Psalm 38

An invitation to glorify God, with a commemoration of his mighty works.

1 Bring to the Lord, O ye children of

God: bring to the Lord the offspring of rams.

2 Bring to the Lord glory and honour;

bring to the Lord glory to his name: adore ye the Lord in his holy court.

3 The voice of the Lord zs upon the waters ; the God of majesty hath thundered, The Lord upon many waters.

4 The voice of the Lord 7s in power; the voice of the Lord in magnificence.

5 The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars: yea, the Lord shall break the cedars of Libanus,

6 And shall reduce them to pieces, as a calf of Libanus, and as the beloved son of unicorns,

7 The voice of the Lord divideth the fame of fire:

8 The voice of the Lord shaketh the desert: and the Lord shall shake the desert of Cades.

9 The voice of the Lord prepareth the stags: and he will discover the thick woods : ~and in his temple all shall speak Ais glory.

10 The Lord maketh the flood to dwell: and the Lord shall sit king for ever. The Lord will give strength to his people: the Lord will bless his people with peace.

EXPLANATION OF THE PSALM.

1 “ Bring to the Lord, O ye children of God: bring to the Lord the offspring of rams.”

The prophet, being about to chant the praises of the divine power, stirs up God's peculiar people, to whom he was known, for “ God is known in Judea, in Israel great is his name,’ Psalm txxiii., to honour that power with the victims of the seascn, the hymns cf their yoice, end the prostration of their bodies. Taking the summons to refer to a later period, the explanation would be, that when about to chant the praiscs of the divinity, the perfecter of the tabernacle, that is, of the Church, who is the mother of all God’s children, he invites those children, so called by the inspiration of heaven, to offer to God sacrifice of praise. “ Bring to the Lord, O ye childien of God, the offspring of rams;” you that have been made children of God by the blood of the immaculate Lamb, bring your own lambs, bring the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, as he further explains in the following verse.

2 “ Bring to the Lord glory and honour ; bring to the Lord glory to his name: adore ye the Lord in his holy court.”

The prophet tells us what sort of sacrifice we should offer to God, namely, Glory and honour ;” that is, in your words and your works glorify the Lord; and not only in your words and works, but even in the carriage of your person, which should be so reverential as to make it ajipear to all that you acknowledge him as your supreme Master, and that

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS.

you adore him as such. ‘“* Bring to the Lord glory to his name.” Bring glory to the Lord, that is, to his name, by celebrating the name, fame, and knowledge of the Lord. ‘ Adore ye the Lord in his holy court.” The holy court may mean either the vestibule of the Jewish tabernacle, to which all could resort, while the priests alone were permitted to enter the tabernacle ; or the Catholic Church, which is like the porch or vestibule of the heavenly tabernacle. All, good and bad, are promiscuously permitted to enter the Church, but they alone will enter the heavenly tabernacle who can say to Christ, ‘¢ Thou hast made us a kingdom and priests to our God.”

3“ The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of Majesty hath thundered, The Lord upon many waters.”

He now explains why he invited us to celebrate and praise the power of God, and the reason is, because the “‘ voice of the Lord” has a wonderful influence on the elements of nature, as well as on the spiritual fabric of the Church. He then describes God's action on the waters, on the air, on the fire, and, finally, on the earth ; these four elements being the principal ones of this world here below, as known tous. God’s action on the water is described in the first chaper of Genesis, where it is said that “ Ze spurt of the Lord moved over the waters; And God said, Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” * God also said, Let the waters that are under the heavens be gathered together in one place, and let ihe dry land appeor.” Then was “the vice of the Lord upon the waters,” when God commanded a division in them, and, on their division, their retirement into one place, to the caverns of the earth, so that the earih may be habitable. Theat voice or command of God is called thunder; for, as thunder prostrates and makes us submit and*obey, so, at the command of God, the waters retired, and betaok themselves into lower places. This voice and thunder of God “ was wpon

the waters,” because at that time water covered the

whole surface of the earth, and there was, therefore, an immense abyss of water on the earth. This is more clearly described in Psaim ciii., where he says, “The deep, like a garnient, is tts clothing; above the mountains shall the waters stand ;” that is, the earth was covered all over by an immense body of water, so as even to cover the mountains, “ At thy rebuke they shull flee; at thevoice of thy thunder they shall fear. The mountains ascend, and the plains descend into the place which thou hast founded for them ;” that is, at God’s commend the waters retired as they would from a thunderbolt; and then there appeared the mountains raised up and the plains depressed. ‘ Zhou hast sct bounds to them which they shall not pass over; neither shall they return to cover the earth.” At the voice of the Lord, not only have thé waters retired and left the earth dry and habitable, but by reason of the same voice, a limit has been put to thei which they will never dare to transgress. Another

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interpretation refers this passage to the beginning of tbe preaching of the gospel, which had its first rise when God, on the baptism of Christ in the Jordan, announced to the whole world that Jesus Christ was his Sov, which is, as it were, the compendium of the Gospel. ‘ The voice of the Lord on the waters” would then mean that magnificent declaration of God, on the baptism of Christ, ‘This is my beloved Sin in whom I am well pleased.” And then “ The Ged of majesty thundered, and thundered upon many waters,” because then was instituted baptism, and all the waters of the wor'd got the power of regenerating the children of God.

4“ The voice of the Lord is in power ; the voice of the Lord in magnificence.”

The praise here attributed to God’s voice can be well applied to either interpretation. For the voice of the Lord, in the first stages of creation, ordering the waters to divide, to betake themselves to the lower caverns of the earth, never to return, was not an empty or idle command, or without producing its effect ; as thunder, that, generally speaking, does no more than make a great noise, but was full of nerve, efficacious and glorious, and produced the effect required.’ So also the voice of the Gospel, intoned by God bimself, taken up by Christ and his apostles, was not an empty parade of words, like that of many philosophers and orators, but was most effective, being confirmed by signs and miracles. The efficacy of the preaching is conveyed in the words, “im power;’ the splendour and glory of the miracles, in the word, “ magnificence,” as St, Paul has it, 1 Cor. ii., “ ILy preaching was not in the persuave words of human wisdom, but in the shewing of the spit and power;” and, 1 Thess. chap. i., “ For our gospel hath not been to youtn word only, but in power also, and in the Holy Ghost.”

5 ‘* The voice of the Lord breake:h the cedars : yea, the Lord shall break the cedars of Libanus.”

According to the first interpretation, the prophet passes now from the action of God upon the waters to his action on the air; and he tells us that *‘ the voice of the Lords’ namely, his orders, raise the winds and the storms, which, in Psalm cxviii., he calls, “‘ Stormy winds which fulfil his word.” How wonderful is God’s power! that can give such force and strength to a thing apparently so weak and feeble, that will, in one moment, tear up and lay prostrate the largest trees, that many men could not accomplish in many days. He quotes “ cedars,” and the “ cedars of Libanus,” they being the largest, deepest rooted, and longest lived trees in the world. According to the second explanation, the cedars of Libanus are those high people who, by reason cf their power, their wisdom, or their eloquence, are so very high in their own estimation ; or, iu reference to the fragrance of the cedar, those people who are entirely devoted to pleasure and gluttony; or, in reference to density of foliage and endurance, thogo

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who are perverse and obstinate in error, All such cedars will be broken to picecs by the preaching of the Gospel, and brought down to Christian mildness and humility, and to the bringing forth fruits worthy of penance. History abounds in such examples.

6 “* And shall reduce them to pieces, as a calf of Libanus, and as the beloved son of unicorns.”

According to the first explanation, the meaning of this passage is very easy and very beautiful, when explained through the Hebrew, and it means, The voice of the Lord will net only break the cedars cf Libanus, but will even tear up entire cedars from the roots, and make them bound like so many calves. And not only the calves, but even the mountains themselves, will be made to bound like a young unicorn, Similar to itis the expression in Psalm exili , “ The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like the lambs of sheep.” According to the second interpretation, the meaning would be, The sound of tha Gospel will not only break the cedars of Libanus, that is, men, however proud and high they may be, and biing them down to the humility of the Christian religion ; but will even tear up the same cedars from the roots, and make them=bound to another place; that is, will entirely detach them from all earthly affections, and bring them to nearly an angelic life; a thing clearly carried out in the apostles, who became so religious and so perfect upon earth, as to appear more like Angels than like men. And it is not one isolated cedar, but a whole forest of them, that the preaching of the gospcl causes to bound and leap; that means, that it is not an indis vidual or two that will be brought to faith, religion, and perfection, but whole masses and congregations, ‘* And as the beloved sons of unicorns,” a most graceful animal in its movements, light and agile; such will be the avidity cf all tribes and nations to obey the Gospel. According to the seccnd interpretation, the meaning would be, The preaching of the Gospel will not only humble the powerful und the wise, but it will break them into pieces, and make them as small as a calf on Libanus, By the calf we properly uncerstand Christ, who was not only humble ard mild as a suckling calf, but was also offered up in sacrifice to God. ‘‘ And as the beloved sons of wnicorns ;” that means, when those proud ceders of Libanus shall have been destroyed, the beloved Christ, the most beloved of his father, the desired of all nations, will appear, no longer the helpless calf, but the son of a most valiant unicorn. The majesty of God and the omnipoterce of Christ then began for the first time to’ shew itself, when, through the preaching of the fishermen, the orators, the philosophers, nay, the very kings of the world, began to believe in Christ. On the strength of the unicorn, see Job xxxvi. 7.

7“ The voice of the Lord divideth the flame of fire”

The prophet now passes from the action of God on the air to his action on the fire, and says, “ Z/is

PSALMS.

voice,” that is, his power and authority, ‘“ divideth the flames of fire,” which he does when, at his command, the thunderbolts of heaven, the most destructive and dreadful weapons that can be used against man, issue, as it were, from the forges of heaven, and are “ divided,” to intimate how sharp and acute they are, as Moses expresses, when he makes the _ Lord say, “ If J shall whet my sword as lightning.” According to the second interpretation, The voice of the Lord is the preaching ofthe Gospel, which divides the flames of fire, because the Holy Ghost sends various shafts in various ways through the hearts of men; and it was in such “ cloven tongues, as e€ were of fire,” that the Holy Ghost settled on the apostles on the day of Pentecost.

8 “ The voice of the Lord shaketh the desert: and the Lord shall shake the desert of Cades.”

His action on the earth is now the subject. The Hebrew for shaking implies more than mere shaking; it implies a shaking, previous to parturition, or the production of something. Tnus, God’s wonderful

power is brought out when he appears to be able not ,

only to lay waste and denude the forests of Libanus, and make it a desert; but when he can from the very desert call up trees and animals, making it thus to shake with parturition. We have something like this idea in Psalm cvi., “ He hath turned rivers into a wilderness : a fruitful land into barrenness. He hath turned a wilderness into pools of water. And hath placed there the hungry: and they made a city ~ for their habitation. And they sowed fields, and planted vineyards.” According to the second interpretation, the meaning would be, The barbarians who were, up to that time, so backward in the cultivation of their souls, and in the grace of God, so that, compared to other nations, they might have been called deserted, would also be brought to the light of the Gospel.

9 “ The voice of the ‘Lord prepareth the stags: and he will discover the thick woods: and in his temple all shall speak his glory.”

According to the first ‘interpretation, the prophet, having praised God’s power in all the elements, water, air, fire, and earth, turns now to animals and plants, and afterwards to man. ‘“* The voice of the Lord prepareth the stags.” See God’s dealing with them! Job, chap. xxxix., tells us they bring forth their young with the greatest difficulty, and the reason seems to be that they bring them forth in a inost perfect state, so that the moment they leave the mother’s womb they go to pasture, and never more trouble the mother, as we read in the same passage. “Preparing the stags,” then, means helping them in their difficult parturition, through which they could never pass, had not Providence mercifully helped them through it. “ And he will discover the thick woods.” In the Hebrew it is, “ Will open the woods,” and the meaning is, that nothing can be concealed or hidden from God, for he penetrates

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every thing, acts upon every thing, not only on animals, but on plants and trees, and men, too; and, therefore, he follows up by, “ And in his temple alt shall speak his glory.” All creatures in the universe, for the universe is God's temple, will praise and glorify him.

According to the second interpretation, it would be thus, “ The voice of the Lord prepareth the stags.” The preaching of the Gospel prepares devoted souls, aiming at perfection, and blasting with their spirit the poisoned serpents, to produce wonderful things ; for what can be more wonderful, or more surprising, than for a weak, infirm man to do any thing deserving of life everlasting. And since the voice of the Lord causes such wonderful works, it will, therefore, ‘‘ Dzscover the thick woods ;” that is, on the day of judgment, “Jt will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart,” 1 Cor. iv.; and then will God’s justice appear in that great theatre or temple, and will be recognised by the wicked, as well as by the just; for then will “ Hvery knee be bent to Christ ;” and all, whether with or against their will, shall exclaim, “ Thou art just, O Lord, and right ts thy judgment ;” and thus, ‘‘ All in his temple shall speak his glory.”

10 ‘‘ The Lord maketh the flood to dwell: and the Lord shall sit king for ever. The Lord will give strength to his people: the Lord will bless his people with peace.”

According to the first interpretation, the meaning is, that a reason is assigned here for all things giving glory to God, for “ He maketh the flood to dwell ;” he pours out his wholesome rain in such abundance on the earth, as to supply all the vegetable world wish nutrition, which, in their turn, give support to’ animal life; and “the Lord shall sit king for ever ;” for it is he that guides, governs, and directs all these matters.

According to the second interpretation, when the Lord, on the day of judgment, shall have “ discovered the thick woods,” and his justice shall have been praised by all, then he will “make a flood to dwell,” inundating the wicked with all manner of evils ; and thus, all resistance being broken down, the whole power of demons, bad men, and all power in general being swept away, “ the Lord shall sit King for ever.” Some will have the flood here spoken of to refer to the deluge, others to baptism ; and those who so explain it being of great weight and high position, I will not contradict them. “ The Lord will give strength to his people: the Lord wilt bless his people with peace.”

The conclusion of the Psalm, in which, according to the first interpretation, having praised God for his dealings with all the inferior things and creatures of the world, he now praises him for “‘gzving strength to his people ;” nerve and strength to subdue all tueir enemies, and then to rest in profound and undisturbed peace. According to the second interpretation, herein is a promise of “strength” to resist temp-

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fation in this our pilgrimage, and a ‘“ Blessing,” namely, everlasting life in the world to come. Some pious people have remarked the significance of the words, the “ Voice of the Lord,” beiug repeated exactly seven times in this chapter, and that this has reference to the seven Sacraments. Thus, the voice of the Lord ““ On the waters” alludes to Baptism; ‘“ Jn power,” confirmation; “Zn magnificence,’ the Eucharist ; “ Breaking the cedars, Penance ; ‘' Shaking the desert,” Orders; ‘* Dividing the flame of fire,” Matvrimony; ‘ Prepareth the stags,” Extreme Unction.

PSALM XXKIX,

David praiseth God for his deliverance, and his merci- Sul dealings with him.

1 I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast upheld me: and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me.

2 O Lord my God, I have cried to thee, and thou hast healed me.

3 Thou hast brought forth, O Lord, my soul from hell: thou hast saved me from them that go down into the pit.

4 Sing to the Lord, O ye his saints: and give praise to the memory of his holiness.

5 For wrath is in his indignation ; and life in his good will. In the evening weeping shall have place, and in the morning gladness.

6 And in my abundance I said: I shall never be moved. .

7 O Lord, in thy favour, thou gavest strength to my beauty. Thou turnedst away thy face from me, and I became troubled.

8 To thee, O Lord, will I cry; and I will make supplication to my God.

9 What profit is there in my blood, whilst I go down to corruption? Shall dust confess to thee, or declare thy truth?

10 The Lord hath heard, and hath had mercy on me: the Lord became my helper.

11 Thou hast turned forme-my mourning into joy: thou hast cut my sack-cloth, and hast compassed me with gladness:

12 To the end that my glory may sing to thee, and I may not regret: O Lord my God, I will give praise to thee for ever.

EXPLANATION OF THE PSALM,

1 “Twill extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast upheld me: and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me.”

‘ David, now established on his throne, after fortifying the citadel of Sion, and the city having been called after his name, finally, having built a most magnificent palace, and acknowledging God to be

73 the author of so many favours, offershimthe tribute of praise, saying, ‘ J will extol thee, O Lord.” Exalted as thou art, incapable of being more exalted; yet, to those who are not so fully cognizant of thy greatness, I will, as far as in me lies, by my preaching, “ extol thee,” so that all may acknowledge thee to be the supreme Lord of all. “ For thow hast upheld me,” raised me from nothing, from the lowest depths, even to the throne of thy kingdom. ‘You have extolled me, and I will therefore extol you ; attributing my exaltation, not to my own merits, but to your greatness ; you have exalted me, and I will humble myself in order to exalt you. “ And hast not made my enemes to rejoice over me.” The consequence of such exaltation was, that his enemies, who were most numerous, and were for a long time seeking for his death, got no reason to be glad of his death, which they most eagerly looked for; but, on the contrary, had much source of grief at his exaltation, which with all their might they sought to obstruct.

In a prophetic sense, David speaks in the person of Christ ; and of all the elect in general, as well as in particular, who, he foresaw, would be exalted in the kingdom of heaven, himself included. “ Z will extol thee, O Lord, for thow hast upheld me;? that means, how truly, O Lord, internally and externally will I extol thee, for my exaltation has led me to some idea of your immense sublimity ; for, from the lowest earth, from the depth of misery, from mortality itself, thou hast raised me up and upheld me to the glory of resurrection and immortality, and thus to a heavenly and everlasting kingdom. * And hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me;” you have not indulged them in their impious desires of effecting my eternal destruction, a thing ardently sought for by the evil spirits in this and in the other world. The Jews, it is true, rejoiced when they extorted the sentence of death against Christ from Pilate ; and the wicked not unfrequently rejoice when they can deprive their neighbours of their properties, their riches, or even their lives; but their joy is shortlived, followed by interminable punishment, so that it may rather be called the dream of joy than the reality of it.

2“ O Lord my God, I have cried to thee, and thou hast healed me.

3“ Thou hast brought forth, O Lord, my soul from helt : thou hast saved me from them that go down into the pu.

The prophet brings to his memory how he was. angustiated, previous to his getting possession of the kingdom, to shew how true was his statement, that. “+ His enemies were not made to rejoice over him.” “ O Lord my God, [ have cried to thee;” when I was in frequent danger of death, and sick at heart in consequence, you, O my God, have healed me, and so delivered me from impending death, as if you had taken me out of hell itself. “ Thou hast saved me fron them that go down into the pit ;” means the very same,

but that it is a little more obscure. [he meaning is, You have raised me from the dead, which may with propriety be applied to David, who had suffered such persecution, and was driven to death’s door thereby. In a prophetic sense, it applies literally to Christ. “ Thou hast healed me? of the wounds I suffered on the cross. “ Brought my soul from hell,” from Limbo, and “ saved me” by my resurrection, AJl the saints can equally exclaim on the last day, “ Thou hast healed me,’ most completely, in soul and body ; ‘And brought my soul from hell,” for you have not let me into the hell of the damned. ‘ And saved me from them that go down into the pit,’ inasmuch as you have°given me salvation, and life everlasting. The same idea turns up in Psalm cii., “ Who healeth all thy discases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction.”

4 “ Sing to the Lord, Oye his saints ; and give praise to the memory of his holiness.”

Looking at the innumerabie temporal blessings David had received from God, and the everlasiing blessings his sain‘s had received, he thinks it unbecoming in himself alone to thank God, and therefire invites all who had received similar favours to joia him in praise. ‘ Give praise to the memory of his holiness” means, praice his holy memory ; just as “‘ 7 his holy mountain” means the mountain of his holiners, by a Hebraism that uses the genitive for the ablative case ; and the méaning is, praise him, praise his holy memory, because his remembrance of you was a holy one, a pious one, a paternal one, bent on rewarding you instead of punishing you. And, in truth, it is owing to God’s great goodness alone, which we should eyer gratefully bear in mind, that while we, who always need his help, so often forget him, he, who wants nothing from us, should constantly bear us in mind; which he did in a most singular manuer, when he sent his only Son to become our Saviour; and, therefore, no wonder David: hould exclaim, in Psalm viii., “* Whatts man that thou ait mindful of him?”

5 “ For wrath is in his indignation ; and life in his good will. In the evening weeping shall have place, and in the morning gladness.”

He assigns a reason for having said that the holy recollection of God ought to be praised, because when God punishes us, he does so by reason of the “ 7- dignation” one’s sins provoke, that is, through a strict sense of justice; but in other respects, in his will and election it is to us life, not punishment. By anger then, we understand punishment and chastisement, called anger from its proceeding from anger. By indignation, is to be understood, according to St. Basil, the just judgment of God. ‘‘ In the evening, weeping shall have place, and in the morning, gladness.” He proves that God’s anger towards the elect is only temporary, because to the lamentation produced by castigation and penance, joy will immediately succeed; and jraise and thanksgiving is always

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connected with forgiveness and reconciliation, for between the evening and morning, that is, betweea day and night, nothing intervenes. Observe the propriety of attributing grief to the night, joy to the day, because, when we fall into sin, the light of divine grace abandons us; when we get to be reconciled, it comes back to us, Again, our passage through this world, in which we are mourning for our sins, groaning and sighing for our true country, heaven, is our nig! t, in which we have no glimpse of God, the sun of justice ; but the life to come, which 1 St. Peter, chap. i., describes as one in which we shall “ Rejoice with an unspeakable and glorified joy,” will be our day, because we shall see God face to face. This was fulfilled to the letter in Christ, who in the evening died in pain and suffering, in the morning rose in triumph and joy.

The alternations of anger and of life, of weeping and of gladness, alluded toin general by the pr: phet in the preceding verses, are now explained in detail ; the prophet speaking sometimes in his own person, sometimes in that of the elect. TVirst, speaking of himself, he says, that previous to his being put over the kingdom, such was his wealth, and in such peace did he possess it, that he thought his happiness should be everlasting. He would appear fo allade to the time wher, after having slain Goliath, he was in the highest favour with the king, the king’s sor, and the whole mass of the people, to such an extent, that he was elected to be a tribune, and gct the king’s daughter in marriage ; and of that time he says, “‘ In my abundance I said?” when [I was so fortunate, and had such an abundance of everything, “ T shall never be moved.” My happiness seems so. firmly established that it must be everlasting.

7 ‘* O Lord, in thy favour, thou gavest strength to my beauty. Thou turnedst away thy face from me, and I became troubled.”

He assigns a reason for his having said, ‘ I shall never be moved;” because you, O my God, givest “ strength,” nerve, and power, ‘‘to my beauty,” to my happiness; “¢n thy favour,” because such was your will, wish, and decree. “ Thow turnedst away thy face from me, and I became troubled.” Now come the reverses. In the midst of all the aforesaid happiness, ‘‘ thou turnedst away thy face from me; ” you allowed me to incur the king’s displeasure, ‘ az TI became troubled,” suffered bavishment, had to fly, ran several risks of death, and~many other misfortunes, All these risks and dangers are more applicalle, however, to the elect, in their troubles anc peregrinations here below. Any one of the elect cau jus'ly say: In my abundance, that is, while God favoured me with much grace, and his spiritual favours, I said I will never be moved. So said Peter, one of his principal elect, when he said, ‘¢ Hven> though I should die with thee, I will not deny thee.”.

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“0 Lord, in thy favour thou gavest strength to my deauty ;” that is, my strength was not my own but yours 3 for the whole beauty of my soul had its rise from the light of your justice and wisdom, and was kept up and maintained by your assistance. “ You turned your face away from me.” To punish my presumption, you abandoned me, left me to myself; and, at once, I collapsed, fell, and ‘became troubled.” Asregards Christ, these verses will apply to him, speeking in the person of bis Church, his members, or evea as speaking in his own person. For, as he said on the cross, “ My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” so he could say, ‘ Thou turnedst thy face away from me,” not because he was an eremy, but because he seemed to desert him in his passion; and then the meaning would be, “And ta my abundance I said:” My human nature, having been endowed with the choicest graces, far and away beyond any othr mortal, inasmuch as it was hypostatically united to God, the feuntaim of all grace, said, ‘Z shall never be moved:” nothing can harm, hort, or disturb me. “O Lord, in thy favour :” that means, to my beauty and my excellence, already superior to that of all men and Angels, you have added strength and power; that is, the indissoluble tie of the hypostatic union, and that “ in thy favour,” which no one can resist. “‘ Thou turnedst away thy face from me.” Notwithstanding. that indissoluble tie of the hypostatic union, and without injwing “ the strength of my beauty,” you “turned away your face from me:” from defending me, but it was for the salvation of mankind; and you wished the cup of my most bitter passion not to pass from me, that I may free mankind ; therefore, “ J became troubled:” began to fear, to grow weary, and to be sad, and I exclaimed, “ My soul is sorrowful unto death.” We are not to infer from this that Christ had to suffer any thing he did not expect, or of which he had no previous knowledge, for nothing could have injured cr have harmed him against his own will; but he suffered the persecutions freely, and thus “ trowb/ed” himself, And, as Christ said to his Father, Thou turnedst away thy face from me,” so he could say to himself, I have turned away the face of my divinity from helping my humanity, and thus willingly and knowingly I have been troubled.

8 “* To thee, O Lord, will I cry; and I will make supplication to my God.

9 “* What profit is there in my blood, whilst I go down to corruption? Shall dust confess to thee, or declare thy truth 2”

These expressions are to be taken in the past, and not in the future tense; a thing not uncommon among the Hebrews. David then, in a histcric sense, states thet, in the time of his tribulation and danger, he cried out to the Lord, and, among oti.er things, threw out to him, that his death would be of no use to the Lord, for, once dead, he could praise hin -no more. “ To thee, O Lord, will I ery.”

When I became troubled, by the aversion of your face from me, I did not despair of your mercy, but “TL cried out to thee ;” and in terms of deprecation said, “ What profit is there in my blood ? That is, wkat will the spilling of my blood profit ycu, when my enemies shall have put me to death, and I shall have come to rottenness in the grave? Dust can offer you to tribute of praise. According to a prophetic and higher interpretation it means, that Christ, in his passion, cried out and prayed to the Lord, which was fulfilled at the time he, according to the apostle, Hebrews v., “ With a strong cry and tears, offered up prayers and supplications to him that was able to save him from death.” It was at that time he said, “What profit is there in my blood whilst I go down to corruption?” That is, how will my spilling my blood on the cross conduce to the glory of God, er the salvation of mankind, if my body, like that of all other mortals, is to rot and perich in the grave ? For, as the apostle says, 1 Cor. xv., ‘Jf Christ be not risen again your faith ts vain;” and Christ himself could not have returned to announce God’s truth to his apostles ; nor could poor mortals, who are but dust and ashes, become spiritral, become children of God ; to confess to him, and announce his truth to others, that is, the justice and the fidelity of God.

These words may be applied to each of the elcct, who, touched with sorrow for having fallen into sin, cried out to God for pardon, that they may be able to confess to him, and announce to other sivners how true he is to his promises,

10 “ The Lord hath heard, and hath had mercy on me: the Lord became my helper.”

This verse clearly shews that the preceding verses should have been understood in the past instead of the future tense. The prephet asserts here, both in his own person, that of Christ, and that of the elect, that his ery was heard by God.

11 “ Thou hast turned for me my mourning into joy thor hast cut my sack-cloth, and hast compassed me with gladness :”

Here is the effect of his having been heard. David, from a wretched exile, becomes a powerful king. Christ rises from the dead, thus gaining a victory over death itself. Every one of the elect, on arriving at their heavenly kingdom from this valley of tears, can most justly exclaim, “ Thou hast turned for me my mourning into joy, thou hast cut my sack-cloth, and hast compassed me with glacness.” You have changed my garb of mourning into that of joy, and you have not taken it simply off, but ‘‘ hast cut” it, entirely destroyed it, as a sign that I am not to put it on again. The “ sack-cluth” means that wretched garb of wortality and misery that has been entirely destroyed, of no longer use to the saints, much less to Christ, who, ‘ tising from the dead, dies no more.”

12 ‘“* To the end that my glory may sing to thee, and

I may not regret : O Lord my God, I will give praise to thee for ever.”

The final end of the glory of Christ and his saints is the praise of God: “ Blessed are those who dwell in thy house, for ever and ever they will praise thee.” Let my glory, then, not my groans, for fear of death or of sin, sing to thee.

PSALM XXX. A prayer of a just man under affliction.

1 In thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded: deliver me in thy justice.

2 Bow down thy ear to me: make haste to deliver me. Be thou unto mea God, a protector, and a house of refuge, to save me.

3 For thou art my strength and my refuge; and for thy name’s sake thou wilt lead me, and- nourish me.

4 Thou wilt bring me out of this snare, which they have hidden for me: for thou art my protector.

5 Into thy hands I commend my spirit: abn hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.

6 Thou hast hated them that regard vanities, to no purpose. But I have hoped in the Lord:

7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy. For thou hast regarded my humility, thou hast saved my soul out of distresses,

8 And thou hast not shut me up in the hands of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a spacious place.

9 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for Iam afflicted: my eye is troubled with wrath, my

soul, and my belly: eas

10 For my life is wasted with grief: and my years in sighs. My strength is weakened through poverty: and my bones are disturbed,

11 I am become a reproach among all my enemies, and very much to my neighbours ; and a fear to my acquaintance, They that saw me without fled from me.

.. 12 Tam forgotten as one dead from the heart. Iam become as a vessel that is destroyed.

13 For I have heard the blame of many: that dwell round about. While they assembled together against me, they consulted to take away my life.

14 But I have put m trust in ¢ Lord: I said: Thou art a God. meek

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS.

15 My lots are in thy hands. Deliver me out of the hands of my enemies: and from them that persecute me. _

16. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; save me in thy mercy.

17 Let me not be confounded, O Lord, for I have called upon thee. Let the wicked be ashamed, and be brought down to hell.

18 Let deceitful lips be made dumb. Which speak iniquity against the just, with pride and abuse. ;

19 O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee! Which thou hast wrought for them that hope in thee, in the sight of the sons of men.

20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy face, from the disturbance of men. Thou shalt protect them in thy tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues.

21 Blessed be the Lord, for he hath shewn his wonderful mercy to me in a fortified city.

22 But I said in the excess of my mind: Tam cast away from before thy eyes. Therefore thou hast heard the voice of my prayer, when I cried to thee.

23 O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord will require truth, and will repay them abundantly that act proudly.

24 Do ye manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, all ye that hope in the Lord.

EXPLANATION OF THE PSALM.

1 ‘In thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded : deliver me in thy justice.” 7: King David, in his flight from Absalom, destitute of all earthly assistance, appeals to God, and says, “ In thee have I hoped,” and 1 am therefore confident, as you are all-powerful, and most true to me, that you will not disappoint me in my hope. Agreeable to such hope, therefore, ‘‘ Deliver me in thy justice ;” that justice that prompts you to. punish the wicked

aud free the just.

2 “* Bow down thy ear to me: make haste to deliver me. Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge, to save me.” : ea

The persecution was pressing on him; his friends had sent him word to rest in no one place, to continue his flight, unless he chose to be destroyed ; and therefore he prays to be heard at once, and to be de. livered from the impending danger. ‘* Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge, to save. me.” Be like a well-protected strong house to me ; for there is no fortified place in this champaign country to which I can fly.

3 “ For thou art my strength and my refuge ; and for thy name’s sake thou wilt lead me, and nourish me.”

COMMENTARY ON

You are my stronghold to which I will fly for refuge. “ And for thy name’s sake thou wilt lead me, and nourish me,” corresponds exactly with David’s history. His flight was so sudden, that he knew not whither to betake himself, nor whence to obtain the necessaries of life, until Providence directed Siba to him, with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs, and a vessel of wine; and he therefore says, ‘* For thy name’s sake,” for the glory of your name, you will lead me to a safe place, and there supply me with provisions.

4 “ Thou wilt bring me out of this snare, which they have hidden for me : for thou art my protector.”

You will not only bring me to a safe place, and there provide for me, but you will also deliver me from the conspiracy, which, like a hidden snare, they have laid for me; alluding to the conspiracy got up in Hebron against him by Absalom, when he neither dreaded nor even thought of the like.

5 ‘+ Into thy hands I commend my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.”

Though full of hope, when he said, ‘ Thow wilt bring me out of this snare,” being not yet quite secure of his life, he adds, ‘‘ Znto thy hands I commend my spirit,” to your care I entrust my life. And, as you haye at other times frequently ‘‘ redeemed me,” saved me from death, you who are a most true and most faithful God. These expressions lead many to think that the whole Psalm has reference to Christ, by reason of his having, while hanging on the cross, exclaimed, “* Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” But though the Psalm, to the letter, may not be applicable to Christ, the Lord might have taken these words from the Psalm, when he wished to commend his spirit to his Father, just as St. Nicholas, in his last moments, repeated this with the preceding verses ; and we, not unfrequently, ourselves use them. The words, ‘ Zhou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth,” appear to be against the application of the verse to Christ, for, instead of being the redeemed, he is the Redeemer. St. Augustine attributes the first part of the verse to Christ, the latter to his people ; for he is of opinion that the prophet is fond of speaking in the person of different characters—sometimes of Christ, sometimes in that of the people. All right and pious enough, when one is looking for a mystic sense or explanation; but when we look for the literal sense, it does not appear why different persons should be introduced, when there is nothing in the context or the punctuation to call for such change.

6 “¢ Thou hast hated them that regard vanities, to no purpose. But I have hoped in the Lord ;”

He assigns another reason for having ‘‘ commended” his life to the hands of Ged, because God is wont to hate them who, instead of trusting in him, - trust in ‘ vanities,” that can afford them no possible help. % Zhow hast hated them that regard vanities

THE PSALMS. (7 to no purpose;” those who regard dreams or omens, or the responses of demons, as Saul did, when he consulted the pythoness. Under the word “ vanities,” may also be included those who, relying on human industry, craft, cunning, human aid or help, to the exclusion of the divine help and couns:1; all of which are vain and useless; and he, therefore, adds the words “to no purpose,” for all such exertions are, in reality, “to no purpose.” § But I have hoped in the Lord?’ not so with me, I hoped in none, in nothing but God.

7 ‘Iwill be glad and rejoice in thy mercy. For thou hast regarded my humility, thou hast saved my soul out of distresses.

8 ‘ And thou hast not shut me up in the hands of the enemy : thou hast set my feet in a spacious place.”

As “TI hoped in the Lord,” I will “be glad and rejoice m thy mercy,” for the Divine mercy never deserts those who hope in him, ‘ Jor thou hast regarded.” He brings up past favours, in the hope that, by his acknowledgment of them, he may obtain fresh ones, ‘J will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy,” for I have a pledge of it in my deliverance from Saul ; for then you “regarded my humility,” my abj-ction, and affliction; and then you “saved my soul” from the troubles that surrounded me, and from which I could not extricate myself. ‘ And thou hast not shut me up in the hands of the enemy;” you did not allow Saul, who sought my death, to accomplish his purpose-; but “thou hast set my feet in a spacious place,” you freed me from the troubles that encompassed me, and placed me, free and disembarrassed, as it were, on an open plain; at liberty to go about at pleasure,

9 ‘ Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am afflicted: my eye is troubled with wrath, my soul, and my belly.”

Bearing past favours in mind, he prays for future ones, and relates his misfortunes, ‘‘ Have mercy on me, O Lord.” As you have had mercy on me in former tribulations, have mercy now, too ; for tribulation has again set in on me; and here they are, ‘‘ My eye is troubled with wrath.” Whose wrath? God’sor hisown? I rather think, with St. Augustine, God’s ; for, it is clear, from the First and Second Book of Kings, that David, in all his persecutions, never burst into wrath, but was always most mild and most patient; and I, therefore, take the meaning to be, “in thy wrath,” in which you punish me for my sins, “‘ my eye ts troubled;” my corporeal eye has grown dim with my tears ; or, the eye of my soul has grown dark; “‘ my soul,” too, is confused, for it has been fearfully frightened ; so also has been ‘* my belly,’ the very interior of my soul; that is, my memory; the receptacle of my thonghts. Thus the prophet makes brief allusion to the functions of the soul—the eye representing the intellect ; the soul, the will; and the belly, the memory.

10 “ For my life is wasted with grief: and my years in sighs. My strength is weakened through poverty : and my bones are disturbed.”

David, being now an old man, could justly say, “< For my life is wasted with grief” was spent in constant trouble and “sighs.” In the first thirt ty years of his life his troubles were inaumerable. On being made king, for seven years he had to wage war against the descendants of Saul; he then had various wars with neighbouring kingdoms ; then with his own son, Then, the very care of a king-

com, to one who wishes to govern it conscienti msl, is enough to “ waste’ one, and make them “ sigh.” “ My strength is weakened through poverty.” La addition to all his other afflictions, be has lost. his streagth. The first. and last members of this sentence are synonymous ; they mean the same thing: ‘my strength is weakened,” is the same as “* my bones are Cisturbed;” for bones stand for health, power, streagth. Taat was literally the case with David, He had to fly, without any provision whatever, to the most desert places; not only on foot, but even harefooted; and there tv remaia until relieved by his friends.

11 “‘F am become a reproach among all my enemies, and very much to my neighbours ; and a fear to my de quasntance. They that saw me without fled from me.’

Another misfortune, consequent on his notorious persecution, the neighbouring people, ‘‘ enemees”’ of his, having heard of his base flight, began to despise him. His * acquaintances,” too, began to fear that Absalom, should he succeed, may wreak his vengeance on them for having proved friendly to David. “ They that saw me without;” an explanation of a fear to my acquaintance. Many of my acquaintance, when they saw me an outcast and afilicted, * M’/ed from me,” ran, fearing for their lives, should they be found to have come near me; and thus,

12 “Tam forgotten as one dead fromthe heart. F am become as a vessel that is destroyed.”

Their heart neither remembers me nor thinks of me, no more than if I were dead and buried, for they consider ] am just as if such had been the case with me. ‘fan become as a vessel that is destroyed.” My friends and acquaintances have not only abandoned and forgotten me; but even the people around me despise and look down upon me, as they would upon a broken vessel, of no use or value, which is evident from the abuse they heap upon me. He evidently alludes here to Semei’s abuse, who, vot content with abusing him, sought to stone bim; looking upon him as an outcast and an exile, and as a broken vessel, that should be thrown into the sewer. And though the Seripture makes mention of Seimei alone abusing him, it is probable that o'hers did the a and that they are here alluded to, when he says, “J have heard the blame of many.

13“ Hor I have heard the blame of many that diell round about. While they assembled together Gases me, they consulted to take away my life.”

After the abuse of Semei, a conspiracy was entered into, in the presence of Absalom, to take David's

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS.

life, which is here alluded to. Iam abused to my face; behind my back a conspiracy is eatered into at Jerusalem to have my life.

14 “ But T have put my trust in thee, O Lord: [said = Thou art my God.”

The holy soul, in all his troubles, shews he did not despond, because he did not put his trust in the fallicious help of man, but in the all-powerful God, whom no one can resist. “ But I have put my trust tn thee, O Lord.” Why? Beeause ‘* J said” in my heart, “ Thou art my God.” I have a great protector, without whose consent no one can take my life, be cease,

15“ My lots are in thy hands. Deliver me out of the hands of my enemies: and from them tat persecute: me.”

My life does not depend on lot-or chance, but depends on your will and power. ‘* Deliver me out of the hands of my enenies.” The meaning is quite plain, and needs no explanation.

16 ‘Make thy face to shine upon thy servant ; save me in thy mercy.

17 ‘* Let.me not be confouniled, O Lord, for I have: called upon thee. Let the wicked be ashamed, and be brought down to hell.”

The same petition renewed. but oh additional arcuments, calculated to move God to mercy. “ Make. thy face fo shine upon thy servant; that means, shew me your face, or look on me, which is the same.. For as God, when he is angry with us by reason of our sins, is said to turn away his face, or to put a cloud between him and us, and not to look on us; so, on the contrary, when he is reconciled, he is sad to turn his face to us to regard us, and. make ‘7 shine upon ws, 80 as to make us, too, a mass of liebt, He, therefore, first asks to be reconciled to God, in case he should have been angry with him; and assigns as areason, his being a servant most ready at all times to do God’s behest and commands. He then adds, “* Save me,” which is only the consequence of reconciliation ; and to move him thereto, he adds, ‘ Jn thy mercy,’ not through my merits, but through your own pure mercy; and he adds a third argument, * Let me not be confounded, for I have called upon thee.” For it is the duiy of a good and faithful master, who has promised to help those that confide in him, not to suffer one who so unceasingly and so confidently invoked him to be confounded. “ Let the. wicked be ashamed, and be brought down to hell,” A prophetic imprecation, and one fulfilled immediately after; for Achitophel, the principal minister of Absalom, who had advised the most impious proceeding against David, was 80 confused, on his plans being defeated by divine Providence, and being uuable. to bear up against the confusion consequent thereon, hanged himself; and thus, “ The wicked became. ashamed, and was brought down tohelt.”

18 “eet deceitful lips be made dumb. Which speak iniquity against the just, with prile and abuse,”

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS.

Achitophel’s lips are called deceitful, because for a long time he pretended to be the fast friend of David; but the moment he got the opportunity, he Letrayed his perfidy. “ Which speak against the just;” against David, who had offered no injury to either Achitophel or to ‘Absalom; and they spoke ‘‘ Jniquity;” gave advice full of injustice, ‘* With pride and abuse;” that is, with the greatest contempt and arrogance,

19 ‘ O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee! Which thou hast wrought for them that hope in thee, in the sight af the sons ef men.”

The holy prophet, feeling that he had been heard, and having felt a gleam of heavenly consolation, exclaims in admiration, as above. The verse may be thus explained. In the time of tribulation, God conceals the “‘ Afultitude of his sweetness ;” that is, the unbounded rewards he has in store for the just, in order to prove them ; but in a little time after he displays those very prizes and rewards, ‘‘ Jn the sight of the sons of men,” that his servants may learn from thence to have greater hope in him. Thus, for a time he concealed his sweetness from David, while he was flying from his son’s persecution ; but soon after he displayed the extent of his goodness to him, when he restored his kingdom to him in the greatest triumph. The very same thing happens to all the just, whose reward is now hid, but will appear to all on the day of judgment. It may be interpreted differently ; thus, Truly manifold are the consolations, O Lord, that you pour into the inmost recesses of the hearts of those that fear you—that fear you with a filial, fond, and loving, not a servile, fear. For this

s * The hidden manna which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it.” Such as was felt by David, when, in Psalm xciii., he said, ‘ According to the multitude of my sorrows mn my heart, thy comforts hive grven joy to my soul.” And, as St. Paul, 2 Cor. vil, says, “Lam filled with comfort, I exe ‘edingly abound with joy tm all our tribulation.” And if, in time of tribulation, such be the “* Multitude of the sweetness’ in the heart of the exile, who can conceive the amount of the joy in his heart when his triumph shall have been accomplished } “ Which thou hast wrought for them that hape in thee, in the sight of the sons of men.” The sweetness ° Thou hast wrought” for those who refuse all consolation but yours is perfect, most copious, most abundant; and all this “Jn the sight of the sons of men;” that is, in spite of them all, before their face; because the more pain they inflict externally, tie more consolations you multiply internally. This sweetness is infused into the hearts of the just, “Zn the sight of the sons of men,” in another way, when the sons of men, who persecute the children of God, see what and how they suffer ; for, carnal as they are, with the palate of their soul infected by sin, they cannot feel, nor even have an idea of the swectness, though they see its effects in the meexness, patience, nay, even hilarity aud peace

from the disturbance of men. -in thy tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues.”

of the jast; and thus, their sweetness is, to a certam extent, hidden in the sight of the sons of men, though its effects are apparent.

20 ‘ Thou shalt hide them in the. secret of thy face, Thou shalt protect them

He gives a description of the manner in which the just feel the sweetness of God in the day of tribulation ; for, by love and contemplation, they are carried up to God; and in him find a house of refuge, as he says in this very Psalm, ‘ Be thou unto me a God, a protector,and a house of refuge ;” for those who know how to take refuge in God, think as little of all manner of tribulation as if it did not at all belong to them. “Thou shalt hide them,” those that fear thee, “ Jn the secret of thy face;” in that hidden place, that is, in thy face; for the soul wrapt up in contemplation, feeling that God is attentively looking on it, observant of God’s slightest expression, burning with love at the idea of God’s beauty that is lodged, in-dwelling, proof against ** The disturbance ofmens” that is, from all manner of evil that usually disturbs man. “ Thou shalt protect them in thy tabernacle ;” the same just will be protected in the very house in which yourself is lodged, for God has no house capable of containing him, he is his own house ; and those who, in love and contemplation, dwell in Ged, ** Make the Most High their refuge. No evil shall come to them, nor shall the scourge come near their dwelling,” as it is beautifully expressed in Psalm xc. In this tabernacle they are protected, not only from evil doers, as was explained in the preceding verse, but also from evil speakers, for such is the meaning of ‘* The contradiction of tongues,” for they who can call upon God as a witness, care little for what man can say. And if the face of the Lord be such a retreat anda refuge to the elect, in the time when he is seen only “ Through a glass in an obscure manner,” how will matters be when we shall see him as he really is? Then truly will our dwelling be in Jerusalem, the vision of peace, of which is written, in Psalin cxlyii., ““ Who hath placed peace in thy borders.”

21 ‘ Blessed be the Lord, for he hath shewn his wonder ful mercy to me in a fortified city.”

He now applies to himself, as being one of the just, what he had said in general, touching the consolation they feel in their troubles, and thanks God for it. “Blessed be the Lord, for his pone mercy to. me in a fortified city,” because he * So hid me in the secret of lus face,” which is like “a for tified city,” that my enemies could do me no harm.

22 ‘* But I said in the excess of my mind: [am cast away from before thy eyes. Therefore thou hast heard the voice of my prayer, when I cried to thee.”

He accuses himself of the despondence he was in when his persecution copamenced. When I was almost idiolic through fear, ] sai) to myself, “ Z am cast away from before thy eyes;? that. is, you wish me nv longer to govern ; or no longer io live, as ap-

pears from your withholding that look of benignity and kindness, and that help with which you were wont to countenance me. As we read, in 2 Kings xv., of David, “Jf Z shall find grace in the sight of the Lord, he will bring me again. [f he shall say to me, Thou pleasest me not, F am ready, let him do that which is good before him.”

23 “* O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord will require truth, and will repay them abundanily that act proudly.

24 “ Do ye manfully, and let your heart be strengthener, all ye that hope in the Lord.”

He now encourages all pious people, similarly suffering, not to cease loving God, and putting their trust ia him; for, though the wicked may seem to persecute them with impunity for a while, they will ultimately suffer the bitterest punishment for it.