Psalm 49 — The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken

^49:1^ A psalm for Asaph. The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken and he has called the earth from the rising of the sun, to the going down thereof. ^49:2^ Out of Zion, the loveliness of his beauty,

^49:3^ God shall come manifestly; our God shall come, and shall not keep silence. A fire shall burn before him and a mighty tempest shall be round about him.

^49:4^ He shall call heaven from above, and the earth to judge his people. ^49:5^ Gather together his saints to him, who set his covenant before sacrifices. ^49:6^ And the heavens shall declare his justice, for God is judge.

^49:7^ Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify to you: I am God, your God.

^49:8^ I will not reprove you for your sacrifices, and your burnt offerings are always in my sight. ^49:9^ I will not take calves out of your house, nor he-goats out of your flocks. ^49:10^ For all the beasts of the woods are mine: the cattle on the hills, and the oxen. ^49:11^ I know all the fowls of the air, and with me is the beauty of the field. ^49:12^ If I should be hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof.

^49:13^ Shall I eat the flesh of bullocks? or shall I drink the blood of goats?

^49:14^ Offer to God the sacrifice of praise and pay your vows to the Most High.

^49:15^ And call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.

^49:16^ But to the sinner God has said, “Why do you declare my justices, and take my covenant in your mouth?” ^49:17^ Seeing you have hated discipline and have cast my words behind you. ^49:18^ If you saw a thief, you ran with him, and with adulterers you have been a partaker.

^49:19^ Your mouth has abounded with evil, and your tongue framed deceits. ^49:20^ Sitting you did speak against your brother, and did lay a scandal against your mother’s son. ^49:21^ These things you have done, and I was silent. You thought unjustly that I should be like to you: but I will reprove you, and set before your face.

^49:22^ Understand these things, you that forget God, lest he snatch you away, and there be none to deliver you. ^49:23^ The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me, and there is the way by which I will show him the salvation of God.

490. Above, the psalmist invited the nations to trust in God; here, he instructs them in the worship of God.

The title is a psalm for Asaph.

Asaph was one of the leaders over the singers of the people, and he was over those who sang and praised with cymbals, as in 1 Chronicles 15, 16, and 25. And it is called a psalm of Asaph because it was sung during the ministry of Asaph.

And this is also fitting in the mystical sense, since the name Asaph means “synagogue,” so it is read as spoken in the person of the synagogue.

In the instruction about sacrifices, he puts forward two things regarding the worship of God, things which precede the divine judgment.

And the first part of the psalm is the first thing.

The second is the discussion of God with his people about his worship: hear, O my people.

Before the judgment, there will be three things:

the judge’s summoning,

his coming,

and his appearance.

Therefore, he first puts down the summoning;

second, the coming, at our God shall come manifestly;

third, the appearance, at a fire before him.

Regarding the first, he makes three points.

First, he notes who issues the summons;

second, those who are summoned, at and he has called;

third, whence they are summoned, at out of Zion.

He who summons is great, since he is God of all, even of the gods, so he says, the God of gods, the Lord has spoken. Therefore, he is first praised because of the excellence of his nature, since he is the God of gods, not an angel.

Jerome has, the strong God.

But certainly there are not many gods? For there are many gods and many lords (1 Cor 8:5).

Now, the word “God” can be said in three ways:

naturally, and in this way there is only one God. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one (Deut 6:4).

It can also be said through participation: and they are many (1 Cor 8:5).

Likewise, it can be said as simply nomenclature and pagan belief, as in the case of idols and stars, Venus and Saturn. All the gods of the gentiles are devils (Ps 95:5).

But something can be said to be a god in four ways.

One way is through union, and only Christ is called God in this way. My Lord and my God (John 20:28).

Others are said to be gods through the grace of adoption. I have said, “You are gods” (Ps 81:6).

Some are so called through participation in the divine power to work miracles. I have appointed you the god of Pharaoh (Exod 7:1).

Some are so called through their ministry, like the judges. You shall not speak ill of the gods (Exod 22:28).

Likewise, he is praised for his governance: the Lord has spoken. He spoke interiorly, through inspiration—I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me (Ps 84:9)—and also through exterior speech. In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son (Heb 1:2).

And he has called the earth, that is, the universe, all the inhabitants of the earth, so they are summoned, not only some in the middle of the world, but from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof. Go into the whole world, and preach the Gospel (Mark 16:15). To you the gentiles shall come from the ends of the earth, and they shall say, “Surely our fathers have possessed lies” (Jer 16:19).

He lays out the order of this calling when he says, out of Zion the loveliness of his beauty, as if he were to say, “This calling began in Zion.” The law shall come forth from Zion (Isa 2:3). For when the apostles received the Holy Spirit, they were in Zion, and then they were strengthened to go to the whole world. Therefore, from Zion, where the apostles were, the loveliness of his beauty began to be diffused.

Christ himself certainly began this diffusion, but his loveliness was not seen, since he was encompassed by weakness, since we have seen him despised and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows (Isa 53:3). But after his Passion, his strength and power appeared.

491. God shall come manifestly. Here, he treats his coming, and he says two things about his second coming which are in contrast to two things about his first.

In his first coming, God came hidden in human weakness. I will cover the sun with a cloud (Ezek 32:7). Verily, you are a hidden God (Isa 45:15).

But then at the second coming he will be manifest. Behold, he comes and every eye shall see him (Rev 1:7). The Lord Jesus shall kill him with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming (2 Thess 2:8).

Likewise, in his first coming, he showed meekness. As a lamb led to before his shearer (Isa 53:7). So he said nothing before the princes and priests, nor before Pilate.

But then, at his second coming, he shall not keep silent, but shall speak. I have kept silent, I have always held my peace and been patient (Isa 42:14) in the judgment when I was judged, when I bore with evil men, but at the second coming he will cry out like one in labor.

And he says, our, as if to say, “This God who comes is no other God than ours, apart from whom there is no salvation.”

Jerome begins this verse: out of Zion God shall appear with perfect beauty, as if to say, “God shall appear from Zion, which has been perfected by the beauty of the Holy Spirit.”

In regard to the first, he supplies, God shall come manifestly.

In regard to the second, a fire shall burn before him.

Here, he describes the preparation for his coming. The princes lower their insignia and swords before him. He bears not the sword in vain (Rom 13:4), as if to say that they have the power to judge. So preceding Christ come the standards of vindication and the minsters of judgment.

Therefore, he first describes the signs and instruments of vindication.

Second, he notes his power as evidenced in his ministers, at he shall call.

The instrument of divine judgment has two elements.

One, the principal, is the punishing fire,

and another is the whole creation fighting against the unwise (Wis 5:21).

In regard to the first, he says, a fire shall burn before him.

According to the literal sense, a fire precedes him: as Hebrews 10:27 says, a raging fire will burn and will purge the face of the earth, and it will purify what needs to be purified in the good and will surround the evil in hell. (Cf. ST Supp., q. 74, a. 2.)

Or it is the fire of a remorseful conscience. Walk in the light of your fire (Isa 50:11).

In regard to the second, he says, and a mighty tempest shall be round about him, which will arise from the shaking of all the elements before the judgment. There shall be signs in the sun (Luke 21:25), and there will be such a shaking that even the powers of heaven will be moved.

A tempest, that is, his anger, will be round about him, that is, in the saints who will be round about him to punish the sinners (Isa 13:9). Poverty, like water, shall take hold on him (Job 27:20). When sudden calamity shall fall on you (Prov 1:27).

492. He shall call heaven from above. Having described the coming of the judge to judgment and the preparation for the judge in regard to the instrument of punishment, he describes the preparation for the judge in regard to his ministers.

First, he treats the attendance of the ministers;

second, the office of the angels, at gather together;

third, the office of the apostles, at they shall declare.

In the first part, he mentions heaven and earth. And this can be understood in two ways.

In one way, the thing containing means, metonymically, what it contains, so that by heaven he designates the saints who are in heaven, and by earth the men who are on earth, and all these are called to judgment.

And this is the second calling, since above he said, he has called the earth, since this calling is the call to faith, to which all, both good and evil, are called. The kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea (Matt 13:47).

But this second calling is for separating, since they chose out the good into vessels, but the bad they cast forth (Matt 13:28). And so he says, to judge his people by distinguishing the good from the evil. He shall separate the sheep from the goats (Matt 25:32). Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause (Ps 42:1).

But heaven and earth have different callings, since heavenly men are called to be judges. You who have left all things to follow me . . . you shall also sit on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt 19:27–28). The earthly are called to be judged. I will gather together all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:2).

Or, he shall call heaven, that is, heavenly men, to a reward—those who are learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament (Dan 12:3)—and the earth, earthly men, evil men, to punishment.

Now, there can be another sense, so that heaven and earth stand for bodily creatures, and so they are called as witnesses or to fight against the unfaithful, since in them the evil could turn away from heaven and earth. The heavens shall reveal his iniquity and the earth shall rise up against him (Job 20:27), namely, the sinner.

Or, he shall call heaven from above, to give to it the souls of the saints which he holds, and the earth, to give to it the souls of the evil which he holds in the depths. And this fits with the text of Jerome, which says, gather all my saints to me, as if to say, “He calls to show forth his saints.”

Gather together his saints to him. This is the duty of the angels: to gather the elect to judgment. He shall send his angels with a trumpet (Matt 24:31). And it is the voice of Daniel the prophet to the angels sent as ministers. For the saints are his; they set his covenant before sacrifices.

The word before can be taken in two ways.

In one way it designates the order of the material cause, and then the meaning of before sacrifices is those who made a covenant with God to offer sacrifices.

And he makes mention of the sacrifices for two reasons.

First, because the following discussion will be about sacrifices;

second, because the discussion in judgment will be only with the faithful who will be judged. And these are those who made a covenant with God through sacrifices.

In another way, the word before can denote excess. And so it should be said that covenant should be understood as the new covenant which excels. So the sense is, before sacrifices, that is, who prefer the new covenant to the sacrifices of the old covenant.

Or it is the covenant promised by God, and so before sacrifices indicates someone who holds the goods promised by God as greater than all our merits. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come (Rom 8:18).

Or, by that covenant the soul has a pact with justice, mercy, faith, and so on. I will espouse you to me in faith (Hos 2:20). And so they are before sacrifices, that is, those who prefer spiritual goods to physical sacrifices of this kind. I desire mercy and not sacrifice (Hos 6:6).

Or, who set his covenant before sacrifices means those who, in the sacrifices they offer to God, have respect for God’s covenant, since some refer their good works to another, so they are gathered together to him. Do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31).

The heavens shall declare. The duty of the apostles is to announce, and they are signified by the heavens. So, the heavens, that is, the apostles, shall declare the justice of God.

And they are called heavens because they are more eminent than all the choirs of saints, and they illuminate the whole Church. The heavens show forth the glory of God (Ps 18:2).

They announce—for God is judge—by instructing in doctrine. He was appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42). Therefore, they instruct about the future judgment. We must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10).

Taken in another way, it means that they will announce through the judge’s authority, by promulgating the sentence against the evil when they shall sit on twelve seats (Matt 19:28). (Cf. ST Supp., q. 89, a. 1.)

493. Hear, O my people. Here, he treats the discussion of the court.

Now, three things are necessary in a court’s discussion.

One is required on our part.

Another is on the part of God.

Third is the discussion itself.

On our part, listening is required, not only external, bodily listening, in respect to things that are heard corporeally, but also that which is interior. If you love to hear, you shall be wise (Sir 6:34). And so he says, hear, that is, attend interiorly—he who has ears to hear, let him hear (Matt 13:9)—O my people, since persons not of his people do not hear him. Everyone who has heard my Father (John 6:45). Likewise, therefore, you shall hear them not, because you are not of God (John 8:47).

On God’s part, speaking and testimony are required, and so he says, and I will speak; O Israel and I will testify against you.

Now, God’s speech is twofold.

One is exterior through preachers. God spoke in times past to the fathers through the prophets (Heb 1:1).

Another is interior through inspiration. What the Lord God shall speak in me (Ps 84:9).

Likewise, testimony is twofold.

One is through miracles. The works which I do give testimony of me (John 5:36).

Another is through witnesses. You are my witnesses (Isa 44:8). You shall be witnesses to me (Acts 1:8).

And so these can be Christ’s words instructing the people. Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify to you by miracles. The works which the Father has given me to perfect (John 5:36). Likewise: search the Scriptures . . . and the same are they that give testimony of me (John 5:39). And so I speak through miracles and through the Scriptures, that is, it will become apparent through the Scriptures that I speak truth and am true.

And to what do I testify? I am God, your God, namely, uniquely. I am the Lord (Exod 10:2), and he says I am because of his eternity, since he does not fail, either in the past or in the future. And he says, your God, since he is of the seed of Abraham. Of whom is Christ, according to the flesh (Rom 9:5).

494. I will not reprove you for your sacrifices. Here, he treats the discussion itself.

He makes three points regarding it.

First, he rejects the old sacrifice;

second, he introduces the new one, at offer to God;

third, he drives the wicked away from this sacrifice, at but to the sinner.

Now sacrifices are professions of faith, and so, about to set forth the face of God, he sets forth the faith in the one God.

And first, he describes the intention;

second, gives a reason.

Therefore, he says, “I will come and judge, and I will not reprove you for your sacrifices, which you did not omit.”

But on the contrary, he who omitted sacrifice erred, but they are brought to judgment for every error (cf. Sir 12:14).

It should be said that a man reproves when he does not do the will of a superior. For this is the will of God, your sanctification (1 Thess 4:3).

Now these sacrifices did not effect your holiness, and so they were not willed by God in themselves but rather are a sign of something else. And so he says, I desire mercy and not sacrifice (Hos 6:6). And they are rather signs of interior virtue, and so he reproves regarding the virtues themselves, which they did not exercise, not regarding sacrifices. (Cf. ST I-II, q. 102, a. 2.)

He shows the reason first on their part;

second, on his own part.

Your burnt offerings are always in my sight, as if to say, “I do not reprove your sacrifices, since you are prompt to offer sacrifices of flesh,” since they offered sacrifices gladly so they might delight in them in a banquet. Behold, joy and gladness, offering victims (Isa 22:13).

Or it can also be taken to mean, I will not reprove you for your bodily sacrifices, for your holocausts, namely, spiritual offerings, are always in my sight, that is, they please me. And these are those, according to Gregory, which are totally offered to God, namely, he who offers himself and all that he has and thus expends it in the service of God. (Gregory the Great, Homiliarum in Ezechielem Prophetam libri duo 2.8.16 (Sources Chrétiennes, 360: 412–13).)

He explains the reason on God’s part when he says, I will not take calves out of your house. The reason why I will not reprove you for your sacrifices is that I do not principally reprove about things I do not principally seek.

Now there were two principal sacrifices: the calf and the goat (cf. Lev 4:3, 23). And he demonstrates that he does not receive these two, that is, accept them from the slaughter house. Nor from your flock—that is, of carnal things—will I accept he-goats. May the Lord be appeased with thousands of rams? (Mic 6:7).

For all the beasts of the woods are mine. He gives evidence for what he said, namely, that he approves neither calves nor goats, and that even if he lacked them he would not take them from his house.

No one asks someone else for what is in his own power, but all those things which they offered were in God’s power.

Three things were offered in the Old Testament:

four-footed animals,

birds,

produce (namely, the first fruits), and bread.

In regard to the first, he says, all the beasts of the woods are mine. Four-footed animals are divided into two types: some are wild and some domesticated, and although the wild animals are not offered, nevertheless he includes them, to underscore the fact that the domesticated animals are his in addition to these.

Now mystically these animals signify different types of people. So he says, beasts, that is, the faithless; the cattle, that is, the faithful; and the oxen on the hills, that is, the apostles, are all mine.

In regard to the second, he says, I know all the fowls of the air, that is, they are under my providence.

These fowls signify the holy angels, which are a likeness.

In regard to the third, he says, with me is the beauty of the field, that is, whatever beauty is in them serves me.

Or, the beauty of the field is with me since I am everywhere. And it is, since I always am, without past or future.

If I should be hungry, I would not tell you. He concludes using what would be logically impossible. If I needed them, I would not tell you, that is, I would not seek them from you. Why? Because the world is mine and its fullness. The earth is the Lord’s (Ps 23:1).

495. Shall I eat the flesh of bullocks?** Above, the psalmist in the person of the Lord gave the reason why the Lord would not accept calves, even if he lacked them. Now he shows that he does not lack.

It should be noted that in the law it is prescribed that the flesh of holocausts be burnt, and their blood was poured out upon the base of the altar. And someone could think that God delighted in their blood and flesh. This was the opinion of the gentiles—that their gods delighted in the odors of the flesh and in the pouring out of blood, as Augustine says. (Augustine, City of God 10.5–6.)

And the Lord says that he does not delight in these things which do not per se delight, and so he says, shall I eat the flesh of bullocks or shall I drink the blood of goats? As if to say, “No, since I do not lack them, nor do I delight in them, since I delight in those things which are per se the food of God, but the food of God is something other than the flesh and blood of animals,” for the food of God is that which is the food of all the saints: I dispose to you as my Father has disposed to me, a kingdom (Luke 22:29).

And so the refreshment of the saints and of God is the same. But the saints are refreshed by the love of God himself, and so God is refreshed in the enjoyment of his own self. I use an invisible meat and drink which cannot be seen by men (Tob 12:19).

496. Offer to God the sacrifice of praise. Here he shows what sacrifice God accepts.

He first demonstrates what God accepts from man;

second, what he gives as reward.

The Lord requires two things from man.

First is the sacrifice of praise. And praise is called a sacrifice because sacrifice is nothing else than the profession of interior devotion and faith, since through sacrifice we recognize God as the creator of all things. (Cf. ST I-II, a. 102, a. 3, resp.) All things are yours, and we have given you what we have received from your hand (1 Chron 29:14).

Augustine says that there is no sign which so well signifies the expression and intention of the heart as a word. (Augustine, On Christian Doctrine 2.3 (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina, 32:33).) And exterior faith and devotion cannot be better expressed than through the devotion of praise, and so praise is more acceptable to God than the slaughter of animals. By him let us offer the sacrifice of praise always to God (Heb 13:15). We will render the calves of our lips (Hos 14:3).

Second, the Lord requires that man repay his vows to the Most High. And so he says, pay your vows to the Most High. Praise is a sacrifice to God insofar as it is sign of interior devotion, since praise signifies that a man offers his mind to God, and God desires that this be given him, and this is a vow, and so a vow is an act of worship. They shall worship him with sacrifices and offerings and they shall make vows to God and fulfill them (Isa 19:21). If you have vowed anything to God, do not defer to pay it (Sir 5:3).

497. And call upon me. Here, the Lord explains that he will repay those worshipping him.

He first lays out what the saints suffer;

second, what they do in tribulation;

third, what they receive from God;

fourth, what they give back to God.

Therefore, he says that although a man may fulfill his vows, he is nevertheless afflicted. My enemies have unjustly persecuted me (Ps 68:5). And the reason for this is that unless the just are afflicted in this world, many would serve God not for his own sake but for prosperity.

Second, he lays out what they do in time of tribulation, since they should invoke him, and call upon me.

God, what will you do for him? He will free him: I will deliver you. In my trouble, I cried to the Lord (Ps 119:1).

And afterwards, when he has been freed, he should glorify God: and you will glorify me.

498. But to the sinner, God has said. Here he excludes some, namely sinners, from the sacrifice of praise.

He lays out three points.

The first is human perversity.

The second is God’s patience.

The third is that he threatens divine severity.

Human perversity consists in the fact that they say good things but do evil, and so he shows how unworthy they are to say good things.

Now, there is a twofold good.

One is instruction in how to live;

another is enlightenment in how to praise God.

Therefore, he says, you, namely, my people, offer to God the sacrifice of praise.

But to the sinner God has said, that is, it is fixed by God’s plan that it is unjust to say the good and do the evil. And he says this because this is impressed in the minds of all, even of sinners.

And what has he said? Why do you declare my justices? You who preach that men should not steal, steal (Rom 2:21).

But surely he who is in the state of mortal sin does not sin mortally when he preaches or teaches?

It should be said that his sin is either public or hidden. And if hidden, it is hidden either out of contempt and is unrepented, or it is repented.

Therefore, it must be said that if he is guilty of public sin he should not teach or preach publicly. And I say publicly, since if his sin is not public, it is possible that when with hidden charity he reproves his brother for a sin less than his own hidden sin, he reproves himself.

But if he has committed a hidden sin and he is without repentance, then he provokes God because he dissimulates. The dissembler with his mouth deceives his friend (Prov 11:9). And about these is said what the gloss of Augustine says: he should not presume to contradict his conscience with praise of the tongue. (Glossa ordinaria.)

If his sin is hidden and he regrets it, he does not sin by preaching or teaching, even if he speaks publicly against sin, since in detesting others’ sin, he detests his own.

And take my covenant in your mouth. Justice refers to instruction, while the covenant refers to the praise of faith. Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner (Sir 15:9), since God’s name is most holy, and so it is not appropriate for it to be taken up by sinners, as though to usurp it. As a lame man has fair legs in vain, so a parable is unseemly in the mouth of fools (Prov 26:7).

Seeing you have hated discipline. Here, he demonstrates the evils which sinners do.

And they do two evils.

The first is that they hate divine correction, so he says, you have hated discipline. This correction of life takes place through difficulties. All chastisement in the present does not seem to bring with it joy, but sorrow (Heb 12:11). The evil hate this. If you are without chastisement . . . then you are bastards and not sons (Heb 12:8). Teach me goodness and discipline (Ps 118:66). They have hated him who rebukes in the gate (Amos 5:10).

Therefore, you do not desire to be rebuked by others, since you transgress daily, and you have cast my words behind you, by which you were taught how to do good and to earn merit. Such words should be held in reverence. But these, namely sinners, do not accept them, nor consider them. They hear your words, and do them not, for they turn them into a song of their mouth (Ezek 33:31).

Or, you have cast them away behind you, by holding them as of no value, so that you did not even consider them.

If you saw a thief, you ran with him. Here he describes the malice of sinners in regard to doing evil. But a little before, when he said, you hated discipline, he showed their fault in regard to abandoning the good.

And first, he describes their iniquity in regard to doing evil,

and afterwards in regard to speaking evil.

Therefore, he says, if you did see. Here it should be known that these words are pronounced in the person of God, proclaiming and preaching God’s justice to the sinner.

And they are especially appropriate to prelates and teachers who do not lightly fall into sin themselves, but consent to the sins of others, and these become their own. They are worthy of death, and not only those who do them, but those also who consent to those who do them (Rom 1:32). Eli, who did not correct his sons, was punished (cf. 1 Sam 2).

Therefore, he reproves them about this. And he touches on two things: theft and adultery.

In regard to the first, he says, if you saw a thief, brought to you for judgment, you ran with him, by not correcting him. Your princes are faithless (Isa 1:23).

Likewise, and with adulterers you have been a partaker, since you do not correct adulterers but flatter them and cooperate with and cultivate them when they come to your attention. They are all adulterers (Jer 9:2).

Now, spiritual theft takes place when a misrepresenter of Sacred Scripture steals its true meaning; and when you see someone thus misrepresenting and hiding the true meaning, and you consent, you “run with him.” Behold, I am against the prophets who steal my words (Jer 23:30).

Spiritual adultery takes place when the words are twisted into another meaning, or for another purpose, as, for example, if someone preaches for profit or seduction. We are not as many, adulterating the word of God (1 Cor 2:17).

499. Your mouth has abounded with evil. Here, he treats the sin of the mouth.

This is made more serious in two ways:

either by circumstance

or by the condition of persons, at sitting.

Regarding the first, he makes two points.

First, he sets down the aggravating conditions, namely, frequency or deceit.

Frequency is an aggravating condition, since if someone commits a sin only occasionally, it is in some way tolerable. Or if he says something inordinate from a slip of the tongue, it is more easily overlooked. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man (Jas 3:2). But if someone fills his mouth with curses, then it proceeds from his own malice, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Matt 12:34). Their mouth is full of cursing (Ps 13:3).

Deceit or deception also aggravates the sin of the tongue. Their tongue is as a piercing arrow (Jer 9:8). And so he says, and your tongue has framed deceits, that is, he has composed and ordered his deceptions after the manner of teaching, so that his words would be pleasing. He who is a hasty witness frames a lying tongue (Prov 12:19).

Sitting, you did speak against your brother. Here, he demonstrates how the sin of the tongue is made more serious from the condition of the persons involved.

First is the condition of the one speaking;

second is the condition of the one against whom he speaks;

third is the condition of those listening.

Therefore he says, sitting. It happens sometimes that someone says a bitter word when troubled and provoked, and this is somewhat bearable.

But when someone who is composed and not provoked says evil things, this is wicked and detestable, and so he says, sitting, that is, quiet. Those who sat in the gate spoke against me (Ps 68:13).

Sin is also aggravated by the person against whom one is speaking, since if one is speaking against an evil person, it is different. But he says, against your brother. Let every man take heed of his neighbor (Jer 9:4).

And you did lay a scandal against your own mother’s son. Here, he shows how it is made more serious on the part of those who are scandalized by it, that is, those who are listening.

And so he says, you did lay a scandal, namely, against your brother. And the fact that he says the son of your mother shows that young nurslings are called the sons of the mother, and the little ones are scandalized by the evil words which he says.

These things you have done and I was silent. Here, he treats about the dissembling of God.

First, he treats God’s dissembling itself;

second, the effect of this dissembling on the wicked, at you thought unjustly.

Therefore, he says, these things you have done, namely, all the things mentioned above: you spoke good things and perpetrated evils.

And the psalmist says this in the person of God: I was silent; I did not immediately correct and punish you, but out of clemency and mercy, I bore you towards repentance. I have always held my peace; I have kept silence (Isa 42:14). Or do you not know that the benignity of God leads you to penance? (Rom 2:4).

But the evil and sinful man, in his pride, abused this clemency. According to your hardness and impenitent heart you treasure up to yourself wrath (Rom 2:5). And so he says, you thought unjustly that I should be like you.

Now, it was said above: if you saw a thief. Sinners reason from this, and the wicked believe, that sin pleases God and that he does not punish, since he is silent: these things you have done and I was silent, but this evaluation is wicked, since to God the wicked and his wickedness are hateful alike (Wis 14:9). Your eyes are too pure to behold evil and you cannot look on iniquity (Hab 1:13).

But I will reprove you. Here, he describes the divine severity.

And it is first described in his reproof;

second, in its effect.

Therefore, he says, I will reprove you, that is, I will condemn you. Lord, do not chastise me in your wrath (Ps 37:2; Ps 7:7).

This anger has an effect: I will set before your face. The God who punishes does not only himself punish, but also punishes through other creatures. The whole world shall fight with him against the unwise (Wis 5:21). Likewise, a man himself fights against himself through the remorse of conscience. And so he fights against himself, and chastises his own self, and this is what he means when he says, I will set before your face—that is, you yourself will condemn yourself. Has no man condemned you? No one, Lord. Neither will I condemn you (John 8:10–11).

Or, I will set creatures before your face (cf. Wis 5:18). These are either rational creatures, that is, the angels and saints, or irrational creatures, which are ill treated when men sin. (Cf. ST I-II, q. 79, a. 1, ad 2.) You have set me opposite to you and I am become burdensome to myself (Job 7:20), since the sinner will speak against himself: we have erred from the way of truth (Wis 5:6). I will show your nakedness to the nations (Nah 3:5). The show of their countenance has answered them (Isa 3:9). This punishment is the worm of conscience. (Cf. ST Supp., q. 97, a. 2.)

500. Understand these things, you who forget God. Here, he encourages us to consider sinners:

first, in regard to God’s severity;

second, he shows what sacrifices are acceptable to God.

Therefore, he first urges understanding, so he says, understand these things, you who forget God, namely, consider what has been said. And this is necessary, since you have forgotten God. You have forgotten the Lord who created you (Deut 32:18).

Second, he discusses what he should understand: lest he, the devil, snatch you away, and there be no one to deliver you from his power. When the devil snatches someone to the punishment of hell, there is no one who can deliver him. Sometimes he snatches one into sin, and God delivers the sinner. He will deliver him (Ps 90:15). That he does not deliver him from the devil’s power to punish does not stem from his lack of power, but rather, he does not want to do it because of his justice.

The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me. Here, he concludes with what sacrifices are acceptable to God.

And he shows that they bear two kinds of fruit.

One fruit is on the part of God, that his excellence is manifested, and this occurs through the sacrifice of vocal praise. Do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31).

Another fruit is on our part, namely, true salvation, so he says, and there is the way by which I will show him the salvation of God, that is, seeing God. They have lifted up their voice; they shall praise together (Isa 52:8).

Jerome has, and he who walks in an orderly way, I will show him the salvation of God, as if to say, “Two things are necessary for salvation, that is, the sacrifice of praise and that you walk in an orderly way.”