Prologue — Prologue

Sirach 47:8

In all his works he gave praise to the Holy One, with words of glory to the Most High.

These words refer in the literal sense to David, and are selected fittingly to show the cause of this work. In them, its four causes are shown, namely, the matter, the mode or form, the goal, and the agent. The matter is universal, since, while individual books of the canonical Scriptures contain particular matter, this book contains the general matter of the whole of the theology. And this is what Dionysius says: the Sacred Scripture of the divine songs, that is, of the Psalms, intends to sing about all of the holy and divine actions. (Eccles. hier. ch. 3, n. 4. PG 3:429–30. For a French translation of Aquinas’s Commentary on the Psalms, as well as extensive notes, see Jean-Eric Stroobant de Saint-Eloy, OSB, Thomas D’Aquin Commentaire sur Les Psaumes, (Paris: Les Editiones Du Cerf, 2004).) So the phrase in all his works designates the matter, since he writes about every work of God.

Now the work of God is fourfold, namely, creation: on the seventh day, God rested from every work (Gen 2:2); governance: my father is always working (John 5:17); restoration: my food is to do the will of him who sent me, so that I may complete his work (John 4:34); and glorification: his work is filled with the glory of the Lord (Sir 42:16). And all these are treated completely in this teaching.

First is the work of creation: I will behold your heavens, the works of your hands (Ps 8:4).

Second is the work of governance, since all the histories in the Old Testament are treated in this book: I will open my mouth in parables . . . what great things we have heard and known and our fathers have told us (Ps 77:2–3).

Third is the work of restoration, in regard to the head, namely Christ, and in regard to all the effects of grace: I have slept and taken my rest, and I have risen up (Ps 3:6). For all the things that pertain to faith in the Incarnation are related so plainly in this work that it seems to be a Gospel rather than a prophecy.

Fourth is the work of glorification: the saints shall rejoice in glory (Ps 149:5). And this is the reason why the Psalter is used so frequently in the Church, since it contains the whole of Scripture. Or, according to the gloss, it is to give us hope in the divine mercy, since although David sinned, he was nevertheless restored through penance. (Cf. Peter Lombard, Magna glossatura (Patrologia Latina [Migne], 191:57).)

Now, the matter is universal because it is all his works, and because it looks to Christ in whom it pleased God for all fullness to dwell (Col 1:19), and so the matter of this book is Christ and his members.

The mode or form of Sacred Scripture is of many kinds.

For example, narrative: has the Lord not made the saints declare all his wonderful works? (Sir 42:17). And this is found in the historical books.

Another kind admonishes, exhorts, and commands: speak and exhort these things; rebuke with all authority (Titus 2:15); remind people of these things, testifying before God (2 Tim 2:14). This kind is found in the law, the prophets, and the books of Solomon.

Another kind disputes, and this is in Job and in the Apostle: I desire to dispute with God (Job 13:3).

Then there is praying or praising, and this is also found in this book, since everything said in the other books in the modes already mentioned is also here, in the mode of praise and prayer: I will praise you, Lord, with my whole heart; I will relate your wonders (Ps 9:2). And so he says, he gave praise, because he spoke in the mode of giving praise.

And from this comes the reason for the book’s title: The Beginning of the Book of Hymns or The Soliloquies of the Prophet David about Christ. A hymn is the praise of God with song. Now a song is the exultation of a mind dwelling on things eternal breaking forth aloud. Therefore, he teaches us to praise God with exultation. A soliloquy is a conversation of a man with God alone, or with just himself, since this is fitting for praising and praying.

The goal of this Scripture is prayer, which is the lifting up of the mind to God. Prayer is the ascent of the intellect to God. (John of Damascus, On the Orthodox Faith 3.24 (Patrologia Graeca [Migne], 94:1089).) The lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice (Ps 140:2). The soul is lifted up toward God in four ways:

namely, to admire the height of his power, and this is the elevation of faith: lift your eyes on high and see who has created these things (Isa 40:26). How great and wonderful are your works, Lord (Ps 103:24).

Second, the mind is lifted up to stretch towards the excellence of eternal beatitude, and this is the elevation of hope: you may lift up your face without stain, and you will be steadfast and shall not fear, and you will forget misery . . . and brightness like that of noonday shall rise up for you (Job 11:15–17).

Third, the mind is lifted up to cling to the divine goodness and holiness: arise, stand up, O Jerusalem (Isa 51:17). And this is the elevation of charity.

Fourth, the mind is lifted up to imitate the divine justice in action, and this is the elevation of justice: let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens (Lam 3:41).

And these four ways are implied when he says, to the Holy One and the Most High, since the last two ways of being lifted up relate to the Holy One and the first two to the Most High. And the Psalms teach that this is the goal of this Scripture.

First, about the Most High: from the rising of the sun . . . the Lord is high above all nations (Ps 112:3–4).

Second, about the Holy One: let them praise your great name for it is terrible and holy (Ps 98:3).

So Gregory says that if it is carried out with the attention of the heart, the voice of psalm-singing prepares for Almighty God a way to the heart, so that he may pour the mystery of prophecy or the grace of remorse into the attentive soul. (See Gregory the Great, Homilies on the Prophet Ezekiel 1.15 (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina, 142:12).) The goal is, therefore, that the soul may be joined to God as the Holy One and the Most High.

Now, the phrase in words of glory indicates the author of this work. For it should be noted that Sacred Scripture differs from other kinds of knowledge. For other kinds of knowledge arise through human reason, but Scripture through the impulse of divine inspiration: for prophecy did not come by the will of man, but they spoke, inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 1:21). (Cf. ST I, q. 1, a. 3.) So, in Sacred Scripture, the tongue of a man is like the tongue of a child saying the words another provides: my tongue is like the pen of a scribe (Ps 44:2), and the spirit of the Lord has spoken through me and his word through my tongue (2 Sam 23:2). And so he says the words of the Lord, or of glory, which are spoken through revelation. Thus 1 Kings 20:35 says, strike me in the word of the Lord—that is, in divine revelation.

And so this Scripture (That is, the Psalms.) can be said to be the words of glory in four ways, since it is related to glory in four ways.

First, in regard to the cause from which it flows, since this teaching comes forth from the glorious Word of God, a voice coming down in this way from the excellent glory, “This is my beloved Son” (2 Pet 1:17).

Second, in regard to content, since this book contains the glory of the Lord which it announces: announce his glory among the nations (Ps 95:3).

Third, in regard to the way it comes forth, since glory is equivalent to clarity, and the revelation of this prophecy was glorious because it was manifest.

For there are three modes of prophecy:

Through sensible things: there appeared fingers, as it were of the hand of a man . . . and the king beheld the joints of the hand that wrote (Dan 5:5).

Through imaginary likenesses, as is made clear by the dream of Pharaoh and the interpretation made by Joseph (Gen 41). I saw the Lord sitting upon a high and elevated throne (Isa 6:1).

Through the manifestation of the truth itself. (Cf. Thomas Aquinas, ST II-II, q. 173, a. 2; Super Isaiam 1, lect. 1.) And this mode befits the prophecy of Daniel, who put forth his prophecy solely by the impulse of the Holy Spirit without any exterior help. For the other prophets, as Augustine says, prophesied deeds and words through certain images of things and verbal veiling (namely, through dreams and visions); but he was taught directly by the truth. (Cf. Augustine, On Seeing God 13 (Patrologia Latina [Migne], 33:610–11).) So when David said that the spirit of the Lord has spoken through me, he immediately added, as the light of the dawn when the sun rises, shines in the morning without clouds (2 Sam 23:2, 4). For the sun is the Holy Spirit, illuminating the hearts of the prophets, who sometimes appears under the clouds when he illumines through the two modes of prophecy already mentioned, and who sometimes appears without clouds, as here. And to this can be added, how glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself before the handmaids of his servants and was naked (2 Sam 6:20).

The fourth way in which this Scripture relates to glory is that through it, God invites us to glory. Psalm 149:9, this glory is for all his saints, aptly relates to how glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself (2 Sam 6:20).

Thus we know the matter of this work: it concerns all the works of the Lord;

Its mode: praying and praising;

its goal: so that, elevated, we may be joined to the Most High and Holy One;

and its author: the Holy Spirit revealing it.

But, before we come to the text, we should consider three things generally about this book.

First, the translation of this work.

Second, the way of explaining it.

Third, its division.

There are three translations. One is from the earthly Church’s beginning at the time of the Apostles, and, by Jerome’s time, this had been corrupted by copyists. So Jerome corrected it at the request of Pope Damasus, and this is read in Italy. But since this translation did not agree with the Greek, Jerome translated it again from Greek into Latin at the request of Paula, and Pope Damasus had this sung in France, and it agrees word for word with the Greek. Later, a certain Sophronius was disputing with the Jews, who said that something was not as he cited it from the second translation of the Psalter, so he asked Jerome to translate the Psalter into Latin from Hebrew. Jerome agreed to his request, producing a translation that entirely agrees with the Hebrew but which is not sung in any church, though many still have it. (Thomas’s main text is the Gallican Psalter, which is found in the Vulgate and is the second text he describes here. He is, however, familiar with variants from different sources, including the Roman Psalter (the first he describes here), Jerome’s Juxta Hebraios (the third he describes here), and other Latin variations.)

Second, regarding the way of explaining it, it should be known that in explaining the Psalter, as with other prophecies, we must avoid the error condemned in the Fifth Synod. (Constantinople II, 553.) Theodore of Mopsuestia said that Sacred Scripture and the prophecies do not speak explicitly about Christ, only about other things, but that people have applied them to Christ. Thus, they have divided my garments among themselves (Ps 21:19) in the literal sense was not about Christ but David. This theory was condemned by that Council, and anyone who insists that Scripture must be explained this way is a heretic. Therefore, blessed Jerome, writing about Ezekiel, gave us a rule which we will follow in regard to the Psalms, namely that events should be explained as prefiguring something relating to Christ or the Church. (Jerome, In Oseam, prologue (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina, 76:3).) For, as it is said, all these things happened to them in figure (1 Cor 10:11). (Cf. ST I, q. 1, a. 10, corp.)

Now prophecies are sometimes about things which took place in their own time; however, they are not about these things principally but insofar as these things prefigure future ones. This is why the Holy Spirit ordained that when such things are said, certain elements exceeding that event itself are inserted to lift the soul up to what is prefigured.

For example, in Daniel, many things are said about Antiochus as he is a prefigurement of the Antichrist, and so we read in that book some things that were not fulfilled in him, but will be fulfilled in the Antichrist—just as some things are written about the reign of David and Solomon which were not fulfilled in the reign of these men but will be fulfilled in the reign of Christ, in whose prefigurement they were said. For example, in Psalm 71, give to the king judgment, God, according to the title, this psalm is about the reign of David and Solomon, but there is material in it which exceeds their ability, namely: in his day justice shall spring up, and abundance of peace until the moon be taken away, and further, he shall rule from sea to sea and from the river even to the ends of the earth (Ps 71:7–8). Therefore the psalm is about the reign of Solomon insofar as it prefigures the reign of Christ, in which all that has been said will be fulfilled.

Its first division is that there are one hundred and fifty psalms, and this has a hidden meaning, since one hundred and fifty is composed of seventy and eighty. Seven, from which seventy is named, signifies the length of this time, which is measured by seven days. Eight, from which eighty is named, signifies the state of future life; for eight, according to the gloss, relates to those who are risen. (Glossa ordinaria (Patrologia Latina [Migne], 113:843–44); cf. Peter Lombard, Magna glossatura (Patrologia Latina [Migne], 191:55–56).) So one hundred and fifty signifies that this book treats those things which pertain to the course of this present life and to future glory. Seven also signifies the Old Testament, for the Old Testament fathers maintained a sevenfold structure of observance. They observed the seventh day; the seventh week; the seventh month; and the seventh year of the seventh decade, which is called the jubilee (cf. Lev 25:8–10). Now eight signifies the New Testament, because we celebrate the eighth day, the Lord’s day, because of the solemnity of the Lord’s Resurrection. And in this book of Psalms, the mysteries of the Old and New Testaments are contained.

The second division follows those who said that the Psalter is divided into five books by the five divisions of the Psalms which say, so be it, so be it; and this is in Greek, where the Hebrew has, amen, amen. And according to them, this phrase marks the end of each book, and it is found first in Psalm 40, which begins, blessed is he who understands (Ps 40:2). Again, in Psalm 71: give to the king your judgment, O Lord (Ps 71:2). And in Psalm 88: I will sing the mercies of the Lord forever (Ps 88:2). And in Psalm 105, whose second verse begins, give glory. And so there are five books. (A division related to this theory is favored by contemporary scholarship, although in many forms it is more complicated, involving several original collections being split and layered around a central set of Psalms. For a reference to this fivefold division, see Oxford Companion to the Bible, ed. Bruce Metzger and Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 626.)

But this division is not found among the Hebrews, who regard it as one book: for it is written in the book of Psalms, let their habitation become desolate (Acts 1:20; Ps 68:26). For they say that so be it, so be it or amen, amen does not refer to the end of a book, since it is used many times in the other books where it is not the end of a book. (Cf. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms 150.2 (Corpus Christianorum Series, 40:2192), and Judith 13:26.)

The third division is into three groups of fifty, and this division reflects the three states of the faithful people.

First, the state of penitence, to which are directed the first fifty psalms, which end with the psalm beginning, have mercy on me, O God (Ps 50:3), which is a penitential psalm.

Second, the state of justice, which consists in judgment, and this group ends with Psalm 100, which begins, mercy and judgment (Ps 100:1).

The third concludes the praise of eternal glory, and so it ends in this way, let every spirit praise the Lord (Ps 150:5).

Now, about the order of the Psalms, it should be noted that, although some psalms are about history, they are not in historical order. For the psalm that begins, I will love you, O Lord (Ps 17:2), pertains to the history of Saul, but the psalm that begins, why, O Lord, are they multiplied (Ps 3:2), pertains to the history of Absalom which came later. So they signify something other than merely history.

The first fifty pertain to the state of penitence, and so the tribulations and attacks against David—and his deliverance—are treated in them figuratively. And in order that the division also be literal, King David prays against two kinds of attack or persecution.

First, against what was against the whole people of God, and this is in the fifth set of ten, beginning, as the deer longs for fountains of water, so my soul longs for you, O God (Ps 41:2).

And second, the just man individually is afflicted in two ways: sometimes by those persecuting him in temporal affairs, and sometimes by those living unjustly: they afflicted the soul of the just with unjust works (2 Pet 2:8); fainting has taken hold of me because of the wicked (Ps 118:53).

So he puts first the psalms pertaining to the first kind of persecution against David, which signifies something against Christ and the Church,

and next, the fourth set of ten, those pertaining to the second kind of tribulation: blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven (Ps 31:1).

And David, while reigning, suffered two kinds of tribulation: by particular persons and by the whole people.

Therefore, the psalms which are against an individual are first.

Next are the psalms in which he prays against the second persecution, and this is in the third set of ten, namely: O God, my God, look upon me (Ps 21:2).

Now, he suffered persecution from two particular persons, namely Absalom and Saul, and this signifies the persecution that the saints suffer either from those of their own household or from those outside. So Christ was made to suffer by Judas and by the Jews.

Therefore the psalms against the first are put first;

those against the second are next, and these are in the second group of ten: save me, O Lord for there is no holy one, for truth has disappeared from among the sons of men (Ps 11:2).

Therefore, we must first treat the first ten, which begin with the psalm that opens, blessed is the man (Ps 1:1).