readers, they may choose whichever they prefer. ^D

VERS. 4, 5. “How long do you rush upon a man, and kill all of you, like a wall that is leaned against and a fence that is pushed?” By these words he indicates that David did not undergo one trial only, nor did he receive one blow from his adversaries; but as one being struck over a long period of time, and patiently enduring the blows inflicted upon him, he tells those who are striking [him].

^A “How long will you set yourselves against a man?” or, according to Aquila, “How long will you lie in wait?” or, according to Symmachus, “How long will you labor in vain?” Then, rebuking the resolve of those who are lying in wait for him, he says, “You all kill.” You are murderers, he says; you are not like opposing athletes standing against one another in a wrestling-match for the sake of exercise, but it is with a murderous intent that you set upon me; and you set upon me as though I were helpless, and as though I were a wall already leaning and a fence thrown down. For as if there were no one to fence me in or to wall me about and watch over my soul, thus do you set upon me. How long, therefore, will you labor in vain at these things, and will you not cease, knowing that I have found my protection, and my own guardian and Savior? Wherefore I had the courage to say, “Shall not my soul be subject to ^B God? For from Him is my salvation. For He is my God and my Savior, my protector; I shall not be moved any more.”

“Nevertheless, they have plotted to cast away my dignity; they ran in thirst; with their mouth they were blessing, but in their heart they were cursing. Diapsalma.” The first part he, whether being David or Idithum, has directed toward himself; the second he uttered addressing his enemies; by the third, through the words set forth, he teaches us with what intent the conspirators prepared their ambush against him. Wherefore he says, “Nevertheless, they have plotted to cast away my dignity.” For all their scheming and counsel aimed at nothing else, he says, but to cast me down from the honor I enjoyed before God, and to strip me of the glory I previously possessed. Then, having resolved to take away this dignity of mine, ^C they “ran in thirst,” thirsting to behold my destruction. Instead of “in thirst,” Aquila interpreted it as “in deceit”; Symmachus, as “in falsehood”; the fifth edition, as “in a lie”; and yet another edition, as “in craft.” It is likely, therefore, that in our own reading, too, there was originally placed “in falsehood,” so that the meaning would be: “They ran in falsehood,” that is, my enemies and those lying in wait for me, not with truth as their guide, but having surrendered themselves entirely to falsehood, directed their course and their zeal against me; but in later times, by a scribal error, it came to pass that instead of “in falsehood,” “in thirst” was written. But how did the insidiators, while lying, “run”? He explains this by saying next: “With their mouth they were blessing, but in their heart they were cursing.” For, while using deceit, they employed sweet words in ^D order to ensnare me and cast me down from that station I held with God; wherefore they seemed to bless and praise me and to receive me to my face, but their minds within were filled with curses, by which they busily strove to drive me from my honor and cast me into a curse. By these things we are taught that all who lie in wait for the men of God are intent on nothing other than to strip them of the honor that is with God.

VERS. 6-9 “Nevertheless, be subject to God, my soul, for from Him is my endurance. For He is my God and my Savior; my protector, I shall not be moved.”

In the beginning, as if he were still hesitant, he said: “Shall not my soul be subject to God?” But here, being strengthened by the things that have been revealed to his soul, he commands it absolutely and confidently; wherefore he thus addresses it: “Nevertheless, be subject to God, O my soul.” And above he had said: “For from Him is the endurance of my soul;” but here: “For from Him is my patience.” This would be similar to the one who said: “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me.” For I do not possess strength from myself, but from Him who strengthens me. And here, “my patience” is not from my own virtue and power, he says, but originates from His grace; “For He is my God and my Savior;” wherefore, as my God and Savior, He provides me with patience. And further above you have the text: “For He is my God and my Savior, my protector; I shall not migrate,” or, according to Aquila and Symmachus, “I shall not be shaken.” But there is a great difference between the one who says, “I shall not be moved anymore,” and the one who says, “I shall not be shaken,” and, “I shall not migrate.” For the former indicated that he was indeed moved, but not by much; but here it is a total denial of any lapse. “In God is my salvation and my glory, the God of my help, and my hope is in God.” Here, too, “Salvation” is called Jesus in the Hebrew tongue, and it is written with the very same characters. As the divine Apostle wrote concerning our Savior: “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath proposed to be a propitiation through faith in His blood;” and again: “If any man sin, we have an advocate with God, Jesus Christ the just; and He is the propitiation for our sins;” in the same way it is said here also: “In God is my salvation and my glory, and my help and my hope.” As if the meaning of the Hebrew word were set forth more clearly in the interpretation, it would contain: Jesus, being my salvation in God, and in the bosom of the Father, He is my glory and my guardian, and the God of my help and my hope which is in God. For the Word of God is the source of all these things for those who hope in Him. Wherefore also, according to Aquila, it is said: “In God is my salvation and my glory, the firm support of my power, my hope is in God. ^D Hope in Him, all you congregation of peoples; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our helper. Diapsalma.” Having remembered Salvation, he recognized that it would not only bring healing to himself, but would become a common good; wherefore he calls everyone to it, turning away from self-love, and demonstrating humanity and love toward his neighbors. Therefore, he calls them as if to a saving harbor, saying: “Hope in Him, all you congregation of peoples,” or, according to Aquila, “Be secure in Him at all times, O people.” Being secure in Him and hoping in Him, it is right to open one’s thoughts to Him, and to reveal the diseases of the soul as to a physician.

Therefore he adds: ^A “Pour out your hearts before Him. God is our helper.” For, having a helper, he says, do not shrink back, and do not hide anything in your minds, but having opened wide the storechambers of the soul, reveal the thoughts hidden within it, as those who entrust everything to the One who alone is good and able to heal all things.

VER. 10. “Nevertheless, vain are the sons of men, lying are the sons of men in the scales, so as to act unjustly, themselves from vanity for the same thing.” And in the 38th it was said: “Nevertheless, all is vanity, every man living.” And again: “Nevertheless, in vain are they troubled;” and, “Yet man walks about in an image.” Here, too, in harmony with those, the things set before us are said, by which we are taught to hope only in the Savior, and to claim Him as our helper; since all the sons of men, even if they seem to be princes, and even if they are able to do much in life, are vain; or, according to Symmachus, ^B a “vapor,” and soon they will be “as dust which the wind drives away from the face of the earth.” Hence Solomon, benefiting from the use and example of his father, wrote: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,” and such other things. The sons of men are lying in two ways: in one, because, wandering far from the truth, they speak falsehoods; in the other, because they lead those who trust in them into error through deceits and lying words. Wherefore it is not expedient to entrust oneself to such as these; for they are accustomed to lie, and there is no truth in them; but their soul's scales, too, contain nothing just or equitable; but being prone to change, they perform things contrary to justice. By these unjust scales of theirs, therefore, they handle vanity, turning away from the truth and the God of it: wherefore it is not fitting to entrust ^C oneself to them; but to write down only the aforementioned Savior as helper.

VER. 11. “Do not hope in iniquity, and do not covet plunder; if riches flow, do not set your heart upon them.” And in the 38th Psalm things akin to these were said: “Nevertheless, in vain are they troubled. He gathers treasures, and does not know for whom he will gather them.” Since, therefore, the one who lays up treasures on earth, and gathers much money, gathers in vain; for not only will he not enjoy them himself at all, being taken from this life more quickly than a sneeze, nor does he know for certain who ^D will be his heir: why is he troubled in vain? Many, indeed, or nearly all, have deceived themselves, hoping to leave their wealth to their sons and dearest friends, but being ignorant of what would come to pass, they have missed the mark. They are truly troubled in vain while they store up treasures, not knowing who will gather them. Therefore it is fitting not to hope in iniquity, and things acquired from iniquity, nor if riches flow like a river, to be lifted up on that account. But if it is necessary to derive some good hope from wealth—from wealth, I say, acquired from what is just and good and provided by God—then, alas, use such well, and with upright and balanced scales, use [it] for worthy deeds,

^A laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven, and sowing in blessings, as it is written: “He scattered, he gave to the poor, his righteousness endures forever.” This is the only good hope; otherwise, it is not fitting to hope in iniquity, nor to be puffed up with pride over money gathered from rapine and greed. Nay, even if it should happen at some time that our affairs prosper and wealth pours in from everywhere like a river, and—where no one might suffer injustice—it is brought to you by some unexpected flow, do not think that this has come to you from God, nor—deceived in your understanding and clinging to wealth as if it were a good—should you call yourself blessed. Know that since it is of a fluid nature, just as it is borne along in a flow, so also it flows away, and that you possess nothing firm, stable, or secure. And wonderously he uses the name of a "flow": “If wealth should flow in,” he says; or according to Symmachus, “If wealth should bear fruit, do not set your heart upon it.” But upon whom must one set one's heart and to whom must one cling? It has been said many times in, “Shall not my soul be subject to God?” and again, “Shall my soul be subject only to God? For He is my God and my Savior and my defender,” and, “Hope in Him, all you congregation of the people.” Since, therefore, we possess great wealth and the true treasure, let us not set our hope in vain, fleeting, and unrighteous wealth; for the sons of men are truly vain who trust in such things. ^B

“God has spoken once, these two things have I heard: that power belongs to God, and to You, O Lord, is mercy; for You shall render to everyone according to his works.” Having provided such preliminary instruction, the Word consistently reminds us of the just judgment of God, so that, setting this before our eyes, we may not abandon ourselves to injustice, or to rapine, or to transient and blind wealth. For it was not only once that God made these decrees concerning the judgment, but a second time. And these things, he says, I myself have heard accurately, having applied my mind to these two commandments. For God has spoken once, but I have heard these two things; for He spoke through prophets, He spoke through apostles, and I have heard the one Word, which was defined once by God, through both the Old Testament and the New. And what was this, if not, “That power belongs to God, and to You, O Lord, is mercy,” and, “That You shall render to everyone according to his works”? ^C And he says, mercy and power: power for punishing and humbling the unruly, and mercy for saving those who have hoped in Him. “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God,” says the Apostle; severity toward those who have fallen, through His power, but toward you, goodness through mercy. Having said these things, having lifted his face upward, he addresses God, saying: “For You shall render to everyone according to his works.” And Aquila also interpreted the things set before us in this way: “God spoke, and a second time I heard, that the power of ^D

^A God belongs to Him; and to You, O Lord, is mercy. For You shall render to each man according to his works.”

PSALM OF DAVID WHEN HE WAS IN THE WILDERNESS OF JUDAEA, LXII

Verses 2, 3: “O God, my God, I watch for You at dawn.” Fleeing, David arrives at the priest Achimelech; from there to Achus the king of Gath; and from there to Massepha of Moab. The prophet Gad, who was with him, was his adviser not to spend time any longer among the foreigners. Wherefore, having departed from there, he dwells in the wilderness of Judaea; at which time the Scripture also records, saying: “And David remained in the wilderness of Masseneth in the straits; and he sat upon the mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him all the days, and the Lord did not deliver him into his hands.” While in this state of affairs, he composes the psalm before us, having indicated the time through the title. Wherefore it is said, “A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judaea.”

It is reasonable here also to point out again that the order of the Psalms is not arranged according to the sequence of the times of history, but the times are greatly intermingled. For instance, the history first contains the account according to which Saul sent messengers to the house of David to kill him, and how Melchol his wife let him down through the window; the ^B writing of the Psalms, however, mentions this event in the LVIII. Then the history of the Scriptures teaches how David comes to Noba to the priest Achimelech; but the Book of Psalms mentions this deed in the XXXIII Psalm. And again, the writing of the Books of Kingdoms says: “And David departed from there, and he comes, and was saved in the cave of Odollam”; but the Book of Psalms mentions this business in the LVI. And again, after this, the writing of the Books of Kingdoms mentions Doec, how he calumniated the priest Achimelech before Saul; but the Book of Psalms signifies this time in the LI. And David, having learned of the calumny of Doec, flees and arrives at the wilderness of Judaea, and composes the psalm at hand.

The writing of the Books of Kingdoms mentions, after the time of the psalm at hand—I speak of the LXV—certain deeds, such as how the Ziphites calumniated David before Saul; the Book of Psalms mentions these in the LIII, which is titled, “To the end, in hymns, a psalm of instruction by David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul: Behold, David is hidden among us.” And the LV is titled: “When the foreigners seized him in Gath.” But the writing of the Books of Kingdoms places this in the latter part of the history. Do you see how the first things have been placed last, and the last things first? For if they had been set down according to the sequence of the times, the LVIII would have been set first, next to this the XXXIII, third and after these the LVI, and fourth to these the LI, then in sequence the fifth, the LXV, and sixth the LIII, and after all these the LV. After the death of Saul, he first sings the LIX, when Joab smote the valley of Salt, and took twelve thousand men of the Moabites; but the L after>

^A these, when Nathan the prophet came to him, when he also went in to Bathsheba. Then he arranges the third, when he was fleeing from the face of Absalom his son; and after these the VII concerning the words of Chusi, son of Jemini. Who then would not seek the cause of these? For it does not stand to reason that these things were arranged in this way without some necessary underlying causes. Perhaps there will be someone who thinks that the numbers themselves have some power, and for this reason, that the meaning of the spoken words is adapted appropriately to each number ^B; as for example, the number fifty contains the principle regarding the remission of sins, on account of the fiftieth year mentioned in the Law, which the children of the Hebrews used to call the Jubilee, in which remissions and pardons were granted to debtors, and liberty to servants, and other such things were ordained to be performed. For this reason, he adapted the confession of transgression for the forgiveness and remission of sins to the fiftieth Psalm. Thus, then, he might say that the proper meanings were adapted to the power of the numbers in each Psalm according to certain principles. But he who says such things does not seem to me to reach the mark; first, because not even one number ^C at all is carried in the Hebrew book of Psalms, but they were inscribed without the addition of numbers; and secondly, because they are differently joined or divided. For instance, the first and the second are joined together at the beginning of the book in the Hebrew copy; and again, the ninth, which is joined in ours, is divided into two in the Hebrew. And the whole book of Psalms is divided into five parts, as has already been said before. Since these things are so, the aforementioned consideration of numbers is surely void and useless. What, I ask, would be the reason, for example, to adapt the meaning of the Psalm now in hand, I mean the LXII, to such a number; or to assign a special and appropriate meaning to the ^D CLI numbers in each one, according to this or that number? But let everyone receive these things according to his own judgment. I, for my part, believe that the Psalms are for the most part arranged according to the reason and similarity of their meaning, because I have observed and discovered this in many cases; and therefore those which have affinity and sequence toward one another are joined together. Whence they are arranged not according to the times, but according to the sequence of the meaning. And this has already been shown before, both from many others, and especially from the XLI to the L, in which we have clearly demonstrated that those which are inscribed to the sons of Core possess much affinity as to the meaning found in them; and [that] the one which is of Asaph [placed] sequentially to these, and again the confession of David attached to them, which is set forth in the L, gives support to our opinion, namely that it [the number] imposes no force upon the matters. This is one cause, as it seems to me, why the Psalms were placed in that order; however, I am able to put forward another. As the Jewish people were held by much idolatry, the history of the Kingdoms relates that they had obliterated their ancestral scriptures from their memory, so that neither was the book of the Mosaic law found any longer, nor was the memory of ancestral piety preserved among them. [original-script column: see facsimile]

Thus, then, did they even slay the prophets who rebuked their impieties, and for these reasons they were first surrendered to the captivity of the Assyrians. It is no wonder, then, that in such a state of the times, some of the things contained in the Book of Psalms should have been lost, and handed down to oblivion through the long course of years. But after these things, whether Ezra or some other of the prophets applied himself to the work of gathering them together, he collected the Book of Psalms along with the others, not indeed finding all of them at once, but at different times. He placed those first that were first discovered; hence it happened that those of David do not lie all in succession, but are found in the book mixed with those of the sons of Core, Asaph, Solomon, Moses, Ethan, Heman, and again of David, ^B not according to the order of the time in which they were uttered, but according to the order in which they were discovered. From this it came about that those which were later in time, because they were found first, were put down first; and conversely, those that were earlier, because they were unearthed after the others, were assigned a later place. Let these things be said by us as a probable answer to the question proposed.

And now it is time to turn to the contents of the psalm currently in our hands.

David, wandering like the other prophets in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes of the earth, exercised by the labors which the forgetfulness of injuries had brought upon him, sang this psalm also, consecrating the leisure of the solitude to divine philosophy and stirring up his own love for divine things; he confesses that he thirsts for the cup of immortality. Wherefore he cries out to God, saying: “O God, my God, I watch for thee in the light. My soul has thirsted for thee, how simply for thee my flesh.” But for that which is written, “how simply for thee my flesh,” Aquila interpreted it as, “My flesh is stretched out to thee,” ^C while Symmachus rendered it, “My flesh desires thee,” so that not only David’s soul was stretched toward God, but his very flesh and body also, as one who, being at leisure for God, lived chastely and purely. Indeed, that he says, “O God, my God, I watch for thee in the light,” was a proof of his nocturnal purity. For no one who has stained his soul in beds and lasciviousness, and has been base and unclean in body, could be able to use such words. But the great David, with a confident conscience, did not call upon God simply, saying, “O God”; but he ascribes him twice as if he were his own, wherefore he adds, “my God.” Then, because he had dared to proclaim God as his own, he teaches the reason for this daring in these words: “I watch for thee in the light. My soul has thirsted for thee, how simply for thee my flesh.” ^D For I called him my God for this reason, because I am held by no desire for earthly things, nor for those things that are perceived by the eyes of the flesh. For even as the Apostle said: “And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me,” by such a train of thought

^A David said to God: “From the light I watch for Thee. My soul hath thirsted for Thee.” Just as a field, when it has not obtained its customary rain, might be said to thirst for it, in the same manner my soul, and my flesh as well, hath thirsted for Thee, being so much the more thirsty. For just as according to physical arguments we say that the earth itself thirsts for water, so too, he says, my flesh hath thirsted for Thee; wherefore he adds: “In a land deserted, and pathless, and without water;” or according to Symmachus: “As in a thirsty and fainting land, there being no water.” But he may also signify by these things that very desert in which, fleeing from Saul, he tarried. For surely, while dwelling there and living far removed from the Ark of God and the tabernacle of the sanctuary, in which they performed the worship according to the Law, he longed for the sight of them. Just as a thirsty earth desires ^B water, so, he says, does my soul thirst for the things that are pleasing and dear to Thee, O God, so that it fails and wastes away if it does not partake of the fountain that is with Thee, concerning which it has been said: “For with Thee is the fountain of life.” Therefore, “my soul hath thirsted for Thee.” But how it hath thirsted, he explains by saying next: “Thus within the sanctuary I appeared to Thee,” as if he were saying this: My soul thirsted to be seen by Thee in Thy sanctuary, and to see Thy power and Thy glory. Such also is what was said before: “My soul hath thirsted for God the strong, the living; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?” For having been in Thy sanctuary, concerning which it is said in another place, “Once I have sworn in my holy one,” first I myself ^C shall appear to Thee, being tested as to whether I might be worthy of Thy sight. Then, being seen as worthy, I shall behold Thy power and Thy glory; to the contemplation of which it is impossible to come, without first being in the holy place, and first appearing worthy of the good things of God. For after these things, one shall see, as one already approved, the power of God and His glory. And this would be the end of good things, to come to the contemplation of them; wherefore it is said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” This, then, the soul of David thirsted for; wherefore he said: “O God, my God, to Thee I watch from the light. My soul hath thirsted for Thee.”

VERSES 4–6. “For Thy mercy is better than lives, my lips shall praise Thee.”

^A period of time, it is nothing when compared to the mercy of God, which is the cause of eternal life and heavenly blessings. Therefore, trusting in Thy mercy, I will dedicate all this present life of mine to Thee, like some precious votive offerings and costly treasures, having set apart my members and senses for Thy service. Hence, my lips will utter nothing else, but will be preserved pure and clean, in order to be free for Thy hymns and words; and this my life will be occupied in blessing Thee always, by night and by day; and I will lift up the hands of my body, and the actions performed through them, in Thy name, raising them on high, and will show them to Thee pure from any lawless deed, according to him who says: “I desire that men should pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.” ^B Thus, my lips and my hands will be set apart for Thee, so that my lips may in no way differ from fragrant incense, and my hands may not fall short of an effective and true sacrifice, so that I may appropriately say of my lips: “Let my prayer be set forth as incense in Thy sight”; and of my works: “The lifting up of my hands is an evening sacrifice.” And thus my flesh and body will be dedicated to Thy service; but my soul will partake of a greater power; therefore I also say concerning it: “Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness.” For no longer, like the body, will the soul be [offered] with lips or hands, or by any other part or member, but this whole [soul], by itself, will be offered to Thee, O God, as something ^C more excellent than every whole burnt offering, and than every animal full of fat and fatness, being esteemed by Thee more precious than a calf, a bull, or any irrational animal. Wherefore, I will dedicate to Thee this most fat and acceptable sacrifice, I mean my own soul. And for this cause, confessing grace to Thee, with a full mouth and with lips filled with joy, I will celebrate Thee; therefore I speak thus: “And my mouth will praise with joyful lips”; or, according to Symmachus, “And my mouth will celebrate with the lips of blessing.”

VERS. 7-9. “If I remembered Thee upon my bed, I meditated on Thee in the morning, because Thou hast been my helper. And in the shadow of Thy wings I will exult; my soul has followed close behind Thee, Thy right hand has upheld me.”

My purity had no other proof than that at daybreak I meditated on your ^A utterances. For it was evident from this that I did nothing else at night than keep you, God, before my eyes. Now according to Symmachus, who says, "In each watch I meditated on you," and according to Aquila, who says, "In the watches I speak in you," he seems to indicate that he used to devote the night hours to the meditation of the divine Scriptures. For the entire time of the night is divided into various watches; thus, indeed, it is said in the Gospels that the Savior came to the disciples in the fourth watch. And elsewhere he himself says: "Watch, for you do not know in which watch your Lord comes"; and again: "Know this, that if the master of the house knew in which watch the thief would come." Now the godly man who is consecrated to God, remembering God upon his bed, and keeping it immaculate, chaste, and undefiled, would arise during each watch of the night, ^B attend to prayers, and exercise himself in divine teachings; which, teaching us according to Symmachus, he said: "Remembering you upon my bed, in each watch I meditated." For I used to meditate on you, the God, instead of every book and writing, with my mind stretched upward toward you, meditating and calling to mind the favors that I was deemed worthy of by you, and how you have been my helper at all times, and have delivered me from countless temptations, and how you have drawn me up with your own wings—that is to say, with the powers of your providence; all of which, turning over in my memory, I was filled with joy, and I sang your praises, the God, according to Symmachus who says, "And being protected under your wings, I sang praises." Meditating on your utterances during each watch of the night, and then having heard the divine Law which says: ^C "You shall walk after the Lord your God," and having "cleaved" to him, or having disposed my soul to be obedient to the Law, and having seized the matter entirely, and having considered all things—or rather, having turned away from all things that are after God—I became higher and more exalted through the desire of my soul, and I was joined to you, my God, so as to say, not falsely: "My soul has cleaved after you." And to such progress I have reached, and to such a magnitude of virtue I have advanced, not utilizing my own power, but your sovereignty—for you yourself, by your mercy, have bestowed this upon me. For seeing my desire for you and accepting it, you deigned, by extending your own right hand, to take hold of me and draw me up toward yourself; for this reason, indeed, my soul, being helped by you, has been ^D able to "cleave after you," since "your right hand took hold of me." For I could not otherwise have reached such a height, had your right hand not taken hold of me. The Apostle teaches how one cleaves to the Lord, saying: "He who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit, just as he who cleaves to a harlot is one body." Since, therefore, David said to the Lord, "My soul has cleaved after you," he was declaring that he was devoted to chastity and purity by this.

VERS. 10-12. "But they in vain sought my soul."

I, for my part, he says, was attentive to you, my Savior, and I was joining my soul to you, and I was meditating on your words, while I happened to be in flight and spending my time in deserts. For I did not defend myself against those driving me away; nor, while I had leisure for you, O God, did I offer prayers against my enemies. But I was attentive to you alone, as I said. They, however, did not cease to undertake a vain endeavor against my soul; for they sought it in vain, as it was undiscoverable to them because it had cleaved after you. Therefore, what awaits them they themselves do not know, but the Holy Spirit prophesies it. Next, after these things, he cries out prophetically, saying: "They shall enter into the lowest parts of the earth." Since they minded the things of the earth and had become of the lowest sort, it is reasonable that they will suffer the penalty for what they did. For he who has been joined to God, and has had his soul cleaved to Him, shall possess the hope of the kingdom of heaven; but those who have run the contrary path and have minded the things below, having been cast into the pit mentioned elsewhere, shall enter into the lowest parts of the earth. For so long as every man inhabits the surface of the earth, he is said to dwell only in the things below, according to the One who said: "That God is in heaven above, and you are on the earth below." But after departure from this life, the God-loving will have heaven for a dwelling-place, having been lifted up and caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord, and thus always being with the Lord; but the impious and sinners shall descend into the lowest parts of the earth. Remembering these, the Apostle said: "He who descended into the lower parts of the earth is the same who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things." For our Savior and Lord descended even to the lowest parts of the earth, that He might fill all things with saving power. This is also what the Lord who speaks to Job signifies in the words where He says: "Have you come to the spring of the sea, and walked in the footprints of the abyss? Do the gates of death open to you in fear, and did the gatekeepers of Hades, seeing you, shrink back?" Now He indeed descended even to those who dwelt there, that He might vouchsafe freedom to the souls of the saints long held there; but the impious, having been cast into the lowest parts of the earth, shall be delivered into the hands of the sword. For there is a certain sword of death there, of which the Savior, making mention in the twenty-first Psalm, said: "Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only one from the hand of the dog; save me from the lion's mouth, and my humiliation from the horns of the unicorns." All this, however, was said concerning the opposing powers. For the aforementioned men shall not only be delivered into the hands of the sword, but shall also be torn asunder, being dragged hither and thither by certain fierce and crafty spirits, whom the present discourse names "foxes," because they burrow into pits and have their lairs in the lowest recesses. These foxes, therefore, having found, as it were, the souls of the impious fallen there, seize them as prey offered to them and tear them apart, dividing them among themselves. Indeed, the Holy Spirit prophesies that such will be the end of the impious. Concerning

the righteous man who has accomplished the aforementioned deeds, the text adds, saying: "But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone who swears by Him shall be praised; for the mouth of those who speak iniquitous things has been stopped." The name of "king" is introduced here in a very surprising manner, for David, as we have shown, was not yet king at the time he was saying these things, while fleeing from Saul and inhabiting the wilderness of Judea; rather, Saul was ruling the nation and held the kingdom. Who, then, is this king who shall rejoice in God? Some will say that he is pointing to David through the foreknowledge of what was to happen, for he was soon to reign, once Saul had passed away. Another says that he was already king even then, since he had been anointed king by Samuel and was already considered king by God; indeed, he was even then reigning over the multitude that accompanied him, as history mentions. Since, therefore, the discourse has set forth the end of those who were pursuing him, it fittingly prophesies also the end of his own labors, as one who had shown great progress. Wherefore it is said, "But the king shall rejoice in God." ^B For like a noble athlete of God, having passed through great struggles and having been deemed worthy of prizes and divine crowns, he will enjoy the joy that is with the Judge himself. Just as, conversely, his enemies did not obtain a prosperous end, for they entered into the lowest parts of the earth and were handed over into the hands of the sword and became portions for foxes; for these things were fulfilled to the letter according to history, when Saul, fleeing from his enemies, was seeking hiding places and could not obtain help from God, nor was he deemed worthy of a divine response, so that for this reason he went to the ventriloquist and inquired more curiously into things forbidden by God. Then, in truth, he and his companions were indeed portions for foxes. Wherefore, having been abandoned by God, they were handed over to the sword of their enemies and fell in battle. ^C Just as, therefore, these things, not yet having come to pass, were foretold by foreknowledge as things about to happen to those who were pursuing David, so also the Holy Spirit was proclaiming a prosperous end for David himself with these words: "But the king shall rejoice in God." For since he had placed his hope in God and had joined his soul to Him, so as to say, "My soul has followed close behind Thee," he will obtain the celestial joy from God. And everyone who swears by these things, as if swearing truthfully, shall be praised; or, according to Aquila, "He who swears by Him shall be glorified." For whoever has no doubt, but even takes an oath concerning the fact that the king will never fall from the hope set before him, shall be praised, as one who has sworn rightly. ^D And these things will happen both concerning the king and concerning everyone who swears by him, "For the mouth of those who speak iniquitous things has been stopped." According to another interpretation, when the righteous man is perfected through the progress he has made in virtue, the King rejoices and exults—namely the Only-begotten Son of God—giving thanks to His own Father, who has bestowed such great gifts of grace upon human nature. And whoever acknowledges this King and uses His name for an oath, he surely should be held worthy of every praise; as one who has learned that the righteous man has been perfected by His virtue, and that any mouth uttering many unjust things has been stopped. For even if for some time it was granted to the impious that, with their mouth...

they might utter unjust things and blaspheme against the just man and against God Himself, as if He were not aiding those who are pursued for His sake; yet ^A they will not be permitted to babble such things until the end. Rather, their impious mouth will be stopped, and that arrogance against God-loving men will cease once the aforementioned ends overtake them.

TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID, LXIII.

^B «Hear, O God, my prayer when I beseech Thee; deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy.» This present psalm also directs us to the end, in which those who have fought the good fight will receive from the great Judge of the contest the prizes of the upward calling and the crowns of righteousness. Wherefore, at the beginning of the psalm, he introduces enemies and wicked men rising up against the just man; but at the end of the whole discourse, he seals it with good hopes, saying: «The just shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in Him; and all the upright in heart shall be praised.» He teaches that such is to be the end of those who have struggled for the sake of piety. For the athlete of piety, having ten thousand enemies and foes of his own soul—not only visible ones, but also invisible attacks—flees to God alone and asks for His help, all but saying: «If God is for us, who is against us?» ^C Wherefore, he devotes himself to prayers, calling upon God and saying: «Hear, O God, my prayer when I beseech Thee.» But he who is not of this kind, for he disobeys the commandments of God, would not be able to use such boldness; for with what measure we measure, it shall be measured back to us. Wherefore, in the Proverbs, the Wisdom of God speaks out to the disobedient, saying: «Because I called, and you did not obey, and I stretched out my words, and you did not attend; but you made my counsels void, and did not obey my commandments. Therefore, I also will laugh at your destruction.» For there shall be a time when you will call upon Me, and I will not hear. If, therefore, we wish to be heard when we call upon God, let us ourselves do the same by becoming obedient to the commandments of God. For then, with great boldness, we too shall be able to say to God: «Hear, O God, my prayer when I beseech Thee.» ^D And for what was the blessed David praying? (For these words are his, as I suppose, spoken during the times in which he was fleeing from Saul and those with him.) He was praying that his soul be delivered from the fear of the enemy—not that he should have no enemies, nor that their counsels should be eliminated, but that his soul should remain unterrified and intrepid, and be kept unassailable; so that, having acquired a state of imperturbability, he might say, like Paul: «In all things we are troubled, yet not distressed; we are persecuted, but not forsaken; we are cast down, but not destroyed.» Saying these things to God, David was not unmindful of the benefits which had previously been bestowed upon him. Wherefore, giving thanks for the past, he adds: «Pro-

^A «You have sheltered me from the cabal of evildoers, from the multitude of those working iniquity.» For having already gained experience of those things which had come upon me, I can never be unmindful of them; but carrying them always in my memory, I am ever grateful. Yet even now I ask to receive the same help from You. According to the other interpreters, one and the same strain of request is preserved, and one meaning of what is said; wherefore it is stated according to Symmachus: «Hear, O God, the voice of my prayer; defend my life from the terror of the enemy: You will hide me from the machinations of the wicked, from the turmoil of those working iniquity.» For not as about things having passed away, but as about things to come, have all these things been said, and ^B likewise according to the other interpreters.

Vers. 4–7. «Who have sharpened their tongues like a sword, have bent the bow, a bitter thing, to shoot in secret at the blameless. Suddenly they shall shoot at him, and shall not fear.» Even if David preceded in time the saving advent, he was not ignorant of the evangelical teachings, being instructed by the divine Spirit; but he knew very well the saving word which said: «Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.» Wherefore he did not fear the multitude of a military array, nor those arranged with full armor and spears; but these he despised, as one who had cast down that huge Goliath without sweat and without labor; but he feared those whom he pointed out beforehand by the words before us, saying: «Who have sharpened their tongues like a sword, have bent the bow, a bitter thing.» Do you see what kind of armor of the enemies he describes? And it was also said beforehand: ^C «Sons of men, their teeth are arms and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.» These things are written as having been said «when he fled from the face of Saul into the cave.» From the similarity of the words, therefore, it appears that the time is the same as that in which these things which we are now dealing with, concerning them and those similar to them, were said. But also «when Saul sent, and watched his house to kill him,» he uttered similar voices again about the same people, saying: «Behold, they shall speak in their mouth, and a sword is in their mouths.» But those things were said there; in these, however, which are now being discussed, he says that his enemies, from whose fear he prayed to be rescued, had sharpened their tongues like a sword, or according to the other interpreters, «as a knife;» but also they bent their bow, according to the Seventy interpreters, «in a bitter thing;» for by a bitter thing they attempted to shoot the righteous man; ^D but according to Symmachus, «They have filled, he says, their bow with a bitter word.» For they were truly bitter, containing nothing sweet, they who slandered David to Saul: such as was Doeg, and such as were the Ziphites and those like them. Moreover, every impious word is bitter; just as the divine word is sweet and pleasant. Wherefore it is said:

« Taste and see, that the Lord is sweet. » ^A Terrible, indeed, are the bows and swords, truly sharp, of the impious heterodox, who shoot at simple souls and slaughter them with their own swords. And the wise ones of this age also, using painted and sophistic words, have slain many souls. We need, therefore, fervent prayer, that we may be delivered from all these. But those aforementioned especially endeavor to shoot at the simple and guileless man; wherefore it is said: « They have bent the bow, a bitter thing, to shoot in the dark at the blameless. » Here he calls the blameless one « immaculate, » indicating the sycophancy prepared against those who have done no injury. But for that word, « immaculate, » Aquila interpreted it as « simple. » For such men especially endeavor to pierce with arrows the simple and those exempt from wickedness; wherefore he infers, « They will suddenly shoot at him, and will not fear. » For these, watching their time, attack the blameless, or the simple and guileless, suddenly and unexpectedly. Wherefore the Apostle, writing to those like them, says: « But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. » ^B For those aforementioned, who « have whetted their tongues like a sword, and have bent their bow, a bitter thing, to shoot in the dark at the blameless, » or, « to shoot in the dark at the simple, » would never be able to overthrow him whose soul has been fortified. « They will suddenly shoot at him, and will not fear. » And see in what manner he says they will shoot at him—not at me, who speak these things—but at the simple, that is, the guileless and guileless, and one still small, as one might say, being of the number of those concerning whom the Savior taught, saying: « Do not despise one of the little ones who are in my Church; » and, « Whoever shall scandalize one of the little ones, it is profitable for him that he be cast into the sea. » For the Savior does not introduce there a great man being scandalized, but the little one in the Church, just as in this place he speaks of the simple. The enemies, therefore, do not dare to approach the great, ^C nor those who are wise in the sight of God; but they hunt especially for the simple and the guileless. Wherefore David, having mentioned the enemies, declared against whom they are wont especially to creep. « They have confirmed to themselves a wicked word: they have recounted to hide snares. » After he had tropologically said that the enemies whet their swords and bend their bows, he sets forth more clearly through the present words who the sword is and what the bow, saying: « They have confirmed to themselves a wicked word. » For they did not receive a word from God, but having feigned and composed it for themselves, they confirmed this. Such are the sycophants, and all who endeavor to confirm and establish the false opinions which they have painted and fashioned for themselves. And when they perceived that the wicked word which they had confirmed for themselves was base, ^D

and that they did not themselves present it openly, but rather hemmed it in from without with snares, concealing the intrigue against those they plotted against by means of various sophistries and fallacies—for in this way they supposed they would be unassailable and not to be caught—it was for this reason that they ^A said among themselves: “Who will see them?” and “They have searched for iniquities.” For they sought and found nothing useful from the divine law; but they devised iniquities for themselves. Or, according to Symmachus, “They all searched out iniquities.” And as they had searched much for these, and had devised countless things for themselves, but in the end found nothing true, they failed, having gained nothing further from such great searching. Therefore it is said: “They have failed while searching out searches.” David depicted such enemies and foes, from whose hands he prayed that his own soul might be rescued; for they were, in truth, those who search and inquire after iniquity. For whoever are such as these are truly to be considered murderers of the soul; for which reason he especially called upon God as a helper against such enemies, ^B counting as nothing the sensible enemies who draw up their battle lines against the body.

Verses 8, 9. Man shall come, and a deep heart, and God shall be exalted. The arrows of children, etc.

Verse 10. Conturbati sunt omnes qui videbant eos, et timuit omnis homo.

this age were troubled. For, being of the faction of those who were defeated—themselves also being godless and impious—but, as being in malice inferior to the cleverness of the others, they are troubled upon seeing those better than themselves defeated. Hence it is said: ^A “All who saw them were troubled.” But the man of God and all his friends, having obtained the rewards against the enemies through the One, feared God all the more “and announced the works of God, and understood his judgments.” For even if he appeared to be a man, and was thought in the depth of his heart to have vanquished the enemies, yet by the prudent he was recognized, being God Himself, as the cause of the victory. Wherefore they announced the works of God, singing hymns to His achievements through men. ^B These men, then, as spectators, continued glorifying God for the victory of the victor. But the victor himself “will rejoice in the Lord, and will hope in Him.” For he will not think highly of himself, nor will he be puffed up by the victory, but he will be filled with divine joy and gladness, inasmuch as he has become the minister and servant of the victory-making God. And as he rejoices, all the upright in heart will be praised, having themselves also been proven to be victors through the One. For the whole order and body of the saints will obtain praise; because, according to the holy Apostle, when one member is glorified, all the members come into a share of the glory.

TO THE END, A PSALM OF THE SONG OF DAVID LXIV.

VERS. 2, 3. “To Thee a hymn is due, O God, in Zion, and to Thee shall a vow be rendered in Jerusalem.” It contains a prophecy of the things due to happen at the end; wherefore it is inscribed: “To the end.” And what these things are, he next reveals by saying: “To Thee shall all flesh come.” For no longer only the Jewish people, but all flesh, that is, the whole race of men. For so the Scripture is accustomed to designate all men who were formerly carnal and earthy. ^C Wherefore it is said in the Law: “All flesh corrupted its way”; and again: “My spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh.” But then, indeed, all flesh was being accused; now, however, it is said that it will come to God. Wherefore Joel the prophet, who was after David, prophesies most beautifully concerning all flesh, saying: “I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and they shall prophesy.” Isaiah also declares the same thing, saying: ^D “All flesh shall see the salvation of God.” But what could the salvation of God, which is to be known by all flesh, be, other than the Christ of God, as we have often demonstrated? This salvation, then, was prophesied to be revealed to all men who were formerly carnal. With good reason, therefore, the psalm at hand, signifying this very thing, seals the promise by saying: “To Thee shall all flesh come.” Having proceeded further, he interprets the meaning more clearly by adding: “Hear us, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth,

should be afraid at the signs of God was the beginning of good things and of wisdom, since “the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.” For these reasons, the psalm is inscribed “Unto the end.” It is a psalm of a canticle, containing a triumphal hymn to the Savior of the nations. On this account, the Holy Spirit celebrates God, who is above all, saying: ^A “To Thee, O God, a hymn is due in Sion.” For whom else was it fitting to be celebrated for the salvation of all men, if not the Author of every good? The same Spirit teaches those who come to the one God from the nations to say: “To Thee a hymn is due,” as those who have condemned themselves, because they had indecorously sent forth hymns to the error of many gods. But a hymn is due to God—not just any hymn, but that which is sent forth in Sion, that is, in His Church. For Sion is the true heavenly Jerusalem, and the heavenly mount of God, concerning which the Apostle, teaching, said: ^B “You have come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels, and to the Church of the firstborn who are written in the heavens.” And again: “But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother.” This would indeed be the true Jerusalem, and that which is properly proved to be Sion, upon which our Savior and Lord is also said to reign, as He Himself teaches, saying in the second psalm: “But I have been set by Him as King upon Sion, His holy mountain.” And this would be the kingdom of heaven which is announced to those who receive the Gospel. The image of that [heavenly Sion] would be the Church which is on earth, which is called by the same name—sometimes Sion, sometimes Jerusalem, and at other times daughter of Sion, or daughter of Jerusalem. ^C Thus, indeed, the prophets, prophesying, addressed her. Therefore, the hymn that is sung in Sion—namely, in the heavenly Church, or in the Church of God that is on earth—could be fitting only for the God who is hymned. But all theology that is called such outside the Church of God, whether among the wise men of the Greeks or among impious heretics, could be called indecorous. For of the wise men among the Greeks, some have slipped into complete atheism, while others have honored the error of polytheism. And of the impious heretics, some have set up very many contrary first principles, while others have attributed the administration of the universe to wicked and base powers. Now, even the children of the Jews themselves, through not understanding the Scriptures, ^D attribute human form and human passions to God; nay, more, by inventing infinite absurd and base fables, they have fallen far from a fitting hymn. But only those in the Church of God, having been taught by the Savior Himself the fitting hymn, proclaim worthy and divine doctrine about the Father; which is set forth in the present canticle by these words: “To Thee, O God, a hymn is due in Sion.” But an indecorous hymn would be called that which is sent forth to malignant demons and impure spirits; and equally indecorous is that which to the sun, the moon, the stars

and the remaining parts of the world is sung by those who deify these things. And even more shameful and most indecorous is that which is fashioned through shameful and licentious songs for erotic ^A stories about the gods. But that hymn alone would be called beautiful and becoming which is sent forth to the one Creator and Maker and King of all, God, to whom it is also fitting to render vows, and to do this not outside of His Church. Wherefore it is said according to the Seventy: “And to You shall a vow be rendered in Jerusalem.” The divine Scripture is accustomed to call a vow the promise that one makes to God, namely, when one has decided to repent and to devote one’s own life to philosophy according to God, or to consecrate some of one’s possessions, or to pledge some solemn vow befitting a life according to God. Wherefore it has been said somewhere: “If you have made a vow, do not delay to render it; for it is better not to vow than to vow and not render it.” It is fitting, therefore, first of all to celebrate with hymns the Creator and Savior of all; then, further, to perform works in accordance with this theology through good promises. And when we have rendered both the hymn and the vows to Him fittingly, then, as having fulfilled [the obligations] on our part, we shall possess boldness, so as to say: “Hearken to prayer.” Here, furthermore, the term *proseuche* [prayer] is used accurately, and not *euchē* [vow]; for the latter signified a promise, but *proseuche* signifies a petition and supplication, which ^B the Holy Spirit was offering on our behalf, presenting to God a fitting supplication and saying: “Hearken to prayer.” Whose prayer should You hearken to? He shows this next, prophesying the calling of the nations; wherefore He says: “To You all flesh shall come.” For the Holy Spirit was interceding on behalf of all flesh, so that when all flesh has turned toward God and called upon Him, it might find Him propitious. For this reason He did not say: “Hearken to my prayer,” but: “Hearken to prayer; to You all flesh shall come,” as if He were saying more clearly: “Since all flesh and the whole human race is going to withdraw from the error of polytheism, and to turn toward You, the only true God, and to send up hymns to You and render vows, and to make prayers and supplications, hearken to their prayer.” ^C VERS. 4. “The words of wicked men have prevailed over us, and with our impieties You will be propitiated.” Quite consistently, after having spoken about all flesh, He has brought in these words, which contain the confession of all the aforementioned flesh. And so, as many as from among all the nations—who were formerly carnal—have retreated from the superstition [of the past], they are taught by the divine Spirit to confess in what great evils they were once entangled, and to commemorate their own impieties. Wherefore He says: “The words of wicked men have prevailed over us, and with our impieties You will be propitiated.” These things, certainly, as if spoken from the person of all the aforementioned flesh, have been said very consistently. But because the ^D ode is inscribed [with the name] of David

^A one might inquire when the words of the iniquitous prevailed against David or those with him—or, according to Symmachus, ^A “dominated” them—and what kind of impieties this great prophet of God and his companions incurred, since he says, “you shall wipe away our impieties”? However, as we have already explained, the Holy Spirit, in prophesying the calling of the nations and saying, “To you all flesh shall come,” consequently describes their confession, saying from their person: “Words of iniquitous men have prevailed over us,” that is to say, the words of the iniquitous have become stronger and more powerful than ours. Now, all those who were the first to establish the deification of idols were iniquitous; and their words are those which were written down by the poets and the wise men of this age concerning the error of polytheism. But although these “dominated us,” according to Symmachus, yet you, O Lord, did not despise us, but being propitiated regarding our impieties, you sent us the propitiation through which you became propitious to us, having passed over our impieties. And who this propitiation is, the Apostle teaches, speaking of the Savior: “Whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in his blood”; ^B and again: “He himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.”

Verse 5-9. Blessed is he whom you have chosen and taken to yourself; he shall dwell in your courts.

as one who has been taken up by God and received into the courts of the heavenly Jerusalem—declares blessed. “We shall be filled with the goods of your house; your temple is holy, marvelous in justice.” Those previously mentioned, praying that they too may attain the heavenly goods of which the aforementioned blessed one has been deemed worthy, say: “We shall be filled with the goods of your house.” For they have recognized the heavenly house of God, in the courts of which the one already elected has been placed. Therefore, they also pray that at some opportune time they, too, may attain the heavenly goods. ^B But if the Church of God is also His house, according to the Apostle who said, “So that you may know how you ought to behave in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth,” they rightly say: “The blessed one has already attained the election from you; but we who are not yet such, but are still clothed [in flesh], rejoice that, being established here, we already enjoy the goods of your house—that is to say, the divine discourses, the disciplines of wisdom, and the charisms of the Holy Spirit, with which the house of God is adorned: ‘For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, to another faith in the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings, to another kinds of tongues,’ ^C and whatever other things the divine Apostle has enumerated.” With this equipment, then, those who desire the better things prepare themselves.

Then, because they made mention of the house of God, they consequently teach what sort of thing it is, saying: “Your temple is holy, marvelous in justice.” For this was the house of God, His holy temple. But understand the holy temple of God not as a structure of walls and roofs, but as that which is already constituted of elect souls. The saints are living stones, and the sacred Apostle taught that the assembly of the God-fearing is a spiritual house destined for a holy sacrifice, saying: “But you are all the house of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, which you are.” ^D Having said this, he taught in harmony with the word at hand, which states: “Your temple is holy, marvelous in justice.” For just as the structure of sensible temples is often an object of admiration because they have been built with painstaking variety—since those who strive for elegance construct gold-roofed and carved works, and adorn the buildings with pillars and marbles—in the same way, the temple of God, being holy (and this is its first and most beautiful good), is surrounded by an external ornament, distinct in the many-varied wisdom of God, in justice and the remaining virtues, and is variously illuminated by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, so as to cast those who contemplate it into stupor and admiration. Wherefore, those who have been deemed worthy to have their seat in it joyfully say: “We shall be filled with the goods of your house; your temple is holy, marvelous in justice.” I wish you, moreover, to observe these

^A things as having been said in the time of David, at which time that sensible temple had not yet been built by Solomon; thus, the discourse clearly demonstrates that the true temple of God was not that which was built from inanimate stones, but that which we have identified according to the apostolic testimony.

According to another interpretation, since they previously pronounced blessed the one who was chosen and taken up by God, and who now dwells in His heavenly courts, rightly do they themselves—who still remain among the called and desire to be chosen and to be deemed worthy of the same heavenly mansions—ascribe good hope to themselves, entreating to obtain the same heavenly house and the goods therein. Then, as having learned what kind of heavenly house of God it is, they interpret its virtue, saying: “Your temple is holy, marvelous in justice.” And what could the heavenly temple, truly worthy of God, in which the God of all is understood to dwell, be other than His only-begotten Word, in whom the whole fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell? This, therefore, is truly marvelous in justice, inasmuch as He has become for us wisdom from God, and justice, and sanctification, and redemption.

“Hear us, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth, and of those who are far away at sea.” He who was chosen by You ^B and taken up into the heavenly temple is truly blessed and thrice-blessed; but we, being under the promises of the aforementioned goods and hanging upon hope, pray that we may at some time obtain these; wherefore we beseech You, saying: “Hear us, O God our Savior; and having heard, deign that we also may become blessed, having been taken up by You and chosen and made to dwell in Your courts, so that, having arrived there, we may be filled with the goods of Your house.” And what might one conceive the goods of the heavenly house to be, other than those which the divine Apostle described, saying: ^C “Things which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love Him”?

Hear us, therefore, O God our Savior, and having heard, deign that we also may be made worthy of the goods of Your house. Those who were formerly flesh, but have been made worthy of the calling of God, are taught to say these things. They call upon their Savior opportunely in these words, whom they also called “propitiation” above, when they said, “And You shall propitiate our impieties.” And here, too, the Hebrew Scripture inscribes the Savior with the same characters by which our Savior Jesus is written. They call this same Savior and propitiation “the hope of all the ends of the earth and of those who are far away at sea,” clearly declaring that these things pertain ^D nothing to the Jews; for they prophesy that the grace of the Savior is not for them alone, but for all the nations, to whom they proclaim the mind and knowledge of God, so that they no longer hang their hopes upon those formerly considered to be their gods, but upon Him alone who has been made the Savior of them. Preparing

mountains in His strength, girded with power.” Instead of “preparing mountains,” Symmachus has interpreted it as “founding mountains.” ^B The discourse will now proceed to the theology concerning the aforementioned Savior. For You are, He says, the hope of all the ends of the earth, who have accomplished such great things by Your own power. You first “prepared the mountains in Your strength,” being “girded with power”; then You “disturbed the depths of the sea” and “calmed the sound of its waves”; then through these things You “disturbed the nations.” And when these things had taken place, those inhabiting the ends of the earth received great benefit. For they came to know You, and they feared because of Your signs, so that they no longer put any other hope before their eyes than You. Therefore, it was said above: “The hope of all the ends of the earth.” For those who inhabit the ends of the earth are foretold in the preceding passage to be about to fear God from His signs, as it is said: “And they who inhabit the ends of the earth shall fear because of Your signs.” And what were those signs which, upon seeing them, those who inhabited the ends of the earth feared God and hoped in Him? He has already taught us, saying: “Preparing mountains in His strength, girded with power, He who disturbs the depth of the sea, the sound of its waves.” Who shall stand? “The nations shall be disturbed.” Seeing these things, those who inhabit the ends of the earth feared because of His signs. Through these things, the humiliation and casting down of the evil spirits that formerly exalted themselves against the knowledge of God is signified, ^C that is to say, the overthrow of the diabolical array—of principalities and powers, of the world-rulers and the spiritual forces of wickedness—which formerly held sway over the nations inhabiting the earth, and would stir up and disturb the sea of human life, so as to dispense the glory of gods to all those who inhabit the elements of the world. But all these things have been removed and overturned through the saving manifestation of God. Other prophets also prophesy similar things to these in these words: “Hear, all you peoples who inhabit it; and God will be a testimony against you, the Lord from His holy house. For behold, the Lord shall descend from His place, and shall descend upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be crushed beneath Him, and the valleys shall melt like wax before the face of the fire because of the impiety of Jacob—all these things also for the sin of the house of Israel.” But also in Psalm XVII, which includes the descent of the same Lord from heaven to earth, it is said: “And the earth was shaken and trembled, and the foundations of the mountains were disturbed and shaken, because the Lord was angry with them.” ^D By these things is signified the descent of the Lord, that is, of the Word of God; and then, upon His descent to men, the destruction, humiliation, and scattering of those unseen and invisible powers which formerly were lifted up on high and were honored by all the nations. Wherefore, in the present text it is said: “Preparing mountains in His strength, girded with power.” For girded with power, namely with His own might, He has not yet completely...

^A destroyed the aforementioned mountains; but He prepared them for punishment, having at that time set them apart and removed them from the tyranny they exercised over men. But He also lulled the abyss of the sea with His own power. Therefore it is said: “Troubling the abyss of the sea, the sound of its waves.” And instead of “troubling,” Aquila interpreted it as “comprising,” Theodotion as “mitigating,” and the fifth edition also as “mitigating.” Aquila therefore says: “Comprising the sound of the sea, the tumult of its waves and the throng of the nations.” For just as He prepared the aforementioned mountains for the punishment that was to overtake them, so also did He calm the sound of the sea and the tumult of its waves. And what that sea is, and what its sound is, and what the tumult of its waves is, Aquila clarifies next by saying: “And the throng of the nations.” For there was a great throng of the nations of old, and of the tribes of every race of men, when the wave of the life of men, and such a sea of this mortal life, filled with the wickedness of men, had much tumult and sent forth a great sound; as it possessed the dragon dwelling in its midst, concerning whom it is said: “The Lord God shall bring the ^B sword upon the dragon, the crooked serpent, and He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea,” and in another place, the Word, having foretold: “This sea, the great and wide,” adds: “There is that dragon, whom Thou hast formed to play with him.” But in truth, the hope of all the ends of the earth, having appeared to men, suddenly calmed and mitigated both the dragon and the sea, and the sound of its waves, and extinguished the throng of the nations. And these things having come to pass, it is said next and consequently: “And they who inhabit the ends shall be afraid at Thy signs.” For the aforementioned signs—mountains being brought low, and the sound of the sea being calmed, and the tumult of the waves no longer troubling as of old, but also the throng of the nations itself being extinguished—were enough to strike fear into those who inhabit the ends; so that they were no longer afraid of those things already mentioned, but only of the one victor over all of them. Knowing and fearing Him, they attain the beatitude of him who says: “Blessed are all they that fear the Lord.” And who these might be, the present utterance teaches, saying: “And they who inhabit the ends shall be afraid at Thy signs.” Now they are said to inhabit the ends not entirely those who dwell at the extremities of the earth, but those who are able to say with Paul: ^C “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh,” and: “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” For these, not plunging themselves into human affairs, nor yet entirely removed from them, stand as if on a boundary line, living about the ends of human life. ^D Those who, possessed of much perception, having beheld the signs of our Savior, and taking up the fear of God, have attained the beginning of wisdom. For who among those who have held power in various times, having beheld the loftiness and assaults against the Church of God, who having looked upon the persecutions and threats of impious men, would not say

that the mountains are being lifted up and the sea truly raging, and that the roar of the waves is the blasphemies of the impious and godless? ^A All these things the Savior of all the ends of the earth is accustomed to bring down with His power in a single moment, so that those who see their fall and destruction are troubled; but others are benefited and take on the fear of God, confessing that the destruction of the impious is a clear sign of the Savior’s divine power.

VERS. 10, 11. “Exits of the morning and evening shall bring delight. You visited the earth and inebriated it.” ^B In addition to those things already enumerated, He declares other signs of the Savior’s power, saying: “Exits of the morning and evening shall bring delight,” for which Symmachus interpreted: “The departures of the dawn and the hymns of the evening.” For this is one of the greatest signs of His saving power, that after He had brought down those things mentioned above, He established among men the exits of the morning and the delights of the evening—or, according to Symmachus, “hymns,” or according to Aquila, “praises.” For the fact that throughout the whole world in the churches of God, at the rising of the sun in the morning and at the evening hours, hymns, praises, and truly divine delights are established for God, is no small sign of God’s power. ^C God’s delights are the hymns sent up everywhere in the world in His Church at the morning and evening times. Therefore it is said somewhere: “May my praise be sweet to Him”; and again: “The lifting up of my hands is an evening sacrifice”; and: “Let my prayer be set forth as incense before You.” These delights, therefore, are signs of the Savior. ^D And in addition to these, He recounts another very great sign, saying next: “You visited the earth and inebriated it.” For just as a physician observes and visits a sick man, and provides care for the ailment, contributing everything necessary for healing and health; in the same way, You, our Savior and the expectation of all the ends of the earth, having girded Yourself with the power of Your might, have accomplished all these things: You removed the opposing powers from the midst and established morning and evening delights on the earth; and You did these things, having deemed the men on earth worthy of Your visitation, through which countless good things have been gifted to them, so that they might be filled and inebriated with Your good gifts, and become rich according to the Apostle who says: “In everything you were enriched in Him, in all word and all knowledge”; or according to Symmachus, who says: “You will enrich it with an abundance of fruit.” How He inebriated the earth, and how He enriched and filled it with abundance of fruit, He explains by saying next: “The river of God was filled with water.” For the river of the Holy Spirit, which flows from Your fountain, You have bestowed upon the inhabitants of the earth, and flooding their rational and spiritual field—which is called earth—with a great flow,

making it gush forth, has granted to those who dwell upon the earth, naming their rational and intellectual region 'earth,' flooding it with a great stream, ^A inebriating it with the showers of wisdom, and [...thou didst strengthen it] to enrich it with the various gifts of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, [The streams of this river make glad the city of God.] And the Savior also taught concerning this same thing, saying: If anyone thirsty comes to me and drinks, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, leaping up unto eternal life. This, however, he said concerning the Spirit, which they who believe in him were about to receive. This river of God, therefore, was filled with waters, so that one might say: [Of his fullness have we all received.] But the river is filled with many waters because those who are watered from it are not all alike. Since there are different ranks of those who partake of it, naturally providing what is fitting to each, it is said to be filled with many waters: having partaken of which, the rational region gives to each its suitable nourishment, and the fruits worthy of such a river. Hence it is said: [Thou hast prepared their food, for such is the preparation.] According to Symmachus: [Thou shalt bring to fruition,] he says, [its seed, for so thou hast established it,] ^B clearly the earth, [and didst inebriate it, and didst multiply to enrich it.] With your river, therefore, you will bring to fruition its seed, that is, you will yourself cause the seeds cast into it to be brought to fruition through your own river, so as to render perfect ears of corn. Thus, indeed, according to the Gospel, one will produce thirtyfold, another sixtyfold, another a hundredfold, since in the Savior's parable the soul of man is called earth. Inebriate its furrows, multiply its produce; in its drops it shall rejoice while sprouting. After the prophetic word has recounted the signs of the Savior's virtue, and by the foreknowledge of the Spirit has foreseen things to come as if they were already accomplished, ^C how he wrought the defeat of the adversaries, how he visited the earth and inebriated it, and how he multiplied to enrich it, the river of God being filled with waters—having uttered these things and looked upon them as if already seen before his eyes, he turns to prayer and beseeches God, saying: [Inebriate its furrows, and multiply its produce.] The furrows of the soul would be its deep meditations, and the hidden power of its conscience, unknown to the many, which the Word of God, like a plow, cutting through and turning, makes smooth; and by removing the thorns and the superfluous matter, he inserts his own seeds; then, irrigating it with rational streams, he inebriates it. Hence it is said: [Inebriate its furrows, and multiply its produce.] Then, instead of [In its drops it shall rejoice while sprouting,] according to Symmachus: With its drops ^D thou shalt soften it and its sprout. And all these things are signs of Him visiting His Church: which, indeed, were foretold long ago, and completed in no other way than through the advent of our Savior, through whom those who have been deemed worthy of his grace, receiving heavenly seeds in their souls, bring forth abundant fruits; some, indeed, a hundredfold, others sixtyfold, others thirtyfold. Whoever, therefore, in the Church of God [sees] the diverse [states] of those who in Christ pro-

progress, will well recognize the richness of those things which are spoken of in the prophecy.

Verses 12, 14. "You will bless the crown of the year of your kindness, and your fields will be filled with richness." Since the Savior is said to have come to "preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of retribution," according to the Scripture speaking in his person: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to evangelize the poor; to preach liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to call the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of retribution," rightly does he here indicate the day of retribution. Now that is the future age which will come after the consummation of the present. The present statement therefore prophesies that that year will be adorned, as it were, with a crown and with new and beautiful flowers, who are those destined to live in it, saying: "You will bless the crown of the year of your kindness." For that year of the future age, being one of the kindness of God, will have a blessed crown, namely the entire choir of the saints. Having blessed this crown, Christ of God will clothe himself with it, ^B adorned with the flowers of their husbandry. But he himself will also become their crown, according to Isaiah, who says: "And the Lord Sabaoth shall be a crown of glory." Then also the fields of God will be filled with richness, and the mountains of the desert will then be made fat. Furthermore, "the hills will be girded with exultation." And besides all these, "the rams of the sheep will be clothed with their own fleeces." You will understand these things if you consider within yourself the differences of those who attain salvation. Some, indeed, because they walk in a way of life that is, in comparison with the more excellent ones, as it were of a lower rank, have been allegorically called the fields of God filled with richness; wherefore it is said: "Your fields will be filled with richness." Others, however, already flowering with various virtues, have been named the mountains of the Church, formerly desert. These themselves, being richly irrigated by the mentioned river, are said to be filled with fatness; but also the hills, which are even more sublime than these, being tropically so called, will be ^C girded with exultation. And these three orders will indeed attain to blessedness in the future year of the kindness of God: they are perhaps from the number of those who bear fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. But those among them who are to be prefects, some princes and leaders of them, will be adorned with preeminent virtues; wherefore it is said: "The rams of the sheep are clothed," as if it should say, "shall be clothed." Now, by the rams of the sheep, you shall understand the princes and leaders of the aforementioned men, who are clothed, or rather, shall be clothed. What they shall be clothed with, he has left for us to consider; but the divine Apostle clarifies this garment for us, saying: "It is necessary for this corruptible ^D to put on incorruption"; and again: "For we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be supervested,

^A that what is mortal might be swallowed up by life." [II Cor. V, 4.] The rams, therefore, shall put on the garment becoming to them, because their corruptible body is transformed into incorruption, and their mortal [nature] into immortality. Thus, according to the pattern, the rams also bring forth from within the garment, as their body produces the fleece. But they shall even put on our Lord Jesus Christ himself, being clothed with that excellent garment, namely, the light of his divinity.

Furthermore, "the valleys shall abound with corn." For it was proper not to leave the valleys unmentioned, since the plains, the desert mountains, and the hills were named above. But because there are others who, when compared to the aforementioned orders, are somehow lower—though not to be cast out from the kingdom, yet, by comparison with those mentioned before, are small and insignificant, and, as one might say, the last of all—the Word necessarily did not pass over the remembrance of them either, but teaches that they too will yield fruit, saying: "And the valleys shall abound with corn," bringing forth, as it were, "food," according to Symmachus.

"They shall shout." ^B And what will they shout? He explains in what follows, saying: "For they shall sing a hymn." It is as if he had spoken more clearly: "For even if they are valleys, nevertheless they shall sing a hymn to the provider of such blessings for them." But while singing, they shall shout, using confidence and a great cry. And when shouting with a loud cry and singing a hymn, what voices will they send forth, if not those which are carried at the beginning of the whole psalm: "To you a hymn is due, O God, in Zion"? And it is necessarily recorded that "they shall shout, for they shall sing a hymn" regarding the valleys—or indeed regarding all the aforementioned—so that we might learn that the Word does not teach these things concerning sensible and corporeal ^C places; although it is reasonable to think that the aforementioned words are spoken regarding God's sensible gifts, so that it might be a hymn of thanksgiving, if the words are viewed in relation to those things which are supplied by God to men year by year.

For in every year, the lover of men and the giver of every good thing, God, visiting the earth, inebriates it, watering it with the customary rains, and fills its furrows with the bounty of the showers. And He blesses its produce as it increases. And it rejoices, and being made fresh, it springs forth. And then, being filled with every kind of fruit, it is crowned with crops and orchard fruits, so that one might not hesitate to say that it is crowned at the time of spring, and that the plains are filled with fatness; and indeed that the desert mountains flower, and the hills are girded with exultation; and furthermore, that the rams of the sheep are clothed with their own fleeces, ^D and that the valley regions themselves are often filled with corn, and almost by their very work shout and glorify God.

Although these things are fulfilled in a most sensible manner every year, nevertheless the context of the whole connection of the Word has been shown to urge us toward the contemplation. Thus, all the things aforementioned—I mean

the fields and the forests of the desert, the hills and the rams of the sheep, and in addition to these the valleys set forth according to the interpretation given—are said, according to the simple meaning, to send forth one voice and harmonious melody to God. Wherefore, in respect to all of them, you shall hear: "They shall cry out and sing." ^A

TO THE END, A PSALM ODE. LXV.

^A person, he, being skilled, might fittingly be said to psalm with his members and senses according to the law of God. Therefore, the soul accomplished what pertains to knowledge through the cry of jubilation within itself; wherefore it cried out to God himself. But it performs the acts of psalming through the moral and practical motion of the body; wherefore it has been said: “To his name.” For the righteousness that is observed by the many through deeds might carry praise to the name of God. And third, a command is enjoined upon all of us who have come to the knowledge of God from the nations, which bids us give glory—not to God, for it was sufficient to jubilate to him; nor to his name, for to this we are commanded to psalm—but to his praise. For it is right that those praising him should not do so basely, nor without glory, but with great honor and glory. For besides the knowledge of God fixed in the mind, which is celebrated by an instrument, it is also right to fulfill the first command with divine words containing praises and hymns to God, with piety and reverent honor. Wherefore it has been said: “Give glory to his praise,” or according to Aquila: “Give glory to his hymn,” or according to Symmachus: “Appoint a hymn to his honor.” Further, besides these, the prophetic Spirit commands us all to gaze contemplatively upon the works of God, and to fix our mind upon how the great deeds of his wisdom are filled with fear and astonishment. “For from the ^B greatness and beauty of creatures the Creator is proportionately perceived,” and: “The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and divinity.” Therefore, contemplating these things, it is right to be struck with amazement, and to say to God: “How terrible are thy works!” But although his terrible works are known and understood by us who have been enlightened by you, thy enemies, however, wallowing in darkness, even if at some time they wish to speak about thy works and to weave natural arguments to the best of their ability, they fall far short of the magnitude of thy power, and have nothing sound or true to say. Wherefore we say: “In the multitude of thy power, thy enemies shall lie to thee. Let all the earth worship thee and psalm to thee; let them psalm to thy name. Diapsalma.” The former ^C commands were to all the earth, that is to say, they were prophetically commanded to all the Gentiles; but since there was need of prayer to be able to fulfill these through deeds, the divine Spirit necessarily, after the former things, turns to God himself, sending up a prayer on behalf of all the earth. Wherefore he says: “Let all the earth worship thee and psalm to thee; let them psalm to thy name.” Instead of “all the earth,” Symmachus interpreted it more clearly by saying: “All who are on earth,” expressing more transparently that the command was not given to the Jews, but to all men who are on earth. For they were in need of a very great prayer, so that by the power of God a certain miraculous change might come to them ^D so that they might no longer hold to the error of many gods, but might in reality worship and adore one God, who alone is to be adored, at-

- ^A taining finally to the command by which it was said: "Sing praises to his name." In order that these things might come to pass, the Holy Spirit prays, saying: "Let all the earth worship you and sing praises to you; let it sing praises to your name."

VERS. 5, 6. "Come and see the works of God; he is terrible in his counsels concerning the sons of men." Since those who were called by the divine name were standing far off, he commands them to come closer, saying: "Come." This the divine Apostle also represents, saying: "And coming he announced peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near." Furthermore, the Word calls the nations throughout the whole inhabited world to the knowledge of God and to the contemplation of his works. For, being placed far from God, they neither saw nor knew him. Therefore, he says: "Come and see the works of God," concerning which it was said above: ^B "Say to God, How terrible are your works!" But formerly he commanded them to say: "How terrible are your works!" Since, however, it was likely that those who stood far off were ignorant of what the works of God were, he consequently addresses them here, saying: "Come and see the works of God," so that having seen these, you may learn that he is terrible in his counsels concerning the sons of men. Symmachus explained the thought more clearly, saying: "Come and see the deeds of God, terrible machinations for the sons of men." For he has contrived all things for the salvation of the sons of men. Thereafter, he teaches what great things it is recorded that God wrought among those of old. And what these things are, he declares subsequently: "Who turned the sea into dry land; they shall pass through the river on foot." According to Symmachus: "He turned, he says, the sea into dry land; they crossed the river on foot." These things are recorded in the history of Scripture, which ^C of necessity are recounted to the nations, as to those who do not know, so that they might learn that even the people of God of old were once enslaved to the Egyptians and subjected to the error of Egyptian idolatry; but that God performed great and terrible deeds for them, having scourged the Egyptians with divinely sent plagues, and delivered that people themselves from bitter slavery. For these were the terrible works of God, and not only those wrought there, but also those at the Red Sea: which, having changed into dry land, he saved his own, but cast the impious into the abyss of destruction. Having been taught these things, "Take courage," he says, "you, believing that he who performed such things for those of old will not be unequal to performing similar things for you." Wherefore, "Come and see the works of God, how terrible he is in his ^D counsels concerning the sons of men." For he turned the sea into dry land; and at the river Jordan he also wrought other terrible wonders, when those who had come from the desert to this land passed through on foot, the river having been brought low. Using, therefore, those selfsame shoes, take courage, as also your own spiritual Egyptians—the malignant demons, indeed, who formerly held your souls in slavery—

the same God ^A will drive out. But even if the sea of men should swell, and the life of the godless and impious should stir up waves and dangers against you, take courage, having a clear example: the sea that once turned into dry land. For in this way, even for you, the passage from delusion to truth will be smooth and unhindered. And if those of old crossed the Jordan river in a manner beyond expectation, you too should receive the Gospel on this account, knowing that both we who say these things and you who hear them: "There we will rejoice in Him." There, namely, in the aforementioned river. For there shall be, there shall be a time when, as though preparing for a feast, they will come to the washing of regeneration, to the mystical cleansing of filth to be performed in the Jordan river, being freed from the Egyptian error. By these things, the Word signifies the washing of regeneration, which began from the Jordan river, ^B when John the Baptist traversed Judea, preaching a baptism of repentance, and accepted all, both Greeks and Jews, for the confession of their trespasses; at which time our Savior and Lord Himself, standing by, deigned to honor the same river with His divine approach. Wherefore it is said in the passage before us: "There we will rejoice in Him." Hence, naturally, the same prophetic Spirit, when announcing auspicious things to the desert through Isaiah, has made mention of the Jordan itself, saying: "Rejoice, thirsty desert; but let the wilderness exult, and let it bloom as a lily; and the desert places of the Jordan will bloom and exult. Take courage, you weak hands and paralyzed knees; take comfort, you who are faint-hearted in mind. Take courage, do not fear. Behold, our God has rendered judgment; He Himself will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will hear. Then the lame will leap as a deer, and the tongue of the stammerers will be clear; because water has broken forth in the ^C desert, and a torrent in the thirsty land." It is of this that the present passage speaks: "There we will rejoice in Him." These things were fulfilled in the appearance of our Savior to men. Hence, the present psalm quite naturally addressed all the nations, saying: "Come and see the works of God"; and again: "Say to God: How terrible are your works!" And very consistently, after having said: "There we will rejoice in Him," he adds: "Who rules by His power over the age." You will understand this also, hearing the Savior saying: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth; go, make disciples of all nations in My name." Therefore, according to Aquila, it is said: "Who has power by His strength forever." And in another sense we shall rejoice in Him, having been endowed with the aforementioned blessings. And when shall ^D we rejoice, if not when the future age arrives, the dominion and power of which no one else shall hold except He alone who received lordship from the Father? For now, in the present age, there are many principalities, powers, and dominations, spiritual forces of wickedness and rulers of this world. Then, however, after He has abolished every

principality, power, and virtue, He alone will hold empire in that age in which ^A the present discourse promises joy to us.

VERS. 7-9. “His eyes look upon the nations; let not those who exasperate exalt themselves in themselves. Diapsalma.” Having shadowed forth the calling of the nations in what came before, He was calling the whole earth; yet He did not explicitly mention the nations. Now, however, He mentions the nations most clearly, as well as God’s reconciliation. For it is said concerning sinners: “Turn away Thy face from my sins,” and again: “Why dost Thou turn away Thy face and Thy right hand?” and again: “But Thou didst turn away Thy face from me, and I became troubled.” ^B But concerning those who are instructed with good hope, it is said: “The eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and His ears are unto their prayer,” and again: “Let thine eyes see what is right,” and again: “Let the light of Thy countenance be marked upon us, O Lord.” Great, then, are the promises given to the nations in the present. Now His eyes look upon the nations. And observe that nowhere in the foregoing is there mention of the Jews, but throughout the entire Psalm good things are announced to the nations. The very humane Savior of the nations, therefore, spread out His eyes—that is, the supervisory powers—over all the nations. The rays of light sent forth from His eyes illuminate ^C the souls capable of receiving them. But since it was going to be that not all would receive the grace, but—so far as it depended on them—would provoke and exasperate such great philanthropy by not receiving the gift, it is rightly added: “Let not those who exasperate exalt themselves in themselves.” Furthermore, by these words He signifies those among the nations who are disobedient and unyielding to the gospel word. Wherefore it is said in Symmachus: “His eyes inspect the nations; let the disobedient not exalt themselves.” But it also signifies in another sense those from the circumcision who have set at naught the grace and ^D despised the Savior’s calling; wherefore the Holy Spirit, looking toward them through Isaiah, said: “You shall hear with your ears and not understand, and seeing you shall see and not perceive.” Rightly, therefore, does the present discourse rebuke the men who are puffed up without cause over the dignity of their ancestors and who think highly of themselves because of the excellence of their forefathers, saying: “Let not those who exasperate exalt themselves in themselves.” Stop, it says, being haughty and puffed up in vain, O you ones, knowing that God does not look upon you more than upon the rest of the nations. For the eyes of His supervisory power, providing for all men, look upon the nations. Why, then, do you, as if you possessed something special, exalt yourselves in yourselves, and that too, being men who are always exasperating? That the discourse is hinting at them, the Spirit clearly shows through Ezekiel saying: “Son of man, I will send you to the house

of Israel, to those who are exasperating, who have exasperated me, both they and their fathers, even unto this day;” and following: “If so be they hear, or if they fear, for it is a house of exasperators;” and again: “And I will speak my words to them, if so be they hear, or if they fear, for it is a house of exasperators.” And in the 105th Psalm it is said: ^A “Because they exasperated his Spirit;” and again: “Often he delivered them; but they exasperated him in their counsel.” Indeed, Moses also represents their bitterness, saying: “For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and their shoot is from Gomorrah; their grape is a grape of gall, their cluster is a cluster of bitterness.” And in Jeremiah it is said to them: “How is the strange vine turned into bitterness?” Rightly, therefore, are they called exasperators here as well.

But whereas the discourse makes mention of the nations ^B and of their salvation by way of contrast, it introduces a comparison with those who are of the circumcision, saying: “His eyes look upon the nations; let not the exasperators exalt themselves in themselves. Bless, O nations, our God, and make the voice of his praise to be heard.” We observed at the very beginning that this psalm is evangelical, a fact which is also confirmed by the whole series of the prophecy. For in the beginning it called upon the whole earth; then, having taught many things in the interval, it prophesies more clearly concerning the nations, saying: “His eyes look upon the nations.” ^C After such teaching, then, it consistently commands all the nations, inasmuch as they have learned the things previously mentioned and have derived benefit from them, to bless the Creator of so many miracles and fearsome works, saying: “Bless, O nations, our God.” For he says, it is not your former gods, whom you were formerly deluded into thinking were gods, but ours, whom we have acknowledged from our fathers, that you must recognize as the true God. Therefore, even if you did not do so before, do you now bless him. But when you praise and bless him as the only true God, common to us all and to you, do not do this silently or with a lowered voice; but with great boldness and confidence, ^D use loud voices and great shouts so that the praise sent up to God by you may be heard even by outsiders, which the Savior also made clear, saying: “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops.” The saying, “And make the voice of his praise to be heard,” or according to Symmachus, “Make the voice of his hymn to be heard,” holds to this meaning.

Furthermore, one may marvel at the fulfillment of this word, when throughout the whole habitable world of men, in the midst of cities, in villages, and in the countryside, throughout all the Churches of God, the peoples of Christ, chosen from all the nations, send forth with a loud voice hymns and psalms—not to ancestral gods, not to demons who are enemies of God, but to the one God preached by the prophets—so that the voice of those singing psalms may

be heard even by those standing outside; in this way, the saying is fulfilled in deed which says here: “Bless, O nations, our God, and make the voice of His praise heard.” ^A Then there follows: “Who has placed my soul into life, and has not given my feet into stumbling.” Instead of “my soul,” all the other interpreters have rendered “our soul”; and again, instead of “my feet,” they all similarly interpreted “our feet.” For, he says, you are to send up your hymn and praises to God not only for those ancient works of His that were declared previously, but also for the benefits conferred upon those of us who are saying these things. For since He strengthened our feet, which ran greatly in order to preach the saving Gospel to all you nations, and preserved them unshaken in the currents of life by removing the obstacles in our way, and as He Himself became the savior and guardian of our soul when many were plotting against it, for these very reasons: “Bless, O nations, our God, and make the voice of His praise heard.” These things are spoken explicitly on behalf of the heralds of the Gospel, whose course and the virtue of whose feet Isaiah, or rather the Holy Spirit through him, marveling, proclaimed: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good, of those who bring glad tidings of peace!” ^B Since, therefore, having endured many labors and having suffered persecutions from the unbelieving nations, bonds, prisons, and every kind of plotting, they have remained immovable, it is with good reason that they urge all nations to bless the One who strengthened them, who kept their soul for life so as not to fall into the death of sin, and who made their feet firm so as not to suffer stumbling, nor slipping and falling; and to make the voice of His praise heard, not only for His ancient wondrous and terrifying deeds, but also for the new good things for which He placed the soul of those who say these things into life, not having given their feet into stumbling. Wherefore, according to Symmachus, it is said in the plural: “Who ordained our soul for life, and did not give our feet to slip.” ^C

VERS. 10-13

For because a man who has not been tested is unproven, it is fitting that God, in exercising His own, should hand them over to temptations—not so that He Himself may know what sort of people they are, but so that they themselves, having been refined by fire, may turn out more brilliant and purer. ^B For just as in silver there is often found a mixture of foreign material, which remains hidden for a time before it is put into the smelter, but in the heating is exposed and separated, while the silver itself thereafter remains pure, having become better and more brilliant through the purification; in the same way, the men of God also, as much as they had drawn in of what is foreign into their own soul from the entanglement with the flesh, all this they wipe away in temptations and in the persecutions that arise against them, being refined and purified through such a smelter, so that they cast off every stain of sin, which at some time, as men, having fallen into certain failings, they had acquired.

Therefore, giving thanks for these things, they say: “For You have tested us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined.” For You did not refine us as stubble, nor as hay, nor as other fragile material, but as silver, which becomes purer from the refining fire. And how were they refined? They explain, saying: ^C “You brought us into the snare.” According to Aquila: “You brought us, they say, into a fortification.” According to Symmachus: “You brought us within a siege.” According to the fifth edition: “You brought us into a blockade.” By these, the Word signifies prisons, guards, and dungeons in which the martyrs of God are held confined before they are handed over to death; which indeed are like a snare that catches its prey inside. The same men remember this snare elsewhere, saying: “Our soul has been delivered as a sparrow from the snare of the hunters; the snare was broken, and we were set free.”

First, then, those being refined are brought into the snare, or into the fortification, or into the blockade, or into the siege. Then, second, they undergo a struggle, which they explain by saying: “You laid afflictions upon our backs.” According to Aquila they say: “You placed a crushing weight upon our back.” According to Symmachus: “You placed a circle upon our loins.” By these, they signify the wounds against the body, which the Apostle clarified more explicitly, saying: ^D “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, from the Jews I received forty lashes except one.” And after the prisons, and after the wounds upon the backs or upon the loins

they add: “You have placed men over our heads.” ^A You will understand this when you look at the times of the persecutions, seeing impious and godless men rising up and exalting themselves against the athletes of piety, while they themselves are cast down and their faces dejected because of the blasphemies and haughtiness of the godless. And many times already they even struck them in the face, beating the heads of the athletes of God with blows. But all these things, the martyrs of God say, You, O God, have brought upon us. For if You were not willing, no such thing would have been dared against us; but because You allowed it, these things took place. Therefore they say to Him: “You have brought us into the snare.” ^B For You were the One causing us to be held captive, by permitting these things to happen. “And You placed tribulations upon our back.” For these things would not have been dared against us if You had covered and guarded us with Your hand. Instead, You placed godless men over our heads. And furthermore, we arrived at the extreme of evils; for some, having been handed over to fire, sustained death, while others were extinguished in water. For the sword, and the punishments inflicted by the sword, and other kinds of death which the majority of us have endured, are accounted as nothing when compared to the worse ones. Wherefore we remain silent about those. But because, among atrocious things, nothing is considered more cruel than death inflicted by fire and water, these are what we say we have endured. For some of us were handed over to be submerged in the sea and rivers; others endured the punishment by fire. Through such things, therefore, did You test us, O God, and through all these things did You smelt us, as silver is smelted. ^C But although You brought all these things upon us, You Yourself again brought us out into a place of refreshment. For it was not of our own power to endure and to escape such things, but of You, the great Savior; for just as You brought us into the snare, so also You brought us out into refreshment. Since You did not allow our sorrows to remain permanently, nor did You extend the tribulation infinitely, nor did You permit men to stand upon our heads for a long time; and not even when we were cast into the fire did we remain there, nor were we swallowed up when we were thrown into the water; but we passed through it; wherefore it is said: “We went through fire, and we passed through the depth of the waters;” wherefore also “through water” is said. And indeed, having exercised us in all these things and having taken the proof of our patience and perseverance, ^D You brought us out into refreshment, or “into a wide place,” according to Symmachus. And this was fulfilled in various ways; for since the body of those who fear God is one, and some suffered these things, others endured punishment, others were tested only by the loss of their possessions, and others were exercised by flight and the departure of their family, the outcome for all did not arrive as a fortunate event for all after a long time. For the martyrs of God, having been perfected through death, found true refreshment, so that they might be able to say: “Return, my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you, for He has delivered my soul from death,” and what follows. For these things are indeed akin to the present.

^A speakers: “Who has placed my soul in life and has not given my feet over to commotion,” and again: “And you led us out into a place of refreshment.” But those who were kept safe in life and saw the burning fire of persecution extinguished, having been established in joyful peace, attained refreshment and, having arrived at a calm harbor, enjoyed the gladness after the persecution. You will understand how it is said here: “You have placed men over our heads,” if you compare it with this saying from another psalm: “And now He has lifted up my head above my enemies. I went around and sacrificed in Your tabernacle a sacrifice of shouting.” For just as at the times of persecutions God sets men over our heads, so after these things, when He has led us out into refreshment, He lifts up our heads over our enemies. And he prophesied this, saying: “And now He has lifted up my head above my enemies. I will enter into Your house with burnt offerings.” For the holy martyrs of God, after the great struggles which they have endured, having passed through fire and water, were received into refreshment. ^B Then, having received the true, heavenly house of God, they say: “I will enter into Your house with burnt offerings.” For as having passed through fire and water, they offer to their own God their own burnt offerings, in which they suffered martyrdom, as a sacrifice, using much confidence in the prayers they poured forth. For they prayed to struggle, and they made this promise: to strive even unto death for the sake of piety. Having therefore accomplished what they prayed for, they say: “I will pay You my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth has spoken in my tribulation.” For in the tribulations themselves, about which they were saying above: “You have placed tribulations on our backs,” showing a perfect and complete love toward God, they offered prayers and made promises to stand firm even until death, ^C saying, as it were, similarly to Paul: “Who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger?” and: “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.” He says, therefore, that they have paid these vows to God, which their lips have uttered and their mouth has spoken in their tribulation. And such were their burnt offerings, truly “medullata” (marrow-filled). Their souls, therefore, bearing the fat and power of faith, would have said what was said in another psalm: “As if with fat and richness let my soul be satisfied, and my mouth shall praise Thee with lips of exultation.” Thus, therefore, ^D those that are well-nourished, fat, and sleek are called “medullata.” Such are the souls of the athletes of God, “medullata” (marrow-filled) by divine and rational foods, and having nothing base or weak; wherefore they say: “I will offer to You marrow-filled burnt offerings with incense.”

^A You will also understand the incense from the voice that says: “Let my prayer be set forth as incense before You.” These souls, then, having been purified by divine fire, have become burnt offerings; or, like priests, they have offered their own bodies as burnt offerings, as if perfected by fire. Their prayers would be the incense. Since they promise to offer rams and oxen along with goats, you will consider how these words are spoken from the person of the Savior’s apostles, understanding the goats, oxen, and rams that they brought forward. For they themselves were first the martyrs of God; then they established countless others as their imitators and zealots, whom they offer to God as their own cultivation. You might call the “rams” the leaders of the Churches, concerning whom it was also said in the preceding psalm: “The rams of the sheep have clothed themselves,” whom they themselves appointed as leaders of the flocks; and the “oxen” as the souls that are herded in the Church: “For is it of oxen,” He says, “that God is concerned?” or does He speak entirely for our sake? And the “goats” would be those newly born and those who have come into being in the time of winter. Wherefore, according to the other interpreters, they are called “deserted” ^B, as having escaped the time of persecution. And so, each one presents these, as if they were newborns led by them, to God, boasting of those whom they brought. These things, then, have been contemplated by us spiritually and appropriately, in accordance with the promise of the divinely inspired Scriptures. And it is truly fitting to understand the things set before us in this way, rather than to admit those foolish fables of the Jews, who suppose that God finds pleasure in burnt offerings, or in incense that moves the senses, or in the blood of rams, oxen, and goats. All of which things God Himself rejects through the prophet, saying: “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me? says the Lord; I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and I do not desire the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats. For who has required these from your hands?” And in another way, these things would be contrary to those spoken before in the forty-ninth psalm, in which it was said from the person of God: “I will not reprove you for your sacrifices,” and: “I will not take calves from your house, nor goats from your flocks; for all the wild beasts of the forest are Mine, the cattle on the mountains and the oxen;” and thereafter: “Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?” For how could the things spoken here concerning burnt offerings, rams, oxen, and goats be in harmony with those? And moreover, David himself, confessing in the things above, said: “For if You had desired sacrifice, I would have given it; You will not delight in burnt offerings.” And in another place: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. Burnt offerings and [those] for sin You did not accept.” ^C

“Come, hear, and I will declare, all you who fear God, what He has done for my soul.” The same persons also said in the things before: “Come and see the works of God...”

^A And today, those same people address the nations themselves with these words: “Come, hear, and I will declare.” Who are these invited ones? He adds next: “All you who fear God,” whom he previously called at times “all the earth,” at other times “all the nations.” For in the present instance, too, he designates them by calling them those who fear God. We have often shown elsewhere that the Word is accustomed to call those from the nations who cultivate a pious religion “those who fear the Lord.” Since, therefore, the apostolic preaching requires exposition, they necessarily promise to impart the explanation to the nations, saying: “Come, hear, and I will declare.” They say these things as if from one mouth on account of their perfection, for all have become one when brought to perfection in Christ. And the Holy Spirit prophesies this, as if from a single apostolic choir speaking to the nations, and promises to explain ^B all that God has done for their soul. Formerly, indeed, they used to say: “Come and see the works of God, how He once changed the sea into dry land, and how they passed through the river on foot.” But now they relate no longer the ancient things, but the things of the new and fresh history, recounting their own deeds and the benefits conferred upon them by God. Wherefore they say: “All that He has done for my soul,” then they begin the narration, fulfilling the promise. And what is that narration? “To Him,” he says, “I cried out with my mouth, and I exalted Him under my tongue.” For because they had recounted the benefits of God toward them—how they were tested by fire, how they were tried, how they entered into tribulations, how they endured, how they passed through fire and water, how they emerged into refreshment—and because the divine grace had not granted them all these things in vain, but these things had contributed in the highest degree to their martyrdom, they necessarily instruct us. For first, they say, we never made an end of praying and crying out to Him. And we cried out not with a loud and resonant voice, but keeping our cries within ^C under our tongue; for we knew that God hears even those who are silent, and that there are cries of the soul not uttered by the tongue, but sent up to God by an ineffable power. And this is what the Savior taught when He said: “Enter into your inner room, and shut your door, and pray; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Thus, then, they also say here: “To Him I cried out with my mouth, and I exalted Him under my tongue,” but according to Symmachus: “To Him, they say, I called with my mouth, and my tongue was exalted immediately.” ^D But we were not merely at leisure for prayers and supplications and entreaties to God; but by our very works we also turned away from all iniquity, so that we did not even wish to look upon it, or even to contemplate anything unjust in our mind. For if we cherished anything of that sort, we would not even be worthy to be heard; wherefore they say: “If I beheld iniquity in my heart, may the Lord not hear me.” Since, therefore, he possessed such a mind and such prayers...

he rightly says: “Therefore God has heard me, and has attended to the voice of my prayer.”^A And these were the causes for which he brought us out into a place of refreshment after so many temptations. For all these things, sending up the debt of a hymn of thanksgiving to God, they conclude the whole discourse with this as a seal, saying: “Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer nor His mercy from me.” Furthermore, the apostolic choir, as if from one person, having offered to God the blessing, praise, and thanksgiving for all the things mentioned above, sealed it after so many discourses had been brought forward.

TO THE END, IN HYMNS, PSALM LXVI

VERS. 2, 3. “May God be merciful to us, and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, and be merciful to us.” The present psalm also, being evangelical, clings to the same sentiment as the preceding; wherefore, it also sends it “to the end,” and is inscribed as a “psalm of a song,” because that former psalm was also said to be of a song. Perhaps, however, neither of them declares in the title whose words they are, because it is manifest what persons are introduced speaking in both. For the heralds of the nations, that is to say, the apostles of our Savior, are assumed in both. ^B Indeed, at the very beginning in the present psalm, they cry out openly in the earth and among all the nations, praying that the salvation of God and His way may be known; then they add: “Let the peoples confess to Thee, O God, let all the peoples confess to Thee. Let the nations be glad and exult.” This discourse they repeat a second time for the confirmation of the prophecy. The apostolic choir, therefore, having said before: “Shout to God, all the earth,” and again: “Let all the earth adore Thee,” and again: “Bless, O nations, our God,” in the present psalm likewise, perceiving that there is great need of the cooperation of God for the successful outcome of the evangelical preaching, as if chanting to itself in prayer, says: “May God be merciful to us and bless us; may He cause His face to shine upon us, and be merciful to us.” For we say that we ourselves are nothing, ^C and we confess that we can do nothing, being base men, simple, poor, and the last of men. But God Himself, who has chosen us to be ministers of the salvation of the nations, may He first have mercy on us, being moved with compassion for our weakness; then may He add something that is able to strengthen us—that is, that He may bless us with a spiritual blessing, so that His grace may be fulfilled in us, as is fitting, with a blessing of this kind: “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and have dominion over it.” For these things were said in the beginning, at the dawn of the world’s creation; which the Jews thought were fulfilled in no other way than corporeally, through multiplication. But we, knowing ^D that there is also offspring of the soul, and that those who are discipled are the sons of their teachers, pray to obtain a blessing of this kind, that we may increase and be multiplied in a multitude

of the disciples, and the infinite number of those who receive salvation through us, that we might say: "Blessed be the God who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." So may God have mercy on us first, and then, having had mercy, may He bless us. And this will not come to pass in any other way unless He causes His face to shine upon us, so that we also may say: "The light of Thy countenance has been marked upon us, O Lord." ^A That which follows next, "and have mercy upon us," which is not found in the Hebrew nor in the other interpreters, has been necessarily marked with an obelus. We pray to obtain the things aforementioned, so that we may be able to make His way known upon all the earth. Wherefore it is said: "That we may know Thy way upon the earth." And what is the earth and what is the way of God? The earth represents all those who inhabit the earth and all the nations occupying the whole world; the way of God is the religious life, the end of which leads to God Himself, as if to a metropolis of goods. And the saving Word Himself would be the way of God. Wherefore, as though explaining the meaning, he adds next: "Among all the nations Thy salvation." So that we may be able to make Thy way and Thy salvation—for it is the same thing—known in all the earth and among all the nations that inhabit the earth, have mercy upon us, O God, and bless us, and cause Thy face to shine upon us, so that being filled with the light from Thy countenance, we may illuminate all men. For if these things are not ours, we are nothing toward the accomplishment of such a task. ^B

VERS. 4-8. "Let the peoples confess to Thee, O God, let all the peoples confess to Thee. Let them be glad." The former things were requested by the heralds of the nations for themselves; these things, however, were for those who have received their preaching. And first they pray that a place for confession may be given to them, so that through confession they may wash away their former transgressions and the impieties of idolatry. Second, they beseech that once purified they may obtain gladness and exultation from God. Wherefore they say first: "Let the peoples confess to Thee, O God." But because it was not yet clear to us which peoples were indicated—for the Jewish nation also had assemblies and peoples—in order that we may know which peoples are being referred to, they necessarily repeat, declaring their mind with these words: "Let all the peoples confess to Thee." Or does he perhaps intimate the peoples of the Jews through the former, offering the prayer for them first, and through the second, the peoples from the nations? To make this plain to readers, the discourse clarifies it by saying: "Let the nations be glad and exult." ^C Since, however, the expression, "Let them confess to Thee," has been said twice, consider whether the first signifies the confession of former sins, and the second, thanksgiving for the good things that have been received. For confession is also used for thanksgiving. Thus, indeed, the Savior gives thanks, saying: "I confess to Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth." But after the first and second confession, now for the third time, for those nations who have confessed, He pre-

And what are these? "Let the nations be glad and exult." And for what reason, He next teaches, saying: "Because Thou wilt judge the peoples with equity," and that [He will judge] the peoples—not some, while others are dismissed—but all, as has been shown above. And furthermore, having recognized that they will be led by Thee to walk the way made known to them by us, they will rightly be filled with gladness and exultation. Instead of "and let them exult," Aquila rendered, "and they shall praise," while Symmachus rendered, "and let them speak well." "Let the peoples confess to Thee, O God, let all the peoples confess to Thee: the earth has given its fruit." The Holy Spirit, rejoicing at the good and gracious promises, insists on the same expressions, as if delighted by the common salvation of all men. Wherefore He repeats it twice and thrice, and does not wish to depart from the saving and evangelical canticle. Again, therefore, He says: "Let the peoples confess to Thee, O God." This was indeed a very great miracle, because the Jews, though instructed by the fathers to worship the God of all, were continually backsliding into the error of idolatry; but all the nations throughout the whole ^B inhabited world, who had been led astray for a long age, would come to such a change as not only to recognize Thee, the God over all, but also to learn the knowledge of confessing to Thee according to the twofold manner transmitted; which, that it may come to pass now, hasten the things of the prophecy, that we may become eyewitnesses of the eternal promises. And the things set before us are to be understood as being capable of being spoken also in the person of the prophets; so that the things before the diapsalma correspond to the person of the apostles, and those things which are set after the diapsalma [correspond] to the choir of the prophets, who were eager to see what we see, and did not see it, according to the voice of the Savior. Next to these it is said: "The earth has given its fruit," or, according to Symmachus: "The earth shall give its produce." For the fruit according to the nature of the earth is, in truth, to know the God of all, and for those who have been granted to dwell upon it to send up the owed confessions and thanksgivings to Him. For the element of the earth was created for this reason, that those who lived thereon might bring forth the fruits of piety; but on account of the transgression of the first man, it was said: [C ] "Cursed is the earth in thy works. In sorrows shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to thee." But this was not the fruit of the earth according to nature; rather, it was a prediction of the wickedness that was about to sprout up within it contrary to nature. For contrary to nature have thorns and thistles sprung up because of the transgression—not only of the first man, but also of those who after him have fallen into impiety. For in the beginning, when God said: "Let the earth bring forth the grass of hay, sowing seed according to its kind and likeness, and the fruit-bearing tree producing fruit, whose seed is in itself, according to its kind upon the earth"; nowhere is there mention of thorns and thistles; nor would the earth have produced these things, had there not followed an avenging of disobedience upon men. Therefore, regarding the wickedness which—

subsequently clung to men, thorns and thistles grew. Wherefore, in order that these might perish, the Savior came to cast fire upon the earth. And indeed, with the saving word consuming thorns ^B and thistles like fire, the soul, renewed, casting off its malice, brings forth fruit appropriate and correspondent to itself. Wherefore all peoples make confession; but the nations on the earth are guided. And consistent with these things, it is added: «The earth hath brought forth her fruit. May God, our God, bless us; may God bless us, and let all the ends of the earth fear Him.» Both the apostles of our Savior and those ancient prophets of God (for the things said are fitting for either order) pray to obtain the blessing from God, the meaning of which we have set forth above, when we proved that the saying, «Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and have dominion over it,» ^A was fulfilled in them spiritually. It is possible, therefore, to observe in practice how the entire earth ^B has been filled by their succession. And the churches of our Savior, established throughout the whole world, and the myriad-peopled nations in each of them, manifest the results of their blessing. Fittingly to them belongs the «our God» in the phrase, «May God, our God, bless us,» as they have acquired the knowledge of their God as a paternal heritage. But next they add indefinitely, saying, «May God bless us,» as if He were God not only of them, but also of all who are to be saved through them. And after all this, they seal the conclusion of the whole prophecy by saying: «And let all the ends of the earth fear Him.» For since «the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,» ^C they necessarily pray that fear, as an introduction to piety, may be produced in all men, even those dwelling at the ends of the earth; which, indeed, was fulfilled after the appearance of our Savior, after which «their sound went forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.» Concerning these ends of the earth, it was said previously: «Hear us, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth, and of those who are afar off upon the sea.»

IN THE END, FOR DAVID, A PSALM CANTICLE, LXVII.

^D VERS. 2-4. «Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered; and let those who hate Him flee from before His face.» The three psalms before the present one, in succession, proclaimed the calling of the nations: of which the LXIV was inscribed «A Psalm Canticle of David»; the following one, «A Canticle of a Psalm»; and the third, «A Psalm Canticle in Hymns.» With good reason, therefore, the present psalm, being itself evangelical, and containing a prophecy not only concerning the calling of the nations but also concerning the Savior Himself, «in the end, for David,» and «a psalm canticle,» just as the preceding ones—

^A for it was necessary that the words promising good things be called not only psalms, but at the same time and for the same reason, «psalm canticles» and «canticles of psalms,» and to be sent forth «in the end,» so that in later times, at the consummation of the age, the things foretold in them might be fulfilled. But this psalm itself is also spoken by the prophetic Spirit in the person of the apostles. Just as, therefore, they prayed in the preceding ones, calling upon God as their fellow-worker for the evangelical preaching, in the same way, the same ones, progressing in the present [psalm], say: «Blessed be the Lord day by day; the God of our salvation will grant us a prosperous way;» and again, «Command, O God, thy strength; strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought in us.» You see, indeed, how they pray that a way be made prosperous by God and that they be strengthened so as to complete the course of the Gospel without hindrance. They make clear mention also of the evangelical preaching, saying: «The Lord will give a word to those who preach the Gospel with great power.» ^B Indeed, they prophesy for whom they were about to preach the Gospel with these words: «Ambassadors shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God.» For clearly by these words they announce the Gospel to the Egyptians, hinting at the idolaters; since from Egypt idolatry had its origin. Furthermore, they say that Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand to God, signifying the ends of the earth. Then, indeed, they summon all the kingdoms of the earth together, and by this rite signify all the nations. But in order that the things foretold in the prophecy might now at last be fulfilled by deeds, the prophetic Spirit, at the very beginning, sends forth prayers through David, saying: «Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered.» For grievous enemies of God had for a long time previously exercised tyranny over all the inhabitants of the earth—the wicked demons, that is, who had introduced the error of polytheism into the entire world. And there was no one who could repel the evils, no wise man, no just man, no prophet; no, not even any one of the angels and holy spirits, or of the divine powers in heaven. ^C For this reason, then, he beseeches God Himself to arise and to be stirred from His royal throne. For the providence of God is said to cease, to be idle, and as it were to rest, when out of the riches of His goodness and His patience and long-suffering He tolerates those who sin and act impiously toward Him; but He is said to be moved and stirred when He attacks the sinners and takes vengeance upon them. In order, therefore, that the aforementioned enemies might at last make an end of ruling over men, he supplicates God to arise and rouse Himself to vengeance, so that those who had formerly been gathered together into one and had entered into an evil concord with one another—namely, that which regarded the diabolical idolatry—might be dissipated, scattered far apart. Now those were the enemies of God, and they hated Him, who filled the air above the earth and were fostering that wickedness of manifold error, namely, certain impious and atheistic demons; who, when He was merely stirred and was rousing Himself to vengeance for their evil deeds, were first dissipated, and then scattered far from one another, and next were put to flight, and afterward, «as smoke vanishes,» they vanished, «and as wax melts,»

so were they destined to perish at the face of the fire; and likewise shall they also perish. Understand how «as smoke vanishes, his enemies vanish,» if you observe by what manner the devil himself and his ministers were once accustomed to transform themselves into angels of light, according to the Apostle, who says: «For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.» ^A It is no great thing, then, if his ministers also transformed themselves into angels of justice, and at that time gave oracles in every place, promising divinations and healings, so that superstitious men, through the height of madness, sacrificed even their own dearest ones to them. Now, however, the ruin and desolation of them all has come to pass, so that not even a memory of them remains; and they vanished as smoke vanishes, once their fire was extinguished: wherefore it is said elsewhere: «Smoke ascended in his anger.» For the anger of God, coming upon these very ones, extinguished their fire with which they were inflaming the souls of men; and when it was extinguished, smoke arose. But this smoke itself, not being fueled, and having nothing in which it might subsist, vanishes. And since God is light, and there is no darkness in Him, this light sends forth rays of wisdom, knowledge, and truth to those who are His friends, so that they may say: «The light of your countenance, O Lord, is marked upon us.» But for the aforementioned enemies of His, it becomes a consuming fire. Wherefore it is said in other places: «Fire shall burn before him, and round about him a strong tempest;» and: «Fire shall burn before him, and it shall inflame all his enemies.» ^B And in the passage at hand, the enemies are said not only to vanish like smoke, but also to melt like wax from the face of the fire, since they have made themselves enemies of God. For God loves all things that exist, and hates nothing of what He has made; for He did not create anything that He would hate; wherefore He is the enemy of no one. But those who remove themselves far from Him, and make themselves enemies, draw destruction upon themselves, as it is said: «For behold, they that distance themselves from you shall perish.» And thus also do they hate God who perform things hated by Him. Let these things, then, have been said in one way. But since the entire prophecy is evangelical, I would wish you to consider whether these things relate to God the Word, who indeed rested formerly in the bosom of the Father: «For in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.» And: «The same was in the beginning with God;» He is the Only-begotten of God who is in the bosom of the Father. ^C But since, having taken the form of a servant and being found in stature as a man, He humbled Himself even unto death, the Holy Spirit rightly prophesies His resurrection, saying: «Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered;» ^D where by that term, «God,» God the Word is understood. Or that prayer concerning Christ brings this forth, «Let arise,» and is sent up to the God of all; so that that word, «God,» is thus understood: O God, let your Christ arise, and let his enemies be scattered. For his enemies have been gathered

^A together at the time of his passion, when «the nations raged, and the peoples meditated vain things. The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.» The resurrection of Christ from the dead wrought the scattering of all these; and «they failed as smoke fails, and as wax melts before the fire.» And this Christ of God they hated, and hate even now, those who continually blaspheme against him with godless words and insults, attacking his Church and slandering his doctrine. For otherwise one could not find any who hate the God of all; for even the atheists and the impious themselves, nor indeed the evil demons, nor the unclean spirits, would say this. But they openly profess to hate the Christ of God; first those ^B of whom he himself said through the prophecy: «They have spoken against me with a deceitful tongue, and have compassed me about with words of hatred, and have fought against me without cause. Instead of loving me, they traduced me. And they have set against me evil for good, and hatred for my love;» and then those after them, even now, who utter blasphemous sayings against him. But all his enemies and those who hate him have been scattered and have fled from the face of his power, and «they have failed as smoke fails, and as wax melts before the fire.» Therefore, no one of those who have hated him has ever departed from this life unpunished; but even the high priests and scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, who formerly laid ^C plots against him, have thus failed, so that neither their memory nor even their name is preserved among the Jews to this day. Then their whole nation endured dispersion and scattering among all the nations. And in the times thereafter, as many as have attacked his Church, they too have similarly failed, «as smoke fails, and as wax melts before the fire.» The enemies of Christ, therefore, and those who hate him have suffered such things; and even more so the invisible and hidden enemies, the evil demons and wicked spirits, by whom the error of polytheism was formerly worked; whose complete scattering came after the resurrection from the dead. And they themselves, melting as wax before the face of the fire, cried out, saying: «Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?» For the invisible and hidden rays of his divinity inflicted torments and agonies upon those who said such things. The right ^D order of the friends of God, and what goods they enjoyed in the resurrection of our Savior, the prophecy next teaches, saying: «And let the righteous be glad and exult before God, let them delight in gladness.» What it means not simply to be glad and exult, but to enjoy these things in the sight of God and with God, and to delight in divine pleasure, cannot be worthily told in words.

^A Verse 5, 6. “Sing unto God, sing psalms unto His name; make a way for Him who rideth upon the west.” The prophecy briefly concluded the discourse concerning the enemies and those who hate the Word of God, but it treats of the righteous more fully, lingering upon the memory of them. And indeed, the Holy Spirit exhorts the righteous to sing and to play the psalm to God, as those who are about to enjoy through these the divine happiness and the aforementioned delight and exultation. And since of these two things—I mean singing and playing the psalm—singing was the better, and the playing of instruments was subordinate to it, rightly did He attribute the better to God, and the action of the instrument to His name. For He says, “Sing unto God, and sing psalms unto His name.” He sings to God whose soul has been instructed by sound doctrines, and who sends up the theologies befitting Him from a purified mind; but he plays to His name who, through the movements of the body and the activity of the senses, performs such things that the name of God is glorified by those who see them.

This then is the first thing that the Word exhorts the choir of the righteous to do; next, it commands them to perform a task useful to others. For in order that God may come to the human race and walk among those upon the earth, it commands them to make His way smooth and level, saying, “Make a way,” or according to Symmachus, “Pave,” and according to Aquila, “Clear away the thorns,” that is, remove everything crooked and pave everything rough, so that the path of God toward men may become smooth and level. This Isaiah also revealed, saying, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low. And the crooked shall become a straight way, and the rough into smooth paths; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” ^B Here, however, He does not command them to make a way before they have first learned how they ought to sing to God and how they ought to play to His name. For after they have learned these things beforehand and fulfilled them in their works, He thereafter wishes them to make a way, that is, to prepare the souls of men, making them pure and ready for the presence of the foretold God. Therefore He says, “Make a way for Him who rideth upon the west, the Lord is His name.”

He has called the Lord here by a newer expression according to the Hebrew text; for He named Him *Ia*. Whence Symmachus interpreted it, “By *Ia* is His name,” and the fifth edition, “In *Ia* is His name.” He hinted at the name of the Savior Jesus through the first syllable. And this Lord, whose name He says is through *Ia* or in *Ia*, He teaches to have ridden upon the west; this signifies His passage to men and His incarnate presence. For He did not, after showing the Word of God—who was in the form of God—nakedly like a light, enlighten the human race, but having taken the form of a servant ^C and having contracted the rays of His divinity, and as it were having descended into a body, when He had arrived at the west of mortal life—which life the divine Apostle calls darkness, saying, “Against the world-rulers of this darkness”—or even when

He had descended into death itself, He is said to have ascended upon the west. Prepare the way, therefore, he says, for this Lord who has ascended upon the west, whose name, Jesus, is signified by *Ia* ^A. The prophetic Spirit commands these things to the apostolic choir, and bids them perform this with great willingness and boldness. Therefore, it adds in sequence: “And exult before him,” or according to Symmachus, “And glory in his presence.” And he gives another mark of the aforementioned Lord, saying, “The father of orphans and the judge of widows.” For if He had not deigned to become the father of orphans and the vindicator and judge of widows, He would have had no account with the humble of the earth. But because, through the excess of His humanity, He deigned to ascend upon the west, and to be called father in the darkness of orphans, and to become judge and avenger of those widows who lack patronage and of orphaned souls, He rightly commands that the way be prepared leading to those orphans who are ignorant of the heavenly Father, and to those widowed souls who are bereft of their Bridegroom.

Moreover, the sense of this statement can be demonstrative of the doctrine of Providence, teaching that widows and orphans are left destitute and without support in the world not without a reason and wisdom of God, but for His glory and as an argument for His divine supervision. ^B For often, children who have been deprived of their parents, the orphans, have received more instruction and learning, and have been better educated than those raised by their own parents; and they have also turned out to be long-lived and to span many years. And not only have the necessities of life been provided for them, but they have even emerged as brilliant and illustrious men. In the same way, women who have fallen into the misfortune of widowhood have led a more spirited, happier, and more religious life than those who had spent their lives in conjugal union. For God provides more for orphans than fathers do for their children, and He is the patron and avenger of widows. Wherefore it is said, “The father of orphans and the judge of widows.”

For the phrase, “Who ascended upon the west,” Symmachus read, “Who rides upon the uninhabited.” He calls the region of foreign and alien peoples “uninhabited,” a place which the Scripture is accustomed to call “desert” in other passages. And again, for “judge of widows,” Aquila interpreted it as “judging widows,” and Symmachus as “avenging widows.” It calls Him very aptly the father of orphans and the judge of widows. ^C For since not all widows are of the same moral resolve, He Himself, distinguishing which are worthy and which are not, is established as their judge. Yet He would not be the judge of orphans in the same way; for He provides for them equally, in the manner of a father.

VERS. 7. “God in his holy place, God makes them of one custom to dwell in a house.” Because the Word had brought the aforementioned Lord downwards to a humble location, saying that He had ascended upon the west and was the father of orphans and judge of widows, He necessarily returns ^D to the theology concerning Him, teaching

^A that while He ascends for a short time to the aforesaid west according to a dispensation, His dwelling place and His proper habitation is not in the west, but in a holy place; or according to Aquila, "in His sanctified dwelling-place"; or according to Symmachus, "in His holy royal courts." For there is a place befitting Him and harmonizing with His divinity; yet nonetheless, being a lover of mankind, He descends from His own greatness and condescends to the orphans and widows living in the west. Wherefore it is also said elsewhere: "For behold, the Lord, the Lord, shall go forth and shall descend from His place." But let us see what He does when He has descended from thence and has ascended upon the west. "He makes," He says, "those of one manner to dwell in a house." According to Symmachus, "He gives a house to monks to dwell in"; and according to Aquila, "He makes those of a single kin to sit at home"; and according to the fifth version, "He makes those girded with a single zone to dwell in a house." And this was His first good work; which indeed is the greatest of His good works bestowed upon the human race. For the first order of those who make progress in Christ is that of the monks. But these are few; wherefore, according to Aquila, they were called "of a single kin" (unigeniti), having been made like unto the only-begotten Son of God. According to the Seventy, however, they are "of one manner," neither are they of many manners, nor do they change their own manner at different times, but they practice only one, which reaches the summit of virtue. The fifth version called them "single-zoned" (monozonous), as being those who are solitary ^C and girded by themselves. And such are all those who practice the solitary and pure life, the first of whom were the disciples of our Savior, to whom it was said: "Do not possess gold, nor silver in your belts, nor a wallet for your journey, nor sandals, nor a staff." For in saying that they must not possess gold or silver in their belts, He introduces them as being girded. And in this way the Apostle also exhorts us all, saying: "Stand, therefore, having girded your loins in truth." And those who ate the Passover were also commanded to have their loins girded. This, therefore, is the first good work which the one prophesied performs, having arrived for those dwelling in the west. For having separated from the aforementioned orphans and the designated widows an excellent and most precious order for Himself, that of those of one manner, He makes them to dwell in a house, that is to say, in His Church, deeming them worthy to remain and dwell in it. After these, He performs a second work, one beneficial to the common good and extending to many: "bringing out the prisoners in fortitude." For by His own fortitude He brings out those who were formerly bound by the chains of sins. But in place of "in fortitude," Symmachus, interpreting "for deliverance," said: "He leads forth the bound for deliverance." You shall understand this also from the prophecy in Isaiah ^D which speaks thus in the person of the Lord Himself: "Behold, I have given Thee as a covenant of a race, as a light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to lead forth the bound from their chains, and from the prison-house those who sit in darkness." For indeed previously bound by diabolical chains...

^A and wasted away by polytheistic and demonic error, He released them from their bonds and brought them forth, granting remission of sins. Moreover, He also raised up with Himself those who from the ages had been bound in death, having loosed the bitter bonds of death. And He did this "in strength," for having taken the form of a man and having acted valiantly through a human body, He led the aforementioned bound ones out of their chains. These were the notable deeds of the advent of the Word of God to men, to which it is next subjoined: "Likewise those who provoke, who dwell in the tombs." This Symmachus explained more clearly and plainly, elucidating the meaning by saying: "But the disobedient shall inhabit the dryness of the heat"; while Aquila says: "Nevertheless, those who depart, he says, have dwelled in stony ground." For He Himself indeed wished to rescue and free those who provoke from their bonds. But they, persisting in this disobedience and by this very thing exasperating and provoking God, will inhabit their own tombs, such that it is said concerning them: "Let the dead bury their own dead"; or even "they shall inhabit the dryness of heat," inasmuch as they are destined to go "into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

VERS. 8, 9. "O God, when Thou didst go forth before Thy people, when Thou didst pass through the wilderness. Diapsalma." That the Word of God not only came to men at the consummation of the ages, but was Himself the one who was also pouring forth oracles through Moses, this passage teaches in these words: "O God, when Thou didst go forth before Thy people, when Thou didst pass through the wilderness, the earth shook, for the heavens also dropped." For then, he says, at the time when You were leading the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, with the report of the things accomplished in Egypt spreading to all, the whole earth shook. But then indeed the earth shook; either through the report, as it is said, filling the ears of all those upon the earth, or with the element of the earth itself rejoicing at the advent of God. Which another psalm also teaches with these words: "In the going forth of Israel from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people, the mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like lambs of the flock." The earth therefore was shaking for joy; but the heavens dropped. And what did they drop, if not the food unexpectedly poured down for those dwelling in the wilderness, or the divine words and laws which are food for rational souls? "But the earth shook, and the heavens dropped at the presence of the God of Sinai," that is, of Him who gave oracles on Mount Sinai. And Symmachus interpreted these things more clearly, saying: "The earth was shaken, but the heaven dropped at the presence of this God of Sinai, and at the presence of God, the God of Israel." Perhaps the heavenly powers, like certain foster-mothers and nurses, were dropping milk for infants from their breasts, and in this way they also supplied the provision from themselves to those who were then infants in soul? ^D For which reason the law uttered by Moses was called a "pedagogue" by the Apostle.

^A “Thou wilt separate a voluntary rain, O God, for Thy inheritance, and it was weakened; but Thou didst perfect it.” Then, he says, “when Thou didst go forth before Thy people, and when Thou didst pass through the desert, the earth was shaken and the heavens dropped.” But in the present [time], when Thou hast ascended upon the west, Thou hast wrought other miracles. For Thou didst separate a voluntary rain for Thy inheritance. And who was His inheritance after the former people, if not the Church from the Gentiles, as He Himself teaches in the second Psalm, saying: “The Lord said to me: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” For since the Son of God is ordered by the Father to ask for an inheritance—not the nation of the Jews, but all the nations and the ends of the earth—who could it be but He who established the Church from the Gentiles? For this inheritance of His, therefore, He separated a voluntary rain; wherefore it was said concerning Him: “He shall descend as rain upon a fleece, and as drops trickling upon the earth.” ^B Now the voluntary rain was the evangelical word, and the preaching of the New Testament delivered to the Church of the Gentiles. And the addition of “voluntary” rain is beautiful; for the word provided to the ancients through Moses was not voluntary, since it was not enacted according to his own judgment. Wherefore the Savior said to them: “Moses wrote for the hardness of your hearts.” But the evangelical word was separated by the will and choice of God for His “inheritance,” which, having become weak, Thou, He says, didst perfect. According to Aquila, He says: “Thou didst establish it, though it had laboured”; and according to Symmachus: “Which Thou didst work out, He says, and didst establish.” Nor is there need of many words to show how the Church of the Gentiles had been previously worn out and exhausted by the toils and labours of idolatrous error; and it was weak to an extreme degree, so that no strength remained in it. But the Savior, having taken it up, perfected it, having established it upon the rock that is unbreakable and unshaken, [that is,] His faith; which indeed He also promised to do, saying: ^C “Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” And having established and perfected it, He made His own living creatures to dwell within it. For what creatures of God could you name, if not the souls that draw life from Him and are made alive? And all these things, he says, “Thou didst prepare” through Thy goodness and loving-kindness, or through “Thy bounty,” according to the other interpreters, “for the poor.” And here he mystically calls “poor” the man [assumed] by our Savior according to the flesh, who, “being rich, became poor for our sakes, that we through His poverty might become rich.” He Himself also declared his [own] poverty, saying: “Learn of me, because I am meek and humble in heart.” ^D For this poor one, therefore, God and His Father prepared all the aforesaid things by His own loving-kindness and goodness; namely, the voluntary rain, the aforementioned inheritance, and the mentioned

beings. Wherefore, upon all these things it is subjoined: "You have prepared in your kindness for the poor one; the Lord will give the word to those who bring good tidings with great power." ^A Such are the mighty works of the Lord ^B who has ascended above the setting sun. But since it was necessary for these things to be declared to all men, the same Lord also accomplishes this in addition to the rest. In what way and by what manner? To men who have neither their own word nor their own wisdom, and who are altogether unlearned and uninstructed, He Himself will supply a word full of ineffable and great power. And they, being empowered and given a sharp tongue by the word granted to them, will be established as heralds of good things to the whole world, preaching to all men the things mentioned beforehand. Wherefore, consistently with the works of the Lord, it is added: "The Lord will give the word to those who bring good tidings with great power." It was necessary for us to know this also. Since above He instructed some to sing and chant to God, and to make a way for Him who has ascended above the setting sun, He demonstrates this by saying: "The Lord will give the word to those who bring good tidings with great power." For to these very people, who bring good tidings and are making a path for His passage to mankind, He who is being preached by them will Himself give the divine word. For so many were those capable of receiving it with much power, and great was this word for them, being sufficient for the ministry of the Gospel. For the Lord Himself was the perfect Word of God. But those who received the word, having been deemed worthy of a brief inspiration of His power, filling the whole world, preached the Gospel with great power. This, at any rate, He had promised them Himself, saying: "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" (Acts 1, 8). According to Symmachus, however: "The Lord," he says, "gave words to the army bringing good tidings, many ones." Great, indeed, ^C was the army of our Savior, namely, of those to whom those words had been given and announced; first, the twelve apostles; second, the seventy disciples; and in addition to these, five hundred others, to whom He appeared collectively after the resurrection, as the divine Apostle testified, saying: "Then He was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to this day, but some have fallen asleep" (1 Cor. xv, 6); after which he subjoins: "Then He was seen by all the apostles" (ibid. 7). For there were, indeed, after the twelve, and after the seventy, and after the five hundred, other more numerous heralds of the Gospel, both during the apostolic times and, after them, others who preached His Gospel throughout the whole world in the Churches, to whom the King of hosts supplied the power of the Beloved. There were also, besides those, other powers of the Beloved, namely the heavenly hosts, angels, archangels, and divine spirits. For these were the powers of the Beloved. ^D

Wherefore He is called the Lord of hosts. ^A And who was the Beloved of God, if not the Only-begotten Son of God, to whom the paternal voice bore witness, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"? This King, therefore, of the powers of the Beloved, just as He supplied His own benefits to the heavenly powers, so too He gives to those who preach the gospel on earth the evangelical word with great power. And these very ones who dwell on earth were His armies and His powers. Wherefore, according to Symmachus, it is said, "The kings of the armies were beloved," or, "they became beloved." To these very ones, another grace was also granted; this was to divide the spoils for the beauty ^B of the house. The beauty of the house would be the orders that are distinguished in the Church of God, the desire for which one confesses, saying, "Lord, I have loved the beauty of thy house, and the place of the habitation of thy glory"; and again, "One thing have I asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may see the delight of the Lord, and may visit his temple."

The Holy of Holies, therefore, would be the delight and beauty of the house of God. And these are the orders of the Church of God shining with temperance, and purity, and justice, and the other virtues. And to this beauty, the King of hosts granted His soldiers to divide the spoils. For when the enemies were overthrown and had taken to flight—I mean the unseen and invisible powers, concerning whom it was said above, ^C "Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before his face"—the soldiers of the victorious King divided their spoils among themselves. And we, and the whole human race, who formerly had been subject to the opposing powers, were the spoils; and they having been driven away, our Saviour's disciples and apostles and evangelists, and the rest of His army, having made the souls that had formerly been plundered their own possession, distributed them among themselves. Paul, indeed, from Jerusalem and around as far as Illyricum, obtained the spoils of the Gentiles; and Peter again of other Gentiles, and John likewise of others, and each of the rest of the apostles similarly. From which spoils they set apart the excellent offerings for the beauty ^D of the house of God. Wherefore it is said, "And for the beauty of the house to divide the spoils. If you sleep among the midst of the lots, you shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and the hinder parts of her back with the paleness of gold." Having mentioned those who preach with great power, both of the house and its beauty, and furthermore of the spoils in it, by which He hinted at the Church of God and those who are distinguished in it; consistently, through the divinely inspired readings now in hand, He addresses us thus: "If you sleep among the midst of the lots." Now the lots, or the strong ones of the Church, are the Old and New Testament of God, and He teaches that those who dwell in the midst of them [will find] the silvered wings of a dove; cu-

the back parts of which are said to be in the pallor ^A of gold. For since the Holy Spirit is understood to be the dove, the words which are read in the Old and New Testament, according to the plain and obvious reading, are as if hidden under wings, I say, gilded wings, because the words of the Lord are silver examined by fire, and proved to the earth. But the meanings hidden in the depth, which are to be compared to the hinder parts of the aforementioned dove, that is to say, the Holy Spirit, are said to be in the pallor of gold, because the purest thought and mind hidden under the diction shines like gold. And with these words He calls upon us all who are gathered in the house of God, whom the Word has previously named as spoils. For that phrase "If you sleep," Symmachus has it thus: "If you fall among the clergy." For "to sleep" here signifies to rest. To those therefore who devote themselves to the exercise of the sacred words, the utility of the divine Scriptures is promised in a hortatory manner: for the diction of the sacred readings is purified like silver examined by fire, according to the statement: "The words of the Lord are examined by fire"; and again: "The words of the Lord are pure words, silver examined by fire, proved to the earth, purified sevenfold." The spiritual meaning, however, is excellent and of great value, ^B as is declared when it is said, "In the pallor of gold."

VERS. 15-17. "When the heavenly one divides kings upon it, they shall be made white with snow in Selmon." For that phrase "When the heavenly one divides," and what follows, Symmachus interprets it this way: "When the Almighty dispensed the reign over it, it was as if whitened with snow. Selmon is the mountain of God, a fat mountain, a most lofty mountain, a fat mountain: why do you curiously investigate the high mountains? It is the mountain in which God has desired to dwell, and the Lord will dwell therein unto the end." By these things we are taught that when that heavenly One, or the God of the heavenly inhabitants, bestowed the aforementioned dove upon the kings of the earth—that is, upon those who on earth were partners of His kingdom (these, moreover, were the prophets, just and pious men, and the disciples and apostles of our Savior, to whom that heavenly God distributed the Holy Spirit)—then those who had been adorned with the gifts of the divine Spirit were made white and bright like snow. Wherefore it is said: "Why do you suspect the coagulated mountains?" ^C Those are rebuked, of course, who think that anything similar to it exists; but He adds the reason why it is not fitting to compare anything else with it, saying: "The mountain in which it has pleased God to dwell; for the Lord will dwell therein unto the end." For that is the only mountain in which God has chosen to dwell, and in which the Father has His abode unto endless ages; wherefore it is not fitting to compare another with it. For although of others it was said, "I will dwell in them, and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people"; yet He does not dwell in them and walk in them in the same way as He does [in this mountain]. ^D

For the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father; "and in Him it was well pleasing that all the fullness of the Godhead should dwell," and He did not dwell in Him at one time and depart from Him at another, but for an infinite eternity the Father ever dwells in the Son. He Himself is our peace, according to the Apostle. Wherefore He is also called Salmon, which means "Peace"; and the place of God is called peace, according to the text, "In peace is His holy place."

Ver. 18. The chariot of God is ten thousand-fold, thousands of those who thrive; the Lord is among them in Sinai, in the holy place.

Having provided, through the dove, the first teaching concerning the Holy Spirit, and then concerning the Son ^B through the figure of the mountain of God, the Word now descends to the subordinate powers, demonstrating that even if the aforementioned mountain is such that all the fullness of the paternal Godhead dwells within it, this is not, however, the Father's only possession; but that He also has other subordinate, ministerial, and liturgical powers. Binding together under one yoke those that are countless and many, and excellent in virtue, the King of all, God, yoked them to His own chariot, with His Only-Begotten Word as charioteer.

The prophet Daniel declares the multitude of these in his vision of God, saying: "Ten thousand times ten thousand ministered to Him, and thousands of thousands stood before Him." Accordant with this is what is now said: "The chariot of God is ten thousand-fold, ^C thousands of those who thrive." For which Symmachus interpreted: "The carriage of God is of tens of thousands, thousands of those who are sounding." What does "sounding" mean, if not that they are emitting voices full of doxologies and theology? Such as the seraphim are recorded in Isaiah as crying out and saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Sabaoth, the whole earth is full of His glory."

Amidst these thousands and tens of thousands which are joined to the chariot of God, the Lord Himself moves in the midst, as though driving them and preparing them by the Spirit. Wherefore it is added, "The Lord is among them." Which Lord, He indicates as He proceeds, saying, "In Sinai, in the holy place." For He says that it is ^D that very Lord who was seen on the holy mountain of Sinai; and this was the Word of God, plainly, to those yoked under the chariot of God.

Wherefore the Hebrew expression uses the tetragrammaton, whereas the text "The Lord is among them" contains the Lord by common letters. For in order to show that this One is different from the God previously indicated by the tetragrammaton, when "the chariot of God" was mentioned, He made use of letters that are unutterable among the Hebrews; but now, of more common characters, by which any lord among men is indicated. He also accurately points out the place, "in Sinai," so as to signify the Lord seen on earth. Then, most consequently, He adds: "You ascended on high, You led captivity captive, You took gifts among men."

^A For he would not have ascended otherwise, unless he had first descended. "For He who descended is the same who also ascended above all the heavens, that He might fill all things." But having ascended, what did He do? He led captivity captive, and received gifts among men. And what captivity did He lead captive, if not the aforementioned spoils which His soldiers had divided? But He also received gifts among men, as the Father granted them to Him, according to the promise made to Him in these words: "Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as Your possession." Having received these gifts "among men" from the Father, He established His Church. To these, it is added: "Indeed, even those who were disobedient, so that the Lord God might dwell among them"—which Symmachus rendered more clearly by saying: "Even among the disobedient to dwell." ^B For He says that He also received this from the Father, to dwell in those who formerly had not believed and had contradicted the piety toward God. For He also received this power, to dwell in the midst of those who did not believe, and to receive gifts for Himself from those very unbelievers. After so many precepts were given after the prophecy, the Holy Spirit, as if regarding great and miraculous deeds, blesses the Giver of so many good things, saying: "The Lord God is blessed, blessed is the Lord day by day." For He says that men no longer worship wicked spirits, led by error, but every day and every hour they bless the aforementioned Lord. And the same Lord "will make our way prosperous," since He Himself is the "God of our salvations." The Holy Spirit speaks these things from the persona of the choir of the apostles, as we have already declared from the beginning of this discourse. Since, therefore, they prayed for a prosperous way from God, that they might approach Him, as has already been said, they necessarily say: "Blessed is the Lord day by day, the God of our salvations will make our way prosperous." ^C But for "of our salvations," Symmachus interpreted it as "of our Savior," for which the Hebrew exemplar again remembers the name of our Savior Jesus. "Our God, the God of saving, and of the Lord the Lord are the exits of death." These things again are spoken prophetically from the persona of the apostles. For since they have spoken of God in the preceding verses, consequently they say in the present: "Our God, the God of saving, and of the Lord the Lord are the exits of death"—or, according to Symmachus: "God is to us a God unto salvation, and of the Lord the Master are the exits into death." For this one alone, being God, found exits from death. Since every human has indeed reached the entrance of death, yet has not been able to come out of it. But the Lord mentioned here, who is now written in the common characters in the Hebrew book, since He has opened the exits from death, has become a God synonymous with salvation. ^D Therefore it is said: "Our God, the God of saving." Wherefore He Himself, prophesying to Job, said: "Have you reached the fountain of the sea, and in"

Therefore, it is said: "Our God is the God of salvation." For this reason, the same person, addressing Job, also said: "Or have you come to the spring of the sea, and have you walked in the footsteps of the abyss? Do the gates of death open to you for fear? And the gatekeepers of Hades, seeing you, were afraid." ^A He clearly sets forth, in those passages as well, his descent into death and his exit from there, just as he does in the present verses; and consistently with this, he teaches the crushing of his enemies by saying: "But God will crush the heads of his enemies." You will understand this also by comparing it with the voice spoken in another psalm: "You made the sea strong by your power; you crushed the heads of the dragons upon the waters. You crushed the head of the dragon." For through these, the enemies of God were also indicated, concerning whom it is said here: "But God will crush the heads of his enemies." These dragons were those swimming in the sea and in the humid substance—that is, the opposing powers, enemies of God, wallowing in the salty and fluid waves of life. Whence it was also said in Job: "Or have you come to the spring of the sea, and have you walked in the footsteps of the abyss? Do the gates of death open to you for fear? And the gatekeepers of Hades, seeing you, were afraid." For when the heads of the dragons were crushed, the gatekeepers of Hades were afraid; wherefore, constrained by fear, they opened the gates of death to him who crushes the heads of his enemies. But these enemies of the Lord were trampling upon the entire human race. Wherefore it is said subsequently: "The scalp of those walking about in their transgressions." For God, he says, will crush the heads of these who walk upon the heads of men. For instead of "a scalp of hair," Symmachus translated it as "a hairy scalp." Now, a hairy scalp signifies the head of men. Therefore, God, who has made the thoroughfares of death, will crush the heads of these very enemies of his, who previously were traversing the heads of men and trampling them under their own feet. And instead of "in their transgressions," Symmachus translated it as "in her ^B transgressions," saying: "A hairy scalp revolving in her transgressions." For it was not possible for the enemies of God to trample a hairy scalp—that is, the heads of men—unless they had been humbled by their own transgressions and sins. Therefore, to those who were not such, the Savior said: "But even the hairs of your head are all numbered." For each hair of the disciples, being part of a more precious body, as necessary and contributing to the adornment of the whole, was deemed worthy of divine numbering and protection, so that they might not be shaved by the razor of the enemies who walk about and trample every hairy scalp that is revolving in her transgressions.

^C VERS. 23. "The Lord said: I will bring back from Basan, I will bring back in the depths of the sea." Here again, "the Lord" is not expressed by the four-letter word among the Hebrews, but by more common elements. And already for the third time the present Scripture has declared this, setting forth the one who is, as one might say, the second Lord. For also in the psalm that says ^D

^A “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand,” the first is written through the four ineffable elements among the Hebrews. But the second, whom the prophet declares to be his own Lord, saying, “To my Lord,” is signified by other elements, by which every master of a slave among men is indicated. Thus, therefore, here too, for the third time, the Lord who descended as far as Hades and made paths out of death has been named through the elements commonly written among the Hebrews. Wherefore Symmachus interpreted him as “master.” This Lord, then—that is to say, the Word of God himself—said, “I will return from Basan;” and again, “I will return from the depths of the sea.” But for the “I will return” and the second “I will return,” Symmachus interpreted it ^B in this way: “The Lord said, I will return from Basan, and I will cause a return from the depths of the sea.” Do you see what works the Lord accomplished when he had descended into the depths of the sea? He broke the heads of the dragons upon the water, and the hairs of his enemies who were “traversing the hairy crown in transgressions”; he made the souls that had long ago been submerged there return from Basan and from the depths of the sea. Now Basan is interpreted as “ignominy,” into which the Lord descended, indicated by the aforementioned elements, he who despised ignominy for the sake of the salvation of those who were held captive there. ^C Wherefore it is said: “The Lord said, I will return from Basan, I will return from the depths of the sea.” Then it is added: “That your foot may be dyed in blood.” For which Symmachus interpreted, saying: “That your foot may crush together with blood, and the tongue of your dogs may lap from each of your enemies.” For by crushing his enemies and breaking their heads, he was filling his own foot with blood—the blood that flowed from the heads of his enemy. Wherefore it was said in Isaiah: “Who is this who comes from Edom, the reddening of garments from Bosor?” and thereafter: “Why are your garments red, and your raiment like one who has trampled a winepress, full of trodden grapes?” ^D Then thereafter he replies to those who asked, and says: “I trampled them in my fury.” And here, therefore, after the crushing of the heads of the dragons, it is said: “That your foot may crush together with blood,” or, “That your foot may be dyed in blood, and the tongue of your dogs [may lap] from the enemies accordingly.” For which Symmachus more clearly interpreted, saying: “And the tongue of your dogs may lap from each of your enemies.” Now who would you say are the dogs of the Lord lapping the blood of his enemies, if not those vigilant guardians of his flock who protect his Church, or certain avenging powers that set themselves to the crushing of his enemies, and who in some way strive to taste of their destruction?

VERS. 25, 26. “Your goings were seen, O God, the goings of my God, my king, who is in the holy place.” These things are appended to what was said before as a consequence. Because

^A for those things that are proclaimed in prophecy were foreseen by the holy prophets of God before they came to pass, therefore the Word says: “Your goings were seen, O God.” But what are these goings? They are, first, his descent into Sinai, then again his ascent on high, then again his descent into Bashan and the return from thence, and the descent unto death, and the goings forth from thence, and above all, the return from the depths of the sea. All these were the goings of the aforementioned Lord, which were seen by the prophets of God before they came to pass; wherefore they were also handed down in the prophetic Scriptures. It is rightly said, therefore, “Your goings were seen, O God.” Then he secures the sense by teaching whose God’s goings were seen, for he adds, “The goings of my God, my king.” For it is not simply God, nor simply king, but “my God.” This happens to be similar to the text, “The Lord said to my Lord.” For the first is the God over all, but the second is the Lord who hears, “Sit at my right hand,” and is my Lord; therefore, “The Lord said to my Lord.” And here, therefore, the same prophet, signifying the second, says: “The goings of my God, my king, who is in the holy place.” For if I speak of goings that are seen, let no one think that I am speaking of the God over all; but of the goings of my God and my king. ^B But because “the princes went before, joined with the singers, in the midst of young women playing on timbrels,” these very princes who went before, that is, those who sing and through the Holy Spirit proclaim the future, foresaw the goings of my God and my king. These were the prophets, who preceded those who came after them, the apostles. For since two choirs handed down the theology of our Savior to men, the first that went forth was the prophetic choir, but the second that approached was the choir of the apostles and disciples of the Savior. Yet the goings of the aforementioned God were seen; or rather, they were seen by the apostles, who received by sight what had been proclaimed of old by foreknowledge. These, then, saw the goings of God with their own eyes, but certain princes went before them, those joined with the singers. By this, the account signifies David himself and those with him who were leaders of the people at those same times, who, joined with the singers, went before in the midst of the young women playing on timbrels. Such were the Jewish synagogues, imperfect and still young, knowing nothing more than to use the timbrels, that is, corporeal instruments made from the skin of dead animals. Therefore, they are called timbrel-players, because they knew nothing else than the corporeal precepts of the Law. ^C VERS. 27, 28. “In the churches bless God the Lord from the fountains of Israel.” After those who foresaw the goings of the aforementioned God, the account logically addresses others who came after the first, saying: “In the churches bless God.” Since, however, these were ^D princes—for in the previous verses it is said, “The princes of Judah, their leaders,” and in these, “In the churches bless God”—the text now turns to designate those who would come after the former, which are the churches established throughout the world, which follow after the apostles.

^A And since these were different from the former princes, with good reason he calls their assemblies “churches,” as if the prophecy were openly proclaiming the churches of our Savior with uncovered head. These second ones are commanded to bless God, not in the midst of young damsels playing the tambourine, but in the churches. And what God is this? He adds next in sequence, “the Lord.” And from where those in the churches ought to draw the theology of the Lord which they must hand down, he necessarily sets forth by saying: “The Lord from the fountains of Israel,” where again the Lord is signified by more common characters. The fountains of Israel are the prophetic Scriptures, and the law of Moses, from which, as if from fountains, the second ones are commanded to draw testimonies concerning our Savior and to bless Him in the churches. Then he adds, “There is Benjamin the younger in ecstasy.” ^B Instead of “there,” Symmachus says, “where Benjamin the least is,” and Aquila similarly, “There, he says, Benjamin the small, ruling over them.” But Benjamin, the younger and least or smallest, was Paul, the divine Apostle, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, just as he himself teaches us, saying: “Circumcised on the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews.” He is called younger, or least, or small, because he himself declares this, saying: “And last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” Instead of “in ecstasy,” Aquila says, “ruling over them,” while Theodotion says, “their teacher,” and the fifth version translated it as “instituting” or “teaching” or “pointing out.” There is no need for many words for us to prove that the holy Apostle, who is called Benjamin, rules over the churches and is their teacher. ^C And so, not only was Benjamin there—that is, in the churches of God—but also “the princes of Judah, their leaders, the princes of Zabulon, and the princes of Nephthali.” The word signifies by these the rest of the apostles, some of whom were from the tribe of Judah, and others from the tribes of Zabulon and Nephthali. Therefore, the Holy Spirit mentions their land through Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.” The Savior Himself also, passing by the sea of Galilee, called His own disciples from there. Clearly, therefore, it teaches that Paul, the smallest and least, and younger than the other apostles, rules over the churches, having once been in ecstasy when he was persecuting and ravaging the Church of God, or when he saw the Savior in a revelation, ^D or when he was caught up into paradise even to the third heaven. After Paul, it prophesies that the other apostles will flourish there in the same Church, being our princes from the tribe of Judah, and the princes of Zabulon, and the princes of Nephthali. If anyone through leisure were to inquire accurately, he would find the tribe of each apostle:

since the promise of discovery is given by the Savior to everyone who seeks. ^A

VERS. 29. Command, O God, thy strength; confirm, O God, what thou hast wrought in us.

VERS. 30-31. Rebuke the beasts of the reed.

^A the reed, and the sedge."

The interpretation

He also asks that the "congregation of the bulls"—or, according to Symmachus, the "gathering of the great ones"—and the "heifers of the peoples" be rebuked; for the heifers of the peoples and the bulls among the Jews are the persecutors of the Word. ^B To the works there is joined what follows: "that those who have been tested by silver may be excluded," which Symmachus explains more clearly, saying: "Those who kick with their heels against those who have been tested as by the proof of silver." For these bulls and the aforementioned heifers, stirred up by the beasts of the reed, move every stone so that the saints of God may be driven from the hope set before them. Now, the saints of God are those who have been tested by silver. For just as "the oracles of the Lord are pure, silver refined by fire," so the men of God are tested like silver; wherefore they say: "You have tested us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined." ^C Therefore, the beasts of the reed, the congregation of the bulls, and the heifers of the peoples are striving to exclude those who have been tested by silver from the hope set before them, or, according to Symmachus, "They kick against those who are well-pleasing, as if they were the testing of silver." So that the aforementioned may not be an obstacle to the saints of God, it is necessarily said: "Rebuke the beasts of the reed, the congregation of the bulls among the heifers of the peoples."

In another way, you may understand the bulls to be the Jewish leaders, and their heifers to be the synagogues subject to them, and the peoples who rose up at the time of the passion of our Savior. That view is supported by that voice spoken in the person of the Savior Himself in the twenty-first Psalm: ^D "For many calves surrounded me; fat bulls have beset me. They opened their mouth against me." By these He hinted at the rulers of the Jewish people and the multitudes subject to them who rose up against Him.

"Scatter the nations that delight in wars." What was said above concerned the opposing powers and the leaders of the Jewish nation, but these words concern the enemies of the Church from among the number of the remaining nations. For the Holy Spirit, foreseeing that those from among the nations who would persist in unbelief would stir up wars and persecutions against the believers and against the Church of God, necessarily prays concerning this matter, saying: "Scatter the nations that delight in wars." For when these are scattered, the evangelical grace shall have

^A a place. It was destined to begin its operation even from them ^B who were idolaters beyond measure: now the Egyptians were the most superstitious of all men and of all nations. Wherefore he afterwards subjoins: "Venient legati ex Ægypto" (Legates shall come from Egypt). According to Aquila, indeed, "Ferent festinanter ex Ægypto" (They shall carry hastily from Egypt); according to Symmachus, "Veniant efferentes ex Ægypto" (Let them come bringing forth from Egypt). And the whole race of idolaters is indicated by those who are to come from Egypt and pass over to the knowledge of God; but by that which is added: "Æthiopia porriget manum suam Deo" (Ethiopia shall reach forth her hand to God), the extremities of the inhabited world of men are signified. For the discourse signifies that they shall come from all nations from the rising of the sun even unto the setting, according to the oracle which saith in other places: "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before him." ^B According to Aquila: "The Ethiopian, he saith, shall make his hand run to God;" according to Symmachus: "Let Ethiopia hasten to give her hand to God." And it is permitted to say that this has been fulfilled according to history in the Ethiopian, of whom the Acts of the Apostles make mention. For he all but anticipated the rest of the nations, being deemed worthy of the knowledge of the Saviour before all. But how the legates came from Egypt, the Acts of the Apostles again declare, where it is mentioned that on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit filled the house where the Apostles were, and sat upon all who were present. Among whom were Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and those who dwelt in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya about Cyrene. These, therefore, all were as it were legates of the nations, being gifted with the first fruits of the Holy Spirit. ^C But after those from Egypt, and after the Ethiopia that had anticipated them, the other kingdoms of the earth are then called, namely, the nations subject to them. Wherefore it is subjoined: "Regna terræ, cantate Deo, psallite Domino" (O kingdoms of the earth, sing unto God, sing psalms unto the Lord). Which attained their end in no other way than through the one doctrine of our Saviour. There is no nation, therefore, no country, no race of men, no kingdom in the whole world, in which people gathered together unto God do not fulfill the command. And here again he bids them sing to God, and sing psalms to the Lord, not through that name of four letters, but by that which is expressed in common elements. And that we may more clearly understand who this Lord was, he adds, saying ^D next: "To him that rideth upon the heaven of heaven toward the east;" very consistently; for since it was said in the preceding: "Make a way for him that rideth upon the west, the Lord is his name;" consistently, in the passage before us, he says he no longer rides upon the west, but upon the heaven toward the east. For it was fitting that we, who had learned of his descent, should likewise be taught of his return. Thus, the descent took place toward the west so that he might conceal the lights of his divinity; but his ascent toward the heaven of heaven, toward the east, was for the sake of his glorious departure to heaven. And you may understand this statement, moreover, by the example of the sun.

^A For just as the sun, having reached the west, makes its hidden journey, and then, having arrived at the eastern horizon, is carried straight toward heaven, illuminating all things and producing a bright day, in the same manner also the Lord who is indicated here, having made the aforementioned descent at the time of his passion and death, and having traversed that region, is afterward said to have ascended upon the heaven of heaven toward the east. According to Aquila: "To him who ascended upon the heaven of heaven from the beginning." According to Symmachus: "To him who rides upon the heaven of heaven from the first," it is said. And by "from the first" and "from the beginning," you will understand him to be speaking when you hear the Savior say: "Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with you before the world was."

Vers. 34-36. "Behold, he will give his voice the voice of power; give glory to God over Israel."

He provides knowledge of the aforementioned Lord, saying: "Behold, he will give his voice the voice of power." Here one is truly permitted to describe the virtue of him who "in the beginning was with God," the Word of God, because his voice is not similar to the voice of men, but is filled with divine power. For "he will give," he says, "his voice the voice of power." ^B And above it was also said: "The Lord will give a word to those who preach the good news with great power." For because his voice was filled with power, he deservedly gave a word with great power to those who preached the good news concerning him. Moreover, the work itself declares the power. For when with a simple exclamation he had said to his disciples, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men," he was bringing forth the work itself by his power. And again, having instructed them, saying, "Going, teach all nations in my name," he displayed his power in the work. And again, when he said, "The Gospel of the kingdom must be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all nations," he provided the power of the word to be seen by the works themselves. And when he spoke elsewhere: "Upon the rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it," he declared his strength by the very fact. In the same manner, therefore, you might discover divine power mixed into all the other words of his teaching. For this reason it is said: "Behold, he will give his voice the voice of power." But also, having handed down these institutions, he commands thereafter, saying: "Give glory to God over Israel; his magnificence and his power are in the clouds." ^C The former, "Give glory to God," is said to all who are called to the saving faith; the latter, however, "over Israel his magnificence," signifies those who originated from Israel and were heralds of his divinity, namely the apostles and evangelists, by whom his magnificence—that is, his divinity—was known. Wherefore it is said elsewhere:

^A “For thy magnificence has been raised above the heavens.” But that not all who are from Israel are to be called Israel, nor because they are the seed of Abraham are all his children; and that the children of the flesh are not these children of God; nor is he who is a Jew in appearance, nor in appearance is the circumcision which is in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one in secret, and circumcision is of the heart in spirit, not in the letter, the Apostle clearly teaches. Therefore, his magnificence is over Israel; but also his power is in the clouds, concerning which Isaiah prophesies, saying: “And I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon the vineyard.” He thereby indicated the prophets and the teachers of divine doctrines, who, with the supply of the Spirit, were watering the souls of men like ^B fertile soil. Thus, then, his power is also in the clouds. “God is wonderful in his saints,” who are different from the previously mentioned prophets and apostles. Who would these be, if not those from all nations who have been deemed worthy of purity and holiness, in whom God is wonderful, granting them power and strength? Wherefore it is added directly: “The God of Israel himself shall give power and strength to his people, blessed be God.” Again, here too, it is said that power must necessarily be given to his holy people, so that they may be able to say: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” For it was necessary that, as the word had been given to the evangelists with great power, so also strength and power should be supplied to his people, so that they might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, and to say together with Paul: “Who shall separate us from the love of God? Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine?” and things similar to these.

TO THE END, FOR THOSE WHO SHALL BE CHANGED, TO DAVID. LXVIII.

^C “Save me, O God, for waters have entered even unto my soul.” There are four [psalms] inscribed “For those who shall be changed.” Two are by David—the one in our hands and the 59th; one is by the sons of Core, namely the 44th; and that of Asaph is likewise the 79th. In the place of “For those who shall be changed” in all of them, Aquila has translated: “Upon the lilies”; and Symmachus: “For flowers.” Now, the 44th contained the prophecy concerning the Beloved, and the change of the Church from the nations from worse things to better; the fifty-ninth signifies the rejection of the Jewish people and the conversion of the alien nations to the most excellent things; ^D and the 79th, in turn, signifies the falling away of the Jewish people and the incarnation of our Saviour. With good reason, then, this present psalm also is inscribed “For those who shall be changed,” or “For flowers,” as Symmachus has it, or “Upon the lilies,” as Aquila has it, because it contains the change for the worse of the people from the circumcision, who, having been seen at one time as resembling lilies and flowers, have now declined to worse things.

Isaiah compares them, saying: “All flesh is grass, and all the glory of it as the flower of grass. The grass is withered, and the flower has fallen” (Isa. XL, 6, 7). By these words he likens to grass and flowers that bodily Jewish cultus which blossomed for a short time and appeared beautiful. ^A And so, through what is set before us, the Word proceeding further declares the change and the alteration of their flourishing state for the worse, in the place where it is said: “Let their table become a snare before them, and for a retribution and a stumbling-block. Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see,” and so forth. And because these things were to come to pass by actual events long after, it is necessarily inscribed “Unto the end.” And it is neither a psalm, nor a canticle, nor a hymn, nor anything of that sort, since the things that follow are not in accordance with such a title. Wherefore you might say that it is a prophecy uttered on behalf of our Savior, recounting the things that happened to Him thereafter, and a foretelling of the things that came upon the Jews after the daring acts committed by them. ^B The Savior thus begins, sending up a prayer to the Father, saying: “Save me, O God, because the waters have entered into my soul” (Ps. LXVIII, 2). And it seems to me reasonable that these words are joined to what was said in the preceding psalm. For in that one it was said: “The Lord said: I will convert from Basan, I will convert from the depths of the sea” (Ps. LXVII, 23); but in this one: “I have come into the depth of the sea, and the tempest has drowned me.” For it was necessary for us to be taught how the Lord descended into Basan, which means ignominy, and how He said, “I will convert from the depths of the sea.” Wherefore He declares these very things through what is set before us: regarding the ignominy, indeed, proceeding further and saying: “Because for Thy sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face”; and again: “Thou knowest my reproach and my shame and my confusion.” But regarding the depth of the sea, the words: “Save me, O God, because the waters have entered into my soul. I am stuck in the mire of the deep, and there is no substance. ^C I have come into the depth of the sea, and the tempest has drowned me.” For these words would have great consistency with those said in the psalm before this one—namely, in that one: “The Lord said: I will convert from Basan, I will convert from the depths of the sea.” Since in that one the Lord Himself was the one saying these things, it is to be thought that He is the same one who is now uttering the things set before us.

He, therefore, whom we have previously shown to be none other than the Word of God, pours out a prayer to the Father, counting as His own the sufferings of the man whom He has assumed. Wherefore He says: “Save me, O God, because the waters have entered into my soul. I am stuck in the mire of the deep, and there is no substance. I have come into the depths of the sea, and the tempest has drowned me.” ^D The preceding psalm, at any rate, was calling out to these things: “Make a way for Him who ascends over the west; the Lord is His name” (ibid. 5). Then, [describing] His own...

^A descent to death and His departure from there, He was teaching in [the words]: “And of the Lord, the Lord, are the issues of death”; and in [the words]: “The Lord said: I will bring back from Bashan, I will bring back from the depths of the sea.” And over all these things, He manifested His return to the heavens through the same [psalm], saying: “Sing to God who ascends above the heaven of heaven toward the east” (ibid. 34). These things, then, are in those [passages]; but through the things set before us, He expands upon what was then said, as it were, in passing, showing how it was said: “And of the Lord, the Lord, are the issues of death,” and that which is, “The Lord said: I will bring back from Bashan, I will bring back from the depths of the sea.” For He explains these things at length in the present [passage], saying: “Save me, O God, for the waters have entered even to my soul. I stuck in the mire of the deep, and there is no standing. I have come into the depths of the sea, and a storm has submerged me.” It is the custom of the Word to call temptations and persecutions and the uprisings of ungodly men “waters.” Thus, then, it is said elsewhere: “Our soul has crossed the torrent; perhaps our soul has crossed the water without bottom” (Ps. CXXIII, 5). And the Savior Himself also taught this, saying: “The rain descended, the rivers came, the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it did not fall; for it had been founded upon the rock” (Matth. VII, 25). Therefore, through the things set before us, by naming temptations and the plots against Him “waters,” He teaches that they have come in even unto His soul. As for Job ^B, although he was a valiant athlete, it is written that God said to the tempter: “Behold, all that he has I give into your hand, only preserve his soul” (Job II, 6). Here, however, the tempter assails the very soul, that very one of which the Lord Himself says: “No one takes my soul from me, but I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again” (Joan. X, 18); and again: “I lay down my soul for my sheep” (ibid. 15); and, “Now my soul is troubled” (Joan. XII, 27); and, “My soul is sorrowful even unto death” (Matth. XXVI, 38). Wherefore also now He says: “For the waters have entered even unto my soul,” or according to Symmachus: “For the waters have approached even unto my soul.” Then He adds: “I stuck in the mire of the deep, and there is no standing,” or according to Symmachus: “I was immersed into infinite depth, and there is no standing,” which he interpreted very consistently. For where there was no standing for others, because all who had gone down there fell into a slippery place and were dragged down by the currents of death, there also I myself came when I had come into the depths of the sea; or, according to Symmachus, “I entered into the depth of the waters, and a stream overwhelmed me.” And similar things to these are also written of the prophet Jonah, who prayed from the belly of the whale; he therefore says: “The water encompassed me ^C

even to my soul, the last abyss closed me in. My head went down into the clefts of the mountains, I went down to the earth, whose bars are eternal keepers.” ^A Therefore, the Savior used the example of Jonah toward those who were asking him for a sign, saying: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah the prophet was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.” By “the heart of the earth,” he designates the depths of the sea mentioned here, alluding to the regions of Hades. Wherefore, in Job, the same Lord, uttering oracles, brings forward similar things, saying: “Have you come to the spring of the sea, and walked in the footprints of the abyss? Do the gates of death open to you for fear, and did the gatekeepers of Hades shudder when they saw you?” ^B You see how even in these parts, having named the spring of the sea and added, “And you walked in the footprints of the abyss,” he clarifies what the abyss and the sea are, subjoining: “And the gates of death open to you for fear, and the gatekeepers of Hades shuddered when they saw you.” Therefore, even in the passage before us, the depths of the sea allude to the regions of death, into which the Savior and our Lord alone descended and came out. Wherefore, in the preceding psalm it was said: “And of the Lord, the Lord are the outgoings of death”; and again: “The Lord said: I will bring back from Bashan, I will bring back from the depths of the sea.” Instead of, “And a storm overwhelmed me,” Aquila interpreted it, “And a torrent inundated me,” and Symmachus, “And a stream inundated me.” For it is likely that the adversarial powers stood in a circle around Him ^C when, having stepped upon the sea, He crushed the heads of the dragons upon the water. Wherefore, in the preceding psalm it was also said: “And of the Lord, the Lord are the outgoings of death. But God shall crush the heads of his enemies.” For He would not have otherwise passed through the outgoings of death except by crushing the heads of the enemies who were there. But if anyone thinks that David said these things because he himself had fallen into many temptations, let him consider how it is possible for these things to apply to David: “They gave gall as my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink”; or that: “Let their table become a snare before them, and for retribution and for a stumbling block. Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and bow their back down always.” And if anyone collects the rest of the things similar to these for himself, he would find that they in no way correspond to the person of David. But the account concerning our Savior is confirmed by the irrefutable evidence of the testimony of the holy Gospels, both from the cited example of Jonah, and from the fact that it is said ^D in the passage before us: “For the zeal of your house has consumed me,” which, in the Gospel according to John, is declared to be fulfilled in the very same words, where

^A it is said: “And Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves.” Then, after he had cast them out saying: “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade,” the evangelist adds: “His disciples remembered that it was written: The zeal of your house has consumed me.” But also that passage, “They gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink,” which is contained in the passage before us, is declared to be spoken in the person of our Savior, according to John, who says: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst. A vessel was standing there full of vinegar. So they put a sponge full of the vinegar with gall upon hyssop, and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar with gall, he said: It is finished;” and this Scripture, and the other things that are referred to the person of our Savior, maintain this interpretation without any violence. ^B

VERS. 4, 5. “I have labored crying, my throat is become hoarse, my eyes have failed me while I wait for my God.” These things also are reported as fulfilled in the Gospel according to John, when Jesus stood and cried out with these words: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” Again also it is said: “Jesus cried out and said: He who believes in me, does not believe in me, but in him who sent me. And he who sees me, sees him who sent me. I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me may not remain in darkness.” And over Lazarus, too, lifting his eyes to heaven, he said: “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me. And when he had said this, he cried with a loud voice: Lazarus, come out.” ^C But also about the time of the passion itself, Matthew narrates these things, saying: “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying: Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani.” Then, therefore, while dwelling with men, he was exhorting all by crying out to come and hasten to his teaching; and he called forth the four-day-old dead man with a great cry. But also about the ninth hour of the passion he was crying out with a loud voice; and after these things again: “Crying out with a loud voice, he yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, and the earth shook, and the rocks were split, and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the ^D saints who had fallen asleep were raised;” such were the things that his great voice was able to effect. But if one should consider how from that time even to the present he himself cries out in his churches throughout the whole inhabited world of men, exhorting individuals to hasten to his life-giving drink, and calling back those who have been deadened by their sins that are unto death; and by the...

^A proclamation of his passion to the whole inhabited world ^B, he cried out through the multitude of his enemies. This he makes clear by saying: "They are multiplied beyond the hairs of my head who hate me without a cause." But if his Church is his body, according to the Apostle, who taught this by saying: "Now you are the body of Christ, and members in part," you would say that the more necessary members of the body, and, so to speak, the senses, are those who are considered necessary to the people; as, for instance, the rulers are the head; the teachers, the mouth; the prudent listeners, the ears; those who are perspicacious in the Scriptures, the eyes; and the more active ones, the hands; and thus, in a certain proportion, the other members of the body are distributed. In the same way, you may understand the hairs to be the whole multitude and the superfluous crowd of them, who indeed lend a certain ornament to the whole body, but are not as necessary as the other members. Therefore, those who are strangers to the faith would be much more numerous than such hairs, inasmuch as they walk on the broad and spacious way. Wherefore it has been said: "They are multiplied beyond the hairs of my head who hate me without a cause." Now, those are said to hate without a cause who are unable to bring forward any reason for their hatred, as those who persecute the saving word while no ground for accusation is available to them. But for that, "who hate me without a cause," Symmachus says, "They who hate me without reason." They, therefore, he says, are multiplied more than the hairs of my head. Moreover, his enemies who persecute him have been strengthened. And indeed, it is possible to see that, at the time when the power to persecute is given, his enemies are strengthened, exalted, and become very powerful. But they persecute him unjustly, and they hate him without a cause. For when no cause for enmity exists, nor are they able to allege any reasonable motive why they persecute, they nevertheless harass him unjustly. He, however, although he had seized nothing and had inflicted no injury, suffered punishment. For if, according to the laws, penalties are to be exacted from those who are guilty, neither he nor his genuine disciples were ever caught in any crime. With justice, therefore, he says: "What I did not steal, then I was paying back." And at the time of his passion, he was tormented without cause, and was paying a penalty, although he had done injury to no one. Wherefore he was then saying: "What I did not steal, then I was paying back," or, according to Aquila,

"What I did not take by force, I was paying back." ^B

"O God, You know my insipience." Just as the divine Apostle blamelessly called the passion of the Savior the folly of God, and the cross weakness, saying: "He was crucified out of weakness" (cf. I Cor. XIII, 4); and again: "But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and to the Gentiles folly; because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (I Cor. I, 23-25); so, too, in this present instance, you would not be mistaken if you understood the "insipience" mentioned here in the same way as the "folly" spoken of by the Apostle. But just as the Lord knows those who are His, since certain ones are select men who have been deemed worthy of the knowledge of God, so also the insipience here, being worthy of the knowledge of God, possessed a certain great and deep reason. For it did not happen, He says, apart from Your will, nor apart from Your knowledge—this insipience of mine.

And what is this, if not that which is so deemed by the many? For just as that folly was considered folly by the Greeks, yet according to the deep reasons of God it was being arranged for the better—and what was thought by men to be folly was wiser than men, for it pleased God by the folly of the preaching to save those who believe—so also the insipience which He undertook for our sake, emptying Himself and taking the form of a servant and proceeding even unto death, was wiser than the wisdom of men. For the word of the cross, the Apostle says, is to those indeed who are perishing, folly; but if it is folly and insipience, to us, however, who have attained salvation, it is the power of God. ^C This insipience and folly, therefore, God did not ignore; for it has come about by His own judgment. Therefore He says: "O God, You know my insipience."

But Symmachus has relieved us of the problem, having interpreted it by saying: "O God, You know my inexperience," meaning the inexperience that is in men. For since He was alien to the malice found in men, He assigns this noble inexperience to the knowledge of His own Father. Elsewhere, too, divine Scripture makes mention of the insipience of the Savior and is in harmony with that which is set before us. For it is written in Proverbs: "Thus says the man to those who believe in God, and I cease; for I am the most insipient of all men, and the prudence of man is not in me. God has taught me wisdom, and I have known the knowledge of the holy ones" (Prov. XXX, 1-3). For in these, indeed, He says that He is the most insipient of all men, and that He does not possess the prudence of man; yet, nevertheless, He says that He has been taught by God Himself spiritual wisdom, and has known the knowledge of the holy ones.

"But also," He says, "my offenses have not been hidden from You." For if there were any offenses in me, for which they sentenced Me to the cross, surely You would be the first to know, to whom nothing can be hidden; but there were none. ^D Therefore, those who hated Me, hated Me without cause; and those who persecuted Me, were exacting unjustly what I did not take. Since, however, they suborned false witnesses and slanderers to accuse Me, You know, He says,

^A O God, if there is any offense in Me. For if there were any transgressions in Me, they would not have been hidden from You. And otherwise, if He wiped away our sins, and became a curse for us, as it is said concerning Him: "He bears our sins and suffers for us. And He Himself was wounded for our sins, and has been weakened for our iniquities. And the Lord delivered Him up to our sins." And these transgressions, He says, I took upon Myself on behalf of men; You know, O God, since they were not hidden from You. For I did not take these upon Myself apart from Your will; wherefore You made them worthy of Your own knowledge.

VERS. 7. "Let not those who wait for You be ashamed for My sake, O Lord, Lord of hosts." Since the wise men of this age slander My teaching, and drive it away as full of folly and stupidity on account of the ignominious cross, I pray and beseech that those who believe in Me may be kept by You unshaken, so that they may never be ashamed. Therefore, You Yourself, O Lord, Lord of hosts, do not abandon those who are persecuted on account of Your knowledge which they have received from Me, who always suffer grievous things and persevere even unto death, lest those who hope in Me should be confounded, who seek You, the God of Israel. For even if they were once ignorant of You because they were enslaved to evil demons, but now, having acknowledged You, they have consigned all things to oblivion and persist in seeking You alone. Wherefore, I beseech You that they be not confounded by punishment, nor ^C afflicted with ignominy; for so Symmachus interpreted it, saying: "Let not those who wait for You be ashamed for My sake, O Lord God of hosts; let not those who seek You be put to shame for My sake, O God of Israel." Observe, moreover, how it is said, "O Lord, Lord of hosts," so that the name of the Lord is repeated, and referred to the God of all.

VERS. 8, 9. "For Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered My face." The rest of men, He says, are subjected to rebukes and reproaches on account of their own sins; but I, who have known no sin, for Your sake have borne reproach, because You Yourself, O God the lover of mankind, made Me sin for the sake of the human race, so that those who believe in Me might become justice. Moreover, also for "Your sake I have borne reproach," when by Your will I emptied Myself and humbled Myself even unto death, at which time those who were passing by blasphemed, shaking their heads and saying: "Ah, You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save Yourself. If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross." Similarly also the chief priests, mocking with the priests and Scribes and Pharisees, said: "He saved others, He cannot save Himself. If He is the King of Israel, let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him, if

God: let him rescue him, if he wants him. For he said, ^A “I am the Son of God.” These things, then, prophesying for the present time, he says: “Because for your sake I have endured reproach, confusion has covered my face.” For it is not because of my own sins, nor for unlawful deeds, but “for your sake” I have endured the aforementioned reproach, and confusion has covered my face; or, according to Symmachus, “Ignominy covered his face.” And all these things, he says, I have suffered for your sake, that is, for your will. “But also I have become an alien to my brothers, and a foreigner to the sons of my mother.” ^B He signifies here two orders; one of those who were truly his brothers, to whom he became an alien; the other of those who were the sons of his mother, but not his brothers, to whom he became a foreigner. And yet, the sons of his mother, being brothers, ought to have been named brothers just like the former. But he did not call the sons of his mother brothers, as they were, of course, different from the first order of those named his brothers. Those, therefore, to have become his brothers are his disciples, about whom he also says elsewhere: “I will proclaim your name to my brothers, and in the midst of the Church I will praise you.” And in the Gospel, having appeared to Mary after his resurrection from the dead, he was saying: “Go to my brothers, and say to them: I ascend to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.” ^C To these brothers of his, then, he became an alien at the time of the indicated passion, when all his disciples, having left him, fled, and Peter himself, the chief of the apostles, denied him three times. To these he became a foreigner and an alien; and he became a foreigner to the sons of his mother, who were not, however, his brothers. The Gospel also mentions his brothers and mother when, having come into his own country, he was teaching in the synagogue, so that they were astonished and saying: “Whence to this man this wisdom? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Are not his mother and his brothers and all his sisters with us? Whence to this man all these things?” If, therefore, we were to assume the sons of his mother mentioned in the present text to be these ^D people, it is necessary to say that the holy Virgin was the mother of the rest of his brothers. But James, who is called his brother, appears, not having been alienated from him, nor alien to the faith in him, but one of his very genuine disciples; so much so that he himself first received the throne of the Church in Jerusalem. And his other brothers, even if at the beginning they did not believe in him, it is certain that they believed afterward. For the Gospel narrates that his mother and his brothers stood outside seeking to speak to him. And in the Acts of the Apostles it is said that the apostles were all persevering together in prayer with Mary, his mother, and his brothers. Who then could be thought to be a foreigner to these? There remains, therefore, no room to say of them: “I have become an alien to my brothers, and a foreigner to the sons of my mother.” For he was not a foreigner to them,

but was of great value; so that we should no longer consider the aforementioned brothers of his to be sons of Mary. Rather, those who are called in the Psalm the sons of his mother must be others, distinct from these, to whom he became a foreigner. You shall understand the mother to be the Synagogue of the Jews and the entire kinship according to the flesh, namely, those who were of the circumcision, and the sons of such a mother to be those who denied him and said: “As for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” For this reason he said to them, since they considered him a foreigner: “Why do you not understand my speech? Because you cannot hear my word.” They considered him a foreigner again when they said: “Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Wherefore he said to them: “I have come in the name of my Father, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.” Thus, therefore, he became a foreigner and an alien to the sons of his mother. He endured all these things for the cause which is soon to be brought forward, which he necessarily reveals by saying:

VER. 10-13. For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

For because he was using great boldness, rebuking and driving out those who were making his Father’s house a house of trade and a den of robbers, for this reason they laid snares for him. This the evangelist declares, saying: “And the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And he found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep, and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And to those who sold the doves he said: Take these things away from here, and do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” To which he adds: “His disciples remembered that it is written: Zeal for your house has consumed me.” But also by receiving into himself the reproaches of those who reproach God, he became an avenger of them; wherefore he said: “And the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.” For not tolerating those who, through their own deeds, brought reproach upon the laws of piety, he made his rebukes against the rulers of the nation. Wherefore he encouraged the crowds and his disciples, saying: “The Scribes and the Pharisees have sat on the chair of Moses: all things, therefore, whatever they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds. For they say and do not,” and next, rebuking them to their very face, he said: “Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven before men,” and again: “Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, because you are like whitewashed tombs.” Because of such rebukes, therefore, they plotted against him. Wherefore he says here: “For the zeal of your house has consumed me,

and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen upon me. And I covered my soul with fasting, and it became a reproach to me.” ^A That is to say: when I saw your house filled with all iniquity, and at one time becoming a house of trade, and at another a den of robbers, being kindled by divine zeal, I cast out those performing iniquity within. But also, when they were bringing reproach upon you, O God, by their own lawless deeds—the very God whose religion they professed—I, taking such reproaches upon myself, was compelled to use frankness and to apply rebukes to them for their healing. But when I saw them having no sense and not turning back from my rebukes, I would weep for their destruction and fast and mortify myself on their behalf. But they, even so, reproached me, tearing to pieces and mocking my fasting. ^B Desiring to show them a pattern of repentance, I not only mortified myself with fasts, but also made sackcloth my garment, chastising and punishing my own flesh, and by that very act showing them a way of confession and purification for former sins. But they, laughing even at these things, held me as a parable, gathering together and sitting at their gates, making all their conversation about me, and all but prating to one another in their mockery of me. It was not enough for them to tear down and mock my spiritual exercises on their behalf, but even gathering together for banquets, they intoned songs and chants against me, wine-inflamed and drunken in their revelries against me. On account of which I covered my soul in fasting all the more, putting on my garment of sackcloth, as I wept for their destruction. ^C Wherefore, according to Aquila, it is said: “And I wept in fasting my soul, and it became a reproach to me. And he gave sackcloth as my garment, and I became a parable to them. They talked of me sitting at the gate, and the psalms of those drinking strong drink.” And according to Symmachus: “And to me weeping with fasting my soul it became a reproach. And putting on my garment of sackcloth, and I became a parable to them. They narrated me sitting at the gate, and they sang me as they drank strong drink.” But it is necessary to examine these things in relation to what was said by the Savior in the Gospels: ^D “John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say: He has a demon. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say: Behold a man gluttonous and a wine-bibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” But you will say these things happened at the beginning of the Gospel, when, regarding the fact that his disciples were not fasting, he was making a defense for them, saying: “Can the sons of the bridechamber fast, as long as the bridegroom is with them? The bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Do you see, then, how he himself also knew the time for fasting? If, therefore, you should compare the time of his passion with the matters now before us, you would discover how these things were fulfilled when, once the bridegroom was taken away, his disciples fasted. Nor is it unlikely that he himself…

foreseeing that after a little while he would be taken away from them, and that the entire nation of the circumcision would demand his blood, and that Peter would deny him, and that such things would be dared against him that darkness would encompass all that surrounded him, and the sun itself would be darkened, and the veil of the temple would be rent, and all the things of old in Israel would be overturned—I mean their kingdom, and the priesthood, and the Holy of Holies—and that the rejection and sudden destruction of them all would come to pass; for these reasons it is not unlikely that he emaciated his soul in fasting, and put on sackcloth as his garment, over which the impious mocked him, babbling against him with their futile quips instead of a parable. And at other times of the day, gathering at the gates, they led those who were passing by into error through the slanders they devised against him; but at the time of food, devoting themselves to wine and drunkenness, they composed songs against him. Wherefore he covered his soul in fasting, and put on sackcloth as his garment, acting thus for the sake of the salvation of others, ^B out of a superabundance of philanthropy.

VERS. 14. "But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, a time of good pleasure, O God: in the multitude of thy mercy hear me." They, he says, mocked and disparaged my afflictions; but I persisted, offering my prayer to thee, the Lord. Observe, moreover, that here too the Hebrew Scripture signifies the Lord by the four-letter name. Praying to thee, the Lord, I said these things: "A time of good pleasure, O God"—or, according to Symmachus, "a time of reconciliation." "O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me." For if at another time the voice of my Father testified to me, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," ^C now is especially the time of good pleasure; wherefore I supplicate that in the multitude of thy mercy thou mayest hear me, and in the truth of thy salvation mayest save me. For I do not ask for human salvation, but for the true one. Such is that which comes from thee, by which I ask to be snatched from the mire, that I may not be stuck fast. From what mire, if not that about which I was speaking above: "I was stuck fast in the mire of the deep, and there is no substance"? For the mire of the deep mentioned above is here called "mire" (clay). By these things he signifies the dissolution of the body in death, concerning which he spoke in another place: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades, nor give thy Holy One to see corruption." ^D Those, therefore, who are held by death, having undergone corruption and having come to be in corruption, and having remained in it, have been "stuck fast in the mire." But I, even if I have descended, humbling myself even to this point, yet supplicate, saying: "Rescue me from the mire, that I may not be stuck fast." The things that follow indicate the powers situated in death itself, from which he asks to be rescued, saying: "Let me be delivered from them that hate me, and from the deep waters. Let not the storm of water overwhelm me, nor let...

^A the abyss swallow me." Moreover, these waters and the dragons in them were indicated by what was said before, in the passage: "Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul. I stick fast in the mire of the deep, and there is no substance. I am come into the depths of the sea, and a tempest hath overwhelmed me." But while through the former, his descent into these things was portrayed, through the present words his return from them is noted. "Let me be delivered," he says, "from the deep waters, and let not the storm of water overwhelm me, nor let the abyss swallow me, nor let the pit shut its mouth upon me." For death has swallowed up the other souls of men, having prevailed; and the pit has pressed them down and shut its mouth upon them. And the pit, having a mouth, may be called death itself, which from the beginning has swallowed up all those who have fallen down into it, and after swallowing them, has bitten ^B them, as if closing its mouth, so that no one might return from there. But let it not be so with me. Therefore I intercede with thee, O Father, saying: "Let not the storm of water overwhelm me, nor the abyss swallow me, nor the pit shut its mouth upon me," or according to Symmachus: "Neither let the pit close its mouth upon me." And now he mentions waters, and depths, and a pit; but in the twenty-first Psalm, signifying these same things, he uses other words, saying: "Deliver my soul from the sword, and mine only one from the hand of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth, and my lowliness from the horns of the unicorns." For these things indeed are spoken concerning the opposing powers dwelling in what is called Hades, as we have shown in explaining those passages.

Verses 17-21. "Hear me, O Lord, for thy mercy is kind; look upon me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies."

^A I covered my soul with fasting, and it turned into a reproach for me. And I made sackcloth my garment." Therefore, in these things, he also implored the Father to look upon and behold the struggles that he endured on our behalf; wherefore he said, "Attend to my soul, and deliver it." Then, displaying his own good works, which he implored Him to behold, he adds, "For the sake of my enemies, deliver me. You know my reproach, and my shame, and my confusion." For just as he said above, "You have known my foolishness, and my trespasses have not been hidden from you," so also now, he says, my reproaches are worthy of your knowledge. He also declared regarding these things in what precedes, saying, "And the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen upon me." Since, therefore, by your judgment and nod I endured reproaches and a passion full of ignominy, for this reason I say, ^B "You know my reproach, and my confusion, and my shame." You know my shame, not being unworthy of your knowledge, and my confusion, which I endured, when I gave "my back to the scourges and my cheeks to the buffetings," you know. But you do not know those who afflict me in the same way as me, for they are not worthy of your knowledge. Wherefore regarding them I say, "All who afflict me are against you." And they are against you in such a way that they have chosen things contrary to you; they afflict me, having gained no utility from my service, and they afflict me to their own destruction. He adds afterward, "My heart expected reproach and misery." Symmachus interpreted this more clearly, saying, "Reproach broke my heart, and I was in pain;" but Aquila, "Reproach, he says, crushed my heart, and I was in despair." ^C

VERS. 20-21. "And I waited for someone to sorrow with me, but there was none; and for one to comfort me, but I found none. And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." According to Symmachus, however, "And I was waiting for someone to sorrow with me, but there was none; and for a comforter, and I found none. And they cast gall into my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." That his disciples, having abandoned him, fled at the time of the passion, yet were not devoid of grief, the Gospel teaches us. For when Peter is recorded to have wept bitterly, and the rest, having gathered together and hiding in one house for fear of the Jews, are reported to have been not without grief. It is not, therefore, reasonable to think these things were said about the choir of ^D the apostles, but about those who were afflicting him, about whom he said, "All who afflict me are against you." For I was indeed doing everything for their salvation, covering my soul in fasting, and using sackcloth in place of a garment; but they were practicing things contrary to these, sometimes reproaching and mocking my fasts, and at other times singing psalms against me in their carousings, and doing everything rather than sorrowing with me. For I was indeed grieved, suffering for their sake, but they did not sorrow with me and were not pained; nor was any one of them found for my comfort. But nothing

^A against me, those who set their hand to it, were casting gall into my food, although I had provided them with abundant nourishment; and to me in my thirst they offered vinegar instead of drink. Such gall did they mingle for me, as the prophetic word discloses, saying: "How art thou turned into bitterness, into a strange vine!" ^B You will understand how our Savior is nourished if you hear Him Himself saying: "I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink." But if, instead of the fruits appropriate for nourishment, one offers against Him, through a pious life, bitter blasphemies, and mingles with His teaching godless and false doctrines, he casts gall into His food, and to Him in His thirst he offers wine that is dregs, leading one astray from the straight path. Such things Moses prophesied long ago concerning the Jewish people, crying out in a great canticle and saying: "For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and their vine-branch of Gomorrah; their grape is a grape of gall, their cluster is a cluster of bitterness." ^C Hence, in like manner, the Spirit through Isaiah reproves them, saying: "I expected that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth thorns." And again: "I expected that it should do judgment, but it did iniquity, and not justice but a cry." Therefore, by their works and deeds, and by bitter speech and life, they gave gall for the Savior's food, and in His thirst they gave Him vinegar to drink. But since it was necessary that the word of prophecy should be fulfilled also according to history, the evangelist narrates these things concerning the time of His passion, saying: "After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst. A vessel was set there full of vinegar. So they, having made a sponge full of vinegar with gall and putting it upon hyssop, brought it to His mouth. When therefore Jesus had taken the vinegar with the gall, He said: This Scripture is also fulfilled. And bowing His head, He yielded up the spirit." And since, after the fulfillment of the Scripture, He bowed His head and yielded up the spirit, it is with reason that in the psalm He defines His sufferings up to this point. Then from there He prophesies what evils shall come upon them: "Let their table become a snare before them, and a retribution, and a stumbling-block." ^D As is its custom, Scripture is wont to speak of things future as if they were past; just now, for example, it said: "They gave me gall for my food," instead of "they will give," and "they gave me vinegar to drink in my thirst," instead of "they will give." And elsewhere likewise it is said: "They divided my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they cast lots," and again: "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ." For likewise these things also, which were to be, were proclaimed beforehand as if they had already occurred. In the same way, those things which are thought to be spoken in the imperative or optative mood are also to be understood in the prophetic manner as foretelling: such as these things which we are discussing. For that: "Let their table be," you must understand as "It shall be," and that: "Let their eyes be darkened," for "They shall be darkened."

And the following passages are similar. For it would not be rational for Him who commands us not to return evil for evil, but to pray for those who create us trouble, and to bless and not to curse, and even to love our enemies, to pray for such evils to befall others. Therefore, ^B these things are spoken not in an optative or imperative mode, but in accordance with the way already explained, prophetically. For as for the things which they dared and perpetrated against me, such things shall meet them: their table shall be for them not for the provision of food, but for a snare and for retribution and for a stumbling block, because they gave gall for my food. And what would you say the table of the Jewish people is, if not the divinely inspired Scriptures, which they are accustomed to meditate upon and repeat from memory? The contemplation and understanding of which contain food for rational souls, while the wording itself fills the place of a table.

^C Therefore, He predicts that this table of theirs—namely, the readily available reading of the divine Scriptures—will be to them a snare and a retribution and a stumbling block; and that it will be such to them, not that it is such by nature, but that it will become such to them. For this is what the Word signifies, saying: "Let their table be before them for a snare, and for retribution and for a stumbling block." And this is fulfilled in them in deed. For when they encounter the divine Scriptures, they are ensnared by them, because they take the words in a way other than their true meaning and pervert the right sense within them, and by them are led on to unbelief in the Savior. Moreover, their table also turns into retribution for them. For in this very fact that they do not understand the readings, they suffer the punishment for the crimes they committed against Him. Hence Symmachus, instead of "and for retribution," rendered it "and for punishment"; ^D and furthermore, their table becomes a stumbling block before them. For they take offense when they encounter the mere words, and do not understand the contemplation within them; for instance, when they hear that, upon the arrival of Christ, the wolf shall pasture together with the lamb, and the leopard shall rest with the kid, and the lion and the ox shall eat straw; not understanding these and similar things, they stumble at the Christ who has come, because these things did not happen in a sensible way at His coming. So therefore the table that was theirs, as has been described, became before them a snare, and a retribution, and a stumbling block. And these things they have suffered because their eyes were darkened so that they might not see, because they rejected the Light that enlightens every man, and because having eyes they did not see, and having ears they did not hear. For their heart was made fat, according to Isaiah, and they closed their eyes and made their ears heavy. Wherefore the Word predicts, saying: "Let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see." And another thing that has clearly happened to them He predicts, saying: "And bow down their back always," meaning, "You will bow down"; and: "Pour out upon them your wrath," that is, "You will pour out"; and: "May the fury of your wrath overtake them," namely,

^A "it will overtake." How these things happened to the Jewish nation after their daring crime against our Savior is not difficult to understand. For of old, because of their idolatries, they were handed over for a short time to the servitude of enemies and foes; then they were restored to their former liberty, they lived as those possessing their own laws and their own kings, and they frequented the temple and the worship prescribed there according to the Law of Moses. But after the plot against our Savior, they were suddenly stripped of everything, and enduring siege and servitude under the Romans, they remained so humbled, no longer able even to look up; which is what the prophecy at hand signifies when it says: "And bow down their back always." Note indeed how the word "always" is used; for it is not just for a short time as happened in the past, but "always," he says. For which Aquila interpreted: "And weaken their backs perpetually," and Symmachus: "And dislocate their loins always." And this indeed happened to them, since the wrath of God did not come upon them with a certain measure as of old, but the whole was poured out upon them all at once. For this reason it is added: "Pour out upon them your wrath, and let the fury of your wrath overtake them." This is also signified in another Psalm, which says: ^B "Why, O God, have you cast us off to the end?" And the divine Apostle also said in agreement with these things: "But the wrath has reached them to the end." First, therefore, their table became a snare to them; then their eyes were darkened; then their back was bowed down always, the wrath of God being poured out upon them. After these things, he predicts that something else will happen to them, saying:

"Let their dwelling be desolate," that is, it will be; "and in their tents let there be no one to inhabit," that is, there will not be. For the prophetic knowledge ought not to have passed over even this: that their dwelling also would be desolate, or according to Symmachus, "uninhabitable," or according to Aquila, "obliterated." He calls Jerusalem their dwelling, no longer being the city of God, but their dwelling. For this reason he says it will be desolate, which is indeed demonstrated by the facts. Then he adds: ^C "And in their tents let there be no one to inhabit," that is, notably among the former inhabitants—a truth which the reality itself places before our eyes. If anyone were to go to the places, he would see the extreme desolation of the place; with no Jew daring to enter the city, much less to dwell there; but there is not even a Jewish dwelling left in the place, such that any one of the Greeks could dwell in it. For this reason it has been said: "And in their tents let there be no one to inhabit," or according to Symmachus: "In their tents let there be no one to inhabit." For their tents and their dwellings were uprooted completely from their foundations. Observe, therefore, how many things the ^D word has mentioned: the desolation of the holy place, the destruction of their tents, the complete humiliation of the nation.

^A The darkening of their understanding, and their ignorance of the divine Scriptures, were things that were not fulfilled in them at any other time than after their impious deeds against the Christ of God. Wherefore, the prophecy proceeds to add the cause for these things, saying: "Because him whom Thou hast smitten, they have persecuted; and they have added to the pain of my wounds," and the rest. It says that all the previously mentioned things were to happen to them, not on account of any idolatry, but because "him whom Thou hast smitten, they have persecuted." ^B For Thou, according to the prophecy which says, "I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered," hast smitten him for reasons known to Thee. Whence it is said in the Apostle: "If indeed He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all." And to whom did He deliver Him? Isaiah will teach us, saying: "And the Lord delivered Him up to our sins; wherefore He became a curse for us." For God made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. But also, "He was a man in suffering, and knowing how to bear infirmity; and by His stripe we were healed." Therefore, He received stripes and bruises, and suffered all these things, the Father willing and permitting it to be so. ^C Wherefore, it is said in the prophet Zechariah: "O sword, awake against my shepherd, and against the man who is my fellow. Smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered." In the Gospel, moreover, our Savior Himself, being near to His passion, gave instructions to His disciples, saying: "All of you will be offended because of Me. For it is written: I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered." And in the one now in our hands, this agrees with these things: "Because him whom Thou hast smitten, they have persecuted." The Father, then, did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all; by power, He was the one who smote, by permitting Him to suffer such things. But they did not merely smite, but also drove Him away from themselves and persecuted Him far off, whereas they ought, even when He was smitten, to have received Him, knowing that Christ died for us, having become a curse for us, and that Him who knew no sin, God made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. ^D One must also remember the words of Isaiah, through which it was said: "A man in suffering, and knowing how to bear infirmity; and the Lord delivered Him up to our sins," and, "Because He bears our sins, and suffers for us," and that He was wounded for no other reason than for our sins, and was made infirm because of our iniquities. But they considered none of these things, but cast Him out and repelled Him from themselves, requesting a murderer, and denying the Prince of life. Therefore, he says here: "Because him whom Thou hast smitten, they have persecuted; and they have added to the pain of My wounds." For I, indeed, undertook the wounds on their behalf, having become a cleansing for them, and an expiation for their sins; but they, their own evil...

^A additions they heaped upon Me. "They gave," therefore, "into My food gall, and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink;" not only at the time of My passion, but continuing to utter blasphemies against Me in the times that followed. Therefore, according to Aquila, instead of "they added," it is said, "they will declare;" and according to Symmachus, "they were explaining." For it did not suffice them that they once wounded Him, and dared to do such things against Him; but as though exulting in their achievements, they were telling their daring deeds to their own children. Since, therefore, they themselves chose this portion—having persecuted Him whom You struck, and having heaped iniquities and impieties upon themselves and upon their children—it is fittingly added to these: "Add iniquity to their iniquity;" that is, "You shall add," for to them there shall be an addition of evils. For some things befall men from their inner disposition, while others befall from those things that follow from without upon our inner state. Wherefore it is said somewhere to God: "With the holy You will be holy, and with the perverse You will deal perversely." And in the Law it is said from His person: "And if you walk toward Me crookedly, I also will walk toward you with a crooked spirit." Since, therefore, they, as if by a long rope, dragged their iniquities upon themselves, You also, as a just judge, will rightly add iniquity to their iniquity, imputing one to the former. Nay, He also says: "Let them not enter into Your ^B justice." For indeed Your justice invites the righteous, and receives all into the innermost parts of Your kingdom according to the promises; but those who have dared such things will not enter with those who are to enter along with Your justice; nor, indeed, will they be written in the book of the living; on the contrary, they shall suffer the opposite of those who are inscribed. For even if, having been granted My grace at some time, they were written in the book of the living on account of their fathers who were living before God, so that the promises were also offered to them, yet because they have dared such things, "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living." Explaining the meaning of the book of the living, He adds subsequently: "And let them not be written with the just." For when a choice is made of those who were in the world, some, on account of their own justice, will be inscribed by Him as worthy of the life that is with God; but those who are to be blotted out of the book will be those who have rejected the Prince of Life. And this, then, is the end of those who have dared the things previously mentioned against our Savior; but the following passage shifts to a brighter subject, for from this point henceforth the beginning of the evangelical grace is introduced.

VERSES 30, 31. "I am poor and sorrowful; Your salvation, O God, has taken Me up."

He who said in the Gospels: "Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart," says in the present passage that He is poor and sorrowful. He was poor, having laid aside the riches of the eternal kingdom. Wherefore Paul says: "Jesus Christ, though He was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be enriched." But He was also "sorrowful;" wherefore ^{C D}

^A he said above: "And they added unto the pain of my wounds." For He grieved for those who were perishing, and suffered in sympathy for those who did not come to the salvation provided for them by Him. Therefore, as one grieving, He cried aloud: "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you?" Therefore He says: "I am poor and sorrowful; Thy salvation, O God, has taken me up." By these words He hints at the salvation that is to be given to Him after death. For if He had been stuck in the slime of the deep, and had come into the depths of the sea, as he indicated through the prophecy, now he says: ^B "Thy salvation, O God, has taken me up," clearly showing that He had obtained help after having come into the depths of the sea, after having suffered the things already foretold. Wherefore also in the twenty-first Psalm He sent up a hymn "for the help of the morning." Then, as one who had obtained help, He turns his speech to more joyful themes, celebrating the Father with hymns, when He says: "I will praise the name of God with a song." Now to offer words with melody and song was a sign of gladness and joy. But He also says, "I will magnify Him," namely, His own Father. And He adds further how He will magnify Him: "in praise," or, according to Aquila, "in thanksgiving." You will understand the thanksgiving and the praise by which the Son magnifies the Father if you apply your mind to the mysteries of the New Testament, in which the Church of God throughout the whole world has been instituted to offer thanksgivings and rational and bloodless sacrifices ^C to God. And this praise and thanksgiving is far superior to those carnal sacrifices which were formerly offered according to the law of Moses. Wherefore He adds: "And it shall please the Lord better than a young calf, that bringeth forth horns and hoofs." For if the children of the Jews boast in these things, let them know that my thanksgiving and my praise are far better and more acceptable to God than those things previously mentioned. Wherefore, according to Symmachus, it is said: "And it shall please the Lord more than a bullock, divided in the hoof, horned." Why He mentions a calf here, and not some other animal accustomed to be offered for sacrifice, is not to be passed over without examination. For among the animals ordered to be sacrificed according to the law of Moses, some were brought from the herd of oxen, others from the flock of sheep, and others from the birds; and some were males, others females; ^D and some were voluntary by choice, others by obligation; and some were called "sacrifice of peace offerings," others "for sin"; and some were offered for the high priest, others for the whole people, and others for a ruler who had sinned. Since there was a great distinction in these, yet never was a calf offered for any ordinary ruler or for any private individual. A male calf was sometimes sacrificed; but sometimes, when the whole assembly had fallen into sin, the priest, who was as it were the head of the whole people and a partner in the sin, offered a calf. These things, moreover, you might find by examining Leviticus, in which it is written: "And the Lord spoke unto Moses

saying: Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: If the priest who is anointed shall sin, so as to make the people sin, he shall offer for his sin which he has sinned, a calf from the herd without blemish to the Lord," and so forth; "And if all the congregation of Israel shall err, and a word shall escape from the eyes of the congregation, and they shall do one of all the commandments of the Lord, or it shall not be done, and they shall trespass, and the sin which they have committed shall be known to them, the congregation shall offer a calf from the herd for the sin." And after this the history brings in a sacrificial calf for the high priest, in which it is said: "And Moses brought the calf for the sin, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the calf of the sin, and he slaughtered it." You see on what accounts the calf was offered for the entire congregation of Israel sinning, and for a high priest having sinned; and not merely having sinned, but ^B also having become the cause of sin to the people; for he says: "If the anointed high priest shall sin so as to make the people sin." Wherefore Aquila translated it: "Into the fault of the people." Since, therefore, at the time of the saving passion, the high priests and the rulers of the Jewish nation gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ, and were themselves the causes of perversion to the entire people; for it is written: "And the high priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put him to death," and again following: "But the high priests and the elders persuaded the crowds that they should ask for Barabbas, but destroy Jesus." Now there was need of purification for those who had dared these things, and of no other sacrifice than that of the calf, as has been testified by the aforementioned Scripture. With good reason He says, "I offer not a sensible calf," ^C referring through the things set forth to our Savior, "but the pure and unbloody sacrifice, which I myself established in my own Church through the unbloody and fireless ministry, that which is by praise; which is more pleasing to God than the calf legislated by Moses." Wherefore it is said: "I will magnify Him in praise. And it shall please God," namely the praise, "more than a young calf, producing horns and hoofs." And indeed the high priests and those of the whole nation would have obtained forgiveness and purification for their sins, if they had used this sacrifice, having accepted the new and saving Testament.

Then that aforementioned poor man sends forth a prayer for the poor who are like him, regarding whom he teaches, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And he says through the prayer: ^D "Let the poor see and be glad." He prays that the things already mentioned might now at last come to pass in reality, so that the aforementioned poor—that is, His disciples and apostles—might see them with their eyes; and he prays for them to see the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

^A For although his prayer only attained its effect in later times, he called blessed those who were deemed worthy of the sight of such things. Hence it is written in the Gospels that he said to his own disciples: "But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear." For these things were consistent with the word that said: "Let the poor see and rejoice; seek God, and your soul shall live." ^B Having prayed for the poor, he subsequently addresses his discourse to them and announces life to them—not of bodies, but of souls—and promises that this will be found by them if they seek God. Therefore he says: "Seek God, and your soul shall live." For the fountain of life is with Him. Therefore, he commands the aforementioned poor, setting all else aside, to seek Him equipped with faith and good hope; for he promises that they shall live the life of the soul, concerning which the Apostle also instructed us, saying: "For your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, shall appear, then you also shall appear with him in glory." ^C Then he adds: "For the Lord has heard the poor, and has not despised his prisoners." Here again, "has heard" is used for "will hear," and "has not despised" for "will not despise." For when he had already said, "Seek God, and your soul shall live," he says confidently, "Seek, for he will hear the poor." For God is not of the voluptuous, the proud, and the arrogant, but of the humble and the poor. Wherefore it is said: "On whom shall I look, if not on the meek and humble and the quiet and him who trembles at my words?" ^D Instructed with confidence, therefore, seek God, knowing that the Lord will hear you, the poor, and will not despise His prisoners; or, according to Symmachus: "And he will not make little of his prisoners."

You will understand how these poor have become prisoners and bound by hearing Paul say: "Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ," and like to him, the rest of the disciples are to be considered prisoners of Christ. Indeed, even those who are in the tabernacle (of the body) as if in chains, groan, supplicating to be loosed from their bonds; wherefore they say: "Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Those, therefore, who are burdened by the corruptible body, and who turn away from corruption, groaning in this corruptible life, are the prisoners of God and His captives, whose prayers He will not despise nor turn away from. But those who fatten their own chains and cherish them with excessive luxury, might rightly be called prisoners of corruption and death.

VER. 35. "Let the heaven and the earth praise him, the sea and all things that creep in it." Since He promised the kingdom of heaven to the poor, saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," very consequentially, after the discourse concerning the poor, He adds: "Let the heaven and the earth praise him."

^A Since it was to be that throughout the whole world, both on land and in the sea, Churches would be established for God from the aforementioned poor, it is added consequently: "and the earth and the sea and all things in them." Now by the creeping things upon the earth and in the sea that are here commanded along with the heaven and the earth to praise God, are meant the nations who, in the mortal life of man, formerly moved like creeping things upon their chest and belly. In Isaiah too, beasts and creeping things are called nations in an allegorical manner, where it is said: "And the wolf shall feed with the lamb, and the leopard shall rest with the kid, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And an infant child shall put his hand into the den of asps and into the lair of the offspring of asps, and they shall not harm him." And as the text proceeds to interpret this, it adds: "And there shall be the root of Jesse, and he who arises to rule over the nations, in him shall the nations hope." ^B Since, therefore, this transformation of the nations occurred at the coming of Christ, it is fitting that the aforementioned creeping things are commanded alongside the heaven and the angels who are in heaven to praise God. Wherefore it is said: "Let the heavens and the earth, the sea and all things that creep in them, praise him." But how can creeping things praise God, unless they be instructed in prudence and the knowledge of God? Shall then creeping things offer the sacrifice of praise? That by them men are indicated is taught by the Gospel, in which it is written: "Offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance."

^C "For God will save Sion, and the cities of Judea shall be built." He assigns the cause for which the heavens and earth and sea and all things in them are said to praise God. And this is the cause: "For God will save Sion, and the cities of Judea shall be built." What Sion does he mean, if not the Church of our Savior founded throughout the whole world? Do not hesitate to call the divinely inspired Scriptures the cities of Judea, through which the Jewish commonwealth was patterned. But these cities, as far as the Jews are concerned, were destroyed; yet they have been built up again through the new doctrine in Christ, through which also true circumcision consists, as well as spiritual Sabbaths, spiritual sacrifices, and all things that follow these according to the interpretation of the spiritual law. ^D Thus, therefore, are the cities of Judea built, and citizens and heirs of the promises which are reported in the divine Scriptures shall dwell in them; wherefore it is said: "And they shall inherit it." But also: "And the seed of his servants shall possess it." For who would his servants be, if not, without doubt, the disciples of our Savior, and the seed scattered throughout the whole world, which shall obtain the inheritance promised in the divine Scriptures? Indeed, "those who love his name shall dwell in it," that is, in that inheritance. To whom it shall be said: "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." But if Sion is the heavenly city of God, concerning which the Apostle taught these things:

^A "But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother," and: "Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem," ^B maybe it is the city of Judea? But we may consistently say that the heavenly Sion is where there are "many mansions" with the Father, which all his servants shall inhabit and receive by inheritance—whether those who were prophets and godly men of old, or those who were subsequently ministers of his Gospel. Nay, even their seed—those who were born of them according to God, and who, having progressed and arrived at the perfection of the love of God, shall receive this reward and wages worthy of him—shall dwell in that inheritance promised to them.

1. TO THE END, IN REMEMBRANCE FOR DAVID. LXIX.

Verses 2-4. "O God, make speed to save me." These words that lie before us are neither a song, nor a psalm, nor anything of that sort; rather, they refer to the "end," because they are a supplication regarding future things. They are said to be David's "in remembrance," inasmuch as they were spoken for this very reason: that he might have them readily available in his mouth to recall them and use them as a remedy in various circumstances. There are two ^C psalms inscribed "in remembrance": the one in our hands, and the thirty-seventh, which is likewise inscribed "in remembrance." But that one does not refer to the "end," but is a "psalm of David in remembrance"; this one, however, is inscribed "to the end." For the thirty-seventh did not foretell future things, but refreshed the memory of past events: wherefore it uses the same beginning as the sixth, namely: "O Lord, rebuke me not in thy fury, nor chasten me in thy wrath." And both were of the same subject. Indeed, the sixth says in the following verses: "I have labored in my groaning; every night I will wash my bed, I will water my couch with my tears." And the thirty-seventh teaches similar things, saying: "There is no peace in my bones from the face of my sins; for mine iniquities have gone over my head; as a heavy burden they are become heavy upon me. My ^D wounds have stunk and are corrupted, because of my foolishness." Furthermore, he referred these and similar things to the remembrance of the sin he had committed. Therefore it is inscribed "in remembrance," repeating past things through frequent confession. Which is also the reason why it is not inscribed "to the end." This one, however, is called "to the end" because it is a prayer for expected things, with the Prophet anticipating and praying so that, if ever the assaults and ambushes of enemies should happen against him, he might use these remedies as antidotes, bringing them forward as charms that drive away any pernicious spell. Might these things also be prophetically referred to the person of our Savior? Since, in the preceding psalm, which clearly predicted his passion, it was said from his own person: "I am poor and sorrowful; thy salvation, O God, hath set me up"; similarly

in the present, he later says: "But I am needy and poor, O God, help me." ^A Thus, for this reason, it is necessarily inscribed "unto the end." But if it be uttered from the person of David, you might say that he, though king of a great nation and most wealthy, was yet not ignorant of that saying: "The greater you are, the more you should humble yourself, and you will find grace before the Lord." Wherefore, feeling moderately and humbly, and truly reckoning himself small, and looking to the magnitude of the riches of God's goodness, he called himself needy and poor in this present passage. And beginning his discourse, as if neither wealth, nor kingdom, nor the assistance of the whole nation, nor the righteousness acquired for him by his training contributed anything at all to him, he sought the assistance from God alone, saying: "O God, attend unto my help. O Lord, make haste to help me." ^B Observing, however, that many were envious of his progress according to God and begrudged the salvation of his soul, he added: "Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek my soul. Let them be turned backward and be ashamed that desire evils to me. Let them be turned back with shame who say to me, Aha, aha." By these words, he confesses that he himself is not sufficient for himself, but that he stands in need of help from the One who is greater; as, if he did not obtain this, he would be forsaken and would be found weak, and nothing more than a mortal man; and as his enemies, being glad at another's calamity, would ^C rise up against him should he fall. But if he should obtain God as his helper, he himself would be superior, and he hoped that those who were plotting against his soul would be covered with shame. For they were following closely upon his every action, observing him, and trying to catch him, and were wont to say, "Aha, aha," as if they were succeeding and things were turning out according to their wishes, when they thought he was stumbling. But if anyone refers these things to the Savior, for the reason already provided, he will say that He, when He saw those who were lying in wait for His word and doctrine and for the great body of His Church, rising up and frequently stirring up persecutions against it, abhorred their wickedness, and prophetically sent up this prayer, teaching His Church to pray in this way.

"Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee." ^D The former things were for the overthrow of his adversaries; but sequentially, the latter part he beseeches in behalf of his own people. And if David was offering a prayer befitting a righteous man, he was praying that all who seek God—of whom he himself was one—might share in exultation and gladness while the enemies were being confounded; and those who love the salvation of God might say, "Let God be magnified," and this not once, nor at any single time, but perpetually, as He conquers within them and through them all the enemy race of God. But if the Savior used the aforementioned words on behalf of all those from all the nations who believe in Him, then He would say, "Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee."

^A For it is not only for the Jews, nor for those who boast that they are descended from Abraham, but universally and indefinitely for all those who, at any time or from any race whatsoever, are those that seek Thee, that they should "rejoice and be glad in Thee, and let them say, Magnify God." And ^B let this be said always by those who love Thy salvation—by Whom is meant the Savior Himself, called "salvation" in many places of the Scriptures, Whom they love who cherish His teaching by their works in pure love. "But I am poor and needy; O God, help me." David also, though he was wealthy, felt humbly, being aware of the magnitude of God, and seeing that he himself was nothing. Wherefore he implored the help of the only Strong One, saying: "O God, help me; Thou art my helper and my deliverer, O Lord, do not delay." Christ, too, though He was rich, for our sakes became poor, as the divine Apostle has taught. ^C Wherefore He also commended Himself to the aid of the Spirit, interceding for His people and for the Church, so that it might not, being assailed for long periods during times of persecution, suffer great harm. Wherefore He says: "Thou art my helper and my deliverer, O Lord, do not delay." Now, whether these things should be referred to the time of the Savior's passion, I would wish you to consider for yourself. For since in the preceding [psalm] He described the vexations brought upon Him, how waters had entered even to His soul, how He had been stuck in the mire of the deep, and had come into the heights of the sea, and how they that hated Him without cause were multiplied more than the hairs of His head, and had suffered many other things related therein; He rightfully sends forth this supplication to His Father, saying: "O God, attend to my help; O Lord, make haste to help me," and the things that follow. Because He saw the order of His apostles ^D being in great confusion on account of their love for Him, He uttered these secondary words for their sake, so that, having received the message of His resurrection—which they were longing to see—they might be filled with exultation and joy, always saying, "Magnify the Lord," for it was they who loved His salvation.

VERS. 1-5. "In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me not be confounded forever; in Thy justice deliver me and rescue me." The thirtieth psalm also bears similar testimony, having begun in this same manner: "In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me not be confounded forever; in Thy justice deliver me. Incline Thine ear to me." But that one, indeed, bore the inscription, "Unto the end, a Psalm of David," while the present one lacks a title. That one contained a confession together with a supplication, but this one appears to be a prophecy brought forth from the person of the Savior. Wherefore it has not been inscribed with "of David" according to the customary manner. Perhaps someone might say it is proper to join it with the preceding ones, because it has a great affinity with them.

^A For in the preceding one it was said: "O God, incline to my aid. Let them be ashamed and confounded who seek after my soul. Let them be turned backward and be ashamed who wish me evil." And in the present one, the Word proceeds and makes use of the same expressions, saying: "O God, incline to my aid; let them be ashamed." And the rest follow the same meaning, as the Word expands in breadth through the things set before us, which one would not be wrong to say befit the Father. For it says therein: "For you are my patience, O Lord, O Lord, my hope from my youth." For these very same things were said in the twenty-first Psalm from His own person in these words: "For you are he who drew me out of the womb," and what follows. ^B But also what is subjoined in the prophecy now in hand, "O my God, do not forsake me, until I announce your arm to every generation that is to come," seems equivalent to the saying in the twenty-first Psalm: "A generation which is to come shall be announced to the Lord." For observe carefully how in that one it was said, "A generation which is to come shall be announced to the Lord," while in the present one, "Until I announce your arm to every generation that is to come." Furthermore, this prophecy now in hand clearly demonstrates His resurrection from the dead, saying from His own person: "O God, who is like to you? How great trials, many and evil, have you shown me, and having turned back you have quickened me and brought me back again from the depths of the earth." Whether one must understand the things set before us from the person of the Savior or from the person of any just soul, it contains teaching that instructs us to set all things else in second place, and to hang our hopes only upon the Lord, so that we may say to Him with ^C sincere disposition: "In you, O Lord, I have hoped, let me not be confounded forever." For those who place their hopes in riches and in an abundant supply of life, or in worldly dignities, or in the intimacy and protection of rulers, or in any other of the mortal and perishable things, will incur shame. "For cursed is the man who puts his hope in man, and firms the flesh of his arm." The Word also cries out, shouting: "Do not trust in princes, nor in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation." And again: "If riches abound, do not set your heart upon them." And in other places we are instructed to say: "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man can do unto me. It is good to confide in the Lord, rather than to confide in man. It is good to hope in the Lord, ^D rather than to hope in princes." He who is conscious of good in himself might also say to the Lord: "In your justice deliver me and rescue me." For he is filled with great confidence, since God, judging in the most just way, will find him worthy not of condemnation or rejection, but of help and succor. Therefore he says: "In your justice deliver me and rescue me." And with a pure conscience sending forth suppliant voices to God, he was also saying: "Incline your ear to me"

^A and save me." He was also necessarily beseeching God, saying: "Be to me a God for a defender and a fortified place to save me." For God, shielding and fighting for him, would not have done this for a man of no value; and only the perfect man could say to God: "For you are my bulwark and my refuge." For this, Aquila interpreted: "For you are my rock and my fortification," and Symmachus: "For you are my rock and my refuge." "My God, rescue me from the hand of the sinner, and from the hand of him who acts against the law and is unjust. For you are my patience, Lord, my hope from my youth." The perfect man calls upon God as his own possession, saying ^B "My God," because the promise given by God to the worthy is in these words: "I will be their God, and they shall be my people." But he who says, "In you, Lord, I have hoped," and has deemed everything else secondary, having cast himself upon God alone, could fittingly say, "My God." He prays to be rescued from the hand of the sinner, so that he might not become similar in his deeds to the sinner, nor to him who acts against the law; wherefore he adds, "From the hand of the sinner, and from the hand of him who acts against the law and is unjust," lest he be subject to such as these. But he also deservedly calls God his God, not only on account of the things stated above, but also on account of the causes that follow. For you, he says, are my patience, and you are my hope from my youth. For I have never ceased waiting for you, nor was there a time when I did not set you before myself as a hope. Wherefore I pray to be rescued from the hand of sinners and the unjust.

^C VERSES 6, 7. "On you I have been sustained from the womb; from my mother’s womb you are my protector." It could be said that David also hoped in God from a tender age. For when he was a young man and was pasturing the sheep of Jesse his father, by faith and hope in God he would attack lions and bears so that he might save the sheep, imitating the good shepherd of whom it is said: "Just as when the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion two legs or a part of an ear." But even when he was a boy, he used to drive the evil spirit from Saul by the power of faith and hope in God. And since every person who from a young age has been deemed worthy of the choice according to God—such as Timothy was, who from a child had learned the holy Scriptures—might fittingly say, "My hope from my youth." But the statement, ^D "On you I have been sustained from the womb; from my mother’s womb you are my protector," would fit only our Savior, who was immaculate and in no way defiled at the time when he was carried in the womb. For all other humans, while they are carried in the womb and receive the first constitution of the body, living as if by the way of plants, use neither the senses of the body nor the mind accompanied by sense; but even their governing faculty itself and their mind, being submerged, are no different from worms. But he who says to God, "On you I have been sustained from the womb," not only

shows that he is imbued with the knowledge of God, but also demonstrates that he possessed the greatest virtue of a God-loving power, by which he was sustained unto God himself. And such was he while being formed and conceived in his mother's womb. ^A And that passage, "From my mother's womb you are my protector," can be understood as applying to all. For if the power of God did not guard and keep what is being formed in the womb, it would neither consist, nor have obtained life, being able neither to breathe nor to make use of the other senses. And again, in saying here also, "You are my protector," he showed that he had acquired something exceptional compared to the rest who are conceived in the mother's womb. ^B For perhaps in the generation of other men, certain angels are set over them, ministering to each person's entry into life; but in the generation of the Savior, the Father himself was his protector; wherefore he was sustained unto him. Thus he always had his "cantation" to the praise of the Father. Wherefore he adds: "In you is my cantation always." For he did not omit any time without praising the Father, or being praised by him for such great obedience. "But," he says, "my praise, or even cantation, has been in you always." But very many men, knowing nothing of these things, "held me as a portent." I became, therefore, a certain prodigious thing to the many, so that they departed into various opinions about me; and some thought that I was God, devoid of flesh and incorporeal, seen on earth only in appearance; others that I was a mere man, having nothing more than the rest; and others subjected me to curses and insults; while others worshipped and adored me. But my death was truly a portent to all. ^C For to endure the cross, being God, and for one who had bestowed life upon others to suffer such things, was truly a portent. Wherefore he says: "I have become as a portent to the many." But, he says, "In all these things you have been to me a strong helper," for I did not acquire another helper. For all things were secondary and inferior to my power; but you alone, whom I have inscribed as my hope, have been to me a "strong helper." And according to Symmachus it is stated in a similar way: "Unto you I was supported from the womb, from my mother's bowels you looked upon me. In you is my waiting continually, as I became a portent to the many; but you are my strong confidence." ^D

VERS. 8-11. "Let my mouth be filled with praise, that I may hymn your glory, all the day your magnificence." Formerly, he says, in the time that has passed, my hymning has been in you always; but I also pray for the future, that until the last hour of life my mouth may be filled with your praise, and so filled, that no room remains for speaking of anything else, nor for conversing with men; and I beseech this of you, that it may be mine every day, and in the whole time of my life, that I may not be deprived and cast off from this grace, and even if I should reach the threshold of old age, that I may do nothing else until death but have my mouth filled with your praise and your magnificence. And for that phrase, "all the day," Symmachus rendered it "every day."

^A *Let my mouth be filled with your praises every day, do not cast me away in the time of old age.* For if it were necessary to prolong life even to old age, one must not refuse this, but I pray that I may never be deprived of having my mouth filled with your praise and your magnificence. And if at some time my strength should fail because of old age, do not abandon me even then. These things might fittingly be said by David and by every person who loves God in their supplications to God. But in the case of the Savior, observe how it is said by the Apostle: "He was crucified out of weakness, but He lives by the power of God." For even if He was ^B crucified out of weakness, it was not that He was overcome by others; rather, He made Himself weak and offered Himself as a captive to men. This He Himself teaches, saying: "No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again." Just as He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, so He made Himself weak so that He might be seized by men, and so that He might undergo the cross, "becoming obedient" to the Father "unto death, even the death of the cross." Therefore He says: "When my strength fails, do not abandon me." Then, since He has recalled His passion, naturally He makes mention of the authors of the passion, saying: "Because my enemies spoke to me, and those who kept watch over my soul," or according to Symmachus, "And those who watched over my soul took counsel together, saying: God has abandoned him; pursue and seize him, for there is no one to deliver him." For these things the chief priests and those with them said at the time of the passion, wagging their heads and saying: "He who destroys the temple and raises it in three days, he saved others, himself he cannot save. If he is the king of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him."

^C VERS. 12-16. *O God, do not distance yourself from me; O God, look to my help.* While my previously mentioned enemies were saying, "God has abandoned him," I, however, entreat and beg you, my God, to stand by me always, and not to move far from me, but to look to my help. For having found you as my helper, I know well that I shall see all my enemies covered in shame. Moreover, "Let them be confounded," in the customary manner of divine Scripture, is used here for "they shall be confounded"; and likewise, "let them fail" is put for "they shall fail," ^D those who speak evil against my soul, or according to Symmachus, "my adversaries." And how those who plotted His death have failed and been covered in shame, there is no need for us to discuss at great length; since from that time on every chief priest among them has failed, and of the Pharisees not even the name remains, nor any memory of their dignities. For the rulers and leaders out of Judah have failed from their loins.

^A For indeed the princes from Judah and the leaders from his thighs have failed, when the expectation of the nations arrived, according to the prophecy prophesying these things. And neither kings, nor leaders, nor any powerful men are among them, nor has any order of the magistrates of old remained to them; but all who slandered his soul have failed, ashamed.

In what shame, indeed, do those who are considered to preside over the Jews still find themselves even now, seeing themselves accused everywhere in the Scriptures of idolatry, while all the nations throughout the whole inhabited world have turned away from their ancestral error through the teaching of Christ! And in the places where they now dwell, they see—not without shame—themselves cast out and expelled from their royal metropolis, while Greeks, men who are of another race and foreign, inhabit their place; and they see the nations, in all provinces, regions, and cities, proclaiming the prophetic voices of the Savior. ^B Confusion and ignominy have truly seized their souls, seeing him whom they delivered to the cross only yesterday being worshipped and proclaimed as God throughout the whole inhabited world. And these things have been fulfilled in accordance with the prophecy before us, saying, "Let those who seek evil for me be clothed with shame and confusion."

And these indeed shall suffer such things; "But I," he says, having suffered so much from them, "shall always hope, and shall add to all your praise." Since, according to all the interpreters, "I shall add" has been said—both Aquila says, "And I shall add upon all hymns," and Symmachus, "And I shall add to the hymns"—see whether he made an addition to the hymns of the Father by delivering the New Testament alongside the Old. ^C For he did not abolish the former things while introducing the second, but he made an addition. This is also to be found in his teaching, where he says, "It was said to the ancients, You shall not murder; but I say to you, do not even get angry. It was said to the ancients, You shall not commit adultery; but I say to you, do not even lust," and all other such things which, containing an addition through the spiritual meaning and interpretation of the law, have been delivered in his Church.

But also, he says, "My mouth shall announce your righteousness." For the Gospel manifests the righteousness of God, not set apart for the Jews alone as was the law given through Moses. ^D Therefore the Apostle says, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and to the Greek. For the righteousness of God is revealed in it." Therefore here it is said, "My mouth shall announce your righteousness, all the day your salvation," or according to Symmachus, "Every day your salvation." And this one may see being fulfilled throughout the whole inhabited world, in which the mouth of our Savior, through the divine Scriptures, proclaims to all people every day the salvation procured by himself for all.

To these he adds, "For I have not known literature." For those who had received the keys of the kingdom, and were neither entering themselves nor allowing others to enter, were detaining literature. "I, however," he says, "not attending specifically to the writings of Moses, nor the corporeal literature of the law

^A nor delivering it to my own disciples, I did not know literature." What then did you know? He clarifies this next, saying: "I will enter into the powers of the Lord God, and I will be mindful of your righteousness alone." For the literature was suited only to the Jews, who were ordered to appear in Jerusalem three times a year, and it contained many other difficult and unnecessary things. "I, however, in the power of the Lord God, will enter into my own Churches, and I will be mindful of your righteousness alone." For the righteousness of the Father was that He should grant the knowledge of Himself to all men, Greeks and barbarians alike, and that He should command that He be worshipped in every place, and no longer in one place alone; so that from the rising of the sun even to its setting, His name might be glorified among the nations. ^B

VERS. 17. "O God, you taught me from my youth, and until now I will announce your wonders." The Savior alone claims the Father as His teacher; wherefore those of His own country said: "Whence has this man all this wisdom and these powers? Is not this the son of the carpenter?" For they knew precisely that He had not attended human teachers. Since, therefore, having taken the form of a servant, and being found in appearance as a man, He passed through the age of childhood and endured the time of youth just as we do; and at that time He attended neither to disciplines nor to teachers, but progressed by divine power in age and wisdom and grace before God ^C and men; rightly does He say here: "O God, you taught me from my youth, and until now I will announce your wonders." And may this be preserved for my disciples until the consummation of the age; and as one might say, even unto old age and unto the final consummation, I beseech you again, God, not to forsake me; but be present with me and work your wonders through me, "until I announce your arm to every generation that is to come." For the present generation, He says, is a crooked and perverse generation, an evil and adulterous generation. Therefore, "to the generation that is to come I will announce your power and your righteousness, O God, even unto the loftiest things, and the great things you have done." You yourself, Father, through me, will announce these things to all men who are to be hereafter, and to the generation that is to come, and your righteousness shall be preached ^D even unto the loftiest things. For when those who are on earth obtain salvation, there will be joy in the heavens, as the angels who dwell in the heights rejoice over the salvation of men. Do not hesitate to call old age and seniority the perfection of His disciples and of the Church herself. For if the Church is His body, as the Apostle taught when he said: "Now you are the body of Christ and members individually," a part of the Church and its old age may aptly be said to be its consummation in the present life according to virtue, after which, having put off the mortal and earthly life, it shall be renewed, having been deemed worthy of the heavenly dwelling, and united to the Church of the firstborn who are enrolled in the heavens.

^A Thus shalt thou understand also that which was said above in the passage: "Cast me not away in the time of old age; when my strength faileth, forsake me not." For according to another interpretation, He prays on behalf of His Church, that she might not be cast away in the time of her earthly longevity; yet if even then her strength fails, He asks that she might not even then be forsaken. For it often happens that she fails during times of persecution, when many of the body of the Church, because of the weakness of their faith, abjure the faith. And perhaps these things are being referred to the time of the apostasy, concerning which time the Apostle taught, saying: "Unless the apostasy come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." And the Savior revealed this time by saying: "Yet when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" And again: "But because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold." For then the body of the Church shall be aged and weak. But so that His people may not be left desolate even then, He necessarily sends forth the words that are set before us: "O God, who is like unto thee? How many tribulations, many and evil, hast thou shown me?" and the rest. ^B No one can explain, except He Himself, the accurate reason why God did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, and made Him who knew no sin to be sin for our sakes. "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he might instruct him?" Nor would anyone dare to intrude into the judgment of God, nor could he fathom the counsels by which He showed the Only-begotten tribulations many and evil. Yet He did not abandon Him in them, but in turning, He brought Him to life and led Him back again from the abysses of the earth. And that which was said, "Thou hast shown me tribulations many and evil," was spoken very accurately. For when He beheld the tribulations and the things called evil, He was not seized by them, nor was He defeated; but having become superior to all things, He was an observer of them; so that He would appropriately use, more than all others, the words: "In all things we suffer tribulation, but are not distressed; we are straitened, but are not destitute; we are persecuted, but are not forsaken." ^C For these things Paul and those who were like him, having benefited, spoke of their teacher. And by the abysses of the earth he here meant the region of the netherworld, which the Apostle explains by saying: "Say not, Who shall descend into the abyss? that is, to bring up Christ from the dead." And in Job also, the Lord who was speaking oracles to him said: "Hast thou come to the fountain of the sea, and hast thou walked in the footsteps of the abyss? Do the gates of death open to thee for fear, and have the porters of hell seen thee and quaked?" And He who said here, "And from the abysses of the earth thou hast brought me back again," ^D clearly taught that He Himself had descended into the abysses of the earth, and had ascended again. And I do not know if anyone is able to understand these things in any other way than by referring the prophecy to our Savior and Lord.

^A The same One adds: "You have multiplied my magnificence, and turning, you have comforted me." But how did the Father multiply the magnificence of His Only-begotten, unless by showing Him many tribulations and evils? For just as some judge of the games, when he pits his own athlete against many, shows his bravery more clearly when he hails him as victor over all; in the same way, the Father, wishing to make the magnificence of the Son manifest to all, surrounded Him with many tribulations and evils, so that, having carried off the victory against all, He might be proclaimed among all. Therefore He says: "You have multiplied my magnificence." But after all these things, He says, "turning, you have comforted me." And how did He comfort Him? He previously instructed us by saying: "And turning, you have made me live, and from the abysses of the earth you have brought me up again." For this was the very comfort which the Apostle also set forth, saying: ^B "Therefore God also highly exalted Him, and gave Him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth."

VERS. 22-24. "For I too will confess to you with the vessels of a psalm your truth." You indeed provided these things to me, O Father, He says; for after those many tribulations, and the aforementioned evils, "turning, you have made me live, and from the abysses of the earth again brought me up, and have comforted me, multiplying my magnificence." And I, in return for the benefits bestowed upon me by You, "will confess to you with the vessels of a psalm": for "what shall I render to the Lord for all that He has returned to me?" But truly, preparing vessels congruent to You, and having constructed instruments of psalmody worthy of You, through these I will psalm Your truth, and I will raise up such lyres for You, through which my lips will exult, and also "my soul which You have redeemed," bringing it up from the abysses of the earth, and making it live after it had endured death. But what would you say the vessels and instruments pleasing to God are, through which even now the Christ of God sends forth psalms, and hymns, and praises to the Father throughout the whole world, if not the peoples consisting in individual Churches? The Word of God, composing their souls, and binding them one to another by the bond of symphony and harmony to the Father, sends forth a lovely and sweet melody. If, therefore, one for the sake of his mind should make a comparison ^C between those ancient instruments of the Jews, constructed of soulless strings and sounding forth an inarticulate voice, and the hymns being sent up to God in Christ's Church from rational souls, he will find nothing similar. For the multitude which, throughout the whole world, in one harmony and one concert, celebrates the God who is over all, is superior to any corporeal psaltery; by whose ministry the Son confesses that He psalms to the Father, saying: "For I too will confess to you with the vessels of a psalm your truth, O God." For no longer are there types, nor shadows, nor symbols, such as were among Moses, but the truth

^A I shall declare to men, "and I will sing to you on the harp, O Holy One of Israel." Or, according to Aquila, "I will make music to you on the harp, O Holy One of Israel." But also, "My lips shall exult when I sing to you," or according to Symmachus, "My lips shall speak praise when I make music to you, and my soul, which you have redeemed." And furthermore, "My tongue shall meditate upon your righteousness all the day long." You would not be wrong if you were to say that his lips and tongue, meditating upon the righteousness of the Father, are those who in his Church have dedicated themselves to the exercise of divine Scripture. And all these things, he says, I will do, "when they are confounded and ashamed who seek evils for me," or according to Symmachus, "Because they have been confounded, or because they have been brought to naught who seek my affliction," or according to Aquila, "Because they have been confounded who seek my evil." It is possible to see these things also being fulfilled in action; for when throughout the whole earth the churches of the Savior are recounting the righteousness of God, and the Savior himself is preparing vessels of election, such as have been mentioned above, and rational instruments for the Father, and through them always hymning the God who is over all, his enemies are clothed with shame, and those who seek evils for him have been put to shame and are being put to shame. These are they who hunt for every occasion, concocting insults, slanders, and blasphemies against him, while finding no ground for slander, either against him or against his Church. Wherefore they are suffused with shame and are ashamed, so that they no longer dare to utter anything worthy of slander. And all these things are fulfilled in action, consistently with the prophecy which speaks through the foregoing: ^B "When they are confounded and ashamed who seek evils for me." For then, he says, when the enemies are confounded, I will sing to you, and I will confess to you, my Father. Furthermore, "and my tongue will meditate upon your righteousness all the day long."

CONCERNING SOLOMON LXXI

"O God, give your judgment to the king." The rest interpreted it as "of Solomon." And there is also another [psalm] of his in the songs of ascents, whose beginning is: "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labored in vain who build it." ^C In these it seems that Solomon, upon the construction of the house which he raised in Jerusalem—for he himself was the first to build the temple there—composed the song, teaching that only the buildings of God are everlasting; for human works consist only for a time. And this is exactly what happened in the case of his own building: for not long after, the temple built by him was destroyed by the Babylonians. The prophecy now in our hands, whether it is spoken to Solomon himself or belongs to him according to the other interpreters, the words clearly show that some other person is being foretold. Wherefore it is not inscribed as a "psalm," nor a "song," nor a "hymn," nor anything similar to these. But it is a prophecy foretelling that there shall appear among men a savior of the needy and the poor, and this one from above

^A quietly and without noise: "For he shall descend like rain upon a fleece." And that justice shall thereafter have its course among the human race at his presence. And that he shall rule, not over Judea alone, nor over two or three nations, but over all who dwell upon the whole earth; and that all nations shall be subject to him, and he shall be famous among all, not for a short time, but for all eternity. And what else does the discourse before us foretell than that such an one as is spoken of in the prophecy shall exist, such as no one ever remembers to have existed, either among the nation of the Jews or among others? For neither Solomon himself, nor David, nor any of those after them appeared to be such that the things signified by the prophecy could apply to any of them. Observe, therefore, if the description of his kingdom does not follow consistently upon the preceding predictions regarding the passion of the Savior. For it was fitting that we should be instructed also regarding this matter. Since many prophecies celebrated the ^B Christ who was to derive his origin from David, because it was likely that some would suppose that Solomon was indicated by them—for he alone among the sons of David reigned most gloriously, built the temple to God, and is recorded as having been adorned with wisdom—therefore, the prophecy before us is necessarily inscribed "unto Solomon," or is said to be Solomon's own, so that he himself might no longer be thought to be the one who was expected from the seed of David; for another who was also promised to him is expected to come forth from Solomon himself. If, then, we understand the psalm to have been spoken unto Solomon himself, according to the title of the Seventy Interpreters, we shall say that the Holy Spirit, having sent up the prayer to God for him in the first verse, which says: "O God, give thy judgment to the king," that is, to Solomon, makes the subsequent discourse about him who was to be born of him; wherefore he adds: "And thy justice to the son of the king," that is, to the Jesus himself who was to come from his seed. The meaning, then, of the things before us is this: An ordinance has been issued by Thy divinity, and a decree and royal judgment has been set forth by Thy Spirit, so that the Savior of the world should be born according to the flesh from the posterity of Solomon. "This thy judgment, therefore, O God, now at length give to the king," that is, to Solomon, so that the words may be fulfilled by the deed; and grant to the king himself the aforementioned judgment, but "thy justice to the son of the king," who is to come forth from his seed; so that he who is born, his successor by the Spirit, having received thy justice, "may judge thy people in justice, and thy poor in judgment." And these things, indeed, [hold good] if the inscription is referred to the person of Solomon himself, as the Seventy Interpreters have it, "unto Solomon." But if, according to the other translators, the prophecy is said to be Solomon's, we shall say that Solomon himself, filled with the Spirit, sets forth here three ^{C D} persons: God, to whom he sends up the prayer; the king, whom he believed would reign over all, namely, the Son of God; and thirdly, the man whom he assumed from the seed of David, and who was to be born from Solomon himself; [different] from that king who [reigned] in

^A the psalm, and who says: “But I was set up king by him upon Sion his holy mountain, proclaiming the decree of the Lord. The Lord said to me: You are my Son; this day have I begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.” For having been set up by these [words] clearly, he hears from the Father: “You are my Son; this day have I begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance.”

Solomon himself also knows the Son of God, calling him Wisdom, in those places where, in his own person in Proverbs, he says thus: “I, Wisdom, have dwelt in counsel, and I have invoked knowledge and understanding. By me kings reign,” and what follows: “The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works. Before the age he founded me, before the mountains were established; and before all the hills he begets me.” Therefore, the Wisdom and his Only-Begotten Son is the offspring of God; and Solomon sends up the present prayer concerning him, saying: “O God, give your judgment to the king,” which is clearly to your Only-Begotten Word. For since you judged that he should be seen on earth, so that he might reign not only over those in heaven, but also over those on earth, let this judgment now finally be brought to its conclusion; “and give your justice to the king’s son, O God.” ^B Here, the king’s son is understood according to the flesh, from the seed of David, whom the Word of God, who pre-existed, formed for himself from the Holy Spirit and the Holy Virgin; whom I also think Solomon hints at in Proverbs by that which he writes, saying: “Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the winds in his bosom? Who has wrapped up water in a garment? Who has held sway over all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his Son?” For this is how others interpreted it; Aquila saying: “What is his name, and what is the name of his Son?” and Theodotion similarly: “What is his name, and what is the name of his Son?” For clearly, he who in these places has mastered the earth, and has descended and ascended into heaven, and has done the remaining things that can only be explained at leisure, would be no other than the Son of God, who was teaching these very things with the words: “No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.” But the one called his Son here would be the one understood according to the flesh, which he ^C assumed, having been made from the seed of David and Solomon.

But since the children of the Jews refer the aforementioned words of Proverbs to the God over all, not knowing the Son of God, we must demonstrate to them from the things set before us how the Scripture clearly and expressly presents him as the Son of God, saying: “What is his name, and what is the name of his Son?” And while the word says in the psalm: “O God, give your judgment to the king,” it teaches that the judgment is something different from the trial. For the *krima* (judgment/decree) is that which has once been decided by God and constitutes what has been judged by him; but *krisis* (trial/discerning) is the examination of those who are judged, by which

^A a reward is distributed to each according to his worth. Wherefore he does not here ask that *krisis* be given to the king, but rather the *krima*—that is, the decree and the judgment determined by the Father concerning his divine advent to men. Thus the *krima* is given to the king, but the justice to the son of the king. For the King himself was justice, just as the Apostle declares when he says: "Who was made for us wisdom from God, and justice and sanctification, and redemption." This justice of the Father, therefore, has been given to the Son of the king, who was made from the seed of David according to the flesh, in whom the Word of God and wisdom and justice dwelt as in a temple. The reason why justice was given to the aforementioned son of the king, he teaches subsequently by saying: "To judge your people in justice, and your poor in *krisis*." For it was necessary that the poor of God and his people among men should be judged by the son of the king in justice, since they could not have received the King in any other way. Wherefore, taking the form of a servant and being found in habit as a man, through the Son of man whom he assumed, ^B from all nations, according to this saying of the just man, "he chose for himself a peculiar people"; and also those who are called his poor here, whom he declares blessed in these words: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And elsewhere the Apostle teaches these things concerning justice: "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and to the Greek. For justice is revealed in it." And concerning the poor, the same Apostle declares these things again, saying: "For see your vocation, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many noble, not many mighty: but the foolish things of the world hath God chosen, that he may confound the wise; and the weak and the contemptible things hath God chosen, and those things that are not, that he might bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in the sight of God."

VERS. 3.

^A “Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Zion. Behold, your king comes, and he shall dwell in your midst, says the Lord. And many nations shall flee for refuge to the Lord, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. And they shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.” For through these words the Lord clearly announces that He will gather for Himself a people from the nations, and not from the Jewish nation. To this people, therefore, the powers that are above the world and the angelic powers—here called “mountains” and “hills”—have brought peace, whereas before they were hostile, when [the people] were devoted to godless idolatry. And these same [powers] announce righteousness to the same people; that is, the Christ of God, who is Himself righteousness, or the saving Gospel, because of which it is said: ^B “Let the mountains receive peace for the people, and the hills righteousness.” And these things shall be, since the aforementioned son of the king “will judge the poor of the people, and will save the sons of the needy.” For having first judged them worthy of salvation, thus He imparts salvation to them. For He does not provide salvation to His poor and the sons of the needy without prior judgment, but after an examination has been made—those of whom the prophecy also makes mention, saying: “He has sent me to preach the Gospel to the poor; to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.” And what poor does He mean, if not those who are able to say with Paul, “Up to this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless,” and those who, like Peter, can say, “Silver and gold I do not have”? Such poor He prepared for Himself, exhorting them not to possess gold or silver in their belts, nor a bag for a journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff. ^C Such, too, were those of old who went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, tormented, wandering in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. But if the word had made mention only of these, everyone who was not like them would indeed have been excluded. But now He enumerates a second rank, saying: “And He will save the sons of the needy.” Now the sons of the needy were those known to the apostles and the disciples of our Savior, whom the Apostle indicated with these words: “For even if you have many instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you,” and again, “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.” He saves His poor and the sons of the needy with righteousness and right judgment. But as for the ^D slanderer who has set his mind to fight against His people and His Church (for there are countless slanderers who calumniate His Church), and others also who attack men of honest life in His Church with slanders—by considering the end of their lives, you will rightly understand why it is said, “And He will humble the slanderer.” For who of those who have acted tyrannically against the Church of our Savior,

^A and have surrounded it with blasphemous words and slanders, has not been humbled? Who of the wise of this world, having sharpened his tongue against the divinely-inspired Scripture, has not suffered the wages of his slander? But since very many slanderers have risen up against His Church, and all have been utterly cast down and humbled, He Himself is foretold as destined to remain together with the sun, and, like the sun, is to enlighten the whole world with the rays of His teaching; and it is foretold that He will exist “before the moon,” or according to Aquila, “And unto the face of the moon,” or according to Symmachus, “And in the sight of the moon He shall remain.” For it is not “before the moon,” that is, before the moon came to be; but in its presence, as it were, even before it, leading the moon. ^B Just as the sun produces day when it is over the earth, and the moon dispels the darkness of night with its own light, in the same way, the One prophesied of here likewise illumines the souls that happen to be in darkness and night, just as the moon does; and like the sun, He shines upon the whole world, and remains and continues until the consummation of the age. For as long as the sun makes the whole world bright, for so long He too, remaining and continuing together with the sun, illumines the souls of men; and just as the full moon is said to endure for generations of generations, [so too is He].

VERS. 6-8. “He shall descend like rain upon a fleece, and like drops dripping upon the earth.”

but not, as before, like rain on a fleece, but with great ^A motion, the sound or doctrine of it spread through the whole world to the ears of all. Wherefore it is added thereupon, “and as showers that water the earth.” For showers, or “drops of dew” according to the other translators, which drip upon the earth, do not descend entirely without sound, but with a great noise. And this indeed found its fulfillment when "their sound went out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world."

Following these things it is said: “In his days shall righteousness flourish and abundance of peace”; but according to Aquila, “And a just man shall blossom in his days and abundance of peace”; and according to Symmachus, “A just man shall bloom in his days.” Now the days of our Savior are to be understood as those from His arrival until the consummation of the age. For in the same manner as we hear, “In the days of David,” and, “In the days of Jeroboam,” so too must the days of our Savior be received. But those men, having survived for a brief time, were quickly extinguished, wherefore their days came to an end. But how many the days of our Savior are, the account has already indicated by saying: “He shall continue with the sun and before the moon unto generations of generations.” Corresponding to these things He Himself promised His disciples, saying: “Behold, I am with you until the consumption of the age”; for thus was He to remain with the sun. Therefore, in His days, during which He will remain with the sun, and likewise with the moon will illuminate souls placed in darkness, righteousness will shine upon all the earth; or according to Aquila, “the just man.” And no longer will only one or another be named a just man among the Jews; but throughout the whole world, thousands will be justified in Christ. Now you will understand the multitude of the just who flourished in the days of the Savior, and who like light, rising just as their own luminary, from the multitude of His ^B martyrs throughout the entire earth, and those who in His Church led an angelic life in all purity. But if it has been said that righteousness will blossom in His days, you may learn how this comes to pass, in that not only the Jews, but also every nation has been called to the divine faith, and slaves equally with the free worship God, and the poor just as the rich, and rulers with the ruled, with great divine righteousness. And how an abundance of peace has risen in the aforementioned days of our Savior, one may understand by observing the condition of affairs before His coming. At which time the whole human race was divided, as if from one body, into thousands of scattered limbs, nations having long since been separated from one another, waging war upon one another and being warred upon; and some were subjected to tyrannies, others were governed by democracy, others by the rule of the few; local governors according to the nation and tyrants

^A held sway; so that travel to neighboring lands was not possible for those nearby, because there was no society, and unatonable wars and implacable enmities had persisted from long ages until the time of our Savior. But from that time, with all petty kingships removed, a monarchy prevailed over most nations; and there came to be, in truth, an abundance of peace, with all nations acquiring communion and intercourse; so that this testimony is proven in deed to apply solely to our Savior. He says that this abundance of peace will persist “until the moon is taken away,” or according to Aquila, “as long as the moon,” or according to Symmachus, “until the aging of the moon.” And when does the moon age? At the consummation of the age, at which time the prophecy that says, “The sun and moon shall be darkened” 30 shall be fulfilled; and again, “The sun shall not be to thee for a light by day, nor shall the moon shine for thee by night” 31. Therefore, just as he declared above that he who is spoken of in the prophecy would persist with the sun, so here too he prophesies that the abundance of peace provided by him to men will endure until the consummation. How it will descend quietly and without noise upon the Jewish nation, and how it will fill the whole inhabited world like drops falling upon the earth, and how justice will arise in his days and an abundance of peace, has already been demonstrated by what was said.

Following this ^C he teaches that his dominion will not be circumscribed within a corner of the earth, but that he will have dominion over all nations. For this reason it is said: “He shall have dominion from sea to sea.” For if there are certain limits of the earth which encompass it all around, namely the seas and the Ocean, which is impassable to men, surely that which is contained on all sides by the seas will confess the Lord who is announced. Wherefore it is said: “He shall have dominion from sea to sea.” You will know that the saying is fulfilled if you consider how the Churches of God throughout the world proclaim Christ to be their Lord. But he also states, very necessarily, that he will have dominion from the river to the ends of the inhabited world. For it was necessary for us to learn from whence he would begin his teaching; he indicates, therefore, that the beginning for him would be from the river. Which river the Gospel indicates, saying: “Then Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized ^D by him. But he hindered him, saying, ‘I have need to be baptized by you, and you come to me.’ But he answering said to him, ‘Permit it now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness’” 32. After he had been baptized, “The heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice was heard from the heavens saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” 33. For from that time his lordship began to be known. In a wonderful way also does Isaiah the prophet make mention of this river, preaching the Gospel to the desert in which he preached

^A John the Baptist. Thus he cried out: "Rejoice, O thirsty desert; let the desert exult and bloom as the lily, and the deserts of the Jordan shall flourish and exult." Why does so great a prophet mention no other river than the Jordan, and the desert round about it; and why does he announce gladness and exultation to the desert of the Jordan, and not to Jerusalem, nor to the rest of Judea? But we have also in Isaiah the declaration of the river regarding which the present passage speaks, "And from the river unto the ends of the earth," he shall rule—he who is prophesied. It is possible to grasp by the eyes the fulfillment of the predictions through deeds, seeing Christ of God celebrated as Lord in His Churches unto the ends of the earth.

^B VERSE 9-11. "Before Him the Ethiopians shall fall, and His enemies shall lick the dust." Very consistently, after having said, "He shall rule from sea even to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth," he made mention of the Ethiopians, who inhabit the extremities of our habitable world—both those towards the rising and those towards the setting of the sun. Whence also among those outside our tradition, expressions seem to be spoken in accordance with the nature of the matter: "The Ethiopians, who are divided in two, the furthest of men: Some at the setting of the sun, others at the rising."

In another psalm also it is said: "Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand to God"; and again in another prophet it has been said: "From the ends of the rivers of Ethiopia they shall bring offerings to me." And in the matters now before us, consistently with these, it is prophesied: "Before Him the Ethiopians shall fall." By all these things the discourse signifies that the ends of the earth shall receive the knowledge of Him who is prophesied, and shall worship Him, falling down and bending the knee. ^C Whence it is said according to Aquila: "Before His face the Ethiopians shall bow"; and according to Symmachus: "In His sight the Ethiopians shall prostrate themselves." By the Ethiopians who inhabit the ends of the earth, the nations also which are within the habitable world are indicated. And it is manifest that everywhere on earth those who have believed in Him, bending the knee and falling down upon that very earth, send up through Him their worship to the God over all. But, he says, "His enemies shall lick the dust," being made like to their father the serpent, who "goes upon his breast and belly, and eats earth," according to the punishment inflicted upon him from the beginning. Thus, indeed, shall you see the enemies of the Church of Christ licking the dust and carnal pleasures. For if the body, in which the soul resides, has been called dust according to the saying of Scripture, "God took dust from the earth, and fashioned man," those who lick the dust and honor the pleasures of the flesh are rightly disparaged, as being enemies of the saving Word. But these, then, are such; however, the other order of those who acknowledge the kingdom of Christ shall bring gifts to Him, as is carried in the prophecy in these words: "The kings of Tarshish and the isles shall bring gifts."

^A The kings of the Arabs and of Saba shall bring gifts. In these words, the discourse divides the world into two parts; it assigns the first, indicated by these words, to the climate towards the setting of the sun: "The kings of Tarshish and the isles shall bring gifts," by which it signifies the Western sea and the islands situated therein. Thus, then, did Jonah the prophet once arise to flee to Tarshish, and went down to Joppa, and boarded a ship to flee to Tarshish, which they say is Tarsus. But in the book of Ezekiel, where the name of Tarshish is mentioned, the Seventy translated it as Carthage. The other climate, towards the rising of the sun, is indicated by: "The kings of the Arabs and of Saba." For the race of the Arabs is an Eastern one, and beyond it lie the Persian parts, and the land of the Sabaeans is said to be there. But instead of "The kings of the Arabs and of Saba," ^B Aquila and Symmachus, and the Hebrew text along with them, have unhesitatingly stated: "The kings of Saba and Saba." So that, while being the same word in pronunciation, they differ in the variation of their letters; for the first Saba is written with the letter called *Shin* among the Hebrews, and the second with the letter *Tsade* according to the Hebrew writing; from this, the difference in their interpretation arises. The Savior indeed mentions this name, saying: "The queen of the South shall rise in the judgment, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon," ^C clearly showing that the nation called Saba is situated at the ends of the earth. And the third book of Kings also relates these things concerning the same nation: "And the queen of Saba heard the name of Solomon, and came to test him with riddles. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great force. And camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stone." Furthermore, that region and nation were called Saba from their forefather Saba, who is written to have been the son of Cush. Moses' Scripture says, therefore: "And the sons of Cush: Saba and Havilah and Sabatha." And Cush is interpreted as "the Ethiopian." Thus, the nation called Saba appears to be an Ethiopian race. A second Saba is also mentioned, of whom the Scripture says: "And the sons of Raamah: Saba and Dedan." ^D Accordingly, it is written in the Psalm according to the other interpreters: "The kings of Saba and Saba shall bring gifts." Nevertheless, by these words the prophecy signifies that the kingdoms situated in the Eastern climate, and those towards the West, will bring gifts to Him who is heralded in the prophecy, as the nations under those kingdoms are thus signified. Might it be that by "kings" are signified the angels who preside over the nations, being consecrated to God and offering to Him as gifts the Churches of the nations over which they preside? Wherefore it subsequently prophesies that all kings shall worship Him. For it declares not only that they will bring the aforementioned gifts, but also that they will worship Him. Which Moses also taught in his great song, having spoken about Christ thus: "Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all the angels of God worship Him." These, indeed, are the kings, the hidden and invisible princes of the nations, who, worshipping their Lord, offered to Him the souls committed to them as gifts; wherefore it is added after these things, "All nations shall serve

Him." This would be in harmony with the saying: "The Lord said to me, You are My Son; today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as Your possession." We must assuredly believe that this will happen when the fullness of the nations has entered in, and especially at the second and divine Advent of our Saviour. Then, indeed, all kings shall worship Him, and all nations shall serve Him. And this shall be the end of all things, ^A when He delivers the kingdom to God and the Father, when He shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet; the last enemy to be destroyed is death.

VERS. 12. "For He delivered the poor from the powerful, and the needy for whom there was no helper." For this expression, "For He delivered the poor from the powerful," Symmachus says, "For He will deliver the wailing poor." For he prophesies these things not as if they had already come to pass, but as things that are to happen. I would have you observe how often he makes mention of the poor; first when he says, "To judge Your people in righteousness, and Your poor in judgment"; secondly, "He shall judge the poor of the people, and save the sons of the needy"; and now again, "For He delivered the poor from the powerful, and the needy for whom there was no helper"; and further, "He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the poor." I believe that by all these terms "poor" and "needy" he refers to the apostles and disciples ^B of our Saviour, who, having embraced poverty for His sake, cultivated that philosophy which leads to the pinnacle of virtue. Wherefore Isaiah foretold concerning them, saying, "He has sent Me to preach the gospel to the poor." And the Saviour Himself, addressing them, said, "Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." All nations, therefore, shall serve Him, because He delivered the poor from the powerful, and the needy for whom there was no helper. For the particle "for," used by all translators and in the Hebrew scripture itself, denotes a cause, teaching why it is that all nations were to serve the Saviour; for this will happen, he says, "because He will deliver the poor from the powerful"; or as if he said more clearly: Because He will deliver the order of His apostles, who were poor and needy for His sake, from every powerful one. For since many powerful ones, visible and invisible, ^C will rise up against these very poor and needy ones, He Himself, shielding them with hidden power, will deliver them from all [of them], so that the ministry of the evangelical preaching, which they bring to completion, may not be hindered. And this He will accomplish by being with them, according to the promise He will give them, saying, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Thus, then, He spared the poor and the needy, and the souls of the poor ^D

from usury and injustice, that they might owe nothing to anyone. And if at any time they had accepted a loan, so that they were rendered subject to ^A ancient sins, yet He Himself, having given His precious blood as a ransom for them, redeemed their souls; whence the divine Apostle taught, saying: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us." For because they were debtors and liable to the legislation of Moses, and had not fulfilled what was written, they were consequently under a curse, because they did not keep the whole law. For it was written: "Cursed is everyone who does not abide in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." Rightly, then, having liberated them from such a curse, He redeemed them from usury and injustice, becoming a curse for them, and giving His precious blood for them, and thus rendering them precious to Himself. Wherefore ^B it is said thereupon, "And the name of them [is] precious before Him"; and therefore it is written that He addressed them thus: "Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you; but rather rejoice and exult because your names are written in the heavens." But why was their name precious before Him, if not because He Himself deigned to bestow names upon them, naming Simon—Peter; Thomas—Didymus; the sons of Zebedee—Boanerges, which is translated "sons of thunder"? Indeed, the name of all of them, in general, was precious before Him. And the scripture of the Gospel signifies this, saying: "These twelve Jesus chose, whom He also named apostles." But for the phrase "their name," the Hebrew scripture ^C carries instead "their blood"; and the others have interpreted it accordingly: Aquila saying, "And their blood shall be honored in his eyes"; and Symmachus, "And their blood shall be precious before him." By which he clearly hinted at their slaughter, by which they were each affected in various ways of martyrdom, and each in a different manner underwent the struggle of blood for the sake of the testimony given about Him; so that it is said of them: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." For to these, this saying also is similar: "And their name [is] precious before Him."

VERS. 15, 16. "And he shall live, and there shall be given to him of the gold of Arabia, and they shall pray for him continually." To me, in this place, the phrase ^D "and he shall live" seems to accord with the saving voice addressed to His own disciples: "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." For in order to declare the remaining and the life extending into infinity of him who is spoken of in the prophecy, He used this phrase, "and he shall live." For a long life was required for the works spoken of to be brought forth. If, therefore, he who is spoken of in the prophecy will judge his people

^A in righteousness, and his poor in judgment, and shall humble the slanderer, and shall continue with the sun, and shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the world—rightly did he require a long-lived life. For in what way would the Ethiopians be subject to him, and the kings of Tharsis and the isles, and how would all the kings of the earth worship him, and all nations serve him? For the sake of all these things, a lasting life was required for him. Therefore, after all these things, the phrase, "and he shall live," is well and necessarily added, signifying in this way the immortal and eternal life of the one being prophesied.

Next it is said, "And there shall be given to him of the gold of Arabia." But instead of "of Arabia," the Hebrew passage contains again "Saba," and the rest of the interpreters have used a similar word. One might say that, figuratively, this gold signifies the purest mind among men. But according to history, the word was fulfilled when the Magi came from the East and worshipped the Saviour while he was yet a child, and offered him gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. ^B Might it be that the phrase "he shall live" also refers to that time when Herod, plotting against the infant Jesus, "sent and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, from two years old and under, according to the time that he had inquired of the wise men"? For then, having been warned in a dream, Joseph took Mary his wife and the child, and withdrew into Egypt. Wherefore this prophecy, predicting these things, foretold that "he shall live, and there shall be given to him of the gold of Arabia," that is, of Saba; as if it said more clearly, "of the chosen one." For this Saba and the nation of the Sabaeans are said to be of the region of Arabia called Happy, from whence it is recorded that chosen gold, along with other things, was brought to Solomon. ^C And in another way, we see with our own eyes in the churches of Christ myriads of treasures made of pure gold, consecrated to his honour. Rightly, therefore, did the Word not deem it worthy to overlook the memory of these things.

He adds next, "And they shall pray for him continually, and all the day long shall every one bless him." There is no need for many words to show how all who have believed in the Christ of God offer unceasing prayers "for him," so that they may always have him with them as a helper in all things. And as for the fact that everyone blesses him daily, who could doubt it? For night and day, every soul of those who have sincerely believed in him, more frequently than they breathe, honors and reveres his name, and blesses him, convinced that the blessing is reflected back upon itself, consistently with the word spoken in his person, Christ: "They who bless thee are blessed, and they who curse thee are cursed." Hence the race of Christians increases ^D and multiplies every day, because it partakes of the blessing of God, which it enjoys through ceasing [not] unceasingly to bless Christ his Christ, according to the scripture that says: "All the day long they shall bless him." And he declares the cause of these things, saying: "There shall be a firmament in the earth, on the tops of the mountains." By these, he indicates his Church, founded and strengthened upon the firm rock of his own virtue.

and lifted up and exalted as if lying upon the tops of the mountains—namely, the prophetic and apostolic words, on which the Church of our Savior is built. ^A

Verse 16, 17. His fruit shall be lifted up above Lebanon, and they shall blossom from the city like the grass of the earth.

You will understand how the fruit of our Savior, who is announced in the prophecy, was lifted up above Lebanon if you gather together the things said concerning Lebanon in the prophecies. For it is said in Isaiah: "Behold, the Lord of Hosts shall trouble the glorious ones with strength"; and afterwards: "And Lebanon shall fall with the high ones." In Zechariah it is reported: "Open, O Lebanon, thy doors, and let the fire devour thy cedars." It was also said in the twenty-eighth [twenty-ninth] Psalm: "The Lord shall break the cedars of Lebanon, and shall grind them small like a calf of Lebanon." The Scripture explains these sounds, which are indeed obscure, in Ezekiel, saying: ^B "A great eagle, with great wings, extensive in spread, full of claws, which has the intention to enter into Lebanon, and it cut off the soft parts of the cedar"; to which he adds: "When the king of Babylon comes and enters into Jerusalem, he will take the princes." For in these things the prophecy clearly interprets the "great eagle, with great wings" as the king of the Babylonians, and Lebanon as Jerusalem. You will likewise adapt the sayings of the other prophets, as if spoken concerning Lebanon, to Jerusalem. For no one from the circumcision would doubt that he should admit that those things which are said concerning Lebanon adumbrate Jerusalem.

"His fruit," says the present discourse, "shall be lifted up above Lebanon," that is, of the Savior of whom the prophecy speaks. And what could his fruit be, if not his Church, firm throughout the whole world, concerning which it was said: "There shall be ^C a firmament in the earth on the tops of the mountains?" Therefore, it is prophesied that this [Church] is to be lifted up above Lebanon; for even if the aforementioned Lebanon, I mean Jerusalem, seemed at one time to be glorified and to flourish, yet the fruit of our Savior—that is, the Church established throughout the whole world—was lifted up and flourished in a far more excellent and incomparable manner by its superiority to that one.

Following these things, he sets forth the peoples gathered in every city and the great multitudes, saying: "And they shall blossom from the city like the grass of the earth." The phrase, "from the city," is said in the sense of "in every city and in every place." Moreover, his Church is also called the city of God on account of the lawful and evangelical manner of life established in it. Wherefore it is said: "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God," and again: "The streams of the river make glad the city of God." Since, therefore, that city of God, being irrigated by the river overflowing within it—that is, by the Word—brings forth a great multitude of the crowd gathered in the Church, it is rightly added: "And they shall blossom from the city like the grass of the earth." ^D

^A For the previously mentioned fruit of the grass, which was much better and superior to the grass of the earth, preceded this multitude which blossoms like grass; wherefore it is placed beforehand: "His fruit shall be exalted above Lebanon." And after the excellent fruit—that is, those who bring forth fruit in the Church—the text enumerates the remaining multitudes, saying: "And they shall blossom from the city like the grass of the earth." After these things, it is said: "His name shall be for the ages." Since the name of Christ remains and is everlasting, it would follow that the name of Christians likewise extends to the same duration. This name, which is above every name, existed even before the foundation of the world; wherefore it was said: "Before the sun, His name remains." And above, it was also mentioned that it would remain with the sun and before the moon for generations of generations. We have already ^B anticipated showing that these things cannot be applied to a mortal nature. After these things, it is said: "And all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in Him." You may compare these words to the oracle given to Abraham: "And all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in your seed." And weigh, I pray, how the promise made to Abraham was kept in the subsequent time and was renewed by individual prophets. For to Abraham it was first said: "All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in your seed." After these things, Jacob is recorded as having prophesied concerning Christ, saying: "A ruler shall not fail from Judah until he comes to whom it is reserved, and He shall be the expectation of the nations." And in the times thereafter, it was again said through Balaam: "A man shall come forth from his seed, and shall exercise dominion over many nations." Moses also ^C mentioned the nations in his great song, saying: "Rejoice, O nations, with His people; and let all the children of God worship Him." Thus, then, the text repeats here what was prophesied to Abraham through the oracle, teaching that these things shall be fulfilled by no one else but Christ, saying: "And all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in Him." Then it says next: "All the nations shall bless Him." But how shall all the nations bless Him? By the blessing that is in them, showing forth the grace that comes from Him.

"Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wonders." Since the nations, being blessed in the one indicated by the prophecy—according to the oracle that said, "And all the nations shall be blessed in Him"—increase with the growth ^D that is according to God, and multiply, and have dominion over the earth; wherefore the divine Apostle says: "Blessed is the God who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing." Since things are thus, they in turn bless the author of their blessing. Wherefore, they first called Him blessed, and then they are taught to bless Him by saying: "Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wonders." Observe, also, how each part of the 69.

^A Psalm book ends in a similar way. For the last of the first part was the fortieth, which at the end said: "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel from this time forth and even for evermore. Amen, amen." The last of the second part was the one now at hand, which likewise said at the end: "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who alone does wonders. And blessed be the name of His glory," and so on. The last of the third part happens to be the eighty-eighth, the end of which is: "Blessed is the Lord for evermore. Amen, amen." Likewise, the last of the fourth part is the one hundred and fifth, the end of which is: "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting, and all the people shall say: Amen, amen." The fifth part ends in "Alleluia," by which the whole book is encompassed.

However, the present Psalm, after the aforementioned prophecy concerning Christ, adds this: "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel," and adds: "who alone does wonders." And what are the wonders, if not those mentioned above; namely, that He would descend like rain upon a fleece, that He would humble the accuser, that He would remain with the sun, that righteousness would rise up in His days, that He would have dominion from sea to sea, that Ethiopians would fall down before Him, that gifts would be brought to Him from all nations, and also that He Himself would be a support on the earth, and His fruit would be exalted above Lebanon, and whatever other things are enumerated after these? On account of all these, we are taught to say: "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who alone does wonders. And blessed be the name of His glory for ever." ^B Now, the name of His glory happens to be His divinity. For if that which was born of the holy Virgin has been deemed worthy of the name of Jesus according to Gabriel, who said to Joseph: "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins," it follows that by the "name of His glory," we should understand His theology, through which the God the Word and the only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, is conceived. Wherefore, it is added next: "And the whole earth shall be filled with His glory." For formerly He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. And since not even the Jews, to whom He had shown such great wonders, received the knowledge of Him, He rightly says to Moses: "Let Me alone, that I may be angry and blot them out, and I will make thee a great nation," and He adds: "As I live, the earth shall be filled with My glory." For although these people, He says, repel My glory, yet at a certain time the whole world will be filled with My glory. This is what the present passage teaches, saying: "And the whole earth shall be filled with His glory." This also Isaiah indicates, prophesying the Seraphim surrounding the Lord Sabaoth, crying out and saying: ^C "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Sabaoth; the whole earth is full of His glory." But these things, indeed, formerly known by divine foreknowledge...

^A were being fulfilled by works before the Savior and our Lord Jesus Christ shone upon the human race; for behold, in our own time, every diabolical error has been overthrown, and the Church of Christ has filled the entire world, glorifying the God of Israel in all the earth. And because the Holy Spirit had prophetically announced that these things were to be in the future, the choir of angels responds, praying together for the consummation of the matter, confirming it and saying: "Fiat, fiat," or according to Aquila, "Faithfully, faithfully," or according to Symmachus, "Amen, amen." To these it is next added: "The hymns of David, son of Jesse, have ended." Regarding which Symmachus interpreted: "The prayers of David, son of Jesse, are perfected"; while Theodotion and the fifth edition: "The prayers of David, son of Jesse, have been summarized." Now, those who are unacquainted with the accuracy of the reading have not grasped that—"The hymns of David, son of Jesse, have ended"—is a part of the whole psalm; ^B but they read it as something outside the prophecy and as an addition. But the other interpretations, and the Hebrew scriptures themselves, clearly demonstrate that this too is a part of the whole psalm. For since King David was always insisting in his prayers that the birth of the Savior, who was to come from his seed, should shine forth; and since, when this proceeded to the effect, all things that are prophesied were about to be fulfilled; it is with good reason that, after the conclusion of the aforementioned things, it is added that the prayers of David had been perfected and fulfilled by means of the aforementioned events. And it is possible for the expression, "they have been perfected" or "they have ended," to be said prophetically ^C regarding future time; for each of the things previously enumerated will happen when the prayers of David, son of Jesse, are brought to completion and fulfilled. Most opportunely, because of the Christ of God who is mentioned in the prophecy, he did not simply say "David," but with the addition "son of Jesse," so that we might join to the present scripture the prophecy of Isaiah, through which similar things are prophesied concerning Christ, in which it is said: "A rod shall go forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend from the root; and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him," and what follows, to which is added: "And the root of Jesse shall be, and he who rises to rule the nations, in him shall the nations hope." ^D For you see how, even here, the calling of the nations is proclaimed through the root of Jesse; so that the addition "son of Jesse" is not in vain in the present prophecy. But when the kingdom of Christ and the calling of the nations have been announced, here the second part of the book of Psalms is most opportunely concluded, which began from the forty-first and terminates in the one presently in hand.

ARGUMENTS OF THE PSALMS WHICH ARE INSCRIBED TO ASAPH

^A Of these, one is separated from the connection of the preceding ones, and is placed before the fiftieth. Thus, the forty-ninth psalm is inscribed to Asaph; the cause of which, as it occurred to us at the time, we have related in our exposition of it. The first psalm of Asaph that is now in hand introduces the prophet as seized with great admiration at the long-suffering of the all-good God, and at his tolerance toward the impious, and also at the pardon granted to those who sin. Being struck with amazement at this, he accuses himself of being faint-hearted and nearly shaken, and of having the foundations of his soul overturned, because he saw the affairs of impious and godless men prospering. Nevertheless, after appearing to take the matter ill at the beginning, in what follows he prophesies their unhappy end, saying: "Thou didst cast them down when they were lifted up. How are they become a desolation suddenly? They failed, they perished on account of their heedlessness," ^B and the things that follow.

II The second teaches on what state of affairs the things said in the first were spoken, deploring the final siege of Jerusalem which it suffered in the time of the Romans, and declaring the movements and deeds of those who besieged the place by these words: "O God, why hast Thou cast us off unto the end? Is Thy wrath kindled against the sheep of Thy pasture?" to which he adds: "Like a forest of wood with axes they have beaten down its doors at once; with axe and hatchet they have broken it down. They have burned with fire Thy sanctuary." To which he again subjoins: "We have not seen our signs; there is no longer a prophet, and He will know us no more." For the statement that during this siege prophets did not exist is indeed a proof of their final destruction. These things are placed aptly after the predictions concerning Christ that were stated above. For since they did not receive Him when He came, he necessarily prophesies the vengeance that attacked them after their many crimes against Christ. ^C [B']

III The third psalm of Asaph directs him who has read the previous ones to the end, and exhorts him not to destroy. Furthermore, the title declares that it is both a psalm and a song, because it contains the thanksgiving of those who have believed in Christ. It also commemorates the divine judgment, and narrates how He has appointed a day of judgment, in which He will render to each according to his works, so that those who have been afflicted with hardships in the present life may not fall away from the hope laid up in God for the future; and so that those who in this present time have been lifted up and behaved arrogantly against Christ may not escape vengeance in the future life. Wherefore, in the person of the apostles, disciples, and evangelists of our Saviour, he proclaims this: "We will confess to Thee, O God, and we will call upon Thy name." Concerning those, however, who [have]

dared such things against our Saviour, he adds: "I said to the iniquitous: Do not act iniquitously; and to the delinquents: Do not exalt [your] horn. Do not raise your horn on high, do not speak iniquity against God." Then, indeed, from the person of Christ himself he adds: "But I will declare forever, I will sing to the God of Jacob. And I will break all the horns of the sinners, and the horns of the just shall be exalted."

IV.

V.

great as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders. Thou hast made known thy power among the peoples, thou hast redeemed with thy arm thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph; and again: The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee, and they were afraid; the abysses were troubled: a multitude of the sound of waters: and he seals his discourse by saying: Thou didst guide thy people like sheep by the hand of Moses and Aaron. ^A Necessarily, Asaph reminded Idithum of these things, so that he might no longer say: My spirit was exercised, and I fainted; but having faith in the miracles done formerly by God in the time of Moses, by which He redeemed His people, he might hope that similar things would come to pass also in the time to come.

VI.

VII.

^A And in that one, there is included neither a favorable end nor any promise that brings healing to the things said; but in the present one, after the gloomy things, he attaches to the end of the whole discourse: "Render to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom, their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord. But we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will confess to thee for ever; we will show forth thy praise to generation and generation." For these are clearly the voices of the righteous.

VIII.

The eighth prophecy of Asaph indicates many things at once through its inscription; for it is written: "To the end," and, "Concerning those who shall be changed," and, "A Psalm." In addition to all these, it is observed that this psalm alone, of all those contained in the entire book, is inscribed as a "testimony." ^B It refers "to the end" because it prophesies future things; but it is "concerning those who shall be changed" because of the change of those who are indicated in the prophecy; and it is called a "testimony" because it bears witness concerning the man therein foretold, and him who is called the Son of Man. For it introduces a certain Son of Man and names him the Man of God's right hand.

First, therefore, it sets forth the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt and their dwelling in the land of the Palestinians in an allegorical manner, saying: "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt, thou hast cast out the nations and planted it," and the following. ^C Then it signifies their future desolation, saying: "Why hast thou broken down her hedge, and all they that pass by the way do pluck her?" And concerning those who besieged it, he teaches, saying: "The boar out of the wood hath laid it waste, and the solitary wild beast hath devoured it." By these words he signifies that the nation would be besieged by two powers. This indeed came to pass also in the times of the Babylonians: for first the Assyrian, invading, took the ten tribes of Israel captive; then after him the Babylonian subdued the remainder, burning Jerusalem together with the temple. This is what the discourse ^D prophesies, saying: "It is burnt with fire and dug up." It came to pass also in the time of the Roman empire, first indeed when Titus besieged them, who also burned the temple after the crimes they committed against our Savior; then later by Hadrian, who passed a law that the city itself should be inaccessible to the Jews.

But since he has prophesied these things concerning the siege of the nation, as he proceeds he sends up a prayer concerning the saving theophany, saying: "Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, and upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself." In these words he prays that the man of God's right hand might appear on earth. For through him, he says, we who have received him shall not fall away from thee, but thou wilt even make us live through him; wherefore we also supplicate, saying: "O Lord of hosts, turn us, and show thy face through the aforementioned man, and we shall be saved."

IX.

X.

to acknowledge God as established. ^A Then, at the end of the whole, the Prophet sends forth a prayer for the calling of the nations, saying: "Arise, O God, judge the earth, for Thou shalt inherit among all nations." The forty-ninth Psalm seems to be akin to this one, in which it was also said: "The God of gods, the Lord, hath spoken," for in both the God of gods is introduced, and again in both, He is recorded as judging. And in the present passage, it is said: "Arise, O God, judge the earth, for Thou shalt inherit among all nations," while in the forty-ninth, very consistently with this, the word describes how, having arisen, He judges the earth, saying: "The God of gods, the Lord, hath spoken, and He hath called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the setting thereof"; and further on: "God shall come manifestly, and shall not keep silence. A fire shall be kindled in His sight," and the rest, through which He sets forth how He is about to judge. And since it is said in the passage at hand, "For Thou shalt inherit among all nations," it is with good reason that in the forty-ninth Psalm He overturns the laws concerning sacrifices given by Moses, delivering another manner of reasonable sacrifice, which is performed throughout the whole world among all nations; wherefore it is said: "For Thou shalt inherit among all nations."

^C This present discourse, being the last of Asaph, contains a supplication and prayer for the people very aptly. For since in the former ones he foretold the final siege of the place, then, going back in time, he arranged the second one, which occurred under Antiochus, and then additionally mentioned the third, which preceded them in time—I mean the reign under the Assyrians and Babylonians—consequently, in the present passage, he sends forth a supplication and prayer for the siege that was earlier in time, in which all the neighbors of Judea offered their right hands to the Assyrians against them. This is what he signifies by saying: "The tabernacles of the Edomites and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagarenes, Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, the aliens with those that inhabit Tyre." For Assur also arrived with them, and they were made a help to the children of Lot. Following which, he describes the end that awaits them, saying: "O my God, make them like a wheel, as stubble before the face of the wind, as the fire which shall burn the forest, as the flame which shall burn the mountains," and the rest that follow. When you come to this point, observe, I pray, how, where he mentions Assur (and these were the Assyrians) and the aforementioned nations, he sends forth the supplication against them and subsequently foretells their destruction; and in the seventy-eighth [Psalm] ^D likewise, where he fore-announces the events under Antiochus, who compelled the Jews to Hellenize and to transgress the traditions of their fathers. For there, too, he foretold the destruction of his enemies. But this is not so in the seventy-third, where their final casting away was declared. These, then, are the eleven of Asaph that are conjoined. And the

XI.

^A twelfth, placed before the fiftieth psalm, is for the reason which we brought forward when explaining it. But after this abridgment, taking up the first again, let us examine its thought in detail.

PSALM OF ASAPH. LXXII.

manner of life have slid away, and slipped, or fallen altogether away from their goal, and have suffered as it were a shipwreck of the good works they had previously gathered. For of these, one would not be wrong to say that the feet of the soul have been shaken; nay rather, that they have completely fallen, and that their footsteps and their journeys toward God, and their long-term progress, have flowed away and been poured out. But these things, he says, I suffered only in a small degree, and did not truly succumb because of the mercy of God. Nevertheless, I was about to suffer these things because of the zeal ^A with which I was burning when I saw the peace of the ungodly, and their prosperity in riches and luxury, and in honors and dignities. For as I gazed at these things I was torn apart, so that I was in danger of almost falling into ungodly thoughts: into which, however, I did not fall, being healed by sound doctrines, which remind us that God is good and long-suffering and patient. Therefore, being struck by his wonderful goodness and marveling at it, I began my discourse: "How good is God to Israel, to those who are upright in heart!" For "How good," Symmachus says: "Yet in truth, God is good to Israel, to those pure in heart." For he set forth who this Israel might be, by adding and saying, "to those pure in heart." For these are the true Israel; wherefore it was said also by the Savior: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they themselves shall see God" (Matt. v, 8); and "Israel" is interpreted as "seeing God."

^B "For there is no looking back in their death, and firmness in their scourge. They are not in the labors of men, and they shall not be scourged with men. Therefore pride has held them fast to the end." In the manner of a history he recounts the things that disturbed his soul, so that we may know that it was not for trivial reasons that his feet were almost shaken, nor were his footsteps about to be poured out for insignificant causes. And what were these things? The ungodly, he says, and those who know not God, continued in such stability of life and delights, and enjoyed such luxury even until their last breath, that there was no one who would not pray to obtain the like, and not only envy their life, but their death as well, which it was permitted to no one to decline or to deem something to be avoided. Thus, there was no looking back in their death. But even if it happened at some time that any of them fell into a scourge and a blow, that is, into a crisis and calamity, or were tested by diseases and losses, there was no "firmness in their scourge." For the blow that came upon them was not some solid and enduring thing; but it was light and superficial, passing by. Nor were they tested in the "labors of men," cultivating the earth, or providing their food with their hands, or being consumed by poverty; but on the contrary, overflowing with riches, they bathed in luxury, and suffered nothing like the rest of men who are scourged every day by a laborious and toilsome life. Therefore, "they are not in the labor of men," and "they shall not be scourged with men." Symma-

Symmachus ^B has translated it thus: "For they did not think of death; for firm were their porches," and so on. In misery, he says, they were not, nor were they struck down with men. Since, therefore, they were in such a state, for this reason pride took hold of them. For it was fitting that, being impious, as far as human reasonings are concerned, they should suffer penalties worthy of their impieties; but they, wallowing in the luxuries of life, were warring against God. Wherefore, while being worn down, they became worse than themselves, and were covered with their own iniquity and impiety; for which Symmachus says: "They have made pride their garment, having storehouses of iniquity." Furthermore, in addition to these things: "Their iniquity shall go forth as if from fatness." Concerning this passage, Symmachus has rendered the meaning more clearly by saying: "Their eyes protruded from fatness"; and Aquila has likewise translated it, saying: "Their eyes went forth from fatness." Then, following this: "They passed into the intent of the heart," he says, "they thought and spoke in wickedness"; which also Symmachus interpreted thus: "They passed by things that were manifest, mocking in their heart." For these men were passing over the very works of God which are visible to the eyes of all, and the manifest miracles of Providence, even though they understood and grasped them, but because of the force of their folly, they mocked and ridiculed them. ^C Moreover, "they spoke in malice, and spoke injustice into the height. They set their mouth in heaven, and their tongue passed over the earth." This, furthermore, Symmachus explained thus: "They spoke with much slander, they spoke against the height. They set their mouth in heaven, but their tongue was wanderings on the earth." For by uttering blasphemous words against God, as if He neither saw nor cared—or rather, as if He did not exist at all—they spoke injustice into the height and extended their mouth unto heaven, and this although they were lowly and had their tongue upon the earth. These, indeed, are the things on account of which I confess my infirmity; and as though on a pillar I inscribe my own accusation, "because my feet were almost moved, and my steps were almost poured out, because I was jealous over the wicked, seeing the peace of sinners."

VER. 10. "Therefore my people shall turn hither, ^D and full days shall be found in them." That atheistic language of the impious and their pride, which mastered affairs, was such as has been demonstrated. Nor should it be ignored that these very things have turned to the good of my people. For even if my people were for a certain time delivered to those same impious men for the expiation of sins, yet the excess of their aforementioned folly, which was the cause of ruin and destruction to them, will grant a place of rest and relief to my people. For when those men have fallen and perished because of their own impieties, "my people shall turn hither," that is, in the present life; "and full days shall be found in them," that is, in those of my people who have been found worthy. Now, full days are those which are filled with every good, and which complete the just span of life. Thus it is said locally: "He died full of days."

^A My people, therefore, have received benefit from these things. Those before-mentioned impious and godless men, however, went so far in their impiety that those who beheld them were struck with amazement and said: "How does God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?" For if knowledge exists in the Most High, and if He sees such things and watches over the inhabitants of the earth, why do those who commit such crimes prosper and hold onto wealth for an eternity? As I, too, beheld these things, I was troubled in my thoughts, so as to ponder within myself: "Have I then justified my heart in vain, and washed my hands among the innocent, and been plagued all the day, and was my rebuke in the morning?" For if such great cheerfulness is present for those who do not do these things, then I labor in vain, and have zealously striven to care for justice to no purpose; in vain and for nothing have I kept my hands and actions clean from unjust deeds; in vain, too, have I passed my time wearing myself down and scourging myself with fastings and hardships every day; in vain and for nothing have I labored, rising at dawn and confessing and bewailing my sins in my prayers to God, and bringing forth accusations against myself in my confessions to God. These things I was pondering, and I was all but slipping. Instead of these, Symmachus interpreted the manner thus: "Perhaps, therefore, I too have cleansed my soul in vain, and washed my hands in innocence, and have remained mocked each day, and rebuked each morning." ^B

"If I were saying, I will tell thus: behold, I have renounced the generation of your children. And I pondered to know this; it is a burden before me, until I enter into the sanctuary of God, and behold their last end." The aforementioned matters I pondered only in my own thoughts, on account of which I was in danger of suffering a storm, yet I did not tell them to others. For if, having judged to think thus, I had brought this godless teaching before others, I would have become a transgressor of the pious dogmas and would have violated the covenants ^C of the generation of your children. For all the saints and God-loving men have become your children, O God. And their generation is the successsion of the holy ones from them, whose teachings and dogmas I would have corrupted if I had brought the aforementioned thoughts of mine before others. But even if I provided myself [the opportunity] to know the causes on account of which sinners continue in cheerfulness and hold onto wealth for an eternity, while the just are humbled, not even so would I have grasped the secret judgments concerning these matters, but would have gathered only burdens for myself, falling into perplexity and ^D soul-weariness. Therefore he says: "And if I pondered to know this, it is a burden before me," or according to Symmachus: "And if I was considering to recognize this, it appeared to me as toil." Wherefore, seeing that the knowledge of these things is incomprehensible to men, I used a pious mode of reasoning, and pondered within myself that it was better to refrain and to await the proper time for this understanding. That, however, was, "Until I enter into the sanctuary of God, and perceive their end."

^A Or, according to Symmachus, "Until I enter into the sanctuaries of God, and come to perceive their end." Having found this a fine refuge for the solution of the difficulties—namely, the setting aside of this mortal life and the entry into the promises of God—I obtained healing and consolation; for I knew well that once I arrived there, I would understand the logic of the questions raised and would perceive the end of the impious. For it is not fitting to look only at the present life and their current luxury, but also to consider their end.

^B VERS. 18-20. "Verumtamen propter dolos eorum posuisti eis mala; dejecisti eos dum allevarentur. Quomodo facti sunt in desolationem subito? defecerunt, perierunt propter inconsiderationem suam, velut somnium surgentium." Having applied three trains of thought to the questions raised, I found the first to be impious and godless—the one that says: "Therefore, in vain have I justified my heart." The second, which concerns grasping the significance of these matters, I found to be full of labor and exhaustion, because of the depth of the riches of the knowledge of God, and because His judgments are incomprehensible and His ways past finding out. ^C Therefore, I stopped at the third, resolving to refrain for a while, to wait, and to look toward the end of all things. Having acquiesced to this thought, as being pious and true, I derived benefit from faith itself. For I knew, by the prompting of the prophetic Spirit, that because of their deceits, God would not be long in casting them down, after they had been lifted up and exalted. Then, illumined and seeing with prophetic power the ruin that would overtake them at the end, I rightly say: "How have they suddenly become a desolation? They have failed, they have perished on account of their thoughtlessness, and they have become as the dream of one who awakens." ^D For as long as someone imagines himself dreaming in his sleep, he thinks he is doing something, being deceived by the fantasy of the dream; but when he is awakened, having shaken off the sleep, the things of the fantasy depart from him. Thus also the apparent prosperity of the impious in this present life, and their wealth and pride, will have an end similar to those who dream and imagine things, only to wake up later, holding in their hands none of the things they thought they were seeing and grasping.

Regarding the phrase, "Verumtamen propter dolos posuisti eis," according to Symmachus it is stated in this way: "Truly in a slippery place you did set them, you did cast them down into destruction; suddenly they failed, they were consumed as if they had not existed, as a dream to one awakening." To that "suddenly" and "all at once," you may compare the voice of the Savior, which says: "Watch, for you do not know on what day and at what hour your Lord comes"; and again: "His Lord will come on a day he does not expect, and at an hour he does not know."

"O Lord, in Thy city Thou shalt bring their image to nothing." Above, he was saying, "Until I enter into..."

teaches by saying: "O Lord, in Thy city Thou shalt bring their image to nothing." Whence naturally the divine Apostle, as one who knew the heavenly city of God, was saying: "You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem"; and again: "But the Jerusalem which is above is free." This, therefore, is the city of God which the present Prophet signifies, saying: "O Lord, in Thy city Thou shalt bring their image to nothing." For if they had kept Thy image, he says, they would naturally have been thought worthy also of Thy city; but because "man, being in honor, did not understand, he was compared to the senseless beasts and became like them," and proportionally to his own wickedness he transformed himself after the manner of a wild beast, and became a lascivious horse, or a rapacious wolf, or a serpent and a brood of vipers, or something else similar to these; for this reason God casts out such an image as if it were counterfeit coinage from His city, bringing it to nothing, and judging it not worthy of the mansions in His city. For "there are many mansions" with the Father. Wherefore it was said: "O Lord, in Thy city Thou shalt bring their image to nothing." This, then, Asaph uttered prophetically, as if divinely inspired, and having beheld the future with the illuminated eyes of his soul. But he soon reveals the cause for which he was illuminated to behold the city of God, saying: ^B

VER. 21-24. "Because my heart was inflamed, and my reins were changed." For because I was "very zealous for the Lord" according to the prophet Elijah, and was distracted by my thoughts when I saw the impious prospering; nay, even my reins and the deep and hidden things of my own soul were burning; therefore I was saying, "Because I was zealous over the wicked, seeing the peace of sinners." For this reason it was granted to me to be illuminated by the Spirit and to see the city of God, and those who are worthy of it and those who are not. But for the phrase "My heart was inflamed," Symmachus says, "My heart was constricted, and within my reins I reasoned, contradicting." Then it is said: "And I was brought to nothing, and I knew not," which Symmachus interpreted more clearly by saying, "I was ignorant and not knowing." Again: "I was made as a beast before Thee," or according to Symmachus, "I lived as a beast before Thee." "And I," he says, "am always with Thee"; but according to Symmachus, "And I was with Thee always." ^C For if indeed I did not understand before being illuminated and knowing the things spoken concerning Thy city, and the things concerning the image of the impious; and if I lived before like a senseless beast, being foolish and unable to touch upon the reasons of Thy providence; yet I was not abandoned by Thee, O God, nor did I fall away from the hope placed in Thee, but I was always with Thee; and I did this not out of my own strength, but out of Thy grace. For Thou Thyself, in Thy philanthropy, having taken hold of my right hand, were holding me and restraining me, so that they would not be poured out

^A from my standing with Thee. Wherefore I say: "Thou hast held my right hand." For I had a good ^B right hand, mighty and paternal, performing all things right and pleasing to Thee; wherefore, having taken hold of it, by Thy counsel Thou didst guide me, or according to Symmachus, by Thy advice Thou didst guide me, ferrying me across this mortal life and leading me into the calm and safe harbor of the rest that is with Thee, so that, hadst Thou not held my right hand, long ago, having been swept away like one by a torrent and having had the feet of my soul overturned, I would have fallen into extreme ruin. But now Thou Thyself hast held my right hand, and by Thy counsel Thou hast guided me. And finally, after the mentioned temptations and the storms that troubled my soul, having led me safely through the surges of life, Thou hast received me with glory, having suffered nothing from so many disasters. But according to Symmachus: "Afterwards," he says, "honor received me."

VERS. 25-28. "For what have I in heaven, and what did I desire of Thee upon the earth?" Thy philanthropy, he says, and Thy mercy and Thy grace have been the cause of all good things for me. For making use of Thine own goodness, Thou hast held my right hand and saved me, so that my feet were not shaken, nor were my steps poured out. ^C But Thou hast even received me with glory; since this is present to Thee as to a good God; for I have nothing in heaven, nor did these things come to me by right of debt; but neither is there any other for me in heaven except Thee alone. Wherefore I desired to obtain nothing from Thee on earth, nor did I pray to attain to mortal and fleeting things. And rightly did I desire nothing from Thee on earth, because I was longing for the dwellings in heaven, and I was praying to attain to the goods there. On account of this, I was wasting away my life, and I was wearing down my life on earth, and I was afflicting my heart, setting Thee alone, O God, as the portion of my hope. Whence I say: "My flesh and my heart failed: God is of my heart, and God is my portion forever. For lo, they that go far from Thee shall perish: Thou hast destroyed all that commit fornication ^D from Thee. But it is good for me to cling to God, to put my hope in the Lord, that I may tell all Thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion." Earlier indeed I was saying: "And I am always with Thee"; or according to Symmachus: "And I was always with Thee"; that is to say, by faith, and by purpose, and by my love for Thee; but now I also make clear the cause for which I was always with Thee, and set Thee as my portion. For I knew, and was thoroughly convinced, that "those who go far from Thee will perish"; for which reason I did not distance myself, even though I was ignorant of the reasons for Thy dispensation, but I was always with Thee. Furthermore, as many remove themselves from God by their sins and by atheistic and impious thoughts, they make themselves strangers to God; and the further they depart from Him, so much the closer do they approach to ruin; so that, conversely, being joined to God, they are coupled with life, and remove themselves from ruin. The end, moreover, of those who from God dis-

distance themselves ^A is destruction, since they have played the harlot away from God. Now God removes no one from Himself, nor does He thrust anyone away; but each one makes himself a stranger to God, playing the harlot and delivering his own soul, handed over in surrender, to the enemies of God. Those, however, who remove themselves by their own choice, draw destruction upon themselves. God Himself disposes the fate of those who have thus resigned themselves to destruction. And what was this? "You have destroyed," He says, "everyone who plays the harlot away from You." Someone plays the harlot from God who, after drawing near to Him, removes himself far away. For He Himself does not disdain to espouse the human soul and to cast His own seeds into it; but she who removes herself and gives herself up to others who desire to fornicate with her—that is, to wicked spirits and unclean demons, or to godless and impious thoughts, or to filthy and unclean deeds—is rightly handed over to destruction. Wherefore it has been said: "You have destroyed everyone who plays the harlot away from You." But I, well knowing these things, and being thoroughly persuaded regarding Your just judgment, chose the path opposite to that of the impious, even though I did not understand Your mysteries; and although I became like a beast before You, nevertheless I was always with You. For nothing appeared more beautiful to me than to cleave to You, my God, and to choose those things which You Yourself have ordained and commanded. For ^B thus, "he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit." Therefore, nothing appeared more beautiful or better to me than to cleave to You. Wherefore I say that "it is good for me to cleave to God." For if there is no one good but one, God, from where else could any good accrue to anyone besides that which comes from cleaving to Him? And I was already enjoying every good thing, by cleaving and being joined to God, so that I could say: "My soul has followed close after You." And for the age to come, I also inscribed good hopes for myself. And this was another good thing for me: to place my hope in the Lord. For the end of all my hope was to declare all Your praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion. For, having been deemed worthy of entry into Your city, of which it was said above, "O Lord, in Your city You will bring their image to nothing," when I have ascended even to the heavenly gates, I will proclaim to all Your benefits toward me. Being established there, I shall obtain Your promises, "which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have they entered into the heart of man." For such things did God prepare for them that love Him.

^C But because the phrase "in the gates of the daughter of Sion" is not found in the Hebrew, nor among the other translators, but is carried only by the Seventy, it is marked with an obelos, because it is superfluous. For the good end of all things leads to that heavenly Sion itself, which is the city of God already delivered in the heavens; for by the daughter of Sion, our Church is understood, as it is easy to prove by many arguments.

THE UNDERSTANDING OF ASAPH. LXXIII.

^A *Why, O God, hast Thou thrust us off until the end? Thy fury is kindled against the sheep of Thy pasture?* The prophetic Spirit stirs us up and urges us toward the understanding of what is being said. It does not customarily inscribe it as a psalm, nor an ode, nor a hymn, nor any of the similar types, because of the sorrowful nature of the things being announced. In these, a supplication seems to be contained, concerning which the divine Apostle gave instructions, saying that it behooves us all to offer supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings. The discourse therefore addresses God, prophetically narrating future events as though they were already past, and signifying the final siege of Jerusalem which took place by the Romans after the saving Advent. He foretells these things even while the place was not yet established. For Asaph, through whom these things were prophesied, was contemporary with David; but Solomon built the temple after the death of David.

^B Seeing in advance the two devastations of the place—the first, namely, that which occurred by the Babylonians, and the second, that which was done by the Romans—he signifies the former in the seventy-ninth and eighty-second [eighty-third] psalms, but the latter in the present prophecy, which he begins thus: *Why, O God, hast Thou thrust us off until the end? Thy fury is kindled against the sheep of Thy pasture?* For the end of their complete downfall occurred at no other time than when our Savior and Lord brought judgment against them, saying: *Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.* And consequently, the holy Apostle, writing about them after the outcome of the events, said: *But the wrath has reached them until the end.*

^C And the present prophet depicts in detail the things that happened to the place at the time of the Roman siege, in which he says: *As in a forest of wood they cut down its doors at once*—it being clear that he means of Jerusalem—*with hatchet and hammer they broke it down. They set fire to Thy sanctuary; they defiled to the earth the dwelling-place of Thy name.* If someone should say that these things also happened in the time of the Babylonians, I would have him observe what follows: *We have seen no signs, there is no longer a prophet, and He will not know us anymore.* For the signs were that God regarded and provided for the Jewish nation, since He provided them with prophets; for even when they were acting wickedly, He set prophets over them as doctors and saviors.

^D Thus, at least during the first siege, they had the great prophet of God, Jeremiah, and Baruch; and indeed, a certain woman named Huldah prophesied in the same times. In the land of the Babylonians themselves, Ezekiel and Daniel, illustrious and prominent prophets, were with them; and after their return from captivity, in the times of Cyrus and Darius, the prophets Zechariah and Haggai were known. How, then, was it possible to apply to those times the present prophecy which says: *We have seen no signs, and there is no longer a prophet, and He will not know us anymore?* But in fact, these things reached their end after the saving

^A presence and the aforementioned vocal utterances of His, after which, before much time had passed, the Romans, having overtaken the place, destroyed it.

This is what the Savior Himself made manifest, prophesying the future through a parable which runs as follows: *The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants; they, however, not only did not wish to meet him, but even seized the servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.* To these He adds: *But the king, hearing this, was angry, and sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.* That the Savior spoke these things while He was still standing in the very Temple that stood at that time is recorded; and it was being fulfilled before long, when Vespasian and Titus besieged the place—during whose time it is recorded that not a single prophet appeared among them.

^B Therefore, the text at hand portrays the siege; wherefore it says in the beginning: *O God, why hast Thou cast us off unto the end?* It is possible from these things to marvel at the virtue of the divinely inspired Scripture, as it anticipates by divine foreknowledge those things which were to be enacted in long-subsequent times.

The phrase, *O God, why hast Thou cast us off unto the end?* is stated because the Jewish nation often, falling into impieties and transgressions, was handed over to the neighboring foreign nations; and sometimes the Moabites would conquer them, at other times the Ammonites, and at others the Midianites. But then, God, calling them back to fruitfulness, would support them; and then again, as they transgressed, He would deliver them to other enemies, and again restore them to their former state; and He never rejected them *unto the end*, but after a short time He would turn them back unto salvation.

But after the execrable crime ^C was dared by them against the Savior, the wrath came upon them *unto the end*, according to the apostolic Scripture, so that from that time to this present day they have never again held up their heads. This, the prophecy signifying, says: *O God, why hast Thou cast us off unto the end?* Now the text points to the crime committed against our Savior tacitly through the question, after which they were cast away *unto the end*. This the Savior Himself also makes manifest, saying: *How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not? Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.* For, *How often would I* signifies the long-suffering granted to them over a long period; while *and ye would not* would be indicative of their final rejection, when His anger was kindled against those who were formerly the sheep of His pasture.

But next, the text brings forward a supplication, saying: ^D *Remember Thy congregation, which Thou hast purchased from the beginning.* And very fittingly He made mention of the "congregation," and calls it the first possession of God, since He also knew of the Church which was constituted from all the nations, which did not exist from the beginning, but which arose after the ruin of the Synagogue. Of this Church He makes mention elsewhere, saying: *In the midst of the Church I will praise Thee;* and again: *I have declared Thy righteousness in the great Church;* and again: *My praise is with Thee in the great Church.* But that former Synagogue was not like this one: for it was called so precisely because it gathered in one place; whereas this one declares the preeminence of its own election

the Church. But if anyone should ask the reason why the Synagogue, which he had acquired from the beginning, was cast off, Christ himself, the God, through another prophecy, will teach it, saying: "Many dogs have compassed me, the synagogue of the wicked hath beset me round. They have pierced my hands and my feet; they have numbered all my bones. They have parted my garments amongst them, and upon my vesture they have cast lots." These were the causes for which that former Synagogue was cast off. Next he adds: "Thou hast redeemed the rod of thine inheritance." This is said in the manner of one appeasing: For thou, he says, hast redeemed this Synagogue, and counted it worthy to be called thy portion and the rod of thine inheritance; for when the Most High divided the nations, "the Lord's portion was his people Jacob, the lot of his inheritance, Israel." Be mindful, therefore, of this thine inheritance. ^B Instead of "the rod of thine inheritance," Aquila interpreted it as "the sceptre of thine inheritance," and Symmachus as "the sceptre of thy lot." By which it is taught that all men are indeed God's, but that his separated people have been, as it were, his royal sceptre.

VERS. 2, 3-7. "This mount Sion, wherein thou hast dwelt. Lift up thy hands against their pride in the end; how great things the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary!" What the rod, or according to the other interpreters, what the aforementioned sceptre was, he clarifies, saying: "This mount Sion, wherein thou hast dwelt." For it was a royal mount and the sceptre of the kingdom, in which the temple and the house of the habitation of God had been constructed. ^C Wherefore Sion was called the faithful metropolis, and Jerusalem the city of God; bearing the image of that heavenly one, concerning which the divine Apostle was teaching these things: "But you are come to mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." After he said this, he prophesies the things that were to happen to that place, announcing future events as if they were past, according to his custom. He says, therefore: "And they that hate thee have boasted in the midst of thy solemnity"; or, according to Aquila, "Thine enemies have roared in the midst of thy congregation. They have set up their signs, signs, and they knew not as in the going out on high." This Symmachus interpreted more clearly, saying: "They have set up their signs obviously known at the entrance on high." ^D And for that item, "As in a thicket of trees they have cut down the gates thereof at once, with axe and hatchet they have broken it down"; again Symmachus says, "With wooden instruments and their axes, they have cast down her gates with bars and two-pronged forks." But what were the signs of the enemies, which they set up obviously before the entrances, if not military instruments, namely axes, hatchets, and spears and weapons? It is also likely that by these are signified the banners which were carried before the armies. But also, he says, "They have set fire to thy holy place, and on the earth they have defiled the tabernacle of thy name." Where the senti

^A sense of what was said above is opened up. For since he had previously spoken of "this Mount Sion, wherein thou hast dwelt," he now clarifies how He dwelt in it, saying, "the tabernacle of thy name." For the tabernacle was a place, not of God Himself, but of His name. He complains at each step, adding these words: "In the midst of thy festival," he says, "thy sanctuary and the tabernacle of thy name." For these kinds of complaints were meant to plead for and stir up vengeance for the crimes committed, to which he prompts directly, saying: "Lift up thy hands against their pride unto the end"; according to Symmachus, however: "The exaltation of thy feet," he says, "has been destroyed unto victory." The exaltation of His feet was the temple destined for prayers. Those who hate God gloried in the midst of His festival, and deservedly so. For since they, being the first inhabiting the place, raised impious hands against the Christ of God in the midst of His festival, and used impious and wicked shouts, demanding on the very day of the Passover His blood upon themselves and upon their children, ^B rightly did the wrath of God invade them in the midst of the festival; so that another prophecy might be fulfilled which is said concerning them: "And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation."

VERS. 8, 9. "Their kindred said in their heart, together, Let us make the feasts of God cease from the earth." All these things, he says, thy enemies performed with an impious purpose; for they burned thy sanctuary, and defiled the tabernacle of thy name, and dared everything else; not plotting against men, nor intending only to besiege a place, but waging war against Thee, God, and intending to dissolve Thy feasts. And these things, even if they did not speak with their mouth, they yet reasoned with their hearts and thoughts. But then indeed the enemies of God, reasoning these things, destroyed the place long ago dedicated to God; but the great and powerful God, in place of that one location, established for Himself churches through all nations from the rising of the sun even to the setting thereof. And thy enemies, he says, and thy foes placed their own signs in high and conspicuous places, even at the very gates of the temple, so that all who passed by might behold the symbols of their victory; ^C but we, in whose person the prayer is sent up, "We have not seen our signs." And how do we not see our signs, except because "there is no longer a prophet, and He will no longer know us"? For in times past, in every season and in the generations and successions of our fathers, prophets were with them when they were besieged and led away into captivity; which was the greatest proof and sign that they were not excluded from Thy providence; for that Power which provides for all things, used to appoint prophets in the final calamities like physicians to the people of that time: and these were the signs of God.

Now, when these things are being fulfilled among us in act, we say: "We have not seen our signs; there is no longer a prophet, and He will know us no more." For if the prophets had failed only for a short time, and then appeared again thereafter, it would not have been said, "And He will know us no more." But now, since after the daring deeds they committed against the Savior, the Romans stood over them and razed the place from its foundations, ^A nowhere were prophets present to those who were besieged; nor did they appear in the times that followed, nor were they ever to arise again. Admirably did the prophecy, having said, "There is no prophet," add, "and He will know us no more." This, truly, could not have been said in the time of the Babylonians, nor in a prior age. For in every single generation, the succession of prophets flourished among them, and it continued even until John the prophet.

VERS. 10, 11. "How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach, shall the adversary provoke thy name forever?" In the present prophecy, the phrase "forever" ^B has been used frequently. For in the beginning it was said: "Why, O God, hast thou cast us off forever?" Then next: "Lift up thy hands against their pride forever"; thirdly: "The adversary provokes thy name forever"; and again: "Why dost thou turn away thy hand and thy right hand from the midst of thy bosom forever?" By these, the discourse signifies the final siege of the place. But as he inquires and says, "How long, O God, will the enemy reproach?", he desires to be taught how long these things will endure, and what the limit of the time will be, and how long the adversary will provoke thy name, and if he is to persevere in doing such things forever. Consequently, he asks for the cause of these things by praying, when he says: "Why dost thou turn away thy hand and thy right hand from the midst of thy bosom forever?" ^C This, furthermore, is the meaning of the statement: the bosom of God is full of good things, wherefore it was said: "The only Begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" (John 1, 18). And this is the secret treasury of the Father's divinity, and the fullness of all good things, from which He bestows the gifts of grace to those who are worthy of Him. Since, therefore, He distributes the gifts of grace from the midst of His bosom, and stretches out His right hand toward them, but turns His hand and His right hand away from those who are unworthy, bestowing upon them nothing of the good things stored up in His aforementioned bosom, he ^D rightly inquires, saying: "Why dost thou turn away thy hand and thy right hand from the midst of thy bosom forever?" And again he adds "forever," signifying that for them, the turning away of the right hand of God will be forever. But by the question, he invites us to search for the cause, that we might seek why they have been cast off forever. For if one were to accuse them of sin and iniquity, we know that when they did similar things in the past, they were not cast off forever. For the prophetic discourses recount their infinite and nefarious works, adulteries, idolatry, and the murders of the prophets; but they were never abandoned forever: nor were the prophets, even when they were doing such things,

present with them, and there were visions of angels and the presence of the Holy Spirit for them. Why, then, is it so strange and so great a daring that they were cast off forever, and the right hand of God turned away from them forever? In saying these things, he tacitly hints at the audacity they committed against Christ, the God.

VERS. 12-18. But God our King before the age has worked salvation in the midst of the earth.

You strengthened the sea by Your power.

You crushed the heads of the dragons upon the water. You broke the heads of the dragon.

You gave him as food to the Ethiopian peoples,

You broke open fountains and torrents.

^A Since this is the case, the manner of speaking is perileptic, using the plural in place of the singular. As for "Etham," Aquila interpreted it as "solid rivers," while Symmachus rendered it as "ancient." Let these things be said with regard to the letter. Tropically, however, one might apply these passages to unseen and invisible powers, saying that these are the dragons named here; and that the sea, tropically understood, is their dwelling place; and that the prince of wicked spirits is indicated by the many-headed dragon. To him one might say these things pertain: "You crushed the heads of the dragon; You gave him as food to the peoples, the Ethiopians." Such a person will also seek out who the Ethiopians are ^B according to the laws of allegory, saying they are those whose souls are blackened; and he will say that they are also eaten by the aforementioned dragon, in the same proportion as those who eat the flesh of the saving Word. Correspondingly, he will attempt to explain the fountains bursting forth into torrents and the rivers being dried up in a tropical manner. But we, having explained matters according to the letter, shall pass on to what follows.

Having shown what kind of wonders God, the King before the ages, has performed, the prophet adds these words, saying, "Yours is the day, and Yours is the night." For You alone, the Almighty, have wrought such a change in things. Just as You changed the solid rock into a fluid substance ^C and wrought fountains and torrents from it, and conversely, by making the channels of the rivers the opposite, You dried them up; so too do You make the day night whenever You wish, and conversely, You turn the night into day. You Yourself established the luminaries in the heavens for them, and appointed courses for the sun, and by legislating boundaries for the whole, You divided the entire age, as if into border-districts, breaking it down into different segments, the seasons of the whole year. For although time is one, and the revolution of the whole is one and the same, You, O God, who can do all things, have distributed the whole into various transformations; You joined summer to spring, delineated it by autumn, and limited winter to spring; for You fashioned all these things.

Since, therefore, You who are our King from age to age, before the ages, are accustomed to performing such mighty works and producing wonders, and to changing things from opposites to opposites by Your command; we justifiably pray that You might now incline toward our supplications, and be mindful of this (instead of "of this," Symmachus interpreted it as "these things") ^D; that You might also cause a change in our case regarding the evils that have overtaken us. As for the passage, "You fashioned the aurora and the sun," Aquila translated it as, "You prepared the luminary and the sun."

Vers. 18, 19-21. "The enemy has reproached the Lord, and a foolish people has provoked Your name. Do not deliver to the wild beasts the soul that confesses to You." Such are the works of Your ineffable power, as has been declared. We pray that You may be mindful of these for our sake.

and we supplicate in our own behalf. Since even now enemies and foes do not revile us who have been warred upon and have become subject to them, but You, our God; and a foolish people, which knows not You, the God, but boasts in demons and in the error of many gods, has provoked not us, but You and Your name; for this reason we beseech and entreat that You do not deliver the souls of those who confess You to the savage beasts, nor grant them to oblivion once for all, lest we become food for beasts that are accustomed to devour souls: such as are the opposing powers, which lie in wait for human souls and wage war against them. But look rather upon Your covenant, and remember Your treaty, by which it pleased You to save the human race, having bestowed upon them a new covenant through Your Christ. For ^B even if some have become darkened in their understanding and filled with a house of iniquities, not having received Your Christ, do not You, as a merciful God, turn away from the supplications of Your own poor. And who might these poor be, who pray for the entire people, but the disciples and apostles of our Savior, to whom it was said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for yours is the kingdom of heaven"? For Isaiah also testified to these things from the person of Christ, saying: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good tidings to the poor." These, then, were praying on behalf of the whole people, saying almost the same things that Paul did: "I could wish that I myself were accursed for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen by nature, who are Israelites." And the prophets of God themselves, who were poor for His sake, were beseeching these things on behalf of the entire nation.

^C VERS. 22-23. Exsurge, Deus, judica causam tuam, memor esto opprobriorum tuorum, eorum quæ ab insipiente sunt tota die. Ne obliviscaris voces inimicorum tuorum, superbia eorum qui te oderunt ascendit semper. "Arise, O God, judge Your own cause, remember Your revilings, those by the foolish man all the day. Do not forget the voice of Your enemies; the pride of those who hate You ascends continually." Because it is not we who have been wronged, but You; for the enemy has reviled You, and a foolish people has provoked Your name; for this reason arise, O God, and judge Your own cause. According to Symmachus: "Stand, O God, fight for Your own battle, and remember Your reproach from the foolish one throughout all the day. Do not forget the voices of Your enemies, that is, of those who resist You. ^D How long shall they ascend unceasingly?" And here the discourse ends, asking God that He might arise and judge His cause and remember the reproach brought by the foolish ones, and not deliver to oblivion the voices of the enemies and the pride of those who are always being exalted. Yet, to these things there is not appended any kinder answer, nor does a promise of good things follow the prayer, which is something to be found in other psalms. Therefore, from the beginning, the discourse prophesied perpetual rejection for the mentioned men, and throughout the whole psalm it attached that "to the end" to the prediction of sad things. Hence, having taken the occasion from this, the divine Apostle, writing concerning them, said: "But wrath has come upon them to the end."

^A

TO THE END, DO NOT DESTROY, A PSALM OF ASAPH, LXXIV.

VER. 2. *We will give thanks to Thee, O God, we will give thanks to Thee, and we will call upon Thy name.* ^B Symmachus interprets the phrase, "To the end, do not destroy," as "A triumphal psalm of Asaph concerning incorruption." The discourse, therefore, is about the incorruption which is laid up for the just, for whom also the prizes of victory are stored away as if in treasuries. Wherefore it is called "triumphal." It refers us, however, to the "end," concerning which the Apostle says: "Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He destroys every principality and every power and force. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death." ^C For at that end, all those who have conquered in this present age in such a good contest will attain to incorruptible life. The passage here before us also indicates these final things, saying: "And I will dash in pieces all the horns of sinners, and the horns of the righteous shall be exalted." For the present text, in agreement with the Apostle, having said that the horns would be broken, added: "And the horns of the righteous shall be exalted," and this is the completion of the present prophecy. Therefore it is named both a psalm and an ode at the same time. It makes its beginning from the person of the righteous, saying: "We will give thanks to Thee, O God, we will give thanks to Thee, and we will call upon Thy name." For to them alone ^D is the confession of thanksgiving appropriate, just as the Savior also used to give thanks in the Gospels to the Father, saying: "I give thanks to Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth." They give thanks first, and then they call upon His name, that by such invocation they might attain salvation from God, according to the stated word: "And everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." This discourse may also serve to instruct in confession those who, in the preceding psalm, had lamented the ruin of Jerusalem and its final siege. For they who had said before, "Why, O God, hast Thou cast us off to the end? Is Thy wrath kindled against the sheep of Thy pasture?" and what follows, are now taught to confess to God and to call upon His name. Since the mode of confession is twofold, it is necessarily said here twice: "We will give thanks to Thee." By the first, as is proper, confession for sins is signified; by the second, those who had previously confessed now offer an act of thanksgiving for the good things they have received.

VERS. 3, 4. *I will relate Thy wonderful works, when I shall take time; I will judge uprightly.* The meaning of what is said makes it clear that these are the voices of God. For the statement, "I will judge uprightness," and again, "I have established the pillars of it"—namely, the earth—and following this, "and I will dash in pieces all the horns of sinners"—to whom would it be appropriate to ascribe these words, if not to God? If, therefore, these things are spoken from the person of God, how is it that another, knowing God, appears to address Him thus: "I will relate..."

^A Thy wondrous works when I shall have received a time," and then adds: "For God is judge"; and again: "For a cup in the hand of the Lord of pure wine"? How, in addition to all these things, does He add: "But I will declare unto the ages, I will sing unto the God of Jacob, and all the horns of sinners will I break"?

Observe, therefore, whether the only-begotten Word of God, in traversing the theology of the Father, is not teaching His own activities through these words. He says, therefore: "I will relate Thy wondrous works when I shall have received a time." Now Aquila has it thus: "When I shall have received the appointed time"; but Symmachus: "When I shall have received the congregation." And it seems to me to have been aptly said: "When I shall have received the appointed time," or "the congregation." For He promises that, having seized the time, He will recount all the wondrous works of the Father in the Church from the Gentiles, which the Father Himself promised to Him, saying: "Ask of me, and I will give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Thy possession." ^B When therefore, He says, I shall have received this appointment, and when I shall have attained to this time, then, to those very ones from the Gentiles who are being converted, I will recount all Thy wondrous works.

To these He adds: "I will judge uprightnesses." For it is the work of justice and uprightness not only to admit the Jews, nor to receive only the race of Abraham according to the calling of Moses, but to make the election of those being saved from all nations. Wherefore Peter is recorded in the Acts as having said: "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth Him is acceptable to Him." And Paul also says that the Gospel is to be preached to the Jew first and to the Greek, saying: "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and to the Greek; for the righteousness of God therein is revealed." To which it is consequently said here: "I will judge uprightnesses."

Then He adds: "The earth was melted, and all that dwell in it; I have established the pillars of it." But according to Symmachus: "The earth shall be made firm, he says, with those who dwell in it; I have established the pillars of it." These things are said in harmony with what was spoken in the preceding. For the earth, having been besieged and delivered to fire, concerning which it was said— "As in a thicket of wood they have cut down its gates with axes; with axe and mattock they have broken it down; they have burned Thy sanctuary with fire; they have defiled to the earth the tabernacle of Thy name" ^C—having suffered these things, it was melted; and all who dwelt in it, by reason of their impieties, underwent such things. But, while these were perishing, "I," He says, "have established the pillars of it." And whom would you call these, if not the holy apostles and all the disciples and evangelists of our Savior? For having come forth from that very earth, they became the pillars and ground of the Church. ^D Wherefore Paul also called the chief of the apostles pillars, saying: "James and Cephas and John, who are reputed to be pillars."

^A

Vers. 5, 6. *I said to the transgressors, Do not transgress; and to the sinners, Do not lift up the horn.* The pillars of the holy and catholic Church, I, says God, have established; inasmuch as I have chosen them out of the land that was dissolved together with its inhabitants; but to the rest I testified, instructing and exhorting them not to act wickedly. But according to Symmachus: *I said, he says, to the seditious, Do not be seditious; and to the wicked, Do not lift up the horn. Do not lift up your horn on high, speaking iniquity against the neck.* These things can be referred to another order, namely, to those who are from the circumcision, who stirred up sedition against the Savior and rose up against him; on whose account their land and all who inhabited it were dissolved. But he also testified to all nations throughout the world through the preaching of the apostles that they should not act wickedly, and to sinners that they should not exalt the horn of sin, nor be puffed up and act arrogantly, nor speak iniquity against God—which they formerly did when they applied their minds to the error of many gods, and did not know the God of all. ^B

Vers. 7-9. *For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert mountains, for God is judge.* And these things, he says, I testified through my apostles to all men, that they should remember the judgment of God and put an end to all iniquity, being persuaded that the judge of all is not far off, but fills all things and is present everywhere. Wherefore it is fitting that we should live with our minds turned toward him, as if living in his eyes. For he is not far off, so that we should think he dwells somewhere far from us, whether in the east, or in the west, or in the deserts and mountains. For he is present in the midst of all, and is the judge of all. And the office of that judgment is to distribute to each according to his merit, to humble this one and to exalt that one; to humble those who are proud and those who lift up their horn on high, but to exalt the humble, according to that saying: *God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.* Wherefore he says: *For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert mountains*; for which Symmachus interpreted it thus: *For not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert of the mountains; but God the judge humbles this one, and exalts that one.* And this, he says, it is necessary for all men to know, ^C *That a cup is in the hand of the Lord, full of unmixed wine, and he inclined from one to another; but its dregs are not poured out, and all the sinners of the earth shall drink.* But according to Symmachus: *For a cup is in the hand of the Lord, and unmixed wine mixed has been poured out, so that they draw from it. But the wicked of the earth will squeeze out and drink its dregs.* And these things, he says, I have taught all men, that they might not be ignorant that the cup awaits all, which the judge of all tempers and mixes for each. This, moreover, you should understand from those things which are spoken in the prophecies concerning the cup of ^D

^A; for it is written in Jeremiah as follows: "The Lord God of Israel said to me: Take the cup of the wine of pure wine from my hand, and you shall make all the nations drink, to whom I shall send you to them. And they shall drink and vomit and be maddened from the face of the sword, which I will send into their midst." And I took the cup from the hand of the Lord, and I made all the nations drink, to whom the Lord sent me to them, Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, and its kings and its princes, to put them into desolation, and into an impassable place, and into hissing; and Pharaoh the king of Egypt and his servants, and his grandees; and next it says: And all the kings of the land of the foreigners, Ascalon, and Gaza, and Accaron, and Idumea, and Moabitis, and the children of Ammon, and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and all the kings of the island which is beyond the sea. After which he adds thus: ^B "The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, said: Drink and be drunken, and vomit, and fall, and you shall not rise from the face of the sword, which I will send into the midst of you." And it shall be when they do not wish to receive the cup from your hand, so as to drink, and you shall say to them: "Thus said the Lord of hosts: Drinking you shall drink." By which the Word teaches that God applies punishments like a bitter antidote to those in need of it, so that they might vomit and empty out the wickedness overflowing within them; and that Jerusalem itself should first drink of the said draught; then the remaining nations, as though all were to attain the same cleansing through the punishments brought upon them. And the present utterance therefore fittingly teaches, in accordance with the prophetic doctrine, that there is a cup in the hand of the Lord, in which, having gathered the fruits of each person, he presses them out just like pure wine. Then he offers the drink ^C according to merit, tempering it proportionately to each person's deeds according to the law of justice. For he not only takes into account each one’s wicked deeds, but also their good ones, weighing them as if in a balance, and preparing a mixture appropriate to each person’s works. This he represents by saying: "And he inclined from this into this," so that there might be a single blending of both a person's wicked deeds and their better ones. Instead of, "He inclined from this into this," Symmachus translated it, "So as to draw from it"; and that "all the sinners of the earth shall drink the dregs." For it is no longer a tempered mixture, but the very last and turbid part that is stored up for those who have sinned greatly. For which reason, according to Symmachus, it is said: "Nevertheless, the wicked of the earth shall drain its dregs." ^D

I will announce forever, I will sing to the God of Jacob. Everything mentioned above I said to those who act lawlessly, and I testified to all, warning them. But I, who said above, "I will tell of your wonders when I take the time," and again saying, "I will judge uprightnesses," and again saying, "I established the pillars of it"; after having preached and testified the things previously said to the...

and after ^A having taught all men the doctrine concerning judgment, what shall I do? "I will sing unto the God of Jacob for ever." For I know that He who became God to the God-beloved is my Father, and to Him I will sing, and to Him I will announce my own accomplishments. Then, having thus received from the Father the power to judge, I will break all the horns of the sinners; for although at the time when it was necessary to use forbearance, patience, and gentleness, I allowed them to be lifted up, in the end I will break their horns raised against God; and conversely, I will exalt the horns of the righteous, because they were humbled. Then, however, the righteous man will be exalted, when he shall reign together with his King according to the Apostle, who says: ^B "Christ the firstfruits; then they that are Christ’s at his coming; then the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God and the Father, when he shall have brought to nought all power and authority." At which time also the righteous shall drink the cup of immortal life, which was promised to them by Him who said: "Until I drink it new with you in the kingdom of heaven."

TO THE END, IN HYMNS, A PSALM TO ASAPH, A CANTICLE. LXXV.

^C VERS. 2, 3. "In Judea is God known, his name is great in Israel." This psalm also belongs to the number of those which point to a good end; and, being akin to the preceding one, it speaks of the judgment of God. This he further declares in these words: "Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared and was still, when God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth." And in that former psalm it was said to the transgressors: "Lift not up your horn, and lift not up your horn on high"; but in the present one: "All the foolish ^D of heart were troubled. They slept their sleep, and all the men of riches have found nothing." These were they who had exalted their horns. Now, through what is set before us, the Word delivers a most profound dogma, so that we might know who the true Israel is, and what is his country, according to the true and correct reason, which is called Judea; and what also is the true Jerusalem, and what is the dwelling-place of God. These things the prophetic Spirit dispenses with surpassing wisdom, at once providing pleasure to those who understand the matter in a more humble and Judaic manner, on account of the similarity of the names, and at the same time instructing those who are endowed with the power of contemplation in divine doctrines. The Jew, then, being nothing more than flesh and blood, will hear these things in a carnal and corporeal fashion; and thereupon he will be exalted, being puffed up in vain by the mind of his flesh, and not holding the Head, according to the holy Apostle. Wherefore he will imagine that he himself is Israel, and that Judea is nothing other than the region of the Palestinians, and that the place of God is the Jerusalem on earth: since the Hebrew reading contains the fact that his place was made in Salem; in which way also the remaining interpreters have rendered it, namely, "in Salem." But he who has been imbued with divine discipline, when he has learned that not all who are from

^A Israel are Israel; nor are as many as are the seed of Abraham all his children; for not the children of the flesh are these the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for a seed; and furthermore, having hearkened to the same Apostle saying, "For he is not a Jew who is one in the manifest, nor is that circumcision which is in the manifest in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one in the secret, and circumcision of the heart in spirit, not in letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God"; and again, "For we are in the circumcision who serve God in spirit, and do not trust in the flesh"; and furthermore, having noted this: "Look upon Israel according to the flesh," as though there were another, one who is not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit, the true Israel; having been imbued with these things, he will understand the true Israel to be the one signified by the reality. ^B Therefore, the name is transferred to him who sees God; thus, he will declare that the discerning, knowledgeable, and learned man alone is the true Israel—the man whom the text at hand represents, saying, "In Israel is his name great."

The prophetic word, however, refutes the Jew as being unworthy of the appellation of Israel, reaching out to them and saying, "Woe to the sinful nation, a people full of sins," and, "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; attend to the law of God, you people of Gomorrah." Just as, therefore, he who speaks concerning the nations: "For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name is glorified among the nations, and in every place," he says, "incense is offered unto my name, and a pure sacrifice"; and again, "For my name is great among the nations," clearly demonstrates ^C that the nations can be Israel, if indeed in Israel his name is great. But it was said to the Jews, "But you profane it"—namely, the name of God. And again it was said to them, "Because of you my name is always blasphemed among the nations." If, therefore, the Scripture at hand teaches that he is Israel with whom the name of God is glorified, it will be manifest from what has been said who is to be truly and properly called Israel.

By a certain proportion, you will understand the same concerning Judea. For where the knowledge of God is, there is Judea. This, at any rate, the Scripture presents, saying, "God is known in Judea." But if the reality is not found in Judea—that is, the land of the Palestinians—since much idolatry has occurred in it, when of old the Jews themselves practiced ^D idolatry therein, so that the prophets refuted them, saying, "For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah, and according to the number of the byways of Jerusalem you sacrificed to Baal"—how is it possible for this to be called the Judea which possesses the knowledge of God? Why, moreover, would you not say that the region of the Egyptians is worthy of that title, concerning which it has been said, "And there shall be an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt"; and again, "And the Lord shall be known to the Egyptians"? For if Judea is found where those are to whom God is known, what prevents all who have received the knowledge of God from being said to be in Judea? Wherefore, consequently, in view of these things, the Church of God throughout the whole world

in which God who is over all happens to be known, might reasonably be called Judea. Nor would you be mistaken in calling the entire divinely inspired and Jewish Scripture Judea, it being a possession and as it were a territory of the true Israel, because the knowledge of God is contained within it. Thus, then, the true Judea and the true Israel are to be understood in a similar manner. ^B

VERS. 3. Consider, however, how his place was made in peace, and his habitation in Sion. For if that place which the Jews held in honor had been kept protected from wars and devastations, it could deservedly be granted to the children of the Jews to think that it was the place indicated by the Scriptures; but if this place has been razed from its foundations and often captured by enemies, and yet it is said that his place is in peace, it could not truthfully be thought to be the place of God, which has been for the most part defeated by enemies. Wherefore he does not now name Jerusalem, lest anyone should fall into thinking of the Jewish city; but instead of this, he presented the meaning of the matter, saying: His place was made in Salem. Now Salem is interpreted as peace; hence it is said by the Seventy Interpreters: His place was made in peace. If, therefore, souls that are entirely free from every war, living in prosperity, quiet, and tranquility, were to be found on earth, they might rightly be called the place of God, as being capable of receiving the divine Spirit. Therefore, it is said concerning such as these: I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. But if such are found on earth only rarely, while on the contrary in the city of God, the heavenly habitation of God is teeming with angels, archangels, divine powers, and holy spirits, one might rightly say that the place of God is there, and that that is the true peace, which is here called Salem in the Hebrew tongue. Wherefore the Apostle, knowing this, said: But that Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother. For Salem is interpreted as peace, but Jerusalem as a vision of peace: whose home exists in the heavenly and divine powers in which God himself walks, inasmuch as they are able to contain his divinity. Then it is said: And his habitation in Sion. Afterwards it is subjoined: — VERS. 4. There he broke the powers of the bows, the weapon, and the sword, and the war. Here again, if these things had been accomplished in the sensible and earthly Sion, there would be no cause to begrudge the Jews, who wish to interpret it in this way; but if the contrary is seen from the events themselves, because it was destroyed in the siege of enemies, it is necessary to understand here the Sion that corresponds to peace, namely, the Church of God, or even that heavenly Sion regarding which the divine Apostle declared these things: You have come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the many thousands of ^{C D}

^A angels, and to the Church of the firstborn who are written in heaven. For here, where no sin is active and no enemy of souls exists, the powers of the bows have been shattered, and weapon and sword have been taken away, so that it may be said regarding those who are deemed worthy of habitation there: Pain, and sorrow, and sighing have fled away.

VERS. 5. You enlighten wonderfully from the eternal mountains: the senseless in heart were troubled. Most consistently, after having declared the place of God, he teaches that these good things are not confined within such a location, but that He sends out rays from it, as it were, even to those who are situated furthest away. Wherefore he says: You enlighten wonderfully from the eternal mountains. What are these eternal mountains, if not Sion and Salem, about which we have acted previously? From above, therefore, and from the heavenly heights, as if from certain eternal mountains, the ray of His deity being sent even to those on earth, He enlightens the souls of those who are worthy and illuminates them with His Holy Spirit. These, I say, He enlightens; but with His own light, He disturbs the unworthy by the providence of His just judgment. Wherefore he adds: ^B All the senseless in heart were troubled. For since they were truly senseless in heart—or, according to Symmachus, proud in heart—they did not receive the rays of the divine light, and therefore they were troubled. But these same ones, after they had slept their sleep, found nothing in their hands, because they were men of wealth. For since they had slept for a brief time in the phantasy of mortal life, and had thought highly of themselves because of their riches, imagining they were something, they were immersed in the pleasures which riches provided for them. But having awakened and been translated from this life, they found themselves having nothing, nor holding anything in their hands. Therefore it is said somewhere: Do not fear when a man becomes rich, and when the glory of his house is multiplied; because when he dies he will not take everything, nor will his glory descend with him. ^C Whence it is not without cause that those who are truly senseless in heart were troubled by the rebuke of the God of Jacob—or, according to Symmachus, by the roaring [or threatening]. For then, undergoing the sentence of God’s just judgment, they will deservedly be troubled, because they slumbered while mounted upon their horses, that is, their lascivious bodies; when it was necessary to watch and act soberly, mindful of the divine command saying: Watch, for you do not know the day nor the hour. But they were slumbering and slept their sleep, given over to dreams and phantasies, having made use of lascivious horses, which is to say, their own bodies. Therefore, all these who are sometimes called senseless in heart, and sometimes men of wealth, and now riders of horses, while they were living in the present life, slumbered—or, according to Symmachus, were lulled to sleep, weighed down by the sleep and drunkenness of the soul. Then, indeed, they slept their sleep, given over to vain ^D phantasies; and finally, having been awakened, they were troubled by the rebuke of the God of Jacob. This, moreover, was the Savior

the Word of God, who is written in Scripture as having appeared as God to Jacob, and who has received the judgment of all things from the Father. ^A

VERS. 8. *Thou art terrible, and who shall resist thee? from then is thy wrath.* To those who have not wished to receive the rays of divine light, He is said to be terrible. Therefore, above, he addressed God himself, saying: *Thou enlightenest wonderfully from the eternal mountains;* but now he says to the same: *Thou art terrible, and who shall resist thee?* He himself, therefore, is both the bestower of light and terrible; to those on the right hand, the dispenser of light; to those on the left, terrible, to whom He shall also say: *Depart into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.* Then he adds: *From then is thy wrath.* From then—from what time, if not from the time when they who rode the horses slumbered, and they, foolish in heart, slept their sleep? For from that time they have treasured up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath; so that it may be said to them: *Go to the light of your fire, and to the flame which you have kindled.* For each person, at the time he sins, from that time stores up wrath for himself; since by "wrath" is understood the punishment laid up for those who sin.

Then, indeed, it is said: VERS. 9. *From heaven thou hast made judgment to be heard.* Consider carefully: it is not said, "thou hast made judgment," but, "thou hast made it to be heard." For before the time of judgment comes to those who have finished their mortal life before the judgment, by means of divine readings, He caused them to hear words concerning the divine judgment. But now, indeed, He has made the future judgment to be heard from heaven; but when the time of God's just judgment arrives (VERS. 10), *the earth,* he says, *trembled and rested, when God arose in judgment, to save all the meek of the earth.* By these things, he declares openly what the cause of the judgment is; namely, to save the meek of the earth. For concerning the impious it is said: *The impious shall not rise in judgment, nor sinners in the counsel of the just. For the Lord knows the way of the just, and the way of the impious shall perish.* When, therefore, God has risen in judgment, to save all the meek of the earth, the earth shall tremble and rest. For the meek, indeed, shall obtain salvation; others, however, shall be delivered to wrath. But the remaining earth, and those who occupy a middle state, having taken on the fear of God, shall rest from disturbance. ^B

VERS. 11. *For the thought of man shall confess unto thee, and the residues of the thought shall keep a festival for thee.* And this, he says, will come to pass when God arises in judgment, to save all the meek of the earth; and what else could that be, than that the thought of man shall confess unto thee? For every tongue and every thought and perception of the human mind shall confess to God at the time of the judgment, when the hidden things of men shall be revealed. And *residues of the thought,* he says, *shall keep a festival for thee.* And what could the residue of thought be, if not the reasoning purged of every evil thought? Similar to those of whom it is said: *A residue has been made according to the election of grace.* ^C

So then, it is named a remnant of thought; wherefore he shall celebrate a feast then, in that he shall receive at the proper time the promises of the heavenly kingdom.

^B V. 12, 13. *Vow and pay unto the Lord your God, all that are round about him: to him that is terrible and that taketh away the spirits of princes, to him that is terrible to the kings of the earth.* Having finished the discourse concerning the judgment of God, he now, in the manner of an exhorter, commands us all to pray and to pay our vows to the Lord our God; and as there is still time in the present life, he necessarily admonishes us to do this. He is wont to call promises "vows"; wherefore it has been said: *If thou vowest a vow, do not delay to pay it; for it is better that thou shouldst not vow, than that thou shouldst vow and not pay.* Each of us, therefore, should render his own purpose and promise as a vow, remembering Him who said: *Offer unto God the sacrifice of praise, and pay thy vows unto the Lord; and call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.* Now, therefore, he says, vow and pay. For there shall be a time when all that are round about Him shall bring gifts. For at the time of His kingdom, the kings of Tarshish and the isles shall bring gifts, the kings of Arabia and Saba shall bring presents, and all the kings of the earth shall worship Him. Then, indeed, they shall all worship Him who sits upon the throne of His glory, with gifts—that is, with the fruits that each one brings. Therefore, as there is still time, he exhorts us now to vow and pay, so that, having garnered our own treasures, we may bring them to Him at the proper time, having been found worthy to be numbered among those who surround His throne. For all who are around Him will offer Him gifts, for He is terrible to those who do not approach Him and do not offer Him gifts. Therefore it is added: *To him that is terrible and that taketh away the spirits of princes, to him that is terrible to the kings of the earth.* For that which is said, *My spirit shall not remain in the sons of men,* shall be said also of those who were once called princes and leaders, and were deemed worthy of the Holy Spirit, but did not live worthily of the grace; from whom the Spirit shall be taken away, so that, being deprived of Him, they may be delivered to the punishment they deserve. According to Symmachus: *To the Lawgiver, who indeed taketh away the spirit of leaders, but is terrible to the kings of the earth.*

TO THE END, FOR IDITHUN, A PSALM OF ASAPH. 76.

^D VER. 2. *I cried unto the Lord with my voice, with my voice unto God, and he gave attention unto me.* The psalm is spoken by Asaph himself, but it is referred to the person of Idithun, for whom the things contained in the psalm were composed. Whence Symmachus interpreted, *For Idithun*, and Aquila, *Concerning Idithun*. And now Asaph, having composed the words in hand, delivers them to Idithun, as a master to a disciple, to meditate upon; or as a physician delivers a salutary

^A medicine to alleviate the malady of the sick. In the preceding [psalms], David himself wrote sometimes a song, sometimes a psalm, for the same man. Hence, in the thirty-eighth ^B psalm, it is inscribed: *Unto the end, for Idithun, a song of David*. That this man was a contemporary of David and Asaph, the Scripture of Paralipomenon shows, as we have demonstrated before. And it seems to me that Idithun had need of the teaching concerning Providence, because he saw many men among mankind who were impious, proud, and arrogant, enjoying themselves with riches and abundant wealth; and, conversely, he saw the just cast down and oppressed by the impious. It is therefore likely that he took these things ill, and for this reason spoke words to both David and Asaph, such as others among the ancients put forth, as the one who said: *Wherefore do the wicked live, and have they grown old even in wealth? Their seed is according to their desire; their children are playing, taking up the psaltery and the harp.* And he says to the Lord: *Depart from me; I desire not to know thy ways.* ^C Such things, as is likely, as Idithun was perplexed about, David and Asaph—at times one, at times the other—as masters and physicians, provided medicinal teachings of the following opinion. Whence, in the thirty-eighth [psalm], he was taught to say such things as: *I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue. I have set a guard to my mouth, while the sinner stood against me; I was dumb, and was humbled, and kept silence,* and the rest, which we have explained in their proper places. But in the sixty-first, he same [David] taught him again with these words: *Shall not my soul be subject to God? for from him is my salvation. For he is my God and my Savior, my protector, I shall be moved no more. How long do ye rush upon a man, ye all kill him?* ^D We have also set forth the meaning of these words according to the grace granted to us. Consequently, in the present psalm, Asaph delivers a discipline to the same man, that he might not be troubled in the temptations of this life, nor in those things which he knew from the prophecies before him concerning the uprising of the impious, and the abjection of the people of God; but that in such straits he should flee to God himself, as to a saving harbor, and spend his time in supplications to Him, and say those things which, as a master, he was delivering to him through the proposed psalm. Having received this discipline, he applied this remedy to his own soul, for his own consolation using these words: *I cried to the Lord with my voice, with my voice to God, and he gave ear to me.* I composed myself, he says, in such a way that I might be worthy of the attention of God; wherefore he gave ear to me. And I sent forth such voices and cries as were worthy to be heard by God. Wherefore, according to Symmachus, it is said: *With my voice to God, and when I cried to God, he lent his ears.* By these things Idithun was taught not to think that God is anywhere far from those crying to Him. For if he sensed that God had become propitious to him at the first voice, he was taught by the very fact that the divine power is present everywhere, and that the eyes of Providence always look upon those who are worthy.

^A Ver. 3. "But even in the day of my tribulation," he says, "I sought out God with my hands by night before him, and I was not deceived." That the afflictions of the righteous are many (for a man who is not tempted is unproven), the divine Scriptures teach in every way. But as to how those who live in straits become superior to themselves, providing a proof of their own patience, not being confounded so as to reel and be troubled, he who says, "In tribulation Thou hast enlarged me," teaches; and the divine Apostle likewise delivers these things: "We are troubled, but not distressed; we are cast down, but not perishing; we are persecuted, but not forsaken." So then, here too he says, "In the day of my tribulation I ^B sought out God," for I did not look towards those who were afflicting me, nor towards those who were lifted up; but turning the eye of my mind towards God during the very time of the tribulation, I sought Him out. And I sought Him out with my hands, having been taught to raise holy hands according to the word which says: "I desire therefore that men pray, raising holy hands." And I did this not only by day, but also by night, raising my hands before Him, and through prayer and through the voices uttered towards Him seeking Him out. Wherefore, doing these things, "I was not deceived"; for He was found by me when sought; wherefore He heeded me, and provided His own ears for me. ^C But for the words, "With my hands by night before Him, and I was not deceived," Symmachus interpreted it in this way: "My hand was stretched out by night continually." This, therefore, I held as my greatest and only consolation. Otherwise, I would not endure any man who wished to console me and heal me at the time of my tribulation. Wherefore he adds: "My soul refused to be comforted," or, according to Symmachus, "My soul was not persuaded to admit consolation." But I did not comply with men who wished to console and exhort me in other ways; rather, "I remembered God and was delighted," for the memory of God sufficed me for gladness. But he also says, "I ^D communed, and my spirit grew faint," for which Symmachus interpreted, "I spoke with myself and I fainted." For he says, since I spoke with myself, I fainted; and when I communed within myself, then my spirit grew faint; but when I remembered God, I was filled with gladness. And furthermore, while seeking Him with my hands by night, I was not deceived; for I found Him as if standing near me and becoming ready to hear my voice.

Ver. 5. "My eyes anticipated the watches, I was troubled, and spoke not." The thoughts that caused me affliction were such as these. For since I foresaw the casting away of the people, which the aforementioned prophetic words had predicted, I was troubled with reason, and I considered within myself whether their ill would be without remedy. For that they should be cast away for a time and

^A that they were to suffer this until the end, I believed, yielding to the prophecy which says: "Why, O God, hast thou cast us off for ever? is thy wrath kindled against the sheep of thy pasture?" And I was in doubt within myself, considering these things: "Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?" and the rest. Thinking on these things I was troubled; but I brought to my memory the days of old, and the years from the beginning, reading from the ancient Scriptures how often, when he had cast them off because of sin, he brought them back, and having delivered those who acted impiously to their enemies, he received them again. Why, therefore, when of old he called them back even after terrible transgressions, not casting them off to the end, nor cutting off his mercy, will he now do none of these things, and will he forget his former kindness and mercy, he who is patient, of great mercy, and a lover of pity? These things I pondered within myself by night, and I searched my spirit, examining and testing my own thoughts, and inquiring of the spirit, if perchance it might suggest something toward the healing of my doubts. But in place of "Mine eyes prevented the night watches," Symmachus says, "My eyes were hindered from looking up." For collecting my thoughts within myself, I closed my eyes, so that I might not, by light striking the senses, be distracted from my purpose. Having closed the eyes of the body, then, I was doubtful within myself, not speaking with my voice, nor addressing another, but thinking with myself. Therefore, in place of "I was troubled, and I did not speak," and the rest, there is said by Symmachus: "I doubted, and I did not speak." ^C

— VERS. 6, 7. "I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. I called to remembrance my song in the night: I communed with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search." Being thus wide awake, and passing the nights without sleep, I was anxious about the things said before, by which it was declared: "They cut down the doors thereof at once with axes, as in a thicket of trees. And now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground. They said in their hearts, let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long." On these things, therefore, I was in doubt, whether there would be a remedy for those who had suffered such evils. And it is likely that Idithum, having heard the prophecy of Asaph, and pondering such things with himself, interrogated the prophet as a teacher, and after the manner of one questioning, brought forward this problem, saying: "What then, O prophet? since you have prophesied these things, I wish to learn and to know: Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? or will he cut off his mercy for ever from generation to generation? or will God forget to be gracious? or will he in anger shut up his tender mercies?" And surely to these inquiries Asaph prepared his teaching, writing the psalm for Idithum himself, and instructing him to say such things: "I cried unto God with my voice."

with my voice unto God, and he gave ear unto me," ^A teaching him not to be overly curious about the counsels of God, but to devote himself to prayers, and to apply his mind to these alone, reverencing and praising the judgments of God. "For his judgments are unsearchable, and his ways past finding out."

"And I said, Now I have begun: this is the change of the right hand of the Most High." Instead of this, Aquila says: "And I said, my infirmity: this is the change of the right hand of the Most High." Symmachus says: "My wound is the repetition of the right hand of the Most High." The fifth edition says: "And I said, my sorrows are the change of the right hand of the Most High." To the previously stated doubts, he says he was also pondering this within himself—that is, those thoughts by which he was already in doubt of mind, whether they were my infirmity, or sorrows, or wounds. For out of the infirmity of the soul I brought forth such words, and out of the wound of the soul; for I was wounded and felt pain as if for my own limbs; but I also spoke such things as if in the pain of childbirth for my own bowels. And I suffered these things because I saw that a change of the right hand of the Most High had occurred. For once that right hand used to work many miracles, bestowing incredible benefits upon the people; ^B but now a change of the right hand of the Most High has taken place. Therefore, pains laid hold of me, and I confess that my soul was wounded by infirmity and weakness of understanding. I saw the change of the right hand of God, remembering his ancient works. Therefore he says: "I remembered the works of the Lord; surely I will remember thy wonders from the beginning. And I will meditate also of all thy works, and talk of thy doings." For which Symmachus interpreted in this way: "I remembered the thoughts of the Lord, revolving thy ancient wonders, and I meditated on all thy actions, and I recounted thy devices, repeating these in memory."

Then, hearing now that "thou hast cast off for ever, and thy wrath is kindled against the sheep of thy pasture," I rightly supposed that this is a change of the right hand of the Most High. ^C For these are signs of change in God, and of his removal of that solicitude which he once exercised toward the people.

"O God, thy way is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders." Seeing the change of the right hand of the Most High, [I see] what things it has wrought; for instead of one nation, it has become beneficial to all nations. For he no longer made his power known to only one people as of old, but to all nations and all peoples. Therefore, struck with amazement and wondering, I say: "O God, thy way is in the sanctuary"; for the comprehension of thy way is beyond mortal nature; so that it may be aptly said: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" Therefore it is no longer fitting to be overly curious, or to explore the secrets. ^D

^A For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Therefore, having pondered these things at the appropriate time, he is utterly astonished at the depth of the wisdom of God, and says, "God, your way is in the sanctuary: who is so great a god as our God? You are the God who works wonders." And he explains what those wonders are by saying next, "You have made your power known among the peoples," for which Symmachus gave the rendering, "You have made your strength known among the nations." For just as you redeemed your people of old once by your arm, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, when you led them forth free from the land of Egypt and from the house of slavery; in the same way also now, when there has been a transformation of the right hand of the Most High, you have made known your power among the peoples and your strength among the nations.

^B VERSE 17. "The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and were afraid, and the depths were troubled." Most consistently, after having said, "You made your power known among the peoples"—or, according to Symmachus, "You made your strength known among the nations"—he prophetically declares the power of the New Testament while foretelling future events. This is why he says, "The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and were afraid." For just as long ago during the journey of the sons of Israel out of Egypt, the sea saw and fled, and the Jordan was turned backward; in the same way also at the coming of Emmanuel, that is, God with us, when he approached the river Jordan, the waters saw him and were struck with amazement.

^C Furthermore, even the multitudes of peoples gathered in the Churches of God, likened to waters according to the prophetic saying, "The voice of many nations is like the voice of many waters," seeing with the eyes of the soul God who has resided among men, were seized by a salutary fear, of whom it is said, "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God." For as long as those waters were blind, they did not see God, nor were they affected by fear of him; but now they have received great benefit from the contemplation and knowledge of the Word who has resided among them. And again, according to the history, when the Savior compelled his disciples to embark into the boat and proceed to the other side, and then in the fourth watch ^D of the night he came to them walking upon the sea, then also the waters saw him and were afraid. Likewise, when he rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm, the depths were troubled, as was the multitude of the sound of the waters.

For these things were fulfilled according to the letter of the prophecy; but according to the deeper understanding, the waters—that is, the ecclesiastical multitude gathered from all the nations—became the beginning of wisdom, inasmuch as they have been affected by divine fear, according to that saying, "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord." The abysses, however, being things different from the waters, were troubled in such a way as to produce sound and tumult. You might say that the abysses are the ranks of the unbelieving nations who, at various times, rising up against the Church, stirred up persecutions. But while the waters first feared God, later...

But the first waters feared God, and the unfathomed ^A abysses were troubled. A third order, however, remains beyond what has been mentioned: that of the clouds, which indeed gave forth a voice. And who were these clouds, if not those commanded not to rain upon the former vineyard, according to the saying: "And I will command the clouds that they rain not upon it," clearly meaning the people of the circumcision? And what could the clouds, filled with waters but not raining upon the old vineyard, be, except the Savior's disciples, apostles, and evangelists, who distributed the heavenly rain throughout the whole world and "gave their voice," so that "their sound went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world"? Therefore it is said: "The clouds gave voice; for Your arrows pass through." And what are the arrows, if not the saving and elect ones that wound the souls of those who are to be saved, by which the Bride of Christ, the Church, confesses she is wounded, saying: "Because I am wounded with love"? And the Savior Himself was called an arrow, according to the prophet who said: "He has set me as a select arrow, and hidden me in His quiver." But the Father’s arrow ^B was His only-begotten Word; the Son’s arrows, however, were the apostles, as well as His divine and fired-up oracles. For this reason, it is said in the psalm concerning the Beloved: "Your arrows are sharp; peoples shall fall under You." So then, it is said here also: "For Your arrows pass through." For the arrows of Christ were running everywhere, proclaiming as they moved; therefore "the clouds gave their voice." But he also says, "The voice of Your thunder is in the wheel." By thunder here, he indicates the evangelical preaching. For just as the sound of thunder is a heavenly noise and surpasses all human strength, in the same way, the evangelical ^C preaching, being heavenly, was not endowed with human power. For it did not spring from mortal intent, but with divine power it filled the whole world. Therefore, the Savior called His apostles "Boanerges," which is translated "sons of thunder." Thus, here too, it is said consistently with what preceded: "The voice of Your thunder is in the wheel." By "wheel," he signifies the whole of life; since even in Ezekiel it is said, "a wheel in the midst of a wheel," meaning the whole life of men. Now, the world is a wheel, being spherical and moving in a circular fashion. But here, the wheel is the life of men, which makes its turning without ceasing; therefore it is called "a wheel in the midst of a wheel." According to Aquila, "The voice of Your thunder is in the wheel"; according to Symmachus, "The sound of Your thunder is in the wheel"; according to Theodotion, "The voice of Your thunder is in the wheel." And see how, according to all the interpreters, it is called a wheel; for the Hebrew word *gelgel* contains it, which means "in the wheel"; it is also named thus in Ezekiel. Having arrived here, you should note that Holy Scripture also knows that which surrounds it as a wheel. Therefore, they say the world is spherical. Since even in Esdra, Zorobabel carried off the prize of victory from the king, after he had said: "Great is the heaven, and great the sun, because it turns in the circuit of heaven, and returns to its own ^D

^A place in one day." These things are indeed understood according to physical contemplation. But the matters now set before us prophesy the power of the evangelical theophany; and how through it the multitude of the nations recognized God; the abysses were troubled; the mentioned clouds gave forth their voice; His arrows passed through, and how His voice of thunder came to be in the wheel; and in addition to all these, how His lightnings shone upon the world. And what would you say these lightnings of His are, if not the splendor of the gifts of the Holy Spirit which flashes through the whole world? "For there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And to one indeed is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, to another faith," and the rest; these, being preeminent gifts of God, flash forth and illuminate His Church.

^B VER. 20. In the sea is your way, and your paths in many waters, and your footsteps will not be known. Consistently with what has already been delivered, the earth was shaken and moved. For instead of "and it trembled," according to all the interpreters, "and it was moved" is said. And the earth was moved in the same way as is described in the Gospels: "And when the Savior entered Jerusalem, the whole city was moved, saying: Who is this?" For just as by the place the inhabitants of the city are designated, so in this passage it is said that the inhabitants of the earth themselves were moved and shaken. Wherefore, from the evangelical preaching, announced as a testimony to all the nations, the ears of all were moved. Consequently, the earth was shaken and moved on account of those things which were delivered before. For if His lightnings shone upon the world, if the voice of His thunder sounded in the wheel, ^C if His arrows passed through to all, if the clouds gave their voice, it followed from all these that the earth should be shaken and moved. But how His way was in the sea, and His paths in many waters, and how His footsteps are not known, you may understand from His own promise to the disciples, which runs thus: "Go teach all nations in my name"; and: "Lo, I am with you all days, even unto the consummation of the world." For being invisibly present everywhere on earth with His disciples, He walked in the sea of life, and in the many waters of the nations; and He performed this by a hidden and invisible power: wherefore it is said, "And your footsteps will not be known."

These things, therefore, were fulfilled in the salutary advent of God. ^D Moreover, he says, these things were fulfilled in His salutary advent to men through the change of the right hand of the Most High, just as formerly in the case of the former people, when He provided a crossing for them leads out of the land of Egypt through the sea: for then, manifesting His own power, He prepared a way and paths in many waters; so that all Israel might follow Him as He went before in the crossing of the sea, and His processional path was unknown and incomprehensible to men, when He led

His people like sheep by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Now, another person might refer all these preceding matters to the exodus from Egypt, saying that the words, "The waters saw Thee, O God, the waters saw Thee and were afraid; the depths were troubled; the multitude of the sound of waters," were fulfilled at that time, and he would consistently refer the whole passage to the history that occurred then. But I, not finding how the things that follow were fulfilled according to the letter—for the law of Moses makes no mention that at that time clouds gave forth a voice in a bodily manner, nor that sensible arrows passed through, nor that His lightnings shone throughout the whole world at the time they were in the desert—have set forth the interpretation that occurred to me for the individual places. And the reader will know by divine judgment which of the stated interpretations he ought to choose. ^A

INTELLECTUS ASAPH. LXXVII

"Attend, O my people, to my law; incline your ear to the words of my mouth." Since the discourse urges us to the understanding of what is set forth, the title "Intellectus" (Understanding) is used, for we indeed stand in need of this for the investigation of its meaning. And, first of all, one might reasonably inquire whose person it is that speaks at the beginning, "Attend, O my people, to my law; incline your ear to the words of my mouth." ^B For it is not fitting for either Asaph or David to say these things, since they were not lawgivers; nor was it appropriate for either David or Asaph to say, "Incline your ear to the words of my mouth," for they were not offering their own words, but were ministering to the will of the divine Spirit. Wherefore it is inscribed "Intellectus," so that we may understand who it is that says these things, and who is his people, and what is the law; for it seems to be other than the law of Moses. But these things are solved by the Gospel, in which it is said: "All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds, and without a parable He did not speak to them; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying, 'I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.'" ^C And through which prophet were these things said, if not through this Asaph who is before us? Not understanding this, some have added in the Gospel the words "through Isaiah the prophet"; but in the accurate copies, without that addition "through Isaiah," it is simply said thus: "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying, 'I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world,'" which are contained here, but not in the prophecy of Isaiah. From the evangelical testimony, therefore, it would be the Savior, and no other, who in the present passage says in His own person, "Attend, O my people, to my law." And in order that we might understand it as such, He placed the inscription "Intellectus," so that these things might not be considered a psalm nor a canticle nor anything of that kind, but the teaching of Christ to His own people, or rather to His Church, in which He speaks concerning the crimes of the Jewish people. Furthermore, you will understand that His people are different from the one that is accused in what follows. ^D

^A If you compare this with the prophecy of Zechariah, which reads thus: *Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord. And many nations shall flee to the Lord, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. And you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.* Here I would have you consider that the Lord testifies that He was sent by another Lord Almighty, and that He promises to gather for Himself a people from all the nations.

Therefore, this very Word of God addressed the people from the nations, saying: *Attend, O my people, to my law.* He teaches that His law is the Gospel, concerning which Isaiah also prophesied, saying: *For out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and He shall judge among the nations.* ^B This is what Jeremiah called the new covenant, saying: *Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will make a new covenant, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers.* Isaiah again proclaimed these things concerning the Savior, saying: *Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased. He shall bring forth judgment to the nations. He shall not contend, nor cry out, neither shall His voice be heard outside. A bruised reed He shall not break, and smoking flax He shall not quench, but He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall shine and shall not be broken, until He sets judgment in the earth, and in His name the nations shall hope.* For instead of the phrase "and in His name the nations shall hope," the Hebrew has "and in His law," as all the other translators also have rendered it—namely, "in His law."

Christ therefore exhorts His people from the nations, by these words, to attend to His law. For He desires that they should attend, not that they should listen lightly, but that they should accurately weigh and understand His law with their minds; nay, more, He commands them to incline their ear to the words of His mouth and to attend to His law, because He delivered His doctrine in parables. Wherefore He subjoins: ^C

VERS. 2. *I will open my mouth in a parable, I will speak of the dark sayings from of old.* This is also taught by the scripture of the holy Gospels, where it is said: *All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and without a parable He did not speak to them; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden from the foundation.* For instead of "I will speak of the dark sayings from of old," Matthew, being a Hebrew, used his own interpretation, saying: *I will utter things hidden from the foundation.* In whose place Aquila published, "I will rain down enigmas from the beginning," and Symmachus, "I will make ancient propositions to gush forth." ^D Since, moreover, the Word of God was about to institute accusations against the former people, and to provide the causes why they were cast off, He necessarily commands His Church to attend to what is said, and to understand the accusations brought forward in comparison with the former people, so that she might not fall into a similar misfortune; but, instructed by such a narrative as to what end overtook them, she might be recalled by that example to a better fruit.

^A

OF THE PARABOLIC DISCOURSE

For when He had said, "I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter dark sayings from the beginning," He adds the accusations of the former people. For He uses "parable" in the place of an example for our instruction. But according to another mode of explanation, this discourse enumerates the crimes of the Jewish people because it had been said above: "O God, why hast Thou cast us off unto the end? [Thy] wrath is kindled against the sheep of Thy pasture?" and other things that were said regarding the siege that overtook them. For here He reveals the causes of these things. And because in the preceding psalm it was said: "Will the Lord cast off for ever? And will He be no more favourable? Or will He cut off His mercy for ever, from generation to generation? Or will God forget to be merciful? Or shall He shut up His tender mercies in His anger?"—it is with good reason, since such questions have been raised, that He now enumerates the causes for the wrath that has come upon the Jewish nation unto the end. And the Saviour Himself also in the Gospels addressed them in words similar to those set before us, saying: "How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."

^C VERS. 3. *Quanta audivimus et cognovimus ea, et patres nostri narraverunt nobis.*

The former things were spoken from the person of one, and who that person was has already been demonstrated from the same words. But now He assumes other things, lowering Himself from His divinity and speaking more in the human manner, as if from the person of the man He assumed from the seed of David according to the flesh, whose generation the Gospel narrates with these words: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Therefore, taking with Him the disciples and apostles who were of the same race as Himself according to the flesh, He sets forth these things in the plural, saying: "How much we have heard and known." For when He was calling His own people and setting before them His own law, and exhorting them to incline their ear to His words, He brought forward the admonition with royal authority from the person of one; but now, when He summarizes the narrative of the ancient records, He sets forth the discourse as if in common, commemorating those things done of old, and gathering together again the things that are declared in the history of the Scripture as though they were known to all. Therefore He says: "How much we have heard and known." Yet it is not for all to hear and to know, but only for those who understand the words. For this reason Philip said to the eunuch: "Understandest thou what thou readest?" But not to all did the fathers recount these things. Therefore, we who are of the nations and have approached the divine Word, do not have fathers according to the flesh to teach us the divine lessons...

^A but the Savior himself, by his own person and that of his apostles, disciples, and evangelists—who were born according to the flesh from the same fathers—brings forward these words, saying: *What we have heard and known, and our fathers have related to us.* Indeed, having received these things from the fathers themselves, they proclaim them to us who are from the gentiles as those who were ignorant of them, teaching us what happened to those of old—things which were heard through succession from the fathers by their children, and again came from them to those born later, and from them were handed down once more to the children’s children by memory. Therefore it is said:

—VERS. 4. *They have not been hidden from their children in another generation. Telling the praises of the Lord, and his powers, and his wonderful works which he did.*

Many things, indeed, have been handed down to us by the fathers concerning the benefits ^B God bestowed upon them, but one thing is the most necessary of all: the testimony and the law placed within the testimony, which he handed down to them in writing, commanding them to meditate upon it and to hand down the meditation of it to their children, grandchildren, and descendants by succession. Therefore he says:

—VERS. 5. *And he raised up a testimony in Jacob, and set a law in Israel.*

The tabernacle of the testimony was called the "testimony," in which the ark of the Covenant was deposited, and the law set within the ark, as well as the cherubim, the mercy seat, the lampstand, the table, and the showbread; all of which Moses, having been commanded to make, constructed according to the pattern shown to him on the mountain. But that law and that testimony had been handed down of old to Jacob and Israel. ^C Since, however, those who received them transgressed, rightfully, when he had prepared for himself another people and another testimony—namely the body of Christ, which was the temple of the divine Word dwelling within it, as he himself taught, saying: *Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up*—in addition to this he also hands down another law to his own people, namely the evangelical law. Therefore, at the beginning of the passage set before us he said: *Attend, my people, to my law.* Yet, he set the old law and the old testimony—for so Symmachus interpreted, saying: *And he set a testimony for Jacob*—for the former people, commanding them to make these things known to their children and grandchildren, so that no generation would be ignorant, but the doctrine of the law would remain also in those who came after. Therefore it is said:

—VERS. 6. *That another generation may know, the children who will be born, and they will arise and tell them to their children.* ^D

The completion and the purpose of the meditation of the law was this:

—VERS. 7. *That they may place their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, and seek out his commandments; that they may not become like their fathers, a perverse and provoking generation: a generation that did not direct its heart, and its spirit was not faithful to God.*

What was that former generation of fathers, if not that which existed in the time of Moses? Because of it, Moses shattered the tables of the law that he had received; for thus did Moses call them a perverse and perverted generation, pronouncing this against them: *Reprobate children, a gen*

generation perverse and perverted, do you thus repay the Lord? Is the people thus foolish and not wise?* ^A But in order that those who were to come after might not turn out similar to their fathers, He gave them the written law and the testimony, by which He both accused the fathers and instructed and testified to the children not to be made like their fathers, nor like that former generation which did not direct its heart, and whose spirit was not faithful to God. For it was not of a base nature, nor of a wicked constitution, but, refusing obedience to God by its own will, it provoked Him, and became perverse through its own tortuousness. Wherefore, according to Symmachus, it is said: *A generation unwilling in heart, and unstable towards God in its own spirit.*

VERS. 9. Filii Ephraim intendentes et emittentes arcubus, versi sunt in die belli.

^A his, they were unwilling to walk. Furthermore, he signifies metaphorically by the "sons of Ephraim," and by extension whoever might be similar in their ways, even if they were not of the same tribe, all the rest of the entire nation. For even those who in subsequent times separated themselves from Jerusalem and practiced idolatry in Samaria were "sons of Ephraim." Rightly, then, having called the transgressors of the entire nation "sons of Abraham," he collectively accuses them all, saying:— VERS. 11, 12. And they forgot his benefits, and his wonderful works which he showed them. In the sight of their fathers he did wonderful things in the land of Egypt, in the field of Taneos. For having made oblivion of all those things which were shown to their fathers, they took up arms against God, refusing to walk in his law, although it lay within their own power to be able and willing to do so. But they, though equipped with this power, were unwilling to use it with an upright purpose; but by turning their backs to God, they fell into oblivion of those ancient wonders of his. Of what wonders, indeed, if not those which were once done in Egypt, and not in all of Egypt, but in the field of Taneos? Which ^B Moses, however, did not declare in his own Scripture; but Asaph, who was a prophet, teaches through the things set before us, that those wonderful things done in Egypt were accomplished by Moses in the field of Taneos. For again, as he proceeds further in the following verses, he says: "As he set his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Taneos." And why in the field of Taneos? Because in this place the demonic energy prevailed most of all; for at that time the demons established in Tanis were very powerful. This is declared by Isaiah the prophet in his vision of Egypt, saying: "And the princes of Tanis shall be foolish, the wise counselors of the king; their counsel shall be made foolish. How will you say to the king: We are the sons of the wise, the sons of the kings from the beginning? Where are your wise men, and let them announce to you, and tell you what the Lord has planned concerning Egypt? The princes of Tanis have failed, and the princes of Memphis have perished." And there were demons, as is likely, wicked ones, who through oracles and divinations professed a kind of wisdom, and by this became the counselors of those who held power in the various regions of Egypt. Perhaps those who applied themselves to Egyptian sorceries, and who resisted Moses with their magic arts, were the princes of Tanis and the wise counselors of the king? Wherefore ^D this present word rightly teaches that the things done by Moses in Egypt were accomplished in the field of Taneos.

VERS. 13. He divided the sea and led them through, and made the waters to stand as a bottle. The things done in Egypt he has gathered into a single word, saying: "He performed wonders in the land of Egypt," adding what we did not know, "in the field of Taneos." What those wonders were, the Scripture of Moses narrates at length; but the present psalm summarizes them below, saying: He turned into

^A blood their rivers, and their rains that they might not drink. He sent among them the dog-fly, and it devoured them, and the things following these. These things, then, occurred against the Egyptians in the field of Taneos; but the discourse, moving on to the present, places before us the benefits bestowed upon the people: how they crossed the sea, the waters being divided into many parts; which is clearly indicated by the saying: To him who divided the Red Sea into divisions, and led Israel through the midst of it. The sons of the Hebrews say, therefore, that it was divided into twelve sections according to the number of the twelve tribes of the people, so that each tribe might pass over separately in the path assigned to it. Since the waters were separated by an intermediate space, and dry land was held between them, it was consequential that the waters, raised into a heap, should be contained, being swollen and lifted up in the air ^B and, as it were, enclosed in the air like a skin; wherefore it is said: He set the waters as a skin.

After so great a miracle, He led them, he says, in the cloud of the day, with the cloud overshadowing and providing a shelter for them, so that they might not be worn out by the burning heat of the sun. Correspondingly to the cloud of the day, a pillar of fire led them through the night, making the day bright for them; wherefore it is said: And all the night through in the illumination of fire.

Regarding these, it is said: He rent the rock in the wilderness, and gave them to drink as in a great abyss. Note how even here he called the multitude of waters an abyss. But for the phrase "He rent the rock," Aquila, serving the Hebrew text, rendered it "He split rocks in the wilderness," by which ^C it is shown that it was not one rock that poured forth water for them, but many. Whence the divine Apostle signifies this, saying: For they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ; as if the rock accompanied them everywhere, and was present in their stations, in their stopping-places, and in every place. You will find that one can observe this also in the Scripture of Moses; for in Exodus it is said: And they encamped in Raphidin, and there was no water for the people to drink. And the people strove with Moses; and thereafter: The Lord said to Moses: Go before the people, and take with you some of the elders of the people, and the rod with which you struck the sea, and go. Behold, I stand there before you upon the rock in Choreb; and I will strike the rock, and water will come out of it, and the people will drink. And Moses did so. ^D These things, then, are in Exodus; but in Numbers it is said: And the children of Israel came, the whole congregation, into the wilderness of Sin, and there was no water for the congregation, and they gathered against Moses and Aaron. And the people strove with Moses. And thereafter: The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Take the rod, and gather the multitude, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before them, and it shall give its waters. And water shall be brought forth to them from the rock, and it shall be drinkable for the multitude and their beasts. Justly, therefore, because the rock was seen to furnish water in various places, it is said in the present instance regarding the former: He rent the rock in the wilderness, and

^A gave them drink as from a great abyss; and regarding the other, it follows: And He brought forth water out of the rock, and brought down waters as rivers. Nevertheless, although such great things were provided for them, they still added to their sin—and they sinned not against themselves, but against Him. For they were sinning against God Himself, acting impiously through their contradiction against Him. Wherefore ^B he adds: They embittered the Highest in the waterless land; or according to Aquila: To rebel against the Highest in the pathless; or according to Symmachus: To contend with the Highest in thirst in a pathless place. And why they embittered the Highest in the waterless land, Moses has taught; for after providing them water from the rock, he records, saying: And he called the name of that place, Temptation and contradiction, because of the contradiction of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying: Is the Lord among us, or not?

And they tempted God in their hearts, to ask food for their souls. And they spoke against God. How they spoke against God, ^C Moses also teaches, saying: And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, and said to them: Would that we had died having been struck by the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots, and we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out to kill all this assembly with hunger. And after these things Moses said to the people: But what are we? For your murmuring is not against us, but against God. Draw near before God; for He has heard your murmuring. And after these things ^D the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel, etc. The present discourse, therefore, remembering these things, says: And they tempted God in their hearts, to ask food for their souls. And they spoke against God, and said: Will God be able to prepare a table in the desert? Because He struck the rock and waters flowed, and torrents were flooded; can He also give bread, or prepare a table for His people? Now, these things are not explicitly found in the history, but here it is noted that they indeed thought these things. He says, They tempted God in their hearts, and, They spoke against God. And how did they speak, if not by thinking these things—even if they did not utter them with their lips, but revolved them in their minds—which He, the knower of hearts, knowing, heard? Wherefore it is said: The Lord heard and delayed. For which Aquila interpreted, And He did not forbear, that is, He did not delay; but Symmachus, And He was angered. Then, And fire was kindled in Jacob, he says, and wrath ascended upon Israel. And it is also written in Moses: And the people was murmuring against the Lord, and the Lord heard and was angered; and fire was kindled in them from the Lord, and it devoured a part.

^A And the people cried to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire ceased. And the name of that place was called "Incendium," because fire was kindled in them from the Lord. Therefore it is said in the present psalm: *And fire was kindled in Jacob, and wrath ascended against Israel, (VERS. 22-25) because they did not believe in God, nor did they hope in his salvation. And he commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven. And he rained down manna upon them to eat, and gave them the bread of heaven. Man ate the bread of angels.*

That which is written, *He commanded the clouds from above*, seems to me to indicate a command given to the angelic powers who were at that time ministering to perform wonders, by whom the manna was supplied to the people. We are also taught from this that the angelic powers are perhaps called "clouds," just as in the prophet who says: *And I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it* : so that by the clouds, angels are to be understood, just as here also. And it is likely that, just as by evil powers plagues were inflicted upon the Egyptians, as the discourse states: *He sent upon them wrath and fury, and affliction and a sending through evil angels*—so, on the contrary, the better things were performed through auspicious and good angels. Wherefore it is said: *And he commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven.* By "the doors of heaven opened," understand heavenly deeds. For all things that were performed miraculously by God were divine and heavenly; these, when they were not occurring, were closed to men, but when they occurred in a miraculous manner, it was as if he opened certain heavenly doors to them.

But for the phrase, *Man ate the bread of angels*, Aquila translated it: *the man ate the bread of the powerful*; and Symmachus: *And he provided them with heavenly grain, man ate the bread of the great*. It is to be noted that the Hebrew word does not contain "bread of angels," but either according to Aquila, "bread of the powerful," or according to Symmachus, "bread of the great," or according to Theodotion, "bread of the powerful," or according to the fifth edition, "bread of the powerful." No one else translated it "of angels," because the Hebrew exemplar does not have it so, lest anyone should think that the angelic powers themselves also consume sensible food. ^C In the Gospels, however, our Savior and Lord rebukes those who thought that the manna provided to the people in the desert was the food of angels, wherefore he says: *Amen, amen I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven that is true*; and again: *Your fathers ate manna in the desert, and are dead. This is the bread that descends from heaven, that if anyone eats of it, he may not die.* If, then, he says, it were the heavenly bread which it is likely the angels use, they would by no means have died who had tasted of that bread in the desert: but because it was neither heavenly nor truly the bread of angels, for that reason they died. This is the truly heavenly bread, of which whoever shall be a partaker will never die. What this bread is, he teaches with these words: *For the bread of God is that which*

^A cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world; and he points him out when he says: *I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.* And again: *I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of my bread, he shall live for ever.* Therefore, the angelic powers also enjoy eternal life through participation in the Word. For only the only-begotten Word of God is the nourishment of every rational substance. Wherefore, the Hebrew reading in the present passage quite accurately does not contain the phrase, "Man ate the bread of angels."

^B VERS. 26-31. *He sent them victuals to the full. He caused the south wind to pass from heaven, and by his power he brought in the south-west wind. And he rained upon them flesh as dust, and feathered birds as the sand of the seas: and it fell in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. And they did eat and were filled exceedingly, and he brought them their desire; they were not disappointed of their desire. While their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, and slew the greater part of them, and shackled the chosen ones of Israel.* That he provided for them not only bread but also meat, the Scripture of Moses teaches, saying in Exodus: *And Moses and Aaron said unto all the congregation of the children of Israel: At even ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt; and in the morning ye shall see the glory of the Lord, for he hath heard all your murmurings. For the Lord will give you flesh to eat at even, and bread in the morning to the full.* And he adds thereafter: *And it came to pass at even, and a quail came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning, the dew lay round about the camp; and behold, upon the face of the wilderness, a small thing as fine as dust, white as hoarfrost upon the ground.* But because it is said later in Numbers: *And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a-lusting; and the children of Israel also wept, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt for nought; and the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions: but now our soul is dried away.* Then it is subjoined: *And Moses went out into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. And there went forth a spirit from the Lord, and brought forth quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey ^C on this side and a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits upon the face of the earth. And the people rose up all that day, and all that night, and gathered: he that gathered most had no excess, and he that gathered little had no lack.* And he who gathered little, gathered ten homers. And the flesh was yet in their vessels round about the camp, before it failed. And the Lord was angry, and the name of that place was called "Graves of Concupiscence," because there they buried the people that lusted;—therefore, the clause which we are examining opportunely teaches this in these words: *He sent them victuals to the full*, and the rest. Moreover, he teaches that those winged creatures

^A were driven by the winds into the camp. But according to Symmachus it is said: *He who brought the Eurus from heaven, and introduced by his power the Notus, like the sand of the seas, feathered birds. And he cast them inside the camp around the tents. And eating, they were satisfied exceedingly; and he brought them their desire, they did not abstain from their desire.* While their food was yet in their teeth, the wrath of God came upon them, and he slew their stouter ones and laid low the young men of Israel. And they suffered these things deservedly; for while he, as an indication of his own power, miraculously provided these things for them, they, indulging in insatiable flesh-eating, perished by a disease of the bowels, not applying their minds to the great miracle, nor rendering glory to the author of so great a wonder; but, being wholly given over to their flesh, they brought destruction upon themselves.

^B VERSE 32, 33. *In all these they sinned still, and did not believe in his wonders. And their days failed in vanity, and their years with haste.* Since the discourse is involved in reproving and accusing the wickedness of the Jews, it enumerates their crimes, and declares that it was not without cause that they incurred the wrath of God. And it teaches that, even after all those things mentioned before, increasing their own evils, they still sinned; and they sinned because they did not believe in his wonders. For though they saw such things with their eyes, they were overcome by their desire. Then, *and their days failed in vanity*. For whereas they ought, having become spectators of the great deeds of God, to have committed themselves wholly to him, they, on the contrary, like brute beasts, had their minds set upon the vanity of the body, complaining with stupidity and folly, and gathering nothing from the goods supplied to them for the knowledge of God and the salvation of their soul. Thus, therefore, ^C their days failed in vanity; and not only that, but their years also failed with haste: for "failed" must be understood in common for both. For which Aquila has put forth: *And he consumed their days like vapor, and made their years to hasten.* For the years of him who spends his days in vanity slip away in haste; of him, on the other hand, who completes his days in light and in good works, the days do not fail, but become full, and his years result in being complete and long-drawn. Wherefore, for those who, after so many miracles performed, grew old in unbelief, the time of life is vain and slips away in haste. And so, from those miracles ^D and the benefits conferred upon them, they received no immediate fruit; but by the punishment brought upon them they were far from becoming better. Wherefore he then adds: — VERSE 34. When

he slew them, they sought him, and they returned and sought early after God. ^A For being scourged and punished, they were recovering their senses after the manner of irrational beasts, being corrected by the smiter, though not by right reasoning; to whom the Word would have said: Be ye not as the horse and as the mule, which have no understanding. Whose jaws thou must hold with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Many are the scourges of the sinners, but mercy shall compass him that trusteth in the Lord.

Verse 36, 37. And they loved him in their mouth, and in their tongue they lied unto him. But their heart was not right with him, nor were they faithful in his covenant. ^B While miracles were performed for their own sake, they did not believe; but being scourged and put to death, they would return to God. Yet they did not this sincerely, but only feignedly, and were accustomed to praise him only as far as their lips went, not doing this with a pure mind; so that the saying applies to them: This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me. And while they proceeded to such a degree of wickedness, He, after the manner of a good father, being moved with still greater mercy toward them, was propitious to their sins, and did not deliver them unto extreme destruction; nay, rather He turned away from them the destroying demon and the avenging angel—the minister of His wrath, who was called His fury—the Father being reconciled for their sake. ^C Wherefore it is said: — Verse 38. But he is compassionate, and will be propitious to their sins, and will not destroy them. And he will multiply to turn away his anger, and will not kindle all his wrath. For He still bore with them patiently, not yet casting them off to the end. But according to Symmachus it is said: He, he saith, is merciful, forgiving sins, and not destroying. And much he turned away his anger, and did not stir up all his fury. ^D Concerning these things He brings another accusation against them, saying: Verse 39. And he remembered that they are flesh, a spirit that goeth and returneth not again. For since he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit, and he that is joined to the flesh becomes one body, justly does He say that they had become carnal and corporeal on account of their love of the body and of pleasures, and had become flesh. Therefore He says: He remembered that they are flesh. And how they are flesh, He explains by the following words: A spirit that goeth and returneth not again. For the spirit of the flesh is earthly, mortal, and liable to ruin. Such were those in the time of the flood, concerning whom it is said: My spirit shall not abide in men, because they are flesh; so that one is the divine spirit originally breathed into men, and another is the spirit of the flesh. The spirit of the flesh is of such a kind, even as that which is in irrational animals, which is

^A a spirit that goeth and returneth not. The Apostle calls it by its proper name, the "mind of the flesh," where he says: "For the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. But the mind of the spirit is life and peace." In this way, the bodies of those accused became such from their love of the flesh, so that it might most justly be said of them: "Man, when he was in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts and became like unto them."

VERSES 40-48.

After all the things mentioned above, they remained provoking him—that is to say, making God bitter to themselves, who is by nature kind, and good, and sweet, but is thought to be bitter by those who are worthy of punishment. These, then, who provoked him in the desert, ^B drew wrath upon themselves. And again they turned and tempted God, and provoked the Holy One of Israel. And they did all these things not recalling to memory the marvelous powers once shown to them, at the time when, redeeming them from the hand of the oppressor Pharaoh, he freed them from the dominion of the Egyptians, inflicting divers plagues upon their enemies in the field of Zoan. In that place, first occurred the transformation of the river into blood, which was such to the Egyptians, but not so to those who were being assisted. Whence also their rain-showers—or, according to Aquila, their "outpourings," or, according to Symmachus, their "channels"—were turned into blood. For every gathering of water suffered the same things as the river. But those who are accused made no memory of these things, nor did they fix their minds on the plague of the dog-fly sent against the Egyptians, nor the scourge of the frogs, nor that of the mildew; nor even how, on their account, the Egyptians were punished by being delivered over to the locust, the hail, the frost, and the fire. Although they had received ^C experience of these things by their works, they nevertheless became forgetful of all of them. Wherefore, according to Symmachus, it is said: "They remembered not his hand, the day in which he delivered them from the oppressor; him who wrought his signs and his wonders in Egypt, in the field of Zoan; who turned their rivers into blood, and their channels, that they might not drink; who sent among them the dog-fly to devour them, ^D and the frog to destroy them; who gave their fruits to the mildew and their labors to the locust; who killed their vine with hail and their sycamores with freezing; who delivered their cattle to the pestilence and their possessions to the birds." But for that word, "to the mildew," Symmachus...

has translated it in the same way as *mycetes* [mildew/fungus], while Aquila has translated it as *bruchus* [locust]; and again, for “to the frost,” Symmachus has given *vermis* [worm], and Aquila has given *in glacie* [in ice]. These things, omitted by Moses, are here narrated; but the *aerugo* [mildew/rust] and *mycetes* seem to be the same as what is called the *cinips* [gnat] by Moses. For although the Scripture of Moses records ten plagues, this discourse has recounted blood, frogs, the dog-fly, the locust, hail, the death of cattle, and the death of the firstborn; but it did not mention the gnats, nor the boils, nor the darkness; instead of these, it said *aerugo* and *pruina* [frost]; in whose place others have interpreted *myceten* or *bruchum*, *vermem* or *glaciem*. ^A

Verse 49-51. He sent upon them the wrath of his indignation, indignation and wrath and tribulation, a sending by evil angels. He made a way to the path of his wrath, he spared not from death their souls, and their cattle he shut up in death. And he struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, the firstfruits of all their labor in the tabernacles of Ham.

Beyond those things which were said above, God also worked these things against the Egyptians for the salvation of his people: “He sent upon them the wrath of his indignation, indignation and wrath and tribulation.” But since wrath and indignation are frequently mentioned, this discourse reveals the meaning of this word in what follows, saying: “a sending by evil angels,” or according to Symmachus, “a sending of angels bringing evil.” For the sending of angels bringing evil is, according to the human way of thinking, considered to be the wrath and indignation of God. ^B For it is not fitting to think that there is a commotion of wrath in God; rather, punishments inflicted upon the impious by the just judgment of God through the sending of angels who are appointed for this are called wrath and indignation. Moreover, when the sendings of angels bringing evil were made against the Egyptians, he himself “made a way to the path of his wrath,” or according to Symmachus, “he paved a track for his wrath.” And it seems to me that through these things he hints at the mystical worship handed down to the people at the time when the wrath was brought upon the Egyptians. For then they were commanded to celebrate the festival of the Pascha and to sacrifice a lamb as a symbol of the Lamb of God who was to be sacrificed for men, and to smear the lintels of their houses with blood, so that, upon seeing this, the exterminator would refrain from inflicting this damage upon those doing so. ^C For it is written: “And the Lord will pass over to strike the Egyptians, and he will see the blood on the lintel and on both the doorposts. And the Lord will pass over the door, and will not permit the exterminator to enter into your houses to strike.” But for them he prepared a way to escape ^D the wrath...

to flee His wrath; but He did not spare the Egyptians; rather, He delivered their souls to death, being deserving of such a punishment; ^A since, surrendered to impieties and to the polytheistic and Egyptian superstition, they happened to have their souls baptized in another death. Wherefore the present discourse does not teach that a common death had come upon them, but a death of souls. For the exterminator to whom they were surrendered, at the same time as the dissolution of the body, seized their souls, leading them away to destruction. Wherefore it is written again: *He did not spare their souls from death.* Then it clarifies it by saying next: *And He struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, the beginning of all their labor.* Instead of "the beginning of all their labor in the tabernacles of Ham," Symmachus interpreted it as "the firstfruits of their strength." For the firstborn were the firstfruits of the strength of those who begat them. Through the first plagues, therefore, as if calling them to repentance through His forbearance and long-suffering, He brought punishments upon them sparingly. But in the end, He did not spare their souls from death; but He also included their cattle in death. For every firstborn in the land of Egypt was slaughtered, both of cattle and of men. And ^B he speaks very precisely regarding men when he says that their souls were delivered to death; for the exterminating demon was present, who took away their souls even after death; but concerning the cattle, he no longer mentions souls, but only the common and bodily death; for cattle do not possess souls that remain after the dissolution of the body, in the way that the souls of men do. The same history is narrated in different ways by Moses and by the present discourse; the former saying that the exterminator served the death of the firstborn; but the present discourse narrating that these things happened through evil angels. And there, Moses narrates that the lintels were anointed with blood, and that this was a protection for those who escaped the exterminator; here, however, God is said to have made a way and a path, that they might escape His wrath. These things, he says, were accomplished in the tabernacles of Ham, or, in the habitations of Ham, ^C according to Symmachus; or, in the shelters of Ham, according to Aquila. By which we are taught that Egypt has been the tabernacles of Ham. For since there were three sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, Ham became the father of Canaan, and Canaan the father of Mizraim, who was Egypt, from whom are all the Egyptians; so that rightly the land of the Egyptians is said to be the tabernacles of the ancestor of Mizraim. And this Ham was the one who first inhabited Egypt.

^D And He took away His people like sheep, and what follows. After the tenth plague against the Egyptians, he teaches how their departure from Egypt took place, saying: *And He took away His people like sheep, and led them like a flock in the desert. And He guided them in hope, and they did not fear.* According to Aquila: *And He guided them into confidence, and they were not terrified*; according to Symmachus, *He guided them without fear and terror*; and the sea covered their enemies. And these

things indeed were prior to their sojourn in the desert; yet the discourse does not follow the order of events, but, as is fitting for a hymn and ode, it places the second events first and the first events second. ^B Wherefore, having previously recounted the events that happened in the desert, and as much as they sinned in the desert, and how often they provoked Him, he afterward makes mention of the former things, so that he might construct the discourse not around sad things, but around the benefits of God. For this reason, he follows these up by attaching to the things done by God in Egypt and to the crossing of the Red Sea the words: *And He brought them into the mountain of His sanctuary, this mountain which His right hand has acquired*, here passing over in silence the events in the desert, because he had already provided their narrative. But what mountain, if not Zion, on which Jerusalem was built later, after the times of Asaph and David? Then he resumes the narrative, saying thus: *And He cast out nations from before them, and divided to them the land by a line of inheritance. And He caused the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.* Having mentioned the entry into the land of promise, and how they had obtained the mountain of Zion—which in much later times David acquired, having chased out the Jebusite with the sword—he resumes the history, summarizing how, after the death of Moses, with Jesus son of Nave as their leader, they crossed into the land of promise, and how they cast out the foreigners by fighting, having mastered the country, and how by lot they divided the land, having measured it with a line. ^C Then he again accuses them, teaching that, in addition to the sins committed in the desert, they added new evils; and after obtaining the land, they tempted and provoked the most high God there again, and did not keep His testimonies delivered to them through Moses, but turned back and acted faithlessly, like their fathers, and were turned into a crooked bow. For whereas it was necessary to attack and pierce the enemies of God and their opposing powers with weapons, they, being devoted to idols, attacked God with blasphemous and impious words. Therefore they became a crooked bow: which was declared at the beginning in these words, *The sons of Ephraim, bending and casting with bows, were turned in the day of battle*. But how they were turned into a crooked bow he clarifies afterwards, saying: *And they provoked Him in the hills, and by their graven images they provoked Him to jealousy*.

^D VERS. 59. *God heard and spurned, and He utterly brought Israel to nothing.* Having recounted the evils committed by them even in the land of promise, he manifests thereafter the righteous judgment of God, demonstrating that it was with good reason that, after all the aforementioned things, the wrath of God came upon them. For when they were turned into a crooked bow, and when they provoked Him in their hills and by their graven images provoked Him to jealousy, then God did not think it worthy to look upon them, being such as they were, nor even to behold them; nay, nor even to hear their

wicked voice. Therefore, He adds: "God heard, and He ^A disdained"—according to Aquila, "And He did not delay," granting them no respite or postponement; but according to Symmachus, "And He utterly rejected Israel." God heard in such a way as it was said also regarding the Sodomites: "The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah cries out against me." For the actual wicked deeds of the impious cry out and vociferate; having heard these, God rejected the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent where He had dwelt ^B among men. For in Shiloh the tabernacle first stood, where Heli and Samuel were the ministers of sacred things, as the Scripture of Kings declares. This, therefore, the first tabernacle in Shiloh, He rejected because of their impieties. Wherefore, according to Symmachus, it is said: "And He cast away the tabernacle of Shiloh, and the tabernacle established among men."

How the ark was surrendered to men because of the impieties of the people, and how the enemies seized it and led it away with them, and how the children of Israel were put to flight, and how the sons of Heli, who were priests, fell, and how their father perished upon receiving the report concerning his children, the first book of Kings recounts. Wherefore it is said here: "And He rejected the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent where He had dwelt among men." ^C

"And He delivered their strength into captivity." For the phrase "their strength," Aquila interpreted it as "their power." And what would you say "power" and "strength" and "beauty" delivered into captivity and into the hands of an enemy is, if not the ark, which the present discourse implies by saying: "And He delivered their strength into captivity, and their beauty into the hands of the enemy"? But these things He delivered into the hands of the enemy, but the people He consumed with the sword. Therefore it is said according to Symmachus: "And He delivered His people to the sword, and despised His inheritance." And God having despised them, the subsequent events came to pass. What are these? "Fire consumed their ^D young men, and their virgins were not lamented"—according to Aquila, "were not betrothed"; but according to Symmachus, "were not praised." For they were no longer given to husbands with hymns and praises, as is customary for those being married—according to the interpretation of the others—because of the calamity that had then overtaken them.

According to the version of the Seventy, having been led off as captives, when they were dying, they had no one to mourn them, because their kinsmen were not present; and indeed their priests also fell by the sword (these were the sons of Heli), and their widows shall not be mourned. And it is possible to find in the first book of Kings how, when the sons of Heli fell in battle, their wives, left as widows, suffered a terrible death. Wherefore it is said according to Symmachus: "And their widows did not mourn"; for they did not even survive so that they could weep, but they also perished together with those they were bearing, according to the history which says: "And it came to pass in those days that the Philistines gathered for war against Israel"; and then, when the people had gone out to battle, "He fell," it says.

"the man of Israel, and a great plague occurred; and there fell of Israel thirty thousand of the ranks, and the ark of God was taken, and both the sons of Heli died, Ophni and Phinees. And a man of Jemini ran from the battle-line and came to Silom on that day, with his garments torn and dust upon his head. And behold, Heli was upon his seat by the gate, looking out toward the road, for his heart was trembling for the ark of God." Then it is said next: "And Heli was about ninety and eight years old, and his eyes ^B were dim, and he could not see. And the man approaching said, 'I am he who has come from the camp, and I have fled from the battle-line today.' And he said, 'What is the thing that has happened, my son?' And the youth answered and said, 'Israel has fled from before the Philistines, and a great plague has occurred among the people, and both thy sons are dead, and the ark of God has been taken.' And it came to pass, as he mentioned the ark of God, he fell from his seat backward by the gate, and his back was broken, and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinees, was pregnant and near to delivery; and having heard the announcement that the ark of God had been taken, and that her father-in-law had died, and her husband, she lamented and gave birth, for her pains had pressed upon her; and in her time ^C she died. And the women who stood by her said, 'Fear not, for thou hast borne a son'; but she did not answer, nor did her heart take note." And next it is added to these things: "And the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into Azotus. And the Philistines took the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house of Dagon." The present discourse compresses the memory of all these things and adds: "And the Lord awakened as one sleeping, as a mighty man who has been intoxicated with wine." After the ark was taken by the Philistines and the aforementioned events occurred against the people, God, demonstrating His providence, attacked the Philistines with invisible power and took vengeance. Wherefore it is said: "And the Lord awakened as one sleeping, as a mighty man who has been intoxicated with wine." According to Symmachus, however, "As a powerful one speaking out of wine," and according to Aquila, ^D "As a powerful one intoxicated from wine." Then, having awakened Himself, He strikes His enemies—namely, those who had taken the ark of the Covenant—and He strikes them in the hinder parts, and gives them everlasting reproach. How He struck them in the hinder parts the history declares, which speaks thus in the first book of Kings: "The hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Azotians, and He afflicted them and struck them in their posteriors, Azotus and its borders"; and again: "And it is said, the ark of the Lord was translated into Gettham, and it came to pass after it was translated, the hand of the Lord was in the city, with a very great strength. And He struck the men of the city from the small even to the great, and He struck them in their posteriors. And they send the ark of God into Ascalon; and the Ascalonites cried out saying, 'Why have ye turned aside the ark of God to kill us?'" Hence it subjoins: "Because there was a confusion of death in"

^B all the city, very grievous, as the ark of God entered there; and both the living and the dead were stricken in their secret parts; and the cry of the city ascended to heaven." For these reasons it is said in the present psalm: "And he smote his enemies in their hinder parts; he gave them an everlasting reproach." For it was a reproach for them to be stricken in their secret parts, as though they had been wanton in those parts. Thus he took vengeance upon his enemies; but his own people he chastised in a different way. Wherefore it was said: "And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph." And what was this but Silom? For it was of the lot of Ephraim, and Ephraim was the son of Joseph. Wherefore he subjoins: "And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim," even though he had formerly chosen it, and had honored the tabernacle of Joseph first. Wherefore also Silom was brought to utter desolation. By these things the Word instructs those who dwell in Jerusalem, who have received the tabernacle and the ark, not to be high-minded, by the example of that Silom; for they are to suffer the like things, unless they become worthy of God, a thing which indeed happened in the time thereafter.

VERS. 68, 69. "And he chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Sion which he loved. And he built his sanctuary as a unicorn upon the earth, he established it for ever." He exchanged tribe for tribe, the tribe of Benjamin for the tribe of Joseph; and he chose place for place, preferring Jerusalem to Silom; nay, he even loved mountain for mountain, to wit, Sion for the mountain which was in Silom. Then he says: "And he built his sanctuary as a unicorn"; but according to Aquila, "And he built his sanctuary similarly to the heights"; and according to Symmachus, "And he built his sanctuary as the heights." He built his sanctuary, therefore, in the manner of the heights or as the heights. But the discourse sends us back to a deep and hidden meaning, teaching us that that sanctuary established upon the earth, in Jerusalem and on Mount Sion, had a likeness to ^D that which is in the heights, and was built like the heights, having been made in the image and likeness of the heavenly heights; which also the Apostle made plain, saying: "But Jerusalem which is above is free," and, "Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." Wherefore according to Aquila it is said, "And he built his sanctuary similarly to the heights"; and according to Symmachus, "And he built his sanctuary as the heights"; and according to the Seventy Interpreters, "He built his sanctuary as a unicorn," we understanding

^A by "unicorns" those who have the one horn inscribed in heaven, whom the Apostle pointed out, saying: "To the festal gathering of many thousands of angels, and the Church of the firstborn who are written in the heavens." But, he says, "He also founded it on the earth unto the age." And according to Symmachus: "As the earth, which he founded unto the age." For that sanctuary which is in the sensible and earthly Jerusalem He built thus upon the earth. For just as the earth is encompassed by waters, according to Scripture, so also Jerusalem stood in the midst of alien nations. Wherefore it is said in the prophecies: "This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations." ^B Thereupon he adds: — VERS. 70. "He chose David His servant," concerning whom it has been said: "I have found David my servant, a man after my heart," whom He chose, not that he should merely be the first to reign from the tribe of Judah, but also that he should be judged worthy for Christ of God to come forth from his seed. He chose him by preferring him over his many brothers. And He took him from the flocks of sheep, and from behind those that were giving birth. For He who raises the needy from the earth and lifts the poor from the dung heap chose David, being humble and abject, so that he was not even numbered with his brothers ^C nor reckoned as a man, having been first trained in the pastoral life and instructed, by the care he had exercised over the ewes giving birth, how accurate a concern must be applied to those in need. Then, having taken him from the pastoral care of irrational sheep, God brought him forward and appointed him to shepherd Jacob His servant, and Israel His inheritance. For as having given proof of himself in the shepherding of irrational creatures, he was set over a more rational flock. And in what way he shepherded the animals he himself declared to Saul, saying: "Your servant was ^D shepherding for his father in the fold; and when a lion or a bear would come and take a sheep from the flock, I would go after it and strike it and drag it out of its mouth. And it would rise up against me, and I would seize its throat, and I would strike and kill it; your servant struck both the lion and the bear. And the uncircumcised alien shall be as one of these, who has reproached the army of the living God." And David said: "The Lord who delivered me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, He shall deliver me from the hand of this uncircumcised alien." For having through these things given proof of his faith and piety, and also of the providence he exercised over the beasts committed to him, God chose him and advanced him to rule over more rational beasts. But he shepherded the peoples committed to him not cruelly, not harshly, not proudly, but in the innocence of his heart (VERS. 72); or, according to Aquila and Symmachus, "according to the simplicity of his heart." And in the understandings of his hands he guided them. According to Aquila, indeed, "And in the prudence of his palms he guided them"; according to Symmachus, "And according to the purity of his hands he guided them." David therefore shepherded the human and rational flock; but

not by human wisdom, nor by his own understanding, but in innocence and simplicity, committing all his care to God. He showed his own understanding by his hands, that is, by his deeds, by his manner of life, and by his general conduct. And up to this point stands the matter of the present subject, containing an accusation of the wickedness of the Jewish people and a teaching of the long-suffering of God regarding the questions raised before, to which a sort of defense of the righteous judgment of God is necessarily brought in. Christ, the God of all, teaches us who are from the Gentiles all these things, sobering us through the ancient examples, just as has been said by us at the beginning of the discourse. ^A

PSALM LXXVIII. BY ASAPH.

1. O God, the nations have come into thine inheritance; they have defiled thy holy temple; they have set Jerusalem as a fruit-keeper's lodge. That Asaph was contemporary with David before the temple was built in Jerusalem is clear from history. Prophetically, therefore, he foretells things that were to happen a long time afterward through the present. But through the seventieth and the first [Psalms], he was foretelling the final capture of the city and the utter destruction of the temple, which occurred under the Romans after the daring acts of the inhabitants against our Savior, as has been demonstrated previously. In the present [Psalm], however, he signifies that nations had indeed come into the inheritance of God, and had defiled the temple that was in it, and had placed the city itself as a fruit-keeper's lodge; yet he does not say that the place had been handed over to fire, nor that it had suffered such things as he recounted in the aforementioned Psalm. ^B Furthermore, he adds in the present [Psalm] that those who defiled the place killed many holy men and servants of God, whose dead bodies, not allowing them to be given over to natural burial, they set as food for the birds of the air. You would not find these things to have been done during the final siege of the place, since there were no holy men among them at that time, as all the inhabitants of the city were wicked and impious because of their daring acts against our Savior and his apostles. But neither would you find these things that are before us to have occurred during the captivity in Babylon, since history does not record that even then holy and God-fearing men were slaughtered by the Babylonians. ^C When, therefore, were these things fulfilled? There is no other time that can be indicated but that of Antiochus, under whom the writing of the Maccabees narrates that the things before us occurred. For it is written therein in this manner: "And Antiochus returned after he had struck Egypt in the one hundred and forty-third year; and he went up against Israel with a heavy force; and he entered into the sanctuary with pride. And he took the golden censer, and the lampstand of light, and all the vessels of it, and the table of showbread, and the libation vessels, and the bowls, and the golden censers, and the ^D

^A veil, and the crowns, and the ornament that was before the temple. And he stripped everything, and took the hidden treasures which he found. And having taken everything, he turned and went away into his own land. And he made a great slaughter; and there was great mourning in Israel. And the king wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people, and that everyone should leave his own laws. And all the nations accepted the word of the king, and many of the children of Israel consented to his worship, and sacrificed to idols, and profaned the Sabbath. And after these things it is said: And he built the abomination of desolation upon the altar. And in the cities of Judah round about they built altars; and by their own doors, and in the streets, they offered incense upon them. And the books of the psalm which they found, they tore in pieces and burnt in the fire. And it is added: And many in Israel were strengthened in themselves not to eat unclean things. And they chose to die, that they might not be defiled with the foods, and they died. And there was very great wrath upon Israel. These things indeed were fulfilled long times after the Assyrian and Median, and after the Persian, and after the death of Alexander of Macedon. But the Divine Spirit, through the prophet before us, prophesies these very things, saying: O God, the nations have come into thine inheritance, they have defiled thy holy temple, they have made Jerusalem as a ^B fruit-watcher’s hut. They have made the dead bodies of thy servants food for the birds of the heaven, the flesh of thy holy ones for the beasts of the earth. They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them. We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those around us. For the phrase, "as a fruit-watcher’s hut," Aquila has rendered it "as a heap of stones," but Symmachus, "as copses."

VERS. 5. *Usquequo, Domine, irasceris in finem, accendetur velut ignis zelus tuus?* It seems to me that the prophet Asaph, after the accusation of the Jewish people which he made in the preceding [psalm], aptly introduces these words, which are composed as if for the appeasement and healing of the things that were previously rebuked. For he recounts the various kinds of death of those Jews who then underwent martyrdom for the sake of piety; whose dead bodies the enemies of God made food for the birds of the heaven, and the flesh of the holy ones of God for the beasts of the earth. Therefore, he opportunely appeases God on their behalf, as if a sacrifice were being offered to Him by the death of His holy ones. Wherefore he says: *Usquequo, Domine, irasceris in finem?* bringing the discourse back to the memory of the earlier things, by which it was said: *Ut quid, Deus, repulisti in finem?* For he wishes that that extreme ruin and rejection of the people be restrained, and that the anger be stilled by the memory of the blood of His holy ones. And both expressions, namely, *Usquequo, Domine, irasceris in finem?* and what follows, *Exardescet sicut ignis zelus ^D tuus?* are to be heard in this way.

^A For "zeal" is spoken of by way of a metaphor drawn from those who, on account of an excess of feeling, are jealous of their own wives if they should pay attention to other men; thus, indeed, the Word is accustomed to call the vengeance of God upon those who have transgressed the covenants made with Him "zeal." The Prophet therefore prays, either in his own person or on behalf of those who were saved in the times of Antiochus, after the prediction of what was to come to pass under Antiochus, King of Syria—during which the holy ones of God endured death for the sake of piety—that the anger directed at the people might cease, and that it might instead fall upon His enemies. Wherefore he says: *Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name. Because they have devoured Jacob, and his place have they laid waste.* ^B I think that mention of Jacob is made here at the opportune time, on account of the religion of that ancient forefather. For as if reminding God of that man beloved by God and of his virtue, he seems, by making mention of him, to entreat Him and to render Him propitious in the present case. In the preceding psalm, when he mentioned Joseph, he did not say that Joseph himself was rejected, but rather his tabernacle, using these words: *And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim*, by these words signifying the place situated in Silo; since Silo lay within the tribe of Joseph. Here, however, he mentions Jacob and his place: by Jacob, indicating the descendants of that religious man; and by his place, signifying Jerusalem, which happened to be turned into a wilderness during the times of Antiochus. ^C Following this, he adds: *Remember not our iniquities of old.* Those who pray concerning ancient sins are evidently not involved in more recent transgressions. As for the phrase, *Let thy mercies speedily prevent us, for we are become exceeding poor*, Symmachus has interpreted it: *Make haste, let thy mercies prevent us, for we have become very weak.* For just as an athlete who has undergone many contests and endured many struggles remains in anxiety lest, having become weaker, he should fall, so too do these men pray to be forestalled and to obtain help. Wherefore they say: *Let thy mercies speedily prevent us, for we are become exceeding poor. Help us, O God our Saviour, for the glory of thy name; O Lord, deliver us, and be merciful unto our sins, for thy name's sake.* ^D The Prophet utters these things in the person of those who were persecuted under King Antiochus, prophetically leaving behind in the Scripture this prayer for those who were to be persecuted, so that they might have it ready at hand to know what words it is fitting for them to use in their prayers to God. Nor are these things handed down for them alone; for they apply also to all who have suffered similar things, since in the persecutions that have occurred in our own age, many hundreds have suffered things similar to those recounted above, who surely made use of such words as these by which we are instructed to speak: *For the glory of thy name, O Lord, deliver us.* For even if we be not worthy of help, yet for the glory of thy name, do not...

let thy name be blasphemed among the nations, as though thou wert not able to deliver us. And be propitious, he says, to our sins for thy name’s sake. ^A Previously, it was said: *Remember not our iniquities of old*; but there, "iniquities" is mentioned. Iniquities we had truly committed long ago before our obedience to the divine law, which are with good reason called "of old." For before the knowledge of God, the offenses committed by us were ancient; ^B but now, at the time when we send up these prayers, we are conscious not of iniquities but of sins of our own; yet we ask that even these be forgiven for the sake of thy name, which is invoked upon us. For, regarding thine own name which adorns us, be propitious to our sins, lest the enemies, having brought us into subjection, should utter blasphemous words against thy name, saying: — VERS. 10. *Where is their God?* But let them never be permitted to say that "where"; rather, do thou, our Savior, becoming manifest, avenge the blood of thy servants which has been shed. We are instructed to say these things in prayer during times of persecution, offering up the blood of the holy martyrs in place of victims and burnt offerings, and sending forth such supplications. These things, even before our time, those of the Jewish people who had suffered similar things during the aforementioned period were taught to say, at which time noble martyrs were displayed among them. Of these, the Scripture of the so-called Maccabees makes mention: ^C in whom was Eleazar, a man of distinction and advanced in years, who preferred a noble death for piety toward God over life. Furthermore, a certain admirable mother of seven children also completed the contest of martyrdom, surpassing all praise; and her seven sons, undergoing various struggles, exhibited a blessed virtue of perseverance. Many other holy men were also among them, whose death and shedding of blood the discourse commemorates in the prayer with these words: *And let it be known among the nations before our eyes the avenging of the blood of thy servants which has been shed.* Some, indeed, have given their own blood as libations for the whole nation; others, though they did not suffer the same thing, entered the contest for piety in another way, being consigned to prisons and bound in chains. ^D Their groaning, and pains, and labors the discourse also appropriately commemorates in the prayer by saying: — VERS. 11. *Let the groaning of the prisoners come before thee.* You would not err if you said that the prisoners were those who were macerated in mortal bodies throughout their whole lives. Such was Paul, who said: *For we who are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened*; and again: *Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?* Such were the prophets of God, and all who, in their bodies, were addicted neither to luxury nor to pleasures, but on the contrary afflicted their lives with fasts, labors, and other ascetic macerations; who groaned to God from the depth of their hearts not only for themselves, but also for the whole people. Wherefore it is said: *Let the groaning of*

the prisoners come before thee.* ^A Who these were who are taught to say these things, he subsequently makes clear by saying: *Patronize the sons of the slain.* For we, indeed, have not been deemed worthy to struggle unto death, nor to pour out our own blood for God; but since we are the sons of those who have suffered these things, being glorified by the virtue of our fathers, we pray that for their sake we may obtain mercy. Wherefore we say: *Patronize the sons of the slain.*

VERS. 12-14. *Render to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom, their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord. But we thy people, and the sheep of thy pasture, will give thee thanks forever and ever. We will show forth thy praise unto all generations.* Patronize us, although not for our own sake, yet for the sake of our fathers. But to our neighbors, that is, to those who rise up against us and stir up war against us, render the recompense, multiplying that punishment due to them for what they have done; ^B for it was not enough for them to have inflicted evils upon us, but they have also assailed thee, the Lord of all, with blasphemous and contumelious words. But return to them, for their own benefit, the punishment they deserve, so that by it they may be converted and return to a better way of life. But us, the sons of the slain, endow with salvation, who, even if we have not been like our fathers, are nevertheless thy people and the sheep of thy pasture. Wherefore we will give thee thanks forever, namely, by offering up due hymns and praises to thee, O God, the dispenser of all good things, for the benefits we have received. And furthermore, *we will show forth thy praise unto all generations* to our children and to our children's children, and to their successors who shall come after them, handing down the saving discipline of thy praise as a goodly inheritance.

TO THE END, CONCERNING THOSE WHO SHALL BE CHANGED, A TESTIMONY BY ASAPH. LXXIX.

VERS. 2. *Give ear, O thou that rulest Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep.* There are four [Psalms] inscribed *Concerning those who shall be changed*: two of David, the 59th and the 68th, one of the sons of Core, the 44th, ^C and likewise this one of Asaph which we are treating. Now, the 59th signified the fall of the Jewish nation and the calling of the nations, beginning with these words: *O God, thou hast cast us off, and hast destroyed us; thou hast been angry,* and the rest that follows. Then, proceeding further, he added: *Moab is the pot of my hope. Over Edom I will stretch out my shoe, to me the aliens are made subject,* or, have been made subject. Likewise the 68th, inscribed *Concerning those who shall be changed*, sets forth the sufferings of the Savior and the rejection of Israel, saying: *Let their table become as a snare before them, and a recompense, and a scandal. Let their eyes be darkened that they see not, ^D and do thou always bend down their back. Pour out thy indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.*

Let their habitation be desolate, and in their tabernacles let there be no one to inhabit. For they have persecuted him whom thou hast smitten, and they have added to the pain of my wounds. ^A These indeed are David's. But for the sons of Core, [Psalm] XLIV, which bears the title, *For those who shall be changed*, sent forth a song for the Beloved, whose advent he was prophesying, adding the calling of the Church from the Gentiles, indicating it in this manner: *Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear, and forget thy people and thy father's house. And the king shall desire thy beauty, for he is thy Lord, and the daughter of Tyre shall worship him with gifts.* In the same manner, therefore, the one at hand inscribed *For those who shall be changed*, and directed to the end, foretells Christ's advent, and the captivity of the Jewish nation, and the burning of Jerusalem which it suffered at the hands of the Babylonians. First, indeed, it runs through the exodus of the Jews from Egypt and their dwelling in the land of the Philistines; then it joins to this the siege that occurred after these things by the Assyrians and Babylonians, and in addition to these, it sets forth a supplication for Christ’s manifestation; these things shall be shown in detail in the interpretation of the prophesied [words]. But at the beginning, the psalm calls upon Him who shepherds Israel; this, moreover, was the Word of God, as we have ^B often demonstrated, declaring that it was not the God who is above all who was recorded as having appeared to Abraham in the form of a man, and as having spoken oracles to Moses, and as having gone before the people in the desert; but that this was none other than He who says in the Gospel: *Before Abraham was, I am*; and, *Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.* Him, therefore, it now calls upon, saying: *O Thou who shepherdest Israel, give ear*, and the rest, and beseeches Him to manifest His face for the common salvation of all, and prays for His advent to happen as quickly as possible, saying: *Stir up thy power, and come to save us*; and a third time when it says, *Show thy face, and we shall be saved.* Then indeed it declares the manner of the advent, saying: *Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, and upon the son of man, whom thou hast strengthened for thyself.* For it asks the incorporeal Word of God to bestow His beneficent power upon all through the man of His right hand and through the Son of Man. He made mention of the divine and saving advent in this way; but he prophesies ^C the ruin of Israel thus: *Why hast thou broken down her hedge?* namely, of the vine which He brought over from Egypt, and all who pass by the way gather the grapes. The boar out of the wood has ravaged it, and a solitary wild beast has fed on it. Being burned with fire and dug up. Running through these [things] concerning the vine, he was foretelling the desolation of the Jewish race. Rightly, therefore, in the title are these words called a testimony: for it said that these would be future things. Whence among Symmachus and Aquila, it is called a "testification." But in place of *for those who shall be changed*, Symmachus [interpreted] *for flowers*, while Aquila, *for lilies*. For the prosperity of the Jews

^A which was short-lived and temporary, the Word compares to flowers and lilies. Therefore, the Prophet sends up a supplication to Him who formerly cared for and watched over Israel—namely, the Word of God—invoking Him and saying: *Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel*. In this way he seeks to prevail upon Him, calling to mind His ancient inspection of the people. ^B Your own flock, he says, and Your sheep, the ones You once shepherded, attend to. For if at one time You underwent the pastoral care of men, and guided Your people who existed among other men, remember these and do not overlook those whom You deemed worthy of such great providence. Give ear, therefore, he says, and consider what Your flock has suffered: how the boar out of the wood has ravaged it, and the wild beast has grazed upon it, and how it has become burned with fire and dug up by reason of the rebuke of Your countenance. These things, moreover, the Prophet teaches the Jewish nation in the Holy Spirit, being occupied with meditating upon and announcing beforehand times and events, so that when the things which are spoken of in the prophecy might come to pass, they might readily receive the knowledge of that supplication sent up to God. ^C But who is the one shepherding Israel? He himself makes manifest, the One who said: *I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and Mine own know Me*; and again: *I am the good shepherd, and I lay down My life for the sheep*. He Himself was also the One who guided Joseph like a sheep—or indeed the tribe, or the whole Jewish nation, speaking metaphorically by naming it from the one tribe of Joseph; or rather, the man himself, the progenitor of the tribe. For when he was ambushed by his brothers, sold to the Ishmaelites, led down into Egypt, and was serving Potiphar, and turning away from his incontinent mistress, as he was also thrown into prison, He was present with him. For in all these things the writing of Moses records that He was present, saying: *And the Lord was with Joseph*. ^D Whence it seems to me that Theodotion translated it more aptly, saying: *Thou who leadest Joseph like a sheep*. Thus you would also say that Israel himself, who was the first to be called by this name, had been led by the Shepherd. Now this was Jacob, the son of Isaac. For when he alone went down into Mesopotamia, supported by hope in God, he found his Shepherd—the Word of God who was with him—who had made for him His manifestations. Therefore, the discourse appropriately suppliant to God does not mention a multitude of the impious, but makes mention of only one or another from those religious men of old, praying that their descendants might obtain mercy through the virtue and religion of their progenitors. — VERS. 3. But this very One who was the Shepherd of the holy men of old is the One who is borne by the cherubim. By which cherubim, if not those that were seen by Ezekiel, whose images and symbols Moses was commanded to place in gold above the ark? Moreover, Ezekiel makes mention of the cherubim, speaking in this manner: *And I saw, and behold, above the firmament that was over the head of the cherubim, as it were a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne upon it*. And afterwards he says: *And the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and ascended upon the cherubim*.

^A And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and were lifted up from the earth in my sight as they went out; and the wheels were beside them. And they stood at the threshold of the gate of the house, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. You see how in these passages the chariot of God is described, concerning which it is said elsewhere: The chariot of God is ten thousand-fold, thousands of those who rejoice? Now the cherubim were the chariot, so that above their heads there was the likeness of a throne, and above the throne the glory of the Lord. What that glory of the Lord ^B was is declared at the beginning of the book, where it is said: *Above the cherubim as it were the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne upon it; and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man from above. And I saw as it were the appearance of electrum from the appearance of his loins and upward; and from the aspect of his loins and downward, as the appearance of fire, and the brightness of it round about*; and he adds: *This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord*. Do you see how the Word, in explaining the glory of God sitting upon the throne, has described the form of a man? What else could this form of a man be—which is not God Himself, but is called the glory of God—if not the only-begotten Word of God? He sometimes names Him the glory of God the Father, and sometimes the form of a man, on account of the human nature He assumed. Those aspects which pertained to His divinity ^C were likened to electrum, most precious of all matter, while those from the loins and downward were sometimes likened to the appearance of fire, and sometimes to the brightness of light; because those who enter into communion with His nature—namely, the men established upon the earth—have need of His powers in various ways. For those who do things worthy of the light have need of an illuminating power, but those who commit acts worthy of fire have need of a consuming and avenging power. Moreover, when Moses was commanded to fashion images and symbols of heavenly things, he made the cherubim of gold. These were placed upon the Ark, having in their midst the mercy-seat made of gold. And the mercy-seat was in the midst of the cherubim, placed upon them like a charioteer, so that the mercy-seat made of gold was an image and exemplar of Him who was seen in the prophet Ezekiel above the cherubim—whom we have shown to be the Word of God. Wherefore the divine Apostle ^D calls the Word Himself the mercy-seat, saying: *Whom God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood*. These things, then, fashioned typically by Moses out of gold—I mean the cherubim and the mercy-seat—went before the people in the wilderness, in the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. For in the journeyings of the twelve tribes, three tribes encamped before the Ark: Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; and likewise three tribes followed the Ark: Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, following behind the cherubim. Wherefore it is said herein: Appear O thou who

^A sitteth upon the cherubim, before Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh. Therefore, according to Aquila, it is said: O thou who sittest upon the cherubim, manifest thyself before the face of Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh. For thou, he says, who proceedest before the face of Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh, manifest thyself. In these words, however, the Prophet invokes the Word of God, taking his appellation from things known to the people, but not from the divine vision of Ezekiel. He supplicates the One who is being called upon through the prayer: for if, he says, at some time thou didst deign to go before men and to lead the aforementioned tribes, now manifest thyself also to those who are tempest-tossed and perishing; and do thou thyself, who didst also then feed and lead the people, rouse thy power and come to save us. In these words he also entreats him to make his arrival to men, and to take up again those who had turned away and had fallen, and to cause them to return to himself once more. Wherefore he says: O God, restore us, and make thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Lord, God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry with the prayer of thy servants? ^B He who is called in the present passage Lord and God of hosts is that same One who was feeding the true Israel, and who led Joseph like a sheep, and who sat upon the cherubim, and who went before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. And he is called Lord and God of hosts, just as in other places he is named the Captain of the host of the Lord and the Angel of great counsel. For to Joshua, the successor of Moses, appearing in the form of a man, he confessed who he was, saying: I am the Captain of the host of the Lord. And in Isaiah it is said: A Child is born to us, and a Son is given to us; whose government is upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called the Angel of great counsel. According to the other translators: Mighty God, Potentate, Prince of peace, Father of the age. Thus, the people who have been left desolate are taught by the prophetic Spirit to send up a prayer and to say to him: Lord, God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry with the prayer of thy servant? For which all the other interpreters translated: of thy people. Moreover, they are taught to eat the bread of tears for their own ^C daring deeds, so that, by weeping and mourning for their own evils, they might obtain consolation, as it is said in the beatitudes: Blessed are they that weep, for they shall laugh; blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. But according to Symmachus: Thou hast fed us, he says, with the bread of tears, and given us to drink with tears by measure. For even if we have become most worthy of weeping and tears, so that instead of bread we are fed with sobs and groans, and are given to drink of tears and outcries; yet may these very things be dealt out to us by measure, so that they do not continue for us without end, but may cease at some time, and change into things more joyous. For thou (VERS. 7) hast made us a contradiction to our neighbors, and our enemies have mocked us: they who dared not any such thing before, when we had thee as our patron. Wherefore (VERS. 8) we entreat, and we invoke thee, O God of hosts, praying that

thou wouldst turn us/back and show us thy countenance. For when this happens, we shall be saved, saying ourselves: "The light of thy countenance, O Lord, has been signed upon us."

VERS. 9. Thou didst transplant a vine out of Egypt: thou didst cast out the heathen and plant it. Thou wast the guide of the way before it, and thou didst plant its roots, and it filled the land.

[GREEK COL] φησι πρὸς αὐτόν· Ἐπειδὴ τοσαύτης κατηξίωσας προνοίας καὶ ἐπιμελείας τὴν εἰρημένην ἄμπελον, φι- λανθρωπίᾳ καὶ χάριτι πάντα ταῦτα εἰς αὐτὴν ἐνδει- ξάμενος, τίς οὐκ ἂν ἀμηχανήσειε καὶ εἰς ἀπορίαν ἐμ- πέσοι ζητῶν, ^A Ἱνατί καθεῖλες τὸν φραγμὸν αὐτῆς, καταπατεῖν τε αὐτὴν ἅπασι τοῖς ἐθέλουσι συνεχώρη- σας· ὡς τρυγᾶν αὐτὴν τοὺς βουλομένους, μηδενός τε περιφράττοντος, ποτὲ μὲν ἦν ἐκ δρυμοῦ λυμαίνεσθαι αὐτήν, ἄλλοτε δὲ μονιὸν ἄγριον καταβόσκεσθαι αὐτήν; ᾿Αλλὰ γὰρ πρὸς ταύτην τὴν ἐπαπόρησιν ἀποκρίνεται διὰ Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου, ὥσπερ ἀπολογούμενος ὁ γεωργός, καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν παρίστησι λέγων· Διότι ἔμεινα ἵνα ποιήσῃ σταφυλήν, ἐποίησε δὲ ἀκάν- θας· καὶ οὐ δικαιοσύνην, ἀλλὰ κραυγήν. Ταῦτα δ' ὅτι περὶ τοῦ Ἰουδαίων λέλεκται λαοῦ, οὐδεὶς ἂν ἀμφιβάλοι.

Νοήσεις δὲ ὅπως ἐκάλυψεν ὄρη ἡ σκιὰ τῆς ἀμπέλου, ἐπιστήσας, ὡς σκιὰν ἔχων ὁ νόμος τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν, οὐκ αὐτὴν τὴν εἰκόνα τῶν πραγμάτων, ποτὲ μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄρους συνετελεῖτο τοῦ ἐν Σηλώμ, ἔνθα τὸ πρότερον ἵδρυτο ἡ σκηνή, ποτὲ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ Σιὼν ὄρους καὶ τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ αἱ ἀνα- δενδράδες δὲ αὐτῆς ἐκάλυψαν τὰς κέδρους τοῦ Θεοῦ. Τίνας δ' ἂν εἴποις τὰς ἀναδενδράδας τῆς ἀμπέλου, ἢ τὰς προφητικὰς ψυχὰς καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῷ προτέρῳ λαῷ εἰς ὕψος ἐπηρμένους, Θεοῦ τε ἀξίως πολιτευσαμένους, οἱ καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς κέδρους τοῦ Θεοῦ διανεπαύοντο, τὰς δυνάμεις δὴ τὰς ἀοράτους καὶ θείας; Μέχρι γὰρ τού- των ἐξετάθησαν αἱ διαπρέψασαι ἐν τῷ προτέρῳ λαῷ ψυχαί, ὡς καὶ Πνεύματος ἁγίου μετέχειν, καὶ τοὺς καρποὺς ἐκτείνειν μέχρι τῆς ἀγγελικῆς δυνάμεως. ^B Τὰ δὲ κλήματα τῆς ἀμπέλου, ἕτερα ὄντα παρὰ τὴν σκιὰν καὶ παρὰ τὰς ἀναδενδράδας, ἐξετάθη ἕως θα- λάσσης. Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος ἀντὶ τοῦ, τὰ κλήματα, τὰς χαίτας αὐτῆς, φησὶν, ἐξέτεινεν ἕως θαλάσσης. Εἶεν δ' ἂν χαῖται καὶ κόμαι, ὥσπερ ἀναρίθμητοι τρί- χες, ἢ καὶ κλήματα πληθύνοντα, κατὰ τὸ τῆς ἀμπέ- λου παράδειγμα, ὁ πολὺς τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους ἀρι- θμὸς, ὃς δὴ ἔφθασε μέχρι θαλάσσης, πληρώσας πάντα τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον. Διὸ λέλεκται ἐν Ὠσηὲ τῷ προφήτῃ· Καὶ ἦν ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ὡσεὶ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης, ἢ οὐκ ἐκμετρηθήσε- ται, οὐδὲ ἐξαριθμηθήσεται.

Παραφυάδες δὲ ἄλλαι τινὲς παρὰ τὰ κλήματα νεώτεραι καὶ ἀρτιφυεῖς ἕως ποταμοῦ παρετάθησαν, οἱ τῆς Καινῆς Διαθήκης κήρυ- κες· λέγω δὲ οἱ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ τοῦ Σωτῆ- ρος ἡμῶν· τὴν μὲν φυὴν καὶ τὴν γένεσιν ἐσχηκότες ἐκ τῆς προλεχθείσης ἀμπέλου, καὶ ὥσπερ τινὲς παρα- φυάδες αὐτῆς γενόμενοι, οὐκέτι δὲ ὁμοίως ταῖς χαί- ταις καὶ τοῖς κλήμασι ἕως θαλάσσης προελθόντες, ἀλλ᾽ ἕως ποταμοῦ διὰ τὸ μυστήριον τῆς δι' αὐτῶν χορηγουμένης ἐν Χριστῷ παλιγγενεσίας. ^C Ἐνθεν καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ αὐτὸς ἐν τα' ψαλμῷ λέλεκται· Καὶ κατα- κυριεύσει ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἕως θαλάσσης, καὶ ἀπὸ ποταμοῦ ἕως τῶν περάτων τῆς οἰκουμένης. Ἀρ- ξαμένου γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Ἰορδάνην ποταμοῦ τοῦ βαπτίσματος, τὴν σύμπασαν ἐπλήρωσεν οἰκου- μένην. Τέσσαρα δὲ τάγματα τῆς εἰρημένης ἀμπέλου

[LATIN COLUMN] A person may inquire as he looks upon this: (VERS. 13) "Why hast thou broken down her hedge, and given her up to be trodden by all the nations; so that with no one to guard her, it is permitted to whomever wishes to gather her grapes; and now the boar from the forest destroys her, now the wild beast feeds upon her?" But the husbandman answers this doubt by the prophet Isaiah, as though in his own defense, and sets forth the cause of the matter in these words: "For I looked that it should make grapes, and it made thorns, and not righteousness, but a cry." That this was spoken concerning the Jewish people, no one would doubt.

And you will understand how the shadow of the vine covered the mountains, if you consider that the Law, possessing the shadow of future goods and not the very image of the things themselves, was at one time fulfilled on the mountain in Shiloh, where the tabernacle was first set up, and at another time on the mountain of Sion and in Jerusalem, and that its tendrils covered the cedars of God. And what would you say the tendrils of the vine are, if not the prophetic souls and those in the former people who were raised to a height and conducted themselves worthily of God, who even rested upon the cedars of God, that is, upon the invisible and divine powers? For the souls that distinguished themselves in that former people reached even to these, so as to partake of the Holy Spirit and to extend their fruits as far as the angelic power.

But the branches of the vine, being different from the shadow and from the tendrils, reached as far as the sea. Symmachus, however, instead of "branches," says, "her tresses [hair] she extended as far as the sea." Now tresses and hair are like innumerable hairs, or even multiplying shoots, following the example of the vine; it is the vast number of the Jewish nation, which indeed reached as far as the sea, having filled the whole life of men. Wherefore it was said in the prophet Hosea: "And the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which shall not be measured, nor numbered."

But other shoots, newer and fresh-grown besides the branches, were extended as far as the river—namely, the heralds of the New Testament; I refer to the apostles and disciples of our Savior. They obtained their growth and origin from the aforementioned vine and, having become as it were certain shoots of it, they did not proceed as far as the sea in the same manner as the tresses and the branches, but as far as the river, because of the mystery of the rebirth in Christ dispensed through them. Hence it is that the Savior Himself is spoken of in the 71st Psalm: "And He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the world." For, having begun from the river Jordan with the baptism, He filled the whole world. The present discourse describes four orders of the aforementioned vine: its shadow, certainly, covering the mountains; its tendrils raised on high, so that they cover not simply cedars, but the cedars of God; in addition to these, its branches extended as far as the sea; and beyond all these, its shoots, which reach as far as the river. Of these we have given an interpretation for the grace bestowed upon us, the shadow indeed

representing the typical and shadowy worship, which was performed on sensible and corporeal mountains; the spreading branches representing the prophetic souls, which were supported upon the cedars of God, the angelic and divine powers; the tendrils, or hair, or tresses, representing the whole multitude of the Jews extending as far as the sea, because of the unstable and fluctuating life of men; and finally the shoots, the apostles of our Savior, who are with the river, for which it is said: "The streams of the river make glad the city of God." But since the aforementioned vine was deemed worthy of so many and such great good things by the Word of God, who formerly provided for it, the discourse fittingly proceeds as if addressing Him who had bestowed such gifts, saying: "Why have you broken down its hedge?" He answers in these words: "Because I expected that it would bring forth grapes, but it brought forth thorns"; and again: "I expected that it would do justice, but it did iniquity; not righteousness, but a cry." In Jeremiah also, the same One reproves the vine, for it was rational, saying: "Yet I planted you a fruitful vine, all true. How then have you turned into a bitter ^B strange vine?" And he adds through Isaiah, saying: "I will take away its hedge, and it shall be for plundering; and I will take away its wall, and it shall be for trampling. And I will leave my vineyard, and it shall not be dug nor pruned. And there shall come up upon it, as [on] dry ground, thorns, and I will command the clouds not to rain rain upon it." The hedge having been taken away—that is to say, the power that protects and fences them around—consequently all the enemies thereafter, both visible and invisible, being more savage than wild beasts, ravaged them, namely those who were accused by the Word. And a certain unclean boar, first, the Assyrian, coming in with force, destroyed the aforementioned vine, so as even to lead away the multitude of the people captive to the Assyrians. Then a second enemy entered and ravaged what had been left behind by the first, namely Nebuchadnezzar, he who also burned the temple and razed it to the ground. Wherefore it is also said according to Symmachus: "The boar from the forest ravaged it, and a solitary wild beast fed upon it." But instead of "solitary wild beast," Aquila ^C interpreted [it as] "all-producing earth." According to another interpretation, the first to ravage it—that is, the aforementioned vine—was the Babylonian, who, having first besieged Jerusalem, destroyed it; after him, the Roman army, which, after the coming of our Savior, erupting [upon it], ravaged it. All these things Asaph prophesies, having lived in the days of David, before the construction of Jerusalem, foretelling to himself the things that were to happen at the noted times. And indeed, in the present text, it appears he prophesies the first siege caused by the Babylonians and the second by the Romans: the things that happened under Antiochus Epiphanes are [foretold] through the preceding psalm; through the seventy-third, however, only those things which pertain to the final siege made by the Romans, as was shown in reference to the seventy-third.

^A Having, therefore, in the present text, signified to her the things that would befall her according to the times declared, it seems that he is prophesying simultaneously both the first siege, which occurred under the Babylonians, and the second, which occurred under the Romans. Through the passage preceding this one, he prophesied the things that happened under Antiochus Epiphanes; but through the 73rd, only the things of the final siege which was carried out by the Romans, as has been demonstrated in what was said regarding the 73rd.

*Verses 15–17. God of hosts, turn again, look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine, and perfect it, which your right hand has planted, and upon the son of man, whom you have strengthened for yourself. It is burned with fire and dug up; they shall perish at the rebuke of your countenance.*

Having reminded Him, as a good husbandman, of His great care for the vine and of the desolation that subsequently befell it, he follows up consistently by supplicating Him to turn back, for He had turned away, and through that turning away had surrendered this same vine to all its enemies. He begs Him to consider and look down from heaven; to remember the aforementioned vine, that it was His own planting and the cultivation of His right hand; and, remembering it, to visit it—inasmuch as it was once planted by His right hand, but now is burned with fire and dug up, and has perished at the rebuke of His countenance.

^B He asks also that He restore it, having taken it up and recovered it, after the manner of a Savior and a physician; and to perform these things through the Son whom He strengthened for Himself. By these words, the passage clearly teaches that the first burning mentioned is the one the place suffered at the hands of the Babylonians. For he would not have asked that the theophany of the Savior, which had already occurred, be hastened after the second burning ^C that was carried out by the Romans. For after the first calamity of the place, it is appropriate, and he asks, that the Redeemer come; at whose coming, because they did not receive the grace announced to them at first, they justly suffered the final, deserved desolation, which He Himself threatened them with in these words: *How often have I willed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not? Behold, your house is left unto you desolate;* when, according to the Apostle, wrath came upon them to the end.

*Verse 18. Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, and upon the son of man, whom you have strengthened for yourself. And we will not depart from you, and you will give us life.*

The Holy Spirit teaches the one remedy for all the things previously mentioned: the coming of Christ, the God, to men. Therefore, after the prophecies concerning the desolation of the vineyard and the burning that befell it, he supplicates that it may be allowed to wait for the Redeemer, the man of God’s right hand, and the son of man strengthened by God. ^D This, moreover, was the beloved of God; whom He teaches those who read to know and to have in their prayers his coming; so that those who are instructed in these things beforehand, and have been trained by this knowledge and faith in Him, might hope to obtain from Him the remedy for their evils. Wherefore, in the person of those who are in need of a cure, he says, "Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, and upon the son of man, whom you have strengthened for yourself. And we will not depart from you." The meaning of this utterance, moreover, is: Verily,

^A let your hidden and invisible hand now shine forth upon the man who is minister of your right hand, and upon him who is to be designated the Son of man, whom you prepared for yourself and strengthened as an instrument of your power, and raised up as an image of your own divinity. For when he has appeared, we shall no longer worship idols; nor shall we serve the error of polytheism, nor shall we ever again depart from you. But having received from him the life and salvation that is in you, we shall invoke your name, and shall no longer be called by the name of any other—not Israelites from Israel, nor Jews from Judah—but we shall be called Christians from your name, O Christ. Wherefore it is said according to Symmachus: "You will make us live, and we shall be invoked by your name." ^B It is, moreover, a matter of wonder how the children of the Jews, when they read these things and meditate upon them from their tenderest years, do not seek who that man of the right hand of God was, nor acknowledge him who is called the Son of man; wherefore they persist in their calamity. For if they had known and learned of him, they would surely have known that the Word of God, who was being invoked in the present supplication, had dwelt within him. But we, who know that he is pre-existent and that he exercises providence overall over mankind—for "he was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world knew him not"—know that he came into his own when his hand, that is, his active power, was made upon the man of his right hand, whom he is called the Son of man in the Gospels: whom he formed for himself from the Holy Spirit. If we have known him, we shall never be prone to defection, receiving life from him and being called by his name. We, therefore, who expect the Son of man and have cast our hope upon him, say these things concerning ourselves; for the sake of our members, however, we pour forth the remaining prayer in these words: ^C "VERS. 20. O God of hosts, turn us again, and show your face, and we shall be saved," speaking the word in common for those who have not yet been converted, nor have known his advent, and therefore have not yet attained salvation from God.

UPON THE END, CONCERNING THE WINEPRESSES, A PSALM OF ASAPH LXXX

VERS. 2. "Exult in God our helper, rejoice in the God of Jacob." The psalms inscribed "For the winepresses" are three in number: one of David, which is the eighth; one of Asaph, which is the one now before us; and that of the sons of Core, which is the eighty-third. The eighth, then, openly prophesied the calling of the nations, which the prophets of God, ^D foreseeing through the divine Spirit, were struck with amazement; wherefore, in the manner of those wondering, they exclaimed, saying, "O Lord our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth!" The eighty-third, moreover, foresaw many tabernacles and many altars and many courts, clearly [foreseeing] the Churches of God established throughout the whole world, altars

^A in which these things are well signified; which he declares in these words: *How beloved are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!* And again: *My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord*; and further: *Thy altars, O Lord of hosts.* But this present Psalm bids others to exult, to jubilate, and to sing, while it declares the rejection of the Jewish nation and the cause thereof, and indeed quite consistently with the preceding prophecies. For since in the former one he asked, saying: *Why hast Thou broken down its wall, and all they that pass by the way do pluck it?* he here solves the doubt with these words: *If My people had heard Me, if Israel had walked in My ways, I should have humiliated their enemies for nothing*; and he adds: *But My people did not hear My voice, and Israel did not attend to Me. So I sent them away after the desires of their heart, they shall walk in their own devices.* Since, then, he declares their disobedience and froward mind, the Holy Spirit ^B worthily transfers the discourse and announces the calling of the Gentiles to all men, addressing them thus: *Exult to God our helper.* He says these things, moreover, from the person of the prophetic choir. For as in the eighth Psalm he said: *O Lord our Lord*, as those who said these things proclaimed God as if He were their own, because God had been their first [protector]; so also in this place the same [choir], calling forth those who have become strangers and aliens, say: "Ho, you, leaving those whom you deemed gods being led astray, come with haste to our God, and exult in Him who has always been to us ourselves a helpful advocate." Who, then, this was, they next declare, saying: *Jubilate to the God of Jacob*; that is, approaching the God who was once seen by our ancestor, jubilate, according to that which is said in the sixty-fifth Psalm: *Jubilate, all the earth.* What all the earth was, he who says explains: *All ye nations, clap your hands, jubilate to God with a voice of exultation.* The prophetic choir, therefore, addresses these same ones in the present ^C passage, saying: *Exult to God our helper, jubilate to the God of Jacob.* By the God of Jacob, he signifies the Savior who was seen by Jacob in the form of a man, when Jacob called the name of the place in which God appeared to him, The Species of God, adding: *For I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved.* To Him, therefore, as being our King, he bids us jubilate, sending up to Him a triumphal hymn. But how He is established King by the Father, He Himself teaches, saying: *But I have been established King by Him upon Sion His holy mountain.* And he desires those who have been called not only to jubilate to the God of Jacob, but also to take up a psalm and provide a timbrel and a pleasant psaltery with a harp. According to Aquila: *Take up,* he says, ^D *a melody and give a timbrel, a decent harp with a nabla*; according to Symmachum, however: *Receive a song, and give a timbrel, a sweet lyre with a nabla.* He commands, therefore, both to receive something and to provide something; to receive, according to Aquila, a melody; according to Symmachum, however, a song; but to provide...

a ^A timbrel or a pleasant lyre with a nabla. By these things the Word commands that the teaching of the words be received by the ears, and that the action through the body be provided; for a song and a melody are handed down to the ears by the Word. For this reason he says: "Receive a song and a melody," according to Aquila and Symmachus. "But you, having received these, provide a pleasant psaltery with a cithara, or a pleasant lyre with a nabla." A timbrel is an instrument fashioned from a corporeal skin, and a psaltery is a kind of cithara, fashioned in such a way by strings, by which our body is signified. ^B He wishes, therefore, that the precepts handed down by words be fulfilled by the very works and deeds; and the Word commands all who are gathered in the churches of God throughout the whole world to do these things. For this reason, "For the end" and "For the wine-presses" these things which we have said are inscribed. For do not think that the wine-presses are called anything else than the churches of God, in which, being gathered and having collected our fruits together, we produce one mixture for the glory and rejoicing of the Word of God. ^C It is a matter of wonder, moreover, how the preceding psalm declared a conflagration, and the total desolation and destruction of the vine transplanted from Egypt; but this psalm, as if there were one vine in another, or rather many vines, introduces many wine-presses: and it announces favorable things to those who have been called to them. For the first people, therefore, he who said: "A vineyard was made for the beloved on a horn, in a fat place" introduced one vineyard, one wine-press, and one vine. Then he says: "I dug a wine-press in it, and I planted Sorec ^D vine." In the preceding, however, he denoted one vine, saying: "You transplanted a vine from Egypt." But in the psalms which are inscribed "For the wine-presses," he declares many wine-presses, that is, many vineyards. But if you wish to know the new vine, which arose among men after the ruin of the former one, learn from the God-Word Himself teaching these things about it: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch not bearing fruit in me, he takes it away; and every one bearing fruit, he cleanses it, that it may bear more fruit. Now you are clean because of the word which I have spoken to you; remain in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it remains in the vine; so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, he bears much fruit: because without me you are not able to bear anything." The preceding psalm, therefore, described the end of that ancient vine; but the salutary doctrine declares what kind of cultivator and husbandman the true vine has, and what kind of branches, and what kind of clusters. From its branches, therefore, distributed throughout the whole world, vineyards have been constituted, the fruits of which, collected into one in the churches founded throughout the world, have brought about a multitude of wine-presses. For which cause the psalms inscribed "For the wine-presses" were prophetically pronounced by the Holy Spirit.

^A VERS. 4. Blow the trumpet in the new moon, in the notable day of your solemnity. The discourse, beginning, called for exultation and commanded to shout—that is, to send up a triumphal hymn to the declared God of Jacob—and then, having received the words of instruction, to fulfill them through deeds; and when one has become a fulfiller of the deeds, then at last to preach and trumpet to all men, to sound forth and make the Gospel heard to everyone, just as the Savior also commanded his disciples, saying: "What you hear in the ear, preach upon the housetops." Therefore, it is said to those who have accomplished the first things: "Blow the trumpet."

But how does He wish them to trumpet, unless in the way that those who formerly and of old performed the images, symbols, and types of the truths used to trumpet? Those people used to trumpet in the new moon and in the notable day of solemnity, and they used to do this in the seventh month, in which, being gathered together, they celebrated the feast of Trumpets, performing this once a year. The scripture of the Law therefore says: "In the seventh month, on the first of the month, there shall be a rest for you, a memorial of trumpets; it shall be a holy convocation for you." Thus, therefore, just as they used to trumpet in the new moon at that time, He wishes those who are now called to trumpet as well.

That day of the feast of Trumpets was a notable day; and Moses says concerning it: "You shall not do any servile work. It shall be a day of significance for you." Therefore, it is stated here also: "In the notable day of your solemnity." Therefore, it was a notable day and a feast of nothing else but trumpets; whence also it was called the feast of Trumpets. But since there were three solemnities in the same month—the first, that of the Trumpets, celebrated in the new moon; the second, that of the Atonement, occurring on the tenth day of the month; and the third, that of the Tabernacles—He commands them to imitate ^B only the day of Trumpets, saying: "Blow the trumpet in the new moon." He would have spoken more clearly thus: "Just as they once used to blow the trumpet in the new moon, traversing every place to signify the feast, in the same manner do you also, to whom the Word gives command, blow the trumpet."

He wishes the heralds of the nations not to attend to the other Jewish observances, but to use only the preaching, and to trumpet the saving and evangelical Word to all men. For Moses used to perform the symbols of these very things, and this was a command specifically legislated for Israel, the duty to trumpet, and through the trumpet to signify the feast of the season to all. But this command came about according to the judgment, will, and decree of the God of Jacob. For He, the God who appeared to Jacob of old in the likeness and form of a man, is the very one who also commanded these things to be done in figure by the people through Moses. And that to "blow the trumpet" is spoken of instead of crying out and announcing to all, the Savior teaches, saying: "When you do an alms-deed, do not sound a trumpet before you." ^{C D}

^A Verse 6. *Testimony he set for Joseph, when he went out of the land of Egypt, he heard a language he knew not.* The aforementioned command concerning the trumpets, he says, is the "testimony" he set for Joseph. According to Symmachus, however: "A testifying through Joseph he established it," and he gave the testimony as if testifying; for it was a sign of another matter. For he was hinting at certain trumpets, the function of which the apostles of our Savior and the heralds of the evangelical word partially fulfilled, sounding throughout all the earth and preaching to all nations the feast of the saving Theophany of God. That the completions of the more hidden mysteries are to take place through angels is taught by him who says: *For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise in Christ incorruptible*, and again: *In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump*, and again: *The Lord himself shall descend with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.* ^B To these things the Savior also initiated his own disciples, saying: *And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens even to the ends thereof.* But the resurrection of the dead will indeed be heralded by the evangelical trumpets that proclaim the coming of the kingdom of the Son of God; yet the apostles, even from that time, during his first coming, using trumpets—namely, the great loud-voiced proclamations of the Holy Spirit—recalled all those who had once been dead in their souls to the life which is in God. Moses, handing down the symbols of these things, established the feast of Trumpets by law. Wherefore it is said: *Testimony he set for Joseph.* What was that command? The one concerning the trumpets. But through one tribe, that of Joseph, he indicated the whole nation. ^C But why did he call the whole nation in these verses "Joseph"? Because it was on account of Joseph that they all had descended into Egypt. And when did he set the testimony—that is, the law of the trumpets—for the people, if not at the time when he led them out of the land of Egypt, when he heard a language he did not know? For when they were living in the desert, they were deemed worthy of the voice of God, who delivered the Decalogue to be kept, having received it into their ears. At that time, they were liberated from Egyptian slavery and tribulation. Wherefore it is said: — (Verse 7.) *He turned away his back from burdens, his hands served in the basket*; according to ^D Symmachus, however: "They took away his shoulder from the burden, his hands were delivered from the basket." For when they were serving Pharaoh, setting clay and bricks, building cities for him, then indeed their hands were worn out by baskets and their shoulders by burdens. But with the visitation of God having come, they became free. Wherefore he says: *He turned away his back from burdens.* Who indeed turned it away, if not the God who liberated them? For he deemed them worthy of these things because in their tribulation they called upon him. This also the Scripture of Moses declares, saying: *And the children of Israel groaned, and cried unto the Lord, and their cry ascended to the Lord*

To these words, the present utterance ^A fits in agreement, saying: *In tribulation thou calledst upon me, and I delivered thee: I heard thee in the secret place of the tempest, I proved thee at the water of contradiction.* For the phrase, *I heard thee in the secret place of the tempest,* Aquila has: *I will hear thee in the secret place of thunder,* and the fifth edition has the same. Then it adds: *I proved thee at the water of contradiction.* This also the Scripture of Moses clearly shows, saying: *And there was no water for the people to drink; and the people chided with Moses, and said: Give us water, that we may drink. But he said: Why do ye chide with me, or why do ye tempt the Lord?* And further on: *Moses said unto the Lord, saying: What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me. Then the Lord said unto him: Behold, I stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb. And I will smite the rock, and water shall come out, and the people shall drink. And Moses did so. And he called the name of that place Temptation and Chiding, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying: Is the Lord among us, or not?* All these things the prophecy ^B now in our hands teaches to the people from the Gentiles, so that they might learn what happened to that former people, and what its end was, and be warned by its example. Therefore, it necessarily appends to the aforementioned words what follows, in which it is said: *Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me, there shall no new God be in thee, neither shalt thou worship any strange God. For I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lusts; they shall walk in their own counsels.* My gifts, he says, bestowed upon the people, were such as the discourse has described; but the things which they did toward me were not similar, nor worthy of those things which they obtained from me. For I, being the provider of so many and such great ^C good things for them, sought from them this one thing, which is indeed the sum and head of the laws, namely, that they should not be idolaters, but should acknowledge me alone as God; and I exhorted them, warning them with these very words: *Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me, there shall no new God be in thee, neither shalt thou worship any strange God. For I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.* These things I advised, these things I commanded; these things the whole mind of my legislation desired. And to the commandments was joined a promise of good things, through which I said: *Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.* For if ye keep these, ye shall surely and abundantly be supplied with food, whether bodily or those which are ministered to the soul through divine instruction. I indeed gave these warnings, I promised these things; but they did not hearken to my voice: and Israel, who was adorned ^D with such great benefits, did not hearken unto me: therefore I justly gave them up according to the desires of their own hearts. For which Symmachus has interpreted: *But my people did not hearken to my voice, and Israel did not obey me. I gave them up, therefore, to the good pleasure of their own heart, that*

^A they might walk in their own counsels. Hence the divine Apostle teaches concerning certain men, saying: *Therefore God gave them up in the desires of their hearts*. And in place of *There shall be no new god in thee*, Aquila says: *There shall not be in thee a strong stranger*; but Symmachus interpreted: *Let there not be in thee a foreign god*. By "foreign," "alien," and "new" God, he named that which is falsely considered such among the nations, thus condemning the polytheistic idolatry. To which he adds: *For I am the Lord thy God*, presenting Himself as a God who is neither foreign, nor alien, nor new. For the Word of God was one and the same, the same who of old spoke in various ways to the ancients, He who is called the God of Jacob, and who appeared on earth at the consummation of the ages. For He was in the world even before His divine advent, and the world was made through Him. Therefore He delivers these institutions, saying: *I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt*. ^B

VERS. 14, 15. *If my people had heard me, if Israel had walked in my ways, I should have humbled their enemies for nothing, and should have laid my hand upon them that troubled them*. He sufficiently defends that the wrath of God did not come upon the Jewish nation unjustly or without cause. And it appears to me that He intends an answer to the preceding questions: *O God, why hast thou cast us off unto the end? thy wrath is enkindled against the sheep of thy pasture?* and again: *Why hast thou broken down the wall thereof, and all they that pass by the way do pluck it?* For what reason they suffered these things, He declares in these words: *Because my people did not hear my voice, and Israel did not attend to me*; and: *If my people had heard me, if Israel had walked in my ways, I should have humbled their enemies ^C for nothing*. For which Symmachus has interpreted: *I would have defeated their enemies in very little, and I would have turned my hand upon their adversaries*. I would surely have done these things, He says, against the enemies of the people, if I had had them obedient, and if they had walked in my ways which I had prescribed to them. But now, since they have become disobedient and insubordinate, they have made themselves enemies of God. Then, because the Holy Spirit called those who were disobedient and insubordinate His *people* through an excess of loving-kindness, He teaches that no one who is truly the people of God will gainsay Him. Therefore He adds: — VERS. 16. *The enemies of the Lord have lied to him*; but according to Symmachus: *They make the Lord hated, those who lie to Him*. And He adds: *And their time shall be ^D for ever*. For even if they have dared such things, they shall nevertheless obtain the present age. And this is their time, in

^A which ^A even after such transgressions, He fed them with the fat of wheat, and with honey out of the rock He satisfied them. In this, He fulfilled the promise, having deemed them worthy of His own food, not only physical food, but also heavenly and spiritual, when Christ, the God, first sojourned among them; He provided them with food, the heavenly bread, Himself. Furthermore, He fed them from five loaves in the desert in a miraculous way, just as of old through Moses He bestowed the manna. And further, He satisfied them with honey from the rock; but the rock was He Himself, furnishing them with teachings sweeter than all pleasure and all honey, concerning which one might say: *How sweet are your words to my throat! More than honey to my mouth.* And long ago, through Moses, He provided them drink from the rock. But here, the honey ^B from the rock should be received in no other way than according to the understanding, since Moses himself sets forth the same testimony, saying in his great ode: *They sucked honey out of the rock, and oil out of the hard rock.* These things did not happen according to the literal, bare word, but are understood allegorically, according to the mind alone. For Christ Himself is the rock, who was bestowing all these things upon them through His teaching, not only at the time when He sojourned among them, but even before His advent in the flesh; so that they were altogether without excuse, and the judgment of God, which after such things brought about their rejection, was just. But these things are handed down as a warning to us who are called from the nations to divine exultation through the former words, lest we also fall into similar errors. ^C

PSALM TO ASAPH. LXXXI.

*God stood in the congregation of gods, and in the midst He judges the gods.* The discourse before this accuses the entire people of the Jews, with God clearly saying: *My people did not hear my voice, and Israel did not pay attention to me. And I sent them away after the inclinations of their heart*; and again: *If my people had heard me, if Israel had walked in my ways, I would perhaps have humbled their enemies to nothing.* But the one now in hand, following those, accuses the leaders of the people; for it is directed toward the ruler and the judges, saying: *How long will you judge unjustly, and accept the persons of sinners? Judge for the poor and the humble, do justice to the orphan and the needy.* Then He adds: ^D *I commanded these things, but they did not know nor understand; they walk in darkness.* He calls them gods, either because of the honor which the people bestowed upon them, thus approaching them with the greatest fear and honor as if to God Himself; or because they held the place of God, having undertaken the duty of judging and punishing those who acted unjustly according to the law given them; or because they were adorned by God with the name of adoption, so that it is said concerning them: *I have begotten sons and exalted them*; or because they were fashioned in the image and likeness of God, through that spiritual and rational excellence in man.

In this same psalm, moving forward immediately after what has been said, the Word speaks to those who are accused: *I have said, You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High. But you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.* Thus, God the Word, examining the leaders of the people—that is, the priests, the chief priests, and the rest of the rulers—recounts these things which we are now discussing. Wherefore it is said: *God stood in the congregation of gods, and in the midst He judges the gods*; but according to Aquila: *God stood in the congregation of the strong, and in the heart the Lord judges*; and according to Symmachus: *God stood in the assembly of God, and in the midst He judges as God.* Now this God, namely the Word of God, judging and passing judgment upon this aforementioned synod of gods, brings accusations against the guilty. And since *the mighty shall be mightily examined*, He rightly separates the order of the aforementioned gods and judges them apart, since in the previous psalm He had brought an accusation against the promiscuous crowd of the people. Indeed, He judges also by passing sentence on those who are worthy of salvation and on those who are otherwise. He does not judge proudly, nor tyrannically, nor seated on high; but, accommodating Himself to those who are to be judged, He stands in their midst, becoming like them in the form of the man He assumed. From this, already anticipating, He exhorts those who are to be judged to repent, and He provides for them, so that they may not fall into the punishment of judgment, but rather amend themselves beforehand and take heed from the crimes leveled against them.

^C Wherefore He says: — VERS. 2, 5. *How long will you judge iniquity, and accept the faces of sinners? Judge for the needy and the fatherless.* The prophetic Spirit has proclaimed similar things through Isaiah, saying: *Learn to do good, seek judgment, judge for the fatherless, and defend the widow; and come, let us reason together, saith the Lord. And if your sins shall be as crimson, I will make them white as snow.* But although Scripture anticipates by setting forth such a covenant, those who were adorned with the name of "gods" and were deemed worthy of such great teaching knew not, neither did they understand, but walk in darkness. These things, moreover, may also be referred to the time of our Savior's first sojourn, when, drawing near to the synagogues of the Jews and coming into the midst of the rulers, He used to hold discussions with them, and reprove them, bearing witness and declaring the things that were to happen to them in the future judgment. ^D Thus, then, God stood at that time in the congregation of gods, and in the midst judged the aforementioned gods; for in place of "He judges," Symmachus and Aquila interpret it as "judging." And consider, I pray, in what way He named those who are judged "gods," and did not hesitate to speak of a "congregation of gods," to the confusion of those who deny the Savior's divinity. For if He did not hesitate to call "gods" those who had been convicted and who had a bad reputation on account of their wickedness, how could the Maker of so many wondrous works, who received judgment from the Father, who

^A is it not most equitable to honor with the venerable honor of God? This the Savior himself, shaming the rulers of the Jews, confronted them with, using these very words. For when they said: "For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God," Jesus answered them: "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, you are gods'? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?" If the Savior says, "Is it not written in the law?" do not be surprised; since he teaches that every word of God—not only that spoken through Moses, but also that spoken through the prophets—is to be accepted as a kind of royal law; so that the precepts delivered through the prophets may also rightly be called laws of God, and those in the Psalms likewise.

The Word of God himself, therefore, having taken the form of a servant and being found in appearance as a man, stood in the assembly of gods, and having become the middle between those among men who are called gods, he judged them when he said to them: "The word which I spoke to you, it judges you." And it is more proper to understand the present Scripture in this way, rather than to think that the God who is above all, the Father himself, is being introduced here as standing among other gods. For it is not permissible to suspect that any are equal in honor to him, nor to suppose that he is so debased as to be present and standing in the midst of men. All these things, however, would befit the Christ of God; who, in saying, "How long will you judge unjustly, and accept the persons of sinners?" would be addressing not only those to whom he was speaking at the time, but also all those who have received the power to judge others.

^B He rightly rebukes those who secretly respect the persons of the rich while oppressing the poor; for it is necessary to judge with the scales of justice, remembering the law which says: "You shall not respect persons in judgment." But now, for the most part, we are savage judges toward the poor who have stumbled in small things, and are inexorable in the sentences we proclaim against them; yet toward the rich, who commit the gravest crimes and then enter into the Church of God, we respect their persons, so that the text even fits us: "How long will you judge unjustly, and accept the persons of sinners?" And by saying "how long," he warns us of the end of life. How much time, he says, will be left to you to be such? And in the end, the judgment of God will overtake you.

^C Why then he adds: "Judge the poor and the orphan, do justice to the humble and the pauper. Deliver the pauper, and rescue the poor from the hand of the sinner." If, therefore, hearing these things we are instructed and keep the commandments, we shall reap profit from the words. For it will be said to us as well: ^D "They did not know, nor did they understand; they walk in darkness." Why then do they not?

^A Since they did not know nor understand, or because they will soon stand before the judgment seat of God to give an account for those things concerning which they judged unjustly? For those who do not set the judgment of God before their eyes walk in darkness, filling the eyes of their soul with the darkness of ignorance. Therefore, it is fitting for them, being illuminated by the light of the Word, either not to judge, remembering Him who said: "Judge not, that you be not judged," or, if it is sometimes necessary to judge, to do this according to the most just judgment and to reprove those who sin, even if it be necessary to die for the truth, being fully convinced that there will be a consummation and transformation of all things at the universal judgment of God, which He will accomplish through His Christ. The present discourse declares this, adding next: "All the foundations of the earth will be shaken." "I said: You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High. But you die like men, and you fall like one of the princes." ^B Toward the gods mentioned before—that is, the leaders and princes of the people—God, who came into their midst, also directs these present words, teaching that He, indeed, imitating the liberality of the Father and unrestrained by any envy, did not grudge to share His own divinity with them, so as to proclaim them gods and sons of the Most High—all that which belonged to Him alone. But they treated the grace with insult. You will understand how those who have received authority from God obtain the honor of gods among their subjects, if you take note of what was said to Moses: "Behold, I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet." For just as Moses, being a man of God and having received honor from Him, was proclaimed a god to Pharaoh, in the same way, all whom God might honor have received the place of gods among their subjects. ^C Hence, even the subjects approach them with reverence and fear—not because of any military bodyguard, not because of wealth and power, but because of the honor bestowed upon them by God. For thus the face of Moses was filled with glory; thus, too, were the apostles of our Savior, thus the prophets of God of old, and thus all those who were truly servants of God, who, while they lived without splendor and in poverty, were nevertheless honored by the devout because of the grace given to them by God. "I, indeed," He says, "so willed it, so I said: You are gods." I truly wanted you to become sons of the Most High, just like Me, the God standing in your midst; but you brought the grace to naught. Therefore, in your human wickedness and in your sins, you shall die. ^D "For the soul that sins, it shall die." Therefore, "you shall die like men, and you fall like one of the princes." For just as the devil was once honored before God and was one of the angelic princes in heaven; then, using evil counsel, he fell from his place, so that it is said of him: "How did Lucifer, who arose in the morning, fall from heaven?" such also have you become: not because you are evil by nature, but because you have made use of your choice for that which is not good. Truly, those things that proceed from Me were calling you to the honor of God. But you, imitating the prince who fell, just as

^A one of the princes shall fall. — VERS. 8. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for Thou shalt inherit among all the nations. Since in the preceding psalm He had accused the whole Jewish nation, and in the present one had instituted an accusation of the princes of the people, He quite consistently now asks for the reconciliation and the advent of Christ, not for the Jewish nation, but for all peoples. Wherefore He concludes thus: "Arise, O God, judge the earth, for Thou shalt inherit among all the nations." But as to who it is that shall inherit among all the nations, do not ask, but examine the matter, and you will discover it to be none other than the Christ of God; to whom it was said by the Father: "Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the nations as Thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth as Thy possession." Him, therefore, who as God stands in the midst of the gods and reproves those aforementioned, the present ^B discourse entreats already at last to bring to an end the promise made to Him, saying: "Arise, O God, judge the earth, for Thou shalt inherit among all the nations." For those who were previously accused, He says, having become evil judges, have walked in darkness. But since it behooves Thee to judge justly—for to the Son alone has the Father given judgment—arise now Thyself, about to accomplish by Thy resurrection the common resurrection of all men; and "judge the earth," that is, clearly, all the men who dwell upon the earth. It is fitting for Thee to judge all men, since Thou shalt inherit among all the nations. And the present psalm indeed named a synagogue of gods, and God standing in the midst and distinguishing the gods, and constructed its whole doctrine concerning judgment; and at the end it added that: "Arise, O God, judge the earth."

All these things the Holy Spirit has set forth through the prophet Asaph. Since we also find the forty-ninth psalm likewise inscribed "Of Asaph," and discussing the judgment in a manner similar to the aforementioned, we have rightly thought it proper to subjoin it to this one, as it is likewise "Of Asaph" and introduces the same subject. For it is said therein also: "The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto its setting." For see how the end of the one at hand declares: "Arise, O God, judge the earth"; while the beginning of the forty-ninth says: "The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken and called the earth." And here it is said: "For Thou shalt inherit among all the nations"; but there, "from the rising of the sun unto its setting." And again, in the forty-ninth it is said: "God shall come manifestly, our God, and He shall not keep silence." When He comes, ^D however, what He will do, the present psalm teaches, saying: "God has stood in the synagogue of gods, and in the midst He distinguishes the gods." How He will distinguish, the forty-ninth clarifies, saying: "Fire shall burn before Him, and round about Him a mighty tempest."

^A For this reason, we have rightly deemed that the forty-ninth should follow the one we have in hand. And this must also be noted, that, like the psalms of Asaph joined thereto, they contain the rejection of the Jewish nation and the causes of this. And the forty-ninth, being also by the same prophet, introduces the abrogation of the Law of Moses through the rejection of sacrifices; so that therein the sequence of the meaning of the things contained is also shown. Why the forty-ninth is separated from the sequence of the foregoing, and is placed before the confession in the fiftieth psalm, has already been treated by us in the commentary upon it.

CANTICLE OF THE PSALM OF ASAPH HIMSELF. LXXXII.

^B VERS. 2. *Deus, quis similis erit tibi? ne taceas, neque compescaris, Deus.* The seventy-ninth psalm foretold the destruction of the vine and the ruin of the Jewish nation, and the burning and desolation of the place held by them in value and honor; the two following it explained the cause for which they suffered these things; but this one, joined to them, offers supplication and entreaty for the people. For after those sad things, it was fitting to apply a kind of remedy to what had been predicted, since the psalms of Asaph are circumscribed within this. Wherefore it is inscribed

Canticle of the psalm

mildly, and while you look upon those who sin in an ungodly and atheistic manner, and utter ^A blasphemies against you, O God, you hold your peace. But I, unable to watch these things, pray and beseech you that I might obtain pardon for being unable to endure them in a way similar to you, O God; for who shall be likened unto you? Therefore, as a man possessing zeal for your piety, I dare to offer a petition to you, that you might put an end to your unspeakable long-suffering and your long-suffering silence, and that you might at last be moved against those who have dared the intolerable. Therefore I say: Do not keep silence, nor be calmed; to which Aquila has said, "Do not rest," and Symmachus, "Do not cease." Then he adds hereafter: *For behold, your enemies have sounded, and they who hate you have lifted up their head.* According to Aquila: "For behold, your enemies have raised a tumult, and they who hate you have lifted up their head"; according to Symmachus: "For behold, your enemies, he says, sound together, and they who hate you lift up their head." Those who hate God sound and raise a tumult when they no longer dare to utter their blasphemies against God under cover or with restraint; but now, openly and all at once, they all bring forth ungodly words against God, just as they dare to do during times of persecution. Then, haughty and raging, they lift up their head, especially when the silence ^B of God grants them a truce. As they lift up their head, the men of God, being afflicted, are humbled; just as, conversely, when the enemies of God are humbled, the heads of holy and God-beloved men are lifted up. Therefore it is said elsewhere in their person: "And now he hath lifted up my head above my enemies."

*They have plotted cunningly against your people, and have taken counsel against your holy ones. They said: Come, and let us destroy them from being a nation, and let not the name of Israel be remembered any more.* The Prophet beseeches God in the Holy Spirit, by reminding Him that a people who suffer such things is His people. Then he also mentions the holy ones of God who shone forth in the people long ago, begging and entreating that He might not remember the ungodly and lawless among them, but only His holy ones, and for their sake show mercy to the whole nation. For the enemies of God, doing things akin to the deeds of the ungodly, fight against His people, using craft and deceit to cast them down and turn them away from piety toward God. Therefore it is said: *They have plotted cunningly against your people, and have taken counsel against your holy ones.* For with careful thought and ^C reflection they contrive certain hidden machinations against the people of God, and prepare snares against His holy ones; and having proposed to themselves one goal, they say: "Come, and let us destroy them from being a nation, and let not the name of Israel be remembered any more." The God-fighters, indeed, do not wish a nation of God to exist among men; but they are eager even for the name of Israel to be wiped out. But God, ever preparing a nation for Himself upon the earth, after the fall of the former people, established the Church from the nations, a new and recent nation, chosen from the nations throughout the whole world. Therefore also and ^D

the name of Israel, and the achievements of piety, shine forth more brightly. And the memory of all God-loving men is praised ^A.

VERS. 6, 8, 9. *For they have consulted with one consent; they have made a covenant against thee: the tabernacles of the Edomites, and the Ismaelites, Moab and the Agarenes, Gebal and Ammon and Amalec, the aliens with them that inhabit Tyre. For Assur also is come with them: they have holpen the children of Lot.* Diapsalma. As if rousing and provoking God, the Prophet, in his supplication on behalf of the people, says, *against thee*. For not against the people, he says, but against thee and against thy covenant have the enemies of thy people conspired. Hence he narrates what was done during the incursion of the Assyrians against the Jewish people. And he prophesies these things after having ^B set forth before the causes for which they were delivered to their enemies. For in the previous psalm he reproved the princes of the people, saying: *How long will ye judge unrighteously?* and again: *They have not known, nor understood, they walk in darkness.* And in the one above that, he accused the whole nation, saying: *And my people did not hear my voice, and Israel did not attend to me.* But also in the seventy-sixth he wove a long catalogue of their transgressions. Consequently, he therefore prophesies what happened to them long afterwards because of the causes mentioned. For they were besieged there at different times; first by the Babylonians; secondly by Antiochus, king of Syria; and lastly by the Romans after the daring crime committed against our Saviour. Fittingly, by the foreknowledge of the Spirit, the same prophet announces these three sieges: for in the seventy-third he signifies the last, as we have shown in its proper places; in the seventy-eighth, that which occurred under Antiochus the Syrian, as has been demonstrated; and in the one now at hand, he makes mention of the first, namely that of the Assyrians, which the seventy-ninth also prophesied, signifying the burning and desolation of the vineyard. From history, therefore, it is possible to learn how many nations were gathered together in one against the Jewish people in the first incursion of the Assyrians, which the present prophecy enumerates: it names first the Idumaeans, then the Ismaelites, and thirdly the Moabites, and fourthly the Agarenes, then the Gebalenes, and the Ammonites, and the Amalecites. And in addition to these, he says, *aliens with them that inhabit Tyre.* But for *aliens*, Aquila and Symmachus have rendered ^C *Philistines*. And by this name are accustomed to be called those who inhabit Gaza and Ascalon and the seacoast. These maritime aliens, therefore, with the inhabitants of Tyre, made an incursion, he says, against thy people; and besides all these, the Assyrian, who is indeed the head of the evils, making an assault with them, and using them as fellow-soldiers, pitched his camp: and all the aforesaid were made a help to the children of Lot. For which Aquila says, *They were made an arm for the children of Lot*; but Symmachus, *They were made fellow-soldiers to the children of Lot*. Now the children of Lot were the Ammonites and ^D

^A Moabites: for these two were the sons of Lot, Moab and Ammon. Now that these things were fulfilled at no other time than the time of the Assyrians, history clearly shows. For at that time, all the neighboring nations, envying Jerusalem and the temple of God written of as being therein, and thirsting for the destruction of the whole Jewish nation, all at once set upon them, having joined themselves to the power and alliance of the Babylonians. At that time, then, many nations were gathered against them, allying themselves with the Assyrians. But neither against Antiochus, nor during the final siege, do the nations previously enumerated appear to have allied themselves with the Romans when they undertook the war against the Jews.

Verses 10-12. Do to them as to Madian and Sisara, as to Jabin at the brook of Cison. They perished at Endor, they became as dung for the earth. Make their princes like Oreb and Zeb and Zebee and Salmana.

^A Indeed, such things are not reported concerning those who, after the coming of our Savior, engaged in the final siege of Jerusalem. Wherefore the Romans suffered nothing of the sort after their campaign against that nation.

VERS. 14. *Deus meus, pone illos ut rotam, et sicut stipulam ante faciem venti.* The Prophet, or rather the Holy Spirit within him, does not inopportunely mention God as his own in the narrative at hand, saying, "My God." For he does not say "our God," but "my God," as if but one, or perhaps very few, were left who were worthy of God during the aforementioned time of the Assyrian siege. For, since the whole people had fallen and, on account of their sins, had been delivered to the besiegers, he does not invoke God in a general sense; rather, ^B speaking from his own person, he adds: "My God, make them like a wheel." Now, the nature of a wheel is to be rolling and not to persist in the same place. Such is the entire life of the godless: at one time raised on high, then, in the manner of a wheel, it turns in the opposite direction.

First, therefore, he says, "Make them like a wheel"; then, "as stubble before the face of the wind; and as fire that will consume the forest; and further, as a flame that will burn the mountains." For he prophesies through these words that they would rise up against themselves and through their own actions would undergo the punishment for the crimes they had dared to commit, saying, "Make them." And to the phrase "as stubble before the face of the wind," you may add that which is spoken elsewhere: "Not so the ungodly, not so; but as the dust which the wind ^C casts away from the face of the earth." And the mention of "fire that consumes the forest" indicates that they themselves are the fire, and they themselves are the forest, so that they are to be consumed by themselves, in accordance with the saying: "Walk in the light of your fire, and in the flame which you have kindled." And the phrase "as a flame that will burn the mountains" brings out the magnitude of their wickedness, and how their own flame will burn up their pride and arrogance, which are erected like mountains.

He adds to these: "So you shall pursue them." And it is said elsewhere: "Fire and brimstone and the spirit of a storm are the portion of their cup." By these things, the Word teaches that the storm and the wrath of God are not passions of God, but rather a certain visitation through which it came about that they, having risen up against themselves, ^D should receive from themselves the punishment for what they had done. He prays for all these things, or rather, he prophesies that they will happen against the enemies of God, so that even in this way they might at some point be benefited. For if the greatest benefit is to know God and to come to the inquiry of His name, the Word teaches that this will happen to them after the aforementioned events, saying: "And they shall seek your name, O Lord. Let them be ashamed and troubled forever and ever, and let them be brought to shame and perish. And let them know that your name is Lord: you alone are the Most High over all the earth." He prophesies that the death of the enemies of God will be in two ways: one by which he ascribes good hope to them;

for if the knowledge of God and the comprehension of his name is a good thing, and it is good that those who previously did not know God should be instructed that He alone is the Most High over all the earth—for it is likely that those who profess these things have consigned the forgetfulness of their former polytheistic error to oblivion and have cast off the vain and deceptive dogma concerning false gods—then in the other way, he predicts shame, disturbance, confusion, and beyond all these, destruction for those who are worthy of such things. For he teaches that the divine knowledge will be present to those who convert from the divine turning to the better; while he threatens ruin and destruction to those who grow old in their own wickedness. Therefore, concerning those who are worse, it has been said: ^B "Let them be ashamed and troubled for ever and ever, and let them be confounded and perish." But concerning those who are about to change for the better, the text is brought forth: "And let them know that thy name is Lord, thou alone art the Most High over all the earth." All these things can also be said of the same people, as if, when the enemies of God suffer the things mentioned above, they are destined to be filled with confusion and shame and to be delivered to destruction, and will then, by that very experience, know and confess that there is one and only God, the Most High over all the earth, who has also visited them in just judgment for the sake of what they dared to do.

TO THE END, FOR THE WINE-PRESSES, TO THE SONS OF KORE, PSALM LXXXIII.

^C VERS. 2. How beloved are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! After the psalms inscribed with the name of Asaph failed—the first of which was the seventy-second, and the last the eighty-second—the present eighty-third psalm follows, inscribed to the sons of Kore, concerning whom we opened our opinion in the matters discussed above. It is necessary to observe that all the psalms of Asaph number twelve; the psalms inscribed to the sons of Kore are equal in number to these. However, eight psalms of the sons of Kore are placed together, starting from [Psalm] forty-one, while the remaining four are set here, beginning from the eighty-third, and are placed subsequently to those inscribed to Asaph. In like manner also, eleven of the Asaph psalms are placed together, from [Psalm] seventy-two to the eighty-second. But the ^D twelfth follows the first eight psalms of the sons of Kore, so that a certain mutual compensation occurs because of the prophecies in both which preserve a common method of speculation. Therefore, those first eight psalms of the sons of Kore were eight in number, all beginning from the forty-first and ending at the forty-eighth. These, to speak briefly, commemorate the weeping, lamentation, and wailing of the people from the circumcision, the advent of Christ, and the calling of the Gentiles. This, indeed, is the argument of those eight psalms. But of these four psalms of the sons of Kore which are currently in question, the last two embrace the birth and death of the Savior: as if the Scripture had opportunely reserved for the end to set forth the prophecies of all things. Moreover, much regarding his birth in

the flesh, which was enigmatically hinted at in the eighty-sixth Psalm, is obscurely sub-indicated; but far more and deeper things regarding his death, which he accepted for the sake of mankind, are contained in the eighty-seventh—which is the last of the Psalms inscribed to the sons of Core. Furthermore, the two Psalms that precede these, both the one in hand and the one following it, prophesy his advent to mankind and the achievements accomplished thereby. But specifically, the one before us is inscribed: "To the end, for the winepresses." ^B And since there are three that bear such an inscription, this one happens to be one of them; similarly, the eightieth and the eighty-third are also inscribed this way. But of these, two are called Psalms, namely the eighth and the present one; therefore, they contain the announcement of good things. The eightieth, however, was "For the winepresses," but not a Psalm, because it contains certain sorrowful things against Israel. And since there are three "For the winepresses," they are assigned to three persons: the eighth to David, the eightieth to Asaph, and the one in hand to the sons of Core. And indeed, the three are unanimously inscribed "To the end," as I suppose, because the prophecies within them were brought to completion at the end of the times and at the consummation of the age.

Of old, indeed, when there was one vineyard of which it was said, "For the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth is the house of Israel," there was as it were one winepress in it, which Isaiah mentions, speaking from the person of the Lord, saying: "And I built a tower, and I dug a winepress in it." ^C By the tower, it perhaps signifies the temple in Jerusalem, and by the winepress (or "before-the-winepress"), the altar situated in the temple—which he rightly called not a winepress but a "before-the-winepress," because bodily things preceded spiritual ones, and the Old Testament, which preserved symbols and images of the truth among the Jews, preceded the New Testament; wherefore the altar of those people was called not a winepress but a "before-the-winepress." As there was one vineyard, there was one winepress, and the altar of one temple. But the three Psalms under discussion here make mention not of one, but of many winepresses, by which are indicated the churches of our Savior established throughout the whole world. Accordingly, immediately in the title, it is said, "For the winepresses," and it is presently subjoined: "How beloved are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!" by which it is almost declared what those aforementioned tabernacles were. ^D For it is openly said to be the tabernacles of the Lord, namely his churches, which, continuing, he names more clearly by saying: "My soul longeth and faileth for the courts of the Lord." And again, continuing, he says: "Thy altars, O Lord of hosts." And observe whether or not, consistent with the title which is written "For the winepresses," the speech uses the term "tabernacles" in the plural, and likewise "courts" and "altars," in such a way that Scripture no longer signifies here that ancient, single tabernacle situated in Jerusalem, nor the one altar placed there, nor the one court situated in that place, but all the altars, tabernacles, and courts throughout the world.

^A Others, he says, love other things and value them highly; but to me, O Lord, your tabernacles are lovely and desirable, in which you yourself have deigned to take up abode, having made your dwelling among men, saying: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them." And the things mentioned are so lovely and desirable to me that, because of the excess of my longing for them, I acknowledge that my soul fails, conquered by its desire for them, and that I prefer the time spent in your courts to life itself. ^B And not only does my soul fail, but my heart also, and along with my heart, my very body and the flesh with which I am clothed. For these, too, are filled with joy and gladness from the memory of that life which is with you; so that I speak truly when I say: "My heart and my flesh have exulted in the living God." For our God is living, and he alone possesses life in himself as his own and natural endowment; or rather, being himself the fountain of all life, he imparts it to all who approach him. Wherefore my flesh itself, which by its nature is mortal and subject to corruption, rejoices and exults, because through him it is destined to be a partaker of immortal life and divine grace.

These things the Prophet says, demonstrating the devotion and love he had for the things prophesied by him. Therefore our Savior was saying: "Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see." He says that the flesh, together with the heart, exults in the living God, hinting, as I think, at the resurrection of the Savior from the dead. ^C For because the gods of the Gentiles who are thought to exist are dead and inanimate—for the idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of the hands of men, and the men of that time worshiped these—I, he says, contemplating not such a god, but the living God, am filled with joy in my heart; and this flesh of mine has exulted in this God, as in the God who is truly living and who brings the dead to life, who will also make this flesh of mine live again through his own resurrection. Therefore, along with my soul, my flesh also has exulted. "For the sparrow has found a house for itself, and the turtledove a nest for herself, where she may place her young, your altars, O Lord of hosts." And how, he says, is it not right to acknowledge your tabernacles as lovely and desirable, O Lord, since they have become a refuge for everyone able to say: "Our soul like a sparrow has been delivered from the snare of the hunters"? And again to the one who says: "In the Lord I trust, how will you say to my soul, 'Flee like a sparrow to the mountains'? ^D For behold, the sinners have bent their bow, they have prepared their arrows in the quiver." For since many try to trap the soul of the godly man with snares and hunt it as if with nets, while it flies hither and thither and wanders everywhere because it has no rest in this mortal life, only the tabernacles of God have become a refuge for such a soul. Therefore it is said: "For the sparrow has found a house for itself, but..."

^A the turtledove a nest." For a soul that exercises noble and continent living in the current life (for the bird is said to be of such a nature), grieving and lamenting human wickedness, has found for itself a refuge in the altars established throughout the whole world through the teaching of the Christ of God; there, as if in nests and broods, it will deposit the newly-born and tender offspring of its own children, having found a safe and unassailable dwelling-place for its own young: so that your altars might serve as a house for the sparrow, and as a nest for the turtledove. For these birds—the sparrow, I say, and the turtledove—formerly, before altars were established everywhere on earth, had no refuge; but for long periods they were wanderers, being driven and pursued by hunters. For this reason, those who were driven like a sparrow used to say: "I trust in the Lord; how will you say to my soul, 'Migrate to the mountains like a sparrow?'" And having been rescued from the hand of the enemies, they themselves would confess, saying: "Our soul has been rescued like a sparrow from the snare of the hunters." ^B Therefore, the hidden and invisible hunters, lying in wait for souls who devote themselves to the heavenly and sublime life, were spreading nets and traps and preparing various kinds of hunting-snares for the purpose of ambushing them. And these things were represented in the preceding psalm, in which it was said: "For behold, your enemies have sounded, and those who hate you have lifted up their head. They have crafted a malignant plan against your people, they have plotted against your saints." In the time of persecutions, when the enemies of God were attacking and harassing His people, the men of God, fleeing hither and thither like sparrows, at last were granted peace and found the tabernacles of God, and His courts, and the altars, as a refuge and rest for themselves. ^C You might say, however, that those unencumbered soldiers who have embraced the monastic life are to be regarded as sparrows; but those who occupy themselves with having children and give themselves to the remaining cares and business of life play the part of the turtledove, which He commands to offer its own young to God, and to deposit and consecrate them upon the altars as in a nest.

VERS. 5. *My King and my God, blessed are all who dwell in your house; they will praise you for ever and ever. Diapsalma. How beloved and lovely are your tabernacles to me, and why does my soul faint with desire for them, and furthermore, in what has my heart and my flesh exulted? For the sparrow has found a house for itself, and the turtledove a nest, your altars, O Lord of hosts.* ^D In which altars those who do not tarry for a short time, but dwell and remain there assiduously and perseveringly, are thrice blessed. Having said this, he circumscribes and dismisses all the legal provisions handed down by Moses. For he did not call the circumcised blessed, nor those who observe the Sabbaths, nor the practitioners of Mosaic sacrifices and the rest of the precepts of the corporeal law, nor even those who are of the stock of Abraham, nor Israel, nor the Jewish nation; but simply all who dwell in the house of God. What is more blessed

than to inscribe God as one’s own King and Lord of hosts, and to dwell in His house perpetually, from which is provided the immortality and eternal life of God? This, then, the Word indicates by saying: *For ever and ever they will praise You, who dwell in Your house.* For how else could anyone praise God for ever and ever, unless he himself were also to endure, having obtained an everlasting and immortal life? ^A *Blessed is the man whose help is from You; he has disposed ascensions in his heart, in the valley of weeping, in the place which He has set.* Having completed the sequence and the coherence of the thought, he makes a change of discourse from the diapsalma. For this reason, since he previously called those who dwell in the house of God blessed in the plural, here he declares one person in particular to be blessed. And who is this, if not he who is found worthy of the help of God in the valley of weeping, he who has also had the ascensions of God in his heart? For he declares this man blessed in turn; but not the observer of the corporeal commandments given by Moses. Such a man is everyone who laments himself in this mortal and human life, and is burdened by this earthly life, which the Word calls a valley of weeping, because things here are worthy of weeping, and because men upon the earth perform deeds worthy of weeping, and because the saints of God in this present life are lamented, groaning and burdened as the Apostle says. Whoever, therefore, in the valley of weeping—that is, in this mortal life—obtains the help that comes from God, would truly be blessed, especially when the ascensions of God take place in his heart. For while other men are dragged down by mortal reasonings into every kind of sin, and are tripped up by the attacks of demons and the suggestions of evil spirits, he who is not captured by these, but by the grace of God possesses good ascensions and thoughts sent from God in his heart, he is truly blessed. He is also one who dwells at all times in the house of God, and as some priest, ^B devoting himself solely to the worship of God, he is blessed; both first because he has God as a helper assisting him and taking hold of him in all his actions, and then because he possesses the ascensions of God in his heart. By these "ascensions" are meant good thoughts and good intentions which, according to the will of God, ascend and run up to the memory of the one who is being called blessed. You will understand this if you set beside it this saying: *When they persecute you and bring you into the councils, do not be anxious how or what you are to speak; for the word will be given to you at the opening of your mouth. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who is in heaven who speaks in you.* For in him in whom the Spirit of God speaks, the ascensions of God take place in his heart. Hence he is deservedly declared blessed. And this same man, in the place of weeping—that is, in this earthly realm—has disposed the covenant of God and His oracles, performing the office of an ambassador.

^A For "He has disposed [it] into the valley of weeping," Symmachus says, "Passing along he was weeping in the valley." We have said that by the "valley of weeping" is signified human life, which he who is called blessed traverses and runs past, like some sojourner and stranger, longing for his heavenly fatherland, and he macerates himself with the weepings and tears that produce beatitude, in accordance with the saying, "Blessed are those who mourn." Such was Paul, who states, "We who are in the tabernacle groan, being burdened." For the expression, "In the place which He has set," Aquila says, "They will set it as a fountain," while Symmachus says, "A fountain shall be established." What fountain, he asks, will they set, if not the valley of weeping? The whole passage, then, Aquila interpreted thus, saying: "Passing through the valley of weeping, they will set it as a fountain." By these words he signifies that those who are sojourners and strangers in this life will make the valley of the human race a fountain—or, according to Symmachus, will establish a fountain—having named the divine teaching in this way. For a fountain of life and a draught of immortality is cast down into the valley of weeping—the life of men—by the men of God, through the life-giving and pious ^B doctrine which they themselves have pursued and have left to others in their own writings.

To these same people, he says, their Lawgiver will bestow as a reward for their weeping and a worthy fruit, a blessing. To whom will He grant these blessings, if not to those who, having been given over to such tears in this valley, have established a fountain therein? For the term "Lawgiver," Aquila used "early-riser" [or "morning-star"], Symmachus "the pointer-out," the fifth edition "He who illuminates," and another, a sixth edition, "He who teaches"—so that from them all one may understand the saving Word. For He is Himself the Lawgiver, He is also the Illuminator, and the Teacher; He is also the Early-riser, and the Pointer-out, using these titles in accordance with the individual conceptions of the powers that are in Him. From Him, those who weep in the valley, having received a blessing, will go on, completing their own journey and ^C being strengthened day by day; so that they ever make progress and advance from lesser to greater virtue, and from glory to glory, as the divine Apostle says: "Being transformed into the same image from glory to glory." Wherefore Symmachus also interpreted it, saying: "They shall go from strength to strength."

VERS. 9. “Videbitur Deus deorum in Sion. Domine Deus virtutum, exaudi orationem meam; auribus percipe, Deus Jacob.” After having said, "The Lawgiver will give a blessing," he appropriately teaches by what means He is to give the blessing to men living in the valley. By what means will He give it, if not by deigning to be seen upon the earth? Most consequently, having prophesied that there were to be many wine-presses of God throughout the whole world, as well as many tabernacles, many courts, and indeed many altars, he brings forward the cause for which all these were to be established on earth. What that cause is, he teaches by saying: "God of gods ^D shall be seen in Sion," openly declaring the advent of God to men and the manifestation of Him.

But the Word of God is named the God of gods, for us to understand that those blessed and God-beloved men, to whom the Word of God came, are gods; to whom it was also said, "I said, Ye are gods," and, "God stood in the congregation of the gods," and, "The Lord, God of gods, hath spoken, and called the earth." For in these, no other is called the God of gods than He alone who in the beginning was the Word with God, who indeed made them gods through His own bounty and the participation of the same Spirit. For he says those are gods to whom the Word of God came. ^B Next, he mentions Christ by name in his prayer, saying: "And look upon the face of Thy Christ." For the words, "God of gods shall be seen in Sion," Aquila has: "The mighty God shall be seen in Sion." And who this is, who will be visible and observable to the eyes, he teaches by proceeding further and saying: "Give ear, O God of Jacob." For this was the very same Word of God, who formerly appeared to Jacob in the form of a man, and said to him: "Thy name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name; for thou hast prevailed with God, and with men shalt be powerful." On which account that religious man, perceiving Him who is called his God, says: "I have seen God face to face, and my soul was preserved." This very God, he says, who appeared to Jacob shall again be seen in Sion, clearly pointing to this mode ^C of the Word of God's appearing to men. Invoking this same God of Jacob, he prays Him to hasten His advent. — VERS. 10. "O our Protector, behold, O God." Whom does he ask Him to behold, if not those who are oppressed by affliction in the valley of weeping? Then he subjoins, "and look upon the face of Thy Christ," praying that the advent of the Word of God to His Christ, whom He put on from the seed of David, might be hastened. Wherefore Aquila has: "Our shield, behold, O God, and turn the face of Thy anointed"; and Symmachus: "O our Protector, see, O God, and look upon the face of Thy Christ." These things are prayed for by those who recite the whole psalm; these were the prophets of God, who had been preserved from spiritual ^D enemies and transferred from war to peace; and by the divine inspiration of the Spirit they foresaw the tabernacles of God, being full of desire for His atria and altars. They also beseech the Word of God, who became their protector in the time of war, to look upon the face of His Christ, so that when He has appeared and has taken upon Himself the Christ born of the seed of David according to the flesh, there may be a release from former evils for all, and the human race may obtain good things through Christ.

VERS. 11. "For one day in Thy atria is better than thousands." The one day of God's presence, that is, of the resurrection from the dead, he who utters this present psalm deems much better and more desirable than thousands of days. By the "thousands," I suspect, is hinted the time during which Jerusalem stood; for[1014] in [the whole] period of a thousand years the temple therein was established; for so great was the time from Solomon...

s construction of the temple until the advent of our Savior, which I believe is indicated again ^A through the 89th Psalm, which is titled, *A Prayer of Moses*; and it says further: *For a thousand years in thy sight are as yesterday which is past, and as a watch in the night.* Therefore, that one day of the resurrection of our Savior from the dead is to be preferred and must be held more precious than that millennium by anyone who is led by love for Him. Wherefore he asks that His advent be hastened, saying: *Look, O God, and gaze upon the face of thy Christ, for one day in thy courts is better than thousands.* Nor must "thousands" here be understood in the plural. For among the Hebrews this word signifies a single thousand, as will be clear to anyone who considers it. And because one day in the courts throughout the world at the advent of God, which is announced, is more excellent than those thousands founded [there], therefore he was also saying above: *My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord.* And again, because he had already said above, ^B *Blessed are they who dwell in thy house; they will praise thee forever and ever*: believing in this and being precisely convinced that this word is true, for this reason I say: *I have chosen to be an outcast in the house of my God rather*; so that, being in the house of God, I might be able to praise God for ever and ever. Or rather, I have chosen, just as the one day over the thousand, so also the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth, rather than to dwell in the many tabernacles of sinners. For sinners also have fashioned themselves into the likeness of the tabernacles of God; but those of God are lovely, while those of sinners are worthy of hatred. ^C *For the Lord God loves mercy and truth; the Lord will give grace and glory.* Instead of, *For the Lord loves mercy and truth,* Aquila says, *For the Lord God is mercy and a shield*; and the fifth edition, *For the Lord God is a sun and a protector*; and Symmachus similarly said, *For he is a sun.* For this reason, he says, that one day is better than thousands, because the Lord Himself, the Word of God, is the sun of that day. This sun the prophet also hinted at, saying: *But to you who fear me shall the Sun of righteousness arise, and healing [shall be] in his wings.* The same was also indicated by him who said: *And the sun shall set upon the prophets who lead my people astray*; but Isaiah [speaks] more openly: *The sun shall not be your light by day,* he says, *but the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and your God your glory.* ^D Since the Lord is such a sun, He shall give grace and glory—and what is more, something even more excellent, an ineffable and hidden good—to those who walk in innocence; or, according to Symmachus, *to those who walk in perfection.* Having faith in these words, therefore, and being thoroughly convinced that they are true, I thus conclude my discourse: *O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in thee.* For if anyone is called blessed by many in any other way, a false blessedness is certainly ascribed to him.

^A But, to speak truly, he alone is blessed to whom the things said above belong, since he is filled with all goods who has entrusted himself to thee alone, and has rested all his hope in thy promises. Furthermore, in the present psalm, since those of whom the discourse speaks have now for the third time been pronounced blessed, no mention is made of the Jewish nation or of Israel; nor did it pronounce blessed those who have performed the precepts of Moses, but first, in general, those who dwell in the house of God; secondly, every man to whom help comes from the Lord; and finally, at the end of the discourse, indefinitely and generally, every man who hopes in the Lord. For since the future presence of God and the advent of Christ to men was being announced, it was fitting that those beatitudes which are found with God should be announced not to the Jews only, but to all men also.

TO THE END, A PSALM FOR THE SONS OF KORAH. LXXXIV.

Vers. 2. *You have been gracious, O Lord, to your land; you have turned away the captivity of Jacob.* ^B Following the preceding psalm, after the manifestation of God foretold in it, in the one now at hand the deliverance from evils is prophesied, along with the release from captivity, and the pardon and remission of sins. For these things attended the coming of God to men, and the other things declared in the preceding psalm. For since in that one it had been foretold that many tabernacles, courts, and altars of God were to be established on the earth, and that the author of these was God, who was about to appear on earth, and that Christ was specifically being looked for—whence it was said, *God of gods shall be seen in Zion*, and again, *Look upon the face of your Christ*—rightly, in the present psalm, the things that were to be throughout the whole world of men are announced beforehand. ^C And indeed these things have been fulfilled at the coming of our Savior, by which God was pleased to grace the land with the approach of his Christ. For of old it was said to the first-formed: *You are earth, and into earth you shall return*; and, *Cursed is the earth in your works*; and another prophet says: *Cursing, and murder, and lying, and theft, and adultery have been poured out upon the earth, and they mix blood with blood.* But when the Son of God sojourned on earth and assumed a body from the earth, a change of the former evils took place, and the whole element of the earth, instead of the former curse, obtained God’s blessing, and churches and houses of prayer to God were constituted throughout the whole world. Wherefore it is now said, *You have been gracious, O Lord, to your land*; ^D and in others, *The Lord has reigned, let the earth exult*; and again, *Sing to the Lord, all the earth.* Rightly, therefore, the earth is also said to be of the Lord himself, according to the words, *You have been gracious, O Lord, to your land.* For it has become not only his creature and handiwork, but also his possession, for the reasons brought forward above.

^A As to how the expression, *You have turned back the captivity of Jacob*, is used, you will understand this from that voice of the Savior, by which, when he had read the prophecy of Isaiah saying, *The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to preach the gospel to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind*, he added, *Today this prophecy is fulfilled in your ears*, signifying that the oracle was fulfilled in himself. For he was indeed the Savior and Redeemer of human souls, who set them free from the bitter servitude of the error of many gods and from the operations of demons, having broken the chains of their sins. This is what is also set forth by the present psalm, when it says: ^B *You have forgiven the iniquities of your people; you have covered all their sins.* Another passage of Scripture also knows of iniquities being forgiven and covered, saying: *Blessed are they whose iniquities have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered.* By these words, the Spirit signifies the forgiveness of former sins granted by the Savior to those who have been redeemed from the spiritual captivity of their souls: if such people should sin again after this forgiveness, he does not grant a second forgiveness, but rather a covering of their sins. For he has permitted that former transgressions be covered by good works performed a second time.

Now, God, the Lord of all, bestowed all these things upon the inhabited earth—that is, upon those who dwell in it—through the coming of the Savior, having calmed his anger and mitigated the fury of which those who dwell on the earth were formerly worthy, inasmuch as they had been made his enemies because of their excessive wickedness. Yet it was God who was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and not imputing their former transgressions to them. Therefore it is said: ^C *You have mitigated all your anger; you have turned away from the wrath of your indignation. Convert us, O God of our salvation, and turn away your anger from us. Will you be angry with us forever? Or will you extend your anger from generation to generation? O God, you will turn and bring us to life, and your people will rejoice in you.*

The former things were prophesied concerning what was to happen to the whole world, which indeed reached its end through the coming of our Savior, according to the interpretation given above. But the matters we are now treating contain a prayer on behalf of the people of the circumcision. For because the prophet, through the divine Spirit, foresaw the unbelief of the Jewish nation towards Christ, and the wrath that would overtake them on account of the sins they would dare to commit, he sends up the present prayer for them in a most timely manner; ^D so that no contradiction is found in the psalm, in the sense that, having initially prophesied better things for the world, he would now begin to offer prayers as if no good had been bestowed. Thus, the first part was prophesied concerning the benefits to be granted to the human race through our Savior; meanwhile, in the second place, the prophet offers prayers on behalf of his own countrymen, entreating that the wrath about to fall upon them might be calmed, and that they themselves might be deemed worthy of the conversion of God and of the joy in God which is in Christ.

^A *Vers. 8. Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy, and grant us Thy salvation.* The Prophet persists in prayer here also, petitioning that he himself might be deemed worthy to perceive with his eyes those things which are to come about through the mercy of God, which indeed had been prophesied above. He also asks to attain to the illumination of Christ unto men, by saying: *And grant us Thy salvation.* That this salvation is Christ, Simeon clearly taught in the Gospels; for when he had taken the infant Jesus into his arms, he said: *Now dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in peace, because my eyes have seen Thy salvation.* The Prophet desires to see this very thing; therefore the Saviour says: *Many prophets and just men have desired to see what you see, and have not seen.* ^B *Vers. 9. I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me, for He will speak peace unto His people, and unto His saints, and unto those who turn their heart.* After the Prophet has prayed, being certain that he will be heard, he commits himself to silence. Then, while waiting to receive an answer, he says to himself: Such has been my prayer; it is now time to hear the Holy Spirit, and to learn from Him what He is about to prophesy concerning the peace of His people, and concerning those who are to be converted through His Christ. Having then paused for a short while, he is filled with the divine Spirit, and prophesies further, saying thus: ^C *Nevertheless His salvation is near to those that fear Him, so that glory may dwell in our land.* By these words he shows that the salvation of God, regarding which he prayed above by saying, *Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy, and grant us Thy salvation*, is about to be present to men before long. He says that this very salvation is very near, and is already close and next to those who fear Him, being the cause for glory to dwell and for tabernacles to be established in our land. It is the custom of holy Scripture to call Christ the salvation of God, which we have often proven through many examples. The Word, now prophesying this, sets forth that in place of the former dishonor which occurred in the land during the time of idolatry, glory will dwell in it, and tabernacles of glory unto God will be established everywhere on earth through the evangelical teaching. Then, following these things, he clarifies the manner in which the promised things were to be fulfilled, saying: ^D *Mercy and truth have met together, justice and peace have kissed.* He speaks of two pairs having met one another through these, of which the first was of mercy and truth, and the second of justice and peace. They met each other, he says, and exchanged friendly greetings; truth and mercy kissed justice and peace together. From where they came to meet one another, he further teaches by saying: *Truth is sprung out of the earth, and justice has looked down from heaven.*

Following upon these, we shall subjoin the opening verses of the psalm, in which it was said: *Thou hast blessed, O Lord, thy land: thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people: thou hast covered all their sins.* For all these things were prophesied as destined to come to pass when the salvation of God appeared upon earth. ^A Since, together with salvation, truth sprang out of the earth, and justice, looking down from heaven, met it, it spread forth the grace of God to all men equally and most righteously.

By these things, the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is clearly announced; by whom alone truth sprang out of the earth, because He Himself was the truth, and the word of His evangelical doctrine was delivered not as of old in figures and symbols, but through the truth itself. Therefore it is said: *The law was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.* ^B And all His works were truth, as also His birth and His passion and the rest, which the godless heretics supposed to have occurred only in appearance and fantasy. But if every man is a liar, He alone, who is the truth, rightly sprang from the earth as something strange and unprecedented; for the earth produced a good such as it had never before borne, in which that justice that looked down from heaven rested. And what could that justice be, which rested upon the truth, but God the Word Himself, of whom it is said: *Who is made unto us wisdom from God, and justice, and sanctification, and redemption?* ^C For He, descending from the heavens, rested upon the truth that sprang from the earth, and was united to it, and embraced it lovingly as a friend. To the truth that sprang from the earth, mercy was present, going before it; for by the mercy of God the entire dispensation of truth was brought about. And after the justice that descended from heaven followed peace, so that men inhabiting the earth might enjoy not only the mercy of God and His truth, but also that heavenly justice and its friend, peace. For of old, the dwelling-place of justice and peace was heaven; but now the earth also, since the mercy of God stood upon the earth. For this was the cause of those things which followed; for because of the mercy of God, all other things followed: for after mercy comes truth, then justice, and above all, peace. ^D Regarding our Savior, it is clearly written: *For he is our peace, who hath made both one;* and again: *Making peace through himself, whether things on the earth, or things that are in heaven;* and again: *Coming, he preached peace to you that were afar off, and peace to them that were nigh.* Rightly, therefore, is it said in the Psalm: *Surely his salvation is near to them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.* For there is much and great glory in our land, namely in the world, established through the fulfillment of the prophecies. And who, pray, would say that glory was not to dwell in our land, when His salvation, the Christ of God, and that [glory]...

on earth, I mean the inhabited world of men, was established through the outcome of the things prophesied. And how was the glory not about to dwell in our land, when even the salvation of Him, He Himself His Christ, and the righteousness from heaven, deigned to descend upon it? Having hearkened to all these things, as God had foreordained and foretold concerning His people, the Prophet makes a proclamation after the prayer, saying: "I will hear what the Lord God will speak;" ^A whence he adds in sequence: "Because He will speak peace to His people." This peace came to pass for the people when mercy and truth met together, and righteousness and peace kissed each other. When these things are so, both the things of the Prophet's prayer and the things said before the prayer are fulfilled. For the Lord indeed took pleasure in His land, having deemed it worthy of mercy and truth and the rest; but He also turned away the captivity of human souls, having resolved every war, ^B and having granted peace, and broken the bonds and the yokes that were formed from sin. Wherefore it is joined to the words, "Thou didst turn away the captivity of Jacob," the phrase, "Thou didst forgive the iniquities of Thy people," and this: "Thou didst cover all their sins." For the turning back of the captivity was not accomplished otherwise than through the forgiveness of sins. And that these things also attained their end through the appearing of our Saviour, He Himself taught in the Gospels, when, having taken the book of Isaiah, and having read, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me, He hath sent me to preach good tidings to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives," and the rest, He added, saying: "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears." If, then, one were to consider it, he would say that the race of men ^C long ago suffered captivity under invisible adversaries, the true enemies of God, being dragged down into idolatry and all shameful and unlawful deeds, and he would not hesitate to call this a grievous captivity of souls, from which our Saviour and Lord, having delivered us and set us free, and having provided forgiveness through the laver of regeneration for ancient failings and a dissolution of former impieties, became for us the author of the thanksgiving set in the Psalm, so that we too can say: "Thou didst take pleasure, O Lord, in Thy land; Thou didst turn away the captivity of Jacob. Thou didst forgive the iniquities of Thy people, Thou didst cover all their sins."

"For the Lord shall give goodness, and our land shall yield her fruit." ^D Long ago, when the earth was under a curse, it brought forth thorns and thistles, according to the saying: "Cursed is the ground in thy works; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee." Now, however, when such goods have come upon it, it is consistently said to yield its fitting fruit, inasmuch as it has obtained the goodness from the Lord. But a fruit worthy of God is not thorns and thistles, but surely those things through which it is deemed worthy of the blessing from God. For the earth which has drunk the rain that often comes upon it, and brings forth herb suitable to those for whose sake it is also cultivated, partakes of the blessing given by God. With reason, therefore, the earth is bidden to bring forth new songs, inasmuch as...

it has been judged worthy of such things, as have just been declared, with the Holy Spirit crying out to it and saying: "Sing to the Lord all the earth, sing to the Lord a new song," and, "The Lord has reigned, the earth shall rejoice," and things similar to these.

"Righteousness shall go before him, and shall set his footsteps on the way." ^B The remaining interpreters, and especially Symmachus, have set forth the meaning of this statement more clearly, saying: "The righteousness of each one shall go before him, and shall set his feet on the way." For after the good things bestowed upon the earth, each of those who inhabit the earth, as one who has partaken of the righteousness that has looked down from heaven, and who has himself acquired his own righteousness, shall have it leading him to the way that leads upward, and directing his footsteps; so that having traveled the way that leads to the heavens, and being strengthened and guided by the righteousness that goes before him, he may attain the heavenly promises which our Savior and Lord ^C proclaimed to all men, saying: "The kingdom of the heavens is at hand"; and, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens."

A PRAYER OF DAVID. LXXXV.

"Incline, O Lord, your ear, and hear me, for I am poor and needy." ^D Since in these places four psalms inscribed to the sons of Core are placed consecutively—the first being the eighty-third, the second the eighty-fourth, the third the eighty-sixth, and the last the eighty-seventh—someone might opportunely inquire what the reason is that the prayer of David has been inserted in the middle of them, untimely, as one might say. I think, therefore, that this prayer was not mixed into the prophecies concerning Christ without cause, but very opportunely. For since the first of the psalms inscribed to the sons of Core, namely the eighty-third and eighty-fourth, prophesied of the promises of good things, the forgiveness of sins, the coming of God to men, and the arrival of Christ the Redeemer and Savior of men, and also those that are inscribed to the sons of Core thereafter ^A preached the calling of the nations, the birth of Christ, and his death endured for the sake of men, I judge that the prayer of David was necessarily inserted in the midst of the prophecy that foretold these things, through which he prays that he too might obtain the good things procured for all men by the Savior; so that he, becoming a participant in the things prophesied, might obtain forgiveness of sins, and enjoy the saving great gift which is being preached to all nations. At any rate, David ^B mentions in his prayer the grace of God poured out upon the nations, marveling at and being struck by the grace, through which he says: "There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, and there is nothing according to your works. All the nations whom you have made shall come and shall worship before you." Since, therefore, he too prayed to obtain the same good things, he fittingly inserts his own prayer in the middle of the evangelical psalms. These things, then, may be said regarding the proposed question. Nor should it be ignored...

that there are many other psalms inscribed as a Prayer; but this one is uttered with this addition, *of David*; another is inscribed, *A prayer of Moses the man of God*; and another, *A prayer of the poor, when he is anxious and pours out his supplication before the Lord*. ^A But just as the apostles of our Savior, having gone beyond the prayers in the Old Scripture, approached him and asked him to teach them how to pray, and he taught them, handing down a prayer suitable only to them and those like them—which is why he says to them, "Thus then you shall pray: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, and so forth"—so let each person test himself to see if he is worthy, as having already become a son of God, to call upon the Father who is in heaven and to say, "Our Father, who art in heaven," and so forth. If he is not yet such, he should strive to choose for himself a prayer suited to his own state, taken from the book of Psalms and from the prophetic voices. ^B Yet this present prayer happens to be David’s; for this is how Aquila and Symmachus interpreted it, for instead of *To David*, they said *Of David*. It seems that David, inspired by the divine Spirit, was not unaware of that beatitude concerning the poor pronounced by our Savior; wherefore he confesses himself to be poor and needy, even though he was a king and overflowing with great wealth. But because in spirit he was such, according to the saying, *Blessed are the poor in spirit*, he rightly enumerates his poverty and need in the prayer as his virtues and good works. Or you might put it in another way: just as Moses, having heard the voice of God, confessed himself to be slow of speech, saying this by comparison with the divine voice; so too David, even if he was great ^C and rich and wise when compared with men, yet having lifted his eyes to God, sees himself as being nothing. And since he was not yet able to call God Father, he calls him Lord, signifying that he occupies the place of a servant. Then, as one dwelling below and in the depths, while God exists on high, he implores God to incline His ear, inasmuch as he is not able, because of his own weakness, to cry out so much as to send his voice up into the heights and reach unto God. Wherefore he prays that God would incline His ear and that the divine hearing might be tempered to his own humility.

^D VERS. 2. *Keep my soul, for I am holy: save thy servant, O God, that hopeth in thee.* In the state in which he was, he asks to be preserved by God, so that his soul might not be despoiled of the virtues he possessed; which virtues he declared when he said first, *For I am poor and needy*; and second, *For I am holy*; for which reason he says elsewhere, *Let not the foot of pride come to me*. Since he knew within himself that he was not yet a son, he rightly confesses himself to be a servant and says, *Save thy servant, O God, that hopeth in thee.* For a servant of God is he who does not serve sin and is not subject to any passion, but is subject only to the Word of God, and

^A he who hopes in no other than in God alone. — *Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I will cry unto thee all the day. Rejoice the soul of thy servant, for unto thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul.* Even if I am holy, he says, even if I am poor and a pauper in spirit; yet I do not send up my prayer trusting in myself. But I pray and beseech to obtain mercy from thee, and this is my perpetual prayer. For the phrase, *All the day*, Symmachus has rendered, "Because I cry unto thee each day." For one must not devote time to prayer for one day only, but through the whole of one's life. And because he did not rejoice greatly in any human thing; he asked that this also be provided to him by God, which was that his soul might be deemed worthy of that joy which is found with God himself; for he knew that his body and flesh rejoice in bodily things. Wherefore he rejects these, but asks for that joy alone which is with God, providing pleasure for his soul. For he knew that it is not possible for all to attain this, but only for those who withdraw themselves from the mortal life and from bodily desires, and who approach God alone with their mind and thoughts; ^B rightfully, therefore, he adds, *For unto thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul.* — *For thou, Lord, art good and gentle, and of great mercy unto all them that call upon thee.* In place of *and gentle*, Aquila and Theodotion have rendered, "and propitious"; but Symmachus has, "and forgiving." These things, moreover, were usefully said by David, to soften the word which might seem harsh, such as that original one, *Unto thee have I lifted up my soul,* and again the one above, *For I am holy.* And these things, he says, were not procured for me by my own power, but by thy grace. For thou didst lead me to these things, being good and forgiving of sins, not to me only, but also to all who call upon thee: for thou art of great mercy. And when he had spoken these things in common, *unto all them that call upon thee*, he encourages all of us to pray and pine for the same things as he does. *Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer, and attend to the voice of my supplication. In the day of my trouble I have cried unto thee, for thou hast heard me.* Hence it is also proven ^C that this Psalm is a prayer, as the very title indicates. But since the words *I have cried* and *thou hast heard* are spoken in the past tense, notice that Aquila says, "I will call upon thee, because thou wilt hear me"; so that the words of the prayer ask for help from God for future time; so that if ever a season of stress should arrive, and affliction should press, by calling upon the Lord in tribulations, one might find him propitious. It is good, therefore, before afflictions and dismal times, not to be supine in desires, nor to be slothful in sending up prayers to the Lord, but to prepare oneself for the time to come. ^D *There is none like unto thee among the gods, O Lord, and there is none according to thy works. All nations whatsoever thou hast made shall come and shall worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name. For thou art great*

^A and doing wonders, thou art God alone. While all the prayers of the saints of God are useful and necessary, I believe that not all of them were committed to writing, but only those in which, when they prayed, they were moved by the Holy Spirit, so as to utter prophetic voices. I consider, therefore, that David also sent up many prayers to God, of which not one was deemed worthy of being written down, except those which were endowed with the power of foreknowledge and prophecy. For this reason, this present prayer was included in the Book of Psalms and placed in the midst of the prophecies concerning Christ, as it is mingled with prophetic words and contains the calling of the nations. Indeed, the calling of the nations is plainly declared through these very words. For since he had prayed for many things for himself alone, saying, "Hearken to me," and, "Keep my soul," and, "Save thy servant, O my God," and, "Have mercy on me," and, "Gladden the soul of thy servant"; since, I say, he had prayed for such things for himself, the rich and munificent God shows him that the things asked for in the prayer are not to be granted by Him to him who prays alone, but that the divine grace is to be poured out upon all nations, as they too were to enjoy the things that David was deemed worthy to obtain. Wherefore, enlightened by the Holy Spirit and beholding the future, he marvels exceedingly at the munificence of God's grace and utters the aforementioned words.

One might suppose that "gods" are called here the just and God-fearing men among humans, because of the saying: "I said, Ye are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High" ^B; another might suppose it refers to the divine powers in heaven, because the Apostle says: "For even if there are those who are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father." Since, therefore, neither any angel nor any prophet was the author of the calling of the nations, I rightly consider that the saying, "There is none like unto thee among the gods, O Lord," is spoken in the person of Christ. Another might say that because among the many people lead astray by error, gods are falsely thought to exist, and among all the nations one is considered a god in one place and another elsewhere, while only our Savior and Lord is proclaimed as God throughout the whole world, and has acquired a people for Himself out of all the nations; for this reason this theology ^C is uttered prophetically in His person.

Furthermore, since many prophets before our Savior were workers of paradoxical deeds, yet no one is ever recorded to have done such things as are reported in the Gospels of our Savior and as are demonstrated through the conversion of all the nations; for this reason, the saying, "And there is none according to thy works," is also uttered. And what works does he teach? He says next: "All nations whatsoever thou hast made shall come and shall worship before thee." If one adds, "Thou art God alone," and applies this to the Savior, placing it alongside "There is none like unto thee among the gods, O Lord," then just as in a comparison with the aforementioned gods there is none like unto thee, so in a comparison with the same, thou art God alone. For the sole Savior and our Lord was in the beginning, the Word of God was with God, and God was ^D.

^A alone. Since our Savior and Lord was in the beginning, and was the Word of God, and was with God, and was God; wherefore there is none like unto Him among the gods, and He alone, as it were among the gods, would be God, since none of those called many gods can, in comparison with Him, be called God. Others, however, because it is added in all these instances, "Thou art God alone," would say that all these things set forth in the prayer are referred to the Father and God of all: for by His gift and grace the calling of the nations through His Son has come to pass; and He Himself was the creator, founder, and maker of all things, having through the Son brought all things into existence, both those in heaven and those on earth; and He Himself was the one who performed all miracles through the Son, both those recounted in the Old Testament and those described in the New; wherefore it is said, "There is none like unto thy works," and, "Thou art great, and doing wonders; thou art God alone." The word "alone" is also spoken by our Savior ^B to the Father in the passage, "That they might know thee the only true God." But since the Son is a partaker of the Father's Godhead, being a sharer in the same kingdom, inasmuch as He is the only-begotten Son, and the Word of God, and the Wisdom of God, He would justly also be numbered with the present theology which teaches that there is no one among those many called gods who is like unto the God of all; for the likeness of the Father is preserved in His one and only-begotten Word. Wherefore He is also called the Image of God, and, "The Word was God," so that the likeness of the Father is preserved in Him alone, and no longer in those many gods.

Ver. 11. Deduc me, O Lord, in thy way, and I will walk in thy truth: let my heart rejoice to fear thy name.

Ver. 12. I will confess to thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify thy name forever.

^A of hell." But from thence, he says, you have rescued me, since your mercy towards me has become great. For having prayed to attain great mercy in the 50th Psalm, in which he said, "Have mercy on me according to your great mercy," in these ^B verses he acknowledges that he has obtained his prayer; wherefore he also confesses, not simply, but with his whole heart. "O God, the lawless have risen up against me, and the synagogue of the powerful has sought my soul, and they have not set you before them. But you, O Lord God, are compassionate and merciful, long-suffering and full of mercy and true." Having turned from prayer to confession, and having confessed to God the grace that he has rescued his soul from the lowest hell, he makes his defense, declaring the cause for which he sinned, and says that he suffered this from the plotting of many invisible enemies who envied his progress in God. Therefore he says: "O God, the lawless have risen up against me." All the other interpreters have said "the proud," ^C alluding to the invisible and proud powers. And the violence which David's soul suffered, not from one power but from many, he teaches by saying: "And the synagogue of the powerful"—or as Aquila says, "and the synagogue of the mighty," or as Symmachus says, "and the synagogue of the unbearable has sought my soul." But while the synagogue of the enemies sought my soul, not setting God before their eyes, you, O Lord, have granted and given what they did not expect, when you freed my soul from the lowest hell; and this you did, as being compassionate and merciful and long-suffering and full of mercy, and in all these things being true.

"Look upon me and have mercy on me; give strength to your servant, and save the son of your handmaid." ^D Looking upon me, he says, have mercy on me. David here shows his own humility and the affliction of his soul, which he also presented at the beginning of the prayer in those words: "I am poor and needy." But for the phrase, "Give strength to your servant," Symmachus interpreted it more clearly by saying: "Give strength from yourself to your servant." For so that I do not fall through weakness, along with the other things you have bestowed upon me, I ask to be strengthened, so that I may not again be wrestled down by the synagogue of the powerful. Thus having strengthened me, you will save me, as one who has become your servant, the son of your handmaid, that is, of your Church, or of the mother who reared him in the instruction according to God. "Work with me a sign for good, and let those who hate me see it and be ashamed, because you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me." Just as God placed on Cain a sign indicative of his wickedness—which sign those who saw were restrained from killing him, because God had decreed that he should groan and tremble upon the earth—so also to his perfect ones he gives a sign for good, which seeing, his friends rejoice; but his enemies, and those who hate him,

^A are put to shame, having received evidence through the sign that he has been helped and consoled in his present affliction. And perhaps in the case of Cain, the hostile powers, seeing the sign placed upon him by God, mocked him, as they are wont to rejoice in the misfortunes of others; but the angels of God groaned over him, recognizing through the sign the wrath from God that hung over him. But in the religious soul the contrary occurs; for the hostile powers are confounded, seeing that good sign placed upon her; but the divine and good angels rejoice and make merry with her. Our Savior also taught this, saying that there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.

FOR THE SONS OF KORE, A PSALM OF AN ODE.

His foundations are in the holy mountains; the Lord loveth the gates of Sion more than all the tabernacles of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me.

Instead of, "For the sons of Kore," Aquila and Symmachus have rendered, "Of the sons of Kore," as if the psalm were composed by them, or spoken and uttered through them, not only with a psaltery, but also with an ode. And inquiring within myself for what reason those inscribed "Of the sons of Kore" were not all joined together, ^B but were placed first separately from the 41st, and then two located apart, namely the 83rd and 84th, and again two others, namely the one we are treating and its successor; and why the 85th, inscribed "A Prayer of David," was placed in their midst: the things that then occurred to me have already been related in my explanation of the latter ones.

Someone might perhaps say otherwise; namely, that all the sayings contained in the Book of Psalms, having been uttered by different men by the prophetic Spirit, were distinct, as they were neither spoken at one time nor prophesied by the same men. For instance, some are inscribed as Moses', and others of Asaph, and again others of David, and another of Solomon, and yet another of Ethan the Ezrahite; and many others besides these are carried without inscription, so that we cannot know whose they might be. Since they were therefore recited in various ways, they were kept dispersed as they were by those in ancient times studious of these matters. Then, at a later time, ^C the 150 psalms were gathered into one book. And perhaps the one who collected them, whether it was Ezra, as the sons of the Hebrews say, or someone else, set those that first came to hand as the first in the book. For he did not find them all at one time so as to arrange them; he was forced to attach those that came to hand to those already received. Wherefore it is likely that he arranged the first eight of the "Sons of Kore" when they were all found together at once, and after them attached those that presented themselves subsequently. Then, when many others were found and taken into the Book of Psalms after the 82nd psalm, he placed the other two of the "Sons of Kore" that were discovered, namely the 83rd and 84th, in succession. Then, after an interval of time, when

the Prayer of David was discovered, he added this also after the 84th. And again, after the Prayer of David, which was listed in the 85th position, another two of the "Sons of Kore" were found—the one now in our hands and the one following it—and of necessity they, too, were joined to the Prayer of David. The same logic, one might say, applies to the arrangement of the rest of the psalms.

^A This assertion will be confirmed by prophetic proofs. For in the prophetic books it is often possible to find things said earlier in time placed in the second position in order, and things prophesied later placed before those that preceded them in time. Indeed, Jeremiah begins prophesying in the time of Josiah, but extends down to Zedekiah and the captivity; and Zedekiah was the fourth king from Josiah. For after Josiah, his son Jehoiakim succeeds to the throne as the second; after him, the third is Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim; and after him, the fourth is Zedekiah, the brother of Jehoiakim. Although Jeremiah prophesied under all of these, his scroll—so to speak—begins with Josiah; then, as it proceeds, it mentions Jeconiah, the third from Josiah; then it prophesies things under Zedekiah, who was the fourth from Josiah; to these he next adds the things prophesied in the fourth year under Jehoiakim, who was second after Josiah. Then, next, he brings in things from the beginning of this same Jehoiakim; then things under Zedekiah, and again things under Jehoiakim. Then he mentions the captivity to Babylon, and how ^B after Zedekiah, Gedaliah was set up as leader of the survivors, and how Ishmael kills Gedaliah, after whom Johanan, the son of Kareah, leads. And after all these, he brings in next the prophecies spoken in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and again those spoken at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah. One might find similar things in Ezekiel. For in his writing, too, the prophecies are not arranged in chronological order; rather, some that are set down as being in the 27th year of the captivity are placed before what is spoken regarding the 11th year of the captivity; for after those in the 27th year, those said in the 11th year of the captivity are brought forward; and again, after those in the 11th, others are brought forward said in the 10th year, and next those in the 25th ^C year. And for all these, one might say the cause is none other than that which has already been given. For as is likely, the prophecies spoken sporadically at various times and under individual kings, having been preserved of old by the diligent—either Ezra or some others—were collected by them under one volume; and regarding the things spoken by each of the prophets at different times, they arranged the discourses found first, in the first place; then next they joined those found later, even if they preceded them in time. The same logic applies to the order of the Psalms, both of all of them generally, and especially of those currently under examination; unless, indeed, some deeper understanding, hidden from us, should present other reasons for the questions raised. As for those that have fallen into our hands, both concerning the order of the "Sons of Kore" and concerning the Prayer of David before the one now in our hands ^D and in the memory...

let this suffice for a preliminary exercise.

Since the discourse in the Psalm begins indefinitely, saying, "His foundations are in the holy mountains," one might reasonably ask, whose are they? One might readily answer that it is to be understood as God’s, since it is added immediately thereafter, "the city of God." But having considered the sequence of the Psalm, and finding it said next, "Shall it not be said to Sion, 'A man and a man was born in her, and He himself founded her?'" — for which Aquila has translated, "And to Sion it shall be ^B said, 'Man and man was born in her, and He himself shall establish her,'" and Symmachus, "And it shall be said of Sion, 'According to individual man, He himself was born there; and He himself established her'"— I consider it to be most fittingly said, "His foundations are in the mountains," without the addition "of God," so that, as we seek out who "He" is, we might discover from the subsequent verses the man who is said to have founded Sion and who was also born there. For it says, "A man was born in her, and He himself founded her," or, "He himself established her." When it is said, therefore, "His foundations," let us understand the man who founded her, namely, the city of God.

To think, however, that the city of God is that which was once the metropolis of the Jews in Palestine is not only mean and abject, but even impious. For to suppose that the passage, "The Lord loves the gates of Sion," which are now desert and desolate, is said of that city of Judea which is now inhabited by foreign nations; and the passage, "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God"; and again elsewhere, "The streams of the river ^C make glad the city of God"; and again, "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain"—I say, to suppose that all these things are spoken of the city which Greeks, foreigners, and idolaters now inhabit, seems to me a very base and small-minded opinion. But if anyone considers how the divine and prophetic utterances are accustomed to call the pious and religious institution a "city of God," he will see in what way the Savior and our Lord Jesus, the Christ of God, has founded and established throughout the whole world that God-beloved and religious institution and city. Wherefore it is proclaimed in diverse ways by the prophets, as when it is said concerning Him, "He shall build my city." For the city of God—that is, the institution according to God and the religious way of life—He alone, having been born in it Himself, established throughout the whole world of men, and fixed ^D it through His catholic Church established in every place, and region, and city; concerning which it is fitting to believe that it is said, "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God," and "The streams of the river make glad the city of God," and whatever other such things are recounted in the divine Scriptures.

^A Of this great and God-befitting city, then—I mean the Church of God and the pious government manifested according to it—the foundations are in the holy mountains. The Apostle interprets the passage, saying: "Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone." And in another way, its foundations are not here below and among us, but are above, somewhere in those called the holy mountains. Wherefore it is said, "Her foundations are in the holy mountains." These mountains would be the heavens of heavens, where that great institution of the heavenly Zion and the truly great city of God is established. This discourse is not mine, but that of the same Apostle who says: "But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother," and, "Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven." ^B Of this great city of God, then, the Church of God upon earth might be an image; but its supports and foundations are those which we have taught are signified by the holy mountains; and the entrances and first initiations of that heavenly city are here among us. These entrances and initiations of the pious government, the Word has called the gates of Zion, saying: "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the tabernacles of Jacob." By the tabernacles of Jacob, the Jewish traditions and the bodily worships according to Moses seem to me to be meant here; compared to which, the gates of Zion—that is, the entrances and initiations of the heavenly kingdom established in the Church—are more precious before God. For in her alone is the kingdom of the heavens preached, and the whole scope of the saving Gospel looks thither. ^C Since both the saving promises, and the evangelical preaching, and the whole hope of the government according to Christ, look to the kingdom of the heavens. For it is written that the Savior preached, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." And He pronounced blessed those worthy of His own beatitudes, promising them the kingdom of heaven; nay, He even taught His own disciples the method of praying and seeking the kingdom of heaven, handing down this form of prayer: "Thy will be done, Thy kingdom come." With good reason, therefore, all such things were called the gates of the kingdom of the heavens, being certain entrances and initiations to the journey thither. The Lord, then, loves these gates of the heavenly Zion more than the legal and Jewish synagogues, which He named the tabernacles of Jacob. For among them nothing is mentioned concerning the heavenly city of God, nor is there any goal for them concerning the kingdom of ^D heaven; but, bent downwards, they have their hopes upon earth and expect the promises given to them here; wherefore the gates of that heavenly Zion, which we declared above, are held in greater esteem before God than the tabernacles of Jacob. The foundations of which Zion are not placed here and upon the earth in a humble place, but in the holy mountains, as we explained above.

^A *Memorabo Rahab et Babylonem scientibus me. Ecce alienigenæ et Tyrus et populus Æthiopum, hi facti sunt illic.* For "Memorabo Rahab et Babylonem," Aquila says: *Memorabo impetum et Babylonem*; Symmachus: *Memoria repetam superbiam et Babylonem*. Now, I believe that through Babylon, Tyre, and Rahab, and through the aliens and the people of the Ethiopians, the calling of the nations is set forth, who, having been changed and transformed from their former way of life, were deemed worthy of regeneration in the city of God; and the Word wishes to remind them of their former lineage. For by saying that aliens, Tyre, and the peoples of the Ethiopians were born there, what else is signified but the regeneration of alien nations in the city of God? And Aquila indeed says: *Phylistæa and Tyrus with Ethiopia, this one was born there*; and in like manner Symmachus translated it using these words: *Behold the Phylistæans and Tyrus with Ethiopia, this one was born there.* But where does he say they were born, if not in the city of God, or in its spiritual gates? For the very series of the discourse points this out. For when he had said, *Gloriosa dicta sunt de te, civitas Dei*, he adds afterwards that such and such aliens were born there, and that the people of the Ethiopians were born in the same place; that is to say, in the aforementioned city of God, or in its gates, understood in a contemplative way. These things, having been accomplished in deed, confirm the truth of the words of saving grace, which regenerates Babylonians, Tyrians, and all aliens extraneous to the Israelitish race, through the laver of regeneration and through all the mysteries of the New Testament in the aforementioned city of God. ^C *VERS. 5, 6. Mater Sion dicet, Homo et homo natus est in ea, et ipse fundavit eam Altissimus.* The editions of the other interpreters have set forth the meaning of these passages more clearly. For Symmachus interpreted it this way: *De Sion dicetur per singulos, Homo hic natus est illic: ipse fundavit eam Altissimus. Dominus numerabit scribens populos: hic natus est illic.* Theodotion, however, says: *Et Sioni dicetur, Vir et vir natus est in ea, et ipse fundavit eam, et præparavit eam Altissimus. Dominus narrabit in scriptura populorum, Hic natus est in ea.* And observe, I pray, just as in these it was said concerning the aliens: *Alienigena et Tyrus et populus Æthiopum, hi facti sunt illic*; so also in this place, *Dicetur*, he says, *Vir et vir natus est ibi*; and afterwards again, *Dominus scribens populos, Hic natus est illic.* For this was said first concerning the people of the aliens; secondly, concerning the man who is said to have been born there; thirdly, concerning the Lord himself. For, he says, the Lord himself, who prophesies these things and writes the peoples, he was born there. ^D Clearly, then, the Scripture, by the man who was born there—that is to say, in the city of God—indicated the humanity of our Saviour; and inasmuch as He is the Lord Himself...

^A born again in that man, it declares the habitation of the Word of God within man. For just as Sion, being the city of God, is the place of the man born in it, so this man himself becomes a place and a receptacle of the Word of God born within Him, as if in a holy place and temple, or rather as in a statue and receptacle of His own divinity inhabiting Him. And the Word necessarily taught these things so that it might be known how foreigners and Tyre and the people of the Ethiopians were born in the city of God, and have become sons of God through the regeneration received there. For it explains how and in what manner such grace was poured out into the heavens, having set forth the things concerning the man born there, and the Lord who was in turn born in that man.

To all these He adds: "As it were of all them that rejoice is the habitation in thee." Regarding which, Aquila says: ^B "And singing as choruses are all founts in thee," and Symmachus: "And they shall praise as in pipes are all founts in thee." I believe that by these things is also signified the gathering of all the faithful who shall be deemed worthy of the holy city of God, and their restoration into one chorus. For by being told "in thee," I suppose he indicates the place of the city of God, of which the foundations were indeed in the holy mountains, but whose gates and entrances are below and situated among us; and in the midst of it, all are prophesied to dwell, gathered as in a dance and divine harmony with gladness.

Observe also in what manner this present psalm, while prophesying the birth of God according to the reading of the ^C Septuagint translation, concealed the mystery. For that which according to Symmachus is interpreted, "The Lord shall count, in the writing of the peoples: He was born there," or according to Aquila, "The Lord shall narrate in the writing of the peoples: He was born there," or according to Theodotion, "The Lord shall narrate in the writing of the peoples: He was born there," is not interpreted in the same way by the Seventy; but it is said, "The Lord shall narrate in the writing of the peoples and of these princes who have been born in it." This is because, as I suppose, those who made the translation concealed the meaning, because the Scripture was about to be given to foreign nations in the times of Ptolemy, when our Saviour had not yet shone forth in the world. ^D And the whole psalm is altogether enigmatic and spoken darkly, mentioning its foundations without revealing who it is of whom it speaks and not indicating him; and again mentioning the holy mountains, and the gates of Sion preferred by the Lord to the tabernacles of Jacob, and the city of God glorified in speech; and above all, in the city, naming not Israel, nor the Jewish nation, but Rahab the former harlot, Babylon, the Tyrians, the Ethiopians, and the foreigners. For one could find no other reason to explain why all these are to be born in the city of God than the birth of the man born in it, and of the Lord born there, that is to say, in that same previously mentioned man; for which causes he prophesies at the end of the psalm all common gladness and dances, songs and praises, and the founts of divine and holy words. When, however, he says that all these things are to be "in the writing of the peoples," I suppose he means the time of the registration of the nations, which was being fulfilled upon the coming of the Sav...

Savior of us Jesus Christ; for then a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to register the whole world, when Cyrenius, having come into Judea, was conducting the registrations. The evangelist therefore points this out by saying: "This was the first registration," so that the very time itself is precisely signified through the present psalm. Perhaps it is also for this reason that this psalm has been set apart and removed far from the others that are inscribed [as belonging to] the sons of Core, since the Word intended to conceal the mysteries in it regarding the birth of the Lord; so that this [fact] also serves as another reason for those questions we raised at the beginning of the matters before us. You would say the same thing also regarding the ^B 87th [psalm], which follows this one and is likewise inscribed as of the sons of Core; for it too prophesies the death of our Savior, logically following this one which had predicted his birth.

A PSALMIC CANTICLE FOR THE SONS OF CORE, FOR THE END, CONCERNING MAELATH, FOR RESPONDING, AN UNDERSTANDING OF AEMAN THE ESDRAITE (1). LXXXVII.

VERS. 2. O Lord God of my salvation, by day I have cried, and by night before you.

The present psalm also, as the one before it, belongs to the sons of Core. But the one before it was hinting at the birth of Christ, saying: "And it shall be said to Sion, 'A man and a man was born in her, and he himself shall establish her,'" as Aquila interpreted; and he signifies the time of the birth of the said man in the following verses, saying: "In the writing of the peoples, this one was born there." The meaning of this saying was more clearly brought out by the fifth edition, in which it is stated: "In the registration of the peoples, this one shall be born there." For it mentioned most clearly the registration at the time of which our Savior and Lord was born, just as the evangelist declares by saying: "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to register all the world. This first registration took place while Cyrenius was governor ^C of Syria." That psalm, then, was signifying his birth; but this one signifies his death. Regarding the phrase "concerning Maelath," Symmachus interpreted it as "by a choir," but Aquila as "upon a chorus." And it seems to me that it hints at the people of Christ and the ecclesiastical chorus, in which the death of our Savior is celebrated with hymns. Since, however, his birth is also sung by this chorus, it is logical that the psalm before this one, which prophesied his birth, added, saying: "And singing as choirs, all the fountains are in you," having declared those in the Church of Christ to be singing and celebrating the mysteries of his birth in hymns. As for the man called Aeman the Esdraite, they say he was one of the sons of Zara, the son of Juda, and that he was called by the Hebrews, through a patronymic, a Zaraitite; and that the sons of Zara were five in all; and that the first book of Chronicles bears witness to this statement with these words: ^D "The sons of Juda, Phares and Zara: the sons of Zara, Zambri, and Aetham, and Aeman, and Chalchal, and Darda, five in number." These

the Hebrew says prophesied in Egypt, having lived before Moses, and that the psalms inscribed with their names are theirs—such as the one presently in our hands, and the one following it, which is inscribed *to Aetham the Ezrahite*. He also believes that these are the ones mentioned in the third book of Kings: "And Solomon was wiser than Aetham the Ezrahite, and Aeman, and Chalchal, and Darda." Let these things be said as far as the history is ^A concerned. But as to whether the meanings of these names contribute to the understanding of the psalm, you yourself may judge.

Since this psalm is the last of those inscribed with the name of the Sons of Core, it encompasses the descent of our Savior into Hades, as if it were provided by design that the mystery of His death should be delivered at the very end of all the others. And it seems to me that these four psalms of the Sons of Core—I mean the 83rd, the 84th, the 86th, and the 87th—have a certain continuity among themselves. For the 83rd clearly encompasses the advent of God to men and the prophecy of Christ; the one following it prays that the things foretold in the prophecy might come to pass as quickly as possible; the preceding psalm had already indicated His birth in the flesh; and this one, in sequence to them all, proclaims in advance the death which He undertook for the sake of humanity.

"O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried by day, and by night before Thee. Let my prayer come in before Thee, O incline Thine ear unto my petition." In the twenty-first Psalm—which also refers to Christ and clearly prophesies His suffering, as the Word indicates from the beginning, saying: "O God, My God, look upon Me: why hast Thou forsaken Me?"—it is recorded word for word that our Savior spoke this during His passion, and immediately after the beginning it is added: "O My God, I shall cry by day, and Thou wilt not hear, and by night, and not for my ignorance." ^C The present psalm likewise says: "I have cried by day, and by night before Thee." And it seems to me that this utterance sketches out the entire life of our incarnate Savior, which was consecrated to God not only by day but also by night. Furthermore, it is said in the Gospels how He was always given to prayer. But in the present instance, He begs the Father and asks Him to "incline His ear" to His petition—that is, to assent to His requests. And He prays this as one who was about to offer Himself as a sacrifice to the Father on behalf of all the nations. But since He is going to proceed to recount many things concerning His own death, and foreseeing the salvation that would follow after death, He fittingly dedicates the beginning of the psalm to His own salvation—wherefore He says: "O Lord God of my salvation."

"For my soul is filled with evils, and my life has drawn nigh unto Hades; I have been counted with them that descend into the pit." Through these words, He clearly sets forth His descent into Hades and the evils with which He said His soul was filled.

^A By "evils," He refers either to the circumstances—a common way of naming tribulations—or to the malice of men, with which He said His soul had been filled. But He also refers to our sins, which He took upon Himself, and for whose sake He became a curse for us, according to the Apostle, who said: "The Lord died for us, having become a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.'" ^B Wherefore, according to the psalm, "His soul was filled with evils, and His life drew near to Hades," which itself clearly signifies His descent into death. For this reason, Aquila gave the rendering, "And my life has reached unto Hades"; and Symmachus, "And my life touched Hades." Just as it is said elsewhere, "He was reckoned with the lawless," so also here, "I was reckoned," He says, "with them that descend into the pit"—or, as Symmachus rendered it, "I was reckoned with those who are led down into a pit." For all men are drawn and led down into the territory of death, which is here compared to a pit, and they descend there because of their own sins, having been judged worthy of that region. But I, too, was reckoned among them, not because I was worthy, but because I became obedient to the Father even unto death. Here, therefore, He says, "My life has drawn near to Hades," and, "I was reckoned with them that descend into the pit." In ^C another psalm, remembering these same things, He signifies His return from there, saying: "O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Hades, You have saved me from them that descend into the pit"; and again elsewhere: "Waiting, I waited for the Lord, and He attended to me; and He heard my supplication, and brought me out of the pit of misery, and set my feet upon a rock." And in the fifteenth psalm it is said: "You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You give Your holy one to see corruption."

Verse 6. I have become as a man without help, free among the dead; as the wounded sleeping in the grave, whom You remember no more, and they are cut off from Your hand.

to Him, it is, I think, evident to everyone that it is not possible to apply the things said in the Psalm to any other man than our Savior alone. Just as He became like a man without help, so also like the wounded sleeping in the sepulcher, of whom ^A You are no longer mindful. By these things His burial is also signified, which the divine Apostle also mentions, writing to the Corinthians, saying: *For I delivered to you first of all, which also I received: how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried.* And Isaiah also remembers His burial, saying: *His burial was taken away in peace from the midst.* But instead of "like the wounded," Aquila says: "Like those slain," and Symmachus: "As if wounded"; and this was fulfilled in a clear manner when the soldier wounded His side with a lance. But that He was made a wounded man and in the sepulcher is clearly indicated; yet if He speaks of having been made like the wounded, and like those sleeping in the sepulcher, he does not stop there; but if you connect the whole thought of the statement, you will see the meaning of the word. For He says, I have become like the wounded, of whom You are no longer mindful. For the rest, after death, having become in the sepulchers, were left behind and remained earth and dust, God no longer being ^B mindful of them after death; but I was made as one of them, though I am not like them. For You were mindful of me after the wounding and after death and after the deposition in the sepulcher, deeming me worthy, after these things, of the life and salvation that is with You. Wherefore, beginning the thanksgiving hymn, He sent it forth, saying: *O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried by day and by night before You.* And such were the things concerning me. Nevertheless, I have become similar to the many who have been in the sepulcher, and who are no longer deemed worthy of Your memory, because they were cast away from Your hand. For in place of, *of whom You are no longer mindful, and they are cast away from Your hand*, Aquila published: "Of whom You are no longer mindful, and they were cut off from Your hand," and Symmachus says: "Of whom You will no longer be mindful, who were cut off by Your hand."

VERS. 7. They have placed me in the lower pit, in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Instead of "They placed me," Aquila and Symmachus have published: "You placed me." By which He shows that by the nod and will of the Father, He went down not simply into death, nor only into Hades and the so-called pit, but also into the deepest and lowest and uttermost, so to speak, of the places there. He shows this also himself in the Gospels, saying: *The Son of man must abide in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.* But instead of "in darkness and in the shadow of death," Aquila says: "in darkness and in the depths," and Symmachus: "covered in darkness," and the fifth edition: "in darkness, in hidden places." This however is necessarily observed by me, lest anyone should suspect that He

had not been in death, because it is said by the Seventy, "in darkness and in the shadow of death." For it is demonstrated that He was in the darkened places, and in the depths and recesses of death itself; wherefore neither the Hebrew exemplar, nor the other interpreters, translated it "the shadow of death." For the Word often calls the present life and the existing age "the shadow of death" from without. But here the Savior, having been placed in death itself, describes His whole economy. ^B VERS. 8, 9. "Thy fury is confirmed upon me, and all thy waves thou hast brought upon me. Diapsalma. Thou hast put my acquaintances far from me, they have made me an abomination to themselves. I was delivered up, and I went not forth." Since Christ died for us, according to the Apostle, having become a curse for us—for it is written, "Cursed is everyone that hangeth upon a tree"—and since God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, according to the same Apostle, He justly drew unto Himself the wrath of God that was impending over us, who were lately impious and sinners, and the fury of Him which was instant upon us; and because of the force of His love toward men, taking upon Himself the punishment and the vengeance destined for us, He utters these words, being as He had become the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. Therefore the prophet says concerning Him: "He beareth our sins, and for us He is in pain: by His stripe we were healed, and the Lord delivered Him up for our sins." This, then, He Himself also sets forth through the psalm, saying: "Thy fury is confirmed upon me, and all thy waves thou hast brought upon me." For which Symmachus says, "Thy fury has pressed heavily upon me, and with storms thou hast afflicted me." For just as some most loving father, in a time of storm or war, protecting his own children, covers them, hiding and sheltering them under his own arms; while he himself, instead of all of them, exposes himself to the storms and missiles, exchanging his own death for the salvation of his children, ^C and turning the fury impending over them toward himself. Wherefore He who was the blessing of God became a curse; and He who was righteousness became sin; and by drawing the fury of God, which had been aggravated against men, toward Himself, He repelled it from Himself, so that it might harm neither Himself nor others in the least; but Him, as being a Father, He rendered appeased toward the race of men. Now, that all His disciples abandoned Him at the time of the passion, and that some even denied Him, there is no need for us to recount, since the four Evangelists unanimously teach us the same. Therefore, He foretelling these very things, prophesies of the future through the words set before us, which Symmachus interpreted in this manner: "Thou hast made my acquaintances far from me; thou hast set me as an abomination to them, guarded and not coming forth." For then indeed the disciples denied Him, when He was being held in custody in the house of Caiaphas the high priest. ^D VERS. 10. "My eyes have languished by reason of poverty. I cried unto thee, O Lord, all the day, I stretched out my hands unto thee." This likewise Symmachus set forth more clearly in these words: "My eye has flowed"

^A down from distress; I called upon thee every day, I stretched out my hands unto thee." For He was always weeping for the miseries of men, and wearying his own eyes, mourning with tears the destruction of those who did not deign to receive Him. And as He wept over Jerusalem, so it was appropriate that He should also weep for the fall of the apostle who betrayed Him, and for the rejection of the whole nation of the Jews, and for the ruin of the rest of those who were perishing, as is fitting for the son of a loving and all-good Father; through whom He even spread out His hands and sent up voices, crying out in prayers to the Father, interceding with the Father with groanings that cannot be uttered. And one would not err if he should say that His eyes which were weakened were the apostles, since His whole people ^B happens to be His body, as he taught who said: "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular"; but His hands were the deeds which He performed for the glory of the Father, stretching them out to Him who alone was able to see them. Moreover, even in His frequent prayers and in His passion, He stretched out His hands on behalf of the world, whose sin He was taking away, rendering the Father propitious.

What were those things which He, stretching out His hands, prayed to the Father for, and which were cried out to His Father by Him on that indicated day, He proceeds to teach in these words: "Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? or shall the physicians raise them up, and shall they confess to thee? Diapsalma. Shall anyone declare thy mercy in the grave, and thy truth in destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the darkness, and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?" In place of "Wilt thou ^C show wonders to the dead?" Symmachus says: "Wilt thou perform miracles for the dead?" And in the following verses, wherever it is said, "Shall anyone declare in the grave?" and again, "Shall they be known in the darkness?" Symmachus rendered it: "Or shall they declare, or shall they be known?" He did not, however, speak these words because He despaired that such things could be done—on that day of His passion, that is—but being persuaded that such things could be brought to pass by the Father alone, He thus narrates the cause of His descent into death: "Wilt thou perform miracles for the dead? Or wilt thou do such and such things?" For, O Father, Thou wouldst not otherwise have willed for Me to go as far as this, and to fall into death and into the lowest pit, unless Thou hadst altogether intended to display wonders even among the dead, so that what physicians cannot do, Thy power might accomplish; that is, so that those who had fallen into death, being raised up, might confess to Thee. For such things were not in the power ^D of physicians to perform, but were of Thy divine magnificence. Therefore, didst Thou will that I should undergo death so that Thy mercy might be declared in the graves, and Thy truth in destruction, and Thy wonders in the darkness, and Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? And if anyone gives heed to these things, which in our own time...

have been performed at the sepulcher and ^A martyrdom of our Savior, he will surely discern in what manner those things which were foretold have been completed in act. Observe, furthermore, in how many diverse ways he here explains the region of death. For first he calls them dead; second, those who dwell in the sepulcher; third, those who are in destruction; fourth, those who dwell in darkness; fifth, those who are in the land of forgetfulness. For he sets forth all these things regarding the same persons, to whom the man-loving and good God was about to show and provide wonders: for they shall tell of the mercy, and the truth, and the righteousness of God. And it is possible to know how all these things, I mean the wonders of God and His mercy, and His truth, and His righteousness, reached those who had been dead of old—those in the sepulchers, and in destruction, and in darkness, and in the land of forgetfulness—if we consider of how many good things our Savior and Lord was the author to us who formerly were living in death, for whose sake He descended even into those places, so that He might have dominion not only over the living, but also over the dead. For what was the cause of His descent into death ^B he has here most clearly declared: which were fulfilled according to the evangelists when many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose, and with the Savior Himself entered into the holy city of God, that is to say, the heavenly one.

VERS. 14. *But I unto Thee have cried, and in the morning shall my prayer prevent Thee.* Just as in the title of the twenty-first Psalm, which is openly brought forward from the person of our Savior, it is said, "For the morning reception," ^C by which the resurrection of our Savior, which occurred in the morning, is hinted at; so also now I consider that the same thing is signified by this, *In the morning shall my prayer prevent Thee*, with the Word indicating that the prayer of the Savior attained its effect at no other time than at the breaking of dawn and the morning hours, when also it is testified that the resurrection from the dead occurred. Wherefore, not in the evening, nor at midday, nor at any other time, but *in the morning*, says He, *shall my prayer prevent Thee*. *Why, O Lord, dost Thou repel my soul, and turn Thy face from me?* In the twenty-first also He was saying: *God, my God, look upon me, why hast Thou forsaken me?* But here He says, *Why*, interrogatively asking for what cause He was forsaken by the Father, and why He repelled His soul; so that we also, if ever we should be in doubt as to why God did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up, willing Him to be made subject to the hands of men (for that was what it meant to forsake and repel Him), may learn that this was done plainly for our sake, as the Apostle taught in these words: *But for us all*; so that He might become the Lamb of God and the sheep immolated for the salvation of the world. For which reason the prophet also was saying: *And the Lord delivered Him up for our sins.* ^D

And he himself bears our sins, and grieves for our sake. And he was wounded for our sins, and has been weakened for our iniquities; by his stripe we were healed. ^A He carries on, saying in the twenty-first [Psalm]: *O God, I will cry by day, and you will not hearken, and by night, and not for lack of understanding on my part*; and in what is set before us: *You turn your face away from me.* I consider these things to be similar to those fulfilled in the Gospel record, where, having withdrawn from the disciples, he fell upon his face praying and saying: *Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will*; and again: *Father, if it cannot pass from me, unless I drink it, your will be done.*

^B VERSE 16-19. *I am poor and in labors from my youth: but being exalted, I was humbled and in perplexity. Your anger has passed over me, and your terrors have troubled me. They have compassed me about like water all the day, they have surrounded me together. You have put far from me friend and neighbor, and my acquaintances because of misery.* Symmachus set these forth more clearly, saying: *Being poor and failing from my youth, I took upon myself your fear.* In addition to these: *Your angers have passed by through me; your terrors have made me silent. They came around me like waters; they compassed me about all the day.* And Aquila says: *Your angers have passed over me.* ^C But how he was poor and in labors from his youth, he himself teaches in the Gospels, speaking of himself in these words: *Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.* The Apostle also says: *Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself*; so that it is clear how it is said among the Seventy, *I am poor and in labors from my youth.*

For in his youth, and furthermore, being reared under Joseph, who was thought to be his father, and his mother according to the flesh, he was poor among the poor; and though he was rich in his other life, for our sake he became poor, that we might be enriched by his poverty. But when at last he was working wonders and performing the powers of God, he was exalted, and by his passion, he who was exalted was humbled. For which reason he was saying: *As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up*; and again: *When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you shall know that I am he*; and in the present text: *But being exalted, I was humbled and in perplexity.* ^D Moreover, the phrase, *Your angers have passed by through me*, according to Symmachus, or according to Aquila: *Your angers have passed over me*, or according to the Seventy: *Your angers have passed through upon me*, clearly indicates that they did not descend upon him, but passed by through him; and that they did not stop, but passed through. And the phrase, *They have troubled me*, according to the Seventy, is similar to what is said in the

Gospels: *Now is my soul troubled*, and *My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death*; and the rest was also fulfilled according to history, when the apostles left him and fled, and Peter denied him the third time. ^A Yet he also made these preceding statements in another sense, appropriating to himself the evils of others—I mean the destruction of the traitor Judas and the fall of the entire Jewish nation; for these men, as if they were wicked sons perishing because of their own iniquities, he—with a vehement affection of pity and humanity—took these things upon his own person and lamented them. You will understand this if you pay attention to the prophet who says: *He bears our sins and suffers for our sake*. Therefore, suffering for them, he cried out, saying: *Your angers have passed over me, your terrors have troubled me*. ^B For he saw the wrath that would shortly come upon them, which suddenly wiped away all their venerable things; so that the Holy of Holies and the altar were destroyed from their foundations, and their kings, who had lasted from the succession of their ancestors down to that time, ceased to rule; and the right and power of living according to their own laws, which they had used for a very long time, and the legal worship along with the priesthood itself and their remaining leaders and rulers, were extinguished, so that not even a trace of them remains to this day. They suffered all these things because the wrath of God, not long after his passion, invaded their whole nation on account of the crimes they had dared to commit against him; which things he himself signified by these words: *Your angers have passed over me*, as if to say, "On account of me"; or according to Symmachus, *Through me*, since in truth they suffered such things because of him. Indeed, even foreseeing their slaughter, he said: *Your terrors have troubled me*. For even if the terrors of God, with which the prophets threatened them, did not trouble them because of their hard-heartedness, yet he says that his terrors troubled me, who saw the outcome of your terrible words. ^C Thus, therefore, because of their impieties, interceding with the Father for them, and being deeply pained in his soul and troubled for their sake, he was *sorrowful even unto death*, because the darts of God’s wrath hung heavily over them, so that the prayers which he sent up for them found no place. For which reason, when he lay prone and face down in the Gospels offering prayers and crying out, *Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me*; and then, when he saw that the Father’s will would not grant it, he added, *Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will*. And going a second time, he fell upon his face and prayed, saying: *Father, if it is not possible for this to pass unless I drink it, your will be done*; and going a third time, he uttered the same word. Wherefore, signifying these things, he also said by the things set before us: *Why, O Lord, do you reject my soul, do you turn your face from me?* and the phrase, *Your angers have passed over me, your terrors have ^D troubled me*. Seeing, however, that those for whom he poured out prayers had fallen far from the salvation of God, for the same ones who were most dear and beloved to him on account of his fathers, he said: *You have put away friend and neighbor far from me, and no...*

my acquaintances because of misery.* By this he indicates those in the nation who were previously his acquaintances and friends, since they were his portion and inheritance; but they were truly removed far from him on account of their own unbelief. And they who once were friends made themselves enemies; and though they were his acquaintances, when he came they did not recognize him, nor did they receive him. For which reason they were also distanced from God, on account of the cause of their own misery. Thus, then, have they also fallen away from God according to the saying: *For those who distance themselves from you shall perish.* And with this the psalms inscribed to the sons of Korah conclude. ^A

OF UNDERSTANDING FOR ETHAN THE EZRAHITE. LXXXVIII.

^B VERSE 2. *I will sing the mercies of the Lord forever. From generation to generation I will announce your truth with my mouth.* Since in what follows he is about to say: *Where are your ancient mercies, O Lord, which you swore to David in your truth?* he anticipates the things he will later utter by responding in advance, as if he were to say: Even if human affairs cast my soul into perplexity and disturb it, and becloud me with confusion and doubt regarding your judgments, O Lord, to such a degree that I might soon dare to raise a question concerning the promises which you, God free from falsehood, gave to David—and yet things contrary to your promises have occurred, on account of which I am about to say: *Where are your ancient mercies, O Lord?*—nevertheless, being certain that your promise will not be made void, nor will the truth of your word fail, I anticipate the words I am about to utter out of human weakness, and I firmly secure my own faith ^C and the piety of my own judgment. Therefore I say: *I will sing your mercies, O Lord, forever.* For not only now, when I speak and utter these things, will I sing the mercies of the Lord, but even in the saddest times, and in those very moments when I am about to say: *Where are your ancient mercies, O Lord?*—for then, and in the time after this, and throughout the entire age, I will not cease from celebrating your mercies, O Lord, knowing precisely that, having once promised the prophecies in the psalm, you will not prove false, seeing that you are a truthful God. Wherefore, not only will I sing your mercies, O Lord, forever, but I will also announce your truth from generation to generation. For even if such things should happen in the interim as seem to occur contrary to your promises made to David, yet even so I have believed, and have truly persuaded myself, that the truth of your words, O Lord, will never fail. Therefore, throughout the entire time of my life, I will not cease from announcing your truth with my mouth. Moreover, even by committing it to my own writing, I will leave it to those who come after, ^D so that they too, just as I, might be taught and learn in every generation to bear your truth in their mouth,

^A And may they be persuaded that your promises can never fail. The entire discourse foretells the generation of Christ from the seed of David and His kingdom. For since His generation among men was foretold in the preceding [psalms], as was indicated in the 86th Psalm, it was necessary to learn not only of His generation, but also from whence He would come forth. The present Scripture necessarily teaches this, containing the promise of God made to David concerning the Christ who would come forth from David’s seed; so that it may have continuity with the psalms arranged before it. It is inscribed only with "Of Understanding," being called neither psalm nor hymn. It would be a prophetic ode, needing a divine understanding. Whence it is said, "I will sing for ever, and throughout all generations I will declare your truth." For one might justifiably call it an ode from the words, "I will sing for ever," but a prophecy from the words, "I will declare your truth from generation to generation," and from what follows. It is attributed to Ethan the Ezrahite, concerning whom we have already spoken as we were able in the sections discussing the earlier psalms. ^B

VERS. 3. "For you said, 'Mercy shall be built up for ever, in the heavens your truth shall be prepared.'" Instead of "For you said," Aquila interpreted it as "For I said," and Symmachus as "For I said," and Theodotion likewise as "For I said," and the fifth edition also as "For I said," as if the discourse were delivered from the person of the Prophet. And this was Ethan the Ezrahite, as the title indicates. The Prophet suggests some such meaning: "I have already said before that I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever." But how could this come to pass, unless that first mercy of God, laid down for men from the beginning and from the very foundation of the world, were to receive an increase over time, and like a building, gain additions? ^C For the mercy of God toward men grows daily, and like a structure it expands and is built up from generation to generation. Since, therefore, I have said and affirmed that the mercy of God will be built up for ever, and that for this reason I will sing of His mercies for ever, one should not be ignorant that the truth of the Word shall be prepared in the heavens. For earthly affairs and the malice among men would seem not to manifest the precise accuracy of the Word, since there is thought to be much unevenness in human life. But because the promises of God, which were made to David, are divine and heavenly, and not—as the sons of the Jews might suppose—earthly and corporeal, for this reason the Prophet rightly distinguishes beforehand that the truth of God’s promises shall be prepared, not on earth, but in the heavens. Wherefore Symmachus explains this more clearly, saying: "In the heavens shall your truth be established." ^D

VERS. 4-6. "I have made a covenant with my chosen; I have sworn to David my servant, 'I will prepare your seed for ever, and build up your throne from generation to generation.' Diapsalma. The heavens shall confess your wonders, O Lord, and your truth..."

in the ^A church of the saints." These things are clearly said from the person of God; wherefore it seems to me that it was said above by the Septuagint: "For you said, Mercy shall be built up for ever, in the heavens shall your truth be prepared," to which is joined: "I have made a covenant with my chosen ones." The sense of the things set before us is to be rendered by hyperbaton in this way: "Since you yourself, O Lord, said in the promises concerning David, 'My mercy shall be toward David for ever,' or 'it shall be built up for all men,' and you added, saying: 'I have made a covenant with my chosen [ones],' that is, with my chosen [one], and 'I have sworn to David my servant,' and the things following these; I am persuaded that your promises will never be falsified, but will remain true and steadfast, yet not so that they might consist upon the earth; for they are not earthly and sensible, nor perishing and short-lived, such as is the life of men, but immortal and eternal and suited to your divinity. Therefore, it is not on the earth, but in the heavens, that the truth of the promises you made to David shall be prepared." In place of "I have made a covenant with my chosen ones," all the other interpreters have said, "With my chosen one." And such a rendering conforms better ^B to the meaning; for the discourse is not about many, but about David alone. For "to him," he says, "did I swear, as being my servant and my chosen one." For it was not enough simply to make a covenant with him, as I did with Noah, and after that with Abraham, and again after him with the sons of Israel in the desert through Moses—for with them it was without an oath—but with my chosen one and my attendant and servant David, I made a covenant with the addition of an oath. For I swore to him that I would prepare his seed for ever and build up his throne, not for one generation, but for generation and generation. Regarding God's swearing, the holy Apostle says in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation." For by way of emphasis, a greater assurance and an oath were taken by God. And concerning whom the oath is, he teaches as he proceeds, saying: "Once have I sworn in my holy one." Here you should perceive who this holy one of God was, by whom he swears as if by an only-begotten Son, in order that the things of the promise might be confirmed in every respect. Now, the demons in the Gospels also confessed this holy one, when, not bearing his divine power ^C which was punishing them and driving them out, they cried out, saying: "Let us alone; what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? We know who you are, the holy one of God." By him, therefore, God swearing as a Father by an only-begotten and beloved Son, was making the promise to David. Which he himself teaches, saying: "Once have I sworn in my holy one, if I will lie to David." Seeking within myself the reason why God gave the promise concerning his seed by an oath to no other of the saints, but to David alone, I esteem that I have discovered this cause: for I have found that David himself, before that promise was given to him by God, had used an oath. For the divine Spirit teaches that he himself swore in the 131st [Psalm], saying: "Remember, Lord,

David, and all his meekness: how he swore to the Lord, he vowed to the God of Jacob: If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house, if I shall go up into the bed of my couch: if I shall give sleep to my eyes, and slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob." To David ^A having vowed and promised such things, and having sworn to such matters, God rendered an equal return, and He himself swore, and for each single promise returned a single one, balancing oath with oath. Wherefore, in the same 131st [Psalm] in which it is said that David swore, there is added thereafter the testimony of the holy Spirit, speaking thus: "The Lord swore truth to David, and he will not make it void: Of the fruit of thy womb I will set upon thy throne." Therefore David swore first, then God, requiting him, made ^B a counter-oath to him. And first David, moved by a pious thought, promised something to God; then again God, as though yielding him favor for favor, himself also promised in return, following the words of our Savior where He says: "In what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again. A good measure, and pressed down, and shaken together, and running over shall they give into your bosom." With what measure, therefore, David measured, when out of a good and religious thought he gave a fitting promise under an oath, with the same measure was it repaid to him, and there were given to him rewards and promises with the oath of God.

What that promise of David with an oath signifies, it will now be timely to consider. ^C When he saw the nations throughout the whole world enslaved to the diabolical error of many gods, and everywhere on earth temples, shrines, and sacred places for malign demons erected throughout cities, regions, and villages, and that wicked and adversary power honored among all men upon mountains and hills, while there was nowhere any remembrance at all of God, the maker and creator of all things; wounded in soul regarding such a matter, and kindled with a good zeal, according to him who said, "With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord," he made a vow and issued a promise, and bound this with an oath: namely, that he himself was the first to build a temple and a holy sanctuary on earth to the King ^D of all, God, wherein he might lay down and give rest to the tabernacle of the testimony and the ark of the Covenant, which had been constructed by Moses in the desert at the command of God. For that, up until the times of David, was carried about everywhere, and from place to place—at one time in Gilgal, at another in Mizpah, soon in Shiloh, sometimes among the foreigners, thence into Beth-shemesh, from there into Kiriath-jearim, afterwards into the house of Aminadab, thence into the house of Obed-edom—whence David transferred it into the city of Zion. Seeing this taking place, he conceived of raising up a sacred house and temple where he might lay down the ark of God and establish—

^A therein the ark of God.

Concerning this, David swore an oath to the Lord and prayed to the God of Jacob, saying: "If I enter into the tabernacle of my house, if I climb upon the bed of my couch, if I give sleep to my eyes and slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob." While he was thinking on these things, God accepted the piety of his intention, yet He did not permit the house to be built. For God, being God, does not require a sensible house, nor one composed of inanimate stones; but if God were indeed to dwell upon the earth, he who would receive His divinity was to come forth from his seed, from David, who would also build for God a temple worthy of a sacred house and a holy sanctuary, whose throne would endure for all ages. Thus, he was signifying his Christ, who was to be born from the seed of David according to the flesh, and the Church through Him to be established throughout the whole world.

That these things are so, the Scripture of the Kingdoms teaches in this way: "And it came to pass when David sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest roundabout from all his enemies; the king said to Nathan the prophet: Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, and the ark of God sits in the midst of the tabernacle; or, in the midst of a curtain, as the Hebrew reading signifies. And Nathan said to the king: All that is in your heart, go and do, for the Lord is with you. And ^B it came to pass in that night, and the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: Go to my servant David, and say: Thus says the Lord: You shall not build me a house for me to dwell in, for I have not dwelt in a house from the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt until this day; and I have been walking about in a lodging and in a tabernacle in all the places through which I passed with all Israel. Have I spoken to one tribe of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying: Why have you not built me a house of cedar? And now thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord Almighty: I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, that you might be leader over my people Israel, and I was with you in all ^C things wherever you walked; and I destroyed all your enemies from before your face, and I made you renowned like the name of the great ones who are on the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, and they shall dwell by themselves, and shall be anxious no more; and a son of iniquity shall no more add to humble them as from the beginning, from the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. And the Lord shall declare to you that you will build Him a house. And it shall be, when ^D your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with

^A your fathers, and I will raise up your seed after you, which shall be in your womb, and I will prepare your kingdom. He shall build Me a house for My name, and I will establish His throne forever. I will be to Him a father, and He shall be to Me a son. And if His iniquity comes, I will chasten Him with the rod of men, and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy I will not take away from Him, as I took it away from those whom I took away from before My face. And His house shall be faithful, and His kingdom forever before Me; and His throne shall be established forever, according to all these words, and according to all this vision. Thus spoke Nathan to David.

All these things I have set forth, wishing to show that, since David was the first to promise to build a house for the ark of God, God, having approved his piety, promises in return to raise up his seed, and through him to build a house for Himself. And as David was the first to swear that he would not sooner do anything else than find a place for God, so God in return swears in response through the promise, condescending in His speech in a more human manner; since also ten thousand other things in the Divine Scripture are said regarding God in an anthropopathic way, according to a certain understood sense. These things having been thus demonstrated, it is now time to consider the saying in the Psalm.

What then does the promise of God signify? It foretells these two things: first, that He will preserve the seed of David unto the ages; second, that He will build his throne unto generation and generation. Then, since these things were not destined to come to pass on earth in a sensible manner, nor in a kingdom considered according to human reason, He remits the fulfillment of the promises to the heavens. ^C Wherefore, as He said above, *In heaven shall Thy truth be prepared*; so now, after the promise of God, he adds, *The heavens shall confess Thy wonders, O Lord.* For, He says, the men who are on earth will not be able to understand, O Lord, what intention Thy promises have, nor what the fulfillments of the prophetic words are; but the heavens themselves, evidently, and the divine powers that are in heaven [will understand]; for it befits the heavens to declare and interpret Thy wonders which are contained in the promises. Just as, in turn, it was for no others than the heavens alone, and the angels who are in the heavens, to contemplate and declare Thy truth which is celebrated in the promises given to David; for these will confess both Thy truth and Thy wonders in the Church of the saints. ^D For if ever there should exist such a Church on earth, which could be called the Church of the saints, then beside these saints, the heavens themselves—whether they be divine powers or heavenly men—will confess Thy wonders and Thy truth, which is contained in the present promises. But if there is also in those very heavens a Church of the firstborn recorded in the heavens, that Church might more authoritatively and truly be called the Church of the saints, in which the heavens will declare the truth of the promises of God and the wonders laid up in them. Now, what were those wonders, but that David should be called the chosen of God, and that a seed should proceed from him, which [should build] the throne...

possess an eternal throne, and that God Himself should enter into an eternal covenant, or pact, with him? For so Aquila and Symmachus interpreted it, calling it a pact ^A instead of a covenant. It was also a wonderful thing for God to swear to a man, and to say to him: "Unto eternity I will prepare thy seed," according to Symmachus; "And I will build thy throne unto every generation," according to the same. But the greatest miracle of all was this: that God, having promised such things, should have sealed them with an oath; and, what is more wonderful than all, that after the divine oath, the words of God appeared to have taken no effect, and that the very opposite of the oath ^B had come to pass. He continues, therefore, immediately after, declaring that things contrary to the promises of God had occurred; for which reason the Prophet is especially struck with amazement, and as if grieving at the matter, says: "Where are Thine ancient mercies, O Lord, which Thou swarest unto David in Thy truth?" But he applies a remedy for his own perplexity, having said above: "Thy truth shall be prepared in the heavens," and within the present passage saying: "The heavens shall confess Thy wonders, for ^C Thy truth is in the Church of the saints. For who in the clouds shall be equal to the Lord, or who shall be likened to the Lord among the sons of God?" For "in the clouds," Symmachus says: "For who is in the ether?" And most consistently he has added the things before us to those previously mentioned; for Thy truth, he says, and Thy wonders, even if men cannot understand them—on account of which I am about to say a little later, "Where are Thine ancient mercies, O Lord, which Thou swarest unto David?"—yet the heavens shall tell of them and the Church of the saints shall bear witness, that nothing of what Thou swarest unto David shall fail, nor shall Thy promises be false; for it is impossible for Thee ^D to lie. For who shall be made equal to Thee in truth, or who shall be likened to Thee in speaking and proving Thy promises? For no one is able to withstand Thy will, so as to overturn the things once ordained by Thee—much less those things promised with an oath—so that even if the truth of Thy promises is not yet known to us, we know this exactly: that Thou art powerful, O Lord, and Thy truth is round about Thee. All things, therefore, that Thou hast willed, Thou canst do, and the truth of the words spoken concerning David revolves around Thee; so that it is known to all who are about Thee and who surround Thy deity, but is unknown to those who stand far from Thee.

It seems to me that through these things the Prophet, filled with the Holy Spirit and enlightened in the eyes of his soul by intellectual light, perceived the glory of the Only-begotten of God, standing in the midst of the Church of the saints, and surrounded by the multitude of the saints who are in His kingdom. Having mentioned the heavens, and through the divine Spirit having gazed intently upon the Church of the saints, he seems to have seen the Son of God in their midst; then, after the contemplation of Him, to have turned his eyes to the host of holy angels and archangels, divine spirits and powers surrounding Him, to marvel at their divinity; him

^A who exceeds all and surpasses all, the Only-begotten of God, should contemplate with awe; and then, out of that wonder, to cry out: "For who in the clouds shall be compared to the Lord?" or, according to Symmachus, "For who in the ether shall compare himself to the Lord among the sons of God?" These things, when said concerning the Only-begotten of God, preserve a pious meaning; but not so concerning the Father and God of all, for such a comparison would be inappropriate and impious. For to compare the Cause of all to the sons of God, and to dare to liken God, who is above all, to other beings, would be an act of the greatest impiety. But it is without danger for the Only-begotten Son of God to be compared to the sons of God, and to be called incomparable, and to be asserted as superior to them, in the words: "Who in the clouds shall be compared to the Lord?" as if to say, no one. For even if many saints, and thousands of angels, and the Church of the firstborn, principalities, powers, thrones, dominions, holy spirits, and divine virtues, move in the heavenly hosts and fill the celestial Church; yet, he says, who in the ether positioned above the firmament shall be made equal to the Lord? But if there are many sons of God and many gods, according to that which is written: "God stood in the congregation of gods," and "The God of gods, the Lord hath spoken," and "I have said, ye are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High": yet who shall be likened to the Lord ^B among the sons of God? For while there are countless sons, he says, no one shall be likened to this One, nor shall he be made equal to the Elect, for He is the Only-begotten and firstborn of all creation, and the Word, and the Wisdom, and the Power, and the Wisdom of God. And it seems to me that he signifies the knowledge of these things in the preceding verses, where he said: "The heavens shall confess thy wonders." For one of these wonders was indeed that which he was about to add next concerning the Only-begotten of God; and necessarily so. For since he was to indicate in the prophecy that He was to be born from the seed of David, he first contemplated the divinity of Him who was about to dwell in him, so that we might learn at the same time what power was to dwell in him, and we might know that he himself was truly the son of David, but that He who was to dwell in him was the Son ^C of God.

VERS. 8. "God who is glorified in the council of the saints, great and terrible over all who are round about him." Who this is who can be compared or conferred with no one, and who admits no equivalent among those who are called sons of God, he here declares, saying: "This is God, who is glorified in the council of the saints." Now, he has already called the "council of the saints" the previously mentioned "Church of the saints"; and it seems he calls the "Church of the firstborn, who are enrolled in the heavens," a council, by a certain analogy to the senates that exist in various places. In this council of the saints, then, is celebrated the glory of Him who admits no comparison or likeness to those who are called sons of God; and not only is He glorified in the council of the saints, but He also exists as terrible ^D over all who are round about Him. Who, moreover, could those "round about Him" be, if not the sons

^A of God, who are themselves also called gods? ^A For it is on their account that it is said, "God stood in the congregation of the gods." For indeed, the phrase "In the council of the saints," and the phrase "In the church of the firstborn," and "In the congregation of the gods," seem to me to be one and the same. Standing, therefore, in the midst of these, and being surrounded by them as a bodyguard, the Son of God is said to be glorified, and great, and terrible. Symmachus, however, rendered the preceding passage in this way: "Invincible God in the great conversation of the saints, and terrible in all those who are around thee." And Aquila says: "Strong one, made mighty in the secret of the saints, a multitude, a multitude, and terrible over all who are in circuit of Him." The very sense of the passage reveals the sequence. For since You are powerful, O Lord, He says, and Your truth is in Your circuit, you are rightly great and terrible and glorified in the council of the saints, and in those who surround Your divinity, who, having perceived the truth of Your promises, send up the appropriate thanksgiving with admiration of Your divinity. Wherefore I said a little before: "The heavens shall confess Thy wonders, and Thy truth in the Church of the saints."

^B O Lord God of hosts, who is like unto Thee? Thou art powerful, O Lord, and Thy truth is in Your circuit. You rule the power of the sea, and You mitigate the surging of its waves. You humbled the proud like a wounded man; with the arm of Your power You have scattered Your enemies. ^C And in these things, He admits that nothing of created beings is equal to the Son of God who is preached as God; for He calls Him the Powerful One, and the God of the powerful, and the Lord of the powers themselves, so that no one can gainsay Him, nor resist His will. Wherefore He says and does all things, as being the only powerful one; for the expression, "Who is like unto Thee?" is taken here not to mean "rare," but "the one who is non-existent." He says, therefore, that no one is like Him who is preached as Lord, while comparing to Him those who were mentioned above as sons of God. For the present passage and the former one hold to the same sense, in which it was said: "For who in the clouds shall be compared unto the Lord? or who shall be like unto the Lord among the sons of God?" And now, indeed, He says, "Who is like unto Thee?" because You are powerful, and the truth of Your words, and Your promises, are about Thee and with Thee. For Your truth is with You, and with those who surround You; for if there be any who are nearby and standing in Your circuit, these very ones know Your truth. But we who are on earth, still being far from You, contemplating Your mighty works from those things which are being performed by Your providence on the sea and on land, confess that You are powerful, and Your truth is in Your circuit. For of the sea and the such great mass of waters, You alone are the Lord, and You alone mitigate the surging ^D of its waves, having placed upon it locks and gates, and having set borders for it, so that it might not overstep them and inundate the inhabited world of men. And this itself happens to be one

^A of the greatest demonstrations of your power. For as the great motion of the waters, serving you as its Master, shrinks and rises up to a height, and breaks in upon itself, enclosed within its own proper bounds; just as you have bridled the waves and threats of the sea by your command, and have calmed its crests, its surges, and its rages; so too, if there should ever be any among the invisible powers who are hostile and contrary to the design of your providence, these too, as being the only one who is most powerful over all, you have scattered. And their ^B prince and tyrant, that arrogant and proud prince of this age, you have humbled by your power and have wounded. For you struck him with that great and terrible sword, as it is related in the prophecy: "The Lord will bring the great and strong sword upon the dragon, the shifting serpent, even the dragon that is in the sea." And since another prophet taught that this wounded dragon makes his habitation in the sea—saying, "This sea, great and spacious there are reptiles without number; there is that dragon which you have fashioned to mock it"—I would have you consider whether the present discourse might intimate that very sea when it says: "You rule over the power of the sea, and you calm the motion of its waves." For to these words it subjoins: "You have humbled the proud one as one wounded; with the arm of your power you have scattered your enemies." For it seems to designate "sea" as the place of the opposing powers, of the demons and wicked spirits. Wherefore, to the things which it had said concerning the sea, it added the things pertaining to the wounded one and to the enemies of God, signifying clearly thereby the opposing powers and their prince. And it is said also in another psalm: "You broke the heads of the dragons in the waters; you broke the head of the dragon; you gave him as food to the Ethiopian peoples." And in Job: "Will you draw the dragon with a hook, and with a bit will you pierce his nostril? He shall speak to you with supplication and entreaty softly, and you shall receive him ^C as a servant forever." Then it infers, "And he himself is king over all that are in the waters." In the same place, it is said concerning that very dragon to Job, from the person of the Lord: "Are you not afraid, for he has been prepared for me?" In the present passage, also, the divine Spirit fittingly calls these same things to mind, declaring the descent of the Only-begotten of God down to the sea mentioned. After, therefore, it had proclaimed that He is God, and had indicated His prior conversation among the saints, and had said who He is and with whom and among whom He goes forth, it declares afterwards that He Himself will command the mentioned sea, will humble the wounded one dwelling in that sea, and will scatter all His enemies ^D by the arm of His power. It says these things necessarily, for having spoken before, "You are powerful, O Lord, and your truth is round about you," it now designates by the very deed how the Lord is powerful, in order to prove from this that the promises made to David are true.

αὐτοῦ διασκορπίσει. Λέγει δὲ ταῦτα ἀναγκαίως· προειπών γὰρ, Δυνατὸς εἶ, Κύριε, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθειά σου κύκλῳ σου, παρίστησιν αὐτοῖς ἔργοις πῶς ὑπάρχει δυνατὸς ὁ Κύριος εἰς πίστωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας αὐτοῦ, ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας πρὸς τὸν Δαυΐδ γεγενημένας ἀληθεῖς ἀποδεῖξαι.

^A Σοί εἰσιν οὐρανοὶ, καὶ σὴ ἐστιν ἡ γῆ. τὴν οἰκουμένην καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς σὺ ἐθεμελίωσας, τὸν βοῤῥᾶν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν σὺ ἔκτισας. Θαβὼρ καὶ Ἑρμὼν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἀγαλλιάσονται. Ἡ διάνοια τῶν προκειμένων τοιαύτη τίς ἐστι· Πεποίησαι μὲν, ὦ Κύριε, πρὸς τὸν Δαυΐδ ἐπαγγελίας περὶ τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ εἰς αἰῶνα διαρκέσοντος θρόνου αὐτοῦ· καὶ ταύτας ὤμοσας τῷ Δαυΐδ ἐπιτελέσειν. Ὁρῶμεν δὲ ἡμεῖς οἱ ἄνθρωποι μὴ πληρουμένας αὐτὰς, ὅσον ἐπὶ τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς καὶ ὁρωμένοις· διό φαμεν, Ποῦ εἰσι τὰ ἐλέη σου τὰ ἀρχαῖα, Κύριε; πλὴν ἀλλὰ πεπείσμεθά σε ἐξ ἅπαντος ἀληθεύειν, ὅτι δυνατὸς εἶ, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθειά σου κύκλῳ σου. Καὶ μάρτυρές γε τῆς ἀληθείας σου πάντες οἱ περὶ σέ· αἱ γοῦν οὐράνιοι δυνάμεις ἐξομολογήσονται τὰ θαυμάσιά σου, καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειάν σου ἐν Ἐκκλησίᾳ ὁσίων. Καὶ εἰκότως αἱ οὐράνιοι δυνάμεις τὴν ἀλήθειάν σου ἐξομολογήσονται, ἐπειδὴ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἑτοιμασθήσεται ἡ ἀλήθειά σου, ὡς μηκέτι δεῖν τὰς ἐπαγγελίας σου, τὰς πρὸς τὸν Δαυΐδ, ἐπιγείους εἶναι καὶ σωματικὰς νομίζειν· ἐν γὰρ τῷ οὐρανῷ ἑτοιμασθήσεται ἡ ἀλήθειά σου. Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐκ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος μεμαθηκὼς φημι· ^B Τὰ ἐλέη σου εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ᾄσομαι. Εἰς γενεὰν καὶ γενεὰν ἀπαγγελῶ τὴν ἀλήθειάν σου ἐν τῷ στόματί μου. Ἀληθεύειν δέ σε Θεὸν ὄντα καὶ Κύριον τῶν ὅλων πεπεῖσθαι χρή, διὰ τὸ μηδένα εἶναι ὅμοιον τῇ σῇ δυνάμει· καὶ γὰρ καὶ τῶν ἀσωμάτων καὶ θείων δυνάμεων Κύριος εἶ, καὶ δυνατὸς εἶ μόνος καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντας, ὡς τὴν ἀλήθειάν σου πιστοῦσθαι. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔστι τις ἐν τοῖς οὖσιν ὑπερήφανος, ὁ καλούμενος διάβολος ἀντικείμενος ἀεὶ, καὶ πολεμῶν τῇ σῇ ἀληθείᾳ, ἀλλὰ σὺ τοῦτον ἐταπείνωσας· εἴτε τινές εἰσιν ὑπὲρ τοῦτον ἐχθραὶ καὶ ἀντικείμεναι δυνάμεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ ταύτας διεσκόρπισας. Πάντοτε σὺ κρατεῖς, καὶ τῆς τῶν ὅλων οὐσίας σὺ δεσπόζεις, ἐπεὶ καὶ ποιητὴς τῶν ὅλων τυγχάνεις. Αὕτη γὰρ ἡ θάλασσα καὶ τὸ τοσοῦτον τῆς ὑγρᾶς ουσίας στοιχεῖον ἔργον υπάρχει σὸν, καὶ σὲ κύριον ἐπιγράφεται. Εἰ δὲ καὶ οὐρανοί τινες ἀνώτεροι τοῦ στερεώματος νοοῦνται, θείων πνευμάτων καὶ δυνάμεων ἁγίων, τῶν τε τὴν σὴν θεότητα περιπολούντων ἀγγέλων καὶ ἀρχαγγέλων οικητήρια, καὶ οὗτοι σοί εἰσιν ἅμα πᾶσι τοῖς οἰκοῦσιν αὐτοῖς. Καὶ ἄλλο δὲ στοιχεῖον οὐ μικρὸν ἡ ξηρὰ οὐσία, καὶ ἡ τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ὑποκειμένη γῆ, σή ἐστι καὶ αὕτη. ^C Ὅτε τοίνυν τὰ σύμπαντα τοῖς σοῖς νεύμασι δουλεύει, καὶ σὺ πάντων κρατεῖς, κύριος ὢν ἁπάντων καὶ βασιλεὺς καὶ Θεὸς, τίς ἀντιστήσεται σοι; Ἢ τί τὸ ἐμποδὼν ἔσται τοῦ μὴ πιστώσασθαι τὰς μεθ' ὅρκου πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐποιήσω; Σφόδρα τοίνυν καὶ ἀκολούθως τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν εἰρημένοις διὰ τῶν προκειμένων ἐπήγαγε τὸ, Σοί εἰσιν οἱ οὐρανοὶ, καὶ σή ἐστιν ἡ γῆ· τὴν οἰκουμένην καὶ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς σὺ ἐθεμελίωσας. Οὐ γὰρ μόνον τὸν οὐρανὸν, φησὶ, καὶ τὰς ἐν αὐτῷ δυνάμεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν γῆν σὺ ἐθεμελίωσας· συμφώνως τῇ ἐν

ἐν ^A the voice saying in Proverbs: "God by wisdom founded the earth 19, and prepared the heavens in prudence." By a special designation, he here called the inhabited part of the earth "the world," distinguishing it from the desert and the uninhabited. Indeed, he even added "the fullness of the world," thereby signifying the human race, which fills the world. Yet you would not be wrong if, by another method of explanation, you were to say that the fullness is the Savior's Church, which the Word of God Himself founded upon the rock. Therefore, it is also said in other places: "The Lord has reigned, He has clothed Himself with beauty; for He has established the world, which will not be shaken." And how He established the world, He adds in what follows: "You created the North and the sea," though the fifth edition says, "You created the North and the South." It seems to me that by the two sides and extremities of the world, he signifies the entire cosmos, which the power of our Savior has filled. Observe, moreover, in what manner the face of the entire world is set forth through these: the eastern part; for the left is the northern region, and the right is the meridional and southern. For by saying, "You created the North and the right," he taught that the northern side is the left, ^B if indeed the southern is the right. If, therefore, we were standing and had the south on our right, and the north on our left, we would have the East before us, and the West behind our back. Thus, these things were spoken according to a physical consideration to declare the position of the entire world. It was necessary to indicate these things to show that the teaching of the divine Scriptures has not overlooked the knowledge of even these matters. "For everything," he says, "You created, both the right parts of the world and the left." But he mentioned the right parts by name, while he refrained from using the name of the left. Therefore, it is said according to Symmachus, "You created the North and the right," and according to Aquila, "You created the North and the right." But the fifth edition explained more clearly what the "right" were, saying, "You created the North and the South." ^C The "left" is passed over in silence by all the interpreters, because it is thought to be something inauspicious and opposite to the right; yet nothing in the universe is inauspicious or opposite to the good. "For everything," he says, "You created." Two mountains, Tabor and Hermon, are mentioned with distinction above all others: "For in Your name these shall exult." According to Aquila, "Tabor and Hermon shall praise in Your name"; according to Symmachus, "Tabor and Hermon shall celebrate Your name." The history of the Old Testament mentions these mountains in various places, and I think that those marvelous transfigurations of our Savior occurred on these mountains, as well as His frequent sojourns when He lived among men. But whether the interpretation of the names themselves contributes anything to our understanding of the matters at hand, you yourself may consider. ^D

VERS. 14, 15. Tuum brachium cum potentia: firmetur manus tua, exaltetur dextera tua : justitia et καὶ κρῖμα ἑτοιμασία του θρόνου σου. Ἔλεος καὶ ἀλήθεια προπορεύσεται πρὸ προσώπου

προσώπου ^A σου. These things are also taken up for the glorification of God’s Only-Begotten, which Aquila interpreted more clearly, rendering it in this way: "Yours is the arm with power; invincible is your hand, high your right hand; justice and judgment are the foundation of your throne." And he has necessarily taken up these God-befitting virtues in the theology on account of God’s promises toward David. For nothing, he says, will withstand your will; for along with the will, the power is present to you, as befits God and the Master of all. For indeed, yours is the great arm, and the power and rule over all; your hand is strengthened, your right hand most high; and your royal throne, just as the thrones of those who reign on earth are fashioned from precious material, so this itself has been constructed from things fitting for you, O God. At any rate, God-befitting virtues—justice and judgment—adorn your throne. Wherefore, ^B there being so many powers present with you, O God, the truth of your promises runs ahead smoothly and without hindrance, since nothing is able to impede your decrees, which you swore to David, having made the promises set forth to him out of mercy and grace. But instead of, "Justice and judgment are the preparation of your throne," according to Aquila, it is said, "Justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne"; Symmachus indeed says that justice and judgment are the base itself. Moreover, mercy and truth run ahead of justice and the judgment that is brought forth with justice. By mingling justice with mercy, he makes the threats against those who have sinned more mild; for otherwise, no one of ^C humanity could endure his justice untempered.

VERS. 16-19. *Blessed is the people who know jubilation. O Lord, they will walk in the light of your face, and in your name they will exult all day, and in your justice they will be exalted. For you are the boasting of their strength, and in your good pleasure our horn will be exalted. For our taking up is of the Lord, and of the Holy One of Israel our King.* You may also understand "jubilation" in another way, from the jubilation of soldiers in times of war, such that they terrify the enemy by raising a greater shout and adding harmony to it. The divine Apostle teaches that [such] prayers in the Holy Spirit are those not sent up by a loud shout, but in the power of the Spirit, when he says: *The Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.* Such and so rare is this jubilation, mentioned here and there by the divine Scriptures, that he who is knowledgeable of it is called blessed, just as others are called blessed for their other achievements according to God. Therefore it is said here: *Blessed is the people who know jubilation.* In other places, the divine Word teaches that such jubilation is a sacrifice, saying: *I went around and sacrificed in his tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation.* ^D Here, furthermore, it seems to me that the Holy Spirit is openly calling the people of Christ blessed; for he himself, when he comes to the knowledge of the victory won by our Savior over the enemies, against

^A the enemies, raises a shout of joy ^B on behalf of his own King. Moreover, this ^C people alone is accustomed to offer that bloodless and rational sacrifice to God through a shout of joy, by sending up in unison to God thanksgiving in the spiritual sacred rites and in the worship performed by us under the New Testament, in the bloodless, immaterial, and spiritual sacrifices. Instead of ^D "He who knows the shout of joy," Symmachus translated it as "He who knows the meaning." But why is this people of Christ, which understands the aforementioned shout of joy, blessed, if not because, recognizing the divinity of the Savior—which is called his "face"—and being illuminated by the light of that same face, it makes its own journey, saying, "The light of your face, O Lord, has been marked upon us," and, "In your light we shall see light"? For this reason, then, this people is blessed. And third, because, not satisfied with being illuminated by the knowledge of Christ, it also glories in his name, and being called Christian from him, it rejoices and exults all the day, or rather, every day—for this is how Symmachus translated it—and for this reason it is blessed. And fourth, because as it grows in magnitude and height, it is exalted by the righteousness of God; for God judged it just to lead into height and into great glory the people who know the aforementioned shout of joy, and who are illuminated by the face of the Savior, and who exult in his name, and who boast, though not in their own accomplishments.

Necessary also was the mention the discourse made of the aforementioned Lord, prophesying the glorious event of Christ's advent into the world. For before teaching of his birth, as he was to come forth from the seed of David, and announcing the destruction of all the things held venerable among the Jews—for which cause he is in doubt and asks, "Where are your ancient mercies, O Lord?"—he appropriately set forth the preceding teaching concerning the truth of the promises made to David by God. But because it was necessary for us first to have learned for which people the grace of the benefit bestowed by the Savior was being reserved, he consistently mentioned not Israel, nor the Jewish nation, but the people who know the shout of joy; and this people he rightfully declared blessed, promising it many good things. For because they know the shout of joy, first indeed they will walk in the light of the face of God; then in his name they will exult every single day; third, they will be exalted in his righteousness; and fourth, the Lord himself will be the boasting of their strength. For because this people is strong and powerful, being built upon the rock so that the gates of Hades do not prevail against it, it will rightfully boast, not in its own strength, but in the Lord who founded it upon the rock. For all these things, "Blessed is the people that knows the shout of joy." Likewise, of us, the prophets who prophesy these things through the Spirit, our horn shall be exalted.

And what horn is this, if not that which is to come forth from the seed of David according to your promise, O Lord? Indeed, this is our horn, by which we shall toss our enemies, in your good pleasure it shall be exalted, while you, the Holy One of Israel, our King, concern yourself with the generation of this horn. These, then, would be the prophetic voices speaking in their own person about the matters set before us, and confessing that their horn is the Christ of God, who is to appear in the flesh. ^A

Vers. 21-25. Then you spoke in a vision to your sons, and said, "I have placed help upon a mighty one; I have exalted one chosen out of my people. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him."

all the people I exalted him. And in addition to this, since after much seeking I found him alone worthy of my promises, and having found him, I deemed him worthy of the anointing of my holy oil, by which I also made him Christ, I promise to bestow these things upon him: My right hand shall surely be with him, and my arm shall strengthen him. No enemy shall deceive him, nor shall the son of iniquity afflict him. Yea, I will even cut down before him those that hate him, and those who do him evil I will smite; and my confirmation and my grace shall be with him. And these things shall all be his according to the translation of Symmachus. According to ^B the Seventy, however, it says: My hand shall help him, and my arm shall strengthen him. No enemy shall benefit against him, and the son of iniquity shall not afflict him. And I will cut down from his face his enemies, and those that hate him I will put to flight. And my truth and my mercy shall be with him; and finally after all these things, in my name shall his horn be exalted.

And this his horn, which is to proceed from him, and the temple which is to be built for me from his seed, this [horn] his shall be exalted in my name; for it shall be deemed worthy of my name and my appellation. For it shall be called by my denominations, and it shall be exalted among all by my appellations. Wherefore it was said above, And in thy good pleasure our horn shall be exalted. But while the choir of the prophets addressed God above, saying, And in thy good pleasure our horn shall be exalted; now God himself, bringing forth the promises given to David, puts a seal upon all these things with, In my name shall his horn be exalted, signifying the Christ who is to proceed from him, who is named the horn not only of the prophets, but of David himself: concerning whom he adds hereafter: ^C Verses 26-29. And I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the floods. He shall call upon me, Thou art my Father, my God and the helper of my salvation. And I will make him my firstborn, high among the kings of the earth. I will keep for him my mercy for ever, and my covenant shall be faithful to him.

If anyone accurately weighs the meaning of these words, he will discover that these things were not prophesied concerning David, but concerning the horn which was to proceed from David. For when he had said, And in my name shall his horn be exalted, he immediately added concerning that horn, I will set his hand in the sea, namely of that horn, and the rest: all of which it is fitting to refer to Christ, who was to be born of the seed of David. For if anyone does not understand these things in this way, but refers them to David, his argument will certainly not hold firm: for let him who wishes explain how God set David's hand in the sea and his right hand in the floods. For David did not rule over a maritime region. ^D Or why should it be said of David, He shall call upon me, Thou art my Father: and I will make him my firstborn? For what reason, rather than

Abraham, or Isaac, or Israel, or Moses himself, or Elias, or other just men and prophets, would David be considered the firstborn of God? And how will God speak the truth concerning him, saying, I will make him high above the kings of the earth? When, then, was David exalted above the kings of the Persians, Scythians, Indians, Ethiopians, Moors, Spaniards, Britons, or the other kings of the nations? But if you apply these things to Him who was to be born of his seed, you would find the words to fit most firmly and accurately.

^B The Gospel also testifies to the fulfillment of the prophecy, in which, according to Luke, Zacharias, the father of John, also called Christ himself a "horn" by prophetic power. For the evangelist says: *And Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people. And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began.* Now, the Christ of God is properly called a "horn." Therefore, he is also called a "unicorn" according to the Scripture, which says: *And my beloved as the son of unicorns* because through him ^C all the power of the adversary and enemy to God was overturned, struck and repelled by the horn. Thus, alone among the successors of David, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, having proceeded from his seed with the horn of the divinity dwelling within him, truly and utterly destroyed all the error of demons and idols. Wherefore, he is deservedly called "horn" and "unicorn" in the sacred Writings. His hand, and no other's, and his right hand have dominated the whole world, in rivers and seas; for his teaching has filled even the islands of the nations, and everywhere in the world every human race proclaims him Lord, God, and King.

Similar, furthermore, is this saying, *I will place his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers*, to that which is said about the same [Person] in the 71st Psalm: *And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.* For when the Savior had begun, from the baptism received at the river Jordan, to preach the kingdom of God, he filled the whole world. And it is said also in the prophet Zechariah: *Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; behold thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and a young colt. And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers ^D unto the ends of the earth.* For which the Hebrew has, *And from the rivers unto the ends of the earth.* One might say, in a more profound manner of interpretation, that his right hand is said to be in the rivers for this reason: because all who are at his right hand are cleansed through the laver of regeneration, and are deemed worthy of divine regeneration through the influx of the Holy Spirit. For we have learned that those are his "ones on the right" to whom he said, promising, *Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.*

For I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat*, and so on. For those whom he named his sheep, he promised to set on his right hand; therefore, according to a deeper and more ineffable meaning, it is said that his right hand will be in the rivers. His rivers are said to be his peoples, according to that saying, *The rivers shall clap their hands together*; and again, *The rivers have lifted up, O Lord, the rivers have lifted up their voice. The rivers will lift up their waves*. He declares that he will lay his hand in these rivers of his.

^B The other hand, which he has left for us to understand as being the left, he says he will lay in the sea—that is, in the salty waves of life, where that dragon also makes his dwelling, according to the saying, *This sea, the great and wide; there are creeping things there without number: this dragon which thou hast formed to play in it*. For upon these dragons, and upon the sea understood in this way, not the right hand, but the other hand, different from the right, will be laid, vindicating and avenging against the enemies and casting them down. But this very one who is mentioned (namely, that horn of David) who is to be born from his seed, will call God father, inasmuch as he has been deemed worthy for the only-begotten Son of God to dwell in him, and to be joined and united to him. For this reason, God the Word himself, the Firstborn of all creation, who had promised beforehand and said, *In my name shall his horn be exalted*, imparting his own name and his own dignity to him who was to come from the seed of David, will make him the firstborn, ^C so that he who was born according to the flesh from the seed of David might also be named the Son of God, and be called Firstborn because of his union with the Only-Begotten of God. For these were the reasons for which he promised that he would be exalted, saying, *In my name shall his horn be exalted*. For the only-begotten Son of God gave his own name to the son of David according to the flesh, and made him also Firstborn and Son of God. He also promised that he would place him as high among the kings of the earth; or, according to Symmachus, *as the highest of the kings of the earth*. For he was to turn out superior and stronger than all who would fight against him, crushing the assaults and persecutions stirred up against his Church, and fortifying the word of his teaching with glory and power. He also says that he will keep his mercy for him ^D forever, and will make his covenant faithful to him; without doubt, the New Testament, which he preached to all nations throughout the whole world, offering the Gospel in place of the Mosaic covenant, which he promised he would make faithful and would confirm.

VERS. 30-35. *I will set his seed for ever and ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they profane my statutes, and*

my commandments keep not, I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes. But my mercy I will not scatter from him, nor will I do injustice in my truth. Nor will I profane my covenant, and the things that proceed from my lips I will not make void. The things spoken concerning the horn in the preceding passages have been fulfilled. The horn was shown to be none other than Christ, who according to the flesh was born from the seed of David. ^A Consequently, after what was prophecied concerning him, he declares what his future succession shall be, saying: I will not place the seed of the aforementioned horn for the present age only, but even unto the age of the age, and his throne I will not preserve for a few days, nor for short periods of years, but I will cause it to be extended to be like the days of heaven. Symmachus translated these words thus: *And I will make his seed perpetual, and his throne as the days of heaven.* But what should we consider the seed of Christ to be, if not the churches established by him throughout the whole world, and the peoples who in all nations have been regenerated in him? His throne, moreover, is that which has been ^B established in his Church throughout the whole world through the succession of its presiding bishops who have been from his time; which throne he says will remain as the days of heaven—not like the regal throne of the Jews, which, having lasted for a short time (namely, for about four hundred years, from David until the captivity in Babylon), was extinguished. But this throne of the presiding bishops of the Church, which is spoken of in the present prophecy, will remain and be preserved as the days of heaven. If it should ever happen that the people and the children—that is, the successors—of him who is announced in the prophecy act wickedly, he says that they themselves, while experiencing the turning of things ^C through persecutions, will never lose their thrones nor be deprived of the mercy of God. For if his children—namely, Christ’s—commit such and such acts, he declares that these things will befall them: *I will visit their iniquities with a rod*—that is, the iniquities of the children—*and their sins with stripes; but my mercy I will not scatter from him.* And note, I pray, that it is not said "from them," but "from him," that is, from the one who is spoken of in the prophecy, even though the aforementioned phrase uses the plural: *I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes.* Whose iniquities, if not those of the horn’s children? But when he says, *My mercy I will not scatter from him*, he speaks ^D of one only, namely, of the horn or of his horn who is spoken of in the prophecy. He adds later: *nor will I profane my covenant*, clearly that which is new and fresh, concerning which he said earlier, *And my covenant is faithful to him.* And he again seals the truth of the word by saying: *nor will I do injustice in my truth, nor will I make void the things that proceed from my lips*; but, he says, I will make my promises faithful and true, adding to his words the works and the fulfillment of the things themselves.

^A And these are the promises given to David concerning his horn and his throne, and concerning those who were to proceed from him, and concerning his New Testament. But since it was fitting not to consider such promises as having been brought forth by any simple and bare word, he again resumes and repeats the statement, sealing the things said with an oath for the confirmation of what was promised. Therefore he says: "Once have I sworn by my holy one, if I will lie to David, his seed shall remain for ever, and his throne as the sun before me, and as the moon perfected for ever; and the witness in heaven is faithful." Selah. God is indeed free from falsehood, even if he does not fortify a promise with an oath; but since it was necessary, as he was speaking to men, to use human custom and adopt, according to the habit of men who swear, the testimony of God for the confirmation of his ^B own words, he himself also says that he has sworn and will not lie, ["that by two immutable things," ] says the divine Apostle, "in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have the strongest consolation." Another reason is also brought forward why God is said to have sworn: that is, to make requital for the promise given to David with an oath. Furthermore, God swears by his Holy One, just as a father might swear by the salvation of his legitimate and beloved son; in the same way, he says, I have sworn in my Holy One, that is, by my Holy One, if I will lie to David. And what did that oath contain? "His seed," he says, "shall remain for ever." This is the first thing, and this is the first promise concerning the seed, about which it was said above: "And I will set his seed for ever and ever"; and it indicated the succession of Christ. The second promise is concerning the aforementioned throne; wherefore he adds: "And his throne as the sun before me, and as the moon perfected for ever." He says, therefore, that the seed, that is, the word of Christ disseminated, or his people and his Church, shall never perish nor fail; but that his throne shall remain for ever; or according to Symmachus, "As the moon, it shall remain firm for ever"; thus shall be the ecclesiastical ^C throne of Christ. Or perhaps, when the word has said first, "Once have I sworn in my Holy One," and has added immediately, "His seed shall remain for ever," is it prophesying that the seed of his Holy One will prevail for ever? So that the seed of the Holy One of God, that is, the Only-Begotten of God, is his doctrine which he sowed on earth, having himself become its sower, according to the parable brought forth by him, in which it is said: "A sower went out to sow," and so forth. And these things, he says, will thus be and will come to pass and will be certified. For the faithful witness of these things is God, who dwells in heaven. And the result through works confirms the truth of the word; for we see with our eyes the seed and the succession of the horn of David, ^D that is, of our Savior Jesus Christ; and indeed, also the heavenly seed of the evangelical doctrine sown on earth by the Holy One of God, his own Only-Begotten Word, remaining for ever; and likewise his throne standing throughout the whole world in individual nations, cities, villages, and fields.

^A If, however, anyone does not accept it in this way, but after the Jewish manner, supposing the corporeal kingdom of David to be spoken of, the prophecies will be proven false. For after the captivity of the Jewish nation in Babylon, no one sat upon the throne of David; and from that time to this, it is now nearly a thousand years since, with his kingdom destroyed and his succession at an end, the throne of David was dissolved. Wherefore the following parts of the psalm lament these very things, clearly signifying the destruction of the corporeal throne, and demonstrating that things contrary to the promises have occurred, so far as the sensible throne and the corporeal succession of David’s kingdom are concerned. These things, indeed, it was right not to pass over in silence, but to record in the prophecy concerning Christ, so that we might learn that, when the time of the predicted events was at hand, the sensible things which the Jews suppose to be meant would be completely dissolved, but the other things, which are understood in a divine manner, would be the fulfillment and completion of God’s promise.

VERS. 39-46. But thou hast rejected and despised, thou hast cast off thy Christ. ^B Thou hast overturned the covenant of thy servant, thou hast profaned his sanctuary on the ground; thou hast broken down all his hedges, thou hast brought his strongholds to fear. All that pass by the way have spoiled him: he is become a reproach to his neighbours. Thou hast exalted the right hand of those that oppress him, thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice. Thou hast turned away the help of his sword, and hast not assisted him in battle. Thou hast loosened him from purity, thou hast cast his throne down to the ground; thou hast shortened the days of his time, thou hast covered him with confusion. Diapsalma. ^C These things are proven to be understood concerning the more corporeal succession of David and his corporeal kingdom, which was broken down during the times of the captivity of the Jewish people in Babylon. For from that time forward, Christ—that is, the sensible king from the seed of David—was lacking, the throne of his kingdom was broken, and all the rest of the things predicted have been fulfilled; concerning which the discourse laments, in the person of the Jewish nation, as if God had promised one thing, while other things had come to pass. But it is fitting for us to set our mind to this, that since God is devoid of falsehood, his words must of necessity be true; ^D and if they are not found to be true with regard to the sensible kingdom of David, it remains for us to understand the promises in another way. What that way is, the divine Spirit itself teaches through the preceding passages, in which it was said: *In heaven thy truth shall be prepared*; and again: *The heavens shall confess thy wonders, O Lord, and thy truth indeed in the church of the saints*; and again: *Thou art powerful, O Lord, and thy truth is in thy circuit;* and again: *Mercy and truth shall go before thy face.* For all these things declare that the promises of God are never void, but are fulfilled in the way that he himself knows. For, *In heaven*, he says, *thy truth shall be prepared*, openly signifying that the promises of God are heavenly and divine. And he declared the fulfillment of the words through our Savior...

Jesus Christ, who, born from the seed of David, ^A brought them to completion; for His kingdom and throne were not human, nor were they of this world. Hence He said to Pilate: *My kingdom is not of this world*. And being questioned by him as to whether He were a king, He answered, *For this I was born*. Therefore, if He was born for this, He shall remain for this. The angel Gabriel, who announced His birth to the Virgin, bears witness to this word when he says to her: *And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end*. Therefore, He was born ^B for this, but His kingdom was not of this world; for the kingdom of this world is not able to last for ages, nor is it endless, nor does it extend into infinity; but the kingdom promised to the seed of David was indeed eternal and immortal; for it says, *His throne shall be as the sun in my sight, and as the moon perfected for ever; and a faithful witness in heaven*.

Such, then, are the things promised to the Virgin regarding the Son to be born of her. For the angel, pouring forth oracles to her, promised this: *And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father*. But what manner of throne this was, and what sort it was, he explains next, saying: *And he shall reign for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end*. Such was that throne which God promised to David with an oath. The angel, declaring this, interpreted his own oracle: ^C first saying, *And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father*; then subsequently adding, *And he shall reign for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end*. These things were fulfilled in deed in our Savior Jesus, the Christ of God, who, being born of the seed of David, rules and gives law and reigns over the whole inhabited world of men, not in a human manner, but by divine power; and His seed truly remains for ever; that is to say, His succession, which fills the entire world through His apostles and disciples; or [it refers to] the rational seed of His heavenly teaching. But His throne also shines forth like the sun, illuminating and radiating the souls of men. Furthermore, all these things have already ^D been brought to effect, and are being fulfilled day by day, in accordance with the things which God swore to David. But since these promises were not fulfilled in the successors of David in a human fashion, nor according to the custom of worldly kings, nor did they find their end in our Savior Himself through a physical manner—because His kingdom was not of this world, nor did He sit upon the visible throne of David; but rather the contrary came to pass upon the arrival of His passion—therefore did the divine and prophetic Spirit rightly and deservedly declare these very things, with a view to the search for the consummation of the divine word.

Wherefore it says: "But now Thou hast rejected and despised, O Lord, Thou hast cast off Thy Christ; Thou hast overturned the covenant of Thy servant," and what follows these; by which, having clearly mentioned Christ by name, the Word signifies that nothing concerning the succession of David, and his bodily kingdom, and the things that befell Christ the Anointed of God in His passion, was hidden from Him. These things, then, He taught us to expect both concerning his succession and the kingdom, and concerning the one who was to come forth from the seed of David. For even if most of the things said above concerning him were glorious—that he would be exalted, that He would stretch out His hand into the sea and into the rivers, that He would invoke God as Father, and be declared by Him in turn as ^A Firstborn, that He would be highest of kings, and have a faithful covenant, and a seed remaining for age onto age, and a throne enduring as the days of heaven ^B and as the sun and the moon—yet, nevertheless, the divine Spirit necessarily predicts and foreaches by teaching that these gloomy things also would come to pass concerning him, so that if at any time events should occur in accordance with these words concerning Christ of God and the succession of David, those who had long ago learned from their ancestors that these things were to be might not be troubled, being well aware that it was prophesied that these things would come to pass concerning Him—both the gloomy things and the more favorable ones; for the same Word prophesies that contrary things would happen to one and the same person, which we have indeed received in the works themselves. For at the time of the passion of our Savior the gloomier things were fulfilled in Him; but at the time after these things, the promises of the better things were in turn accomplished in Him by works.

The things, therefore, that happened to Him in the passion were accurately set forth by, "But Thou hast rejected and despised, Thou hast cast off Thy Christ." In place of which Aquila says, "Thou hast put away with Thine Anointed;" ^C but Symmachus, "Thou wert wroth against Thy Christ." At that time, moreover, the things of His covenant that were with the apostles were scattered, when they even denied Him; and His sanctuary, that is, the body received from the holy Virgin, was profaned upon the earth. But God also took away all His hedges at that time—that is, the angels who were fencing him about, and who, like a bodyguard, were attending and ministering to Him—and indeed His fortifications as well. Now these were His apostles and disciples, who were filled with such fear that they denied Him, and leaving Him, they fled. ^D Then also He became a reproach to His neighbors, and the right hand of those who afflicted Him was exalted; and all the other things were then fulfilled in Him who had sprung from the seed of David. For otherwise no one could fit these things to David himself, nor show the things we are discussing as having been fulfilled in him, just as neither can the more solemn and favorable things contained in the promises of God. For the throne of David did not illuminate the entire inhabited world, shining like the sun, nor did it become perpetual like the moon, nor was it preserved for age unto age; nor does there possess a word—

^A nor indeed should he be named the Firstborn of God, since both before him and after him, countless others appeared who were better than he. Nor does it appear that David stretched out his right hand to the rivers and his left to the sea, nor did he rule from sea to sea, nor did he obtain a kingdom that extended to the ends of the inhabited world. Nor can these things be adapted to his son Solomon; for he, just like his father, did not rule beyond Judea, nor, like his father, did he reign for more than forty years; nor did he live a life free from reproach. Such indeed were the circumstances around him that he was even maligned for his mad love of women and for idolatry, for which reason it is said that God stirred up a Satan against him. But neither can those promises be referred to any other of the kings of the Jews who reigned after Solomon from the seed and succession of David; rather, all things together, both the more favorable and the more somber, are established to have been fulfilled in one alone, who was born from the seed of David, who is called Jesus Christ, our Savior. The divine Spirit clearly foretold this, having set forth the divine promises first, while teaching that one must expect that these more somber things ^B would befall one and the same person—especially when he foresaw that the sensible throne of the entire succession from David would be overturned. For the kings born of the seed of David endured until the captivity of the people in Babylon; and they did not rule over the entire nation of the Jews, but over only three tribes, and not even over those in their entirety; and the whole time of their rule reaches only to about four hundred years. Once this time had passed, with Jechoniah reigning as the last of the succession of David, no other king of the Jews born from the seed of David is recorded; so that in this way, too, the aforementioned oracles of the divine Spirit were fulfilled, in which it is said: "But now you have thrust away and turned from your way, you have cast off your Christ. You have overturned the covenant of your servant, you have profaned his sanctuary on the ground," and the things that follow these.

Then, since the promises of God to David ascribed some good and great hope to the seed of David, ^C and yet the things that had happened to his succession contained everything contrary to this—for the throne of his kingdom, taken in the human sense, had been dissolved and had ceased from the times of Jechoniah—the prophetic Spirit, foreseeing these things, rightly urges us to a search for the truth of the words of God, and instructs us to seek and learn this from God Himself, asking Him and saying: "Where are your ancient mercies, O Lord, which you swore to David?" For both the succession of his kingdom, which was sensible and taken in the human sense, had been dissolved and removed for a long time, and Jesus the Christ, who was born from his seed and who was expected to be the heir to the promises made to David, did not possess a sensible or human kingdom; but He suffered all things contrary to what men expected, advancing even unto death, and enduring all things which the divine Spirit had foretold by the power of foreknowledge. ^D

^A Wherefore, one is rightly taught to inquire and ask through these words: Where are thy ancient mercies, O Lord? and so forth. After which he adds: How long, O Lord, wilt thou turn away forever? shall thy wrath burn like fire? ^B Remember what my substance is; for have you created all the sons of men in vain? Who is the man that shall live, and shall not see death, and shall deliver his soul from the hand of hell? Diapsalma. Instead of "thou wilt turn away," Aquila says: How long, O Lord, wilt thou hide thyself in contention? But Symmachus: How long, O Lord, wilt thou hide thyself forever? And it seems to me that the discourse secretly indicates the mystery ^C of the wrath that befell the more corporeal kingdom of David, and the whole nation of the Jews. For when, contrary to common expectation, things happened contrary to the promises, God, who had given good promises to David, was invoked. Wherefore he is asked here not to prolong the wrath kindled against them, but that the sad events might pass away as quickly as possible, and the promises of God might arrive. Then, from the person of human infirmity, he says: Remember what my substance is, and so forth. ^D The prophetic discourse teaches the people to say these things, so as to induce God by prayers and supplications to appease the wrath against the nation, and that He might cease to hide Himself; he asks likewise that, even if late, He might finally grant to men what He promised to David. For, he says, human nature is indeed weak and poor, but yet it has been accounted worthy of much honor by Thee; for you have not created the sons of men in vain, whom you created according to your own image; wherefore, so that your work and your image might not perish through the onrush of wrath and the delay of the promises, hasten to amend those sad things, and heal those who are sick through the fulfillment and completion of the promises. For if men had been created in vain like the irrational animals upon the earth, nothing great would need to be promised to them; but since the oaths given to David announce such great blessings to men, they clearly reveal that you did not create the sons of men in vain. Since, therefore, human nature has been accounted worthy of such honor by Thee, I say with reason, "Remember what my substance is," and "Remember that you have not created the sons of men in vain." But I also ask that you remember this: that there is no man who does not taste of death, nor is anyone able to deliver his own soul from death, nor has he received such a benefit. So that even if the Jews were guilty of such sins that the promises given to David turned out the opposite for them, and his seed’s succession along with the royal throne were dissolved; nay, even if your Christ Himself suffered such things at their hands as your words beforehand had prophesied would come to pass concerning Him; yet we pray that you do not turn away forever, nor let your wrath burn like fire; but that you may remember what my substance is—who ask these things for them—and what the infirmity of men is, who have been allotted a nature subject to death and destruction; remembering also yourself, who did not create the sons of men in vain, but for a great hope stored up with Thee. We supplicate you that, calling these things to memory,

you might at last send down to us the One who is to be delivered from death and recalled from Hades, that you might cease to turn yourself away from us, and might quiet the wrath that, like fire, has fallen upon your people, and might bring to fulfillment by your deeds the promises which you swore to David. ^B

VERS. 50. *Where are your ancient mercies, O Lord, which you swore to David in your truth?* For, he says, you did not create all the sons of men in vain; they are honored before you, yet they are not able to deliver themselves from death. For this reason I pray and supplicate that you might hasten to exhibit to us the fulfillment of your good promises, which are to be bestowed through your Christ, after the removal of the kingdom of David. I pray that you might hasten, before the human race perishes utterly. For who among men is able to deliver himself from the hand of Hades, except that one who first delivered himself, and then all who hope in him, from the gates of death? Even if he is to suffer things such as those which the prophecy sets forth with these words: *But now you have rejected and despised, you have cast off your Christ,* yet he shall obtain the promises made to David. For your mercies, O Lord, and your truth remain for all eternity, and not one word of your promises shall fall away. ^C Although, indeed, calling to mind now those sad things which are to happen, I may say: *Where are your ancient mercies, O Lord, which you swore to David in your truth?* Yet I am not ignorant that you swore in truth; wherefore, at the very beginning of my speech, looking toward that good end, I said: *I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever; I will announce your truth with my mouth from generation to generation;* and again I said: *Mercy shall be built up for ever; your truth shall be prepared in the heavens.*

Where, then, are those mercies of yours, O Lord? I ask to learn where they lie hidden and when they are to come. But I do supplicate that they might now hasten and come, and might take up our infirmity. For unless you show your ancient mercies, which you not only promised but also swore to David in your truth, no hope of salvation ^D is left to men. Just as your word was true concerning the sad events, and all those things came to pass and were fulfilled, so it is consistent that the promises of better things should not be in vain—promises by which it was announced to us that the seed of David would be eternal, and his throne would be like the light of the sun, illuminating the whole inhabited world. These things, then, were the prayers of the ancients, and were expected by those who were devoted to the meditation of the prophetic voices; but by us they are seen fulfilled in their works, through the consummation of the things which were perfected in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS

Verses 51-53. *Remember, O Lord, the reproach of thy servants, which I have borne in my bosom of many nations: wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O Lord, wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed. Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen, amen.* ^A From the aforementioned *diapsalma* it seems to me that a change of thought has been introduced. For the Divine Spirit, having prayed for the people in the preceding verses, demands through this utterance that the promises of God should come to pass, [asking:] *Where are thy old lovingkindnesses, O Lord?* He asks now at last that there should arrive the fulfillment of those better things which God swore unto David in his truth. Then he prays that He would be mindful of the reproach of His servants. For as if by now, according to what was silently implied, those sad things foretold had already reached their completion—with many enemies and nations pressing in and heaping reproaches upon the servants of God because of what has occurred—he sends up a prayer on their behalf, saying: *Remember, O Lord, the reproach of thy servants.* Instead of the phrase, *which I have borne in my bosom of many nations,* Aquila more clearly published, saying: *As I bear in my bosom all the iniquities of the peoples;* and Symmachus: *I have borne in my bosom of all the nations.* Those, therefore, who are being reproached are the servants of God, ^B wherefore he said, *Remember, O Lord, the reproach of thy servants;* but those who are offering the reproaches are the enemies of God, wherefore he adds thereafter, *Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O Lord; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.* Now, the one who says these things to God would be the saving Word, who carries in His own bosom the iniquities of the peoples. But as to how "the footsteps of Christ" (which is to say "the exchange of thy Christ") is meant, you will understand from the interpretation of Symmachus, by which it is said: *Wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.* For in this manner he hinted at the journey of Christ God and His way during the Passion, and likewise the footsteps of the economy of His human life. ^C For these are the things which the enemies of God are accustomed to reproach us with. But indeed, as one heard and trusting that he will obtain his prayers, and hoping that the promises of God made to David will be fulfilled as soon as possible, he seals the end of the entire discourse with thanksgiving and blessing, saying: *Blessed be the Lord for evermore.* And he teaches us to add in response, *Fiat, fiat*—which is the Hebrew expression, *Amen, amen.* Concerning the *diapsalma*, which is frequently inserted in the interval, these things must be said. The first promise of God, spoken at the beginning, contained: *I have made a covenant,* and, *I have sworn unto David,* and the rest. Then, with the *diapsalma* placed alongside, the discourse changes its persona and adds: *The heavens shall confess thy wonders;* and again, when the promise has been spoken from the persona of God, from the words: *I have laid help upon one that is mighty,* up to that: *and a faithful witness in heaven,* the *diapsalma* being again inserted, the thought changes, and it is said: *But thou hast rejected and despised, thou hast turned away thine anointed.* After these sadder things have been recounted, he again inserts the *diapsalma* and changes the doctrine, saying: *How long, O Lord, wilt thou turn away for ever?* And having uttered the prayer, he uses the *diapsalma* inserted again, and subjoins: *Where are thy old lovingkindnesses, O Lord?*—the thought having changed ^D

^B and the speaker calling to mind the first promises of God, those spoken in the beginning; so that the *diapsalmata* have a certain reason, indicating by them a change of thought or a change of person. You shall say this concerning all the psalms in which the *diapsalma* is carried; for it represents a change either of person or of thought—there are times, too, when it is a change of the melody according to the Hebrew. Aquila, however, nowhere uses the *diapsalma*; but in all places, in its stead, he is accustomed to translate "always." Which it was our duty not to ignore.

As for the seal of the whole discourse, "Blessed be the Lord for ever, Amen, amen": according to Aquila, instead of "Amen, amen," it contains "Faithfully, faithfully"; according to Symmachus, just as in the Hebrew copy, "Amen, amen."

THE PRAYER OF MOSES. PSALM LXXXIX.

*Vers. 2. Lord, thou hast been our refuge in generation and generation. Before the mountains were established, and the earth and the world were formed, and from age to age thou art, O God.* The discourse provides a doctrine, teaching that the Divine is ever-existing and eternal. For He who said, "I am God who is, always being, and the same being," and who abides unto infinite ages, never changes His own nature. We, however, coming into life at different times, flow away like a torrent; for according to Solomon, "A generation passes away, and a generation comes," and human affairs never remain in the same state, but change in different ways. But the Lord, who abides in each generation, has become a refuge for those who hope in Him. ^C For before the flood, Enoch, and whoever else was of that generation, had Him as their refuge; and when human kind was perishing in the flood, Noah again obtained Him—and no other—as a refuge. And after these, again, Lot from the generation of the Sodomites; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, each in his own; nay, even Joseph in his generation, and Moses again in another; and in sum, through each generation, those who have hoped in Him have had the Lord, who is always, as their refuge.

From this, the Scripture urges us also not to hope in anyone else but God; but in every time and in every day and hour, in each action, and most especially in time of calamity, to take refuge in Him. And since those who are vexed by cold have need of covering; those tossed by storms at sea, of a harbor; and those driven away by enemies and foes, or by wild beasts, have need of walls for a refuge—and the man of God struggles with all these in the present life—he is necessarily taught to consider the Lord himself his ^D refuge, wall, and saving harbor; so that, whether in times of persecution we are driven by enemies, or are warred upon by invisible foes, or are tempted by the snares of men conspiring against us, we may vigilantly take refuge with our Lord and God, who in generation and generation

becomes a champion and protector to those who call upon Him. Regarding the phrase, "In generation and generation," Symmachus has set it forth more clearly by saying, "In every single generation." And again, "Before the mountains were brought forth, and the earth and the world were formed," Aquila and Symmachus similarly state: "Before the mountains were brought forth, and the earth and the world were in labor." It seems to me that the Hebrew text has rendered a physical explanation, teaching that the mountains did not exist from the beginning together with the earth, but that they arose after the manner of births; wherefore it is said, "Before the mountains were brought forth," or, "Before the mountains were born." It is likely that when the mountains were born and brought forth from the earth, similar to infants, they did not possess the magnitude they now have, but having been newly generated and brought forth, just like the newborn among infants, they were small and minimal, and in the long passage of time they were granted growth and size. Indeed, even to this day, certain natural philosophers say that mountains grow, and that rocks, having received, over the long course of time, minimal increments that are hidden from us, gradually become larger than they were. But since the translators, following the Hebrew, said that the earth and the world were in labor, is it not fitting to think the same thing concerning the earth as about the mountains; that it, too, came forth from another element, in such a way that it also was previously in labor, as if by those who are pregnant and suffering labor pains in childbirth? ^B If, therefore, the argument of the natural philosophers stands, which says that water was the first element, and then from water and the moist substance the other elements came into existence, someone might perhaps say that this is signified and declared in the present Scripture: that there was a time when the earth, being in another element, was invisible, being carried and conceived in the nature of the moist substance. For this reason, it is also said in the creation of the world: "The earth, however, was invisible and unformed, and darkness was upon the abyss." But later, as if having been brought to birth, it came forth from the essence of the waters, not without divine power and a superior necessity laid upon it; and this was the will of the Creator. For just as with women carrying in the womb, when force and necessity come upon them, that which is in the womb is brought forth when the defined time of birth arrives, at which they suffer labor and bear children, in the same manner, by the power and wisdom of the Creator of all things, the waters brought forth the earth and the human world. And this was being fulfilled when God said: "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one collection, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. For behold with your mind the earth formerly hidden deep within the waters, dissolved after the manner of mud, and mixed with the multitude of the waters, so that it remained invisible and unseen; wherefore it is said: "The earth, however, was invisible and unformed." ^C Then later, by the will of God, it was gathered together, first becoming dense and being solidified, and after this, suddenly brought forth ^D

to see the light and to rise up into the pure air. ^A And see how it seemed then in no way different from things born from a womb. For when it had been cast up from the waters, it resembled something being born and generated; but before its birth, when it was combined and solidified within the waters, and subsisting and sinking down like mud [also: in its own weight], it was then being conceived; and finally, as if born from a womb, it became the dwelling-place of terrestrial animals. But before these things happened in this way, and even before the constitution of the world, You, he says, are God. And well indeed: not "You were," he says, but "You are." For You Yourself, he says, were, and are, and will be; or rather, You exist always as the same, and You are the same, according to the theology which says: ^B "But You are the same, and Your years will not fail." For it is not permitted to say of Him "you were," or "he was," or "he will be," for the former signifies past time and the latter future time, neither of which befits the name of God; for only to Him does "to always be" belong. Wherefore it is said most accurately here: "From age to age You are, O God"; and elsewhere: "But You are the same, and Your years will not fail." It must be noted, however, that in the phrase, "O Lord, You have become a refuge for us," the word "Lord" is not rendered among the Hebrews by the four-letter name, but by the common and customary elements which are also used in human address, if ever we call some master among men a "lord." For in the present case, that word "Adonai" is interpreted as "Lord," since the four-letter name, which signifies the secret ^C theology of God, is not present in the current reading; but "Lord" is used opportunely, in order to show that He cares and has concern for His own household, of whom He is a refuge. And consider whether this doctrine might perhaps be referred to God the Word; for this reading does not greatly oppose this sentiment: "Before the mountains were brought into being, or the earth and the world were formed, You are God." Since this saying of Solomon is brought forth from the person of Wisdom: "Before the mountains were established, and before all the hills, He begets Me," through which it seems to hint at the incorporeal and angelic powers, which the Word of God and the Wisdom of God—as this very Wisdom teaches—pre-exists. ^D VERS. 3-7. "Do not turn man away to humility; and You said: Return, O sons of men. For a thousand years in Your eyes are as yesterday, which has passed, and a watch in the night. Their things are as nothing, their years shall be. In the morning let it pass away like grass, in the morning let it bloom and pass away, in the evening let it fall, let it harden, and let it wither; for we have failed in Your wrath, and we have been troubled in Your fury." Since the inscription teaches that the present words belong to Moses, as I attempt to adapt them to the person of Moses, I reflect within myself whether the discourse might be conveying here a hidden prophecy of Moses. For it does not seem to me to be a psalm, but, as the inscription teaches, a prayer of

^A Moses. I am seeking, then, to know at what time Moses made use of this prayer, and whether it is appropriate to him, or rather to the people, and whether it ought to be applied to the generation contemporary with him and the people present with him, or to the succession after them. That it is not fitting to refer the things set forth here to him personally, I think everyone would confess. For how could Moses, the man of God, say concerning himself: "For we have failed in thy wrath," or according to Symmachus, "For we have been consumed in thy wrath, and in thy fury we were troubled"? "Thou hast set our iniquities before thee"; and again, "Our days have failed in thy wrath"; and again, "Who knows the power of thy wrath, and from thy fear thy fury?" But that these things could not be referred to Moses is manifest, not only because they all express the wrath of God, but also because they are expressed in the plural. It is likely, therefore, for someone to refer these things to the people who were with him in the wilderness. But the text does not even allow us to think this. For what does it say? "In the morning let it pass away like grass; in the morning let it bloom and pass away; at evening let it fall, let it harden and wither; because we have failed in thy wrath." Therefore, it does not say that they failed in the morning, but: "In the morning let it pass away like grass"; and again, not "In the morning let it fall," nor "In the morning let it harden and wither," but, "let it bloom," says the discourse, "in the morning and pass away"; but it says that the falling, hardening, and withering ^B will occur in the evening, saying: "At evening let it fall, let it harden and wither"—and the statement, "Because we have failed in thy wrath," is said to occur at evening; for in this, it says, we have failed. Since when the morning bloom had occurred, and the grass and a certain temporary beauty, in the evening the grass hardened and the bloom having withered failed. And the matters of the text of the present prayer have this manner; but the matters of the thought do not permit one to gather the things said for the times of Moses and the generation contemporary with him. For it was not evening then, nor the last times of the people of the circumcision; but these were their beginnings, and then for the first time the light from God had risen for them. Wherefore also the condition of that time and the visitation of God for them was called morning. But evening then became for them that on the consummation of the age, according to which the Word that had risen for them then set. But at that time He had risen, and brought about a morning for them, when their affairs also flowered. But they did not remain in the truth; but having blossomed they passed away, and like a shadow they fled; wherefore it has been said: "In the morning let it pass away like grass." But after the death of Moses, in the times that followed, having also blossomed into growth and greater stature, not even so did they remain, but they passed away; wherefore also it has been said a second time: "In the morning let it bloom and pass away." And their final things after these are signified ^C through this: "At evening let it fall, and let it harden and wither"; for that which grows old and ages is near to destruction. Which indeed happened to them when the Sun of righteousness set, according to the prophecy which says: "And the sun shall set upon the prophets who make my people to err." For even as it is said concerning the just: "The Sun of righteousness shall rise for those who fear God"; so also it is said concerning the impious: "The sun shall set upon them"; and again elsewhere: "And the sun shall set at midday, and the moon shall not give its light." In

^A the consummation of the age, then, after the coming of our Savior, when evening had overtaken them—as the light of truth had truly set for them—their falling away and rejection reached its end, and the present oracle was fulfilled: "At evening let it set, let it harden and wither. For we have failed in thy wrath, and in thy fury we have been troubled." And it seems to me that through these words Moses composed a prayer appropriate to the condition of the people after the coming of our Savior. As he was a prophet, and by divine foreknowledge foresaw their final rejection and ultimate ruin, he suggested to them a salutary remedy for their healing, namely this prayer, which he handed down—as is likely—in secret, outside of his other writing, to those who were able to keep secret matters to themselves. And it seems that it lay hidden among them for a long time in private, and was at length necessarily inserted into the book of Psalms, lest by being hidden and neglected for a long time by many, it should perish. To the end, therefore, that it might be preserved and remain known to all, it was inserted into the book of Psalms, even though it is not a psalm. For it contains nothing of a psalm; a psalm, indeed, looks to the joy of the soul, while this prayer mentions the wrath and fury of God and other sad things, and propitiates the divine majesty on behalf of those who have fallen. Indeed, Moses hands down this method of propitiation to the people, who fell into sins after the coming of our Savior.

It seems to me also that this prayer of Moses, after the LXXXVIII psalm, and the things that are foretold therein concerning the seed of David and the throne promised to him, ^C was not inserted without purpose; and that the discourse, in a manner of deeper contemplation, indicates the future ruin and rejection of the Jewish people after the coming of the one who was to spring from the seed of David: a fact which the outcome of events truly seals. But Moses hands down a prayer to them, adapting with prophetic power the words of the prayer to the person of the fallen and rejected people. When, therefore, he says, "Turn not man to humiliation, and Thou hast said, 'Convert, ye sons of men,'" it seems to me that he is teaching them this frame of mind, that they should pray, saying: "O Lord, Thou hast become a refuge to us in various times, through every generation; for first, when we were in Egypt and were being oppressed by Pharaoh and the Egyptians, Thou wert a refuge to us; and again, when we were attacked in the wilderness, sometimes by the Amalekites and sometimes by the Canaanites, we had Thee as ^D a help and refuge; nay, even when we had entered into the land of promise and were subjected to the foreigners, and often afterwards under our kings, and finally in the Babylonian captivity, Thou wert a refuge to us. And now, therefore, we beseech Thee to obtain the same from Thee, and that Thou wouldst be our refuge and...

^A obtain it: wherefore we pray, *Turn not away man into humiliation*; that is, Turn not us away into complete ruin and humiliation. For Thou, in Thy love for mankind, hast spoken, and hast brought forth this proclamation to all men, saying, *Turn ye, O sons of men.* If, therefore, Thy love for mankind hath called all nations and all sons of men, and if Thou commandest those who formerly turned away from Thee, and who were enslaved to demons and evil spirits, to turn back to Thee, do not turn us away, nor leave those who were formerly Thine own to come to complete desolation, we who, after blossoming for a little while, have passed away like a winter torrent. Our thousand years, indeed, in which we flourished, have passed away as the yesterday which is gone.

And being among these things, I pause to consider how these thousand years are spoken of. For if it be said for the sake of the glorification of God and to set forth the eternal life of God, I think that this expression contains nothing grand. For I do not consider the whole age, nor even all that time which extends from the first creation of the world until its consummation, to be worthy of being esteemed as a speck, I will not say compared to a day, but even to the briefest hour, when compared with that life of God which is without beginning and unbegotten, which exists before all ages, and before every thought extended even to infinity; and which exceeds in duration all future, infinite, and interminable ages. Wherefore this present prayer seems to me to suggest a different meaning, instructing the people to say: *For a thousand years in Thy sight are as the day, the yesterday which is passed, and as a watch in the night.* The venerable things of Jerusalem, therefore, in which that whole nation flourished and blossomed in days—just as if it had become light—these were the thousand years. For it was upon these thousand years alone that the matters of the worship in that place were established and lasted; which are truly reckoned in this manner. From the first building of the temple and the times of Solomon until the siege by the Babylonians, four hundred and thirty-two years are reckoned. ^B After these things, when the place had turned into a wilderness, again Jesus and Zorobabel, the son of Salathiel, in the second year of Darius the Persian, restored the house. From that time until the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, five hundred and forty-eight years are gathered; so that the sum of all is nine hundred and eighty. But after the plottings of those against our Saviour, the city, agitated by tumults and seditions, remained for another forty years, after which a complete destruction came upon them, and the final siege, which was carried out by the Romans under the emperors Titus and Vespasian.

These, then, were the thousand years about which it is said, *As the day, the yesterday which is passed.* For those who in prayer seek to appease God lament these years as passed and gone; and they say further that those thousand years have flowed away like a night watch. For the law of Moses was a lamp shining to them in the night; ^C but the prophets also, who were after Moses, were lamps or even stars shining in the night, when the ^D light

of the sun, that is, of the saving Word, had not yet made its own day and noon to shine for all nations. A night watch is ^A called a certain period of the night; you will understand this from the Gospel, in which it is said: *In the fourth watch of the night Jesus came walking upon the sea*; and again: *If the master of the house had known in what watch the thief would come*. The thousand years, therefore, are likened not only to a day that has passed and no longer exists, but even to a small part of the night, so that not the whole night is meant, but a certain portion of it, in which they kept the watch of the bodily observance of the Law. Following this, it is said: *Their nothingnesses shall be years*. To me, the meaning of these seems to be such: their years shall be nothingnesses. For those years shall no longer be held in honor, nor cared for, nor considered necessary; rather, they shall be despised and reckoned as nothing. But how their years are to be reckoned as nothing, he declares next, saying: *In the morning as grass let it pass; in the morning let it bloom and pass; in the evening let it fall, harden, and wither; for we have finished our course in thy wrath*. In olden times, he says, when our affairs were at their beginning and we were in the morning, we were as grass; but when that generation had passed, the grass passed. After this we bloomed, and we obtained something greater and more than grass, so that a flower was found in us; but this flower also passed away. And in the final times, when the light had set for us entirely ^B and the evening had overtaken us, we fell away, hardened and withered; and this we suffered, *For we have finished our course in thy wrath, and in thy fury we were troubled*. According to another interpretation, a physical explanation of this saying can be brought forward: that human nature in its youth sprouts like tender grass, then in the prime of life it blooms; finally, at the threshold of old age, it falls, in no other way than first becoming hardened by age, and afterwards completely withering; and that "evening" signifies the last parts of human life.

VERS. 8-10. *Thou hast set our iniquities before thee; our age is in the illumination of thy countenance. For all our days have ended, and in thy wrath we have finished our course.* Symmachus: *Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our negligences to show before thy countenance. For all our days have fled; in thy wrath we have been consumed.* This is appropriate to mention regarding the present condition of the people from the circumcision. For now, in truth, all their former days have ended, when the evening has overtaken them, and when they have ended in the wrath of God. For since of old He was passing over and overlooking their iniquities, but after their conspiracy against the Savior that saying was fulfilled: *I will no longer bear your sins*; therefore he says: *Thou hast set our iniquities before thee*, and, *Our age is in the illumination of thy countenance*. For which Symmachus ^C more clearly set forth: *Our negligences that they may appear to thy countenance*. ^D

^A Our years as a spider were meditating. The days of our years in them are seventy years; but if in strengths, eighty years, and the greater part of them is labor and sorrow. Here it is opportune to introduce the prophecy of Isaiah, through which he says, *They have broken the eggs of asps, and weave the web of a spider*. The Prophet was foretelling these things, directing his discourse toward the state of the people after the coming of our Savior, in which their rulers, like a hen laying eggs, put forth their own offspring to such an extent that they resemble the brood of asps, due to the poison of blasphemy against our Savior which they instill, and due also to the rest of their unbelief in him. Formerly, indeed, they used to weave tunics and holy stoles for the high priest; ^B but now the prophetic discourse likens their entire texture and that whole prepared doctrine of the word, which they produce through the complication and weaving of the divine Scriptures, to a spider's web. Wherefore he says, *They weave the web of a spider*. And the present psalm also, containing the confession from their person, says, *Our years as a spider were meditating*. For he openly compares to the work of a spider those meditations of the Scriptures in which they wear themselves away, and the *deuteroses*, or secondary traditions, with which they seem to adorn certain webs of doctrine. Nay, they even say that their life is only temporal, circumscribed by seventy or eighty years. This, moreover, they say while despairing of the eternal and future life which is promised to the God-fearing. ^C *For gentleness has come upon us and we shall be instructed. Who knows the power of thy wrath, and from thy fear to number thy fury? Thy right hand so make known, and those instructed in the heart in wisdom.* For *For gentleness has come upon us and we shall be instructed*, Symmachus says, *For being cut down suddenly we fly away*. The current discourse adheres to the aforementioned thought. For he says, the years of this our temporal life are extended to the number of seventy or eighty years; and this is our only hope, after which no other shall receive us. For being cut down suddenly at the time of our departure, we fly away; but after this, who knows what shall receive us? For who can explain, or who is able to know accurately and to say, what that wrath is which shall overtake sinners after this life? ^D Therefore he says: *Who knows the power of thy wrath, and from thy fear thy fury? And who is able to number thy right hand?* But do thou, O God, make known unto us thy right hand here and now, that we may be able to understand it and to number its powers. The sacred writings have often taught that Christ is the right hand of God. Those who are indicated are therefore taught, after their confession, to pray that they may be counted worthy first of the gentleness of God, that they may be instructed by it; then of his right hand, that is, the knowledge of his Christ, and his wonderful powers, that they may become better through the knowledge of these things, and that, being instructed in mind, they may attain to the wisdom of God.

For Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

^B V. 13-17. *Turn, O Lord, how long, and be entreated concerning thy servants. We have been filled in the morning with thy mercy, and we have rejoiced and been glad in all our days. We have been glad for the days in which thou hast humbled us, for the years in which we have seen evil. And look upon thy servants and upon thy works, and guide their sons: and let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us, and do thou direct the works of our hands over us, and do thou direct the work of our hands.* ^C Consistently, after the confession delivered in the preceding verses, Moses teaches the method of prayer to those of Israel who have fallen away after the advent of our Savior, so that after the things already stated, they may say in prayer these things that are now being delivered: the meaning of which Symmachus has more clearly interpreted in this way: *Return, O Lord, how long; be entreated concerning thy servants. Satisfy us in the morning with thy mercy, that we may sleep and be glad all our days. Gladden us for all the days in which thou hast afflicted us, for the years in which we have seen evil. Let thy works appear before thy servants, and thy dignity upon our children: and let the beauty of the Lord our God be ^D upon us, and make the works of our hands firm over us, and perfect the action of our hands.* Furthermore, by these words he teaches them to ask to obtain the morning mercy, so that they might be deemed worthy of the rising of the Savior. For he calls the morning mercy of Christ that which rises upon all men. For as once there was a "morning" for the former people, at the time they were deemed worthy of visitation while sojourning in Egypt, so in the last of days the morning mercy has shone forth for all the nations through the saving sunrise, the which they are taught to ask for through the prayer; but also to say, along with the others: *And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us, and let thy works appear before thy servants and the beauty of the Lord our God*; so that they themselves might also be deemed worthy of the saving theophany, and of his divine glory, and of that beauty of which it has been said, "Thou art fairer in beauty than the sons of men," and of all the other good things that are understood in the Christ of God.

XC.

but this one embraces the struggles and temptations of him who is perfected according to the Lord; indeed, it even foretells the temptation of our Savior in the desert, when he was taken up by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil, and predicts his victory in all things. What, therefore, does the prophetic word say? The former people, who in the preceding prayer of Moses were lamenting, confessed these things, saying, "Because we have failed in thy wrath," and the rest which are declared in the same place; ^B but the people who were to be established after them by God through Christ, trusting in the help of the Highest, and always dwelling in him, remains undisturbed and unshaken; inasmuch as, having its seat under the canopy of God, it will turn away from no temptations, but in every instance will say to the Lord: "Thou art my supporter and my refuge, my God, I will hope in him." Now instead of, "He that dwelleth in the help of the Highest," Symmachus rendered it, "He that dwelleth under the canopy of the Highest"; but Aquila and the fifth edition have published, "He that sitteth in the hidden place of the Highest." By this is signified the firmness and undaunted mind of him who struggles according to God in Christ, and how in the recess of his soul his helper, the Highest, dwells and sits. And again, instead of, "He shall lodge in the canopy of the God of heaven," Aquila and Symmachus have interpreted it, "He shall lodge in the canopy of the Mighty One," and "Lodging under the shadow of the Mighty One." But the Holy Spirit spoke these things as if in a prologue; however, he directs what follows to him, and refers the whole discourse to the person of him who struggles and prevails for Christ; or even to the man who is understood to be in the Savior, whom the pre-existing Word of God used as an instrument. For he, dwelling in the help of the Highest, lodged under the canopy of the Word of God dwelling within him, who overshadowed him with his own deity; and he had as his supporter, refuge, and hope the very power of the Word of God, with which he was filled. ^C And just as the human body of Christ served as his instrument, so also his people is called the body of Christ by the holy Apostle in these words: "Now you are the body of Christ, and members in part." ^D Justly, therefore, may the things said here as if about the body of Christ be referred also to the humanity of our Savior, and to him who is perfected in him. Since these things have been said in this way, the discourse next proceeds to relate how great are the things that will be bestowed by God upon him who dwells in the help of the Highest and lodges under the canopy of God, and says to the Lord: "Thou art my supporter and my refuge, my God, and I will hope in him." And he enumerates what the things are that will come to pass concerning him, through what follows: "For he shall deliver me from the snare of the hunters, and from a turbulent word. He will overshadow thee with his shoulders, and under his wings shalt thou hope. His truth shall encompass thee with a shield; thou shalt not be afraid of the ter-

terror of the night, nor of the arrow that flieth by day, nor of the thing that walketh in darkness, nor of the misfortune and the noonday devil. Falling shall come from thy side a thousand, and ten thousand from thy right hand, but it shall not come near thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of sinners. Because thou art my hope, thou hast placed the Most High as thy refuge.

The Word foretells that many uprisings will occur against him who is being prophesied of. This man was a rare and wonderful one, sitting in the hiding place of the Most High, dwelling under the shadow of the Almighty, and saying to the Lord: "My protector and my refuge, my God, and I will hope ^A in Him"—according to Aquila, "My God, I will put my trust in Him"—or according to Symmachus, "My God, and I will have good confidence in Him."

Against this man, then, who was established in God’s help in the manner just described, certain traps and conspiracies of ten thousand enemies arose; these were named "the snares of the hunters," and "turbulent words," and "terror of the night," and "the arrow that flieth by day," and "the thing that walketh in darkness," and "the misfortune of the noonday devil." In addition to all these there were thousands and ten thousands; for the ^B thousands took the left side, and the ten thousands the right. For these were lying in wait because the right side represents, as it were, the stronger and more powerful parts. But he says that none of these things can touch the one who is the subject of the prophecy.

Furthermore, he is said to be about to walk not only upon serpents and scorpions—for these were small things—but upon the asp and the basilisk, and to trample under foot the lion and the dragon, which indeed hold the chief place among wild beasts and reptiles. I think, therefore, that these signify the princes of this age, as well as the invisible and primary powers. And yet, the one mentioned in the prophecy is said to be about to trample under foot all of them at once. For "Thou shalt walk," he says, "upon the asp and the basilisk, and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon." ^C

Who, then, could this be, to whom such things can apply, and who is the people against whom ten thousand enemies attack on the right, and thousands on the other side, yet they dare not touch him but fall before him? Let us inquire. I say that in one way these things can be referred to the man perfected in Christ, such as was Paul, when he said, "I know a man in Christ," and to all those who in like manner can say with him, "Who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" and again, "For I am certain that neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus." ^D And whoever in addition to these can say, "But in all these things we more than conquer," would truly be worthy that these words should be spoken of him. Such a man, indeed, dwelling in the help of the Most High, and under the covering ofGod

God dwelling, shall say to the Lord: ^A *My protector art thou and my refuge, my God, and I will hope in him.* These things having been spoken by him with a perfect disposition, the divine Spirit prophesies to him that he has chosen a safe guardian and has acquired the Lord as a beautiful refuge. For having such a helper, champion, and protector, he shall fear none of his enemies, inasmuch as the Lord himself delivers him from all of them. For *he shall deliver him from the snare of the hunters,* and *from the disturbing word* will he overshadow him upon his shoulders; and all the things that follow, enumerated hereafter, shall be referred to every man who is perfect in Christ, and to the body of Christ, that is to say, the choir of martyrs composed of perfect souls, or to his perfect Church, which he has made to stand before himself, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing. He, therefore, who promised that he would build his Church upon the rock, so that the gates of hell should never prevail against it, will himself be its guardian and protector, fencing it round and securing it, so that the gates of hell might not prevail against it. Wherefore to such a Church, and to such a choir of Christ’s martyrs, which has no dwelling on earth but is able to say, *Our citizenship exists in the heavens*, it shall be said: *He who dwells in the help of the Most High shall lodge in the covering of the God of heaven.* Then he himself shall say to the Lord, under whose covering he has chosen to dwell: *My protector art thou and my refuge, my God, and I will hope in him.* But to him who has ^C acquired such a guardian and has ascribed to himself such a savior and helper, it shall be said by the divine Spirit, that he has indeed found for himself a good portion and a strong wall, an invincible shield—namely, his own Lord. For having found this one, he shall live in safety and without anxiety, as one who dwells in the help of the Most High, and lodges under the covering of the Strong One.

If, therefore, he says, the hunters of human souls—that is, the invisible and hidden powers—habitually and secretly concealing snares according to their custom, attempt to set them against you, it shall be of no advantage to them: because the Lord himself *shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunters*, and *the snare is broken, and we are delivered*. But if they should also attempt to disturb him with words, emitting the poison of their impiety through their own tongue, even from these the Lord will keep his own man unharmed. And lest the heat of human life and the burning of malice, kindling more and more, should ignite evils against the athlete of piety, the Word prophesies to him, saying: *Upon his shoulders he will overshadow you, and under his wings you shall hope.* But if enemy battalions, inflamed and carrying death-dealing arrows of false words and contradictions of the truth, should launch them against the aforementioned man, he for his part shall remain quiet, obeying the divine law which says: *The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall be silent*; and it is said to him opportunely: *With a shield his truth shall encompass thee.* For this very truth of Christ’s

^A doctrine, possessing great power, will fence him in, encompassing him and covering him with its own shield, so that when night approaches and darkness is spread about, he may neither fear nor be troubled by terrors, nor dread the arrows sent by day. By night and darkness, he signifies times of affliction, during which he says that he who is fenced about by the shield of truth will fear nothing; by day, he indicates tranquil, peaceful, and calm times, during which our enemies are accustomed to send against us arrows flying from afar—namely, their blasphemous and impious words. For during times of persecution, they do not send arrows from afar, but making an attack at close range, they try to devour us all, as those who desire our death; as he once was able to devour him. ^B But we, protected by the aforementioned shield, may say: *If it had not been that the Lord was with us, when men rose up against us, perhaps they would have swallowed us up alive.* Neither by night, therefore, nor by day will our enemies be able to do anything against us, because of the Lord who fights for us. Wherefore it is said: *Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day, nor for the thing that walketh in darkness;* nay, nor shall we fear the stumbling-block and the noonday demon. And if thousands and ten thousands of invisible or visible enemies and foes should rise up against the people of Christ and against His Church, His power will destroy them all together in a single moment, so that we may perceive the vengeance with our very own eyes. Wherefore it is said: *But thou shalt consider with thy eyes, and shalt see the reward of the wicked.* We, however, have grasped the truth of the discourse through the very interpretation of the examples, having observed at various times the end of those who war against the Church of Christ, who were immediately, and not long after, defeated by God.

Furthermore, all these things, and the others mentioned after them, shall be referred to the man who is in Christ, as well as to all who can say: *I can do all things in Christ Jesus who strengtheneth me.* ^D This, moreover, would be the chorus of Christ, which consists of the holy and perfect martyrs of God, who strove even unto blood for the sake of the truth, and bore away the prizes of victory won in God against their opponents. These things also, which have been said, will be fitted to the man of Christ: for the sequence of the sayings declares this. For when the Word had said to someone, *For he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunters and from a turbulent word,* and, *He shall overshadow thee with his shoulders, and under his wings shalt thou trust,* and speaking to the same person had added: *His truth shall compass thee with a shield;* and that: *Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night;* and likewise: *A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee;* and had added: *But thou shalt consider with thy eyes, and shalt see the reward of the wicked;* since He had spoken all things singly as if to one person,

^A he adds: *For thou, O Lord, art my hope; thou hast made the Most High thy refuge.* He most clearly indicates that it is the Lord to whom all these things were being said. For since there was no change of person in the middle, the discourse connects all things as though addressed to one, and under one meaning, and clearly points out who this person is, stating in order: *For thou, O Lord, art my hope; thou hast made the Most High thy refuge.* For because thou, He says, O Lord, in whom I have hoped, hast made the Most High—that is, the supreme God, even thine own Father—thy refuge, for this reason there shall not come nigh thee either a thousand, or ten thousand, or the snares of hunters, or any other of the things enumerated. And since thou, O Lord, art the hope of me who say these things: *thou hast made the Most High thy refuge;* therefore even from the beginning I was speaking concerning thee, *He that dwelleth in the aid of the Most High,* or, *He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High,* because the Most High hath made thee a partner of His seat and throne in secret and hidden counsels, saying unto thee: *Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.*

While the Most High is understood in these passages as the supreme God of all, and the Lord as the Son of God, who made the Most High his refuge, ^B Moses, being divinely inspired by the same Holy Spirit, rightly taught these things in the great canticle, saying: *When the Most High divided the nations, as He dispersed the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. And the portion of the Lord became His people Jacob, the lot of His inheritance, Israel.* By these words, therefore, Moses clearly called the unbegotten God the Most High, who distributes the nations of the earth to His own angels; but he called the Son of God the Lord, who received Israel from the Father. This very Lord, therefore, was also said in the preceding verses to dwell in the aid of the Most High, and to have made the Most High his refuge—namely, his own Father. Wherefore it was said to Him: *For thou, O Lord, art my hope; thou hast made the Most High thy refuge.* But since Aquila and Symmachus have set forth their interpretation in a more Jewish fashion, ^C suspecting the doctrine handed down by us concerning the Most High and the Lord, Aquila put forth: *For thou, O Lord, art my hope; thou hast made the Most High thy habitation;* and Symmachus: *For thou, O God, art my confidence; thou hast made the Most High thy dwelling.* It must be observed, first, that the fifth edition agrees with the Seventy, saying also itself: *For thou, O Lord, art my hope; thou hast made the Most High thy refuge.* Second, that the Hebrew expression containing *Elion* signifies the Most High. And we find in the fifty-sixth psalm that which is written: *I will cry to God the Most High;* where for *the Most High*, the Hebrew exemplar contains *Elion*, as it does in the present case. One ought not, therefore, to distort the truth using force. And otherwise, if according to Aquila it were said to the Lord Himself: *For thou, O Lord, art my hope; I have made the Most High my habitation;* or according to ^D Symmachus, *For thou, O God, art my confidence; thou hast made the Most High thy dwelling...*

and the discourse, as the children of the Jews might suppose, is referred to the God of the universe. Why then is it added thereafter, according to Aquila: *No malice shall be brought unto thee, and plague shall not draw near to thy dwelling; for he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall take thee up on their shoulders, lest thou strike thy foot against a stone*? And according to Symmachus, after that: *Thou, O Lord, art my confidence; thou hast made the Most High thy dwelling;* why is it added, *No evil shall prevail against thee, nor shall plague draw near to thy tabernacle. For he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. On their hands they shall bear thee up, lest thou strike thy foot against a stone*? For who could think that these things are said of the God of the universe without being most impious of all? For who is it that would give charge to his angels concerning the God of the universe, so that they should keep him in all his ways? Or how should they bear God, who is above all things, on their hands, lest his foot should strike against a stone? But you see that the discourse does not permit these things to be referred to the person of the God who is above all; since even the preceding words, *For he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunters, and from the harsh word. He shall overshadow thee with his shoulders, and under his wings shalt thou hope,* and the things that follow, do not apply.

But if anyone should interpret these things of the Christ of God, who here, as also elsewhere, is called Lord, he would not err from the truth. For the Apostle also says: *One God, of whom are all things, and one Lord through whom are all things*; and again, *One Lord, he says, one faith, one baptism. One God, who is over all, and through all, and in all.* And two Lords were clearly spoken of by David in that passage: *The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet*; and indeed also that saying of Moses, *The Lord rained from the Lord sulfur and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah*, would assent to the same judgment; just as also when he said: *When the Most High divided the nations, the portion of the Lord became his people Jacob*; for clearly from this, he appears to know both the Most High and the Lord: the Most High as the one who distributes and gives portions to his own angels, but the Lord as the one who, with the angels, receives the portion of all the nations that excels. Since therefore the Lord who is indicated here, having taken the form of a servant, came to be in the likeness of men, and was found in habit as a man, and endured every temptation after the baptism in the Jordan, when he was led up by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil, and was in the solitude forty days and forty nights being tempted, and was with the wild beasts, as the evangelist says; rightly does the Holy Spirit occupy himself in foretelling all these things, signifying how much he endured being tempted during those forty days, and how much during the same number of nights. For when, at the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom of God...

days and nights. For, being about to proceed to the Gospel of the kingdom of God, ^A before beginning his preaching and before his benefits to mankind, he was led away against the powers that are hostile and at enmity with the human race, so that, having first conquered and cast them down, he might thus proceed to provide for the redemption and liberty of those who had long been afflicted. For it was necessary first to subdue and destroy the tyranny of those who were reputed to be gods among all nations and who had snatched the souls of men captive away from the knowledge and piety of the God of the universe, and only thereafter to deliver the Gospel of the kingdom of God to all people. Therefore, before all his deeds recorded in history, he was led into the desert to be tempted by the devil; and he was with the wild beasts, as the evangelist says, calling the wild, ferocious, and evil powers "wild beasts." This, then, the present psalm also ^B necessarily foretells by the prophetic Spirit. For it was fitting that we, having been instructed beforehand in what concerns the advent to men of the one prophesied, and in what concerns his birth in the flesh, and in what concerns his death, and how it was proclaimed that he would issue from the seed of David, should consequently also be instructed about the struggle he undertook against the opposing powers. This present prophecy, therefore, declares these things, foretelling how much he endured in the desert, being tempted by the devil for forty days and as many nights. For invisible powers were hunters around him, setting traps for him. ^C And some attempted to trouble him with turbulent words, others to terrify him during the nights, and others again sent forth mental darts against him by day. And yet others, which cannot be named by us nor told to mortal ears, were devising a temptation against him, which is signified by the phrase, "From a thing walking in darkness." Regarding which Aquila interpreted, "From a word walking in the night," but Symmachus, "Nor a pestilence walking in gloom."

Moreover, even the most impudent of the demonic princes, who ^D dare to show themselves at high noon and at the peak of solar light, approached him. For while others pursue their own darkness and are accustomed to stir up fantasies only at night, the most impudent dare to appear even by day and in the very midst of the sun’s rays. Such were those who assaulted the Savior; for by day such spirits as these approached him, but at night, others. Hence it is said subsequently: "You shall not fear from the fear of the night, and from a thing walking in darkness." Seeing his unconquerable and invincible power, a multitude of opposing powers gathered again in battalions and approached him. And it seems to me that those who were of old considered gods among men, as well as the opposing spirits, seeing in the man who is our Savior a certain strange nature and a power destructive to them all, had gathered together from every side to approach and assail him in one mass. And the

^A first attempts of the devil were to tempt him through other particular spirits; wherefore it is said, "And he was with the wild beasts." And what wild beasts? The discourse now in hand explains this by proceeding as follows: "Thou shalt tread upon the asp and the basilisk, and thou shalt trample upon the lion and the dragon." For it is likely that certain wicked powers—principalities and authorities, and rulers of this darkness, and spiritual things of wickedness—flying through the air, having assumed such appearances and forms, or being called asp, basilisk, lion, and dragon by way of allegory, or being compared to these because of the similarity of their malice, moved every kind of temptation against him. But at the end of all, when the devil saw him walking upon the asp and the basilisk and trampling underfoot all the operations subject to him, he finally approached himself, humble and fearful, and proposed to him the interrogations written in the Gospels, tempting him and saying, "If thou art the Son of God, say this, and do that." Therefore, this prophecy describes the sudden assault made by the wicked spirits, demonstrating that they had indeed gathered together, yet were unable to do anything or prevail; but that as they approached him, they fell to the ground. For this reason it is said, "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand." But instead of "at thy side," Aquila and Symmachus have rendered it "from thy cross-wise part," the divine Scripture thus naming the left side of the Savior, perhaps because there is in him nothing left-handed or sinister. Furthermore, concerning all the opposing powers together, it is said, "But they shall not draw near to thee," and also, "Only with thine eyes shalt thou contemplate, and thou shalt see the reward of sinners." "And these things," he says, "shall all come to pass for thee; because thou, O Lord, art my hope; thou hast made the Most High thy refuge." ^C I consider, however, that these invisible and opposing powers which were under the whole heaven had all gathered together in a mass against him, because they were disturbed by the voice brought to him, when the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove, and the voice was heard from above saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." ^D Having, therefore, heard this voice and having beheld the man shown by the Holy Spirit through the dove to be called the Son of God, they were unable either to disbelieve the voice or to be persuaded that the man they saw clothed in flesh was this beloved one of God. Wherefore, beholding a strange thing and a new nature of man, they expected their own operating power to be destroyed by a superior virtue. Therefore they attacked him who had offered himself with a ready mind to all the temptations which he had accepted for the salvation of men. For when, as I have said, he was about to preach deliverance to the captives and restoration of sight to the blind, according to the prophecy brought forth concerning him, and it was to come to pass that he would lead away the souls of men from those who had long held them captive, and would free them from the error of idols...

it was necessary first of all to make war against those who had held tyranny for a long age. And because he overcame them through the endurance of every temptation, therefore Luke says: "And when the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him." After this he moved on to the healing and curing of men; hence even the demons shuddered at him ^A and confessed that they knew who he was, crying out and saying: "Let us alone, what have we to do with thee, Son of God? We know who thou art, the Holy One of God." For from the voice that was raised toward him, they had learned who he was; but they also knew his power from the things that he had wrought during the time of the temptation.

"There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any scourge come nigh thy dwelling." "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. In their hands they shall bear thee up, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." And these things could fittingly be said of the man who has been made perfect according to Christ, and of the choir of Christ's martyrs, and of his holy Church, and indeed even of the body of Christ itself. For if "the angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear him, and delivers them" ^B, as to those who have surpassed fear and are in a perfect state of virtue according to the soul, such as he who "sits in the protection of the Most High, and abides under the shadow of the Almighty"; then for those who are so affected, not one angel, but very many camps are given as guardians, and as many more as there are those who plot against the man perfect toward God. Thus, indeed, multitudes of angelic bodyguards surrounded the prophet Elisha. Wherefore, he who is prophesied through the psalm is said to be about to suffer nothing harmful; nor is a scourge predicted to be inflicted upon the body of his dwelling. By "scourge," however, we do not understand that common one; for with that, numberless holy martyrs of God were beaten, and even the physical dwelling of our Savior himself, and his flesh, was ^C scourged at the time of the passion, in accordance with the prophecy speaking about him: "I gave my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to buffets." Therefore, it must be thought that "scourge" here signifies the plague inflicted by demonic energy, such as the Savior himself is described as having healed and cured in men—the scourges of unclean demons. The present discourse says, therefore, that such a scourge will not come nigh the dwelling of the one prophesied, because he will be kept by the angels appointed to guard him, who are indeed also said to take him up on their hands, raised aloft, so that his foot may not dash against a stone. But you may say that his "dwelling" is, in one way, his Church, according to the passage, "Until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob"; and ^D thus he who said, "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts," knew the many churches throughout the world to be many tabernacles. In another way, however, that physical...

instrument, in which the Word of God dwelt, might be called His tabernacle, so that no scourge might approach Him, ^A reaching even to the smallest and most contemptible things.

For the more principal and greater deeds of Him who is declared in the prophecy were accomplished through the working of the Higher Power. For He who is understood by us to be according to the flesh, having been born of the seed of David, ^B since He dwelt in the aid of the Highest and had set the Highest as His refuge, was rightly preserved by the Highest; wherefore He also said to Him, "Thou art my upholder and my refuge, my God, and I will hope in Him." For He Himself delivered Him from the snare of the hunters, and overshadowed Him between His shoulders; but He also surrounded Him, covering Him with the shield of truth. And all these things the Highest provided for Him, so that He might not be troubled by the fear of the night, nor by the arrow flying by day, nor by a matter walking in darkness, nor by ruin and the noonday demon. ^C But in addition to these things, the Highest Himself, helping Him of whom the discourse treats, removed all the powers of His enemies and adversaries and cast them under His feet. Wherefore it was said, "A thousand shall fall from thy side, and ten thousand from thy right hand, but it shall not come near thee."

The Highest Himself, therefore, as I have said, performed the great and perfect works, assisting the aforementioned man; but the lesser, as one might say, and lighter and bodily works, He commanded to be attended to by the angels. These were things which pertained to the tabernacle, or to the bodily instrument and the flesh itself; and these, inasmuch as they were modest and, compared with those mentioned above, vile, were entrusted to the ministering angels for protection, ^D lest any harm should be inflicted upon His body, and lest any scourge should be struck, not at Him, but at His tabernacle: for neither thousands nor tens of thousands of malignant powers dared approach Him. Yet the angels were ministering to His flesh and body, even in the smallest and vilest matters; which is certainly declared by these words: "Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." For by this I judge it to be indicated that, even in the smallest and least significant matters that were accustomed to happen to His body, the angels were ministering to Him.

Moreover, you may find this testimony concerning the Savior in the Gospels; for Mark wrote that at the time of the temptation the Savior was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered to Him; Matthew, however, signifying the same time, says: "Then the devil leaveth Him, and behold angels came and ministered unto Him." That the angels indeed ministered to Him, the evangelists declare; but what kind of ministry they performed, they did not record: but this present prophecy has taught it, namely that their ministry was concerning bodily and minimal things. For they were guarding His tabernacle, lest a scourge should approach Him; and they were protecting His feet, that they might not strike even against the slightest and most trivial object.

^A And these things are so according to the literal sense; but in the manner of understanding, the Church has been shown to be the tabernacle of our Savior, and His people is His body, according to the Apostle who says: "Now you are the body of Christ, and members of part." Of the members of Christ’s body, some would be the eyes, others the ears, others the hands; and thus, in this same way, there will be other feet of His, about which it is said: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good tidings!" Therefore, in order that no one of these feet should strike against a stone, nor be scandalized on the path, but should run over the journey of the Gospel smoothly and without hindrance, angels have been appointed as guardians and protectors of the aforementioned tabernacle. Again, there are other angels who have been entrusted with the churches of Christ established everywhere on earth.

The devil, however, not understanding these things—for how or whence could he understand the voices of the divine Spirit?—when he was tempting the Savior, having led Him up to the pinnacle of the temple, said to Him: "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, 'He will give command to his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" For when he perceived by the very works that the prophecy delivered in these words was being fulfilled in the Savior, and he saw a strange spectacle in human nature, how his entire army had been brought down, and all his powers had been overcome by the One who had appeared, and thousands and myriads had fallen before Him, while He Himself walked fearlessly and without obstacle upon the asp and the basilisk, and trampled upon the lion and the dragon—his governing ^B powers—he wanted to test this, to see if, were He to throw Himself down from the pinnacle, angels would approach and bear Him up. To this false suspicion of his, which was mistaken, the Savior replied: "It is written," He said, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." For to cast oneself down and hurl oneself from the highest places, and to do this in order to know whether or not one will obtain help through the angels, was to test God; which is what the tempter was wishing to test. For it was characteristic of him, as he was tempting the Savior, to dare to test God Himself.

But the Savior would not test [Him]; for He knew well and was convinced of the power of the Father helping Him. Therefore, He commanded the devil with authority, saying: "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test," setting in opposition to the voice of the present Scripture a saying of divine Scripture taken from the Law, which the devil had brought before Him without understanding—not perceiving that the Savior did not need the help of angels, even if, by hypothesis, He had wished to cast Himself down by His own choice; since, even in His ascension into heaven (which was a greater thing than that descent through the air from the pinnacle of the temple to the earth), He did not need an angelic hand. Observe, moreover, how the devil, having mentioned, "They will lift you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone," did not add what followed, namely that, "You will walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you will trample ^C upon the lion and the dragon," which the Savior [would have said] regarding the devil and his angels.

^A For he did not wish to have the refutation of himself presented. But if he had not been lacking in his own understanding, he ought to have reasoned that it was not possible for the same one who could walk upon such princely powers, and trample them underfoot, to stumble his foot against a stone, so as to be in need of the protection and help of angels. But he, not understanding, used the voice of the prophecy set before him, because he saw that the rest of it had been fulfilled in him; the Savior, however, does not deny that the oracle was spoken about him, but rejects the devil, who did not grasp its meaning, by using a fitting answer to him. But we, by the grace of our Savior, have considered the things in these places as they are, and it is set before those who encounter them to discern them from what has been said.

"You will walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you will trample upon the lion and the dragon. Because he hoped in me, I will deliver him; I will shelter him, because he knew my name. He will cry out to me, and I will hear him; I am with him in tribulation; I will deliver him and glorify him. With length of days I will fill him, and I will show him my salvation."

As for the things regarding the tabernacle, he entrusted them to the angels, as we have said before, explaining how the angels guard and watch over the man who is perfect in Christ, or even his Church, or the flesh that he used as an instrument for the salvation of men. For these, being lesser and more trivial things, were indeed entrusted to angels; and I think it is for the same reason that someone might entrust to servants the care and ministry of shoes or other more trivial matters; thus, whatever was moderate and bodily ^B was brought to pass through the flesh of our Savior, the angels were appointed as servants to these things, and they ministered to him; regarding which angels the writing of the Gospel also bears witness, saying: "Angels came and ministered unto him." But the more important and greater and higher things he does not ascribe to angels, but to the Savior himself. What these were, has been shown by the things mentioned before; among which was also, "A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand."

In the end of all things, the final victory of our Savior, won over all, is recorded in these words: "You will walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you will trample upon the lion and the dragon." By these here, I believe are signified the principalities, and powers, and world-rulers, and the spiritual hosts of wickedness. The Savior himself is said to walk upon these, and with the divine steps of his power ^C to trample underfoot so many wild beasts. But that he may in no way stumble, and that nothing may be an obstacle to his bodily operations, this has been entrusted to the ministry of angels. And just as it was said concerning his bodily tabernacle, "A scourge shall not draw near to your tabernacle," and the cause of this was added by, "For he will give command to his angels concerning you"; so now too, after that, *You will walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you will trample upon the lion and the dragon* [text moves to next page]

the angels, but to the Most High himself, from whose person it is said: *Because he has hoped in me, I will deliver him.* The Scripture has already taken care to teach how he hoped in Him with these words: *He who dwells in the help of the Most High*, and, *He will say to the Lord, "You are my protector and my refuge, my God, and I will hope in Him."* The triumphant and final act, therefore, after all those previously mentioned concerning our Savior, or concerning the man being perfected in Him, or concerning His same perfect body, ^B the Church, indicated by the words *You will walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you will trample upon the lion and the dragon*, refers the entire cause of the victory to the Most High. Therefore, it is said: *Because he has hoped in me, I will deliver him, because he has known my name. I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him and glorify him.*

It also seems to me that, in another sense, the prophecy predicts the entire mode of our Savior’s human life; I mean the first temptation, the one He endured during His passion, and also the assault He made against the opposing powers after the release of His body. And these are the first and principal things in the psalm: but in a more common way, let this prophecy be said to signify the temptation in the desert, by which He is recorded in the Gospels to have been tempted by the devil; the second part, in which the Word indicates that angels ministered to His body, signifies His conduct in human life; the third part, in which it is said that He has walked upon the asp and the basilisk, and has trampled upon the lion and the dragon, recounts the victory He won after death against the ruling spirits; after all of which it is added: *I will deliver him and glorify him. With length of days I will fill him, and I will show him my salvation*, signifying His salvation from the dead after death, and ^C the long-lived and immortal life, the divine glory, and the honor and kingship received with the Father, which are indicated by these words.

PSALM OF THE CANTICLE, FOR THE DAY OF THE SABBATH. XCI.

*Good it is to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing to your name, O Most High, to tell in the morning your mercy and your truth by night, upon a ten-stringed psaltery with a song on the harp.* The righteous and God-loving men before Moses neither knew nor observed the days of the Sabbaths. Neither Abraham himself, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor his children, nor even those who were more ancient than them in time, appear to have known the day of the Sabbath. ^D Since, therefore, those of the circumcision think themselves to be observing the Sabbaths as if they were accomplishing some great thing—which they do not even observe according to the intention of the Law—the words of the psalm must be set before them. And because "Sabbath" signifies rest, for it is written: *And God rested on the seventh day from all his works which He had made, and He sanctified it*, you may indeed describe God's rest...

^A and receive the true Sabbath in a manner worthy of God. For he says that impious men will not enter into his rest, speaking in the Psalms: *They always err in their heart. And they have not known my ways, so that I swore in my anger, if they shall enter into my rest.* ^B It is necessary, therefore, to understand God's Sabbaths according to the mind, and to conceive of a rest suitable to God, which is not granted to the impious, but only to the just and to the friends of God. Thus, we should say that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all those who were worshippers of God before and after them, knew in a spiritual sense and kept the Sabbaths of God, and entered into his rest. It is necessary, then, to examine what the Sabbath means. The Scripture declares that the Sabbath is God's rest, which it introduces after the creation of the sensible world. And what other rest could God have, if not his communion in the intelligible and heavenly realm? For when he watches over sensible things and is occupied with the works of the world's providence, he is said to work; and thus we must understand that saying of our Savior: *My Father works until now, and I work.* ^C But when he is concerned with incorporeal and heavenly works, and, as one might say, is in his own sublime perspective, at that time he is understood to take his rest and to celebrate his own Sabbath. By the same reasoning, when the men of God are freed from works that weary the soul—for such are all things corporeal and friendly to earthly flesh—and become wholly devoted to God and to the study and contemplation of divine and intelligible things, then they observe Sabbaths acceptable to God and spend a rest with the Lord God. Concerning these Sabbaths he teaches, saying: *There remains therefore a sabbath-rest for the people of God,* and again: *Let us hasten, therefore, to enter into that rest.* For the perfect Sabbath and the perfect and thrice-blessed rest exist in the Kingdom of God, above, beyond the six-day creation, and outside all sensible things, dwelling among incorporeal and heavenly realities, whence pain, sadness, and groaning flee away; ^D where, having been snatched from mortal and corruption-prone life, and leading a state of inactivity (otium) pleasing and blessed to God, and liberated from the actions of the body and the servitude of the flesh, abiding with God himself and in his presence, we shall keep the Sabbath and enjoy that rest. Wherefore the Apostle says: *Let us hasten, therefore, to enter into that rest.* Bearing on earth the image of that Sabbath and that perfect and thrice-blessed rest, the men of God used to celebrate holidays and a cessation from those things that distance one from God; but being devoted to the contemplation of divine things, and persevering day and night in the meditation of sacred words, they observed holy Sabbaths and a rest acceptable to God, and then they truly celebrated the Sabbath. Wherefore, the law of Moses, appropriately bestowing the shadows and symbols of the aforementioned things, assigned a certain day to the multitude, so that at least on that day they might abstain from customary works and devote themselves to the meditation of the divine law. The present psalm surely teaches clearly that those...

who assemble together for this purpose ought to perform those things which the psalm indicates as the Sabbath's leisure, and to cease from useless inactivity. The first of these is to confess to the Lord; second, to sing to His name with musical instruments; third, to proclaim His mercy at the morning hours; fourth, to declare His truth during the night hours; and to do these things not only with lips and voice, but also by the striking of musical instruments: for it says, *On a ten-stringed psaltery, with a song on the harp.*

^B You see, therefore, how many things the present discourse exhorts us to perform on the day of the resurrection. For the psalm is inscribed for the day of the Sabbath. But the priests in the temple also used to perform many other things on the Sabbath according to the law. Therefore, it does not command that one be entirely idle. Nor was the day of the Sabbath prescribed for the priests; but only for those who, neither in the whole time of their life nor on their individual days, could be free for the worship of God and for works acceptable to God: for to them it was decreed by law to do these things at set intervals. But as for those who deliver themselves over to gluttony, drunkenness, and all manner of indecency on the day of the Sabbath, God speaks harshly to them through the prophet, saying, *Who touch false Sabbaths*; and again, *Your new moons and sabbaths and the great day I do not tolerate.* Therefore, because those former things were rejected, the Word, through the New Testament, transferred and moved the feast of the Sabbath to the rising of the light, and delivered to us the image of true rest, namely, the salutary Lord's Day, and the first day of light, on which the Savior of the world, after all His works performed among men, having carried off the victory over death, passed through the heavenly gates and transcended the six-day creation, and then received the Sabbath worthy of God and the thrice-blessed rest, ^C the Father saying to Him, *Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.* On this day—which is the day of true light and the true sun—we ourselves, having gathered after the six days have intervened, and celebrating holy and spiritual Sabbaths, as many of us from the nations as have been redeemed through Him throughout the whole world, perform those things which were decreed for the priests to do on the Sabbath according to the spiritual law. For we perform spiritual sacrifices and offerings, which are called sacrifices of praise and sacrifices of jubilation; and we send up incense of sweet odor, concerning which it is said, *Let my prayer be as incense in your sight.* But we also offer the loaves of the presence, renewing the salutary memorial, and we perform the sprinkling of the blood of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin ^D of the world, as a propitiation for our souls; we also light the lamps of the knowledge of the countenance of God. Indeed, we are eager to perform the things enumerated in the present psalm on that day, both by deed and by word confessing to the Lord and singing to His name.

^A of the Most High; so that at dawn, at the very rising of our light, we may proclaim the mercy of God that has come upon us, and display his truth throughout the nights through a sober and pure manner of life. And all other things which were ordained to be performed on the Sabbath, we have transferred to the Lord's Day, as it is more authoritative, and guiding, and first, and more precious than the Jewish Sabbath. For on this day in the creation of the world, when God said, "Let there be light," and there was light; on this day also, the Sun of righteousness has risen for our souls. ^B Wherefore it has been handed down to us that we should assemble on this day and perform what has been enjoined through the psalm; the first of which is to confess. For the beginning of good things is the casting away of former evils through true repentance and confession, which leads to the good end, namely, to God Himself. For if no one is good except God, confession might well be the beginning of the best way that leads to God. Therefore it is said, "It is good to confess to the Lord." Indeed, it is fitting not to offer confession to men, but to the Lord Himself who searches the hearts. And since "confession" is also understood as thanksgiving, as we have often said, we rightly offer our thanksgivings to the Lord on the Lord's Day, assembling everywhere in the world in His churches. ^C Having made progress through confession, we are further commanded to sing, having advanced to a better state of soul; and having grown even better than our former selves, we are commanded to proclaim to others and to teach those who approach us the mercies of the Lord; and to do this at the morning hours, dedicating it, as it were, as the first fruits of our daily actions to the teaching concerning the mercy of God.

Scripture commands us to perform these things at daybreak, after we have kept our souls and bodies holy during the night times and pure from every defilement, and have embraced the truth of piety, having remembered the worship of God during the night hours. Formerly, indeed, when the people of the circumcision worshipped God ^D through symbols and figures, it was not inappropriate to send up hymns to God with psalteries and harps, and to do this on the days of the Sabbath, thereby breaking the rest and transgressing the law concerning the Sabbath. But we, preserving the "Jew in secret" according to the saying of the Apostle: "For he is not a Jew who is one in the open, nor is the circumcision that which is in the open in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one in secret, and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter," offer the hymn with a living psaltery and an animate harp, and with spiritual songs. For the concord of the peoples of Christ, by which in all the churches of God they offer to God one mind, one affection, would be more acceptable and sweet to Him than any musical instrument.

^A With similar psalmodic strains and spiritual lyres we are accustomed to participate, inasmuch as the Apostle teaches this in these words: *In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs*. In another way, the whole body may be the lyre, by whose movements and works the soul offers forth a hymn fitting for God; yet the ten-stringed psaltery is the worship of the Holy Spirit, rendered through the five senses of the body and an equal number of the powers of the soul. The same Apostle declares this when he says: *I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding*; as if, indeed, the mind also has its own movements by which it pulses the body, and the spirit likewise possesses its own proper movements by which it moves the soul.

^B VERSE 5: *For thou hast made me glad, O Lord, in thy work, and I will rejoice in the works of thy hands.* He who has understood the day made by the Lord, concerning which it is said, *This is the day which the Lord has made; let us exult and be glad in it*, he will say, *For thou hast made me glad, O Lord, in thy work.* But since this psalm is inscribed for the day of the Sabbath, you might ask why he says he was made glad on the day of the Sabbath, not because of God’s rest, nor because of His cessation, as the Jews might suppose, because on that day He ceased from all His works which He had made. And truly, if what is related in the psalm regarded the Jewish Sabbath, it would have been necessary for him to say that he was made glad by the leisure of God, and, as they might put it, by His cessation and rest from works. But now he does not speak this way; rather he says: *Thou hast made me glad, O Lord, in thy work, and I will rejoice in the works of thy hands*, clearly declaring that the "work" is to be understood separately, and again "the works of the hands of God" to be understood separately, in which he confesses he is made glad, ^C but not in the cessation. And the "work" may in a certain way be this very day, concerning which it was said: *This is the day which the Lord has made; let us exult and be glad in it.* It signifies, in truth, the day of the Resurrection, the Lord’s Day, as we have clearly demonstrated in other places while explaining what pertains to the creation of the world, concerning which Moses said: *In the beginning God created heaven and earth*; and he adds: *Let there be light, and there was light; and God called the light day.* You see, therefore, that no other creature is made on this day, but this day alone, so that the saying fits it: *This is the day which the Lord has made.* For indeed He created nothing else but this very day, which was the first Lord’s Day, concerning which it is now said, *For thou hast made me glad, O Lord, in thy work*; yet the works of His hands are those recorded as having been made in the days following. In another way ^D the "work" might be called the intelligible, rational, and incorporeal handiwork of God, by which logic the soul is written to have been made in the image of God; but the "works of His hands" are His sensible and corporeal works, concerning which it is said, *For I will behold the heavens, the works of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which in...*

thou hast established.* ^A The Scripture before us therefore teaches that, in the leisure of divine exercises and in the cessation from corporeal and mortal deeds—which the Scripture calls Sabbath and rest—those who have time for the contemplation of both the spiritual and sensible works of God should say, *For thou hast gladdened me, O Lord, in thy work, and I will exult in the works of thy hands*; for from the greatness and beauty of the creatures, the maker of them is seen by proportion; and His spiritual, incorporeal, and supercelestial things, as well as His visible ones, are understood and beheld from the creation of the world by His works, according to the holy Apostle.

^B VERSE 6, 7. *How magnificent are thy works, O Lord! Thy thoughts have become exceedingly deep. An unwise man will not know, and a fool will not understand these.* He says: "You have gladdened me, O Lord, in your work, and in the works of your hands"; but not every man is affected in the same way as I am. For there are many unwise and imprudent men who neither know nor understand these very things in which I confess that I delight and exult. Wherefore, he who is truly unwise and foolish denies that the universe was established by the providence and Word of God; but he ascribes such great works of God to fate and necessity, and to a certain insane course and to fortune. Furthermore, as a madman, he fails and stumbles in his opinion regarding the administration of the universe, because it seems to him that there is much inequality in mortal life. That unwise and insane man, therefore, taking the matter ill, immediately turns to blasphemous and impious reasoning, asserting that the cause of these things is that there is no God, no providence, but that all things are carried along rashly and by chance. But I, even in those dark and hidden matters, being imbued with a pious sentiment, am persuaded that the reason for your judgment and administration far exceeds my smallness. ^C Therefore I say, *How magnificent are thy works, O Lord! Thy thoughts have become exceedingly exalted.* And indeed, how could mortal reasonings search out the depths of God, and know His thoughts by which He administers human affairs? For as no one of men knows the things of a man except the spirit which is in him, so also do no one know the things of God except the Spirit of God, and he is not able to speak them. *But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God*; concerning whom it is said, *For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.* Knowing these things, I am in no way troubled by the inequality of men; but I rejoice and am glad, conceiving the reason of providence not from human accidents, but from the works of the hands of God and His handiwork. ^D And I rejoice and am exceedingly glad to have been gifted with such goods, of which every unwise and foolish man is deprived, being unable to learn the reasons concerning universal providence from the works of God.

^A

Ver. 8. *When the sinners shall sprout like grass, and all who work iniquity shall have appeared, that they might be destroyed for ever and ever.* The unwise and foolish man, when he sees impious men prospering, and just and pious men being oppressed by evils, does not understand the reasons of Providence, but turns immediately to impious reasonings, falling into godlessness. But I, observing your creation and the works of your hands, along with other things, have understood that the end of those impious men who prosper in this life contains destruction and ruin; wherefore I marvel much more at the reasons of the divine judgment. For just as grass and the flowers of the earth appear beautiful for a short time, and charm the sight and all the senses, but as soon as possible they change and turn, and wither and perish most easily, in the same way also those sinners who are admired by many, as soon as they have sprouted and blossomed for a short time, they have appeared—and it has been shown who they once were, and what kind of resolve they held. Then, not long after, no longer a brief and temporary destruction overtook them, but everlasting ruin. Because your righteous judgment stands over human affairs, for that very reason I consider it to be allowed to sinners and those who work iniquity to sprout and appear, so that their resolve, not having been well used in relation to the gifts of God, might be put to the test; wherefore an avenging, eternal destruction shall await them.

Ver. 9–12. *But you, O Lord, are the Highest for ever. For behold, your enemies, O Lord, for behold, your enemies shall perish, and all who work iniquity shall be dispersed. And my horn shall be exalted like that of a unicorn, and my old age in rich oil. And my eye has looked upon my enemies, and my ear shall hear of those who rise up against me and do evil.* You, he says, O Lord, always remaining the same and in the same way, the Highest in the highest, shall endure for the whole age, unchanging, not debased, not altered, not becoming better than yourself, not resembling the humble ones on earth, nor thinking or doing anything small or lowly, but remaining identical to yourself unto infinity; but we, the humble, who are far removed from your power, are borne and changed in different ways at different times. ^B Your enemies, therefore, O Lord, as those who have made themselves strangers to the life which is with you, and have chosen enmity instead of friendship with you, the only good, shall perish, becoming the authors of their own destruction, because they did not wish to remain with you and be befriended by you, but chose to take up enmity against you, their own Maker and Savior. ^C Therefore, even if they gather countless sums, wealth, and treasures in this life, yet everything, along with their souls and bodies themselves, shall be dispersed. But I, who have embraced the knowledge and friendship of you, and have become a stranger to your enemies, am convinced that I shall attain a transformation for the better, trusting in your righteous judgment. So that even if in the present life I might seem to many to be someone without glory and humble, ^D yet at the end of things I shall be exalted; nay rather, my horn shall be ex-

exalted—that is, the hope of the kingdom which I expect to obtain from you—which will be exalted just as much as that of the unicorn. For if there is in the intellectual realm a unicorn ^A who writes down you as his own Father as a single horn for himself, I know well that I too shall be exalted exactly as he is. For since we have been called to be heirs of God, and fellow-heirs of Christ, I am convinced, he says, that I shall enjoy the same kingdom with your Christ, when my old age—that is, the final stage of my life—shall be exalted in fat oil.

For even if the time of my youth and the vigor of my soul is, in this life, humbled and exercised as if in a contest, yet the final stages, and the old age of the soul itself—that is, its perfection—will obtain a change for the better, and will be made alive in the superabundant, rich, and fat oil that is with you, O merciful God. Then, yes then, my eye, which now wastes away because of sinners and laments this mortal life, will look upon my enemies, and will see those who now are honored by many, but whose end will be delivered over to dispersion, paying the penalties due to them. Then not only my eye, but also the ear ^B of my soul will hear the end of those who now rise up against me and do evil. For the sake of all these things, then, being struck with admiration at the reasoning of your providence, and at the just judgment which is rendered by you to all, I for my part rejoice and exult in the works of your hands; but every foolish and senseless man does not understand these things. Therefore I say: "How your works have been magnified, O Lord! And not simply have they been made deep, but your thoughts have been made very deep," by which thoughts you govern the universe in a mysterious and profound manner, permitting and allowing the impious at the present time to be exalted and raised up, while the pious are humbled; yet their end bears witness to your wonderful and all-wise dispensation, seeing which the divine Apostle also exclaimed: "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God; how incomprehensible are his judgments and his ways unsearchable!" ^C

VERS. 13, 14. *The just shall flourish like a palm tree; he shall be multiplied like the cedar that is in Libanus.* Sinners, indeed, were said to spring up like grass, and, in accordance with the example of grass, not to perish long after. For as soon as the grass has sprung up, it is immediately dried up, and the flower falls, just exactly as is the life and glory of sinners. But the just man, not like the grass, but like the palm tree, will flourish, bearing his roots and his foliage aloft; not placed upon the ground, but extended toward heaven. For this reason is the just man compared to the palm; but not to the single trunk of the palm, for it is multiplied in its branches, which, together with it and through it, attain salvation. For this reason he must also be compared to the cedar, not just any cedar, but the one ^D that is in Libanus. For that one is manifold, and grows in great numbers, inasmuch as it is on a very fat mountain, which produces the tallest trees and...

nourished by the heavens. Thus, therefore, the righteous man, having myriad souls who attain salvation through him and with him, is in this respect comparable to the cedar, and to the palm in ways already declared. But such were not the impious, who spring up like grass and are immediately brought to nothing. "They that are planted in the house of the Lord, in the courts of our God, shall flourish." Rare is the one who is altogether perfect, who is also called righteous, and is compared to the palm and the cedar; but since not all are of this kind, it must be known that for those who are less than perfect, yet have been deemed worthy of that planting in the house of God, there is some good end: for in the courts of our God they shall flourish. You will understand this also as the great house of the Lord, hearing [referred to] as His Church, the one upon earth, according to the Apostle who says: "That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God" (1 Tim. III, 15); and you shall understand those planted in it to be those who have received from thence the beginnings of their progress in piety, such as they were whom Paul planted, for whose sake he also said: "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase" (1 Cor. III, 6). These, therefore, who are planted in the earthly Church of God shall put forth a sweet-scented and fertile blossom, one fruitful in perfect fruits, being transplanted into the courts of our God, that is, into the heavenly mansions; ^B if it be true that there are many mansions with the Father, where those who are now planted in the house of God, being distributed according to their merit, shall flourish at the appropriate time.

"They shall yet be multiplied in a fat old age, and they shall be well-favored; that they may declare that the Lord our God is upright, and there is no iniquity in him." He says not only that they who are planted this day in the house of God shall flourish in the courts of God, but also that they themselves shall be multiplied, just as the cedar that is in Libanus was said to be multiplied above. And when shall this be for them, if not in the fat old age? By old age here, be persuaded that the perfection of the soul is meant, in which, being established, they who are now planted in the house of the Lord shall be well-favored. ^C For even if, during the present time in which they are planted in the house of the Lord, they continue to suffer hardships, enduring the first labors of cultivation; yet when they shall be deemed worthy of the fat old age, they shall become well-favored, resting from their toils and receiving the prizes for their struggles; and they shall confess, saying: "That the Lord our God is upright, and there is no iniquity in him." For if the enumerated good things were not about to attend those who are dedicated to God, and if a ruinous end were not awaiting the impious and those who work iniquity, there might perhaps be a cause to charge the providence of God with iniquity. But since such ends are prepared for the righteous, which we also pray to attain, and such punishments ^D are threatened against the impious, from which may it be granted us to be delivered; how would it not be consistent to confess, "That the Lord our God is upright, and there is no iniquity in him"? But the unwise will not know these things, nor will the foolish understand, because he is overshadowed by the darkness of his own folly. But I, who have thoroughly...

^A understood and perceived these things through the illumination of the divine Spirit, and who see how deep the thoughts of God have become, reasonably rejoice and exult in the divine dispensation; I bear the present evils bravely because of the hope of the things to be. For this reason, consecrating all my leisure and my cessation from evils to God, I strive to observe those delightful and holy Sabbaths, by confessing, singing, and announcing in the morning the mercy of God, and his truth through the night. For then most of all is the truth of a godly soul revealed, when, though residing in shadow and darkness, it exhibits the sincerity and purity of its conscience as if in the most brilliant light and clearest day. Such also is the psalm with a canticle said on the day of the Sabbath—that is, in the time of that leisure and rest which is according to God—in which it is proper that we also, who have leisure for the meditation of divine teachings, should send forth to God the words of thanksgiving expressed in this canticle.

THE PRAISE OF THE CANTICLE FOR DAVID HIMSELF. XCII.

gathering us all into the dance, exclaims and says: "The Lord has reigned, He has clothed Himself with splendor." Now the Lord reigns, being Himself Life and being Himself the Word of God, over every soul ^A in which insanity and folly do not inhere, in which sin does not reign, over which the devil does not command, and over which death does not dominate, piercing and destroying it with its own stings. But the Apostle teaches that the sting of death is sin, by which a soul is destroyed, according to the prophecy which says: "The soul that sins, it shall die." Therefore, we must strive that neither insanity, nor sin, nor the devil, nor death shall rule over us through sin; but that only the Word and Life, that is, the Lord, may rule over us through the kingdom of every virtue.

Since, however, the Word of God, who is Himself the Lord, was about to reign not only over the living ^B but also over the dead, and not only over those in heaven but also over those on earth—just as He Himself teaches, saying: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth"—He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, that is, the mortal body and the human instrument; for this was the form of a servant. At that time, when He was doing these things, He was clothed in dishonor, so that it might be said of Him: "We saw Him, and He had no form or beauty, but His form was dishonored and failing more than the sons of men." But when, having received the glory which He also formerly had with the Father, He transformed the form of a servant into something better, according to the apostolic testimony which says: "Who will transform the body of our humility, conformed to the body of the glory of Christ," then He clothed Himself with splendor; when He also made firm the kingdom of the Father and of all things, not only of those in heaven, but also of the nations throughout the whole inhabited world, having overthrown all polytheistic error. Hence it is said: "The Lord has reigned, He has clothed Himself with splendor." The phrase "has clothed Himself" is used as if at some time He had stripped off that splendor. And when He was enduring the events of the Passion, He was crucified, the Apostle says, "from weakness"; but when, having conquered death, He was receiving the kingdom over all, He was again fulfilling that which is written: "The Lord has clothed Himself with power and girded Himself." For Christ was the power of God and the wisdom of God. Then, as One who has clothed Himself with His own power and has girded Himself with it, He applies Himself to a great achievement. What this was, the Scripture declares immediately following, saying: "For He made firm the inhabited world, which shall not be shaken." For it had almost completely descended into the abyss, when the might of demonic activity prevailed against all, but He raised it up and corrected it, having overthrown all hostile and demonic power and polytheistic error. In this way, He made firm the inhabited world ^D so that it might no longer be shaken from piety toward God; and His Church, which is founded upon the rock and against which the gates of hell shall not prevail, being indicated here throughout the world, was thus made firm.

^A And the Word, having indicated this, says that it is truly made firm, and that it shall not be shaken. For the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, because it is founded upon the rock.

VERS. 2, 3. *Thy throne is prepared from of old, thou art from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice.* Thy throne, He says, O Lord, was not prepared for Thee *only now*, when after the incarnation Thou didst ascend into heaven; but it was Thine long ago, and of old, and before all ages, and it was always from the beginning prepared for Thee, since Thou Thyself art from of old, or rather, Thou existest before all ages, as Thou Thyself didst teach, saying: *The Lord created me the beginning of His ways for His works. Before the age He founded me, and before the mountains were settled, and before all the hills He begets me.* ^B Thy throne, therefore, was Thine even before all ages; and again, when Thou didst empty Thyself and take the form of a servant, it was kept prepared for Thee; for to Thee alone, and to no one else, had it been said by Thy Father: *Sit at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.* Thus, then, was Thy throne prepared for Thee, upon which He who begat Thee, the Father, commanded thee to sit with Him. And it was prepared from then, from everlasting, since Thou Thyself art from everlasting. He does not say, *Thou wast*, but *Thou art*. For to Thee alone is it fitting to say, "Thou art." Wherefore it is said elsewhere also: *But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail.*

The Holy Spirit points to this throne in another psalm also, saying: *Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.* ^C Thy throne, therefore, was prepared from of old; from the time, that is, when Thou wast with the Father, since Thou Thyself art *from of old*. But now, also, *the floods have lifted up, O Lord.* And what they have lifted up, He explains by repeating the discourse in the following words: *The floods have lifted up their voice.* For these things, which had been hidden for a long time in the past, have now become audible to all who have been deemed worthy of the Divine Spirit—the prophets, the apostles, and the evangelists, and the countless peoples who, throughout the whole world, proclaim in the churches the saving kingdom, who also have "lifted up their voice," preaching with a loud cry the grace of God poured out upon all.

But I also consider the Divine Powers and the multitude of angels who are in heaven to be called "floods" now. ^D They, too, lifted up their voice when they beheld the Savior ascending from His fellowship with men into the heavens, clothed in the beauty of His divinity, girded with the power of the Father, and taking back His own throne of the kingdom. And these were saying, crying out with a loud voice: *Lift up your gates, ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall enter in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle*; and again, *The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.* Likewise, the multitudes of the churches of our Savior among men...

^A in which those who have believed from the nations are always gathered together like rivers, lifting up their voice in prayers to God, and in doxologies offered through hymns and psalms, may be called rivers; since our Lord Himself also compares those who are to draw from His divine teaching and to drink of the Holy Spirit to rivers, saying: *Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him, rivers of living water shall flow from within him, leaping up unto eternal life.*

*The rivers shall lift up their crashes from the voices of many waters. Wonderful are the swellings of the sea, wonderful is the Lord in the high places.* If we have understood the rivers that lift up their voice ^B over the glory of the kingdom of the Lord, let other rivers, by contrast, be understood—those that are worn away and rise up against the knowledge of God, being disposed in a manner opposite to those who lift up their voice to God. These contrary rivers, therefore, "shall lift up their crashes," he says; that is, they shall put away all elation, and all pride, and all gnashing; and they shall do this from the voice of the holy waters. ^C You will understand what is said if you consider how, in former times, there was often among men a profession of the wisdom of this age and a grinding of human philosophy, by which they were puffed up and lifted up by the mind of their own flesh, as though the wise men of this age were engaged in certain great and wise disciplines. But when churches of God were established throughout the whole earth, among both Greeks and barbarians, pursuing true wisdom and sending up to God the proper doxologies and hymnody like a river ^D and with a louder and more confident voice, and emitting a sound like "many waters" because of the multitude of the God-fearing, then the pride of those who were formerly thought wise was brought down, and all their gnashing was humbled, their wisdom being reckoned as nothing.

But if anyone has ever wondered at the swellings of the sea—that is, the tempests and waves of this mortal life that rise up against the knowledge of God—let him know that the Lord in the high places is wonderful above all, so that those who trust in the Lord need no longer rightly fear the swellings of the sea. It is also likely that the swellings of the sea are the persecutions rising up against the Church of God, which that dragon that dwells in the sea is wont to set in motion, he who lifts its waves on high, roaring and sounding and troubling, and all but threatening to flood and utterly destroy the Church of God. You might also explain these things in another way according to the letter, by saying that these sensible rivers lift up their voice to God, rendering glory to the Maker who created and made them. For just as the Artificer is perceived from the greatness and beauty of the creatures, so from the parts of the world, the miracle of the great Artificer of God

^A is set before those empowered to see. For if anyone should consider with himself, from whence comes such a flow of rivers, whence such great magnitude and abundance of liquid substance, whence those fountains which from the beginning of time have never failed, which gush forth rivers perennial and most vast; from what abysses do they surge, and from what substance do they flow throughout all time—if anyone should ponder these things, he will see that it almost sends forth a voice, and the magnificence of the Creator and Artificer of all things, appearing through these very rivers, bears witness to His divinity. And in this way, too, anyone seeing the swells of the sea, how its waves rise and curve to a height, and how, falling back again, they break within themselves, and how they cannot and dare not cross the boundary and law ordained for them, will ^B perceive through these as well the power of the magnificence of God. For He said to it: Hitherto you shall come, and in you your waves shall be broken, and He set a boundary for it, which it will not cross nor turn back to cover the earth. But besides the things we have already mentioned, one might say that the swells of the sea were marvelous when the disciples approached and said to Him: Lord, save us, we perish; when He commanded it, and there was a great calm. And at another time again, when by the Lord's command it was divided, and withdrawing and parting in upon itself, it provided a passage for the sons of Israel to pass through it as if on dry land: then indeed were its swells marvelous. Nay, rivers even raised their voice in another way, when the ark was passing through the Jordan, the waters retreated and stood, ^C crying out the glory of God by their deeds; and when the Saviour Himself was baptized in the same river, the heavenly voice proclaimed Him to all ears to be the beloved Son.

VERS. 3. Testimonies are made very credible; holiness becomes Your house, O Lord, for length of days. The prophecies of future things, in which testimonies concerning the Lord's kingdom were borne, before the event of the things, did not yet allow the credibility of the words to be seen. But after the event, and after the works were perfected, then indeed the testimonies of God were made credible. For already of old the things concerning God's kingdom unto all nations had been spoken and prophesied ^D and were long expected. But that testimony is now made credible, when the oracle is seen to be fulfilled by the very works. And of old it was said concerning the Lord that He had put on comeliness; but now, when the word is confirmed by the works themselves, the truth of the prediction has appeared, when, having stripped off the form of God and put on that of a servant, and having progressed even unto a shameful death, He afterwards laid aside that disgrace and put on the comeliness of the Father's glory, being crowned as King over all things, both celestial and terrestrial. And again

^A the prophetic testimonies contained the fact that, having put on strength, the Lord established the world, which shall not be shaken. And these things were confirmed when, after the Passion, having recovered His own power, He established His Church throughout the whole inhabited world of men, so that the souls of men, formerly wandering hither and thither in godless superstition, might no longer be shaken. And again, the testimonies through the prophets prophesied that the rivers would raise up their voice, and other rivers would raise up their commotions; and these testimonies were also confirmed when, in all the Churches of God and throughout the whole world, the multitudes of the pious lift up, according to the Gospel, voices of thanksgiving, those sent up to God by means of prayers and hymns, by which ^B the wise men of this age, who were formerly puffed up, have been brought low, and their commotions have been removed, so that their whole philosophy has been extinguished. But if you were to run through the remaining predictions of the prophecies in the same manner, you would adapt to each one the words, "Your testimonies are made very sure." Thus, the testimonies from the divine Scriptures have acquired, in a high degree, their trustworthiness through the truth seen in their outcomes; but for Your house, that is, Your Church, nothing is so fitting, in order that it be preserved to the length of days, as holiness. For just as truth and faith are proper to Your testimonies, so also holiness is fitting for Your house; under the protection of which it remains and shall remain to the length of days. For if ^C it should ever happen that unseemliness is found in Your house, and in place of a sanctuary, a profane, impure, and abominable action be discovered, it is no longer possible for it to remain to the length of days. For God, who dwells in it, being holy and resting in the holy, will say—or, God forbid that anything unseemly and foreign to the sanctuary should ever be found in His house—the words, "Behold, your house is left to you desolate." Wherefore, it will behoove us, when entering the house of God, to give thought before all things and above all things to holiness and temperance.

PSALM TO DAVID, ON THE FOURTH DAY OF THE WEEK. XCIII.

"O Lord, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, ^D spoke out." The psalm is without a title among the Hebrews, but it contains consolation and comfort for those who are being persecuted and afflicted in the present life for the sake of piety, whose prayer he also sets out below. He places the consolation and comfort before the prayer, anticipating the petition of those who are persecuted and forestalling their pains, and showing by his deeds that the saying, "While you are yet speaking, I will say, Behold, I am here," is being fulfilled for them. Take heart, therefore, O you men, he says; for the Lord, in whom you have hoped, is present—as God the Creator, and God the Framer, and God the Savior, and God the Benefactor, and God the Judge, and God the Father of mercies, and God of all consolation, long-suffering and very merciful, placable

^A toward sins, and having ten thousand other divine modes of action; so also, He is a God of vengeances. For He cares for what is done on earth, so that He may exact due punishment from evildoers, and judge justly, and punish those whom He must, and render to each according to his works. Take courage, therefore, having learned that you have a God of vengeances; for it is the nature of your God to be a God of vengeances, and as a God who is an avenger of the oppressed, He proclaims this openly and with confidence through His own prophets. Thus, indeed, His discourse concerning providence is also established, according to which He justly and wisely governs all things. For the present time, He makes His sun rise on the just and the unjust, and rains on the wicked and the good, and distributes His goods equally to all; but at the fitting time, He shall become a God of vengeances, when He will also exact the deserved punishment from those who have not made proper use of His benefits.

Vers. 2-4. Exalt yourself, you who judge the earth; render a recompense to the proud. How long shall sinners, O Lord, how long shall sinners boast? Shall they utter and speak iniquity; shall all who work iniquity speak out?

^A show to all the greatness and the height of Your divinity, so that the sinners may at last cease from luxuriating and boasting in all the things which they wickedly perpetrate.

VERS. 5-7. *They have humbled Your people, O Lord, and have vexed Your inheritance. They have put to death the widow and the stranger, and have killed the orphans. And they said, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob understand.* It was not enough, he says, for the sinners to sin against themselves; but now they have risen up against Your people and against Your Church, humbling some, vexing others, and altogether killing others. And they have dared to do these things against Your people, O Lord, and against Your inheritance, thinking—if one may say so—impious and blasphemous thoughts about You. For in themselves they said, thinking impiously: *The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob understand.* Wherefore, as though You neither saw nor understood, they attempt to do such deeds against Your people and Your inheritance, against widows, strangers, and orphans, who lack all human aid and patronage. And they were not performing these things so much against them as against You, O Lord; for they who were oppressed were Your people and Your inheritance; and those who were oppressing them, while blaspheming and acting impiously against You, thought these things, as if You did not exist, nor see, nor understand, nor avenge the deeds being done. Wherefore, I prayed ^B rightfully, "How long, O Lord, shall sinners, how long shall they continue to do such things?" Now, one must understand the people and inheritance of God formerly as the Jewish nation, since it became the portion of the Lord, His people Jacob, the cord of His inheritance Israel. But after their rejection, which some prophetic oracle declares, saying: *I have forsaken My house, I have left My inheritance*, another prophecy consistently introduces in their place a new people from the nations, saying in the person of Christ: *Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Thy possession.*

VERS. 8-11. *Understand, therefore, ye senseless among the people, and ye fools, be wise at last. He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? Or He that formed the eye, shall He not consider? He that chastiseth the nations, shall He not rebuke, He that teacheth man knowledge? The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, that they are vain.* After the Prophet had, in a human manner, grieved for the daring deeds of the impious, and had prayed, saying: *Exalt Yourself, You who judge the earth, render a recompense to the proud*; but also as if he had moved and stirred up God with these words: *They have vexed and humbled Your people and Your inheritance, and have said, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob understand*—he is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and, as if to answer those who had said: *The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob understand*, he speaks thus: And how, O truly senseless ^C

^A in mind, can He who provides these things to those who lack them, not be able to see or hear? For surely he who imparts things to others possesses them first himself before he can share them. Moreover, the discourse is set forth and arranged in the manner of a syllogism to confirm the doctrine of providence. It is especially appropriate to apply one's mind to such places in the divine Scriptures, in order to show that the faith offered to us there is not devoid of reason, but that the testimonies of the doctrine are presented with clear rationales and logical demonstrations. Ten thousand such things are scattered throughout the holy books. He therefore uses syllogisms to refute the impious and the atheists who claimed that God does not look upon human affairs. For tell me, he says, O you men, did the nature of animals subsist of itself, or did it come to be from some cause? Now, to claim that the lifeless, soulless, and mindless matter produced, by chance and as it happened, unreasonably and spontaneously, so many animals, and gave to each kind of animal such a constitution, such forms and species, and such a disposition of parts and limbs, so great a variety of beauty, and so many differences, is ^B truly most foolish and insane, and a line of reasoning worthy of men whose souls are truly dead. For how could that which does not possess life impart life to another? Or how could the soulless constitute a soul? Or how could the irrational produce something rational? And how could that which is by its nature immovable be set in motion, or move something else? Such is the element of earth, from which all the various kinds of animals emerged, endowed with eyes, ears, and the rest of the senses, and participating in life, motion, and impulse. Yet man is far superior to these, being of a rational nature and capable of intellect and knowledge. Did all these things then subsist from an irrational and soulless element? But even the one who does not wish to confess these things is overcome by the power and efficacy of the reality itself, and natural reasoning compels him to speak the truth: namely, that neither inanimate matter nor dry and irrational substance is the cause of these things, but a certain divine and creative mind is the creator of the world, namely the Word of God, the maker of all things, who implanted both in all other things and in man himself the senses of the body, and the reasoning of the soul, and ^C furthermore the mind, by which he might consider the nature of things; so that he might look upon visible things with his eyes, hear what falls upon the ear with his ears, and grasp intelligible things with his mind. How then is it possible that He who has imparted to others the power of seeing, which they did not have from themselves, should not Himself see? How is it possible that He who has pierced the hearing and the ear in the earthly, clay vessel, so that even mute and deaf matter might hear what is brought to the ear, should not Himself perceive human cogitations far better and more excellently than all others? And if all nations throughout the world, both barbarian and Greek, moved by the natural impulses of the thoughts which they received from God, have fashioned for themselves certain laws and ordinances; how should God, who has bestowed this very prudence upon them, not rebuke those who act contrary to nature and contrary to sound reason ^D

Whence comes to men the knowledge of every thing whatever? Whence come the arts? Whence the speculations of the sciences? Whence the discourses on subjects of learning? Is it not from Him who implanted in them the faculty of comprehending these things? What then? Is He who graced man with such a nature destitute of knowledge Himself, so as not to know even those things of which He Himself is the bestower? ^A But indeed, cease your impious ways, O vain men; and obeying the true word, know that He who planted the ear in men will hear far sooner what is said by men; and He who fashioned the eye in men will not only see and look upon what is done, but will also understand the thoughts still hidden in the mind. For this is the power of God, knowing and discerning the thoughts of men, that they are vain. For truly, all that is considered truth among men, and all the wisdom they possess, which they set forth out of their own reasonings and mortal imaginations, would surely be vain. For all wisdom and truth reside in Him alone, and from Him are given to those only who are worthy. ^B

Verses 12, 13. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law, that thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the sinner.

Verses 14, 15. For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance, until righteousness return unto judgment, and all the upright in heart follow it. Diapsalma.

^A end for those who are troubled for the sake of God. For since it had been said above, "They have humbled thy people, O Lord, and have troubled thine inheritance" (Ps. XCIII, 5), he deservedly now sets forth the ends concerning the humbled people and the troubled inheritance, saying: "The Lord will not reject his people, and his inheritance he will not forsake." For even if for a short time he permits the ungodly to humble and trouble his people, he will not reject his people unto the end, nor will he abandon his inheritance. But we have learned what people and what inheritance this is from the voice uttered in the person of Christ: "Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for thy possession" (Ps. II, 8). The prophet Zechariah also prophesies of this same people from the nations, saying: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, I come, and will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall flee to the Lord, and they shall be for a people to me, and I will be for a God to them" (Zachar. II, 10, 11). This people, therefore, the Lord will not reject, nor will he forsake his inheritance until righteousness returns unto judgment. For up to that point he will guard his people and his inheritance, ^B until the righteousness of God returns, to render the rewards of their labors to those who have struggled well. And those who cleave to the righteousness of God shall stand near him, to be stationed at the right hand of the King; inasmuch as they have become upright and straight in heart, and have brought into their soul nothing crooked or distorted, but have walked only upon the straight and royal road. ^C

VERS. 16-18. "Who will rise up for me against the wicked, or who will stand with me against those who work iniquity? Except that the Lord helped me, my soul had well-nigh dwelt in hades. If I said, My foot hath slipped, thy mercy, O Lord, helped me." The distinction in the Diapsalma has brought about a very great change in the meaning. For as though the former discourse were finished, beginning as it were a new exordium, he says: "Who will rise up for me against the wicked?" For, he says, we have learned from the teaching of the Holy Spirit that the Lord is a God of vengeances, and that he will render retribution to the proud, and that a pit shall be dug for the sinner, and that he will not reject his people, nor will he forsake his inheritance; but at the end of things, when the people ^D shall have turned unto judgment, he will render to each according to his works; and as it were at his right hand shall stand all the upright in heart near his own righteousness, who are to spend their days in the kingdom of the heavens with the Lord himself, and to present their whole life to him. These things, then, I believed, and by believing I received consolation. But meanwhile, in the present time, who shall stand up for me against the wicked? Or who shall be my champion to stand with me against those who work iniquity? But in truth, confessing, I would say that I shall find no helper among men,

^A but that I possess one helper alone, the Lord, who, had He not assisted me, would have long since seen me defeated by those who do evil and work iniquity, and having perished, I would have dwelt in Hades; and my soul—that rational substance formed in the image of God—would have been allotted death and Hades as its dwelling place. These things, then, I would have suffered, had the Lord Himself not stood by and assisted me. Whenever, therefore, being tried in the struggles, I have been seized by my own infirmity, so that there was a danger that the feet of my soul might be shaken, I confess that I have immediately received a sense of Thy mercy, O Lord, and have been assisted by Thee; for if this had not been present with me to support my feet, I would have long since slipped and fallen from the standing I have with Thee. But now, Thy mercy, O Lord, gives me the confidence to say: "Thou hast set my feet upon a rock, and Thou hast directed my steps."

VERS. 19. "According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, Thy consolations have gladdened my soul." Thy mercy not only provided strength to my feet so that they might not be shaken, nor did Thy help only seize my soul so that it might not inhabit Hades, but Thy consolations also healed the sorrows which I bore in my heart, with the power of the secret mystery of Thy kindness comforting my soul and filling it with gladness. ^B For there was not just one consolation, nor a second, but more, and as many in number as the sorrows in my heart. Most zealously, therefore, for the number of my sorrows, Thou didst provide Thy consolations to me, one for each sorrow, offering Thy consolation like a saving medicine, and like one applying many remedies to many wounds. Taking hold of such consolations, the divine Apostle said: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to console those who are in any tribulation, through the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds." ^C And one might say in regard to this, changing these words: "The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory which shall be revealed in us," so it could be said: "The multitude of the sorrows in my heart is not worthy to be compared with Thy consolations, O Lord, by which Thou hast gladdened my soul." But if, for every single sorrow, one receives consolation from God and is deemed worthy of the gladness which is from God, would one not pray and entreat to endure many sorrows for God, so that he might obtain more consolations and, for that reason, more joys?

VERS. 20. "Shall the throne of iniquity be associated with Thee, which fashions hardship into a law?" ^D With good reason, he says, "According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, Thy consolations have gladdened my soul," since

to Thee, O God, being just and good, a throne of iniquity does not belong; for Thou orderest all things by just judgment and upright law. Therefore, Thou ^A fashionest labor for a commandment; that is to say, Thy commandment is productive of labors and toils, on account of the rewards that follow after these labors for those who have wrestled well and who have endured the toil willingly and intensely. "They will hunt down the soul of the just, and condemn innocent blood. And the Lord has become my refuge, and my God for the help of my hope. And He will render them their iniquity, and according to their malice the Lord our God will destroy them." The impious, he says, will hunt down the soul of the just to such a degree, surrounding it with snares and nets, until they have brought it even to death, condemning innocent blood. For they are not satisfied with pecuniary fines, nor with the blows and wounds inflicted upon the bodies of the just, but they even bring forth the sentence and vote of death against them. And they, indeed, are such; but I, having learned to despise even such things, and to stand courageously even unto death, knowing that I have the Lord as a refuge, and my God as the help of my hope—He, having become my refuge, will help me; but upon the head of those who hunt down the soul of the just and condemn innocent blood, He will turn back their iniquity, and He will invert their malice against them at the time of just judgment, when the Lord our God will also destroy them; wherefore also He is called God of vengeance at the beginning ^C of the psalm.

PSALM XCIV

"Come, let us exult in the Lord, let us cry aloud to God our Savior." No inscription is carried among the Hebrews; and reasonably so; for it was not consistent that it should be inscribed as a psalm, or a hymn, or an ode, since it summons the Jewish people to exultation, yet threatens them with wrath and describes the end of the commandments in gloomy terms. You should observe, moreover, if the word "come" is used elsewhere in Scripture, in what manner He calls those who are like people standing at a distance and having become far off, to approach Him. You will note also that He always directs the calling toward some good, as in that: "Come, children, hearken to me"; and, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord"; and, "Come to me all you who labor"; and, "Come, you blessed of My Father." But in the psalm at hand He clearly invites them to come for exultation. Wherefore note also, that those who consider the ^D yoke of piety to be gloomy and burdensome do not judge rightly; for He makes the call toward good and joyful things. Compared to these, set that: "Depart into the eternal fire," and similar things, which are said to sinners with a meaning far contrary and diverse from that "come." Since in times of war those who are victorious are accustomed to cry aloud and shout loudly against their enemies, He fittingly commands not only to rejoice and exult, but also to cry aloud over a saving victory. But who might be our Savior and our God, if not the Word of God who said, "Take he

heart, I have overcome the world" [John 16:33], who also delivered us from the demonic influence that formerly held us in its power, and whose name, Jesus, signifies "Savior" in the Hebrew tongue? ^A You will discover whom the Word primarily invites to exultation if you set your mind to what follows, in which it is said: "On the day of temptation in the wilderness, where your fathers tempted me" [Ps. 94:8-9]. For by these words he clearly signifies the descendants of those who provoked him in the wilderness—that is, the people from the circumcision. Therefore, he calls these people, saying: "Come, let us exult in the Lord." But he prophesies that they will not obey the invitation; for he says at the end: "They always err in their heart; and they did not know my ways, as I swore in my anger, if they shall enter into my rest" [Ps. 94:10-11]. Since, therefore, they always "err in their heart," the following psalm deservedly calls all the nations to a new song and to exultation in God.

^B "Let us come before his face with confession, and let us cry aloud to him in psalms" [Ps. 94:2]. During his first advent, the Word of God, concealing his divine face, put on the form of a servant; wherefore it was said: "A man in a plague, and knowing how to bear infirmity; because he turned away his face, he was dishonored and not accounted of" [Isa. 53:3]. But at his second advent, he will appear with unveiled face and with great power and glory. Wherefore, the Word, having prefixed the things mentioned earlier—which were to be performed at the time of his first advent—consequently reminds us of his second and glorious appearing, urging us to look forward to the future and to "come before his face with confession." For it is good to arrive first and to anticipate, and before his glorious face appears, to procure for ourselves the cleansing of our sins through confession. ^C And the confession would be genuine if we were to cry aloud to him in psalms, that is, through the instruments of the soul, which are our bodies; through which it is fitting to perform the so-called "crying aloud," by demonstrating the harmony and holy rhythm of the divine Spirit through a temperate life and a virtuous conduct. Although these things are spoken primarily to the people of the Jews, with the Word inciting them to the knowledge of our Savior, they may nevertheless be usefully and appropriately applied to all of us.

"For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods" [Ps. 94:3]. The things commanded beforehand are to be fulfilled in our Lord and Savior—that is, in the Word of God—not only for other reasons, but also because, being God by nature, he is also essentially a great king, as the only-begotten Word of God. And [he] is a "great king above all gods," or, according to Symmachus, "above all gods," namely those who, through the error of the nations, are thought to be gods; or those similar to Moses, to whom it was said: "I have set thee as God to Pharaoh" [Exod. 7:1]; or the gods of whom these things are said: "The God of gods, the Lord hath spoken" [Ps. 49:1]; and, "God stood in the congregation of gods" [Ps. 81:1].

^A For no one of these is like to Him. Wherefore it is said elsewhere: "For who in the clouds shall be compared unto the Lord, or who shall be likened unto the Lord among the sons of God?" [Ps. 88:7].

Vers. 4. "For in his hand are all the ends of the earth and the heights of the mountains are his" [Ps. 94:4]. Therefore, let us exult and jubilate to God; not only because He is Lord and God and a great king above all gods, but also because He has made subject and brought under Himself the ends of the earth. For having asked this of the Father, He obtained it, according to that: "Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for thy possession" [Ps. 2:8]. But if certain heights of mountains are held in honor in the divine Scripture—for example, Sinai, Choreb, Thabor, Mount Sion, the Mount of Olives, and if any other is similar to these—or even the mountains contrary and opposite to these, which were formerly occupied by demons, where the nations used to sacrifice to the wicked demons as to gods; yet we are taught that all these also belong to the Lord and our Savior, for He Himself was their Creator. ^B Might it be that the ends of the earth are in His hand because earthly things are dispensed under His hand, while the heavenly things, which are tropically called the heights of the mountains, possess something more excellent than earthly things, because they are as it were His own possession and the dwelling-place of His kingdom?

Vers. 5. "For his the sea is, and he made it, and his hands formed the dry land" [Ps. 94:5]. Do not wonder, he says, if the ends of the earth are His, and if the heights of the mountains pertain to Him. Rather, indeed, learn that the whole element of moist substance, upon which the earth is established, is His work: it is not only His possession, but also His handiwork. The sea, therefore—by which the whole element of moist substance is signified—He Himself made; but His hands formed the dry land; perhaps because it is said: "God took dust from the earth and formed man" [Gen. 2:7]; and again: "God formed from the earth all the wild beasts" [Gen. 2:19]. ^C Furthermore, it seems that the element of earth, which is spherical, as they say, or formed in some other way, received such a formation by the Word of God. Wherefore, it is said accurately and according to physical reason: "And the dry land his hands formed."

Vers. 6. "Come, let us worship and fall down and weep before the Lord who made us" [Ps. 94:6]. When the discourse had declared the divine power of the Lord through the preceding teaching, and had said above, "Let us come before his presence in confession" [Ps. 94:2], now it necessarily reveals the manner of the confession. ^D For, having begun the psalm in the manner of one exhorting, it did not start from the sadder things, but from the more joyful, lest those who were being called might turn away from that "let us fall down and weep," if they had heard it immediately at the beginning. Unless perhaps by these words he signifies two ranks; one, the better, which he first called to praise and exultation; the other, which is in need of healing:

^A for, *Come let us exult*, was said at the beginning; then indeed after those things which were said concerning the divinity of the Lord, and after the calling of the first, it passes to the second, teaching them that for water and washing, they must make use of tears and confession to expiate their former sins. But he uses the hortatory, *Let us weep before the Lord*, and by adding *who made us*, he has written down good hopes, teaching that we are not strangers to Him, but His work and creation; wherefore more pleasant things are to be expected, since He cares for His own handiwork. ^B Furthermore, by the words, *Let us fall down and weep before the Lord*, He teaches that this should not be done in the sight of men nor for the sake of men, but in secret, according to that: *Your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you*. Therefore, these precepts are generally suitable for all; but properly and primarily the Word calls the people of the Jews to repentance for the things they dared to commit.

*Vers.* 7. *For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.* He is not only our Lord, as a master of household servants; nor only a maker, as being our Creator; but He is also our God, inasmuch as He is good and merciful. Wherefore He will spare us and have mercy upon us, because we are not only His creation, but we also happen to be His possession. And those who are more rational are His people, while those who are still imperfect and less rational are the sheep of His hand. So if we confess to Him, and worship, and fall down, and weep before Him, we shall certainly attain salvation, some as His people, others as the sheep of His hand. For He is said to be the good shepherd, and we are taught to say: *The Lord shepherds me, and nothing shall I lack*.

*Vers.* 8. *Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts in the provocation.* Once then, he says, you hardened your hearts, having heard His voice in the desert; beware therefore, lest you do the same a second time, if you hear again His voice that has come among men today. ^C But the Word is spoken primarily to those of the circumcision, uttered from the person of the choir of the prophets. Those, indeed, at the beginning said everything in the plural, including themselves with those who were called; for, *Come*, they said, *let us exult, and let us shout, and let us be beforehand*; and again, *Come, let us worship and fall down and weep*. But in the present case, having assumed the person of others, they exhort them not to reject the calling, nor to deny faith to the voice that is about to speak to them today. Now the Apostle takes the word *today* for the whole time of our life, according to that: *as long as it is called today*. And the logic exhorts us also from this point to begin to observe what has been commanded. For even if some great sloth has occurred in the past time; yet at least from ^D the

day that is called today, and from the current time, let us be zealous to attend to the things that have been spoken. And let us not emulate that people who, having heard the voice of God in the vision in the desert, hardened their heart in the time of provocation, when all their limbs were laid low in the desert because they had not obeyed the voice of God. ^A Necessarily, therefore, he reminds them of these things, so that we too, hearing the commandments of God today and not obeying them, might not provoke Him, becoming hardened in heart and not obeying the saving commandments, and thereby preparing Him to be for ourselves an acerbic and stern judge. And indeed, as I have said, the commandment is fitting for all of us; but according to the prior reasoning, these things are said to the people from the circumcision, having such a meaning: “Once, already long ago in the desert, having heard the voice of God, you provoked Him, having hardened your own hearts in the time of Moses; but since the Word of God Himself is about to speak to men a second time, having appeared in life, and is to teach you yourselves the mysteries of the New Testament, see that you do not harden yourselves again as you hardened yourselves before, nor provoke Him again if you hear His voice anew, nor imitate your fathers in this, so that you do not deprive yourselves ^B of the true Sabbath and of His rest, which the Word of God Himself will bestow, having received His own kingdom, and resting in it, and receiving all who accept Him into that same rest, and providing the holy and true Sabbath to those worthy of rest with Him and in Him.”

VERS. 9-11. *According to the day of temptation in the desert, where your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works. Forty years was I offended with this generation: and I said, They do always err in their heart. And they have not known my ways, as I swore in my wrath, that they should enter into my rest.* ^C How those fathers tempted God in the desert is recorded in Moses, not only of the ancient Jews, as one might suppose, but also of those who even today, though hearing the voice of God, are hardened; and it is often said in the 76th Psalm, and similarly in the 105th, as you will discover if you seek it out for yourself. Since, therefore, God swore to these, [saying] that those who provoked Him would not enter into His rest, which the discourse described in a few words, we must be solicitous and anxious not to fall into the same. For the same things will befall us if, hearing the voice of God now and still in the present time calling us, we harden our own hearts; ^D for the wrath of God will overtake us, and we will be deprived of that rest with Him and in Him. And what that wrath is, the Apostle makes clear, saying: *But according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou treasurest up to thyself wrath, against the day of wrath, and revelation of the just judgment of God* (Rom. ii, 5). And what is His rest, if not that sojourning with Him after the departure from this life, wherein we shall rest in His kingdom, exempted entirely from every work and business, and resting solely in the contemplation of divine and heavenly things?

And when the sorrow, sadness, and groaning depart, there will follow rest, deliverance from evils, cessation, and a true Sabbath, in which this true Sabbath the Word of God Himself will rest. ^A With regard to this sensible world, He calls and exhorts the Jews, that if now for the second time, as of old in the desert, they would deign to hear the voice of the Word of God—which was to speak to them again at the time of His incarnation—they should not imitate their fathers, nor again provoke God as before. And as He thus exhorts them, it seems to me that He is foretelling and hinting at their future unbelief toward Christ, as One who is not ignorant of what is to come. For beneath these words, speaking as from the person of God, He adds and says: "And I said, They always err in their heart"; and again, "As I sware in my wrath, If they shall enter into my rest." For if the divine mouth cannot fall into falsehood, and it has pronounced this definition and sentence—that they do indeed always err—and has confirmed with an oath that they shall not enter into His rest, ^B it has clearly prophesied the future. Whence it appears that, as the first time under Moses, so also the second time under the Lord, they erred in their heart, and were on that account deprived of the promise. Wherefore, consistently, after the present psalm, the one that follows calls all the nations to the promise of God, as if that former people had not obeyed.

PSALM OF DAVID, WHEN THE HOUSE WAS BUILT AFTER THE CAPTIVITY. XCV.

V. 2. "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name." ^C Since the Word, in the psalm before this, had said concerning the Jewish people, "They always err in their heart," and, "As I sware in my wrath, If they shall enter into my rest," because He had first called them to that divine exultation and found them disobedient, He passes on to the calling of the nations. And He addresses these things to the apostles and disciples of the Savior, which is evident from the words that subsequently follow: "Announce from day to day his salvation," and, "Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples"; for these words have been put into effect by the labors of none other than our Savior's apostles. ^D Therefore, on account of the New Testament and the new evangelical song, which was preached to all nations by them, it was fitting that they alone should be thus addressed. These men, therefore, are commanded to sing a new song to the Lord in all the earth: which they have also fulfilled in their works, when "their sound went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world." Moreover, that new song was the saving Gospel, not containing those old legal ordinances of Moses, but the commandments of Christ, which are suitable for all Greeks; for those Mosaic [ordinances] were not of this kind.

In the first place, therefore, He commands them to sing a new song to the Lord Himself; but because not all the earth was able to understand who the Lord was, nor to grasp deeper doctrines concerning the Lord, He necessarily adds ^A in a second statement: "Sing to the Lord, bless His name," having this meaning: if anyone is unable to understand who is the Creator of the whole world and the Lord of all, or to perceive how the creative Word of God, being invisible and hidden in power, administers and governs all things, it is sufficient for them, as beginners, simply to bless His name. For the very name of the Lord, and His naked designation, pronounced with praise and blessing, can procure the greatest benefit for those who bless Him, and indeed a greater one than for those who blessed Abraham, to whom it was said, "Those who bless you shall be blessed."

Furthermore, let those who have been deemed worthy of the new world sing the new song after the captivity throughout the whole world. For this reason the title of the psalm says, "When the house was being built after the captivity." For when that great house of God, His Church, was to be built among all nations after the captivity of souls by that great and wise architect, our Lord and Savior, of whom the prophet says, "He will build my city, and will bring back the ^B captivity of my people"; then the Savior Himself, intending to fulfill what had been predicted by the prophets, took in His hands and read the passage from Isaiah that speaks in His own person: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me; He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind." And closing the book after the reading, He said, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears," teaching that He was indeed the one anointed—not with corporeal ointment, like other corporeal christs, but with the Spirit of the Father's divinity—and for this reason was named Christ; and through Him the Gospel had been preached to those who were captives in their souls, in accordance with the prophecy.

The prophets of the Jewish nation, therefore, did not sing such things, nor did they preach gospels of good things to those of their own time; but rather things similar to what Moses says in the great canticle to the people: "Blameworthy children, a crooked and ^C perverse generation, do you thus repay the Lord? Is the people thus foolish and not wise?" and the things that follow, among which is also: "They provoked me with strange things, with their abominations they embittered me. They sacrificed to demons, and not to God," and, "They provoked me to jealousy with that which is no god, they irritated me with their idols." And Isaiah, singing a song akin to these, said: "I will sing to my beloved a song of my beloved, regarding my vineyard"; to which he adds: "What shall I do to my vineyard, because I waited for it to bring forth grapes, but it brought forth thorns? I will remove its hedge, and it shall be for plundering; and I will destroy its tower, and it shall be

for treading down; and I will forsake my vineyard," and the things that follow these. ^A Jeremiah also sang lamentations against the Jewish people; and the rest of the prophets likewise, lamenting their fall, composed songs appropriate to them. But the new song announced to the nations was not like those, but contained the promises of new and recent goods, proclaimed not to the Jewish people, but to the whole earth. And the inscription very accurately says that the new song would be proclaimed to all the nations, "When the house was being built after the captivity." For in another way, after the captivity of the Jews and after their downfall and the wrath of God that came upon them, which the preceding psalm foretold, saying, *They always go astray in their heart; and they did not know my ways; as I swore in my wrath, "They shall not enter into my rest,"* all men dwelling on the earth, both barbarians and Greeks, when the house of God—that is, His Church—was established among them, having put aside the worship of many gods, which they were accustomed to offer in the diabolical ^B delusion, were taught to sing the new song. From that time forth, they also proclaim the salvation of God, using the readings of the holy Gospels throughout the whole inhabited world.

*Proclaim the salvation of his day by day; declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples.* To whom should one think these things are commanded, if not to those who later fulfilled them by their deeds, that is to say, to those who preached the salvation of God to all the nations? For to them the divine Spirit commanded this from above and long before. And it addresses the same things to them, as those who were about to declare the glory of the Lord among all the nations, and were about to preach His wonders among all the peoples. Who, then, were those who accomplished these things by their deeds? If it were possible to point to others, either in the times of Cyrus or in the times of ^C Darius, to whom these things might apply, the prophecy would refer to them. But since there are none of such a kind, these precepts are delivered to the disciples of Jesus, who hear these words: *Go, teach all nations.* For the Holy Spirit wills them to perform the evangelical work with strenuous and unceasing zeal; for the phrase "day by day" signifies this, that they should unceasingly proclaim that salvation of which it is said: *This is truly the Savior of the world.*

*Bring to the Lord, the families of the nations, bring to the Lord glory and honor; bring to the Lord glory to his name.* Not in vain did He command to sing a new song in the opening of the psalmody, but because this psalm contained a new calling, and the preaching was new. For the nations, as you see, that are called ^D are not sacrificing calves, nor lambs, nor from outside...

^A from imperfect animals (for every irrational thing is deficient), but are required to sacrifice themselves, and are commanded to bring glory and honor to Him, as to God. And since it is necessary not just to glorify Him by words and sound doctrines, but also to offer sacrifices to Him, he adds: "Take up sacrifices, and come into his courts; worship the Lord in his holy court. Let all the earth be shaken from his presence. Say among the nations: The Lord reigns," and so forth. By sacrifices, he means the rational and spiritual ones that we see being offered up continuously on behalf of the pious, and being performed as priestly acts by the priests; and of this kind also are the virtues. By courts, he means the churches in which the sacrifices of the New Testament are offered, namely, the spiritual worship, the fruits of good works, the thank-offerings. Moreover, he did not command these things to the Jews, lest anyone suspect that the discourse here concerns legal sacrifices; but [he addressed them] to the families of the nations, concerning whom God says in another [B ] prophet, speaking to the Jews: "I have no pleasure in you, and I will not accept a sacrifice from your hands: for from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the nations; and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice." Well and good, therefore: for the expression, "Take up sacrifices," means: Lift up your understanding regarding sacrifices, and do not sacrifice cattle or other animals in a low and debased manner of thinking; but, understanding this saying in a more sublime way, offer spiritual and heavenly sacrifices, of which those sacrifices offered by sensible ritual were images and shadows. And what kind of sacrifices this psalm demands, the blessed Paul teaches, saying: "Present your bodies a pure, living ^C sacrifice, pleasing to God, your rational service." And "enter in," he says,—by what path do you enter? By faith, clearly; for this is the entry to salvation.

VERS. 11, 13. "Let the heavens rejoice and the earth exult, let the sea be shaken and its fullness. The fields shall rejoice, and all that is in them." Instead of, "Let the sea be shaken," according to Aquila it is said, "It shall thunder"; or according to Symmachus, "It shall resound." By these words the text signifies that the evangelical preaching is to traverse both the seas and the islands situated in the sea, as well as the men inhabiting them, which men are called its "fullness." And this too has reached its end. For already the Churches of Christ fill all the islands, and the saving teaching increases ^D and grows day by day, having propagated as far as those who inhabit the Ocean. "And then all the trees of the wood shall exult before the face of the Lord, because he comes, because he comes to judge the earth. He shall judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his truth."

OF DAVID, WHEN HIS LAND WAS RESTORED. XCVI.

VERS. 1. "The Lord reigns, let the earth exult,"

^A let the many islands rejoice." Since this superscription is present in the Septuagint translation, we say that David, having fallen into many calamities at the time when he was being driven away by Saul, and haunted the deserts, and spent time among the foreigners; and then, when he was at leisure from wars, sang this psalm, I believe, at the time when his land was restored, when, all his enemies having been destroyed, both his mind and his kingdom were living in security, peace, and tranquility. Then, therefore, the prophet, settled in a peaceful state, is stirred by the divine Spirit to set forth this teaching. But since neither the designation "song" nor "psalm" is written among the Hebrews, you might say that these things are prophecy and simple doctrine, which look toward the second and glorious advent of our Savior; ^B of which Daniel also, making mention, says: "I was watching, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like the Son of Man was coming, and he reached as far as the Ancient of Days. And to him was given authority and honor and kingdom; and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his authority shall not be taken away." Then, he says, all the earth shall rejoice, that is, the new creation, and all the men of God who have inhabited the earth from the age; or also those who are about to inherit the heavenly earth, according to the saying: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." For when the corporeal substance is transformed into incorruption according to the laws of the resurrection, the earth shall rejoice, as it too will be found worthy of the kingdom of heaven.

"Let the many islands rejoice." Many, but not all, because of those who think wickedly; for it is not right that the impious should rejoice. For the Holy Scripture sometimes calls the Churches "islands," as if lying in a sea in this place, and surrounded by bitter waters—the tribulations in this world—and as if beaten by the most violent waves, namely persecutions; yet they are supported immovably, and standing on high, and not submerged by the afflictions. For the Churches are unshaken because of Christ, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against them. If, therefore, one should wish to understand the islands as the Churches from the nations, he will not go astray from the proper goal. For the islands are renewed unto God according to Isaiah, that is, the Churches from the nations, which are newly established and emerging from the salt-bitter unbelief, and receive a foothold grounded in God. Well, therefore, here too He called the souls of those who show steadfastness and immutability in temptations "islands," which on every side are encompassed by the salt-sea of malice, yet it does not have the power, in crashing [against them], to produce any surging in the stability of virtue.

"Cloud and darkness are round about him, righteousness and judgment are the establishment of his throne." A cloud indeed is

a gleaming and very fine fabric produced from luminous air; darkness, however, is a murky and mist-like gloom. Through both, the discourse marks off the unseeability of the divine nature. For just as it is impossible to see someone wrapped in a certain cloud and darkness, so it is altogether impossible to behold the invisible nature. It also signifies the hidden coming of the Lord to mankind, when he was born in the form of a servant; ^A so that the cloud and darkness are understood to be the flesh which he assumed, as it conceals the deity, according to the word: "He made darkness his hiding place; his tabernacle was round about him." He also reminds us that he is the same one who manifested himself on Mount Sinai through cloud and darkness; and he teaches that although the divine nature cannot be seen, its power can nevertheless be discerned through its operation. For he taught mankind justice, and instructed those who saw all things without distinction and discernment to live their lives with upright judgment. These things his throne and kingdom have established; wherefore he adds: "Righteousness and judgment are the establishment of his throne." This, he says, was the cause of his coming: to judge our cause justly, which we have against the malignant and adversarial powers. For Christ has reigned over us, in order that he might justify by faith those who were in sin. He used a judgment that was truly divine and most ^B merciful: for he justified us not from works of righteousness, but according to his great mercy. And he saved us also through holy and mystical water, in which that many-headed dragon was crushed and trampled, or rather, was destroyed, and with him his malignant powers. These things the kingdom of Christ has established. It is clear from this that we, indeed, have been liberated from those who unjustly enslaved us, but they have been condemned. For this is true justice: that the devil, who exercised tyranny, should be destroyed, and that humans, who were living under tyranny, should be liberated. Nevertheless, he also requires us to practice justice and judgment aright.

VERS. 5-7. "Fire shall burn in his presence, and it shall inflame his enemies round about. His lightnings shone forth to the orb of the earth; the earth saw and was shaken. The mountains melted like wax from the presence of the Lord, from the presence of the Lord of all the earth. The heavens have announced his righteousness, and all the peoples have seen his glory. Let all those be ashamed who worship graven images, who glory in their idols." Here he subindicates the ^C terrors of that avenging power, through the fire and the brilliance of the lightning, which are to be seen at the second coming of Christ; and he reveals the evangelical illumination, calling the words of the divine proclamation, which shine throughout the whole world, "lightnings." For we would not say that he makes mention of the lightning that is a sign of rain, but he signifies the brilliance of divine and spiritual light by the name of lightning; or perhaps he calls those who fulfilled the holy office of divine and evangelical preaching, that is, the apostles and evangelists, "lightnings."

^A For they illuminated the world like light, to whom Christ himself also said: "You are the light of the world." For the true light is the Son himself, who illuminates every rational creature. But since they have become partakers of the light from him, and they themselves, according to the text, "Coals were kindled by him," are also called the light of the world. These, therefore, have become like lightnings running everywhere under heaven, and they send the divine and intelligible light into the hearts of those being initiated. And the Psalmist also speaks of fire, not at all this sensible fire, nor indeed the flame that falls under observation, but a certain divine power, unconquerable, irresistible, and inescapable, which, like fire, devours those who are hostile to it. But these were, even before others, the destructive demons and the leader of their herd; this one the Savior burned up together with the others. For it was not possible otherwise to deliver those who were on earth under him, unless, as if sending a fire upon him—his wrath—that consumes and causes him to vanish. In this way he delivered those who had been under him, saved those in captivity, rescued those who were straying, and called them into the light of truth. Perhaps David mentioned fire and lightning, that is, flame and light, because the power of fire is twofold: for it has not only the power to burn, but also to illuminate; and indeed he bestows the light upon the just, while the burning is reserved for the wicked. These are the prophecies of the second coming; these ^B Daniel also saw, for he says, "A river of fire was drawn before him"; and the Lord said that his coming will be "like the lightning reaching from the east to the west." His fire indeed will go before him for the sake of his enemies, but for the sake of the pious and god-loving men, his lightnings, sent out from the same light, will illuminate the world instead of the sun. For if at that time the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, according to the saving teaching, from where else will the world be illuminated if not from him? Since he himself is the Lord, the eternal light.

^C VERS. 8-12. "Adorate eum omnes angeli ejus : audivit et lætata est Sion, et exsultaverunt filiæ Judææ propter judicia tua, Domine." One must know that Sion is the Church of Christ, and the daughters of Judaea are the apostolic souls who came from the Jewish nation, who are indeed filled with joy and exultation when they hear about the judgments of the Lord, and about the punishments that are reserved for the worshippers of idols, and about the promises that are reserved for the Gentiles. And they rightly rejoice, as being devoted to him, and hoping to be deemed worthy of his glorious coming. "Quoniam tu es Dominus altissimus super omnem terram, nimis exaltatus es super omnes deos. Qui diligitis Dominum, odite malum : custodit Dominus animas sanctorum suorum, de manu peccatorum liberabit eos." If, he says, having turned away from evil, you become holy, ^D then...

it will come to pass for you both to attain the guardianship that is from God, and to be delivered from the hand of the devil; for he is the sinner in the true sense. Thus, the way of love towards the Lord is to hate evil; and the reward of this is to have Him as the guardian of your life, and to become superior to the enemies who rise up against you. Do you see how great things we have obtained for the love of God? We become holy by being dedicated to Him, and we possess God as the guardian of that great treasure, our soul, so that we may no longer remain under the hand and power of the enemy; for "Light is sprung up to the righteous, and gladness to the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks to the memory of His holiness."

PSALM XCVII

^BVERS. 1. *Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonderful things.* This psalm also insists upon the same sentiment: for it prophesies both comings of the Saviour, but discourses much more about the second. It rightly commands a new song to be offered to God, because it proclaims a change in former things, and announces a new way of life. For the things which have been accomplished by the God of all for our salvation are truly supernatural and stupendous. For our Saviour, having come into the world, and by the grace of God having tasted death for everyone, that He might take away the sin of the world—as will be demonstrated by the following verses—deigned to make us participants in great and secret mysteries. ^C *His right hand and His holy arm have saved Him.* That the Saviour is the right hand and arm of God has already been demonstrated at great length from the significance of the right hand and the arm. Therefore, the right hand of God keeps those safe who have been raised up to blessedness. For not everyone who is saved is saved by the Lord God; but only everyone who, according to right reason, is delivered from evils and diseases, and who has attained the knowledge of truth with piety. For he who is saved from diseases and wounds is not altogether saved by God, especially when he does not know that his soundness has been bestowed upon him by God. Moreover, the arm of God is holy, not participating in holiness, but because it is the arm of the Holy Spirit. And perhaps the right hand is called the active power of God—which is none other than God the Word—because He does all things rightly, that is, holily, wisely, blamelessly, and praisably; but the arm [is so called] because of its strength and pre-eminent power.

VERS. 2, 3. *The Lord hath made known His salvation, in the sight of the nations He hath revealed His justice. He hath remembered His mercy to Jacob, and His truth to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.* Having once promised to Abraham that in his seed all nations should be blessed, He confirmed the truth of His words through the event of the things themselves; and the mercy ^D which He promised with an oath that He would show, He demonstrated to have been brought into effect. These things, furthermore, seem to have much affinity with the prophecies of Isaiah, through whom the Father says to the Only-begotten: "I have given thee for a covenant of the race, for a light of the nations, that thou mayest be for salvation unto the end of the earth." For since, by the wonders shown to the patriarchs...

and to David, God, who is over all, had promised that He would raise up Christ from their seed according to the flesh, and would provide salvation through Him to all mankind, He called the promise made to the fathers a covenant. He called his race Israel, because Christ is of the Jews according to the flesh. "I have given thee," therefore, "for a covenant of the race," that is, in order to fulfill the pacts made with the Jews; "but for a light" no longer of the Jews, but of the nations. For these attained to salvation through faith, while those loved the darkness of unbelief. This is what David also said in this place: "He hath remembered His mercy toward Jacob," that is, toward Israel, meaning that He fulfilled the promises made to them and brought them to pass; "wherefore all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." For when the Gospel had been preached in all the world under heaven and in all the inhabited earth as a witness to all nations, according to the prophecy of Christ, all the ends of the earth saw Christ, the salvation of God. ^A

VERS. 4-6. "Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth; sing and rejoice and psalm. Psalm unto the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the voice of a psalm, with ductile trumpets, and the voice of a horn trumpet. Make a joyful noise before the King the Lord," and what follows. According to the literal sense, he says, join the instruments of the psaltery to the hymns; but according to the anagogical method of interpretation, the harp is the practical life, and the voice of the psalm is theory. Therefore, he says, offer praise to the Lord through practice and theory; and besides the psalm played on the instrument—that is, the actions of the body performed with virtue—let the voice also sing, which is the theory (or speculation) of things to be done; for he calls the harmony of the body with the soul a harp. ^B And this rule may be seen being fulfilled continually in the churches, for with a spiritual harp we strike the divine melody. Indeed, we ourselves make our mouths into rational harps, and for strings, we use our teeth, and for brass, our lips; and the tongue, moved more swiftly than any plectrum, produces a harmonious sound of vibrations; and the mind moves the tongue, like a skilled musician making its variations with knowledge. This harp is more pleasing to God than that which is devoid of soul. And a witness to this is He Himself, crying out through the prophet: "Take thou away from me the sound of thy songs, and I will not hear the voice of thy instruments." ^C

"With ductile trumpets, and the voice of a horn trumpet." Ductile trumpets are said to be the words of the apostles of our Savior, on account of their faith, which was tested and tried by fire; but they are called horn trumpets because of their actions. For horn trumpets belong to oxen, and the ox is a laborious animal. And regarding the apostles, Paul says: "Is it of oxen that God is concerned? Or does He speak it altogether for our sakes?" Therefore, the voices of the sacred apostles of the Savior were at once ductile and horn trumpets. In another way, do not hesitate ^D

to speak of the entire people of Christ as being fitted together from diverse souls as if from many strings, lifting up one prayer and thanksgiving to God.

PSALM 98

Verses 1, 2. *The Lord has reigned, let the peoples be angry; He who sits upon the cherubim, let the earth be moved.* Among the Hebrews, this psalm lacks a title; but it is one of those that proclaim the kingdom of Christ. Since no one would say they are angry because the God of the universe holds dominion over all, the present text says that "peoples" are angry at the kingdom of Christ—referring to the peoples from the circumcision and from the nations who do not believe in Him. He soon declares who the Lord is, saying: *He who sits upon the cherubim.* For the zeal for the salvation of the nations bites and grieves the unbelievers, since they did not understand the prophetic voices concerning His kingdom. *Let the earth be moved.* For the demons, who formerly had great power, have become infirm, so that all their powers have been shaken and their operations have ceased. ^B Human beings, too, inhabiting the earth, having repented, have recognized the destruction of their ancestral error, attributing to themselves the Word of God as their Lord. Yet more, even those who were unbelieving toward Him have been vehemently moved, being shaken and struck by the power of His teaching.

But as to the expression *He who sits*, He speaks as if conversing with men; for the incorporeal nature is incomprehensible and uncircumscribed. *The Lord is great in Sion, and He is high above all the peoples.* Sion is interpreted as "watchtower," and it is the custom of divine Scripture thus to name every religious institution, and in this way to indicate those who observe heavenly things, of the kind meant by the Apostle who says: *While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.* ^C For among them, the Lord is great.

Verse 3. *Let them confess Thy great name, for it is terrible and holy.* Now, indeed, peoples are angry at the kingdom of our Savior: but there will be a time in which they too will confess His great name, *when every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.*

Verse 4. *And the honor of the king loves judgment.* The honor and virtue of the king deservedly render His name terrible to some, but holy to others, by reason of judgment. For if those who transgress His law dishonor Him by that very transgression, those who fulfill the divine law, conversely, ^D by the very act of fulfilling it, honor the King Himself who gave the law, loving His judgment: knowing that His judgment is just, and that they will attain divine rewards because they have acted piously and justly according to His will.

Verse 5. *Thou hast prepared directions, judgment and justice in Jacob Thou hast wrought. Exalt ye the Lord our God, etc.* No one, he says, should think...

that the Lord who is glorified here is any other than the God who gave the law in the desert. ^A For you, He says, O Lord, whose kingdom we proclaim, are the very One who ordained judgment and justice for the people of the circumcision, according to the legislation given to them, which contains ordinances and judgments. And You Yourself have prepared directions to be rendered at the time of retribution to those who keep judgment and justice. *Verses 6, 7. Moyses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who call upon His name. They called upon the Lord, and He heard them; in a pillar of cloud He spoke to them. They kept His testimonies, and the commandments which He gave them.* That saying, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me," holds the same meaning as the matters set before us here. For he says that Moses, Aaron, and Samuel—and anyone else, whether of the prophets or the priests—called upon this Lord, and no other, who is now heralded as God. And this was the Word of God Himself, who is now exalted over all peoples and glorified among all nations, who heard those men long ago and spoke to them in a pillar of cloud. ^B And these men attained such great worth in no other way than by keeping His testimonies and the commandment He gave them. Thus, therefore, through the New Testament, the same One has given us commandments, laws, and testimonies, which if we keep, we too shall be accounted worthy of the same things.

*Verse 8. O Lord our God, You heard them; You became propitious to them, and avenged all their deeds. You, he says, our Lord and God, the King of the nations, who is proclaimed by us, were the very One who heard those around Moses and Aaron, and granted them such great confidence, as they sought Your favor for the people who provoked You, and deemed them worthy of much kindness. For even if they fell into certain infirmities as men—as Moses did regarding the unbelief at the water, and Aaron regarding the making of the calf—You, ^C as the all-good Son of an all-good Father, became propitious to them, granting forgiveness for their mortal infirmity. And *avenging all their deeds*: even if, he says, appearing as men they seemed to sin in some way, You used to chasten them when there was need for chastening. For Aaron was rebuked for his sin regarding the calf, and Moses regarding the water of contradiction.

*Verse 9. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.* Think nothing lowly or human, he says, concerning the Lord; but exalt Him by thinking high things of Him, and offer Him the worship that is His due. ^D Now the holy mountain was of old called Sion, but now it is the height of the knowledge of God; for thus also Isaiah and Micah prophesied: "In the last days the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest,"

^A that is, the knowledge of God shall be manifest to all. For the Apostle also acknowledges a spiritual Mount Sion; for he says, "You are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." We are commanded, therefore, in accordance with the knowledge given to us by God, to offer Him worship; for He is our Lord as we are His servants, and He is God as He is Creator. But thus let us understand the psalm in a more spiritual way.

PSALM IN CONFESSION. XCIX.

^B VERS. 2, 3. *Jubilate Deo, omnis terra.* That is, the nations that are on the earth; and by these words they are called to the confession of their former sins, in which, when they were given over to the error of idols, they used to wallow. Wherefore the psalm is inscribed *In confession*. *Serve the Lord with gladness*, submitting yourselves to His yoke. For it is the same thing to serve Him as it is to serve light, and to serve life, truth, justice, and holiness; for the Lord is all these things. *Come before His presence with exultation.* But if any man does not serve Him with gladness, let him not dare to stand before His presence, ^C coming to His Church with unwashed feet. *Know ye that the Lord He is God; it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.* For when we acknowledge that He is God, and He is the Lord, then, having entered into His presence through that knowledge, we shall confess Him to be our Creator. For that we do not make ourselves, even if we appear to be the authors of the procreation of children, is clear from this: for Job and David, though born of father and mother, both say: "Thy hands have made me and fashioned me," and to Jeremiah God Himself says: "Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee." Indeed, the wife who, led by error, said to her husband: "Give me children, or else I die," the wise man learnedly rebukes with these words: "Am I in the place of God, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?" For even if fathers seem to beget children, yet God brings them into being; and ^D He is the cause, while they are co-causes, as those who obey the command originally given by Him. For this reason many, though they greatly desire to beget children, yet cannot. Symmachus in fact says: "He Himself made us when we were not existing." *But we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.* By these words He has indicated not only His lordship, but also His providence; for He is not only our Lord, but also as a shepherd, He offers us good pasture. And we are His people, as of a King; but His sheep, as of a Shepherd: the people are those who are better and more rational; the sheep are those who are inferior to them, and occupy a more irrational order, and are not well-versed in the divine oracles; according to that saying: "I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost." But yet, being the God and Creator of all, He calls all things and makes all things His own. For God saves both men and beasts; the former as His people, the latter as the sheep of His hand.

^A Ver. 4. "Enter into His gates with confession, into His courts with hymns." Remember, he says, the evils in which you were previously examined, when you were far from the Lord, led by other wicked masters. Therefore, using the confession of your former impieties as a laver, enter into His gates with confidence; for after the gates—that is, after the principles and first entrances of the service of God—having passed into the interior and the courts, you will no longer use confession, but will henceforth occupy yourselves with hymns unto Him. For just as it is necessary first to enter into the gates, and then into the courts, so it is necessary first to confess sins, and afterwards to celebrate God with hymns, that, the tongue being purified by confession, a pure hymn may be offered. "Confess to Him. Praise His name, for the Lord is good; for His mercy is unto eternity, and His truth unto generation and generation." It is just, he ^B says, to give thanks and to sing hymns to Him who uses ineffable kindness toward men, and who has set a limit to His good promises. For what He promised in the generation of our forefathers, these He has fulfilled in our own; and the salvation which He promised, He has truly bestowed. And the benefit which has come to us from Him—which is truth—will never cease, according to that which says, "He remembered His covenant unto eternity." Or, "Confess," may be understood thus: as to a physician, uncover the wounds of your soul to Him through confession. Perform this with confidence, having learned the true doctrine about Him, that He is good and merciful and truthful, and in every generation His words are full of truth.

PSALM TO DAVID. C.

Ver. 2, 3. "I will sing of mercy and judgment to Thee, O Lord; I will sing and understand in an immaculate way, when wilt Thou come unto me?" That is, I will sing of Thy mercy and Thy judgment, explaining the manner in which Thou art accustomed to act—not first to judge, and then to show mercy, but first to show mercy, and then to judge, and to pass ^C judgment with kindness and mercy. Therefore I myself, while exercising mercy and judgment toward my neighbor, dare to approach to sing and play the psaltery to Thee. Knowing, therefore, how one ought to do this, I keep my own ways immaculate and blameless, convinced that in this way I shall be pleasing to Thee by singing through good works. Henceforth, therefore, O Lord, come unto me, and You shall find a dwelling prepared with me; since all good things have been prepared by me, as I await when You will come unto me. "I walked in the innocence of my heart in the midst of my house. I did not set before my eyes any unlawful thing; I hated those who do transgressions." Many of men, pretending to be serious and upright in the marketplaces, ^D appear virtuous; but in their own houses, no longer concealing their own character, they are exposed as being quite base. But I, he says, walked in the innocence of my heart in the midst of my house, having no evil thoughts coming forth from within my heart. Never, therefore, by preference, did I sin.

but if anything human happened to me, it did not occur by my own design. ^A

VERS. 4. *Non adhaesit mihi cor pravum*. The designs of the devil, inasmuch as they have nothing straight in them, are truly crooked and perverted, which, he says, I never admitted into my heart; but knowing that he who cleaves to the just will be just, I refused to allow any perverse man to join himself to me or cleave to me. For what is straight cannot be joined to what is crooked, as it is incompatible. *When the wicked declined from me, I did not know it.* A perfect man, who does not have a perverse heart wherein the wicked one can operate, is filled with God; so that the wicked one, finding no place within him, turns away from him. When he turned away, he says, I did not know it, because I was destitute of any sense of his presence, since I neither thought of him nor had any business with him. Furthermore, you will understand this also concerning a wicked man, that I had no perception of him, neither when he approached nor when he withdrew; thus, I disregarded such pestilent men in no small degree, and feigned not to know them: for I did not deem them worthy to be my friends. Are you, then, proud? By no means, he says; but knowing that "Evil company corrupts good morals," I did not enter into society with the wicked. ^B

VERS. 5. *Him who privily slandered his neighbor, him did I pursue.* Both the man, he says, and the thought suggesting to me something evil against anyone, I cast out of my heart, as a dog that bites stealthily. For an upright man, who is accustomed to act confidently in all things, just as he abhors those things that are done in secret, as being worthy of shame, so too he does not endure to speak or hear anything against anyone in secret; for this is the conduct of a base and unrefined person, and danger hangs over such an act, as Scripture says: "Do not love to slander, lest you be uprooted"; and, "Do not speak against one another, brethren, lest you fall under judgment." What it is to slander must be explained by way of a paradigm; for it is not just any way of speaking about someone in secret that constitutes slander. For often we speak ill of someone who is absent, not because we wish to slander him, but grieving that he is perhaps wicked; and we strive to relate these things to those who are as concerned and anxious for him as we are, out of a feeling of affection. He, therefore, who speaks thus against an absent person is by no means a slanderer (for a slanderer does not act in this way), but he who speaks against someone with pleasure, not taking it ill that he has done such things, but even rejoicing in the matter. For he recounts his deeds to the malevolent, who are able to disclose and report them to many others. But what is intended by the clause that is added, "privily," since it is evident that any slander occurs in secret? Either it refers to the thing itself, or it must be distinguished as follows: that among those who find fault with some, ^C some speak against those who are present face to face—these are customarily called revilers and insolent—yet because they speak against someone, they would be slanderers; others, however, speak against them privately and in the absence of those who are being slandered. The same ^D

^A rule the holy man says he follows in driving them away, not those who insult face-to-face. For in the case of a person against whom blasphemies are uttered, either he will defend himself while present, or, being convicted of being such a person, he will be ashamed. It is possible, moreover, to distinguish slander committed in secret from an accusation made before judges; for the latter, too, is a type of speaking against someone, but it is not done in secret. The fruit of a holy mind, therefore, is to avoid wicked men; but a proof of the ultimate wickedness is to slander a brother, and that secretly rather than face-to-face, so that the accused may not be present to defend himself. Indeed, he who slanders another to us will not refrain from slandering us to others. Whence it is reasonable that such a person be repelled as a common enemy, as one who imitates that dragon in paradise who, speaking against God, deceived Eve. But as for us, let us neither speak evil nor lend an ear to those who do. "Do not," he says, "receive a vain report" (Exod. XXIII, 1); he did not say, "Do not believe it," but, "Do not receive it." Therefore, the Prophet also says: "I ^B pursued the slanderer," and he did not say: "I did not believe him" or "I did not receive what was said," but rather, "I chased him away as an enemy." Say to the slanderer: "If you have someone to praise, I will open my ears that I may receive the perfume; but if you wish to speak evil, I will block the entrance to my words, for I will not endure to receive dung and mud." Put a bridle on the slanderer for your ears, so that you do not become a participant in a double sin with him, both accustoming yourself to a destructive passion and failing to restrain him from whispering against his neighbor. Give not your ear to the tongue of the slanderer, nor your tongue to the ear of the lover of calumny, speaking or hearing pleasantly against your neighbor, so that you may not fall from charity and be found ^C an alien to eternal life. It differs, however, to condemn, to despise, and to slander. For to slander is to speak words against someone, as for example, to say: "Such-and-such a man lied," or "he was angry," or "he committed adultery," or something of the sort; for he has spoken of the brother's sin with passion. But to condemn is to say: "Such-and-such a man is a liar, an adulterer, an angry man"; for behold, he has condemned the very disposition of his soul and has pronounced a judgment upon his whole life, saying that this is what he is. For it is one thing to say, "He was enraged," and another to say, "He is irascible." To despise is, as it were, to loathe one's neighbor and to execrate him as something disgusting; and this is more destructive than just condemnation. ^D

VERS. 7. "There did not dwell in the midst of my house one who practiced pride." Higher up, he was speaking about a proud friend; here, however, he speaks about a servant, and says that he did not choose to have anyone who used haughtiness as a housemate, nor was anyone deemed worthy of primacy and confidence by me, as is the one who has confidence and freedom in the midst of the house; for such a person is in the sight of the master. To practice pride is to act with arrogance. He might also mean this: "There did not dwell in my heart a thought suggesting pride." He who speaks unjustly does not direct [it] before my eyes. Syn-

I turned away from all injustice, and did not endure it even to the point of words; for he who speaks what is unjust accomplished nothing, nor did he prosper before me, nor did he carry out what he had intended.

^B V. 8. *In the morning I killed all the sinners of the land, to destroy from the city of the Lord all who work iniquity.* He describes the exact and unwavering and sober method of justice; for he says that neither anger nor drunkenness prompted the destruction. For anger, even if it had provoked [me] on the previous day, would be softened by the length of the night; and drunkenness, even if much had been present in the evening hours, would be sufficiently dissipated by sleep. Therefore, with a pure hand and mind I was equipped and armed against those who sinned against God, neither deceived by the judgment born of wine nor by the judgment born of anger. And I did not kill the sinners merely [of] the whole land, but [those] under me; and not all at once, but now one, then another. But this is surely manifest to all, that this has been spoken enigmatically and under a veil; for the discourse is not saying that at the beginning of every day I was staining my hands with the blood of men—for this, besides being detestable, is in no way credible. For how could [I] have been able to destroy all the sinners of the land with my own hand every morning? For it is not possible for one man to overcome all, since it is likely that the multitude of sinners was great; and if he had conquered them in war, he would have killed them all in one morning, and not have killed them with his own hand every single morning. What, then, does this signify? Let us listen to what is said more attentively and prudently, so that we may not accuse the prophetic words of falsehood, which would be a sin. The city of the Lord is the composition of the human structure; the sinners of the land are those about whom the Savior says, *From within, out of the heart, proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnessings, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man.* These sinners born from the earth—that is, those proceeding from the earthly flesh—he who purifies himself removes from his own structure as each thought of God arises. ^C The morning and dawn in the soul is whenever the rising of a saving doctrine occurs, at which time all thoughts that work iniquity must be removed from the midst. For unless the first movements of the soul toward wickedness are cut away, it is necessary for the desires to proceed to the deed. For instance, a sinner of the land is the thought suggesting fornication, which causes someone to look at a woman to desire her; if this is not killed in the soul, and cut down by reason as if by a sword that severs and removes the affections, and if this is done in the morning—that is, at the time of its revelation into the manifest (for all that is made manifest is light)—after that fornication in the heart, it will lead the man to a more grievous sin; that is, to

the working of the body. Therefore David says this: I used to chasten those sinners and the passional thoughts that spring from the earthy body with morning prayers and by constant attendance upon God; and with the light of knowledge and the manifestation made through confession, I discerned and exterminated the passions of the body and the thoughts that commit iniquity ^A from my heart. For this is the city of the Lord, as it is the house of the Holy Spirit, according to that word: *His foundations are on the holy mountains; the Lord loves the gates of Sion more than all the tents of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.* Since, therefore, the prosperity of wickedness is, in truth, a plague upon the virtues, it is well for those who emulate the prophetic word to make their morning an opportunity for themselves, in order to kill all the sinners of the earth, to destroy from the city of the Lord—the soul being the city—all the thoughts that work iniquity, whose destruction becomes the life of those who are better, according to that word: *I will kill and I will make to live; I will strike, and I will heal, and there is no one who can deliver out of my hands.* For when the members that are upon the earth are put to death, and the body is buffeted and brought into subjection, the incentives to sins arising from the flesh cannot stir up in the soul those thoughts that hasten to commit iniquity for the sake of enjoying pleasure; and henceforth they live for better things. We must, therefore, not only be slayers of bodily passions, but also exterminators of the passional thoughts of the soul. For the sinners of the land are the passions of the body; but those who work iniquity and are destroyed from the city of the Lord are the ^B iniquitous thoughts of the soul. Concerning the statement, he says: *I killed the sinners*, for the purpose of destroying those who transgress, so that iniquity, seeing the severity of the punishment, might shrink and vanish. And "morning" indicates diligence in accordance with speed; and the removal of the wicked is lawful, for he says: *Remove the wicked from among you.* ^C

A PRAYER FOR THE POOR, WHEN HE IS IN DISTRESS, AND POURS OUT HIS SUPPLICATION BEFORE THE LORD. CI.

Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee. Turn not thy face away from me, and so forth. Since the inscription reads, *A prayer for the poor, when he is in distress, and pours out his supplication before the Lord*, you shall understand the poor man mentioned here by comparing him with the one who is declared blessed, according to that word: *Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.* You may also apply to the distressed poor man that ^D word: *Blessed are they that weep and mourn, for they shall be comforted.* For whoever is devoted to God, and is poor in the affairs of life but rich in God, is grieved and saddened, or, according to the interpretation of Symmachus, is held fast by distress at the wickedness and destruction of the many; such as he who said, *Woe is me, for the devout man has perished from the earth, and there is no one among men who acts uprightly: all hasten to blood.

^A* Everyone brings affliction upon his neighbor; and he who said: *There is no one who does what is good.* Yet, amidst these things, the poor man, being disheartened and dejected, devises for himself a remedy for his affliction; this remedy was prayer to God, which he alone held as his consolation. By expanding his soul through it and offering all his thoughts in the sight of God, he is said to pour out his supplication, or according to Symmachus, his utterance, before the Lord. Moreover, he who is poor according to God, that is, the chorus of the prophets, filled with grief at the ruin of the former people, approaches the Lord, sending up supplications with fasting and tears, so that this people, too, might obtain mercy.

VERS. 3. *In whatever day I am afflicted, incline your ear to me.* Here let that passage of Isaiah be mentioned: ^B *Lord, in affliction we have remembered you, in small affliction is your discipline for us.* Therefore, one must devote time to prayers even before being afflicted, and not only in times of crisis. However, the holy man prays not that he might not be afflicted—for that is impossible—but that, being afflicted, he might not be overcome, and that, rejoicing in hope, he might endure the afflictions and boast in them. For *affliction produces hope through endurance and testing.* Hear me, he says, in whatever day I am afflicted, by inclining your merciful ear to me. Now, God is said to incline His ear as if human strength and outcry could not reach the height of His divinity; wherefore, He Himself, descending from His own greatness, inclines His ear to those deemed worthy to be heard. ^C But the phrase, *In whatever day I am afflicted,* is as if to say: Not only now, but throughout the whole of my life, and especially in tribulations; for then is there particular need of help. Or perhaps it is spoken not as if concerning a future affliction, but one present. For his sentiment is this: Since this day is such that I cannot bear its gravity, bend down and grant swift help. *In whatever day I shall call upon you, quickly hear me.* And what is the urgency? What is the cause, or what the nature of the swiftness? *Because my days have vanished like smoke;* by smoke he signifies the brevity and instability of time. *And my bones have parched like a stick.* *I have been struck like grass, and my heart has withered, because I have forgotten to eat my bread.* ^D *By the voice of my groaning my bone has cleaved to my flesh.* The prophetic chorus, or even David himself, appropriates to himself the things that happened to the people; and he shows that their entire power, through which the things of the legal worship consisted, has been corrupted and destroyed. These things were: the high priesthood, the temple, the sacrifices of animals, the law of the nation, and their liberty. But in a more sublime sense, he who is poor according to God announces his first achievement, namely, that the days of his temporal life have vanished like smoke, while he has passed them ingloriously and obscurely. You will understand this from what Job says: *When his lamp shone over my head, when I was*

^A in abundance. But when the lamp shone upon him who then existed in prosperity, and when all the things he possessed had fallen away, he himself also said: *For my days have vanished like smoke.* Such, then, is he who is poor according to God, spending the days of his temporal life ingloriously and obscurely. Then, subjecting himself to fasts and afflictions, he consumes and parches himself with hunger and thirst. And because *all flesh is grass, and all its glory as the flower of grass*, he says, while withering his flesh: *I have been struck like grass.*

The true groan, which has a voice that is heard by God, dries up the body and effects the mortification of the flesh, so that the inner man may be renewed. ^B Pay attention here as well: *Smoke fails when the fire is extinguished*; it exists only as long as the fire is active, which the smoke follows. So that, he says, my days may not also fail. *For it will not be to my advantage for the light of my days to be extinguished from me*; remove the grievous things. For if they remain, they will be the cause of the failing of my days, and they will even parch my bones all the more, if they persist—that is, the strong and most firm powers of the soul, which are also parched by the burning of the passions of the soul. He says his heart has been dried up, as he possesses nothing cheerful nor anything in which he can find joy. For he has become so caught up in the trials set before him that it is no longer ^C possible for him to be nourished by the bread appropriate and suitable to his more precious essence; for one can partake of this bread only when one is not being dragged about or sullied by external things. He says, furthermore, that he has been so deprived of the nourishment of this bread that he does not even remember ever having tasted it. Groaning greatly because of the present hardships, I emit such an intense and continuous groan that, along with the voice uttered with wailing, my bone has been glued and in a way united to my flesh—because, due to the great dryness, all the moisture scattered throughout my body had been consumed by the affliction that came upon it. For when this moisture was present, it would make the bone fat, separating it from the flesh by holding the space between the ^D flesh and the bones.

*I have been made like a desert pelican*: clearly, fleeing the associations of the crowd, I remained alone and lived apart from men. For the pelican is said to be a creature that loves the desert. He also displays the desolation of the nation, and this is where only one or two or a few are to be found, such as Jeremiah or Baruch, or another of those who were left behind at that time, in whose person these things are said. The Lord is also likened to the desert pelican according to this bird’s most marvelous affection for its offspring. For this creature constructs its nest alongside sheer rocks for its chicks, so that they may not be easily destroyed by any of the predators; but when the father has flown off, the serpent, because it cannot approach the nest, pours out its poison upon them from afar.

^A It watches for where the wind is blowing, and from there breathes its poison upon the chicks, and they die. But the father, flying back again to them, and knowing their treacherous plot through natural instinct, understands how they may in turn be revived. For he keeps watch for a cloud, and flies on high, and gently flaps its wings over their heads, and striking its sides with its wings from both sides more vigorously, it brings forth and releases drops of blood upon them; these, dripping through the cloud, bestow a life-giving power to those who had died, and they arise. Thus the pelican is taken for the Lord, the chicks for the first parents, the nest for Paradise, and the serpent for the apostate devil. He therefore breathed into the first parents placed in Paradise through disobedience, and brought death upon them; ^B but Christ, moved by love for us, having been exalted upon the cross and having been pierced in his side, caused life-giving blood to drip from there, and revived us who were dead through the cloud of the Holy Spirit.

*I have become like a night-owl in the ruins.* The night-owl is timid; therefore, fleeing on all sides, it lodges in the ruins of buildings, and cries out in the night from fear. Through the pelican, therefore, He signified the extreme desolation and solitude of the people; but through the night-owl He indicates the darkness in which the people have been enveloped, and denotes those who, with the light that once shone upon them extinguished, are afflicted with ignorance of God, such that they dwell in darkness and in the night. Perhaps the holy man, because he cries out in prayer every night, fittingly compares himself to a night-owl.

VERS. 8-11. *I have watched, and have become like a sparrow solitary on the housetop. All the day my enemies reproached me, and they that praised me swore against me.* I became a laughingstock to my adversaries, and I who was once zealous and distinguished, now have become an oath to those who once admired me; for they swear by my calamities: "May I not suffer what these have suffered." And they that praised me swore against me, as though I did not have God as my helper. And not only the enemies of God did these things, but even those who loved me—that is, my fellow tribesmen—swore against me. For even these did not believe the prophecies themselves; but mocking the exhortations and the promises of future things, they swore against me, denying faith to my predictions. ^C *For I did eat ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping.* Similar to these are the things contained in Psalm LXXIX: *You will feed us with the bread of tears, and you will give us drink in tears in measure.* He declares the magnitude of the sorrow by these things. For if the time of eating was full of sorrow, what other time could have been free of sorrow? By these things, he says, I am surrounded by evils, because You, O Lord, have stirred up Your wrath against me. These things, furthermore, the Prophet says, taking upon himself the calamity of the people, and lamenting the destruction of such a great multitude. *Because of the face of Your wrath and Your indignation, because lifting me up, You have dashed me down.* He attributes to himself what happened to the people and the place, teaching that, ^D

^A a people had been raised to great glory, so that they were called the people of God, and this house was named the house of God because of the sanctuary within it. When God had raised and honored them, He, in a manner equal to the glory to which they had been lifted on high, brought them to the opposite, and dashed them down; delivering the place to siege and total desolation, and the people to captivity.

VERS. 12-14. *My days have declined like a shadow, and I have withered like grass.* For *all flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of grass.* (Isa. XL, 6.) Once again, applying to himself the discourse concerning the people, he adds: *And I have withered like grass. But You, O Lord, remain forever, and Your memorial unto generation and generation.* The mortal and human, he says, are such as have been described, liable to change and instability, never remaining in the same state; but rather exalted and dashed down, raised up and humbled, and undergoing all kinds of turns and changes due to the wickedness that dwells among men. ^B But You, O Lord, having nothing mortal and nothing corruptible, remain forever, always being and continuing in the same way, as eternal and immutable; and that which was once decreed by You, and proclaimed in prophecy, remains for an eternal memorial, even if not in the present generation, then in the one to come, according to the psalmody. And this, therefore, ought most of all to incline You, O Lord, that I indeed have such a nature, corruptible and short-lived, and am yoked with such great calamities; but You are eternal and immortal, so that You could easily grant me a change from these present evils. For this is what he adds: *You rising up, will have mercy on Zion, for the time to have mercy on her, for the time has come.* Grant, he says, a change of this calamity for the better; for the time demands mercy, for the period of our misery has been brought to its end. ^C By these things he hints at the end of the punishment and captivity which was limited to the seventy years. Thus also the wondrous Daniel, having calculated the time of the captivity, offers his supplication, and the words of this spiritual melody harmonize with these things. And Zacharias also, praying, said: *O Lord Almighty, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, which You have despised? This is the seventieth year.* (Zach. I, 12.) I believe that the advent of the Christ among men is also prophesied here, which is to be the cause for the restoration of Zion, that is, for the opening of the institute of piety. But what is that most desired and longed-for time, in which that which was promised concerning Zion is said to be fulfilled? It is the time of Your resurrection, O Lord. For since You came to take away the sin of the world; ^D and it was not fitting that such a One, the Savior, should come and suffer for a few sinners; when the time was at hand, in which it is said that *all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God* (Rom. III, 23), then You tasted death for all.

^A Verses 15-17. *For your servants have taken pleasure in her stones, and they shall have pity on her dust. And the nations shall fear your name, O Lord, and all the kings your glory.* Rightly, after having said that the stones of the former people had pleased, he adds the calling of the nations, and declares more openly that they would then accept the salutary fear and would worship God. By "kings," he means "kingdoms." For there is no nation or kingdom which does not, either entirely or in part, venerate the glory of Christ. *For the Lord shall build up Sion, and he shall be seen in his glory.* In another way, the Lord shall build up Sion, that is, the Church; and by this building up, he here declares that through which the nations were founded upon faith; and then He shall be glorified in them.

^B Verses 18-25. *He has looked upon the prayer of the humble, and has not despised their supplication. Let this be written for another generation, and the people that shall be created shall praise the Lord: for he has reached down from his high holy place, the Lord from heaven has looked upon the earth, that he might hear the groaning of those in fetters, that he might release the children of those who were put to death, that they might announce in Sion the name of the Lord, and his praise in Jerusalem. In the gathering together of the peoples in one, and kings to serve the Lord. He answered him in the way of his strength: Announce to me the fewness of my days. Call me not away in the midst of my days.*

The prophetic chorus here seems to me to signify more sublimely the calling of the nations through our Savior, lamenting that they themselves did not attain to this. For in the coming of future good things, when the nations and their kings will no longer worship ancestral demons, but the Lord; in such a time as this, he says, the Lord has weakened my strength, by cutting short my days, so that I might not reach that time. The prophetic chorus, therefore, is the one that responds, or rather the one that inquires and asks of God what our life shall be. For he was longing to learn whether his life would reach those days in which the Only-begotten, having become man, was to be seen on earth. He calls the "way of his strength" His coming to earth; for He came so that He might bind the strong one. And the "midst of his days," that is, of his life, signifies that space which was up to the contemplation of His manifestation. ^C He asked, therefore, that his whole time of life be fulfilled, and that his life be as it were extended, so that he might be counted worthy of the very event of these things; for thus his whole life was to be fulfilled. For meanwhile, he says, in the present, while I foretell these things and look forward to the future, I seem to be established in a part of the day of God; but there remains for me the very contemplation of the things foretold, which, if I attain it, I shall receive my life in its entirety; but if I fail of this prayer, I shall be like those who have laid aside their life immaturely and untimely in the midst of their days. And it seems to me that our Savior said on account of such prayers of the prophets: *Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear the things which you hear, and have not heard them* (Matt. XIII, 17). According to the history, however, He said:

^A seeing myself weak and burdened, I suspect that a very short time of life remains for me. Let me not, therefore, depart from the body in the middle and incomplete state of my days. *In generation of generations are thy years.* Having previously said: *Do not recall me in the midst of my days*, and having prayed that his life might be prolonged until the outcome of the things prophesied, he perceives the impossibility of this on account of the weak and short-lived nature of mortal existence; then he said: *Of thee alone, O Lord, the years extend unto generation and generation*; and Thou shalt come to that generation and that people of whom it was spoken above: *Let this be written for another generation* (Ps. CI, 19), and the rest.

^B *In the beginning, O Lord, thou didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest.* For if Thou wert not, O Lord, from the beginning, and if the heavens were not the works of Thy hands, it would not be possible for them to be changed or to come into a transformation; for if they were unbegotten, they would have remained also endless. But now, since Thou hast become their Maker, Thou art able also to bring them to an end if Thou willest; for they are of a corruptible and perishing nature, because, being not previously in existence, they came to be by Thy will and power. For there is one that abides always and can never not be, namely, Thou Thyself, the only Maker of all things. *And all shall grow old as a garment, and as a vesture thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed.* Even if the heavens are a great and distinguished work of creation, nevertheless they will themselves be subjected to corruption; ^C but this corruption will become for them a renewal; and Thou shalt gather them up as easily as one rolls up a garment; for they shall be changed, being transformed into a better shape, and they shall be altered, and shall undergo a good change, that from old age to renewal and incorruption. *But thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. The children of thy servants shall inhabit the land, and their seed shall be directed forever.* That is, having been made new and transformed for the better, their seed—that is, the seed of Thy servants—shall be directed forever.

TO DAVID. CII.

fornications, and thefts—but others are refined and salutary, namely, humanity, temperance, and community. He, therefore, whose all interior parts are straight and prepared to bless the holy name of God, rightly employs his inner affection for rendering thanks to God, and consecrates all his interior parts and all the powers ^A of his soul, and stirs up every thought to the divine hymn. For he summons reasonings, thoughts, and all the movements of the soul, and its various virtues, namely, the faculty of thinking, of discerning, of perceiving, of acting, of imagining, of remembering, and others: for there are many virtues and various movements in the soul. Wherefore, at one time we think of something strenuous, at another we desire, presently we judge; sometimes we long for something, at other times we turn away; and again, at one moment we strive toward something, at another we decline; sometimes we are sorrowful, afterward, however, we are peaceful, joyful, and tranquil. Therefore, the divine Spirit exhorts all faculties of the soul of this kind to bless the Lord. But if any mind wishes to accept this in a more bodily manner, let it say that all the interior parts and the deepest vitals of our body have been arranged by the profound wisdom of God, so that there is nothing useless in us, and that their mutual concord and consensus conduce to the praise and blessing of God: rightly, therefore, are these also called upon to bless God. If, therefore, the discourse fashions the soul itself in a bodily manner, and assigns bodily parts to it, which is devoid of parts, we shall think of the parts attributed to the soul—which is certainly not divisible into parts—in another way; we shall say that the ^B head is the mind; the neck, opinion, as it were, which is intermediate between the rational and the irrational; the chest, the spirit; the belly, concupiscence; using the names of these parts as symbols of the individual virtues.

VERS. 2-4. *Bless, O my soul, the Lord, and forget not all his retribution. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy infirmities: who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion.* These are the retributions granted to us by God: First, he placed propitiation for our sins, which we committed in error and idolatry: and he was propitious to each of them, anticipating every supplication, and granting forgiveness through his propitiation, which is Christ; second, because even after the forgiveness it happened, O soul, that you fell ill, having slipped into human passions: and these sicknesses the Savior healed with rational and spiritual remedies, which are founded in his divine Scriptures; to these, thirdly, your life, which was about to yield to corruption ^C and be swallowed up by death, according to the saying, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die," 18 acting in a manner consistent with his own mercy, and pre-

proving himself gentle and compassionate—since no one is justified by works—he has crowned you with the gift of adoption. And simply put, He has granted you the forgiveness of sins, He has granted you the healing of your passions, the hope of the resurrection, the pledge of the Spirit; and He has clothed you in the garment of incorruptibility and saved you by grace. For the crown is one of grace and philanthropy. All these things are the bridal gifts and presents of the Bridegroom; for the bride has offered nothing but faith. And not only has He filled you with these, but He has filled you with spiritual goods, or rather, He has fulfilled your desire for good things, He who rejects the cold soul and bestows good things upon those who ask Him. And if you wish to see diseases and sins remitted at the same time, you have the paralytic who enjoyed this twofold grace; for he heard, "Thy sins are forgiven thee," and, "Take up thy bed." ^B Thus the sinful woman obtained forgiveness; thus the thief, the tax collectors, and quite simply, all who believed.

"Who satisfies your desire with good things; your youth will be renewed like the eagle’s," so that by putting off the old man and receiving the new, which is being renewed unto the knowledge of Him who created it, it itself may be renewed. In this way, he says, your youth will be renewed, so that it shall no longer grow old, nor go again into corruption, but shall remain always vigorous in incorruptible life. And since the eagle is the most kingly of birds, and also the highest-flying, and alone among animals is able to gaze at the rays of the sun's light and look upon it intently, he has ^C rightly compared the renewal of the soul, and its flight from earth to heaven, and its life that is to be passed in the highest light, to the nature of the eagle.

"The Lord performs deeds of mercy, and judgment for all who are wronged; He made known His ways to Moses, His will to the sons of Israel." From this same Scripture of Moses you shall learn what kind of judgments He provided for those who were wronged; for with a just judgment He invaded the Egyptians, punishing them with divinely inflicted plagues on behalf of the sons of Israel who had been wronged by them. "The Lord is compassionate and merciful, long-suffering and full of mercy; He will not be angry forever, nor will He be enraged for all time. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor has He rewarded us according to our iniquities. ^D For according to the height of the heaven from the earth, the Lord has strengthened His mercy upon those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, He has removed our iniquities from us. As a father pities his children, the Lord has pitied those who fear Him, for He Himself has known our frame. Remember that we are dust; man, his days are as grass; as the flower of the field, so shall he blossom. For a spirit will pass through him and he shall not exist, and he shall know his place no more." As from darkness

^A of the ignorance of sins, he has translated us to the light of His knowledge; and He did this as a good Father feeling compassion for sons who were acting madly, and taking up a greater pity for children who were ill-affected. In the same way, He took pity upon us, making us, from being atheists and lacking fear, pious and fearful of Him.

VERS. 17. 19 *Misericordia autem Domini ab aeterno, et usque in aeternum super timentes eum. Et justitia illius in filios filiorum, his qui servant testamentum ejus, et memores sunt mandatorum illius ad faciendum ea.* Consistent with this is the text: "Showing mercy to those who love me." For the mercy of the Lord, and His companion justice, extends to all generations upon those who fear Him and upon their sons—that is, upon those who are zealous for the same deeds, those who not simply remember His commandments, but add works to their words, and in this manner regulate their own life. For these things are given ^B not so that we might keep a bare memory and knowledge of them, but so that we might use that memory for working. The Savior also declares this in these words: "He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me." For the reward is owed to the observance, not to the mere memory of them; and not the hearers, but the doers of the law shall be justified. The law of God is beautifully called a testament, so that we who observe it may hope for an inheritance from it.

That our nature is indeed transitory, but that divine loving-kindness preserves the reward of righteousness owed to progenitors even down to their descendants, you may find six hundred testimonies. For on account of the righteousness of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He deemed the people who later sprang from them worthy of a calling and a peculiar providence. He preserved the kingdom for Jehu even to the fourth generation, even though he was not entirely ^C endowed with piety, because in the beginning of his reign he had shown zeal toward God. For the wonderful David, He kept the spark of his lineage unextinguished, even though many impious men had arisen among his descendants.

*Dominus in coelo paravit thronum suum, et regnum ipsius omnibus dominabitur.* It is accurately said, "it shall have dominion over all," but not "it has dominion over all," because not all are worthy of His kingdom. Wherefore the Savior has promised the kingdom of heaven to those who perform the evangelical life. But in another sense, He has dominion over all, ruling even those who are unworthy of His kingdom, insofar as He is the Lord of all.

VERS. 20. *Benedicite Domino, omnes angeli ejus, potentes virtute, facientes verbum illius ad audiendam vocem sermonum ejus.* Above, indeed, the divine Spirit was inviting the soul of man to thanksgiving and to the blessing of God, saying: "Bless the Lord, O my soul." But now, because He has made mention ^D of the throne of God and the heavenly habitations that God has prepared for the worthy, with great consistency [the following...

heavenly powers to rejoice in the salvation of the soul, in accordance with the word of the Savior, which says that there will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. But He also directs the soul of man and the heavenly powers to the end; for He enjoins the same work of blessing upon this one and upon those others. "Mighty in strength, doing His word, to hear the voice of His words." As for you, O soul, He says, you are weak in regard to praising God as is worthy; nevertheless, do this in part. Know, however, that His angels, being mighty in strength and unceasingly doing His word, and being worthy to hear the voice of His words, bless Him becomingly and as is worthy. And if there be any among men who pursue a life equal to that of angels, inasmuch as they bear the image of the heavenly One, and are themselves able also to do His word and are able to obey His voice—according to Him who says, "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me"—these, too, being equal to the angels, let them bless Him. But let no one among those who transgress His word and disobey the voice of His words presume to do this too rashly.

"Bless the Lord, all His powers, you His ministers, who do His will." Since there are also opposing powers, David very necessarily adds, "His ministers, who do His will," showing which and what kind of powers He wishes to bless God; ^B for it is not all, nor the opposing ones, but only those that are worthy, which serve Him in various ranks, that is, which do His will. For the ministers of God are the powers that serve Him for whatever He wishes to do through them for the benefit and utility of all; wherefore they are also said to do His will. "Bless the Lord, all His works, in every place of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul." The meaning of the sequence seems to suggest this thought: If, He says, the duty of blessing Him belonged only to angels, to divine powers, and to the heavenly ministers of God, you, O soul, would have been right to restrain yourself and yield the blessing to those better than you; but since the divine word commands all His works to bless the Lord—for it is fitting for all creation to render to God, according to its own power, the hymn that is due—why do you hesitate, O soul? Shall you not yourself, being a work of God that is not to be despised, but made according to His image, rouse yourself to the theology and blessing of God? Because His dominion, as has been said, rules over all, celestial, terrestrial, and infernal, it follows that all His works, as being under His dominion—for "all things," He says, "are Your servants"—as handiwork, should bless Him. And how do the irrational and inanimate things bless Him? As "the heavens declare the glory of God," ^C all things surely use the vision instead of a voice to signify the power of God; whence

I too take occasion to praise, and am moved to celebrate the Creator. Furthermore, the prophets are accustomed to frequently take up even irrational nature for the praise of God, as if the rational were not sufficient, as in fact the children did in the furnace. However, it is not fitting for Jews to sing in every place. For when they were ordered by those who had led them into captivity to sing one of the songs of Zion in Babylon, they said, acting according to the law: "How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?" But the divine Apostle commands us to lift up holy hands, praying in every place. This is also what the Lord Christ said to the Samaritan woman, taking away local worship and teaching that worship must be rendered in spirit and truth.

PSALM CIV

VERS. 1, 2. *Bless the Lord, O my soul: O Lord my God, Thou art very great: Thou art clothed with confession and beauty, wrapping Thyself with light as with a garment.* By the greatness, providence, and variety of ^B created things, the soul is taught to rejoice and to take confidence, so that it might glory in Him, and ascribe to its Lord and God the greatness of the Maker of such things, and proclaim Him as its own with affection, saying, "O Lord my God." "Thou art clothed with confession and beauty, wrapping Thyself with light as with a garment." Just as he who is clothed in a sensible garment is covered on all sides, so the fact that the light surrounding God cannot be sustained declares His substance to be incomprehensible. But what are you saying, O David? The Evangelist says: "He is the true light, which illuminates every man coming into this world." And Paul says that He dwells in light which no man can approach unto; and you say that He is clothed with light as with a garment? Do you see that neither the prophet, nor the evangelist, nor the apostle can encompass that radiance; but ascending ^C little by little from names familiar to us, they provide a certain dim understanding of that ineffable glory? For because they do not know what that substance is, they attempt to encompass it according to their capacity from things visible to us.

VERS. 3, 4. *Extending the heaven as a curtain, who covers His upper chambers with waters: who makes the clouds His ascent, who walks upon the wings of the winds. Who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a burning fire.* Hence, as is fitting, the Seraphim are interpreted in Greek as "kindling" and "consuming." And the word "seraphim" is said to signify a conflagration. Therefore, regarding angelic power, it is said: "Who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a burning fire." ^D

VERS. 5-13. *Who lays the foundation of the earth upon its own firmness, it shall not be moved forever and ever. The abyss like a garment is His clothing, the waters shall stand upon the mountains. At Thy rebuke they shall flee, at the voice of Thy thunder

^A they shall be afraid. The mountains rise up, and the plains go down into the place which Thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound which they shall not pass over, neither shall they turn again to cover the earth. He sends forth springs in the valleys; the waters shall run between the mountains. All the beasts of the field shall drink; the wild asses shall await them in their thirst. Over them the birds of the heaven shall dwell; from the midst of the rocks they shall give their voice. Watering the mountains from His upper rooms. Since He had also said at the beginning, "Who covers His upper rooms with water," now He says, "Watering the mountains from Thy upper rooms," unless one should prefer to understand the "upper rooms of God" as the air, which is shaped by Him and enveloped in clouds. God therefore waters the mountains and the plains therein, and the rest of the entire earth, not from the springs of the valleys, nor from the rivers that flow over the earth, but from His upper rooms above, from on high, granting sufficient and measured rains. He calls the air the "upper rooms" of God, just as one might speak of the upper rooms of a house for the whole world. The mountains are the spiritual men; they are watered from the upper rooms of God Himself, being filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the word of wisdom ^B and the things enumerated hereafter. The "upper rooms of God," from which He waters the mountains, are the pure and transcendent contemplations of the truth, called "upper rooms" because nothing transcends them. "From the fruit of Thy works the earth shall be satisfied." For He Himself said, "Let the earth bring forth the grass of hay and a fruit-bearing tree producing fruit," and the rest. The whole earth is satisfied from the works of Jesus performed by the economy, which are furnished with many fruits, partaking of those things so miraculously brought about by Jesus; for this is the fruit of His works. And the word concerning the works of His creation and providence, when understood as the fruit of the works of God, shall satisfy the earth; I mean, those human beings who dwell upon the earth.

"Who brings forth grass for the cattle, and green herb for the service of men, to bring forth bread out of the earth; and wine gladdens the heart of man," and the rest. He says that the earth attains its fullness from the rain, God working the bringing up of the waters from the sea. Then He points out the benefit ^C flowing from this: that the earth, having been made fertile by the supply of waters, brings forth for all who are upon it the appropriate nourishment; for man, a noble animal and honored by God, an excellent and choice food: bread, and wine, and oil; bread for the heart to be supported and strengthened, wine for the soul to be gladdened, and oil ^D for the body to be brightened and softened, being healed from laborious exhaustion. Thus, God, like a father, has bestowed upon him a rich table, furnished with many things for his enjoyment. Nor did He neglect the care of the other animals; but being solicitous for their preservation also, He provided appropriate food for them, bringing forth hay for the beasts of burden and herb for the service of men. With great accuracy, indeed, the prophet [alt-version omitted]

divides the animals: beasts of burden, generally speaking, are any animal that eats grass, while the "service of men" refers to tame and, so to speak, civil animals that are allotted for human use, some of which plow the land and bring aid to man, like the ox; others carry burdens, like the ass; others provide some other service to the mortal race. These he has properly and appropriately called the "service of men," to whom he says the herb has been given, that is, that which has been sown and cultivated by men; while to the other beasts of burden, it is the hay that springs up spontaneously. Or both, the herb and the hay, may be understood to have been given for both the beasts of burden and the service of men. He has not mentioned wild beasts nor reptiles here, because they have a different diet; for some are carnivorous, while reptiles eat the earth itself.

^B Observe, moreover, that he uses this digression in his discourse, touching lightly upon the more obvious matters, but lingering on those which many contradict, and not refraining from [speaking of] the irrational creatures and their use and service. He does this for two reasons: one, that he may abundantly check the impudence of those who say that there is anything in the world that is superfluous and useless; the other, that he may show how great is God's care for men, seeing that He takes such account of the things created for their sake. What could be equal to this care, when He provides food for those that serve us, and does not allow us to be burdened in all things? For He neither abandons man, nor weighs him down with labors, bestowing upon him a varied kind of salvation. It is good here to speak to him who reduces his own kin to slavery: man's one [proper] service is the irrational animals; yet you despise these, and therefore, by severing nature from servitude and lordship, you have caused it to be enslaved to itself and to lord it over itself. Who is it that sells, and who is it that buys, him who was made in the image of God, when God alone can do this—or rather, not even God Himself, for His gifts are without repentance? But if God does not reduce what is free into slavery, who is it that prefers his own power to the power of God? For the rest, enough of a burden is laid upon those who are free, in that they must serve, and so great is the difference in the dust that one should rule and another be ruled. But neither the yoke nor the punishment destined for our primordial sin should be aggravated. ^C And in these supernatural and most lofty discourses of His, which are the mountains, He brings forth hay, food which those who are more irrational might be able to bear. Now the hay placed upon these mountains is the discourse concerning sensible things and the letter of Scripture; but it is also the more moral discourse, which the multitude will also be able to grasp, as each one says: "The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want; in a place of pasture He has there settled me, by the water of refreshment He has nurtured me." But those who have transcended such a state, no longer being in the service of men, but having become [true] men, shall each say again: "You have prepared a table before me in the presence of those that afflict me; You have anointed my head with oil, and my cup is intoxicating as m..."

^A ost excellent. And Your mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and my dwelling shall be in the house of the Lord for length of days.

"That You may bring forth bread out of the earth, and wine that gladdens the heart of man; to make his face cheerful with oil, and bread which strengthens man's heart." It is worth inquiring here why, after David had said, "producing grass for the cattle," he added, "that You may bring forth bread out of the earth," which is produced, of course, from corn. What is it that he wishes to intimate? That the same seed becomes a common food for both brute beasts and men, but not in the same way. And this, too, belongs to the wisdom of God. Consider: corn is sown, and for a time it is food for men only; but when it germinates, it rises up and produces food for the brute beasts as well. For just as the animals received their being for our sake, so also their food has its beginning from our food. For the grass is produced primarily for the sake of preserving the corn. You see, therefore, that not only do ^B brute beasts serve us, but even the food of the brute beasts serves our own food, and in this order it again imitates the same thing. For just as there were first the brute beasts, and then man, because the brute beasts were for the sake of man; so also there was first the grass, and then the corn in its germination, because the grass was for the sake of the corn.

"And wine gladdens the heart of man." Not every wine, but only that which has its origin from Him who says: "I am the true vine." But because all sensible things, on account of their material nature, are called "earth," and since this discourse is to be understood as one that raises the mind by a certain analogy and proportion to spiritual things, this "bread" of the word is also brought forth from the earth, so that it may nourish the inner and hidden man, and it is called "earth" because of the corporeal accounts of Scripture which are historical in nature. The bread brought forth is the mystical word.

"To make his face cheerful with oil, and bread which strengthens man's heart." The face of the inner man is made cheerful and bright by the oil that nurtures the divine light, that dissolves the diseases and labors of the soul, and that differs from the aforementioned wine only in its mode of understanding. For the Word of God is, just as a vine, so also an olive tree. "I," He says, "am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God." For His doctrine, according to a different ^C relationship, is both wine, and oil, and bread.

"The trees of the plain shall be satisfied, the cedars of Lebanon which You have planted; there the sparrows shall build their nests. The house of the heron is the leader of them; the high mountains are for the harts, the rock is a refuge for the hedgehogs." The Hebrew exemplar and the remaining interpreters have "trees of the Lord." Having recounted the fruit-bearing ones, he necessarily makes mention also of those lacking fruit, as they are necessary to men and provide their own use. For this reason, he named them the Lord's, as being those that grow spontaneously and are not cultivated by hand, but by divine

^A word germinating. *The cedars of Lebanon which Thou hast planted.* He beautifully ascribed the planting of the cedars to God, because they grew to such a height without any human care. For no woodcutter was their cultivator; but the divine Word made the summits of the mountains shady. And if He Himself planted them, they are certainly useful: for all things which God has made are very good. Furthermore, by mentioning Lebanon as the most famous, and the cedars in it, he indicated the other mountains and trees through these. *There the sparrows will nest. The house of the heron is chief among them.* Aquila has it thus: *There the birds will nest. The fir trees are a house for the heron.* For these same trees provide one use for men, and another for the birds. ^B

VERS. 19. *He made the moon for seasons; the sun knew his going down.* Having recounted all earthly things, and having exhibited the creation of invisible natures, and having further indicated the workmanship of the heavens, he now makes mention of the luminaries, which were created on the fourth day. And I do not judge it to be without design that the discourse now resumes those things which appeared to have been omitted above, when he spoke of heavenly things, of the clouds and winds—recalling them after so many other things have been recounted—but that he might teach that these also were created for the sake of utility. For perhaps, if he had mentioned them in the first place, some opportunity might have remained for those who, as if they were divine and as if they were the cause ^C of the production of animals and the fruits of the earth, deemed that they themselves should be worshipped. For indeed, since those who were far from piety thought this, they applied their mind to worship the sun and moon as gods of our generation, and as authors of our food and growth. But the divine word by no means proves this; indeed, it affirms that even apart from these, that universal providence of God produced not only things in the heavens, but also things on earth—namely animals and plants. Wishing to teach this, Moses also introduced first the birth of the plants from the earth, and then the formation of the luminaries. And now, David again recurs to that providence of the heavens, saying that the moon was created for no other reason than for the enumeration and knowledge of months and days; for the phrase *for seasons* signifies this—that is, that through its revolutions the changes of the seasons might be distinguished, and months and years be numbered. ^D For the variations of the moon make it possible for time to be measured; for it produces the measure of the month by its own increase and decrease, so that the creation of the moon came about for the instruction of the seasons. And no small utility arises from this, namely that the weather may be distinguished, and one may have the ability to prepare oneself for all things. For if it were not so, all things would rush into ruin, since neither the farmer nor the sailor would be able to discern the opportune time for cultivating the land or traversing the sea. Furthermore, this knowledge of the seasons is suitable and most useful not only to men, but also to the brute animals. Concerning the luminaries, it is also said in Genesis: *Let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years; for signs*

and seasons and years ^A; for signs indeed of rains, heat, and changes of winds; for seasons, the alternations of the atmosphere, of winter, spring, summer, and autumn; which, that they may orderly complete their periods, the motion of the luminaries effects for us: for days, however, not so as to create days—for day and night are older than the creation of the luminaries—but so as to rule over the days: and for years, because the moon, when it has completed its course twelve times, is the creator of a year; and the solar year is the revolution of the sun from the same sign to the same sign.

VERS. 20-24. *The sun knoweth his going down. Thou hast made darkness, and it became night; wherein all the beasts of the forest shall go abroad. The lions roaring do seek their meat, and seek their meat from God. The sun is risen, and they shall be gathered together, and shall lay them down in their dens. Man shall go forth unto his work and to his labor until the evening. O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.* The sun knows his going down, that is, the one ordained for him by the Superior. For the sun has learned only to shine; and not always and continuously, but to yield the beginning of the day, and also in the night to the stars appearing therein, that it may accomplish its proper course; so that when night has fallen and darkness has spread over the earth, the diurnal animals may retire and withdraw, and wild beasts may come forth for their ^C own nourishment; for this occurs in the time appropriate to them, in the interval of the night. *The lions roaring do seek their meat, and seek their meat from God*: because the earth did not cause grass to spring forth for them as it did for the cattle, and herbage for the service of men. God, as the guardian of all, and providing for the preservation and life of all, ordained that some should be driven away by the rays of the sun, and should flee the light as an enemy; while others, as related to the light, should go forth by day, and permitted them to spend their life in the light: the beasts having retired into their dens, while the rational animal goes forth in the day and light to his work and to his labor until the evening.

VERS. 25, 26. *So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.* By these things He shows that, just as the element of the earth is productive and nourishing of many animals, in the same way also the liquid substance nourishes ^D a multitude of kinds of animals. For God did not make the spaces empty, but filled everything with animals, the air, the earth, and the sea; the air only with birds, the earth with quadrupeds and winged creatures, the sea with countless fish, of which some are larger and others smaller, and the smaller are food for the larger, and the race is not consumed. And this is a sign of divine providence, that the small kinds live together with the great.

^A And if the stronger feed upon the weaker yet do not utterly consume them, it is because their increase surpasses their consumption. ^B To these are likened those among men who swallow up their inferiors. But there, what occurs is not a crime; for it is the way of nature. You, however, shall have no excuse, honored as you are by reason and law, yet declining into that confusion of the beasts, losing your sense of order. He calls fish "reptiles" because they lack feet and, as it were, creep in the sea just as reptiles do upon the land.

*There the ships go.* In the sea, that is. Having stated how great a progeny the sea nurtures, and that neither the animals can be numbered nor the sea itself measured, he now recounts how useful it is to men. For by the nautical art and the skill of navigation we share necessary things with one another; we supply others with the fruits that grow in our own land, and receive from them what is theirs, so that neither is what is abundant useless, nor is what is lacking unattainable.

He compares the Church more sublimely to a ship, and human life to the sea, on account of the unstable and ever-moving nature of the things within it. He terms the innumerable race of reptiles the varied and, as it were, many-faced multitude of men, noting the difference arising from the variety of their dispositions. For the nature of all is the same, and the mode of birth is not different; yet the mind is manifold, and our heart is of many thoughts. Knowing this, someone said: "Just as faces are not like faces, so neither are the minds of men."

We say that the ships which sail through this spiritual sea, as is written, are the holy Churches of our Savior, which are in the world, yet are above the world—just as one may truly see merchant ships in the water, yet higher than the waters. Therefore, the churches, similar to ships, crossing the spiritual sea, receive the faithful and carry them as if to another land or country, namely to the Kingdom of Heaven, to the hope founded in Christ, to the sanctification through the Spirit, and to virtue, which is the fatherland of the saints. For being strangers and pilgrims upon the earth, as it is written, they have no abiding city here; but they hasten to that one of which God is the architect and creator. When, therefore, this world of ours is understood as an example of the sea, the Church shall be considered as the boat or ship, having as sailors the sanctified, who, because they have received the faith, always have Christ dwelling with them, the author of tranquility.

In another way, he calls those ships who are tossed in the bodies of this life by the salt and surging waves of this current existence. And those ships are praised which pass through the sea, but do not abide in it, nor are submerged by the waves. For they who are in the flesh, but do not war according to the flesh, treading upon the wave of life and thus rising above it, perform their work in many waters, and descend, as from... ^D

^A above, to gain some of those who have been submerged. And further, the Psalmist, urbanely indicating to us the distraction of life here, and the bitter confusion and commingling of affairs within it, says: "This is the sea, and therein are creeping things, innumerable, creatures small with great." For those who dart hither and thither for nothing necessary or useful in this life may very well be compared to fish, collecting only things that prove them to be carnal and render their toils vain and fruitless. Thus, like fish, we cross this great and wide sea, namely, the world; for everyone’s life is varied and different.

Vers. 27-29. That dragon which you formed to play in it. All things expect of you, that you may give them their food in due season. When you give to them, they will gather; when you open your hand, all things shall be filled with goodness.

Vers. 30. You shall take away their spirit, and they shall fail, and they shall return into their dust. You shall send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.

For such is the beauty of the world: the animals that are in it, the plants, the race of men. Now for these to exist, there is need of the breath and life given by Him; both to give and to receive is easy for Him, and He performs all these things suddenly and without trouble, for this is the greatest proof of His power. You see also in the present life the resurrection expressed in seeds, in plants, and in the very race of men, for one to contemplate. Since animals and plants possess the final principle of life, with which being removed, as has been said, the whole life fails, and those things which remain—because they cannot preserve life on account of infirmity—return to one and the same state, and again become animals. And that which is most divine, we have in the promises that we shall be transformed in our entirety—that is to say, our souls and the bodies joined to them—unto total life and immortality: a thing which perhaps appeared to the ancients to be against nature, but in truth it is both a divine work and above our nature; not, I say, above that nature which is full of all power, for to that there is no life that is against nature or above nature. And thus hence let the discourses brought forward according to the insanity of Simon be rejected. But some interpret these verses thus: "You will send forth Your Spirit," which descends through holy baptism, "and they will be created" into a new creation, into a new people; so that the first interpretation is understood as concerning the resurrection from the dead, when also the earth will be renewed and will be set free from corruption, but the second as concerning the regeneration through baptism. ^C

VERS. 31-33. *May the glory of the Lord be for ever; the Lord will rejoice in His works. He who looks upon the earth and makes it tremble; He who touches the mountains and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord in my life; I will psalm to my God as long as I exist.* Since I have learned these things, he says, for this reason I will spend my whole life in hymns and praise of the Creator; and as long as I live and reside in this life, I will render the debt of a psalm to my God. Moreover, this addition displays great affection and intimacy with God. For he did not say, "I will psalm to God," simply, but "to my God." For he seems to say, "to Him who created me and nourished me and became for me the author of all good things." And he says that the song here is to be paid not by words alone, but also by works. For since he recognized himself to be a debtor to God for many things, and was unable to offer any worthy repayment, what he has, this he lays down: namely, to celebrate Him perpetually with hymns, and to spend his whole life in that matter. Let those hear who spend the whole day in business and in shops, and do not turn themselves to prayers even once, how great are the gifts of which they are debtors to God. This is the profit of life, to bless God, and in this to spend a life is worthy. By right, however, he added that, "In my life," and that, "As long as I exist I will psalm to God." For there is no one in death who is mindful of Him, and in Hades who will confess to Him? Thus the door of the bridal chamber was closed to the foolish virgins, because the time for providing. . .

^A bus transigere debebant, in oleo emendo consumpserunt.

VERS. 34. Jucundum sit ei eloquium meum: ego vero delectabor in Domino. ^B Would that, he says, I might so sing and psalm, that my fruit might please Him—this fruit being my discourse, that is to say, my conversation, my homily, my praise; for he who psalms speaks with God. What, then, is this: *Jucundum sit ei eloquium meum* [Let my discourse be pleasing to Him]? That is to say, let it be acceptable to Him, let it please Him, let it appear most sweet and most delightful to God. Prayer, then, is nothing other than a colloquy with God. Observe, therefore, that psalmody contains its own reward within itself. For what could be equal to speaking with God? An ^B anima of this kind is freed from tumults, is translated to heaven, is released from the bonds of the body, is furnished with wings, becomes lighter, puts off its passions, and sheds its diseases. For if anyone departs gaining some profit from the discourse of a prudent man, consider how much virtue one will reap from discourse with God. A hymn, therefore, is a colloquy with God. But how will this be pleasing to God? If the life be pure, if the soul be philosophizing. For if you were to spend the whole day praying, while your manner of life is repugnant to your prayer, you will not be easily heard; and this applies not only to you yourself, but also to anyone else who might pray on your behalf. Yet I say these things not so that we should not pray nor psalm, but so that, after our psalms, we might be solicitous about our life and conduct. You may also interpret the verse in this way: Many, for the sake of ^C gain, pass judgment perversely, and before they understand through accurate examination and inquiry what the matter at hand truly is, they rashly give assent to particular opinions. But such is the nature of dialectic that it is believed to be able to provide the power of accurately distinguishing the natures of things, of recognizing similarities, and of discerning those matters which pertain to itself. For this reason, David, conscious of being instructed in divine dialectic, said: *Jucundum sit tibi eloquium meum* [Let my discourse be pleasing to Thee], or "my dialectic." For the dialectic of those who approach matters with a spirit of altercations and contention is not pleasant, but rather is something exasperating. That, however, a word which looks to equity is pleasant to God, He Himself affirms in the Canticle: *Honeycomb drip thy lips, my spouse; honey and milk are under thy tongue* ^D. But that he who is accustomed to speak cold and futile words is unpleasant, the psalmody declares when it says: *Their throat is an open sepulchre*. I, for my part, *will rejoice in the Lord*. I pray, he says, that this my hymn and discourse appear most sweet to God. For if this comes to pass, I shall reap joy from it, and I shall rejoice in the Lord—that is, in His worship, in His adoration, and in His commandments—that I have such a Master. For while the things that fall under our sight are indeed beautiful, and heaven delights, and the sun gladdens, and the earth brings forth seeds and plants, yet I delight more in the Creator than in all these things. This is my pleasure, this is my joy, these my delights, these are my infinite goods, in Him who made them I rejoice all the more. This is my luxury, this is my pleasure, these are my ten thousand goods.

^A VERSE 35. *Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and the wicked, so that they be no more.* In that time, clearly, when they shall hear: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me not in; naked, and you covered me not; sick and in prison, and you did not visit me"; and they shall not be in the portion of them that bless God. But perhaps someone may say: "Therefore, does the blessed Prophet curse those who are in sins, and desire that all should perish and be destroyed? Yet it would have been more fitting for him, being a holy and spirit-bearing man, to pray for the infirm." Hear the answer, for I shall speak briefly. Before the coming of the Savior we were all in sins; Satan ruled over the earth under heaven; there was no one who did good, there was not even one: all had turned aside, they had together become unprofitable. For the Greeks, indeed, being worshippers of idols, knew not the ways of equity, they knew not the path of a good life; nay, rather, they did not even know at all the Creator of all things and the Savior Christ. The Jews, on the other hand, indeed had the Law as a pedagogue; but by the Law man could not be justified: therefore, we were all in sins, the earth was full of iniquity. But after the Only-Begotten Word of God appeared, and became man, then sinners failed, they who were in iniquities failed. How, or in what manner? For He justified all, He delivered them from their transgressions, He made them free and cleansed them. Hence it follows that few have remained in sins, but many have been justified. Thus, here he does not ask for nature to be destroyed, nor for men to be handed over to utter ruin; but he prays that the sinner may abandon malice, that no longer may he be a sinner, but may be changed; that the wicked man may cease, but may be transformed. For the souls of the saints offer their prayers not for themselves alone, but for the whole world. Now, therefore, David, ^C having explored the secret riches of divine beauty, as much as was possible for human capacity, earnestly desired all men to be partakers of the same knowledge, and he prays that the band of sinners might fail altogether; not asking that they should perish, but that they should repent, and that their crowd, after they had cast away and abandoned their former knowledge of divine things, should be blotted out. Vainly, therefore, do those contentious ones bring forward such expressions for the defense of their own hardness of heart; claiming that David desires the sinner to fail, and prays for the infamy and confusion of his enemies; that Jeremiah is eager to see the vengeance from God inflicted upon his adversaries; that Hosea prays that a barren womb and dry breasts be given to the enemies; and they collect very many similar things scattered throughout the divine Scriptures, so that they may argue from this that it is permissible to curse one's enemies, and thus make the goodness of God the vindicator of their own bitterness.

^A But no one among the truly holy, whose words were recorded by divine dispensation for the instruction of those who came after, shall be shown to have directed their zeal toward any evil; rather, their entire purpose in these words looks toward the correction of the wickedness that dwells in human nature. Just as, therefore, he who prays that there may be no sick, no poor, does not desire the destruction of men, but that sickness and poverty should be wiped away, so too does each of the saints pray that what is hostile to nature should come to an end. For when the Psalmist says: *Let sinners and iniquitous ones vanish from the earth, so that they may no longer exist*, he is praying for sin and iniquity to vanish. For man is not an enemy to man, but the movement of the will toward malice has established what was by nature conjoined as belonging to the rank of an enemy. He prays, therefore, that evil should vanish; but man is not something evil. For how could the likeness of the good be evil? ^B Thus, even if he prays for the shame and confusion of enemies, he is declaring to you the band of adversaries who secretly attack human life. And that he is praying against demons, not men, the form of the prayer itself proves: *Let them be put to shame*, he says, *who seek my soul to take it away. Let them be turned back and disgraced who desire evils for me. Let them immediately receive their shame who say to me, Aha, aha. Let them exult and be glad in you all who seek you, O Lord, and let those who love your salvation say always, The Lord be magnified.* (Ps. XXXIX, 14–17). For it is only demons who plot against the soul; and the plot against the soul is alienation from God through a state of mind that has become depraved by passions. As one, therefore, who would not suffer this, he prays for the shame of those who wrestle against him. And this is nothing other than to pray for victory for himself over his enemies; but his enemies are the passions. Thus Jeremiah, possessed with zeal for godliness, with the king and the people worshipping idols, does not treat some private malady of soul, but offers up to God a petition on behalf of the common plight of men, deeming that by the impulse against those who have acted impiously, the whole of humanity should be brought to its senses. And Hosea, too, condemns the then-proliferating wickedness among the Israelites by means of childlessness, and wishes the bitter breasts of sin to be dried up, so that evil might neither be born nor nurtured among men. And if any other such word should be found among the saints, having the appearance of wrath, it looks entirely toward this same intention; namely, it eliminates the evil, but does not destroy the man.

^C But if anyone wishes to understand the words of David differently, as though the Prophet were subjecting those who live in impiety to execrations, he will find in this way, too, that the prophecy accords with the apostolic teaching. For Paul, writing to the Corinthians, has set down this final word: *If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be anathema* (I Cor. XVI, 22). For it is the property of those who love fervently to hate those who hate the One who is loved. Perhaps, also, the

state which shall be hereafter, after the resurrection, is what David denotes by these things when he says that the Lord rejoices in his works, when sinners have failed from the earth. For how could anyone be named from sin, if sin did not exist? Do you also pray such things: ^A Open, O Lord, your rich hand for the dispensation of spiritual benefit, so that my most bitter and cruel soul may be filled with goodness: send your Holy Spirit, and renew my corrupted earth, so that then I may rejoice in your works, when demonic deceptions have failed from my heart.

*Bless the Lord, O my soul.* Having here brought the whole matter to a conclusion in doxology, he closes the psalm with a blessing in the same verse, and having laid the foundation, he placed a roof upon his discourse, and brought in an end suitable to the prologue. For he says: O soul, celebrate your Creator and Savior assiduously with hymns. For He Himself will remove you from the lot of the wicked, and will make you worthy of the companionship of the saints. Both at the beginning and at the end of the discourse offer to Him a blessing. For the assiduous blessing of God regulates our life for a right course. ^B

ALLELUIA. CIV.

*Vers. 1, 2. Confess to the Lord, and call upon his name; declare his works among the nations. Sing to him and chant to him; narrate all his wonderful works.* This psalm is the first of those which are inscribed *Alleluia*. Now *Alleluia* is a mystical exhortation, rousing the ear to praise God, in such a way that this is its meaning: *Praise the Lord*. For in those parts of the holy Scripture where this voice is added, *Praise the Lord*, it is expressed in the Hebrew tongue by *Alleluia*. By that *Allelu*, praise is understood, which is referred to God; but that *la* is one of the names by which the divine nature is signified. The whole *Alleluia* is explained as "praise of God." When, therefore, this word is found inscribed upon the psalmody, it is to be understood that it is ^C an exhortation to induce one to the praise of God. Thus, in the final psalms of the book, many such titles are found, from which it is possible to understand that the praises of God are fitting for those who have already arrived at perfection of virtue and who, by the preceding parts of the psalmody, have been, according to the opinion, purified: and that they are in that condition which the nature of the angels is believed to be. For we have learned that they have no other occupation than to praise God; nor is there any other care or study for those who are perfect in virtue than to cause their whole life to be a praise of God. Since, therefore, those psalms which have the inscription *Alleluia* are all found almost in the final part of the psalmody, from this it is possible to understand that that final part of the psalmody, in which, for the most part, the praise of God, or an exhortation to praise God, is frequent, is preeminent over that lofty ascent which is found in the psalms. In this psalm, therefore, the Holy Spirit ^D commands the apostles that they should [declare] all the wonderful things which the Lord did in his coming to the people from the nations.

and indeed also how many blessings he bestowed upon the ancient people, and what he brought about in return for what. Furthermore, there is in this passage a mention of the promises made by God to the patriarchs, and of the good things provided by him through them to their descendants. For ^A the memory of these things is sufficient to incite those who have enjoyed so many benefits to a zeal for the virtue of their ancestors. At the same time, he instructs the new people—that is, those from the nations—that it was not unjustly that he stripped that ungrateful people of his own care, so that, by learning the justice of the sentence passed against them and seeing the rewards of ingratitude, they might not walk in the same path as the Jews, but rather travel the straight road.

"Confess to the Lord, and call upon his name." Since Scripture is accustomed to use the term "confession" in a double sense—at one time signifying the declaring of sins, and at another the rendering of thanks—here we are instructed according to both meanings toward the living of a virtuous life. For confession removes a man from evils and makes him an alien to them, while the pursuit of thanksgiving increases grace in the presence of the Benefactor toward those who have received blessings with a grateful mind. ^B The word therefore exhorts us to offer a hymn of thanksgiving and to recount the divine benefits. For Symmachus interpreted "call upon" as "proclaim," while another interpreter says, "And call upon in his name," hinting at something great. For if you have confessed, he says, and laid aside your sins, you will be able, having called upon his name with confidence, to accomplish great good works. It is not without reason that he desires us to confess first and call upon him second, but so that, being purified through confession, we might offer the hymn from a clean instrument. ^C

"Declare among the nations his works." The praise which we have in hand summarizes the history from the time of Abraham to the exodus of the sons of Israel from Egypt, which the divine Spirit commands us to declare to the nations, so that it may be clear through these things that he is working for the benefit not only of the Jews but also of those from the nations, the Spirit stirring up the heralds of the nations to seek the Lord and to proclaim the stories concerning him. And this with hymns; for he says: "Sing to him and chant to him; declare all his wonderful works." He desires it to be declared to the nations, as to those who are ignorant and not yet instructed, what kind of benefits God formerly bestowed upon the former people; ^D and how, having obtained countless good things from God, they transgressed and acted impiously; and how, on account of their transgressions, they have fallen away from divine providence. He commands them also to be interpreters and explainers of the mysteries contained in the divine oracles—which indeed would be his wonderful works—and simply to repay him with hymns and to teach the wonderful works to those who are ignorant of what has been brought about by him.

^A *Verses 3-4. "Be praised in his holy name; let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord, and be strengthened; seek his face always." For there is praise and glory for those who recount the virtue of God. Aquila, in place of "be praised," has put "glory." The discourse commands the apostles and their successors not to be high-minded regarding wealth, nor strength, nor power, but rather in the knowledge and providence of the true God and in the fact that they are called Christians. The divine Apostle likewise commands this when he says: "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord; for it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends." Jeremiah and the most wise Anna state the same thing: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the strong man boast in his strength, and let not the rich man boast in his wealth; but let him who boasts boast in this, in understanding and knowing that I am the Lord who does mercy and justice upon the earth." "Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice," that is, of those who call upon him for help, or ^B of those who travel toward him through virtue, by whom he is also found. He teaches how much benefit will result from confession. For "that which you sought," he says, "will come to pass for you," specifically, the joy of the soul: for that is the fruit of hope placed in God. See how he began with confession and ended with joy. For the beginning of progress according to God is confession; the end is joy according to God; and there are very many things placed between these two. It is necessary, therefore, for men first to confess to the Lord through sincere repentance and through fruits appropriate to confession; then, having improved, to be confident and to call upon his name; and thus, having called upon him after confession, to be granted the gifts of God; and having received these, to be useful to others by proclaiming to all the works of his which they have learned; and in addition to these, as those deemed worthy of the joy that is according to God, to sing to him ^C and to psalmody; and after this, to become explainers of the hidden things contained in divine discourses; from there, as those who have accomplished all these things rightly, to be praised in his name; and lastly, after all these things, for the soul to rejoice, which is called the heart. This soul, having sought the Lord, both from the seeking itself and from the finding that comes to the seeking, let it enjoy the joy that is according to God.

These things, however, I believe are referred by the Holy Spirit to the person of the apostles. For the command, "Proclaim among the nations his works," does not befit others but them. The outcome of events itself testifies to the truth of the discourse. For they alone among the nations acknowledged the God of all through his works, and proclaimed the works of God to those nations—whom he previously called a new generation and a people being created. Therefore, it is necessary for him who is to seek the Lord first to confess through sincere repentance and the fruits thereof; for such a person is able both to seek, and, seeking, to ^D

^A find. For if there is need of experts when dealing with precious stones, and much knowledge is required of divers, much more is this the case when dealing with God. For there are many things that hinder one from finding Him: a multitude of affairs, the assaults of the flesh, the diseases of the soul, the snares of demons, and a listless mind. If we are delivered from all of these, we shall quickly find Him, lay aside wickedness, and embrace virtue. For this is the path that leads thither. What, then, is this inquiry? It is to think of Him continuously and to ponder Him; for he who seeks has that which is sought within his mind.

“Seek the Lord and be strengthened; seek His face evermore.” What is it to seek the Lord? It is to mind the things that are His, to think of Him always, to have Him ever in one's mind, and never to cease holding communion with Him through prayer and good works. Those who seek shall be unconquerable and invincible. When the Word had urged the heralds of the nations to seek the Lord with eagerness, He strengthens them even more, saying, “Be strengthened,” that is, “Do not be slack in seeking Him.” He addresses this to them as those who are in need of strength and power in order to be able to do what was commanded; which was to preach to the nations, both Greeks and barbarians, according to the text: “The Lord will give a word to those who evangelize with great power.” And teaching how one ought to seek, and that it is not once or twice, but throughout one's whole life that it is fitting to seek the help from above and to harvest the benefit thereof, He added: “Seek His face evermore.” Not three times in the year, as was brought forward in the law given by Moses, appearing before Him, but throughout the whole life. By “face” here He means His advent, His visitation, His providence, His guardianship, His help, His alliance, and the thought of Him. For no one shall see the face of His substance and live. And the face of Him is the Son.

“Remember His wonderful works that He has done, His wonders and the judgments of His mouth”—whether those in the Old Scripture, or those in the Gospels. For it will be necessary for you, the heralds of the nations, to deliver these to all the nations; since they have not learned them from anyone else before. All that the Word wrought when He became man, having joined them with the things of old, remember to deliver to the nations. Here it seems to me that He shows the way by which it is possible both to seek and to find God. And what is this way? To carry His wondrous works, and His laws and commandments, in one's memory unceasingly; wherefore He adds, “His wonders and the judgments of His mouth.” By “wonders” meaning the divine signs, and by “judgments” meaning the decrees, the commandments, or the miracles which have been performed by God with justice and righteous judgment. What wonders, tell me? Those in Egypt, those after Egypt, those before Egypt, and those after His advent. For all these are—

marvelous and paradoxical things, and transcend human consistency. Miracles, indeed, are the things which have been brought to pass, such as walking upon the sea, raising the dead, and the like; but the "judgments" of His mouth are the words which He spoke, casting out from ^A men the unclean demons, or the commandments of the New Testament. Rather, however, it seems to me that in this place He calls "judgments" the laws which He set in heaven, on earth, and in the sea. For not only did man receive law, but all visible things: the sea, that it might not overstep its shores; the mountains, that they might be fixed; the earth, that it might stand; the sun, that it might run its course; the moon, that it might keep its own proper order; the varied chorus of the stars; the nature of bodies, of plants, of irrational creatures, and of all ^B other things—for all things are administered by their own proper laws. And all these things have come to be by commands, which is signified by "the mouth." Whatever, therefore, His mouth judged, whether through the Old or through the New Testament, He judged, saying: "Join them together, proclaiming to the nations to keep His judgments as royal laws." You shall understand "judgments" to be the things justly brought to pass by a divine decree. For since He is about to narrate the things that occurred in Egypt, He anticipates this by teaching the justice of the vengeance taken upon the Egyptians. For it was necessary that all men who are on the earth, being subject to His judgments, should be ignorant of neither His works nor His judgments. By which judgments He decreed to deem worthy of His calling not only the Jewish nation, but also all men upon the earth.

VERS. 6, 7. *Semen Abraham servi ejus, filii Jacob electi ejus. Ipse Dominus Deus noster.* Since not all who are of Israel are Israelites, nor ^C are all they who are the seed of Abraham children, rightly did our Savior say to the Jews who prided themselves on being of the seed of Abraham: "I know that ye are Abraham's seed," and again, "If ye were Abraham's children, do the works of Abraham." Thus, some are children of Abraham through imitation, who are also called "elect," while some are seed only of him, and for this reason are by no means "elect"; for it is not the seed that is called "elect," but the children. Yet the seed are His servants. Since, therefore, the disciples of the Savior, having become heralds of the nations, possessed both, being at once servants and elect, it was said to them: *Semen Abraham servi ejus, filii Jacob electi ejus.* To the words, "His elect," you shall compare that which says: "Jesus chose these twelve and named them apostles," and that which says: "Have not I chosen you twelve?" ^D Moreover, the superiority of the elect we understand from that which says: "Many are called, but few are chosen." *Ipse Dominus Deus noster, in universa terra judicia ejus.* It must not be ignored, he says, that He Himself is the Lord our God, who by His providence manages the entire world with divine judgments, so that nothing happens without judgment, nothing without the providence of God.

VERS. 8-15. *Memor fuit in saeculum testamenti sui, verbi quod mandavit in mille generationes. Quod*

^A disposuit ad Abraham, and to his oath to Isaac; and he established it to Jacob for a decree, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan, the portion of your inheritance." When they were few in number, very few, and strangers in it. And they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people. He did not suffer any man to do them harm, and he rebuked kings for their sake. "Do not touch my anointed ones, and do no harm to my prophets." If you carefully examine what that word was which he commanded, extending to many generations, for it signifies not a number of years, but an enduring and vast multitude—as in the expression "seven times," "The barren woman has borne seven" (that is, many), and "The righteous man shall fall seven times and shall rise again"—you will find it expressed in this way to Abraham: "And in you shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." And, "In your seed shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed. And multiplying, I will multiply your seed." You would find similar things promised to Isaac and confirmed by an oath, both concerning the land and the multiplication of the seed. Now, these things were fulfilled after very many generations through the appearing of Christ, who came from the seed of Abraham, and became our Savior. And even now the promise is active and remains until the fullness of the nations shall have entered in. Thus, after a long age and after very many generations—for he used "thousands" to signify "many"—he fulfilled those promises made to the patriarchs through our Savior Jesus, and through his teaching, having bestowed the blessing of Abraham upon all nations.

^C VERS. 16. And he called a famine upon the land; he broke every support of bread. In these words, the discourse teaches something else, hidden from the many. For it sets forth the reason why he called the famine upon the land like some living creature—meaning the active power of the famine—and why he broke every support of bread: it was to reveal in what case bread does not support those who are filled with it, according to the text, "Bread supports the heart of man." For this is what happens most especially in times of famine, sent by the wrath of God, namely, that those who eat are not supported.

VERS. 17-22. He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold into slavery. They humbled his feet in fetters; his soul passed through iron, until his word came. He endured all these things until his word came—the word which, when he had received it in visions, he announced to his father and his brothers, saying that he had seen himself and his brothers likewise gathering sheaves, and then theirs bowing down to his own sheaf; and similarly that the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to him. "Until his word came. The oracle of the Lord refined him." The phrase, "The oracle of the Lord refined him," is similar to the saying, "Is not the interpretation of them ^D of God?" For he would not have solved the dreams for Pharaoh...

^A had not God granted the ability to understand them. *The king sent and released him, a ruler of the people and let him go free.* He appointed him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions, to instruct his princes as himself, and to teach his elders wisdom. When Joseph had been sufficiently refined as if by fire through trials, then, at God's suggestion to Pharaoh—who is here called both king and ruler—he is released from his bonds and is established as ruler of the king's house and of all his possessions.

For he promoted him, as many might say, in order to gather the crops in abundance and preserve them for the time of famine. But the present text teaches that he was raised to the principate not so much for the sake of storing grain, but for the benefit of the souls of those who were to be taught and instructed by him. Now these were Pharaoh’s princes and elders; and when they had received useful instruction, it was likely that all the subjects would also share in the improvement derived from them.

^B *And Israel entered into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.* *And he increased his people exceedingly, and strengthened them against their enemies.* Who entered, if not Israel? And who sojourned in the land of Ham, if not Jacob? By these, both the father himself and his children are declared; for since not only Jacob entered, but also seventy souls with him—according to the text, *Into seventy souls Israel went down into Egypt*—for this reason, both the children and the father are signified by the words set before us. *And he increased his people exceedingly, and strengthened them against their enemies.* They would neither have been increased nor strengthened had they not found Joseph as their patron, and received from the Egyptians the honor which, for Joseph's sake, was bestowed upon them.

VERSES 25-36. *He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants. He sent Moses his servant, Aaron whom he had chosen for himself. He put among them the words of his signs, and of his wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness and it grew dark, because they provoked his words. He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in the chambers of their kings. He spoke, and there came a dog-fly and gnats in all their borders. He made their rains hail, fire burning in their land. And he struck their vines and their fig trees, and broke every tree of their borders. He spoke, and there came ^C the locust and the caterpillar, of which there was no number, and consumed all the grass in their land, and consumed all the fruit of their land. And he struck every firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their labor.* Just as at first he permitted Joseph to be reduced to servitude, and to be humbled by fetters and iron; but then, after proof of his virtue had been given,

he raised him to the kingdom; so also now, wishing to count the people worthy of his oversight, he first delivered them over to trials, so that afterwards it might be said: *And the children of Israel groaned, and cried out to the Lord their God; and their cry ascended to God from their labors. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant which he had with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and was known to them.* And since it is said that he *turned their heart*—that is, the heart of the Egyptians—to hate his people, you will say that God acted justly. For because, having existed in much comfort, freedom, and honor among the Egyptians, they had come to a forgetfulness of the God of their fathers, and had given themselves over to the idolatries of the Egyptians; for this reason he justly stirred up the Egyptians against them, because, trusting in themselves, they had disregarded God, so that being afflicted by them, they might learn not to pay heed to them, nor to their polytheistic superstition, but might turn back to the God of their fathers. ^C And he brought them out with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. Egypt rejoiced at their departure, because the fear of them had fallen upon them. God commanded the people through Moses to despoil the Egyptians as those who had been defeated, and to exact from them a wage for the long servitude to which they had been enslaved. And there was not one feeble person among their tribes. For this was even more paradoxical, that after such labor, after the making of bricks, after such widespread suffering and stripes, not even one was feeble, and this despite so many plagues having been brought upon Egypt. This also transcended the order of nature itself. ^D He spread a cloud for a covering for them, and fire to lighten the night for them. Having gone through the plagues brought against the Egyptians, he passes logically to the benefits conferred upon Israel: at once both exhorting us to flee the Egyptian way of life, so that we might not fall into the same state; and to pray to be of the portion of God, to whom he imparted his benefits; and at the same time commemorating the extraordinary things of which the people of the circumcision were deemed worthy by God, for the rebuke of their own conduct, and as an apology for their subsequent rejection. He asked, and the quail came, and he filled them with bread from heaven. He broke the rock, and waters gushed forth; rivers flowed in dry places; because he remembered his holy word, which he had to Abraham his servant. And Moses also says to them in Deuteronomy: *Do not say, Because of my righteousness the Lord brought me out of the land of Egypt, but because of the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers. And you shall know today, that*

^A it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God gives you this good land to inherit, because you are a stiff-necked people. And He brought out His people in exultation, and His elect in joy. For each of the things that occurred was a very great marvel, and contained much that was miraculous: to be freed with pleasure from those who were pressing upon them, and with every abundance, and in perfect health. And He gave them the regions of the Gentiles, and they possessed the labors of the peoples. For He did not merely deliver them from their former state, but also handed over to them the possessions of others, not allowing them to toil anywhere, so that they might keep His ordinances and seek out His law. These things He promised, because they had kept His ordinances. For such is God, showing His mercy unto thousands to those who love Him. ^B And to those men’s descendants He granted and bestowed such things, exhorting and urging them to keep His ordinances and to seek out His law. But because, having been deemed worthy of so many benefits, they did not keep what had been spoken, then the grace was taken away from them, and they not only lost the land, but have also fallen away from God, and have become slaves of the Gentiles and of their enemies.

ALLELUIA. CV.

VERS. 1-5. *Confess to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy is forever. Who shall speak of the mighty acts of the Lord, who shall declare all His praises? Blessed are they who keep judgment, and do righteousness at all times. Remember us, O Lord, in the good pleasure of Your people, visit us with Your salvation, to see the goodness of Your elect, to rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, to be praised with Your inheritance.* This psalm also contains praise and a hymn to God, which is why it is inscribed "Alleluia," which is interpreted, "Praise the Lord." ^C And immediately at the beginning it instructs those who are driven by sins to approach the healing Son of God as if to a physician and savior, and to reveal to Him the wounds of their soul by confessing their own sins. But he who does this sincerely and wipes away his former transgressions is instructed by the Psalmist to perform this not only in words, but also in disposition and in deeds themselves. He further exhorts them to confess readily by announcing, "For the Lord is good, for His mercy is forever." Therefore, he says, "Confess with a ready spirit," because He Himself is also prepared for loving-kindness, knowing that the things of the present age need mercy, as they are mortal and fleeting.

VERS. 6. *We have sinned with our fathers, we have acted unjustly, we have committed iniquity.* We did not sin alone, he says; but if anyone should examine from the beginning, from those first times, he would find that our race has always been given over to sin. For although so many miracles were performed through Moses, they did not understand, but having obtained salvation and having been freed from the slavery under the Egyptians, they did not know ^D

delivered from their own righteousness, they did not know that neither because of their own justice, nor because they were worthy of the providence of God, but because of the multitude of His mercy, have they obtained these things. ^A

VERS. 7, 8. *Our fathers in Egypt understood not thy wonders, they were not mindful of the multitude of thy mercy. And they provoked him ascending into the Red Sea.* The preceding psalm recounted these things, but it summarized the wonders wrought in the desert, and instituted no accusation against the people. This psalm, however, resumes the narrative and commemorates all the impieties of the people. The entire discourse is an accusation of the Jewish race. *And they provoked him ascending into the Red Sea*; when, approaching Moses, they said: *Would to God we had died in Egypt, or in this vast wilderness!* And, *Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that thou hast brought us out to die in the wilderness? Why hast thou done this to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we spoke to thee in Egypt, saying: Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in this wilderness.* And as much as lay in them, they made God, who is kind, bitter toward them. But the good God, rich in mercy and kindness, again saved them for the sake of His name, to make His power known; ^B lest the wicked should say: *Where is their God?* Therefore, He then granted them salvation, driving them from all sides toward their own safety. They, however, defeated for a little while, believed His words after they had crossed the Red Sea.

VERS. 9. *And he rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up: and he led them through the depths, as in a wilderness.* He who rebuked the Red Sea is acknowledged and declared by all to be God. When, therefore, Jesus commands the agitated sea, it was confessed by all to be He who is God, so that from the storm and the tempest, tranquility might arise. For the same God is He who rebuked the Red Sea and dried it up, so that it could be traversed, that which was once called "sea" and "abyss" because of the multitude of its waters. ^C

VERS. 10, 11. *And he saved them from the hand of them that hated them: and he redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. The water covered them that afflicted them: there was not one of them left.* Someone might inquire about the mixed Egyptians who crossed the sea and were found in the desert together with the people. To whom we shall answer that they were not of the number of those who oppressed Israel. But it was said of those who afflicted them: *There was not one of them left.* The mixed multitude was indeed Egyptian, but because it believed the words of Moses, it obtained salvation.

VERS. 12, 13. *And they believed his words: and they sang his praises. They made haste, they forgot his works: they waited not for his counsel.* With Moses and Aaron, they sang the song of praise at the exodus, but, being changed immediately and at once, they made haste and forgot His works. ^D

^A Ver. 14-18. *And they lusted a lust in the desert, and tempted God in the waterless place. And He gave them their request, and sent fullness into their souls. And they provoked Moses in the camp, and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.* When they tempted God in the waterless place, although He is not liable to temptations and is unmindful of wrongs, not having avenged Himself upon them, He granted them their petition. Furthermore, when they embittered Him while ascending into the Red Sea, even then He made known His power to them; but when they provoked Moses and Aaron in the camp, then the earth was opened and swallowed them up; for it was not right that His servants should be despised. But because both goodness and severity are with Him, He first showed them kindness; but when it profited them nothing, He consequently applied a vengeful remedy to them; wherefore he adds: *The earth opened and swallowed Dathan, and covered over the head of Abiron. And fire was kindled in their synagogue, a flame burned up the sinners.* Thus, Dathan and Abiron provoked Moses, saying: "Has God spoken only to Moses, and not also to us?" But Core and his assembly, having dared to offer strange fire and sacrifices to God in the place of the priests, provoked Aaron. But the earth, being opened, swallowed Dathan, along with his whole family, who had spoken against Moses, and covered the congregation of Abiron; but the flame, coming forth from the tabernacle, burned up Core and those who were about to offer their incense with him.

Ver. 19-31. *And they made a calf in Choreb, and worshipped the graven image, and exchanged their glory for the likeness of a calf that eateth grass.* They forgot God who saved them, who did great things in Egypt, wonderful things in the land of Cham, terrible things at the Red Sea. *And He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, to turn away His wrath lest He should destroy them, and they set at naught the desirable land. They believed not His word, and murmured in their tents; they heard not the voice of the Lord. And He lifted up His hand against them, to cast them down in the desert, and to cast down their seed among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. And they were initiated to Beelphegor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. And they provoked Him in their devices, and the fall was multiplied among them. And Phinees stood and made atonement, and the casting down ceased. And it was counted to him for righteousness, into generation and generation even for ever.* The history is extant in Numbers, how Phinees, having taken a javelin, pierced through the Madianite woman together with him who was having intercourse with her: by the performing of which deed, the wrath of God was immediately appeased for them. Here, furthermore, it is declared how much the righteousness of one man avails before God, so that on account of the zeal of Phinees for God, the wrath was broken and the destruction invading the sinners was turned away.

^A VERSES 32-40. *And they provoked him at the waters of contradiction, and Moses was vexed for their sake, because they embittered his spirit.* And he spoke with his lips; they did not destroy the nations which the Lord told them to. And they were mingled among the nations, and learned their works, and served their carved images, and it became a scandal to them. And they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. And they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the carved images of Canaan. And the land was stained with blood, and was defiled by their works, and they committed fornication with their own inventions. And the Lord was angry with fury against his people, and he abhorred his own inheritance. If on account of all these things he abhorred his inheritance, how is it said above: *To look upon the goodness of your elect, to rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that you may be praised with your inheritance?* But see whether the Word does not clearly set forth that the inheritance of the former people was abhorred, and prophesy concerning another inheritance, that he may teach that it is to be desired to be numbered with another people.

^B VERSES 41-45. *And he delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and they took dominion over those who hated them.* But the Lord does not deliver up his people unless he first abhors them; and he abhors them on account of the aforementioned deeds. But when the Lord himself delivers them up, who cannot have dominion over those who belong to him? *And their enemies oppressed them, and they were humbled under their hands: often he delivered them.* But they embittered him in their counsel, and were humbled in their iniquities. He himself, he says, was delivering them, being good and having become sweet to them; but they embittered him, making him bitter to themselves; and again he saved them as a Savior; but they were perishing, piercing themselves with works of destruction; and this happened often, until they themselves humbled themselves in their own iniquities.

^C VERSES 44-46. *And the Lord saw when they were afflicted, when he heard their supplication. And he was mindful of his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercy. And he gave them into mercies in the sight of all who had taken them captive.* And this was fulfilled when God put it into the heart of King Cyrus, and afterwards of Darius and Artaxerxes, to act kindly toward the Jewish nation, according to what is related in the Scripture of Esdras. But even now, while obeying the Roman Empire, they meet with mercies, God having granted this to them: not that they were worthy, but again on account of the ^D multitude of his mercy. *And he repented according to the multitude of his mercy.* He calls the cessation of correction "repentance." For God does not have the passion of repentance, nor does he delight in these now and those at another time, but acting wisely in all things, he brings both correction and offers human kindness.

^A Verse 47, 48. *Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may confess thy holy name, and glory in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting, and all the people shall say, Amen, amen.* They are taught to pray that they may be gathered from the nations, so that, having at last been delivered from their dispersion, they might be brought together into one. This, the Jews indeed dream will happen in the present life, when the Anointed One shall come to them. We, however, now that our Savior has shone upon mankind, see a multitude of souls from all the nations being gathered daily under the Son of God: souls which are here prepared to have a better gathering in the kingdom of heaven, which he promises will be truly holy. *Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. And all the people shall say, Amen, amen.* Consistently with the Apostle who says, “In everything give thanks,” ^B the Word now teaches that we must always bless the Lord, whether he shows mercy, or chastises, or grants salvation.

ALLELUIA. CVI.

Verses 1-4. *Confess unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Let them say who have been redeemed by the Lord, whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemies, and gathered them from the lands, from the rising and the setting of the sun, and from the north and the sea: they wandered in the wilderness, in a waterless land.* We must confess to the Lord, both by declaring our transgressions to him as to a physician, and by giving thanks for the benefits bestowed upon us, as those who hold the pledge of his healing: for he is not only good, but also extends his mercy throughout the entire present age. *Let them say who have been redeemed by the Lord, whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemies, and gathered them from the lands.* ^C The calling of the nations, brought to pass through our Savior, is appropriately foretold here following the rejection of the Jewish nation, which was narrated in the preceding psalm: in which, after a long catalog of their impieties, it is said: *And the Lord was angry with his people, and he abhorred his inheritance.* “Whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemies”; namely, those who had been reduced to slavery by the enemies and foes of men, that is to say, by the devil. ^D “And from the lands he gathered them, from the rising and the setting of the sun, and from the north and the sea.” He gathers them into his own Church from every nation: for he designated the entire world by the four climates. For from these a new nation and a new inheritance of God was established. It is therefore reasonable for one to think that the gathering of the Jews from the nations is signified by this psalm, as if the Jews were to be separated from the nations throughout the whole world, liberated from the inhabitation of alien land, and gathered into Judea: for this is what the Jews dream of even to this day. But because these things are not found to have been brought to pass by the work itself, since now, with so much time elapsed...

nearly a thousand years since their captivity in Babylon—no such thing has been performed for their sake, it remains that we should accommodate these words to the outcome of events and refer the prophecy to the calling of the nations. ^A

*Vers. 5. They wandered in the wilderness and in a place without water, they found no way to a city of habitation: hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.* We, who before the divine worship of our Savior wandered in a life that was fruitless, waterless, and barren, when we were irrational nations, led off to silent idols; we who never found the way to a city of habitation, when we were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, having no hope, and were atheists in the world; we who were once held in hatred, failing in soul from hunger and thirst, because we were deprived of rational and heavenly food and spiritual drink, according to that saying: *I will send famine, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. And waters shall be moved from sea to sea, and from the north to the east: they shall run about seeking the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.* Therefore, being out in the desert of virtues, we wandered, not having a guide and leader whom we might follow to eventually find the city well-ordered by the holy law, in which we could dwell without ever departing; for this is virtue and the wisdom of God. ^{B C} *Vers. 6. And they cried to the Lord when they were in trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.* When all the nations were wandering in a desert and waterless land, and their soul was failing from the lack of saving words, they cried out to God, supplicating that a Savior common to all might be sent. *And they cried to the Lord when they were in trouble.* Condoling with those who were held captive, and moved with compassion for the thirsty and those whose souls were already failing from the lack of food, they cried out and shouted to the Lord, each making petition for his own.

*Vers. 7, 8. And He led them into a straight way, that they might go into a city of habitation. Let them confess to the Lord His mercies, and His wonderful works to the children of men.* For those who wandered in a desert and waterless land were struggling with this first malady, namely, that of error. And having fallen into a second evil, they did not find the way to their city of habitation; and a third evil encompassed them, since they were hungry and thirsty, so that their soul failed within them. ^D But the philanthropic God and good Savior first led them into a straight way; then He showed them how they ought to walk along it to the city of habitation. And what could that straight way be, if not the saving evangelical word, which alone leads us to the heavenly city; in which, having established ourselves, we shall find our habitation? *Let them confess to the Lord His mercies, and His wonderful works to the children of men.* Proclaiming...

^A to all the children of men, so that all, having learned the grace that has come to us and the mercies of God, might hasten to their own salvation.

*For He satisfied the empty soul, and filled the hungry soul with good things; sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, bound in poverty and iron. Because they provoked the words of the Lord, and stirred up the counsel of the Most High.* If you should call the shadow of death idolatry and wicked actions, you would in no way be wrong. For these are the things that separate us from the true life. In these we were formerly, because we provoked God and stirred up the counsel of the Most High. For it was necessary, from the greatness and beauty of the creatures, to contemplate the Maker of all things, and to understand His eternal power and divinity from the creation of the world; but we, as if blind, living in darkness and the shadow of death, and having our rational soul-faculties bound and ^B blinded, exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.

*And their heart was humbled with labors; they were weakened, and there was none to help.* For this great achievement was reserved for the Word of God alone, concerning whom it is next said: *He sent His Word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. They cried to the Lord when they were in trouble, and He saved them from their distresses. And He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds asunder.* For how were we not in distress, enslaved to wicked demons and unclean spirits? But the kind and merciful God, hearing the prayers of His ^C holy prophets and God-loving men crying out to Him on our behalf, not only brought us out from these, but also broke asunder their bonds. This declares the abundant remission of sins, which the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ has accounted us worthy to receive.

*Let them confess to the Lord His mercies, and His wonderful works to the children of men; for He has broken the gates of bronze, and shattered the bars of iron. He took them from the way of their iniquity; for because of their injustices they were humbled.* The same is now repeated regarding His subsequent benefits. I think, however, that by these things the fall of human souls even unto death is indicated; for whose sake it was necessary that the Redeemer and Savior of all should descend even unto death. Where, having arrived, the Christ of God alone of all who ever were, shattered the gates that had been ^D iron-bound from the ages, and which had been opened to no mortal, and for this reason had been made of bronze, and broke their previously unbroken bars.

*Their soul abhorred all food, and they drew near to the gates of death.* Because of the evil disposition of those who turn away from all rational and

salutary food, the only-begotten Son of God, having been duly sent, reached even to the gates of death, having become flesh and ^A having become man, offering the hand of salvation even to those who had fallen up to that point and who had cried out to Him. *And they cried out to the Lord in their being afflicted, and He saved them from their necessities.* He sent His Word and healed them, and rescued them from their corruptions. *Let them acknowledge to the Lord His mercies, and His wonders to the sons of men.* And let them sacrifice to Him a sacrifice of praise, and let them recount His works in exultation, *who go down into the sea in ships, doing work in many waters.* Having remembered the coming of the Redeemer and Savior, through whom all the things foretold were brought to pass, it next joins the prophecy concerning His apostles. For they were those who went down into the sea in ships, expressly and ^B literally, just as the divine Scripture of the Gospels testifies. Therefore, the present prophecy very consistently attached the mention of the apostles and those with Him to the coming of the Word of God to men. To them, therefore, it gave command to perform the new mysteries of the New Testament, saying, *And let them sacrifice a sacrifice of praise, and let them recount His works in exultation.*

*He spoke, and there stood a spirit of a storm, and its waves were lifted up. They ascend even to the heavens and descend even to the abysses; their soul was melting away in evils. They were troubled, they reeled ^C like a drunken man, and all their wisdom was swallowed up. And they cried out to the Lord in their being afflicted, and He brought them out of their necessities. And He commanded the storm, and it stood into a breeze, and its waves fell silent.* These things, being prophetically foretold, were fulfilled expressly and literally; for when the disciples of our Savior were sailing with Him, a great earthquake, it says, occurred in the sea, so that the ship was covered by the waves. But they, falling down, said to Him, "Lord, save us, we are perishing." But He, saying to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. *And they were glad because they fell silent, and He guided them to the harbor of His will. Let them acknowledge ^D to the Lord His mercies, and His wonders to the sons of men. Let them exalt Him in the congregation of the people, and let them praise Him in the seat of the elders.* Being led to the harbor of His will, for which reason the Word necessarily commands for the fourth time to acknowledge the Lord in this way, and to bring His mercies through the mouth, He exhorts all the sons of men to proclaim His wonders. *He turned rivers into a wilderness, and outgoings of water into thirst, a fruitful land into saltness, from the wickedness of those dwelling therein.*

^A *He set the wilderness into pools of waters, and a land without water into outgoings of water. And He inhabited there those who were hungry, and they established cities of habitation. And they sowed fields and planted vineyards, and made fruit of produce. And He blessed them and they were multiplied exceedingly, and their cattle He did not diminish.*

*And they were diminished and plagued by the affliction of evils and pain. Contempt was poured out upon their princes, and He caused them to wander in a place without a path, and not a way.* For the multitude of the Jewish nation was reduced to such a scarcity of good things that few are found among them who might be excellent according to God. And while their whole nation endured what was foretold in this prophecy, their princes, certain patriarchs, and high priests and teachers of the law, the Sadducees, Scribes, and Pharisees, were suffused with shame and delivered into contempt, inasmuch as they were called to the straight way but rejected it.

VERS. 41. *And He helped the poor out of poverty.* Here, according to his custom, Symmachus published, *And He will fortify the poor from affliction.* For those things which were predicted will come to pass, he says: but He will fortify the poor people, that is, the one who is to be established from the nations, whom our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, proclaiming him blessed, called: *Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.* (Matt. v, 3). And *he set as sheep the families.* But Aquila says, *And he will set as a fold the kindreds*; and Symmachus, *And he will appoint, he says, as a flock the kindreds*: that is, the Churches which have been established throughout cities and regions from diverse kindreds.

VERS. 42, 43. *The righteous shall see and rejoice, and all iniquity shall stop its mouth.* What, moreover, shall they see, if not the change of things from worse to better? Wherefore the Savior said to those who beheld the prophecies brought to their effect and end: *But blessed be your eyes, for they see; and, Many prophets have desired to see what you see, and did not see.* (Matt. xiii, 16, 17). And *all iniquity shall stop its mouth.* Raged into madness and broken by pain on account of envy, yet unable to do anything because God so willed. But this it is manifest to see, when the iniquity of the infidels and idolaters, raging against the Church of Christ and often acting insanely, because at length it could do nothing, stopped its mouth, bridled by the divine word: which even to those in the time of persecutions says this: *Be silent, be muzzled* (Mark iv, 39). By iniquity, however, you may understand the devil, and everyone doing iniquitous things, according to that: *The mouth of those speaking iniquitous things is stopped* (Ps. lxii, 12). *Who is wise, and will keep these things, and they will understand the mercies of the Lord?* (Ps. cvii, 43).

CANTICLE OF THE PSALM OF DAVID. CVII.

VERS. 2-5. *My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready, I will sing and I will psalm in my glory. Arise, my glory, arise, psalter and harp, I will arise at dawn. I will confess Thee among the peoples, O Lord, I will psalm to Thee among the nations. For Thy mercy is great above the heavens, and Thy truth is even unto the clouds.* He who is worthy of that saving beatitude...

of whom it is said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they themselves shall see God"—might say with confidence: "My heart is ready, O God." Therefore the Prophet, having accomplished what is dear and kindred to the Holy Spirit through virtuous works, sends up the present prayer ^A to God, the bestower of such gifts: "I will sing and I will psalm in my glory"—having received my own glory, that is, the prophetic grace. "Arise, ^B my glory; arise, psalter and cithara; I will arise at dawn." Perhaps he awakens the powers of his own soul and body on account of the future inspiration of the Holy Spirit that is to come upon him; and while we understand by "members of the body and senses" those things through which the mind is played upon whenever it wishes, by "psalter" we understand the incorporeal and rational powers of the soul, which, preparing them for the reception of the Spirit, he addresses: "Arise, psalter and cithara."

VERS. 6-8. "Be exalted above the heavens, O God, and Thy glory above all the earth, that Thy beloved may be delivered. Save with Thy right hand, and hear me. God has spoken in His holy one; I will be exalted and will divide Shechem, and will measure the valley of tents." I beseech and pray that grace may quickly be present, and that Thou, the most high God, praised in the heavens, may be known, and that Thy glory may be made manifest over all the earth. For this having happened, Thy beloved shall be delivered from the bitter slavery and captivity ^C under which they have suffered, having become subject. "Save with Thy right hand, and hear me. God has spoken in His holy one." Who was His holy one if not the only-begotten Son, who is truly holy and beloved, through whom God made the answer to the prayer offered to them? For to the prayer that said, "Be exalted above the heavens, O God," He answers, saying, "I will be exalted"; and to that which said, "And Thy glory above all the earth," He again answers with what follows from, "I will be exalted and will divide Shechem, and will measure the valley of tents." This valley, therefore, He says—that is, the whole inhabited world of men—I will measure into tents, as if surveying and mapping them out; I will measure into tents according to every city, and region, and village; and again, measuring and surveying tents for Myself, that is, the Churches everywhere.

VERS. 9, 10. "Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine, and Ephraim is the protection of my head. Judah is my king; Moab is the vessel of my hope." Since Ephraim ^D and Manasseh were sons of Joseph, and those descended from them occupied the region called Gilead, and Shechem and Samaria, where the kingdom of Israel had been established, for this reason he says that these also are His, and calls Ephraim, by way of excellence, the strengthening of His head, because of the kingdom that was established from him. "Judah is my king; Moab is the vessel of my hope." He says that Judah is his own king. It is manifest, however, according to the Apostle, that our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ has sprung from Judah, from whom the kingly lineage was constituted. In these same

the Word gathers Ephraim and Judah, since in ancient times the entire nation of the Jews was divided into two kingdoms, prophesying that there would no longer be this division, but a union of the entire nation. And these things were fulfilled at the manifestation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. For the entire nation of the Jews was indeed united in those times, no longer divided into two kingdoms. Wherefore the Saviour similarly preached the Gospel of the kingdom and sent his disciples into all their tribes. *Judah is my king, Moab is the basin of my hope.* ^B Concerning these, he says, that since they were received in the first place and at the beginning of the calling, those of foreign extraction will not prove any worse or alien to me, but I will also admit and accept that very Moab, to whom it was once forbidden to enter the Church of the Lord: for I hope for this. *Moab is the basin of my hope.* Aquila and the fifth edition have interpreted these things more clearly and more plainly, in these words: *Moab is the basin of my washing*; that is, a vessel of my washing. Symmachus, indeed, says: *It shall be, Moab is the basin of my security.* But I remember hearing from a certain Hebrew who, in secret, was handing down an opinion on these passages; for he said that the generation of Christ according to the flesh, which was assumed from the race of Moab through Ruth the Moabitess, from whom also King David was born, from whose seed the Christ of God was born according to the flesh, who also came to the baptism of John and the washing in the Jordan, was mystically declared by the things before us. *Moab is the basin of my hope.* It seems to me that through these words God also promises to Moab the grace of the calling, to be accomplished in no other way than through the washing of regeneration. Since such things are promised to Moab, he leaves it to us to think the same regarding the rest of the nations. For since the prophecy admits the Moabites, who were once proscribed, it is manifest that through them he ascribes a good hope to the other nations also.

^C VERS. 11-14. *Upon Idumea I will extend my shoe; to me foreigners have been subjected. Who will lead me into the city of fortification; or who will guide me as far as Idumea? Is it not you, O God, who cast us off, and will you not go forth in our powers? Give us help from tribulation, and vain is the salvation of man. In God we shall do power, and he himself will bring to nothing those who afflict us.* That is, I shall ascend and walk among the nations. For the Idumeans were those sprung from the hated Esau, of whom it has been said: *Was not Esau a brother to Jacob, says the Lord? And I loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated.* ^D I will extend, therefore, he says, my shoe, no longer over Israel, nor over the land of Judea, nor over Jerusalem only, but over that very hated region itself. I shall therefore ascend to those who were once enemies, and I shall hold them in the place of friends. *To me foreigners have been subjected.* For which Aquila says: *I will enter into friendship with the Philistines*; but the fifth edition...

I will be honored among the Philistines*; and the fifty-ninth Psalm, *To me foreigners have been subjected.* Now, the sign of the knowledge of God, and of friendship, and of companionship, and of love, is the subjection to Him of those who were once disobedient and aliens to God, and subject to wicked demons.

PSALM CIX. TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID.

^A God, my praise do not ignore; for the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful have been opened against me. They spoke against me with a deceitful tongue, and surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me for nothing. ^B In this instance, as usual, for the phrase *To the end*, Aquila has rendered it *To the conqueror*, but Symmachus has said *A Triumphal*. The Holy Spirit is all but teaching us that these words, in which His human life and endurance of sufferings are set forth, ought to be uttered over the triumphs of our Savior and His trophies over death. *God, my praise do not ignore; for the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful have been opened against me. They spoke against me with a deceitful tongue, and surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me for nothing.* The present psalm is referred to the person of Christ, as it embraces His passions. The Scripture of the Acts of the Apostles bears witness to this word, where Peter, having made mention of the fall of the traitor Judas, and having counseled that another ought to be taken into the number of the twelve apostles, made use of the prophetic testimony found in the psalm lying before us, saying: *Let his habitation become desolate, and let no one dwell in it, and let another take his office*; so that, according to the teaching of Peter, this utterance, and the rest that are carried in the psalm, were spoken concerning Judas. ^C The Savior, therefore, beginning through these words lying before us in a human manner—as having become man, but remaining God, which He was—entreats His own Father not to let those who plot against Him succeed in their aim. His whole aim, however, was to extinguish all idolatry from among men, and to establish on earth praise to the Father; just as He teaches elsewhere, saying: *I will declare thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the Church I will sing praise to thee*. But those who were plotting against Him unto death were making it their endeavor to silence this very praise and to cause it to be hushed. "But do Thou," He says, "O Father, not allow my praise, which is being laboriously pursued for Thy honor and glory, to be silenced." *For the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful have been opened against me.* Now, the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful was, for the most part, even all that of the Pharisees and Scribes, who with hypocrisy called Him Master and Rabbi, and especially that of Judas, who delivered up his own Savior and Lord with a kiss. *They spoke against me with a deceitful tongue, and surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me for nothing.* ^D Instead of loving me, they slandered me.

^A For they ought to have loved Him as a benefactor, and as a physician not only of bodies but also of souls; yet they wove slanders against Him.

VERS. 5. *For the love of me, they slandered me; but I was praying.* ^B *They set against me evil for good, and hatred for my love.* By this, He teaches His own disciples in practice what manner of men they also ought to be, if ever they fall into similar circumstances. And since the phrase "But I was praying" is stated in the middle, but what exactly it was that He prayed for on their behalf is not recorded, one might not inappropriately say that He was praying for them in the very things presented here, which were akin to His own teaching, where He said: "Pray for those who mistreat and persecute you." — *They set against me evil for good, and hatred for my love.* Concerning these things, there is no need to speak, since the evangelical history embraces the multitude of benefits which He, having become man, bestowed upon them, healing every disease and every infirmity among them.

VERS. 6-10. *Appoint a sinner over him, and let the devil stand at his right hand.* Who indeed weakened him, and stripped him of all that he previously seemed to possess at the right side of his soul. *When he is judged, let him go forth condemned, and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few, and let another take his office. Let his children be orphans, and his wife a widow. Let his children be wandering and begging; let them be cast out of their homes.* It is probable that these things were accomplished in actual fact according to the bare letter against the traitor after his hanging, so that his children indeed became orphans, his wife was left in widowhood, and everything else that is listed attained its fulfillment according to the letter, so that the prediction of our Savior, who announced beforehand in the psalm that these things would come to pass, was found to be true. You should understand these things to have occurred also to the people of the Jewish nation after the plot they laid against Christ. For a few years after the cross, the entire nation was driven from its dwellings; and while many were killed, their women together with their children were sold into slavery.

VERS. 11-13. *Let the creditor search out all that he has, and let strangers plunder their wealth. Let there be no helper for him, nor let there be any to have mercy on his orphans. Let his children be for destruction; in one generation let his name be blotted out.* ^D Symmachus, however, says it thus: "Let the exactor gather together all that he has." The exactors are the Roman emperors, demanding the imposed tribute. They plundered all the goods of the Jews, searching everything out precisely, so as to find and claim even hidden things for themselves. And when these things happened, and the enemies divided among themselves the goods that belonged to them, there was no one to be a helper to them, nor were their children spared. Finally, not yet forty years having passed, the people of the Jews underwent utter destruction.

^A VERS. 14-16. “Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered in the sight of the Lord, and let the sin of his mother not be blotted out.” “Let it be before the Lord continually, and let their memorial perish from the earth, because he did not remember to show mercy.” The virtue of fathers has often benefited even their erring children, just as the faith of Abraham benefited the Jews, and the piety of David benefited Solomon; but the wickedness of parents increases the punishment for similar children, for from no quarter can any opportunity for mercy be found. “Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered in the sight of the Lord.” By “fathers” he calls those who behaved impiously in the desert, those in the time of the judges and kings, and those who lived iniquity after the return from Babylon. “And let the sin of his mother ^B not be blotted out.” By “mother” he means Jerusalem, in which they dared to perpetrate the bloody crime against the Lord Christ. “Let it be before the Lord continually, and let their memorial perish from the earth, because he did not remember to show mercy.” Seeing that God always beholds all the lawless deeds dared by them, He will deign them no mercy, but will deliver them to total destruction. And from this it is clear that he speaks not just of Judah alone, but of all the unbelieving Jews; for he shifted the discourse from the singular person to the plural; for he no longer says “his,” but “their.”

^C VERS. 17-20. “And he persecuted the poor and needy man, and the broken-hearted to put him to death”; that is, struck down on account of the iniquities he saw in them. Whence, weeping over Jerusalem, he also said to it: “If you had known, even you, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” He put him to death, being the cause that he was delivered to death. “He loved cursing, and it shall come to him; and he did not desire blessing, and it shall be far from him. And he put on cursing as a garment, and it entered like water into his inward parts, and like oil into his bones. Let it be to him as a garment which he wraps around himself, and as a belt with which he is always girded.” This is the work of those who slander me before the Lord, and who speak evil against my soul. Since the prophecy speaks in the person of the Savior: “Those who bless you are blessed, and those ^D who curse you are cursed,” it is manifest to all how those throughout the whole world who have known God through Him, and have believed in Him, are deemed worthy of God's blessing, so that the Church of Christ multiplies and grows and fills all things; but how the Jews, by cursing Him and uttering blasphemous words every day, draw down upon themselves the curse of God, this too is manifest from the fact that they have not lifted their heads, nor recovered, since the time they plotted against our Savior.

“And you, O Lord, deal with me for your name’s sake, for your mercy is kind. Deliver...”

me, for I am needy and poor, and my heart is troubled within me. I am gone like a shadow when it declines; I am shaken off as the locust. My knees are weakened by fasting, and my flesh is changed for lack of oil.” ^A Since he is greatly anxious concerning the ruin of their souls, both that of the traitor himself and of those who conspired against him, as well as concerning the rejection and downfall of the entire Jewish nation, he confesses that, being a lover of mankind, he is troubled on their account; wherefore he says, “And my heart is troubled within me.”

VERS. 25-29. “And I became a reproach to them; they saw me, and shook their heads. Help me, O Lord my God, and save me according to your mercy. And let them know that this is your hand, and you, O Lord, have done it.” In the resurrection from the dead, the hand of God, that is, his only-begotten Word, became known, and he who had until then been hidden from many was revealed, ^B when in truth he willingly endured the cross, despising the shame, and he himself raised his own body, being the right hand and power of the Father. “Let them know, therefore,” he says, “that this is your hand, which they insult and mock, and you, O Lord, have done it,” in that it pleased you that it should assume a body. For the hand of God is his power, the creator of all things, which is no other than the Word of God, through whom all things were made. “They shall curse, and you will bless. Let those who rise up against me be confounded; but your servant shall rejoice.” To this very day, the Jews persist in attacking the Savior with blasphemous words; but as they utter these blasphemies, the preaching becomes ^C daily more glorious. “Let those who slander me be clothed with shame, and let them be covered with their own confusion as with a double mantle.” For the Jews, after their conspiracy against Christ, being destitute of God’s providence, were enveloped in shame; but our Savior and Lord is even now filled with joy, through the Church established in his name throughout the whole world. “But your servant shall rejoice.” Nor is it necessary to take the term “servant” here in any other way or sense; for we hear the divine Paul saying this: “He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,” and he himself cries out through Isaiah: “Thus says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be his servant.” “Let those who slander me ^D be clothed with shame, and let them be covered with their own confusion as with a double mantle.” And this you might learn if you were to consider what kind of mind the children of the Jews possess, seeing indeed their own venerable and holy things utterly destroyed; but the sepulcher of the One who was insulted by them and delivered to the cross and death is honored with zeal and honors, and the Churches, which through his power have been founded throughout the whole world, daily increase and multiply, and advance with glory. For seeing these things with their own eyes, how should the children of the Jews not justly be clothed with confusion and shame?

VERS. 30-31. “I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth, and in the midst of many I will praise him, because he stood...”

at the right hand of the poor, to save my soul from those who pursue it. Of many: of whom, if not of all the nations that have believed in him, and of the Churches that are throughout the whole world? For he himself is the one who said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Therefore, throughout the whole world, in the midst of the Churches, great acts of thanksgiving are sent up to the Father by the Lord.

PSALM 109 BY DAVID

VERS. 1, 2. “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” Our Savior signified that this saying is very accurate and true, saying, “If then David in the spirit calls him Lord, how is he his son?” For David could not have uttered these words, “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand,” apart from the Holy Spirit. For how could the knowledge of the communion which the Father has with him who is called David’s own Lord have reached human thought? ^B The throne, therefore, declares his royal dignity; but the sitting denotes the firmness, stability, and immobility of his abiding in the kingdom. The expression, “at the right hand,” declares him to be a participant in the gifts at the right hand of the Father. For the Son dispenses all things at the right hand, joyous, good, and saving, as if from the Father. By “enemies,” he means those who were declared in the preceding psalm; and not only them, but also all opposing powers. For the Father is proclaimed in the present psalm as intending to cast all things under his feet.

VERS. 3. “The Lord shall send forth the rod of your power out of Sion; and rule you in the midst of your enemies.” I judge that in these words the evangelical discourse is called the “rod of power.” Observe, moreover, whether perhaps the “rod of power” is spoken of here in a different way than the rod that is called “iron” in the second psalm. The evangelical discourse, therefore, which announces the power and the economy of our Savior, would be a rod of instruction and salvation; ^C but that by which he prostrates and destroys his enemies and the enemies of his Church is called “iron,” by which he is said to be about to shatter his enemies like a potter’s vessel. Since, therefore, Christ established his Churches in the midst of cities and in the midst of the very nations, among enemies and foes, it is necessarily said, “The Lord shall send forth the rod of your power, that you may rule in the midst of your enemies.”

VERS. 4. “With you is the beginning in the day of your power, in the splendors of the saints, from the womb before the morning star have I begotten you.” Aquila: “From a womb brought forth as the morning, the dew of your childhood”; Sym- ^D machus: “As in the morning, the dew of your youth”; the fifth edition: “From the womb, from the morning, the dew of your youth.” These words seem to signify the economy of his fleshly birth. For “from the womb,” it says, “shall be the morning dew of your childhood”; or “from the womb shall there be for you your dew in the morning in your youth.” And by these I think it is declared that [he is born] not from the seed of a man, but

from the Holy Spirit was the fleshly generation constituted. For just as dew, borne down from heaven from above, so in some way in the womb of the mother who was pregnant with him, the constitution of the flesh came to be in his infancy. And instead of “from the belly” or “from the womb,” the Hebrew has *Mariam*. I have heard it from someone, however, that the Hebrew word here makes mention of Mary; for that, *Mariam*, signifies the name of Mary, so that by these words the Theotokos is specifically remembered.

The Lord has sworn, and will not repent, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at your right hand has crushed kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the nations, he shall fill with corpses, he shall crush heads on the earth. He shall drink from the brook in the way; therefore he shall lift up his head. ^B It seems to me that the preceding words are very consistently conjoined to the word mentioned before. For even if you underwent a birth from a womb, he says, and were made like dew from the Holy Spirit, having assumed flesh in your infancy, yet you shall not meet the end of your life in the same manner as other men; but you shall remain a priest forever to God and Father: since this was ordained, and has been declared to you by your Father with an oath of confirmation.

ALLELUIA. CX.

Verses 1-3. I will confess you, O Lord, with my whole heart, in the counsel of the just and the congregation. The inscription of the present and following psalms declares that these were not pronounced through a psalter, nor do they hold the place of a canticle, nor of a prayer, nor of other things which are mentioned in the titles; but they are hymns of thanksgiving: wherefore they are inscribed, *Alleluia*, which when translated into the Greek tongue signifies the praise of God. I will confess you, O Lord, with my whole heart, in the counsel of the just and the congregation. The works of the Lord are great, sought out in all his wills. Confession and magnificence are his work, and his righteousness remains for the age of ages. ^C But very consistently, after the prophecy given concerning our Savior, a hymn of thanksgiving is subjoined in these words, recited from the person of the Savior himself, who gives thanks to his own Father for the salvation of all4 men. For *confession* according to the usage of Scripture sometimes signifies the declaration of sins, and sometimes exhibits thanksgiving. For immediately in the Gospels our Savior himself says: I confess you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to little ones. Yes, Father, for so it was pleasing before you. All things have been handed over to me by the Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and whoever the Son may will to reveal [them to]. ^D In the counsel of the just and the congregation. The works of the Lord are great, sought out in all his wills. Not of depraved and perverse men; but of upright and just souls, the hymn of thanksgiving

to my Father will I render. By this he further signifies ^A His Church, established by His grace throughout the whole world; and by the "counsel of the righteous" he has called the ranks of His saints in the Church; and by "congregation," he designates a second order after the counsel of the righteous, which constitutes another assembly of the multitude in His Church.

VERS. 4-10. *Confession and magnificence is his work, and his justice remains for ever and ever. He has made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and compassionate Lord; he has given food to them that fear him. He will be mindful for ever of his covenant; he has declared the strength of his works to his people, that he may give them the inheritance of the Gentiles: the works of his hands are truth and judgment. All his commandments are faithful, confirmed for ever and ever, made in truth and equity. He has sent redemption to his people, he has commanded his covenant for ever. Holy and terrible is his name: the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.* ^B Might it be that, since he who fears is not yet perfect, the initiation is achieved through fear, but the end through love? For perfect love casts out fear. Such, however, will that man be who loves the Lord God with his whole heart, and his whole soul, and all his strength. *Understanding good to all that do it. His praise remains for ever and ever.* Understanding is good when it is completed by works; wherefore he did not say merely "understanding is good," but *to all that do it*. His praise remains for ever and ever. For the end of the blessed is to be with God, ^C and to attend upon Him, and to be occupied only with His theology and praise.

ALLELUIA. CXI.

VERS. 1-3. *Blessed is the man that fears the Lord, he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth; the generation of the righteous shall be blessed. Glory and wealth shall be in his house, and his justice remains for ever and ever.* Thus he is accustomed to call everyone who comes to God from the Gentiles. This is shown by the fact that he distinctively calls those who fear the Lord to the hymn of God after Israel, after the house of Aaron, and after the house of Levi, as is said elsewhere. For who could those be who fear the Lord after them, if not strangers and aliens from the Gentiles? ^D Therefore, in the psalm we are treating, there can be no other people pronounced blessed than that which has come to God from the Gentiles, whom he calls "fearing the Lord." Yet that man is not blessed immediately, unless he does what follows; that is, that he should desire His commandments exceedingly, and hold firmly to His will; and that he should not keep the commandments under compulsion or against the inclination of his mind, but willingly and with alacrity should embrace and sincerely love the observance of the commandments of God.

^A

VERS. 4-6. *Exortum est in tenebris lumen rectis, misericors et miserator et justus.* He who is called blessed does not abandon his own light, causing his doctrine to arise not for all, but for the upright, and providing the light of knowledge within the generation of the upright, and illuminating the upright. A pleasant man is he who pities and lends. He does not shut up his own bowels, but imparts his goods to those in need, because he fulfills the commandment which says: *Who then is the faithful and prudent steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his lord when he comes will find so doing. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.* He will order his words in judgment, because he will not be moved for ever. Such a man, he says, and he who does such things, will neither fall, nor be moved from his station upon the rock. For he will not dread the threats of princes, nor will he be terrified by those who, in times of calamity, attempt to disturb and confound him. ^B

VERS. 7, 8. *In memoria æterna erit justus, ab auditione mala non timebit.* He will suffer no evil from deceitful words, which indeed present the appearance of truth but exert themselves against the knowledge of God, being as he is founded upon the rock, whom nothing can separate from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. *His heart is ready to hope in the Lord, his heart is established; he will not be afraid until he looks upon his enemies.* For this reason, he says, he will not be moved, nor will he fear from an evil report, because his heart is ready to hope in the Lord. This is what Symmachus translated: *His heart is firm, free from care in the Lord.* Therefore he despises such disturbances; and not only does he not fear the hostile, but he also expects their defeat, because of his hope placed in God. ^C

VERS. 9, 10. *Dispersit, dedit pauperibus, justitia ejus manet in sæculum sæculi, cornu ejus exaltabitur in gloria. Peccator videbit et irascetur, dentibus suis fremet et tabescet: desiderium peccatoris peribit.* Since the whole discourse is concerning those who have been initiated through faith, and the people from the nations who have received the worship of God through divine teaching, it consequently also mentions those of the circumcision who bear ill the progress of the nations. Wherefore it is said: *The sinner will see and be angry, he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the desire of the sinner will perish*; because the unrighteous man indeed received the law, but has transgressed it. ^D Such is everyone from the circumcision who gnashes his teeth at our salvation. Indeed, the very same thing happens among the Gentiles who are unbelievers, and who rage at the progress of their own people who have been translated to the divine way of life. But both orders, being furious at those who are perfected in Christ, will waste away, and their desire will perish.

ALLELUIA OF AGGAEUS AND ZACHARIAS. CXII.

^A Ver. 1, 2. "Praise the Lord, O you children, praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore." In the preceding psalm, the Word having depicted every man who has become blessed through fearing the Lord, and their life and manner of living according to God, as well as the end for which they are to be gifted by God, in the present psalm he teaches who these people are and to whom they are equivalent. He calls them "children" because of the youthful and newborn state of their souls, and he calls even them to the praise of God. In place of "children," Aquila and Symmachus rendered it as "servants," saying: "Hymn the Lord, O servants, hymn the name of the Lord." For children differ in nothing from servants, being tutored by the fear of servitude. "Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore." As if the children were ignorant of how they ought to praise the Lord, the prophetic Spirit, like a pedagogue and teacher, himself transmits the words to them. This prayer is also sent forth on behalf of us, the children ourselves, that the name of the Lord may remain with us perpetually, not fleeing from us, but resting in our life. ^B

Ver. 3, 4. "From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the Lord’s name is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens." And when did the Word attain its end, if not after the appearance of our Saviour Jesus Christ? For before this, God was said to be known only in Judea, and his name was great only in Israel, while the nations outside of Judea were enslaved to demons and unclean spirits, and being addicted to idolatry, the name of the Lord did not even enter their minds. ^C When, however, our Lord Jesus Christ himself appeared and sent forth his disciples to all the nations, at that time the hymn delivered to all through these present words was fulfilled.

Ver. 5, 6. "Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, and beholdeth the things that are lowly in heaven and in earth?" By these things the new people is taught that even though our Lord has been taken up and sits at the right hand of the Father, nevertheless the whole earth is full and enjoys his inspection. Does not that which is said seem great? But when you consider of whom it is spoken, it is far beneath that. For how does he dwell in the heavens who fills heaven and earth, who is present everywhere, who says: "I am a God at hand, and not a God far off," who has measured the heaven with a span and the earth with his fist, who holds the circle of the earth? ^D But because his discourse was at that time with the Jews, for this reason he makes use of this mode of speech, accommodating himself to their coarseness; then, little by little, guiding their understanding upward, raising and lifting up their mind, he gently introduces "in heaven and in earth," that is, both above and below. He said this, however, because of the weakness of the Jews, who were given to idols and adored gods

^A confined within places and temples. By saying, then, "in heaven and in earth," he gives us to understand that He is everywhere, both there and here, and that He reaches through all things. For He is not as one who is confined in heaven and looks down from afar upon the things on earth, but He is present everywhere, being uncontained, uncircumscribed, and standing by all. Do you see how little by little he lifts up the mind of those who listen? For he does not seek how one might speak something worthy of the glory of God for the time being, but how it might be graspable for them. And in another place, heaven is called the throne of God because the heavenly powers firmly hold the glory of God established in them, and the earth is His footstool, because men on earth are barely able to grasp even the smallest things concerning God. Here, however, having raised the listener from the earth, David proceeds to another proof of the power of God, saying:

VERS. 7-9. Raising the needy from the earth, and lifting the poor from the dunghill, to seat him with princes, with the princes of his people; who makes the barren woman dwell in a house, a joyful mother of children. ^B He celebrates the power of God, which easily changes whatsoever it wills. For, he says, He not only enriches the poor man and gives him glory, but He also seats him with the princes of the people and raises him to authority. For it is a work of great and ineffable power to lift up things that are small. This verse can also be spoken of the people from the Gentiles, concerning whom the prophet says: "And for this reason the poor people shall bless you, and the cities of men who have suffered injury shall bless you." For you became a helper to every humbled city, and a covering to those who were downcast because of need; you will rescue them from evil men: a covering for the thirsty and the spirit of men who have been injured. ^C For this poor and needy people, having raised them from lowly things, and from the disgrace of turbulent passions, and from the dunghill of the abominations of the Greeks, He will seat with the princes of Israel, which is His people. Now the apostles are the princes of the Hebrew people, or even the patriarchs, with whom those from the Gentiles who have believed will dwell. And the Lord says the very same thing: "Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." The statement is, therefore, universal. But if one should wish to receive it according to an anagogical sense, he will perceive this same thing to have been accomplished at the advent of Christ. For what is more needy than our nature? Yet He nevertheless raised it up, and brought forth our first fruits, and made them sit in the highest ^D heaven. By "dunghill" in this place he refers to that vileness and the sudden transformation that occurred from it, declaring that all things are easy and accessible to Him. These things also the blessed Anna said, offering a hymn of thanksgiving to God: "The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He humbles and He exalts; He raises the needy from the earth, and from the dunghill He lifts up the poor, to make him sit with the princes of the people, and distributing to them a throne of glory as an inheritance." We see these things

^A continually accomplished by the God of all. Thus He made the blessed David, who was a shepherd, a king; thus He made Joseph, who had fallen into slavery, sit upon the royal throne; thus He revealed Moses, who had been a tender of sheep, as leader of the people, and appointed him as a god to Pharaoh; thus He deemed the nations, which had been subjected to the slavery of impiety and sat in the dung of sin and abomination, worthy of the good things bestowed upon Israel; thus He took up human nature, which had fallen into the abyss of Hades, and led it up, and made it sit above every principality and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come.

ALLELUIA. CXIII.

1, 2. *In the coming out of Israel from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people, Judea became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion.* This hymn also recounts the benefits bestowed upon the Jews by God, declares the power of God, and mocks the weakness of idols. This hymn is also appropriate for those from the nations who have believed and have been delivered from the error of idols; for they learn how great is the difference between those who are not, and Him who is, and that the God of the Old and New Testament is one and the same. Instead of "from a barbarous people," Aquila published, "from a people of strange speech"; and Symmachus, ^B "from a people of strange voice." *Judea became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion.* For of old, when the former people made their journey from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, Judea, a small portion of the earth and a very insignificant corner of the whole world, was chosen by God, and the nation of the Jews was one. But when, through the saving epiphany, grace was spread throughout the whole world, from the rising of the sun unto its setting, the name of the Lord was praiseworthy, and the Lord became exalted, not over one nation of Israel, but exalted over all nations.

3-8. *The sea saw, and fled; the Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like lambs of sheep. What is it to thee, O sea, that thou fleddest? and to thee, O Jordan, that thou turnedst back? Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams, and ye hills like lambs of sheep? At the presence of the Lord the earth was moved, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into pools of water, and the flint into fountains of water.* It seems to me that here again the discourse is making a prophecy of the calling of all the nations. For of old, he says, at the time of the journey from Egypt, Judea alone became the sanctuary of ^C God, and Israel alone was under His dominion. And while of old the perception of the sea, and the river, and the mountains, and the hills was partial, now let the whole element of the earth be moved and shaken; or rather, according to Aquila, let it travail, so that that which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet may be fulfilled: "Who hath heard such things, and who hath seen ^D such things? If the earth hath travailed in one day, and a whole nation hath been born at once?" For with the calling

^A of the nations and the grace of God being about to be poured out over the whole world inhabited by men, it was entirely necessary that the idols of the nations, established from old, should undergo shaking and commotion, and that the demons dwelling in them should flee, so that a people from the nations might be born to God throughout the whole world.

VERS. 1-4. *Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory: for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake, lest the nations should say, Where is their God? But our God is in the heaven and in the earth: he hath done whatsoever he hath willed. The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.* Here it seems to me that the Holy Spirit ^B is hinting at the rejection of the people from the circumcision, and is handing over prayers to them for confession, and is speaking these words from their own person; by which it is declared that they no longer have the divine power that used to watch over them. By these words they are taught to beseech and entreat, saying: "We indeed are unworthy of the grace of which all the nations have been deemed worthy; but do not do this to us, O Master, but for the sake of thy name which from the beginning was called upon us, and not because of our righteousnesses, but because of thy mercy and thy truth, grant it. For if thou shouldst not have mercy, the nations will say, 'Where is their God?' But that they may never say this word, grant us and bestow upon us thy mercy. For even if thy visitation no longer ^C governs us, we are persuaded that thou art in heaven, and that thou doest those things which thou hast willed."

VERS. 5-18. *Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory: for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake, lest the nations should say, Where is their God? But our God is in the heaven and in the earth: he hath done whatsoever he hath willed. The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands; mouth have they, and they will not speak; eyes have they, and they will not see; ears have they, and they will not hear; noses have they, and they will not smell; hands have they, and they will not handle; feet have they, and they will not walk; they will not cry out in their throat. Let those that make them become like unto them, and all who trust in them. The house of Israel hath hoped in the Lord, their helper and protector is he. ^D The house of Aaron hath hoped in the Lord, their helper and protector is he. They who fear the Lord have hoped in the Lord, their helper and protector is he. The Lord, being mindful of us, hath blessed us. He hath blessed the house of Israel, he hath blessed the house of Aaron; he hath blessed them that fear the Lord, the small with the great. May the Lord add unto you, unto you and unto your children. Blessed are you of the Lord, who hath made heaven and earth. The heaven of heaven is for the Lord, but the earth he hath given to the sons of men. The dead shall not praise thee, O Lord, neither all they that go down

into hell. But we who are living will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.

The preceding verses have been separated and distinctly marked off from the 113th Psalm in some copies, such that the passage now in hand is viewed as one psalm. But since, upon looking into the Hebrew book itself, I found their characters and words connected, I determined that the Hebrew book should be followed, and that these [verses] should be joined to the preceding ones, so that this part belongs to the 113th hymn. It appears, therefore, that these words are suspended from those that preceded; for the "children" to whom it was said, "Praise, O ye children, the Lord"—that is, the new people—are taught which Lord it is fitting to praise. It is evident that it is that same Lord who wrought so many miracles at the exodus of Israel from Egypt. Consequently, therefore, they are taught those things so that they might not remain ignorant of who those beings were that were formerly esteemed as gods by them: namely, that they were soulless and stripped of every sense, that they were dead, mute, and blind idols, possessing no resemblance—I do not say to the great and wonder-working Creator of all things, but not even to the least of living creatures which possess sensation; rather, they have been established as entirely inanimate matter. And those beings—I mean living, ensouled creatures—are constituted by the Word of God; but those who are considered gods by the nations are merely the figments of human works. ^A

ALLELUIA. CXIV.

^BVERS. 1, 2. *I have loved, because the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer, because he hath inclined his ear unto me, and in my days I will call upon him.* He who formerly feared the Lord, having now progressed from fear and passed over into the love of God, might fittingly say, "I have loved." Whom, moreover, if not the Lord God, with all one's heart, strength, and soul, so that for his sake one might even strive unto death for the sake of the truth, and might readily endure every temptation and suffer every danger on account of the love toward God? "Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, and in my days I will call upon him." *The sorrows of death have compassed me, and the perils of hell have found me; I have found trouble and sorrow, and I have called upon the name of the Lord. O Lord, deliver my soul; the Lord is merciful and just, and our God showeth mercy. The Lord is the protector of the little ones; I was humbled, and he delivered me. Turn, O my soul, unto thy rest, for the Lord hath been bountiful to thee; because he hath delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.* All these things, he says, because I endured them for the sake of God, I have loved. For not against my will, nor by fleeing, but readily surrendering myself to all these things, I embraced them on account of the love toward God, so that we may be able to say: "For thy sake we are put to death all the day long." For I have loved all these things on account of the Lord, and together with loving, I have called upon the name of the Lord. ^C

VERS. 9. *I will please before the Lord in the land of the living.* This world itself is mortal, and it is a place for those who are dying. For since the constitution of visible things is composite, and every composite thing is of such a nature as to be dissolved; being in the world, and being a part of the ^D

^A universe, we necessarily partake of the nature of the whole. But there, there is no change, either of body or of soul. Nor is there any aberration of reasoning, nor variation of opinion, since no calamity removes the stable and undisturbed state of thoughts. That region is indeed the region of those who are yet living, in which the prophet promises that he will be most pleasing to God, as one who is not to be interrupted by any of those who are living externally. That place is a region in which there is no night, no sleep—the image of death—no food, no drink—the supports of our infirmity—nor anything of those things which create annoyance from without; but it is the region of the living, not of those dying through sin, but of those living the true life which is in Christ Jesus.

ALLELUIA. CXV.

^B VERSES 10-12. *I believed, therefore I have spoken; but I was humbled exceedingly. And I said in my trance: Every man is a liar. What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that he hath rendered to me?* These things are joined to those before them in the Hebrew copy, so that their sense coherence with the preceding words and constitutes a part of them. For when he had said there: *Turn, O my soul, unto thy rest;* and again: *I will please before the Lord in the land of the living;* he subjoins here these words: *I believed, therefore I have spoken.* For I believed that there is a region of the living other than human life, and that there is a rest for the soul other than this earthly sojourn. *I believed, therefore I have spoken; but I was humbled exceedingly. And I said in my trance: Every man is a liar.* I humbled myself and afflicted myself greatly; ^C for thus Symmachus interpreted, saying: *I was afflicted exceedingly.* And I did this because I knew that every man is a liar, wherefore, being anxious and concerned lest perhaps even I myself, as a man, proving to be so regarding myself, and saying: *I will please before the Lord in the land of the living,* might prove a liar; for this reason, having believed in the life to come and in the rest of the soul and in the land of the living, and by believing having spoken these very things, so that I might not fall from the promise and be frustrated of my hope, I humbled myself exceedingly.

*And I said in my trance: Every man is a liar.* For the reasonings of men are wretched, and our thoughts are fallacious; for the corruptible body burdens the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weighs down the mind, which is full of cares, and we can scarcely conjecture even the things on earth, and we find those things which are before our hands with labor. But the things in heaven, who has searched out? Nevertheless, I did not speak as a man; for otherwise I would have lied; but I believed in the words of God and in the promises of God.

^D VERSE 17. *What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that he hath rendered to me? I will take the chalice of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord before all his people: precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. O Lord, I am thy servant, I am thy servant and the son of thy handmaid. Thou hast broken

^A my bonds. He calls himself the son of the handmaid, that is, of the Church. The bonds were those by which he was constrained as if by chains of his own sins. Being delivered from sin, and having become a son of your handmaid, the Church, I have been released from my former sins through your grace. I will sacrifice to you a sacrifice of praise, and in the name of the Lord I will call. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the sight of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. He indicates progress for the one who says these things, that is, for the people from the Gentiles. For by the words, "I will sacrifice to you a sacrifice of praise," he says that I will participate in the body and blood, and in the participation of these I will call upon your name, and I will pay my thanks-offering vows to you, the Lord, within the midst of the true Jerusalem, and in the sight of all the people, as well as the promises which I once made.

ALLELUIA. CXVI.

VERS. 1, 2. Praise the Lord, all ye nations, praise him, all ye peoples: because his mercy is confirmed upon us, and the truth of the Lord remaineth for ever. The Word therefore calls upon all foreign and alien nations to the praise of God; then, distinguishing the peoples from the nations, he adds: "Let all the peoples praise him." You will perceive the difference if you consider the prophecy in Zechariah which says: "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Sion; behold I come, and will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall flee to the Lord, and shall be to him for a people, and I will be to them ^B for a God." For while they were merely nations, they were not yet his people, but having turned from their former life, and having become partakers of the mysteries of God through rebirth and the laver of regeneration, they become his peoples. This is even now being fulfilled throughout the whole habitable world, where people numbering in the thousands stand as if in choirs, hymning the God of the prophets who were among the Hebrews, and being taught the same Scriptures, lessons, and dogmas. Therefore, these things which we see with our own eyes were established in no other way than through the sole power of the Savior throughout the entire world of the nations. ^C

ALLELUIA. CXVII.

VERS. 1-4. Confess to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the house of Israel now say that he is good, that his mercy endureth for ever: let the house of Aaron now say that he is good, that his mercy endureth for ever. Let all who fear the Lord now say that he is good, that his mercy endureth for ever. In these words also, the evangelical grace having been poured out upon all nations, of which nations some part, indeed the first part, was the people of the circumcision, the Word deservedly calls them first to the confession; then those from the Gentiles who had come to the Gospel, according to that which is written: "To the Jew first, and to the Greek." If, however, anyone should accurately ^D

^A examine the matter, the Jews especially ought to offer thanks for the coming of Christ. For even if they suffered hardships, these were not from Him who came into the world, but from their own ingratitude. For He Himself visited them and frequently said: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. xv, 24); and if they appeared unworthy of this benefit, they should blame their own transgressions and the excess of their ingratitude.

Vers. 5-13. *I called upon the Lord in distress, and he answered me in a large place. The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. The Lord is my helper, and I shall look upon my enemies. It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to hope in the Lord than to hope in princes. All nations compassed me about, and in the name of the Lord I have been avenged on them. Surrounding they compassed me about, and in the name of the Lord I have been avenged on them. They compassed me about like bees concerning a honeycomb, and they were set on fire as fire among thorns, and in the name of the Lord I have been avenged on them. I was thrust that I might fall, and the Lord supported me. The Lord is my strength and my praise, and he is become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the just.* ^B Indeed, it has been profitable to me that I perceived with my own eyes the end of the wicked. For I knew that they were kindled like fire among thorns, or were extinguished like fire among thorns, so that I might no longer be disturbed if I see the wicked raising themselves up and rising against the people of God. For I have learned what kind of end awaits them.

Vers. 16-18. *The right hand of the Lord hath wrought power; the right hand of the Lord hath exalted me; the right hand of the Lord hath wrought power. I shall not die, but live, and shall declare the works of the Lord. The Lord chastising hath chastised me, and hath not delivered me to death.* That persecutions are not useless, but lead to the benefit and testing of those who are afflicted, he teaches by these words: *The Lord chastising hath chastised me.* For I knew my own weakness, and I did not ignore the power granted to me by God. And I learned of what sort that right hand of the Lord was, which humbled the enemies.

Vers. 19-21. *Open ye to me the gates of justice: I will go in to them, and give praise to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord, the just shall enter into it. I will praise thee, because thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.* Now ^C the general name for all the virtues is assigned to justice; but if one were to divide them into their species, he might rightly say: "Open to me the gates of justice, and the gates of prudence, and of the rest of the actions according to God." After he has passed through all the gates, arriving at the end of the, as one might say, innermost holy places, he will no longer see many, but one gate of the Lord Himself, through which all the just shall enter. And one might call this the last and

^A ultimate gate, beyond which it is no longer possible to proceed. The last gate of the Lord will be the contemplation of Him, according to the saying: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they themselves shall see God."

VERS. 22-26. "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it. O Lord, save I beseech thee; O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Because he saw the benefit to be conferred upon the world, and the change of things and their transformation for the better, rejoicing for those who enjoy this, he says: "O Lord, save I beseech thee; O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity." That is, preserve those who enjoy these things, so that they may be filled, and show forth fruits worthy of the grace; make the way easy for them, so that, after having obtained ^B them, they may not fall away from such good things.

VERS. 27. "Blessed are you out of the house of the Lord; the Lord is God, and He has shined upon us." Confessing that no one else but the Lord Himself has revealed and shown these things to them; wherefore they say: "Blessed are you," because He has shined, manifesting your salvation. And having prayed, and having foreseen the things to come in the Holy Spirit, the prophets call blessed those who are one day to be counted worthy of these accomplishments. "Celebrate a feast in the leafy places, even unto the horns of the altar," you who are from the Gentiles and are in the leafy places. Aquila interpreted this by saying: "Bind the festival in fat things"; but Symmachus: "Bind together the densities in a festal gathering, even unto the horns of the altar." By these words, He commands that the house of God be filled with many treasures ^C and that it be crowned with frequent votive offerings during the times of the festivals.

VERS. 28, 29. "Thou art my God, and I will confess to Thee; Thou art my God, and I will exalt Thee." The people gathered in Christ from Israel and from the house of Aaron, and from those who fear the Lord, are commanded to confess, and to say in their confession: "Thou art my God, and I will confess to Thee; Thou art my God, and I will exalt Thee. I will confess to Thee, because Thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation." To whom does he say these things, if not to the Lord declared above, who also delivered him out of tribulation, who also humbled his enemies, who exalted the stone rejected by the builders, who also prospered and gave salvation to those who believe in Him? "Confess to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever."

ALLELUIA. CXVIII.

VERS. 1-8. "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that search his testimonies, that seek him with their whole heart. For they that work iniquity have not walked in his ways. Thou ^D hast commanded thy commandments to be kept most diligently. O that my ways may be directed to keep thy statutes. Let my ways be directed to keep thy..."

confounded, when I look into all thy commandments. I will confess to thee in uprightness of heart, in that I have learned the judgments of thy righteousness. I will keep thy statutes; do not forsake me utterly. Immaculately, indeed, shall they be who are perfect in the way, whom he who is beginning in the principles and rudiments of divine disciplines is taught to proclaim blessed; so that he may not himself be puffed up with harm, as if already esteeming himself blessed, but may recognize that he is far removed from those who are proclaimed blessed. Blessed are they that search out his testimonies; with their whole heart they shall seek him. We have already discoursed concerning the testimonies: the way, therefore, of such testimonies will be to advance according to their intent, not out of sadness or necessity, but with all joy, just as the Prophet says: I have run the way of thy commandments, ^B when thou didst enlarge my heart.

VERS. 9-16. In what shall a younger man correct his way? By keeping thy words. With my whole heart I have sought thee; do not cast me off from thy commandments. In my heart I have hidden thy words, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord; teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I proclaimed all the judgments of thy mouth. I have delighted in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. In thy commandments I will be exercised, and I will consider thy ways. I will meditate upon thy statutes; I will not forget thy words. The words of thy righteous judgment, he says, repeating them in my memory, I have obtained great profit from them. But I fear lest some forgetfulness of them should come upon me; wherefore I have offered up a prayer: that throughout my whole life, ^C and at every time, I may be mindful of thy judgment; or, in another way, my soul has desired to know the judgments of thy universal Providence, O Lord.

VERS. 17-24. Render recompense to thy servant; I shall live, and keep thy words. Open thou mine eyes, and I will consider wondrous things out of thy law. I am a sojourner in the earth; do not hide thy commandments from me. My soul has coveted to desire thy statutes at all times. Thou hast rebuked the proud; cursed are they that decline from thy commandments. Take away from me reproach and contempt, for I have searched out thy testimonies. For indeed princes sat and spoke against me, but thy servant was exercised in thy statutes. For both thy testimonies are my meditation, and thy statutes are my counsels. ^D Sometimes, he says, they reproached me, if ever old sins existed in me; at other times they despised me, holding me in contempt as a man of no worth. But I, sitting apart and applying my mind to divine words, having no one with whom I might consult, and having obtained no other consolation, used thy statutes instead of counselors.

VERS. 25-29. My soul has cleaved to the pavement; quicken me

according to thy word. I have declared my ways, and thou hast heard me; teach me thy justifications. Give me understanding in the way of thy justifications, and I shall be exercised in thy wondrous works. My soul hath slumbered through heaviness; strengthen me in thy words. Remove from me the way of iniquity, and have mercy on me by thy law. ^A Just as the beginning of sleeping is slumber, so when the soul makes a beginning of sinning, it is said to slumber, while it is drawn toward sin as if to sleep; but it emerges and is awakened from it through the memory of better things. It is necessary, however, to be fortified with prudence, and that my eyes be flooded with thy light, that I may be enabled to understand the law, so that every way of iniquity may be removed from me. Regarding the phrase: "Remove from me the way of iniquity," Aquila has rendered it, "Remove from me the way of lying," but Symmachus says, "Take away from me the lying way," so that the prior exposition may be true. For everyone prays that he may be kept outside of any false judgment or lying opinion concerning the divine Scriptures.

^B VERS. 30. I have chosen the way of truth; thy judgments I have not forgotten. This verse will only be said by him who looks down upon the things that fall under his gaze as temporary, but contemplates the invisible things as everlasting and as the only things truly real, and hastens toward them. For it is not a way of truth which is chosen by the man who is busy with lower wealth and the glory of the earth. Therefore, whoever has chosen to walk, as we have explained, in the way of truth, he remains mindful of the judgments of God and his retributions as he behaves in this manner. He who is a lover of truth and never utters a false word through his mouth could truly say: "I have chosen the way of truth." But also he who constantly places the judgments of God before his eyes and is mindful of them in every deed, will say: "Thy judgments I have not forgotten." ^C

VERS. 31, 32. I have cleaved to thy testimonies, O Lord; do not put me to shame. He has "cleaved to the testimonies" who commits himself to the words handed down in writing concerning heaven and earth, or any other matter, and in no way departs from them. Let this man, then, be confident, even if he has previously committed shameful deeds; or rather, let him ask for remission from God, and say: "O Lord, do not put me to shame." I have run the way of thy commandments, when thou didst enlarge my heart. In a short time, he says, I have run not the way of one, but the way of all thy commandments, fulfilling in my works and actions the things that are proclaimed by thy commandments. ^D Whence also Paul, having finished this, says: "I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (II Tim. iv, 7).

VERS. 33. Set me a law, O Lord, in the way of thy justifications; and I will seek it always. For he asks one thing from God, but promises that he will contribute another from his own side. For thou, he says, O Lord, set me a law in the way of thy justifications; I, for my part, will spend the whole time of my life in the quest for it.

^A Ver. 34. *Give me understanding, and I will search thy law, and I will keep it with my whole heart.* The prophet desires to search the law of God, knowing that it is not obscure or easily despised. Give me understanding, therefore, that I may seek it with the proper inquiry and attention, so as to obtain from it the use and comprehension of the things that must be done or contemplated; for thus I shall be able to keep it with my whole heart, approaching it without hesitation. But if you need understanding even just to search the law, what understanding do you require, given by God, so that you may find its end?

Ver. 35. *Lead me into the path of thy commandments, for I have desired it.* He uses "path" for the law, for there is a path of the commandments. A path is called a beaten way, in which many of the righteous walked before us. If anyone does not use the righteous as a guide, he cannot walk according to the commandments of God. For we must be imitators of Christ, take up the cross, and follow after him.

^B Ver. 36-40. *Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away my eyes that they may not behold vanity; quicken thou me in thy way. O stablish thy word to thy servant, that I may fear thee. Take away my reproach which I have dreaded, for thy judgments are pleasant. Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.* The saints refer everything to God, teaching us that without God we can do nothing. For, he says, *If you abide not in me, you can do nothing.* But perhaps someone will say: If everything is referred to God, where is that which is of my own power? But if not, he surely mixes everywhere the things that are from God with those that are in our own power. From God, certainly, is that: *Set me a law, O Lord, the way of thy justifications*; but of our own part is that: *And I will seek it always.* From God again I ask: *Give me understanding, and I will search thy law*; but to me pertains that: *And I will keep it with my whole heart.* A third time also from God I ask: *Lead me into the path of thy commandments*; but what, then, is expected of me? *For I have desired it*, namely, the law mentioned above; so that we may ask that those things which are of God may be present with us, promising those things which are of our own power, and not making them void, lest we violate our covenants with God.

^D Ver. 41-48. *And let thy mercy come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation according to thy word. So shall I make answer unto them that reproach me, for I have trusted in thy words. And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments. So shall I alway keep thy law, yea, for ever and ever. And I will walk at liberty, for I have sought thy commandments. And I will speak of thy testimonies even before kings, and will not be ashamed.* This will beautifully fit him who is led before governors and kings to confess the name of Christ, and was meditating on thy commandments, which I loved exceedingly.

^A And I lifted up my hands to thy commandments, which I loved, and I meditated on thy justifications. To lift up hands to the commandments is to direct every action toward the divine commandments, and to labor at them. Therefore, the Psalmist testifies to both things about himself; and at the same time, he instructs us to provide success in the commandments of God, and also to provide for them much meditation and contemplation; for thus we shall be able both to succeed more accurately ourselves, and to lead others into success.

^B Remember thy words to thy servant, in which thou hast given me hope. This comforted me in my humiliation, because thy word has quickened me. The proud were transgressing exceedingly, but I did not decline from thy law. As the heterodox were acting proudly against the law in order to slander it, I was exceedingly occupied with the keeping of it, nor would I allow my agreement with it to be shaken even in the slightest degree. ^C I remembered thy judgments from of old, O Lord, and I was comforted. Despondency took hold of me because of the sinners who were forsaking thy law. Thy justifications were musical to me in the place of my pilgrimage. I remembered thy name in the night, O Lord, and I kept thy law. This became mine, because I sought out thy justifications.

Thou art my portion, O Lord; I said that I would keep thy law. He who has renounced the secular things of this life, and has no portion on earth, nor even the desire for such things, but is satisfied with the Lord instead of all else, ^D will say: "The Lord is my portion." It is fitting for this man to say: "I said I would keep thy law," that is, the spiritual law, concerning which Paul says: "For we know that the law is spiritual," and the rest. For how shall they not keep the law or the commandments of the Lord who have Him as their portion, according to the Levites, to whom it has been established that they should possess nothing in this life? For it has been said: "To the Levites and the priests, the sons of Aaron, there is no portion nor inheritance among the sons of Israel, because the Lord is their portion."

I entreated thy face with my whole heart; take pity on me according to thy word. I thought upon thy ways, and I turned my feet to thy testimonies. I was prepared, and I was not troubled, that I might keep thy commandments. The cords of sinners have bound me about, but I have not forgotten thy law. At midnight I was rising to give thanks to thee concerning the judgments of thy righteousness. I am a participant with all who fear thee, and who keep thy commandments. The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord; teach me thy justifications. If thou considerest the multitude of those who sin, of those who act impiously, of those who speak iniquity on high, and seest the long-suffering of God regarding such great sins, and how even after all these things He causes his sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and turns my feet to thy testimonies, and [to the text continues: "rains upon the just and the unjust..."]

thou shalt say: The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord, teach me thy statutes.

VERS. 65, 66. Thou hast dealt kindly with thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word. Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge, for I have believed thy commandments. For the phrase: Thou hast dealt kindly with thy servant, Symmachus edited: Thou hast benefited thy servant. He who has been instructed in divine things is taught not to be ungrateful for the benefit conferred upon him by God; but to know that, by the goodness of God reaching him, he has been deemed worthy to be called a servant of God, having become such according to his word.

VERS. 67. Before I was humbled I went astray; therefore I have kept thy word. Because of the former sins, he says, which I had committed, I was delivered up and humbled, suffering these things by the judgment of God. Wherefore, having been delivered up to discipline, I ask for instruction, so that I may know that the humiliation which happened to me came about according to goodness and discipline.

VERS. 68. Thou art good, O Lord, and in thy goodness teach me thy statutes. It is the work of a righteous man to be cheerful in all things that happen, because these are dispensed by Providence, and by accepting even the more bitter things cheerfully, to say to God: Thou art good; and: I will bless the Lord at all times, holding fast to this same purpose. For the phrase: Thou art good, the other editions interpreted it: Thou art beneficial. I know indeed, he says, and I do not doubt concerning thy nature, for surely it is goodness itself; but I ask for the instruction of thy statutes, which I pray to be taught: for I need instruction, in order to know the words concerning the ^B proud.

VERS. 69. The iniquity of the proud has been multiplied against me; but I will search out thy commandments with my whole heart. By how much any man is the more righteous, and cleaves the more to God, and the peace of God is multiplied in him; by so much, as upon a superior athlete, is strength multiplied in him, more than [that of] the proud who wish to injure him, whether they be opposing powers or men. When this has been done, he does not become in the least degree more remiss, so as not to search out the commandments of God with his whole heart, in order to do them.

VERS. 70-72. Their heart is curdled as milk; but I have meditated on thy law. It is good for me that thou hast humbled me, that I might learn thy statutes. The law of thy mouth is good to me above thousands of gold and silver. For before their pride, they were safe and vigorous in heart, and, so to speak, drinkable, so that they might even be compared to milk, which is most useful for nourishment; but after they put on pride, they all became hardened, as if changed from milk into cheese. For the phrase: It is curdled, Aquila says: Their heart is thickened as fat; but Symmachus: Their heart is marrowed as fat. But although they were occupied with these things, I did not depart from my purpose; but with my whole heart I searched out thy commandments: catching from the searching of them ^D the knowledge of thy providence and of the administration of all things.

and of general governance, and while their heart was fed with their present food, I meditated upon thy law.

^A Vers. 73. *Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, and I shall learn thy commandments.* When God had created heaven and earth and all that is in them by his word and commandment, when he came to man, he said: *Let us make man after our own image and likeness.* To what other, indeed, does he say, "Let us make man," if not to his Only-Begotten and to the Holy Spirit, whom he now calls "hands"? And it is also written in Job: *Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: afterwards being changed, thou destroyest me, renewing my trial upon me.* Therefore, the hands of God both made and fashioned. And Origen and certain others say that the word "made" [fecerunt] is spoken of the soul, while "fashioned" [plasmaverunt] is spoken of the body. Others, however, affirm that "made" is said of the first creation, but "fashioned" is said of the laver of regeneration and reformation.

^B Vers. 74-77. *Those who fear thee will see me, and will rejoice, because I have hoped in thy words. I have known, O Lord, that thy judgments are equity, and in truth thou hast humbled me. Let thy mercy be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant. Let thy mercies come unto me, and I shall live: for thy law is my meditation.* If thy mercy should come upon me, and thy mercies overtake me, I shall in no wise be swallowed up by humiliation; but by persevering through patience, I truly know that I shall remain in life. I pray to obtain thy mercy and thy mercies; because I, for my part, do not cease to fulfill all things that are in my power, and in this very ^C humiliation I shall meditate upon thy law.

Vers. 78-80. *Let the proud be ashamed, for they have done unjustly against me: but I will be employed in thy commandments. Let those who fear thee turn to me, and those who know thy testimonies. Let my heart be undefiled in thy statutes, that I may not be ashamed.* For all sins are worthy of shame. For as long as the heart remains imperfect, there is much care and anxiety lest it perhaps grow weak and become worse than itself; but when it arrives at the pinnacle of perfection, established in the habit and custom of virtue, it will be void of all fear, no longer hesitating or fearing that it might one day be ashamed.

Vers. 81. *My soul hath fainted for thy salvation: I have hoped in thy words.* ^D Explaining quite consistently what that "salvation" is, he adds immediately after: *In thy word I have hoped,* signifying that the salvation is the Son of God.

Vers. 82-88. *My eyes have failed for thy word, saying: When wilt thou comfort me? For I have become as a bottle in the frost, I have not forgotten thy justifications. How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment upon them that persecute me? The wicked have told me fables, but not*

as thy law, O Lord. All thy commandments are truth; they have persecuted me unjustly, help me. They had almost made an end of me upon earth; but I forsook not thy commandments. According to thy mercy revive me, and I will keep the testimonies of thy mouth. To live according to the oracle of God is to live with piety, and not merely to lead this sensible life. For whoever attains this will be in a state of well-being, so as to keep the testimonies of the mouth of God, which have been testified and demonstrated by the Word of God, whom I have called his mouth. ^B

VERS. 89-91. For ever, O Lord, thy word abideth in heaven. Thy truth is unto all generations; thou hast founded the earth, and it abideth. By thy ordinance the day continueth, for all things are thy servants. He calls this promise "truth," which he knew would certainly come to pass from generation to generation. For in every generation thou dost send certain portions of truth to men, and all the parts of the world, and those things which fall under sight, stand by thy ordinance, not moved from their limits, nor transgressing the law established for them. The cause, however, of the persistence of all these things is that thou alone art the Lord of all; but all other things are thy servants, and are subject as servants.

VERS. 92. Had not thy law been my meditation, I had then perhaps perished in my humiliation. It is said that the time of temptations and calamities is termed humiliation. It is therefore the mark of a blessed man to have been in humiliation and not to have perished; as if, for example, I should come into the temptation of martyrdom, if indeed before I fell into it thy law had always been my meditation, and I had practiced it, when I come into the humiliation through the temptation of martyrdom, I shall not perish. Thus it is fitting to speak also in every temptation; but also when evil thoughts and opposing powers are attacking me, I was bound to perish, had not thy law been a support to me. ^C

VERS. 93. I will never forget thy justifications, for in them thou hast quickened me. But I will remember thy disciplines which I have learned in life; for through them, passing from earth to heaven, I dwell with angels. For just as one who, from a grave disease, receives firm and stable health through certain medical aids, is not therefore unmindful of the medicine through which he attained health, so this holy man, having been quickened by the justifications he received from God, says that he will never throughout the whole age forget them, giving this reason—that he was quickened by God in them. ^D

VERS. 94-96. I am thine, save me, for I have sought out thy justifications. The sinners have waited for me to destroy me; I have understood thy testimonies. I have seen an end of all perfection; thy commandment is exceeding broad.

VERS. 97-100. How have I loved thy law, O Lord; all the

day it is my meditation. ^A Thou hast made me wiser than mine enemies by thy commandment, for it is mine forever. I have understood more than all my teachers, because thy testimonies are my meditation. I have understood more than the ancients, because I have sought thy commandments. ^B But if the Savior says somewhere: "The disciple is not above his master," and the rest, it must be said that these words were spoken by the Savior after He had first distinguished and said: "Call no man your master upon the earth; for one is your master who is in heaven." In comparison with that Master, the disciple is not more excellent. But the masters who are mentioned here are many others, to whom the disciple is often superior. This happens by greater and more frequent exercise in the divine discourses.

VERS. 101-104. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy words. I have not declined from thy judgments, for thou hast set a law for me. How sweet are thy words unto my taste! sweeter than honey to my mouth! I have understood from thy commandments, therefore I have hated every way of iniquity.

VERS. 105, 106. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my paths. I have sworn and I have purposed to keep the judgments of thy righteousness. ^C Because, with no one forcing him, but by his own inclination and good purpose, he bound himself by an oath and swore that he would keep the judgments of the righteousness of God, he prays that his oath may become worthy of acceptance before God; for the knowledge of the judgments of God stands in need of much instruction.

VERS. 107-112. I have been humbled entirely, O Lord; quicken me according to thy word. Accept the free-will offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me thy judgments. My soul is in my hands always, and I have not forgotten thy law. Sinners have laid a snare for me, and I have not erred from thy commandments. The soul of any man is in his hands if he happens to be in dangers, and according to this custom it is said: "I held my soul in my hands." ^D Therefore I, says the righteous man, die daily; I am always in danger because of thy word, because of the truth, because of reproof, and because of the kingdom over which I rule; and for this reason my soul is in my hands always. For the danger of death did not make me forget thy law. However, one may understand this statement more sublimely and say: "My soul was in my hands always," that is, in good deeds; for the hand is frequently used to denote deeds. But if it be in thy hands, let us understand the hands of God to be His creation, to which the mind must always be applied. I have acquired thy testimonies as an inheritance forever, because they are the exultation of my heart. I have inclined my heart to perform thy justifications forever, for the sake of a reward.

^A Verses 113–116. *I have hated the unrighteous, and I have loved thy law. Thou art my helper and my protector; I have hoped in thy words. Depart from me, ye malignant, and I will search the commandments of my God. Uphold me according to thy mercy, and quicken me, and confound me not from my expectation.* Having said: “Depart from me, ye malignant,” he consequently invokes God for this matter, that by His power the malignant may be driven from his soul; and having gained leisure, he may obtain a life and salvation which is according to God, and not fall from his expectation: and again he asks to obtain help in order to be saved.

Verses 117–120. *Help me, and I shall be saved, and I will meditate on thy justifications always. Thou hast despised all them that fall away from thy judgments, for their thought is unjust. I have held all the sinners of the earth for prevaricators; therefore have I loved thy testimonies. Pierce thou my flesh with thy fear; for I am afraid of thy judgments.*

^B Verse 121. *I have done judgment and justice; give me not up to them that wrong me.* He who had been instructed in the beginning, as one who has now made much progress and accomplished great things, prays not to fall from his progress. Then, observing that many envy the righteous, and although they have nothing evil to say of them, they nevertheless construct calumnies, he supplicates and asks to be delivered from them. And for: “them that wrong me,” Aquila published: “Do not leave me to them that calumniate me.”

Verse 122. *I have done judgment and justice, give me not up to them that wrong me. Uphold thy servant unto good; let not the proud calumniate me.* He who has done penance, and has been rescued from those vexing him and redeemed from captivity, says: “Uphold thy servant unto good; for these had received me unto evil.” For if Thou dost not uphold me, Thy servant, who have become subject to the enemies, these proud ones—that is, the opposing powers—are going to calumniate me. And how do they calumniate? They have acted and persuaded so that I might become a sinner; and they themselves become my accusers, attributing the whole cause of the sins to me. ^C Necessarily he asks God to become his guarantor, even as his sponsor: so that He Himself may become his keeper, observing and guarding the guarantee, so as to provide not the least handle to the calumniators lying in wait for him.

Verses 123–126. *My eyes have failed for thy salvation, and for the word of thy justice. Deal with thy servant according to thy mercy, and teach me thy justifications. I am thy servant; give me understanding, and I shall know thy testimonies. It is time for the Lord to act; they have dissipated thy law.* Looking up to Thy salvation and Thy word, he says, "I have hung all my hopes upon these," asking to be rescued from those who envy my salvation.

Verse 127. *Therefore have I loved thy commandments above gold and topaz. I indeed have done judgment and justice,* ^D

and for you, O God, there will one day be a time for acting, namely judgment and justice, for the sake of those who overturn your law. Knowing this, therefore, and being on my guard against falling into that time, I loved your commandments above all things that are esteemed precious among men. ^A

^B Verse 128. *Therefore I was directed to all thy commandments, I hated every wicked way.* When the human soul has completed the word, it completely turns to malice. For it is impossible that, after the natural law has been fulfilled in men, sin should not exist. When, therefore, malice occurs and the soul is twisted, it has need of correction. What then are the things that correct? A single commandment can in some way straighten the twistedness of the soul that has resulted from malice. Yet, to be perfectly corrected here, without the observation of all the commandments, is impossible for the soul. If, however, the soul is taken and left to be idle, it will no longer be corrected by commandments, but by fire or darkness, or the severing, or some of the more dismal things brought upon it by God. If, then, we do not fulfill all the commandments, we are not directed. Hence it is said admirably: *Therefore I was directed to all thy commandments, I hated every wicked way.* For one who is directed toward all the commandments of God is no longer distracted by the desire to do wrong, nor does he merely refrain from iniquity, but he refrains because he hates iniquity. ^C

Verses 129-131. *Thy testimonies are wonderful, therefore my soul hath sought them out. The declaration of thy words shall give light, and shall give understanding to little ones. I opened my mouth, and drew in the spirit, for I desired thy commandments.* The first knowledge and the teaching of your words provided at the beginning will enlighten and give understanding to the "little ones." But your testimonies are wonderful and full of astonishment. Naturally, having expanded the vessel of my own soul, and having opened it as it were like a mouth, I received the divine Spirit from you, trusting in the promise that says: *Open thy mouth, and I will fill it.* And I did this, drawing into myself the spirit from you, that I might know your wonderful testimonies and obtain the illumination of your words, having received their apprehension through your Spirit. *I opened my mouth and drew in the spirit, for I desired thy commandments*—the very subject of the commandments drawing and pulling in the spirit. He speaks of the mouth of the inner man; and the mouth of the soul can be said to be its power of utterance, or that which, thinking, brings forth the word in the mind. It makes no difference whether you say "to take in a word" or "to draw in a spirit," for the spirit is the same as the divine word. Wherefore the Savior, about whom he was speaking concerning the word and the sayings, has said: *The words that I have spoken to you, are spirit and life.* ^D

Verse 132. *Look thou upon me, and have mercy on me, according to the judgment of those that love thy name.* Of those under

who receive mercy from God, some obtain it through repentance, having already withdrawn from sins and confessed them; others receive the experience of God’s mercy, in order that, having increased in progress, they may hasten toward the very end of virtue. He therefore prays to obtain mercy, not according to the judgment of those who are repenting, but of those who love the name of the Lord; for the person speaking is of those who have greatly progressed in virtue and in the knowledge of the truth; wherefore he also has boldness to be seen by God. *Look upon me*, he says, and of necessity there will follow my being shown mercy. ^B

VERS. 133. *Direct my steps according to thy word, and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.* "According to the word of God," he says, "direct my steps," I who proceed from malice and ignorance to virtue and to the knowledge of the truth. For the right word is the director and guide of such steps.

VERS. 134. *Redeem me from the calumny of men, and I will keep thy commandments.* As a reward for the mercy by which he is freed from the calumny of men, he promises that he will keep the commandments of the Lord; or rather, not as a reward, but as a thanksgiving for the fact that I am redeemed from the calumny of men. Joseph and Susanna realized this grace in a manifest way. But, tropologically, "men" might be said to be the devil and his allied wicked powers, from whose calumny it belongs to God alone to redeem.

VERS. 135, 136. *Make thy face to shine upon thy servant, and teach me thy justifications.* Desiring to see the illustrious advent of the Savior, he supplicates the Father on his behalf, saying: *Make thy face to shine, O Lord*; which, when one has seen it, one has seen also the Father. For He himself says concerning himself: *He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father.* *My eyes have sent forth springs of water, because they have not kept thy law.* ^C

VERS. 137–143. *Thou art just, O Lord, and thy judgments are righteous. Thou hast commanded justice, thy testimonies, and thy truth exceedingly. My zeal hath made me pine away, because my enemies have forgotten thy words. Thy word is tried exceedingly, and thy servant hath loved it. I am young and despised, yet I have not forgotten thy justifications. Thy justice is justice for ever, and thy law is truth. Trouble and necessity have found me: thy commandments are my meditation.* Symmachus presents another sense, saying: *Tribulations and vexations have taken hold of me: but thy commandments were my delight*; as if every worshipper of God carries the business of this life heavily and with difficulty, and is vexed by the malice of men, and has as his only consolation, refreshment, and delight the meditation of the commandments of God. ^D

VERS. 144. *Thy testimonies are justice for ever: give me understanding, and I shall live.* This justice, which

^A we exercise in the present life, is not granted to us for a few days, but for eternity. In all these things, the Prophet seeks understanding from God, which is the most necessary of all God’s gifts, and says: *Give me understanding, and I shall live.* For by no means does a senseless or imprudent person enter into that blessed life, but it is necessary to ask understanding of Him, who gives it to all who ask Him with their whole heart, so that, having received understanding, we may be enabled to say: *Give me understanding, and I shall live.*

VERS. 145-148. *I cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord: I will seek thy justifications. I cried unto thee, save me: that I may keep thy commandments. I prevented the dawning of the day, and cried: because in thy words I have hoped. My eyes have prevented the morning: that I might meditate on thy words.* He who anticipates the dawn and calls upon God is delivered from nightly stratagems; ^B and in his morning—that is to say, at the coming of the light—he possesses eyes that meet it, and with confidence he meditates upon the words of God. For that soul rejoices most in the law, which is itself conscious of its own performance of it.

VERS. 149-152. *Hear thou my voice, O Lord, according to thy mercy, and quicken me according to thy judgment. They have persecuted me wickedly: but they are gone far from thy law. Thou art near, O Lord: and all thy ways are truth. I have known in the beginning concerning thy testimonies: that thou hast founded them for ever.*

VERS. 153-156. *Look upon my humiliation and deliver me: for I have not forgotten thy law. Judge my judgment and redeem me: quicken thou me for thy word's sake.* He asks that judgment be passed against enemies who attack him either covertly or openly, and that he be redeemed; for God alone is He who redeems from both, and ^C He delivers us not only from the death which demons threaten and inflict, but for the same reason provides life. *Salvation is far from sinners: because they have sought not thy justifications. Thy mercies are many, O Lord: quicken me according to thy judgment.* The mercy of a man is towards his neighbor, but the mercy of God is upon all flesh; and He is esteemed to be most just. For by the comparison of men, in relation to the exact judgment of God, righteousness stands in need of mercy. For whatever seems to be accomplished according to mercy, it is effected by the mercy of God. For what has anyone ever done worthy of eternal blessedness ^D and the kingdom of heaven, unless helped by God? — VERS. 157-160. *Many are they that persecute me, and afflict me; but I have not declined from thy testimonies. I beheld the transgressors, and I pined away; because they kept not thy word. Look, O Lord, for I have loved thy commandments; quicken me in thy mercy. The beginning of thy words is truth: and all the judgments of thy justice are for ever.*

VERS. 161-164. *Princes have persecuted me without cause: and my heart hath been in awe of thy words. I will rejoice at thy words, as one that hath found great spoil. I have hated and abhorred iniquity; but thy law...*

I have loved. Seven times a day have I praised thee because of the judgments of thy righteousness. ^A You may understand this item in this manner: that, naturally, rising from his bed before the sun, in accordance with the text: "My spirit waketh early unto thee, O God, from the night," and, "O God, my God, at the dawn I watch for thee," he would send forth the first hymn; then, as the day pressed on, at the first hour of the day, as a morning sacrifice, he would offer the second hymn to God; similarly at the third hour, the third; at the sixth, the fourth; at the ninth, the fifth; at the twelfth, the sixth; and then in the evening, after the care of the body had been attended to, as he was about to turn to his bed, he would pour forth the seventh, and thus he fulfilled the saying: "Seven times a day have I praised thee."

VERS. 165. *Great peace have they which love thy law; and nothing shall offend them.* ^B To those who love the name ^C of God there happens to be great peace—not that which is external (for that does not depend on us), but that which is situated in the thoughts, from which arises an immunity from disturbance and tumult, which is born of the voiding of the passions. This, together with the appropriate grace, they have received who have obtained it from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Having therefore acquired it for the name of God, being exceedingly perfect, they have no stumbling-block within themselves: for that belongs to the little ones, not to those who are more excellent, just as the Saviour says: "See that ye despise not one of these little ones." And if there is great peace to those who love the law ^D of God, he has great peace, and war does not touch his soul; for no sin burns his soul; and because he has peace, he has become such that he is no longer offended by anyone, saying: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress?" and so forth.

VERS. 166. *Lord, I have hoped for thy salvation, and loved thy commandments.* When I was hoping for true salvation from you, not only did I keep, but I even loved, your commandments. For when action is joined with the perfect love of the commandments, the hoped-for Salvation will immediately follow, which is nothing other than the salvation of those who attain it. But if he also hopes for the Saviour, of whom it is said: "All flesh shall see the salvation of God," he consistently loves the commandments of God, whose Salvation he also hoped for, so that he may be both pure in action and contemplative in expectation, always hoping for and contemplating God the Word coming to seek and to save that which was lost.

VERS. 167, 168. *My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and loved them exceedingly.* Not only your commandments have I loved, but my soul has also loved your testimonies exceedingly, and has kept them. First, indeed, he said individually: "I have loved," and "I have loved thy commandments"; secondly, however: "My soul hath kept thy testimonies"; in the third place, joining both into one, he says: "I have kept thy commandments and thy testimonies because all my ways are before thee, O Lord." The sinner will not say: "All my ways are before thee"; for the ways of the sinner...

are not in the eyes of God, but only those of the just. In order, therefore, that all our ways may become "before God"—the laws, the prophets, and that perfect, true, and good way which is over all, he who said: "I am the way" (John XIV, 6), Christ Jesus—let us pray that, walking in the way until the end, we may arrive at God and the Father of all through Christ Jesus.

^A VERS. 169-172. Let my supplication come before thee, O Lord; according to thy word give me understanding. Let my request enter before thee, O Lord; according to thy word deliver me. My lips shall proclaim a hymn, when thou shalt teach me thy justifications. Let my tongue pronounce thy words, because all thy commandments are justice. Very consistently, after having prayed for his mind—for it is not the role of the lips or the tongue to receive the understanding of the words of God, but only of that faculty of understanding which is in the soul—having requested the former things, he passes to the latter and asks that the instruments of the Word which he had in himself, namely the lips and the tongue, might be consecrated; so that the lips might always proclaim a hymn, after his mind had learned His justifications with God as its teacher; and that his tongue might speak nothing else than the words of God, and do this because all His ways are justice.

^B VERS. 173. Let thy hand be to save me, for I have chosen thy commandments. Perceiving the magnitude of what was in store, he seeks help from God so that he might bring the aforementioned things to fulfillment. Since he is requesting great things from God, he also brings forward what is from himself, saying: "For I have chosen thy commandments." For what was in my power, this has been fulfilled by me. "I have chosen thy commandments," having loved them as was said before.

^C VERS. 174. I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord, and thy law is my meditation. Many men long for salvation, but not the salvation of God; rather, they long for the salvation of the flesh, which is in the world. But it is a task to long for the salvation of God, so that we might be saved in God, rest in Him, and inherit the holy things; for the salvation of God is this: eternal life. If you wish to advance more sublimely in the word, the salvation of God is Christ; for Jesus is interpreted as "the salvation of God." He is the one who was sent to us. The way of one longing for the salvation of God is that the law, which announces His coming here to us, be a meditation for the one longing for it. And here he calls the whole of the ancient and divine Scripture "the law."

^D VERS. 175, 176. My soul shall live, and shall praise thee, and thy judgments shall help me. He includes the life of the soul for the time to come. "For our life is hidden with Christ in God" (Coloss. III, 3). Then he will praise God properly. "And thy judgments shall help me." The judgments of God come as help to those who are being judged. But there is another confidence in the help of judgments...