Supplement to the Commentary on the Psalms

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA · COMMENTARIES ON THE PSALMS, FROM 119 TO 150 · SURVIVING RELICS IN VATICAN CODICES

PSALM 119

^A [VERS. 1. A Song of ascents.] Those who have fallen from the good things of God rise again to these, if they have prepared themselves for such an ascent. The Psalmist, therefore, displaying this preparation, introduces in this first of the psalms of ascents the ascent which is made through tribulations.

[VERS. 2. From a deceitful tongue.] That is, from every false opinion and deception; for it is necessary that he who is making the beginning of progress should not be led into error by anyone through plausible arguments.

^B [VERS. 3. What shall be given to you? etc.] The Word, having heard the one praying, according to the verse, "While you are yet speaking, behold, I am present," answers him and says: "Take courage, O man; for you know that you have a powerful patron and defender, using weapons on your behalf against your enemies; for he has sharpened arrows against them, and has prepared devastating coals against them, and will follow them with the punishments due to them. What more, then, do you ask to be given to you? Or what do you wish to be added to you after such a preparation by the Almighty against the impious?"

[VERS. 5. With the tabernacles of Kedar.] Kedar signifies the freezing of a generation and darkness. "I have therefore dwelt," he says, "with the tabernacles of darkness," which is the body of death; "and my soul itself," he says, "has been a sojourner many times and for a long time."

^A

PSALM CXX. I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains.

The Lord shall keep thee.

The sun shall not burn thee by day.

PSALM CXXI. I was glad in those things which were said to me, etc.

^A For it was not a city scattered here and there, nor divided and separated into many parts, but it was so built that it appeared to be one house, because of the coherence and harmony of the buildings within it. Hence it is said: "As a city whose participation is in unity." Of this sort, in regard to their meaning, are all souls that dwell with God, living stones, by whom the true temple of God is built, compacted in one mind and one concordant purpose. ^B

VERS. 4. "For thither the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord, a testimony to Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord."

For ^B there, God commanded them to sacrifice, to pray, and to keep festival, lest by being scattered everywhere, they might find occasion to go astray to idols. He called that place the testimony of God, for it was the greatest proof of His providence; for there the Law was read, and the narratives of ancient achievements were recounted, and they held an assembly which strengthened their mutual love.

"Pray for those things that make for the peace of Jerusalem."

For, he says, being always mindful of you, O Jerusalem, we speak of the things concerning your peace to our brethren and to our neighbors, that is, to the new people, leading them to a longing for you through the teaching about you; but also our whole prayer was for the sake of the house of our God, as we sought for you the good things from God.

PSALM CXXII

VERS. 1. "Unto Thee have I lifted up my eyes, O Thou that dwellest in the heaven."

Because heaven is the throne of God, for this reason He is said to dwell in heaven. But no one who hoards wealth on earth could say to God: "Unto Thee have I lifted up my eyes, O Thou that dwellest in the heaven"; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Accordingly, the eyes of the foolish man are upon the ends of the earth, or upon whatever he desires; for he looks at a woman sometimes to lust after her; but the eyes of the righteous man are always toward God. ^C

VERS. 2. "Behold, as the eyes of servants are upon the hands of their masters."

The new people, having been instructed by the elders in the preceding psalm, says, "In nothing do I place my hope, except in Thee, who dwellest not in the lower Jerusalem, but in heaven." But it is fitting for only those to say this who are freed from captivity, and who have strong spiritual vision; for if the eye of the soul looks upward, it is benefited, but if downward, it is harmed. ^D

PSALM CXXIII

VERS. 2. "When men rose up against us."

Those who had said, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us," now, as though their prayers had been heard, give thanks to God. But the insightful man is taught to say these present things, having God before his eyes; for thus Israel offers a triumphal hymn to the God who grants victory; and they teach the

^A young who are aged, and the disciples obey. For Israel, possessing God within himself, it is fitting to say: "Had not the Lord been with us." Such was the Israel under Moses, to whom it was said: "Keep silence, and hear, O Israel; and the Lord shall fight for you, and you shall be silent."

^B VεRS. 3. "Perhaps they would have swallowed us alive." The time of calamity, however vehement it may be, is nevertheless, like a torrent, short-lived.

VεRS. 6. "Blessed be the Lord," etc. Whom, indeed, was it fitting to praise and celebrate with hymns, since we were not made prey to the men who wished to swallow us alive, if not the Lord who is with us? Truly, those who rushed to capture us, that they might devour us, could not execute their plans as they hastened to do; for the cruel-hearted lions were eager to seize us with their teeth, but they did not attain what they were striving for, as the Lord did not give us over to them; to Him we also give blessing, who delivered us from the murderous foes who were arrayed against us.

PSALM CXXIV

VεRS. 2. "Mountains are around it." These things are said by those who returned from a long journey to the material Jerusalem, as if now established in safety, not so much by the place as by their confidence in the Lord; which indeed is better than dwelling in the city of Jerusalem. Besides, where else would the people be better off? For here mountains are said to encompass the place; but the true Guardian of the people, on whose account the place is also honored, is God, who also guards the place, if only the people be worthy.

VεRS. 5. "The Lord shall lead away with the workers of iniquity." The word "lead away" here signifies "shall deliver"; namely, He shall lead them away into the uncleanness which they chose for themselves, into passions of dishonor and a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting.

PSALM CXXV

VεRS. 1. "When the Lord turned back the captivity of Sion." The apostles prophesy that these things will be said concerning themselves and those among the nations, and after this they would declare concerning the sowing and the harvest. In the times of David there was no captivity; perhaps, therefore, this discourse is about the spiritual [captivity]. Another will say that these things are signified prophetically as future. Namely, a certain part of the captives who returned from Babylon, having recovered Jerusalem, sends up this present canticle not without good expectation toward God for those who remained in Babylon. They say, therefore, that our joy is not yet fully completed; but it will be when the whole nation returns from the hostile land to its own. The other interpreters set forth this same meaning of the passage: for instead of "we were made as those comforted," all agree in saying: "We were made as those who dream, and not as those truly beholding our freedom." Moreover, our joy shall be like a true and clear vision, after...

our remaining brethren also shall have returned from captivity. Over this, the nations shall call us blessed, as having recovered our own members; for there is but one body of those who are being saved. ^A

VERS. 2. Then our mouth was filled with joy. To those who speak divine things, in whom is the fruit of the Spirit, the mouth becomes full of joy for the hearers, and the tongue full of exultation, from which joy and exultation flow. When these things come to pass, those who are instructed among the nations say: "The Lord has done great things for them." And of themselves they also speak, giving thanks: "The Lord has done great things for us; we became glad." ^B Indeed, "Upon the rivers of Babylon (the Jews say) we sat and wept"; but when the Lord turned the captivity, "our mouth was filled with joy." When we set a guard upon our mouth, and "the mouth of the righteous meditates wisdom," and "Open your mouth," says God, and the like—"Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians"—then we shall truly be able to say: "Then our mouth was filled with joy." And after a few words: When we guard our ways so as not to sin, then our tongue shall be filled with exultation. The mouth of Philip also abounded with joy, when, opening his mouth and beginning from those words, "As a sheep led to the slaughter," he preached Jesus to the Ethiopian eunuch.

VERS. 3. The Lord has done great things for us. Earlier, as if the return from captivity were already taking place, the two verses were spoken. Now, as if still detained in captivity, the Prophet says these things, ^C prophesying first, I think, concerning the apostles, and then speaking from the persona of the nations. For the words from "The Lord has done great things for us" up to "as a torrent in the south" belong to the nations.

VERS. 4. Turn, O Lord, our captivity. These things follow consecutively upon the former. For we do not say these things as if unmindful of the benefit that has already been conferred upon us, but confessing that God has done great things for us and that we have already come into gladness. Being in this state, we nevertheless pray and entreat for our remaining members, saying: "Turn, O Lord, our captivity as a torrent in the south." For it would be absurd if, while the nations—ignorant of divine knowledge—admire the clemency conferred upon us, we, having obtained the true religion, were to suffer from the disease of ingratitude. ^D

VERS. 5. Who sow in tears, etc. He who sows in tears, sows according to the Spirit of those who are pronounced blessed on account of their tears; but with exultation he reaps eternal life, having already attained the ability to laugh in the Spirit. To those who asked concerning the remaining captives, God replies with the declaration, "Blessed are they that weep..."

for they shall laugh." ^A If those who are still in Babylon do this, sowing in the tears through which they earn good hopes, they shall reap joy, receiving the harvest of their return in place of the tears they shed while being loved. And if at that time they kept even a small seed of piety, having tilled their own souls there, upon returning they will bear much fruit. Up to the seventh canticle, the prophecies concerning the captives of the circumcision were delivered.

PSALM CXXVI

According to the Hebrew edition and all the interpreters, the present canticle is Solomon's (just as other psalms are inscribed to others), spoken by him prophetically at the time he was building the temple. For since the Jews were pridefully exultant regarding the size of the building, he, foreseeing by the divine Spirit its ultimate desolation and the Church which was to be built by the Lord throughout the whole world, ^B by making a comparison with the temple then being constructed, prefers and praises that other one, while rebuking the present one as temporal and not capable of enduring even for a short time without the guardianship of God. He now chants this opportunely to the Jews who had returned from Babylon and were eager to restore the temple, and who were puffed up with pride on that account. He says therefore: "If the Lord guards [it]"; for if the guard departs, it will become a desert, and any diligence of men will be in vain. And concerning the temple, he calls the Lord the builder, but concerning the city, he calls men the builders, yet God the guard. This saying is useful against the thoughts of pride. ^C

VERS. 2. "You who eat the bread of pain." Theodotion and the fifth edition rendered it "the bread of idols." And rightly so, for the Hebrew has "to act irreligiously," which we see translated as "idol" in other places also. Solomon, foreseeing in the Spirit that those who would inhabit the house built by him would become attached to idols, serving demons within it, says that after their departure they would come to it again, and this he would do continuously at intervals. For what is the benefit of honoring a place if one removes oneself from God through idolatry? Whence Symmachus said: "It is vain for you to rise at dawn to dwell, or to sing hymns."

PSALM CXXVII

Consistently with the canticle before this, the calling of the Gentiles is proclaimed in the present one. Those who fear the Lord are therefore said to be different from Israel, and from the more noble order among Israel, that is to say the priestly order. These words demonstrate this: "The house of Israel has hoped in the Lord." And afterwards: "They that fear the Lord have hoped in the Lord." And again: "The Lord, being mindful of us, has blessed us; He has blessed the house of Israel, He has blessed the house of Aaron." And after that: "He has blessed those that fear the Lord." ^D According to the norm, therefore, of the aforementioned sayings...

you will understand the blessed ones in the present canticle; these were all who fear the Lord. But better than them, and having advanced beyond those who fear the Lord, is he who has been brought to perfection in charity. ^A For "perfect charity casts out fear." And they indeed who fear, travel along many ways; but perhaps he who loves travels along one, according to the One who said, "I am the way," upon which many also arrive as if into a harbor. And well did He say: "Blessed are all." Whether slave, or master, or crippled in body, or anything at all, nothing of these prevents this blessedness, of which He Himself speaks. But the blessedness among men is precarious and prone to falling, and is fashioned by word alone, and is surrounded by a myriad of adversities. But not so is he who fears God; rather, having been delivered from these waves, he sits in calm and in a harbor, truly reaping blessedness.

"You shall eat the labors of your crops."

The rest have translated "labors of the hands," as if speaking of a farmer who reaps what he has cultivated; and one who struggles on the path of piety, storing up food for himself for the life to come, proportionate to the labors he has undergone. And virtue, and labor in accordance with God, is food and joy for the soul. Such is he who fears the Lord; but he who loves, as one already perfect, shall eat the heavenly bread, according to the verse: "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of heaven."

Your wife as a flourishing vine.

And according to the literal sense, as for an imperfect person, these things are given to him who fears the Lord, but not to him who loves Him with all his soul and with all his heart and with his strength; ^B "For eye has not seen," and the rest. But to him who fears the Lord is given a wife, concerning whom it is said: "A good wife is a good portion," and, "A brave woman, who shall find? More precious is such a one than costly stones." Thus, a wicked wife would be the wrath of God.

"Your sons as new olive plants."

Thus, also, sons from God are given to him who fears the Lord, not similar to many sons, but such as new olive plants circling and crowning his table. But if someone says that even those who do not fear the Lord often abound in a multitude of sons and in the thriving of a wife, we shall say that the present blessing does not promise merely a wife and children, but the whole of this very thing: a wife likened to a vine, and children to young olive plants; and such are not the things of the impious (7).

^C And sons differing from the others are given to him who fears the Lord, from the perfect One who says: "I am as a fruit-bearing olive," and the rest. For the produce of such an olive is said to be as new olive plants. What, then? Are there not unjust men in the flourishing of wives and children? But they do not have a wife likened to a vine, nor children as young olive plants. ^D

^A

PSALM CXXVIII.

PSALM CXXIX.

VERSE 3. *If you, Lord, should mark iniquities.* Since not all who are in the Church are able to say, "Many times have they warred against me, but they could not prevail against me," He brings forward the present utterance on behalf of the weaker ones, who do not endure persecutions—unless, perhaps, the one who recites the psalm says this concerning his own sins before his calling. ^C

VERSE 7. *With Him is plenteous redemption.* For He gave His precious blood as a redemption for us, having become the Lamb of God; for He carries our sins and suffers on our behalf. And He has wrought redemption for His people, as Zacharias says; and as the holy Virgin says, "He has holpen Israel." ^D

^A PSALM CXXX. The present ode, like the one preceding it, contains the humble utterances of a man perfected in God, and especially of one who is able to say: "For Thy name's sake, O Lord, I have waited for Thee." David, having been instructed, as is credible, by the oracles of the Holy Spirit that there is expiation with God and plenteous redemption with Him if one would but believe, necessarily offers himself to the Redeemer. Wherefore it is also inscribed: "Of David, for the deprecation of sins," as he recounts the honorable things he has done. For he says, I have never been lifted up with pride, as a ruler over his own people; nor have I swollen with arrogance so as not to look toward the presence of God and let go of steadiness in fearing Him; nor again have I lived luxuriously in delights; nor have I thought anything more of myself or my own affairs than what is fitting—which is what those do who seem to themselves to be clever and wise.

VERS. 3. Let Israel hope in the Lord. For just as I, says King David, being such a man and so great, have made myself humble and have presented myself to the expiation and to the Redeemer and Savior, so I also proclaim to the rest of Israel to approach the expiation with confidence; knowing precisely that He himself will redeem Israel, if he should run to Him, from all his iniquities.

PSALM CXXXI. VERS. 11. The Lord swore truth unto David. To David who swore, God also swore in return, to him who sought to learn the place, bestowing as a free gift the prerogative that He should also spring from his own lineage; "That by two immutable things, as Paul says, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation concerning the things which each one requests."

VERS. 11. Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. Since you, he says, having believed in this way, prayed to know such things, wishing to learn about the place of the arrival of the Savior among men, receive this knowledge yourself, and be a minister of the saving birth. For yours shall be the fruit that is to be, coming forth from your succession and from your seed; ^C wherefore the promised throne shall also be given to Him, because there is no one else, save Him who is to spring from you, who is worthy of the throne promised to you. Therefore also Gabriel says to Mary: "And the Lord God will give unto Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob unto the ages."

VERS. 12. If thy children will keep My covenant. They shall sit upon it—that is to say, upon the throne of Christ—His own disciples and successors. ^D Yet there is no envy toward your own sons, O David, that is, those of the circumcision, even if they should accept Christ, and if they should keep My covenant and My testimonies, not those which were given through the first legislation, but those which I shall teach them hereafter, which are to be handed down to them later through the new covenant; for indeed if

^A they keep these, they too shall sit upon the throne that is prepared for Christ.

Ver. 15. *I will surely bless his prey, I will satisfy his poor with bread.*

By the anagogy, the prey of Zion are those who are captured daily like fish by the evangelical and apostolic nets. His poor, moreover, are the blessed, of whom is the kingdom of God, who are sustained by the bread that descended from heaven. But also his priests, after they have clothed themselves with righteousness, as he says, are clothed by God with salvation. Then he speaks concerning the holy men, who are preeminent in virtue and way of life in the Church; concerning whom Aquilas says: *With praising they shall praise*; but Symmachus, *They shall bless with blessings*.

Ver. 18. *But upon him shall my sanctification flourish.*

This he says concerning John, according to the dictum of the Lord: *He was a burning and shining lamp*. It is possible, however, to see these things also in another way, according to the times of the persecutions; but Symmachus wrote "consecration." For the sanctification of our Savior truly sanctifies the Church throughout the whole world.

PSALM CXXXII

Ver. 1. *Behold, how good and how pleasant, except that brothers dwell in the same place, etc.*

Not everything good is also immediately pleasant; nor is everything pleasant, in every case, good. For many things are sweet, yet base; and conversely, other things are laborious, yet good. Nevertheless, the concord and peace of souls that foster an equal mind and opinion is said to maintain both things laudably—namely, both the good and the pleasant. Nor is this said of brothers who merely live together, but of those who at the same time maintain unity, ^B just as the Apostle says: *That you all say the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you; but that you be made perfect in the same mind and in the same judgment*. He warns, moreover, lest we think that the good and the pleasant is to be placed in the body and in the pleasure of the flesh.

Ver. 3. *As the dew of Hermon that descendeth upon the mountains of Zion.*

Hermon is a mountain adjacent to Libanus, on which much snow is gathered, which Scripture designates by the name of dew. Because, therefore, that dew, collected from many drops, becomes one body and is compacted, he rightly compared the concord and consensus of the Church by a different example, not to the snow remaining on Mount Hermon, but to that which descends upon the mountains of Zion. For that we might understand the ^C abundance of the snow, Mount Hermon was taken as an example; but that he might signify the harmony of a life according to God, he named the dew descending upon the mountains of Zion.

Ver. 3. *For there the Lord commanded the blessing.*

"There," he says, among the brothers living together in concord. And he does not mean this common life, but the immortal one. ^D

^A

PSALM CXXXIII

VERS. 3. *May the Lord bless you out of Sion.* It was said of old to Abraham: *They that bless you shall be blessed.* And he who does this blesses himself in power. But if this held true for Abraham, how much more so for the Lord? For He is not in need of this blessing of ours. Everyone, however, gratifies himself and blesses himself, because he is in turn blessed by the Creator of all things. Therefore it was said first: *Bless the Lord.* Then: *May the Lord bless you out of Sion.*

PSALM CXXXIV

This laudatory psalm is deservedly appended to the last of the canticles, because it uses the same expressions; for which reason the *alleluia* is also placed before it, for the *alleluia* signifies "praise," and *ia* signifies "the Lord." But someone will say that the former part of the psalm takes the place of a hymn, having moved those who are bidden to praise God in the exordium; starting the praise with: *Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing psalms to his name, for it is good.* He instructs by turning [them] away from idols, and teaches the knowledge of God. For such was the exhortation needed by those now ^B coming to the faith from among the Gentiles; whom he also calls servants, since they have not yet received the spirit of adoption. Now these are accustomed, before the laver of regeneration, to have their station in the house of God before the gates, not yet received into the inner parts: for they are being instructed, but as yet they are not perfect. Moreover, the courts are diverse, because the life of the catechumens is diverse; and the degree of progress is, after praising the name of the Lord, to praise the Lord Himself. For one must first learn that there is a Word of God, presiding over and ruling the whole world, and that He is the only-begotten Son of God.

VERS. 3. *Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good, etc.* The cause of praising is that His goodness is not by way of participation, but because it is as it is in the Father. Moreover, we praise Him not with words only, but also by participation in His good things: for it is surely necessary that the remaining habits of life should be in agreement with theoretic speculation and with the acts of theological rule. *Sing psalms to his name*, it is added, *for it is sweet, and above all sweetness.* Furthermore, we praise Him because He chose for Himselfiacob, who overturned evils and iniquities, ^C making him an elect one, because He resolves the struggles of wickedness and pains. But He also chose for Himself as a peculiar possession him who was after Jacob, namely him who in the progress of time was called Israel; and therefore he is a peculiar people, out of all the nations; a peculiar possession, I say, and an effected substance, insofar as it holds the wise Word of God.

VERS. 6. *All things whatsoever the Lord willed, He did in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the deeps.* ^D Everything which the Lord did is good, because it is of the will of God. If there is anything in heaven, as the spiritual hosts of wickedness...

or on earth, as sinful men, or in the seas, as the wickedness of the dragon, or in the deeps, as the wickedness of those who have been commanded to depart thither, this, I say, God did not bring about by His own will; for, "out of the mouth of the Lord there shall not come forth evil and good."

VERS. 7. *Who bringeth the winds out of his treasuries.*

When he speaks here of treasuries, he does not indeed indicate that there are certain treasuries of winds, but rather the speed of the One who commands, and the readiness of the thing possessed, which is prepared. For just as one who has a treasury at his disposal brings forth everything from it quite readily, whenever he wishes, so also the Creator of all things easily brought all things forth and delivered them to nature. ^B

VERS. 8. *Who smote the first-born of Egypt.*

Because some say that only worldly and heavenly things are governed by the providence of God, he demonstrates that human affairs are also in His care, for He is the One who now punishes the impious and shields the race of the pious. And yet, formerly, the portion of the Lord—that is, of God the Word—was His people Jacob, the lot of His inheritance, Israel. But after that people fell away on account of their irreligion, it was said to the incarnate Word: "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the nations for thy inheritance."

VERS. 13. *O Lord, thy name is unto eternity.*

Nothing pertains so much to divine Providence as teaching men not to believe that this universe is without a governor. Hence, too, the constant remembrance of Him is established among us; the servants of God, having learned the greatness of His majesty from their ancestors, are taught and emboldened to speak of His presence, knowing well that it shall come to pass that they will be refreshed, because there will be a judgment concerning the rest of the people, ^C for the sake of those who know the name of God and keep it in remembrance. And so, he prays for them as for servants who stand in need of pardon.

VERS. 15. *The idols of the nations are silver and gold.*

Having finished his theological discourse concerning the Lord, and having enumerated the great works of His providence, he—as if still addressing those who were servants, and who had recently come from the error of polytheism—brings forward the reproach of the gods once thought of by them; this is done in accordance with what he had said above, namely: "I have known that the Lord is great, and our Lord is above all gods." For our Lord has wrought such and such things, both universally and in particular; but the gods of the nations, in whom you yourselves were previously deceived, were nothing other than dead and mute ^D images. Skilfully, however, Symmachus, instead of "Let those who make them become like them," has interpreted it by saying: "Let those who make them, and whoever trusts in them, become like them." For in truth, those who attend to inanimate objects as if they were gods, having had their souls turned to stone, suffer the same thing as the idols worshiped by them, namely, that they have eyes and see not, and have ears and do not hear.

^A

VERS. 18. *Similes illis fiant qui faciunt ea*. The aforementioned idolaters shall become, or have already become, like their gods. But you who have been taken into the lot of God and are reckoned as His people—"Bless," He says, "the Lord," that is, praise Him, for this is to your own great advantage. First to be called to the blessing is the people of God, who are called the house of Israel, the order of the common people. In the second place, as a higher and more exalted rank, is the house of Aaron. And third, the entire priestly tribe, called the house of Levi. And after all these, more exalted than them all, are they who fear the Lord. These are they to whom the entire psalm is addressed. Those who at the beginning of the whole psalm are called "servants" are those who have come to the faith from among the Gentiles. For if the entire nation of the Jews is comprised by the three aforementioned ranks—namely, that of Israel, and of the families of Aaron, and of Levi—who else could those be who fear the Lord, if not those who have approached the doctrine of God from among the Gentiles? They are also taught to bless in this way: "Blessed be the Lord out of Sion, who dwells in Jerusalem," that is, in the city of God that remains forever, in which the true habitation of God ^B is understood to reside.

PSALM CXXXV

*To Him who smote Egypt.* If you are not convinced, he says, that the entire world and its parts are governed by the providence and power of God, and if you are in doubt ^C as to whether individual human affairs might be overlooked by Him, know that He cares for earthly things no less than for heavenly things. He therefore pursues, in due time, men who are especially intensely irreligious and impious, just as once He visited the Egyptians and the Egyptian land itself. Yet, on the other hand, He stands at the head of and defends those who are beloved of God, and not them alone, but also their descendants, just as He did for those who were then delivered from the slavery of the Egyptians through Moses—those whom the very God over all delivered, using nothing other than an outstretched hand and a strong arm. This is none other than the Word of God, through whom also ^D

^A in times past and now the goodness of the all-good God has wrought benefits for men.

VERS. 19. Sion king of the Amorites. We are accustomed to interpret the Amorites as "loquacious exasperators," and their king, Sihon, as "temptation and exasperation." For men skilled in sophistical fraud often speak harshly, and they wish in like manner for lovers of truth also to speak and sing deceitfully; and they look to nothing else than to vex and exasperate. Bashan, however, which is interpreted as "shame," denotes the shameful malice of the wicked; its king, Og, ^B is slain along with Sihon, so that the land which they were holding badly—the land that they occupied through sophistry and a corrupt disposition regarding the nature of things, seeming to reign over it—might be delivered to Israel. But the land, having been taken away from them by the interpretation of its name, is given for an inheritance to Israel, who happens to be a genuine servant of the Author of all things.

VERS. 23. For in our humility he was mindful of us, O Lord. In the preceding passages, it was shown in various ways that Israel is not he who springs from the Jewish race, but he who is such by his way of piety. For not all who are of Israel, these are Israel; nor is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, according to the Apostle, but ^C he is a Jew who is one in secret, and circumcision is of the heart, not in the letter but in the spirit; whose praise is not from men, but from God. Therefore, we also who have come from the Gentiles (for we are the circumcision and the true Israel) were redeemed by Him from our enemies more than they were; for they, departing from Egypt, escaped bodily tyrants, yet staining their own souls with wicked habits, they fell in the desert, given to idolatry. But we were truly redeemed from the enemies of our soul, and He was mindful of us in our humility more than of them; for they indeed served the Egyptians in body, but our souls were the sport of demons, and we were humiliated under evil spirits.

Such is the mercy of God, that He not only takes care of the pious and provides for those who draw near to Him, but also encompasses all earthly things by His providence, and not only rational beings but irrational ^D ones as well, providing food for all living creatures on earth, and bestowing upon each kind what is suitable and necessary for life, and finally translating us from here into the heavens. Wherefore, the Word, after saying, "Who gives food to all flesh," directs us to heaven again, saying: "Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his mercy is forever."

PSALM CXXXVI. This psalm is without a title among the Hebrews; for

^A neither is its author inscribed, nor is it said what nature of song it is. Furthermore, it is a simple prophecy recounted from the person of those who were in Babylon. The evidence for this is that in some exemplars of the Septuagint translators it is inscribed with the names Haggai and Zechariah.

VERS. 8. *Blessed is he who shall repay you your recompense!*

The blessing will fall upon those who render mutual retribution to Babylon, and upon him who dashes her infants against the rock and destroys them. For in truth, at first it would have been a blessing never to have seen Babylon nor to have been caught up in the cesspool of her evils. But if one were already once in her, having fallen from better things, he would be blessed if he were to repay what he had suffered and were to take the Babylonians captive in turn, and were to turn the very souls of the Babylonians toward the fear of God. But if he would not even allow their infants to grow up, but dashed them against the rock, he would be much more blessed. You will not be wrong in saying that the "infants" of Babylon are the seeds of wickedness and the sources of various sins, which he who is called blessed in this place will take care to destroy by the word of the Savior (for the rock was Christ) so that they might not grow, nor hurry to advance into action.

PSALM CXXXVII

VERS. 1. *I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart.*

Just as the perfect man loves God with his whole soul, and strength, and power, not diverting the faculties of his own love to anything else, but entirely dependent on God alone, so also the Psalmist confesses with his whole heart, giving thanks to God. Being emboldened by such confidence of his, and knowing that he is in a great theater—in the life of men, with divine angels and ministers of God looking on and observing his progress in God—he renders the worship due to God, and says: *And in the sight of the angels I will sing to thee.*

VERS. 2. *I will worship toward thy holy temple.*

He promises to worship toward "holy temple," denoting the Church, or the heavenly Jerusalem, of which the temple on earth was a type; then he gives thanks, having been deemed worthy of the mercy and truth of God. For which reason Symmachus says, "For thy mercy and thy truth," for having attained the mercy of God, and with types and symbols put aside, he has been ^D deemed worthy to worship God in spirit and in truth.

VERS. 4. *Let all the kings of the earth praise thee, O Lord.*

We have often observed that those psalms which have neither "a song," nor "a psalm," nor any other inscription, bear a character different from these; of such a kind is this one, imbued with prophetic power. For having confessed through the preceding verses, David says: "But it is not I alone, among kings, who am adorned with these prerogatives, but very many will be so hereafter," namely after the preaching of the Savior; and especially when the

^A fullness of the nations shall have entered, and the second coming of the Savior shall take place; for then shall the great glory of the Lord appear. For note that things to come are sometimes indicated by the imperative or optative mood, according to a peculiar custom of the Hebrews. It prophesies that the knowledge of God will be spread abroad unto all nations; "For it shall be," he says, "when all the kings of the earth shall confess to you, and shall hear all the words of the mouth of God, and that they shall sing in the ways of the Lord." These things, moreover, attained their fulfillment only after the evangelical preaching of our Savior. And the "ways" are the virtues, which lead to the knowledge of God. ^B Vers. 6. *The Lord is high, and regards the lowly.* David, recognizing what had been spoken in him and through him by the prophetic Spirit, rejoices because God regards the lowly, and is present as a protector in their afflictions. Vers. 7. *If I walk in the midst of tribulation, you will vivify me, etc.* Symmachus spoke more clearly: "If I walk in the midst of tribulation, you will preserve me; against the breath of mine enemies you will extend your hand, and your right hand will save me; the Lord will accomplish it on my behalf." *Psalm CXXXVIII.* Vers. 1. *O Lord, you have tested me, and known me.* Since, therefore, the time of our life also has intervals measured by God, "the whole time," he says, "of my life, and the path which I have traveled, you yourself have searched out." ^C Vers. 6. *Your knowledge has become wonderful from me.* It surpasses, he says, my power, and the knowledge of these things is beyond my comprehension, so that I can neither devise nor describe them. For however much I may say, they were small and minimal in comparison with the divine power, the comprehension of which eludes my frailty, or rather, the failing of all my powers. Vers. 16. *Your eyes saw my imperfect thing.* What I have not yet done, he says, you behold as already accomplished; and you know those not yet born, as though already brought into the light. But my innocence and lack of malice, which is in need of no investigation, can be understood in a twofold way. For an "unworked" thing may be said to refer to the lack of careful scrutiny; yet an "imperfect" soul is that which has not yet been formed by virtue and knowledge. ^D Vers. 19. *Men of blood, depart from me.* Vers. 20. *They shall take your cities in vain.* When he had said (v. 17): *But to me, your friends, O God, have been greatly honored*; he justly detests the enemies of God and removes them from himself. Moreover, having also remembered that there shall be a time when God himself will slay the sinners, he now already drives them far from himself, so that he may not become a partaker with them, nor receive harm by drawing near to them. Since they will also take your cities for the sake of contentious arguments and strife—signifying by the word "cities" the divine Scriptures, which the heterodox take in vain, and not as they should.

heterodox reach, and not as they should: ^A I avert my face and turn away from them.

*Proba me, Deus* (Try me, O God). Having said in the beginning, "Lord, you have tried me and known me," now, as if not yet tried, he says: "Try me, O God, and know my heart." And then indeed it was said, "You have investigated my path and my line, and you have foreseen all my ways;" but now, "Examine me, and know my paths." ^B Perhaps, then, he is not speaking contraries? For then he simply said that he had been tried and known; now, however, he prays to be tried, so that his heart may be known. For it is a greater thing to have a heart that is pure and upright than simply to be pure and upright; and it excels merely being tried and known, to be tried unto the knowledge of his heart. But also, beyond simply having his ways foreseen, it is greater to have his paths examined and known. Therefore he added: "And see if there be any way of iniquity in me"—that is, in my habit and disposition. It is also rendered thus: "And see if the way of iniquity be in me," that is, consider if iniquity has ever walked in my soul, so that footprints of its path remain with me. Nevertheless, even if such innocence has been accomplished for me by you and through you, you are still the one who leads me in the way everlasting, which leads to immortality and incorruptibility.

PSALM CXXXIX. *Cadent super eos ignis carbones* (Burning coals shall fall upon them). For he will undergo punishment from Him, having such a disease.

*Virum injustum mala capient ad corruptionem* (Evil shall hunt the unjust man to destruction). ^C What is "to destruction"? Since many are hunted for salvation, as those by the apostles, as those by holy men; but those wicked ones are they who are hunted by malice and corruption. For every unjust person, as if corrupted by an internal disease, will undergo the punishment appropriate to his own malice; for to corrupt the soul, in place of any other punishment, malice itself is sufficient.

*Cognovi quia faciet Dominus judicium inopis* (I know that the Lord will execute judgment for the poor). From this, Solomon, supporting his father, says in Ecclesiastes: "Hear the end of the matter, the whole: that God will bring every work into judgment, in everything that has been overlooked, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." And now, he says, as God will judge, avenging the poor man and the needy now being oppressed. ^D He concluded the Psalm with a good end after this; wherefore it is also inscribed *In finem* (To the end), reciting the hope laid up for the just. Symmachus, however, says, "before thy face." And what is more excellent than to behold God face to face with a purified mind? According to the beatitude of the Savior, who said: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," which having attained, they shall give thanks.

PSALM CXL

VERS. 2. *The lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.*

You will understand this from the saying of the Apostle: "I desire that men pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger and disputation"; for he also makes mention both of thoughts and of acts. But the impious by no means lift up their hands. Therefore it was said to them: "When you stretch out your hands to me, I will turn my face away from you." ^B But one must lift up one’s actions to the heights, and perform them in a way that is pleasing to God.

VERS. 4. *Incline not my heart to malicious words, to make excuses in sins.*

Do not suffer my mind, once granted by you, to be subverted and inclined in the contrary direction. Instead of "to make excuses in sins," Symmachus published, "to think wicked thoughts," expressing the mind of the diction more clearly. Then the Psalmist turns back to practice, saying, *with men working iniquity, and I will not associate with their elect*. For which Symmachus again interpreted more clearly, saying: *With men working iniquity, I will not even feast upon their delicacies*. I will not be, he says, with these men, if you, Lord, place a guard over my mouth and preserve the treasure prepared for me. Now, the "elect" of these are to be believed to be those who seek to excuse their own evil acts; they ^D are worse than those who sin openly and without excuse.

VERS. 6. *Their judges have been swallowed up by the side of the rock.*

But Symmachus: *For my prayer is still within their wickedness; their judges shall be torn away by the hands of the rock; they shall hear my words, for they are very sweet. Just as when a farmer breaks the earth, so your bones have been scattered by the side of hell*. Now, however, he gives the reason why he will not associate with sinners; for their company is enough, he says, to scatter my soul and to insinuate their wickedness into me. Already

^A by the power of the mighty Word it is demonstrated that they shall see their own princes and judges utterly uprooted, torn away as if by the force of that mighty word.

*Vers. 8. Ne auferas animam meam.* Symmachus, instead of "do not take away," says "do not empty," that is, do not permit the treasure stored up in my soul to be emptied out. For then, he says, I shall depart fearlessly, when sinners are entangled in their own nets.

PSALM CXLI

The history concerning Saul and the cave has been written before. ^C The name of David is interpreted in various ways, as we have often said, and it is understood in various ways: for when you find it applied to the person of the Lord, it is interpreted as "the beloved"; but when it is used for the person of those who sin and yet repent, we interpret it as "the despised" on account of his sins. Now the name of David is applied to the sinful people, who have come to their senses and enclosed themselves in a cave, and are praying with tears, strongly confessing, as this very inscription shows; and the Psalm itself likewise teaches these things.

*Vers. 4. In my spirit failing within me.* These words are also spoken in a manner very appropriate to the straits of the time ^D and place; for, as far as human matters were concerned, being enclosed within the cave, he was cut off from all escape and flight, and there was not one hope of help for him, nor was there anyone to deliver his soul or to seek after it. But seeing the intellectual enemies of his soul intent upon this very thing—I mean Saul entering the cave to capture David—he rightly said: "They have hidden a snare for me." But they did not succeed in the effect of their snare because of the aforementioned prayer. Confident, however, in his course of life, in his actions, and in the ways in which he had walked, unjustly driven out and attacked,

he says to God: "And you have known my paths." ^A

*Vers. 6. To you, O Lord, I have cried out.* Again, in this place as well, he confesses that he cries out, not simply, but to the Lord; for otherwise it was impossible for him to raise his voice while the enemy was present. Yet, by confessing that he had reposed his hope in God alone, he did not miss the mark, for hope does not put one to shame. Indeed, even if there is some land of the living, I confess, he says, that I have no portion in it other than you, my hope; for you are God, my portion in the land of the living. As if to say, if I did not have you, I would have never been reckoned among those in the land of the living. But the land of the living is not this land which is now trodden by us, for this is a land of death and of the dead, but ^B rather that which the meek shall inherit, upon which all the living dwell in accordance with eternal life.

*Vers. 5. There was no one who knew me—and there is no one who seeks after my soul.* If anyone is neglected and not sought after at all by those who are considered to preside over the churches, he will opportunely say this; and he will add what follows: the cry to God, and that he does not hope in princes, but in the Lord, and that he has a portion in the land of the living, and not in the land of forgetfulness.

PSALM CXLII

*Vers. 4. My spirit was disheartened within me.* The spirit of a person is disheartened within him when the heart is troubled, remembering how the enemy humbled its life to the ground and set it in dark places as the dead of the ages. My heart, he says, was troubled within me, ^D and strictly contained the suffering inside, not being so broken that its disturbance became manifest to all outsiders and fully known to those on the outside.

*Vers. 5. I remembered the days of old.* Since Moses also commands, saying: "Remember the days of the age," and David likewise says: "I remembered the eternal years and I pondered"—rightly then, the one whose heart is troubled, consulting for his own benefit, runs back in his mind to his own ancient days, those before the trouble, in which he was successful, or he recalls ancient histories to mind; and taking up the memory again, he ponders the works of God and the handiwork of his hands, obtaining no small consolation from the ancient

^A histories, learning from them that God visited the ancients after myriads of afflictions and temptations, and how many cures and benefits He provided for them. But also by pondering upon the words of creation, one heals the soul, being instructed that the life of men is not without providence, nor is the soul that has been troubled left without healing; for the Word of God looks upon and stands over all, healing those who are broken in heart.

*I stretched forth my hands unto thee; my soul is as a land without water unto thee.*

Remembering the days of old from the study of the divine readings, I stretched forth my hands, showing to You the acts of purity through repentance, thus thirsting for You, O God, and for the healing from You, not only in the way a deer longs for the springs ^B of water, but also as thirsty and dry land longs for the rain descending upon it. And if indeed my soul is as a land without water, so is it in relation to You, O God; for in itself, and in comparison to other men, it is fruitful and flourishing with good fruits; yet to You it is as a dry land, because before You no living man shall be justified.

*Make haste to hear me, etc. Turn not thy face from me.*

In pressing times of crises, or in persecutions or final dangers, when a person's soul is in peril, with the spirit within it failing, and the heart within it troubled, it is fitting to say the same things as David, praying to Christ: *Hear me, O Lord.* Yet it is not necessary to use this form of prayer for human affairs. ^C For as long as Your face deigns to favor me with its regard, Your light is in me, and all my darkness is driven away; so that one might say: *The light of thy countenance, O Lord, has been signed upon us.* But if You should ever turn Your face from me, I become in the darkness in which all those who descend into the pit are; in which pit there is nothing else but what is called the outer darkness.

*Make me to hear thy mercy in the morning.*

We are in need of divine mercy in times of temptation; which is what might happen if we spend our time vigilantly in prayers, and especially at the dawn hour, so as to be able to say: *O God, my God, I watch for You at dawn.*

*Make known to me, O Lord, the way in which I should walk.*

To my soul, which has been prostrate on the ground, show me, O You who have raised it up, the way of repentance, or that which leads after the laying aside of the body ^D to the heavens. For how could a mortal understand his ways? Perhaps someone who has traveled the earlier ways of Moses and the prophets, according to the saying: *Stand in the ways, and ask for the eternal paths of the Lord*, and after these seeking the good way, he will speak to the Father of this one, and to Him who knows one's ways.

^A

VERS. 11. *For your name's sake, O Lord.* This is similar to that utterance: *Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory*. For it is not in ourselves that we ought to trust. But he who has courageously endured temptations should hope to obtain these good things, inasmuch as he has journeyed along the narrow and afflicted way.

VERS. 11. *In your righteousness you shall bring my soul out of tribulation.* Truly, the tribulation of the soul is when a man's life is prostrated to the earth, and he sits in darkness; and the soul that is harassed by evil thoughts and the flame of passions is also afflicted, with no one to deliver it from these pressures except God, who knows the secrets of the heart. ^B But also, if someone is greatly troubled in spirit by the disturbances of deceivers, especially when, being unable to refute their sophistries, he fears lest he be thrust aside from the truth, God delivers the soul of such a one from every such tribulation, illuminating it and brightening it with His own rays, and helping it to live in accordance with His righteousness, as has just been demonstrated. Furthermore, by the mercy of God the enemies shall be destroyed, not by having their substance corrupted—for that is impossible—but by being stripped of the faculty by which they oppose the just man and vex his soul. ^C For thus there shall be rest for the just man, and he shall live in peace, outside of war. And then, inciting the One whom he has invoked to assent, he adds: *For I am your servant.* And indeed, the greatest of possessions and boasts is to be called a servant of God. The Savior also showed the magnitude of this to those who were with Him, saying: *You call me Lord and Master, and you speak well, for I am.* Finally, nothing puts our enemies to flight so effectively as spiritual meditation.

PSALM CXLIII

^A put to flight the invisible enemies; for the psalm declares, as will be shown, both his descent from heaven, and the rout of the demons, and the calling of the nations, and the two peoples.

*Who subdues my people under me.* It belongs to God to subdue His own people to men; which, if it were not from God, could never happen; for neither would Moses have led such a great multitude, had not the Lord subdued His own people to him, not by arms nor by human array, but by a superior power.

*O Lord, what is man, that Thou hast made Thyself known to him?* The discourse inquires interrogatively, "What is man?", wishing to ^B teach us that man is something great; for he would not have contained the knowledge of God, nor would God have been mindful of him in such a way as to send to him His own Word as Savior and Redeemer. He exhorts at the same time that we should despise no man, and that no one acts worthily of such a benefit.

*O Lord, bow Thy heavens, and descend.* Most necessarily and consequently [he says] that the Word of God Himself has descended for the destruction of the enemies; for even if, he says, He teaches my hands and my fingers how one must fight, yet what is the strength of man, and how great is the power of a mortal who has become like vanity, to be able ^C to stand against such an array? Therefore, Thou Thyself, O Lord, bow the heavens, and descend. By "heavens," he means the powers understood therein; and as a father to little children, and as a teacher to disciples, He descends.

*Send forth Thy hand from on high.* Send forth, says the psalm, the hand that creates and protects all things, so that Thou mightest pluck me out and rescue me from many waters and from the hands of the sons of aliens. It is possible to say that being rescued from many waters means being rescued from the evil powers and from the devil, the king of all such things; and being rescued from the hand of the sons of aliens [means being rescued] from the men actuated by them; for [the psalm] has called the uprisings of the temptations and of the ungodly "waters," as he says ^D elsewhere: "Perhaps the waters had swallowed us up"; and again: "Save me, O God, for waters have entered even unto my soul." And consistently, after the descent of the Word of God, seeing the treachery of the ungodly, he prophesies the aforementioned things.

*I will sing a new song unto Thee.* He sings that he has also remembered the new covenant in these things which are prophesied concerning the descent of the Word of God; therefore this covenant is demonstrated by means of the new song. And in saying "new," he has made the first old, as

^A the Apostle says: it is of this song that it is spoken, "Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth." Furthermore, he says, "I will sing on a ten-stringed psaltery," pointing to the practical life, which is lived out by both soul and body. For there are five senses of the flesh, and likewise five powers of the soul, by which the bodily senses are moved.

VERS. 10. *Who gives salvation to kings.*

He who taught us the kingdom of heaven makes those kings who are worthy of it, to whom he also gives salvation by his own power. At the same time, he puts those who act rightly beyond the dominion of sin. Christ surely says in Proverbs: "By me kings reign." Seeing this, the Apostle wrote: "You have reigned without us, and would that you had reigned, so that we might also reign with you." Since, therefore, God bestows salvation upon these, the oracle rightly inspires good hope in David himself, that he will be redeemed from the sins into which he once fell. For the descent of the Word of God was beneficial to David as well as to others, as he ^B served his birth in the flesh.

VERS. 10. *Who redeems David his servant from the malignant sword.*

The malignant sword is the tongue of the atheists, and the words of those who devise sophistries against God so as to slaughter souls. But the hand of the children of foreigners is the conduct and life of those who are alien to the worship of God, whose mouth speaks vanities in fabulous figments and the errors of idols. Their right hand as well—that is, their more operative power—is occupied with avarice and rapine. The men of the former people were of this kind, as has been said. From these, David now prays to be snatched away yet again, lest he be ensnared by a similar kind of sin.

VERS. 12. *Whose sons are as new plantations in their youth.*

Not only the sons of the former people, but all those who are alienated ^C from the worship of God, are like new plantations in their youth. But the flesh of a just man is weak, and the pride of his mind is dead. The daughters also of those who are of the circumcision are adorned in the manner of harlots, in the image of a temple where an evil spirit dwells. Therefore the prophet says concerning them: "Because the daughters of Zion have walked with a stretched-out neck and with glances of their eyes," and the rest. But holy men are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in them. And while their stores abound and overflow, of those who store up on the earth and say, "I will pull down my barns and will build greater," the treasure of these others, by contrast, is in heaven. Their sheep are ^D fruitful and numerous, and their cows are fat, of the sort that existed in the abundance of Egypt—namely, those of fair appearance and excellent flesh which Pharaoh saw. But the fold of the just man embraces pure souls, and good and rational sheep.

^A For the just man, because he fears the Lord, is blessed. His sons are like young olive plants around his table. But for those who are strangers to God, their sons are like plants established in their youth. And to the former there are no daughters; to these, however, there are such as are embellished and adorned like the likeness of a temple. And to the former there are sons of sons; to these, however, there are none. Furthermore, to the former there is no longer a storehouse or a barn; but of these, the storehouses are full, overflowing from one to another. Yet, according to the Gospel, for the birds of the heaven, which are fed by the heavenly Father, there is no storehouse or barn. By "sons" are understood the discourses of the heretics, and their inventions as "young plants" due to their novelty; by "daughters," the expressions, which are embellished because of their phrasing, being as it were the temple of their judgment.

VERS. 14. *Non est ruina maceriae*, etc.

In Job also it is said: *Why do the wicked live, and are grown old in wealth?* and what follows. Yet he adds: *Will not the lamp of the wicked be extinguished?* And in the seventy-second Psalm it is said: *I was jealous of the lawless, seeing the peace of sinners*, and what follows. ^B The solution to these is subjoined in these words: *How are they brought into desolation? They have suddenly perished because of their heedlessness, as a dream of one awaking* it fades from the mind.

PSALMUS CXLIV.

Neither to the instrument called the psaltery was this psalm spoken, nor is it a song, but it has no name of any meter; rather, it is inscribed "Praise."

VERS. 2. *Per singulos dies benedicam tibi.*

The beginning of the present verse among the Hebrews is the letter *beth*. We are taught here that it is appropriate to render to God a hymn as though it were the debt of each day, so that we should not neglect or omit the divine hymnody on any day. For with the mind and with our thoughts, and with the power of the Spirit that is within us, we exalt and praise God himself; but with our lips and mortal words we glorify the name of God. "I will celebrate thee," he says, "continually with hymns, and I will not let any day go bereft of hymnody." Instead of the phrase, *in saeculum saeculi*, Aquila interpreted it as *usque adhuc* (until now), while Symmachus rendered it *continenter* (continually). All these things are consistent with what preceded, for when he said "I will praise" and "I will exalt," he signifies that nothing is added to God by our praises; rather, we ourselves are illuminated while we connect praise with praise. ^C

VERS. 7. *Et justitia tua exsultabunt.*

By these words he declares the virtues of God, in so far as they reach us, from which we also come to know Him; for those virtues which are above us, invisible and incomprehensible, it is not possible for mortal nature to grasp with the mind. However, the virtues of God that always reach us, from which we know Him, are these very words. ^D

^A Ver. 8. *Miserator and merciful is the Lord, and the following.*

When we were nothing, and not yet existing, He brought us into the light. Then, though we did many wicked things and lived in arrogant contempt, He does not pursue us according to our deserts, but has mercy, and for a long time calls us to repentance, because He does not desire the death of the sinner, but rather his repentance. Nor does He act thus only towards His own, but towards all without exception; for He is kind to everyone.

Ver. 9. *And his mercies are over all his works.*

Since His mercies prevail over all His works, it is said in consequence: *Let all thy works confess to thee.* It is owed to Him, furthermore, that even those creatures which are thought to be inanimate, by emitting a voice as it were, should give thanks and confess to their Creator. ^B For every one of His works, being constructed in a diverse manner, participates in His wisdom, and senses the power of creation by a wonderful artifice. But specifically and especially His holy ones return a greater portion of praise: for by the things which they think and do, they proclaim His kingdom, manifesting it in advance, as though they were soldiers for Him, that they might be the glory of His kingdom. They shall also proclaim that authority which is connatural to His kingdom, and how every creature is orderly subject to Him. Since those who have been turned to Thee by Thy grace through holiness are benevolent, they share their goods without envy through teaching to the sons of men. Only Christ is the teacher and leader of those things which exceed human life; ^C since those who were still sons of men were chosen as teachers by those whom Christ Himself had educated. Paul, therefore, having received and been taught the Gospel not from men, nor through men, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ, became a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. Indeed, the Savior Himself also sent the apostles to teach all nations, having first warned them not to call anyone teacher upon the earth. What, therefore, the holy ones learn from Him, these things they make known to the sons of men. And so the holy ones learn from Him, and make known [to others].

Ver. 14. *The Lord is faithful in his words.*

God is faithful, not as participating in faith, but as being called worthy of faith; for all that He says comes to pass, ^D in accordance with the saying: *He Himself said: Will He not do it, and will He not abide?* And He also says this: *Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.* And He is also holy, as one who imparts holiness to His works; just as He is also holy in those who participate in His holiness; and the Savior is wisdom in those who are wise after His likeness.

Ver. 15. *Thou givest them their food in due season.*

Eusebius also says that God is not only a physician of the fallen and a healer of the broken, but also...

^A the nourisher of all. Wherefore the eyes of all, both rational and irrational creatures, look up to Him, and by certain natural and instinctive impulses turn toward Him. Since He is a good Father, He provides food in due season, granting different things at different times, and extending to all His creative hand, that is, His power, abundantly and unhindered, filling every animal with the fruit of His gifts.

Ver. 18. *The Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth.*

Since it is granted only to a few to be able to call upon Him intelligently and to be deemed worthy of His hearing, the text necessarily resumes the subject and says that He is not near to all who call upon Him, but only to those who do so in truth; for He is far removed ^B from those who are not such. To them, indeed, He says: *Your sins separate between Me and you.* Regarding these, it has been said elsewhere: *For those who remove themselves from Thee shall perish.* Thus, by His providence. He is near to all, but according to relationship, He is near to those who call upon Him with knowledge; for this is what it means to call upon Him in truth. After the general providence, He introduces a special providence toward the faithful, in that He is near to them and cares for them more greatly.

Ver. 21. *My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless His holy name.*

For the time being, I will not cease from the praises of God. I also pray that the prophecy which says: *I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh,* may be fulfilled ^C more speedily, and that: *Let every breath praise the Lord.* This will come to pass when the fulness of the nations has entered, when the whole human race shall be saved. By "mouth" He means the intellectual faculty, concerning which it is said elsewhere: *All flesh shall bless the name of the Lord for ever and for ever and ever,* being about to behold the salvation of God, and no longer being as grass.

PSALM CXLV

"Alleluia" signifies the praise of the Lord; for thus the word is explained. The present psalm is therefore one of praise; wherefore it begins: *Praise the Lord, O my soul,* ^D whether the spirit is exhorting the soul, or the soul itself. Then, obeying the command, it promptly answers, saying: *I will praise the Lord in my life, I will sing praise to my God as long as I have any being.* But since the soul is immortal, and always lives and continues to exist even after the departure from the body, it says with good reason: "I will never cease to praise the Lord; but for long ages, and for the whole time of my immortal life, I will spend my time doing nothing else but praising the Lord." Thus, let us also understand the soul saying "as long as I have any being," not as if it were not to exist afterward, but because its existence is to be for infinite time, and it promises that it will praise the Lord for an equal span.

^A VERS. 3. *Nolite confidere in principibus.* This is similar to that which says: "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." He demonstrates this by a syllogism. For if they, he says, were unable to provide salvation for themselves, what benefit will there be from such as these? For they are not even able to rescue themselves from death after the end. For the spirit of the dying man will go forth, whither the one who leads it away shall lead it; and the remaining part of the man will return to his earth, obeying the law of nature which God established for Adam from the beginning, saying: "You are dust, and into dust you shall return." The sense of these words is this: All the counsels which, while life yet accompanied him, he had gathered up within himself while meditating, and as if he were to be eternal, heap- ^B ing up treasures on earth, promising that he would do terrible things and threatening others, shall in one hour be dissipated and perish; all the counsels, I say, of those who rule and are wondered at by many, shall be extinguished. He might also mean the princes of this age; for these too have a transitory rule. But the Savior alone is the cause of salvation, who says: "There is no one who shall save besides me." If, therefore, they are saved by Him and not by their own powers, how will they be able to save others?

VERS. 6. *Who keeps truth forever.* Namely, the truth of His own words, which He set forth in the Scriptures. For He promised that He would punish those who have behaved unjustly in the present life, when the judgment takes place. And there is another promise: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst, for they themselves shall be satisfied, but you shall hunger." Moreover, He even provided sensible food to the starving in the desert with manna, and fed five thousand men, and fed Elijah through ravens, and Daniel through the prophet Habakkuk. He rendered judgment for those who suffered slander—for Joseph, and for Susanna (the former by the Egyptian woman, the latter by the judges of Israel), and likewise for David by Saul. The divine volumes are full of examples of this kind. ^C

VERS. 7. *The Lord looses the prisoners; the Lord gives wisdom to the blind.* He looses those who are bound, granting the remission of sins to those who are restrained by the chains of their own transgressions. It seems, however, that by these words He hints at the calling of the Gentiles, and the presence of the Lord among men, and the medicament that was made for all through it. This thought occurred to me, calling to mind the prediction of Isaiah concerning our Savior, in which he says: "Behold, I have set you as a covenant of the race, a light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring forth from bonds those who are bound." For thus, in this place as well, the Lord looses the prisoners. Then it is also said: "The Lord gives wisdom to the blind." It is truly wonderful that to those blind in body there is usually accustomed to be something more of understanding, because God ^D brings it about, having made them wise in compensation for the loss of their eyes.

^A

*He shall take up the orphan and the widow.* Souls that have been bereft of the devil, who was their father or husband, these are the orphans and widows whom God takes up. Once these have been taken up, the path of sinners—which is nothing other than wickedness—shall be brought to nothing by God. And these things have been said rather allegorically. By widows, he speaks not of those who are just any kind, but of those who pass their lives in purity and holiness; by orphans, those who leave behind their kin for the sake of godliness (26).

PSALM CXLVI

In the present psalm, ^B instead of *Praise the Lord*, Symmachus said *Alleluia, for a psalm is a good thing*, leaving untranslated the Hebrew word that signifies "Praise the Lord." Likewise, the fifth edition rendered it *Praise Yah*. Now, the psalm before this one commands one soul to praise the Lord; here, however, it is said to a multitude: *Praise the Lord*. Since there is no one good except God alone, it is reasonable that everything referred to His glory, and done for His honor, should be considered good. Just as, then, the psalm is also called a "good thing," as being directed toward a good God. For which Aquila interpreted "a good encomium," but Symmachus, "a good song." Furthermore, the praise that is lifted up to God is sweeter than any fragrant incense and any delight; for in truth, the praise of God, sent up from a rational and pure soul, would be pleasing and sweet to Him. For God rejoices, and willingly accepts such a fruit of the human mind. ^C

*He who heals the broken in heart.* Since it is the work of the Savior and Physician to heal and to bandage those who are broken, it is reasonable that by these things also He might be understood to be the same Lord our Savior, the Word of God, who said: *They who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the just, but sinners to repentance.* Being the physician of souls, He shall heal those who are broken in heart, and those whose natural reasonings have been turned aside, having redeemed them from spiritual captivity. Symmachus says: *He who heals those broken in heart, and bandages their fractures*, clearly imposing rational bindings. Thus, therefore, He bandaged with spiritual and rational nooses the man wounded and broken by robbers while descending from Jerusalem to Jericho. ^D

*And bandaging their fractures. He who numbers the multitude of the stars, etc.* After healing those broken in heart, and bandaging their fractures, restoring to natural health those who were previously sick, and making them lights, He renders them worthy of the number set by Him. Usually, the discourse connects the topic of the salvation of humans with the general Providence, showing that it does not only care for the parts of the world, but also...

for human dogmas: and that He alone knows the number of the stars, and their positions, and their causes, their magnitudes and distances, their powers and their effects, bestowing on each a suitable name. ^A

Verse 7. *Precinite Domino in confessione.* Symmachus: *Recensete Deo confessionem, canite Deo nostro cum lyra.* Aquila: *Recensete Domino cum gratiarum actione, canite Deo nostro cum cithara.* Those who command others to confess and to sing are distinct, without doubt, from those to whom the command is given. Therefore, the prophetic and apostolic chorus calls those who were not of their number to the same God—the Gentiles, of course—saying: *Psallite Deo nostro.* These words command one to confess with the mind and the thoughts of the soul, but to sing to Him with the works of the body, as if through a struck cithara. ^B And indeed, the Psalmist, according to his custom, denotes the body by the names of the psalter and cithara, as though it were something fitly and wisely composed with harmony. For in this, the mind, resounding through the works of virtue, renders a divine and spiritual melody to God.

Verse 9. *Qui dat escam pullis corvorum invocantibus eum.* A certain physical doctrine has been handed down to us, as if the pulli of the ravens are not fed by their parents in the same way as the pulli of other kinds of birds. In truth, the pulli of the ravens are said to be abandoned by their own progenitors, but yet they are ^C fed otherwise, in a miraculous manner, by the power of God. For even before their own parents approach, they are said to gape with their mouths out of necessity for food; and, as is the custom of those who invoke God, they seek food by a certain natural instinct from Him who gifted them with nature. And thus, some food is brought to them through the air, carried into their mouths by some breeze.

PSALM CXLVII.

Verse 8. *Annuntians verbum suum Jacob.* Eusebius says: It seems to me that this word teaches something very accurately, namely, *annuntians verbum suum Jacob.* For he did not say "sending" or "who sent." But to announce is one thing, and to send or to be sent is another. For the former portends what is future and predicts; but the latter signifies a present thing, that is, the one whom He Himself sent to preach. So that the announcement ^D and the prediction of the future was made to Israel alone; but the mission was not to this one alone, but also to all other nations. But perhaps someone might say: If He did not make a revelation to the rest of mankind, how does He punish them, namely, even those who lived before the Law and were sinners throughout the whole world? We therefore say that these are judged by God according to natural law, which inheres in us; but the Israelites were judged both by natural law and also by written law, so that a greater benefit

becomes a ground for greater condemnation for those who have been negligent. For this reason He did not say, "He has not done so to any nation," but rather "He has not done so"—that is, He did not send the tablets, He did not send the letters on Mount Sinai, except to the Jews in superabundance.

PSALM CXLVIII

In Psalm CXLV, one soul by itself was commanded to praise the Lord; for it is said there, "Praise, O my soul, the Lord." In the next one, the multitude was invited to praise with these words, "Praise the Lord, for the psalm is good." Finally, in the one following that, Jerusalem herself was commanded to do this in the verse, "Praise, O Jerusalem, the Lord." Consistently with those, the present song of praise extends the command, increasing the precept after the initial, partial exhortation; and it urges the whole created order, both visible and invisible, to the praise of God all at once. In the beginning, it calls upon those in the heavens and in the highest places, ^B then moving forward to things on earth and things in the abysses—not that all these are endowed with soul and speech, but it commands those who are endowed with speech to look upon these creatures, and perceiving the wisdom displayed in them, to celebrate the Creator with hymns.

"And all you abysses."

Another person has said that the abysses refer to the subterranean region, according to Paul who said: "Do not say, Who shall descend into the abyss, that is, to bring Christ up from the dead?" And in Job: "Or have you walked in the paths of the abyss?" Could it be that this word also denotes the multitude of waters over which the Lord walked? So that the sense of the words must be sought from elsewhere: "Are the gates of death opened to you for fear?"

"Sing to the Lord a new song, etc."

The new song... sung in the Church of the saints, that is, of the New Covenant of our Savior... adhered to the old law given through ^C Moses; but this new exemplar... let it rejoice. For it was the Word of God Himself who spoke to Moses, and who brought Israel out of Egypt, and made them His own people. He commands the sons of Zion, therefore, first of all to rejoice and exult for their King; but He Himself was the Word of God, who had long been their King, but was later rejected [by them; wherefore He says to the prophet Samuel, "They did not reject you, but Me, that I should not reign over them." And because they did not obey the call, they justly deprived themselves of the grace of joy; ^D while the nations, acknowledging the King who was first announced to those others, received Him, and therefore...

the joy and exultation ^A according to God passed over to them. Hence the nations throughout the whole world praise in their own churches the name of Him who is their King, glorifying with dancing the name of Jesus Christ in a choir of the Word of God. But even he who dwells in solitude offers a hymn and praise to God, in a manner of speaking, through his good deeds and bodily exercises. For this reason, the Psalmist, prophesying clearly, proceeds to command that they sing unto Him with timbrel and psaltery: by the term "timbrel" denoting the body, and by "psaltery" the spirit... mortifying their members which are upon the earth, and always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus. Those who exult because of their King, together with the One who rejoices... who made him, sing with timbrel and psaltery.

PSALM CXLIX

VERS. 5. Let them be joyful in their beds.

Otherwise, ^B by the term "beds," He intimates the death of the saints. For Scripture is accustomed to call it a falling asleep, as Paul also says: *But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep*. And the Old Testament also says: *David slept with his fathers*.

VERS. 6. The high praises of God in their throat, and two-edged swords in their hands.

Aquila explained the present thought paradoxically, serving the Hebrew language by saying: *A sword of mouths in their hand*. But things contrary to these are also mentioned elsewhere: *The sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword*, murdering those captured by them. ^C But the Psalmist rightly teaches that the sword of the mouth is exercised in deeds. He says, *The high praises of God in their throat*, because they used their voice in the ministry of the word, raising up a hymn among those who were able to hear. But in their deeds they exerted a power victorious over the opposing force. By "their hands," he means their deeds, or the undertaking they were managing. And this was the evangelical preaching, which is also called a sword, pursuing the flocks of evil and unclean spirits, and taking vengeance upon nations oppressed iniquitously, and correcting the idolatrous worship of the people.

VERS. 8. To bind their kings with chains, etc.

Since it was impossible otherwise to rescue and free those who were formerly pressed into the service of demons unless their rulers ^D were first subdued and bound, He rightly proceeds to say these things. You will understand the meaning of the passage also from the voice of the Savior, saying: *How can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man, that he may then...*