Exposition of Psalms 100-150

Contents

Reading pages: 100.1–102.1 · 103.1–103.30 · 104.1–105.25 · 106.1–107.1 · 108.1–109.1 · 110.1–113.1 · 114.1–118.9 · 118.17–118.65 · 118.73–118.129 · 118.137–121.1 · 122.1–129.1 · 130.1–134.1 · 135.1–137.1 · 138.1–140.1 · 141.1–143.1 · 144.1–147.1 · 148.1–150.1

1. 100.1Psalm 101 (100) is read as a song of God's mercy and judgment, the conduct of the righteous, and the coming day of judgment.
2. 101.1The poor man praying in Psalm 102 (101) is Christ, who speaks for his weak members, and the birds of the psalm are types of the preacher and of Christ himself.
3. 101.12The second half of Psalm 102 (101) is read of Christ's coming, the building of the church from Jews and gentiles, the martyrs, and the unchanging eternity of God.
4. 102.1Psalm 103 (102) is read as the church's blessing of God for unmerited grace: forgiveness, healing, renewal, and his fatherly patience.
5. 103.1Psalm 104 (103) is read both literally of creation and figuratively of the church, Scripture, preachers, love, and Christ the foundation.
6. 103.6The persecutions that flooded the church and then were checked, the preachers as mountains and springs, and the support owed to them are read from Psalm 104:6–15 (103).
7. 103.16Psalm 104:16–29 (103) is read of the rich and the humble in the church, Christ's death and resurrection, the demons, the sea of this world, and the devil.
8. 103.30The end of Psalm 104 (103) is read of God's Spirit renewing the ungodly by grace, so that all praise is God's.
9. 104.1Psalm 105:1–22 (104) is read as a call to praise God's works, the promise to the patriarchs as a figure of the eternal inheritance, and Joseph's story under providence.
10. 104.23Psalm 105:23–45 (104) is read of Israel in Egypt, the plagues, and the exodus, given so that God's people might be free to keep his law.
11. 105.1Psalm 106:1–24 (105) is read as the confession of a people who sinned in Egypt and the desert and yet received mercy, with the Red Sea as a figure of baptism.
12. 105.25Psalm 106:25–48 (105) recounts Israel's idolatry, Phinehas and Moses, and God's merciful discipline, and ends with the gathering of the elect from all nations.
13. 106.1The four deliverances of Psalm 107 (106) are read as four temptations of the redeemed, ending in the church's unity against heretics and schismatics.
14. 107.1A note that Psalm 108 (107) is not expounded, because it repeats parts of Psalms 57 and 60 (56 and 59).
15. 108.1Psalm 109:1–15 (108) is read as Christ's prayer against his betrayer Judas and, by extension, against the unbelieving Jewish people.
16. 108.16Psalm 109:16–31 (108) is read of Judas and the unbelieving people, and of Christ, poor and suffering in himself and his members, helped by the Father and vindicated.
17. 109.1Psalm 110 (109) is read of Christ as David's Lord and son, seated at the Father's right hand, one beginning with the Father, born before all ages and of the Virgin, and priest for ever after Melchizedek.
18. 110.1Psalm 111 (110) is read as praise of God's great works, his free justification of the confessing sinner, and the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom.
19. 111.1Psalm 112 (111), titled for Haggai and Zechariah, is read of the rebuilding of God's spiritual temple and of the blessed man who fears God, shows mercy, and waits for eternal goods.
20. 112.1Psalm 113 (112) is read as a call to the humble to praise God, who dwells in the saints and raises the lowly, and makes the barren church a mother of many.
21. 113.1Psalms 114–115 (113) are read of the Christian people's exodus from the world by grace, and of praise owed to God alone rather than to idols or human merit.
22. 114.1Psalm 116:1–9 (114) is read as the song of the soul brought back by grace from the dangers it did not notice, which now rests in hope of the land of the living.
23. 115.1Psalm 116:10–19 (115) is read as the voice of the martyrs, whose strength comes from God, and of the catholic believer who offers himself to God in the peace of the church.
24. 116.1Psalm 117 (116) is read as a call to all nations, the true Israel by faith, to praise God's mercy and truth.
25. 117.1Psalm 118 (117) is read as the church's praise for deliverance from persecution, Christ the rejected cornerstone, and the gate of righteousness leading to eternal praise.
26. 118.1The opening of Psalm 119 (118) is read of the blessedness of those who walk in God's law, the saints' daily need of forgiveness, and their need of grace to keep his commands.
27. 118.9Psalm 119:9–16 (118) is read of the new people corrected by keeping God's word, and of learning his commands by doing them, with Christ as the way of his testimonies.
28. 118.17Psalm 119:17–24 (118) is read of God's four kinds of repayment, the pilgrim's need to know the commands of love, and the martyrs who conquered their persecutors by love.
29. 118.25Psalm 119:25–32 (118) is read as the prayer of one already advancing, who asks to be freed from carnal affections and helped by grace to run the way of God's commands.
30. 118.33Psalm 119:33–40 (118) is read as the prayer of one progressing in the love of God, who asks that his will be inclined to serve God freely and kept from vanity and rash suspicion.
31. 118.41Psalm 119:41–48 (118) is read of Christ as God's mercy and Word, of confessing him before persecutors, and of the Spirit of love who gives what the psalmist asked for.
32. 118.49Psalm 119:49–56 (118) is read of hope given to the humble in persecution and pilgrimage, and of the "night" of this life which teaches humility.
33. 118.57Psalm 119:57–64 (118) is read of the grace that turns the believer's feet to God's law, the martyrs bound in body but free in mind, and Christ's sharing in our mortality.
34. 118.65Psalm 119:65–72 (118) is read of God's gifts of sweetness, discipline, and knowledge, and of humiliation turned by grace into instruction.
35. 118.73Psalm 119:73–80 (118) is read of God's creation and re-creation of man, Christ praying in his body the church, and the heart made spotless by baptism, the Spirit, and the Lord's Prayer.
36. 118.81Psalm 119:81–88 (118) is read of the saints' longing for Christ's coming, the martyrs' cry for judgment, and their victory by dying for the truth.
37. 118.89Psalm 119:89–96 (118) is read of God's word in the angels and the church founded on Christ, and of the martyr who does not perish because he meditates on the law of love.
38. 118.97Psalm 119:97–104 (118) is read of the law of love, Christ taught by the Father and wiser than his teachers, and the sweetness of God's word that makes the believer do good from delight.
39. 118.105Psalm 119:105–112 (118) is read of Scripture as a lamp in the night of persecution, the martyr as God's witness by grace, and the inclined heart as both God's gift and the believer's will.
40. 118.113Psalm 119:113–120 (118) is read of hating sin but not sinners, the universal guilt of all under natural law and original sin, and the chaste fear that crucifies the flesh.
41. 118.121Psalm 119:121–128 (118) is read of the strength given by grace to resist persecutors, Christ as God's righteousness, and the commands fulfilled by love rather than fear.
42. 118.129Psalm 119:129–136 (118) is read of the hidden purpose of the law, to shut all under sin and drive the humble to grace, and of the penitent's tears.
43. 118.137Psalm 119:137–144 (118) is read of God's just judgment on the sinner and justification of the penitent, zeal of love for enemies, and the despised younger people chosen by grace.
44. 118.145Psalm 119:145–152 (118) is read of the cry of the heart, the night of this age before Christ's light, and the mercy and truth of God's ways toward the saints and toward all.
45. 118.153Psalm 119:153–160 (118) is read of God exalting the humble, salvation far from the proud, and the martyrs who did not turn aside while others fell away.
46. 118.161Psalm 119:161–168 (118) is read of the martyrs who feared God's words more than kings' threats, won converts by their patience, and kept God's testimonies with love.
47. 118.169The end of Psalm 119 (118) is read of prayer heard, preaching of God's word, the church's longing for Christ's first and second comings, and the lost sheep sought by the shepherd among all nations.
48. 119.1Psalm 120 (119), the first Song of Ascents, is read of the climb from earthly to heavenly things, the deceitful advice of worldly friends, and peace kept even with the enemies of peace.
49. 120.1Psalm 121 (120) is read of the soul climbing toward God with the help of the saints, kept by God from pride, heresy, and schism, and brought safely through temptation.
50. 121.1Psalm 122 (121) is read of the heavenly Jerusalem built of the saints, sharing in the unchanging Godhead through the incarnation, and its peace preached for others' sake.
51. 122.1Psalm 123 (122) is read as the humble prayer of the church, looking to God's hand in its chastisements and despised by the proud for its hope in invisible goods.
52. 123.1Psalm 124 (123) is read as the song of the martyrs and the whole church, who escaped persecution only because God was in them, unlike those who lapsed into idolatry.
53. 124.1Psalm 125 (124) is read of the steadfast as Mount Zion, and of obedience to wicked rulers in all things except turning from the worship of the true God.
54. 125.1Psalm 126 (125) is read of the church freed by Christ's blood from the captivity of sin, and of the tears of works of love that will bring a harvest of eternal joy.
55. 126.1Psalm 127 (126), titled for Solomon despite his fall, is read of God alone building and guarding the church, humility before exaltation, and the apostles as arrows sent from the prophets.
56. 127.1Psalm 128 (127) is read of the blessed who fear God, and of the wife and children of the psalm as figures of the church's spiritual union with Christ and its peace.
57. 128.1Psalm 129 (128) is read of the church never conquered by persecution, bearing the wicked in hope of their correction, while the proud wither like grass on the roof.
58. 129.1Psalm 130 (129) is read as the cry from the depths of sin, answered by Christ's sacrifice, and the hope of resurrection kept from the morning of his rising until the night of death.
59. 130.1Psalm 131 (130) is read as the voice of humility in all the members of Christ's body, who would rather remain children at their mother's breast than grow proud.
60. 131.1Psalm 132 (131) is read of the church as God's chosen dwelling, the vow to make oneself his temple, the incarnation of David's son, and the widow-like, poor, and priestly people of God.
61. 132.1Psalm 133 (132) is read of brotherly unity in the church, with the ointment flowing from Christ the high priest to the apostles and martyrs and down to the least members.
62. 133.1Psalm 134 (133) is read as a call to bless God in the night of persecution by works of holiness, and God's blessing on the one church.
63. 134.1Psalm 135 (134) is read as praise of God's goodness and sovereign election, with the defeated kings and idols of the nations interpreted of heresy, falsehood, and unbelief.
64. 135.1Psalm 136 (135) is read as praise of God's eternal mercy in creation and in redemption, with the exodus figuring baptism, the Eucharist, and victory over the devil.
65. 136.1Psalm 137 (136) is read of the church's pilgrimage in the Babylon of this world, refusing to expose its mysteries to mockers, and of Babylon's little ones dashed on Christ the rock to die to the world.
66. 137.1Psalm 138 (137) is read as Christ's and the church's song of praise before the angels, the spread of the gospel to the kings of the earth, and Christ paying the debt of sinners.
67. 138.1Psalm 139 (138) is read of Christ's humiliation and exaltation, the prodigal sinner hemmed in by God, the apostles strengthened after their fear, schismatics who leave the church, and perfect hatred of sin but not of sinners.
68. 139.1Psalm 140 (139) is read as the church's prayer, through Christ its head, against the devil and the deceitful wicked who try to draw the faithful into their ways.
69. 140.1Psalm 141 (140) is read of Christ's evening sacrifice on the cross, the guarding of the mouth from excusing sin (as astrologers do), and the martyrs who triumphed while the lapsed fell.
70. 141.1Psalm 142 (141) is read as the persecuted church's secret prayer to God, refusing flight that would mean denial and hoping for release from the body's corruption.
71. 142.1Psalm 143 (142) is read of Christ in his passion and in his church, the confession that no one living is righteous before God, and the prayer for grace to do God's will.
72. 143.1Psalm 144 (143) is read of Christ and his church fighting the devil as David fought Goliath, and of the vanity of those who count earthly prosperity as blessedness.
73. 144.1Psalm 145 (144) is read as unending praise of God's greatness, mercy, and justice, his kingdom, and his care for the humble, whom he nourishes as a physician does.
74. 145.1Psalm 146 (145) is read as the soul's call to praise God for ever, trusting not in mortal princes but in God, who feeds, frees, and enlightens the humble and the spiritual orphans and widows.
75. 146.1Psalm 147:1–11 (146) is read of praise by voice and life, the healing of the contrite, the saints as God's counted stars, and his grace to the humble rather than the proud.
76. 147.1Psalm 147:12–20 (147) is read of the church in captivity hoping for the peace of the heavenly Jerusalem, the swift word of the gospel, and grace melting hardened unbelievers, as it did Paul.
77. 148.1Psalm 148 (148) is read as the angels and men voicing the praise that all creation gives by its order and beauty, with Christ the Word through whom all was made.
78. 149.1Psalm 149 (149) is read of the church singing a new song in harmony of faith and life, and wielding the two-edged sword of God's word to subdue the nations and their kings to Christ.
79. 150.1Psalm 150 is read of the saints themselves as God's instruments, their musical praise signifying the affections of the soul and wordless jubilation.