righteousness of God, and willing to establish their own." J For they thought not themselves strong in themselves: for the Lord is the strength of His people, struggling in this life's difficulties with the devil. " And the protector of the salvation of His Christ." That, having saved them by His Christ, after the strength of war, He may protect them at the last with the immortality of peace.
9. " Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance" (ver. 9). I intercede therefore, after My Flesh hath flourished again, because Thou hast said, " Desire of Me, and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance; "* " Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance: " for " all Mine are Thine." 5 " And rule them, and set them up even for ever." And rule them in this temporal life, and raise them from hence into life eternal.
PSALM XXIX.6 A PSALM OF DAVID HIMSELF, OF THE CONSUMMA- TION OF THE TABERNACLE.
i. A Psalm of the Mediator Himself, strong of hand, of the perfection of the Church in this world, where she wars in time against the devil.
2. The Prophet speaks, " Bring unto the Lord, O ye Sons of God, bring unto the Lord the young of rams" (ver. 1). Bring unto the Lord yourselves, whom the Apostles, the leaders of the flocks, have begotten by the Gospel.7 "Bring unto the Lord glory and honour" (ver. 2). By your works let the Lord be glorified and honoured. " Bring unto the Lord glory to His name." Let Him be made known gloriously throughout the world. " Worship the Lord in His holy court." Worship the Lord in your heart enlarged and sanctified. For ye are His regal holy habitation.
3. " The Voice of the Lord is upon the waters" (ver. 3). The Voice of Christ is upon the peoples. " The God of majesty hath thundered." The God of majesty, from the cloud of the flesh, hath awfully preached repentance. " The Lord is upon many waters." The Lord Jesus Himself, after that He sent forth His Voice upon the peoples, and struck them with awe, converted them to Himself, and dwelt in them.
4. "The Voice of the Lord is in power" (ver. 4). The Voice of the Lord now in them themselves, making them powerful. " The Voice of the Lord is in great might." The Voice of the Lord working great things in them.
5. "The Voice of the Lord breaking the cedars " (ver. 5). The Voice of the Lord humbling the proud in brokenness of heart. " The Lord shall break the cedars of Libanus." The Lord by repentance shall break them that are * Ps ii. 8.
7 1 Cor. iv. 15.
5 John xvii. xo.
Psalm XXX.]
lifted on high by the splendour of earthly nobility, when to confound them He shall have " chosen the base things of this world," ' in the which to display His Divinity.
6. " And shall bruise them as the calf of Libanus " (ver. 6). And when their proud exaltation hath been cut off, He will lay them low after the imitation of His Own humility, who like a calf was led to slaughter2 by the nobility of this world. " For the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers agreed together against the Lord, and against His Christ."3 "And the Beloved is as the young of the unicorns." For even He the Beloved, and the Only One of the Father, "emptied Himself" of His glory; and was made man,4 like a child of the Jews, that were " ignorant of God's righteousness," 5 and proudly boasting of their own righteousness as peculiarly theirs.
7. " The Voice of the Lord cutting short the flame of fire " (ver. 7). The Voice of the Lord, without any harm to Himself, passing through all the exciud ardour of them that persecute Him, or dividing the furious rage of His persecutors, so that some should say, " Is not this haply the very Christ; " others, " Nay; but He deceiveth the people: " 6 and so cutting short their mad tumult, as to pass some- over into His love, and leave others in their malice.
8. " The Voice of the Lord moving the wilderness " (ver. 8). The Voice of the Lord moving to the faith the Gentiles once " without hope, and without God in the world; " 7 where no prophet, no preacher of God's word, as it were, no man had dwelt. " And the Lord will move the desert of Cades." And then the Lord will cause the holy word of His Scriptures to be fully known, which was abandoned by the Jews who understood it not.
9. "The Voice of the Lord perfecting the stags"3 (ver. 9). For the Voice of the Lord hath first perfected them that overcame and repelled the envenomed tongues. 9 " And will reveal the woods." And then will He reveal to them the darknesses of the Divine books, and. the shadowy depths of the mysteries, where they may feed with freedom. " And in His temple doth every man speak of His glory." And in His Church all born again to an eternal hope praise God, each for His own gift, which He hath received from the Holy Spirit.
10. "The Lord inhabiteth the deluge" (ver. 10). The Lord therefore first inhabiteth the deluge of this world in His Saints, kept safely in 3 Ps. ii. 2.
6 John vii. 41, 12.
fc.ph. 11. 12.
8 [Jerome's Hebraic version reads, Vox Domini obstetricans cervas, which the Authorized English follows. — C] 9 Plin. Hitt. Nat. viii. 32 and xxviii. 9 says, that they bring serrnts out of their holes with their breath, and kill and eat them. See Greg. Mor. xxx. 36.
the Church, as in the ark. " And the Lord shall sit a King for ever." And afterward He will sit reigning in them for ever.
n. "The Lord will give strength to His people " IO (ver. 1 1 ). For the Lord will give strength to His people fighting against the storms and whirlwinds of this world, for peace in this world He hath not promised them." " The Lord will bless His people in peace." And the same Lord will bless His people, affording them peace in Himself; for, saith He, " My peace I give unto you, My peace I leave with you." " PSALM XXX.'3 TO THE END, THE PSALM OF THE CANTICLE '« OF THE DEDICATION OF THE HOUSE, OF DAVID HIMSELF.
i. To the end, a Psalm of the joy of the Resurrection, and the change, the renewing of the body to an immortal state, and not only of the Lord, but also of the whole Church. For in the.former Psalm the tabernacle was finished, wherein we dwell in the time of war: but now the house is dedicated, which will abide in peace everlasting.
2. It is then whole Christ who speaketh. " I will exalt Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast taken Me up" (ver. i). I will praise Thy high Majesty, O Lord, for Thou hast taken Me up. " Thou hast not made Mine enemies to rejoice over Me." And those, who have so often endeavoured to oppress Me with various persecutions throughout the world, Thou hast not made to rejoice over Me.
3. " O Lord, My God, I have cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed Me" (ver. 2). O Lord, My God, I have cried unto Thee, and I no longer bear about a body enfeebled and sick by mortality.
4. " O Lord, Thou hast brought back My Soul from hell, and Thou hast saved Me from them that go down into the pit" (ver. 3). Thou hast saved Me from the condition of profound darkness, and the lowest slough of corruptible flesh.
5. "Sing to the Lord, O ye saints of His." The prophet seeing these future things, rejoiceth, and saith, " Sing to the Lord, O ye saints of His. And make confession of the remembrance of His holiness" (ver. 4). And make confession to Him, that He hath not forgotten the sanctification, wherewith He hath sanctified you, although all this intermediate period belong to your desires.
6. " For in His indignation is wrath " (ver. 5).
° [This Psalm was referred to Pentecost by the Jews, and to the giving of the law. Heb. xii.:8-ai. — C] " John xvi. 33. « John xiv. 27. » Lat. XXIX.
l* [A shir, or *' song." So Psalm xvtii. —shirah, the only two instances in the first division of the Psalter, forty-one Psalms. — C.J [Psalm XXXI.
For He hath avenged against you the first sin, for which you have paid by death. " And life in His will." And life eternal, whereunto you could not return by any strength of your own, hath He given, because He so would. " In the evening weeping will tarry." Evening began, when the light of wisdom withdrew from sinful man, when he was condemned to death: from this evening weeping will tarry, as long as God's people are, amid labours and temptations, awaiting the day of the Lord. " And exultation in the morning." Even to the morning, when there will be the exultation of the resurrection, which hath shone forth by anticipation in the morning resurrection of the Lord.
7. " But I said in my abundance, I shall not be moved for ever " (ver. 6). But I, that people which was speaking from the first, said in mine abundance, suffering now no more any want, " I shall not be moved for ever."
8. " O Lord, in Thy will Thou hast afforded strength unto my beauty" (ver. 7). But that this my abundance, O Lord, is not of myself, but that in Thy will Thou hast afforded strength unto my beauty, I have learnt from this, " Thou turnedst away Thy Face from me, and I became troubled; " for Thou hast sometimes turned away Thy Face from the sinner, and I became troubled, when the illumination of Thy knowledge withdrew from me.
9. " Unto Thee, O Lord, will I cry, and unto my God will I pray" (ver. 8). And bringing to mind that time of my trouble and misery, and as it were established therein, I hear the voice of Thy First-Begotten, my Head, about to die for me, and saying, " Unto Thee, O Lord, will I cry, and unto My God will I pray."
10. "What profit" is there "in My bloody whilst I go down to corruption?" (ver. 9) What profit is there in the shedding of My blood, whilst I go down to corruption? "Shall dust confess unto Thee?" For if I shall not rise immediately, and My body shall become corrupt, "shall dust confess unto Thee?" that is, the crowd of the ungodly, whom I shall justify by My resurrection? "Or declare Thy truth?" Or for the salvation of the rest declare Thy truth?
11. "The Lord hath heard, and had mercy on Me, the Lord hath become My helper." Nor did " He suffer His holy One to see corruption" ' (ver. 10).
12. " Thou hast turned My mourning into joy to Me " (ver. 11). Whom I, the Church, having received, the First- Begotten from the dead,2 now in the dedication of Thine house, say, "Thou hast turned my mourning into joy to me. Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with 1 Pf. xvi. 10.
' Rev. L 5.
gladness." Thou hast torn off the veil of my sins, the sadness of my mortality; and hast girded me with the first robe, with immortal gladness.
13. "That my glory should sing unto Thee, and I should not be pricked " (ver. 12). That now, not my humiliation, but my glory should not lament, but should sing unto Thee, for that now out of humiliation Thou hast exalted me; and that I should not be pricked with the consciousness of sin, with the fear of death, with the fear of judgment. " O Lord, my God, I will confess unto Thee for ever." And this is my glory, O Lord, my God, that I should confess unto Thee for ever, that I have nothing of myself, but that all my good is of Thee, who art " God, All in all." s PSALM XXXI.t TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID HIMSELF, AN ECSTASY.5 i. To the end a Psalm of David Himself, the Mediator strong of hand in persecutions. For the word ecstasy, which is added to the title, signifies a transport of the mind, which is produced either by a panic, or by some revelation. But in this Psalm the panic of the people of God troubled by the persecution of all the heathen, and by the failing of faith throughout the world, is principally seen. But first the Mediator Himself speaks: then the People redeemed by His Blood gives thanks: at last in trouble it speaks at length, which is what belongs to the ecstasy; but the Person of the Prophet himself is twice interposed, near the end, and at the end.
2. " In Thee, O Lord, have I trusted, let Me not be put to confusion for ever" (ver. 1). In Thee, O Lord, have I trusted, let Me never be confounded, whilst they shall insult Me as one like other men. " In Thy righteousness rescue Me, and deliver Me." And in Thy righteousness rescue Me from the pit of death, and deliver Me out of their company.
3. " Bend down Thine ear unto Me " (ver. 2). Hear Me in My humiliation, nigh at hand unto Me. " Make haste to deliver Me." Defer not to the end of the world, as with all who believe on Me, My separation from sinners. " Be unto Me a God who protecteth Me." Be unto Me God, and Protector. " And a house of refuge, that Thou mayest save Me." And as a house, wherein taking refuge I may be saved.
4. " For Thou art My strength, and My refuge" (ver. 3). For Thou art unto Me My strength to bear My persecutors, and My refuge 3 1 Cor. xv. 28. [This Psalm was used at Easter and Pentecost. Compare Cyprian, vol. v. p. 525, A. N. F. — C] * Lat. XXX.
3 [Borrowed from the Septuagint, where it is anticipated from ver. 22. See p. 70, infra. — C.J Psalm XXXI.]
to escape them. "And for Thy Name's sake Thou shalt be My guide, and shalt nourish Me." And that by Me Thou mayest be known to all the Gentiles, I will in all things follow Thy will; and, by assembling, by degrees, Saints unto Me, Thou shalt fulfil My body, and My perfect stature.
5. "Thou shalt bring Me out of this trap, which they have hidden for Me" (ver. 4). Thou shalt bring Me out of these snares, which they have hidden for Me. " For Thou art My Protector."
6. " Into Thy hands I commend My Spirit " (ver. s ). To Thy power I commend My Spirit, soon to receive It back. " Thou hast redeemed Me, O Lord God of truth." Let the people too, redeemed by the Passion of their Lord, and joyful in the glorifying of their Head, say, " Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth."
7. "Thou hatest them that hold to vanity uselessly" (ver. 6). Thou hatest them that hold to the false happiness of the world. " But I have trusted in the Lord."
8. " I will be glad, and rejoice in Thy mercy: " which doth not deceive me. " For Thou hast regarded My humiliation: " wherein Thou hast subjected me to vanity in hope.1 " Thou hast saved my soul from necessities" (ver. 7). Thou hast saved my soul from the necessities of fear, that with a free love it may serve Thee.
9. " And hast not shut me up into the hands of the enemy " (ver. 8). And hast not shut me up", that I should have no opening for recovering unto liberty, and be given over for ever into the power of the devil, ensnaring me with the desire of this life, and terrifying me with death. " Thou hast set my feet in a large room." The resurrection of my Lord being known, and mine own being promised me, my love, having been brought out of the straits of fear, walks abroad in continuance, into the expanse of liberty.
10. " Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am troubled" (ver.o). But what is this unlookedfor cruelty of the persecutors, striking such dread into me? " Have mercy on me, O Lord." For I am now no more alarmed for death, but for torments and tortures. "Mine eye hath been disordered by anger." I had mine eye upon Thee, that Thou shouldest not abandon me: Thou art angry, aid hast disordered it. " My soul, and my belly." By the same anger my soul hath been disturbed, and my memory, whereby I retained what my God hath suffered for me, and what He hath promised me.
11. "For my life hath failed in pain" (ver. 10). For my life is to confess Thee, but it failed in pain, when the enemy had said, Let them be tortured until they deny Him. " And 1 Rom. viii. 20.
my years in groanings." The time that I pass in this world is not taken away from me by death, but abides, and is spent in groanings. " My strength hath been weakened by want." I want the health of this body, and racking pains come on me: I want the dissolution of the body, and death forbears to come: and in this want my confidence hath been weakened. "And my bones have been disturbed." And my stedfastness hath been disturbed.
12. "I have been made a reproach above all mine enemies" (ver. n). All the wicked are my enemies; and nevertheless they for their wickednesses are tortured only till they confess: I then have overpassed their reproach, I, whose confession death doth not follow, but racking pains follow upon it. " And to my neighbours too much." This hath seemed too much.to them, who were already drawing near to know Thee, and to hold the faith that I hold. " And a fear to mine acquaintance." And into my very acquaintance I struck fear by the example of my dreadful tribulation. " They that did see me, fled without from me." Because they did not understand my inward and invisible hope, they fled from me into things outward and visible.
13. "I have been forgotten, as one dead from the heart" (ver. 12). And they have forgotten me, as if I were dead from their hearts. " I have become as a lost vessel." I have seemed to myself to be lost to all the Lord's service, living in this world, and gaining none, when all were afraid to join themselves unto me.
14. " For I have heard the rebuking of many dwelling by in a circuit " (ver. 13). For I have heard many rebuking me, in the pilgrimage of this world near me, following the circuit of time, and refusing to return with me to the eternal country. " Whilst they were assembling themselves together against me, they conspired that they might take my soul." That my soul, which should by death easily escape from their power, might consent unto them, they imagined a device, whereby they would not suffer me even to die.
15. "But I have hoped in Thee, O Lord; I have said, Thou art my God" (ver. 14). For Thou hast not changed, that Thou shouldest not save, Who dost correct.
16. " In Thy hands " are " my lots " (ver. 15). In Thy power are my lots. For I see no desert, for which out of the universal ungodliness of the human race Thou hast elected me particularly to salvation. And though there be with Thee some just and secret order in my election, yet I, from whom this is hid, have attained by lot unto my Lord's vesture.2 " Deliver me from the 3 John xix. 34.
7o [Psalm XXXII.
hands of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me."
1 7. " Make Thy Face to shine upon Thy servant" (ver. 16). Make it known to men, who do not think that I belong unto Thee, that Thy Face is bent upon me, and that I serve Thee. " Save me in Thy mercy."
18. "O Lord, let me not be confounded, for I have called upon Thee" (ver. 17). O Lord, let me not be put to shame by those who insult me, for that I have called upon Thee. "Let the ungodly be ashamed, and be brought down to hell." Let them rather who call upon stones be ashamed, and made to dwell with darkness."
19. " Let the deceitful lips be made dumb" (ver. 18). In making known to the peoples Thy mysteries wrought in me, strike with dumb amazement the lips of them that invent falsehood of me. " Which speak iniquity against the Righteous, in pride and contempt." Which speak iniquity against Christ, in their pride and contempt of Him as a crucified man.
20. " How great " is " the multitude of Thy sweetness, O Lord " (ver. 19). Here the Prophet exclaims, having sight of all this, and admiring how manifoldly plenteous is Thy sweetness, O Lord. "Which Thou hast hid for them that fear Thee." Even those, whom Thou correctest, Thou lovest much: but lest they should go on negligently from relaxed security, Thou hidest from them the sweetness of Thy love, for whom it is profitable to fear Thee. " Thou hast perfected it for them that hope in Thee." But Thou hast perfected this sweetness for them that hope in Thee. For Thou dost not withdraw from them what they look for perseveringly even unto the end. " In sight of the sons of men." For it does not escape the notice of the sons of men, who now live no more after Adam, but after the Son of Man. " Thou wilt hide them in the hidden place of Thy Countenance: " which seat Thou shalt preserve for everlasting in the hidden place of the knowledge of Thee for them that hope in Thee. " From the troubling of men." So that now they suffer no more trouble from men.
21." Thou wilt protect them in Thy tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues " (ver. 20). But here meanwhile whilst evil tongues murmur against them, saying, Who hath known this? or, Who hath come thence? Thou wilt protect them in the tabernacle, that of faith in those things, which the Lord wrought and endured for us in time.
22. " Blessed be the Lord; for He hath made His mercy marvellous, in the city of compassing " (ver. 21). Blessed be the Lord, for after the correction of the sharpest persecutions He hath 1 Umbrit tocitntur.
made His mercy marvellous to all throughout the world, in the circuit of human society.2 23. "I said in my ecstasy " s (ver. 22). Whence that people again speaking saith, I said in my fear, when the heathen were raging horribly against me. " I have been cast forth from the sight of Thine eyes." For if Thou hadst regard to me, Thou wouldest not suffer me to endure these things. " Therefore Thou heardest, O Lord, the voice of my prayer, when I cried unto Thee." Therefore putting a limit to correction, and showing that I have part in Thy care, Thou heardest, O Lord, the voice of my prayer, when I raised it high 4 out of tribulation.
24. " Love the Lord, all ye His saints " (ver. 23). The Prophet again exhorts, having sight of these things, and saith, " Love the Lord, all ye His saints; for the Lord will require truth." Since " if the righteous shall scarcely be saved, where shall the sinner and the ungodly appear? " s " And He will repay them that do exceeding proudly." And He will repay them who even when conquered are not converted, because they are very proud.
25. "Quit you like men, and let your heart be. strengthened " (ver. 24): working good without fainting, that ye may reap in due season. " All ye who trust in the Lord: " that is, ye who duly fear and worship Him, trust ye in the Lord.
PSALM XXXII.6 TO DAVID HIMSELF; FOR UNDERSTANDING.
1. To David himself; for understanding; by which it is understood that not by the merits of works, but by the grace of God, man is delivered, confessing his sins.
2. " Blessed are they whose unrighteousness is forgiven, and whose sins are covered " (ver. 1): and whose sins are buried in oblivion. " Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin, nor is there guile in his mouth " (ver. 2): nor has he in his mouth boastings of righteousness, when his conscience is full of sins.
3. " Because I kept silence, my bones waxed old: " because I made not with my mouth " confession unto salvation," ' all firmness in me has grown old in infirmity. "Through my roaring all the day long " (ver. 3); when I was ungodly and a blasphemer, crying against God, as though defending and excusing my sins.
4. " Because day and night Thy Hand was heavy upon me: " because, through the continual punishment of Thy scourges, " I was turned in misery, while a thorn was fixed through me " * [Elsewhere St. Augustin explains the word " ecstasy " as sometimes = transport, sometimes = panic. See his sermon on this Psalm, usually following this exposition. — C.l « Nimis. » 1 Pet. iv. 18. <> Lat. XXXI.
7 Rom. x. zo.
Psalm XXXIII.]
(ver. 4): I was made miserable by knowing my misery, being pricked with an evil conscience.
5. " I acknowledged my sin, and my unrighteousness have I not hid: " that is, my unrighteousness have I not concealed.1 " I said, I will confess against myself my unrighteousness to the Lord: " I said, I will confess, not against God (as in my ungodly crying, when I kept silence), but against myself, my unrighteousness to the Lord. " And Thou forgavest the iniquity of my heart" (ver. 5); hearing the word of confession in the heart, before it was uttered with the voice.
6. " For this shall every one that is holy pray unto Thee in an acceptable time: " for this wickedness of heart shall every one that is righteous pray unto Thee. For not by their own merits will they be holy, but by that acceptable time, that is, at His coming, who redeemed us from sin. " Nevertheless in the flood of great waters they shall not come nigh him" (ver. 6): nevertheless, let none think, when the end has come suddenly, as in the days of Noah,2 that there remaineth a place of confession, whereby he may draw nigh unto God.
7. " Thou art my refuge from the pressures, which have compassed me about: " Thou art my refuge from the pressure of my sins, which hath compassed my heart. " O Thou, my Rejoicing, deliver me from them that compass me about " (ver. 7): in Thee is my joy: deliver me from the sorrow which my sins bring upon me.
8. Diapsalma. The answer of God: " I will give thee understanding, and will set thee in the way in which thou shalt go; " I will give thee understanding after confession, that thou depart not from the way in which thou shouldest go; lest thou wish to be in thine own power. " I will fix Mine Eyes upon thee " (ver. 8): so will I make sure upon thee My Love.
9. " Be not ye like unto horse or mule, which have no understanding: " and therefore would govern themselves. But saith the Prophet, " Hold in their jaws with bit and bridle." Do Thou then, O God, unto them " that will not come nigh Thee" (ver. 9), what man doth to horse and mule, that by scourges Thou make them to bear Thy rule.
10. " Many are the scourges of the sinner: " much is he scourged, who, confessing not his sins to God, would be his own ruler. " But he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy compasseth him about" (ver. 10); but he that trusteth in the Lord, and submitteth himself to His rule, mercy shall compass him about.
11. "Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye 1 [Here in our Psalter version is verse 6; not so the Authorized, nor the Vulgate, nor the other versions. — C] righteous: " be glad, and rejoice, ye righteous, not in yourselves, but in the Lord. "And glory, all ye that are right in heart" (ver. n): and glory in Him, all ye who understand that it is right to be subject unto Him, that so ye may be placed above all things beside.
PSALM XXXIII.3 1. "Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous:" rejoice, O ye righteous, not in yourselves, for that is not safe; but in the Lord. " For praise is comely to the upright" (ver. i): these praise the Lord, who submit themselves unto the Lord; for else they are distorted and perverse.
2. " Praise the Lord with harp: " praise the Lord, presenting unto Him your bodies a living sacrifice.4 " Sing unto Him with the psaltery of ten strings" (ver. 2): let your members be servants to the love of God, and of your neighbour, in which are kept both the three and the seven commandments.5 3. " Sing unto Him a new song: " sing unto Him a song of the grace of faith. " Sing skilfully unto Hinvwith jubilation" (ver. 3): sing skilfully unto Him with rejoicing.
4. " For the Word of the Lord is right: " for the Word of the Lord is right, to make you that which of yourselves ye cannot be. " And all His works are done in faith " (ver. 4): lest any think that by the merit of works he hath arrived at faith, when in faith are done all the works which God Himself loveth.
5. "He loveth Mercy and Judgment:" for He loveth Mercy, which now He showeth first; and Judgment, wherewith He exacteth that which He hath first shown. "The earth is full of the Mercy of the Lord " (ver. 5 ): throughout the whole world are sins forgiven unto men by the Mercy of the Lord.
6. "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made firm: " for not by themselves, but by the Word of the Lord were the righteous made strong. " And all the strength 6 of them by the Breath of His Mouth" (ver. 6). And all their faith by His Holy Spirit.
7. " He gathereth the waters of the sea together as into a bottle: " He gathereth the people of the world together, to confession of mortified sin, lest through pride they flow too freely. • " He layeth up the deep in storehouses " (ver. 7): and keepeth in them His secrets for riches.
8. " Let all the earth fear the Lord: " let 3 Lat. XXXII. « Rom. Jtii. I.
5 See St. Augustin on Faith and Works, § 17, Tr. note h. He takes our 6rst and second as one, dividing the tenth. _ [Compare St. Augustin, Sermon ix. cap. 5. He is credited with introducing this division into the Western churches. Compare Irenaeus {Adv. Hares, ii. 24, § 4. note 9), A. N. F. vol. i. p. 395; also Clement, Stromata, A. N. F. vol. ii. p. 51a. — C] * Virtut.
[Psalm XXXIV.
every sinner fear, that so he may cease to sin. " Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him " (ver. 8): not of the terrors of men, or of any creature, but of Him let them stand in awe.
9. " For He spake, and they were made: " for no other one made those things which are to fear; but He spake, and they were made. " He commanded, and they were created " (ver. 9): He commanded by His Word,1 and they were created.
10. "The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought; " of them that seek not His Kingdom, but kingdoms of their own. " He maketh the devices of the people of none effect: " of them that covet earthly happiness. " And reproveth the counsels of princes " (ver. 10): of them that seek to rule over such peoples.
11. "But the counsel of the Lord standeth for ever; " but the counsel of the Lord, whereby He maketh none blessed but him that submitteth unto Himself, standeth for ever. The thoughts of His Heart to all generations " (ver. n): the thoughts of His Wisdom are not mutable, but endure to all generations.
12. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord: " one nation is blessed, belonging to the heavenly city, which hath not chosen save the Lord for their God: " And the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance " (ver. 12): and which not of itself, but by the gift of God, hath been chosen, that He by possessing it may not suffer it to be uncared for and miserable.
13. "The Lord looketh from Heaven; He beholdeth all the sons of men" (ver. 13). From the souls of the righteous, the Lord looketh mercifully upon all who would rise to newness of life.
14. " From His prepared habitation: " from His habitation of assumed Humanity, which He prepared for Himself. " He looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth " (ver. 14): He looketh mercifully upon all who live in the flesh, that He may be over them in ruling them.
15. " He fashioneth their hearts singly: " He giveth spiritually to their hearts their proper gifts, so that neither the whole body may be eye, nor the whole hearing; 2 but that one in this manner, another in that manner, may be incorporated with Christ. " He underslandeth all their works" (ver. 15). Before Him are all their works understood.
16. "A king shall not be saved by much strength: " he shall not be saved who ruleth his own flesh, if he presume much upon his own strength. " Neither shall a giant be saved by much strength" (ver. 16): nor shall he be saved whoever warreth against the habit of his own lust, or against the devil and his angels, if he trust much to his own might.
17. "A horse is a deceitful thing for safety: " he is deceived, who thinketh either that through men he gaineth salvation received among men, or that by the impetuosity of his own courage he is defended from destruction. " In the abundance of his strength shall he not be saved " (ver. 17).
18. "Behold, the Eyes of the Lord are upon them that fear Him: " because if thou seek salvation, behold, the love of the Lord is upon them that fear Him. " Upon them that hope in His mercy" (ver. 18): that hope not in their own strength, but in His mercy.
19. "To deliver their souls from death, and to keep them alive in famine" (ver. 19). To give them the nourishment of the Word, and of Everlasting Truth, which they lost while presuming on their own strength, and therefore have not even their own strength, from lack of righteousness.
20. " My soul shall be patient for the Lord: " that hereafter it may be filled with dainties incorruptible, meanwhile, whilst here it remaineth, my soul shall be patient for the Lord. " For He is our Helper and Defender " (ver. 20): our Helper He is, while we endeavour after Him; and our Defender, while we resist the adversary.
at. "For our heart shall rejoice in Him:" for not in ourselves, wherein without Him there is great need; but in Himself shall our heart rejoice. " And we have trusted in His holy Name " (ver. 21); and therefore have we trusted that we shall come to God, because unto us absent hath He sent, through faith, His own Name.
22. "Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we have hoped in Thee " (ver. 22): let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us; for hope confoundeth not, because we have hoped in Thee.
PSALM XXXIV.'
A PSALM OF DAVID, WHEN HE CHANGED HIS COUNTENANCE BEFORE ABIMELECH, AND HE SENT HIM AWAV, AND HE DEPARTED.
i. Because there was there a sacrifice after the order of Aaron, and afterwards He of His Own Body and Blood appointed a sacrifice after the order of Melchizedek; He changed then His Countenance in the Priesthood, and sent away the kingdom of the Jews, and came to the Gentiles. What then is, " He affected"?* He was full of affection. For what is so full of 3 Lat. XXXIII.
4 [1 Sam. xxi. 13. He follows the Septuagint, which differs from the Vulgate. — C] Psalm XXXIV.]
n affection as the Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, seeing our infirmity, that He might deliver us from everlasting death, underwent temporal death with such great injury and contumely? " And He drummed: " because a drum is not made, except when a skin is extended on wood; and David drummed, to signify that Christ should be crucified. But, " He drummed upon the doors of the city: " what are " the doors of the city," but our hearts which we had closed against Christ, who by the drum of His Cross hath opened the hearts of mortal men? " And was carried in His Own Hands: " how " carried in His Own Hands "? Because when He commended His Own Body and Blood, He took into His Hands that which the faithful know; and in a manner carried Himself, when He said, "This is My Body."1 "And He fell down at the doors of the gate; " that is, He humbled Himself. For this it is, to fall down even at the very beginning of our faith. For the door of the gate is the beginning of faith; whence beginneth the Church, and arriveth at last even unto sight: that as it believeth those things which it seeth not, it may deserve to enjoy them, when it shall have begun to see face to face. So is the title of the Psalm; briefly we have heard it; let us now hear the very words of Him that affecteth, and drummeth upon the doors of the city.