Exposition of Psalms 100-150 118.17–118.65

(v. 17) "Repay your servant; give me life, and I will keep your words." There are four kinds of repayment: either evil is repaid for evil, as God will repay eternal fire to the ungodly; or good for good, as he will repay the eternal kingdom to the righteous; or good for evil, as Christ by grace justifies the ungodly; or evil for good, as Judas by malice persecuted Christ. Of these four repayments the first two belong to justice, that evil be repaid for evil and good for good; the third belongs to mercy, that good be repaid for evil; the fourth God does not know, for he repays no one evil for good. But this one placed third is the first needed. For unless God repaid good for evil, there would be no one at all to whom good could be repaid for good. He, then, who says, "Repay your servant," and adds, "give me life, and I will keep your words," knows that the righteous lives by faith, which works through love. And since he had been dead through his own unrighteousness, he asks for life through the grace of God; he would certainly not ask for it if he did not believe at all, that is, if he were not alive at all. But since what he had received for desiring was not enough for obeying, he asks to be given life, that is, that the faith he has received may be increased in him; so that he who is renewed from day to day may be given life every day. (v. 18) "Unveil my eyes, and I will consider the wonders of your law." Give me, he says, understanding by which I may look into the wonders of your law and see the power of your precepts. (v. 19) "I am a sojourner on the earth; do not hide your commandments from me." Each person is a pilgrim where he is absent from his homeland. This man, then, who has been enrolled as a citizen of the Jerusalem above, professes that he is a pilgrim on the earth, because he is sure of the promised inheritance. But since human life on earth is a trial, he asks that in the time of tribulation and difficulty God's commandments may not be hidden from him; and these are certainly set in the open and can be known even by the ungodly. For who does not know the shortest and fullest commandment, "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind," and, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself"? On these two commandments the whole law hangs, and the prophets. How, then, does this sojourner on earth pray that what is hidden from almost no one may not be hidden from him? Unless because to know the Lord belongs to few; and it follows that the commandment of love is hidden from one who loves one thing in place of another; and he who errs in the love of the Lord errs also in the love of his neighbour. Rightly, then, does he who is a sojourner on earth, and who does not love earthly things, ask that the knowledge of God's commandments be revealed to him, lest he be deceived either in the love of God or in the love of his neighbour. (v. 20) "My soul has longed to desire your ordinances at all times." I have longed, he says, to have the desire for your ordinances to the end. For you justify me; your grace makes me righteous and good; it is for me always to desire these things and to delight in this protection of yours. Otherwise I shall not be righteous, if either your grace fails me or pride puffs me up. (v. 21) "You have rebuked the proud; cursed are those who turn aside from your commandments." That rebuke is to be understood here which the first parents of men deserved by their transgression, turning aside from God's commandment through pride, since they desired not what God commanded to be loved but what the devil, out of envy, persuaded. So every proud person is subject to this rebuke, whether by inheritance or by the choice of his will. (v. 22) "Take from me reproach and contempt, for I have sought out your testimonies." This is the voice of the church, now loving its enemies and praying for its persecutors. Let every Christian say, then, let all the members of Christ's body say, "Take from me the reproach which I hear, and the contempt with which I am despised, because I have sought out your testimonies," that is, your martyrdoms: so that our enemies may come to venerate us for the very thing for which they despise us, when they understand that those whom they thought should be persecuted should be honoured. (v. 23) "For princes sat and spoke against me." The persecution was heavy because princes decreed it sitting, that is, eminent in the seats of judgment; and there is no doubt that this was done both against the head himself and against his body. "But your servant was exercised in your ordinances." What this exercise was, what follows teaches. (v. 24) "For your testimonies are my meditation, and your ordinances are my counsel." The servant of Christ was so exercised as to contend against his persecutors with love. The counsel of the princes who sat was to destroy the martyrs when they found them; the counsel of the martyrs who suffered was to find their enemies when they were lost. Those repaid evil for good, these good for evil. What wonder, then, if those failed by killing and these conquered by dying?

(v. 25) "My soul has cleaved to the pavement; give me life according to your word." He who asks to be given life because his soul has cleaved to the pavement seems to be asking to be rescued from earthly desires. But such words have gone before that we can hardly believe of the one who said, "For your testimonies are my meditation, and your ordinances are my counsel," that he clung to an earthly rather than a heavenly way of life. He does not wish, then, to be torn from the desires of the world or separated from the company of the flesh, but to be detached from carnal affections; so that that desire which lusts against the spirit may be more and more diminished, and the desire which lusts against the flesh may be increased by persevering progress. For there is no one whose soul the corruptible body and the earthly dwelling do not weigh down, until this corruptible thing puts on incorruption, and the word of God, by which eternal life is promised, is fulfilled. (v. 26) "I have declared my ways, and you have heard me; teach me your ordinances." I have confessed my sins, he says, and you have heard me; I have declared my ways, and you have blotted them out: teach me yours. He wishes, then, to learn not those ordinances in which he was exercised, but desires to come from those to these. (v. 27) "Instil into me the way of your ordinances, and I will be exercised in your wonders." By asking this he longs rather to be increased by progress. For there are certain ordinances so sublime and wonderful that those who have not experienced them think that human weakness cannot reach them. (v. 28) "My soul has slumbered through weariness; strengthen me in your words." I grow tired both from weakness and I slip back from weariness. Strengthen me in your promises, and through what you have given I will strive to climb, so that, slumbering in my weaknesses, I may be roused and spurred on in your words. (v. 29) "Remove from me the way of iniquity, and have mercy on me by your law." Lest the law of works, through which sin abounded, lead me, weak as I am, into iniquities, have mercy on me, he says, by your law, that is, by the law of faith; so that by your grace I may do what I am not able to fulfil by myself. (vv. 30–31) "I have chosen the way of truth; I have not forgotten your judgments. I have cleaved to your testimonies, O Lord; do not put me to shame." I have chosen the way of truth, where I might run; I have not forgotten your judgments, so that I might run; I have cleaved to your testimonies as I ran, O Lord: do not put me to shame. How shall I, running as I do, reach the place toward which I am heading? "For it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy." (v. 32) "I have run the way of your commandments, when you enlarged my heart." The enlarging of the heart is the love of truth; and this comes about by God's gift, so that he is served not out of fear of punishment but out of love of righteousness, when the love of God is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. This man, then, ran the way of God's commandments because the Lord enlarged his heart.

(v. 33) "Set before me as a law, O Lord, the way of your ordinances, and I will seek it out always." He who had already said that he ran the way of God's commandments with an enlarged heart, how does he now ask that a law be set for him? Unless because he speaks as one making progress, and knows that his progress is God's gift; and, so that he may progress more and more, he asks that what he has be increased by the one from whom he received it. So he has both run this way and wishes to run it; he has sought it out and loves to seek it out, until his joy is perfect without danger of losing it; and he always seeks it out in order to lay hold of it. (v. 34) "Give me understanding, and I will search your law, and I will keep it with my whole heart." No one, then, penetrates the height and depth of the law except one who has received understanding. And since the fullness of the law is love, and he understands the law who carries out the works of its commandments, he surely asks here that the love by which God and neighbour are loved may be multiplied in him, so that he may have perfect knowledge of this twofold commandment, on which hang the whole law and the prophets, and may keep it with his whole heart. (v. 35) "Lead me in the path of your commandments, for that is what I have willed." What he earlier called the way of ordinances he now calls the path of commandments; for the way that leads to life is narrow, and, being narrow, it is not run except with an enlarged heart. But since this man is still progressing and still running, he therefore asks for divine help to lead him. (v. 36) "Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to avarice." He who asks that his heart be inclined toward something desires to will it more fully and perfectly than he wills it. For he was willing when he said, "Lead me in the path of your commandments, for that is what I have willed"; and he prays that he may will when he says, "Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to avarice." He prays, then, that he may progress in his very willing, and may have his heart inclined not to avarice but to God's testimonies; and these testimonies suggest and teach that God is to be worshipped freely. For if the heart is not inclined to avarice, we worship God only for God's sake, so that he himself may be the reward of his worship; for he who worships God in order to earn something other than him does not love the one he worships, because he desires not him but something else. (v. 37) "Turn away my eyes, that they may not see vanity; give me life in your way." Turn away, he says, my eyes: not those of the body, whose gaze sees many vanities even against its will, but the eyes of the heart, that they may not be intent on vanity, may not seek human glory, nor, when they desire something good, do so not for love of the supreme good itself but for love of present advantage and praise; and, finally, that they may not refer their righteousness to themselves rather than to the Lord, and glory in themselves rather than in the Lord. Shuddering at this vanity, then, he rightly added, "Give me life in your way," that is, in Christ, who is opposed to vanity and is not only the way but also the life and the truth. (v. 38) "Establish your saying for your servant in your fear." The saying of God becomes firm in our heart when what that saying commands is done, and it is torn away when the contrary work is done. The servant of God asks, then, that a persevering obedience may be confirmed in him, which will not be moved from its standing by any push of evil action; and this is had only through the Spirit and through chaste fear, by which one takes care not to offend love, not that by which one fears to be condemned for ungodliness. (v. 39) "Cut off my reproach which I have suspected, for your judgments are pleasant." It is a sin to judge rashly about the hidden things of another's heart, and to blame on suspicion one whose works appear only good. This reproach, then, this vice of suspicion, he who wishes to be perfect desires to be taken from him. For of the things that are unknown to man God alone is the just inspector; and his judgments are pleasant, because they are true. (v. 40) "Behold, I have longed for your commandments; give me life in your righteousness." You have made me, he says, eager for your commandments; make me also effective. Help me to do what you commend; give yourself what you command. For in myself I have had the means of dying; but the means of living I find nowhere but in you, who have placed all equity for your man in the love of you and of his neighbour.

(v. 41) "And let your mercy come upon me, O Lord, your salvation according to your saying." What does he ask but that by his mercy he may do the commandments that he longed for, the things he commanded? And what is mercy but Christ? And according to what saying, if not according to the word of promise, by which the things that were not were called as though they were? For those to whom the promise was made were themselves also promised, so that the whole body of Christ may say, "By the grace of God I am what I am." (v. 42) "And I will answer a word to those who reproach me, for I have hoped in your words." Whether it is "those who reproach me with a word" or "I will answer a word" is ambiguous; but both sound of Christ. For it is he whom those reproach to whom he, crucified, is a stumbling block or folly, not knowing that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, the Word that was in the beginning and was with the Lord. But even if the reproachers themselves do not reproach the Word, which is hidden from them, since his Godhead is not known by those by whom his weakness on the cross is despised, yet let us answer the Word to all who reproach us. For it is too little to have Christ in the heart unless we confess with the mouth what we believe with the heart. But this can be done only if the believer's hope in the promises of God is firm. (v. 43) "And do not take the word of truth utterly from my mouth": that is, let me not be so disturbed under the scourge of persecution that the confession of truth is wholly taken from me. For many who failed for an hour by denying were afterward restored by repenting and took up again the palm they had lost. "For in your judgments I have hoped exceedingly": that is, because your judgments, by which you rebuke and scourge me, not only do not take hope from me but even increase it, since you rebuke the one you love, and scourge every son whom you receive. And so you often allow one who seemed strong to himself to be weakened, so that presumption may be removed and the virtue of perseverance restored by your help. (v. 44) "And I will keep your law always, for ever and for ever and ever." Having said "always," lest it be referred only to the time of this life, he added, "and for ever and ever." And the law which he desires to keep perpetually is to be taken as love; for it is the fullness of the law, and when the other commandments cease, it alone remains for ever. (vv. 45–48) "And I walked in a broad place, for I sought out your commandments. And I spoke of your testimonies before kings, and I was not put to shame. And I meditated on your commandments, which I loved greatly. And I lifted up my hands to your commandments which I loved, and I was exercised in your ordinances." The verses above contained prayer, by which the help of grace was asked for. But these contain narration, by which it is shown what the grace that was asked for bestowed: as if he said, "When I prayed for these things, you heard me, and I walked in a broad place," that is, I walked in love, which has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. This is that Spirit in whom we cry, "Abba, Father"; and through this, it is his doing that he sought out God's commandments; and once received, the Spirit also brings it about that he is sought, to be received more abundantly, by asking, seeking, and knocking. Strengthened, then, by this Spirit of love, he was not put to shame before kings, he exercised his thought on God's commandments and loved those same commandments greatly; lifting up his hands not to earthly works but to heavenly ones, he was exercised in God's ordinances.

(vv. 49–50) "Remember your word to your servant, in which you have given me hope. This has comforted me in my humiliation, for your word has given me life." When it is said to God, "Remember," the desire of the one praying, by which he asks that the promise be hastened, is shown; God is not reminded as though it had slipped from his memory. "Remember," then, he says, "your word to your servant," that is, fulfil your promise; "in which you have given me hope," that is, in which word you have made me hope. "This has comforted me in my humiliation": this hope of mine, namely, has comforted me, which is given to the humble, as Scripture says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." "For your word has given me life": for it has made me hope in you and not fail in tribulation. (v. 51) "The proud acted wickedly exceedingly; but I did not turn aside from your law." By the proud he wished to be understood the persecutors of the humble, that is, the ungodly persecutors of the godly; and so he added, "but I did not turn aside from your law," because persecution was compelling him to do this. (v. 52) "I remembered your judgments from of old, O Lord, and I was comforted." From of old, he says, since the human race took its beginning, I have remembered your judgments. And since I have proved that all your ways are mercy and truth, I have received comfort in the help of your grace, and through the very vessels of wrath I have understood the riches of your glory toward the vessels of mercy. (vv. 53–54) "Weariness took hold of me because of sinners who forsake your law. Your ordinances were songs to me in the place of my sojourning." Although he suffered weariness from the sinners among whom the pilgrimage of the present way kept him, yet God's ordinances were songs to him, because grace consoled him on his pilgrimage. (v. 55) "I remembered your name in the night, O Lord, and I kept your law." Night is …; for there is the night of mortality, a night in the proud who act wickedly; a night in the weariness caused by sinners who forsake God's law; a night, finally, in the place of this pilgrimage, until the Lord comes and brings to light the hidden things of darkness. In this night, then, a man ought to remember the name of the Lord, so as to keep his law, and to refer this very thing to God's glory; for "our help is in the name of the Lord." (v. 56) "This was done for me, because I sought out your ordinances": your ordinances, surely, by which you justify the ungodly, not mine, which make one not godly but proud. What, then, is it of which he says, "This was done for me"? It is not to be understood as the Law, which the Greek expresses in the masculine gender; it is better taken of the night, because he had said above, "I remembered your name in the night," which was done for me, that is, to profit me. For this very humiliation in the place of this pilgrimage, which is understood as night, profits those who are wholesomely exercised in it, so that they learn not to be proud; for because of that evil man was driven into this night.

(v. 57) "My portion, O Lord, I have said, is to keep your law." That is, the Lord will be each person's portion in this way, when he keeps his law. But since this is not done without God's help, he shows what he asks to obtain, adding, (v. 58) "I entreated your face with my whole heart; have mercy on me according to your saying." And what he obtained by this prayer, and to what progress he came, he shows next, saying, (v. 59) "I thought on my ways, and I turned my feet to your testimonies." I turned my feet, he says, from the ways that displeased me, so that they might go to your testimonies and have their way there. Where it is written here, "I turned my feet," in some copies one reads, "You turned my feet," so that this is attributed rather to the grace of God. But whether it is this or that, there can be no doubt that it is the divine gift when we both think rightly and call our feet back from error. For whenever we do good things, God works in us and with us, so that we may work. (v. 60) "I am ready, and I am not troubled, to keep your commandments." He confesses humbly that he has been made steadfast by grace for keeping the commandments. (v. 61) "The cords of sinners have wound around me, and I have not forgotten your law." "Of sinners" is derived not from "sins" but from "sinners." The cords of sinners, then, are the hindrances of enemies, whether spiritual or carnal, who try to entangle the saints, contending for God's law even to blood, in difficulties of every kind, and by these, as with cords and ropes, they would drag them back from steadfastness in suffering. But if they bind the body, they do not bind the mind; in it this man has not forgotten God's law, because the word of God is not bound. (v. 62) "At midnight I rose to confess to you over the judgments of your righteousness." Midnight is deep tribulation; for he was not so afflicted that he could not rise. And he rose to confess to God that by his just judgment power had been given to sinners to persecute God's saints, whom the grace of God helps, so that such exercises make them more illustrious. (v. 63) "I am a partaker with all who fear you and keep your commandments." This voice is to be understood as properly that of the head himself. For we would not be made partakers of Christ's Godhead unless he himself had become a partaker of our mortality. And through this participation his grace is supplied to us, so that we may fear God chastely and keep his commandments. For this reason God took the nature of men, the immortal the nature of mortals, and by sharing it made it his own, so that the grain might fall into the earth and, having died, bear much fruit. (v. 64) "The earth is full of your mercy, O Lord": in this, certainly, that the ungodly is justified; and, so that he may advance in the knowledge of this ineffable grace, he adds, "And teach me your ordinances."

(v. 65) "You have dealt kindly with your servant, O Lord, according to your word." You have brought it about, he says, O Lord, that the good delights me, which is certainly your great gift. "According to your word," that is, according to your promise, so that the promise may be firm for all the seed. (v. 66) "Teach me sweetness and discipline and knowledge, for I have believed in your commandments." He asks that these be increased in him, and the grace of God perfects them in him more and more in all the sweetness of goodness. God teaches sweetness by inspiring love; he teaches discipline by tempering tribulation; he teaches knowledge by imparting understanding. "For I have believed in your commandments": that is, I have believed that you commanded them, you who grant that they be done; and not man, who, though he can make a precept known, cannot bestow the gift of obedience. Teach discipline by teaching patience; teach knowledge by enlightening understanding; for I have believed that you commanded these things, who are God and give man the means of doing what you command. (v. 67) "Before I was humbled I sinned; therefore I have kept your saying." Because of the first sin, he says, I was humbled; and lest I be humbled again, I have kept your saying. So by your grace it profited me to experience punishment, so that I might acquire obedience. (v. 68) "You are sweet, O Lord; in your sweetness teach me your ordinances." He truly wishes to do God's ordinances when he wishes to learn them in his sweetness. (v. 69) "The iniquity of the proud has been multiplied over me": of those, namely, to whom it was no profit that human nature was humbled after it sinned. "But I will search your commandments with my whole heart." However much iniquity abounds, he says, love will not grow cold in me. For I search your commandments lovingly for this purpose, that I may know them more perfectly by doing them. (v. 70) "Their heart has curdled like milk; but I have meditated on your law." The heart of the proud, he says, has been hardened; but by meditating on your law I have learned that you resist the proud and give grace to the humble. (v. 71) "It is good for me that you have humbled me, that I may learn your ordinances." You have turned punishment for me into discipline, and humiliation into instruction; for I desire to know your ordinances so as to do them. For there is no true knowledge of the good unless it is known for this purpose, that it may be done. (v. 72) "The law of your mouth is good to me, above thousands of gold and silver": so that love may love the law of God more than greed loves thousands of gold and silver.