Exposition of Psalms 100-150 130.1–134.1

(v. 1) "O Lord, my heart has not been exalted, nor have my eyes been lifted up; nor have I walked among great things, nor among wonders above me." The truth of holy humility is commended in the higher part of every spiritual Israelite, in whom the whole body of Christ is shown. And all the sons of the church recognize this voice of the psalm as theirs: their temperance covets nothing of human glory, nor does it wish to glory over wonderful works so as to gain the price of praise by displaying virtues. For all the grace of God which he deigns to work in any of the faithful cannot be separated from any member of Christ's body, and each makes his own the good that he rejoices to see done through another. (v. 2) "If I was not humbly minded, but exalted my soul: as a child weaned from its mother, so let my soul be repaid." The mind of perfect humility takes delight in binding itself fearlessly by this law, to make itself liable to a kind of curse if it should wish to set its mind on high things and grow proud over any wonders. As, then, it goes badly with an infant not yet fit for the perfection of more solid food if it is taken from its mother's breasts, since the substance of its nourishment is in its mother; so, he says, let it be repaid to my soul, that, since I cannot eat the bread of angels, I should lose the drink of my mother's milk, and, since I cannot grasp the things that are above me, I should be deprived of the good of humility, in which it is more wholesome to advance than to swell. (v. 3) "Let Israel hope in the Lord, from this time forth and for evermore." Let the true Israel, then, looking ahead to what has been prepared for it in the Lord, establish its whole hope in the Lord, and set its mind on the things that are above, not on the things on earth; let it not seek temporal glory but eternal, lest, while it loves bubble-like deceits, it fail to lay hold of true things.

(v. 1) "Remember, O Lord, David and all his meekness." It suits the person of the blessed David to wish the memory of his meekness to be kept before the Lord; he was most observant of it, and the record of his deeds, according to the history, bears witness to it. But the prophetic word is to be taken in a higher sense, so that these words are referred to that man who in head and body, that is, in Christ and the church, is one man; these words are fully used by the whole city of God and the whole framework of the saints, by the meekness of the mighty and the humility of the lofty, offering to God the vow of this purpose, that they may be made his tabernacle and temple; and every faithful soul professes and ratifies this by a kind of indissoluble oath, desiring to be possessed by the Lord for ever and to be the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. (vv. 2–5) "How he swore to the Lord, he vowed a vow to the God of Jacob: If I enter the tabernacle of my house, if I go up to the bed where I lie, if I give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids or rest to my temples, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob." In all these the perseverance of the vow and the fervour of faith are shown. For in order to be a place for the Lord and a tabernacle for the God of Jacob, one must pass over from one's own advantage to the common good, not rest in oneself or slumber in one's own delights. That is what those do who seek their own things, not those of Jesus Christ; and the things that are Jesus Christ's are the goods not of individual members but of the whole body, and there is no one who does not have them and no one who does not rejoice in them. He becomes, then, a place of the Lord and a tabernacle of the God of Jacob who is fitted into the church, who is united to the body of Christ through the spirit of love, and desires to be blessed nowhere else but in that house of which it is said, "Blessed are all who dwell in your house; for ever and ever they will praise you." (v. 6) "Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of the forest." The Hebrew name Ephrathah is interpreted in Latin "mirror," in which the image of prophetic meaning went before. For through the mirror of prophecy this seat or dwelling of God was announced, of which it is said, "Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah," that is, in the sayings of the prophets. "We found it in the fields of the forest": that is, in the depth of the nations, among whom were the briars of idolatry, the thickets of errors, and the wild savagery of uncultivated minds. What we heard from the books of the Jews, then, is made manifest in the faith of the gentiles. (v. 7) "We will enter into his tabernacles; we will worship in the place where his feet stood." Those who enter in order to dwell are the very ones who are entered in order to be dwelt in; and those are in the house of God who are the house of God, so that they are truly in the kingdom of God to whom it can be said, "The kingdom of God is within you." So these worship in the place where the feet stood, either of the house itself, remaining in the Lord, or of the Lord himself, who is the dweller in the house that perseveres. And just as there is no place of worship except in the catholic church, so "no one can say Lord Jesus except in the Holy Spirit." (v. 8) "Arise, O Lord, into your rest, you and the ark of your sanctification." The church, that is, the body of Christ, says to its head: You have slept through the disturbance of the cross; rise into the rest of eternity, you and the ark of your sanctification; so that the glory of the resurrection may be fulfilled not only in the head of the members but also in the members of the head. These members are an ark of sanctification for God, whether through the truth of the incarnation or through the election of grace; so that in the person of the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, may be understood both the altar of propitiation and the ark of sacrifice and the ark of teaching. (v. 9) "Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your saints rejoice." When you rise from the dead, he says, and go to the Father, let that royal priesthood be clothed with faith, because the righteous lives by faith; and, having received the pledge of the Holy Spirit, let the members rejoice in the hope of the resurrection which went before in the head. (v. 10) "For the sake of David your servant, do not turn away the face of your Christ." This was said to God the Father by the church, praying that he would remember his promises to the house of David: lest the whole race of Israel perish because of the crime of the ungodly; who, though they have received and receive what they deserve, yet many thousands of them have been justified by faith, and from them came apostles, from them teachers, from them so many martyrs and the firstborn of the whole adoption, chosen so that the grain might be distinguished from the chaff and a remnant be saved. For them the Lord too prayed on the cross, saying, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (v. 11) "The Lord has sworn truth to David, and he will not repent." As by the name of an oath in God the decree of unchangeable truth is signified, so by the name of repentance a change of sentence is shown. Hence the Lord is said not to repent because he has determined never to change; and by this what else is shown but the eternity of his gifts and judgments? "Of the fruit of your womb I will set upon your throne." David, in whom is the person of the head and the body, that is, of Christ and the church, receives this promise, that the fruit of his womb would be set upon his throne, whose kingdom remains for ever. He is called the fruit of the womb because the Saviour according to the flesh is the son of a virgin mother, conceived not by the intercourse of a man but by the Holy Spirit. (v. 12) "If your sons keep my covenant and these my testimonies which I will teach them, their sons also will sit upon your throne for ever." To the keepers of the covenant are promised the inheritance of the promises and the blessedness of the eternal kingdom, with which not only the sons of David but also his sons' sons will be enriched. But this glory is attained by the seed of faith, not by the offspring of the flesh; and those throughout the whole world who are in the faith of the holy fathers are counted in the honour of heirs. (v. 13) "For the Lord has chosen Zion; he has chosen it beforehand as a dwelling for himself." Zion is the church itself, and it is the heavenly Jerusalem, to whose peace those run who are still on pilgrimage even now. It is the city of God, which in its better part has always remained with its founder, and waits for the part which by God's grace is daily called back from exile, so that the whole may together be the building of its dweller. (v. 14) "This is my rest for ever and ever; here I will dwell, for I have chosen it beforehand." It appears with what ineffable love God loves his church, when he calls his own the rest by which he makes it rest, though no disturbance of labour could ever weary the unchangeable tranquillity of the Godhead. And what the principal cause of so great a gift is, is shown most fully when he says, "for I have chosen it beforehand"; in accordance with what the Lord says in the gospel, "You did not choose me, but I chose you." (v. 15) "Blessing, I will bless her widow; I will satisfy her poor with bread." The whole church of God, hoping in the Lord and advancing in humility, bears the form of a widow, who, since she has not the consolation of this world, persists in prayer night and day and trusts in divine help alone. The poor too are signified here, of whom it is said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," and, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied": with the food of grace, certainly, and the bread of righteousness, so that they may eat him who says, "I am the bread who came down from heaven." So widowhood and poverty are to be understood not only in women deprived of the companionship of husbands, nor only in those who labour under want, but in all the members of Christ's body; for it is one thing that the labour of necessity endures, another that the love of religion chooses. (v. 16) "I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints will exult with exultation." The saving one, that is, the one who brings salvation, is Christ, whom everyone who is regenerated puts on, as the apostle says, "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." And the whole church attains this under the name of priests, because the whole Christian people is priestly. But the rulers of the people themselves receive this more fully, who more specially bear the person of the high priest and mediator. (v. 17) "There I will make the horn of David spring forth." By the horn is signified the height of those who glory not in themselves but in the Lord, because the height of the horns surpasses the measure of the whole flesh. "I have prepared a lamp for my Christ": that is, I have sent prophecy before him, whose light those who were set in the darkness of ignorance might use. Hence the blessed apostle Peter too says, "We have the more certain prophetic word, to which you do well to attend, as to a lamp shining in a dark place." And the Lord himself says of John the Baptist, "He was a burning and shining lamp." Rightly, then, will the saints exult with exultation, because they are glorified not in themselves but in the Lord. (v. 18) "His enemies I will clothe with confusion, but upon him my sanctification will flourish." It is plainly signified what is owed to the enemies of Christ's grace, and what glory is prepared for the saints in him, when Christ will shine in his whole body, and the Lord will be all in all.

(v. 1) "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity." Good and pleasant is the dwelling that brings about unity among the sons of adoption, and, beyond bodily and local dwelling, binds brotherly minds together in the peace of faith; and this is truly fulfilled when all the members of the faithful run together into the one head of the whole body of Christ. (v. 2) "Like ointment on the head, which ran down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron." By Aaron the priest that priest is indicated who alone fulfilled the sacrament of the true high priest, not in the sacrifice of another kind but in the offering of his own body and blood: himself the priest, himself the victim, propitiator and propitiation, and the accomplisher of all the mysteries by which he was announced; who, having died, been buried, and been raised, ascended into heaven, exalting human nature above every name and sending the Holy Spirit, whose anointing would penetrate the whole church. For the blessing flowing from the head, that is, from Christ, descends not only to the beard but also to the hem of his garment, that is, to the lowest members. In the beard, which first received the ointment flowing from the head, are signified the apostles and martyrs, in whom the power of the head stands out both by sacrament and by example. (vv. 2–3) "Which ran down to the hem of his garment; like the dew of Hermon, which comes down upon Mount Zion." The coming down of the dew signifies heavenly grace, which is the origin of the saints' merits. And Hermon is said to be interpreted "exalted river," which is understood as Jesus Christ, who, "ascending on high, led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men." For from him the rain of spiritual gifts comes into Zion, that is, into the church; and from the whole framework arises the fruit of blessings and the strength of virtues. "For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, and life for evermore." The grace of the dew of Hermon comes down there where the sharing of blessing is had through the unity of love. For those dwell in unity who live in harmony in Christ, and who, in loving not only their brothers but also their enemies, keep the precept by which they are commanded to pray for their persecutors; since the Lord died for his enemies, who makes partakers of eternity those whom he has had as imitators of his love.

(v. 1) "Behold, now bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God." Now, he says, that is, in this time of tribulations and distresses, in the time of persecutions and tears, bless the Lord, all you who with one heart and one spirit remain in the confession and praise of the Lord; standing, that is, persevering in the breadth of faith, hope, and love. (v. 2) "In the nights lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the Lord." In the adversities, he says, which darken the day of this life, do not lose heart, but lift up your hands in the work of holiness, so that the blessings which are uttered with the voice may be seen in the devoutness of your way of life. (v. 3) "May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth." He exhorted many to bless the Lord, and he himself blesses one, because out of many he has made one: so that the whole church, whose body is one and soul one, may receive the blessing as one man.

(vv. 1–2) "Praise the name of the Lord; praise the Lord, you servants, who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God." A good and useful exhortation, by which the Lord's servants are roused to his praise; though God certainly does not need this, whose glory can be neither less nor greater than itself. But since those who praise make progress by such a duty, and learn to fear and love him whom they praise, let faithful devotion persist in confessing the divine powers, so that the observance of custom may become a sacrifice of the will. What the preachers of God ought to be is shown next, when it is said, "who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God"; that is, you who remain untiring in God's precepts, by the very fact that you stand in the Lord's house, give thanks to him who loosed the fettered, enlightened the blind, raised up the crushed, and gave you the spirit of understanding to kindle you to love and praise him. (v. 3) "Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing psalms to his name, for it is sweet." The praise of the Lord can be signified neither more richly nor more fully than when he is called good. But this is to be understood not along with other good things, which exist only through him, but singularly above all things; for it is one thing to be the good that makes all good things and has no author of itself, another to be that which could not be unless it were made. Hence it is said, "No one is good but God alone." Nor is there any creature comparable to the Creator; if it has anything good, it is not its own but received. So this supreme and unchangeable good imparts to those who praise him a share in his sweetness, by the fact that the Son of God, equal to the Father, became the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. For he, insofar as the Word became flesh, is the bread of men; who by coming down to us, through us, made for us an ascent to himself through himself, and by drinking the cup of our weakness made us taste the cup of his power, so that we might acknowledge and confess that the Lord is sweet. (v. 4) "For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his own possession." The whole sweetness of God's goodness is shown in his grace, because the Lord chose Jacob for himself and made Israel his possession, taking out for himself that house which he would more specially choose and adorn. For although he founded all nations, he did not entrust this one to angels like another, but assigned it properly to his own name, so arranging the sacrament of his calling that the election of Israel should pertain to the salvation of all nations, to the sons of the promise, who would come into the eternal inheritance not by descent of the flesh but by the adoption of regeneration. (v. 5) "For I have known that the Lord is great, and our God is above all gods." Prophetic contemplation sees the higher secrets of God's works. I, he says, have known how great God is, and that his purpose and counsel are unfolded by no speech. But since the Almighty excels above every power, and there is no nature above which its Creator does not stand out, let some of the things made be mentioned, through which the wonders of the Maker may be understood. (v. 6) "All things whatever the Lord willed he has done, in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in all the depths." Whatever creatures there are in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in the depths, God made; nor is there any nature or substance that did not come to be by his command. And in creating the universe of things and forms there was no working of labour, but the reason of his will, which no time went before and no effect was delayed. Let man, recognizing this power by considering the whole world, confess that when anything good springs up in the field of his heart, it comes from the work and gift of the heavenly farmer, who deigns to restore by grace what he established by nature and what was corrupted by disobedience. (v. 7) "Raising clouds from the end of the earth, he makes lightnings for the rain; who brings forth the winds from his treasuries." All these things are done in the whole body of the world by God's nod and God's will; they are certainly to be praised with much wonder, and in them we must understand what God works in men themselves, whom he made and remade in his image and likeness. (v. 8) "Who struck the firstborn of Egypt, from man to beast." The firstborn of men are the beginnings of a good and approved life, which takes its start from faith. When, then, some Christians stir up schisms or heresies and attack the church of God with whatever afflictions they can, they become Egyptians, whose name is interpreted "affliction" of God's people; and they are struck in their firstborn, that is, in their faith, which is extinguished when it falls away from the love of the church. This most grievous plague falls on men. The beasts too are struck: that is, both those who bear the appearance of wise and learned men, and those who for their foolishness and ignorance can be compared to beasts. (v. 9) "He sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh and all his servants." The names of those on whom the Lord pours out his anger have no good meaning. For Pharaoh signifies "scattering," and Egypt "affliction." Affliction has scattering as its king, because those who afflict the church afflict it scattered, and serve their king first by their own overthrow. (vv. 10–11) "Who struck many nations and killed mighty kings: Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan." The killings of the kings and nations that opposed God's people were indeed fulfilled as they are told. But since the text of the history is prophetic, the qualities of the names written are not without figures, so that the church may learn through the meaning of their interpretations by the slaughter of which enemies above all it is saved. For Sihon is interpreted "temptation of the eyes," and the Amorites "those who embitter." Since, then, temptation of the eyes is nothing but falsehood, which, to creep in more easily, takes on the colour of truth, what wonder if those who embitter are led by the pretence of a lying king? For the devil himself, the father of lies, transforms himself into an angel of light, and the temptation of the eyes makes those whom it deceives opposed to the truth. But these men are spiritually killed when they die to the devil so as to live to God, and those who had believed a lie believe the truth instead. And the hand of God, because it brings about both cuttings down and givings of life, destroys Og the king and Bashan his people. For Og is interpreted "shutting in," and Bashan "confusion." Such a shutting in closes the way that leads to the Lord and leads those cut off to confusion; and it now shuts in the wicked, so that they do not believe in Christ; when Christ appears, they will be confounded, unless they are changed now by converting grace. And Canaan is interpreted "prepared for humiliation." This humiliation is to be understood as the penal one prepared for the proud, who are now set not in humility but in exaltation, and are destined beforehand for what must be repaid to vanity. (v. 12) "And he gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance to Israel his people." This happens daily: for what some lose by their own deserts, others acquire by the gift of grace. "For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his possession"; and it is said to the one who has, "Hold fast what you have, so that no one may take your crown." (v. 13) "O Lord, your name is for ever, and your memorial from generation to generation." That is, the wonders of your powers will not cease, and what you have done by signifying you will do unceasingly by fulfilling. And the memorial of the Lord is understood in this, that he does not forget his promises but accomplishes entirely what he has pledged; and this happens from generation to generation, because one generation of men is that by which they are born to the world, another that by which they are reborn to God. But in both, under the most high judgment of God, the work both of nature and of grace is fulfilled. (v. 14) "For the Lord will judge his people, and he will be entreated in his servants." Apart from the future judgment, the people of the Jews has already been judged. What is "judged"? The righteous were separated from it, and the unrighteous remained. Hear the Lord saying, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind." For the proud were blinded, the humble enlightened; and in this one people, which is called generally both Jacob and Israel (for the house of Jacob and the house of Israel are one person, one nation, one people), he invites this part and dismisses that, separating the meek from the fierce, believers from unbelievers. So the Lord will be entreated in his servants, that is, called upon or prevailed upon; and in all nations there will be men of Israelite dignity, while the Jews in the greatest part of themselves will be ungodly and enemies of the truth. But since the spiritual Jacob is taken from every nation, the blindness of unbelief is laid as a reproach on the worshippers of idols. (v. 15) "The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of men's hands." All, of whatever nation, who do not know the true God and resist the gospel of Christ are worshippers of idols; and when they fabricate doctrines of falsehoods in their hearts, what they have fashioned is an idol; and if they have fortified anything by reasoning, it seems to be of silver or gold, being so coloured by the arguments and eloquence of human wisdom that it wins reverence for itself by the art of its lies. In such figments, then, are the works of men's hands, which human error has devised, not the teaching of truth established. (vv. 16–18) "They have a mouth and will not speak; they have eyes and will not see. They have ears and will not hear; they have nostrils and will not smell. They have hands and will not work; they have feet and will not walk. They will not cry out in their throat, for there is no breath in their mouth. Let those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them." Properly these things seem to be said of the pagans; but they also include the heretics, who, clinging to falsehoods and following the ungodly inventions of men, have lost all the functions of rational life. For what is it to have eyes and not see, but to live in the night of errors? To have ears, and to disobey the divine teaching? To have nostrils, and not take in the good fragrance of Christ? To have feet, and not follow the grace that calls? To have a tongue, and not speak the truth? To have hands, and be without the work of righteousness? For "everything that is not from faith is sin." The liars, then, will be conformed to the lie, and will be confounded with the master in whom they trust. And yet from among them people are daily changed by God's miracles: daily the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf are opened, the nostrils of the senseless are breathed into, the mouths of the dumb are loosed, the hands of the paralysed become working hands, the feet of the lame are made straight, sons of Abraham are raised up from stones; to all of whom together let it be said: (vv. 19–20) "House of Israel, bless the Lord; house of Aaron, bless the Lord; house of Levi, bless the Lord": for all these ranks which one nation had, the whole world has come to hold through the same faith by which that nation was justified, and Abraham, the father of believers, is now found in all nations. (vv. 20–21) "You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord. Blessed be the Lord from Zion, who dwells in Jerusalem." God's dwelling is not that Jerusalem which fell; it is in the hearts of the faithful and the saints, from whom God's eternal temple is built, together with the angels, who have never departed from the Lord. So the church blesses the Lord from Zion, that is, from the watchtower, from which it looks ahead to God's promises that are to come in Jerusalem, that is, in the vision of peace, where there will be no more danger of weakness and no adversity from the tempter.