Liber Psalmorum
by Anselm of Laon and his school
Source text: Public Domain. English translation/apparatus/encoding: CC BY-NC 4.0, Wroot Press.
https://migne.app/pl/113/liber-psalmorum/
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## THE PROLOGUE OF BLESSED JEROME ON THE BOOK OF PSALMS.

[n: ( Vide Operum ejus tom. VIII. )]



## PROTHEMATA ON THE PSALTER.

[0841A] [n: (AUG.)] This book is entitled among the Hebrews the Book of Hymns, for this reason, that a hymn is where words and praise are held together with a song, which is found in the psalms. It is also entitled, according to some, the Book of Soliloquies: which seems to be so done for this reason, that what a man searches out with himself, and learns from none save from the truth presiding within him, is called a soliloquy, for example, in the manner in which blessed Augustine searched out with himself concerning the nature of the soul and concerning the nature of God, in the same way the Prophet may be said to have searched out with himself concerning the incarnation of the Son of God, and concerning the repairing of the human race. King David and prophet, when he was reigning prosperously, wishing to magnify the worship of God, when at last he was bringing back to Jerusalem the ark that had been given back by the Philistines and had for a long time [0841B] afterward wandered in uncertain seats, went before it naked with the harp [n: (II Reg. VI)]: but he had also chosen four thousand men who should sing psalms not only with the voice but also with musical instruments: over whom he set four, Asaph, Idithun, Eman, Ethan, or the sons of Core, who, falling away from the crime or sacrilege of their father, whom the fire had consumed [n: (Num. XVI)], stood on most devoted in the worship of God.

[n: (HIERON.)] The psaltery is a certain musical instrument put together in the shape of the letter Δ: and from that musical instrument (by which the present work was set to measure) it took its name to itself. The psaltery is called among the Hebrews *nebel* (נבל), among the Greeks ψαλτήριον, but among the Latins *organum.* Many say that David [0841C] did not make all the psalms, because certain of them are entitled in the person of others. But, as blessed Jerome says, they are not to be listened to in this. For David composed all the psalms: he moreover appended them, wherein he had many helpers, over whom he set four, namely Eman, Ethan, Asaph and Idithun. By divine counsel this was done, that the psalms should be entitled in the persons of others, either for the interpretation of the names only, or for the business in hand, or for both. For the interpretation of the names only, as in the person of Idithun; for the business, as in the person of Aggeus and Zacharias; for both, as in the person of Solomon; Idithun, Asaph, the sons of Core and the rest of this kind were not authors of the psalms, but were set over the craftsmen who sounded the psalms [0841D] in three ways: either by the human voice, or by musical instruments, or commonly in both ways. And this in two manners, either by the instrument after the voice, or by the voice after the instrument: whence their names, that they might take [0842A] honour from the ministry, are inserted in the titles, chiefly for the signifying of things. But a psalm is the sound of the instrument, a canticle the singing of the human voice in the praise of God; a canticle of a psalm, when the voice comes after the instrument, a psalm of a canticle, when the instrument comes after the voice.

[n: (CASS.)] It is commonly asked: why are the psalms read in the Church before other Scriptures? This is for the reason that of old among the Hebrews this custom obtained in the temple of God. Or, because the psalms contain more of mysteries than the other Scriptures, and say many things briefly, in which the whole law and the prophets and the Gospel consist.

[n: (CASS.)] Prophecy is a divine inspiration or revelation, which declares the outcomes of things, whether by deeds or by words, with unmoving [0842B] truth, whence prophecy is *a vision,* the prophet *one that sees.* Now this grace has been given in many ways: either through the works of men, as were the ark of Noe and the sacrifice of Abraham, and the passage of the Red Sea; or through births, as of Esau and Jacob, who signified things to come; or through speaking angels, as they spoke to Abraham, to Lot and to others; or through visions, as to Isaias and Ezechiel, and the rest; or through dreams, as to Solomon, Joseph and Daniel; or through the cloud and the voice from heaven, as to Moses; or in yet other ways. David, however, by none of these, but taught inwardly by a heavenly breathing, with the Spirit speaking in him, was filled full, as in I Kings: « The Spirit of the Lord was directed into David [n: (I Reg. XVI)]. » And the Lord: « If David in spirit calls him Lord, how is he [0842C] his son? » [n: (Matth. XXII.)] But the Holy Spirit was so given to the prophets that at times he withdrew for their sins and returned appeased; and as Peter says: « Prophecy was not at any time brought by human will, but, inspired by the Holy Spirit, holy men of God spoke [n: (II Pet. I)]. » Nor are those strangers to the gift of prophecy to whom is given the faculty of understanding or of interpreting the Scriptures.

[n: (HIERON.)] There are many kinds of anointed ones: the patriarchs were called anointed, as: « Touch ye not my anointed [n: (Psal. CIV)]; » in the Parables, all who came out of Egypt are called anointed. The chrism is made in Exodus, whence the priests are anointed; there is another ointment, with which kings are anointed; but this in two manners, for if it is David and Solomon, that is, *strong of hand* and [0842D] *peaceable,* one is anointed with the horn; if Jehu and Azahel, with the cruse, which is an earthen vessel. But Cyrus also, king of the Persians and Medes, who released Israel, is an anointed one, according to that word: « Thus saith the Lord to my anointed [0843A] Cyrus [n: (Isa. XLV)], » which the words that follow do not permit to be taken of the Saviour, as some suppose. There is a prophetic ointment, with which Elias is commanded to anoint Eliseus for a prophet [n: (III Reg. XIX)]; above all is the spiritual ointment, which is called the oil of gladness, wherewith Christ was anointed above his fellows, who have the chrism of baptism. And if any man lose it, let him not despair; because concerning the separating chrism it is written in Leviticus [n: (Lev. XIII)], that when any man's leprosy has been cleansed, the priest shall put oil for him in his left hand, and the rest of the things that are said there, and let him himself be called the anointed of God. But this remains, that the same man is often anointed, lest there be occasion of ruin to the negligent. For it is enough for the leper that, after the first ointment has been lost, he be anointed a second time; but he is often anointed who is always [0843B] going forward: and, from the oil of the leper, he comes to the ointment of the people; thence to the priestly; from that to the chrism of the bishop; from the bishop to the king; from the king to the patriarchs; from the patriarchs to Christ.

[n: (CASS.)] As prophecy comes about in diverse ways, so also at diverse times. There is therefore one concerning the present, as Elizabeth: « Whence is this to me, that the mother of the Lord should come? etc. » [n: (Luc. I.)] Concerning the past, as Moses: « In the beginning God created heaven and earth [n: (Gen. I)]. » Concerning the future, as: « Behold a Virgin shall conceive, etc. [n: (Isa. VII)]. »

Again, one prophecy is according to the foreknowledge of God, which must in all ways be fulfilled, as: « Behold a Virgin shall conceive, etc. » Another is according to threatening, as: « Forty days, and Ninive shall be overthrown [n: (Jonae III)]. »

[0843C]It is therefore to be noted that the prophet sometimes speaks indiscriminately of things to come as of things present; sometimes of things past, sometimes also properly of things to come: which is done for this reason, that he says all things at the dictation of the Holy Spirit, to whom all things are known, whether past or future, as though present.

[n: (REMIG.)] This book consists of a hundred and fifty psalms, not without the reason of a deeper mystery. For this number is most renowned for mysteries. For it is made up of eighty and seventy, whose beginning and signification come from eight and seven. For the eightfold signifies the eighth, the resurrection: because, whereas there are six ages of the living, the seventh of the dying, the eighth will be of those that rise again. But by the sevenfold is signified the time of this life, which is carried on by the repetition of seven [0843D] days. Rightly therefore has this book been composed of such a number of psalms, because it thus teaches us so to work and to live in the sevenfold of this life that in the eighth of the resurrection we may obtain the robe of glory. Or else because by the eightfold the New Testament is signified: for the fathers of the New Testament serve the ogdoad, observing the eighth day of Christ's resurrection, that is, the Lord's day, the octaves of the saints, awaiting the eighth of the resurrection of the dead. But by the sevenfold the Old Testament, because the fathers of the Old Testament served the hebdomad, that is, the sevenfold, observing the seventh day, the seventh week, the seventh year and the fiftieth, which is woven of seven weeks of years, that is [0844A] the jubilee: whence Solomon: « Give portions to seven, and also to eight [n: (Eccl. XI)]. » Well therefore has this book been published with this number of psalms, whose parts contain the doctrine and the commandments of both Testaments.

[n: (AUG.)] Again, by three fifties a threefold division of the psalms is made, for the signifying of the three states of the Christian religion: the first of penitence, in which also the first fifty of the psalms is ended, namely: « Have mercy on me, O God; » the second of righteousness, in which also the second fifty: « Mercy and judgment I will sing to thee; » the third the state of eternal life, in whose praise the third fifty is finished, namely: « Let every spirit praise the Lord. »

[n: (ID.)] The Book of Psalms is one, not five, as is read in the Acts of the Apostles: « As it is written [0844B] in the book of Psalms » [n: (Act. I)]. Jerome nevertheless says five books, that is, five divisions which are made by « so be it, so be it. »

The order of the psalms disagrees with the order of the history, because David sinned with the wife of Urias, and sang of penitence: « Have mercy on me, O God, » before his son persecuted him and he sang: « Lord, why are they multiplied; » but they are believed to have been so ordered by Esdras the prophet at a divine prompting.

The matter is the whole Christ, bridegroom and bride. The intention, to conform to Christ the new man those men who were deformed in Adam. The manner of treating: sometimes he deals with Christ according to that which is the head, sometimes according to the body, sometimes according to both. According to that which is the head, in three ways: for either according [0844C] to the divinity, as: « With thee is the beginning, etc.; » sometimes according to the humanity, as: « I have slept, etc., » sometimes by transumption, as when he uses the voice of the members, as there: « Far from my salvation, etc. » Again, of the Church in three ways: sometimes according to the perfect, sometimes according to the imperfect, sometimes according to the evil: who are in the Church in body, not in mind; in number, not in merit; in name, not in the divine power.



## PSALM ONE.

VERS. 1.-- « Blessed is the man who hath not gone away, etc. » [n: (AUG., Enarr. in Psal., tom. III.)] The order, Adam went away when he withdrew from God; he stood, when he was delighted with sin; he sat, when, confirmed in pride, he could not return, save as set free by this man, who had none of these things. [0844D] Adam went away when he consented to the persuasion of the devil; he stood, while he ate the apple; he sat, while he excused himself: « The woman whom thou gavest me seduced me. » [n: (Gen. III)] [var: Vulg. Gn 3:12 *Mulier, quam dedisti mihi sociam, dedit mihi de ligno, et comedi*, "The woman, whom thou gavest me as a companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat"; the printed *me seduxit* imports the seducing that the Vulgate assigns to the serpent at Gn 3:13.]. After the likeness of exiles, who, while they are on the road, are more easily called back, while they now stand, with more difficulty: at length with the greatest difficulty, when they have there been made masters and lords. [n: (REMI.)] There is sinning by thought, by act, and by words in teaching. [n: (CASS.)] The impious man is so against God, the sinner against himself, the pestilent man against his neighbour. « In the chair, giving an example of sinning. » [n: (CASS.)] The throne is of kings, the tribunal of judges, the chair properly of teachers. [n: (Ibid.)] It is as though he said: You who have fallen through the first Adam, be ye conformed to this second one: because the blessed man is the contrary of the first

[0845A]VERS. 2.-- « But in the law. » AUG. [n: (CASS.)] Here he is shown full of every good in himself. [n: (AUG.)] It is not perfect praise to flee the things to be blamed, unless the things to be praised follow. In the order in which they grew in the first man, they are taken away in the second.

« In the law. » [n: (Ibid.)] He who is in the law acts according to the law, he who is under the law is acted upon according to the law: the one is free, the other a slave. [n: (Ibid. AMBR.)] One thing is the law which is written for him that serves, another that which is beheld with the mind by him who has no need of letters. « The will. » [n: (CASS.)] That there be no weariness of labour, nor idleness, but he shall meditate always. The will of sense is under the law; of reason, in the law; of divinity, above the law.

VERS. 3.-- « And he shall be. » [n: (Ibid.)] Here he is shown useful to us, giving the fruit of life, and leaves, and overshadowing us, [0845B] « Blessed is the man. But in the law. And he shall be. » The full definition of the blessed man. All these things belong not to every blessed man, but to Christ alone. « As a tree. » [n: (Ibid.)] After the likeness of the tree of life which is in paradise, whereof obedient man was to have eaten. « A tree. » [n: (Ibid.)] In paradise there is the tree of life, a tree unto life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. « Of waters. » [n: (AUG.)] The waters are the Holy Spirit, according to that word: « He that shall have believed in me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water [n: (Joan. VII)], » and it is against the heats of the vices. [n: (CASS.)] Or, by water, the wisdom of God, by which the inner man is restored, as thirst by water. [n: (AUG.)] Or the mortal race, as Job: « Many waters, many peoples, » because they flow down into death, as waters into the sea. « He shall give. » [n: (Ibid.)] To give pertains to the rational sense and to the will of the one offering. [0845C] « And the leaf. » [n: (Ibid.)] As the leaves cover the fruit, so the words of the Lord guard his promises. « And all things. » [n: (Ibid.)] Why go through them one by one.

VERS. 4.-- « Not so the impious. » Here by the vengeance upon the wicked he terrifies the adverse, the dread of these makes what has gone before more welcome. « From the face of the earth. » [n: (AUG.)] Of eternal stability, because as this earth nourishes and holds up a man, so that other earth holds up the inner man.

VERS. 5.-- « Therefore they shall not rise again. » Because the wind casteth them away, that is, therefore, because they have been given over to a reprobate sense: therefore they do not rise again in the first resurrection, that they may judge themselves in counsel, that they may set the wills of God before their own. Or in the council, that is, in the harmonious multitude of the just, the impious idolaters, or apostates. Sinners, false Christians: or else therefore they do not rise again in the time to come, [0845D] that they may judge, or that, being judged, they may rest in the council, that is, in the college of the just. « In judgment, etc. » In the judgment there will be four orders: some shall judge and shall not be judged, as the most perfect; some shall neither judge nor be judged, as the damned unbelievers; some shall be judged and shall be saved, as the moderately good; some shall be judged and shall perish, as the evil faithful. « In the council. » [n: (AUG.)] In the eternal good, to follow which was counsel to the saints. « Or in the council, » in the judgment, that they may judge together with them; for there is judgment when different sins are punished with different penalties; and it is said from this by likeness. « They rise again. » What resurrections these are: of the soul, from sins in the present; of the body, from death in the time to come, whereby it shall be made impassible and immortal.

[0846A]VERS. 6.-- « For the Lord knoweth, etc., » That is, these do not rise again in the soul, because God does not approve their works, but those of the just only.



## PSALM II.

« A psalm. » The modulation that is made by the touching of ten strings is the good work that is done by the keeping of the ten commandments. « David. » [n: (CASS.)] Strong of hand, or fair of aspect, is Christ, who warred down the powers of the air, upon whom the angels also desire to look.

VERS. 1.-- « Why have the nations raged, etc. » [n: (CASS.)] This psalm is the second in order, the first in title; whence in the Acts of the Apostles it is called the first. First he rebukes the persecutors and threatens them, [0846B] and foretells as a prophet. « Vain things. » [n: (Ibid.)] To hold him in death; or, that the world should not go away after him.

VERS. 2.-- « Kings. » [n: (Ibid.)] The former, who slew the infants, is Herod, the latter, he who consented with Pilate in the death of Christ. Kings and princes. [n: (Ibid.)] He could also, according to Ambrose, speak in the plural of one man. For only king Herod and prince Pilate are shown by the voice of Peter, in the Acts of the Apostles, to have conspired against Christ.

VERS. 3.-- « Let us break asunder. » [n: (AMB.)] Or they came together, saying: Let us break asunder their reasonings, that is, of the Lord and of his Christ, or of Christ and of the disciples, by which they wish to bind us to themselves. [n: (AUG.)] And although it might be said otherwise, it fits more openly those who are unwilling that the yoke of Christ be laid upon them. « Bonds. » The promises of eternal life, [0846C] and the threatenings of hell, by which they wish to subjugate us to themselves. « Let us cast away. » Their reasonings being destroyed, let us shake off his dominion from us. [n: (Ibid.)] The yoke, that is, the law: but « he that dwelleth in the heavens. »

VERS. 4.-- « He shall laugh them to scorn. » [n: (Ibid.)] As when he rose again with the guards set: « He shall deride, » when they were scattered through the world. The derision of God is the force of the foreknowledge which God gives to his saints, that, seeing the name of Christ to be in all nations hereafter, they may understand that those men meditated vain things.

VERS. 5.-- « He shall speak to them. » [n: (Ibid.)] He opens it more plainly when he says, he shall trouble them. The anger of God is a motion that arises in a soul which knows the law of God, when it sees that law passed over by an evil man, through which motion many things are avenged: or, the anger of God is the darkening of the mind of the transgressors [0846D] of the law.

VERS. 6.-- « But I. » [n: (CASS.)] Secondly, he brings in his words concerning his almighty kingdom and his unspeakable generation, where we learn of his divinity and his humanity. « King. » [n: (ID.)] So also are the kings of the earth appointed by him. « Preaching upon Sion, » so also are the prophets, « The Son, » so also is Israel, « I have begotten thee. » This to Christ alone.

VERS. 7.-- « The Lord hath said. » The person of him that reigns. « My Son. » [n: (AUG.)] Therefore do I give thee the nations for an inheritance rather than to any obedient servant: because thou art Son by nature, and consubstantial by an ineffable begetting. « This day. » [n: (Ibid.)] Although it might be taken of the day on which he was born according to man, yet, since "this day" signifies [0847A] a presence, let it be taken of the everlasting generation of the wisdom of God.

VERS. 8.-- « Ask. » [n: (AUG.)] It pertains to the taking up of man: which was done for the salvation of men, and according to which he intercedes for us. « An inheritance. » [n: (CASS.)] Inheritance is from lord (herus), because in it he holds dominion with free power.

VERS. 9.-- « Thou shalt rule them. » [n: (AUG.)] Partly thou shalt rule, partly thou shalt break, according to that word: « Behold, this one here is set for the ruin and for the resurrection of many [n: (Luc. II)], » so that he who is just may be justified still: and he who is in filth shall be defiled still [n: (Apoc. XXII)]. » « A rod of iron. » [n: (CASS.)] The power of Christ is the rod of iron; the sinner is the potter's vessel, which is both of clay and easily broken.

VERS. 10.-- « And now, ye kings, understand. » Now, [0847B] that is, by the things that have been said. [n: (CAS.)] Thirdly, on account of these things laid open, he admonishes all to obey humbly, and persuades them from the useful, that they perish not, and from the honourable, because blessed are they that trust in him. In this, after Christ, he speaks as it were an Apostle.

[n: (AUG.)] Or, now that I am appointed king, be not sorrowful, ye kings of the earth; for it is expedient for you to be under him, from whom come understanding and learning, that you may not rule rashly, but may serve the Lord of all, and may exult in blessedness.

VERS. 12.-- « Lest at any time he be angry. » [n: (Ibid.)] The doubt is not according to the prophet, but according to those men themselves, who think upon the anger of God with doubting. « From the just way, » that is, being taken away from Christ, or from good working.

[0847C]VERS. 13.-- « When his wrath shall be kindled. » [n: (CASS.)] Now he does not burn when he chastises, as a father, but in the time to come he will burn, because there will be nothing of patience in the time to come. « In a short time his anger. » Because he examines not each of these things separately, but all of them together.

## PSALM III.

VERS. 1.-- « A psalm, » [n: (AUG.)] concerning the passion and resurrection of Christ: the son is Judas, from whom he fled, when, at his departing, he withdrew with the rest into the mountain; or rather when the wisdom of God forsook his mind, so that he was wholly the devil's, which forsaking is called a flight because of its swiftness. Whence: « That which thou dost, do quickly [n: (Joan. XIII)]. » To him Christ showed peace, as David also did to his wicked son, whence he is called the peace of the father: but Judas, like Absalom, perished by hanging. He sets forth two opposed [0847D] parts. The voice of Christ, as it were wondering, when he came to save: « Lord, why, etc. »

VERS. 2.-- « Lord, why. » [n: (CASS.)] The first psalm of those which treat briefly of the passion and the resurrection, against those men, and chiefly the pagans, who do not think that the glory of majesty can descend to lowly things.

VERS. 3.-- « Many say, etc. » [n: (AUG.)] Or this each man says who is assailed by vices and desires.

« They say to my soul: There is no salvation, etc. » By the heaping up of vices there creeps in a despair of health, as though the vices were insulting the soul; or also by devils and his angels, through suggestions.

[0848A]VERS. 4.-- « Thou art my upholder. » [n: (CASS.)] In Christ. The head, that is, Christ, or the mind which serves the law of God. « Thou hast struck all. » It is rightly said in the predestination concerning the devil and his angels. « Upon the people. » This is each one of us. [n: (ID.)] Or the Church and its head speaks this, set amid the storms of persecutions throughout the whole world. Many say, desiring to extinguish the Christian name, « There is no salvation. » Otherwise they would not hope to destroy the Church that was sprouting far and wide. « Upholder. » Because it was taken up in Christ and exalted with him. The head is he himself who first ascended into heaven.

VERS. 5.-- « And he hath heard me from the mount, etc. » That is, by Christ the prayer of the Church is heard, or its righteousness.

VERS. 6.-- « I have slept: » according to that word: [0848B] « Rise from the dead, and Christ shall enlighten thee [n: (Ephes. V)]. » It is no wonder that the Saviour says these things, when he did far greater things for the salvation of souls at that time when he was absent from the body, which things are recounted in the catholic epistle under the name of Saint Peter: « When he preached, having gone forth, to those spirits who were in prison, who had at one time been unbelieving [n: (I Petr. III)]. » [var: Vulg. 1 Pt 3:19 *spiritibus veniens praedicavit*, "coming, he preached to the spirits"; Migne prints *profectas*, an unconstruable feminine accusative for what the sense requires as *profectus*, "having gone forth."]

VERS. 7.-- « I will not fear thousands, » who try to extinguish the name of Christ.-- « Rise up. » O Christ our head, in whose resurrection is salvation.

VERS. 8.-- « For thou hast struck, etc. » Now that the Church reigns, the enemies have been struck with confusion. « The teeth of sinners, » that is, their cursing words; or the princes become teeth unto destruction. Therefore believe, O men, [0848C] that « salvation is the Lord's, » and, O Lord, « let thy blessing be upon thy people. With my voice. » These things are mine by desert, because « with my voice. » He who is good, and asks good things, cries with his own voice; with another's voice, that is, with one not according with his own life. « I have slept. » The end of the matter, whence he sets forth that there is nothing to fear. « I, » with weight; as though: they rage, but I would not sleep, unless I willed it. Or, I slept by consenting; I was made drowsy, by doing evil; I rose up, by forsaking sins. « For. » [n: (AUG.)] He does not weigh back, nor besides does he make safe because he has struck: but from thence the teeth were broken, because he struck; that is, the cursing words were brought to nothing; or, the teeth are those who cut off certain men from the number of the saints, and incorporate them among the evil.



## PSALM IV.

[0848D]

VERS. 1.-- « Unto the end. » [n: (AUG.)] The end is said in two ways, when something fails, or when it is completed. [n: (Ibid.)] A canticle indicates gladness. Psalms are those things which are sung to the psaltery, which the Prophet used in a great mystery. « A psalm, » concerning morals, for the doing of them, that the false gods and the vanities of the world may be forsaken; « Of a canticle, » because mention is made of the eternal delight.

VERS. 2.-- « When I called upon, etc. » [n: (CASS.)] By his own example he rebukes the unbelieving concerning false things. « Thou hast enlarged for me. » [n: (Ibid.)] From the straits of sadness thou hast led me into the breadth of joy. V. « We rejoice in tribulations, knowing that tribulation, etc. » [n: (Rom. V.)] [var: Vulg. Rm 5:3 *gloriamur in tribulationibus*, "we glory in tribulations."] He first showed that he had been heard: now, as though having God in his heart, [0849A] he speaks to him. « Have mercy on me. » He had mercy concerning righteousness and concerning the enlarging. Again, have mercy against the miseries of this life. « My prayer. » Concerning the good things that are to be asked for. And when it is thus concerning me, « Ye sons of men, how long will ye be heavy of heart? »

VERS. 3.-- « Ye love vanity, etc. » [n: (CASS.)] With your desire you embrace, with labour you seek vain idols, and lies, which are not God: or earthly things, which do not do what they promise.

VERS. 4.-- « And know ye, etc. » The new man being set forth, he bids them put off the old. [n: (AUG.)] Note that « And » is placed at beginnings, so that it may join the things said with the vision that is in the heart, so here, as: « Love not vain things. And know ye. » But the diapsalma forbids their being so joined. Diapsalma, according to Jerome, is always, the Hebrews, [0849B] Sela, that is, always, in confirmation of the preceding part. Sympsalma, that is, the joining of a psalm. « The Lord will hear. » Concerning rest it is thus, and so with you: and therefore cry out, being thus worthy to be heard.

VERS. 5.-- « Be ye angry. » If a motion of the soul arises which is not in our power, let not reason consent to it. [n: (CASS.)] A motion of the soul is not in our power, but by the grace of God we are able to temper it: what therefore belongs to custom, he permits; what belongs to fault, he forbids.

[n: (HIER.)] This the Apostle teaches: « Let not the sun go down upon your anger [n: (Ephes. IV)], » so that it is altogether a sin to be angry even lightly: but it is righteousness to soften anger by a swift repentance. « In your hearts. » [n: (AUG.)] Concerning those things which you handle in the heart, which God knows: that is, concerning consent; and concerning those things which you turn over [0849C] in the bed, that is, in the delight of the flesh, in which reason dwells captive, as a wild beast in its lair, « Be ye pricked, » through penance; or the beds are the thoughts of the fierce. [n: (CASS.)] Venial is the anger which is not carried through to effect. Diapsalma. « Sacrifice ye. » [n: (CASS.)] The old man being laid aside, we are bidden to be offered in sacrifice, because we are sure of good things. [n: (AUG.)] « The sacrifice of righteousness, » a contrite spirit, that, punishing itself, it may be slain to God: or, just works after penance, which the diapsalma marks, that from the old life there may be a passing over to the new, and so hope ye for good things. But because there is scarcely one who loves the inner goods, he adds:

VERS. 6.-- « Many say: Who showeth us good things? » Things to come, namely, of which they doubt and despair. Answering to which he shows briefly what [0849D] good things are to be sought.

VERS. 7.-- « The light is signed upon us, etc. » [n: (AUG.)] This light is the whole and the true good of man, wherewith he is signed, as a penny with the image of the king. « Light. » [n: (AUG.)] Light, that is, a shining countenance, and one that enlightens us, an image whereby thou art known. [n: (CASS.)] Or: the cross has been imprinted upon us, for a sign of our king, which is the light of the countenance: because in such men God shines out. The image of creation is reason; of re-creation, grace; of likeness, the whole Trinity. « In the heart. [n: (AUG.)] Not without in vain things, but within, where God dwells, is gladness to be sought.

VERS. 8.-- « From the fruit. » [n: (CAS.)] Because they think that in these things the good is consummated. These three, as being more suited to human [0850A] uses, he sets down for all riches.

VERS. 9.-- « In peace in the selfsame. » [n: (CASS.)] But I will sleep in the peace of the mind, here forgetful of the world, and I will rest in the time to come: because I am already in one hope, not in the manifoldness of the world. « In peace I will sleep and I will rest. » [n: (AUG.)] From all the things of the world, when this mortal shall put on immortality: and this will truly be, because it is already hope: and this is: « For thou, O Lord, » and assuredly that will be which is hoped for.



## PSALM V.

VERS. 1.-- « For her that obtaineth the inheritance. » Because he is honoured here to whom the inheritance is affirmed to belong, from which the rival is shut out. It is the Church, [0850B] which receives the inheritance, that is, eternal life, God himself, which here speaks of the inheritance which it asks for itself and asserts, saying that the rival is shut out. [n: (BEDA.)] That is, for the Church, which, at Christ's rising again, received the gifts of spiritual goods, which is itself also sometimes called the Lord's inheritance, purchased with his precious blood: whence it is said: « Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles, thy inheritance. » The whole psalm therefore is uttered in the person of the catholic Church, which in the first section asks that her prayer be heard, proclaiming that heretics and schismatics are to be shut out from the Lord's gifts. In the second section she prays that by the understanding of the divine Scriptures she may be directed by a straight path to that happy country, asserting that the faithless are thereby made utterly [0850C] strangers to it. At the last, calling to mind the rewards of the blessed, that by one preaching the punishment foretold might convert the wicked also, and the promised rewards rouse the just.

VERS. 2.-- « My words. » [n: (CASS.)] Here the prophet hints that a threefold prayer is to be made. For there are three principal vices in prosperity, three in adversity: against which we ought to make a threefold prayer. In prosperity, against the concupiscence of the flesh, against the concupiscence of the eyes, against the pride of life. In adversity, against the fear of death, of peril, of profit. [n: (Ibid.)] A threefold prayer: words, the psalmody of the mouth, a cry, the affection of the heart, therefore: « Thou shalt hear. » Behold, three times of the same thing. « With thine ears. » The ears of God are power, mercy. Power, whereby he can: mercy, [0850D] whereby he wills to hear; for unless there were mercy, he would hear no one's prayers.

VERS. 3.-- « To the voice. » That prayer has a voice which is worthy to be heard. « King. » [n: (AUG.)] Properly the Son, rightly first king, because through him one goes to the Father, whence he adds: And « my God: » and yet he does not say attend ye, but attend, because God is one.

VERS. 4.-- « For, etc. » [n: (AUG.)] Thus far the prayer, that it may be heard, etc., *as far as* and this in the morning, as soon as it forsakes the darkness.

VERS. 5.-- « In the morning I will stand. » [n: (CASS.)] Or, in the morning when eternity shall begin, and then I shall fully see that iniquity pleases not: because then it shall not dwell, « but the wicked shall be taken away, that he may not see the glory of God *(Isa. [0851A] XXVI)*: » [var: Vulg. Is 26:10 *et non videbit gloriam Domini*, "and he shall not see the glory of the Lord"; the Vulgate has nothing answering to *tolletur impius*] and then they shall not remain, even though they have had his mercy.

VERS. 6.-- « Neither shall the unjust remain. » Who do evil things. For thou hast hated those who work them, not those who have worked them.

VERS. 7.-- « Thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie. » [n: (AUG.)] Because this is contrary to truth. Truth is of that which is. A lie is not a substance or a nature, but is of that which is not, and deservedly is that destroyed which turns aside from that which is to that which is not. [n: (Ibid.)] To lie is to speak against that which is felt in the mind. [n: (Ibid.)] There are certain lies told for safety's sake, etc., *as far as* I did not consider that one raving could demand it back.

VERS. 8.-- « But I. » [n: (AUG.)] Thirdly, he says that he [0851B] will be the house of God, and that now he draws near in fear, before that consummation which casts out fear.

« I will go in. » [n: (CASS.)] By this I shall go in, because I shall adore. [n: (Ibid.)] He asks against those things which the rival brings in: whence she herself shall perish.

VERS. 9.-- « Lord, lead me. » [n: (AUG.)] Fourthly, making progress amid hindrances, he prays to be helped within, lest he be turned aside by deceitful tongues. « In thy justice. » [n: (CASS.)] Because thou receivest the penitent and the suppliant. « In thy sight. » [n: (AUG.)] Where man does not see, who is not to be believed whether he praise or blame: because he does not see into the conscience, in which the way to God is directed. Therefore he adds: « For there is no truth in their mouth. »

VERS. 10.-- « For there is not, etc. » Not only is there no truth in the mouth, but a sepulchre: because they bring forth stinking things [0851C] to corrupt, and if they do not prevail with them, they act deceitfully, that is, they do not only contrive, but accomplish.

VERS. 11, 12.-- « Judge them, O God. Let them fall from their thoughts. » He does not wish it, but foretells what shall be. He falls away who is disappointed of a good hope.

« And let them be glad. » [n: (CASS.)] After the retributions of the wicked he adds the rewards of the good, that as the punishment terrifies, so the rewards may incite.

VERS. 13.-- « As with a shield. [n: (CASS.)] In one word he indicates the free benefits of God. The will which calls is a defence against all things, and a crown, and a shield. Fitted to the head it is a crown, to the heart, a defence.



## PSALM VI.

[0851D]VERS. 1.-- « The octave » is the coming of the Lord, in which the sinner fears to be rebuked, and therefore repents. [n: (AUG.)] Some call the octave the coming of the Lord, etc., *as far as* whence the Church, fearing, here prays.

VERS. 2.-- « O Lord, not in thy fury. » [n: (BASIL.)] It is a deprecatory confession, which avails with God. First there is an exordium, in which he wins goodwill, by the power of the judge, by his own weakness, by the custom of sparing: because he wills to be entreated not by the dead, but by the living. « Rebuke. » [n: (AUG.)] To be rebuked is graver than to be accused, whence damnation is feared. To be chastised is milder, that is, to be amended or instructed. They are rebuked in the judgment, who are without a foundation. They are amended, that is, purged, who have built upon that foundation wood, hay, stubble. [0852A] Here therefore he says: « Heal, » lest there be work there, whence he adds: « Have mercy. »

VERS. 3.-- « Weak » [n: (AUG.)] The soul is made weak by guilt, from which do thou heal her, because the bones, that is, the mind, is troubled at his presence, and the soul, that is, sensuality: therefore how long dost thou put it off, as if he said: What remains but that thou shouldst heal? « How long. » [n: (AUG.)] He hints that he has long wrestled with vices. But God's delay is not cruelty, but is that he may convince the soul into what evils she has flung herself. For she does not yet pray so perfectly that it may be said to her: « While thou art yet speaking I will say, behold I am here [n: (Isa. LXV)]. » [var: Vulg. Is 65:24 *adhuc illis loquentibus, ego audiam*, "while they are yet speaking, I will hear"] That out of the difficulty of the healing she may thereafter be the more on her guard, and that it may be shown what punishment there is for the unconverted, if there is so great a difficulty for the converted, whence: « If the just man shall scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly appear? » [n: (I Petr. IV.)]

[0852B]VERS. 5.-- « Turn thee. » [n: (CASS.)] Thou who wast turned away, or, from vengeance. « Deliver, » from imminent death. Or, deliver the soul bound by sins. « Save me, etc., » by giving virtues.

VERS. 6.-- « For there is not. » [n: (CASS.)] Therefore I hasten to be released here, because after death and in hell confession is not received. « In hell. [n: (AUG.)] The rich man confessed who saw Lazarus, although out of the deep, and by comparison with him he was compelled to confess his own evils, even so far as to ask that his brothers also be forewarned by these: but after the judgment, in the deeper darkness, they shall see no light of God, to whom they might confess. Or, he calls death the sin in which he is unmindful of God who despises his commandments.

VERS. 7.-- « I have laboured. » [n: (CASS.)] He narrates the hardships [0852C] by which penitents are turned away [sic: *poenitentes avertitur*]; he groans while he sees what he has done, and what punishment is to come. « The bed. » The conscience, which to some is rest, to some torment. The couch, sensuality; I will make fertile what was dry. Or, the bed is the delight of the body, in which a man is dissolved. The couch, the heap of sins as of garments, which being loosed, by the shower of tears, a new harvest of virtues may grow.

VERS. 8.-- « From wrath. » [n: (AUG.)] From anger, either God's, which is in the judgment, etc., *as far as* lest any despair because of the grievousness of his sins, he adds: « Depart, etc. » [n: (CASS.)] A chastisement, that he may be separated from those in whose company he sinned, and may press on in the commandments of God. « Enemies, » [n: (AUG.)] that is, vices, or evil men, who are truly the enemies of those who turn themselves to God, from whom [0852D] every good man is separated, not in place, but in mind. But because so great a labour of penitence is not vain, signifying that he has been heard, he adds: « Depart. »

VERS. 9, 10.-- « The Lord. » Thrice the Lord, because he shows that the Trinity was present to his prayers: he began with tears, being heard he exults. « The Lord hath heard. » [n: (CAS.)] He gives an example that those who pray faithfully are heard.

VERS. 11.-- « Let them be ashamed and be troubled. » [n: (CASS.)] As in conclusion, now free from sins, exulting, he prays for his enemies, that they may be converted, that, like himself, they may have pardon. [n: (AUG.)] « Let them be ashamed. » Not here (where rather they mock those who leave all things, and make the weak ashamed), but in the judgment.



## PSALM VII.

[0853A]

VERS. 1.-- « Unto the end, a psalm. [n: (AUG.)] Chusi, who went over to Absalom's party, etc., *as far as* for it was not to be hidden from those for whom it was done. [n: (AUG.)] This psalm can be understood in the person of Christ; if any things are said humbly, let them be referred to our weakness, which he bore. First he asks to be delivered out of all tribulations.

VERS. 2.-- « O Lord my God. » [n: (CASS.)] This is the first of those psalms in which by the acts of David the future mysteries of the Lord are signified. The mystery of the incarnation was a silence to the Jews; as David from his son, so Christ endured persecution from the people whom he had nourished. « Deliver. » [n: (AUG.)] As it were, when [0853B] every war of the vices has been overcome, now indeed nothing remains but the envious devil.

VERS. 3.-- « Lest he seize, etc. » « Who may redeem, etc. » [n: (CASS.)] Proper words: it belongs to the Lord to deliver, to the lion to seize. The order, first he sets the persecutors, then the lion. For when a man has been cleansed from all spiritual wickednesses he is delivered from the devil.

VERS. 4, 5.-- « O Lord, if I have done this. » [n: (Ibid.)] Literally, of David and Absalom. « If I have done this, » that is, if this evil has befallen me through a past fault. Or, if there be now iniquity in my hands, that is, in my works. Or, « if I have rendered evils to them that repaid me, etc., » (which is called equity among men), « deservedly » (even though it may not seem so to men) « let me fall away from my enemies empty, » from the fruit of meekness.

[0853C] [n: (AUG.)] « If I have done this, » or, the universal sin, which he named without a name, which is pride, which is the root of all evils. Or, that which follows, « if there is iniquity, » which is taken of every sin. « If I have rendered. » [n: (Ibid.)] That is, if I have not imitated thee in a just silence, that is, in the patience which thou didst work for me. « Let me deservedly fall away from my enemies. » [n: (Ibid.)] He does not imprecate this on himself by an oath, but says what befalls those who avenge themselves: he prophesies therefore, he does not swear by an execration; which is the gravest kind of oath. Made empty by a vain and proud gladness, in that he could as it were not be overcome: Solomon, « Better is he that overcometh anger than he that taketh a city » [n: (Prov. XVI)]. [var: Vulg. Prv 16:32 *Melior est patiens viro forti, et qui dominatur animo suo expugnatore urbium*, "Better is the patient man than the valiant, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh cities"]

[0853D]VERS. 6.-- « Let him tread down, etc. » [n: (Ibid.)] The soul of the sinner, of which, « Earth thou art, and into earth thou shalt return [n: (Gen. III)], » [var: Vulg. Gn 3:19 *pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris*, "dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return"] is the food of the serpent, to whom it was said in the malediction, ( « Earth shalt thou eat, » ) that is, of the devil, because it is earth, that is, earthly. And therefore he here says: « Let him tread down my life in the earth, that is, let him incorporate it into himself when it has been brought down to earth, and let it there be despicable. « My glory. » [n: (Ibid.)] Which ought to be in the conscience, where God sees; and solid in the Lord, as: « He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord [n: (I Cor. I)]. » « Let him bring down into the dust, » that is, into pride and boasting, namely that I should wish to glory among men. « Let him bring down into the dust. The dust which the wind casteth forth. » [n: (Ibid.)] The boasting of the proud. He wishes therefore that [0854A] his glory be solid within, where God sees: for it is dust, if he glories among men; behold how greatly pride is to be shunned.

VERS. 7, 8.-- « Arise, O Lord. » He asks that the glory of Christ's resurrection may come to his aid. « In thy anger. » For this perfect man does not here pray against men, but against the devil, that he may lose his possession, namely sinners and the ungodly, who are his possession. And because the taking away of a man, because it is a punishment to the devil, is called the anger of God against him. Or, he prays here for Christ's resurrection, as in the preceding for his incarnation: as « O Lord my God, etc. » « In the borders. » The world, or hell, are the borders of the devil.

« And arise, O Lord. » The devil is proud, because [0854B] he is overcome by iniquity, he adds: Or, « Arise, » that is, be made known in the whole world, by rising again. « In the precept, » that thou mayest make the precept of humility to be fulfilled: and this follows thereupon, because the Synagogue, out of divers peoples, or specially of the Jews, « shall compass thee about, » by loving, or by persecuting: « For this, » that is, for her that loves, « return, » that is, make them know thy omnipotence, thou who didst descend that they might see thee; or « for this, » that is, for her that persecutes, in whom thou findest no place, « return on high, » that is, withdraw thyself from those who persecute thee. « Synagogue. » [n: (Ibid.)] The congregation of the people, etc., *as far as* the Lord judges, of the judgment of him that returned, that is, of Christ. « Innocence. » [n: (Ibid.)] Because I have not rendered to them that repaid me. « Upon me. » [n: (Ibid.)] Justice and innocence [0854C] are upon me, because not from me, but from God.

VERS. 10.-- « Searching the hearts. » [n: (Ibid.)] What each one thinks. « The reins. » What delights each one; because the end of care and of thought is delight, to which one strives to attain. Men can see our works in words and in deeds: but with what mind they are done, and whither they desire to attain, God alone sees; who, when he sees the heart to be in heaven, and not to be delighted in the flesh, but in the Lord, that is, when the thoughts are good, directs also their ends, the just man, and not only directs, but helps the just man.

VERS. 11.-- « A just help. » [n: (Ibid.)] There are two offices of medicine, namely to heal disease and to keep health. According to the first he said in another psalm: « I am weak, heal me, O Lord. » According to [0854D] the other this perfect man here says, « my just help is from the Lord. » For both that medicine and this make men whole: but that one carries a man over from sickness to health, this preserves him in health itself. That one is a remedy for escaping disease; this affords a remedy lest he fall back into disease. By that one we are healed when sick, by this we are kept when whole.

VERS. 12.-- « God the judge. » [n: (CASS.)] Here he terrifies by the fear of the judgment to come, and promises hope to those who return. « Is he angry. » [n: (AUG.)] Another reading: « Doth he bring anger every day. » In the Greek more significantly, « he bringeth anger: » because the anger with which he punishes is not in himself, but in the angels of anger, through whom he punishes: who are delighted with human punishment not for the sake of the justice in which they do not rejoice, but for the sake of [0855A] malice: whom he does not gather every day for vengeance, but by patience invites to repentance.

VERS. 13.-- « His sword. » [n: (AUG.)] Another reading: He hath made bright his javelin. [n: (CASS.)] « His sword, » he will exercise manifest vengeance, nor is this said unequally, because he hath bent his bow, » he threatens, lest his patience be thought remiss; « he hath prepared, » that he may be thought about presently to send the arrow. « His bow. » [n: (Ibid.)] From a like case. For as he who has bent a bow threatens, so through sacred Scripture he threatens the wicked, lest the patience of God be thought remiss; and « he hath prepared, » who may be thought about presently to send an arrow: as one prepares a bow, that he may send an arrow. « He hath bent his bow, » [n: (AUG.)] by tempering the Old Testament [0855B] through the New Testament: « He hath prepared, » by explanation. [n: (Ibid.)] Or, « he hath prepared. » God prepares and disposes, etc., *as far as* but for those burning with zeal, arrows.

VERS. 15.-- « Behold. » As it were, these things God hath prepared in the Scriptures. [n: (Ibid.)] Whence it seems to a man to be the cause of damnation. But « behold » that it is not from God, but from man, because « he hath opened a pit, etc. He hath conceived sorrow, » [n: (Ibid.)] that is, by the appetite of temporal things. « He hath brought forth, » he has effected, sent out: and in the iniquity sent out there is a pit, that is, a downfall for others. Whence he adds:

VERS. 16.-- « He hath opened a pit. » And so he is comparable to one opening a pit: for he opens by conceiving [0855C] fraud: he digs out by travailing, by pressing on the work of fraud; he falls in by bringing forth fraud, namely, by perpetrating it.

VERS. 17.-- « His sorrow shall be turned, etc. » The head, the soul, the crown, the reason: over which sins have dominion, and remain over: and they shall come down upon it when they shall thrust it into punishments.

VERS. 18.-- « I will confess to the Lord. » [n: (CASS.)] The conclusion, as it were gathering all things into a sum, he says that he confesses cheerfully.



## PSALM VIII.

VERS. 1.-- « Unto the end, for the winepresses, etc. » For the winepresses, that is, for the Churches, etc., *as far as* souls flow out into rest.

[0855D]VERS. 2.-- « O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is thy name! etc. » [n: (CASS.)] First the praises of God, his majesty, and his exalted working are described. « In the whole. » [n: (Ibid.)] Let not the Jews therefore, or any others, claim for themselves what belongs to all, which is the intent. « Above the heavens. » [n: (AUG.)] Literally, or the Scriptures: because it exceeds the utterances of all the Scriptures; or, « above the heavens. » Continuing with what follows, that is, into the Scriptures, which he bends down to babes, on account of the enemies of the cross: who are destroyed, when the Scriptures are seen, that is, understood, to be led down as far as babes: and when through them they are nourished unto strength, and are raised to the sublimity of understanding.

VERS. 3.-- « Out of the mouth of infants. » [n: (Ibid.)] Of the unwise, to whom the Apostle gave milk, whom those signified [0856A] who praised the Lord, in whom the Lord uses this testimony. Out of these he hath perfected praise, because if only the perfect were in the Church, no counsel would be taken for the human race; as now, when even the least, not yet capable of the knowledge of spiritual things, are nourished by faith in the history of things temporal. « Enemies » are all who speak things contrary to the dispensation made through the Crucified. « Defenders » the heretics seem of the faith, the philosophers of wisdom, although yet the former impugn the faith, and the latter true wisdom. « Sucklings, » [n: (CASS.)] not in age, but as Peter has it, « as newborn babes [n: (I Petr. II)], » who cannot yet take food, but milk; and it is: thou art proclaimed not only by the perfect, but also by the unwise. Or, he calls infants and sucklings the apostles, who were simple and unlearned men; whence: « The foolish things of the world [0856B] « God hath chosen, that he may confound the strong [n: (I Cor. I)]. » [var: Vulg. 1Cor 1:27 *quae stulta sunt mundi elegit Deus, ut confundat sapientes*, "the foolish things of the world God hath chosen, that he may confound the wise"; *fortia* answers to a second clause, *infirma mundi elegit Deus*] The praise is more perfect. Or, out of the mouth of infants and sucklings, that is, out of the words of the Hebrew children thou hast perfected praise, which seemed to be done childishly, on account of the enemies, that it might not seem to be human wisdom, but divinely given. « Thine enemies. » The pagans. « The enemy. » The Jew, who is an enemy of God, while he defends the Father alone: because « he that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not « the Father, » or an enemy in his will.

VERS. 4.-- « For I shall see. » Before the Jew, in spirit. « Thy heavens, » the apostles, I shall see present in their descendants; this well suits those of the first age. « The works of thy fingers. » Because they are perfected by the cooperation of the Trinity, which is signified here in the three fingers, as there: « Who weigheth the bulk of the earth with three fingers. » [n: (Isa. XL.)] And through them, [0856C] « The moon and the stars which thou hast founded. » Not they.

VERS. 5.-- « What is man. » [n: (Ibid.)] Secondly, he says that the nature of man, once corrupted, is exalted in Christ above all things. For before he had shown the omnipotence of the Godhead. By man, sinners; by the son of man, the spiritual. [n: (Ibid.)] Man, any vile person, of whom God is mindful in showing mercy, the Son of man, Christ as man: since through him thou visitest him, when the Word was made flesh, in which the physician came to the sick. « Or the son. » [n: (AUG.)] The disjunction hints that there is a distance between man and the son of man. Every son of man is man, but not conversely, as Adam. Every man therefore, who bears the image of the earthly: the Son of man, who is heavenly, and deservedly a new man, [0856D] son of man: because the new is made out of the old by a certain change. [n: (AUG.)] Why, leaving the higher things, does he speak of these lowest ones? But the sheep, etc., *as far as* who by the seed of the word of God make the hearts of men to bear fruit.

VERS. 8.-- « Moreover the cattle also. » He notes therefore that the wicked also are subject to Christ, which seems less: for these carnal men dwell in the breadth of the plain, that is, in the amplitude of pleasures, not in the mountains of virtues. « The cattle of the field. » [n: (Ibid.)] Who live in the flesh, where they climb nothing steep: but the broad way, to which they cling, is that which leads to destruction: whence also Abel is slain in the field.

VERS. 9.-- « The birds, » the proud: of whom, « They have set their mouth against heaven [n: (Psal. LXXII)]. » Whose head says: « I will ascend into heaven, and I will exalt [0857A] my throne, and I will be like the Most High [n: (Isa. XIV)]. « The fishes of the sea that walk through the paths of the sea, » the curious. These three, the pleasure of the flesh, pride, curiosity, include all vices, which are the concupiscence of the flesh, the ambition of the world, that is, pride, the concupiscence of the eyes, since through the eyes curiosity chiefly prevails.



## PSALM IX.

VERS. 1.-- « Unto the end, for the hidden sons. » [var: Vulg. Ps 9:1 *pro occultis filii*, "for the hidden things of the son", a genitive singular, which is what the gloss's *cujus* presupposes] Nor is it added whose, by excellence he is the only-begotten of God. « Hidden. » Because other things of his are manifest, etc., *as far as* and of the punishment by which he judges, in purging, in converting, in blinding.

VERS. 2.-- « I will confess to thee, O Lord, with my whole « heart, etc. » The prophet sings joyfully, because the worship [0857B] of the devil is destroyed by the coming of Christ: and Christ reigns, judges, helps.

VERS. 4.-- « When my enemy is turned back, etc., » « they shall perish, etc. » [n: (AUG.)] Because when thou hast turned the devil backward, his members are weakened, so that they can do no hurt, and they shall not be, or, they shall be utterly destroyed by thy assault, when thou shalt say, « Go, ye cursed [n: (Matth. XXV)], » [var: Vulg. Mt 25:41 *Discedite a me maledicti*, "Depart from me, ye cursed"] or, they shall perish when God takes away iniquity from them.

VERS. 5.-- « Thou hast made my judgment and my « cause. » [n: (Ibid.)] Because they have served me to my profit, because « thou hast sat. » « Thou judgest. » [n: (HIER.)] The Father, that Christ might die for the race of men. [n: (AUG.)] Or, Christ shall judge at the end, to whom the Father hath given all judgment.

[0857C]VERS. 6.-- « For ever and for ever. » [n: (Ibid.)] The age is this present one which rolls on: the age of the age is eternal, of which that one is the image. Or, it is a determination, lest thou shouldst take this present one.

VERS. 7.-- « The javelins. [n: (CASS.)] The power of the devil shall be destroyed at the end of the world. « Cities. » His peoples. « With a noise, » that is, with the greatest outcry, as happens when prosperous things are shut up with a heavy « end. » But on the contrary the Lord remaineth. « The end, [n: (AUG.)] » is the sword which he shall brandish at the second coming, judging openly, and which now judges secretly, up to which the javelins of the enemy avail somewhat, but then they shall wholly fail. « Of them. » [n: (CASS.)] In the plural, although above he said the enemy in the singular, because although the demons are many, yet because in [0857D] malice they are alike, they are as it were one.

« With a noise. » [n: (AUG.)] That is, both the din and the tumult of impiety hath perished: or, when impiety is overthrown, a din is made, because none comes to the highest peace but he who has fought with the vices with a great din. « His throne. » [n: (CASS.)] The judiciary power, he who was judged in humility shall judge in majesty.

VERS. 10.-- « And he is become. » How great a thing it is, that he who is judge should be a refuge to the poor man, who desires nothing of the world. « In opportunities. » [n: (AUG.)] Man is not more opportunely turned away from the world, unless to these pleasures labours and sorrows be mingled.

VERS. 11.-- « Let them hope. » [n: (AUG.)] When they cease to hope in the things of the world. Those turned away from the world, seeking where to fix their hope, the knowledge of the name receives. The name [0858A] is known, when he whose the name is, is known. His name is Lord, which he knows who willingly serves him, or, who is, and therefore let no one hope in transitory things, which have nothing besides "it was" and "it will be." For what in them is to come, when it has come, straightway becomes past, it is awaited with desire, it is lost with sorrow, it is not held with certainty. « For thou hast not forsaken. » The prophet provokes the faithful to praise, looking upon the benefits of the present time and of the time to come.

VERS. 12.-- « Sion. » [n: (Ibid.)] Contemplation, which is practised now, that we may come to the vision of peace, that is, from Sion into Jerusalem: but any zealous contemplation falls into error, unless the Lord dwell in it. « Pursuits. » [n: (HIER.)] That is, his commandments, upon which zeal is to be spent.

[0858B]VERS. 13.-- « For requiring. » [n: (Ibid.)] But as if they who are sent to evangelize should say, No one believes us, and we are slain, he answered: not without fruit, because « requiring in vengeance their blood, » [var: Vulg. Ps 9:13 *quoniam requirens sanguinem eorum*, without *ultione*] in the judgment, where there shall be glory to the slain, punishment to the slayer: « he hath remembered, etc » [n: (Ibid.)] not after forgetfulness, but after a long time, according to the feeling of the weak, who think him forgetful, because it is not done so quickly as they wish: to whom also add, nay, he is not forgetful, as you think: and if I have said « he hath remembered, » this is against the complainers, who because of the delay think him forgetful.

VERS. 14.-- « Have mercy. » [n: (CASS.)] In his own person he says what each one asks. « See. » [n: (Ibid.)] The look of God is help, and when it comes, the light also puts the darkness to flight: from the pride of the enemy is measured the humility of the sufferer, [0858C] because these are humbled just so much as those are exalted.

VERS. 15.-- « Who liftest me up from the gates of death, etc. » [n: (AUG.)] That is, from all covetous desires, by which one goes to death: death now is that very gladness in the enjoying of things desired; whence the Apostle: « A widow that liveth « in delights is dead [n: (I Tim. V)]. » [var: Vulg. 1Tim 5:6 *Nam quae in deliciis est, vivens mortua est*, "for she that is in delights is dead while she liveth"] « In the gates of the daughter « of Sion. » They are all the best pursuits, etc., *as far as* which neither eye hath seen, nor ear heard. [n: (CASS.)] Gates against gates, because these are of death, those of life. « Sion. » [n: (Ibid.)] She begat all the Churches of the world, because there Christ was born, whence faith began.

VERS. 16.-- « I will exult. » [n: (AUG.)] Thus far the cry, thereafter the Church which is afflicted says, I will exult in Jesus. [n: (CASS.)] For by hope she is saved. « In the snare. » [n: (Ibid.)] [0858D] A hidden snare is a deceitful thought: the foot is the soul's love, which, if it be crooked, is called covetousness, if right, charity. For by it the soul is moved as it were to a place, whither it rejoices to have come by love. « In the snare » therefore, that is, in a fraudulent counsel: the foot, that is, the love which through fraud comes to a vain gladness, is caught, because that delight binds them, so that they dare not break off their love from thence and turn it to useful things. For if they should try, it is grief to leave the things which delight, and that grief does not suffer them to depart.

VERS. 17.-- *He shall be known.* [n: (CASS.)] Or, of the judgment to come, etc., *as far as* as certain men falsely think.

VERS. 18.-- *Let sinners be turned.* [n: (AUG.)] Here is the canticle of the diapsalma, as it were the hidden gladness of the separation: [0859A] which is made here not by place, but by affection, between the good and the evil. [n: (CASS.)] To sinners with Antichrist he foretells the end of evils; as it were this meanwhile, but at last *they shall be turned,* lest they rejoice in their own things. *Into hell,* lest they think themselves to be sent elsewhere.

VERS. 19.-- *Patience.* [n: (AUG.)] Patiently, for this chiefly will God be mindful of the poor, namely because of their patience.

VERS. 20.-- *Arise.* [n: (AUG.)] He prays for the judgment to come. [n: (CASS.)] The prophet, speaking of the end of the world, foresaw the coming of Antichrist; whence as if terrified he cries: *arise.*

VERS. 21.-- *Let them know.* That is, being tormented let them find by experience that they were foolish men.



## PSALM X.-- *According to the Hebrews.*

[0859B]VERS. 1.-- *Why.* [n: (AUG.)] Diapsalma, because it will be permitted to him (to Antichrist) to do such great things that he may be thought God: he adds, as it were, the voice of those who groan and who ask concerning the deferring of judgment.

[n: (CASS., AUG.)] *Why.* He treats at length of the evils of that time, etc., *as far as* but opportunely, namely thus, *While the wicked man is proud.*

VERS. 2.-- *The poor man is set on fire, they are caught in the counsels which they devise.* [n: (AUG.)] Wondrously does the providence of God work out of evils, etc., *as far as* thus the evil are damned, the just are saved.

VERS. 3.-- *For the sinner is praised.* Therefore he is proud, or is caught, because he is praised by his own, by the fulfilling of the desires of his sensuality.

[n: (AUG.)] The tongues of flatterers bind souls fast in sins: [0859C] for it is a delight to do those things in which not only is no reprover feared, but a praiser is even heard.

VERS. 4.-- *Of his wrath.* [n: (CASS.)] Of Antichrist's, because he will do all things turbulently and cruelly; or, of God's: he will not seek God by repenting; or, God will not seek him out, that he should take vengeance here, but is about to punish him more heavily in the time to come.

VERS. 5.-- *Defiled.* [n: (CASS.)] The cause of his wickedness is that he does not hold God before his eyes, and therefore his ways, that is, his thoughts and his works, are foul.

*At all times.* [n: (AUG.)] His own, namely of his life, etc., *as far as* and because *he shall have dominion over all his enemies.*

VERS. 6.-- *He hath said,* etc. I will take possession of all nations, but not *without evil,* that is, without sin, which is proper [0859D] to him. Or: I shall always be without evil; this he promises himself, *whose mouth is full of cursing,* etc.

*I shall not be moved.* [n: (AUG.)] Or, he will think that he will come by evil arts, and not otherwise, from a mortal generation into an eternal one, which Simon Magus also thought.

VERS. 7.-- *Under the tongue.* [n: (CASS.)] That is, his thoughts are of the labour of the saints and of bodily sorrow, which is plain in the martyrs. Or, the labour of the saints and the sorrow which lies in the punishments of the body is *under his tongue,* that is, it is the lighter; his tongue, which harms within: that other, namely, is the punishment without.

Or, *under the tongue,* because words are more feared and will do more harm than stripes, by which the soul is cast headlong and will perish.

[0860A]VERS. 8.-- *In secret places,* etc. [n: (AUG.)], that is, in ambiguous ones, where it is not easily seen what is to be sought and what is not.

VERS. 9.-- *His eyes are upon the poor man,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] He sets out the ambushes: *the eyes,* as though with mercy and affection; or, he so deceives others that his eyes look cruelly upon the poor in spirit.

*A lion in his den,* etc. Because in him is violence and guile, etc., *as far as* through heretics and false brethren.

VERS. 10.-- *He shall bow himself down.* [n: (CASS.)] When through excessive prosperity he has let his mind slacken into idleness, he shall fall by a sudden destruction: and the Lord shall slay him with the spirit of his mouth.

*Unto the end.* They deny that God sees, etc., *as far as* he rouses the Lord, *Arise, O Lord.*

VERS. 12.-- *Arise, O Lord God, and let [0860B] thy hand be exalted, that thou mayest forget,* etc. [var: Vulg. Ps 9:33 *exaltetur manus tua ; ne obliviscaris pauperum*, "let thy hand be exalted: forget not the poor"] [n: (Ibid.)] He prays for judgment, that these things may be quickly ended here, things so great that no one would wish the time in which they happen to be prolonged.

*Arise.* As it were unlooked for, that they may be crushed, while thine own, exalted with thee, are glorified.

VERS. 13.-- *Wherefore hath the wicked provoked God.* [var: Vulg. Ps 9:34 *Propter quid*, the interrogative "for what reason"] [n: (AUG.)] And so now, both understanding and exulting concerning that judgment, he says, wherefore? that is, what does it profit to do such great evils?

*For God hath said in his heart,* etc. [var: Vulg. Ps 9:34 *dixit enim in corde suo*, with no *Deus*: the speaker there is the wicked man] [n: (Ibid.)] This sense calls for a delivery, etc., *as far as* lest they toil, or grow angry.

[n: (AUG.)] Christ bore with Judas and sent him to preach, and gave him the eucharist, that he might show that the gifts reach those who receive the faith, such as [0860C] Judas was.

VERS. 14.-- *For thou seest that thou considerest labour and sorrow.* This thou hast already foreordained, where thou deliverest them into thy hand.

*To the fatherless,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] To him for whom the world dies as a father, by which he was carnally begotten, so that he may say: *The world is crucified to me, and I to the world.*

VERS. 15.-- *Break thou the arm.* By punishments he terrifies, by good things he soothes.

*It shall be sought.* [n: (AUG.)] While it is still needful for our purging, as above, while the wicked man is proud, etc.; but because it shall not be found, that is, because there is now no one in whom there is room for his sin, smooth iron has no need of a file.

[0860D]VERS. 16.-- *The Lord shall reign for ever, and unto ages of ages.* This kingdom will be the more welcome for the evils that run alongside it, in that it will come when Antichrist has been destroyed; from this kingdom ye shall perish, O nations, but the poor shall have it, because *the desire of the poor,* etc.

VERS. 17.-- *The preparation of the heart.* [n: (CASS.)] Or, concupiscence, which is where a thing is sought more ardently with all the powers of the soul. Or, this, which God himself has prepared in their hearts. Or, that God may hear as soon as they wish to ask.

*The ear,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] When members are named which in us are visible and bodily, in God powers of operation must be understood.

*To judge for the fatherless and the humble,* etc. The second coming [0861A] will be manifest, etc., *as far as* the author of evils will be damned with his own people.

## PSALM X.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end.* [n: (AUG.)] A psalm of David the prophet, teaching men to resist heretics.

VERS. 2.-- *In the Lord I put my trust.* [n: (AUG.)] Of the heretics who wish to turn Catholics to their own depravity.

*[n: (Ibid.)] In the Lord I put my trust.* As to the letter it can be read of the passion; and Christ says, according to his manhood, as he is wont, against the terrors of the Jews, *In the Lord I put my trust.*

*In the Lord I put my trust.* When sinners wish to shoot at the upright.

[0861B] *For behold. [n: (Ibid.)]* These are the terrors of those who threaten us with sinners, that we may pass over to them as to just men. For they say: *The sinners have bent their bow,* the Scriptures, whence they may send poisoned arrows, which they prepare in the secret place of the heart.

VERS. 3.-- *In the dark.* [n: (CASS.)] Those who live in the simple sense, or in their own ambiguous opinions; not that Scripture avails for this, but because:

VERS. 4.-- *For the things which thou hast perfected.* He turns his speech away from these to God, as it were: Why do they say, Remove? Why is he terrified by sinners, who bend the bow to shoot at the upright? *because the things which thou hast perfected they have destroyed* in their assemblies, where they slay with poisons the little ones who were to be nourished with milk, out of whose mouth praise is perfected.

[0861C] *But the just, what hath he done?* [n: (AUG.)] According to either part, etc., *as far as* he harms his own soul, not the just man, who believes God.

VERS. 6.-- *The Lord questioneth,* etc. *But the just.* He threatens judgment, by fear of which they may forsake their falsehoods.

*He questioneth. [n: (Ibid.)]* That is, he proves; because the good are not wearied by obscure things, but are exercised in knowledge: they are not puffed up, but confirmed.

*The things which thou hast perfected.* That is, thou hast published them perfectly, or by fulfilling what was foretold. They have destroyed them by expounding them ill.

*[n: (Ibid.)] In the dark.* Or *when the moon is dark.* There are two opinions about the moon, etc., *as far as* he then calls the sacraments holy, when they are given through holy men.

VERS. 7.-- *He shall rain upon.* He shows what he renders to the wicked. --[n: (AUG.)] He rains from the clouds, that is, from false prophets. [0861D] Or from good things, whence snares flow out when they are ill understood: but not save upon those who are sinners. *Fire.* First they are laid waste by the fire of covetous desires: thence by the stench of evil works they are cast out from the saints, thence they are plunged in eternal punishments.

VERS. 8.-- *Justices. [n: (Ibid.)]* In the plural, that thou mayest take it of the just, in whom there are many justices, though God's is one.

*He hath beheld equity.* Equity was seen in his face, that is, in the knowledge of him: for his face is the knowledge of him, that is, the power by which he will become known to the worthy. Or *he hath seen,* because he does not give himself to be known to the evil, but to the good, which is equity.



## PSALM XI.

VERS. 1.-- *For the octave.* [n: (CASS.)] *For the octave,* because [0862A] here the prophet asks that the iniquity of the world be destroyed, so that he may come through to the truth of the promise to come.

[n: (AUG.)] The octave stands for the day of judgment, as was said in the sixth psalm.

VERS. 2.-- *Save me.* And he calls men back from the falsehoods of the world to the words of God, where salvation is; he asks to be saved from the perversity of the world.

*For there hath failed.* [n: (CASS.)] He sets out the many things he feared, gathering them into one, that the force may be the greater.

*The holy one. [n: (Ibid.)]* God, who is everywhere present, has failed so far as concerns men, who do not believe in him.

VERS. 3.-- *His neighbour.* [n: (AUG.)] Every man is a neighbour, since with none is evil to be done: by the condition of the first birth every man is a neighbour; by kinship of the flesh, friends and kinsmen; by the reckoning of mercy, [0862B] any man who does good.

*With a heart,* etc. Germination [cj: *Germinatio*; read *Geminatio*, "the doubling"] signifies a double heart, in which the deceitful man is described; whence: *A man double in mind is inconstant in all his ways.* The good have one heart and one soul.

VERS. 4.-- *May the Lord destroy all lips,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] That is, let them perish on every side who come together in one depravity.

*The tongue that speaketh great things. [n: (Ibid.)]* That is, a proud one: these are hypocrites, having a show in speech to deceive men, and not subject to God. [n: (REMIG.)] Or, philosophers.

VERS. 5.-- *Who have said: our tongue.* [n: (CASS.)] They boast of the power of their lips, as though they had not received it from God.

[0862C]VERS. 6.-- *Of the needy and the groaning of the poor.* AUG., [n: (CASS.)] *The needy,* the Gentiles, who had neither the law nor the prophets; *the poor,* the Jews. *Now.* Which was not so in the former people. *I will arise.* I shall appear in the Son. *I will set.* The consolation of the poor. *With confidence.* Powerfully, in that nothing resists him.

VERS. 7.-- *The words of the Lord. [n: (Ibid.)]* Against the evils of the world Christ was sent by the Father, whose words are true, those of the wicked false. *Chaste.* Against that which is above, *they have spoken vain things.--Tried by fire.* Against, *with deceitful lips, in a heart and a heart have they spoken.*

*Sevenfold.* [n: (AUG.)] Perfectly, etc. *as far as* and it shows what is perfect.

VERS. 8.-- *Thou, O Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] Turning himself to the Lord, he [0862D] shows the usefulness of the divine words.

VERS. 9. *Round about.* A conclusion concerning either part. [n: (AUG.)] *Round about,* that is, in the desire of temporal things, which are rolled round in seven days and do not come to the eighth, that is, to the eternal: whence *a wise king is the winnower of the wicked, and brings in upon them the wheel of evils [n: (Prov. II)]*, [var: Vulg. Prov 20:26 *Dissipat impios rex sapiens, et incurvat super eos fornicem*, "a wise king scattereth the wicked, and bendeth an arch over them"] that is, the circuit of things that roll.

*Thou hast multiplied the children of men. [n: (Ibid.)]* There is also a multiplication in temporal things which turns a man away from the unity of God: but the just are multiplied according to the height, when they go from virtue to virtue.

## PSALM XII.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end.* [n: (CASS.)] A psalm concerning the charity [0863A] of Christ, etc., *as far as* according to that word: *I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. [n: (Phil. I.)]*

VERS. 2.-- *How long.* [n: (CAS.)] Great is the ardour of him who endures, etc., *as far as* because hope is drawn out.

*Counsels.* [n: (AUG.)] There is no need of counsel, etc., *as far as* grieving and praying for eternal things.

VERS. 3.-- *How long shall he be exalted,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] He says that before the coming of Christ the devil held men captive. Or *over me,* that is, over my cruelty, because he is worshipped in the whole world; and because the world so perishes, he weeps.

VERS. 4.-- *Look thou upon me. [n: (Ibid.)]* After the complaint, a prayer, that he may be enlightened, lest he yield to the frauds of the enemy, he who trusts in mercy. *Look thou upon me.* [n: (AUG.)] Send him whom thou art to send. *Hear me.* [n: (CASS.)] For all, for whom he asks in general. *Enlighten.* If not in body, [0863B] let us see at least in mind. *That I sleep.* When, the light of faith being buried, they are shut up in carnal delight. *In death.* That is, in the sin which is committed against the Holy Spirit, of which John says: *There is a sin unto death, I do not say for it that any man should pray.*

VERS. 6.-- *They shall rejoice.* [n: (AUG.)] Not only for enlightening me, but lest the enemy rejoice. *I have hoped* [n: (CASS.)] And though he makes haste, yet he is patient: because even if it is put off, he is firm in hope, and already seeing inwardly he exults over him whom he longs to see in the flesh: whence he who before complained says that good things have already been given him. *He hath given.* Not, he will give: the great power of faith already has what is to come. *My heart shall rejoice.* If he desires so much, if he so serves him who is to come, what must be done when he has been received?

## PSALM XIII.

[0863C]VERS. 1.-- *The fool hath said.* [n: (CASS.)] A rebuke of the Jews, their malice being described. The first psalm concerning the rebuke of the Jews, etc., *as far as* this man is not God.

VERS. 2.-- *The Lord from heaven. [n: (Ibid.)]* But from thence they are without excuse, because the Lord looked down, that is, he stood forth out of human nature. [n: (AUG.)] From heaven, that is, he looks down through holy souls: for by himself nothing lies hidden from him. Or, from heaven, through holy souls, which are the heaven and the seat of God. Or, the Lord the Father from heaven, that is, from the secret of the divine mind. [n: (CAS.)] Or, from the equality of God the Father. *If there be one that understandeth.* Or, he saw whether there be one that understandeth, and he found that not one understands: because he does not seek, but turns aside, for: *All have gone aside,* etc.

VERS. 3.-- *A sepulchre. [n: (Ibid.)]* Thus made useless to others, [0863D] because their throat is a sepulchre, etc. *A sepulchre.* These three verses, which run as far as the second division, at *Shall they not know,* etc., are said not to be from the Hebrew, etc., *as far as* it does not have them.

*Destruction* [n: (AUG.)] Thus they have been made useless to themselves, etc., *as far as* and unhappiness in the time to come.

(CASS) The way of the wicked, etc., *as far as: The fear of God before their eyes,* etc.

VERS. 4.-- *Shall they not know.* He threatens judgment to the wicked.

VERS. 5.-- *The Lord they have not called upon,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] For they do not truly call upon him who love the things that displease God.--[n: (CASS.)] Thence destruction is increased, because they must needs do evil, since the proud will not call upon God. As [0864A] it is caution to fear at the fitting time, so it is cowardice to tremble unfittingly, as for nation and place, the fear of God being cast away.

VERS. 6.-- *The counsel of the needy.* [n: (CASS.)] An invective against the Jews, etc., *as far as,* that is, proceeding from the Jews, etc.

VERS. 7.-- *Who shall give out of Sion,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Last of all the conversion of the Jews is foretold, which will come to pass when the fulness of the Gentiles has come in. *When he shall have turned away.* For the Jews too the Apostle sets down this testimony of Isaiah: *There shall come out of Sion he that turneth away the captivity, or the impiety, from Jacob.*



## PSALM XIV.

VERS. 1.-- *Lord, who?* [n: (CAS.)] This psalm is properly an instructor in morals, a repressing of presumption: where [0864B] it treats of the unity of the present Church and of the quiet to come. First the prophet asks, as a priest standing before the face of the Lord, and seeks answers; wishing to know whom God judges worthy of his Church.

VERS. 2.-- *He that. [n: (Ibid.)]* The answer of the Lord, etc. *as far as* as Christ the lamb, without breaking of members, who properly entered the temple, not that he might be expiated like the rest, but without stain. *He worketh justice.* As when he cast out of the temple those that sold and bought.

VERS. 3.-- *He that speaketh.* Here he follows it out more fully. Truth is when the thing is so as it is said: this Christ did properly. *In his heart,* who at times kept silence toward the unworthy who questioned him fraudulently. *He hath not wrought deceit.* Deceit is in the tongue, when one thing is said and another is in the breast. Or, *he hath not wrought deceit,* because all that he heard from the Father, [0864C] without any addition or suppression, he made known to his neighbours, that is, to the disciples; to the Jews, his neighbours according to the flesh. *Nor hath he done evil to his neighbour.* But he prayed for them; he did not take up reproach against his neighbours, as is plain from this, that he did not tear Judas with a biting rebuke.

VERS. 4.-- *To nothing,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] This is perfection, that the malignant one avail nothing in a man, and that this be in his sight, that is, that he know for certain that no one is malignant save he who turns from the Creator to created things. *The malignant one,* that is, the devil, is despised; as when he said: *Go back, Satan,* etc. On the contrary, *he glorifieth them that fear the Lord.* He swore, when he promised the apostles with most certain truth: *Now I will not call you servants, but friends.*

[0864D]VERS. 5.-- *He that sweareth to his neighbour,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] These three things are not great, etc., *as far as* since in the conclusion above he set down a past tense, *he is brought to nothing.*

*Money.* Either it is earthly, which is utterly forbidden to be given out at usury, and which the Lord handed over to Judas to be paid out to the poor, not for usury. Or it is spiritual, which is commanded to be given out at usury, that is, preaching for the instructing of men. *And gifts against the innocent.* Christ does indeed receive gifts, as from the Magi, and daily devout offerings; but not against the innocent; rather he gave his soul for them. *He that doeth these things shall not be moved.* Behold the complete answer to the questioner: he does them (he says), that he may invite us to the act, not only to [0865A] the singing of them. *He that doeth these things shall not be moved.* [n: (CASS.)] The conclusion. In like manner he that doeth these things shall rest on the mountain.

## PSALM XV.

VERS. 1.-- *The inscription of a title.* [n: (CASS.)] This title is taken from the Gospel, not from the Old Testament. What the title noted, that is, victory and kingdom, belongs to Christ, and that is what is treated of here.

VERS. 2.-- *Preserve me,* etc. The second psalm, which touches briefly on the passion and the resurrection; first, Christ, showing the one nature of man, asks to be preserved, saying that all that he endured has been brought through to the glory of his inheritance. [n: (AUG.)] Christ speaks here according to his manhood, of whom the royal title stood out in the passion: *Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.--Of my [0865B] goods,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] If God has no need of the goods of Christ the man, but Christ the man has all things from him, the arrogance of men is overthrown, and the heresy of the Pelagians, who think that anything is done by their own good powers.

VERS. 3.-- *To the saints who are in the land. [n: (Ibid.)]* Christ has now set out how he prayed; he now tells what good things God did for him. [n: (AUG.)] *To the saints,* etc., *as far as* and power that I might rise again.

*He hath made wonderful.* [n: (CASS.)] As if to say, these things I said to the Lord: but the Lord made them wonderful, that is, he made my wills wonderful; and they are wonderful in that those who obey them become heavenly out of earthly.

VERS. 4.-- *They are multiplied. [n: (Ibid.)]* Whereby he made them wonderful, [0865C] etc., *as far as* which sound together in one note, by which his wills are shown.

VERS. 5.-- *The portion of my inheritance.* [n: (AUG.)] Let others choose other things, etc., *as far as* but those who choose God as their portion. [n: (CASS.)] Or, *the Lord* is the *portion,* that is, the share and the reward, *of my inheritance,* that is, of the saints. And *the portion of my cup,* that is, the wage of the passion. For the inheritance belongs to the Gentiles, the cup to the passion, which when drunk gives resurrection. But let no one think himself an heir save he that is illustrious.

VERS. 6.-- *The lines,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] As it were by lot, in which is the divine election, as the lot also fell upon Matthias, and each man takes according to his own measure. *In goodly places.* That is, among the saints.

VERS. 7.-- *I will bless the Lord. [n: (Ibid.)]* He gives [0865D] thanks to the Father for understanding, and for the passion, in which by his favour he conquers, and for the resurrection, and for confession; and these are the things through which the inheritance is restored, so that he is king of the Jews, as the title says. *Understanding,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Whereby this inheritance can be seen and possessed. *Moreover,* etc. That is, above understanding. *Even till night,* etc. That is, till death, he hath instructed me, that is, my lower part, the assumption of flesh, that he might drive out the darknesses of mortality which that understanding does not have, because for them it could neither be troubled nor fail. *My reins.* From whom according to the flesh I came forth, namely my kindred: they have chided me with injuries, with temptation and with passion.

VERS. 8.-- *I set the Lord before me. [n: (Ibid.)]* From this draw an example, whereby sins may be shunned: for he who [0866A] always beholds God with the keen edge of the mind is not bowed down by sins.



## PSALM XVI.

VERS. 1.-- *The prayer of David.* [n: (CASS.)] The prayer belongs to the person of the Lord, the Church being joined to him, which is his body. *Hear, O Lord. [n: (Ibid.)]* This psalm makes us attend to the true nature of his humanity. The prayer of Christ is an instruction of the faithful: as by weeping over Lazarus he taught us to have charity toward our neighbour; he fled his persecutors, that he might take from us the boldness of ill-considered rashness. First, he asks that it be rendered to him according to justice. *Not in deceitful lips.* As one who is unjustly condemned; or, as one who says: Lord, Lord, and does not do the works. [n: (AUG.)] Or, let my judgment come forth from thy countenance not in deceitful lips, so that in judging I may not put forth [0866B] anything other than I understand.

VERS. 2.-- *From thy countenance.* [n: (CASS.)] That is, according to those things which thou knowest in me, who have no sin. *Judgment.* Whereby he who was judged may be seen to have come forth as his own. *From thy countenance,* not from the disposition of the Jews, which deed is plain in the resurrection. Or, *judgment,* whereby he discerns all things.

VERS. 3.-- *Thou hast proved.* [n: (CASS.)] From the likeness of a furnace, etc., *as far as* thou knowest me to be pure.

VERS. 4.-- *Hard ways. [n: (Ibid.)]* Namely the works of men: which, namely, the works of men deserve. Or, which men ought to imitate, for whom the road of the vices is easy, that of the virtues hard. Or, it was not found, so that he should not speak, that is, that I may not say these things boastfully, or, that I may not sin with my tongue, which is the work of men. [0866C] [n: (AUG.)] Or, the hard ways of the thief, etc., *as far as* after I had gone along the hard ways and completed my steps.

VERS. 5.-- *Perfect thou.* [n: (CASS.)] Even to the end: before that there is nothing but a beginning. Steps, that is, human actions, so that they who wish to imitate may not be moved away from thee, nor their footsteps from them.

VERS. 6.-- *I have cried. [n: (Ibid.)]* Secondly, he prays that his purity be delivered from the ambushes of the Jews. I too have cried, as though thou shouldst say, this belongs to none but the just man, who prays with confidence, because he knows he is heard.

VERS. 7.-- *Make wonderful.* [n: (AUG.)] Wonderful are the things that are new: these are the things which he yielded in the flesh, the Jews marvelling.

VERS. 8.-- *The apple of the eye.* It is very small, and yet through it the keen edge of sight is directed, whereby light and darkness are distinguished, [0866D] just as through the humanity of Christ the godhead is what discerns between the good and the evil.

VERS. 10.-- *Their fat.* [n: (CASS.)] From the likeness of animals, which are puffed up from fat, that is, they have kept pride, not lean, that is, not humble; the fat, that is, they have kept the carnal understanding; or, fattened with crimes they have lost true understanding, whence it remains for them to speak proud things. *Their mouth hath spoken pride.* Not their heart, because often the wicked condemn in their heart what they defend with their mouth.

VERS. 12.-- *They have taken me,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] Whence had they this opportunity? I answer: they took it from God, whose ordering it is; or, from the betrayer; or, they received it greedily from the judge. *As a lion prepared,* etc. [n: (AUG., CASS.)] [0867A] The princes are to be compared to the lion, the devil, by whose authorship they act: the people is *the young of a lion,* that is, the son of the devil, *dwelling,* remaining in ambushes, because it is the way of evil men to cover their vows, that they may accomplish them secretly.

VERS. 13.-- *Arise, O Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] A prayer concerning retributions. *Prevent,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] From the likeness of one running: there is no one who does not sin against himself before he sins against another. *Supplant him:* from the likeness of one wrestling, that is, make them ineffectual and cast them down. *Deliver my soul from the wicked one.* [n: (AUG.)] By raising it again from the death brought upon it by the wicked. *The sword.* My soul is the sword, which thy hand, that is, thy power, took up, that through it he might war down the kingdoms of iniquity and divide the just from the wicked. *Divide them,* etc., [n: (CASS.)] that is, the Jews divided, etc., *as far as* misery, as though deservedly: because, of the hidden things. *Of the hidden things* [0867B] *that are thine.* That is, of uncleannesses, etc., *as far as* that is, they shall be sharers of evils even to satiety. *Of the hidden things.* [n: (AUG.)] Not only is this punishment visible to them, but from hidden things, that is, from sins (which are hidden away from the light of thy truth), their memory is full, so that they forget God.



## PSALM XVII.

VERS. 1.-- *I will love thee, O Lord, my strength,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Christ says this, and so the Church, that is, the whole Christ.

[n: (Ibid.)] First, the prophet, gathering up the sum, gives thanks for the deliverance.

VERS. 3.-- *My refuge. [n: (Ibid.)]* When there was need of counsel, David fled to him and found it. *My deliverer,* as one who, being powerful, sets free a man taken captive by his enemies. *My protector,* [0867C] [n: (AUG.)] because I have not presumed upon myself, as though raising a horn of pride against thee; but I have found thee the height of my salvation, and that I might find it thou hast taken me up.

VERS. 4.-- *Praising I will call upon.* [n: (CASS.)] After all things he does not boast of himself, puffed up, but ascribes all to God: and therefore he is safe; for he who does otherwise, left to himself, perishes, even though he seemed to have conquered.

VERS. 5.-- *They have compassed me about. [n: (Ibid.)]* In the person of the just before the coming of Christ, etc., *as far as* who have been troubled by rushing iniquities.

VERS. 6.-- *The sorrows of hell.* The Gentiles, to be tormented in hell with the sorrow they have deserved. *The snares of death have prevented me,* there follows:

VERS. 8.-- *It was moved.* Behold how, etc., *as far as* and this, which mortality and possibility forestalled.

[0867D] *Out of his temple.* [n: (CASS.)] Either of heaven, or of the body of Christ that was to come.

*It was moved.* [n: (AUG.)] Thus, when Christ was glorified, sinners were moved and trembled. *The foundations,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] The presumptions of the proud, that is, riches and the like on which they leaned: for the hope of the world, which God hates, has passed away.

VERS. 10.-- *The heavens. [n: (Ibid.)]* That is, he bowed the preachers down from the contemplative life to ministry, and to the bearing of troubles. *He came down,* etc. He himself suffered in them, and came into the knowledge of certain men. *Darkness:* the dark, who even persecute, are under his power; or, those who believe simply are subject to him.

[0868A]VERS. 11.-- *And he ascended.* For he makes certain men full of knowledge, in whom he stands out above, whose swiftness of understanding he transcends: but the dark he uses secretly: whence, *Assur is the rod of my wrath, yet he himself hath not known it,* but his own know. *He flew upon the wings of the wind.* [var: Vulg. Ps 17:11 *volavit super pennas ventorum*, "the wings of the winds", plural — the plural the gloss's own *Ventos* takes up] The winds, than which nothing is swifter, his fame outstrips, as when, newly born, he was rather announced by a star.

VERS. 12.-- *Darkness.* [n: (AUG.)] The obscurities of the sacraments; or, in these darknesses, where seeing we walk by faith, and not by sight [n: (Matth. II)].

Not through the heavens. [n: (CASS.)] He came down and ascended [n: (II Cor. V)], but through the ethereal clouds (which is in the Hebrew), that is, through the prophets in whom the teaching is obscure; but through the clouds which (not of the ether, that is, the Apostles) [0868B] are exceedingly bright in the knowledge of him, that is, contemplating more nearly.

VERS. 13.-- *Hail.* [n: (AUG.)] Rebukes, which strike hard hearts; but if the fire of charity dissolves them, in a gentle soul it becomes water that satisfies [ *alias* saliens]. *And coals,* because by that fire dark hearts are kindled and come to life again.

VERS. 14.-- *He thundered.* [n: (CASS.)] To the letter, as when the thunder was seen, God saying: *I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. He gave his voice:* in that he did not say: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

VERS. 15.-- *And he sent. [n: (Ibid.)]* The Lord thundered, and the Lord sent: for the passing over to the Gentiles was not always held to be certain nor reasonable.

VERS. 16.-- *And the fountains appeared.* When Christ came, [0868C] there lay open what the obscurity of the divine word had covered. *At thy rebuke.* A turning to God: as it were with thanksgiving, because through preaching he rebuked sinners, and breathed into them that they should fear the wrath to come.

*He sent. [n: (Ibid.)]* Thus far concerning the coming of the Lord; from here on, concerning Christian times. *He sent,* the Father, Christ. *He took me.* The Church his bride. *Out of the waters. [n: (Ibid.)]* Of baptism. Or *he sent the Spirit,* who is the gift. *From on high,* because he is equal to the Father and to the Son. *He took,* as it were a runaway. *He assumed,* into the height of virtue and of good work.

VERS. 18.-- *From my enemies.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, from vices, which above all enemies do the more harm. *And from them who,* etc. That is, from outward enemies, men, and also demons, as must needs be, because they have been strengthened [0868D] in a certain respect. *Behold, they have prevented,* that is, they have prevailed. By this he delivers the more, because they have been strengthened; for when the Church is afflicted, it grows the more.

VERS. 20.-- *Into a large place. [n: (Ibid.)]* Through the savagery of the wicked, the Church grows in number and in merit. *He hath saved me,* in that it came to the faith. *Because he would have me.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, he chose freely.

VERS. 21.-- *And he will reward according to the justice* of a good will. *And according to the cleanness of the hands [n: (Ibid.)]* the works which come after the first benefits of God, namely faith and charity, which God bestows freely, without preceding merit.

VERS. 22.-- *Because I have kept. [n: (Ibid.)]* Or, joining it thus [0869A] with the preceding verse, etc., *as far as* and as I have begun, *I shall be unspotted,* whence in time to come he will reward me.

VERS. 24.-- *With him,* cleaving to him. *And I will keep myself,* lest I fall again. From iniquity, which is the death of the blessed man.

VERS. 25.-- *And he will reward.* [n: (CASS.)] God rewards in two ways: here in the present, that the just may be justified, and he that is in filth may be filthy still, whence here he says: *With the holy thou wilt be holy,* etc.; and in time to come a reward for the good and a punishment for the evil, whence there: *For thou wilt save the humble people,* etc., as if to say, so here: because in time to come *thou wilt save the humble people.*

[n: (AUG.)] And he will give: now not only for the breadth of faith which works through love, but for long-suffering he will reward me. *In the sight:* [0869B] this belongs to the just, that as they always behold God, so God may continually look upon them.

VERS. 26.-- *With the holy.* [n: (CASS.)] He had said that it was rendered according to justice, etc., *as far as* because *thou, O Lord, wilt save the humble people. And thou wilt bring down the eyes of the proud.*

[n: (AUG.)] There is also a hidden depth, by which thou art understood to be holy with the holy, because it is thou that sanctifiest.

*For thou dost light.* What he declared concerning the elect and the sanctified, he now prays concerning others.

VERS. 29.-- *My lamp. [n: (Ibid.)]* There were preachers, in whom was light, that is, the knowledge of truth, by which they enlightened others; whence: *We have this treasure in earthen vessels. Darkness.* [n: (AUG.)] those who are still in darkness. *Mine.* By predestination.

[0869C]VERS. 30.-- *In my God.* [n: (CASS.)] For my God is the way, undefiled, by which one goes to heaven. Or, the way by which the holy and immaculate Virgin came into the world. And whatever he said has been tried by the Holy Spirit, that is, it is useful and honourable: as a wise man first judges within himself whatever he says. *I shall go over. [n: (Ibid.)]* A man cannot utterly pull it down, but by the help of God he passes over the wall, the obstacle of sins.

VERS. 31.-- *My God. [n: (Ibid.)]* And, joining them, there follows: *Thou wilt deliver me from the contradictions of the people.* The rest he interposes by way of commendation. *The words.* They are proved by the fire of trial. *Of all. [n: (Ibid.)]* No one is excepted, save he who will not hope.

VERS. 32.-- *For who. [n: (Ibid.)]* I say God: for who is another God, save he who also [0869D] is Lord over things? And because he is known in Judea, not the gods of the nations; these things are against the pagans, who fashion many for themselves.

VERS. 33.-- *God who. [n: (Ibid.)]* Still further, beyond what is common, he commends him by what is special, for thirdly Christ is commended for his virtue and his power. *He hath girded. [n: (Ibid.)]* That is, he has armed him thoroughly. Or, from the likeness of one running. Or, it marks dignity and strength, which belongs to him who by his own power will judge the people, or the world. *Unspotted,* without sin. The stag leaps over thorns and gaping places, so Christ over the thorns and pits of sins: and as the stag climbs the heights, so Christ ascends above all creatures.

VERS. 35.-- *Who teacheth:* I make him wary of the ambushes that threaten. *Hands,* works or wills. *To battle,* [0870A] against the devil. *As a bow,* etc., by the likeness of a thing which does not exist, that is, unrelenting strength. *Arms.* The prophets of Christ, and the apostles, through whom he works: who are a brazen bow, because they do not grow soft by preaching, but, always strong, hurl forth the words of salvation.

VERS. 36.-- *The protection of salvation.* Not that I should suffer nothing, which nevertheless is for my profit. Tribulation is correction, and teaching, and enlargement, and confirmation.

VERS. 37.-- *Thou hast enlarged* [n: (AUG.)] Lest fleshly straits hinder, because thou hast made wide the charity that works cheerfully, even out of those things which are under me, namely out of mortal things and members.

VERS. 38.-- *I will pursue.* [n: (CASS.)] By reproving, by wearying them with divers afflictions.

VERS. 43.-- *And I will break them small.* [n: (AUG.)] Behold the same [0870B] operation of the Father and of the Son. Above he says: *Thou hast destroyed, O Father,* and now he says, I will break them small, that is, I will take away their powers, so that afterwards they may yield to every wind of doctrine.

VERS. 44.-- *Thou wilt deliver.* [n: (CASS.)] Upon them, wrath: *But thou wilt deliver me,* the casting down of the Jews, and the exalting of the Gentiles.

VERS. 46.-- *The children.* The Jews whom I nourished, made strangers: *They have lied to me,* as to my honour. *They have grown old and have halted from their paths,* following their own traditions rather than God's.

VERS. 47.-- *He liveth. [n: (Ibid.)]* Fourthly, the Church exulting praises in sum the gifts of God. Or *he liveth,* because he gives life. *Blessed,* because he blesses all things. *And let the God of salvation be exalted.* [n: (AUG.)] I will not think of the God of my salvation after an earthly manner, nor of that salvation itself as earthly, [0870C] but on high I will hope in him.

VERS. 48.-- *Revenges.* [n: (CASS.)] The vengeance is dutiful, when the rebel is subdued. *From the wrathful.* It is a greater glory to deliver from raging evils.

VERS. 51.-- *Magnifying, the salvations.* God who magnifies: Doing, God who does.



## PSALM XVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end.* [n: (CASS.)] A psalm of the first coming, whereby the tyrant falls and man is set free; here the prophet looks unto the end, that is, unto Christ, or unto the last times.

VERS. 2.-- *The heavens shew forth. [n: (Ibid.)]* First, speaking of the incarnation, he commends the preaching of the new law. [n: (AUG.)] The heavens, the apostles, concerning the glory of Christ in which [0870D] he is equal to the Father. [n: (CASS.)] Or the heavens, they who sent the star. *The glory. [n: (Ibid.)]*: That God freely forgives sins. *The works.* [n: (AUG.)] Those which are according to man, etc., *as far as* and these same are made night to him, giving to the darkened the knowledge which is of things human. [n: (CASS.)] And this so wonderfully, that it is in all tongues; and so widely, that it is in every part of the compass of the earth.

VERS. 3.-- *Day unto day.* [n: (CASS.)] He treats of it by demonstration. [n: (AUG.)] *Day unto day.* The Spirit brings forth to spiritual men the fullness of wisdom, etc., *as far as* this teaching is continued by days and by nights down to those who come after.

VERS. 4.-- *Speeches.* [n: (CASS.)] Public persuadings. *Words.* Common narrations. *Whose voices are not heard.* He would say more plainly, in whom their voices are not heard, [0871A] or, the voices of all their words are heard: he does the same thing by means of the relative.

[n: (AUG.)] The Spirit made the first men speak with all tongues, he who was to gather all nations into one; then one man was for all, so now one Christ, head and body.

VERS. 6.-- *In the sun* [n: (CASS.)] What he praises others for having done, he himself does: he preaches the incarnation. Or in the sun, in the open sight of the world, or in labour. The sun burns, and shines, and varies the seasons. *His tabernacle.* [n: (AUG.)] As it were a soldier's dwelling, that is, the dispensation of his incarnation, in which he came to storm the errors of the world. Or the tabernacle, the Church in the open, not in secret, so as to lie hid. *A bridegroom.* [n: (CASS.)] So often promised by the prophets, a great likeness of the sacrament: therefore born of [0871B] a virgin, that he might join to himself the Church a virgin. *Out of his bride-chamber.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, the virginal womb, where God was joined to human nature as a bridegroom to a bride. Behold, humble in mercy, but strong in majesty. *As a giant to run.* [n: (CASS.)] Unshaken, not to be called back, overcoming human nature by his power. *From the highest.* Here the Trinity is shewn, etc., *as far as* it marks the unity of the Trinity. *Neither is there any that can hide himself,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] The Word made flesh permitted no man to excuse himself out of the shadow of death: because the heat of the Word pierced even that. Or, the heat is the Spirit, whom he sent when he had returned, who is law, testimony, justice, commandment, fear and judgments, because he does these things.

VERS. 8.-- *The law of the Lord.* [n: (CAS.)] Secondly, he praises the precepts of the New and the Old Testament. [n: (Ibid.)] The law given through [0871C] Moses, correcting all things by the distinction of its words, and sending them on to the grace of Christ. *Converting.* [n: (AUG.)] By liberty, unto the imitating of himself, not pressing down with the yoke of servitude. *Souls.* Wills, not merely hands, as the Old Testament did. *The testimony.* Whatsoever [sic: *Quaecunquae*] testimonies he gave to Israel are full of truth, and have given wisdom to the humble. *Wisdom:* concerning things divine.

VERS. 9.-- *The justices of the Lord. [n: (Ibid.)]* All are right in him, who taught not what he did not do, so that they who imitate them might rejoice in them, seeing they would do them freely with charity, not slavishly with fear. [n: (CASS.)] *Justices,* the law which justifies; whatsoever it commands is just.

VERS. 10.-- *The fear of the Lord. [n: (Ibid.)]* The fear of the world is not holy, because it is not profitable, and it changes with the times. *The fear of the Lord* is without any perturbation, [0871D] because it is a love mingled with dread, because if it fears the judge, it knows him merciful. [n: (AUG.)] Fear, not that penal fear for earthly things, for love of which the soul is afraid, but the chaste fear whereby, the more it loves, the more it is wary of offending the bridegroom, and therefore it is not cast out, but abides. *Judgments.* The judgments of God need not another's authority.

VERS. 11.-- *Desirable things. [n: (Ibid.)]* Or, much to be desired, or much gold and stone; or much that is precious. Desirable above gold, etc., *as far as,* whose will he sets before his own, and they are sweeter than he himself is to himself. *Above gold,* that is, everything that is sought after, whether for riches, or for power, or for pleasure. *Honey.* The food of God is honey; that is, one now loosed from the world; and the honeycomb, that is, because he is still wrapped about, for whom there is need [0872A] of the pressure of God's hand squeezing him out, that he may go into life.

VERS. 13.-- *Who understandeth sins. [n: (Ibid.)]* Thirdly he asks to be purged of vices, that he may be a worthy psalmist, to report these sacraments. To a mind that sees, truth is sweet, and judgments sweet; to one that does not see, what sweetness is there? But why is it not seen? Because of sins: nor is it any wonder: *For who understandeth sins?* [n: (CASS.)] *Sins:* all of them, for certain of them are known. *Mine* defile, *others'* afflict, and now spare, drive back the persuader. *From my secret ones.* He includes all sins under two heads, etc., *as far as* whereby man was seduced; and by consenting he made it his own. [n: (AUG.)] There is no greater sin than to apostatize from God, which is the beginning of pride: but pride is the beginning and the cause of all sin.

## PSALM XIX.

[0872B]

*Unto the end.* [n: (CASS.)] A figure of the working; the Prophet sings the things that are to come.

[n: (Ibid.)] The Prophet out of exceeding charity wishes a prosperous issue for the Church, which he saw would come to pass through Christ.

VERS. 2.-- *May he hear thee:* the things which he wills to be done for her in the time of tribulation. *In the day of tribulation,* wherein we pray to God with the greater desire. *Of the God of Jacob,* that as to him, so to thee he may give the grace of blessing, and set thee before the Jews.

VERS. 3.-- *May he send:* the Father. *Help,* by sending the Son.

VERS. 4.-- *Mindful.* He treats as it were of a priest about to offer sacrifice and of a king about to fight. *Of thy sacrifice. [n: (Ibid.)]* He foresaw the sacrifice [0872C] of the Church, not of cattle, but of the blood and the body of Christ.

VERS. 5.-- *May he give.* Diapsalma, the things which he wishes and affirms for the time of glory. *All thy counsel.* [n: (AUG.)] Not only in that thou hast laid down thy soul for the life of very many; but also in that *blindness in part hath happened in Israel, and so all Israel should be saved.*

VERS. 6.-- *We shall rejoice. [n: (Ibid.)]* Therefore this prayer, because we shall rejoice and shall be magnified; he shews himself to be one of the Church so long a time before.

VERS. 7.-- *In powers.* [n: (AUG.)] Our powers are the salvation of his favour, since he gives help even out of tribulation, because vain is the salvation of men, which is of the left hand, whence also pride is born. *The salvation of his right hand.* [0872D] [n: (Ibid.)], that is, spiritual grace, etc., *as far as* they who presume upon earthly dignity.

## PSALM XX.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end.* The third psalm, of the two natures in Christ; it describes the heavenly king, that the world might believe by hearing him whom the Jew, having seen him, despises. He makes a demonstrative oration in praise of God.

VERS. 2.-- *Lord, in thy strength shall he rejoice.* [n: (CASS.)] He sets forth the sum, namely, the merit and the reward.

VERS. 4.-- *For thou hast prevented him.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalma; he describes his virtues and his glory, etc., *as far as* as it were for a crown to the head. *A crown. [n: (Ibid.)]* Because the circuit [0873A] of the Apostles hemmed him about as he taught, or the whole circle of the world, that is, the general Church.

VERS. 6.-- *In thy salvation: glory and great beauty,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] By the Word of the Father, whence comes that glory. *Glory* as to the judgment, because he shall judge in his Godhead. *Beauty* in majesty, which shall then appear. *Glory and great beauty,* etc. Glorious, as Peter, by whose shadow the sick were healed; and beauty is *upon him,* beside whom there is no other foundation. Therefore *upon him,* because thou shalt give . . . . .

VERS. 7.-- *In joy with thy countenance. For the king hopeth in the Lord, and in the mercy,* etc. [n: (ID.)]. That is, of this, that his own shall rejoice with thy presence, when thou shalt be all in all.

VERS. 9.-- *Let thy hand be found,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Of [0873B] the punishments of his enemies, as above of the praises of Christ.

VERS. 11.-- *Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed.* There shall not be for them the fruit of blessedness in the land of the living.

VERS. 13.-- *For thou shalt make.* [n: (CASS.)] Things said of what is to come, etc., *as far as* that when they thought to kill, salvation might come to be.

VERS. 14.-- *Be thou exalted.* [n: (ID.)] The conclusion.



## PSALM XXI.

VERS. 2.-- *God, my God.* [n: (CASS.)] A complaint of being forsaken is set before, and prayer also, as in all the psalms of the passion. [n: (AUG., CASS.)] *God, my God:* he doubles it out of affection, or *God* of all through [0873C] the power of creation, *mine* properly through worship. [n: (AUG.)] When he had said this on the cross, he shewed that this psalm was written of himself. *Look upon me.* [n: (CASS.)] It is not in the Hebrew, but was added by the seventy interpreters. *Why hast thou forsaken me?* [n: (AUG.)] This is a wonder, since God also was with him; but it was for us, who in him are his body. *Far from my salvation,* that is, from that of my old man, because *salvation is far from sinners,* and these are the words not of justice, but of sins. Or, far from salvation are the words of my sins, which are to be taken away.

VERS. 3.-- *I shall cry.* [n: (AUG.)] He speaks of us, of his own body, as when perchance he says: *Let this chalice pass from me,* that is, he is thought to have feared to die; but he said these things for his own weak ones who fear to die, and so this also is the voice [0873D] of the members: *I shall cry and thou wilt not hear. By day, and thou wilt not hear, and by night, and not unto folly.* [var: Vulg. Ps 21:3 cries "by day" once only, without the doubled "and thou wilt not hear," and closes with *mihi*] [n: (CASS.)] Because there are no shadows in him, and yet he is not heard unto bodily salvation.

VERS. 4.-- *Thou dwellest in the holy place.* [n: (AUG.)] And so it is a wonder, because thou hast delivered the fathers; but I am a worm.

[n: (CASS.)] Thou dwellest in the holy place, because God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. *The praise of Israel,* [n: (AUG.)] that is, of him that sees thee, not of him who wished to hide himself from thy sight.

VERS. 5.-- *In thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped.* [n: (CASS.)] It is a great beauty, while he repeats *they have hoped.*

[0874A]VERS. 7.-- *But I am,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Thus far Christ in the person of the old man; here now he speaks properly in his own person. *But I am.* Now properly Christ: I was born without seed, that I might be beyond men in man, in whom I was made a reproach, that at least so the pride of man might imitate the humble. *A worm and no man, a reproach.* [n: (CASS.)] So vilely trodden down, etc., *as far as* a worm, born without coupling, mortal, humble and vile, creeping in silence.

VERS. 9.-- *He hoped in the Lord,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Saying: *Hope thou in the Lord,* etc. The irony of the Jews; behold, as it were a historical narration, not a prophecy, lest there be any excuse, lest there be any ambiguity.

VERS. 10.-- *From the breasts.* Not from the time when I began to be suckled, etc., *as far as* but thou hast been my God. *From the womb.*

VERS. 11.-- *From the womb.* [n: (AUG.)] Not only of a mother, which is the law of being born for all; but from the darkness of the Synagogue, in which he is unbelieving, [0874B] not yet born into the light of Christ, who trusts in those carnal observances of the sabbath and of circumcision.

VERS. 12.-- *Depart not from me,* thou who hast already begun.

*Thou hast drawn me out:* not a man; lest the virgin's childbearing be doubted, it was done by the power of God. *My hope from the breasts:* true humanity and great perfection; for from the breasts he does what one scarcely come of age can do.

*In thee was I cast,* not into the sins of man. Others are cast into Adam, whence they are guilty. *From my mother's womb, [0874C] my God.* [n: (CASS.)] Neither was the conception without God, nor in sin, as man's is; whence the Angel: *The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee.*

VERS. 13.-- *They have surrounded.* [n: (ID.)] The passion is described, which prayer concludes; to convince the Jews he relates things to come as though they were past.

VERS. 14.-- *They have opened.* [n: (ID.)] As wild beasts wishing to swallow him down, their mouth, not unlocked unto wisdom. *As a lion.* [n: (AUG.)] As a lion seizing they surrounded him, as one roaring they opened their mouth.

VERS. 15.-- *As water.* When water is poured out, etc., *as far as* whence, leaving him, they fled. [n: (CASS.)] As water is the sacrament of the washing away of sins, etc., *as far as* and it was made solid. *Like wax.* Well does he compare the mysteries of the law [0874D] to wax, etc., *as far as* for they have surrounded. *In the midst of my belly.* [n: (AUG.)] The belly signifies the weak in the Church, or the memory of the Church.

VERS. 16.-- *My strength is dried up like a potsherd.* [n: (CASS.)] Not as hay, but as a potsherd, which by fire is made the firmer. *My tongue.* [n: (AUG.)] They kept my precepts with them, through whom I was to speak: and through them I was brought down into the kindred of those who were the dust of death.

VERS. 17.-- *They have dug.* [n: (ID.)] The gospel narration. Although these things are so to the letter, the digging of the hands hints that they did not believe his works; of the feet, that they mangled the Apostles. [n: (CASS.)]: they have dug. [0875A] Dug earth bears fruit, so Christ wounded gave the fruit of life.

VERS. 18.-- *They have numbered all my bones.* [n: (CASS.)] The punishment of the cross is properly described. Thus they numbered the bones, that is, the Apostles; lest they should grow into a greater number, they sought to extinguish them. *They have looked upon me.* [n: (ID.)] With diligence and with delight, whereas the eyes are wont to be turned away from a cruel thing. Behold how obstinate they are: nothing was done by chance, nor was their heart softened by so many miracles.

VERS. 19.-- *They parted my garments among them,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] His own sacraments could be divided by heresies, but not the coat from above, that is, given by God; this is charity, or unity, which no man can divide. [n: (CASS.)] But perhaps it came to certain men even by the gift of God, [0875B] etc., *as far as* as the olive branch brought by the dove to the ark. [n: (AUG.)] Or, through the one soul the head and the body, which being one rejects diversities.

VERS. 22.-- *From the unicorns, my lowness,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The Jews, seeking earthly things only: or, boasting themselves singularly of the worship of God, or being singularly proud, the son also having been slain after the servants.

VERS. 24.-- *Ye that fear the Lord, praise him,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Human fear brings forth not praise, but blame.

VERS. 25.-- *Let all the seed of Israel fear him, because he hath not despised,* etc. Whom he means by the seed of Jacob he opens, adding: *Of the poor man.* [n: (AUG.)] Not of him who cries out with the words of sins out of a vain life, but [0875C] of him who is not swollen with the pomps of the world.

VERS. 26.-- *With thee is my praise in a great church,* etc. [n: (ID.)] He places his praise with God, who teaches that there be no presuming in man.

VERS. 27.-- *They shall praise the Lord that seek him: they shall live.* [n: (ID.)] The poor are rich in God: therefore poor, because they praise God that they may seek him, and he himself is the riches of the poor. *Their hearts shall remember for ever and ever, and shall be converted to the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] Because he is the food of the heart.

VERS. 30.-- *They have eaten and have adored.* [n: (ID.)] Let not the dispenser forbid to eat, but let him warn the exactor to fear. *In his sight shall they fall.* [n: (CASS.)] The Church receives both, but he himself sees and discerns.

[0875D]VERS. 32.-- *It shall be shewn,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Or to the angels, who offer the prayers of men to God, not for instruction, but for ministry.

[n: (CASS.)] Note that the psalms of the passion end in the great hope of Christians, that it may be known that salvation is from the passion.



## PSALM XXII.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of David.* [n: (CASS.)] The Prophet foretold the return of the people from Babylon. *The Lord ruleth me.* A psalm of mercy, enumerating ten graces, that all may hope in the mercy of God. [n: (AUG.)] The Church speaks of Christ.

VERS. 2.-- *In a place of pasture.* [n: (CASS.)] The first grace, a place of pasture, that is, the divine word, which fattens those who meditate upon it. [0876A] *Upon the water.* The second grace, the water of refreshment.

VERS. 3.-- *My soul.* [n: (ID.)] The third grace, etc., *as far as* but first he brought me up upon the water of refreshment, first he converted my soul. *He hath led.* [n: (ID.)] The fourth, in that he led me upon the precepts of charity. *Upon the paths.* [n: (AUG.)] The narrower commandments and the more perfect counsels; as it were upon paths few just men walk, even as paths are narrower than roads.

VERS. 4.-- *For though I shall walk.* [n: (CASS.)] The fifth, that in the shadow of death he fears no evils. *Thou art with me.* [n: (AUG.)] In the heart by faith, that after the shadow of death I may be with thee. *Thy rod.* [n: (CASS.)] The sixth, correction; or the rod is strictness, which converts vices. The staff is governance, which upholds the faithful.

[0876B]VERS. 5.-- *Thou hast prepared in my sight.* [n: (CASS.)] The seventh, the table of the Lord, the blessed banqueting, the fullness of faith, the heavenly food, of which the Apostle: *He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself. In my sight a table:* even if not that of the wicked. Of this it is said: *But these at the table of the rich man,* that is, of Christ, *know that thou too must prepare the like,* that is, to suffer as he did. *Thou hast anointed:* the eighth, the anointing of the head, namely of Christ, which was dried up by no barrenness of sin, whence the rest of the members rejoice, because from the head the ointment ran down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron, and unto the skirt of his garment. *And my chalice.* The ninth, the chalice, the blood of Christ, which so inebriates that it makes men sober. *Mine,* because I receive it. Or, thine, because thou givest it. The table and the chalice, flesh and blood, although they are one sacrament, yet under diverse [0876C] species, because both are taken, are here set down separately.

VERS. 6.-- *And mercy.* [n: (CASS.)] The tenth, mercy following after unto keeping, which goes before unto the conferring of grace.

VERS. 7.-- *And that I may dwell.* [n: (HIER.)] This is joined to all the things above. As though: thou hast placed, thou hast brought up, thou hast led, etc., and this to the end that I may dwell.

## PSALM XXIII.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of David.* [n: (AUG.)] On the first day of the week the world was founded, on the same day man was restored through the resurrection of Christ: [n: (CASS.)] whence he admonishes us to receive the conqueror with triumph. *The earth is the Lord's.* First he says that the whole world is God's, etc., *as far as* [0876D] but who shall be in his mountain, save the innocent?

VERS. 2.-- *And upon the rivers.* [n: (AUG.)] As rivers glide into the sea, so the covetous glide into the world; and these too the Church overcomes, which, its covetous desires being conquered, is made ready for immortality.

VERS. 3.-- *Who shall ascend?* He determines with what virtues they are endowed in the Church.

VERS. 4.-- *Who shall stand?* [n: (HIER.)] For many ascend who do not abide. [n: (ID.)] *The innocent:* toward his neighbour, in hand and in heart, and he who is innocent toward himself, etc., *as far as* they should desire his presence and his knowledge. *Who hath not taken.* [n: (AUG., HIER.)] That is, who has not reckoned his soul among things that do not abide, but perceiving it immortal shall desire things eternal, and therefore [0877A] has not sworn deceitfully. *In vain.* [n: (HIER.)] That is, who has stained it with no dregs of sins after baptism.

VERS. 7.-- *Lift up.* Diapsalmus. Christian religion having been declared, etc., *as far as* which were set there by the prince the devil. *And be ye lifted up.* Against the gates of death. *Ye everlasting gates:* all the grace which, at Christ's coming, was given.

VERS. 8.-- *Who is?* he asks. The Prophet, to convict the perfidy of the Jews, and that by commending him the more he may invite others.

VERS. 10.-- *The Lord strong* is described by his powers as though by his proper name. *Strong,* [n: (AUG.)] even if ye took him with swords.

*Mighty,* even if ye delivered him to Pilate.

[0877B] *Mighty in battle,* lest ye think ye have overcome him in the fight. *The powers.* [n: (Hier., AUG.)] The ministering powers going before Christ in the ascension cry out to the other heavenly ones, that they may open the way to the Lord as he comes: and these, astonished at the new mystery of one clothed in flesh, ask, who is he?

*Lift up.* [n: (CASS.)] A doubling, etc., *as far as* who gives all good things to all, or of the heavenly powers, that is, of the angels.



## PSALM XXIV.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end.* [n: (Hier.)] Here the penitent who has been scourged is set before the rest, lest they murmur in adversities: he who, having had the trial in himself, coaxes through mercy and terrifies through justice.

[0877C] *To thee, O Lord, have I lifted up.* [n: (AUG.)] A psalm against the adversities of the world, etc., *as far as* who not through all, the less perfect.

[n: (CASS.)] First he asks to be taught the ways of the Lord, because he is raised up toward God.

[n: (ID.)] Toward the contemplating of thee; he easily despises earthly things who beholds things divine.

VERS. 2.-- *I trust.* [n: (ID.)] Having had trial of my own weakness in evils, I shall not blush because of my enemies.

*Neither let my enemies laugh at me:* and I am sure that he deceives none that endures patiently.

*In vain.* [n: (ID.)] Because all things are vain and unfruitful which are alien from God.

*Shew me thy ways, O Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] The ways are of the order of life, etc., *as far as: Direct,* belongs to life, [0877D] *teach* to knowledge.

VERS. 5.-- *Teach.* [n: (AUG.)] Truth itself, that I may understand what I believe, because I have endured; and if this suffices not: *Remember.*

*God my saviour.* [n: (CASS.)] There are two things which make men good, that we believe God our saviour, and that we patiently await his retribution.

VERS. 6.-- *Remember.* [n: (ID.)] Of former sins and of those which are daily done, he prays through the mercy shewn to the ancients, and because he fears a true judge.

*Of thy tender mercies.* Compassion is properly in the shewing forth of good things.

*Which are from of old.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, they are from the beginning of the world: therefore let him not fail in me.

[0878A]VERS. 7.-- *Sins.* [n: (CASS.)] They are when the way of equity is forsaken.

*Of my youth.* Not for age, but for the rashness of headlong haste, which is then, when the heat of the mind exceeds moderation.

*Ignorances.* We do those things which we do not know to be evil. Or the sins of ignorance in little ones, who are held at any rate by original sin.

[n: (HIER.)] Of my youth. Before I went out of the house of my wicked father.

*Remember me, thou.* [n: (AUG.)] Whose work it is to have mercy and to forgive sins.

*According to thy mercy.* That is, thy mercy is ample. Mercy is toward the wretched, goodness toward any whatsoever. But God does good both when [0878B] implored by the wretched, and when led by his goodness: none is good but God.

VERS. 8.-- *Sweet.* [n: (ID.)] Because he forgives all former things, where grace is without merits.

*Right.* Because after mercy, etc., *as far as Sweet,* because he gives sweet things; *right,* because he corrects.

*Therefore.* [n: (CASS.)] Because he is sweet and right; not out of cruelty, but out of kindness.

*In the way.* That is, faith, or the precepts of God. Or in the way of this life, where one must live rightly, he will give a law.

VERS. 9.-- *In judgment.* While he punishes, he will direct to better things. But let them be meek who are corrected: for from wild beasts they are tamed, that they may bear it. For if they are mild, that is, of a gentle mind, as though having this by nature: he will teach them the precepts for the neglect of which came [0878C] the scourges.

VERS. 10.-- *Mercy and truth.* [n: (AUG.)] But what ways he will teach, etc., *as far as* and then he guards against the severity of the judge.

*Testament.* [n: (CASS.)] The New, which is excellently called a Testament, where there is a clear and certain promise of an inheritance, which is confirmed by death also.

*And the Testament.* Of the old law, where the Prophets were witnesses of the promises.

VERS. 11.-- *For thy name's sake, O Lord.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, thy glory, etc., *as far as* and they are interpreted *the clean,* who assert themselves clean of all sin.

VERS. 12.-- *Who is the man?* [n: (CASS.)] Here he treats of things eternal; how they are had, labouring and praying, that both [0878D] he himself, and all Israel, may be freed from these evils.

VERS. 13.-- *Soul.* [n: (ID.)] and if not at once, etc., *as far as* whatever others may do, etc.

*Seed.* [n: (Hier.)] It is good, whence fruit is gathered.

*Is a firmament.* [n: (AUG.)] Fear seems to belong to the weak, but the Lord is a firmament to them that fear him, and he brings it about that his Testament be made manifest to them.

*Eyes.* Sal. *The eyes of a wise man are in his head, that is, in his heart.*

VERS. 16.-- *Only.* [n: (ID.)] An only one is the more loved, a poor man the more pitied.

VERS. 17.-- *From necessities.* That is, from adversities, [0879A] which are necessary for all who wish to live godly in Christ.

VERS. 19.-- *Behold.* [n: (AUG.)] The perdition of so many men cannot be without grief, and therefore he prays for them.

VERS. 21.-- *The innocent and the upright have adhered.* [n: (ID.)] The evil were borne with; they did not adhere.

VERS. 22.-- *Israel.* [n: (AUG.)] The people, whom thou hast prepared for the vision of thee.

## PSALM XXV.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm.* [n: (CASS.)] This psalm admonishes that the fellowships of the wicked be shunned, and that we be joined to the just, because from living together manners are formed.

*Judge.* [n: (AUG.)] Because after mercy, etc., *as far as* they are carried off by the wind of pride.

[0879B] [n: (CASS.)] *Judge:* it is not the presumption of a just man, but the certainty of God's mercy, which he shews there in hoping in the Lord; then, I shall not be weakened.

*In innocence.* [n: (AUG.)] Not that of angels, but such as is of men.

VERS. 2.-- *Prove me.* [n: (CASS.)] That is, first look upon my strength, etc., *as far as* I regard not merits, but the mercy which has made me such.

[n: (CASS.)] *Prove me.* But do thou prove me in temptations, that no sin remain, etc., *as far as* lest any man murmur about them.

*Burn my reins.* [n: (ID.)] With the fire of thy word, the *heart* with the heat of the spirit. *Heart* for thoughts, *reins* for delights.

VERS. 3.-- *Mercy.* [n: (CASS.)] Which suffers not [0879C] that we be tempted above our strength; or that very burning is mercy, not harshness

*I have been well pleased in truth.* [n: (AUG.)] He to whom his own lie is displeasing, and who himself is pleasing along with her and in her.

VERS. 4.-- *I have not sat.* [n: (CASS.)] *I have been well pleased* in truth, because I have not sat. *I have hated,* which is to shun evils. *And I will wash,* which is to do right things.

*The vain.* [n: (CASS.)] *The vain* are they who labour about perishable things; the wicked are heretics, who pervert the Scriptures: those seek superfluous things, these poisonous.

VERS. 5.-- *Of the malignant.* [n: (ID.)] Who do evils to their neighbours.

VERS. 6.-- *I will wash.* [n: (AUG.)] By doing penance. *And the altar,* I will adorn my mind with virtues, or faith, because there is no place of true sacrifice outside the catholic Church.

[0879D] *Among the innocent.* [n: (AUG.)] Conversing; *that I may hear* from them, that is, that I may learn with what voice thou art to be praised; or, *that I may hear:* Come, ye blessed of my Father.

VERS. 7.-- *The voice of praise* of the Holy Ghost, who teaches to praise thee.

VERS. 8.-- *Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] He asks that he be not mingled with the wicked in the judgment, because it is not with them, but with the house of God, that he agrees.

*I have loved the beauty.* [n: (CASS.)] These things therefore will I do, because I have loved to make for thee a comely house, and a place wherein thou mayest dwell in glory, that I may take in something of the glory and the essence of God.

VERS. 9.-- *Destroy not.* [n: (CASS.)] And if for the present thou sufferest us to be together, destroy us not together.

[0880A] [n: (CASS.)] Destroy me not in time to come *with the wicked,* with whom here I have no fellowship.

VERS. 10.-- *Their right hand,* [n: (AUG.)], that is, if they do any good, etc., *as far as* let mercy accompany in all things, which thou owest, because:

VERS. 12.-- *Foot,* that is, affection, which is wont easily to slip, *hath stood* unmoved against all scandals, stretching beyond, and persisting *in the right way.* And because thou so redeemest in the churches, I will bless.

*It hath stood.* [n: (CASS.)] Even though shaken on every side, or confounded by scandals.



## PSALM XXVI.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end.* [var: Vulg. Ps 26:1 heads this psalm *Psalmus David, priusquam liniretur*, "before he was anointed"] [n: (AUG., CASS.)] First, David chosen, etc., *as far as* whence groaning and labouring in the sacrament; that he may rejoice in the reality.

[0880B] *The Lord is my light,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Of the first anointing, through which the second is made sure, he speaks here.

*The Lord is the protector of my life.* [n: (AUG.)] He gives the life of the virtues, which he also protects, without which all his gifts are lost.

*Of whom shall I be afraid?* [n: (ID.)] Whom should the flesh fear, when it shall have put on corruption [cj: *corruptionem*; read *incorruptionem*, "incorruption"].

VERS. 2.-- *The wicked upon me.* [n: (ID.)] That, insulting, they may prefer themselves to me: which God turns to the better, so that with their cursing tooth they consume not me, but my carnal desires. Or *let them eat,* that is, let the cruelty of my enemies take its delight in my death, *the flesh;* the soul they cannot.

*They were weakened.* [n: (ID.)] While Christ took flesh, they were made to waver, and afterwards submitted themselves wholly to faith.

[0880C] [n: (CASS.)] Or, being weakened little by little they came to the ruin of the soul.

VERS. 3.-- *Camps.* [n: (CASS.)] Efforts, battle, conflicts.

*In this will I hope.* [n: (AUG.)] I have hope of victory in the Lord of the eternal reward.

VERS. 4.-- *One thing I have asked.* [n: (AUG.)] This one house is eternal, in which one may abide always, where the days are eternal; why there? That I may contemplate the delight of God, which is the true good.

*All the days of my life.* [n: (AUG.)] That as long as I live, etc., *as far as* I will make manifest the work.

*That I may see.* [n: (ID.)] Another reading: *That I may contemplate the delight of the Lord,* that is, to this end, that at last he may appear, [0880D] etc., *as far as* and therefore not rashly do I ask *one thing,* though a sinner.

VERS. 5.-- *In secret*: [n: (AUG.)] as it were there are many parts, etc., *as far as* him whom presently he calls a rock.

VERS. 6.-- *I have gone round.* [n: (AUG.)] Because he offered himself to me as a leader, etc., *as far as* that I might fulfil all his wills.

[n: (HIER.)] Or I have looked round upon all created things, or the examples of the saints.

[n: (AUG.)] I have gone round in mind all created things, etc., *as far as* the more ardently it desires.

VERS. 7.-- *Hear, O Lord, my voice,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] What labour, what groaning? The prayer before the second [0881A] anointing, that he may be able to have that which he also promises himself by the spirit of prophecy.

VERS. 8.-- *To thee hath said.* [n: (CASS.)] *The heart,* the reason taught by thee, converses with thee of the one thing, that it may handle nothing other than what thou teachest.

VERS. 9.-- *Turn not away.* [n: (AUG.)] Another asks here for temporal goods from God, and rejoices in what is given; this man asks nothing but *one thing.* Another, having them, fears him angered, lest he take them away; this man thinks there is no anger unless he *turn away his countenance,* even if he punish something in him; nothing more divine could he have said.

*Turn not aside.* [n: (AUG.)] He does not turn aside in anger, when he turns his face from sins; or, *turn not aside,* so as to let me slip in anger, that is, in what thou mayest punish; but that our weakness may be made more wary.

[0881B] *My saviour,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] As though: in vain hast thou created and re-created, etc., *as far as* he was chosen by the Lord through Samuel.

VERS. 10.-- *For my father,* etc. He made himself a little one to God, and made him his own *father:* because he commands, calls, founded and rules. *A mother,* because he cherishes, contains, suckles and nourishes; but the world is a father, or the devil, the mother Babylon, that is, the fellowship of the wicked.

VERS. 11.-- *Set me a law,* etc.

VERS. 12.-- *Of them that trouble me.* [n: (CASS.)] As of Saul and his helpers, etc., *as far as* because they are false.

VERS. 13.-- *I believe to see.* [n: (AUG.)] But among all perils, God directing, I believe to see.

*Good things.* [n: (ID.)] Good things which are true, eternal. Those men [0881C] persuade to a blessedness in this earth, which is the earth of the dying.

VERS. 14.-- *Expect.* [n: (CASS.)] As I am sure of it, etc., *as far as* endure what thou sufferest.

## PSALM XXVII.

*A psalm to this one.* [var: Vulg. Ps 27:1 heads it *Psalmus ipsi David*] By David is sometimes understood the head, that is, Christ; sometimes the body, that is, the Church; sometimes both together, that is, the whole Christ is understood, as here.

[n: (CASS.)] The third psalm, which treats briefly of the passion and the resurrection.

[n: (ID.)] Here Christ is set forth (and though he is so worthy) as not trusting in himself, but asking the whole from God; a useful example to the just.

VERS. 1.-- *To thee, O Lord.* [n: (ID.)] A prayer had in the time [0881D] of the passion.

*Be not silent.* Less is in the Hebrew, etc., *as far as* and the raising up from death.

*Be not silent,* etc., *and I shall be likened,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] From this, that the Word is always united to me, I am not such a man as the rest, who are born into the deep misery of the world.

[n: (AUG.)] Where, as it were, if thou be silent, thy word is not known.

VERS. 2.-- *To the temple.* [n: (CASS.)] According to the custom of the Jews, to whom it was commanded that wheresoever they were they should pray toward that quarter where they knew Jerusalem to be: which Jesus also did, fulfilling the law. Or toward heaven, whence we hope for help.

[0882A]VERS. 4.-- *Give to them.* [n: ( Ibid. )] It is to foretell, not to wish, according to what they intended, not according to what came of it: or he wishes the justice of God to be preserved in this.

VERS. 5.-- *Because not,* etc. [n: (ID.)] And if works were wanting, this would suffice for damnation, that they understood not through the law and the Prophets the things which God invisibly works through me, nor even the visible things.

*Thou shalt destroy.* [n: (AUG.)] That nothing hurt me, nor afterwards thy Church, or mine.

*Blessed.* [n: (CASS.)] Having been heard, in the resurrection he gives thanks, adding of the salvation of them that believe.

*The Lord.* [n: (ID.)] The same who is my helper, and my protector, is the strength of the people which trusts in him, and [0882B] a protector that they be not hurt, and thou, O Lord:

VERS. 9.-- *Save.* Behold how great is the hope of them that believe, when he prays for them: he who suffered for them is judge and advocate.

*And rule them,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Lest they turn aside to crooked things.

*Lift up,* etc., from earthly things to the seeking of things eternal, and by the understanding of the Scriptures, and by good work, through this whole world unto the end.

## PSALM XXVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of David in the consummation.* [n: (ID.)] The ark brought back from the Philistines, etc., *as far as* that they may offer themselves to such a consummator.

*Bring to the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] First he admonishes that sacrifices be offered.

[0882C] *The sons of rams.* [n: (AUG.)] Because assault is not wanting, etc., *as far as* and the seventy-two disciples sent to preach are signified.

*The voice of the Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] The preaching of Christ terrified minds within, which is, that it gave the spirit of fear to the Jews and to the Gentiles.

[n: (GREG.)] This man ascends from the lowest, that is, from the spirit of fear to the spirit of wisdom, etc., *as far as* that is, spiritual understanding: these the Lord shakes.

[n: (HIER.)] As a husbandman a barren land, etc., *as far as* and he will give strength, and will bless the same in eternal peace.

VERS. 3.-- *The voice of the Lord upon the waters,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Of the establishing of the Church, where he enumerates the powers of the Holy Ghost [0882D] with great proclamation.

*Of Libanus.* Libanus is interpreted a whitening. *The cedars of Libanus,* that is, high men lifted up in earthly things, whom God by breaking will crush small, that is, will bring them back from pride to himself through his beloved Son: and this he will crush by the spirit of fortitude, as a unicorn taken is crushed.

VERS. 7.-- *The desert.* [n: (CASS., AUG.)] The Jewish people, etc., *as far as* whence flows the living water.

VERS. 10.-- *The Lord.* He shews what is done for the Church now established.

*I have given,* he says, *you power to tread down upon serpents.* [var: Vulg. Lc 10:19 has *calcandi supra serpentes*, "to tread upon serpents"] But as it is unheard of that stags should strike every kind of wild beast with the horn; so that the Apostles, unlettered, should refute all philosophy.

[0883A] *A flood.* [n: (CASS.)] The waters of baptism, which purges the crimes of the world.



## PSALM XXIX.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of a canticle, at the dedic.* [n: (AUG.)] Above, concerning the finishing of the tabernacle in a time of war: but this is a psalm of gladness, because the house is dedicated, that is, made firm, which shall abide in eternal peace: the body being made new, not only Christ's but also the whole Church's. The whole Christ speaks in this psalm, because some things belong to the head, some to the body, some to both.

[n: (ID.)] The psalm is briefly of the passion and the resurrection: that the passion may not terrify those whom the hope of the resurrection gladdens.

*The house of David.* [n: (CASS.)] The whole Christ is the bridegroom, etc., [0883B] *as far as* the second state, the state to come, when there is rest in it.

[n: (CASS.)] First he treats of his own dedication: and bids the saints who hope for the same to utter praises.

VERS. 3.-- *O Lord my God, I have cried to thee,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Christ, etc., *as far as* but not in the dedication.

VERS. 4.-- *Into the pit.* [n: (HIER.)] That is, out of the pit of hell, where the souls of sinners are, lest, like them, I should fall headlong into death.

VERS. 5.-- *Confess ye,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Because out of his own goodness and holiness, not ours, he was mindful of us.

VERS. 6.-- *For wrath.* [n: (ID.)] That is, vengeance, by which he avenged upon us the first sin, which by death you have [0883C] loosed.

*At evening.* [n: (ID.)] Because wrath, etc., *as far as* that is, in the time of grace after the time before the law and under the law.

[n: (HIER.)] *At evening.* Because, when the Lord had suffered and been buried, the Apostles and the women continued in weeping and groaning. *And in the morning gladness.* Because coming to the sepulchre in the morning they received from the Angels the glory of the resurrection. *Weeping.* [n: (CASS.)] It shall abide for men who look toward the evening, at which Adam turned aside and went out from paradise: but there shall be gladness for those who look toward the morning, at which Christ rose again.

VERS. 7.-- *But I.* How he acted before the dedication and deserved it. [n: (AUG., CASS.)] He acts at evening. But I, while abundance was mine in paradise, [0883D] said: I shall not be moved from this good, believing the devil who said: *Thou shalt not die the death [n: (Gen. III)]* [var: Vulg. Gn 3:4 has the plural and a stronger negative, "ye shall by no means die the death"]. But, O Lord, in *thy will thou hast given strength to my beauty;* which is, I was good and strong not of myself, but of thee. And that thou mightest show it: *Thou hast turned away thy face,* that is, thou hast sent me forth out of paradise: but now, set here, *I will cry to thee,* etc.

VERS. 8.-- *Thou hast turned away.* [n: (CASS.)] God turned away his face from Christ, by exposing him to the passion and to death; and thus Christ was troubled: *My soul is sorrowful even unto death. [n: (Matth. XVI.)] Troubled.* [n: (AUG.)] Calling to mind that time of trouble and of misery, and set in it, I hear the voice of the head who is to die for me, saying: *To thee, O Lord, will I cry.*

[0884A]VERS. 10.-- *What profit is there in my blood.* [n: (ID.)] He shows the necessity by which he does not suffer him to go down into corruption. *Whilst I go down into corruption.* For if I do not rise again at once, and the body is corrupted, I shall announce to no one, I shall gain no one. Confession is twofold, let us never be without it: when it is ill with us in tribulations, let us confess our sins; when it is well, let us confess praise to God in the exultation of justice.

VERS. 11.-- *The Lord hath heard.* [n: (CASS.)] He treats of how he received it, namely the dedication. He said: I will cry, I will beseech, but the Lord heard me beseeching.

VERS. 12.-- *Thou hast cut my sackcloth.* [n: (ID.)] Sackcloth is a rough garment, granted for the use of labour or in a time of [0884B] sadness, as to the Ninivites; that is, human flesh, which was rent by dying: and there came forth the corn of the glorious resurrection, or of the godhead. Or else, the penalty of sin, which being destroyed in the resurrection, the godhead before hidden was brought forth: just as what the sack conceals whole, it opens when rent. [n: (AUG.)] Sackcloth of goats or of kids is mortality, which Christ drew or took from sinners; whence: *Whilst they were troublesome to me, I was clothed with haircloth [n: (Psal. XXXIV)]*, that they might not see what was within.

VERS. 13.-- *I shall not be pricked.* [n: (ID.)] I shall not now die unto the end. *O Lord God, I will confess to thee for ever.* What is: *I will confess to thee for ever?* For ever I will praise thee.



## PSALM XXX.

[0884C]VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end, a psalm.* [n: (AUG.)] Ecstasy is here taken as the dread of a people troubled by the persecution of all the nations and by the failing of faith throughout the world.

[n: (CASS.)] Against dread, hope and prayer are set first, etc., *as far as: They shall be two in one flesh [n: (Gen. II)]*, therefore in one voice also. [n: (AUG.)] The Redeemer speaks first, then the redeemed, giving thanks. Then, at length concerning the disturbance, the voice of the Prophet is put in near the end, and at the end. Here is described the humbling of Christ and of the martyrs: whence follows the exaltation.

VERS. 2.-- *In thee, O Lord, have I hoped,* etc. [n: (ID.)] There is an eternal confusion, from which he asks to be delivered: and there is a temporal one, for an hour, namely the kind that profits.

VERS. 3.-- *Make haste.* [n: (ID.)] In the things to be done, in the [0884D] souls to be loosed and the like, that thou mayest rescue me on the third day and not defer it to the common resurrection; and that this may be, be thou to me a protector as great as it befits God to be. *Be thou to me.* He said: Give justice, etc., *as far as* he affirms the deliverance.

VERS. 5.-- *Thou wilt bring out.* [n: (CASS.)] From death to the things above, so that the counsels of the Jews may be in vain. *Out of the snare which they have hidden.* [n: (AUG.)] The devil tempts by two gates, etc., *as far as* whence: *Thou wilt bring me out of the snare.*

VERS. 6.-- *Into thy hands.* [n: (CASS.)] Note that he speaks here who uttered these same words in the passion. [n: (AUG.)] *Into thy hands.* From these words which he said on the cross, he gives notice that he has spoken in this psalm.

VERS. 8.-- *But I, in the Lord,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Of [0885A] joy, because he hopes in the Lord, who hates the vain. *I will exult and be glad.* To exult is to rejoice with great eagerness of soul: to be glad, with a tempered affection. *My humility.* He takes it for weakness, and for the very virtue of humility. *From necessities.* [n: (AUG.)] *Necessities* are unbounded, etc., *as far as* and fully in the world to come.

VERS. 9, 10.-- *In a spacious place.* [n: (CASS.)] The spacious place of going freely to the fatherland of the virtues is charity: but because the flesh is weak and evils press: *Have mercy on me, O Lord.* Now the dread is recounted, that is, how many and how great are the things that disturb, against which is the prayer, *I am troubled.* [n: (AUG.)] Since he said before: *Thou hast set my feet in a spacious place,* etc. But for some the place is spacious, out of the thanksgiving of deliverance; for others, out of tribulation, it is a narrow strait. *Troubled.* He is angry [0885B] for the sins of the chaff, etc., *as far as* for the life of the perfect is the advancement of others. *In anger the eye.* In the anger of the persecutors, etc., *as far as* that God may be sought from every degree. [n: (CASS.)] Or the understanding is disturbed and the mind confounded, etc., *as far as* neither in mind nor in body can there be any presumption of man. [n: (AUG.)] Anger through vice blinds the eye of the mind; anger through zeal troubles it: because this too, the mind being shaken, scatters contemplation, which is not except with an unquiet mind; but thereafter, after a little, it profits the more toward seeing.

VERS. 11.-- *In poverty.* [n: (ID.)] Or *in want.* I lack health of body, and the torments are not spared. I lack release, and death is spared; and in this my confidence has been weakened.

[0885C]VERS. 12.-- *Above all my enemies.* [n: (ID.)] They live worse than the pagans and the Jews, etc., *as far as* for whom even their acquaintance are afraid, lest all be such. [n: (CASS.)] Or, among all my enemies, or, held in greater reproach than those who are worthy of it; and *to my neighbours,* to kinsfolk, or to those about to believe; and *to my acquaintance,* to those of the household.

VERS. 13.-- *They that saw me without.* [n: (HIER.)] *Without,* Christ, that is, those who thought him a mere man. *I am forgotten as one dead from the heart.* [n: (CASS.)] Or, I have fallen out of their heart, like a dead man whose memory is buried with his body, of whose restoration there is despair. *A vessel that is destroyed,* Jesus dead is thought fit to be cast away.

VERS. 14.-- *The blame of many.* [n: (AUG.)] [0885D] They are blamed, etc., *as far as* not any man. *Round about. In that while they assembled together.* [n: (CASS.)] Of errors, etc., *as far as* that is, by the appetite of temporal things.

VERS. 16.-- *My lots.* [n: (ID.)] Or, the times of life. [n: (AUG.)] Because we live or die when thou wilt: therefore *deliver.* Although the order of election is with thee, just and hidden, yet I, etc., *as far as* which, without merits, chooses whom it will.

VERS. 17.-- *Illumine.* [n: (CASS.)] Make thy good will manifest upon me, that as they despair of the dying, so they may have confidence in the rising. [n: (AUG.)] *Illumine.* Let it appear who belongs to thee, since now there is confusion; whence elsewhere: *Distinguish my cause [n: (Psal. XLI)]*; yet [0886A] lest he seem to justify himself, he adds: *Save me in mercy,* not in my own justice.

VERS. 18.-- *I have called upon.* [n: (ID.)] Thou callest upon God when thou callest him into thyself, and when thou invitest him into the house of thy heart.

VERS. 19.-- *Let them be made dumb.* [n: (CASS.)] Which here are talkative, while they do not fear the judgment. Dumb in punishments, in hell.

*Which speak.* He fitly sets iniquity over against the just man.

*In pride and in abuse.* [n: (CASS.)] Because the creature is against the Creator, and by a perverse use of the benefits of God, who, besides all else, came for their sake.

VERS. 20.-- *How great.* [n: (CASS.)] Which are the goods of God against the evils aforesaid, and they lighten those very evils. [n: (AUG.)] Seeing these things and marvelling, the Prophet cries out, etc., *as far as* but in the world to come it will lie open.

[0886B]--VERS. 21. *From the disturbance.* [n: (AUG.)] That he may now suffer no human disturbance, even those who are now in tribulation, entering with the mind to the face of God, are not troubled. *Thou shalt protect.* [n: (CASS.)] Lest the promise only of what is to come should trouble them, he adds this: *thou shalt protect,* that they be not harmed.

VERS. 22.-- *Blessed.* [n: (ID.)] As if to say, what more? He concludes the fullness of the benefit with praise, comparing it to his own feebleness. And it is the Prophet that speaks, or the faithful people. *He hath made wonderful.* [n: (AUG.)] The Spirit being sent, he filled the whole world, etc., *as far as* whence: *Thy name is ointment poured out.* [var: Vulg. Ct 1:2 has oil, not ointment, and no verb: "oil poured out is thy name"] [n: (CASS.)] Or else, God the Father made his mercy wonderful, etc., *as far as* according to that saying: *He rested in the heart of the earth.*

VERS. 23.-- *I said in my excess.* [n: (AUG.)] A figure of our fear, etc., *as far as: Therefore thou hast heard the voice of my [0886C] prayer.* [n: (AUG.)] *In the excess of my mind.* Either, his mind being caught up, he saw a height from which he feels himself cast very far off: or, he went out from reason by fearing. *From the face of thy eyes.* If I were in thy face, etc., *as far as* but I accused my own heart.

VERS. 24.-- *O love the Lord, all ye,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] An oratorical or hortatory conclusion, for the obtaining of the things aforesaid. [n: (AUG.)] Having experienced the things aforesaid, he now exhorts us; as if to say: I was in tribulation, I feared, I cried out, I was not confounded: so you also. *His saints,* whose part it is to love God, because they do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world; the friend of this world is set down as the enemy of God. Learn therefore not to love the world, that thou mayest learn to love God: turn away, that thou mayest be converted; pour out, that thou mayest be filled. *The Lord will require,* etc. Even here sometimes, [0886D] if he did this to none, the divine providence would not seem to be watchful, if to all, the divine patience would not be preserved.

*Abundantly to them that do.* Those who do not quickly repent.

*Pride.* For every vice, because it is the root of all.

VERS. 25.-- *Do ye manfully,* etc. The force of the whole psalm, that the frailty of the flesh may not fear so many evils of the world.



## PSALM XXXI.

*The understanding of David.* [var: Vulg. Ps 31:1 heads the psalm with the dative, "to David himself, understanding"] [n: (AUG.)] A psalm concerning the grace by which we are Christians, as the Apostle says [n: (Rom. IV)]. This psalm therefore begins with pardon, treating against the vice of men who do not know their sins or else defend them, and who boast of their merits. [n: (CASS.)] Against the vice of men, then, [0887A] this psalm is set, etc., *as far as* he strengthens those who stand in it.

VERS. 1.-- *Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Not those in whom he finds no sin, but those to whom he forgives it. *Iniquities.* He means the tinder of sin, namely concupiscence, etc., *as far as* but that sin may be no more. [n: (HIERON.)] Iniquities, before faith and baptism: sin, after faith and baptism.

VERS. 2.-- *Blessed is the man.* [n: (HIERON.)] To whom God forgives, for not of himself. He covers it, that it be not revealed in the judgment; and so it will not be imputed unto punishment. There is no guile in him that accuses himself: he holds in the heart what he confesses here with the mouth.

*Blessed:* because formerly, not confessing to God, I came into sin, while I cried out, if I did any good.

VERS. 3.-- *I was silent.* [n: (AUG.)] He who will not confess [0887B] his sins labours without cause in the defence of sins: and since in this he also boasts of his merits, his strength fails the more. [n: (CASS.)] *Blessed is he to whom he hath not imputed.* To some, who have grievous sins, God imputes them; to others he does not impute them, through mercy, even though they have some — namely to those who do not proclaim themselves just when they are evil, but acknowledging themselves make satisfaction. This I now profess, but formerly: *Because I was silent,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Or, *I was silent,* as to sin with my voice, *while I cried out all the day:* while the penalty of sin, or an inward blinding, showed me a sinner, or while my evil life cried out, though I was silent, whether I had done any good.

*While I cried out all the day,* etc. Although a man be not conscious to himself of anything, yet he is not just: for who understands his offences? Whence: *There is a just man that perisheth in his own justice.* And the Apostle: *I am conscious to myself of nothing,* etc.

[0887C]VERS. 4.-- *The thorn is fastened in.* [n: (CASS.)] *The thorn,* which lifts up the whole body, that is, pride. [n: (AUG.)] Likewise *misery,* etc., *as far as: in the hands of a drunken man.*

VERS. 5.-- *My sin.* Diapsalma. Confession, whence pardon, as above the growing old from governance. *I have made known.* [n: (CASS.)] For *I said* before, etc., *as far as* and God hears.

VERS. 6.-- *For this shall he pray.* [n: (ID.)] Diapsalma. Commending repentance, he says it is common to all the saints; which sundry sects reject, against whom he flees for refuge to God. [n: (AUG.)] *For this.* Therefore every saint prays, because thou hast forgiven, otherwise he would not be a saint. *In the time,* etc. It is the time of grace, the law, pressing and convicting the guilty, compelled them to cry out, grace heals. *But yet in the flood,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Although the saint pray, [0887D] etc., *as far as* the saint will pray, saying: *Thou art a refuge. To him.* That is, to God, for he changes the person, as often. They do not draw near who say that fate makes them sin, or fortune, which rules all things, or the people of darkness, which rebels against God.

VERS. 8.-- *I will give thee understanding.* [n: (ID.)] Diapsalma. It is answered to the penitent: *I will give thee understanding,* etc. Behold a psalm of understanding, lest the suppliant be thought neglected, with God for witness. *Thou, deliver.* [n: (CASS.)] Thou who hast promised, *I will give thee understanding.* Or Christ answers the penitent: A glad end, God gives understanding: whence he exhorts others to the same.

VERS. 9.-- *Become ye not as the horse and the mule,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Having received understanding, this penitent turns himself [0888A] to the proud who defend their sins: therefore you, whom I invite, etc. *The horse,* the untamed Gentile; *the mule,* the Jew slow to believe. [n: (CASS.)] *The horse,* without discernment of its riders; *the mule,* takes any burdens whatever, etc., *as far as* that is, boasting of one's own strength. *Their jaws.* Or, *the jaws* with which they chew, that is, give victuals more sparingly, that being compelled by necessity they may return. [n: (AUG.)] Or, thou wilt break them here, and in the world to come there will be many scourges. Or: *Become ye not as the horse,* because there are many scourges here and in the world to come. *Who come not near to thee.* [n: (CASS.)] For there are those who, if they sin through the weakness of the flesh, do not withdraw from devout prayers.

VERS. 10.-- *Many are the scourges of the sinner,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] After the bridle, scourges are added for taming, lest he be of those unpunished ones to whom a roving licence [0888B] of their own way is now given: so this man above said that he was tamed.



## PSALM XXXII.

*Unto the end.* [var: Vulg. Ps 32:1 heads this psalm as a psalm of David, with no such title] [n: (CASS.)] Here the prophet enumerates the power and the works of God, and so invites to the praise of God; first he admonishes the just and the upright to praise, because we cannot exult in him save by praising: praise together, he says, becomes the upright.

VERS. 1.-- *Exult ye,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] The crooked man praises God when it is well with him; he blasphemes when it is ill: the upright man always, like Job.

VERS. 2.-- *On the harp.* [n: (ID.)] It sounds from below, and is of the earth, whence we may praise, that is, prosperity and adversity, which are ours from him. *On the psaltery.* When thou attendest to the higher things which he has given thee, the heavenly doctrine. [0888C] By *the harp* the flesh is understood, by *the psaltery* charity: to which the ten precepts of the law belong: three in the first table toward God, seven in the second toward the neighbour.

VERS. 3.-- *Sing ye to him,* etc. As if to say, what more shall I say? Be glad especially over the incarnation. *A new canticle.* [n: (CASS.)] Because it does not suffice, unless your justice abound more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees [n: (Matth. V)].

*Sing ye a new canticle.* Of the incarnation, over which the world exults, of which the Angels sang.

VERS. 4.-- *For it is right.* He has set out the manner of praise: now, why is he to be praised? *And all his works.* [n: (AUG.)] Lest anyone think that he has come to faith by merits, since in faith are all the works which God loves, that is, [0888D] rewards, [n: (ID.)] because he does not work save in the faithful; whence: *Thy faith hath made thee whole [n: (Matth. X)]*. Or, all works are right, etc., *as far as* because he remains wicked, and the more wicked for this, that he sees the just man favour him.

*In faith.* As if in outward things, if a man has been faithful for the sake of justice, He will add inward faith, whom not knowing he feared; whence: who will not give him the things that are his own, who was faithful in another's? [n: (AUG.)] God is faithful in giving to man what he promised: man is faithful in believing him that promises, and by the promise God is our debtor.

VERS. 5.-- *The earth.* [n: (ID.)] The Church everywhere upon the earth.

VERS. 6.-- *By the word.* That is, by the wisdom of God the Father. [0889A] *The heavens.* The Apostles were fully instructed, by conversing with him even bodily: and afterward *all their power,* once had, was strengthened by the Spirit of the Son, through the heavens made firm he gathers and consolidates men into the unity of faith, hope and charity. *The bottle,* the Church, in which is dead flesh. *Even the depths,* that is, those deep in the darkness of vices, he sets among those who are a treasure, whence wisdom enriches others. [n: (AUG.)] *The earth.* The heavens do not need mercy, etc., *as far as* which he works. *Their power.* Since they were among wolves, etc., *as far as* licence.

VERS. 7.-- *As in a bottle.* [n: (CASS.)] According to the letter: as he shuts in the sea by its shores, so he shuts within the Church the wavering peoples; and in the treasures of his wisdom he places the deep heights, that he may prove who searches the Scriptures with a zeal for godliness.

[0889B]VERS. 8.-- *Let all the earth fear.* [n: (ID.)] The Church out of the sea, etc., *as far as* but let the earth fear the Lord. Let it fear — nay rather, let them be moved by the hand of mercy out of the likeness of one asleep. *By him,* because he himself created it: and therefore he governs it profitably, because something is moved by the devil also, but what is moved by God is moved profitably, therefore *by him. Let them be moved.* [n: (AUG.)] Not by the terrors of men, etc., *as far as* power not save from God.

VERS. 9.-- *He spoke and they were made.* He notes creation and formation together. He commanded the re-creation.

VERS. 10.-- *He scatters the counsels.* [n: (CASS.)] That the counsels against himself, as those of the Jews, and against his own, may have no effect. *Of the Gentiles.* When he destroyed idolatry. *Of the peoples.* Of the Jews, whose will, though fulfilled, was yet reproved by the resurrection. *Of the princes.* Of tyrants [0889C] or of demons.

VERS. 11.-- *But the counsel of the Lord,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The secret of the incarnation, in which he took counsel for man.

*Standeth for ever.* Because it is unto the obtaining of eternal salvation for us.

*The thoughts.* Predestination, in which all things are laid up, which also so abide as they were foreseen.

VERS. 12.-- *Blessed is the nation.* [n: (CASS.)] He calls him blessed who has come to the worship of God: which happens in Christian times, in which the Gentiles are converted, these are the just and the upright whom praise becomes. [n: (AUG.)] All blessedness is in the mind, etc., *as far as* blessed is the people that has God for its possessor.

VERS. 13.-- *From heaven.* [n: (AUG.)] From the man Christ. He looked forth in the coming of the Son and saw mercifully, [0889D] not the sins, [n: (CASS.)] from which he turns away his face; but he saw all the children of men, that is, all who wish to be born again unto a new life. [n: (AUG.)] How did he choose? etc., *as far as* he inspired every good will.

VERS. 15.-- *He hath fashioned.* [n: (AUG.)] He formed them with the hand of grace. *Severally,* giving to single ones certain single things. [n: (HIER.)] Whence nevertheless the unity of the body, that is, of the Church, may come to be. *Severally,* that is, not out of Adam, as some say that a soul comes from a soul, and he knows them all at once, and all their acts.

VERS. 16.-- *The king is not saved.* Thus are the just made, but neither, once made, are they saved by their own strength. Not only spiritual things are from God, but outward things also. [n: (HIER.)] No one has anything except from him, because neither the powerful, like a king, nor the strong, [0890A] etc., *as far as* even if he be in great abundance of strength.

VERS. 17.-- *The horse is deceitful.* [n: (AUG.)] An animal in whose swiftness or strength trust is put, figuratively, any greatness of the world whereof men are proud: but the higher thou art lifted up upon it, the heavier thou fallest. [n: (CASS.)] Or, *the horse* is the body of a man, however comely and well formed, yet it is deceitful for bodily health, and for spiritual. [n: (AUG.)] Or, *the horse* is worldly happiness, which carries men, and while it hurries too much, the horse falls and destroys its rider. *The horse,* human wisdom. *A giant,* someone proud, lifting himself up against God.

VERS. 18.-- *Behold the eyes.* In his own [d: in] strength no one is saved, but: Behold whence salvation is, *the eyes,* etc. *The eyes,* [0890B] the regard of the godhead, which will protect them. *Them that fear him.* [n: (CASS.)] To fear the Lord and always to hope are joined together.

VERS. 19.-- *That he may deliver,* etc. [n: (ID.)] These are the two desires of the faithful man: that in the judgment he may be snatched from death, and that here he may be fed with spiritual things, where there is want of them.

VERS. 20.-- *Our soul waiteth for the Lord.* What he thinks of the things aforesaid, as it were a conclusion.

VERS. 21.-- *For in him.* [n: (AUG.)] Because to those who were absent he sent his name through faith.

*We have hoped.* That we shall come to God, not by our own merits. [n: (CASS.)] Because in him — lest anyone murmur about patience — he adds the gift, namely that he is glad here in the Lord. And we hope in the name of Christ, whom the Prophet, glad and patient, awaited as one to come: *We have hoped.* [0890C] It notes a continuous time, because it is not lawful to leave off, whence the weary soul can always be refreshed.

*Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us,* etc. He desires that the incarnation be accomplished, that he may be able to be perfect. *In thee.* He says this to the end that every superstition and depravity be shut out.



## PSALM XXXIII.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of David.* [var: Vulg. Ps 33:1 heads the psalm with the dative alone, "to David," and names no psalm] [n: (AUG.)] Christ speaks, and in him the Christian: he teaches humility, while he commends the body and the blood. *When he changed the countenance* — Christ, that is, the sacrifice — *before* the Jews, who are the kingdom of his own father David, according to that saying: *And the Lord shall give unto him the seat of David,* the Church is the kingdom of the Father.

[0890D]VERS. 2.-- *I will bless.* [n: (CASS.)] The second psalm through an imperfect alphabet, etc., *as far as* he is glorified together with him.

VERS. 3.-- *In the Lord shall my soul be praised.* [n: (ID.)] For his own praise is the preaching of his Lord, as a good servant glories in the good repute of his lord. *The meek.* Not the learned, not those who fast, because they are proud: but the meek, because they have temperance in all things. The meek, not being proud of their own understanding; not bearing the yoke of God after the manner of the untamed.

VERS. 4-6.-- *O magnify the Lord.* Spiritual grace does not wish to do alone what profits many; whence it calls others: *Magnify,* that it might draw those invited, [0891A] it tells what goods came to it thereby: *I sought the Lord. Out of all.* It cannot be told piecemeal how great things he obtained who sought nothing other than God. *Come ye.* [n: (CASS.)] Now piecemeal he admonishes the saints concerning the new countenance. As if to say, *Magnify:* and if among the first, come ye into what is pleasant. Or, *Magnify,* and in what order? behold: *Come ye* by faith. [n: (AUG.)] Come ye by cleaving with faith, and by running with the two feet of a twin charity. [n: (CASS.)] The praises being set first, he exhorts to communion. *Let them not be confounded.* [n: (AUG.)] Whatever happens here to the just man, he does not blush, because he is always the higher with God: but the proud man blushes in adversities, because he has not drawn near to God.

VERS. 7.-- *The poor man.* [n: (CASS.)] *This one* is here the spiritual man, because he draws near and is enlightened, and shall not blush; because, [0891B] when he cries out, he is freed from all the straits of the world at his death, when he now passes over to God.

VERS. 8.-- *He shall send in an Angel. Come ye,* [var: Vulg. Ps 33:8 has the nominative and no such object: "the angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him"] and as this poor man cried out and was heard, in the same way *he shall send in an Angel,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] *He shall send in an Angel.* Other interpreters have rendered it thus: *The Angel of the Lord surroundeth in a ring them that fear him.* An Angel from heaven, or a man, who is a minister of the will of God. Faulty codices have it. *The Lord shall send in an Angel.*

VERS. 9.-- *Taste and see.* Here openly of the sacrament which he bore in his hands. *Taste* the flesh and blood of Christ. *The Lord is sweet.* [n: (ID.)] And delightful: because he is life to him that takes him, driving away all troubles in the world to come, that is: Hope through this for eternal life. [n: (CASS.)] And because God is life, the flesh which he [0891C] united to himself is life-giving.

VERS. 10.-- *All ye his saints.* [n: (CASS.)] No one, however well deserving, shall leave off from this, let him not presume upon security. *For.* [n: (AUG.)] The Lord was feeding him that despised him, and he will forsake him that fears him. But he promises not superfluous things, but necessary ones. *There is no want.* Because even in the present they have as much as nature requires.

VERS. 11.-- *The rich have wanted and have suffered hunger.* [n: (CASS.)] Because they have not faith. *They have suffered hunger,* because they are not filled with the body of the Lord. For what have they who have not God? Or, *the rich have wanted,* that is, they shall lack the highest good, although they hunger, that is, desire. But those who seek with their whole zeal shall have without diminution the good which is every good.

[0891D]VERS. 12.-- *Come, children, hear me.* Diapsalmus. The sacraments of the Church having been treated, he admonishes those who are outside, who take the first rudiments of faith, lest the name of fear be shuddered at, he adds: *I will teach you,* the sons, the fear of the Lord, as a useful thing.

[n: (CASS.)] Now he warns beginners also from what things they should abstain.

VERS. 13.-- *To see good days.* Because all confess that they wish it.

VERS. 14.-- *Keep.* [n: (ID.)] Note that he says the tongue is to be restrained first, since, when we wish to speak, we first move the lips, which the motions of the tongue soon follow. *Keep* thou who desirest life. Behold how they ought to fear.

[0892A]VERS. 15.-- *Turn away from evil.* [n: (CASS.)] This avoids fault, etc., *as far as* otherwise he will not be received in the world to come.

VERS. 16.-- *The eyes of the Lord,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Of the retributions of the good and of the evil, lest in dangers the just man grow soft with any doubt.

*The eyes of the Lord.* Nor shouldst thou distrust out of thy weakness, because *the eyes.*

*Unto the prayers.* [n: (ID.)] The swiftness of hearing, since the hearer dwells in them.

VERS. 17.-- *The memory.* [n: (AUG.)] That not even the mention, etc., *as far as* which they have committed.

VERS. 19.-- *The Lord is nigh.* He delivered: for he is inclined to this, because *he is nigh;* or, there is an allusion to the crying out.

VERS. 20.-- *Many are the tribulations of the just.* As [0892B] also in the New Testament, *he is nigh, and he will save,* which is necessary, because *many are the tribulations.* [n: (CASS.)] *Many;* from the devil, from envious men, and from oneself. *He will deliver.* [n: (AUG.)] Not bodily, but by giving them patience: or, he will deliver spiritually.

VERS. 21.-- *The bones.* [n: (ID.)] The virtues. *And one,* etc., that not even patience may perish.

VERS. 22.-- *Most evil.* [n: (ID.)] Not merely evil, although it end amid riches and perfumes and the lamentations of men, yet it is most evil, because in sins it drags down to hell.

*That hate.* Whose? Not of all, because they are sinners; but of those who hate the just one, who justifies, that is, Christ, through whom he that is not reconciled perishes: but *he will redeem the souls,* in respect of which the death is [0892C] most evil.



## PSALM XXXIV.

VERS. 1.-- *Judge, O Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] He begins from a prayer for both sides of the battle, with a recalling of the fault, and there was for each one what he deserves, showing how much he bore from his adversaries, and the punishments that are repaid to them for their iniquity.

VERS. 2.-- *Arms and shield* [n: (HIER.)] With arms he strikes the enemies, with the shield he protects us. The shield he calls elsewhere: *of good will;* the arms are we ourselves, because as we are armed by him, so he himself is armed from us. [n: (AUG.)] Or, the soul of Christ, which vanquished the enemies, which does nothing unless God fight on its behalf.

*Take hold of arms.* Make me to have arms, teaching, miracles. *Shield.* Steadfastness.

[0892D] *Arise.* Make me to use the things received.

VERS. 3.-- *Pour out.* Me, who am now in obscurity, make clear so evidently that thou mayest shut them in and convict them, that they may not have what to bark at: and speak to my soul in such wise that all may know that salvation is hers; against this, which they say: *There is no salvation for him in his God [n: (Psal.III.)] The sword.* [n: (AUG.)] The sword is the soul of the just man. When the just abound, the sword is poured out, while life flashes forth: whence the enemy is shut in, having nothing to speak ill of us. [n: (ID.)] It is a prophecy, not a wish, or this concerns those who are to be converted.

VERS 5.-- *Let them be.* [n: (ID.)] A prophecy: or in that manner in which God does it, by just judgment, not with a bitter mind. *As dust before the face of the wind.* [n: (CASS.)] Loosed [0893A] by God, so that they do not even cleave to one another, they whom divine grace does not moisten.

VERS. 8.-- *Let the snare which he knoweth not come upon him.* [n: (CASS.)] Or in a good sense, the *snare* of truth, which the sinner knows not. *And the net which he hath hidden.* That is, the hidden death, namely of Christ. *Let it lay hold on them.* [var: Vulg. *apprehendat eum*, "lay hold on him," singular where Migne prints the plural (Ps 34:8)] Namely, that they be not left to their own crimes. *And let him fall into the snare.* A good one, by which they may be restrained from evils. *Into that very one.* That is, out of that very death. *Into that very one.* [n: (AUG.)] Not into another, but into the one which they stretched out. For there is no evil man who does not first hurt himself.

VERS. 9.-- *But my soul shall rejoice.* [n: (CAS.)] Having set forth the hope of good and the joy, he relates how malignantly it acts toward the kind one. *In the Lord.* [n: (AUG.)] Than whom nothing is sweeter: nor has he failed, who made all things: seek him therefore, [0893B] and in him thou shalt have all things.

VERS. 10.-- *All my bones shall say.* Carnal men have not the word of praise and confession, because things weak before thee are utterly silent; but strong things praise thee as great and tremble. [n: (ID.)] *All the bones.* All the strength of the mind, because another cannot say this, namely: O Lord, who? etc., as if none, because he alone delivered: *The helpless out of the hand.* [n: (CASS., AUG.)] The human race is *helpless,* because mortal; *needy,* because it seeks bread in sweat; *poor,* because, cast down from pure wisdom, it has a thin and shadowy reason.

VERS. 11.-- *Unjust witnesses rising up.* [n: (CASS.)] The calamities of man having been told, lest Christ himself should seem a stranger to them, he sets forth his passion. *Which I knew not.* [n: (AUG.)] They are sins, etc., *as far as* but not [0893C] by committing them.

VERS. 12.-- *They repaid.* [n: (ID.)] When I had brought fruitfulness, they repaid barrenness: I life, they repaid death; I honors, they insults; I medicine, they wounds. *Barrenness.* In the fig tree the Lord cursed, where, when he sought fruit, he found none, but leaves: so in the Synagogue, words and not deeds; whence: *Thou that preachest that men should not steal, thou stealest.*

VERS. 13.-- *With haircloth.* [n: (ID.)] The flesh, a haircloth, on account of the likeness of the flesh of sin. *My prayer.* [n: (CASS.)] As he said: *Your peace shall return to you [n: (Matth. X)]*; so his prayer, not accepted by the Jews, returned to him. *In my bosom.* [n: (AUG.)] The bosom is a secret place, in which we are commanded to pray. [0893D] But the secret place of Christ is his divinity, to which his humanity prays.

VERS. 14.-- *As a neighbor and as a brother,* etc. Case for case. As it were: as concerning our neighbor and brother, so I was well pleased, that is, I rejoiced in the kinship of those who were persecuting me. Behold grace for hatred, a benefit for injury. [n: (AUG.)] *As a neighbor.* It befits one drawing near to God to say this, and one rejoicing, who pleases God, as to a brother and a neighbor.

*As one mourning.* [n: (CASS.)] Other translators, *as a mother mourning her son, I was bowed down over them. As one mourning.* Though I did all these things, yet they would not be converted; and yet, though they would not be converted, so was I humbled, that is, I grieved, as a father mourning a son.

[0894A]VERS. 15.-- *And against,* etc. When I am piously saddened, the Jews impiously rejoice.

VERS. 16.-- *They were scattered.* [n: (CASS.)] Loosed, when the miracles had been seen at the passion, and yet *not,* for their hardness, *pricked to the heart.*

Or, *scattered* through the whole world: *nor* yet were they *pricked to the heart,* that is, did not repent. Or, *scattered,* that is, divided: some say that he is good, others not.

*They tempted me.* [n: (AUG.)] The things done to the head on the cross are done everywhere to the body. *They gnashed.* It is the way of savagery, when reason fails, to gnash with the teeth: and what it wills, it shows in silence. In prayer he ends these things:

VERS. 17.-- *Lord, when wilt thou look.* [n: (ID.)] When shall we see vengeance upon those who insult us. *My only one.* [n: (CASS.)] The only one is the soul of Christ, [0894B] which alone is free from sin.

VERS. 18.-- *I will confess to thee.* [n: (AUG.)] Now from the fruit he sends before the confession of the whole Church: thence he prays, with a recalling of the fault, for the confounding of the persecutors and the exultation of the faithful.

VERS. 19.-- *Let them not rejoice over me.* [n: (ID.)] He repeats concerning the passion, that he may add concerning their punishment. *They wink.* [n: (CASS.)] Because by turns they warn one another with silent nods, to deceive and to tempt.

VERS. 20.-- *Speaking.* [n: (CASS.)] That is, while they were speaking peaceably. *In wrath.* That is, destructively. For a man plots guile who does not wish to kill: but these were plotting thus, because they wished to slay.

VERS. 21.-- *And they have opened wide.* [n: (ID.)] First winking, then plotting guiles, they opened wide their mouth, crying out death with free [0894C] and open voice: Crucify, crucify.

VERS. 22.-- *Thou hast seen, O Lord.* [n: (ID.)] This is said when we wish to call something back to memory: thou hast seen that they are cruel, be not silent, delay not to give sentence.

VERS. 23.-- *Attend.* [n: (ID.)] By restoring the name above every name, that I, undeservedly stretched out. *In my cause. [n: (Ibid.)]* The punishment of a like crime, but not the cause: for it is not the punishment that makes a martyr, but the cause.

VERS. 24.-- *According to thy justice, O Lord God.* [n: (ID.)] Which is in himself, or which he gave to him. *Let them not rejoice over me.* [sic: *super gaudeant*] [n: (CASS.)] Let them rather weep than rejoice at having fulfilled evils.

[0894D]VERS. 25.-- *We devour.* [n: (AUG.)] Those who are incorporated are devoured.

VERS. 26.-- *Let them blush and stand in awe together.* [n: (CASS.)] Let them rather blush at the glorification of the resurrection, and stand in awe, that is, fear the punishments. *Let them blush.* He who blushes condemns his own acts by his own estimation: but he can blush who has not reverence; therefore he adds: *reverence,* that he may mark conversion. Reverence is the fear of the Lord with love. *Let them be clothed with confusion and reverence.* With shame, as with the haircloth of penitence and a mourning garment. *Shame,* against the boldness which they had in their raging; *reverence,* against the shamelessness of falsehood, that by these they may cure those.

VERS. 27.-- *Let them rejoice and be glad.* [n: (ID.)] In great hope is the end of the faithful, as others are concerning the passion. *Let them rejoice and be glad.* Those say, Well done, to their own soul, from which [0895A] gladness flees, these not to their own soul, but they turn their vows to God, and place their gladness in his praises, not in themselves, which gladness is perpetual.

VERS. 28.-- *And my tongue shall meditate thy justice.* [n: (AUG.)] Let this be done, and my preachers out of zeal will announce thee just, who hast fulfilled thy promises, and all things universally in which thou art to be praised. [n: (CASS.)] *My tongue.* His tongue meditated justice, when it preached the New Testament to the peoples.



## PSALM XXXV.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end, a word.* [var: Vulg. Ps 35:1 *In finem. Servo Domini ipsi David.*, "to the servant of the Lord, to David himself"] [n: (CASS.)] He treats here of the error of certain men, etc., *as far as* which nevertheless hangs over all.

There is no fear before the eyes: because there is guile, that is, because [0895B] he obeys the flesh and not God, though reason suggests otherwise, namely that God sees even if no other does: or, that the unjust man himself, what he sees, knows from God, so that it may be found by that same one that his own iniquity is to be held in hatred with God and with all men.

[n: (ID.)] First, he asserts that evils are from man.

VERS. 2.-- *The unjust hath said,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] There are two kinds of sinners: because either through the weakness of the flesh they cannot follow the commands of the law; or they are blasphemers who sin freely, as though God cared not for this; whence it is: *He hath said,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] A description of the wicked man. *There is no fear of God.* [n: (CAS.)] Because guile was unwilling to study the law, by which it might be excused through ignorance.

VERS. 3.-- *For he hath done deceitfully.* [n: (AUG.)] Many search out their iniquities, etc., *as far as* nor are they excused for [0895C] ignorance.

VERS. 4.-- *The words.* (ID). He shows the iniquity, etc., *as far as* that he might act well.

VERS. 5.-- *On his bed.* That is, in the heart, in which evil works please them; and this is, *he hath set himself in every way,* with zeal and with lingering: he found indeed, and knew them to be evil, but nevertheless he did not hate them. *He was unwilling.* [n: (AUG.)] Not that he could not; he acts more perniciously against himself who does not will what he can. For there are certain things which men cannot understand even if they will, as: *In the beginning was the Word,* and yet, that they might act well, they can understand. *On his own bed.* [n: (ID.)] That is, in the heart, where the Lord commanded us to pray with the door shut, etc., *as far as* wisdom, namely of the flesh, which is an enemy to God.

VERS. 6.-- *O Lord, in heaven.* [n: (Cass.)] Good things are from God [0895D] through mercy. As if he should say: Evils are from man, but goods from mercy. O Lord, in those who are *heaven,* that is, who know hidden things, is thy mercy: and that they themselves are *clouds,* is from thee. [n: (AUG.)] Or *in heaven,* that is, mercy, etc., *as far as* but announces by sending forth his truth.

*Even to the clouds.* That is, the preachers, through whom God thunders in announcing, flashes in miracles, rains in teachings. Who are also mountains, whom the sun first clothes with light, which afterward, from them and yet not by them, descends to the lowest of the valleys: for they are ministers of teaching, but God enlightens.

VERS. 7.-- *Thy judgments.* [n: (AUG.)] That thou hast mercy on these, and blindest those; they are utterly searchable to none: [0896A] yet thou savest both, these bodily only, those spiritually as well, wherein is great mercy.

VERS. 8.-- *Men,* etc. He shows that temporal things also are from God.

VERS. 9.-- *They shall be inebriated.* [n: (ID.)] The thing cannot be expressed, but by this likeness he intimates that, being full, they lose their mind, so that they no longer recognize their own fathers, sons, and other friends. Or, then they are drunk in reality, who now hope. *With the torrent.* As if: There shall be a rush of grace and mercy to inebriate them. [n: (ID.)] *With the torrent.* Not that the beatitude should be passing, but plentiful. Or, thy will breaks all obstacles in man. Or, the wisdom of Christ is a torrent, because it is sudden and swift.

VERS. 10.-- *For with thee is the fountain of life.* [n: (CAS.)] *With thee,* O Christ, *is the fountain,* that is, the beginning of every good; [0896B] and *in thy light,* because through his preaching we see the light of the Father and of the Holy Spirit, and therefore *hold forth,* that in this world one may go more safely.



## PSALM XXXVI.

[n: (CASS.)] The third psalm, an imperfection of the alphabet: wholly concerning the correction of morals.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of David.* [var: Vulg. Ps 36:1 *Psalmus ipsi David.*, "a psalm for David himself"] This psalm is as it were the garment of Christ, which covers his whole body with precepts, and protects it from adversities, and cherishes it as in the bosom of counsel. It is a draught against those who murmur at the flowering of the wicked and the toil of the good, as though all things were done by chance, so that, spurning God, they cleave to the world. The Church therefore admonishes that no one imitate the malignant, but that whatever good is hoped for be sought from the Lord, who gives things profitable and [0896C] eternal.

VERS. 2.-- *The herbs of the grasses.* [n: (AUG.)] It is now winter, etc., *as far as* because it hath not yet appeared what we shall be.

[n: (AUG., CASS.)] Herbs not of gardens, but of grasses, that is, the meanest, which spring up of themselves through the fields. *Hay,* the noble, who prosper easily; herbs, the middling: but both those quickly wither and these fall away.

VERS. 8.-- *Cease.* [n: (AUG.)] Anger is sudden, fury lasting; but both are to be forsaken, through which men sin. [n: (CASS.)] This is said to him who is still weak, etc., *as far as* by doing it he flourishes for a time.

VERS. 10.-- *And yet a little while,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] After this short life, etc., *as far as* nor did he feel the worm of a gnawing conscience.

[0896D]VERS. 12.-- *He shall watch,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] It having been said that the good ought not to emulate the wicked, etc., *as far as* he strives to slay.

VERS. 13.-- *But the Lord,* etc. [n: (ID.)] So let us also, seeing that they are to perish, laugh even at those who are present, it is a great consolation.

VERS. 14.-- *The sword,* etc. [n: (ID.)] If he prevail neither by flatteries nor by threats, he proceeds to punishment. If he does not prosper so either, he lies in wait with guiles, when by speaking well he intends evil.

VERS. 16.-- *Better is,* etc. [n: (ID.)] A little before, concerning malice and endurance: here, concerning riches and poverty.

VERS. 17.-- *But the Lord confirmeth,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Chiefly by the example of his cross. For the cross of Christ was ended [0897A] in punishment, and abides in glory: for from the places of tortures it has passed to the brows of emperors.

VERS. 18.-- *In the days of famine.* [n: (CASS.)] That is, in this life, etc., *as far as* by how much the more they are lifted up, by so much the more quickly shall they fail like smoke.

VERS. 21.-- *He shall borrow.* [n: (ID.)] He hears the word of God, he does not repay it in works. *And shall not pay.* That is, he does not repay in works what he received by hearing. *He sheweth mercy and shall repay,* etc. Concerning those things which he receives, etc., *as far as* bounty follows.

VERS. 23.-- *The steps.* [n: (ID.)] Which of themselves are crooked, because we are born in sins. *His way.* [n: (AUG.)] The way of the earth is not hard, but is full of robbers: or, God shall will the way of man.

VERS. 25.-- *I have been young,* etc. [n: (ID.)] He treats here [0897B] that the just man is never forsaken, mingling the rewards of the good and the punishments of the wicked with exhortations set between. [n: (AUG.)] The Church speaks as one man, which in the first times was younger, at the end of the world grew old, *in a plentiful old age,* because she was spread through all nations. [n: (ID.)] *I have been young.* A boy in Abel; in the prophets and patriarchs a young man; in the time of the martyrs as it were an old man; at the end of the world as it were in decrepit age. [n: (CASS.)] *Young,* when I received the beginnings of the law in Adam; *I grew old,* when in an honorable age I received Christ at the last.

VERS. 26.-- *All the day he sheweth mercy.* Or, he speaks of almsgiving, which begins from mercy, and afterward opens the hand: or, of spiritual things.

VERS. 28.-- *He loveth judgment and will not forsake [0897C] his saints.* [n: (CASS.)] Therefore: do thou also love, that thou mayest rejoice in thy good things.

VERS. 31.-- *They shall be supplanted.* [n: (ID.)] To supplant is to spread pits of ambush before the soles of the feet.

VERS. 33.-- *But the Lord* [n: (ID.)] The consolation of the just man. *In his hands.* [n: (AUG.)] Job's earth was delivered into the hands of the impious, that is, his flesh: but God brings forth his soul unconquered, that it may not yield.

*When he shall be judged.* [n: (CASS.)] Or, he does not permit the just man to be condemned when he is judged by the impious; or, for that impious man, namely to his own harm.

VERS. 34.-- *And he shall exalt.* [n: (ID.)] Because none but one exalted can dwell in heaven. *Thou shalt see* [n: (ID.)] What thou now believest; in two ways he marks the joys of the good; [0897D] first, because then they shall feel in how great delights they are. Thence, because they shall see the punishments of the wicked, whence the beatitude of those set free from such evil is the more welcome.

VERS. 35.-- *I have seen the wicked highly exalted.* [n: (ID.)] Against this, etc., *as far as* from whom, being bound, the place of harming has been taken away.

VERS. 36.-- *I passed by.* The world, striving toward God by a better manner of life: and I saw that it could do nothing, since all those things are nothing in which man glories. *I sought.* I called back to memory: because the good then grieve the more over the impious, that they are separated from them, when they are changed for the better. *The place.* Their world is what shall also be dissolved. *I passed by.* [n: (AUG.)] He passes by who attends not to the present, [0898A] but to the last things, etc., *as far as* he who has this virtue is set in the place of the blessed.

VERS. 37.-- *The remnants.* The good things which shall be left after this life, or a good memory after death.

VERS. 39.-- *But the salvation of the just is from the Lord.* All these things are for the just, yet the whole is from God, and he gathers it up summarily.



## PSALM XXXVII.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of David, in the remembrance of the sabbath.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] That we may always have in memory the sin which we are utterly unable to flee, so that we may at least restrain ourselves from it, he here brings in the torment of penitence in many ways, so that he seems to set forth Job himself as an example to recruits, that they may embrace torments, less indeed than their deserts, by which we are freed from [0898B] eternal punishment. [n: (AUG.)] The sabbath is the rest of eternity, which he who is conscious of sin dreads to lose, and he who is grievously afflicted desires to have.

VERS. 2.-- *Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation.* First, he seeks mercy through punishments summarily. *Rebuke me.* [n: (CASS.)] That the punishment may be from mercy unto correction, not from anger unto vengeance.

VERS. 3.-- *The arrows.* [n: (AUG.)] The vengeances which thou wast threatening to Adam, saying: *In whatsoever day ye shall eat, ye shall die the death.* [var: Vulg. Gn 2:17 *in quocumque enim die comederis ex eo, morte morieris*, "in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death," singular where Migne prints the plural] Because he ate, they are fixed in us also; and not for an hour, but *thou hast confirmed* them, that it may be even to the end of the world. [n: (AUG., CASS.)] *For the arrows.* He numbers the things he suffers, etc., *as far as* that which can lightly be hurt.

VERS. 4.-- *There is no health,* etc. [n: (AUG., CASS.)] From [0898C] the pressing of the vengeance put forth upon Adam. Or, he is terrified by the fear of the wrath to come, so that there is no health in his flesh: after the manner of a modest man, who is already afflicted by the scourges to come. Or, from *the face of wrath,* because I have foreseen the face of wrath, that is, what thou threatenest, that I may not see the wrath. *There is no peace.* A grievous sorrow reaches to the inward parts from the face of sins, because the holy man is afflicted with sins beyond the punishments of the body, thinking that he deserves heavier things. *There is no health.* [n: (CASS.)] Here he seeks mercy from the power of the judge, and from the weakness of the person. *There is no peace in the bones.* He takes the bones for the flesh. And he expounds what he had said, adding another thing: namely, from *the face of sins.*

VERS. 5.-- *They are gone over.* [n: (AUG.)] Or, they have lifted up, that is, because iniquity lifted up the head of the proud man against God, God weighed him down, as with a bundle, and pressed him [0898D] that he should not now be raised up.

VERS. 6.-- *They are putrefied.* [n: (CASS.)] A narration, in which the miseries are enumerated. *My scars.* [n: (AUG.)] Or *my bruises;* another reading, that is, my sins. He is not sound who has scars, which have putrefied and stink: that, turned away from them, we may adore the sabbath, and groan: *Running with the bridegroom after the odor of the ointments.*

VERS. 7.-- *I am become miserable.* [n: (ID.)] It having been said in what manner [sic: *qualiliter*] the iniquities are gone over, he says how they are made heavy.

VERS. 8.-- *For my loins.* [n: (CASS., AUG.)] Not only do I sin by my own weakness, but also the devil, who afflicts the body and wearies the soul with empty imaginings; and through this there is again no health, as also [0899A] above through the arrows. [n: (AUG.)] *The loins,* or, the soul is filled, etc., *as far as* when we shall see the truth as it is.

VERS. 9.-- *I roared from the groaning.* [n: (CASS., AUG.)] The *groaning* is of the heart, the *roaring* of the voice: from a likeness of the beasts, to which he compares himself: that a stronger groaning may be shown: the virtue of patience, which breaks forth into a groan, not into words.

VERS. 10.-- *Before thee is all.* [n: (CASS.)] Such is it as deserves to be before thee, because he asks for sins. [n: (AUG.)] and therefore *it is not hidden,* but the groaning is heard, because it is godly, for the liberation of the soul: others God cares not for. *My desire.* [n: (ID.)] It is prayer, nor does he ever cease to pray who ceases not to love: charity is a cry.

[0899B]VERS. 11.-- *My heart is troubled.* [n: (CASS.)] He expounds the sorrows of the mind, because the virtue of patience has left him. *Troubled,* because the mind has succumbed to its own suffering. *The light,* that is, reason lately disturbed, which he has not with him because of the huge troubles.

VERS. 12.-- *My friends and my neighbors.* [n: (ID.)] And in these two comforts human nature rejoices, but to this man they are a heaping up of suffering. [n: (AUG.)] *My friends.* Thus far he has confessed the things he suffers from himself within, etc., *as far as* and these things also befit anyone living among men.

VERS. 14.-- *As one deaf they heard not* [var: Vulg. Ps 37:14 *audiebam*, "I heard not"]*, and as one dumb not opening his mouth.* [n: (CASS.)] Not opening it to the iniquity of those who counselled him, etc., *as far as* against [0899C] the sorrows of the body he roared.

VERS. 16.-- *For in thee, O Lord, have I hoped,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Because amid so many evils he hoped in the Lord, he affirms that he is to be heard in the recalling of his amendment. *I have hoped.* A saving medicine in evils, to hope, not to fail. *In thee, O Lord,* who changest sad things into glad.

VERS. 17.-- *For I said: Lest at any time my enemies should rejoice over me.* [n: (AUG.)] Likewise the head concerning the weak feet, though it be in heaven. It does not forsake that which it has on earth. *While my feet are moved.* [n: (CASS.)] If they are at any time moved by human weakness, the impious laugh at that whereof the godly grieve.

VERS. 18.-- *I am ready.* [n: (ID.)] Knowing that I have offended. [0899D] *Sorrow,* because he has offended: the impious man defends himself; the just man is angry against himself.

VERS. 19.-- *For my iniquity.* [n: (ID.)] The two modes of perfect penitence, confession and amendment, through weeping, alms, and the like.

VERS. 20.-- *They live.* [n: (AUG.)] They enjoy the world, being established in worldly things, and daily they become more.

VERS. 22.-- *Forsake me not.* [n: (ID.)] Absolved from things past, professing God with thanksgiving to be the author of salvation, he joyfully cries out that he may not now be left. [n: (CASS.)] Because the offense is heavier after pardon. [n: (AUG.)] An exultant conclusion, that there may be a sure hope for those who imitate.

*Depart not from me.* How then is it said above: *Why hast thou forsaken me?* It is the voice of the old man who was crucified [0900A] with him, but here he speaks in his own person.



## PSALM XXXVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end.* [n: (AUG.)] Because here it is concerning eternal blessedness, for which it is delightful to leap across, even if it be hard to the flesh. And thence he teaches to pass over from the world to God. But the leaper always draws upon himself, from his good repute, the envy of the wicked and their slander: whence he resolves to keep silence among the wicked, lest he say anything amiss. *Idithun.* [n: (ID.)] Leaping over them, that is, those who remain in the world. [n: (CASS.)] First, concerning the restraint of the tongue among blasphemers and slanderers: whence he also desires to know the end, where these things are not.

VERS. 2.-- *I said: I will take heed to my ways,* etc. [n: (AUG., CASS.)] This psalm admonishes, among blasphemers, [0900B] the wicked, and slanderers, restraint of the tongue, and the repressing of contentions and brawls: for this silence is very useful. [n: (CASS.)] I said: I deliberated in my heart: where wise men deliberate before they speak. *Ways* [n: (HIER.)] That is, actions and words. That I may not offend by foolish or idle things.

*In my tongue.* [n: (AUG.)] Not without cause is the tongue in the word: because it easily slips. *I have set to my mouth.* After I passed over earthly delights, etc., *as far as* teaching us to beware not to imitate this. [n: (CASS.)] *I have set* even to the point that I was dumb, etc., *as far as* who seeks an occasion of contention.

VERS. 3.-- *From good things, and my sorrow,* etc. [n: (ID.)] To be announced, etc., *as far as* that is, of those who leap over, I have spoken. [n: (AUG.)] Which is, unwillingly I kept silence from the wicked, [0900C] etc., *as far as* and if the acts of one leaping over are anything.

VERS. 4.-- *My heart grew hot within me.* [n: (AUG.)] If the slothful man shall be condemned, etc., *as far as* he becomes a greedy steward.

VERS 5.-- *I have spoken.* [n: (ID.)] Not to a hearer who is to be instructed, but to God who hears, by whom I am heard within. *And the number of my days.* [n: (HIER.)] The number of the days which now are, is not truly for him who leaps over; but to him who clings it seems to be.

VERS. 6.-- *Behold, measurable.* [n: (CASS.)] As it were, the end being known, and the days which are, he attends to those things which he has left, and compares them one with another. *And the substance,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] He who sees that this substance is nothing, etc., *as far as* which shall be before thee.

[0900D]VERS. 7.-- *But yet.* [n: (CASS.)] Seeing the coming of Christ, he returns to the weakness which he has among the virtues. [n: (AUG.)] Great are the things we have said and believe; but nevertheless that is not eternal, but all is vanity. And, desiring the eternal in place of mutability, he reproaches human life, to which he is subject, in what he says. Lest anyone think the saints strangers to temptations. Or, though the days be measurable, though there be substance, it is nothing: yet all is vanity in the rational creature, which according to divers men craves the whole creation. *But yet.* Although I gape after eternal things, etc., *as far as* whose conversation is in heaven. *Every man.* [n: (AUG.)] If he is evil, he is vain in worldly things; if he is good, since he wills to be with Christ, his life is vain.

[0901A]-- *But yet.* [n: (AUG.)] Diapsalmus. How all are under vanity and chance; and thence he sets over against it that he waits for the Lord, and asks to be delivered. *He passeth in an image.* [n: (ID.)] Although he thus pursues vanity, etc., *as far as* because with misery and toil he craves earthly things. *He layeth up treasure.* [n: (ID.)] Out of the other vices the Prophet chose avarice, to show what he intends: for it is itself the root of all evils.

VERS. 8.-- *Expectation.* [n: (ID.)] Of the first coming, or of the second, etc., *as far as* not in our purses.

VERS. 9.-- *Deliver me from all my iniquities.* [n: (CASS.)] Not only from these, lest he roll back into those things which I leapt over, but from all altogether. For man is imperfect: because he has not received what he desires; perfect, who knows this very thing that is wanting to him.

[0901B]VERS. 10.-- *I was dumb.* [n: (ID.)] Held in reproach, etc., *as far as* and it is necessary, because I have failed.

*Remove thy scourges from me.* [n: (AUG.)] Because *thou hast made* me, do not destroy me; only yield that I may be brought forth; not that I may be broken small

VERS. 11.-- *With rebukes for iniquity.* With which thou hast rebuked the human race: which nevertheless thou hast rebuked out of our own desert, on account of our iniquities, which rebukes are unto correction; for otherwise iniquity would remain uncorrected. *Thou hast corrected man.* [n: (AUG.)] There is a formless sorrow which does not amend: a formed one, which by its instructions supplies a form. And such a sorrow is a precept, that is, it holds the place and the image of a precept.

VERS. 12.-- *And thou hast made the soul to waste away like a spider.* [n: (ID.)] Dried up from the love of the virtues and of knowledge. [0901C] As a spider weaves an empty web in the gathering of temporal things. Or, while it draws forth iniquity from itself like a spider, it dies by the voiding of its bowels. [n: (CASS.)] Or, the spider has a slender body, and stands not on the ground but on high, and weaves its webs by the voiding of its bowels: so the soul of one converted and afflicted forsakes earthly things, and, wasted away by the fear of God, accomplishes subtle works. *But yet.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] Although he be rebuked, although they waste away, yet he is confounded by human weakness in various things, save he who contemplates God with a pure mind.

VERS. 14.-- *Hear my prayer.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalmus. A journey. He asks for himself the evils of the world to be at hand, and his sins to be forgiven, that he may go forth with a prosperous end. [n: (ID.)] But because I do not ask these things, etc., *as far as* mercy to be moved.

[0901D] *Be not silent, for I am a stranger.* [n: (AUG.)] Already with thee, but still a lodger: because I am to pass hence to eternal things, where I shall not be a lodger. *A stranger with thee.* [n: (CASS.)] Not received in the city of the devil, but in thine, translated from Babylon to Jerusalem. *As all my fathers.* Lest anyone be thought excepted from this condition. *A stranger.* I forsake my own kingdom for thine. *A pilgrim.* Not yet choosing a seat for myself here.

*Forgive me.* [n: (ID.)] Here he asks that it be forgiven him, so that being sure he may come to the judgment.



## PSALM XXXIX.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end, a psalm.* [n: (CASS.)] First he brings in the Church as having awaited the Lord, and as having received [0902A] him, and from him the New Testament, which many also are to follow: whence he strikes at all superstitions and invites to the wonders of God.

[n: (ID.)] Here Christ, out of his members.

VERS. 2.-- *Waiting I have waited.* [n: (ID.)] He waits, and is ungrateful: but waiting he waits. [n: (AUG.)] Authority from the ancients, in Abraham and the rest, etc., *as far as* who is ours by worship, not of others.

*The Lord.* [n: (ID.)] Not a man, who can deceive and be deceived, and who is in need together with me. *He gave heed.* [n: (ID.)] To me, that he might profit me: not me, as the wicked also.

VERS. 3.-- *The pit.* [n: (ID.)] The darkness of iniquities, that is, of unbelief and of ignorance, etc., *as far as: to a rock* against mire. [n: (HIER.)] But in *the pit* and in *the mire,* the Gentiles worshipping idols: or, all who love earthly things.

[0902B]VERS. 4.-- *A song.* [n: (HIER.)] Not a shameful one, not a theatrical one, but through the New Testament. *They shall see.* [n: (CASS.)] The wonders wrought in the time of the incarnation. [n: (AUG.)] They shall see: this which he first said of those before, many later peoples shall see.

VERS. 5.-- *A name.* [n: (ID.)] Which is Saviour. As if: *Blessed,* etc., who hopes not for temporal things from him, but for salvation, which his name indicates. In the Hebrew genitives are often doubled in this manner: or, *blessed* is he to whom the name belongs, that is, by whom is the praise of God, that from him alone he may believe salvation to be, whence also is his hope. *Madnesses.* [n: (CASS.)] Idols, which deceive away from the truth: or, madnesses, in deceitful spectacles. Therefore in the plural, that it may be taken of them all. These things are false, but thy wonderful works, heaven, earth, dashes superstitions to pieces.

[0902C]VERS. 6.-- *Thy wonders.* [n: (AUG.)] Peter walking upon the waters in a sign, not in the world, that is, in the fruits of the world. [n: (AUG.)] Salvation is truthful, madness lying; it is not what it is thought to be. [n: (HIER.)] Earthly things are vain, madnesses, angers and brawls, etc.

*There is none like unto thee.* [n: (AUG.)] No authors of the arts. *I have declared.* Here Christ in the head and in the members. These are the wonders of God, these the thoughts to which no one is like. [n: (CASS.)] Behold the wonders: the incarnation, the justice of preaching, the deliverance of men from iniquities, the confounding of enemies, the gladness of those who hope. First, the rude and unformed were prepared, that they might willingly receive the words of Christ. [n: (AUG.)] See the wonders of God. I declared beforehand through the Prophets, and afterward I myself spoke. *They are multiplied in number.* [n: (HIER., AUG.)] Above the number [0902D] of those to be saved: or, above what anyone could count: or, while I speak, more have believed than of old.

VERS. 7.-- *Sacrifice and oblation thou didst not desire.* [n: (AUG.)] When the thing came, he did not want, as it were, the words that promise, etc., *as far as* but he who poured it out, being deaf, hears not. *But ears thou hast perfected for me.* That is, thou hast made me perfectly understand what thou wouldst. *Or, a body thou hast fitted to me,* as the Apostle says to the Hebrews [n: (Heb. X)], that is, thou hast given me a body fit for offering.

VERS. 8.-- *A holocaust.* Holocausts also thou didst not require for sin. *For sin.* Which stands above *oblation,* as concerning the goat ἀποπομπάιῳ, that is, the emissary, which was sent into the desert with the sins of the people: or, for sin [0903A] may be two words. *Behold I come* [n: (CASS.)] Since the sacrifices cease, it is established that Christ comes.

VERS. 9.-- *In the head of the book it is written of me.* Behold, I come at once to do thy will, because in the head of this book. Or, it is thus predetermined with God the Father, who is my head, I who am the book, that is, the form of justice for men.

VERS. 10.-- *A great church.* [n: (AUG.)] In the whole round of the lands, not a small one as before: and if indeed fear shall rise up, it will not forbid speaking. *Lord, thou hast known.* [n: (ID.)] Lips sound to men, etc., *as far as* that I be not slothful unto this.

VERS. 11.-- *I have not hidden.* [n: (CASS.)] (When I could profit) the truth, the promise, and the salvation.

[0903B]VERS. 12. *Thy mercy.* [n: (AUG.)] Love and fear lead me through unto thee.

VERS. 13.-- *Hairs.* [n: (AUG.)] Rightly are hairs brought in by way of comparison with offences. For therefore in the Old Testament the priests were shaven, that so they might be seen to have laid aside the vices of the flesh.

VERS. 14.-- *May it be pleasing.* [n: (CASS.)] *May it be pleasing,* marks the Trinity of persons; *to thee,* in the singular, marks the unity of essence. [n: (AUG.)] *May it be pleasing,* he says, not distrusting the power of God, if the will be present. As if: If thou wilt, thou canst, Lord. *Look.* [n: (CASS.)] His regard is our help.

VERS. 16.-- *Who say to me: Well done, well done.* [n: (AUG.)] Both he who speaks good things with an evil mind, and he who evil things by praising them deceitfully, each is evil and to be guarded against. Of the first sort [0903C] he said: *Who wish me evils;* of the second: *Who say to me: Well done, well done.*

VERS. 17.-- *And let them say.* [n: (CASS.)] This is their exultation: for this profession makes Christians rejoicing unto eternity.

VERS. 18.-- *But I.* [n: (CASS.)] This Christ, out of the form of a servant: lest any should arrogate to himself the glory of the aforesaid gladness. A beggar, who does not suffice for himself. *Delay not.* [n: (AUG.)] *Unless the days had been shortened,* etc., *as far as* who now nourish the things they have sought.



## PSALM XL

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end.* [n: (HIER.)] *An understanding for the sons of Core,* that although poor and suffering, etc., *as far as* the Apostle saying: *But to me,* etc.--[n: (AUG.)] It is as it were [0903D] the voice of one man, of the head and of the body.

VERS. 2.-- *Blessed.* He is mocked who reverences a dead poor man; but *blessed.* [n: (AUG.)] The Prophet celebrates him that understands concerning the needy and the poor. [n: (HIER.)] First the Prophet from himself, afterward he will bring in Christ. *Who understandeth.* [n: (AUG.)] Note *who understandeth,* that it may be given even to those who do not ask: he who gives to one asking does well; he who understands one that is silent is without doubt blessed.

VERS. 3.-- *May the Lord preserve.* [n: (ID.)] Well does the Prophet wish it for him that understands concerning the needy and the poor, which is a sure promise. *And may he quicken.* [n: (ID.)] In the life to come, or, here through justification.

VERS. 4.-- *The Lord bring help.* [n: (CASS.)] Do not think that the blessed man has rest here: he mitigates his sorrows, and prays [0904A] that the infirmity of man be not overcome by hard things; as it were, these temporal goods are a bed of rest: as it were, he makes them full of sorrows, that hope be not had in them. *The bed.* [n: (AUG.)] For *the whole* indeed *couch,* that is, worldly happiness, God providently turns into straits. [n: (CASS.)] Here he himself, trembling, asks for mercy: because he who knew that he had sinned feared to be handed over to these things by right: but lest the servants of God, afflicted by these things, should seem deserted by God, since God himself bore such things; whence he says: *My enemies have spoken.* Or, *a bed of sorrow.* [n: (AUG.)] The flesh, in which is sin, etc., *as far as* when Adam was weakened by transgressing. *Help* [n: (AUG., HIER.)] In the infirmity of the flesh, which weighs down the soul. *The couch.* [n: (AUG.)] There is some earthly thing which the sick man, etc., *as far as* for the house of eternal habitation.

[0904B]VERS. 6.-- *My enemies.* [n: (CASS.)] The Lord concerning his passion, which was after the manner of the needy one. [n: (AUG.)] *My enemies.* These things are said specially of Christ, but they can be said also of his members: and today tribulation is made, that the name of Christ may be extinguished: but through his own death and that of his own the Church has grown the more.

VERS. 7.-- *And if he came in.* [n: (CASS.)] Note that the wicked are to be borne with.

[n: (ID.)] Not only open enemies, but also those who feigned themselves friends.

VERS. 8.-- *He went forth abroad.* From the bosom of truth; an evil entrance, an evil going out. *Unto the selfsame.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, with one counsel they all whispered against me. *They whispered.* [n: (CASS.)] They do not dare to uncover their counsel, because in the crime all are *partners:* whereas few [0904C] are wont to be the *authors* of crimes.

VERS. 9.-- *Shall he.* [n: (AUG.)] He who has the power of laying down his soul, has he not also the power of taking it up again?

VERS. 10.-- *I have hoped.* [n: (AUG.)] In the members, because other brethren hoped somewhat in him, because he seemed such as the rest. So too he says that he hungers in the poor.

VERS. 11.-- *But thou, O Lord.* [n: (AUG.)] Of the resurrection, which is the glory of the needy one, for the confirming of the hope of the faithful. *And I will requite them.* [n: (AUG.)]. For because they are scattered through the world, it is for admonition, not yet for damnation.

VERS. 13.-- *But me.* [n: (ID.)] He affirms what he prayed for.

VERS. 14.-- *Blessed.* [n: (CASS.)] A concluding praise, the passion and resurrection having been set forth. *The God of Israel.* [0904D] [n: (AUG.)] The Jews are our book-carriers, who carry the codices for us: we are Israel. Otherwise the pagans would have thought the things said of Christ and the Church to be feigned, but they are overcome by the testimony of enemies. *From the age,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] From which all things began to be administered, unto the age to come, where all things are eternal.

*Let it be done.* [n: (HIER.)] The doubling shows that this is to be done by all. In place of *let it be done,* in the Hebrew is written *amen, amen,* which Aquila translated *truly, truly,* or *faithfully.* And here ends the first book of the Psalter according to Jerome.



## PSALM XLI.

VERS. 1.-- *At the end, an understanding.* [var: Vulg. Ps 41:1 reads "In finem" in the accusative and adds "filiis Core": "unto the end; an understanding for the sons of Core"] [n: (CASS.)] *Core* is interpreted *Calvary.* Therefore the sons, etc., *as far as,* whom [0905A] the insult of the wicked meets. [n: (HIER.)] *Sons of Core,* that is, *sons of the bald man,* etc., *as far as* the word of the boys mocking Elisha.

VERS. 2.-- *As the hart desireth,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] This voice suits catechumens, and also all who are still journeying abroad.

*The hart.* The hart, burdened with age, its hairs and horns growing out, draws in a serpent by its nostrils: whence, burning with the venom, it most ardently desires a fountain from which to drink; and when it has drunk, it lays aside its horns and its hairs.

VERS. 3.-- *It hath thirsted.* [n: (AUG.)] He determines his desire, because the hart could be understood to desire a fountain for the sake of drinking, or of washing; here all desire is shown to be toward God. *When shall I come.* What is quicker to God is slow to the desire of man. [0905B] Such a hart, while it runs, suffers those who insult; whence: *My tears have been my bread.* In prosperity also, which he despises, as in adversity. *Bread.* [n: (CASS.)] Not bitterness, or destruction, but *bread.*

VERS. 5.-- *These things I remembered.* [n: (AUG.)] While they ask, Where is thy God? I also have meditated through all these visible things, and through my own soul, that through those outward things I may find the invisible things of God. Behold the understanding of the title. *I poured out. [n: (Ibid.)]* For understanding and attaining I have spread it out above itself. *I poured out.* [n: (CASS.)] Or, I have rejoiced. My soul is melted within me; not outside, but pricked with compunction it returns into itself. Although I do not see God visibly, yet I consider that through the Church, in which the saints are wonderful, I shall come to the heavenly Jerusalem, [0905C] taken captive by the sweetness of the angelic praise, which is received by the mind. *Into the place of the tabernacle.* [n: (AUG.)] The tabernacle of God on earth, etc., *as far as,* that is, of those rejoicing in the eternal refreshment. *In the voice of exultation. [n: (Ibid.)]* Of the eternal festival there sounds something sweet to the heart: whence the hart is snatched away to the fountains of waters, and is soothed. But because the world makes a din, and the flesh weighs down the soul, comparing this sorrow with those joyful things, he says:

VERS. 6.-- *Why art thou sad?* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Of the disturbances against which reason strengthens the sensual soul with hope of God. *Why dost thou trouble?* [n: (AUG.)] Who, if thou searchest, there is nothing in the world for which thou shouldst owe this: hope rather for the saving remedy still, and if not now, fully in time to come. *Hope.* [n: (CASS.)] Or he can hope, because *still* in the present *I will confess,* that is, I will do penance [0905D] for my sins, that I may not withstand thee.

VERS. 7.-- *To myself.* Turned to God he tells the troublings from himself, the end of them from God: whence in him is his hope. And this is *to myself,* or from myself. [n: (CASS.)] Behold, he who above was correcting the soul to the condition of man, having turned back says here that the soul is troubled by itself, which, were there not the vices of the flesh, would remain tranquil. Behold out of what diversity man is composed. As if: therefore, that is, on account of the troublings of the soul, *I will be mindful.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, I hasten to thee, because thou shuttest out all evils. Behold the remedy by which he may escape the troublings: whence he subjoins for what things he is mindful: *Of the land of Jordan,* where the Lord consecrated baptism, in which the humbled are washed, and [0906A] become fruitful earth. [n: (CASS.)] He who is mindful of these things is not troubled by evils. *Therefore mindful.* [n: (AUG.)] Whereby the soul is troubled toward me, therefore *mindful,* etc. No one runs to remission, save he who is displeasing to himself, save he who confesses himself a sinner: which *Hermoniim* denotes; no one confesses unless he humbles himself, which is denoted in *the little one. Jordan. [n: (Ibid.)]* A going down. Descend therefore that thou mayest be lifted up. [n: (CASS.)] In the Jordan the Lord consecrated baptism, in which the humbled are washed, and become fruitful earth, which yields fruit thirtyfold, sixtyfold and a hundredfold [n: (Matth. XIII)]. *Hermoniim.* [n: (AUG.)] A small mountain beside the Jordan, etc., *as far as* because it is not among the proud, but among the humble, that one is mindful of God.

VERS. 8.-- *Deep unto deep. [n: (Ibid.)]* It is fitting that [0906B] I be mindful, etc., *as far as* and on account of all these things I pray in adversities, and this is: *With me a prayer. [n: (Ibid.)]* Or *deep calleth unto deep,* that is, the judgment which God brought upon the sinner, etc., *as far as* because he fears the judgments. *Of the cataracts.* Cataracts, according to the letter, are the mouths of rivers.

VERS. 9.-- *In the day. [n: (Ibid.)]* That is, in prosperity, etc., *as far as* whence we may live in adversity. *With me a prayer. [n: (Ibid.)]* Prayer in troublings is mine, and this is with me.

VERS. 10.-- *Why hast thou forgotten.* [n: (CASS.)] Why dost thou now suffer me to be vexed with these miseries? He saw what sweetness of the fatherland there was, and shuddered at the perils of the world.

VERS. 11.-- *While my bones are broken.* [n: (AUG.)] As it were bones are broken, while the strength of patience is afflicted, [0906C] at which the wicked laugh. This is that reproach: *While it is said to me: Where is he?* either there is none, or he cares not for thee.

## PSALM XLII.

*Unto the end, a psalm of David.* [n: (AUG.)] Of the body of Christ, which groans here among the tares, that is, among the wicked, having many things in common with them: to be born, to die, prosperity and adversity: with whom (because it has not a common cause of merits) it cries out: *Judge me,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] This psalm is against pressures, lest they too draw us back from God. [n: (CASS.)] He complains of the mingling of the wicked, and prays for separation.

VERS. 1.-- *Judge me. [n: (Ibid.)]* He does not ask that his own sins be examined, which is dangerous, but that his cause be made ready apart from the impious, that he may be with the elect: whence he adds: *And [0906D] distinguish.* The nation that is not holy is the unjust and deceitful man, from whom he is separated in the judgment: but here too lest he be corrupted by them.

VERS. 2.-- *Why do I go sorrowful?* [n: (AUG.)] He seeks the cause of sadness, which is sin, as justice is the cause of gladness. Isaias on account of sin: *For a little while indeed I made him sorrowful,* for so God punishes.

VERS. 3.-- *Send forth thy light.* [n: (CASS.)] Because, when he comes, all the sadness of confusion will be taken away. [n: (AUG.)] Because we now have a sure pledge, since those very things, that is, light and truth, have led the present Church away from her sins, which is the tabernacle.

VERS. 4.-- *And I will go in.* As the high priest to the Holy of holies. [n: (CASS.)] *And I will go in.* Of the final gladness, [0907A] for which he gives praise in tribulation, he who above was sad, whence also he strengthens himself.

VERS. 5.-- *I will confess to thee on the harp.* [n: (AUG.)] He who does the precepts of God, and does not suffer, confesses on the psaltery: but he who does and suffers, which is from the lower nature, *on the harp,* which sounds from below, as the psaltery from above. *On the harp.* [n: (CASS.)] Behold, he who above was sad about the evils of the world, makes joy for himself out of good understanding. *Why dost thou trouble me? [n: (Ibid.)]* Frequently and vehemently he urges that the sadness of the world must be fled, which extinguishes patience, charity and hope, and confounds the whole life. *The salvation of my countenance.* [n: (AUG.)] And elsewhere: *Have mercy on me,* etc., *as far as* almsgiving, and prayer which flies to God on those two wings.



## PSALM XLIII.

[0907B]

VERS. 1.-- *Unto understanding.* [n: (AUG.)] Let them not so seek these things to be done for themselves, etc., *as far as* and let not these things be loved. [n: (CASS.)] He distinguishes the benefits of God, which were given to beginners in the world, to the perfect in heaven.

That it may be the more wonderful that present things are left behind, he recalls things past.

VERS. 2.-- *God, with our ears.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] First he says: *God,* which one is wont to do when glad or heavily afflicted.

*We have heard.* That there may be greater faith in the matter, lest it be thought doubtful.

*Fathers.* Not young men, that they may be seen as our true ones, who would tell sure things to their own.

[0907C] *The work which,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] And although he always works, yet he is said to work when he shows some sign of newness.

VERS. 4.-- *But thy right hand.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, the good success which thou gavest them. *And thy arm,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] That is, strength; and *illumination,* that is, wise counsel: all which thou hast done out of thy good will.

VERS. 5.-- *Thou art thyself my king and my God.* [n: (AUG.)] The times are changed; the author is not changed.

VERS. 7.-- *For I will not hope in my bow.* [n: (CASS.)] The lesser strength of man, because it avails less in war.

*A sword.* The greater strength, which in war is believed to avail more. [n: (AUG.)] Or, *my sword shall not save me,* but thou, because in this world also thou hast saved us, lest they should drag us [0907D] after them, and thou hast made them ashamed: and therefore then *we shall be praised.*

VERS. 8.-- *Thou hast saved,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Note also that things said in the past are to be taken for things to come.

VERS. 10.-- *But now thou hast cast us off.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalmus. He enumerates the evils which the good did here, yet not having forgotten God. [n: (CASS.)] He exaggerates the evils, that he may obtain the good will of the judge. *Thou hast confounded,* while here they are held in reproach by the wicked. [n: (AUG.)] These things are truly to come, etc., *as far as* this is a fast not of abstinence, but of luxury.

VERS. 11.-- *Thou hast turned away.* [n: (CASS.)] For those who fail. Or, to be turned away is to flee the enemy; whence: *If they shall have persecuted you in one city, flee into another.* [var: Vulg. Mt 10:23 reads "Cum autem persequentur vos in civitate ista, fugite in aliam": "and when they shall persecute you in this city, flee into another"]

[0908A] *They plundered.* This happens to those put to flight, that they fall as prey, who cannot resist their enemies.

VERS. 12.-- *Thou hast given us like sheep for food.* [n: (CASS.)] Those persisting in faith. Here diverse martyrs, that is, diverse kinds of martyrdom: some food for beasts, others delivered to the Gentiles into servitude; whence he says: *Like sheep for food,* where the slaughter of certain ones is noted.

VERS. 13.-- *Thou hast sold thy people without a price.* [n: (AUG.)] While they are given to foreigners and no one gains: which is done for proving or for correcting; or no one is gained for them, or if any, yet few.

VERS. 14.-- *A reproach to our neighbours.* [n: (CASS.)] A grievous affliction is heaped on by neighbours, because that is not uttered in passing which one inflicts from among those standing round. *A derision to those who are round about.* [n: (CASS.)] Derision is a confused voice of gladness, [0908B] announcing insult with immoderate hilarity. Contempt is abject vileness.

VERS. 15.-- *Into the likeness of the Gentiles. [n: (Ibid.)]* [var: Vulg. Ps 43:15 has the dative, "in similitudinem gentibus": "for a likeness to the Gentiles"] In the likeness of Christ they are set beside the Gentiles, when they afflicted them with equal punishments.

VERS. 17.-- *Of him that reproacheth. [n: (Ibid.)]* To reproach is to curse to the face; to speak against is to detract from one absent, and to bite deceitfully.

VERS. 18.-- *They have come upon us. [n: (Ibid.)]* Because they were not in us through fault.

VERS. 19.-- *It hath not gone back. [n: (Ibid.)]* So that it should go backward, although sometimes it descends from the contemplation of the deity. *Thou hast turned aside.* [n: (AUG.)] Our paths were in the pleasures and prosperities of the world: but thou hast taken them away from their own way, and hast shown the narrow way which leads to [0908C] life. [n: (HIER.)] Or *and thou hast turned aside,* that is, thou hast made our works to hang upon thy law. Or, *thou hast not turned aside* (another reading), that is, thou hast not permitted our paths to turn aside and go astray. *Paths,* that is, works; *from thy way,* that is, from the law; therefore because *thou hast humbled us.*

VERS. 20.-- *The shadow of death.* [n: (AUG.)] Or, this mortality is the shadow of death: but true death is damnation with the devil.

VERS. 21.-- *If we have forgotten the name of God. [n: (Ibid.)]* This is the understanding of the sons of Core, who on account of all these evils do not forget God, knowing that God will require these things.

VERS. 22.-- *He hath known. [n: (Ibid.)]* God is said to harm [sic: *Nocere*] both what he knows and what he makes thee know. *He hath known,* because he will require on account of thee, that thou mayest find thyself, and give [0908D] thanks to him who made thee, as was done in Peter, who proved what he could do. *For thy sake we are put to death.* [n: (CASS.)] Not for our crimes, but that thy faith may be increased among the Gentiles.

VERS. 23.-- *Arise. [n: (Ibid.)]* He prays for help, that he may succour those afflicted here at the time of the resurrection. [n: (AUG.)] Thus far not forgetting; and that we may persevere: *Arise, for on thy account we are put to death.* [n: (AUG., HIER.)] And although they know that Christ does not sleep, and that he has risen for himself, yet they pray him to rise through faith, not for himself, but for the Gentiles, who think him dead. For if they too believed that he had risen, believing in him they would not persecute, but they too would believe. [n: (AUG.)] Or *arise,* strengthen.

[0909A] *Thou sleepest.* Thou seemest to neglect. Wherefore, even if we know not, thou knowest why: either for fault, or for benefit. But if for fault, would that it were absent; if for benefit, would that it were present. Some thou dost repel, because thou withdrawest thy face, that is, thy knowledge, from them: thou sleepest to certain ones who groan over evils.

VERS. 24.-- *Why dost thou forget?* that is, thou givest not the spirit of fortitude, without which we are helpless. *And of tribulation.* [n: (CASS.)] Because thou dost not mitigate it, etc., *as far as* who easily yield to unlawful motions, and cleave to earthly things.

VERS. 26.-- *Arise, O Lord.* Here *arise* is set without sleeping, which pertains to the resurrection, in which is the hope of all the faithful; in which human captivity is destroyed; through which we are helped [0909B] and set free. *In the earth our belly.* [n: (AUG.)] He who fixes his knees on the earth has whereby he may be more humbled: but he who is more humbled, so that his belly also cleaves to the earth, has nothing further whereby he may be more humbled. He expresses therefore an exceeding humiliation, so that, since it has come to the highest point, the mercy of God may now be present. Or he laments those who are the belly, that is, the carnal, and *they have cleaved,* that is, consented to the wicked.



## PSALM XLIV.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] An epithalamium, that is, the praise of the bridal chamber. A canticle for those who are to be changed and for the beloved, that is, for the bride and the bridegroom, is written for the sons of Core, that they may venerate. For here is described through whom they shall be changed, because the praise of the bridegroom and of the bride is here sung. [n: (CASS.)] The Prophet promises that he will utter forth [0909C] the heraldings of God.

VERS. 2.-- *It hath uttered forth.* [n: (AUG., HIER.)] For the Prophet speaks within, etc., *as far as* before that is which he is about to do. But the counsel of the Father is the Word.

*Good.* By which all good things were made. *I speak.* That is, I bring forth the Word: the same here as before; but he says that in that very word are all the works of God; whence: *What was made in him was life,* so that nothing may be in the work which was not first in the counsel. Of this it is said: *God hath spoken once.*

*A pen.* He compares the Word not to sound, which passes away, but to writing, which remains. Or, *swiftly,* because not one thing after another, but all things together in one eternal Word.

*Swiftly.* The power of prophecy, which does not under [0909D] human torment devise what it divulges to others out of the secret of the Godhead.

VERS. 3.-- *Beautiful in form.* [n: (CASS.)] He begins the praise of the bridegroom first from his form. *He hath blessed.* The former things the Prophet said in the person of God, these from his own; or all from himself. Or, *he uttereth forth the word,* who says a hymn to God.

*I speak my works.* [n: (AUG.)] to the praise of him who is from him. *Tongue, a pen.* Because what I say, I also write. Or, *swiftly:* because the things which I write are quickly to come.

[n: (CASS.)] *In the lips.* Because, when he spoke, the world received the grace of reconciliation.

VERS. 4.-- *Gird thyself. [n: (Ibid.)]* Here he praises him from his power; and do thou, being such, *gird thyself.*

VERS. 5.-- *With thy comeliness and beauty. Comeliness* to [0910A] the humanity, in which he appeared to the world; *beauty* to the Deity, by which he adorns all things.

*Attend.* Pitying, look upon man as he perishes.

*Prosperously.* Setting men free.

*Proceed.* From the womb of the Virgin, as a bridegroom: or, from these conquered to others to be conquered.

*Reign.* Show thy power in the faith of men, thou who hast always reigned. And through this, because both through thyself and through thine own thou teachest the truth, by which thou destroyest our falsehood. And because meek in bearing with the wicked, as when he prayed for his enemies, so also his own: And because he showed the justice of life. And because it shall lead thee on without stumbling through the course of the whole life, or from people to people

*Wonderfully.* Because all shall wonder, or, because he will do miracles.

[0910B]VERS. 6.-- *The peoples shall fall under thee.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, many of his enemies shall put themselves under him, and this by reason or by will. This is what the title said: *For those who shall be changed out of the sons of Core.* [var: Vulg. Ps 44:1 has no preposition and divides the clause: "pro iis qui commutabuntur. Filiis Core": "for those who shall be changed; for the sons of Core"] -- *Into the hearts.* [n: (CASS.)] Of thy enemies, that they may be friends, as Saul was.

VERS. 7.-- *A throne. [n: (Ibid.)]* Here from judgment: *A throne* pertains to judgment. *A rod. [n: (Ibid.)]* The rule of divine equity, which is truly straight and is never bent: this governs the just, strikes the unjust. [n: (AUG.)] Let no one presume much to himself concerning mercy, or flatter himself: because the rod of direction, if it governs some, crushes others: it governs the spiritual, it crushes the carnal.

VERS. 8.-- *Thou hast loved. [n: (Ibid.)]* Or, because *thou hast loved justice,* etc., these rewards have been rendered, he made thee king, [0910C] giving *the name which is above every name.*

*And thou hast hated.* If a man hates iniquity in himself, he acts with God: God hates iniquity, do thou also hate it.

*O God.* [n: (AUG.)] It is set twice openly in the Greek, the one a vocative, the other a nominative. This one is anointed, that one is the stone which Jacob anointed.

VERS. 9.-- *Myrrh,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Here the Prophet praises the bridegroom from his wife and from his adornment; first from the adornment. [n: (AUG.)] *Myrrh and stacte.* Perfumes are fitly applied to the bridal chamber, etc., *as far as* that is, redemption, through the water of baptism. *Of ivory.* [n: (HIER.)] In ivory, chastity, which, being dark before, is made bright by saws and files; so the saints, filed down by the cuttings and rubbings of divers punishments, are made bright by the variety of virtues. *The daughters of kings.* [n: (AUG.)] Of earthly ones, not caring for the honour [0910D] of their fathers, etc., *as far as* and they took them for the raising up of seed.

VERS. 10.-- *The queen stood,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Here he commends the bridegroom from his wife. *With variety. [n: (Ibid.)]* Although there be unity in charity, yet she is adorned with gold, that is, the doctrine of the Apostles, with the scarlet of the martyrs, with the gems of virgins, with the purple of the penitent.

VERS. 11.-- *Hear, O daughter.* [n: (CASS.)] The praise of the bride is lower, but fourfold: from her form, from her glory, from the maidens, from her offspring. [n: (AUG.)] *Hear, O daughter.* The Prophet addresses the queen, as one of the fathers. The Jews saw and slew; do thou hear the Gospel, and by believing thou shalt see God: here through an image, in time to come [0911A] through sight. Or, Hear the prophecies which foretold the incarnation, and see them fulfilled.

VERS. 12.-- *And the king shall desire.* [n: (CASS.)] Here he praises her from her form.

VERS. 13.-- *Of Tyre.* [n: (CASS.)] By Tyre, the neighbour of Judaea, the Gentiles are designated; whence the Canaanite woman is a figure of the Church. [n: (CASS.)] *Of Tyre,* of the Gentiles, the whole from a part. *With gifts.* [n: (AUG.)] That they may offer themselves, etc., *as far as* the Gentiles, namely, who are in the straits of their sins.

VERS. 14.-- *All the glory.* [n: (CASS.)] From the glory of the bride, as above from the power of the bridegroom. *From within.* [n: (AUG.)] Or inwardly. Let almsgiving therefore be in secret, where God sees. Or not in a circumcision made by hand, as in the old law, but in spiritual things. *In fringes.* [n: (CASS.)] The end of the garment signifies the end of the world or of man. [0911B] *Golden.* Not gilded, as above, but golden, because in the end is the whole perfection, where charity is found full.

VERS. 15.-- *They shall be brought to the king. [n: (Ibid.)]* Here the bride is praised from her friends, as above from judgment. *[n: (Ibid.)] They shall be brought,* by opportune preaching. *After her. [n: (Ibid.)]* First unity is spoken of, afterward the enumeration of the parts is distinct, when it is said: *Virgins and her neighbours.* [var: Vulg. Ps 44:15 has no connective: "virgines post eam ; proximae ejus", "virgins after her; her neighbours"]

VERS. 17.-- *Instead of thy fathers sons are born to thee. [n: (Ibid.)]* Or in place of the ancient fathers, worshippers of idols, the Apostles were born, princes of preaching. [n: (AUG.)] Or after the prophets the Apostles, after the Apostles others.

This psalm is sung on the feast of blessed Mary the Virgin, because the things which are here said generally of the Church can be referred specially to Mary. It is sung also [0911C] for virgins, because it is there said: *Virgins shall be brought to the king.* And for the Apostles, because where it is said: *Sons are born to thee.* Likewise of the nativity of the Lord, because there it treats of the praise of the bridegroom and of the bride and of the nuptials of Christ and the Church, whose espousal was made in the incarnation of the Word.



## PSALM XLV.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end.* [n: (CASS.)] A psalm of David, of some faithful man of Judea, that the testimony may be the more certain.

*For the hidden things.* For the manifestation of the hidden things, that God is man, that salvation is promised to both peoples, that blindness has befallen Israel, that the Apostles passed over to the Gentiles, that peace is on earth; whence: *They shall turn their swords into ploughshares and their spears into sickles* [0911D] [n: (Isa. II)].

*For the sons of Core.* [n: (CASS.)] The sons of the cross. *Of the hidden things,* that is, he speaks of the coming of Christ.

VERS. 2.-- *Our God.* [n: (CASS., AUG.)] In the coming of the Lord all hope is shown to be had, even in the passing over of the Apostles to the Gentiles. *They have found us exceedingly.* [n: (AUG.)] For we were fleeing them. Or, *they have found us* exposed through Adam. *Exceedingly,* by so much the more powerful is he who delivers.

VERS. 3.-- *The earth shall be troubled, and the mountains shall be removed,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Judea, as it were dry land: without idolatry, hemmed about by the bitterness of the Gentiles. Or, *the sea,* [n: (AUG.)] the world.

*The heart of the sea.* The savagery of the Gentiles

[0912A]VERS. 4.-- *They have sounded, and are troubled,* etc. Those who contradict, the Gentiles: or the Apostles by preaching.

*And their waters were troubled.* The reference is made to the sense, not to the word: that is, the waters of the sea, namely the peoples, or their doctrines, which have been made foolish, the doctrine of the Saviour flashing forth; whence: *They were swallowed up,* etc. And this is the rod of Moses, which devoured the rods of the Magi.

VERS. 5.-- *The stream of the river.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalmus. Because the Church is founded in Christ, to whom the nations and kingdoms are made subject. [n: (AUG.)] As if he should say: Thus the sea rages; but amid these waves and noises they fear not, who have fled to that refuge.

VERS. 6.-- *He shall help her.* [n: (CASS.)] Or, *with his countenance,* that is, by the showing forth of his help, when by helping he [0912B] declares himself. *In the morning.* In the very beginning of a good work; and this, *at daybreak,* that is, through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, who is light as it were of day.

VERS. 7.-- *He gave.* As it were a great reward. *His voice.* Preaching, at which the earthly man trembled. He shall tremble for fear of the judge.

VERS. 8.-- *The Lord of hosts. [n: (Ibid.)]* Briefly he defines what Christ is. *With us.* As it were: He who sent the angels, now he himself has come, and is with us, because with us as our upholder; therefore: *Come,* as it were I invite you now secure. *Ours.* Not save of the sons of the cross. *The God of Jacob.* Who gave us as great things as he gave Jacob: for he is not the God of him alone.

VERS. 9.-- *Come and see. [n: (Ibid.)]* Diapsalmus. The mighty works of the incarnation. *He hath set.* As it were signs, for the calling of [0912C] the people. *Prodigies.* As concerning the birth from the Virgin, and the star, and the rest. *Making wars to cease.* [n: (AUG.)] Because through his coming the idolatry and superstition of the whole world perished, or, at that time for his presence the world was at peace.

VERS. 11.-- *Be still. [n: (Ibid.)]* If the arms are burnt up, *be still,* not having wherewith you may fight.

## PSALM XLVI.

VERS. 2.-- *All ye Gentiles.* [n: (AUG.)] As if he should say: they insult, the boys, saying: *Bald head, bald head,* you, all the Gentiles to whom grace has passed over: *Clap your hands,* etc. The Gentiles to whom grace has passed over, and whom in the former psalm he called to faith, he invites to praise.

VERS. 3.-- *High.* [n: (HIER.)] Powerful in what he wills. [0912D] *Terrible.* [n: (REMIG.)] Because he is to judge in power.

VERS. 4.-- *He hath subdued the peoples unto us.* [n: (CASS.)] This befits faithful men, to whom all outsiders are made subject, or, he has subjected to himself those who are to be associated with us. *The peoples,* the Jews. *Unto us. [n: (Ibid.)]* Namely to the universal Church; this it befits all the faithful to say, to whom outsiders are made subject. *Under the feet. [n: (Ibid.)]* By *feet,* understand preachers, to whom the peoples are made subject. [n: (AUG.)] *Under the feet.* So is the Church exalted, that it has those not yet believing under its feet.

VERS. 5.-- *He hath chosen for us,* etc. Or in the person of the Apostles, he chose to give us his inheritance, of many peoples, that we may cultivate it, striking their hearts with the sword of preaching, and destroying their malice. [0913A] *The inheritance.* [n: (AUG.)] The heavenly inheritance is the beauty of the Christian people, in which he shall be comely, shining as the sun, who now is abject. *The beauty of Jacob which,* etc. That is, those like to Jacob or signed by Jacob, who give earthly things for heavenly, as Jacob did, which was the grace of God, because *he loved him, Esau being reprobate.*

VERS. 6.-- *He is ascended.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalma, the ascension and the kingdom of God is described, whence he urgently admonishes to sing psalms. *In jubilation.* [n: (AUG.)] The joy of the wondering Apostles, etc., *as far as* what can neither be kept silent nor be uttered.

VERS. 7.-- *Sing ye psalms.* [n: (CASS.)] Praise by works: very salutary is that which is so often repeated, because it is God who creates, and a king governing the things created.

VERS. 8.-- *Of all the earth. [n: (Ibid.)]* Not as Jupiter of Crete, [0913B] Mars of Thrace. *Wisely.* He teaches how one ought to sing psalms. Of old they sang psalms without understanding, while they worshipped stones. [n: (AUG.)] No one does wisely what he does not understand.

VERS. 9.-- *He shall reign. [n: (Ibid.)]* Now is this prophecy fulfilled: *God sitteth upon the holy seat. The holy seat.* [n: (AUG.)] Thrones, Virtues, and the saints.

VERS. 10.-- *The princes of the peoples.* [n: (CASS.)] The first-fruits of all the Gentiles came together by believing in Christ, because, the Jews being cast out, the Gentiles succeed into the sons of Abraham, having the promise, because the Jews were lifted up in pride. [n: (HIER., CASS.)] Or *the strong gods,* namely the Apostles, whom neither death nor life shall separate from the charity of Christ. *Lifted up,* by miracles and doctrine.



## PSALM XLVII.

[0913C]

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm, or the praise of a canticle, for the sons of Core, the second,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] On the first day, God made light, etc., *as far as* of which it is here sung to the sons of Core. [n: (CASS.)] Concerning the founding of the city, which he describes commendingly. [n: (AUG.)] He commends the city, etc., *as far as* from its eternal stability.

VERS. 2.-- *In the holy mount,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] This is that mountain, etc., *as far as* upon which the Church is founded.

VERS. 3.-- *It is founded with the joy.* [n: (HIER.)] As if he should say, she who before was subject to curses, etc., *as far as* he himself is Christ, who through the universal Church spreads joys abroad. *Mount Sion, the sides.* [n: (AUG.)] Whosoever [0913D] cleave to anyone are called his sides, etc., *as far as* likewise *from the north shall every evil be spread abroad,* etc.

VERS. 4.-- *In the houses.* Or, in the degrees, that is, according to the degrees of merits, because in each one severally he will give the knowledge of himself. *When he shall receive her.* To be guarded, and what need is there? *For the kings against.* But seeing by faith, namely thus, that this city is so worthy, they wondered, etc.

VERS. 5.-- *The kings.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] The princes of the Jews. *Being gathered together.* By Herod inquiring the place of the nativity. *They came together.* Saying with one accord: *In Bethlehem of Juda according to the Scriptures.*

VERS. 6.-- *Seeing.* The things which they had read in the prophets. *They wondered.* At so great glory, not lightly or idly. [0914A] *But they were troubled.* For sin, and *They were moved.* To faith, and so great was the dread, that the body trembled.

VERS. 7.-- *There pains as of a woman in labour,* Of penance, seeing thus; but:

VERS. 8.-- *With a vehement spirit,* Of Herod. *Thou shalt break the ships of Tharsis.* Because, in Tharsus, the ships of Cilicia which were believed to have carried the Magi over into their own country, were broken by Herod. *Tharsis.* [n: (AUG.)] Cilicia is a region named from Tharsus, etc., *as far as* having run through all he concludes. Therefore:

VERS. 9.-- *As we have heard. In the city of the Lord of hosts,* because there he appoints angels as guards. He repeats. *In the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God.* That is, the Catholic Church, lest the assembly of heretics usurp this name to itself. But lest it be thought temporal, [0914B] he adds: *God hath founded it for ever.* Not for an hour, as before the tabernacle of Moses

VERS. 10.-- *We have received, O God, thy mercy.* [n: (CASS.)] Giving thanks for the coming of Christ, he admonishes concerning the degrees of the Church that are to be distributed, through which the Saviour may be known. *In the midst of the temple.* Jerusalem: they are the more grievously accused, who despise him who was beheld in the midst of them. By this the incarnation of Christ is noted, who according as he is man was presented in the temple.

VERS. 11.-- *The right hand.* [n: (CASS.)] On this side the just are placed.

[n: (AUG.)] *We have received, O God.* In what order she was founded, or what we have heard and seen. *Of thy temple. [n: (Ibid.)]* That is, of a people not receiving [sic: *sucipientis*] mercy, who to many: [0914C] so that no grains seem to be there, but nevertheless some, because according to the name. *According to the name.* [n: (CASS.)] Which is everywhere spread abroad, because there is none, even if he know not the worship, who does not submit himself to this name. *Or according to the name.* This is, as the reverence of thy name, etc., *as far as* thy propitiation hath justified many, who all praise thee.

VERS. 12.-- *Let it be glad.* [n: (AUG.)] Although the just labour among thorns, etc., *as far as* it is theirs now to gather, God's to separate. *Mount Sion, and let them rejoice.* [n: (CASS.)] The Church, which is in the beholding of the people. *The daughters of Juda, because of thy judgments, O Lord.* Holy women. By Juda their nation is shown, which is on account of Christ, who is of Juda, and let these rejoice, that in both sexes the Church may be. [n: (AUG.)] The cause of gladness is the judgments [0914D] to come, wherein they know that they shall come to blessedness. Let those who are within be glad; you who are without, encompass.

VERS. 13.-- *Encompass.* By showing honours. *Embrace her.* With charity. *Tell in her towers. Set your hearts.* [n: (CASS.)] Preach to others in the concord of the Apostles, etc., *as far as* lest, being remiss through gladness, they grow slack.

VERS. 14.-- *Her strength.* [n: (AUG.)] The strength of the city is charity, which nothing overcomes; whence Solomon: *Love is strong as death.* [n: (CASS.)] He admonishes to set the hearts on the strength of the Church. *Distribute her houses, that you may relate it in another generation.* That is, the offices distinguished, etc., *as far as* whom the Lord first chose.

VERS. 15.-- *For this is,* etc. This is what [0915A] must be related, a brief sentence, but one which concludes all things. *For ever,* against those who made temporal men gods.



## PSALM XLVIII.

*Unto the end, a psalm,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] The Prophet treats of the lovers of the world, and of Christ the redeemer, not of those, but of the despisers of the world, that he who is cast down in the world may not set a price upon the exalted. [n: (AUG.)] They who worship God, etc., *as far as* he makes them attentive to new things and to mighty things.

VERS. 2.-- *Hate these things, all ye nations.* [var: Vulg. Ps 48:2 *Audite haec, omnes gentes*, "Hear these things, all ye nations"] [n: (CASS.)] I except none, etc., *as far as* when, namely, the cockle shall be separated from the wheat, the sheep from the goats.

VERS. 3.-- *And ye that are earthborn.* [n: ((AUG.)] I withhold my speech from none, let the heir of the earth hear, because of the judgment: [0915B] the just man, because of the kingdom.

VERS. 4.-- *My mouth shall speak.* [n: (CASS.)] He commends the things to be said. *Wisdom* for divine things, *Prudence* for instructing morals; in these two the whole divine discourse is signified.

VERS. 5.-- *I will incline.* [n: (HIER.)] I will humble myself to the truth speaking within, which teaches to speak in parables, lest it lie open to all.

VERS. 6.-- *Why shall I fear.* [n: (CASS.)] He begins to narrate the things he promised, saying that Christ will not redeem the ungodly; here the prophet, in his own person pleading a general cause, seeks the cause of the damnation and the fear of the wicked, which is iniquity. [n: (AUG.)] Why shall I fear? as though there is not what I should fear, since to avoid iniquity is in my own power; for that alone shall there be fear in the [0915C] last day, which shall be evil to the damned, not to the just. *Of the heel. [n: (Ibid.)]* He alludes to the words, etc., *as far as* that is, it shall oppress and shall make to fear.

VERS. 7.-- *They that trust.* These, namely, who trust, etc., *as far as* in which they are so foolish.

VERS. 8.-- *A brother doth not redeem.* If a brother, that is Christ, does not redeem, etc., *as far as* because such a one gives not to God a propitiation.

VERS. 9.-- *And shall live still. [n: (Ibid.)]* After the end of life, he shall live according to the soul, because the soul shall not perish with the body, but shall be saved unto grief, until, the body being received, he be tormented on both sides.

VERS. 11.-- *He shall not see. [n: (Ibid.)]* That is, he does not understand, etc., *as far as* when the wise man passes through life. Or, *the unwise. [n: (Ibid.)]* Who attends not. *The fool.* Who, if he attends, does not [0915D] beware. *Riches* [n: (CASS.)] For the sake of which they did evil. *His own:* which are not according to God.

VERS. 12.-- *They have called their names.* [n: (AUG.)] The heirs, who at the sepulchres of the dead make themselves drunk in memory of them, but neither does a drop reach the tongue of him that burns in hell.

VERS. 13.-- *And man when.* And both in this, and in the rest, man does not understand; or, therefore God is not to be accused, he understood not his own dignity, he acted not understandingly, but was compared, reason being lost, to beasts, not in another thing, but in wisdom.

VERS. 14.-- *This way.* [n: (CASS.)] Here now he gathers into one all that has been said. *Way,* that is, life, because it leads to death. *A stumbling block.* A goad and a grief, etc., *as far [0916A] as: This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In their own mouth they shall be well pleased.* [n: (AUG.)] Since they are such, etc., *as far as* and they are worse than open evils.

VERS. 15.-- *Like sheep.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalmus. What straitness is to be rendered to the ungodly. They boast themselves, but to me it is already clear that they are placed in hell. Sheep, their wool being lost, remain, so in these, without the consuming of their substance, punishment finds what it may torment. *Death.* [n: (AUG.)] As Christ is life, so the devil is death; who is a shepherd to them, as to sheep, whom he draws to the pastures of death. *He shall feed upon.* [n: (CASS.)] From the likeness of beasts, etc., *as far as* he shall lead them from punishment to punishment. *In the morning.* [n: (AUG.)] Because now it is night, while the merits of the just do not appear, and the felicity of the ungodly is as it were named. *He shall grow old in [0916B] hell from their glory,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] How great glory he seemed to have, etc., *as far as: From his own glory* they were cast out.

VERS. 17.-- *Fear not.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalmus. An admonition, that the powerful be not feared, who leave all things behind with the light. For why these things are permitted to sinners, is a common complaint. *He is made rich.* For these things the abject also have. *Glory.* In the honours of the world. *House.* Because not he only, but all who pertain to him.

VERS. 19.-- *He shall be blessed. [n: (Ibid.)]* Not for a good act, but for delights shall he be blessed, by the favour of the luxurious, who amid banquets wish well to those who feed them. *He will praise thee when thou shalt do well to him.* [n: (AUG.)] Despised is the confession which prosperity makes; but that is of [0916C] great merit, which the force of grief takes not away.

VERS. 20.-- *Into the generations of his fathers. [n: (Ibid.)]* They who follow the worst fathers are to be damned by their fellowship.

*And man.* [n: (CASS.)] He repeats the deformity of man, that the evil man may rest from evil.



## PSALM XLIX.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of Asaph.* [n: (HIER.)] *Asaph,* in Latin a congregation; in Greek, a synagogue, which here speaks as faithful, which awaits Christ, through which the unbelieving Jews are the more confuted. [n: (CASS.)] *Asaph,* about to bring in the voice of God concerning the change of the sacrifices, first treats of both comings, by the first inviting, by the second terrifying. *God of gods.* [n: (CASS.)] Lest anyone think meanly [0916D] of the incarnation, etc., *as far as* by way of appellation, as the false gods, Jupiter, Venus. *He hath spoken, and hath called the earth.* [n: (AUG.)] By himself, by heralds. *From the rising of the sun unto the going down.* [n: (CASS.)] As if he should say, etc., *as far as: the law shall come forth from Sion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.*

VERS. 2.-- *Out of Sion, the loveliness of his beauty,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] The comeliness of the Gospel began, etc., *as far as* that they might be witnesses in Jerusalem and in the whole earth.

VERS. 3, 4.-- *Fire shall blaze in his sight and round about him. [n: (Ibid.)]* It shall go before him; let punishment therefore terrify those whom rewards do not invite, etc., *as far as* it shall accompany the wicked to hell. *A mighty tempest. He shall call heaven from above, and the earth.* [sic: *Tempesta*] [n: (CASS.)] Not a wind, etc., *as far as* first he called all in common, [0917A] then he shall call that he may separate. *To judge his people.* [n: (AUG.)] First he called the mingled from the rising of the sun unto the going down, but then that he may separate.

VERS. 5.-- *Gather ye together his saints unto him. [n: (Ibid.)]* The Prophet seeing things to come, etc., *as far as* it is said of the wicked, *of whom he hath not filled his hand. Who set his covenant above sacrifices. [n: (Ibid.)]*. The New Testament above the Old, etc., *as far as* who hold the works of charity of more worth than the sacrifices of cattle.

VERS. 6.-- *And the heavens shall declare his justice,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] Already the heavens have declared to us this justice of God, etc., *as far as* and if now things are mingled, because *God is a just judge.*

VERS. 7.-- *Hear, O my people, etc.* [n: (CASS.)] The voice of Christ, that, the sacrifices of cattle being left, there may be made a sacrifice of praise. [n: (AUG.)] Or, he repeats under another word, Hear [0917B] as Israel, that is, as one seeing God, and *I will testify,* these things, namely, *I am thy God.*

*Thy God.* [n: (AUG.)] First he says simply: *I am God.* And afterwards he says: *I am thy God.* As if he should say: Even if I am not thy God, yet I am God. For to my own good I am God, but to thy evil I am not thy God. *I am.* [n: (CASS.)] To be is proper to the Deity. *Hear, O Israel. [n: (Ibid.)]* As if he should say: If thou art Israel, that is, if thou seest me, thou dost not neglect to hear. That God is general, thy God properly.

VERS. 8.-- *But the holocausts.* [n: (AUG.)] If the soul is inflamed, and seizes the members into its own use, that they may not serve concupiscence: whence it is commanded in Leviticus, that they offer the fat with the little kidneys, by which the inward [0917C] charity is signified.

VERS. 9.-- *I will not take,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Even if thou shalt so do: *I will not take calves out of thy house,* as though I took the things signified, not those out of the house. *For mine are:* as if he should say, because they are not thine, but mine. *For mine are,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Mine are the things which thou dost not possess, the untamed, namely: *The beasts of the woods, the cattle, the oxen,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] By these likenesses he figures the Church, etc., *as far as: The flesh of bullocks* he wills not in sacrifices, but in the poor.

VERS, 11.-- *I know all the fowls.* [n: (AUG.)] With him are all things, by a certain knowledge of ineffable wisdom.

VERS. 12.-- *If I should be hungry, I would not. [n: (Ibid.)]* If you give these things, perhaps you think that I hunger, which is madness?

[0917D]VERS. 13.-- *Shall I eat the flesh of bullocks?* Of old these things were sacrificed, not for this reason that God was delighted therein, but lest they should be offered to demons, and they were sacrificed to God only, in which there was some signification.

*Sacrifice to God.* [n: (CASS.)] He says not "to me," but of himself, as of another, as also afterwards: *But to the sinner God hath said, not I.*

VERS. 15.-- *Of tribulation.* [n: (AUG.)] Our tribulation is properly by the fear of salvation, not of carnal things.

VERS. 16.-- *But to the sinner. [n: (Ibid.)]* From whom he would have sacrifice, where to the sinner his own wickednesses are imputed

[0918A] [n: (CASS.)] These things he said to his own people, etc., *as far as* For reading is not denied to those who are to be corrected.

VERS. 17.-- *But thou hast hated. [n: (Ibid.)]* But thou sayest with the mouth, and deniest discipline in deed: if I correct, thou murmurest.

*The thief, thou didst run. [n: (Ibid.)]* In these he thunders against all vices; the whole from a part, or the thief of the sound understanding of Scripture. *With adulterers.* Who set down the false, by taking away the true.

VERS. 19.-- *Thy mouth hath abounded,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] He accuses the conscience, and the tongue, etc., *as far as* he detracts from another not by chance, but of set purpose.

VERS. 20.-- *Sitting. [n: (Ibid.)]* What he does passing by or standing, he does not do with the will. *Brother. [n: (Ibid.)]* Every man. *And against thy mother's son,* of the Church, to whom we are joined by charity. *Thou didst lay a scandal,* heresies or other things by which the innocent may be caught.

[0918B] *Thou didst speak against.* [n: (AUG.)] While he detracts who seems learned, etc., *as far as* with the food of stronger doctrine.

*Like unto thee.* [n: (CASS.)] By consenting to the wicked.

*I will set against thy face.* [n: (AUG.)] What thou hast put behind thy back, I will set before thy face.

VERS. 22.-- *Let him snatch away.* [n: (CASS.)] God unto punishment, and *there be none to deliver.* When the devil snatches, God delivers; but when God snatches, none avails to set free.

VERS. 23.-- *The sacrifice of praise.* [n: (CASS.)] Not that which the wicked sing, *the sacrifice of praise,* not of animals. And this is the way to God, the ladder of Jacob, by which *the angels,* that is, the faithful, *ascend* to the praise of the divinity, and *descend* to the praise of the humanity. *There is the way by which,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] In the sacrifice of praise. *The salvation of God.* [n: (AUG.)] Christ, who came with grace, whom he knows, who attributes anything [0918C] to another than to the grace of God.



## PSALM L.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end, a psalm.* [n: (CASS.)] When Nathan rebuked him, the king did not blush to confess his sins publicly, etc., *as far as* what avails with God for the penitent. *Of David.* [n: (AUG.)] He is set forth as an example, not of falling, but of rising again if thou hast fallen, that thou despair not. [n: (CASS.)] The first thing is entreaty, etc., *as far as* full remission of sins is granted.

VERS. 3.-- *Have mercy on me, O God. [n: (Ibid.)]* This is a penitential psalm, etc., *as far as* because he foresaw that through this psalm many would perish. *According to thy great mercy.* Of a grave sin one would have to despair, [0918D] were there not a great mercy [sic: *misericodia*]. A great one cannot be defined, how great it is. *Great mercy. [n: (Ibid.)]* A great mercy brought God down from heaven, etc., *as far as* when God is asked to pardon according to himself? *Of thy tender mercies,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] He asks through mercy and through tender mercy. And mercy is in the nature, tender mercy in the effect.

VERS. 4.-- *Wash me yet more.* [n: (CASS.)] What manner of blotting out he would have, he adds: *Cleanse me,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] So wash that thou make clean; for certain things are washed which nevertheless are not pure.

VERS. 5.-- *For iniquity.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] Whose mercy he asks that he may pardon, because he knows him just, that he punishes sins, he adds: Punish thou not, because [0919A] I punish. *For my iniquity,* etc. *Against me.* [n: (AUG.)] He had his sin behind his back, when the king gave sentence against the rich man who had seized the poor man's ewe, forgetful of himself.

VERS. 6.-- *To thee only have I sinned.* [n: (HIER.)] For he alone punishes justly who has not in himself anything that may be reproved; and among men this is Christ alone. *To thee only.* [n: (CASS.)] Because a king is superior to all, he is to be punished by God alone. *Before thee.* Because he knows that he is everywhere; whence he accuses himself, because in his presence he did not blush to sin. *That thou mayest be justified,* etc. Whose words do not pass away, but are fulfilled. *And mayest overcome when thou art judged.* God is of such great justice [sic: *t antae*], etc., *as far as* that he may overcome as between himself and him, if they be judged.

*To thee only.* [n: (AUG.)] To Christ, who had no sin, [0919B] etc., *as far as* in that he had so grievously offended God. *And mayest overcome.* [n: (AUG.)] Or, thou art so just that thou overcomest the devil, and death, and the Jews, when thou art judged: and in the judgment wherein thou wast judged.

VERS. 7.-- *In iniquities.* [n: (CASS.)] The odium of the sin is lessened, etc., *as far as* he is accused of one and confesses all.

VERS. 8.-- *For behold,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] He so gives mercy that he keeps truth, so that not even the sins of him whom he pardons are unpunished. For he pardons the man who punishes himself. Mercy therefore it is that a man is set free; truth, that the sin is punished. *Truth,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Because in confessing he spoke the truth, which God seeks above sacrifices, he entreats that help be brought him. *The uncertain and hidden things.* [n: (AUG.)] There are hidden things also, in that [0919C] to such men, etc., *as far as* whence he had the more to beware of sin. *The hidden things.* [n: (CASS.)] From the authority of him who makes them manifest, the confidence of washing and of being made white.

VERS. 9.-- *Thou shalt sprinkle me.* [n: (CASS.)] The second thing is confidence in the mercy of God, which is very profitable: lest despair creep in, which is graver than all sins. *With hyssop. [n: (Ibid.)]* Dipped in the blood of the victim, it was sprinkled over the body of the leper, signifying that the stains of sins are to be washed away by the blood of Christ. [n: (AUG.)] Hyssop is a lowly herb, etc., *as far as* in which there is a swelling, so humility, pride. *Above snow. [n: (Ibid.)]* Incomparably: whence also on the mountain the garment of Christ shone as snow.

VERS. 10.-- *To my hearing.* [n: (AUG.)] Mark the humble man. Let me hear thee, etc., *as far as* and because he is now humble, now [0919D] *the bones that were humbled rejoice.* [var: Vulg. Ps 50:10 *exsultabunt*, "shall rejoice"]

VERS. 11.-- *Turn away.* [n: (CASS.)] Made secure by that confidence, he asks the blotting out of all sins and a full restoration.

VERS. 12.-- *In my bowels. [n: (Ibid.)]* Whence the adultery went forth. In both parts, in soul and in body, he asks the remedy of healing, because in them he sinned. He so desires to be cleansed that he may be seen to wish to commit no such thing further.

VERS. 13.-- *Cast me not away from thy face.* [n: (CASS.)] Turn thy face from my sins, but not me from thy face, whence light and health may come.

VERS. 14.-- *With a principal spirit.* [n: (AUG.)] Some here note the Trinity in God, who is spirit, since [0920A] not body: by *a right spirit,* the Son; *the Holy Spirit,* by his own name; by *a principal spirit,* the Father. [n: (CASS.)] The spirit of prophecy, which is more precious to him than all things, he asks that its strength alone be not taken away, saying nothing of the rest.

VERS. 15.-- *I will teach. [n: (Ibid.)]* What he pays when restored: before, weeping; now he becomes a teacher.

VERS. 16.-- *From blood. [n: (Ibid.)]* Because carnal sins are many, etc., *as far as* which come from the corruption of flesh and blood. *Thy justice. [n: (Ibid.)]* He praises justice, when he ought to give thanks to mercy; but it belonged to justice also to receive one confessing; and these two things are always joined together in the judgment of the Lord.

VERS. 17.-- *Thy praise.* [n: (AUG.)] That thou didst create me; [0920B] that thou didst not forsake me when I sinned; that thou didst admonish me to confess; that thou didst cleanse me.

VERS. 19.-- *A sacrifice to God.* [n: (CASS.)] Which at that time was offered for expiation. *Afflicted [n: (Ibid.)]* A glad and wanton spirit binds a man to sin. There follows the promise of this sacrifice: *A contrite heart.*

VERS. 20.-- *Deal favourably. [n: (Ibid.)]* Now rejoicing, he prophesies of the building of Jerusalem, where is the sacrifice of justice. *The walls.* [n: (Au.)] Let the defences of our immortality be built up in faith, hope, and charity.

VERS. 21.-- *Then shalt thou accept a sacrifice. [n: (Ibid.)]* Now the sacrifice is for iniquity, etc., *as far as* then justice shall be the sacrifice, *oblations* the lesser saints, *holocausts,* the perfect.

[0920C] *Then shall they lay.* [n: (CASS.)] The priests; *calves,* the innocent, etc., *as far as* the faithful who suffer for thy name shall be acceptable to thee. *The altar.* [n: (AUG.)] The heavenly Jerusalem.

## PSALM LI

*Unto the end, for,* etc. [n: (HIER., AUG.)] Doeg betrayed David, etc., *as far as* This is not here a prayer for the wicked, but a prophecy of what shall come upon them.

VERS. 2.-- *Doeg.* [n: (CASS.)] The adversary of David signifies Antichrist, who shall stir up the whole world; who shall come by signs and wonders before the coming of the judgment, and seeking help from Saul, that is, from the devil, shall announce that David, that is, Christ, has come into the house of Achimelech, that is, to the Church [sic: *Eccesiam*], which is the kingdom [0920D] of the Father.

*Abimelech.* [n: (HIER.)] He says, in the Hebrew Achimelech, etc., *as far as* therefore Abimelech is the kingdom of my father, and it signifies the Jews. [var: Vulg. Ps 51:2 *Achimelech*, the form the gloss itself contrasts]

VERS. 3.-- *Why dost thou glory in malice,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] The first is an invective against Doeg, that he may strengthen the faithful against Antichrist and his accomplices.

VERS. 4.-- *It hath devised. [n: (Ibid.)]* A light mind, a headlong utterance: it does not think before it speaks, whence: *In the mouth of fools is their heart.* [sic: *stulorsorum*]

*As a razor,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] Which, while it promises renewal, cuts: so does that deceitful one, namely Antichrist, cut blessedness, and slay.

VERS. 5.-- *Thou hast loved malice,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] He does not forsake [0921A] evil who loves it above kindness; and if kindness touches his mind, he flees.

VERS. 6.-- *A deceitful tongue. [n: (Ibid.)]* That is, deceitful words, the ministers of falsehood, of men who bear one thing in the heart and bring forth another in the mouth.

VERS. 7.-- *Therefore God.* [n: (CASS.)] Of the swift end of the wicked man. *And thy root out of the land of the living.* [n: (AUG.)] Our root is charity, etc., *as far as* for here is the dust which the wind drives from the face of the earth. [n: (Ibid.)] The root of evil is covetousness, which does not bring forth fruit in the land of the living. Or, he speaks of Antichrist, whose root is his ministers, who with him shall have nothing with the saints.

VERS. 8.-- *The just shall see. [n: (Ibid.)]* Derision for his casting down. *[n: (Ibid.)] The just shall see.* What shall befall the wicked, etc., *as far as* because more than by all other evils he shall deceive the faithful [0921B].

VERS. 10.-- *But I,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] How the good man bears himself against him. [n: (CASS.)] Thus far the censure of that man; here the praise of the contrary part: behold a perfect demonstration. *A fruitful olive tree.* [n: (AUG.)] The people of God is an olive tree, from which the proud branches were broken off, that is, the Jews, and the wild olive of the Gentiles was grafted in. [n: (CASS.)] A fruitful olive tree, from whose shoot the Lord Christ came into flower, who was anointed with spiritual oil above his fellows.

*For ever and for ever and ever.* [n: (AUG.)] What he said *for ever,* he repeats *for ever and ever:* that by repeating he may confirm how firmly he is founded in the love of the kingdom of heaven.

[0921C]VERS. 11.-- *Thou hast done, and I will wait on thy name. [n: (Ibid.)]* The things foretold, namely, that I am an olive tree, that I have hoped in mercy for ever.



## PSALM LII.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end, for,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] The understanding of David the prophet, etc., *as far as* here of the coming of the judgment. [n: (AUG.)] Or, for mahalath, etc., *as far as* consolation at the end of the psalm.

*The fool hath said. [n: (Ibid.)]* A rebuke of the wicked.

*[n: (Ibid.)] The fool,* every one who lives ill, etc., *as far as* he says, there is no God.

VERS. 3.-- *God from.* [n: (CASS.)] Or from heaven, that is, through holy souls he gave warning, that he might see, etc. *If there be,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] Or, if he does not understand, if at least he is one seeking [0921D] to understand God.

VERS. 4.-- *They are all gone aside. [n: (Ibid.)]* A fitting order. First they go aside; then they are become unprofitable; thence there is none that doth good.

VERS. 5.-- *Shall they not know. [n: (Ibid.)]* A threatening of the wicked by the end. [n: (AUG.)] He threatens them, etc., *as far as.* But deservedly this befalls them, because:

VERS. 6.-- *They have not called upon God. [n: (Ibid.)]* He consoles those who groan, lest they imitate the prosperous, because *they have not called upon God,* whence they shall quickly perish: a consolation of the faithful. *The bones of them that please men.* [sic: *qni*] [n: (CASS.)] The good displease themselves while they chastise the flesh: the wicked please.

*They have been confounded. [n: (Ibid.)]* That is, they shall be confounded, they shall be separated, [0922A] so that it may be read generally of all the wicked; but Israel shall be saved.

VERS. 7.-- *Who shall give out of,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] But salvation is to the Church in her travail.

## PSALM LIII.

VERS. 2.-- *The Ziphites.* [n: (HIER., AUG.)] They are interpreted the flourishing ones [sic: *Florente*], etc., *as far as* he admonishes us to praise God in adversities.

VERS. 3.-- *O God, in thy name.* [n: (AUG.)] He prays among the Ziphites. [n: (AUG., HIER.)] Here, save me in thy name; afterwards, I fear not to be judged in thy strength. [n: (AUG.)] O God, in thy name: the words of the Church hiding among the Ziphites, whose good is within and whose reward is hidden; others ask to be delivered by other means: I, in thy name.

VERS. 4.-- *O God, hear.* [n: (CASS.)] Again God, a name [0922B] of power; he repeats it that the help may not be slow. *Give ear,* [n: (AUG.)] The Ziphites, even if they hear these things, yet do not understand, who know nothing except things temporal.

VERS. 5.-- *Strangers.* [n: (AUG.)] Ziph was a hamlet which belonged to the tribe of Juda, whence the Ziphites.

VERS. 6.-- *For behold.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalmus. What God does for him and for the Ziphites, whence he pays his praises. *He helpeth.* [n: (AUG.)] Which they themselves know not, among whom I lie hid; but this, that he helps me, they would see, if they set God before their eyes.

VERS. 7.-- *Turn back the evils upon mine enemies. [n: (Ibid.)]* Or, turn back: he prays for such as are to be converted; and this is the victim which he pays for his deliverance. *In thy truth.* [n: (AUG.)] Or according to another reading: *In thy strength,* destroy those whom [0922C] in thy weakness thou hast borne with. *I will freely sacrifice. [n: (Ibid.)]* Because for his own sake, not for anything else that I might wish from him. He who praises for the sake of something else praises of necessity; if he had that thing, he would not praise. *But to me,* and the things he gave are pleasing for the giver's sake.



## PSALM LIV.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end, in songs.* [n: (AUG.)] *Understanding.* The Church ought with great care to understand, etc., *as far as* who for the troublesomeness of the citizens fled into the wilderness.

VERS. 2.-- *Hear, O God, my prayer.* [n: (CASS.)] A prayer sent before against evils, or against the waves of the world. *Despise not my supplication. [n: (Ibid.)]* For if God gives temporal things to one who asks, his prayer is nevertheless not acceptable to him, because it lacks its due end.

[0922D]VERS. 3, 4.-- *In my exercise,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Every wicked man lives either that he may be corrected, or that through him a good man may be exercised. *I was troubled at the voice of the enemy.* [n: (AUG.)] In the very battle, while he wishes to love his enemies too, and, as the warfare grows, begins to hate them, and so begins to be sunk in the waves. [n: (HIER.)] Troubled. Or, I was troubled at the voice of the enemy, who called me a Samaritan and one having a devil.

VERS. 5.-- *My heart is troubled.* [n: (CASS.)] By the law of the flesh the mind is disturbed within me, it does not go forth from me.

VERS. 6.-- *Fear and trembling. [n: (Ibid.)]* It is the property of death that we first fear it, whence we tremble. *Darkness hath covered me.* [n: (HIER.)] *The darkness* is wicked men, who persecute the Church, [0923A] and who cover it over: he that hates his brother is in darkness.

VERS. 7.-- *Who will give me wings as?* [n: (AUG.)] But in this weakness what does he say? *Who will give me wings?* He wishes to be parted for a time from so many scandals, lest, being weak, he should increase his sins by remaining among them. *As of a dove,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] Not as to a raven, etc., *as far as but it is necessary to remain for your sakes,* and so the merit is from the desire.

[n: (CASS.)] The dove. Or, the dove that was sent out, finding muddy places, returned to the ark; so Christ, finding the muddy hearts of the Jews, flew away to the Gentiles.

VERS. 8.-- *Lo, I have gone far off.* [n: (CAS.)] He touches on this, that Christ avoided his persecutors, to take away the occasion of their anger, and remained praying in the desert places: wherein [0923B] he taught us to pray and be still in the secret of the conscience, when we are pressed by the wicked. *And I remained in the wilderness,* of the Gentiles; whence: *Let the desert [sic: *disertum*] rejoice, and flourish as the lily.* [var: Vulg. Isa 35:1 *Laetabitur deserta et invia, et exsultabit solitudo, et florebit quasi lilium*, "the desert shall rejoice"] And elsewhere: *Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not [n: (Isai. XXXV. Ibid. XXXIV)]*.

VERS. 9.-- *I waited for him.* Diapsalmus. Now safe in the wilderness he hopes for the help of God, and calls down curses on his fellow citizens. [n: (CASS.)] I waited (that it may be read in the person of Christ) in the wilderness, not secure of myself, the protection of the Father *I looked for, who saved me from faintness of spirit,* that I might not fall nor yield to the wicked in the passion, *from the tempest* lest I should be angry.

VERS. 10.-- *Cast down.* [n: (CASS.)] Lest they fortify their thoughts by contriving. *Divide. [n: (Ibid.)]* Lest their unity be proud, lest their malice have its effect. *In the city.* This [0923C] is the city of which the Lord says by the prophet: *I am God and not man, and I do not enter the city.* [var: Vulg. Os 11:9 *Deus ego, et non homo; in medio tui sanctus, et non ingrediar civitatem*, "I will not enter the city"] Yet there is another, which God inhabits, of which it is said: *A city set upon a mountain cannot be hid.*

VERS. 11.-- *And labour in the midst thereof,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Now labour is in the midst, because iniquity is there: but rest is in humility.

VERS. 12.-- *Usury,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] Because he exacts more, to another's hurt. Or, whatever thing he has received, he does not let it go, that it may be let go to him.

VERS. 13.-- *For if mine enemy.* [n: (CASS.)] A reproach of Judas, while it is read in the person of Christ; or, thus far the Church has dealt with open enemies, now with hidden ones. *I would perchance have hidden myself from him,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] Great patience would so give place [0923D] to words, that it would hide itself, that it might not see the adversary.

VERS. 14.-- *But thou, a man.* [n: (AUG.)] Once, because at some time thou gavest good counsel. *Of one mind.* [n: (CASS.)] Because among the Apostles he was a leader, sent before to the strongholds and villages. *Familiar,* because he knew the traitor beforehand, so that Christ speaks thus especially against Judas.

[n: (HIER.)] Or thus, generally against any Jewish man, etc., *as far as* the ordinances of the law, or the morsel. *Of one mind.* [n: (AUG.)] Thou who once didst admonish well; *Leader:* I made thee leader over my people. *Familiar,* of the same nation.

*My familiar. Who together. [n: (Ibid.)]* Thou who wast with me in the same Church.

[0924A]VERS.15.-- *Meats.* [n: (CAS.)] Bodily ones, which could be sweet to the wicked alone. The man of iniquity is wont to be softened by banquetings, whence his guilt is the heavier.

VERS. 16.-- *Let come. [n: (Ibid.)]* As above against the open enemies, so here he imprecates against the hidden. And lest the one man he was dealing with be thought to be meant, he makes the punishments common to the Jews, that is, he imprecates against the Jews in common with others.

[n: (AUG., HIER.)] *Let death come.* Here he touches the beginning of the schism, etc., *as far as* and Christ and the Church speak in one voice.

[n: (AUG.)] *Let come:* As upon those who were the beginning of the schism and in their pride separated themselves, a new death came; for the earth opened, and swallowed them alive. *Let them go down alive into hell. [n: (Ibid.)]* As the earth swallowed the leaders, etc., *as far as* so these, sinning knowingly, [0924B] go down. *Alive. [n: (Ibid.)]* Knowing that they perish, and yet, as they perish, being swallowed up by the gulf of earthly desire. *In their dwellings.* They are alien, not natural, but received as guests, as it were newcomers; or, first *in their dwellings,* that is, in secret, afterwards *in the midst,* that is, in the open.

*But I,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] He affirms what shall be done to him and what to them, proceeding by turns.

VERS. 18.-- *Evening and morning.* [n: (HIER.)] Because he saved, therefore evening, when he was taken; *morning,* when he was judged; *noonday,* when he was crucified. *I will tell,* the works that are past. *I will declare,* the powers and works which he shall do: and therefore he will hear, etc.

[n: (AUG.)] *Evening.* Of things past *I will tell,* etc., *as far as* against those who love not peace, because I have loved [0924C] peace.

[n: (CASS.)] To tell belongs to the evening, when he said all that Judas was contriving. *To declare* belongs to the morning, when he said to Pilate: *For this was I born, that I should give testimony to the truth.*

VERS. 19.-- *They draw near to me.* In name, not in the divine power; in body, not in mind; in number, not in merit. *Because they were with me among many.* [n: (HIER., AUG.)] *Because in many things, with me,* that is, in the baptism of the Gospel, in reading, in feast days and the like, but not in the few things, with me. In all the sacraments with me, but not in faith, hope and charity, without which all things are nothing.

[n: (AUG.)] Or, *in many things,* that is, among the chaff, etc., *as far as* so are they also with me in many things.

VERS. 20.-- *God shall hear,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] *At noonday,* [0924D] when he sent forth the Spirit. Behold how great mysteries in few words: or, *thou shalt save at morning, and at evening, and at noonday:* whence, being not ungrateful, *tell,* and *declare,* and *he himself will hear,* etc. *He shall humble them, he that is before the ages. [n: (Ibid.)]* From their pride, that they may believe. Or *he shall humble* them so as to take away their place and their nation. *For there is no change with them, and they have not feared God: he hath stretched out his hand in repaying,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Because the mind of the faithless is unchangeable.

VERS. 21.-- *They have defiled:* [n: (CASS.)] because they defiled and were divided: the just are the more armed, the weak are set free, who have their care upon God.

VERS. 22.-- *Wrath. [n: (Ibid.)]* The vengeance of the judgment, etc., *as far as* he appropriates to his own. *The heart.* [n: (AUG.)] The secret will [0925A] of God, which is contained in the Scriptures. *His words are softened.* [n: (CASS.)] Or, this befalls them because they softened their words by flattery, which words are *darts* when they say: *He is guilty of death.* [n: (AUG.)] But if to thee, a child who art nourished with the milk of a lesser teaching, they are still hard, be not angry with the breasts of the Church; but cast [thy care] upon the Lord, not another — he it is who is a harbour; the other is a rock to a ship, not a harbour, to one tossed about in the world. *The same words,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Because, being softened, they do not lose their power, but by them the evangelists are armed, and they strike the hearts of men to the love of peace, and set the weak free from the entangled questions of heretics.

VERS. 23.-- *Thy care. [n: (Ibid.)]* The care of the world, etc., *as far as: so the sadness of a man harms his heart [sic: *tristia*]. Wavering.* And if here, the words of wavering were: [0925B] *I was made sorrowful in my exercise,* etc.

VERS. 24.-- *But thou,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] These then shall not waver, etc., *as far as* Woe! to them that sin and do not repent. *Their days, but I,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] Days of their own choosing, not appointed by God.



## PSALM LV.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] *The people that is made far from the holy ones, in the inscription of a title:* [var: Vulg. Ps 55:1 *pro populo qui a sanctis longe factus est*, the perfect where Migne prints the present] whom the Jew contradicts, and every one who will not have Christ for king; and those also who afflict the Church: against whom this psalm strengthens the Church. *In the inscription of a title, to David himself, when they held him.* The inscription of the title, etc., *as far as* the persecutors who tread the Church as grapes. *The Allophyli.* The same as [0925C] *the people that was made far from the holy ones. Geth,* that is, in the winepress. We read of David, etc., *as far as* but, when it is pressed, it is not barren.

VERS. 2.-- *Have mercy on me, O God.* [n: (CASS.)] The Church prays, touching summarily on her tribulations, in which through hope in God she *ends* by declaring that she fears not, that is, at the end of the first part she says that she fears not. *Fighting against me he hath afflicted me,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Man visibly, the devil invisibly, whence the tribulation is the more dangerous.

VERS. 4.-- *From the height.* [n: (CASS.)] *The height of the day,* the world, where is the swelling of pride: that the tribulation may be the graver, she says that she is trodden down by the proud. [n: (AUG.)] *From the height.* Another reading, etc., *as far as* he does not say: I will not fear, but, *I will hope* in thee. *Of the day. The Day,* is Christ, whose twelve hours are the twelve Apostles: whence he himself says: [0925D] *Are there not twelve hours in the day?* The *height of this day* his enemies cannot reach, whence in the passion of Christ: *There was darkness.*

VERS. 6.-- *All the day,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] She enumerates the evils, by the enduring of which the conversion of her enemies also comes about, whence again through hope in God she says that she fears not, as she had done before.

VERS. 7.-- *They shall dwell.* [n: (AUG.)] Or, some of those who are far from the holy ones, etc., *as far as* for if they say false things of thee, they do not take away heaven, nor do these men hurt thee.

VERS. 8.-- *For nothing. [n: (Ibid.)]* Because thou hast no labour from it, as though it were nothing to thee, because, even though they are past hope, yet thou healest them by a word; or, for no merits of theirs, but freely, out of thy mercy. *In thy wrath thou shalt break the peoples in pieces,* [0926A] while by the scourges of God they come to their senses, or while they foresee the wrath of God. *In thy wrath thou shalt break the peoples in pieces.* Because thou terrifiest by tribulations, etc., *as far as* and the wrath of consuming, whereby the wicked are punished unto destruction.

VERS. 9.-- *O God, I have declared my life to thee.* The life of man is threefold: of nature, whereby we live and breathe; of grace, whereby we live in Christ; of sin, which is passed in vices. Two are from God, because good, namely the life of nature and the life of grace: the third is from man, because evil. All these we ought to declare to God. [sic: *Ha*] [n: (CASS.)] *O God, my life. Thou shalt break them in pieces,* and I, for their instruction, declare my life beforehand, which was always evil. He declares his life to God who confesses his sin: not teaching God, but condemning himself, that he may be loosed. *Thou hast set my tears,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Devout tears, which [0926B] plead for enemies: and therefore acceptable to God, as he himself promised.

VERS. 10.-- *In whatsoever day,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Whether in boyhood, or in middle age, or at the end of life. Wonderful clemency, which waits for whatever time of our conversion, and whensoever it is asked, forgives! *Thou art my God, thou.* [n: (AUG.)] Though thou art the God of all, mine properly, who succourest me, whom I worship and love. Others are strangers.

VERS. 11.-- *In God I will praise the word. [n: (Ibid.)]* The word, that is, teaching and discourse; whatever I speak, I will praise in the Lord, that is, and I will attribute [cj: *et*; read *ei*, "to him"]: and if anything presses me, I have hoped, and therefore I shall not fear. [n: (AUG., HIER.)] Or, in God the Father the Word, that is the Son, because whatever is said of the Father and of the Son according to substance, is said of the Holy Spirit also. This is said of the power [0926C] of the Word, whereby it is eternal and consubstantial with the Father [sic: *consubtantiale*]; and afterwards, of the humanity, he adds: *In the Lord,* that is, in Christ, who is the Word made flesh. *I will praise the discourse,* etc., that is, the preachings by which he gave to the world a rule of living and salvation. These two things this man preaches, the power of the word and the humanity of Christ. *In God I will praise.* Or thus, that the Trinity of the nature stands personally in the three words which he sets down. *In God* the Father *I will praise the Word,* that is, the Son; *In the Lord,* that is, in the Holy Spirit, *I will praise the discourse,* that is, the Son.

VERS. 12.-- *They are in me.* Within, things which never depart from us; *Vows of praise* [var: Vulg. Ps 55:12 *vota tua, quae reddam, laudationes tibi*, "thy vows, which I will render, praises to thee"] which shall be rendered in eternity. [n: (CASS.)] *They are in me.* The Church, now free from the evils of the world, says that in the beatitude to come, or even here, [0926D] she will sing the praise of God.

VERS. 13.-- *Because thou hast delivered.* [n: (CASS.)] Or it may be taken thus of the future, etc., *as far as* where also she pleases God perfectly, whence he adds: *That I may please,* etc.

## PSALM LVI.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end.* [n: (AUG.)] A psalm of the resurrection and the passion, in brief. This the psalm does, *lest* thou, Pilate, or thou whosoever thou art, *shouldst corrupt David,* [var: Vulg. Ps 56:1 *ne disperdas*, "destroy not"] etc., by denying him king, because, being covered with flesh, he escaped the knowledge of the Jews [n: (Ibid.)] No title was inscribed to David, etc., *as far as* where Christ lay hid, unknown to the Jews.

VERS. 2.-- *Have mercy on me.* [n: (CASS.)] The prophet in the person of the Lord, because in him the Lord, as it were amid [0927A] evils, cries out and foretells deliverance. [n: (CASS.)] Christ prays according to that which is man, so humble concerning the passion that he might be thought to be one of the faithful crying out. *And in the shadow.* The voice of the body is joined to the head: and speaking in the person of the members and in his own, he will say how he can be delivered, *he sent his Word.*

VERS. 4.-- *He sent his Word from heaven.* [n: (AUG., HIER.)] Out of his own hidden essence, etc., *as far as* whom they thought they had put out. [var: Vulg. Ps 56:4 *Misit de caelo, et liberavit me*, without *Verbum*] *He sent from heaven.* [n: (HIER.)] Diapsalmus. Now he declares what he sent and from what he rescued them, and he speaks in the person of the members. *He hath delivered. [n: (Ibid.)]* Because *He hath sent his Word* is now certain, it is as though he already were who *hath delivered,* that is, hath delivered [cj: *liberavit*; read *liberabit*, "will deliver"]: and *he hath given,* that is, will give *for a reproach them that trod upon me. God hath sent.* [n: (AUG.)] His Word, in whom he dealt mercifully, in whom also he fulfilled the promises [0927B]. *Mercy,* because out of mercy he died for us. *Truth,* because, as he had foretold, he rose again, to justify us. *His mercy,* etc. [n: (HIER., AUG.)] For both are contained in him. For if there had been mercy alone, there would have been licence for us to sin; if truth alone, man could not have borne it.

VERS. 5.-- *I slept.* [n: (AUG.)] Easy to be roused out of a deep rest: *Troubled* by the passion, *I slept.* David did not sleep in the cave, but Christ in death. [n: (CASS.)] Troubled, according to the flesh, by the memory and the anguish of the passion, whence; *My soul is sorrowful,* etc. *And Jesus began to be weary and to fear. The sons of men.* The right order is this: the sons of men prepared snares; but he inserts in what manner they troubled him. *The tongue.* Those cries [0927C] Crucify, crucify, and the like, wrought death also, as a sharp sword [n: (Matth. XXVI; Marc. XIV)].

VERS. 6.-- *Be thou exalted. [n: (Ibid.)]* In the person of the prophet, the injuries being seen, and it being seen that in the resurrection the Jews were made empty, the man on the cross cries out rejoicing: *Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens,* that he may judge the Jews on the earth. *Be thou exalted.* The Lord [speaks] the things above; the prophet indeed, but in the person of the Lord, because the Lord speaks in the prophet. Even when the prophet speaks out of his own person, the Lord speaks through him, who dictates [sic: *dicta*] to him. [n: (AUG.)] *Be thou exalted.* The words of Christ. But, O Father, etc., *as far as* because the whole world is made subject to him.

VERS. 7.-- *They prepared a snare.* The exaltation being interposed, he pursues the narration he had begun. *For the feet* [0927D] [n: (CASS.)] of the Lord are the rebukes of the wicked and the promises to the faithful, for which *they prepared deceits,* as in the matter of the adulteress. *They bowed down,* while he, having compassion on them, was made barren by them. *A pit before my face,* etc. When they said to his face: He is guilty of death.

VERS. 8.-- *Prepared. [n: (Ibid.)]* Diapsalmus. After the resurrection he promises praises. Or, prepared to give thanks (which he there shows) *I will sing.*

VERS. 9.-- *Arise, my glory. [n: (Ibid.)]* And therefore, O flesh, that art the cause of my glory, *Arise,* mightily, as it were a rejoicing together at a miracle to be wrought, being certain: whence, affirming the same thing, he repeats it. *Arise,* I say, because I am certain also of the hour, because *I will arise early. Arise, psaltery and harp.* [n: (AUG.)] The one [0928A] flesh of Christ rose again, etc., *as far as* the *psaltery and harp,* therefore, rose again, and give praise to the Lord.

VERS. 11.-- *To the heavens. [n: (Ibid.)]* Which are above the clouds, where is the seat of the angels, etc., *as far as* mercy ascends to the heavens.



## PSALM LVII.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end, destroy not, of David, in the inscription of a title,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] He warns that no one contradict the kingdom of Christ. The first thing is a reproach of the Jews, that we may not do the like.

VERS. 2.-- *If in very deed you speak justice.* [n: (AUG.)] It is easy for all to speak justice, etc., *as far as* because I am your king, as the title says: *Rightly.* The Jews so judged of Christ that they are proved to have spoken of him feignedly.

VERS. 3.-- *Your hands.* The hands follow the heart: [0928B] whatever thou willest and canst not do, God accounts as done. *They frame together.* Or they knit together, that is, joining one thing to another, etc., *as far as* whence with a scourge of little cords the Lord beat out those buying and selling in the temple.

VERS. 4.-- *Sinners are alienated from the womb.* Or, they are alienated from the womb of the Church, etc., *as far as* they are cast out as untimely births.

VERS. 5.-- *They have fury. [n: (Ibid.)]* The thing itself is not praised by Scripture, from whatever quarter a likeness is taken, as in the case of the unjust judge, who scarcely heard the widow that asked him. *Of the deaf one, and that stoppeth.* [n: (CASS.)] Not only do they not do, but they will not even hear. [n: (AUG.)] *The earth,* present things, in which man delights; *the tail,* things past. [sic: *canda*]

VERS. 6.-- *Of the sorcerer that charmeth. [n: (Ibid.)]* Or according to another reading: *Of the medicine compounded by a [0928C] wise man.* The medicine compounded, etc., *as far as* this therefore is the wise man by whom the medicine is compounded.

VERS. 7.-- *God shall break.* [n: (CASS.)] What their recompense is. [n: (AUG.)] Asps, the Jews, while they were attempting treacherous things; lions, while they clamoured for his death; of these are the *Grinders broken,* when Christ rose again. *Teeth.* Deceitful words. *In the mouth.* By their own words he shall take them. *The Lord shall break the grinders of the lions. They shall come to nothing:* The clamourings for death. [sic: *Iuclamationes*] *He shall break them,* lest they come to effect; which he expounds, *To nothing,* saying.

VERS. 8.-- *As water. [n: (Ibid.)]* They are compared also to torrents, because, sounding against the rocks of pride, they are sudden and headlong, but quickly pass away. To so many evils are they compared. *He hath bent his bow.* Vengeance, until [0928D] they be weakened within and without, and be taken away from the sight of God, sent into hell, and here in the present, from their own land.

VERS. 10.-- *Before your thorns. [n: (Ibid.)]* That is, before they understand their sins. *The bramble,* that is, sharp damnation: at the last the fire of vices swallows them up [sic: *ignia*], that is, devours them. *The bramble.* A kind of herb, soft at first, but which afterwards turns into thorns: so also sins delight for a while, but afterwards prick. *As living, so,* etc. Because the life of the ungodly is not true but false: they seem to live, and they do not live. *So in his wrath he swallows them up,* because God judges in tranquillity, or because it is not wrath in comparison with that which is to come.

VERS. 11.-- *The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge* [n: (CASS.)] The correcting of the just by the punishment of the wicked.

[0929A]VERS. 12.-- *And man shall say.* [n: (AUG.)] As it is done by the just judgment of God, etc., *as far as* and because fire swallows up the wicked, therefore there is *a God that judgeth them* on the earth.

## PSALM LVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end, destroy not.* [n: (CASS.)] In vain does any man attempt to destroy what the divine authority so often forbids. *Destroy not.* [n: (AUG.)] When Pilate said: *What I have written, I have written,* etc., *as far as* and to have renown among all nations. [n: (CASS.)] He prays first to be delivered, ascending from the lowest things to the highest: he prays also for the salvation of the Gentiles. [n: (AUG.)] Here the whole Christ speaks, namely the head and the body.

VERS. 2.-- *Deliver me. [n: (Ibid.)]* While he who is without stain asks this, he shows what we must needs ask. *From my enemies.* [n: (CASS.)] There are four kinds of adversaries, [0929B] etc., *as far as* of these therefore he says: *Deliver me,* etc.

VERS. 4.-- *The mighty.* [n: (AUG.)] There are also those who presume upon their own justice, etc., *as far as* but *hoping in riches they have prevailed in their vanity.*

VERS. 5.-- *Iniquity.* [n: (CASS.)] To the ill-willing [cj: *Malivolenti*; read *malivolentiae*, "of ill-will"]: *sin,* of the deed.

VERS. 6.-- *Arise.* [n: (AUG.)] Because thou seemest to sleep, *To meet me.* As though I run to thee by deserving: and do thou run to meet me, that is, render according to my desert. *See. [n: (Ibid.)]* That is, cause it to be seen how I run to thee, etc., *as far as* after thou hast seen me die, thou believest me equal to the Father.

VERS. 7.-- *They shall be converted.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalmus. The salvation of the Gentiles that was prayed for is affirmed, and, for him who is yet to pray, the salvation of the Jews. *At evening,* that is, later, after the ascension and the sending of [0929C] the Spirit, etc., *as far as* I fast twice in the week. *They shall go round about.* [n: (AUG.)] They shall fortify the Churches against the assaults of heretics. And, behold, they shall speak openly.

VERS. 8.-- *And a sword.* That they may slay and eat. *For who hath heard?* As though none had: so shall all wonder, etc., *as far as* thou shalt bring to nothing, or convert. *A sword. [n: (Ibid.)]* This is the sword twice sharpened, cutting with either Testament, wherewith Peter slays the creeping things shown to him in the dish, when it was said to him: *Arise, Peter, slay and eat.* [var: Vulg. Act 10:13 *occide, et manduca*, "kill, and eat"]

VERS. 9.-- *Thou shalt laugh them to scorn unto nothing. [n: (Ibid.)]* Those who say, *Who hath heard?* Why? Because he will count it as nothing to convert all the Gentiles, because all the Gentiles are to be Christian; and you say, who hath heard?

[0929D]VERS. 10.-- *I will keep my strength to thee, for God is my protector, O God. [n: (Ibid.)]* Even though I could destroy the Jews — why have the mighty rushed in upon me? — [cj: *quid*; read *qui*, "who"], yet I permit them to live, keeping my strength for thee, that is, for thy disposing.

VERS. 12.-- *He hath shown. [n: (Ibid.)]* that is, how great a mercy he has toward me he has shown me in those toward whom he has none; whence the Apostle: *He endured the vessels of wrath, fitted, and unto destruction, with much patience, that he might make known his riches upon the vessels of mercy [n: (Rom. IX)]*. [var: Vulg. Rom 9:22–23 *sustinuit in multa patientia vasa irae, apta in interitum, ut ostenderet divitias gloriae suae*, "the riches of his glory"] *Slay them not.* It may be taken of the Jews, etc., *as far as* it is shown what mercy belongs to *those grafted in.* [n: (CASS.)] To one considering what is to be done concerning them, if they be not witnesses of the law and of the death of Christ. *Lest at any time they forget.* [0930A] [n: (AUG.)] Even though they have not just now forgotten, since they are not witnesses of the law and of the death of Christ. *In thy strength.* Because thou art strong, not they. *Bring them down,* there was a reproach there to all. Or, bring them down in that wherein they are evil, that the good may rise: as in Paul, because Paul would not rise, unless Saul first fell [n: (Act. IX)].

VERS. 13, 14.-- *The sin of their mouth. [n: (Ibid.)]* It is not them, but *the sin,* that thou art to slay, so that they may fear him whom they wished to destroy, now raised up again. [n: (CASS.)] *And let them be taken* when converted; because their deed, etc., *as far as* but pardon blotted out the crime. *In their pride.* [n: (AUG.)] Pride is the companion of envy: nor can it come about that a proud man should not envy: whence the devil also envies man. *And of cursing.* Or of the curse, which you thought a curse, etc., *as far as* because in these things they were caught. [0930B] *They shall be declared in consummation.* Or, consummations shall be declared, that is, it shall be preached by the Apostles: Where the sin of exercise and of lying abounded, the grace of perfection did more abound; and it belonged to the medicine of man's humility and weakness. *In the wrath of consummation.* For there is a wrath, that is, a vengeance of God, *of consummation,* because God sometimes takes vengeance in order to perfect; and there is one *of consuming,* as when he shall say: *Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire. And they shall know.* [var: Vulg. Mt 25:41 *Discedite a me maledicti in ignem aeternum*, "Depart from me, ye cursed"] For before this the Jews seemed just to themselves: but it is shown to them that this is not so without Christ, who rules over Jacob: and, their pride laid aside, they know themselves equal to the Gentiles, because all have sinned.

VERS. 15.-- *They shall be converted at evening.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalmus. The salvation of the Jews is affirmed, and, both [0930C] walls being gathered in, thanks are given.

VERS. 16.-- *They shall murmur. [n: (Ibid.)]* Or, *they shall murmur,* that is, they shall grieve that even now they are so far scattered; or, *they shall murmur* against the slothful, that is, they shall rebuke others who are unwilling to believe.

VERS. 17.-- *But I. [n: (Ibid.)]* Here this psalm is concluded, where, both walls being joined in the corner stone, the whole Church now rejoices. *And I will exalt.* When the times are past, when the night of the world shall have gone by, as Christ also rose in the morning: whence *In the evening weeping shall have place, and in the morning gladness.* The Apostles wept in the evening for him who was dead; in the morning they rejoiced at him rising again. *Mercy.* Because thou givest all things freely: though he has said many things, yet not all, in this one thing he has comprehended all.



## PSALM LIX.

[0930D]VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end, for these.* [n: (AUG.)] It is not read in the histories, etc., *as far as* a man unto the faith; earthly men, that they may live as heavenly.

[n: (BASIL. et THEOD.)] The history of the kings describes these things. But he foresees that the people will transgress, that they are to be led away captive, and that, repenting, they are to be brought back. Therefore he inscribed it: *For those who shall be changed. Doctrine.* [var: Vulg. Ps 59:1 *pro his qui immutabuntur … in doctrinam*, "for them that shall be changed … unto doctrine"] [n: (AUG.)] *They are changed* into doctrine, etc., *as far as Edom*, the earthly man, his life into a heavenly one. *And he smote.* When he smote Edom with the sword of the spirit, etc., *as far as* he teaches that blessed is the contrition through which he proves those who are to be changed for things eternal.

[0931A]VERS. 3.-- *O God, thou hast cast us off.* [n: (CASS.)] First are recounted the strokes inflicted for the avoiding of eternal punishments: *Thou hast cast off.* In Adam. *And thou hast destroyed* from immortality. Because *thou art angry* for our sins, and yet *hast had mercy,* through the Son, in such wise that thou hast moved us out of error: *And thou hast troubled,* [var: Vulg. Ps 59:4 *conturbasti*, "hast disturbed"] penitence: as therefore thou hast begun, complete it, heal.

VERS. 5.-- *Thou hast shewn.* [n: (AUG.)] For when a man has been changed for the better, etc., *as far as* to bear adversities even unto the end. *Hard things.* [n: (CASS.)] That is, the miseries of time, which are delightful to us through charity, and grievous through the infirmity of the flesh. *With wine,* that is, with tribulation, by which the sufferer is purged, as a wound is by wine: *with wine,* spiritual [sic: *Viuo*], whence not vices, but compunction.

VERS. 6.-- *A bow.* [n: (AUG.)] The further back it is drawn, [0931B] the more violently is the arrow carried forward, that is, the longer judgment is deferred, the more heavily will it come. *And that they may be delivered.* [var: Vulg. Ps 59:6 *ut liberentur*, a purpose clause, "that they may be delivered"] [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalmus. Concerning the deliverance which he prays for and which is affirmed, for the sake of which the strokes are welcome.

VERS. 7.-- *Thy right hand.* [n: (AUG.)] That we may stand at the right hand, etc., *as far as* concerning earthly things not save profitably.

VERS. 8.-- *God hath spoken. [n: (Ibid.)]* With this confidence I pray, which God promised in Christ, etc., *as far as* it is the voice of the Church: *I will rejoice. Sichem.* It is interpreted *shoulders,* that is, the burden of Christ, etc., *as far as* others may bear the yoke of Christ. *The vale of tabernacles:* because of the sheep of Jacob it signifies the Jews, who also are divided; because some believe, others do not, that is, of the Jews [0931C] I shall have not a few.

VERS. 9.-- *Manasses. [n: (Ibid.)]* Or, Manasses is every man who, having forgotten his former life, etc., *as far as: and thou shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood. Ephraim.* Fruit-bearing: and this is the *strength of the head,* that is, of Christ: for the dying grain has power in itself, that it might bring forth fruit.

VERS. 10.-- *Moab is the pot of my hope. [n: (Ibid.)]* Daughters ill-using their father, etc., *as far as* when charity burns against the pot of iniquity. [n: (CASS.)] *Moab is the pot of my hope.* Or by *Moab,* etc., *as far as* whence there is hope of life for me. [n: (HIER.)] *A pot,* whence: *I see a boiling pot,* etc., *as far as:* From him, therefore, the pot of tribulations boils up in the Church.

VERS. 11.-- *A fortified city.* [n: (CASS.)] The [0931D] Jerusalem that is to come. *Into Idumaea,* that is, even to earthly men, that, the number being filled, it might come together unto blessedness.

VERS. 12.-- *Thou wilt not go forth.* [n: (AUG.)] But thou wilt work within, and so he will lead thee better, because thus he is seen to fight not for the temporal life, but for the life to come.

## PSALM LX.

VERS. 3.-- *I cried while my heart was in anguish.* [n: (CASS.)] In anguish, etc., *as far as* there follows, of the cry heard, on the rock Christ. *Thou hast exalted me.* [n: (AUG.)] Out of the depth of vices. [n: (CASS.)] And thou hast led me exalted. [n: (AUG.)] *On a rock,* and therefore I am not overcome; *Thou hast exalted:* by the example of this man a great hope of being heard is afforded to others. *Thou hast led [n: (Ibid.)] me,* through thee *the way,* unto thee *the truth and the life.*

[0932A]VERS. 5.-- *I will dwell.* [n: (CASS.)] He trusts in the benefits of God, that against the perils of the world he may persevere safe in the tabernacle of God. *For ever.* Until the ages be accomplished; for although many are against him: *I shall be protected under the covering. I shall be protected under the covering of the wings.* Which neither burden, and turn away every hurt. For ever, not one man for ever, but the Church, which until the end of the world dwells on the earth, and is never rooted up by adversities.

VERS. 6.-- *For thou, my God, hast heard my prayer,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] Diapsalma. He now affirms what has been heard concerning the inheritance possessed or to be possessed, whence he promises praises. *Thou hast given.* Nor will I say, thou wilt give: so certain am I, as though I were already in it.

VERS. 7.-- *Day upon day.* [n: (AUG.)] Whatever thou wilt, [0932B] thou sayest of eternity, etc., *as far as* but let the saints reign with him for ever. Or *thou wilt give an inheritance.* [n: (CASS.)] This one, namely, because it is upon the days of Christ, etc., *as far as* because that king abides for ever, so also do they. *Mercy and truth.* [n: (AUG.)] It is *mercy,* because he forgives sins not by merits but by goodness, and promises life. *Truth,* because he does not deceive, but renders what he promised. *Mercy* we ought to follow toward the weak and toward enemies. *Truth,* by not sinning, that he may be just. [n: (CASS.)] *Mercy and truth.* Here is the conclusion of the psalm, etc., *as far as: who shall seek them for him?* [var: Vulg. Ps 60:8 *misericordiam et veritatem ejus quis requiret*, "who shall seek his mercy and truth"] [n: (AUG.)] That no one may seek to learn these things in books, and afterwards live to himself, not to him.



## PSALM LXI.

[0932C]VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end, for Idithun.* [n: (AUG.)] *Leaping over,* seeing so many things that meet him, he submits himself to God, who is higher than he; and to those beneath him he answers as from on high, by rebuking. *Leaping over,* he answers the envious, who wish to deceive.

VERS. 2.-- *Shall not. [n: (Ibid.)]* That is, *let not the foot of pride come to me. I shall not be moved any more,* that is, *and let not the hand of the sinner move me. Subject to God* always, desiring nothing besides him. It shall be indeed, because *from him is my salvation,* from the Father the Son, the author of salvation, because he is God also, lest he be thought less.

VERS. 4.-- *How long do ye rush in. [n: (Ibid.)]* Or, according to another reading: *How long do ye lay on,* and the sense is the same. For the wicked lay *upon a man,* that is, upon the Church, the burdens of sufferings: so that unto the end [0932D] every faithful man may fill up in his own body what is wanting of the sufferings of Christ. *All ye together.* [n: (CASS.)] Or, according to another reading: *All* of you, as though ye all kill that man, so far as concerns the man, not *all* one man, but the Church; but because God is my upholder I shall not be moved [cj: *quis*; read *quia*, "because"]. [n: (AUG.)] *How long,* from the blood of Abel, etc., *as far as* not, namely, that which is *the most high founder. Upon a man.* [n: (CASS.)] Power has been given you over the body, not over the soul. *Ye rush in.* Not lightly, but ye kill the innocent; ye think that he is without a defender, and that he easily falls, like a leaning wall, which would fall even if it were not pushed. *And as a fence,* which is a construction of stones without the binding of mortar; and lest by its very newness thou [0933A] shouldst think it firm, he adds *pushed,* [var: Vulg. Ps 61:4 *depulsae*, "thrust down"] or, ye must not rush in, because ye kill your own selves, all of you, even those who consent.

VERS. 5.-- *The price.* [n: (CASS.)] Christ, that he should not be worshipped, or, to take away blessedness. *They have thought.* [n: (AUG.)] Note the diverse kinds of enemies, etc., *as far as* of her the prophet says: *Glorious things are said of thee, O city. I ran in thirst.* For although he always drinks them, yet he always thirsts beyond. *With their mouth.* Because they are not able by open evils, they attempt by soft ones.

VERS. 6.-- *But yet to God,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalma. Again he exhorts himself, that is, his own soul, to be made subject, and admonishes the rest. *My soul is subject.* [var: Vulg. Ps 61:6 *Verumtamen Deo subjecta esto, anima mea*, an imperative, "be thou subject to God, O my soul"] This petition fixes strength in our mind.

VERS. 8.-- *In God is my salvation. [n: (Ibid.)]* Then [0933B] safe and glorious in him: but now what? He himself is the God of my help.

VERS. 9.-- *Hope ye. [n: (Ibid.)]* His own faith being published abroad, he admonishes all who labour under superstitions to hope in the Lord. *Pour out.* [n: (AUG.)] Through tears the heart is poured out, etc., *as far as:* Whence, *Prick the eye, and it produces a tear; prick the heart, and it produces knowledge [n: (Eccl. XXII)]*. [var: Vulg. Sir 22:24 *Pungens oculum deducit lacrimas, et qui pungit cor profert sensum*, "he who pricks the eye draws out tears, and he who pricks the heart brings forth understanding"] *Hearts,* etc., evil thoughts.

VERS. 10.-- *But yet vain. [n: (HIER.)]* Or, join it thus, God is our helper; and although he so works with us, yet the sons of Adam are vain and lying in the balance, perverting the Scriptures, by which they may prove false things. [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalmus. He reproaches those who go astray, and admonishes them to trust in God, not in things that perish, which is what the psalm intends. *Lying in the balances.* Who with unjust weights [0933C] deceive buyers, or wish to seem just, though they are deceitful. *In the balances.* In the scale of justice, whereby they deceive the more easily. *Unto the same thing,* whereby they may be believed fair.

VERS. 11.-- *Hope ye not in.* [n: (AUG.)] As if he should say: Neither hope ye, nor desire ye, the things which, when gathered, are snatched away by others. *Do not,* thirsting he turns himself to them. *Do not. Rapines.* The prey which thou wilt seize is in a trap, thou holdest and art held; thou holdest, another's goods that is, and art held by the devil. O ruinous gains! thou findest money, thou losest justice. *Let them abound. Set not your heart.* [n: (CASS.)] He does not say: Do not possess, for he does not condemn riches, whereby we purchase heaven; but the heart set upon them, which does not spend but hoards.

VERS. 12.-- *He hath spoken once.* [n: (AUG.)] *Set not your heart upon them.* Why? Because the *power* of judging belongs to the Son of God, [0933D] etc., *as far as* nor let mercy be despaired of on account of that power. *Power belongeth to God:* there is no power to any man save from God who is just, although his equity lie hidden from thee.

## PSALM LXII.

*A psalm of David.* [n: (CASS.)] He speaks of the Church, which in the drought of the world thirsts, and seeks after mercy, until she lay hold of things eternal, teaching men to converse well in the midst of a depraved nation. [n: (AUG.)] A psalm in the person of the head and of the members; his voice is ours, and ours is his.

VERS. 2.-- *O God, my God, to thee from the light,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] How she fares in the desert, namely the bride, she desires to see God, whom she also praises, and she wishes to do this [0934A] the more. *God. [n: (Ibid.)]* Common, *my God* in a somewhat more particular way; see the affection of devout entreaty through this doubling. *From the light.* Or at daybreak, when Christ rose again, that the Church may praise him then, when by the example of his own resurrection he quickened her to rise. *I watch,* even while I sleep, not loving the things that are of the world. [n: (CASS.)] And I thirst in mind and in body. *From the light.* [n: (AUG.)] For thou wouldst not watch; unless the light arose, which should rouse thee. *My soul hath thirsted for thee:* and here the flesh for God, while it seeks from him the things needful here.

VERS. 3.-- *Desert. [n: (Ibid.)]* Where none of the saints dwells. *Trackless,* because there is no way by which thou mayest go out thence. *Waterless,* because neither, while thou tarriest where thou art, is there water there. But God here made a way, Christ, and sent the water [0934B] of his Word, filling the preachers with the Holy Ghost: *That there might be made in them a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting [n: (Joan. IV)]*. [var: Vulg. Jo 4:14 *fiet in eo fons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam*, "shall become in him a fountain", indicative and singular] *So in the sanctuary have I appeared to thee, that I might see,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] He to whom God does not appear, let him be in holy desire, etc., *as far as* For the sun by its own light makes us to see, and so also does God.

VERS. 4.-- *Above lives. [n: (Ibid.)]* Of human life, of which there are many, as that of the soldier, of the husbandman and of the rest: better is what thou givest to the corrected than what the perverse choose. *My lips.* After the benefits of God: he promises praise. *Shall praise,* toward my neighbour, for whom also I am solicitous, because unless thy mercy went before me, I could not praise thee, and as with the lips, so let them bless in life. Or thus, *Because above lives.*

VERS. 5.-- *Thus will I bless. [n: (Ibid.)]* As thou hast granted, through [0934C] mercy, that I should praise thee, *so will I bless,* that I may ascribe to mercy the life in which I praise. *In thy name I will lift up my hands. [n: (Ibid.)]* He lifts up his hands who, persevering in good works, with hands stretched out in the figure of the cross, adores God [d: unde]; whence the Apostle: Lifting up pure hands in prayer, without anger and contention.

VERS. 6.-- *With fatness. [n: (Ibid.)]* In the inward parts. Fatness is in the flesh, that is, wisdom, which is in secret, and the strength of the spirit.

*I will lift up my hands. [n: (Ibid.)]* In Exodus. Moses, while he lifted up his hands to the Lord, etc., *as far as* he works for earthly things, he is overcome by Amalec.

VERS. 7.-- *If I have remembered.* [n: (CASS.)] He sets forth the good things and the evil of either party, etc., *as far as* save he who works in [0934D] Christ.

[n: (CASS.)] *In the mornings,* that is, in the light of Christ, as above, *from the light I watch unto thee,* that the son of light, that is, of Christ, may watch unto the author of light, unto God.

VERS. 8.-- *A helper,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] In the perils of Idumaea, etc., [sic: *atc.*] *as far as* because *it hath upheld me* from perils, *thy right hand,* that is, propitiation.

VERS. 10.-- *But they have sought my soul in vain.* But the king. In these two verses he compares the good things and the evil of the different parties.

*Into the lower parts of the earth.* [n: (CASS.)] Because they were not carried up to the heavens. Evil thoughts are swallowed up by the earth, because, born of the earth, they sink into the depths of the earth, as into mire.

VERS. 11.-- *They shall be the portions of foxes,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] [0935A] The beginning of the world, etc., *as far as* while by a perverse will they join themselves to the deceitful.

VERS. 12.-- *In God.* [n: (CASS.)] The Father, whence: *I am in the Father, and the Father in me. They swear,* not by him, lest he should command an oath, but in him, by promising him obedience.



## PSALM LXIII.

[n: (CASS.)] This psalm treats briefly [cj: *isto*; read *iste*], etc., *as far as* that in sufferings we may hope in the Lord. [n: (AUG.)] As our head did, so let us pray in tribulations.

VERS. 2.-- *Hear, O God, my prayer.* That thou mayest exalt, *and deliver,* because I entreat. *From the fear of the enemy.* [n: (CASS.)] But not from the fear of death.

VERS. 3.-- *Thou hast protected me.* [n: (AUG.)] This was done in the head, [0935B] which the members also experience: by this example the rest are made firm.

VERS. 4.-- *For they have whetted their tongues like a sword.* Or, those namely who are malicious and who work iniquity. *A bow.* Hidden snares, as through a disciple, which is a bitter thing, that a guest at table should be a betrayer. *Bitter.*

VERS. 6.-- *They will shoot suddenly. [n: (Ibid.)]* Treacherously, as at one who does not know, so it seems to them who believe that they deceive God. *They will not fear. [n: (Ibid.)]* O hard heart! to kill a man who raised the dead, and thereafter not to fear. *They have made firm.* [n: (CASS.)] By obstinacy, not by truth, their word. *He is guilty of death:* or, *It is expedient that one should die. For themselves. [n: (Ibid.)]* Not for the Lord, but for themselves, when they say: *His blood be upon us and upon our [0935C] children. That they might hide.* The way of the wicked; he who prepares a deceit thinks that he deceives.

VERS. 7.-- *They have searched out.* [n: (CASS.)] How they might accuse the just man, or how they might destroy him, lest the world should go after him. [n: (AUG.)] Searchings, that is, bitter and hidden counsels; but the more keenly they think, the more do they fall away from truth and equity, and are plunged into darkness: for because they do not see God, they think that they are not seen by God. *A man shall come.* [n: (CASS.)] For he who searches out unjust things, etc., *as far as* but it grows great in the heart of man. [n: (AUG.)] They searched out, but in vain, because of his own accord the man shall come to the passion. *To a deep heart. [n: (Ibid.)]* He had one, because he did this according to a deep counsel.

*The arrows of little ones are made.* [n: (CASS.)] He derides the enumerated [0935D] wickedness of the Jews, who were the more troubled when the resurrection was announced, while the just rejoiced.

VERS. 9.-- *Troubled. [n: (Ibid.)]* They were, who, seeking counsel for their own salvation, said: What *shall we do, men and brethren?*

VERS. 10.-- *And every man feared.* [n: (AUG.)] If a man fears, let not a man terrify him from proclaiming, as the Apostles did, whom the chief priests threatened, saying that they should not preach in the name of Jesus.

*And they understood his doings. [n: (Ibid.)]* Why did he suffer? why did he not come down from the cross? because he had to die and to rise again: which then was not understood.

VERS. 11.-- *The just shall rejoice in the Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] A conclusion from the things aforesaid, and the promise of the just is shown. [0936A] *All. [n: (Ibid.)]* Do not think that it is said of the apostolic men alone.



## PSALM LXIV.

*Unto the end.* [n: (AUG.)] Jeremias prophesied *(XXV, XXIX)* that after seventy years the people would return. Among the captives was Ezechiel and other prophets. When the seventy years were completed the temple was restored. It is a figure of us, who sigh from Babylon toward Jerusalem, from the world and from the body of sin toward heaven.

VERS. 1.-- *Of Jeremias.* [n: (AUG., HIER.)] Exalted; and it signifies those who say: *Our conversation is in heaven. Aggoeus,* festal. It signifies those who are rejoicing in hope, who in the remnants of their thoughts keep a feast day to the Lord; *Ezechiel,* the Lord strengthened me, and [0936B] it signifies those who are strengthened in the Lord; these prophesied the return to Jerusalem.

*Of the people of the transmigration.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, which passed over from heaven to earth, from perfection to misery and confusion. *When he began. [n: (Ibid.)]* [var: Vulg. Ps 64:1 *cum inciperent exire*, plural, "when they began to go out"] He begins to go out who begins to love; charity makes a citizen of Jerusalem, cupidity a citizen of Babylon: and so therefore, mingled in body, they are separated in desire. [n: (CASS.)] A consolation in exile; lest any despair: because it makes the return certain, and by whom it is, and what riches there are for those who return. He affirms the return, and prays.

VERS. 2.-- *It becometh thee.* Not the gods of the nations, and not elsewhere, save in contemplation, that is, in faith, and there out of good works *the vow shall be paid,* in the heavenly Jerusalem, the vow which those men used to pay to Mars after battles, and to the other [0936C] gods in this fashion. *Sion.* Sion is the heavenly country, the same is Jerusalem.

VERS. 3.-- *Hear my prayer.* [n: (CASS.)] He first does what he says is to be done by the rest, namely, *hear. All flesh.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, man, that is, out of every kind: poor, rich, men, women, learned, unlearned, boys, old men.

VERS. 4.-- *The words of the wicked.* [n: (CASS.)] In what hope dost thou pray this? Because *to thee all flesh shall come,* not the soul only, but the evil man also. It is necessary that thou hear. For the words of the wicked are the words of the devil and of our first parents Adam and Eve. *They have prevailed.* That is, they cast us into exile, or the pagans persuaded their own rites to their sons, but thou wilt be merciful in the sacrifice of Christ. [n: (AUG.)] *The words of the wicked,* that is, we have followed the evil rites and manners of our parents [0936D] (who, as in age, so in authority, surpass boys). *Thou wilt be merciful.* [n: (AUG.)] Propitiation is made through the sacrifice which the priest offered, Christ. The priest and the victim are therefore the same.

VERS. 5.-- *Blessed is he whom thou hast chosen,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] And blessed is every man whom thou hast chosen out of the mass of the lost. *You have not chosen me, but I you [n: (Joan. XV)]*, and thou hast taken him into thy lot, into eternal rest. [n: (AUG.)] Or thus, thou wilt be merciful through the blessed man: etc., *as far as* things which cannot be told. *In the good things.* [n: (CASS.)] Which things are good, holiness in oneself, equity toward one's neighbour. *The temple.* The Church, or the flesh of Christ.

VERS. 6.-- *Wonderful.* [n: (AUG.)] Not in outward things, like a house of earth, but in justice, which is fairer to the inward [0937A] eye and more lovely, and which we ought now to hunger for, that then we may be filled with it. *In equity.* [n: (CAS.)] When he shall render to each what is worthy, to whom [each] shall also say: *Hear us, thou who art the Saviour. The hope of all.* [var: Vulg. Ps 64:6 *Exaudi nos, Deus, salutaris noster*, "Hear us, O God our saviour"] He describes the praises of God, and his powers. *And in the sea afar off.* [n: (AUG.)] Therefore afar off, because in the sea. The sea is spoken of as a figure of the world, bitter with the falsehood of iniquities, and stormy with the tempests of temptations, where the fishes devour one another.

VERS. 7.-- *Preparing the mountains.* [n: (AUG.)] For fitting uses. *In thy strength.* Because through them he wrought miracles. How did he prepare them? Girded with power, that is, with Deity, because the humanity of the Word is girded about with majesty, so that what the man had not, the Deity might give. *Girded. [n: (Ibid.)]* Christ in the midst, girded on every side, because we all alike have him who [0937B] believe in him, but because faith is not from us, but from him, he is said to be girded with his own might.

VERS. 8.-- *Who troublest the depth of the sea.* Behold, he who through those prepared ones wrought it, troubling them unto penitence. The depth of the sea, not the surface, but hearts more deeply sunk, or the hearts of princes. These were troubled, when they saw both their gods and their hopes come to nothing. *The noise.* [n: (AUG.)] Sounding with contradiction, tossing with persecution, etc., *as far as* while they perceive that these prevail more than their own gods.

VERS. 9.-- *The morning and the evening.* [n: (AUG.)] The morning is prosperity, because the morning is glad after the sadness of the night. The evening is adversity; in these a man is tempted, but it is granted him to go out thence, lest he be caught by gains, he to whom riches are God: lest he be terrified by adversities, he for whom the Lord [0937C] suffered. *Thou wilt delight.* Thou wilt make them delightful even in this life. For if the going out itself does not delight a man, he does not labour to go out thence, but is caught by gains, he to whom the promise of Christ is not pleasing. And he is terrified by adversities, whom he does not delight who was willing to suffer for him, that he might make a going out for him.

VERS. 10.-- *Thou hast visited the earth and hast inebriated it.* Through preachers wilt thou do this, for within thou teachest those to whom they preach.

*A river.* Of the deep, for the receiving, it is filled with waters, with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, for thou hast prepared food. *The river of God.* [n: (CAS.)] The mercy of God is compared to a river in full flood, etc., *as far as* as it is disposed by him, without whom nothing is done there.

VERS. 11, 12.-- *Its streams.* The Apostles and others, who [0937D] drank of the river. *Inebriate them,* that they may suffice for themselves and for others. *Multiply,* that through successions preaching may not fail. *The crown of the year,* the whole world, where the Church is. *Its streams. [n: (Ibid.)] Thou hast prepared,* etc. And, O Lord, etc., *as far as* whereby the Word of God grows. *The crown of the year. [n: (Ibid.)]* Because the glory of victory belongs to him who conquers the devil. *Of thy bounty,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Let no one glory in his own merits.

*Thy fields shall be filled.* [n: (CASS., AUG.)] Men, because of their evenness, that is, the just. *The hills,* because God raises up the humble *The desert:* all the Gentiles, to whom no prophet was sent.

VERS. 13.-- *The beautiful places of the wilderness shall grow fat.* When the Apostles came to them, through whom they were made comely.

[0938A]VERS. 14.-- *Valleys. [n: (Ibid.)]* Lowly peoples shall bring forth much fruit. *They shall cry out. [n: (Ibid.)]* [sic: *Clamabuut*] Not in blasphemy, but in a hymn, thence they abound with corn.

This psalm is sung at the funerals of the faithful, because it treats of the return from the Babylon of this world to the heavenly country, to which the saints, led forth from the flesh at their death, happily pass over, receiving the single robe, until in the resurrection they be glorified with the robe of a twofold beatitude.



## PSALM LXV.

*Unto the end.* [n: (AUG.)] The Jews from the justice of the law hoped for themselves temporal goods, and the resurrection, etc., *as far as* that for the faith of the Gentiles he would call them to the same hope of resurrection.

[0938B]VERS. 1.-- *Shout with joy to God, all the earth,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] First he admonishes all to rejoice over the resurrection of Christ, which gives life to all.

VERS. 3.-- *Give ye glory.* [n: (AUG.)] Not as the Jews, who give justice to their own merits, and envy the Gentiles their grace. *How terrible. [n: (Ibid.)]* If thou rejoicest, fear also, lest what has been given to the humble be taken away from the proud: as was done to the Jews. Do not therefore insult over the broken branches, but fear, lest perchance he spare not thee either. *Thy works, O Lord.* [n: (CAS.)] Briefly he calls the mysteries of the incarnation works, that God is man, that he suffered, died, and the like. *In the multitude of thy strength.* [n: (AUG.)] Here he hints at the resurrection, to which, the lying Jews being shut out, the Gentiles are admitted.

[n: (BEDA.)] The Lord rose again; many believed in him, etc., *as far as* they drank through grace. *They shall lie.* [0938C] They are works of the earth, which the enemies belie, against those who lie, *let all the earth adore,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] *They shall lie.* Enemies are wont to lie, etc., *as far as* let all the earth adore.

VERS. 5.-- *Come ye.* [n: (CAS.)] Diapsalma. He invites beginners to consider the works of God, that one faith may join those whom one reward awaits: where, setting forth those works, he plainly says that the resurrection pertains to the Gentiles [sic: *ressurrectionem*], the Jews being repressed.

VERS. 6.-- *Who turneth. [n: (Ibid.)]* The works in which he is terrible, and what they are, he subjoins: *Who turneth the sea.* In the river Jordan according to the letter, mystically in the passing world. *In the river. [n: (Ibid.)]* Although sins are forgiven, yet in the course of mortality they are still there, for immortality is not at once [sic: *immortalitai*].

[0938D] *In the river.* [n: (AUG.)] The river is the mortality of the world, where some come and others depart: but he who believes in Christ passes over on foot, humble in himself, not on horseback and proud. *There we shall rejoice. [n: (Ibid.)]* Or thus: The works are terrible, etc., *as far as* and in these Christians rejoice. *In him. [n: (Ibid.)]* When he shall be all in all, or in him who rules, in his own strength.

VERS. 7.-- *Let them not be exalted. [n: (Ibid.)]* On account of the law, as though more were owed to them. *For all have sinned,* etc. [n: (Rom. III.)]

VERS. 8.-- *Bless ye.* [n: (CAS.)] Diapsalma. He admonishes the Gentiles to bless God, who, although he tries them by tribulations, yet leads them to the kingdom; for these things seem to stand in the way of the promised resurrection. *Make ye heard.* [0939A] [n: (AUG.)] Openly, so that he who loves God loves his neighbour also. *The voice of his praise.* Which the Father speaks of the Son: *This is my Son.*

VERS. 9.-- *Who hath set my soul. [n: (Ibid.)]* Here he enumerates for what causes he ought to be preached.

VERS. -- *For thou hast proved us.* [n: (AUG.)] Thou hast not given us over unto commotion. Because thou hast proved us, thou hast not cast us headlong, thou hast proved us by adversities, by the fire of charity, which does not suffer us to feel torments, or, thou hast tried us by the fire of tribulation, etc.

VERS. 12.-- *A snare.* [n: (AUG.)] Not one that deceives, but one that proves. *We have passed over.* [n: (CAS.; AUG.)] Thou all these things, and we, etc., *as far as* this happens to us in temptations.

VERS. 13.-- *I will go in.* [n: (CAS.)] Behold what good things against [0939B] the evils that went before, that he may strengthen us. *In holocausts.* That is, that I may offer myself to thy sight, etc., *as far as* but he withdrew that which is dearer, himself.

VERS. 14.-- *They have distinguished.* [n: (AUG.)] He distinguishes who says that he himself is nothing, and God all things; and that he himself has need of God, not God of him. *And my mouth hath spoken.* Whom before all men I have declared to prevail above all other vows in my tribulation, not overcome by tribulation.

VERS. 15.-- *Marrowy holocausts.* Myself, with the marrow of inmost love. *With the burnt offering of rams. [n: (Ibid.)]* Or, with *the burnt offering,* which is prayer; and with *rams,* because the leaders of the flock pray most of all for the flock. *With the burnt offering.* [n: (HIER., AUG.)] With the prayer of the Apostles, because that pleases God which is done by their tradition. Or with the burning and destruction of brutishness and of resistance. [0939C] Oxen; stiffness of neck; *with he-goats,* wantonness; these vices being slain in me. *I will offer thee oxen.* [n: (AUG.)] If those who thresh are offered, yet they do not remain sinners: but healed through penance they are offered; and they not by themselves, but rather joined to the oxen, because they have made themselves friends of the mammon of iniquity.

VERS. 16.-- *Come ye, hear.* Diapsalma. All things now being set forth, he again admonishes not so much the untaught, but the devout, that by the example of his own deliverance they may trust the more in the Lord: blessing him for the hearing of his prayer. So do I, and O ye Gentiles, *come ye.*

VERS. 17.-- *To him I have cried with my mouth.* [n: (CAS.)] He sets forth how great things he did for his own soul, subjoining: *To him,* etc. This he did for my soul, that I should cry to him, while the Gentiles cried to idols: and what I speak without [0939D] I have within, and not iniquity, because thus is the purity of prayer, it is heard. *I have cried and exalted in my heart.* [var: Vulg. Ps 65:17 *et exaltavi sub lingua mea*, "and I extolled under my tongue"] [n: (AUG.)] That is, I have preached him publicly, and confessed him in secret. What I have in the mouth, this I have in the heart also: yet *I will offer marrowy holocausts.* By these two the Christian is made perfect.

VERS. 18.-- *Mine.* That is a man's own which is not perverse; he sets it forth with reason, that they may learn to labour first before they seek the reward.

VERS. 20.-- *My prayer,* etc. These two are joined together; if prayer is not suspended, neither is mercy deferred.

## PSALM LXVI.

*Unto the end.* [n: (CAS.)] After the canticle of the resurrection, the Prophet subjoins his own [0940A] entreaty, that the blessed may be led to the knowledge of God. He prophesies the blessing of all through the coming of Christ. [n: (AUG.)] Because in the preceding psalm he had admonished us to bless God, which we cannot do unless he first bless us; therefore he prays for this, to be blessed, saying: *May God have mercy on us and bless us,* etc.

VERS. 2.-- *May God have mercy. [n: (Ibid.)]* The blessing of God is first, which is as it were a rain watering the earth of our mind: thence we bless him, which is as it were the fruit; and in both it is we that grow, not he. Let him therefore who desires the rain of the Lord's blessing say: May God have mercy on us, etc. *May God have mercy on us and bless us.* [n: (CAS.)] But many who wish, etc., *as far as* and because Christ is known among the nations: [0940B] *Let them confess,* etc. *May he bless us. [n: (Ibid.)]* The Creator blesses the creature, by multiplying it, in number and in merit. The creature blesses the Creator, by praising him with heart, voice and work, and by ascribing to him every good thing that it has.

VERS. 4.-- *Let the peoples confess to thee, O God. [n: (Ibid.)]* After knowledge he exhorts them to confess, for direction and for judgment.

VERS. 5.-- *Let them be glad and rejoice.* [n: (AUG.)] Because, having now confessed, they do not fear the judgments to come, to whom Christ is an advocate, not a judge, *let them be glad.*

VERS. 6.-- *Let the peoples confess to thee, O God.* [n: (CAS.)] The same admonition, tending to another thing, because the earth has given her fruit, and although the beginning of the sense is the same, yet it tends to different things.

[0940C]VERS. 7.-- *The earth hath given her fruit.* [n: (HIER.)] To Mary, Christ, etc., *as far as:* But not she alone owes this, nay rather, *let him bless* also *us. God, our God. [n: (Ibid.)]* Three times, the Trinity, *him,* the unity. *And let them fear him.* [n: (CAS.)] Fear is asked for in the midst of benefits, that what is entrusted may be warily kept: the fear of God begins and completes; he who has learned to fear does not cease to love.



## PSALM LXVII.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end.* [n: (CAS.)] A psalm of David the prophet, concerning the exultation [sic: *ne*] of Christ and of the Church here and in time to come, that all may sing to God. When Christ was rising, as though the ark were lifted up, etc., *as far as* Moses is said to have used words like these.

VERS. 2.-- *Let God arise, and let them be scattered. [n: (Ibid.)]* [0940D] He confidently wishes for what he knows will be. *And let them that hate him flee.* [n: (HIER.)] Or it can be read of the penitent, etc., *as far as* that, when the fire of the Holy Spirit is applied by the tears of penitence, their hardness may be dissolved. *That hate him.* [n: (AUG.)] Let the obstinate be taken away from the presence of him who is everywhere present; a grave curse, that they should will and strive after what can in no wise come to pass.

VERS. 3.-- *As smoke faileth.* [n: (CAS.)] Smoke from a flame vanishes in its rising; so sinners bring forth smoky deeds out of the flame of wickedness, and by that very lifting up they fail. *As it melteth.* [n: (AUG.)] It can be said of the penitent; or, in the judgment the wicked will be taken away from the face of God: who will be a fire for the punishment of the ungodly, and a light for the just.

[0941A]VERS. 4.-- *Let them feast.* [n: (CASS., AUG.)] In the delights which are in the sight of God. *And let them be delighted,* this can delight them, that they are glad [sic: *qui*] because their gladness is not to be ended.

VERS. 5.-- *Sing ye to God.* [n: (AUG.)] He turns himself to those to whom he has given so great a hope, and exhorts them. *Who ascendeth.* The new life will not receive him unless the old has died; or, by rising again he overcame the fall of the body. *Upon the going down.* [n: (CAS.)] The going down of death befalls him upon whom the sun of justice rises. And lest thou doubt who this may be, because *the Lord is his name,* a name essential to him, whom the Jews slew as a common man. *In the sight.* The consideration of the reward to come mitigates hardships.

VERS. 6.-- *Of orphans.* [n: (AUG.)] Whose father, the world and the devil, is dead, and their mother, concupiscence. [0941B] *Widows,* for whom their husband, error, dies; in whom God dwells, whom he gathers, whom he draws, because out of widows and orphans he makes himself a temple, in which he is.

VERS. 7.-- *God who maketh to dwell.* [n: (HIER.)] In the Hebrew it stands: *But the Lord maketh monks to dwell in a house,* in whom sin does not dwell together. *Of one manner.* [n: (AUG.)] Of one mind, thinking one thing, etc., *as far as* not by merits, whence he adds: *Who bringeth out them that were bound. He bringeth out them that were bound.* [n: (CAS.)] Out of hell, the devil being bound. *Who provoke.* Blasphemers against God. Or, by persecuting, buried in tombs, in stinking carnal things, so that they neither will nor can walk. *They provoke.* [n: (AUG.)] By resisting justice, since they are altogether dead in dead works; but the bound do will to walk, and cannot; these are loosed by grace, those are raised up.

[0941C]VERS. 8.-- *O God, when thou didst go forth.* [n: (CAS.)] A Diapsalmus concerning the word of the Gospel, by the going forth of Christ. *O God, when thou didst go forth.* Truly thou bringest out, because his going forth was prefigured before Israel, when he appeared in the pillar of cloud and of fire in the desert, and filled them with manna. [n: (AUG.)] *A going forth,* when he appeared to men through his humanity, or when *he bringeth out them that were bound,* that is, raises them up. *He passed into the desert,* [var: Vulg. Ps 67:8 *cum pertransires in deserto*, "when thou didst pass over in the desert"] when he came to the Gentiles. [n: (BASIL.)] *Thou didst go forth.* As if he should say: when thou wast about to pass over that solitude which had not yet received the splendour of light, the earth indeed thou didst shake and stir [cj: *commovistis*; read *commovisti*, 2nd sg.], but from heaven thou didst distil the drops of thy grace.

VERS. 9.-- *The earth was moved.* Because then earthly men were moved at seeing such great wonders. *The heavens dropped down [0941D] at the face of God:* manna, when in the manner of a dripping manna came down from the face of God, whose presence was known by the pillar. [n: (AUG.)] Mount Sinai smoked at the face of God (according to another reading) when Moses received the law there.

VERS. 10.-- *A rain.* This is what the heavens dropped down, manna, *a voluntary rain* which would satisfy the will of that nation, greedy to eat. *Thou shalt set apart, O God, for thine inheritance.* Because he did not give to other nations what he then gave to the Jews. *It was weakened,* etc. For a time, while it did not believe in Christ. [n: (CAS.)] *He hath made it perfect.* [var: Vulg. Ps 67:10 *tu vero perfecisti eam*, "but thou hast made it perfect"] God made his inheritance perfect, when he admitted the Gentiles to fill it up. He adds whereby he made it perfect.

VERS. 11.-- *Living creatures.* That is, thy nations, when they [0942A] believe, dwell in the inheritance, that is, in the Church. He sets forth what the living creatures are. *Thou hast prepared:* he means the predestined, because from the origin of the world they were made ready. [n: (AUG.)] Or, *mount at the face of the God of Israel,* supply "dropped down", etc., *as far as* in whom grace superabounded. [n: (CAS.)] These things mystically, but according to the figure, etc., *as far as* he sends therefore to the mystery. [n: (AUG.)] Certain books do not have *mount,* but *at the face of the God of Sinai, of Israel;* that is, he who gave the law to the people of Israel: because he who gave the law through Moses, whereby he might terrify, gave also the blessing through the Apostles, whereby he might set free. *In sweetness* [n: (CAS.)] *Sweetness* is that whereby good is done, not from fear of punishment, but from delight in justice.

VERS. 12.-- *The Lord shall give the word.* Many powers to them that preach the word.

[0942B]VERS. 13.-- *The king of hosts.* [n: (HIER.)] Of the Apostles, or of the beloved. [n: (CAS.)] The Father is the king of the angels, over whom the Beloved himself also commands. [n: (AUG.)] *The king of hosts of the beloved.* Of the Son, that is, the Father; or, after the manner of the old Scripture, Christ is *the king of hosts;* of Christ, that is, of his own, as Moses did, "as the Lord commanded Moses." *Of the beloved, of the beloved.* [n: (CAS.)] The repetition of *of the beloved* is for commendation; but this repetition is not in all the books, yet whether it be there or not, this is the sense: *of the beloved* not only for other things, but also for dividing the spoils, by dividing which he made the Church beautiful.

VERS. 14.-- *If you sleep.* [n: (AUG.)] *To sleep among the midst of the lots* is to rest in the authority of the two Testaments and peaceably to acquiesce. *The wings of a dove covered with silver,* the preachers, by whose preaching [0942C] the glory of the Church is borne up to heaven. *Of a dove* [n: (AUG., CAS.)] The dove is the Church, etc., *as far as* by preaching it is borne up to heaven. *And the hinder parts.* [n: (AUG.)] Where the roots of the wings, etc., *as far as* the vigour of wisdom is charity. *Among the midst of the lots.* [n: (AUG.)] It would be of the Latin tongue "among the lots", etc., *as far as* "there shall be wings for you" is ambiguous.

VERS. 15.--[n: (CAS.)] A Diapsalmus, *while he distinguisheth,* concerning the gifts of the ascending Christ, who alone can do it, and no other. [n: (AUG.)] While by the grace of the Holy Spirit kings are distinguished, etc., *as far as* and those who believe in him are protected.

VERS. 17.-- *The mountain of God, a fat mountain.* [n: (AUG., CAS.)] He adds a commendation of the mountain, etc., *as far as* For this is the mountain which in Ezechiel wounds the prince [0942D] of Tyre. *It is well pleasing to God,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] *For the Lord shall inhabit it unto the end,* [var: Vulg. Ps 67:17 *etenim Dominus habitabit in finem*, without *eum*; the gloss construes the verb transitively] that is, even to the term of his majesty, which is an end without end, and the fullness of all things. *For the Lord hath dwelt.* None is such as he, because this mountain, namely the Lord, will inhabit those mountains until he lead them *unto the end,* that is, into himself, God to be contemplated. But the other mountains are the chariots by which God is carried into the whole world. *Chariots,* because they are of one mind, coupled together by charity, whom God guides to the ministry of his will, *by ten thousands,* by countless peoples; a multitude of saints.

*Unto the end.* Because he is personally united to him in whom dwelt *all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.*

[0943A]VERS. 18.-- *Thousands of them that rejoice.* [n: (AUG., CAS.)] It signifies a great multitude of saints, etc., *as far as* and therefore they rejoice. *Sinai in the holy place* [n: (CAS.)] It is the mountain on which the law was given. It is called a commandment in which the Lord rests, because in his holy commandments his presence is wont to be beheld. *In Sinai.* [n: (HIERON.)] Or, in Sinai the holy, that is, he who once gave the law on mount Sinai is himself the same in the holy one, that is, in Christ, who is the Holy of holies.

VERS. 19.-- *Thou hast ascended.* [n: (AUG.)] He who came down that we might be instructed. *On high.* Above all the heavens. *Thou hast led captivity captive.* [n: (CAS.)] Those formerly held captive among the dead: these are the spoils, the likeness of a triumph; *thou hast received gifts in men* from the Father, that is, men. Or *thou hast given,* according as thou art God, *gifts to men,* [0943B] which also is done in triumphs.

*Thou hast led captivity captive.* [n: (AUG.)] Whence they are called captives, because they were caught in Peter's nets and put under a light yoke: whence in this chariot there are thousands of them that rejoice, not of them that weep.

*Thou hast received.* Paul by apostolic authority, etc., *as far as: What you have done to one of the least, you have done to me.*

VERS. 20.-- *Daily. [n: (Ibid.)]* Because daily he takes captives captive until the end of the world. And because he leads that chariot *unto the end,* he adds *a prosperous journey. Journey.* The course of life, which is truly prosperous, since the leader is one who brings salvation.

VERS. 21.-- *Our God.* [n: (CAS.)] Diapsalma. He sets forth the workings which come about from the things said above: the shattering of enemies, the conversions of sinners; [0943C] martyrdoms from either sex. *Of saving.* [n: (AUG.)] He commends grace, because none is saved but through him; but lest thou say, Why then are we to die? bear it patiently, and be not indignant at death, because even of the Lord, who was without sin, the issue was none other than of death, yet by his own will, lest man should fear death. *The issue from death.* [n: (CAS.)] That is, the resurrection; do not complain of death, because Christ went out thence, and granted a going out thence. Lest thou believe the evils of the obstinate unpunished, he adds, "but yet the heads": pride, or the authors of the Jewish division, or of sedition, or of heresy.

VERS. 22.-- *The crown of the hair. [n: (Ibid.)]* The subtleties of empty questions, which seek such enmities of calumnies that they seem to scrutinize hairs.

VERS. 23.-- *From Basan.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, from confusion, [0943D] etc., *as far as* to those who were most desperate.

VERS. 24.-- *Thy foot. [n: (Ibid.)]* That is, that they who before were enemies may become *thy foot,* preaching even unto blood, that is, even unto death: and *dogs,* barking for God, *which eat of the crumbs,* etc. *Thy foot.* Those alone are to be taken up to the office of rule who preach to others what they perceive, who carry out with the hands of good works what they preach or teach with the mouth; whence in Leviticus: The mouth of the turtledove is twisted back to its armpits. [var: Vulg. Lev. 5:8 *retorquebit caput ejus ad pennulas*, "shall turn back its head to the little wings"]

*In blood.* [n: (BASIL.)] Since he shows God, etc., *as far as: and when I overcame them, my garments were sprinkled. Of the dogs.* [n: (AUG.)] In a great sacrament Gedeon was commanded to lead those who lapped water like dogs, [0944A] three hundred only and no more, in the sign of the cross, because of *thau,* which signifies three hundred. *From him.* As if thou shouldst ask whence so great a good, that they should be *dogs* of him they were enemies? [cj: *sint erant*; read *sint cujus erant*, "should be of him whose they were"] he says: *From him,* that is, by his grace, not from themselves.

VERS. 25.-- *They have seen thy goings, O God. [n: (Ibid.)]* [sic: *in gressus*] Or, thy steps have been seen, O God, by which thou camest into the world. This grace lay hidden in the Old Testament: now it is manifest, when the Son, being sent, is announced among the Gentiles. *Who.* God. *Is in the holy place,* in the body, though the faithless see it not, according to that in which he suffered. In this also, by suffering or by believing, the princes *went before* them, or they went before unto praise of thee.

VERS. 26.-- *Princes.* [n: (BASIL., EUTHYM.)] He calls the Apostles *Princes,* etc., *as far as* and by preaching [0944B] they followed after them. *In the midst.* The ministers set over the new churches of them that praise God, with the flesh tamed and the hide dried from the moisture of sin, and stretched out from the wrinkle of duplicity.



## PSALM LXVII. (cont.)

VERS. 27.-- *In the churches bless ye.* [n: (CAS.)] Diapsalma. He prays and affirms that this beginning may be enlarged and confirmed, and for its sake that the heretics also may be destroyed. [n: (AUG.)] *In the churches.* These are the young maidens playing on timbrels, lest anyone should think carnally of the dances of luxury. For the churches are young girls adorned with new grace. *In the churches,* not elsewhere, not in other conventicles. *From the fountains of Israel.* [n: (CAS.)] That you may preach unto their imitation, as is fitting: because they are the princes of faith, of hope and of charity, and through this Benjamin, that is, the son of the right hand.

[0944C]VERS. 28.-- *There Benjamin,* etc. *Princes,* etc. [n: (Ibid.)] By the names of the tribes he points to Christ and the Apostles. *There,* namely in the temple of Jerusalem, or in the Church. The interpretation of the names also suits the Church. [n: (CAS.)] Perhaps the Apostles were of these tribes [sic: *Apo-toli*], etc., *as far as: confession* in faith, *fortitude* in hope, *breadth* in charity. *In the height of mind,* [var: Vulg. Ps 67:28 *in mentis excessu*, "in ecstasy of mind"] or, as the Greek word properly stands, etc., *as far as* as a faithful and prudent steward, he divided.

VERS. 29.-- *Give command, O God, to thy strength. [n: (Ibid.)]* O God, make the Son known; as it were: what I announce as to come, do thou perfect. Or, *to thy strength,* that is, enjoin it upon thy strong ones, that they may announce thee. Or, O Father, commit thy work *to thy strength,* to the Son, or to the Holy Spirit. [n: (AUG.)] *For God commendeth his charity toward us, since, [0944D] when we were sinners, Christ died for us:* which he prays well and confidently. *Confirm this, O God, which thou hast wrought.* By making the beginning.

VERS. 30.-- *From thy temple in Jerusalem.* Which is free, our mother, which is the temple, from which is every best gift; from that temple, therefore. *The kings of the earth.* Or, particular ones shall offer thee gifts, that is, sacrifices of praise. But because the heretics clamour against this praise.

VERS. 31.-- *Rebuke the wild beasts of the reeds.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, those who are moved by every wind of doctrine. *That they may shut out them that are approved.* This is what the Apostle says: *That they who are approved may be made manifest [n: (I Cor. XI)]*; or, let the approved shut them out from among the cows. For the stable, the strong, and the grave have not wherewith to seduce: *In the mighty people I will praise [0945A] thee. Scatter thou.* Rebuke the wild beasts, and also scatter those that dissent. *The nations that will wars.* Heretics and others consenting to them, whom he calls nations because of the kinds of the diverse sects, lest a series of successions there confirm the error.

VERS. 32.-- *Out of Egypt, Ethiopia.* [sic: *Aegppto*] [n: (AUG.)] By the name of Egypt or of Ethiopia he signifies the faith of all nations, the whole from a part. He prophesies therefore that the heralds to come are not from the Jews alone, but from the Gentiles. [n: (HIER.)] Ethiopia, the Gentile world black with sins, hastens to give her hands to God. A likeness taken from the conquered, who, their arms laid down, give them to the victors, lest they perish. *His hand shall prevent. [n: (Ibid.)]* That is, his vengeance, through confession, lest, remaining in their sins, they be punished.

VERS. 33.-- *To God, kingdoms.* That *to God* may stand at the beginning [0945B] of the following verse. Or rather it stands at the end of the preceding verse, *to God.* And faith is commended (as if to say, a man is not justified by preceding works) which begins to work through love. Ethiopia therefore will believe God, and so *shall prevent* his works, that is, Ethiopia's, which in the Greek is not ambiguous — that is, by believing in God she shall prevent her own works. Or *his,* Egypt's, to God, that is, unto God. *Ye kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.* [n: (AUG.)] Having run through all the things which we now behold fulfilled, he exhorts to the praise of Christ, and foretells his coming that is to be.

*Sing ye psalms.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalma. *Sing ye psalms:* he will come who ascended, where he will make the saints perfect.

VERS. 34.-- *He ascendeth. [n: (Ibid.)]* according as he is man. For according as he is God, equal to the Father, [0945C] above the heaven of heaven, above the loftier creatures, so that he had nothing above himself. [n: (HIER., CAS.)] *The East.* The Word begotten of the Father. *And he ascended from the east* [var: Vulg. Ps 67:34 *ad orientem*, "to the east"; the gloss takes up that reading next] by the power of the Word.

*To the east.* He has expressed the place where he rose again and whence he ascended.

[n: (AUG.)] *To the east,* of our illumination. Or because Jerusalem is in the East. *To his voice. [n: (Ibid.)]* He who was lowly in the passion will give the voice of power in the common resurrection. *The voice of power.* [n: (CAS.)] The efficacy of raising up all the dead.

VERS. 35.-- *His magnificence and power.* [n: (AUG.)] Because then there will no longer be a mingling of the wicked, thence his magnificence over the true Israel will be evident. *In the clouds.* Because he will not come alone to the judgment, but [0945D] with the elders of the people, who are the clouds: and lest thou take them otherwise, he adds: *Wonderful in his saints.*

[n: (EUTHYM.)] By *clouds.* Here he understands the Apostles themselves [sic: *Aposlos*], as existing above, and standing high away from earthly affairs, and as it were full of spiritual water, which they drew from the depths of the Holy Spirit, that they might water the fields and plains of souls, that is, the believers themselves.

VERS. 36.-- *He himself will give power and strength to his people; blessed be God.* (CAS). He has promised great things, lest anyone, because of human infirmity, should despair of coming to such great rewards.



## PSALM LXVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end.* [n: (AUG.)] Adam was changed from [0946A] the form of God for the worse, etc., *as far as* "to suffer", according to the Greeks. [n: (CAS.)] The fourth psalm, which treats more at large of the passion and the resurrection. The cause of the *change* is handled [cj: *commutationibus*; read *commutationis*], that is, the passion of Christ. Here Christ speaks, head and body. *Save me.* First he prays to be made safe, because he suffers many things — as touching himself, without cause — but what another had seized, he himself pays. This is the voice of the mustard seed despised, while it is buried in the garden, which grows into a great herb: this seed dark and altogether contemptible. So also Christ, of whom: *We saw him having no beauty nor comeliness,* but nevertheless he took up the face of the earth, being made a great mountain.

*Waters even unto my soul.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, the crowds, etc., *as far as* beyond which they have not who may do anything to them.

[0946B]VERS. 3.-- *In the mire.* [n: (AUG.)] Man was made of the slime of the earth, etc., *as far as* that is, the power of the flesh to escape the passion. *Substance.* Riches are so called, etc., *as far as* that is, I have not found in them what he made. *I am come.* Because willingly. *Into the deep.* The depth of a mad people.

VERS. 4.-- *I have laboured.* [n: (AUG.)] Long he cried: *Woe to you! Scribes and Pharisees,* so as to be hoarse as touching them, because he was not understood by them. *Crying out,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] He labours whose desire is not fulfilled. *My eyes.* Like the eyes of the two who did not know him on the way, in whom that which was within came to be also without, that is, the blindness which was made in the heart was also in the eyes. For they said: *We hoped that he would have redeemed Israel [n: (Luc. XXIV.)]* [AUG]. But he restored hope to them, etc., *as far [0946C] as* because they would have been lost. *While I hope.* [n: (CAS.)] The reason is added: I wait for mercy, I do not entreat power.

VERS. 5.-- *They are multiplied.* [n: (AUG.)] What before he said figuratively, now he says openly in the fact. *Above the hairs.* For an unlimited number; or, they are more than those which are for adornment. *I have seized.* They willed to seize the Godhead, and lost happiness: Adam seized, presuming, as the devil did, upon Godhead.

VERS. 6.-- *O God, thou knowest.* [n: (CAS.)] Because he pays for others, he prays that *they that wait,* the ancients, and *they that seek,* the others, namely the moderns, be not disappointed in him, since he bears such great things so evenly.

*Foolishness.* [n: (AUG.)] From the members. Or, *that which is foolish [0946D] of God is wiser than men.* What they mocked in me, who seemed to themselves wise, thou hast known why the mockery came to be, namely, such mockery and death too. [n: (CAS.)] *Foolishness.* That they who are ignorant of me who am God, these are they who are changed into wise and just men.

VERS. 7.-- *Let them not be ashamed. [n: (Ibid.)]* He sets forth what things he has paid; here he shows what he had said above concerning the members. [n: (AUG.)] *Let them not be ashamed,* that is, let it not be said to them: Where is your Christ? or, let the Church not be pressed so that her sons are ashamed. *That wait.* [n: (CAS.)] What the prophets and the just could not see with their eyes. Lest therefore it turn out otherwise than the Holy Spirit foretold through them, there follows: *the God of hosts,* [var: Vulg. Ps 68:7 *Domine virtutum*, "O Lord of hosts"] to whom nothing is impossible. *The God of Israel.* [n: (AUG.)] That they who are able to behold his Godhead [0947A] may not be led astray by his carnal infirmity.

VERS. 8.-- *Because for thy sake I have borne reproaches.* [n: (CAS.)] [var: Vulg. Ps 68:8 *opprobrium*, singular; the gloss argues from the many things gathered into one] He gathers into one the many things he endured, to stir up odium against the Jews; *reproach:* he casts out demons in Beelzebub, a wine-bibber, a glutton. [n: (Matth. XI.)]

*It hath covered.* This is wont to befall those torn in a good cause, who are wont to be made so much the sadder for a time as they know that wicked things are being fabricated against them.

VERS. 9.-- *A stranger.* Or a guest, who is received into a house for a time; not as a most dear brother, which I was.

VERS. 10.-- *The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up.* When with a cord he cast out them that sold. What follows upon this zeal he [0947B] subjoins: *And the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.* Because the Jews, being rebuked, cast their insults upon him like darts, as: *Is not this the son of Joseph? [n: (Luc. IV.)] Of them that reproach thee.* When they said: *Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? [n: (Psal. LXXVII.)] These are thy gods, O Israel [n: (Exod. XXXII)]*. Whence he now says that the same insults fall upon himself which they formerly cast as reproaches, that thou mayest see that they did this out of impious custom and not newly.

*They are fallen.* [n: (CAS.)]. Evils fall upon us when we cannot avoid them: *they are fallen,* therefore, that is, they took effect.

VERS. 11.-- *And I covered it in fasting,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] I chose rather to fast than to take gall and vinegar; [0947C] that is, the old and the bitter, who do not enter into his body. [n: (CAS.)] *And I covered.* I did not exercise power by avenging. *And it became,* which appeared in the spittings, *a reproach.* [n: (AUG.)] Of detractors and mockers.

VERS. 12.-- *And I put on.* [n: (AUG.)] I set flesh before them, against which they might rage, and I hid my Godhead. *Haircloth.* [n: (AUG., HIER.)] Mortal flesh, that of sin he might condemn sin.

*Haircloth,* mournful flesh, as when he wept over Jerusalem [n: (Luc. XIX)], and for Lazarus [n: (Joan. XI)].

*Into a parable.* [n: (AUG., HIER.)] A mocking one, so that, in cursing anyone, they would say: So may it befall as it did the crucified. Or, because I was teaching them in parables; whence: *To you it is given to know the mystery of the Word of God, but to the rest in [0947D] parables.* [var: Vulg. Lc 8:10 *mysterium regni Dei*, "the mystery of the kingdom of God"] And then they spoke against me.

VERS. 13.-- *They that sat.* [n: (CAS.)] They sit in the gate who mingle in the assemblies of men with busy curiosity. He says therefore that his passion was the talk of the Jews, so that none was excepted who was a stranger to speech of this kind; whence Cleophas says: *Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and knowest not,* etc. [n: (Luc. LXXXIV)].

*In the gate.* Of the city: where judges are wont to sit to judge causes, that is, in public judgment.

[n: (HIERON.)] As the Scribes and Pharisees having the key of knowledge: but neither entering themselves, nor suffering others to enter.

*And they sang against me.* [n: (CAS.)] They spoke of me in public [0948A] assemblies, and at banquets they sang: my mockery was their psaltery. *Who drank wine.* [n: (AUG.)] Who are made drunk with temporal pleasure. Or, [n: (CAS.)] let them sing to God with approved work who drink spiritual wine.

VERS. 14.-- *But as for me.* [n: (CAS.)] Against the aforesaid evils prayer is set on his own part, that we may learn to oppose to wranglings not brawls but prayers. *A time of good pleasure.* [n: (AUG.)] Therefore now is *the time of good pleasure* and of reconciliation, through the incarnation, through the blood, through the death; then he sets forth how this time came about: *In the multitude of mercy. In truth.* He set down first concerning *mercy,* now he subjoins concerning *truth,* because *all ways are mercy and truth* [var: Vulg. Ps 24:10 *universae viae Domini*, "all the ways of the Lord"]: mercy, in forgiving sins; truth, in rendering what was promised.

[0948B]VERS. 15.-- *That I may not stick fast.* [n: (AUG.)] In mind; above he said he was fixed fast in body; and this is said from the infirmity of the members. *Out of the mire,* that is, out of miry desires. *Out of the deep waters.* [n: (CAS.)] The Jews are deep in the malignity of their counsel, turbulent with seditions.

VERS. 16.-- *The deep.* [n: (CAS.)] Of sins, which swallows down souls; whence: *The sinner, when he is come into the depth of sins, contemneth [n: (Prov. XVIII)]*. These dangers hang over his members. *Nor let it shut her mouth upon me,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Even if thou hast fallen, the pit does not shut its mouth upon thee if thou dost not shut thy mouth; but confess and say: *Out of the depths he hath cried to thee, O Lord,* [var: Vulg. Ps 129:1 *clamavi*, "I have cried"] and thou shalt escape. It shuts upon him who contemns in the deep, from whom, being dead, as though he were not, confession perishes.

[0948C]VERS. 17.-- *Hear me, O Lord,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] The dangers of men being set forth, he prays with their voice: *Hear me, O Lord, for mercy is kind,* not because I have deserved it. *Kind.* [n: (AUG.)] Mercy is sweet to the afflicted, as bread to the hungry. Tribulation comes; God defers to succour, that he may stir up desire, and that the help may be sweet; and when this is done, there is now nothing for which he should defer.

VERS. 18.-- *From the child,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] any holy one, little, not proud; from whom the discipline of tribulation takes away pride.

VERS. 19.-- *Because of my enemies,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] That they may be confounded by my deliverance, etc., *as far as* whence Nabuchodonosor himself, being converted, proclaims God. *Because of my enemies.* [n: (ID.)] This unto the open deliverance, that the flesh may rise again, and, [0948D] ascending, may send the Spirit; whence enemies were converted, to whom it will profit nothing if thou deliver the soul alone.

VERS. 20.-- *Thou knowest my reproach.* [n: (ID.)] Because why these things are mine, thou knowest; they know not. And because they themselves are in thy sight, not knowing these things they will not be able to be confounded or corrected, unless thou plainly rescue me. And therefore he says: *Because of my enemies.* [n: (ID.)] *Reproach,* or shame, etc., *as far as* but by helping may perfect. *Reverence.* [n: (ID.)] Others [read] ignominy, as the buffets, the scourges, and that he was handed over to Pilate as a guilty man: these things he bore not for his own guilt, but for us, that in such things he might instruct us.

VERS. 21.-- *In thy sight.* [n: (CAS.)] He stirs up odium [0949A] against them, that they committed so great a crime with God present.

*My heart.* Because he endured of his own will, according to that: *With desire I have desired to eat this pasch with you.*

VERS. 21.-- *One that would grieve together with me, and there was none; and one that would comfort me, and I found none.* [n: (AUG.)] The disciples were grieved, and the women who wept over him, but not together with him. For they were grieved carnally over the mortal life which was to be changed by death, whereas they ought to have been grieved with him over the rest, who were slaying the physician — which no one then did.

VERS.--22.-- *And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.* [n: (AUG.)] That I found none at once grieving and comforting, this was to me [0949B] bitter gall by reason of sorrow.

*Vinegar,* etc. That is, sour, because of their oldness. It is read in the Gospel that gall was offered him, but in drink, not in food. Mystically therefore it is said, that is, upon the sweet food which he had taken with his disciples, which is the food of the unity of Christ, they cast gall: which is still done to this day, and the despiser of him that sits in heaven sins more grievously than he who crucified him that walked upon the earth. They give a bitter draught to drink who by living ill make scandal for the Church, as heretics do.

The Lord tasted, teaching us also to taste, that is, to bear such men: but he did not drink, because such men cannot be received into his body. Mystically therefore is this foretold, as it was also mystically done in the passion.

[0949C] [n: (CAS.)] *And they gave.* This is the consummation of the passion; when he had said: *I thirst,* they offered gall with vinegar, showing by this deed their most bitter manners.

VERS. 23.-- *Let their table become.* [n: (CAS.)] A prophecy against the adversaries. [n: (AUG.)] *Let their table become.* The table is Scripture: this the Jews had, while they cherished the commandment of God; after they were fasting from the law, this table was given to the Gentiles before their very eyes, that they might grieve the more bitterly.

*A snare.* That they who were binding others by the letter of the law might fall bound in it. *A recompense.* Because it was taken from them and given to the Gentiles. It was a recompense of evils, since, being unwilling to feast at it, they were shut out from it. *A stumbling block.* Because, forsaking the author of peace, they stir up for themselves brawls and depraved works.



## PSALM LXVIII. (cont.)

[0949D]VERS. 24.-- *Eyes.* [n: (AUG.)] The teachers who go before. *Let them be darkened,* that is, let them lose the light of knowledge. *And their back,* etc. That is, the lesser ones. For when they who go before lose the light of knowledge, those who follow are bowed down to bear the burdens of sins and to seek after earthly things; or, *the back,* the mind of the same. Always this concerns those who do not repent.

VERS. 25.-- *Pour out,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] That it may be abundant after the manner of a river.

*Let it take hold.* That it may not be permitted to escape.

VERS. 26.-- *Let their habitation become.* [n: (AUG.)] This now in the open, etc., *as far as* in which they grew proud against God. *In their tabernacles.* [n: (CAS.)] The temple and the royal palace. To this he applies *to dwell within,* which is done by the affection of a devout [0950A] mind; to houses, *to dwell,* which is done by bodily abiding.

VERS. 27.-- *Thou hast smitten.* [n: (CAS.)] Not by his own fault: thou hast smitten him by the passion, unto the salvation of the Gentiles; this they fulfilled with a cruel purpose.

*And upon the sorrow.* Because it was for their perdition.

*They have added.* To inflict death. Or, upon the sorrow of my wounds, that is, of those which the lance and the nails had fixed in me, they added the guards of the sepulchre.

VERS. 28.-- *Add thou iniquity upon iniquity,* etc.) [n: (AUG.)] Their iniquity was that they should kill a man, and upon this God added that they should kill his Son, so that, as the servants sent before, so also the heir himself.

[0950B]VERS. 29.-- *Let them be blotted out,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Because they think themselves written down, etc., *as far as* and that they shall stand at the right hand. *Out of the book of the living,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] The knowledge of God, which predestined and life, those whom he foreknew to be made conformable to the image of his Son. Yet it is not so to be taken, as though God writes anyone in this book whom he afterwards blots out: but according to the hope of those who think themselves written down.

VERS. 30.-- *I am poor,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] Here he sets forth the dispensation of the incarnation and the holiness of his purpose, saying: What is the end of the passion? *Sorrowful.* [n: (AUG.)] This according to the head: he sorrows for all: whence: *He himself hath borne our sorrows [n: (Isa. LIII)]*, which no other did. Therefore he says:

VERS. 32.-- *And it shall please.* [n: (CAS.)] The praise of a pure heart [0950C] pleases more than the slaying of cattle. *A young calf.* [n: (AUG.)] For sins a young calf was offered, which signified the newness that was to follow; which has its defence in its horns, the guard of its feet in its hoofs (by which it may tread down the rough things of the world); *bringing forth,* because the faithful man is daily increased by the power of God. [n: (AUG.)] The calf stirs up the earth with its hoofs; so he who does not contradict, but nevertheless has a base earthly relish, is to be stirred up with hoofs: and upon this calf my praise will be pleasing among the angels, where neither will there be an adversary to be winnowed, nor a sluggard to be stirred up out of the earth.

VERS. 33.-- *Let them see.* [n: (CAS.)] That the offering is now in the mind, not in things, where the poor man is made equal to the rich. And, O ye poor, do this nevertheless with your gaze upon God: *seek ye the Lord.* [var: Vulg. Ps 68:33 *quaerite Deum*, "seek ye God"] Or, that you may see, seek God, [0950D] the food of the mind. *The bound.* [n: (AUG.)] He who seeks beyond what is needful loads on fetters; but sufficient for the day is its own evil. *The bound.* [n: (ID.)] Bound by mortality, wherewith the Lord, being offended, put fetters on his servants: but from thence he hears them crying out.

VERS. 35.-- *Heaven, earth, sea.* [n: (CAS.)] According to the letter, that is, the heavenly things, the earthly, and the swimming things: these praise him, while from them the creator is praised. [n: (ID.)] It is the riches of a poor man to see created things, and thence to praise the creator. *Let them praise him,* etc. [n: (ID.)] What before he urged all together, now he urges one by one; or, let the heavenly things, the earthly, the swimming things praise him. And, that he may perfectly include all things, he adds: *All things that are in them:* [var: Vulg. Ps 68:35 *et omnia reptilia in eis*, "and all the creeping things in them"] thus every creature is invited to praise. [n: (HIER., CAS.)] As if he should say: *Let every [0951A] knee bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth [n: (Phil. II)]*. *And all the creeping things in them.* [n: (CAS.)] All monstrous kinds, sticking fast in earthly sins.

VERS. 36.-- *For God will save Sion,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] In the hope of the faithful people the building of the Church is brought to its end: whence every creature is urged to praise.

VERS. 37.-- *And they that love his name,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] Why go through them one by one? all who love thy name shall dwell there. [n: (AUG.)] These are the seed of the servants. For this verse expounds the preceding one.

## PSALM LXIX.

VERS. 1.-- *In remembrance.* [n: (CAS.)] Memory in two ways, etc., *as far as* and they take up the hope of the resurrection. [n: (AUG.)] The voice of those in tribulation for Christ, etc., [0951B] *as far as* first asking that they be helped, and that the wicked be put to shame.

VERS. 2.-- *O God, unto my help.* He urges that we glory in God, not in ourselves. [n: (CAS.)] Here every petition is an affirmation, whence tribulations are not to be feared. This little verse is said beforehand at the beginning of all the hours, because, when we are wont to pray, the devil strives most of all to tempt us, so that dying flies may spoil the sweetness of the ointment.

VERS. 3.-- *Let them be confounded.* [n: (CAS.)] To be confounded is to be troubled over one's perversity. *Let them be ashamed,* lest punishment, an offspring from justice, follow them. *That seek,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] The times in the Church are diverse: first there was the onset of persecutors, whence, *that seek;* now there remains the ill will of those who plot, whence, *that will.* [n: (ID.)]

[0951C]VERS. 4.-- *Let them be turned backward.* [n: (ID.)] There are two kinds of persecutors, etc., *as far as* he comes forth whole who is caught by neither.

VERS. 5.-- *Let all rejoice and be glad in thee.* [n: (CAS.)] He urges the good to be glad, whom, being needy, God helps and delivers. *Always.* Because he ought not ever to cease from his praise. *Let God be magnified.* [n: (CAS.)] [var: Vulg. Ps 69:5 *Magnificetur Dominus*, "Let the Lord be magnified"] Said after our manner, where one grows by praises; for it is not God, but we, who by praising make progress.

VERS. 6.-- *But I am needy.* [n: (CAS.)] What I exhort, I do, etc., *as far as* where he is rich, he ever goes about, desires and receives. *Delay not.* [n: (ID.)] That seems slow which is sought with great desire. [n: (AUG.)] Lest what thou art to come should seem to me too slow — which comes about through patience; and he who lacks it, to him it seems slow, and [0951D] he is turned aside from it: like Lot's wife, who became a pillar of salt, that she might season thee: for she is an example to thee, that thou look not back.



## PSALM LXX.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end.* [var: Vulg. Ps 70:1 has no *In finem*; the title begins *Psalmus David, filiorum Jonadab, et priorum captivorum*] [n: (AUG.)] Concerning the commendation of grace, etc., *as far as* grace is commended in almost every single syllable.

*Of the sons of Jonadab.* [n: (ID.)] To sons that are willing, etc., *as far as* who of themselves are evil.

[n: (CAS.)] Or thus: we are admonished in the title to have the devotion of the sons of Jonadab, etc., *as far as* but they, by their accustomed malice, remained in obstinacy.

VERS. 2.-- *In thee, O Lord, have I hoped.* The just man in general [0952A] speaks, from the beginning of the world unto its end: placing all his hope in God, he commends his grace, lest we presume upon false things in ourselves.

[n: (CAS.)] Or, the former captives are in the world, from which one can escape: the second in hell. Or, *of the former,* that is, of those who were taken by vices before they became sons of Christ. This whole psalm commends with the utmost earnestness the grace of God, which is given freely.

VERS. 3.-- *Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a place of strength,* etc. Two things he promised, two others he renders.

VERS. 4.-- *Of the sinner.* [n: (AUG.)] There are two kinds of sinners: some received the law, as the Jews and the Christians; others did not, as the pagans.

VERS. 5.-- *From my youth.* [n: (CAS.)] That is, from my conversion, or from the time when I began to fight against the devil. [0952B] [n: (AUG.)] *From my youth,* from the time when I began to hope in thee, etc., *as far as* a young man fights, but falls, unless God be his hope.

VERS. 7.-- *In thee is my song.* [n: (CAS.)] It is a delight to me to be in thee. *Always.* That the benefits may be unbroken. *Always.* [n: (AUG.)] Both in the present, etc., *as far as* against which nothing stands.

VERS. 8.-- *Let my mouth be filled.* [n: (CAS.)] He has told the benefits; now he asks that he may be able to give thanks. For if God does not fill the mouth, desire does not burn. *All the day thy greatness.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, without intermission, etc., *as far as* under the name of greatness therefore he includes all things.

VERS. 9.-- *Cast me not off.* [n: (CAS.)] Concerning the grace to be given in the time of old age and of decrepitude. *Of old age.* [n: (AUG.)] [0952C] Old age was in Christ, when he was made a wonder, when he was made weak upon the cross and mocked; and it is called old age because he took it on from oldness, whence: *Our old man is crucified with him [n: (Rom. VI)]*.

VERS. 10.-- *For my enemies have said.* [n: (AUG.)] This is said of Christ, who among the hands of his enemies was made weak, and, once seized, as though he could do nothing. But here this is said of his members, because he had such things also from our person.

VERS. 11.-- *God hath forsaken him.* [n: (AUG.)] Whence elsewhere: *Why hast thou forsaken me?* that is, why do they think me forsaken, to their own hurt. *For if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.*

VERS. 12.-- *Depart not from me.* [n: (CAS.)] They think him far off while he delays; *depart not,* that he may expose [them] to graver things [0952D].

VERS. 13.-- *Let them be confounded,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] Because the things ordained of God are not changed. *That detract my soul.* Otherwise, that set my soul at strife. [n: (AUG.)] That is, provoking us to resist God, which is to wage war against God; as those do to whom God is not pleasing in their adversities, which is to hold him unjust. The soul is also set at strife if it hates those from whom it suffers. *That seek.* [n: (ID.)] As Job's wife did, who said: *Say somewhat against God, and die [n: (Job. VII)]*. [var: Vulg. Job 2:9 *Benedic Deo, et morere*, "Bless God, and die"] As also Tobias's wife says: *Where are thy justices? [n: (Tob. IV, 2.)]* [var: Vulg. Tob 2:22 *Manifeste vana facta est spes tua*, "Manifestly thy hope is become vain"] She said this that God might be displeasing to him.

VERS. 14.-- *And I will add.* [n: (AUG.)] The addition of praise is, after the creation of all things, the praise concerning the incarnation [0953A] and the resurrection, which the lines below teach. *All.* [n: (AUG.)] Because, though he be praised in all other things, not yet in this, that he raised up our flesh unto the eternal way [cj: *viam*; read *vitam*, "life"], which is the praise added for the resurrection of Christ. Or, all praise would be there, and nothing would be lacking to praise, if he condemned sinners, because it would be justice; but because thou deliverest even these: *I will add above all thy praise.*

VERS. 15.-- *My mouth shall show forth justice.* Christ; but lest thou take it otherwise, he adds: *Salvation.* Why? because it is not approved that any man is justified by the works of the law. And this is: *Because I have not known learning,* that is, the figures of the law, through which I might be made mighty. *All the day.* [n: (AUG.)] Or thus, etc., *as far as* let him serve justice. *Because I have not known learning.* [n: (ID.)] I will preach thy salvation all the day, etc., *as far as* because [0953B] in habit he was found as a man [n: (Philip. II)], and the dead man rises.

VERS. 17, 18.-- *Thou hast taught me.* [n: (CAS.)] Through books, or by inspiring even until now: through the spaces of the times doctrine has grown. *Wondrous things.* That out of an unjust man a just man is made. *Wondrous things.* [n: (AUG.)] What is more wonderful than to raise the dead? etc., *as far as* this is "from my youth" and "now". *Youth.* [n: (ID.)] Some mark four ages of the Church, others that only three are distinguished, signifying the same by *now* and *old age.* Whence the youth of the Church was when the courage of the martyrs did battle. [n: (CAS.)] But the time going forward is "now", when faith advances through the churches. [n: (AUG.)] Old age, that is, the heavy time of life, when the charity of many shall begin to grow cold, as the times of the world diminish. *Decrepitude.* [n: (CAS.)] The declining time, etc., [0953C] *as far as* against whom the Lord says: *I am with you even unto the consummation of the world,* etc. [n: (Matth. XXI)].-- *Until I show forth thy arm.* [n: (CAS.)] While through the incarnation he sets the captives free. And the justice of judgment, that is, of punishing, whereby by a just judgment he condemns the sinning man.

VERS. 19, 20.-- *Even unto the highest.* And lest thou think that man alone stands in need of grace, etc., *as far as* he holds them together in that which they are.

*Even unto the highest.* Because the man who is God sits at the right hand of the Father, reigning with him. *The great things thou hast done.* Both are wonderful: that man is redeemed through grace, who through justice had been condemned.

*O God, who is like to thee? How great troubles hast thou shown me, many and grievous, and turning thou hast brought me to life again, [0953D] and out of the depths of the earth,* etc. To what person what grace belongs — namely to the captive person: the twofold resurrection of mind and of body; whence he promises thanksgiving.

VERS. 22.-- *In the vessels of psalm.* [n: (CAS.)] In the quickening of the spirit, or in the contemplative life.

VERS. 23.-- *My soul which thou hast redeemed.* [n: (AUG.)] With those inward lips with which it silently cries out to God.

VERS. 24.-- *When they shall be confounded and put to shame.* Then is there place for true and secure exaltation, when it is not permitted to the ungodly to bear rule.



## PSALM LXXI.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto Solomon,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] The true peaceable one, etc., *as far as* he who is here commended according to [0954A] each nature. [n: (CAS.)] The fourth psalm concerning the two natures of Christ admonishes that we should believe Christ, true God and true man, to be king, and it is a prophecy about Christ.

VERS. 2.-- *O God, judgment.* [n: (CAS.)] Concerning the judgment, in wishing that it be given to the Son. *Thy justice,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Note that repetitions of the same thing, or in other words, greatly commend the divine utterances, which are chiefly in the psalms: and in that kind of speech by which the affection of the mind is to be moved.

VERS. 3.-- *Mountains.* [n: (AUG.)] The Prophets, the Apostles, who by their height come near to heaven; *peace* to be announced to the faithful people, Christ. *And the hills.* Let them receive *justice,* that is, Christ, or *the mountains peace for the people:* and *hills* he says of both sorts of preachers, those going before and [0954B] those following. Or *let the mountains receive,* that is, the greater ones.

*Peace.* The word of reconciliation, namely the word of the Gospel, to this end, that they may announce it to the people.

*And the hills.* That is, the lesser ones; justice, that is, obedience, that they may obey the teaching of truth.

By saying *thine* and *thy own,* he shows that all things which are the Father's are the Son's also, and conversely.

VERS. 4.-- *He shall judge the poor of the people.* [n: (CAS.)] He treats the same matter concerning the same judgment, by affirming it. After the wish, by the power of prophecy, he says what things are to be furnished at the Lord's coming. [n: (AUG.)] Or according to another reading: *Justice shall judge the poor man.* But those codices which have [it] in the letter are the more approved. *The poor of the people.* That is, those who are poor among the people, in which the good and the bad are [0954C] mingled together. *He shall humble the calumniator.* For while he helps by his grace, etc., *as far as* he who strives to drag the innocent into guilt. [n: (HIERON., AUG.)] Or, *he shall humble,* and, the devil being conquered, *there shall remain with the sun* a brightness; that is, the Son with the Father, sitting at the Father's right hand for ever, that is *before the moon,* unto generation and generation.

VERS. 7.-- *He shall come down like rain,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] Behold who and of what sort is that king who is to judge. [n: (AUG.)] He alludes to the deed of Gedeon, etc., *as far as* and afterwards the Gentile world was rained upon, the fleece of the Jews being dry. [n: (CAS.)] Christ shall come down, etc., *as far as* who then, after such open likenesses, doubts of the Virgin's childbearing? *Into the fleece, and like drops.* [n: (AUG.)] *The fleece,* Judaea, which was to be despoiled of the authority of doctrine, as a sheep [0954D] of its fleece: or, because it withheld the rain of doctrine, which it was unwilling to preach to the Gentiles.

VERS. 8.-- *And he shall rule from sea to sea.* [n: (CAS.)] He shows what the breadth of the kingdom is. *From the river.* [n: (AUG.)] From the Jordan, where the voice was:. *This is my beloved Son.* Thence therefore his teaching began: thence the authority of the master is spread as far as the ends of the earth, the Gospel of the kingdom being preached. [n: (CAS.)] Thence the rule of baptism flowed out through the whole world. In few words he teaches great sacraments.

VERS. 10.-- *The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents.* [n: (CAS.)] The obstinate are called enemies, etc., *as far as* or, it can be taken historically of the kings who came to adore Christ.

[0955A]VERS. 12.-- *For he shall deliver the poor man from the mighty,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] He treats of his works, etc., *as far as* in the participation of justice.

VERS. 14.-- *From usuries.* [n: (AUG.)] *Usuries,* sins, etc., *as far as* by helping through grace to the doing of justice. Or, *from usuries,* concerning what is to come, that is, eternal punishments; and *iniquity,* that is, sin itself, for which the punishment was owed. *Name.* The Christian name. *Before him.* Because in his kingdom they shall live before him.

VERS. 15.-- *And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] Concerning the honour paid to the king. *Of Arabia.* [n: (AUG.)] By Arabia, the Gentiles; by gold, wisdom, which excels among the teachings. *Of him always.* [n: (ID.)] By multiplying, or by obtaining, or concerning his institution, because he himself taught us to pray.

[0955B]VERS. 16.-- *A firmament.* [n: (AUG.)] It belongs to the Prophets, because what they foretold he fulfilled. *On the tops of the mountains.* [n: (ID.)] The authors of the Scriptures, the Prophets and Apostles; whom he strengthens, because all things foretold by them have been fulfilled in him.

*In the earth.* Because for the sake of those who are on the earth all things were written. Whence he himself also came into the earth, that he might fulfil them.

*Above Libanus.* [n: (AUG.)] As Libanus brings forth tall cedars, so Christ brings forth saints to heaven. *Like hay.* [n: (CAS.)] It is not age that is compared to the old man, but greenness to the saints. The good, departing from this city of the present Church, shall flourish in that blessedness. [n: (AUG.)] In Genesis under the name of *hay* grain also is understood, etc., *as far as* and whatever [0955C] is held for great in this world shall be compared to the hay of the earth [sic: *corparabitur*].

VERS. 17.-- *Let his name be blessed,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] He admonishes all to speak praises to him, because all shall be blessed in him. *Before the sun.* [n: (ID.)] That is, before every creature, lest thou think the Son of God temporal. *All nations.* [n: (AUG.)] Lest thou take it of the twelve tribes, he adds *all nations.*

VERS. 18.-- *Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] He praises from his own part. Note the exclamatory blessing, with admonition and prophecy. *So be it, so be it,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] It is a magnificent thing, that he concludes thus: it belongs to one who wishes, to say it once; to one who desires exceedingly, to repeat it. As if he said: What thou hast commanded, Lord, so let it be done, let it be done, until what began from the river may reach as far as the ends of the earth. [n: (HIER.)] It is to be known that the seventy-[0955D]first psalm is the end of the second book: whence also at the end it has: *So be it, so be it,* for which in the Hebrew it is said: *Amen, amen.*

VERS. 20.-- *The praises have failed.* [n: (ID.)] This also is to be observed the more diligently, that that saying: *The hymns of David the son of Jesse have failed,* [var: Vulg. Ps 71:20 *laudes*, "praises"] belongs to the end of the seventy-first psalm. But that which follows: *A psalm of Asaph,* is the beginning of the next one.

A hymn has three things: the praise of God with a song: for unless it be sung joyfully, it is not a hymn: and he does not sing who does not love. If there be praise, and it is not of God, it is not a hymn: and if it be of God, and not with a song, it is not a hymn. Beyond his custom he adds: *the son of Jesse;* for David, a man, a certain son of Jesse, reigned in [0956A] Israel in the time of the Old Testament, in which the New was, but hidden: just as Christ also was in David and in Abraham, but hidden, as the fruit is in the root, yet does not appear. Now few of the Prophets knew both Christ and the New Testament, namely in secret, and they declared that it was to be revealed. In that time, therefore, for that kingdom in which the man, the son of Jesse, reigned, for carnal things of this sort a carnal people praised God. But that kingdom and the rest of this sort failing, the praise fails, not of the Son of God, but of *the son of Jesse.* And these things failing which God withdrew, that those things might be sought which lay hidden in them, *Asaph* speaks, that is, the Synagogue, but a faithful one, which piously worshipped God, although for the sake of earthly things, which it sought from God, not from demons, as the Gentiles did. But observing [0956B] blasphemers to abound in these things, for the sake of which it served, it began to waver, not knowing what lay hidden in these figures, as though there were not anything better which God might give: but admonished by these things withdrawn from it to seek those things which it does not have in common with the wicked, chastising itself with wonder, it says: *How good is Israel!* But to whom? *To the upright in heart.* [var: Vulg. Ps 72:1 *his qui recto sunt corde*, "to them that are of a right heart"] First therefore, describing the wickedness of the wicked, it says that it was jealous of their prosperity; yet corrected from that, and being corrected it corrects others.

[n: (CAS.)] Here it is treated, that *the praises have failed:* because God now does not give pleasant things, as to boys who are to be enticed to serve; and this the Synagogue says, which now bears witness against itself against that which it did before, that it may be the more credible.



## PSALM LXXII.

[0956C]VERS. 1.-- *How good.* [n: (CAS.)] He admonishes that we should praise God not for temporal things, but for eternal ones.

VERS. 2.-- *Feet.* [n: (CAS.)] For the judgment of the mind, which was at variance with the truth. *Steps,* headlong acts; *almost,* because he quickly returned.

VERS. 3, 4.-- *The peace of sinners.* [n: (AUG.)] Temporal, fleeting, perishable. *Seeing.* Not understanding. Because this peace is seen, it is not understood, it eludes the eyes, for it is fleeting and perishable. [n: (CAS.)] *The peace of sinners, for there is no turning aside to their death.* [var: Vulg. Ps 72:4 *quia non est respectus morti eorum*, "no regard for their death"] That is, they do not die quickly, but live long; although *a stroke* is sometimes not firm, as the scourge of correction lasts. *And a firmament in their stroke.* God does not have mercy by consolidating their strokes: or, by a likeness, that of an incurable man, [0956D] to whom nothing is forbidden.

VERS. 6.-- *They are covered with their iniquity and impiety.* [n: (CAS.)] Lest they come to their senses; not merely wrapped about, so as at least to have the head free, but wholly covered.

VERS. 7.-- *Their iniquity hath come forth as it were,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] There are some who are evil out of leanness, that is, out of need: others out of abundance, as the poor man steals out of want, the rich out of covetousness. *They have passed over.* [n: (CAS.)] As it were from the straight paths.

VERS. 8.-- *On high.* [n: (AUG.)] Openly, in the open: or, blasphemers against God.

VERS. 9.-- *Into heaven.* [n: (ID.)] As if they were gods; or, against God, whom they blaspheme, saying that God either does not know their own evils, or does not punish them. *The tongue hath passed over the earth,* etc. [var: Vulg. Ps 72:9 *lingua eorum transivit in terra*, "their tongue hath passed on the earth"] [n: (ID.)] Which speaks beyond the measure of humanity, [0957A] etc., *as far as* but their tongue passes beyond human frailty.

VERS. 10.-- *Therefore shall [my people] be converted.* [n: (CAS.)] Expounding Asaph, etc., *as far as* he shall return to it. *Here.* [n: (AUG.)] In this opinion in which I now am. *Full days shall be found in them.* [n: (HIERON.)] They are found perfect, although it does not now appear. [n: (CAS.)] Or, *the days are full,* when Christ came: these therefore are among the Jews, who have known Christ.

VERS. 11.-- *And they said.* [n: (AUG.)] Whence shall they be converted? etc., *as far as* this is why it seemed to them that he did not know this. *How doth he know.* [n: (ID.)] He does not say, He knows not: but he still hesitates and is near to health: and from so grave an infirmity health is the nearer, just as the sick are more feverish when health is at hand.

[0957B]VERS. 13.-- *And I said: Then have I in vain justified my heart,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] These things they said, for the confuting of whom I say these: or still in the person of one doubting. He says that he was deluded by foolish thoughts, so that, when he shall have repudiated them, he may the better provide for us.

VERS. 14.-- *And chastisement.* Otherwise also *my discloser in the morning.* [n: (CAS.)] Behold now the remedy, Christ the discloser, who disclosed the way of truth, and, rising in the morning, transferred our hope from the world to the heavens.

VERS. 15.-- *If I said.* [n: (ID.)] Behold, now he restrains himself by the authority of the saints, and now, with the truth near at hand, he deliberates thus: *If I said. Behold the nation.* [n: (AUG.)] He begins to resolve another incongruity. *I have reproved;* I judged that which is not. *I thought,* by the things aforesaid I wish to prove God not just; but in this manner I think, I do not [0957C] absolve. *Before me,* that is, as regards present things; or, greater than I, surpassing me, unless God open it. Or, behold the nation of thy sons, to which I have appointed, and with which I have sung together, understand it, meets and is over against me [cj: *obvia*; read *obviat*, "meets"], that is, my former preaching meets me, which I made to the Israelites, that they should worship God, who created all things, and who renders to all according to their works: the teaching comes against me, to which I agreed and to which I was fitted. But lest I should reprove the nation of the former fathers, or contradict my former teaching: *I thou[ght],* etc.

*Of thy sons.* For all, Abraham and the rest, teach otherwise, whom I ought to believe: for I am not wiser than all. But lest I should reprove: *I thought,* or, I undertook to know; he is now called back from his fall, who does not presume himself to be knowing against the saints. That I might know [0957D] the truth of this matter, which I did not before, while he was saying that God did not care for these things. I was thinking that I might know this: the first degree of knowledge, when a man knows that he does not know what he seemed before to know: and he repudiates the former sense, while he seeks another.

VERS. 16.-- *Labour is before me.* [n: (AUG.)] As it were a wall stands in my way, etc., *as far as* he sees them condemned in the judgment.

VERS. 17.-- *The sanctuary.* [n: (AUG.)] Christ, who as God discerns the merits of each. Or *the sanctuary,* the Holy of holies, that is, the secret of the divine disposition.

VERS. 17.-- *But yet.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] Behold what this man learned in the sanctuary: that the wicked are deceived here, and afterwards [0958A] at the end are to be forsaken by all; from which evil he himself was freed, who also sought earthly things, but from God; here he says that in this world the wicked are not free and unpunished; because although they are happy, yet they bear guilt and frequently run into ruins. *But yet,* that is, but: and here thou hast set for them this flower and abundance of temporal things, *because of deceits,* etc.

*Because of deceits.* [n: (AUG.)] Or, beside a slippery place. As if: In a deceitful manner thou hast dealt with them, giving evils under the appearance of good. Or, beside a slippery place, such as temporal things are: where they fall who are near by love; for while a deceitful man wishes to cast down another, he sets him beside a slippery place.

VERS. 20.-- *As a dream.* [n: (ID.)] An open comparison. With our eyes closed we see goods which presently, when they are opened, we do not find [sic: *mo*]; in life a dream: in death they awake, [0958B] knowing what it is. *In the city.* In the sight of thy people, or, while thy city is being established. [n: (HIER.)] Or in the heavenly Jerusalem their image, the likenesses of the deformities which they make for themselves: one a lion by ferocity, another a boar by the filth of lust. [n: (CAS.)] Or the glory of time, which is not true, but a likeness of glory: because when truth shall be wanting to them, the image shall perish; nor shall they retain the likeness, who shall have nothing of blessedness, therefore thou wilt destroy them, because through them,

VERS. 21.-- *My heart hath been inflamed.* That is, I envied the happy. *And my reins have been changed.* By which the standing, that is, the constancy of the mind, was dissolved, so that I loved prosperity; it is a grave fault to afford to others an occasion of sinning. *I am brought to nothing.* Clinging to vain things, made injurious to God. *I knew not.* It is a great and deep [0958C] ignorance not to know that thou sinnest. [n: (CAS.)] *In thy city the image.* Or this can be taken of the heretics, etc., *as far as* or in the supercelestial Church. *For it hath been inflamed.* [n: (AUG.)] Behold the conversion of this Asaph, etc., *as far as* they have been changed into spiritual ones

VERS. 24.-- *With,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Because before I was brought to nothing, that is, I went down to those things which are nothing: because I knew not that it was nothing, and afterwards I was made gentle as a beast of burden for the bearing of a load, and I shall always be with thee.

*A beast of burden.* [n: (CAS.)] With God they are in the place of cattle, who think against God: and yet, *erring* in these things, not knowing the judgments of God, I was always with thee in a manner, a stranger to idols, and believing thee, and thou didst hold me.

*Thou hast held my hand.* [n: (AUG.)] Because, although a beast, he did not depart [0958D] from God. *Thou hast held my hand,* that is, the power of the right hand, that is, thou hast covered him, in that he is always with thee, in that he is a son. *He gave,* indeed, *power to be made the sons of God to them that believe in his name. On the left,* a beast, loving these temporal things. Or the *right* hand.

[n: (CAS.)] Not the left. God holds the right hand, while he directs to good works, and delivers us lest we be drowned, as he did Peter. [n: (ID.)] Having seen the evil of the impious, and his own good, he accuses himself of his former state, because he sought earthly things from God, and he invites to the contrary.

[n: (AUG.)] He compares the heavenly reward with his own earthly pleasure, and accuses himself.

*For ever,* etc. From him I shall never be separated any more.

*Who go a-fornicating from thee,* etc. Contrary to this fornication [0959A] is chaste fear, which loves him freely, in whom it has all things.

VERS. 28.-- *In the gates of the daughter of Sion.* [n: (AUG.)] In public, or in the concord of the Apostles, who are the gates of the Church. Because preaching which is outside the unity of the Church is empty. Or, by virtues the Church is the daughter of Sion, that is, of contemplation.



## PSALM LXXIII.

VERS. 1.-- *The understanding of Asaph.* [n: (AUG.)] Of the Synagogue, etc., *as far as* that the hardness of the Jews might either be terrified by calamities, or softened. [n: (CAS.)] He admonishes, the figures being left behind, to pass over to the truth.

*Why, O God.* [n: (ID.)] Describing the irreparable overthrow of Jerusalem, he asks the cause, wherefore, wondering and complaining; and he prays for the people cast off, and for vengeance [0959B] upon the destroyers, which indeed is useful to them, and has already been done. *Thou hast cast us off.* [var: Vulg. Ps 73:1 *Ut quid, Deus, repulisti in finem*, without *nos*] [n: (ID.)] As it were strangers to thy protection. *Unto the end.* Not even the temple is spared. He signifies the destruction and the captivity, which came from Titus and Vespasian. He names sheep, that he may move the mercy of the loving shepherd. *Thine.* We take vengeance more temperately upon those whom we remember to have been ours at some time.

VERS. 2.-- *Thou hast possessed.* [n: (CASS.)] Or, thou hast created, although he creates and disposes all, yet the Jews especially, to whom he gave the law and the Prophets. *Thou hast redeemed.* [n: (HIER.)] Thee for a price, that is, through thee a price. *Mount.* [n: (AUG.)] An eminence; Sion is contemplation, in which, in which thing thou hast dwelt. Or it is redundant in it. [n: (HIER.)] The mount, or of mount Sion, or in it. Thus far the deeds of the true Testament; what follows is the truth promised. By Sion he signifies Jerusalem, [0959C] in which the presence of Christ dwelt, and therefore he entreats that he give it not over to devastation. *The rod of inheritance.* [n: (AUG.)] That congregation itself is called the rod of inheritance: wishing to possess which, he turned the rod of Moses into a serpent, but when the tail was seized it returned into a rod. [n: (HIER.)] Because death entered into the world by the persuasion of the serpent, the rod is in the serpent, Christ in death. Whence he also who looked upon the serpent, that is, believes Christ dead, is healed from serpents, that is, from eternal death. Moses was terrified and fled, so the Apostles when Christ was dying. The tail being held, that is, the later things, it becomes a rod, because first he was slain, afterwards he rose. The tail also is the end of the world, in which we return to the hand of God, and are made stable, we who through death, as through a serpent, have flowed away. [n: (AUG.)] But because these things are also of the Gentiles, he expresses of whom he [0959D] speaks, *Mount Sion.* That is, not of the Gentiles. Or, this mount Sion, which thou hast inhabited in it: *Lift up thy hand against their pride,* [var: Vulg. Ps 73:3 *Leva manus tuas*, plural] by whom Jerusalem was overthrown, that is, the kings of the Gentiles. *Unto the end,* because they too have now known Christ.

VERS. 3.-- *Lift up.* [n: (CAS.)] Thy power, that thou mayest turn their pride to humility, leading them unto the end, that is, Christ, which also has been fulfilled, because at Rome the Christian religion flourished. *Lift up,* because from being exceedingly superstitious she has been made most holy. *How greatly he hath done wickedly,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] The priests and the ministries of the temple were plunder. The whole nation was either slain or led captive. *The enemy,* the Roman army; and to this end he set *their* beforehand by prolepsis.

[0960A]VERS. 4.-- *They have gloried.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] Of their own victory. Behold that they did it not with a good zeal. Having gloried: whereas repentance is wont to follow a crime, these turn it to glory; *who hate thee,* the slaves of demons, who are by no means to be tolerated. *In the midst of thy solemnity.* Not in the outermost place, but in the middle court. Another reading: they committed sacrileges. *In the holy place.* [n: (CAS.)] In the sanctuary, through contempt of the holy temple, where the Godhead seems to be despised, it stirs up ill-will against the presumptuous. *Signs,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Eagles, etc., *as far as* that is, through the high places.

VERS. 5.-- *In the going out.* [n: (CAS.)] Or as in a going forth from above, that is, they did not know that this licence went forth from God. *As in a wood,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Before it was built, he prophesies the overthrow of the temple.

*With axe and hatchet they have defiled the tabernacle of thy name,* [0960B] etc. [var: Vulg. Ps 73:6 *in securi et ascia dejecerunt eam*; Ps 73:7 *in terra polluerunt tabernaculum nominis tui*] [n: (AUG.)] *The axe* cuts beams: *the hatchet* follows up more minutely. By this therefore he says that both great things and the least were cast down, so that the city was utterly laid waste, first cut down, afterwards the fire devoured all.

VERS. 7.-- *On the ground,* etc. Down to the ground they cast the roofs raised for the praise of God. He magnifies the crime, that it may be more atrociously avenged. [n: (CAS.)] Or the whole can be read in the person of the despairing Jews, etc., *as far as* who amid these things do not repent. [n: (AUG.)] These things they said, but how long dost thou endure the reproaches of the Jews: He did not say this in order that he might wish them to perish, but to be changed. *Unto the end* of the world, namely the evening, when the Jews shall be converted.

VERS. 9.-- *We have not seen our signs.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] [0960C] As if they should say: Deservedly have these evils befallen us, Because we have not seen the signs; as if he should say: We have seen, but we have not understood [sic: *dica*]: and truly we have seen, because this is the sign, that there is no Prophet, nor priest, nor unction; whence: *When the Holy of holies shall have come, there shall cease the unction [n: (Dan. IX)]* of yours. [var: Vulg. Dn 9:24 *et impleatur visio et prophetia, et ungatur Sanctus sanctorum*] *And he shall no more know us,* some Prophet, or God through a Prophet; that is, he shall not announce Christ as about to come, because he has already come. *Any more.* [n: (ID.)] Or he shall not know as yet, until, namely, the Jew acknowledge him.

VERS. 10.-- *How long?* etc. [n: (CAS.)] And as if he had suddenly come to know. *How long,* he subjoined, *doth the adversary provoke?* as if he should say: So long shall he reproach, as long as the adversary, that is, the Jew, provokes thy name. *Why dost thou turn away.* [n: (AUG.)] After the sign of the rod there was added [0960D] the sign of the hand of Moses; this is the people of God: which, sent forth outside from him, is unclean, but being called back returns into its own colour. He says therefore: How long dost thou not call back thy hand, that it may acknowledge the Saviour. *Thy hand and thy right hand,* that is, the Jews.

VERS. 12.-- *But God is our king.* [n: (CAS.)] The signs being destroyed, he shows the thing itself, namely, that in the coming of Christ salvation was made everywhere. [n: (AUG.)] *But God.* Asaph, understanding, says, etc., *as far as* [sic: *uque ad*] if therefore he did not go before, let him at least follow.

*In the midst of the earth.* [n: (CAS.)] Made man; Jerusalem is said to be in the midst.

VERS. 13.-- *Thou hast confirmed.* [n: (AUG.)] He made firm the fallings of the Red Sea, that there might be dry ground between. Whose [0961A] mystery he subjoins, that in the waters of baptism he annihilated the heads of the unclean spirits.

VERS. 14.-- *Meat.* [n: (AUG.)] Christ is meat, etc., *as far as* or they bite him by reproving, by accusing. [n: (CAS.)] Or while he tempts, he is meat, because thereby profit is made. Or, to the peoples of the Ethiopians. [n: (HIERON.)] To those unwilling to be converted thou hast given him for meat, in whom they may take delight.

VERS. 15.-- *Fountains and torrents.* [n: (AUG.)] In others the word is made, etc., *as far as* and he notes the abundance of preaching. [n: (CAS.)] Or the whole of the wicked. *Fountains,* whose evils flowed in continually: *Torrents,* who sin suddenly and rapidly: these God breaks up and dries. *The rivers of Ethan.* The floods and counsels of the devil.

*Thine is the day and thine is the night.* [n: (AUG.)] He illumines the day [0961B] but of unchangeable wisdom. The moon consoles the night, that is, the manifestation of the flesh: *The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us [n: (Joan. I)]*. And likewise: *Night to night sheweth knowledge [n: (Psal. XXVIII)]*. *The dawn and the sun.* [n: (AUG.)] Or *the moon,* that is, the carnal man, who like the moon is changed, who nevertheless is not to be forsaken. Or *the dawn and the sun,* that is, the beginning and the advance of wisdom, the unwise and the perfect.

VERS. 17.-- *Thou hast made all.* [n: (CAS.)] Or all things historically from this place: *Thine is the day. The bounds of the earth,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] The Apostles and Prophets: as boundary-marks distinguish the limits, so these guard the laws of the faith: or all things historically.

VERS. 18.-- *Be mindful.* [n: (CAS.)] Now what is done everywhere: he prays for the Jews, and by the benefits reckoned up he provokes the merciful judge [0961C]. As if he should say: Be mindful of this thy creature. *Of this.* [n: (AUG.)] Of thy creature; of what creature of thine? *The enemy hath reproached the Lord, and a foolish people hath provoked thy name,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Asaph with understanding grieves over the former blindness, and so prays for the Jews, that they may confess their errors. This he prays, which he knows will come to pass; for there were among the Jews vessels of mercy.

VERS. 20.-- *Have regard to thy testament.* [n: (ID.)] Let the remnant be saved, because many who tend toward the earth have been darkened and filled with earth. [n: (CAS.)] *Have regard.* Fulfil what thou hast promised; that thou mayest establish the New Testament, which is concerning eternal things. He calls the promise to mind, because merits are wanting. Likewise for this reason, because they have been filled with iniquities, whence darkness follows, [0961D] because they lose the light of wisdom, being filled with iniquities, because the houses of the earth have been darkened by an earthly habitation, that is, blind through love of earthliness.

VERS. 21.-- *Let not the humble be turned away, made confounded.* [n: (CAS.)] The acceptable is set for the hateful, that the love of the devout may temper the hatred of the obstinate. *Confounded.* [n: (ID.)] To be confounded belongs not to the humble, but to the proud, who attributes not to God but to himself.

VERS. 22.-- *Arise, O God.* [n: (CASS.)] Now Asaph (understanding) shakes off the earthly promises of the Old Testament. *Thy cause.* For they say: Where is thy God? He was despised by the Jews as he walked on the earth, and by false Christians as he sits in heaven. Judge therefore; let not my hope be deceived, who have believed what I have not seen. *Thy [0962A] cause.* After all things, he makes it the judge's cause, to whom the character of his own business is made known. *Thy cause,* against those who murmur, that with the truth made manifest they may preach what they foolishly denied. *All the day.* [n: (AUG.)] He says this for this reason, that the very continuance might rouse the mildness of the patient judge.

VERS. 23.-- *The pride of them that hate thee.* [n: (CAS.)] At the end he sets the execrable evil, which is pride.



## PSALM LXXIV.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end, destroy not,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] This psalm admonishes, etc., *as far as* that the Jews may believe, and not corrupt the faith.

VERS. 2.-- *We will praise thee, O God.* [n: (AUG.)] Certain therefore of what has gone before, he begins: *We will praise.* Repetition [0962B] is affirmation, lest it repent thee of having confessed: whence the Lord too doubles it. *Amen, amen.* So be it, so be it. And Joseph concerning the dream of Pharao, who saw seven ears of corn, and as many barren ones. And seven fat oxen and as many lean. [n: (CAS.)] Repetition is confirmation for the signifying of truth. One would suffice for the signifying of firmness; a second was added. To confess sins even once to an earthly judge brings in death, but frequent confession to God, life? Thence invocation, afterwards narration; whence follows: *We will narrate. We will call upon thy name.* [n: (ID.)] After confession God can be called upon, into a man thus cleansed: and as by confession he is emptied of evils, so by invocation he is filled with good things.

*We will narrate [sic: *Nafrubimus*] thy wonders,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] The proud man is terrified [0962C] by the judgment, etc., *as far as* in whose person it is subjoined:

VERS. 3.-- *When I shall take a time,* he receives after the manner of man what God himself gives, that is, the power of executing judgment. *Justices.* Therefore let those who are to be judged pray beforehand to be absolved.

VERS. 4.-- *The earth is melted.* [n: (CAS.)] He shows all to be inexcusable in the judgment, through this, that he sent before the Apostles and Prophets. *The earth and all.* [n: (AUG.)] Firm before, it flows away into divers concupiscences. Or, the earth, bound before by vices, when the Holy Spirit blew, was melted, that it might send forth the buds of virtues.

VERS. 5.-- *To do wickedly.* [n: (AUG.)] It is evil to sin; it is worse to persevere; pernicious, by defending [0962D] oneself, to pour back the fault upon God. *Lift not up your horn.* [n: (CAS.)] The vice of excusing is the greatest; he as it were raises a horn who strives to excuse his own sins through others, as through the persuasions of devils, or through the necessity of the stars.

VERS. 6.-- *To speak.* As those who say that they have sinned not by their own fault, but by the necessity of the stars, that it may be imputed to God, not to themselves. Or, those who know their own sins, but promise themselves impunity.

VERS. 7.-- *For neither from the east.* [n: (CAS.)] Why these things? because the judge is such that he cannot be avoided: because he is everywhere; for he is God. [n: (AUG.)] He judges from no place separately, who is everywhere present as God. [n: (CAS.)] Mystically. *The east,* those for whom the sun of justice [0963A] rises, etc., *as far as* because God is present and is a knower.

VERS. 9.-- *For a cup.* [n: (AUG.)] The cup, the law and all Scripture, etc., *as far as* what went before, *and he exalteth this one.* [n: (CAS.)] *A cup,* the law; *pure wine,* the heavenly mystery, etc., *as far as* not only the Jews.

VERS. 10.-- *But I will declare for ever: I will sing to the God of Jacob.* [n: (CAS.)] All shall drink, but severally: I, that is Christ, with the body, *will declare for ever,* as long as the world shall be.

VERS. 1.-- *The horns of the just,* that is, the gifts of Christ, which are the loftiness of the just.

## PSALM LXXV.

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle.* Because it treats of the good things of Christ, [0963B] namely that he is known, that he *dwelleth,* that he *enlighteneth,* that he *saveth.* It breaks the glory of the Jews. *To the Assyrians.* [n: (CAS.)] Against the Jews, who are not directing themselves, but erring. Or, because they raise themselves up, since without grace they seek salvation and persecute the Church, as of old the Assyrians persecuted the Jews. And these are here confuted, the names of glory being taken away, and are proved to be able to do nothing without grace.

VERS. 2.-- *Known in Judea.* [n: (AUG.)] The Jew glories that God is known to the Jew, and it is true; but to the Jew within, not in the flesh. [n: (AUG.)] The Prophet: if ye are Jews, then God is known among you: but if he is not, then ye are not Jews. *In Judea.* [n: (ID.)] The two sons of Joseph being taken up, with the remaining eleven sons of Jacob there are twelve tribes, await [cj: *exspecta*; read *excepta*, "the tribe of Levi being excepted"] the tribe of Levi, which was priestly, and lived on the tithes. Among twelve tribes the land [0963C] was divided. Among these one is Juda, whence the kings, and from the kingdom all are called Jews. They confessed Caesar, not Christ, and being of Juda they are now not Jews.

VERS. 3.-- *In Sion.* [n: (AUG.)] Mark the fitting order of the words: Judea is confession; after that, Israel, that is, seeing God, and thus there is a place in one at peace with God: whence follows: *In peace,* after *in Sion,* that is in contemplation (when he shall see God face to face), there shall be a habitation.

VERS. 4.-- *There he broke the powers.* [n: (CAS.)] In Judea, in Israel, in Salem, in Sion, where God the author of peace came, all these things (which are also the names of their glory) flee away.

VERS. 5.-- *Thou enlightening wonderfully from the everlasting hills, they were troubled,* etc. Diapsalma. Christ enlightens, [0963D] the Jew sleeps, Christ judges, that man perishes. [n: (AUG.)] Thou *enlightenest,* but through *the mountains,* who first receive the light, namely through the Prophets and the Apostles. But from the enlightening *all the foolish of heart were troubled.* He sets down thence why he is terrible in the time to come, etc. *They have slept.* [n: (CASS.)] Growing cold from eternal goods, they acquiesced in the flesh, not seeing the things that would profit them. *Their sleep,* which differs from the rest of the good: because this one is deceitful; seeing in a dream that they have treasures, when they awake they find nothing, whence he says: *And all the men of riches have found nothing.* The definition of the covetous. *They have found nothing.* Because they placed nothing in the hands of Christ, who says: *I was hungry,* etc. [n: (REM.)] For he hungered in the poor, who in heaven is rich. *Men of riches.* [0964A] Who place their only hope in the uncertainty of riches. Whence he does not say, having riches: for many have who do not love. *In their hands,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] As though they still sought in their hands, when they now know that they have held nothing.

VERS. 7.-- *At the rebuke,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] The noise of a rebuke is wont to arouse, but so great is the weight of the God who rebukes, that they slumber, that is, they have a hardened heart. *Who have mounted.* [n: (ID.)] Whose pride grew, not humbled by the humble Christ. *Horses.* [n: (CAS.)] Any secular exaltations whatsoever: whence it had been commanded in the law to the children of Israel, that they should not multiply horses to themselves. Solomon too had no horses from Judea, but used to buy them from Egypt.

VERS. 9.-- *Hearing from heaven.* [n: (AUG.)] Whence the Apostle: [0964B] *In the revelation of our Lord Jesus from heaven they shall come with angels to execute judgment [n: (I Thes. I)]*. [var: Vulg. 2Thes 1:7 *in revelatione Domini Jesu de caelo cum angelis virtutis ejus*, "with the angels of his power"]

VERS. 10.-- *When he should rise up,* that is, when he shall appear as mighty, who here was humble. Or, *when he should rise up* here from death, afterwards to come to judgment. [n: (AUG.)] When, coming from heaven, thou shalt make a hearing, that is, [make it] known to all. The power of the judgment is set forth, whence earthly men are terrified, and, their power lost, are still; it was still, when he should rise up. *The meek of the earth.* [n: (ID.)] Who have peace of mind, not refusing the yoke of God.

VERS. 11.-- *For the thought.* [n: (CAS.)] Diapsalma. He now admonishes the devout to offer vows. As if: deservedly he saves the meek. *For the thought,* that is, they shall praise thee in thought and in work, that is, *the remainders of the thought,* [0964C] etc. *The thought of man.* [n: (ID.)] The conception of a vow. *The remainders,* the rendering of the vow, the working, the things remaining after the thought. *The remainders of the thought.* [n: (AUG.)] Since the first thought, etc., *as far as* which is to celebrate solemnities. [n: (CAS.)] Because the Lord alone is he to whom festivity is owed: they shall render vows to God. The first thought condemns evils. *A remainder.* Because afterwards a man ought always to remember past evils, that he may mourn: although the clean man here keeps a feast-day, when he feels himself free from sin, as after amendment the Jews are commanded to offer a festal gift to God.

VERS. 12.-- *Vow ye and pay.* [n: (AUG.)] Some vows are common, concerning those things without which there is no salvation; others proper, as to vow chastity, and things of this kind. [n: (CAS.)] *Vow ye.* There are certain things which, not even promising them, [0964D] we ought to fulfil: as, Thou shalt not kill, and things of this kind, etc., *as far as* who are round about, that as servants they shall offer, or let them offer, etc. [n: (AUG.)] There are, as it were, middling ones, etc., *as far as* having the spirit of God, not of princes, that is, a proud spirit. *Gifts.* [n: (ID.)] Which are offered upon the altars. *To him that is terrible and to him that taketh away.* Whom the good fear, but the wicked do not fear. *The spirit of princes.* [n: (CAS.)] He takes away the spirit of pride or of fear, and makes them reins of his own, who govern their own body.



## PSALM LXXVI.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end, for Idithum.* [n: (AUG.)] The congregation speaks, passing over, that it may arrive at the end, who is Christ. It teaches therefore to trample upon the desires and enticements of the world, to set nothing before itself, save him from whom [0965A] all things are. [n: (CAS.)] Transcending all things, it seeks God and finds him.

VERS. 2.-- *I cried to the Lord with my voice.* [n: (AUG.)] With the intention of devotion toward the Lord, seeking nothing else from him, because he is Lord, and because he is God. *My voice unto him.* [var: Vulg. Ps 76:2 *voce mea ad Deum*, "with my voice unto God"] The voice is for this, for the sake of which it is uttered; this he adds, lest he be thought to cry to God for anything else than for himself, above whom there is nothing. [n: (CAS.)] He does not say what he asks, because there is no need that it be said to him who knows what is expedient. *He hath attended to me.* [n: (CAS.)] *For God to attend* is to give the whole of what is asked, and more than is asked.

VERS. 3.-- *In the day of my trouble I sought.* [n: (AUG.)] How didst thou seek? etc., *as far as* he who does not do justice before men, that he may be seen. *He refused to be comforted.* [n: (ID.)] He expounds the tribulation, etc., *as far as* [0965B] he who in all men either finds or fears a scandal, is secure in none.

VERS. 4.-- *And I was exercised.* [n: (AUG.)] Or, *I chattered,* that is, I exulted, speaking as a chatterer, who, for gladness, neither would nor could be silent: and again in chattering the spirit failed, which before had wasted away with weariness of evils.

VERS. 5.-- *They prevented the watches.* [n: (CAS.)] Diapsalma. God being found, who alone is good, he deliberates: will he bring him back? [n: (AUG.)] They prevented the watches of others. *My eyes,* like that man who rises before the time to his business. Or, *my eyes,* my affections. *They prevented,* the diligence of others. Or, by *watches,* he signifies the night offices which we make, and which we usually so call among the praises of God, and therefore: *Troubled.* [n: (CAS.)] [0965C] Because I could not obtain what I seek. *I spoke not.* I did not murmur against God. [sic: *Dum*] Or, *I was troubled,* because while by night he searches out the secrets of the mind, he sees the human race rushing into sins: and he is tormented with a loving grief for others, who has already passed beyond vices. *He is silent,* because by night he has not the solace of human conversation, at which time he thinks more warily; therefore he subjoins: *I thought upon the days,* etc. *My eyes.* Otherwise *my enemies prevented the watches.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, they watched over me, etc., *as far as* yet he does not cease, he wishes to transcend this also, whence he subjoins:

VERS. 6.-- *I thought upon the days of old,* etc. Therefore troubled: because *I thought upon the ancient days of Adam,* in which man fell. But over against *the ancient days, the years* he sets *eternal:* therefore *troubled,* because man desires these, and the eternal [0965D] he neglects. *I thought upon the days of old, and I had in my mind the eternal years.* [n: (CAS.)] What befell Adam for his disobedience? From him I have known this defect of man to be. And the eternal years, which by persisting he would have had, I had in my mind, which the foolish do not. *And moreover I meditated in the night,* that is, in this defect. *With my heart,* that is, with reason, whether in any way I might return to the eternal years. He speaks silently with reason, who is quietly exercised in it.

VERS. 7.-- *And I was exercised.* In that very meditation: *I swept my spirit;* I purged the mind. Others [read] *I winnowed my spirit,* thus dealing with myself:

VERS. 8.-- *Will he cast off for ever,* the human race? *that he may be more favourable.* As one who has already been [0966A] favourable by his grace in the Old Testament: will he not add that he may be more so in the New through the coming of the Son? this he thinks, who treats of God's goodness. *I was exercised and I swept.* [n: (AUG.)] Or, *I chattered,* not now outwardly, etc., *as far as* where he finds this, that *God will not cast off for ever. That he may be more favourable,* namely that he himself, who was angry by casting off, by bringing in evils, may be gentler by delivering, by calling back.

VERS. 10.-- *Or will God forget to shew mercy.* [n: (AUG.)] In another manner, there is no mercy unless God bestow it: and he himself will be without it. The stream runs, the fountain is dried up.

VERS. 11.-- *And I said: Now have I begun.* [n: (CASS.)] What he found by deliberating, namely that Christ changes men, and redeems them. [n: (ID.)] *And I said.* To this meditation, [0966B] etc., *as far as* when, passing beyond myself also, I came to God, here there is no danger. *I have begun.* [n: (AUG.)] Something, where I am secure, where enemies do not prevent me, now the Most High has begun to change me. *The change of the right hand,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] From wrath to mercy, in that of servants there are made sons. [n: (ID.)] Of this change, etc., *as far as* these are the things that soothe a holy man.

VERS. 13.-- *In thy inventions.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, in the precepts which thou hast invented, or by which thou art found. [n: (CAS.)] Or *in thy observances,* that is, in the precepts which are to be observed, I shall be exercised: because it is not enough to read the Scriptures, but it behoves to show the fruit of works: instructed by these he breaks forth into praises. [n: (AUG.)] *In thy inventions* or *thy affections,* not in mine; or there is affection in earthly things: so in the works and in the meditation [0966C] of God there is a certain inward affection, when the world is beheld, and in creatures the creator is sought, and is found nowhere displeasing, but everywhere pleasing.

VERS. 14.-- *O God, in the holy place.* [n: (AUG.)] By the things aforesaid I am certain that I shall come, and with him for guide. [n: (ID.)] *O God, in the holy place,* that is, in Christ, the way of returning to thee. And since this is so, *who is a great God?* etc. *Thy way.* [n: (ID.)] Of worshipping thee and of coming to thee, whence he joyfully prefers the power of God to the images, which were falsely worshipped.

VERS. 15.-- *Wonders.* [n: (AUG.)] The deaf, the blind, the feeble, the dead, the paralytic were healed. These things were done in bodies. In the soul certain men are sober, who a little before were drunkards, unbelievers, adorers of images. *To the peoples thy power.* [n: (ID.)] *To the unfaithful, that* they may know [0966D] Christ only in body, *to the faithful,* in reality and in Godhead; he subjoins: What thou hast bestowed, *thou hast redeemed.*

VERS. 16.-- *The sons of Joseph.* [var: Vulg. Ps 76:16 *filios Jacob et Joseph*] [n: (AUG.)] That is, the Gentile people. Or, by *Joseph* Christ is understood: because, as Joseph, sold into Egypt, reigned, so Christ reigned among the Gentiles, having first been humbled in the martyrs. [n: (ID.)] *Joseph,* who came to the Gentiles, is interpreted *increase:* and he signifies the Gentiles, from whom the people of God has been increased. Or, *Joseph,* Christ sold by the Jews, and driven to the Gentiles, *his sons,* whom he chose out of the Gentiles.

VERS. 17.-- *They saw.* [n: (CAS.)] Diapsalma. He expounds what things Christ works in the world. [n: (AUG.)] As if he should say: Since thou hast made thy power known, either through him [0967A] *they saw thee, O God the Father,* or, *thee, O Christ,* who art the power and the arm, etc.

VERS. 18.-- *A multitude.* [n: (CAS.)] Not a few, but *a multitude. The noise,* in the groaning for faults, in the giving of thanks: for the divers vows of the peoples sound as it were a broken sea. *The noise of waters.* [n: (AUG.)] Whence are these noises of waters, this troubling of the deeps? because *the clouds have uttered a voice,* of which: *I will command my clouds that they rain no rain upon it.* [var: Vulg. Is 5:6 *et nubibus mandabo ne pluant super eam imbrem*]

VERS. 19.-- *The voice of thunder.* [n: (CAS.)] The voice of thunder is rolled about, so that a wrinkled and winding sound is perceived. An allegory: *in the wheel* of the whole world. *A wheel.* [n: (HIER., AUG.)] It is that which he expounds as the circle of the earth, which the clouds went about, thundering with precepts, flashing with miracles. *The earth trembled.* [n: (CAS.)] They who dwell in the earth. That very [0967B] earth is called a sea by a likeness, because human life is bitter, subject to tempests, where the greater fish devours the lesser.

VERS. 20.-- *In the sea.* [n: (AUG.)] To the letter, when Christ walked upon the waters. Or, in the hearts of men, whom he subjects to himself. Or, by *the land,* the Jews; by *the sea,* the Gentiles are understood. *And thy footsteps shall not be known.* A silent rebuke of the Jews; as if he should say: Although he came openly, and showed himself by miracles, he was not known by the unbelieving Jews whom he led forth in the hand of Moses and Aaron, that is, by the working of the miracles which they did. *Thy footsteps,* etc. He touched some, that is, the Jews, who say, Christ has not yet come; they do not see him walking upon the sea.

VERS. 21.-- *As sheep.* Because they are not truly sheep, but [0967C] goats. *Of Moses and Aaron.* [n: (CAS.)] Moses is interpreted [sic: *intrepretatur*] *taken up from the river;* Aaron, *a mountain of strength:* by these names the powers which they wrought are expressed. Moses among other things made a way in the sea, signifying that the people is delivered through baptism. Aaron held the image of the Church, which is compared to a most strong mountain.



## PSALM LXXVII.

VERS. 1.-- *Understanding.* [n: (AUG.)] Because these things narrated, etc., *as far as* the things that seem open are parables and riddles. *Attend.* [n: (CAS.)] First the Lord himself speaks, that reverence may grow. *My people,* who obey me. The mouth of God is Asaph, who spoke these things below: *How great things we have heard from the beginning.* Of the Old Testament: or, the faithful Synagogue reproaches the wicked.

[0967D]VERS. 2.-- *In parables.* [n: (AUG.)] Parables are likenesses of things. *Propositions.* Which in Greek are *problemata,* questions having something to be resolved.

VERS. 3.-- *How great things.* [n: (CAS.)] He tells summarily what God did for the Jews: yet for men ungrateful to him, and thus, if not to them, it profits the sons nevertheless, lest they become as their fathers. [n: (AUG.)] First God spoke in a man, now the man himself: *How great things we have heard.* That foretold word God spoke from himself, lest his speech be despised.

VERS. 5.-- *And he raised up,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] This testimony. *The beginning,* whence above: *I will utter propositions from the beginning.* The beginning is the Old Testament, the end the New. There is fear, which is the beginning: but here is Christ, *the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that believeth [n: (Rom. X)]*, who gives the Spirit, [0968A] whence: *Charity, which drives out fear [n: (I Joan. IV)]* [var: Vulg. 1 Jo 4:18 *perfecta caritas foras mittit timorem*, "perfect charity casteth out fear"]. The old law is called the testimony of this New Testament, because it has testimony from the law and the Prophets: whence that was called the tabernacle of testimony which prefigured so many mystical things: *Testimony* therefore the Old Testament is called in so far as it proves and testifies, law in so far as it commands. [n: (CASS., REM.)] *He raised up* the testimony as though dead in Adam, that is, the law; or, while it is written down it is raised up, having been lulled asleep before by ignorance. *A testimony in Jacob,* this perhaps is that Jacob, having wrestled with the angel, went halt when his thigh was touched: which signifies that the Jews partly stand fast in faith, partly depart from salvation: and so what befell Jacob was a testimony of this thing. Behold a parable. *To their sons.* And these same sons are another generation, namely the people of grace.

[0968B]VERS. 6.-- *Another generation.* Through the generations the commandments of God were handed on, lest any think them given to one only.

VERS. 7.-- *That they may set.* This is the profit of the fathers' preaching. *Let them seek out.* [n: (AUG.)] Those who were said above to have known, now *let them seek out,* that hoping in God they may be helped by him to fulfil it.

VERS. 8.-- *Froward.* [n: (CAS.)] Which does not receive the truth, and is therefore twisted, *provoking* beyond all bitternesses, so that they were armed against the Saviour. Whence by Ezechiel the Lord says: *Go and speak to the provoking house [n: (Ezech. II)]*. *It set not its heart aright.* [n: (ID.)] He has a twisted heart who does not correct what he has ill understood, and does not perform what nature teaches: *His spirit was not trusted with God [n: (Joan. I)]*, that is, and if reason persuaded him well, he yielded to it. [0968C] *It was not trusted.* [n: (AUG.)] When the spirit of man works together with the Spirit of God working, that is done which God commands: and this is not save by believing in him who justifies the ungodly, which faith the froward and embittering generation has not.

[n: (ID.)] He speaks much more expressly, etc., *as far as* but that generation, although it believed God, yet not in God.

VERS. 9.-- *Shooting the bow.* [n: (AUG.)] He speaks figuratively, etc., *as far as* David to his brethren, so the Christian people to the people of the Jews. Or, *The sons of Ephrem.* [n: (ID.)] *Bending and shooting the bow,* that is, shooting something with a bow. Or, *bending the bow,* and shooting arrows, that is, promising to keep the law, saying openly: *All things whatsoever the Lord shall say to us, we will do [0968D] and we will hear [n: (Exod. XXIV)]* [var: Vulg. Ex 24:7 *Omnia quae locutus est Dominus, faciemus, et erimus obedientes*, "all things that the Lord hath spoken we will do, and we will be obedient"]. *They were turned* and failed *in the day of battle,* that is, of temptation; whence Osee the prophet says: *Ephraim is become [sic: facti] a dove [sic: *fuctus*] without understanding, not having a heart [n: (Ose. VII)]* [var: Vulg. Os 7:11 *factus est Ephraim quasi columba seducta non habens cor*, "as a dove that is decoyed"], because not hearing, but temptation proves the promise of obedience.

*Of his benefits.* [var: Vulg. Ps 77:11 *benefactorum*, "his good deeds"] [n: (EUTHYM.)] Of the benefits which he conferred upon the people of Israel, as, that he led them through the Red Sea unwetted. *Of his wonders* however he says, because he had turned the rivers of the Egyptians into blood. But as to his saying that God showed these things to them, he does not say it as though they themselves had seen them with their own eyes, but because they received them so from their elders.

VERS. 12.-- *Before their fathers,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] He begins now to tell what he did for them from the leading out of Egypt: [0969A] and yet they did not cease from murmuring and from temptation. [n: (AUG.)] *Before the fathers.* Who the fathers are, etc., *as far as* the wood of the cross coming to it as the rod of Moses. *In the land of Egypt.* [n: (ID.)] That he may take away all doubt, he names both the province and the place of the deeds. So Christ, set upon the earth, knew before the fathers, and taught the humble commandment: *Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart. [sic: *Discit*] [n: (Joan. VII.)]*

VERS. 14.-- *In a cloud.* [n: (HIER. et CASS.)] This they judged to be future. *The day* is Christ, yet he is hidden from the faithless by the *cloud* of the flesh; and as for them the *cloud* against the heat of the sun, so for us Christ through the incarnation gives refreshment against the heat of vices. *All the night,* all the time of life. *In the light of fire.* The fire of the Holy [0969B] Spirit keeps Christians in this world by the brightness of his name.

VERS. 15.-- *The rock.* [n: (CASS.)] *In the wilderness.* Before, the water of the sea was as a rock, now the rock is a fountain. *In the wilderness,* where the gift must needs be the more welcome. *He gave them drink.* As cattle, not as men, because they gave no thanks.

VERS. 16.-- *As.* [n: (CASS.)] The water which comes forth from Christ fails by no diminishing, but becomes a fountain of water springing up unto life everlasting.

VERS. 17.-- *To sin yet more.* [n: (CASS.)] They added this, that amid so many benefits they did not believe: and that this might be understood as the greatest sin, when the Lord had said in the Gospel: *The Spirit shall convince the world of sin,* he added by way of exposition: *Of sin indeed, because they believe not in me [n: (Joann. IV, XVI)]* [var: Vulg. Jo 16:9 *quia non crediderunt in me*, "because they have not believed in me"]. As therefore he there calls sin *not to believe,* so here by *to sin* he means, not to believe. [0969C] *Unto wrath.* [n: (ID.)] Not believing that God could do hard things for them, which is most grievous in the sight of God; so we too, washed by baptism, provoke God to wrath. *In the waterless place.* [n: (AUG.)] Either in another wilderness according to the letter, or rather in themselves, because although the skins were full of water from the rock, their minds nevertheless were dry.

VERS. 19.-- *A table.* [n: (CASS.)] Mystically, the refreshment of wisdom, or the body of Christ.

VERS. 21.-- *Therefore he heard.* [n: (CASS.)] In that, vengeance being deferred, he gave first what they were asking, lest he should seem not to be able. *He deferred.* [n: (AUG.)] The punishment; giving first what it was asking, though by way of tempting, lest he should seem not to be able: and after he had given, fire, that is wrath, went up upon Israel. And this is what he said before: *A fire was kindled in Jacob.*

[0969D]VERS. 23.-- *And he commanded.* Both were set down briefly, namely that he heard, and that wrath went up; here he begins to tell it openly. And first he follows out how he heard, afterwards in the following part how he took vengeance. *And the gates of heaven.* [n: (CASS.)] The gates are the preachers themselves, by whom entry is made into heaven; or the Scriptures. *He opened.* Because he gave his Spirit to his own, that they might understand the Scriptures.

VERS. 24.-- *Manna to eat.* [n: (AUG.)] It signifies the bread which came down from heaven, which is the food of angels: which, that man might eat it, *the Word was made flesh [n: (Joan. I)]*, who is rained upon the whole world through the evangelical clouds, and, their hearts being opened as heavenly gates, is preached to the believing Church, [0970A] not to the tempting Synagogue. [n: (CASS.)] *Manna, what is this?* because this food is sought after with wonder, and is known to be the body of Christ. *The bread of heaven.* [n: (ID.)] No other than Christ, by whom the heavenly ones, that is the angels, are refreshed in the contemplation of him; and this bread, that is the Word, on which great food the angels are fed, made milk through the flesh, man eats.

VERS. 26.-- *The south-west wind.* Because the quails are there.

VERS. 27.-- *And he rained upon them,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] So also a little faith, etc., *as far as* whence: *If I have told you earthly things, and you believe me not, how, if I tell you heavenly things?* etc. [n: (Joan. III.)] [var: Vulg. Jo 3:12 *Si terrena dixi vobis, et non creditis : quomodo, si dixero vobis caelestia, credetis*, "how, if I shall speak to you heavenly things, will you believe"]

*As dust.* [n: (CASS.)] *Dust* here signifies the subtlety of understanding, which climbs to the things above. *Sand,* the countless abundance of prudence seasoned [0970B] with the savour of salt. *Feathered fowls.* Heavenly desires, on which the soul is fed and grows fat: these we can receive within the enclosures of the Church, whence he adds:

VERS. 28.-- *And they fell in the midst of their camp.* [n: (AUG.)] Signifying by this that the winds come of their own accord to men, and carry to them the words divinely sent, that they may hear them in their own seats, and about their tents: because their sound went out into all the earth.

VERS. 29.-- *And they did eat.* They were convicted, who had thought this impossible to God.

VERS. 30.-- *As yet their meats,* etc., *and the wrath of God,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Of the punishments, and of their feigned returnings, through fear of penalties: and yet the sentence of God is tempered by mercy. *Their meats.* [n: (ID.)] The manna, the quails. *He hindered the chosen of Israel.* [n: (AUG.)] That [0970C] is, he hindered them from profiting those whom they desired to counsel with a father's affection. Or rather, he fettered them, that the chosen might bear troubles together with them for an example, not of righteousness only, but of patience also. *He hindered.* [n: (ID.)] By their murmuring, as Moses, who said: *Can we bring forth water for you out of the rock? [n: (Num. XX.)]*

VERS. 32.-- *In all these things they sinned still, and they believed not in his wondrous works.* Corrected after all these things, the sins are the graver, which ever increase.

VERS. 33.-- *And they failed,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Whereas they might, by believing, have had their days in truth without failing. *Their days in vanity and their years.* [n: (CASS.)] From the likeness of him who dies at his rising: he was born in vain. *With haste.* [n: (AUG.)] And the life which seems the longer [0970D] passes quickly.

VERS. 34.-- *They sought him.* [n: (CASS. et AUG.)] Not those slain, but those left. Yet he speaks thus because they are one people, as of one body. *Early they came to him,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Diligently, or before the light; whence: *It is vain for you to rise before the light.* The godly man prays in the light, the ungodly before the light. *They sought.* They returned, they came. [n: (AUG.)] All these things for the sake of gaining temporal goods and of avoiding evils: and so not God, but those things were worshipped.

VERS. 37.-- *Neither were they counted faithful in the covenant,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] He who truly believes does works: whence faith is so called because the things said are done; whence he says: *Nor faithful in his precepts.*



## PSALM LXXVII. (cont.)

[0971A]VERS. 38.-- *But he is merciful, and will be propitious.* [n: (AUG.)] Here the wicked promise themselves impunity, but there is mercy even for the wicked, yet before the judgment, because he makes the sun to rise upon the good and the evil. So he spared that nation also, that he might not root it out utterly, but it abides in the succession of those that come after, as Cain when he had received the sign, that none should slay him. *Their sins,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Of the people, which is the same in the succession of the sons; as also afterwards *he took them away out of Egypt, and brought them into the mountain of his sanctification [n: (Gen. IV)]*, whereas not them, save in the succession. So here too, when it is said: *he will be propitious to their sins,* we understand that also to be fulfilled which is said by the Apostle: *The remnant shall be saved [n: (Rom. IV)]*, which shall believe in Christ, and this he foresaw here, when he adds: *And he scattered them not. And he abounded that [0971B] he might turn away,* [var: Vulg. Ps 77:38 *et non disperdet eos*, "and he will not destroy them"] etc., because: *He kindled not all his wrath,* etc. That is, he did not punish them as much as they deserved: because he forgave even this, that they slew the Son.

VERS. 39.-- *A spirit that goeth and returneth not,* etc. [var: Vulg. Ps 77:39 *spiritus vadens et non rediens*, "that goeth and cometh not again"] Therefore he calls them back by grace, because by themselves they cannot return: whence in the Proverbs it is said of the way of iniquity: *All that walk in it shall not return [n: (Prov. II)]* [var: Vulg. Pr 2:19 *Omnes qui ingrediuntur ad eam non revertentur*, "all that go in unto her shall not return"], namely by themselves, but by grace they shall be called back. This is the wandering sheep, which was brought back to the flock upon the shoulders of the loving shepherd.

VERS. 40.-- *How often.* [n: (CASS.)] Being about to tell the plagues of Egypt, wrought for their sake, by comparing their evils with the benefits of God, he says that they forgot, and that they tempted God. [n: (AUG.)] Because they are flesh, or a spirit that goes, how often then? as though to say, they provoked him many times.

[0971C]VERS. 41.-- *And they turned back,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] He repeats their unbelief, that he may call to mind what plagues God brought upon the Egyptians for their sake, whence they ought to have been not ungrateful.

VERS. 42.-- *From the hand of tribulation.* [var: Vulg. Ps 77:42 *de manu tribulantis*, "from the hand of him that afflicted them"] [n: (CASS.)] Tribulation is wont to be kept in memory, but not by them. Beautifully he sets the hand of God against the hand of Pharao, saying: *His hand and from the hand of [sic: tribu];* which differ greatly. [n: (AUG. et CASS.)] Mystical interpretations from this place.

VERS. 44, 45.-- *And he turned,* etc. *He sent upon them wrath,* etc. Here he begins to set forth the plagues wrought in Egypt for the deliverance of the Jews, and he sets down ten plagues, as in Exodus ten. Yet certain things are set down here which are not in Exodus, which we cannot interpret save figuratively, where also the things that were done are called parables, [0971D] as he is often wont not to follow the order of the history, but to add other things, or to change certain things for the sake of the signification. *Water* therefore *into blood* signifies to think carnally of the causes of things. *The dog-fly.* [var: Vulg. Ps 77:45 *coenomyiam*, the common fly] They are dog-like manners. *The frog.* Talkative vanity.

VERS. 46, 47.-- *Blight.* Which others interpret as rust, harms in secret, and is likened to a vice that hardly appears, such as to trust much in oneself. For a noxious breath works this in the fruits unseen: so in manners does hidden pride, when he thinks himself to be something who is nothing. *The locust.* Malice hurting with the mouth, namely by faithless testimony.

*Hail.* It is iniquity carrying off the goods of another; whence thefts, robberies, plunderings. But the waster himself is more wasted [0972A] by his own vice. *Frost.* The vice by which charity toward one's neighbour freezes in the darkness of folly as with the cold of night.

VERS. 48.-- *Fire.* Which in Exodus is not taken save with the hail in the lightnings, that it might hurt the fruits: which nevertheless is not read to have burned the possessions, signifies the monstrousness of anger, by which murder also is done. By the death of the cattle the loss of chastity is signified. Concupiscence, from which offspring arises, is common to us with the beasts: to have this tamed and ordered is the virtue of chastity. *The death of the firstborn.* It is the loss of the righteousness by which each man is sociable to the human race. The Egyptians were smitten with ten plagues against the ten commandments written on the tables. And here are ten plagues, though they be not set down in that order, but in place of three which [0972B] are in Exodus, that is the sciniphs, the boils, the darkness, which are not here. Three others are here which are not there, rust, frost, and fire. For such things are frequently varied for a fitting understanding. *Signs.* [n: (CASS.)] They are, upon hard hearts, as it were the traces of a stamp impressed. *Wonders,* which betokened certain things to come. *Thanis,* [var: Vulg. Ps 77:12 and 43 *Taneos*] a city, the humble commandment, which is necessary for us here, that in the time to come we may be raised up. *And he gave to the blight.* These things are not read in Exodus, therefore let them be expounded only by a mystical interpretation. *The locust.* [n: (AUG.)] Devouring one another, it signifies detractors, who out of envy gnaw the fruits of others. *Their mulberry trees with frost.* [n: (AUG.)] The mulberry is of a warm nature, by which charity is understood, which is killed by the frost. *To the hail* [n: (ID.)] The things the hail could not hurt, that is the soft ones, Exodus afterwards says were eaten [0972C] by the locusts. *He delivered up.* [n: (CASS.)] By the death of the cattle the fall of fools is shown.

[n: (ID.)] *To fire. Fire* is covetousness, which lays waste the possession, that is, the state of the mind.

VERS. 49.-- *The wrath of his indignation,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] The order of vengeance: first God is angry at their sins, and when they are not pricked in heart, then he abandons the malice of man in his own indignation, wrath and tribulation, that they may be afflicted by their own adversities who do not obey God, as it is said there: *Therefore he delivered them up unto a reprobate sense [n: (Rom. I)]*. The indignation of man belongs to swollen pride; wrath, to unspeakable audacity; tribulation, to confounded despair: then through the devil they are hurled headlong into unlawful assaults, stripped of the defence of God. *By evil angels.* [n: (AUG.)] By the judgment of God [0972D] these things were done, etc., *as far as* by evil angels therefore God punishes both good and evil men, but the good with bodily punishments only, the evil with punishments both bodily and spiritual.

VERS. 50.-- *Of his wrath.* [n: (AUG.)] There was a path of the wrath of God, by which with hidden equity he might punish the Egyptians; and for it God made a way, that he might bring them forth as out of hidden places, through evil angels, into open crimes, and so punish them openly.

VERS. 51.-- *The firstborn in Egypt.* [n: (AUG.)] The firstborn are the highest commandments, as: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart; and when these are not kept we are bereaved of the offspring of reason.

VERS. 52.-- *And he took away his people as sheep, [0973A] and he led them like a flock in the desert.* [n: (AUG.)] Mystically. This is done within us also, where, being taught, we are carried over in mind out of the power of darkness into the kingdom of God, sheep in spiritual pastures. [n: (CASS.)] *And he took away.* In that he led those brought out of bondage into the land of promise; and again they offend.

VERS. 54.-- *And he brought them into the mountain of his sanctification.* [n: (AUG.)] Not the same men whom he took away, but those of the same name and nation; yet it signifies that many were converted to the Church, which he would rather have understood; she is the mountain which Christ purchased. *And he cast out the nations from before them,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Or the malignant spirits. All which things Christ cast out from before the faithful; *and he divided them the land by lot.* By this it is signified that one and the same Spirit works all things in us, dividing [0973B] to every one according as he will.

VERS. 55.-- *In their tents.* [n: (CASS.)] In which sins reigned, he made virtues to reign.

VERS. 57.-- *Even as their fathers were turned,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Throughout he speaks as though of the same men: yet now of those in the land of promise, whose fathers they were who embittered him in the desert. *A crooked bow,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The perverse intention of the mind, as against God, who had said: *Thou shalt not have strange gods [n: (Exod. XX)]* [var: Vulg. Ex 20:3 *Non habebis deos alienos coram me*, "thou shalt not have strange gods before me"], which he opens more fully. *Provoked unto wrath,* or, *into a crooked bow,* which is unbent with difficulty, and they themselves easily went back. Or, *a crooked bow,* which does not shoot from afar, but turns its darts upon itself, that is, the malice of the deceitful.

VERS. 58.-- *To jealousy.* Or they were jealous; [0973C] another reading, when they give the honour of God to another.

VERS. 59.-- *God heard.* [n: (CASS.)] Of the vengeance in the land of promise, which was turned back also upon the very men through whom he punished.

VERS. 60.-- *And he put away the tabernacle.* [n: (AUG.)] At that time of Eli the priest, when they were overcome by the Allophyli, and the ark of the Lord was taken, and they themselves laid waste with a great slaughter. For it is read in the book of Kings that there fell then of the people thirty thousand footmen. *He put away the tabernacle of Silo.* [n: (BEDA.)] Which was in Silo, etc., *as far as* but because they did not attend to it, nor made a tabernacle for God: therefore the Lord deservedly put it away. *He dwelt among men.* [n: (AUG.)] Since therefore there was nothing worthy in which he might dwell, he put away that which he had appointed not for his own sake, but for theirs. [0973D] [n: (CASS.)] So he forsakes our bodies, which the Holy Spirit inhabits while they are well treated.

VERS. 61.-- *And he delivered up.* [n: (CASS.)] For if the good too are delivered into captivity along with sinners, it is a discipline; they are not captives in mind. Or, delivered to the enemy, but free and joined to God. *Of their virtues.* [var: Vulg. Ps 77:61 *virtutem*, "their strength"] [n: (AUG.)] He diminished the liberty of choice, and took away the virtues in the wicked, which is not so in the good, although at times they are taken captive bodily along with the wicked.

VERS. 65.-- *And he was awakened.* [n: (CASS. et AUG.)] He ascribes the manners of men to the Lord, for the sake of explaining the matter [sic: *proptes*].

*As one asleep.* This is said in the person of the mad, who think thus, when he does not come to the aid of those in peril, that he is drunk with wine, when he does not come to their aid so [0974A] quickly. And in truth he does sleep for those who so madly think, and is a stranger, both to the negligent and to the unbelieving, who rouse him by no voice of praise or of work. But he is roused to vengeance by evil deeds, as here by the sins of those who set the ark among the idols. *As a mighty man,* because men are then quick to wrath, and mighty for feats of strength, when after a debauch they rise from sleep. [n: (AUG.)] *And he was awakened.* Christ, drunk with the wine of the passion, sleeping in the sepulchre, was awakened from death, as a mighty man in the resurrection. [n: (ID.)] *As one asleep.* He seemed to sleep when he gave his people into the hands of those whom he hates: where it is said to them: *Where is thy God?*

VERS. 66.-- *And he smote iniquity.* [var: Vulg. Ps 77:66 *percussit inimicos suos in posteriora*, "he smote his enemies on the hinder parts"] [n: (AUG.)] He shall be tormented with this punishment, etc., *as far as: reproach* indeed [0974B] *everlasting he gave to them.*

VERS. 67.-- *And he put away.* [n: (CASS.)] Of king David, and of the seat of the kingdom. [n: (AUG.)] He did not say, etc., *as far as* thus he proceeds from the beginning of the election of the Hebrew nation down to Christ.

VERS. 69.-- *As,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Unicorns are they whose firm hope is raised up unto that one thing, of which it is said: *One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after. His sanctuary.* It is the holy people, a royal priesthood.

VERS. 70.-- *David his servant.* [n: (AUG.)] Who of Juda, etc., *as far as: the teeth* of the Church are they through whom she speaks, or through whom she passes the rest into her own body as though by eating. *A flock of shorn sheep* it is called, because it laid down the burdens of the world as fleeces, and laid at the feet of the Apostles the prices of the goods it had sold; [0974C] *coming up from the washing* of baptism, it brings forth twins, that is, the works of the twofold charity; whence: *there was not a barren one among them;* from these Christ was carried over, but he feeds among the Gentiles the flocks which are Jacob and Israel.



## PSALM LXXVII. (cont.)

VERS. 71.-- *Jacob. Israel his inheritance.* [n: (AUG.)] He repeats it: Unless it be said that now, according to this present state, Jacob is a *servant:* when he shall see face to face, an *inheritance.* Whence also he received the name: for Israel is so called from the contemplation of God. He carried him over to this end, that he might feed him, and so he did.

VERS. 72.-- *And he fed them,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] It seems perhaps, etc., *as far as* and he taught this which he did.

## PSAL. LXXVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of Asaph.* [n: (CASS.)] The second psalm of lamentation. He prays Christ to come to the help of the nation which for its hardness is to be grievously [0974D] afflicted. We are admonished to rejoice at the good things of our neighbours, and to be afflicted at their calamities.

*O God, the nations are come.* [n: (ID.)] The first thing is the complaint, and there are numbered how great things Jerusalem bore in the times of Antiochus, when it was not destroyed, and by these the persecution of the Church is signified. [n: (AUG.)] *They are come.* He does not speak as to one that knows not, etc., *as far as* but now they are plainly fulfilled.

*Into thy inheritance.* [n: (ID.)] Of the people of Israel; the inheritance of God are the elect, but not the blinded; therefore these things can be said of the times after the ascension of Christ; but also before Christ had come, for then too there was an inheritance, where the Prophets were, and the saints led away into Babylon; or most of all under Antiochus. [n: (CASS.)] But if [0975A] any man, etc., *as far as* whose circuit is through the whole world, where the persecution also is.

VERS. 2.-- *The dead bodies.* [n: (CASS.)] Carcases, as though they raged not only against the living. To bury belongs to piety, to cast forth belongs to cruelty. *They have poured out.* [n: (ID.)] He heightens it, that he may move the judge.

VERS. 4.-- *We are become.* [n: (CASS.)] The glory of Jerusalem, wonderful in the whole world, is turned into *a reproach to our neighbours,* which is heavier than if it were to men far off, because these are always at hand. Or, the neighbours are the affections, the kinsfolk being now willing to believe, so that the martyrs say this.

VERS. 5.-- *How long, O Lord?* [n: (CASS.)] A prayer on his own behalf against enemies and insulting neighbours; as though they rage thus: But, O Lord, how long? [n: (AUG.)] He asks that he be not angry unto the end, that is, that [0975B] that laying waste may not continue, but that he temper his correction. By the name of *wrath* is understood the vengeance upon iniquity, by the name of *jealousy,* the exacting of chastity, that the soul may not commit fornication away from God. Note that this befalls men for their sins, though they be just, as the three children and the Prophets in the captivity bear witness. *As fire.* [n: (ID.)] Burn so long, until the gold of the virtues be perfectly purged, and the wood, that is the vices, be turned to ashes.

VERS. 7.-- *They have devoured.* [n: (AUG.)] By delivering them to the teeth of wild beasts. *They have laid waste,* by the overthrow of the city, which was stripped of its own citizens, or because they slew those put in the place of the citizens who had been slain; Jacob for the man, the man, that is, for the nation which offended. The patriarch is pleasing, that the memory of him may soften the sins of the people. *Jacob.* [n: (AUG.)] This is the inheritance spoken of above. *The place.* [n: (CASS.)] The city, where the temple was, to which they were gathered for the feasts.

[0975C]VERS. 8.-- *Of our iniquities.* [n: (BEDA.)] That is, those which we have contracted from our fathers, to whom, that is to say, correction is no longer owed, but damnation, unless the compassion of thy grace be at hand. For it is written: *The soul that shall sin, the same shall die.* And, *I will visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation [n: (Ezech. XVIII.)] Of old.* [var: Vulg. Ex 20:5 *visitans iniquitatem patrum in filios, in tertiam et quartam generationem*, "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children"] (CASS.) He does not speak of past ones only, since in this time also certain Jews were following idols; but of the like of the ancient ones, in which they sinned through countless years. *Let them prevent us.* [n: (ID.)] Before the judgment which every man fears, because unless indulgence go before in the judgment, the guilty man is not acquitted. *Exceedingly.* Lest any man presume upon his deeds.

VERS. 9.-- *Help us.* [n: (CASS.)] In the war for the defence of the laws, because they trust not in their own powers, but in the powers of God. [0975D] *For the glory.* Not for our merit; that, being delivered, we may render honour to thy name. *For the glory of thy name.* Let it be ascribed to the goodness of the holy name, not to us, since it cannot be had by our own deeds. *Help us, O God.* By this he is neither ungrateful to grace, nor does he take away free choice. For he who is helped does something also through himself. *Deliver us.* [n: (AUG.)] He delivers, that is, he rescues from evils, since he both helps us to do righteousness, and is propitious to the sins without which there is no living here.

VERS. 10.-- *Lest perhaps.* [n: (AUG.)] That word customary with the faithless: Where is he? Either he is not, or he cannot; an insult not to be borne. *Let it be made known.* Either here iniquity is destroyed in those converted, which he had wished for before, or, at the end [0976A] they perish, which he says here not by wishing it, but by prophesying. [n: (AUG.)] Because the just man is not delighted at the punishment of his enemy, since he does not hate him, but at the divine justice, since he loves God; the unjust man does the contrary.

VERS. 11.-- *Of them that are in fetters.* [n: (AUG.)] By the corruptibility of the flesh, which weighs down the soul, and through which the persecutor sometimes prevails: these fetters none feel save those who groan being burdened; from these the Apostle desired to be loosed, and to be with Christ. Or, the fetters are the commandments of God, by which the saints are bound together, which, patiently borne, are turned into ornaments, whence: *Put thy foot into her fetters [n: (Eccli. VI)]*. [n: (CASS.)] *Of them that are in fetters,* he speaks according to the letter of those whom the Gentiles bound: who pray with groaning that the Church may not fail in her brethren, and so [0976B] the punishment consumes them. *According to the greatness.* [n: (AUG.)] For a thing so great followed among Christians as the enemies would never have believed. *The children,* because they were kindled by the example, not terrified. *Possess the children of them that have been put to death.* [n: (ID.)] This the holy martyrs always prayed, that their blood might not be unfruitful to those that came after, that the crop might grow from that whence it was thought that it would perish. [n: (CASS.)] A godly prayer, that he cast not away the children of those who were punished for him. *Possess,* that they be stained by no error.

VERS. 12.-- *And render.* [n: (CASS.)] Although he renders it bodily, yet it is the salvation of their souls. *Sevenfold,* it signifies the perfection of the heavenly gift, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. *Into their bosom.* In the secret place of the mind, where conversion takes place. *Their reproach,* let them render praises for injuries: a glorious vindication, when God is praised by the mouth [0976C] of his enemies. Or *sevenfold.* By the sevenfold retribution he signifies the perfection of the punishment, as also of good things, when it is said that he shall receive sevenfold in this world: which is set down for all good things, as having nothing, and possessing all things; because in this number fulness is signified. Or *sevenfold,* for what is without end. *Their reproach,* [n: (AUG.)] Render this, that is, for that reproach give them up to a reprobate sense. For man, when he is given up to a reprobate sense, that is, in his inward sense, receives the desert of the punishments to come.

VERS. 13.-- *But we.* [n: (CASS.)] A conclusion of exultation, not of conquerors, but of sufferers. And a sweet conclusion of the lamentation. [n: (AUG.)] *But we.* These are the remnant gathered by Matathias. Or, generally, it is to be taken of every kind of the godly and of true Christians, [0976D] so that the Christian people also is mingled there; this is the flock for which he prayed, that he might not be angry any longer. [n: (ID.)] Or, *in the generation,* that is, in the world to come we shall declare it, not for the instruction of others, but for the honour that is due.



## PSALM LXXIX.

VERS. 1.-- *Understanding, for them that shall be changed.* [var: Vulg. Ps 79:1 *In finem, pro iis qui commutabuntur*, "Unto the end, for them that shall be changed"] [n: (AUG.)] For the better, etc., *as far as* a testimony of faithlessness. *Asaph.* Being enlightened [sic: *Illuminatur*] he treats of the coming of Christ and of his vineyard, a good testimony concerning the head himself and his body, the king and the people, the shepherd and the flock.

VERS. 2.-- *Thou that rulest,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Here Asaph, enlightened, speaks of the coming of Christ, who converts [0977A] man, and makes firm the vineyard brought out of Egypt: this is the testimony for them that are changed. [n: (CASS.)] Above he was fearful, who was praying for the sins of the Synagogue: now he presumes, and to those changed for the better he gives a testimony. This psalm is the testimony of the Synagogue concerning the head himself, and his body. [n: (ID.)] A prayer for the first coming, through which the reparation of the human race is made. [n: (ID.)] Being finished, he makes an end. O God, O Son. *Thou that rulest,* spiritually, *Israel,* who see thee, *Give ear,* that is, pour the light of goodness upon us, that we may be bright from thee, who of ourselves are dark. *Joseph.* [n: (ID.)] Thou leadest the faithful people into the folds of God, as sheep to the pastures, of whom: *And other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and them I must bring, that there may be one fold and one shepherd [n: (Joan. X)]*. Each has its own proper word: Israel *is ruled,* [0977B] Joseph *is led,* that is, the devout people. *Be made manifest.* [n: (ID.)] He asks that he who was in the secret of majesty may appear before the Jews through the incarnation, as it had been promised, working in them these powers which are signified by these names, Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasse. [n: (AUG.)] *Be made manifest before.* Known to the angels, be made known to men.

VERS. 3.-- *Before Ephraim.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, in the nation of the Jews, where these tribes are, namely before fruitfulness, and before the son of the right hand, that we also may be the fulness of knowledge through charity, which is God; and before Manasse, that is, the forgotten one, that thou mayest now come into his mind, according to that saying: *All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted.* [n: (ID.)] *Stir up.* He repeats, etc., *as far as* crucified through weakness, rise again through power. [0977C] [n: (CASS.)] *Stir up thy power* of miracles, etc., *as far as* whence: *God is faithful, who suffereth you not to be tempted above that which you are able,* etc. [n: (I Cor. X)].

VERS. 4.-- *Thy face.* [n: (AUG.)] This face was veiled to Asaph in the time of the weakness of Christ, and then Asaph was sick, not being able to look upon him veiled with a cloud: of which it is said: *God ascended upon a light cloud,* [var: Vulg. Is 19:1 *Ecce Dominus ascendet super nubem levem*, "behold, the Lord will ascend upon a light cloud"] and he shall enter, or shall go into, Egypt, that is, flesh free from sin; but he enlightened it when he rose again and ascended, and so we are saved.

VERS. 5.-- *How long wilt thou be angry?* [n: (AUG.)] Wrath passes from the servant, that he may not scourge, as is plain, but that he may not condemn: for wrath endures even toward those converted, but as a wrath that corrects. *For he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth [n: (Isa. IX, Heb. XII)]*.

VERS. 6.-- *Thou wilt feed* [n: (AUG.)] Here he sets forth the sufferings [0977D] which the saints are to suffer at the time of the coming. As though he said: Although I long for the coming of Christ, yet at that time we are to suffer many things, because *he fed,* etc. *In measure,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] According to thy strength, that thou mayest be instructed, not crushed; whence: *God is faithful, who suffereth you not to be tempted above,* etc. [n: (I Cor. X)]. Or, according to the measure of faults.

VERS. 7.-- *Thou hast made us a contradiction.* [n: (CASS.)] While our neighbours, who are of us, are against us. Our enemies mock us, from all of whom, that we may be saved, *O God of hosts,* etc.

VERS. 8.-- *O God of hosts.* [n: (AUG.)] It is the way of one who desires, to repeat often what he prays for with such prayers.

VERS. 9, 10.-- *A vineyard.* [n: (CASS.)] Of the vineyard, how it was [0978A] begun, and perfected. [n: (AUG. et CASS.)] *A vineyard out of Egypt,* as if to say, we shall be saved, but thou wilt destroy the Jews, for whom thou didst so much: and that not for a light fault, but because they did not know the coming of Christ. Or, we shall be saved because thou hast so foreshown it. *A vineyard out of Egypt.* But why wilt thou destroy? this is of the unbelieving. *Out of Egypt.* As he cast out those men from Egypt, so he cast the Church out of the darkness of vices: he *plants* the Gentiles in virtues, and *leads* them through this desert of the world. *The roots,* he makes the martyrs and others firm, and fills the world. [n: (CASS.)] *A vineyard out of Egypt,* through mystical figures, etc., *as far as* which has been so spread abroad through the world. *A guide,* while he leads her by a spiritual journey. *The roots,* the prophets, the Apostles, the martyrs and others, from whom, stretching out her *branches,* she takes and covers the world. *A guide of the way.* [n: (AUG.)] Or another [0978B] reading, etc., *as far as* and it is not another, but the same vineyard: thence the Apostles, thence also the other just men, although some branches were broken off.

VERS. 11, 12-- *It covered* [n: (CASS.)] The height and the breadth of the vineyard are here set forth. The vineyard is from above, which overshadows even the loftier mountains with life and doctrine, and makes them grow great. Vines that climb trees are called *bushes,* by which the lesser ones in the Church are understood. *Cedars,* not the proud, but those that are *God's,* are the martyrs, who are high in the Church, and these too the Church protects in her bosom. *The shoots,* the sons of regeneration, who flowed from the river Jordan, because there the rule of baptism began. *The mountains.* [n: (AUG.)] The prophets, etc., *as far as* likewise *they cover the cedars of God,* that is, the doctors. *The cedars of God.* [n: (ID.)] Because there are cedars [0978C] to be overthrown, namely the proud, who are the cedars of the world, but not of God.

VERS. 13.-- *Why.* He wonders why the defence of the Lord was withdrawn from such a one as this. [n: (AUG.)] *Why.* Because she was proud against the planter, and slew the servants sent to her, and at last the son and heir, the fence was destroyed, and the nations found her destroyed, and blotted her out. This Asaph first bewails, but not without hope: for he speaks now of those who direct their heart.

VERS. 14.-- *The boar.* [n: (AUG. et CASS.)] Vespasian, strong and savage, and hostile to the Jews, who among other creatures hold this beast unclean. *A singular wild beast.* Titus, who consumed the remnant with a terrible devouring, who is called *singular,* that is, proud. Or the boar and the *wild beast* are taken for the same thing, namely the Roman army. [0978D] And see by what sins man labours and perishes. *Singular.* [n: (AUG.)] Every proud man says: *I am, I am, and there is none other. The boar.* [n: (CASS.)] The devil, strong and fierce, *out of the wood,* because his thoughts are wild and trackless. *But thou, O Lord God of hosts.* Or continue it thus: So the vineyard was laid waste, but that the remnant may be saved, *O God of hosts, turn again,* and at the end of the last age serenely *behold,* he prays this remedy for those changed for the better.

VERS. 16.-- *And perfect thou that which thy right hand hath planted.* [n: (AUG.)] Set up no other, but perfect this one. For in this is the seed of Abraham: there is the root that bears the wild olive. Perfect it, *because blindness in part has happened in Israel, that the fulness of the Gentiles might come in, and so all [0979A] Israel should be saved [n: (Rom. XII)]* [var: Vulg. Rom 11:25 *donec plenitudo gentium intraret*, "until the fulness of the Gentiles should come in"]. *Upon the son.* [n: (CASS.)] Founded upon and [cj: *et*; read *te*, "thee"], etc., *as far as* but of the fire of good love it is said: *I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I, but that it burn? [n: (Luc. XII.)]* [var: Vulg. Lc 12:49 *nisi ut accendatur*, "but that it be kindled"]

VERS. 18.-- *Let thy hand be.* [n: (CASS.)] A great sacrament, and a gift to God, because the salvation of Israel could be doubted so long, until Christ came: but then the promise was fulfilled, nor does the Church, joined to her spouse, depart from him any more. He says therefore: *Let thy hand be,* he prays for the working of the holy incarnation.

VERS. 19.-- *We depart not.* [n: (CASS.)] Any more, when *thou shalt quicken* the son of man: this is the profit that comes from him.

VERS. 20.-- *O Lord God of hosts, convert us, show thy face, and we shall be saved.* [n: (CASS.)] Great is the sweetness of this little verse, in which he sets forth the rule of the whole of religion. [0979B] For first God *converts* us, and then he shows us *before his face,* that is, he looks upon us with the light of his goodness: after which he at last *saves* us. This verse therefore the prophet repeats, because through it each man briefly implores what is profitable.



## PSALM LXXX.

VERS. 1.-- *For the winepresses.* [n: (AUG.)] In which there are three things, etc., *as far as* a psalm is sung for Asaph, that is, for the Lord's congregation. *Asaph,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Because according to the history he speaks to the Jews, spiritually to Christians. [n: (AUG.)] First he says what is to be done by the elect, who are the oil, the wine, the birds.

VERS. 2.-- *He rejoiceth in God.* [var: Vulg. Ps 80:2 *Exsultate Deo adjutori nostro*, the plural imperative, "rejoice ye in God our helper"] Asaph, having set before himself the image of a certain solemnity, [0979C] stirs up the elect to the festival.

VERS. 3.-- *Take a psalm.* [n: (AUG.)] The words of God, that human acts may come together into one fellowship: for this is the peace of Jerusalem, this is the reckoning of what is given and what is received; whence the Apostle: *If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great matter if we reap your carnal things [n: (I Cor. IX)]*.

VERS. 4.-- *Blow the trumpet.* [n: (AUG.)] Thus far, up to the division, these things are to be taken either according to the letter, simply of the Jews, or allegorically of Christians. [n: (AUG.)] *Blow the trumpet,* and declare, etc., *as far as* whence Isaias: *Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet,* etc. *On the new moon with the trumpet.* [n: (CASS.)] At the beginning of the month the Jews were bidden to sound the trumpet, that is, at the beginning of the new moon, which is also called the feast of trumpets, which they celebrated [0979D] in memory of that thing, that the Lord showed Abraham the ram sticking among the briers, which he offered up in the place of Isaac.

VERS. 5.-- *For it is a commandment in Israel; and a judgment,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Therefore the trumpet must be sounded, because the law was given to the Jews through Moses, and because he is to be their judge.

VERS. 6.-- *In Joseph.* [n: (AUG.)] The Gentiles are Joseph, etc., *as far as* where he ought to have had a heart.

VERS. 7.-- *From the burdens.* [n: (AUG.)] By what burdens: *hands in the basket,* that is, by servile work. Sins are servile works, according to that saying: *Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin [n: (Joan. VIII)]*. *They served in the basket. [n: (ID.)]* In the uncleannesses of sins, in earthly and miry works.

[0980A]VERS. 8.-- *In tribulation,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] So the Prophet: the Lord turns aside, saying, *In tribulation,* the benefits of God are reckoned to them, that the offence may be judged the heavier. *I heard thee in the secret place.* [n: (AUG.)] That with the heart thou mayest believe unto justice. *I proved thee,* that with the mouth confession may be made unto salvation. *Of the storm,* etc. Not in the storm of the sea, but of the heart: where he that is heard must be proved, in the water of contradiction: for he that already walks the way of God has men withstanding him in many ways. This is the water of contradiction, which the ancients felt, but now it is well dried up: for then the waters of the peoples were troubled, and resisted fiercely. Then to Samson, that strong man, that is, to Christ, going to take a wife from among the strangers, that is, the Church from among the Gentiles, there met a roaring lion, that is, the people of the Gentiles, but he tore him in pieces as a kid [0980B] of the goats: and because that roaring people was nothing but a sickly sinner. But when that fierceness had been slain in him, he no longer roars so; nay, in that very people we now find laws in favour of the Church, as it were a honeycomb in the mouth of the lion. *The water of contradiction.* Christ was so even in himself, as it was said of him when he was born: *This one shall be unto the ruin, and the resurrection of many, for a sign which shall be contradicted [n: (Luc. II)]* [var: Vulg. Lc 2:34 *Ecce positus est hic in ruinam et in resurrectionem multorum in Israel*, "behold, this child is set for the ruin and for the resurrection of many in Israel"], as the Jews contradicted the title of the cross.

VERS. 9.-- *Hear, O my people.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalma. Thus far of the oil of the winepresses, now of the lees, which is said by way of warning; here the reprobate are reproved. *I will testify unto thee.* The Lord himself makes himself the witness of the judgment of truth, both here and in the world to come, that none may doubt. Then he adds what he would have him understand: Israel, if thou wilt hearken to me; and by calling him Israel he signifies one familiar to himself, [0980C] and invites him to his commands. *In thee,* in thy heart, where truth, not falsehood, ought to be. *New,* lest the Word of the Father be thought to be under time. *A strange god,* one that is such in name, not in essence. *Strange:* It is well-nigh an equal crime to think God new, and to serve idols.

VERS. 10.-- *There shall be no new god in thee, neither,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Some make themselves new gods, either idols, or a Christ unequal to the Father, and feign other such things in the heart: and so in all of them earthly thought is the temple of idols; the opinion is various, the vanity one. Therefore Samson bound together the tails of the foxes, that he might set fire to the harvests of the Philistines. Samson is interpreted *their sun,* namely of those to whom he himself shines, not of all: of whom the wicked shall say: *We have erred from the way of truth, and the sun of justice hath not shined upon us [n: (Sap. V)]* [var: Vulg. Sap 5:6 *justitiae lumen non luxit nobis, et sol intelligentiae non est ortus nobis*, "the light of justice hath not shined unto us, and the sun of understanding hath not risen upon us"]. And elsewhere: *He is the sun [0980D] of justice, and health is in his wings [n: (Malac. IV)]*. The foxes are the treacherous, and most of all the heretics, lurking in winding caverns, deceiving, stinking with their smell: who, although they seem to disagree with one another, yet agree in evil, that is, in their hinder parts, and are held by a like vanity, and burn the harvests, not of our own, because God knows who are his, but of the strangers, which are vessels of dishonour.

VERS. 11.-- *Who brought thee out.* God is pointed out by his own deeds.

VERS. 13.-- *And he let them go.* And although I filled the mouths of the Prophets, yet they were not heard by the lees, whence a fitting vengeance: because *and I let them go,* etc.

VERS. 15.-- *Perhaps for nothing.* [n: (CASS.)] If we shall resist God, [0981A] he himself does not contradict our enemies, nor does he lay the hand of defence upon them.

VERS. 16.-- *The enemies of the Lord,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] These things likewise the Prophet. *They have lied.* Not through men performing what was promised: this the pagans do not, because they promised nothing.

VERS. 17.-- *With the fat of corn,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] According to the letter, either of the manna, or of the body of Christ, or with a spiritual understanding.



## PSALM LXXXI.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of Asaph.* [n: (CASS.)] A psalm on the two natures in Christ, in which Christ, or the Prophet speaking, reproaches Asaph himself, that is, the Synagogue, which saw the Lord bodily, and yet did not know him. First he announces that God has stood, and [0981B] convicts the adversaries: man stands, God discerns. *God hath stood.* Whose part it is not to stand, who filleth heaven and earth, who is within all things not enclosed, outside all things not excluded; but briefly he indicates God as man. *He hath stood.* [n: (AUG.)] The Son, who was sent to the sheep of the house of Israel; but the spiritual presence of the Godhead, which, being everywhere, does not properly belong to the Synagogue, nor is varied by time. Why he stood there: *Behold, he judgeth gods,* [var: Vulg. Ps 81:1 *in medio autem deos dijudicat*, "but in the midst he judgeth the gods"] that is, according as he is God, that is, not by merits but by grace he distinguishes the vessels, some unto honour, some unto dishonour. But this he does standing in the midst, whence: *There hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not,* whence also here: *They have not known, neither have they understood,* but *the friend of the bridegroom standeth and heareth, and rejoiceth with joy. Of gods.* Whom afterwards he calls *sons of the Most High,* there: *I have said: you are gods, and [0981C] all of you to the sons of the Most High.* Whence also, *I have brought up children and exalted them, but they have despised me.* They are called sons not only by the grace of the New Testament, but by the grace of the Old, which delivered them out of Egypt.

VERS. 2.-- *How long.* [n: (AUG.)] This is the voice of him that discerneth: he sent the law and the Prophets, and you resisted; but how long? Did I send Prophets until the coming, and you afflicted them with injuries, or slew them, or consented to those who did this? But since it is not worthy even to speak to those who do such things, you who kept silence, and wished to imitate them, *how long do you judge iniquity, and accept the persons of sinners?* Is the heir also to be slain, who came for you, who for your sake willed to be without a father, as a fatherless child? who for your sake hungered and thirsted, as a needy man, who for your sake was made poor, when he was rich.

[0981D]VERS. 3.-- *Judge for the needy and the fatherless, justify the poor and the humble.* [var: Vulg. Ps 81:3 *humilem et pauperem justificate*, the two transposed] [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalma, he admonishes that one should understand Christ to be God, even if he was needy and poor, which he says that they did not do.

VERS. 4.-- *Rescue the poor.* [n: (AUG.)] He shows that not even those are guiltless who left Christ to the princes, since they were feared on account of their multitude, and could have freed them from the deed, and themselves from consent. [n: (CASS.)] For he who ceases to withstand when he can, consents.

VERS. 5.-- *They shall be moved.* [n: (CASS.)] Hence it is plain of whom he had spoken: this sign happened at the crucifixion. Or spiritually, earthly men were moved at that time, so great a miracle being seen; as the centurion, who said: *Indeed this was the Son of God.* [n: (AUG.)] *All the foundations shall be moved.* [0982A] As if he should say: through this blindness of Israel, *shall be moved* unto faith *all the foundations of the earth,* that is, the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in. Or, in the death and passion of the Lord the earth was moved. Or *the foundations,* that is, those made happy by abundance of earthly things, shall be moved. Or by wondering that a poor dead man is worshipped. Or by following after him, earthly things being despised. He adds *all,* because there is none who does not wonder, or is not converted. But the kingdom of earthly felicity is pride, against which the humble Christ came, reproaching them whom he wills to make high through humility, in these words: *I have said: you are gods,* you the good: *but you* the evil, *shall die like men.* Or he says to all: *you are gods,* that is, to all I promised heavenly things; *but you as men,* the first men, who sinned by persuasion, and you greater ones as the devil, who by pride [0982B] sinned.

VERS. 6.-- *I have said.* [n: (CASS.)] What was set before them? but they perished. *I have said: They have not known, neither have they understood;* yet *I have said.* All receive these promises, if they keep the commandments, that they may be sons, and of God: this to the just; *but you,* this to the wicked.

VERS. 7.-- *Like men.* [n: (AUG.)] As if: Whereas you are quickly to die, like men, you are not corrected thereby; but like the devil, who dies not in the flesh, you are lifted up, that you may fall: because through diabolical pride they envied the glory of Christ, and the humility of the cross became vile to them. But, that this vice may be healed, there is subjoined in the person of the Prophet: *Arise, O God,* etc., *as one.* The crowd which fell is called one, because it is alike in pride: You shall fall, but:

[0982C]VERS. 8.-- *Arise, O God.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, condemn these, because, these being cast off, thou shalt inherit. Or judge the world, because it is thine, and this is: thou shalt inherit.



## PSALM LXXXII.

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle of a psalm.* [n: (CASS.)] Because in things active divine contemplation is to be held. But he deters the wicked from the persecution of the people of God: while the good he admonishes unto patience. A psalm on the coming of Christ to judgment, where the good, who here suffer, shall be crowned: but the wicked, who persecute them, shall be tormented.

VERS. 2.-- *O God, who is like?* [n: (CASS.)] The fear of the judge to come being set forth, he describes the malice of the enemies. [n: (AUG.)] *O God, who is like?* Though a man, as others; though [0982D] judged, thou art reckoned with the wicked: who is like, when thou shalt judge in brightness? therefore then be not silent, thou who at the first wast silent, and didst restrain thy power, that thou mightest be held and slain. *O God, who is like?* This is not referred to the divinity, to which he thought that no man was to be compared. Therefore he says not: *Who is like to thee?* which would certainly be referred to the divinity; but he says, *Who shall be like to thee?* referring this to the form of a servant, in which he shall then be unlike the rest of men, when he shall appear as judge in glory; or this can be referred to the divinity according to what he says: *O God, who is like to thee?* in the power of the Godhead: for Christ, whom the wicked saw without, this one sees within, namely as almighty.

[0983A]VERS. 3.-- *For behold,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] He designates the last times of Antichrist, when the things which are now kept down by fear shall break out into free utterance: which utterance, because it was irrational, is called rather a noise than a speech. *They that hate.* [n: (CASS.)] Many, but one head, Antichrist: which is lifted up, that he may be called God.

VERS. 4.-- *Upon thy people.* They have lifted up their own head, but they have not brought down thy people.

[n: (AUG.)] *Upon thy people.* He says this derisively: for they cannot hurt the people of God, for whom God is, whence the Apostle: *If God be for us, who is against us? [n: (Rom. VIII.)]*

VERS. 5.-- *They have said, Come.* [n: (AUG.)] Behold the counsel, in which *they have devised vain things.* This is that noise, [0983B] which is not speech, but rattles emptily. *From the nation.* [n: (CASS.)] In the singular, because all Christians are one nation, since they are born from one font of baptism; or all the good, whom that Antichrist calls one nation: behold the persecution of Antichrist, who intends to take away utterly the Christian name as an evil thing.

VERS. 6.-- *They have ordained a testament.* [n: (AUG.)] For a testament, in the Scriptures, is not that alone which is not valid unless the testator be dead, but every compact also, and agreement which is valid between the living, is called a testament, as Laban and Jacob made a testament. So also the wicked have made as it were a compact among themselves, that with one mind they should persecute the good.

VERS. 7.-- *The tabernacles of the Idumeans.* He has set forth [0983C] with what zeal they have dealt maliciously: then he shows now who they are that deal maliciously, saying: *The tabernacles of the Idumeans,* etc. *Of the Idumeans, and the Ismaelites.* [n: (CASS.)] By these names he declares the enemies of Christ, who in the times of Antichrist are likened to so many evil men: because as these against Israel, so those shall then war against the Christians. *The Moabites* [n: (AUG., HIER.)] Whence the Moabites, whom Lot, being drunk, begot of his elder daughter. *The Agarens.* From Agar, who are also interpreted *proselytes.*

VERS. 8.-- *Gebal.* [n: (AUG., HIER.)] A vain valley. For *Ge* is valley [sic: *vallit*], *Bal,* vain. *Ammon.* Whence the Ammonites; Lot, being drunk, begot him of his younger daughter.

*Amalec.* The son of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau, from whom the Amalecites.

VERS. 9.-- *Assur.* [n: (AUG., HIER.)] Literally Nabuchodonosor, [0983D] who was king of the Assyrians. *The Idumeans.* Earthly or bloody. *The Ismaelites.* Obeying themselves, not God, because they follow their own depraved thoughts. *Moab,* from the father, which is in evil. Good indeed was the father, whom the daughter used unlawfully, as the law also is good, if a man use it lawfully, not incestuously. *The Agarens.* Proselytes, that is, newcomers, who are not citizens, but creep in with an alien mind, and, an occasion of hurting being found, show themselves. *Gebal.* A vain valley, that is, deceitfully humble. *Ammon.* A troubled people, or a people of grief. *Amalec.* A people licking the earth. *Strangers.* Although by a Latin name they declare themselves aliens, and for this cause enemies, yet in Hebrew they are called *Philisthiim,* that is, falling by drink, as men drunken with worldly luxury. *Tyre.* In Hebrew *sor,* tribulation or anguish, according to that [0984A] saying. *Tribulation or anguish upon every soul of man that worketh evil. [n: (Rom. II.)] Assur.* [var: Vulg. Rom 2:9 *Tribulatio et angustia*, "and", not "or"] Depressing, or lifted up. *Lot.* Declining: the apostate angels, sons of declension, because by declining from the truth they departed into the retinue of the devil, whence in the Apocalypse: The dragon fell, and drew with him the third part of the stars, of whom the Apostle: *Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers [n: (Ephes. VI)]*. [var: Vulg. Eph 6:12 *adversus principes et potestates*, "princes"]

VERS. 10.-- *Madian.* Declining judgment. *Sisara,* the shutting out of joy. *Jabin,* wise, of whom: *Where is the wise? where is the scribe? Cison,* where they were overcome, is interpreted hardness. *Endor,* where they perished, the fountain of generation. And carnal generation is understood, not those regenerated by the water of baptism. *Oreb,* dryness, *Zeb,* a wolf, *Zebee,* the victim [0984B] of a wolf, not of God. *Salmana,* the shadow of commotion. All these things suit the wicked, whom the people of God overcame in good. *Do to them as to Madian and Sisara, as to Jabin at the brook.* [n: (CASS.)] Of the vengeance upon the wicked; as all those were overcome in figure by the people of God, so he prays that these may be overcome in truth. *As Madian.* [n: (AUG.)] Namely those who decline judgment, not thinking themselves to be judged: and who shut out the judgment to come; and all these perished in Cison, and in the fountain of Endor.

VERS. 12.-- *Make their princes as,* etc. These things to all in common. But specially, *make their princes:* this he wishes for the soldiers of Antichrist, who are not to be converted.

VERS. 13.-- *Let us possess by inheritance the sanctuary of God.* [n: (AUG.)] God's: they invade it as their own.

[0984C]VERS. 14.-- *As a wheel, and as stubble before the face of the wind.* [n: (CASS.)] By this likeness he foretells their many calamities.

*Of the wind.* The lightness of sinners is compared to the wind, because it flits hither and thither.

VERS. 15.-- *Fire and a flame burning the mountains.* [var: Vulg. Ps 82:15 *Sicut ignis qui comburit silvam, et sicut flamma comburens montes*, "as fire which burneth a wood"] [n: (AUG.)] They are fitly said to be in the judgment, when both the dense woods of sinners and the mountains of pride shall be burned.

VERS. 17.-- *Fill their faces.* [n: (CASS.)] The punishments of the contumacious being prophesied, he prays for those who shall believe, who have not praisers of their crimes, but blamers, whom reproach often corrects. [n: (AUG.)] It is better to fall that one may repent, than to be proud under the hope of religion: whence the Prophet says: *And thou, daughter of Sion, shalt come even unto Babylon, [0984D] and there shalt thou be delivered [n: (Mich. IV)]*.

*Fill their faces.* This good and desirable thing would not be prophesied for them, unless among those enemies there were such as this shall be granted to before the judgment: because even now the head heals and washes the same body, but in part, not universally as at the end: and yet from thence some shall be converted, for whom he here prays.

VERS. 18.-- *Let them blush and be troubled,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Here of the wicked, who shall not be converted, *Let them blush,* in the time to come for the evils which they have done. *And be troubled,* for the punishments which they shall suffer. And this *for ever and ever,* that is, unto eternity. *And be troubled.* Again he returns to those who are confounded in the present that they may not be confounded unto eternity; as if he should say: Let those be troubled unto eternity: but those seeking [0985A] the name of the Lord now, let them both be confounded for their sins wholesomely, and perish, in so far as they are wicked. And so let them know; or, let the wicked then be confounded, in soul and in body, and perish in soul beyond repair. And now let them know what they now will not. [n: (CASS.)] It is to be noted that Asaph has been brought in through the eleven preceding psalms, that the hardness of the Jews might be softened by the frequent voice of the Synagogue itself, or that they might believe the very name to which they seemed devoted. But in the aforesaid psalms he treated of the incarnation [sic: *psalmi*] of the Lord, and of the faith of the Gentiles, and of the judgment, by which the transgression of the Jews is refuted. Whence they are fitly eleven: for the number eleven is the number of transgression, because it both passes the ten, and does not reach the twelve, whence there were also eleven curtains of hair in the tabernacle [0985B] of the Lord, and the Apostles were in the number eleven, the most unhappy Judas being cast out at the time of the passion, when they failed from the faith, whence: *Thou hast appointed darkness, and it is night [n: (Psal. CIII)]*.



## PSALM LXXXIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end.* [n: (AUG.)] Nothing is here said of visible winepresses, whence it is plain that they are spiritual. The grape upon the vine, the olive hanging upon the tree, enjoy the free air, and neither is that wine, nor is this oil, before the pressing: so those whom God foreknew before the ages to be made conformable to the image of his Son, before they come to the service of God, enjoy in the world a delightful liberty. But when they come to the service of God, it is said to them: *Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation* [0985C] [n: (Eccle. II)]. Behold the winepress: they are crushed, they are stripped in the coverings of carnal desires, as in husks; they are stripped of the old man, and they flow down into the storehouse of God: therefore the churches of the present time are called winepresses. But who among these are the sons of Core, that is, the bald, namely of Christ? For bald Eliseus, mocked by the boys, was a figure of Christ, who was crucified on Calvary. Therefore is the Christian pressed here, that he may seek the rest which is not here, and God becomes for him a refuge. For he who leans upon earthly things leans upon a staff of reed. *For the winepresses.* [n: (AUG.)] In the winepress the fruit of the grape or of the olive flows out: so in pressures the merits of the saints appear, which lay hidden in peace. [n: (CASS.)] The second psalm on charity. First, of the inestimable desire of the eternal house.

[0985D]VERS. 2.-- *How lovely.* Behold how great the warfare. *For the sparrow,* how secure.

VERS. 4.-- *For the sparrow,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] To two he renders two: *the heart* as *the sparrow; the flesh* as *the turtle,* to which he gives also *young ones:* with the heart we think upon God, as the sparrow flies to the house; with the flesh we do works. [n: (CASS.)] As the sparrow forsakes the woods, and rejoices when a house is found, where it fears no snares: so the soul rejoices, while it knows that a house is prepared for it in heaven. The spirit, which is as a sparrow flying on high, reaching towards God himself. *A nest, etc.* [n: (AUG.)] *A nest* for a time, *a house* true unto eternity. By the nest therefore he means faith, and the conformity of the sacraments of the Church, which nest the turtle seeks, that she may lay up her young. For she does not cast them anywhere, [0986A] but in the nest of the Church she does good works wholesomely, for which she is saved: wherein she differs from others who do works, but not in the nest of faith. For the pagans also do works, they clothe the naked, etc., and heretics do many things: but not in the nest of the Church, and therefore they are trodden down, they are not preserved. This flesh is the woman, by whom the sparrow is seduced, but she shall be saved by the bearing of works, if in the nest, that is, if she shall have persevered in faith. But God supplies that whereof the nest may be made, for he clothed himself with the hay of the flesh that he might come to thee. *Thy altars, O Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] Where souls feast at the heavenly banquet, where the soul may rejoice as in a house. [n: (AUG.)] And the flesh lays up its works, whence: Blessed are they who, etc., where he shows to what beatitude the warfare leads.

VERS. 5.-- *Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord; [0986B] for ever and ever they shall praise thee.* [n: (AUG.)] This the good have already, namely, that they dwell in thy house. There follows: *For ever and ever they shall praise thee.* This is the whole business of the saints there: there is no necessity there, which is the mother of all human actions, for whom do they do anything there, where none are in need; they have therefore and they act, whence they are blessed. But every blessed one is called blessed by having or by acting.

VERS. 6.-- *Blessed is the man whose help is from thee: he hath disposed ascensions in his heart.* [n: (CASS.)] By what help one may come to the house.

VERS. 7.-- *In the vale of tears.* [n: (CASS.)] The vale of tears is the humility of one repenting. [n: (AUG.)] But whence the weeping: because he afflicted us with the law, through which we knew that sin fights against the spirit, and we groan, [0986C] namely how we may come to the place which he has appointed, by his power and help assuredly. *In the place which he hath appointed. For he shall give a blessing.* Which cannot be set forth, which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, that is, the kingdom to come, which God has disposed and ordained, that it may be come to by degrees.

VERS. 9.-- *O Lord God of hosts.* [n: (CASS.)] He prays and humbles himself for the obtaining of this help. *God of Jacob.* [n: (AUG.)] Whom thou madest Israel by appearing to him, so make me also Israel.

VERS. 10.-- *Look upon the face,* etc. For he himself speaks in us, whence the Apostle: *Do you seek a proof of him that speaketh in me, Christ!* And he is received in us, as he says, *He that receiveth you, receiveth me. Look.* The Father always looks upon Christ. [n: (CASS.)] But make [0986D] him to be looked upon by the nations [sic: *ventibus*] through the presence of the incarnation: or, thus by the face we become known to others. [n: (AUG.)] *Look* therefore *upon the face,* that is, make Christ known to all, that we may be able to go from virtue to virtue

VERS. 11.-- *One day.* Unchangeable, namely without rising and setting, to which yesterday does not yield, which tomorrow does not press upon. *Above thousands,* above the infinite present days, which have an end. For which cause *I have chosen,* though I might reign, *to be abject* in the opinion of men, *in the house,* in the Church, *Behold how sweet it is, to be pressed by the burden of the winepress.*

VERS. 12.-- *Because mercy.* [n: (CASS.)] Therefore I had rather be in the house of God than elsewhere, because in it he gives mercy, by which he justifies, after the truth of the promised [0987A] reward. But to whom? to those who walk in innocence.

VERS. 13.-- *O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that hopeth,* etc. Thou who dost such great things, which cannot be told.



## PSALM LXXXIV.

VERS. 2.-- *Thou hast blessed, O Lord.* [n: (AUG.)] A psalm on the new blessing, etc., *as far as* of the turning away of iniquity.

VERS. 3.-- *Thou hast forgiven.* [n: (ID.)] He speaks of things to come as of things past.

VERS. 4.-- *Thou hast mitigated* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalma, of the turning away of anger, that is, of punishment.

VERS. 5.-- *Convert us.* He asks what he knew to be still to come. As if: what I have said as past, I pray may be done. [n: (AUG.)] *Convert us.* I said prophetically things to come, as past; but here he prays for them as truly to come, saying, Convert [0987B] and turn away, as if he should say, I have said them as though done. And because I see things to come, and because they are not, I pray that they may be done.

VERS. 6.-- *Is it for ever.* He foresees that this punishment will pass away: *For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. Thou art angry.* [n: (AUG.)] The anger of God is every punishment which one suffers. As it was said to Adam when he sinned: *Cursed is the earth in thy work, and in labour and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread.* [var: Vulg. Gn 3:17 *maledicta terra in opere tuo : in laboribus comedes ex ea*; the second clause is Gn 3:19 *In sudore vultus tui vesceris pane*] Of anger therefore we are mortal and passible, but renewed in Christ. *From generation.* The first generation was mortal, of anger; the other shall be immortal, of mercy: but neither do we merit this mercy by being converted to God through ourselves, for he himself converts us. And thence he subjoins: *God converting,* as if [0987C] to say: as the quickening is from thee, so also the conversion.

VERS. 7.-- *O God, thou being turned.* [n: (CASS.)] Not extending, but God converting. First he gives the will of conversion, afterwards he leads to life. Or, O God, thou being turned from anger at the coming of the Son. *Thou wilt quicken us.* So long a time before it is had. And then, *Thy people shall rejoice in thee,* which before shall rejoice wickedly in itself.

VERS. 8.-- *Shew us, O Lord.* [n: (AUG.)] This the Prophet foretold by praying, etc., *as far as Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God [n: (Matth. V)]*. [n: (CASS.)] *Shew.* Or this one asks that Christ be shewn to him spiritually only; he knew indeed that he was to come, but he asks that we may behold him with a pure heart, not with bodily eyes as the unbelievers: for the Jews saw and crucified him. And for the time to come: *Give us thy salvation,* that [0987D] is, Christ, to be embraced and possessed, that he be not taken away from us; and thus it is read partly of the present, and partly of the future. *Mercy.* [n: (AUG.)] Christ is called mercy, because he showed us mercy, teaching that whatever of good a man has is from God, and so man is not proud. But cleaving thus and enjoying God, he rejoices in him.

VERS. 9.-- *I will hear what the Lord speaketh in me.* [n: (CASS.)] Whence he knows, and by whom it is done, and what he himself bestows in coming. *Peace.* [n: (AUG.)] Christ. Peace toward God and toward the neighbour, and through Christ.

VERS. 10.-- *Near them that fear him.* [n: (ID.)] Everywhere demons were worshipped, etc., *as far as* immortal in our body now mortal.

[0988A]VERS. 11.-- *Mercy,* etc. [n: (ID.)] After he had said, etc., *as far as how truth is sprung out of the earth [n: (Luc. VIII)]*.

VERS. 12.-- *Truth is sprung out of the earth.* [n: (ID.)] Confession from man, that he may accuse himself, etc., *as far as* the justification of him that confesses is given.

VERS. 14.-- *Justice shall go before him.* [n: (ID.)] The first justice of man is, etc., *as far as* and visiting he shall set his steps in the way. *Shall walk.* It shall increase, or shall run before, preparing the way for him; and the Lord shall set his steps in the way made ready.

## PSALM LXXXV.

*A prayer of David.* [var: Vulg. Ps 85:1 *Oratio ipsi David*, "a prayer for David himself"] [n: (AUG.)] This psalm is the second of those which are entitled by the name of prayer, in which Christ, the Son of God and of man, one God with the Father, [0988B] one man with men, prays in the form of a servant, who is prayed to by us in the form of God. He prays for us as our priest; he prays in us as our head; he is prayed to by us as our God.

[n: (CASS.)] The prayer of Christ, of the faithful, etc., *as far as* he might restrain the boldness of foolish and inconsiderate rashness.

[n: (AUG.)] These things Christ says in us, and we in him.

[n: (CASS.)] He prays by ascending, whence he concludes: All the nations adoring.

VERS. 2.-- *For I am holy.* [n: (AUG.)] Christ properly holy, sanctifying, etc., *as far as* have mercy on him that cries, gladden him that is lifted up.

VERS. 5.-- *Meek.* [n: (ID.)] Bearing man, until he perfect him, etc., *as far as* when he is not yet perfect.

[0988C]VERS. 6.-- *Give ear.* [n: (CASS.)] See the order of the prayer, etc., *as far as* a hearing to my supplication.

VERS. 7.-- *Of tribulation.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] When one cries more earnestly, etc., *as far as because there is none like to thee among the gods, O Lord.*

VERS. 9.-- *All whom thou hast made shall come and adore before,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] If there is a nation which God did not make, that one shall not adore. He announces the Church spread abroad everywhere, which is now fulfilled: And note that, as the Scripture says: *In a broad nation is the glory of the king, in the diminishing of the people is the ruin of the prince.* [var: Vulg. Pr 14:28 *In multitudine populi dignitas regis, et in paucitate plebis ignominia principis*, "in the multitude of the people is the dignity of the king"] There follows: *And they shall glorify the name.*

VERS. 10.-- *Thou art God alone.* [n: (ID.)] Or thou alone art great against those to come, who call themselves great and gods.

[0988D]VERS. 11.-- *Conduct me, O Lord, in thy way.* [n: (CASS.)] He prays for all who now adore, and speaks in his members. *O Lord, conduct,* etc. It is one thing to be led to the way, and another to be led in the way, lest one fall in it: everywhere men need to be helped, whether they be in the way, or outside it. But the way is Christ, who says: *I am the way, the truth, and the life. Let my heart rejoice.* [n: (AUG.)] In worldly fear the cause goes before, etc., *as far as* but he who fears, and does not hope, is cast down.

VERS. 13.-- *From the lower hell.* [n: (ID.)] By this we understand, etc., *as far as* these are opinions, not assertions.

VERS. 14.-- *O God, the wicked have risen up against me, [0989A] and the Synagogue of the mighty,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Again he prays for himself, mention being made of his passion and of his glory, whence those for whom he prayed have much mercy and are rescued from hell.

VERS. 16.-- *Give thy command.* [n: (AUG.)] As if he should say: Let the time of patience pass, let the time of judgment come, whence not only Christ, but the saints also, shall sit as judges, who are *the sons of the handmaid,* that is, of the Church.



## PSALM LXXXVI.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm.* [n: (CASS.)] Because it treats of the Church according to power, where it does works. *Of a canticle.* That from the worldly Jerusalem thou mayest be lifted up to the understanding that is from above, namely from action to contemplation. The Prophet preaches the heavenly Jerusalem to the sons of Core, which he commends [0989B] by its foundations, and its gates, and its fame, that their affection may be increased. *The foundations thereof.* A psalm on the heavenly Jerusalem: the Prophet, full of the spirit, turning many things over with himself concerning this city, of which he had as yet said nothing, breaks out into this: *The foundations thereof,* etc. The first praise is from the foundations; let the solidity of the whole city be noted. *Thereof,* is not referred to anything set down before: but to the meditation of the Prophet's heart, because he had never been silent about it in his heart, even if in his mouth.

VERS. 3.-- *Things said.* [n: (AUG.)] These are those things which the Lord foretold of it by the prophets.

VERS. 4.-- *I will be mindful.* [n: (ID.)] Diapsalma. The Lord, concerning the same Jerusalem. *I will be mindful of Rahab.* He shows what those glorious things are; as if he should say: These are they: in that city, says the Prophet in the person of God, [0989C] *I will be mindful of Rahab and of Babylon,* which do not belong to the people of the Jews. *Glorious things of thee,* where the Jew is not alone, but all the Gentiles. *Rahab.* She let down the scarlet through the window, that is, the Church of the Gentiles has upon its forehead the sign of the blood of Christ.

Whence: *Publicans and harlots shall go before you into the kingdom of heaven. Rahab,* [var: Vulg. Mt 21:31 *in regnum Dei*, "into the kingdom of God"] breadth or violence, the Gentiles, who wander broadly and violently through vices. To Babylon belong all the wicked, as to Jerusalem all the saints. *Behold the strangers.* I will be mindful. Why hast thou said this? *Behold the strangers,* that is, the Gentiles: and *Tyre,* the anguish of vices, or of penance.

VERS. 5.-- *Shall Sion.* According to another reading. *Mother Sion shall say, a man.*

[n: (AUG., CASS.)] As if he should say: Whence shall strangers come to [0989D] Jerusalem? Hear whence. There is a certain man, that is, Christ, who says *Mother Sion,* that is, the Synagogue is my mother according to the flesh; and through him they come; who is that man? He is the one who *was born in her* and founded her; he himself says, *mother,* to that city.

[n: (CASS.)] Or, he commends Sion spiritually, etc., *as far as* of what princes?

[n: (AUG.)] Of these, (according to another reading) *who were made,* namely princes, *in her,* that is, who were made princes; before they were in her, they were not princes, but the outcast things of the world: *God chose* indeed *the weak things of the world, that he might confound the strong.*

VERS. 7.-- *As of those rejoicing.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalma. He concludes in few words, touching the beatitude to come. [0990A] [n: (AUG.)] *As of those rejoicing,* all things being compared, he concludes: *As of those rejoicing. As,* because such shall the joy be as we do not know here, and therefore since it could not be expressed, he says, as he could, *as of those rejoicing.*

## PSALM LXXXVII.

VERS. 1.-- *Mahalath.* [n: (AUG.)] A choir, that the choir may answer the singer in harmony, etc., *as far as* for a certain man of the East is said to have been.

VERS. 2.-- *O Lord God.* [n: (CASS.)] He admonishes us to imitate the death of Christ. First he prays for help, reporting the contempt he has from his enemies: whence, praying in the form of a servant to the Father, he says: *O Lord.*

VERS. 3.-- *Let it enter in the sight.* [n: (ID.)] The power of pure prayer, which as a certain person enters to God [0990B] and performs its charge: whither the flesh cannot come.

VERS. 4.-- *For it is filled.* [n: (AUG.)] These affections of human infirmity, etc., *as far as* but tokens of human infirmity.

VERS. 5.-- *Counted.* Because I have borne not only grievous things, but reproachful ones also.

VERS. 6.-- *As the slain sleeping.* [n: (CASS.)] Because he also was wounded with a lance, and shut in a sepulchre, but he differs by that which follows, of whom thou art not yet mindful.

*In the sepulchre.* That is, lulled asleep in carnal pleasure, whence God does not rouse them.

*And they are cast off from thy hand.* [n: (AUG.)] For this is not referred to the sleeping, among whom are the just, [0990C] of whom although God is not mindful *as yet,* [var: Vulg. Ps 87:6 *quorum non es memor amplius*, "no more"; the gloss's *ut resurgant* rests on "as yet"] that they may rise again: yet of these it is said: *The souls of the just are in the hand of God [n: (Sap. III)]*. Or, *they have put me* by the truth of the thing, *In the lower pit,* that is, in the waters of hell, namely in darkness and in the shadow of death.

VERS. 7.-- *In the lower pit.* [n: (CASS.)] Or *of hell:* because by so abject a death he was taken away into the darkness of oblivion, whom no one shall seek. And *the shadow of death,* the place of the wicked, in which they are punished.

VERS. 8.-- *It is confirmed upon me.* [n: (ID.)] They thought that he had perished by the anger of God, and that God had brought all his indignations upon him, when he suffered him to be crucified.

VERS. 9.-- *Thou hast put far away.* [n: (ID.)] What his friends did in the passion.

[0990D] *Acquaintances.* Not those whom he knew: because then he knew all as God, but those to whom he was known.

VERS. 10.-- *All the day.* [n: (AUG.)] By *hands stretched out* is understood the continuance of good works, from which he never ceased. For on the cross that stretching out was not for even one whole day, nor can the whole be taken for the part when he adds *whole;* but because these works did not profit all, he adds.

VERS. 11.-- *Is it for the dead.* He means the dead in heart, for whom indeed the miracles of Christ are wrought, but they do not profit them: for wonders were wrought for those dead in body, when certain ones came to life again. And when the Lord pierced hell, and thence ascended a conqueror of death, a great miracle was wrought for the dead. *Is it [0991A] for the dead.* [n: (CASS.)] He shows to whom their own works do not profit. *Or shall physicians raise up,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] In the Hebrew not physicians, etc., *as far as: No man can come to me, unless the Father draw him.*

VERS. 12.-- *In the sepulchre.* Whence in the Gospel of such men: *You are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful: but within are full of dead men's bones,* as if to say, so also you by hypocrisy and iniquity. *Mercy and truth.* [n: (AUG.)] Scripture loves to join mercy and truth: especially in the psalms.

VERS. 13.-- *In darkness.* The dead laid in the sepulchre, and the darkness, and the land of forgetfulness, are the same.

VERS. 14.-- *I, O Lord, have cried to thee.* [n: (CASS.)] The things which he endures in his own; behold the choir answering the precentor.

[0991B] [n: (ID.)] *And I as it were,* with those, with whom I am one.

[n: (AUG.)] *And I.* To these dead their works do not profit, etc., *as far as Why, O Lord, dost thou cast off.*

VERS. 15.-- *Why.* [n: (CASS.)] Behold how much he desires. *Why, O Lord.* He sets forth that the cause is to be sought: which is, that by the delay of good, and by adversities multiplied, by which the prayer is as it were repulsed, it may be kindled more ardently.

VERS. 16.-- *Lifted up.* [n: (ID.)] First with a swollen heart, afterwards, *Humbled.* Through confession. *Troubled,* that is, confounded for his sins, by condemning them [sic: *damnado*].

VERS. 17.-- *They have passed.* [n: (CASS.)] They did not happen gently.

[n: (AUG.)] Because it was not of the faithful, but of the unbeliever that it was said [0991C]: *The anger of God abideth on him [n: (Joan. III)]*. For he scourges the sons whom he receives, whence: *Whom I love, I rebuke and chastise [n: (Apoc. III)]*. And elsewhere: *I will strike and I will heal [sic: *Percutium*]: I will kill and I will make to live [n: (Deut. XXXII)]*. [var: Vulg. Dt 32:39 *ego occidam, et ego vivere faciam : percutiam, et ego sanabo*, the two members in the reverse order] [n: (ID.)] *They have passed and troubled.* Because one thing we already suffer from condemnation, and another we fear from eternal vengeance. *Thy terrors.* [n: (CASS.)] Which I suffer: because it pleased thee, not by my desert. [n: (AUG.)] The terrors of the judgment to come, which all flesh fears.

*They have troubled me.* According to the infirmity of the flesh. [n: (AUG.)] *They have troubled me,* sometimes, terrors: they so trouble the mind of one thinking, with evils hanging round about, that they seem like waters to flow about, and at once to surround on every side, whence they both seem to be friends, and desert after their manner, whence the Apostle: *All have forsaken me* [0991D] [n: (II Tim. IV)].

VERS. 18.-- *They have surrounded me.* [n: (CASS.)] Sins shut him in on every side with a copious flood.

*All the day.* [n: (AUG.)] Because at no time are evils wanting to the Church until the world be ended. But all these things are done, that the prayer of the Church may come before God until that salvation come, where there shall be nothing of evils.

VERS. 19.-- *Friend* [n: (CASS.)] Even those who are joined by a pious and faithful love.

*Neighbour and acquaintances,* etc. Kindred. Often have human offices been withdrawn from the just through fear.



## PSALM LXXXVIII.

VERS. 2.-- *The mercies.* [n: (CASS.)] This Psalm says many things concerning the [0992A] hope of Christians and the magnificence of the Lord, by which no one is led astray who prays worthily, which the true Israel so understands. First the Prophet promises that he will sing of mercy and truth.

*For ever.* [n: (CASS., REM.)] How does he *sing the mercies for ever,* and give thanks, who is not mindful of misery? And how is there full blessedness if the memory of guilt touches the mind? But we often remember sad things in gladness, and sorrows in health without sorrow, and thence we are the more glad and thankful; and so likewise the recollection of misery takes away nothing of blessedness.

*Truth.* The promise. In the mouth: it does not slip out of the mouth, but is turned over long in the mouth as something sweet.

VERS. 3.-- *For thou hast said.* Here he says: Whence does he know? and what are the mercies of God through Christ? [n: (AUG.)] [0992B] Which mercies, and what truth shall I sing? Behold.

*For thou hast said.* As if he should say: I, a man, say securely what thou, God, hast said, hast made manifest through the Spirit.

*Mercy shall be built up.* [n: (AUG.)] He repeats both, which he foretold. Because all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth. Truth is not shown forth in the fulfilling of the things promised, unless mercy go before in the remission of sins. Finally, truth pertains to the Jews, to whom the promises were made, mercy to the Gentiles: as the Apostle says: *For I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, which was to be fulfilled: but that the Gentiles honour God for his mercy [n: (Rom. XV)]* [var: Vulg. Rom 15:8 has instead "to confirm the promises of the fathers"; the gloss's argument turns on the fulfilling, which it repeats two lines above].

*In the heavens.* They who declare the glory of God, through whom mercy is built up [0992C].

VERS. 4.-- *I have sworn to David my servant.* This man is secure, for this reason, because God has said it: more secure, because he has sworn. God's swearing is the confirmation of the promise, and out of both is made the man Ethan, that is, the strong one.

VERS. 5.-- *For ever.* [n: (CASS.)] The building up of mercy is not temporal, as the ruin of iniquity is temporal: for temporal iniquity is destroyed in certain men, that in them eternal mercy may be built up, whence the Lord says to Jeremiah: *Behold therefore I have set thee over the nations and over kingdoms, to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant. Unto generation.* [var: Vulg. Jer 1:10 reads "Behold I have set thee this day over the nations", with no "therefore"] [n: (AUG.)] For generation cannot, etc., *as far as* he shall sit, and then in the saints.

VERS. 6.-- *The heavens shall confess.* [n: (CAS.)] Diapsalma. [0992D] Secondly he describes the praises and the power of God in divers ways, as if to say, as thou hast said, so shall it be done. *They shall confess,* they shall praise.

*The heavens shall confess thy wonders.* For in every mercy shown to the lost, in the justifying of the ungodly, what do we praise but the wonders of God? Thou praisest because the dead have risen; praise the more because the lost have been redeemed. For thou seest a man who yesterday was a whirlpool of drunkenness, today the ornament of sobriety. For thou seest a man who yesterday was the mire of luxury, today the grace of temperance: yesterday a blasphemer of God, today a praiser of God. Thou seest a man who yesterday was a slave of the creature, today a worshipper of the Creator: these are the wonders which the heavens confess. *For thy truth also.* [n: (CASS.)] Or without *for.* Wonders, [0993A] in that he does and administers all things everywhere. Truth is in the Church where it is believed, *the Word was made flesh,* and that [there is] a Trinity, and before that, God.

VERS. 7.-- *For who.* [n: (AUG.)] It is to be noted that the heavens and the clouds are the same, namely the preachers. But heavens, that is, preachers, because of the splendour of truth. *Clouds,* which are cloudy because of the mortality of the flesh, and because they pass away, where also there are hidden things, which afterwards shall be made clear in the judgment. *Among the sons.* Either of those above, or of men. Let him not therefore be thought to be man only: for he is natural, we adoptive; he begotten, we created; he begotten from eternity, we made in time; he the only one, we many.

VERS. 8.-- *Above all.* [n: (ID.)] The angels, or men, who are his unequal attendants, who draw near to him by his own gift.

[0993B]VERS. 9.-- *To thee.* [n: (ID.)] Thou who hast made all things, etc., *as far as* to be tempted above that which a man can bear.

VERS. 11.-- *Wounded.* He was humbled by losing those whom he held [sic: *Humilitatus.*]; wounded by the smiting of the heart, wherein he was proud. *The proud one.* [n: (AUG.)] Namely the dragon, who was made in the sea to be mocked at, who through the humble Christ, in whom others are humble, are humbled; Christ humbled himself, that he might humble the proud one. For the proud one held the proud: the devil is wounded by the wounded Christ, he is not yet wholly dead. *The enemies.* The powers of the air, or the Jews dispersed through the world, or of men he took up some who are the spoils of the devil, and others thou didst leave, whom thou didst permit to go away after him.

VERS. 12.-- *Thine are the heavens, and thine is the earth, the world,* [0993C] etc. [n: (ID.)] Therefore he triumphed in heaven over the devil, because heaven is his; on earth over Judea, because the earth is his. Why then were they proud in what was another's?

*Thou hast founded.* Why then do they raise themselves up against him, whose is the compass of the world, and all the creatures which are in it?

VERS. 13.-- *The north.* The devil. *The sea thou hast created.* The world. Foolishly therefore do they raise themselves up against him by whom they were created. *Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.* [n: (AUG.)] Mountains of Syria, and by them the Gentiles are understood, the whole from a part, by synecdoche.

*They shall rejoice.* At Christ's coming, allegorically. *Thabor,* the Jews, to whom the light first came. *Hermon,* the Gentiles, who were formerly accursed. *In thy name they shall rejoice,* the two walls being joined together [0993D] in the corner stone.

[n: (AUG.)] *Thabor.* The light coming from the highest light, namely, at whose coming the anathema of him, that is, of the devil, who held us in his error, is made. Which is: it is given by thee that we should be enlightened, that we should give the devil to anathema.

VERS. 15.-- *The preparation of thy seat.* [n: (CASS.)] The *seat* of God is eternal, but in the judgment it shall appear *prepared,* when he himself shall be seen to judge justly. Or in this present time men, by discerning and by holding to just things, prepare themselves as a seat for the Lord.

*Mercy and truth shall go before thy face.* From the likeness of a forerunner preparing a lodging for the Lord.

[0994A]VERS. 16.-- *Blessed is the people that knoweth,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] He knows, who places his gladness not in his own strength, but in the Lord's, or, who understands in the heart what he sings with the mouth: whence this reward follows, *in the light,* that is, they shall persevere in the contemplation of the Trinity.

*Jubilation.* Jubilation is a joy which cannot be unfolded in words, nor yet altogether kept silent. *O Lord, they shall walk in the light of thy countenance, and in thy name they shall rejoice.* [n: (CASS.)] He commends the grace, of which the jubilation is.

[n: (AUG.)] Or in thy good pleasure, that is, in Christ, therefore in him, because he took our flesh, in whom is all hope.

VERS. 20.-- *Then he spoke in a vision.* [var: Vulg. Ps 88:20 has the second person, "then thou didst speak" — as the gloss itself has it four lines below] [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalma. Thirdly, the promises of the Father concerning Christ. [0994B] The praise above is not doubtful, which the Father's authority confirms. [n: (CASS.)]

[n: (AUG.)] *Then.* When thou didst appoint the testament, or when thou didst say these things to me, *then thou didst speak to the saints,* to the rest of the prophets *in a vision,* for they did not speak unknowingly, as Montanus and certain other heretics have said.

VERS. 21.-- *David my servant, with my holy oil I have anointed him.* [n: (AUG.)] Strong of hand, an obedient servant, therefore in him I have placed help.

VERS. 23.-- *The enemy in him.* [n: (ID.)] The devil, whence: *The prince of this world cometh, and in me he hath not anything [n: (Joan. XIV)]*.

*The son of iniquity shall not go on to hurt.* Judas shall not go on, shall not add the effect to the will.

[0994C]VERS. 24.-- *From his face his enemies.* [n: (AUG.)] When his face looks upon sinners, they are separated from crimes, for which there is no place under his presence.

VERS. 25.-- *And my truth and my mercy shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted.* [n: (ID.)] Often mercy and truth are commended to us, etc., *as far as* where these meet one another.

VERS. 31.-- *But if they forsake.* Not only concerning those who persist, but also concerning those who fall, do I promise these things.

VERS. 33.-- *With a rod.* For who is a son? etc., *as far as: And with stripes,* etc.

*I will not scatter.* [n: (AUG.)] He himself does not take away his mercy from him who is indeed a Christian: but if a man is so wicked that he flees when his father draws near, he alienates [0994D] himself, the father does not cast him off.

VERS. 35.-- *Neither will I profane.* The promise would be profane, if it were unfulfilled. Is nothing sent into the vessels out of that net because of the bad fishes? The good fishes shall surely be sent, that is, those whom he has predestinated.

VERS. 36.-- *I have sworn once.* [n: (CASS.)] Man swears often, God *once,* who is not changed.

*In the holy one.* In the man Christ, in whom was to be fulfilled what I have sworn; or David, that is Christ, through holiness. *The seed,* Christians.

VERS. 38.-- *As the sun in the sight.* [n: (AUG.)] According to the soul, etc., *as far as* in heaven, that is, Christ.

*But thou hast rejected.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalma. Fourthly [0995A] he sets adverse things against the promises aforesaid, lest they be thought to be fulfilled in another than in the Christ who was then to come. *But thou hast rejected.* As if to say, these goods are for Christians, but not for the Jews, who have deprived themselves of the promise, and this is it: But thou hast rejected *thy Christ,* that is, David the anointed, from the kingdom for the sin which he committed against Urias concerning Bethsabee; *And thou hast despised,* or *hast spurned,* because he suffered many unworthy things; *thou hast deferred,* long in tribulation, *the testament,* the things promised to the Jews, they have been carried over to the Gentiles. [n: (AUG.)] *But thou.* Or, all these things concerning Christ and the Church: *thou hast rejected* to the gibbet *thy Christ,* and hast given him over to contempt. Or, thou hast deferred him from glory, for a time, or according to his members.

VERS. 40.-- *The testament.* The promise seems overthrown, and the saints are reckoned profane. *The hedges,* the prelates, [0995B] *thou hast destroyed,* while they are slain. *And thou hast made his strength fear.* They who strengthened others by teaching are now for a terror, while they are afflicted, and some are now plundered *by them that pass by the way,* which is Christ.

VERS. 44.-- *Thou hast turned away the help of his sword.* That is, preaching. *Thou hast not helped him in battle,* but hast given him over to sufferings. *Thou hast destroyed him from amendment,* etc., that is, certain clean ones have failed, and have been brought down to the earth. [var: Vulg. Ps 88:45 reads "from cleansing"] *Thou hast lessened,* as it is thought, while they are quickly taken away from life.

[n: (AUG.)] Why did God promise those things, etc., *as far as* that this promise might be looked for in others.

VERS. 45.-- *Thou hast destroyed him.* All these things came upon the Jews, yet Christ was not taken from them, nor the eternal [0995C] kingdom, but deferred. *Thou hast cast his seat down to the ground.* That is, their kingdom has been blotted out everywhere on earth, because there is now no prince from among them.

VERS. 46.-- *Thou hast lessened.* Because their kingdom would stand long, if it were under God. *Thou hast covered him with confusion.* Because he bears the reproach of unbelief. *Thou hast lessened.* [n: (AUG.)] They thought that they would reign for ever, but thou hast lessened the days of their kingdom, that it should not stand, according to their opinion.

VERS. 47.-- *How long, O Lord?* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalma. Fifthly. Behold in whom the promises were fulfilled, namely in *the substance of David,* which lives, and delivered the soul, that is, in Christ. [n: (AUG.)] But, how long dost thou not raise up Christ? What *substance?* which is nothing, save through him. *Who is the man that liveth and shall not see death?* [var: Vulg. Ps 88:49 has the future, "that shall live"] [0995D] no one. In these things he now asks that help be brought to man, or especially to the Jews.



## PSALM LXXXVIII. (cont.)

VERS. 48.-- *Remember what my substance is.* [n: (ID.)] David says this, set in the flesh among the Jews, in hope in Christ. What *is my substance?* And if the Jews fail, *my substance* does not fail, the root does not wholly perish, whence Mary shall come: and of her shall come the seed to whom the promise was made. For of that people came the Virgin Mary, of the Virgin Mary the flesh of Christ, and that flesh is not a sinner, but the cleanser of sinners. *For hast thou in vain.* All the sons of men have gone into vanity, yet not *in vain didst thou establish* them: whence then dost thou cleanse them from vanity? through *the seed,* in which is *my substance;* concerning which he adds: *Who is the man?*

[0996A]VERS. 49.-- *Who is the man?* [sic: *hemo*] [n: (ID.)] This befits none, save Christ: for even if he finds those rising again, and they shall not see death any more: yet they themselves do not *deliver their own souls out of the lower hand,* [sic: *iuferiori*] but he does who *can lay down his soul, and take it again, from whom no one shall take it away.* [var: Vulg. Ps 88:49 has the singular throughout, "he shall deliver his soul out of the hand of hell" — the gloss's whole argument rests on the plural it prints] [n: (CASS.)] Or thus, no one shall live, or shall deliver his soul: and since this is so, *where are the mercies?* He now asks that the promises be fulfilled which he made to David.

VERS. 50.-- *Where are the mercies?* [n: (ID.)] Diapsalma. Sixthly, in the members also the promises are fulfilled, not temporally, but spiritually. And he speaks in the person of the Church.

VERS. 51.-- *Be mindful, O Lord.* [n: (AUG.)] That thou mayest repay; he seems to have forgotten, while he defers. *Of the reproach of the servants.* [n: (CASS.)] Brought upon the servants by many nations. [0996B] [n: (AUG.)] Which I (the Church) *have held,* that is, have borne. *In the bosom,* in the secret of the mind, because openly she did not dare to speak.

VERS. 53.-- *Blessed.* [n: (CASS.)] Against the curses of the nations. [n: (AUG.)] Blessed. An exclamation out of the brightness of Christ that has been seen.

## PSALM LXXXIX.

VERS. 1.-- *A prayer of Moses.* [n: (AUG.)] When the old life and the new, etc., *as far as* and he sees wonders out of the law of God.

[n: (CASS., REM.)] This psalm treats of the failing of the human race, which shall be taken away through Christ.

*O Lord, a refuge.* [n: (CASS.)] First, he sets forth an eternal refuge for man in time.

VERS. 2.-- *Before the mountains.* But lest he should seem [0996C] not to have been, before he was a refuge to us, he adds *before. The mountains, the earth.* [n: (AUG.)] Behold, every rational creature is distinguished [sic: *Elcce*] by this difference, that by the name *of mountains* is meant the loftiness of the angels; and by the name *of the earth* the lowliness of men: and therefore not unfittingly did he so distinguish the words, that he should say that *the mountains,* that is, the angels, *were made,* and that *the earth,* that is, men, *was formed. They should be made, or it should be formed.* To be formed, or fashioned, is wont to be said of bodies: to be made, out of nothing. *From the world.* He would more fitly say, etc., *as far as* but here *the world* is put for the eternal. *From the world.* Behold what eternity is a refuge to us, etc., *as far as: Turn not away, for a thousand years. Thou art.* Excellently does he say it, because he is unchangeable. He does not say thou shalt be, or thou wast, since the unchangeable essence of God has not known the past, or the future; whence it is said: *I am [0996D] who am.* And, *He who is hath sent me to you?* And: *But thou art the selfsame, and thy years shall not fail.* [sic: *aani*]

VERS. 3.-- *Turn not away.* [n: (CASS.)] Secondly, he sets out the infirmity of man, for which he asks that help be brought. *Unto lowliness.* That is, earthly concupiscence, etc., *as far as* who taught us to seek the things of heaven.

VERS. 4.-- *Yesterday's day.* [n: (AUG.)] He does not say, at least as tomorrow's, etc., *as far as* in anxiety, and trembling, as nothing [sic: *qnasi*].

VERS. 6.-- *In the morning as grass.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] Let it be changed from the quality of the night.

*In the evening let it fall.* Cut down, or broken, at the last. [n: (CASS.)] *In the morning as grass.* I have said that the years are held, etc., *as far as* the youth which flowers and passes away.

[0997A] *In the evening.* Old age, when the vigour of a man grows cold. *Or, in the morning as grass.* A fitting comparison, as if to say, as grass is changed from the quality which it has in the night, to a worse one in the morning when the sun is risen: so is a man changed for the worse.

VERS. 7.-- *We have failed in thy wrath, and in thy fury we have been troubled.* [n: (AUG.)] Made mortal and liable to suffering, which nevertheless we fear to end by death, whence follows: *And in thy fury we have been troubled. The world.* Our depraved life. Or *the world,* those who come after. *In the enlightening of the countenance.* [n: (CASS.)] Those things are covered which have pardon: those are *enlightened* which are punished.

VERS. 9.-- *For all our days.* [n: (AUG.)] Our knowledge has failed, darkened in its reason by sin, or, the time of life has been shortened, and has almost *failed,* [0997B] because the days of our life have been brought down to fewness. *Our years as.* [n: (CASS., AUG.)] The misery and shortness of this life is expressed here by the likeness of *the spider,* which weaves empty webs, that it may catch flies by guile: whence as a spider, that is, we laboured among corruptible things, we wove empty things. [n: (CASS.)] Life has been shortened through the wrath of God, because they sinned in the presumption of a longer life. And we ourselves *have failed in thy wrath.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, our essence has failed through hardships. *The years . . . shall meditate,* they shall not work, because they pass without profit. Or, *they shall meditate* passively, that is, our years shall be reckoned *as a spider,* that is, as empty and useless.

VERS. 10.-- *Seventy.* [n: (ID.)] The appetite for earthly things which are done in seven days: if in virtues, eighty, that is, eternity is sought. *Years.* Or *the years,* [0997C] another reading. By which space of time they are called long-lived, who even up to *eighty* years are seen to have some strength. *Eighty.* Because even short of eighty years some are infirm, etc., *as far as* awaiting the redemption of the body. *Meekness.* It is clemency, if it be God's: a taming, if it be ours. For he himself, being meek through clemency, by taming us makes us meek, and so we shall be corrected.

VERS. 11.-- *Who I have known.* [var: Vulg. Ps 89:11 has the third person, "who hath known"] [n: (ID.)] The power of a man's anger is to kill the body, and afterwards to do nothing. God both punishes here, and afterwards sends into hell: and by few is his greater anger understood.

VERS. 12.-- *So make known thy right hand.* [n: (CASS.)] Thirdly, he prays and affirms deliverance. [n: (AUG.)] *Thy right hand.* He so *made known* Christ, etc., *as far as* [0997D] that he may set him at the right hand.

*And them that are learned in heart in wisdom. Or, fettered in heart.* Which is the same thing, because they who are taught in wisdom thrust the foot of the mind into the fetters of God, that they may not stray from his way. These God so made known in the New Testament, that for faith they should spurn all things which are held great, in the Old, and should seek in eternal death: attending to this he speaks, on behalf of those who suffer many things from the world for the sake of eternal things.

VERS. 13.-- *Turn thee.* As though his face were turned away from those in tribulation. *How long.* Elsewhere, a little. [n: (CASS.)] Not wholly, which profits the more, if some tribulation always admonishes us.

VERS. 14.-- *In the morning we have rejoiced in thy mercy, [0998A] and we have been delighted.* [sic: *delectatio*] [n: (AUG., CASS.)] Now it is night, in which we hunger: but then we shall be filled with the countenance, whence: *I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear.* And elsewhere: *In the morning I will stand before thee, and will see.* But now instead of it *we have been glad,* even in the evil days in which we say: *Look upon thy servants.*

VERS. 16.-- *Look upon thy servants.* What God does in himself, the Prophet prays may be done for his people: he prays, namely, that he may spare the sinning Jews, if not for their merits, at least for the sake of the works which he has wrought in them.

*And direct their children.* As if to say, even if they themselves have been scattered through iniquities [sic: *iniqui-tales*], at least the children, at the last, may be corrected by faith, who of themselves are depraved and unconvertible.

VERS. 17.-- *The brightness of the Lord our God upon us, [0998B] and work ye.* [var: Vulg. Ps 89:17 reads "and direct thou the work of our hands upon us"] [n: (HIER., CASS.)] Let the image of God, restoring, be imprinted on the mind. Or the brightness of God is upon us, while we are adorned by the impress of the cross, and bear the standard of triumph on the forehead. [n: (CASS.)] For the image is threefold, etc., *as far as* that I may remember thee, understand thee, love thee.



## PSALM XC.

VERS. 1.-- *The praise of a canticle.* Praise is human also: but this praise is of a canticle, because it is nothing if not divine. For this psalm is a hymn against the demons. The Prophet therefore says of any holy man whatsoever: *He that dwelleth in the help,* etc.

[n: (CASS.)] He shows that the temptations of the devil were overcome through humility by Christ, and by his own, who remain in the help of God, that we too through him may learn to overcome temptations, because he is the door through which [sic: *jauna*], if any man shall enter in, [0998C] he shall go in, and shall go out, and pasture shall come forth.

[n: (AUG.)] Christ is the door; to enter through him is to imitate him, not in godhead, and power, and miracles, but in that wherein he was made for us, that is, in the humility to which he calls, saying: *Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart.* Out of this psalm the devil tempted Christ. But Christ's temptation is our teaching, and following him we overcome by him.

*He that dwelleth.* [n: (CASS.)] He describes first the man who trusts in God alone, wholly walled about by the protection of God. *He that dwelleth,* that is, who sets all his hope always not in himself, but in God, shall be protected by God in every way. Note the correspondence of the words: for as he always *dwelleth,* so also shall he always *abide.* The one he affirms, namely that he *dwelleth;* the other he promises, [0998D] namely that he *shall be protected.*

*He shall abide in the protection of the God of heaven.* That is to say, that he turn not aside to the right hand or to the left, as in the Old Testament it was commanded to the children of Israel, that they should walk by the king's highway, not turning aside to the right hand or to the left. The king's highway is the way of Christ our king, who so ran the way of the world that he was neither enticed by prosperity, nor broken by adversity.

VERS. 2.-- *My God.* [n: (CASS.)] Lest thou think that after the upholding and the refuge nothing further is to be asked for, he adds: *In him will I trust,* lest at any time he presume of himself; and if Adam had done this, he would have stood well.

VERS. 3.-- *From the snare.* [n: (ID.)] Temptation, either by deeds, which is here called *a snare;* or by words, which is here called *a sharp word;* [0999A] as if to say, even though it seem light, yet it is a grave thing to be tempted by a word. *A snare,* the craftiness of spiritual or of carnal enemies; *a sharp word,* every saying which moves a man from the divine rules. [n: (AUG.)] *From the snare of the hunters,* that is, of the demons, who set their snares not in the way, Christ, but round about it, to the right hand or to the left. Into these some fall even through a sharp word, as they who will not be Christ's because of those who insult the Christian name, and they who fear the detractions of men, so that they cease from the way of God.

VERS. 4.-- *With his shoulders.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] To him that hopes he promises the benefits of God. *The shoulders* are the workings of wonders, by which, as by arms, the power of God is shown. *The feathers* are the counsels of the Prophets, which carry men to the heavens.

[0999B] *He will overshadow.* That neither the sun of the godhead, nor the moon of the humanity, may scorch thee. *In the feathers* is the protection. *With his shoulders.* Elsewhere, *Between the shoulders.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, he places thee before his breast, etc., *as far as* that we may hope under his wings.

VERS. 5.-- *The truth.* [n: (ID.)] It is God's, who does not regard persons, nor mingle those who hope in themselves with those who hope in God, but discerns the humble or the proud. [n: (CASS.)] Or the truth is the incarnation of Christ, whence: *Out of the earth truth is sprung [n: (Psal. LXXXIV)]*, which both overshadows with the shoulders, and defends with the shield. As he has noted the kinds of defence, so he notes also the kinds of dangers, that the deliverance may be the more welcome.

*From the fear of the night.* From the likeness of a danger, whence only fear is had. *From the fear of the night.* [n: (AUG.)] He who [0999C] sins in ignorance, etc., *as far as: A thousand shall fall at thy side.*

VERS. 7.-- *They shall fall at the side.* [n: (CASS.)] Secondly, he says that the head of him who trusts in God, that is, Christ, lifted up into heaven, can be touched by none, who also protects the offspring on earth: but the presumptuous fall from him. Behold the certainty of the protection of him who trusts in God through Christ. *At the side.* The side of God is the crown of the just, who shall judge with him, whence it is said: *Send ye from your own side,* that is, they who hold counsel with you. The side of Christ, therefore, is the Apostles and their imitators, to whom he promised: *You shall sit upon twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel [n: (Matth. XIX)]*. The twelve seats are the perfection of the tribunal, who in which shall sit [cj: *qui quibus*; read *in quibus*, "in which"] all they who have left all things, and have followed Christ.

[0999D]VERS. 8.-- *But yet.* [n: (CASS., AUG.)] Although indeed it is allowed, thou permitting, that the wicked persecute thine own, yet not unpunished: with thine eyes he shall consider the evil which they willed, not the good which is done through those who know it not, it shall be repaid to them; and the holy man, who has the eyes of faith, sees them now exalted and thundering, and at the last struck by lightning: this he said lest the weak be moved. [n: (CASS.)] *But yet with thine eyes.* Even if they that fall should tempt thee with hard things, *yet.* Or, even if the demon does not draw near, which is through the wicked: yet nevertheless not what they do, but what they intend, *thou shalt consider.*

VERS. 9.-- *For thou art.* [n: (AUG.)] One Christ is head and body, of whom he speaks now as of the head, now as of the body, the person not being changed. Therefore [1000A] diligently mark where he treats of Christ according to the head, and where according to the members. *The Most High.* In the height is the refuge of God, deep in secret, that flight may be made from the wrath to come. For many so make for themselves the refuge of God, whereby they flee from temporal evils. *Thou hast made the Most High thy refuge,* that is, by rising again, by ascending, thou hast made the refuge high, that I may now hope to follow [sic: *speram*] whither thou hast gone before.

VERS. 10.--[n: (ID.)] *The tabernacle of God* is the flesh, etc., *as far as* this is rightly taken of Christ.

VERS. 11.-- *For to his angels.* This the tempter said to the Lord, when he tempted him: this he cast up against him, doubting of his Godhead. But Christ was tempted for our sake, that in him also we might learn to overcome the tempter.

[n: (AUG.)] So also he willed to be baptized by a servant, not for his own need, but for man's profit, that we should not disdain [1000B] to be baptized by our fellow servants.

VERS. 12.-- *In their hands they shall bear thee up.* [n: (ID.)] By the hands of angels Christ was lifted up into heaven, etc., *as far as* he who cannot be overcome.

VERS. 13.-- *Upon the asp.* After the human infirmity, the divine power is shown, which commands such creatures. And he treats of Christ according to the members. *And he shall trample.* [var: Vulg. Ps 90:13 *conculcabis*, "thou shalt trample"] [n: (AUG.)] The Church, which is wary of his cunning, treads upon the serpent. *The lion.* He rages openly against the martyrs.

The dragon lies in wait through the heretics, that he may corrupt the virgin of Christ, whence the Apostle: *I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you a chaste virgin to Christ [n: (II Cor. XI)]*.

VERS. 14.-- *Because he hoped in me.* [n: (AUG.)] Thirdly, the words of God, by which he consoles the Church, to which he promises both defence here, and rewards in the world to come. [n: (CASS.)] [1000C] He gives charge to the angels concerning thee, saying: *Because in me.* The certainty of the promise, through the promise of God.

VERS. 15.-- *He shall cry to me.* [n: (AUG.)] There is no need to fear in tribulation, etc., *as far as* at that time let us labour the more to resist.



## PSALM XCI.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of a canticle.* [n: (AUG.)] Because of the weariness of minds, etc., *as far as* seeking the glory of God, not thine own.

VERS. 2.-- *It is good to confess.* [n: (CASS.)] First, he treats how the good man, being untroubled, keeps the sabbath of the mind, perceiving that all things are done well by God, which the foolish man does not know. [n: (AUG.)] The good things of the present, given to us by God, are a consolation: when they are lacking, it is justice. For God both consoles us, and amends us: in both, therefore, let us be [1000D] thankful to him, saying: *It is good to confess,* etc.

VERS. 4.-- *Upon the ten-stringed instrument.* [n: (ID.)] He sings a psalm who does good with cheerfulness. He with whom it is done in sadness does not himself do it: and he carries the psaltery, he does not sing upon it. *Upon the ten-stringed instrument.* If thou only speakest well, it is a canticle without the harp; if thou workest, and speakest not, it is a harp without the canticle; and therefore both speak well and do well.

VERS. 5.-- *For thou hast delighted.* [n: (ID.)] Whence the Apostle: *We are his own moulding,* [var: Vulg. Eph 2:10 reads "for we are his workmanship" — the word the gloss picks up two lines later in *In factura tua*] etc., *as far as: How great are thy works. In thy handiwork.* [n: (CASS., HIER.)] Both in the beauty of the fabric of the world itself, and in its obedience, and in its ordering, and in its causes, and in its effects, and in the works of the hands which I use [sic: *uior*], or which I marvel at.

[1001A]VERS. 6.-- *How great are thy works.* [n: (CASS., HIER.)] In substance, and in form, and in force, and in the rest. *Thy thoughts are exceeding deep,* by which thou hast made and dost govern such things.

VERS. 7.-- *The senseless man,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Thou hast delighted me in thy works, but *the senseless man shall not know,* and the fool, who, if he knows, does not beware for himself, *shall not understand these things,* which he has said, or which he says afterwards. The highest kind of knowledge is to know that God bestows such great things as human sense is not able to attain to.

*The senseless man* is he who is empty of heavenly wisdom, and full of human craftiness; who does not know the works of God, because he thinks that all things are done by chance; *the fool* is a brute, who does not know even worldly things.

VERS. 8.-- *When they have sprung up.* [var: Vulg. Ps 91:8 has the future perfect, "when they shall have sprung up"] [n: (CASS.)] He asserts that the wicked shall [1001B] perish, etc., *as far as* the Jews thought that thou shouldst die by the common lot, that is to say.

VERS. 9.-- *But thou art the Most High.* [n: (AUG.)] Thou waitest from above out of eternity, etc., *as far as* not long-suffering, from the word eternal.

VERS. 11.-- *And shall be exalted.* [n: (ID.)] Even though they themselves shall perish, etc., *as far as* all heresies shall perish.

VERS. 12.-- *And hath looked down.* [n: (ID.)] And therefore even now he has looked down, and it shall hear from the truth within. *And from them that rise up.* [var: Vulg. Ps 91:12 reads "and among them that rise up"] [n: (CASS.)] Or, it shall hear at the last those that rise up against me, the malignant: when they shall rebuke themselves, saying, *What hath pride profited us, and riches? [n: (Sap. V.)] My ear.* [n: (AUG.)] Of him that stands at the right hand: it shall hear in the world to come this, namely, *Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.* [var: Vulg. Mt 25:41 reads "Depart from me, ye cursed"] From which evil hearing the just man shall not fear. Behold, this is [1001C] for these men; *what of the just? [n: (Matth. XXV.)]*

VERS. 13.-- *The just man as the palm tree.* They as hay. The just man as the palm tree, for its height, and because its root is rough, its foliage fair at the top and at the end, and it bears fruit late; so also does labour make the just man rough here, whom in the heights the beauty of immortality shall crown, and, as it were late, after long labours he shall receive the wage of his works. *The just man as the palm tree.* [n: (CASS.)] The third part. That the just flourish, so that by this promise they may devoutly rejoice. *The cedar.* [n: (AUG.)] The palm and the cedar, these trees do not wither in the summer, as hay does.

VERS. 14.-- *In the courts of the house.* [n: (CASS.)] *The court* is the beginning of the dwelling; *the house* is the inner part. *In the courts* therefore *they shall flourish,* that is, in the very beginning of the resurrection, when they shall hear: *Come, ye blessed of my Father [n: (Matth. XXV)]*.

VERS. 15.-- *They shall still be multiplied.* [n: (ID.)] The Church [1001D] shall the more begin to be most fruitful, when it shall have been brought to the end of the world: for then by the sufferings of the elect the number of the blessed shall quickly be filled up. And *old age* is here taken otherwise than above.

VERS. 16.-- *That they may declare.* [n: (ID.)] Here, or, when they shall receive the reward they shall declare that he is just, who fulfils to his own the things promised. *And there is no iniquity in him.* [n: (AUG.)] As that he should permit those to suffer here for his sake, whom he does not adorn there. *And he is upright,* who rewards, not unjust so as to defraud of the reward, but kind so as to heap it up.

## PSALM XCII.

*Unto the day,* etc. [var: Vulg. Ps 92:1 reads "on the day before the sabbath" — as the gloss itself has it in its own next words] [n: (AUG.)] On the day before the sabbath, etc., *as far as* which the sixth day signifies.

VERS. 1.-- *The Lord hath reigned,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] The praise [1002A] of Christ is sung here, etc., *as far as* from the praise of the house, there, *Thy house. Clothed with beauty.* [n: (AUG.)] Christ is beautiful in these things, etc., *as far as* the world which shall not be moved. *He hath put on beauty.* [n: (CASS.)] That is, comeliness, etc., *as far as* from the incarnation, when he taught men.

*He hath girded himself about.* He does not say, he girded, or he girded up, or he girded on, but he girded about. For we are girded when we are about to work, we are girded on when we are about to fight, we are girded up when we are about to go, we are girded about when we are about to minister. [n: (AUG.)] The girding therefore signifies works, etc., *as far as* because *better is he that overcometh anger than he that taketh a city. He hath girded himself about.* [n: (CASS.)] Ascending with the company of angels, or by strenuousness in working.

*For he hath established.* [n: (AUG.)] He has put on beauty and strength, that he might found the earth, whence he adds: *For he hath established.*

VERS. 2.-- *From then.* [n: (ID.)] Or from that time; it marks the time of grace, [1002B] and perhaps he understands this from the day before the sabbath, that is, in the sixth age of this world, in which the Lord came: but lest thou think that he then began, when he came born, he adds, *thou art from everlasting.*

VERS. 3.-- *The floods have lifted up their voice.* [n: (AUG.)] Because the disciples, hearing, etc., *as far as* of the world, which began to be angry, or to persecute. *The floods have lifted up their waves,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] This is wanting in others, etc., *as far as* he who does all things well, he adds: *The Lord is wonderful on high.*

VERS. 5.-- *Testimonies.* [n: (AUG.)] Because *the lifting up of the sea is wonderful,* [var: Vulg. Ps 92:4 has the plural, "wonderful are the surges of the sea"] etc., *as far as* and crowns out of the foretelling. [n: (CASS.)] *Testimonies.* Or thus, etc., *as far as* it contains, though in brief words.



## PSALM XCIII.

*A psalm of David* [var: Vulg. Ps 93:1 *Psalmus ipsi David, quarta sabbati.*, "a psalm for David himself, on the fourth day of the week"] [n: (AUG.)] To the weak, who also murmur [1002C] in heart, etc., *as far as* the whole teaching patience. *On the fourth day of the week,* on which day God made the luminaries, etc., *as far as* whence he admonishes to patience.

VERS. 1.-- *The Lord is the God of revenges.* Be not hasty to punish another, if he has hurt thee; even as thou wouldst not be willing to be punished at the asking of another whom thou hast hurt: and if he sins against thee, sin not worse by blaspheming God, nor wish for vengeance; which, if it comes, will perhaps find thee first.

*He hath acted freely.* [n: (AUG.)] In the time of his weakness, as when he taught in the temple, as one having power, because neither his truth nor his power can be withstood. And because it was so then, now *Be thou exalted, because, how long shall sinners.*

VERS. 4.-- *They shall utter.* [n: (CASS.)] He sets forth their sins, etc., *as far as* it goes on by way of exaggeration. *They shall speak, all that work,* etc. *They shall utter,* they [1002D] answer others, [n: (AUG.)] that is, they have what they may answer, etc., *as far as* the wicked speak, saying that God does not care for these things.

VERS. 6.-- *The widow and the stranger.* [n: (CASS.)] These God protects, etc., *as far as* without the devil for a father and concupiscence for a mother.

VERS. 7.-- *Neither shall he understand.* [n: (AUG.)] As it were, he will not attend to these things, he neglects these things, nor does he attend that he may see, God does not care for me, what I may do?

VERS. 8.-- *Understand ye.* [n: (CASS.)] The second part; against blasphemers, etc., *as far as* that he opens to his own friends his counsel, which is unknown to the wicked. *Ye foolish.* Who openly blaspheme, saying that God does not see. Or thus: You *unwise,* that is, ignorant, understand, you who by now, by living well, [1003A] are *in the people,* that is, in the number of the good. *And you foolish,* that is, improvident, and if you know, *at length be wise.*

VERS. 10.-- *Who correcteth the nations.* [n: (AUG.)] Daily, for the original sin, will he not rebuke for the things said above? Or, *Who instructeth.* [var: Vulg. Ps 93:10 *qui docet hominem scientiam*, "who teacheth man knowledge"] For the sake of which instruction God sent his Son, etc., *as far as* whence the Apostle: *We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive, [n: (Rom. XIV)]*, etc. [var: Vulg. Rm 14:10 *omnes enim stabimus ante tribunal Christi*, with no such clause following; "that every one may render", *ut referat unusquisque*, stands at 2Cor 5:10]

VERS. 11.-- *The Lord knoweth.* [n: (ID.)] But thou knowest not the thoughts of God, since they are just; but when friends have been made, God brings forth his counsel, why he spares the wicked. *For they are vain.* The thoughts of such men are vain, in that they themselves of themselves cannot know it, but the Lord knows them to be vain.

VERS. 12.-- *Blessed is the man.* [n: (CASS.)] These are the vain, etc., [1003B] *as far as* all shall know God, *the heavens shall be folded up as a book. And out of thy law,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] From the law learn patience, *until there be dug,* it is not thine to know how, and why it is dug for him.

VERS. 13.-- *Until,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] The happiness of the wicked is a *pit;* the toil of the good is the father's scourge; happiness is a *pit,* because when God spares by impunity, a man is made lifted up, and when he thinks himself high, he falls. *Let a pit be dug.* Behold the counsel of God: therefore he spares the wicked, that *a pit may be dug for them.* It is still being dug, and thou already wishest to bury him: thou art too hasty. *A pit for the sinner,* etc. Not for every one, but for the proud, etc., *as far as* give thanks to him from whom thou hast it, and despise not another.

VERS. 16.-- *Who shall rise up.* [n: (CASS.)] The third part, where he says that there is a tossing for the just, and the wave of the world, [1003C] that is, evils through the wicked, so that being pricked they may cry to God, and that nothing else may please them, and then deliverance becomes the more welcome. [n: (AUG.)] Who *shall rise up,* as if he should say, etc., *as far as* but whence shall I conquer? *Unless because the Lord. He will stand with me,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Patient in the battle line; but because he conquers who bears the violence; he loses who strikes.

VERS. 17.-- *Unless because the Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] By vain persuasions he could have been deceived, unless the Lord had delivered him.

VERS. 18.-- *He helped me.* Even as the Lord delivered Peter walking upon the water, that he might not be drowned, who said to the Lord: *Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to thee [n: (Matth. XXVI)]*.

[n: (AUG.)] That Christ by his own power, etc., *as far as* whence he subjoins, *thy comforts have gladdened my soul.*

[1003D]VERS. 19.-- *In the heart.* [n: (ID.)] He signifies wholesome thoughts, namely, that while he thought upon the eternal recompenses, he might despise temporal evils.

VERS. 20.-- *Doth there cleave.* [n: (ID.)] No wicked man sits with thee; and since these have nothing with thee, to what end then are they made? that thou mayest prick by means of them, and that they who are pricked may cry to thee, and at the last that these may perish; which things are shown in these three following verses. *The seat of iniquity.* [n: (CASS.)] It is the possession of the world, with love of it, which does not cleave to God, who commands his own to flee these things. *Who framest.* [n: (AUG.)] From this I understand that the wicked man does not cleave to thee, etc., *as far as* and that pain is a precept; but the other is unformed.

*Pain,* that is, a precept out of pain or toil, [1004A] etc., *as far as* and then the wave rises, in which he is stirred up.

VERS. 22.-- *And the Lord became my refuge, and my God the helper of my hope.* [n: (ID.)] Wherefore? because if thou wert not in peril, thou wouldst not seek a refuge: thou art pricked with pain, that thou mayest seek a remedy; the hope of the world departs and the hope of God comes.

## PSALM XCIV.

*Praise.* [n: (CAS.)] Devotion. *Song* signifies gladness.

VERS. 1.-- *Come, let us rejoice.* [n: (THEOD.)] King Josias was exceedingly pious, etc., *as far as* but the psalm is framed in the person of Josias, and of the priests of God. [n: (CASS.)] Concerning the time of grace, in which there is an entering into rest, the prophet, [1004B] describing the praises of God, first invites the Jews, whom he foresaw to be able to resist Christ.

VERS. 2.-- *His face,* etc. [n: (AUG., CASS.)] The sight of the judge to come, lest there be anything then in us to be sifted. *In confession.* [n: (AUG.)] Praising him, accusing ourselves, etc., *as far as* of which praise the psalm treats. *In psalms let us make a joyful noise.* [cj: *psalmi*; read *psalmis*, "in psalms"] What we say in psalms, or do, let us feel in jubilation.

VERS. 3.-- *Above all gods.* Or rather he calls men gods, over whom he is king, not over demons.

VERS. 4.-- *For in his hand,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] After the greatness of the Lord foretold, he comes to his clemency.

VERS. 5.-- *The sea.* [n: (AUG.)] The world, whose waves God confines within a bound, not suffering us to be tempted above [1004C] that which we are able [n: (I Cor. X)]; which waves also make increase for us, God working it, nor do the scandals hurt thee, which receive their measure from God.

VERS. 6.-- *Come, let us adore.* [n: (CASS.)] First he called the untaught to exultation: now, the glory of God being shown, he calls to penance, which is the harder. *Let us weep.* [n: (AUG.)] If perchance you are solicitous concerning the sins which have made you far off, weep: a tear extinguishes the flame of sin which burns in the conscience. *Who made us.* Behold great confidence: for of thyself thou canst fail, thyself thou canst not remake, he remakes thee who made thee.

VERS. 7.-- *And we are the people,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Elegantly is the order of the words changed: He did not say the sheep of the pasture and the people of his hand, that thou mayest understand those very ones to be sheep who are the people, sheep of his hand, not those which from afar, because [1004D] they are, and sheep which we did not make, but he himself by his own grace made us sheep.

VERS. 8.-- *To-day if you shall hear the voice,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] But we are the people and the sheep. But to all these a condition is set forth, *if you shall hear his voice,* which voice he subjoins, *To-day. Harden not.* [n: (ID.)] Now Christ himself admonishes, lest they be hardened, lest it befall them as it did the fathers.

VERS. 9.-- *As in the provocation.* [n: (ID.)] The majesty of Christ speaking, etc., *as far as* the fault of the parents is recalled, that the vengeance may be feared.

VERS. 10.-- *Forty years.* [n: (AUG.)] By forty years he signifies all the ages, etc., *as far as* as he himself says: *I am with you unto the consummation of the world.*



## PSALM XCV.

[1005A]

*A psalm of David.* [var: Vulg. Ps 95:1 *Canticum ipsi David, quando domus aedificabatur post captivitatem.*, "a canticle for David himself, when the house was building after the captivity"] [n: (CASS.)] In the Old Testament it is read, etc., *as far as* this psalm does not treat of that actual one.

VERS. 1.-- *Sing ye to the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] He forewarned the Jews in the preceding psalm that, their hardness being laid aside, they should believe Christ; but because it was to abide, he now admonishes all the Gentiles. The second psalm concerning both comings. First he speaks to the prelates, that they themselves should sing and declare. *A new canticle.* [n: (AUG.)] Cupidity sings the *old,* etc., *as far as* whosoever shall have entered in, is without.

VERS. 2.-- *To the Lord, and bless.* [n: (HIER., CASS.)] Thrice to the Lord, for the distinguishing of the trinity of persons; because the praise of Christ is the honor of the Trinity. And there is [1005B] the figure epimone, that is, a frequent repetition of the same sentiment, which heightens it unto praise or unto blame.

VERS. 3.-- *Declare ye.* He speaks to the prelates, declare, because thus grows the building of the house. *From day to day.* [n: (CASS.)] The Old and the New Testament are days, which grow bright by the eternal sun, the one foretells, the other shows the thing done. [n: (HIER.)] He declares therefore from day to day, etc., *as far as* by which the feet of our affections are fenced from the thorns of the vices.

VERS. 4.-- *Great is the Lord.* [n: (AUG.)] Made little, because you are little, understand him great, and you shall be great in him.

VERS. 5.-- *He made the heavens.* [n: (ID.)] The apostles and the angels, whence if he made the heavens and the angels, then the apostles also, who command the demons.

[1005C]VERS. 6.-- *In the sight.* For such men, namely those confessing and just, behold him themselves, and are beheld by him. *Holiness and magnificence.* [n: (AUG.)] As if he should say: He who wishes to be magnificent and mighty, as the angels are, let him first be holy, which comes to pass from him who sanctifies: for of thyself thou canst not be holy. When therefore he sanctifies, a man is made holy, and so magnificent.

VERS. 7.-- *Bring to the Lord, ye kindreds.* [n: (CASS.)] The second part, where he speaks to the subjects, etc., *as far as* that none be excepted, native or stranger. *Glory.* [n: (ID.)] Because a man converses well, in whom God is glorified. *Honor.* When from good things thanks are rendered, whence, *There was not found who would give honor to God, but this stranger. [var: Vulg. Lc 17:18 *Non est inventus qui rediret, et daret gloriam Deo, nisi hic alienigena.*, "who returned and gave glory to God"] Into the courts.* [n: (ID.)] The *courts,* the prophets or the apostles, by whom there is a going to the Lord; from the [1005D] courts, that is, the prophets or the apostles, there is a coming into the court of the Catholic Church, where the majesty is adored. [n: (AUG.)] Or, Enter ye into the court, that is, into the doctrine of the prophets and the apostles.

VERS. 9.-- *Adore ye the Lord in the court,* etc. That is, in the Catholic Church, or by the *courts,* prophecy; by the *court,* the Gospel. *Let it be moved.* All being admonished, he desires that they be moved. As if he should say, enter in and adore, you that are good. *But the earth,* etc. *The whole earth.* [n: (CASS.)] Not some part of it; therefore, lest anyone say: *Lo, here is Christ to be there,* [var: Vulg. Mt 24:23 *Ecce hic est Christus, aut illic*, "Lo, here is Christ, or there"] he subjoins, *For he hath corrected the world of the earth,* etc.

VERS. 10.-- *Say ye among the nations.* [n: (ID.)] That he reigned and corrected and judged. *He hath reigned.* Another reading: [1006A] *He hath reigned from the wood [n: (Matth. XIII)]*. [n: (AUG.)] Of the cross, by which man passes over the *sea,* and becomes a *world* which is not moved.

*The peoples in equity,* etc. Others add, *And the nations in thy wrath.*

[n: (CASS.)] The peoples therefore, that is, the good, he shall judge in equity, but the nations, that is, the wicked, in his wrath.

VERS. 12.-- *Then shall they rejoice.* [n: (CASS., HIERON.)] *Then,* when he shall correct, etc., *as far as* because he is come, that is, he shall come to judge the earth. *Because he is come.* [n: (AUG.)] First he came in the Church, in the clouds, that is, in the apostles, and filled the whole world; whence: *From henceforth you shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds [n: (Matth. XXVI)]*: he who believes that coming shall rejoice in the last coming.

VERS. 13.-- *He shall judge the world.* [n: (CASS.)] He generally includes every [1006B] man, to be judged according to the equity of God. But how he is judged he sets forth by saying, *the peoples in truth,* because in the separation there shall be two peoples, to whom he shall give the sentence of truth, so that some go into life, others into punishments. [n: (AUG.)] By *the world* he means all the sons of Adam, etc., *as far as* the south.

## PSALM XCVI.

*A psalm for David himself.* [var: Vulg. Ps 96:1 *Huic David, quando terra ejus restituta est.*, "to this David, when his land was restored to him" — the clause this gloss expounds] According to the letter he touches here upon this, that when Absalom, the wicked son of David, was dead, who while he lived persecuted his father, the land was restored to David, and he reigned in peace, of which it is not here treated, but rather of the thing signified. [n: (AUG.)] David signifies Christ, whom the wicked sons, that is, the Jews, crucified, and abjured the kingdom to him [cj: *adjuraverunt*; read *abjuraverunt*, "renounced on oath"]. But *the land was restored to him,* when Judaea, which had crucified him, believed: [1006C] and the apostles, who had wavered, were confirmed: but other sheep also were led in from among the Gentiles.

Or, *the land was restored,* when his flesh rose again, after which resurrection all these things which are here sung were done.

[n: (AUG.)] Foreseeing these things in the spirit, the prophets rejoiced, etc., *as far as* for to the palate of faith the honey of the divine promise tastes sweet.

[n: (CASS.)] The fourth psalm concerning the first coming, by which the world was set free. He describes first the powers of the Lord, shows that all things are restored to him, and reproves the idolaters.

VERS. 1.-- *The Lord hath reigned.* [n: (CASS.)] The prophet, seeing the superstitions of the world abound before the resurrection of Christ, sets against them: *The Lord hath reigned.* [n: (AUG.)] [1006D] Who then is another to be worshipped? as it were, none; thereupon:

*Let the earth rejoice.* What remains to the idols? As it were, nothing.

*The islands.* The Churches of the whole world. *Many.* Not all, because of the assemblies of the heretics.

[n: (CASS.)] Thereupon he tells what manner of Lord he is in the first coming.

VERS. 2.-- *Clouds and darkness.* To the wicked, who are blind, he is cloudy and dark, to whom he shines with no brightness; but to the good, *Justice and judgment.* They who are corrected are his seat. Before his coming *fire shall go before,* because the wicked, kindled with wrath at the preaching of the prophets, took counsel of their slaying, and were inflamed unto indignation round about, because they were many, whereas the preachers were few.

[1007A]VERS. 3.-- *Fire shall go before him,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] As it were, they who are corrected are the seat of God, etc., *as far as* if they are wicked, unto consuming; if good, unto repairing.

VERS. 4.-- *His lightnings have shone forth.* [n: (ID.)] The clouds grew cheap in their human form, but a wondrous brightness appeared in their words or deeds, and thereupon the earth was moved.

VERS. 5.-- *They flowed down.* [n: (ID.)] Even if the pagan does not believe just now, yet he is overcome.

VERS. 7.-- *Let them be confounded.* This has now been done. [n: (AUG.)] For idolatry now ceases. And let them blush who adore stones, because they are dead.

VERS. 8.-- *Adore ye.* [n: (ID.)] The adoration of the angels therefore ceases, but they adore. The evil angels themselves wish to be adored, the good adore, and do not suffer themselves to be adored. Or at least by this example let idolatry cease.

[1007B] *I have heard and she was glad.* [var: Vulg. Ps 96:8 *Audivit*, "she hath heard"] [n: (CASS.)] Secondly, after the restoration of the land, an exultation of every kind, etc., *as far as* as the brethren rejoiced over Cornelius, whom Peter baptized. *And they rejoiced.* [n: (AUG.)] The apostles heard, who were brethren in Judaea, that the Gentiles had received the word of God, and they were glad and magnified God.

VERS. 9.-- *The earth . . . the gods.* [n: (ID.)] By *the earth* and *the gods* understand sinners and just men. Or, he signifies that he rules over things earthly and things heavenly.

VERS. 10.-- *The Lord keepeth.* [n: (AUG.)] If, when thou hast begun to hate the malignant, persecutions follow after, fear not, because the Lord keeps the souls of his saints, for the taking away of whom is the last kind of persecution.



## PSALM XCVII.

[1007C] *A psalm of David.* [var: Vulg. Ps 97:1 *Psalmus ipsi David.*, "a psalm for David himself"] [n: (CASS.)] The third psalm of those which treat of both comings: in which there is matter of hope through the mercy of the first coming, and of fear through the judgment of the second: these things, even if they are often repeated, are yet always new by reason of the varied setting forth of the words and of the sentiments.

VERS. 1.-- *Sing ye to the Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] First he speaks of the showing forth of the saving right hand.

*He hath saved.* [n: (AUG.)] It is a greater thing that he raised up the whole world from eternal death, than that he raised the dead. *To himself.* Many are saved bodily, but to themselves, not to him: they who, having received bodily health, grow wanton, but they who by faith are healed within, are healed to him, or save themselves.

VERS. 2.-- *Salvation . . . justice.* [n: (AUG.)] He who saves and justifies. *He hath revealed.* Things to come were foretold under a veil by the [1007D] prophets: but the veil has been taken away, since *truth is sprung out of the earth.*

VERS. 3.-- *Of mercy and of truth.* [n: (AUG.)] *Mercy* is that whereby he promised, *truth* follows upon this, because he rendered it. But to whom? *To Israel,* that is, to him who now by faith sees the truth, afterwards by sight.

VERS. 4.-- *All.* [n: (ID.)] Because Christ was not given to certain men only.

VERS. 5.-- *Rejoice ye.* [n: (CASS.)] Secondly he says that in all ways he is to be praised and declared, because the judge is come.

VERS. 6.-- *With ductile trumpets and with the voice of a trumpet of horn.* [n: (AUG.)] Of brass, which are drawn out by beating, etc., *as far as* as the horn cleaves to the flesh, and surpasses it. [1008A] [n: (HIERON.)] With ductile trumpets, of silver, after the manner of the Jews. Mystically, drawn out under the hammer of the whole earth, that is, the devil. [n: (AUG.)] Tribulation is the beating; advancement, the drawing out: such a trumpet was Job, whence he sounded as a trumpet, saying: *The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away.*

VERS. 7.-- *Let it be moved.* [n: (ID.)] That is, let the sea of the law be made sweet, the wood of the cross being set therein. *And the fulness thereof.* All the sacraments of the law, etc., *as far as* but *the rivers,* etc. *The earth.* [n: (CASS.)] That is, every sinner.

VERS. 9.-- *The world of the earth.* All earthly men. *In justice.* [n: (AUG.)] Because they did not merit mercy. *The peoples.* [n: (CASS.)] The faithful out of the Jews and the Gentiles, who shall receive things equal to their merits.

## PSALM XCVIII.

[1008B]

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of David.* [var: Vulg. Ps 98:1 *Psalmus ipsi David.*, "a psalm for David himself"] [n: (AUG.)] The prophet describes Christ the king giving good things, etc., *as far as* but the veil has been taken away, since *truth is sprung out of the earth, and justice hath looked down from heaven [n: (Psal. XLVIII)]*. *The Lord hath reigned* [n: (CASS.)] Concerning the power and the kingdom of Christ, that he may be adored in the man. He shows Christ reigning, and (whosoever may resist) high above all, whence he admonishes to yield to him. *Let the peoples be angry.* [n: (CASS.)] A derision. It can safely be granted that they be angry, because they are not going to hurt any further: he speaks by permitting, not by commanding. *He sitteth upon the cherubim.* [n: (ID.)] Against him the earth can do nothing, even though he himself was on the earth where he suffered the wrath of the people. *Cherubim.* [n: (AUG.)] *The fulness of knowledge* [1008C] is its interpretation, which is charity. The fulness of the knowledge of the law, which is the seat of God, shall be in thee also, if thou hast charity, against which the angry can do nothing. For what is the earth against heaven?

VERS. 2.-- *The Lord in Sion.* [n: (ID.)] If thou dost not understand what is *upon the Cherubim,* see this, that he is *great in Sion.* Sion is the soul which beholds God. *Great in Sion.* [n: (CASS.)] Who the Lord is, he sets forth: *In Sion* born. *Great,* lest he grow cheap on account of the passion. Or, yet the Lord is great in the Sion of the Jews, and above the peoples of the Gentiles.

VERS. 3.-- *Great.* [n: (AUG.)] It was little when they were angry, that is, made known among few, but now enlarged in all the earth. *Terrible.* [n: (ID.)] Because even if he is preached as crucified, he is the judge to come, and he shall not err [1008D] in judgment. *And the honor of the king.* [n: (CASS.)] He sets forth how they ought to confess. *The honor of the king,* is the glorious preaching, *judgment* requires discernment; he is to be worshipped not with a light will, but with fixed deliberation, which is from him; whence he subjoins: *Thou hast prepared directions.* Or *the honor of the king* is the damnation of the guilty, whereby the glory of the king is increased.

VERS. 4.-- *In Jacob.* [n: (AUG.)] Not only the patriarch, but the people whom he signifies. *Thou hast done.* These things, which another could not do.

VERS. 5.-- *Exalt ye.* [n: (CASS.)] The second part admonishes to adore him, because his fathers *were.* As it were, because he does these things for us, therefore *Exalt ye.*

*The footstool.* [n: (AUG.)] *The earth is the footstool of his feet,* says [1009A] Scripture, etc., *as far as* in whose honor it adores the footstool. *Of the feet.* [n: (CASS.)] *The feet,* the unfailing stability of the Godhead. *Holy.* That thou mayest distinguish the body from the Godhead, even though it be one person.

VERS. 6.-- *Moses.* [n: (CASS.)] A priest, because if not victims, he offered the vows of the people, and made supplication for the people.

VERS. 7.-- *A pillar.* [n: (CASS.)] The strength and the beauty of the house. In this appearance he spoke, which announced the Church, or the flesh, but then in a cloud, now openly through the Son: *He spoke to them out of the cloud.* [n: (ID.)] To them therefore then in a cloud, who now speaks to us in the footstool, that is, openly in the flesh assumed. *His testimonies and precepts.* [n: (ID.)] A testimony is a signification set down by certain signs of a preceding thing: whence often in the law it is said: *This shall be to you for a testimony.* The precepts [1009B] are as the precepts of the law given through Moses. [var: Vulg. Ps 98:7 *praeceptum quod dedit illis*, singular, "the precept which he gave them"]

VERS. 8.-- *Thou wast merciful to them.* [n: (AUG.)] It is not said save of sins, merciful in forgiving, merciful also in avenging, behold, even though these were so great, yet they had somewhat of sin; whence he adds, *upon all their inventions.*

*Avenging.* Lest human elation should creep upon them; whence: There was given me a sting of my flesh *[n: (II Cor. XII)] Inventions.* Otherwise, affections. [n: (AUG.)] Which God alone knew in their hearts; whence it was a punishment to them to bear with those among whom they were, for whose sins they grieved as for their own, through charity. For it was not, as is thought by very many, a punishment to Moses not to enter into the land of promise, into which the wretched also entered; but a figure, that they who were under the law, and were unwilling to be under grace, should not enter into rest.

## PSALM XCIX.

[1009C]

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm in confession.* Confession is twofold; one is of praise, the other of sins. The confession of praise befits the perfect, the confession of sins those who are beginning [sic: *inicipientibus*]; whence in this psalm the prophet admonishes to confession. [n: (CASS.)] This psalm teaches both to praise God unceasingly, and unceasingly to bewail our sins: because neither in evils is one to despair, nor in good things ought the mind to be lifted up. First he enjoins upon the perfect the chief kind of confession, that is, praise.

*Rejoice ye.* [n: (AUG.)] If the voice rejoices outwardly, etc., *as far as* and in what order and how wonderfully he made it. *All the earth.* Admonishing to praise. Not one corner of the earth does he [1009D] exhort: but as he knows the blessing to have been sown everywhere, so from everywhere he requires jubilation. *Serve ye in gladness.* [n: (AUG.)] This servitude is not of bitterness, nor of indignation, but of happiness and of liberty. Let charity therefore make thee a servant, because truth has made thee free. Whence the Lord: *If you shall abide in my word, you shall be my disciples indeed: and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free [n: (Joan. VIII)]*. [var: Vulg. Jo 8:31 *Si vos manseritis in sermone meo*, "in my discourse"]

*In gladness.* Because they are set free; not murmuring, as in the desert: whence he subjoins the reward.

VERS. 2.-- *Enter ye into his sight.* It is a great thing to rejoice in the sight of so great a one. *Enter ye in.* [n: (CASS.)] Secondly, to those about to enter, the second kind of confession; nor let it be doubted, because mercy is with him.



## PSALM C.

[1010A]

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm for David himself.* [n: (CASS.)] This psalm contains the form of perfect sanctity, as the hundredth number is a perfect one.

*For David himself.* That the whole of what is here taught be applied to the virtues of Christ, nothing to an earthly king. Here we are taught to seek good things and to refuse evil, which is the perfect converse of life.

*Mercy and judgment I will sing.* [n: (CASS.)] Here Christ sings, and we in him. First he sets forth concerning mercy and judgment. *Mercy and judgment I will sing.* These two are joined in a mutual fellowship: in them he briefly includes all the works of God. And here is set before us the cause why he so bears himself, as he afterwards subjoins. [n: (AUG.)] Let no one presume upon mercy unto impunity, [1010B] because there is judgment for him; let no one who has been changed for the better fear judgment, because mercy goes before. These are always together in him: but through the times they are distinguished according to their effects, mercy now, judgment in the time to come.

VERS. 2.-- *I will sing and I will understand.* [n: (ID.)] This the singing grants, that I may understand with the mind what lies not open to the eyes, that is, that I may believe that the Lord will come, whom this man so greatly desires, who will come in the unspotted way. [n: (CASS.)] Because he passed through the world without sin; or, I will sing and I will understand, being in the unspotted way, when, etc. Or, *I will sing,* I will work cheerfully, and through this I shall understand. *When wilt thou come to me.* In the second coming, or in the death of each one. Or, *when wilt thou come to me,* through the flesh in the first coming, because [1010C] in the unspotted way. *I walked about.* [n: (CASS.)] Secondly, he sets forth what the unspotted way is. [n: (AUG.)] *I walked about.* What is the unspotted way? It begins from innocence, and in it is consummated; and there is no need of many words: Be thou innocent, and thou hast fulfilled justice. But in two ways a man does harm, namely if he makes another wretched, and if he abandons the wretched. He is innocent who harms neither himself nor another. [n: (CASS.)] *I walked about.* As if he should say: I sought not transitory things, but I ran the way of the world, being in the midst of thy house. Innocence has this power, that it makes a man dwell in the midst of the house of God, as an honorable example to others.

VERS. 3.-- *I did not set before me.* [n: (CASS.)] He sets forth innocence by parts. First, because he has nothing with the wicked, he says: *I did not set before me,* down to, *mine [1010D] eyes.* After which, that he has a part with the just, and that he drives the wiles of the devil out of his heart, there, *in the mornings.* [sic: *mututinis*] [n: (AUG.)] *I did not set before me.* As it were: *I walked about in innocence:* in this indeed (the whole Christ says it,) namely that *I did not set before me,* that is, I did not love an unjust thing.

VERS. 4.-- *It did not cleave.* [n: (CASS.)] He sets forth the transgressions. *A perverse heart,* he who transgresses in heart; the man turning aside, the heretic who dissents from the Catholics: and him who strays from the right paths I did not acknowledge, because even if they are sealed with the sacraments along with us, yet they are not true men.

VERS. 5.-- *The proud.* [n: (AUG.)] And Jesus feasted, etc., *as far as* whence: *Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice [n: (Matth. VIII)]*.

VERS. 6.-- *Mine eyes.* Here he pursues the other part of innocence, namely, that he has a part with the just. As if he should say: With such men thou didst not eat, whence then wast thou fed? *Of the earth.* [n: (AUG.)] Those living on the earth, where there are so many enticements, whence a greater crown. Or [n: (CASS.)] those who are throughout the whole world. *That they may sit with me.* [n: (AUG.)] That they may abide with me in the truth of faith, or share with me in the eternal kingdom, or judge with me.

VERS. 7.-- *He shall not dwell in the midst of my house.* [n: (CASS.)] That is, of the Church. Even if he is for a while borne with for the sake of correction, he does not stand out by merits, he can do nothing; he is not grain in my people, but chaff. *He shall not dwell,* this befits priests most of all, that they dwell not with the depraved.

VERS. 8.-- *In the morning.* [n: (CASS.)] The third part, where he shows [1011B] what the end of the wicked is. And here Christ speaks. *In the morning.* After the wicked have been shunned, the just man, returned to himself, adds that he drove the suggestions of the demons out of his heart *in the morning,* that is, when at the beginning of the temptation they begin to appear, as it were in the twilight. *I put to death.* By prayer, whereby they ought to be cast out, lest they grow. *Sinners.* The demons, who make all flesh to sin. *The city of the Lord.* The soul of the just man, whence the devil is scattered and removed. *All that work iniquity.* That is, the insinuations or the injections of the devil.

[n: (AUG.)] He has now recounted that none clave to him but the good [cj: *et*; read *ei*, "to him"], etc., *as far as* this befits the just man also, who foresees this to be to come, and therefore so bears himself.



## PSALM CI.

VERS. 1.-- *A prayer of the poor man.* [n: (AUG.)] According to [1011C] the form of a servant, etc., *as far as* the bridegroom on account of the head, the bride on account of the body. Christ, poor in us, and with us, and for our sake, here prays in the person of one repenting, who acknowledges his own abasement and the cause of his abasement, and who asks to be set free from sins and restored to his former state. He admonishes, therefore, that a man mark his own misery, and seek the mercy of God.

VERS. 2.-- *O Lord, hear my prayer.* [n: (CASS.)] The fifth psalm of penance; the fourth that is called a prayer. The first part, a deprecatory bid for a hearing.

*And the cry.* The prayer grew into a cry. *Let it come,* let not the clouds be in the way, which are in the way of the wicked. [n: (ID.)] An epimone through three verses, that is, a frequent repetition of the thought.

VERS. 4.-- *For they have failed.* [n: (CASS.)] The second part, in which is the mournful prayer; in which is set forth [1011D] what the poverty is, what the tribulation. He now discloses whence he cries. *For they have failed. My days have failed like smoke.* [n: (AUG.)] For when Adam was lifted up, the days [sic: *deis*] fail, the strength of the mind is drawn in. Misery can move a merciful judge. *My bones are grown dry like fuel.* The strong, whose frying-pan are they that are scandalized, etc., *as far as* for a man is already being fried, while he fears that he shall burn.

VERS. 5.-- *I am smitten as grass, and my heart is withered.* [n: (ID.)] Made mortal. *Grass* is green, but when smitten it easily feels the hurt: so the flesh of man, green in the law of God, when cut down by that same law withers away.

VERS. 6.-- *From the voice of groaning.* [n: (CASS.)] The nature of them that sin is shown, because while sin is sought after, [1012A] the contemplation of God is not had. *My.* [n: (AUG.)] Not of those who groan over earthly and not over spiritual things, etc., *as far as to bear the weak.*

VERS. 7.-- *Like a pelican,* [n: (AUG.)] He sets down three birds, three places, etc., *as far as* who, if not among men, is outside on high, saying to them that sleep in the night.

Or, the sagacious sparrow flees to the heights of the virtues, where he is safe from the snares. He who is solitary or single, on account of charity (which makes him one out of many), is upon the roof, or upon the building, on account of the height of faith, that he may not come down to take anything out of the house, that is, out of the flesh.

*In a dwelling-place.* [n: (ID.)] Or in ruined walls, which are commonly called ruins, where the walls stand without a roof, where there dwells the night-raven, a bird that loves the night.

VERS. 9.-- *All the day.* [n: (CASS.)] Or, the whole may be taken in the person [1012B] of the just man. As if he should say, etc., *as far as* or, in my abasement I was refreshed, so much did it please me.

VERS. 10.-- *Ashes.* [n: (AUG.)] By ashes and weeping the penitent are signified. For ashes and haircloth are the arms of penitents. *Drink.* [n: (CASS.)] Temporal delight. Or, I mingled with tears the longing for my homeland because of the delay; or the drink of the Scriptures, which recall ancient things.

VERS. 11.-- *From the face of wrath.* [n: (CASS.)] Wrath is vengeance; indignation is a movement of the soul, by which we are indignant even with our sons. Wrath is called an onset against those who are to be punished, and these do not fall upon God. But it is antropopathos.

*Of wrath.* Whence the Lord also says: *The wrath of God abideth upon them that believe not [n: (Joan. III)]*. He does not say, shall come; but *abideth,* because it is not taken away, the wrath in which he was born.

[1012C]VERS. 12.-- *My days have declined like a shadow.* Because I have declined from the true day, my declining days are like myself.

VERS. 13.-- *But thou,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] The third part, where the certainty of obtaining pardon is shown. Now he that is fallen rises up to prophesy, now the penitent lifts up his head.

[n: (AUG.)] The memorial is a promise to be remembered; from thee is our restoring, because thou art mindful of us, or we of thee.

VERS. 14.-- *The time is come.* [n: (AUG.)] Because God willed all things to be done in order, and appointed a time for this, wherein the opportunity is fitly ordered.

VERS. 15.-- *The stones thereof.* [n: (AUG.)] There are stones in Sion, etc., *as far as* hence it is that, when the Holy Spirit had been sent, many of them believed who had crucified the Lord.

[1012D]VERS. 17.-- *In glory.* [n: (AUG.)] He who was first seen in weakness in that Sion; whence: *We saw him having neither beauty nor comeliness [n: (Isa. LIII)]*.

VERS. 18.-- *The prayer.* This is done in the building of Sion: they pray, they groan who build, who are one poor man and many poor; whence in the title it stands in the singular, here in the plural. But he is called one because of the truth of the Church's peace, and many because of her breadth.

VERS. 19.-- *Let these things be written.* [n: (CASS.)] He who above was foul with penance, now adorned with the honour of a prophet, commands that these things which he has said be established by the testimony of Scripture, that the age to come may learn them. *In the generation.* [n: (AUG.)] These things, when they were being written, did not so profit the generation [1013A] of the Old Testament; they profit another, that is, the new.

VERS. 20.-- *Because he hath looked forth,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] After the groans of one grieving, now there are words of consolations, now the poor man rejoices. And because he said above: *The Lord hath built up Sion;* and again: *Let these things be written;* now he declares both; as if this is what he said was to be written, *because he hath looked forth.*

*He hath looked forth.* He speaks as of things past what were yet to come.

VERS. 21.-- *Of them that are in fetters.* [n: (AUG.)] The fear of God: these are the fetters, etc., *as far as* and when they are loosed, they are turned into glory. [n: (CASS.)] They that are fettered, the saints, etc., *as far as* whence their discourse runs together into the Church universal. *That he might loose the children.* [n: (AUG.)] But we are the children of those slain men, we who are loosed from the knots of sins [1013B] and from the chains of desires.

VERS. 23.-- *He answered him in the way of his strength.* [n: (CASS.)] The fourth part, where, after the certainty of pardon, he says that from his own brevity he passes over to eternity. [n: (AUG.)] *He answered.* Because: I speak, that I may declare the name of the Lord and his praise in Jerusalem, etc., *as far as* he does not despise, but renders fruit. *He answered him.* That is, he believes that Christ has risen. But because he foresees that some will say, there was indeed once a Church gathering all into one, but now it ceases.

*The fewness,* he says, *of my days:* not the eternity of those days where I shall be, but the temporal days, so long as I shall be in this world. *Declare unto me.* Because of those who say that the Church now is not. That utterance is not idle, that petition is not empty. For the way itself, that is, Christ, [1013C] has thus declared: *I am with you unto the consummation of the world [n: (Matth. XXVIII)]*. The whole time unto the end is that scantiness of days: because everything that comes to an end is scant, that from thence there may be a passing over into eternity. *Declare* and:

VERS. 24.-- *Call me not back in the midst of my days.* Let it not so come to pass, as the heretics say, etc., *as far as* but they are nothing but halves, if the eternal ones be not added.

VERS. 25.-- *In the way of strength.* [n: (AUG.)] In the faith by which he believes that Christ has risen. Christ was the way of strength after the resurrection, when, being now not weak but strong, he calls the Church into heaven. The praise of faith is not that it believes him dead, which the Pagan also believes, but that it believes him glorified.

[1013D]Or, the Christian religion is briefly defined when it is called *the way of strength.*

Or, in generation of generations. There is a generation of generations which passes not away, gathered out of all, that is, the saints. In it shall be the years of the Lord, which do not pass away, that is, the eternity of God, which is the very substance of God, having nothing mutable.

VERS. 26.-- *In the beginning thou, O Lord.* As if: call me not back, because I tend toward eternity, which he expounds, saying: *In the beginning thou, O Lord, didst found the earth.*

VERS. 27.-- *They shall perish.* [n: (AUG.)] The heavens themselves shall perish; of those nearest the earth this is certain; whence Peter also: *But the earth and the heavens which now are, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire [n: (II Petr. III)]*. Of the higher ones [1014A] it is not certain, but if they remain, they remain not in themselves, but in God.

VERS. 28.-- *And as a covering thou shalt change them.* Understand the heavens, which cover all things, which also shall be changed. *And thy years shall not fail.* [n: (AUG.)] Which shall be in the generation of generations. But shall we be able to be there? Assuredly, because *the children of thy servants shall dwell.*

VERS. 29.-- *The children of the servants.* [n: (AUG.)] As the children entered the land of promise, etc., *as far as* with all the newness of the children.

*The children.* A cheerful conclusion. The children of the prophets and of the apostles, not to speak of those themselves.

*The seed.* Works, whence eternal fruit.

*Shall be directed.* Because nothing crooked enters in.



## PSALM CII.

[1014B]

VERS. 2.-- *Bless, O soul.* [n: (AUG.)] After the prayers of the poor man, the proclamations of one rejoicing. All who are in Christ are as it were one man, who rouses and exhorts his own soul to bless the Lord, wishing to define why he is to be blessed, lest any be found slothful thereto. Cry with the voice, if there is a man who [sic: *qut*] hears; without voice, if there is no man to hear, because God hears. [n: (CASS.)] By his own benefits he exhorts men to bless God. [n: (AUG.)] The prophet, speaking in the person of the just man in general, according to the higher power of the soul, that is, the reason, exhorts the soul to bless, saying: *Forget not.* Let not the delight of sin be before thine eyes, but the condemnation and the remission of God: think over all thine evils, [1014C] because as many as they are, so many are the good retributions of God. *Retributions.* Not bestowings. Man bestows evils for goods, and God requites him with goods for evils. He bestowed when he made me, he requites when he justifies.

VERS. 3.-- *Who forgiveth.* [n: (AUG.)] This he does in the sacrament of baptism. *Who healeth all thy diseases.* This he does in the life of a faithful man, while the flesh lusts against the spirit, so that we do such things as we would not; and those languors of the old state are healed from day to day, as newness increases, out of the faith which works through love.

VERS. 4.-- *Who redeemeth thy life from corruption.* This is done in the last resurrection of the dead. *Who crowneth,* etc. This is done at the judgment, where, when the king shall sit upon his throne, about to render to every man according to his works [1014D], who shall boast that he has a heart glorious and clean from sin? Therefore it was necessary to make mention of mercy and of compassions in that place where dues would seem to be so rendered that there should be no room left for mercy.

VERS. 5.-- *Thy youth like the eagle's.* [n: (AUG.)] So great a likeness is set down, etc., *as far as* whose mouth old age has closed, who have forgotten to eat our bread.

VERS. 6.-- *He that doeth.* [n: (AUG.)] The second part, where he admonishes men to bless like [cj: *par*; read *per*, "through"] those things which were done for the men of old, and are done for those that come after. *Mercies.* Which they shall obtain who love their enemies, etc., *as far as* for after *mercy* he adds concerning judgment, saying, *And judgment.*

[1015A]VERS. 7.-- *To Moses.* [n: (AUG.)] By Moses, all the saints, etc., *as far as* through whom he gave the law, that the beloved [cj: *dilectum*; read *delictum*, "the offence"] might abound.

VERS. 11.-- *For.* [n: (ID.)] The heaven is on every side about the earth, whence there is even for them that sin light, air, breath, rain, whence fruit: without heaven the earth comes to an end, so is the protection of God over them that fear him.

VERS. 12.-- *How far distant,* etc. [n: (ID.)] When sin is forgiven, sins set, grace rises, sins are in their setting; turn thyself away, therefore, from the setting of sins, and stretch toward the rising of grace, and thou risest.

VERS. 14.-- *He hath remembered,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Or a second [cj: *secundam*; read *secundum*, "according to"] other reading: *Remember that we are dust.* As if he should say: *He knew our frame,* that is, our weakness: which frame, being turned [1015B] to God, says: *Remember that we are dust,* that is, let thy mercy persevere toward us, lest we forget thy grace. Or, *Man is as grass,* etc. For man goes forth as *a flower,* etc., *as far as The mercy of the Lord. He shall flourish forth* [n: (CASS.)] That is, at the most he shall thus flourish or flourish forth, that is, shall shed his flower. And so it is either intensive or privative.

VERS. 16.-- *For the spirit shall pass in him. And he shall not abide.*

VERS. 17.-- *And justice.* [n: (AUG.)] Mercy and justice are a retribution. He says, *upon the children's children;* many just men have no children, much less children's children, but the *children* are works; the *children's children* are the wages of works.

VERS. 19.-- *The Lord hath prepared his seat in heaven.* [n: (CASS.)] He proclaims the judgment to come, lest they that sin grow insolent; [1015C] as if: and thou oughtest to be mindful, so as to act, because the Lord is in heaven.

VERS. 21.-- *Bless the Lord, all ye his angels, ye mighty.* [n: (ID.)] In the third place he admonishes the heavenly beings and all other creatures to bless. *Bless the Lord,* etc. He speaks by way of congratulation, not by way of command or of admonition. *His ministers.* [n: (AUG.)] Bless ye, etc., *as far as* that what he has in his mouth he may show forth in his work.



## PSALM CIII.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of David.* [n: (CASS.)] Likewise God [cj: *Deus*; read *Deum*, "to bless God"] admonishes men to bless, first through heaven and earth and their adornment. [n: (AUG.)] Although indeed all things here may be devoutly taken according to the letter, etc., *as far as* in all things the spiritual sense is to be sought. *Bless the Lord, [1015D] O my soul,* etc., *magnified.* [sic: *mugnificatus*] In knowledge, because thou art always great by nature, who thinkest [cj: *putes*; read *potes*, "thou canst"] not to grow or be lessened, because thou art perfect; *Confession,* that is, thou hast on every side creatures which confess thee, and which are comely and full of light. Or, comeliness is in the essence of God, and light on every side. [n: (CASS.)] Or it signifies the incarnation, through which the confession and the glory of the heavenly majesty became known, and men confessed him, who are light by knowledge. [n: (AUG.)] Thou hast put on confession, that is, the Church, etc., *as far as* and a garment without spot or wrinkle.

VERS. 2.-- *Stretching out the heaven thus.* [n: (CASS.)] What things confess him? Heaven, earth, sea, with all their adornment; of each of these in what follows. [n: (AUG.)] *Stretching out [1016A] the heaven like.* According to the letter, the heaven, as it were a roof, etc., *as far as* afterwards at the end, like a book, Scripture shall be folded up.

VERS. 3.-- *Who coverest.* [n: (ID.)] According to the letter they are waters, etc., *as far as* whose upper parts are the two precepts of charity. Or thou who *coverest with waters,* that is, with the spiritual sense, the surface of Scripture; or by spiritual gifts thou fortifiest their charity, that nothing may be able to separate them. *Upon the wings of the winds,* etc. Wind is a movement of the air, etc., *as far as* but the charity of Christ surpasses the charity of all.

VERS. 4.-- *A burning fire.* [n: (CASS.)] That is, the seraphim, who are the higher order, thou makest thy ministers, whence in Isaiah: *There flew to me one of the seraphim,* who are the higher order.

VERS. 5.-- *Who hast founded the earth upon its own [1016B] stability.* [n: (ID.)] Therefore the Holy Spirit in this psalm speaks things difficult according to the letter, that we may seek spiritual things.

VERS. 7.-- *At the voice of thunder.* [n: (ID.)] By terrible winds the waters shall be dried up; the wicked shall fear at the threatening of the judgment.

VERS. 8.-- *They ascend.* [n: (AUG.)] The wicked, as mountains, etc., *as far as* that the Church may be free to preach. [n: (CASS.)] God permits the proud, etc., *as far as* that they may no longer take possession of the world.

VERS. 10.-- *In the valleys.* [n: (AUG.)] From the humble, made subject to grace, even if they are mountains by spiritual height, flow the fountains of the Holy Spirit, who rests upon the humble. *Between the midst.* [n: (ID.)] That is, between the midst, etc., *as far as* and such a mountain as this is not to be heard.

[1016C]VERS. 11.-- *All shall drink.* [n: (ID.)] All were in the dish let down thrice to Peter, etc., *as far as* that the Church may be gathered. *Wild asses.* [n: (ID.)] Great untamed asses of the woods, etc., *as far as* or the proud Jews shall put off drinking until the last time.

VERS. 12.-- *Over them the birds of the air.* [n: (ID.)] Not all birds abide, etc., *as far as* others on the left hand are condemned.

VERS. 15.-- [sic: *VERS. 15.*] *Of the fruit of thy works.* [n: (ID.)] Let no man therefore glory in his own works, but *he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord,* for by the grace of God the earth is filled. Thus therefore grace is given freely. If it is rendered to the works of men, it is called a wage.

VERS. 14.-- *For the service of men.* [n: (ID.)] Whence *whereas I was free from all, I made myself the servant of all,* etc., [1016D] *as far as* to whom he gave an example of taking necessary things from those subject to them. *In oil. To every man is given the Spirit unto manifestation:* [var: Vulg. 1 Cor. 12:7 *Unicuique autem datur manifestatio Spiritus ad utilitatem*, "to every man the manifestation of the Spirit is given unto profit"] grace, therefore, and a certain brightness, etc., *as far as* that the face may be made glad with oil. *And bread.* Bread, therefore, and wine are the same thing. For this bread and wine is justice, is truth, is Christ: and both the one and the other gladdens and strengthens the heart.

VERS. 16.-- *Which he hath planted.* [n: (ID.)] Why does he leave the brightness of the world to those planted by himself? Because there is the coot, a bird which dwells in the waters; these are they who abide in the grace of baptism. Or, the heron is a most rapacious bird, and such as these Christ does not reject.

VERS. 17.-- *There the sparrows.* [n: (ID.)] Small flying things, etc., *as far as* that they may build their nests in the cedars of Libanus. *The heron's* [1017A] *house.* [n: (AUG.)] *Is the leader of them,* that is, of the sparrows, or of the cedars, which nevertheless cannot be said in Latin, because cedars are of the feminine gender; and this in no way holds according to the letter, for how is the house, that is, the nest of the coot, which is a bird of the sea or of the marsh, the leader of sparrows? But by this he hints that spiritual things are to be sought. And if the sparrows build their nests among the rich of this world, etc., *as far as* but they shall not perish, because the rock is their leader. [n: (CASS.)] Or the coot is a bird which dwells in the waters; these are they who abide in the grace of baptism, whose house is baptism. And it is as if he should say: Who are the sparrows? Those who are baptized. And this is it, *the coot's house,* that is, baptism, which is the house of the regenerate, *is the leader of them,* that is, of the sparrows, that is, of the Christians.

[n: (HIER., CASS.)] The heron: a most rapacious bird, etc., [1017B] *as far as* because he himself, being converted, converted many others to the faith. *For the harts: a rock.* [n: (AUG.)] The harts are great spiritual men, etc., *as far as* this is that *from which* (as was said above) *the birds of the air give their voices.*

VERS. 19.-- *He hath made the moon.* [n: (CASS.)] After earthly things he passes over to the heavenly, which nevertheless act for the earth, that is, serve it. After so many kinds of Christians, which he signified by the animals, and after the aforesaid ordering, ascending he adds concerning Christ and the Church, namely how the Church here in time waxes and wanes, as though she made the settings and risings of the true sun.

VERS. 20.-- *Thou hast appointed,* etc. *And night was made* in them, that is, the dark obstinacy of the mind. *And these shall pass through.* [n: (AUG.)] Not, as above, the converted, the Gentiles, but the demons, who at the time of the passion found the hearts [1017C] of the wavering apostles; but when Christ rose again, because they cannot prevail in all, they abide *in the dens,* that is, in the hearts of the obstinate: so, when Christ sets in some man, evils grow strong; when he rises again, they flee. *The setting.* The sun so sets that it may rise: shall he then that sleeps, that is, Christ, not go on to rise again? He set because he willed it, no man takes away his life; when he set, darkness came upon the apostles, their hope failed.

VERS. 21.-- *The young lions,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] There are also princes of the demons, as the whelps too are contemptible demons, which in the darkness seek to seduce souls; the greater lion always *goeth about seeking whom he may devour [n: (I Pet. V)]*, and they are fed with the errors of men.

VERS. 22.-- *The sun is risen,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] After [1017D] he has said what the setting of the true sun did, he adds concerning the rising.

VERS. 24.-- *With possession.* [n: (AUG.)] Elsewhere, *creature.* [n: (ID.)] Through Christ the Father, etc., *as far as* yet the wood was given, upon which we might sail across.

VERS. 25.-- *This great sea,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] The second part, where he says: How he leads the Church across the sea of this world to the shore of the homeland. *Creeping things,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Evil spirits, whose snares creep.

VERS. 26.-- *This dragon which thou hast formed.* [n: (ID.)] Besides these animals, etc., *as far as* he was made greater in malice. *For mocking.* [n: (ID.)] It is said in Job *(Job XL)* that Satan is mocked by the angels of God, who are set over the powers of the air, that they may not hurt us.

VERS. 27.-- *Meat.* [n: (ID.)] The dragon's food is earth, [1018A] because it was said to him: *Thou shalt eat earth all the days of my life [n: (Gen. III)]*. [var: Vulg. Gen. 3:14 *cunctis diebus vitae tuae*, "all the days of thy life"] Because they that love earthly things are the devil's food. But the food of the just man is the word of God, whence, *Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God [n: (Deut. VIII)]*.

VERS. 28.-- *Thy hand, all things shall be filled with good.* [n: (CASS.)] Or the hand is the power which abundantly fills all things.

VERS. 29.-- *But when thou turnest away.* [n: (AUG.)] Many, being filled with good, have ascribed it to themselves; but God, willing to prove to them that they have it not from themselves but from God, so that with the good they may have humility, sometimes troubles them, turns away his face, and they fall into temptation.

VERS. 30.-- *Send forth thy spirit.* [n: (CASS.)] The dust is called theirs, because from themselves they have it that they are [1018B] dust. But the Spirit is the Lord's: behold the medicine for those returned into dust.

VERS. 32.-- *To tremble.* [n: (AUG.)] Better is the trembling of humility than the confidence of pride. Whence the Apostle: *With trembling work out your salvation [n: (Phil. II)]*. *The mountains.* [n: (ID.)] Those who were proud, boasting that all things came from themselves. Even as it happened on mount Sina.

VERS. 33.-- *I will sing.* [n: (CASS.)] The third part, where he promises that he will sing always. As if he should say: These foretold things the Lord has done, and these being beheld. *In my life.* [n: (AUG.)] Present and to come; of hope and of sight. Now hope is our life, afterwards it shall be eternal. The life of mortal life is the hope of immortal life. *As long as I am.* [n: (ID.)] Because in him I am without end, I will sing psalms as long as I am, lest any other act of that life be supposed than to sing psalms: [1018C] because he who is praised cannot come to be wearisome, it does not become wearisome to praise him; but he is ever loved, ever praised.

VERS. 34.-- *Let it be pleasant.* Another reading: *Let my disputation be sweet to him.* [n: (AUG.)] For the disputation of man with God is the confession of sins. Whence Isaiah [n: (Isa. I)]. *Take away the wickednesses from your souls, say ye to do well, judge for the fatherless, and come and let us dispute, saith the Lord.* [var: Vulg. Isa. 1:16-18 *auferte malum cogitationum vestrarum ab oculis meis … discite benefacere … et venite, et arguite me, dicit Dominus*, "learn to do well … and come and reprove me"] Thy disputation, therefore, is the sacrifice of thy humility, which is sweet to God.

VERS. 35.-- *Bless the Lord, O my soul.* [n: (ID.)] He repeats what stood at the beginning of the psalm: *Bless the Lord, O my soul,* hinting by this that the end of good men is like the beginning.



## PSALM CIV.

[1018D]

VERS. 1.-- *Alleluia.* [n: (CASS.)] Here for the first time *alleluia,* nor was it set down before this by anyone; and no tongue has presumed to change it. *Alleluia,* praise ye. *Ia* is the name of the invisible God, which belongs to him alone. Through twenty psalms, which have this title, the great works of God are told, and great is the exultation in them. [n: (CASS.)] Here the prophet commends the good among that people of Israel, who together with other believers are the true seed of Abraham, the children of the promise.

*Give glory to the Lord.* [n: (AUG.)] The first psalm to which alleluia is prefixed, etc., *as far as* he subjoins what temporal things the mercy of God gave them.

VERS. 2.-- *All things:* [n: (CASS.)] all things; there is nothing that shame should [1019A] keep silent. Or, all the things which they shall tell are wonderful, for no one can relate them all.

VERS. 3.-- *Be ye praised in the name,* that is, rejoice that you are called Christians from Christ.

[n: (AUG.)] Be ye praised: he does not forbid being praised, if they are good; if they are not, then not save in the Lord, who makes men good. Be ye praised in the name. Which elsewhere is, *In the Lord shall my soul be praised:* what he adds there, *let the meek hear and rejoice:* here too in a manner, *let the heart rejoice,* as if he should say,

VERS. 4.-- *The face,* etc. [n: (ID.)] That is, the presence, etc., *as far as* the wicked man can fear the presence which the good man loves. [n: (HIER.)] From the martyr Hippolytus, etc., *as far as* there about to take his Church from among the Gentiles.

VERS. 5.-- *Remember, and the rest.* [n: (AUG.)] Seek [1019B] him, etc., *as far as* if it is a great thing to seek what God is, at least behold the things which he has made. *The wonders,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Little by little he ascends from visible wonders to judgments: thence to the everlasting testament, where there is both precept and promise.

VERS. 7.-- *In all the earth.* [n: (ID.)] Think not that the sons of Abraham are in one nation according to the flesh, because in all the earth are Jacob and Israel, to whom he makes known his judgments, but not to another nation.

VERS. 8.-- *For ever,* [n: (ID.)] that is, unto eternity, whence afterwards, unto an everlasting testament. Which testament, if it be taken as the Old on account of the land of Chanaan, of which it follows. How is it everlasting, since that earthly inheritance cannot be everlasting? *Of the testament.* For that is called a testament which [1019C] is promised, and the teaching in which the promise is declared, and for the keeping of which it is rendered. [n: (ID.)] The promise is what we ought to receive: the commandment, what we ought to do. This is faith, that the just man live by faith, and to this faith an inheritance [sic: *haere ditas*] is promised. *Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.* Behold three patriarchs, whose God he calls himself in a special manner: *I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.* Behold a threefold authority.

VERS. 10.-- *Unto an everlasting testament,* [n: (ID.)] that is, that from the very word fulfilled, etc., *as far as* and the son abides in the house for ever.

VERS. 11.-- *The land of Chanaan,* [n: (CASS.)] that is, that which is signified by it: for he gave this land also as a figure of the eternal inheritance [n: (I Joan. IV)]. [n: (AUG.)] Fittingly the eternal inheritance is called the land of Chanaan, [1019D] because from it servants are driven off and sons received.

VERS. 12.-- *When they were in number.* [n: (CASS.)] What supports of temporal life he bestowed upon the fathers and upon their sons, as well in flesh as in faith, not that they should cleave to these things, but should refer them to the eternal good, which is, that being drawn by them they should seek out the justifications and the law of God.

VERS. 13.-- *From a kingdom.* [n: (AUG.)] Not that the kingdom of Israel then was, but that it was to be.

VERS. 15.-- *Touch ye not.* [n: (ID.)] These words, although they are not in the history, God nevertheless spoke them either secretly in the hearts of men, or by an angel. *The anointed,* [n: (ID.)] because even then they were Christians, though secretly, whence *Abraham rejoiced that he might see my day; he saw it and [1020A] was glad [n: (Joan. VIII)]*. For no one, either before or after, was reconciled to God apart from this faith, *for there is one mediator, Christ [n: (I Tim. II)]*.

VERS. 16.-- *And he called.* [n: (AUG.)] The fourth part, where he begins to narrate, etc., *as far as* he commanded that to be which already was in his disposition. *So he called, and all the staff of bread was broken [n: (Gen. XXXVII)]*.

VERS. 17.-- *A man.* [n: (ID.)] Joseph, sold by his brothers, was afterwards exalted in Egypt for his justice. *Joseph.* [n: (ID.)] If Joseph was both humbled and exalted, etc., *as far as* but *seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all things shall be added.*

VERS. 18.-- *In fetters.* [n: (ID.)] We do not read of Joseph's fetters in Genesis, but what was there passed over is to be believed, since the Spirit says it in the psalm. [1020B] [n: (CASS.)] And although he found favour with the keeper of the prison, yet he was first in anguish. There follows. *The iron pierced,* etc. As if, besides the evils of the body, *the iron,* that is, the tribulation of hard necessity, which was in his burning and anxious soul, *pierced through,* etc. Or according to another reading, *his soul passed through the iron,* that is, the tribulation of hard necessity. The same sense as the former.

VERS. 23.-- *In the land of Cham,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Cham the father of Chanaan, from whom the Egyptians draw their origin.

VERS. 24.-- *And he increased his people,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The fifth part. Behold, he sets forth briefly what was done in Egypt, which afterwards he relates more fully. He tells also how he strengthened his people over their enemies.

[1020C] *And he strengthened him.* By the signs of Moses, namely; for before this the male offspring of the children of Israel were being killed, and they themselves were worn down in the making of bricks. But afterwards, by a mighty hand and by the signs and portents of the Lord, they were made men to be feared and honoured.

VERS. 25.-- *He turned.* [n: (ID.)] He begins to relate how this was done. He turned: not that God is the author of evil, but he uses evils well; while he increased the prosperity of Israel, they were turned to envy, because they were already evil. *That they should hate.* Envy is the hatred of another's prosperity.

VERS. 26.-- *He sent.* He who could do all things by himself, that he might teach with what moderation he had done these things. *Whom he chose, him.* [n: (ID.)] It would have been enough to say, whom he chose: but nothing [1020D] is to be sought in this, that he added, *him,* but it is the custom of the divine manner of speech, for the sake of explanation.

VERS. 27.-- *The words of his signs.* [n: (ID.)] By which it was preached by them, etc., *as far as* he wrought therefore through them words not of voices, but of signs or of wonders.

VERS. 28.-- [n: (ID.)] Or: *They provoked his words,* which is plain. Or, Moses and Aaron did not provoke his words, because they bore patiently with those men, namely the Egyptians, even the hardest of them, on account of the commandment of the Lord, until all things which the Lord had appointed should be done upon them. *Darkness,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] They suffered it among the plagues. But here he says that their hearts were *darkened,* who despised the precepts of God. Blindness is a fitting [1021A] beginning of the plagues, without which they would not have incurred the rest.

VERS. 29.-- *He turned their waters.* [n: (AUG.)] The second plague, which in Exodus is the first, which signified that he would turn the waters of the Red Sea also, and that unto death for them.

VERS. 30.-- *The earth brought forth.* [n: (AUG.)] He turned their land into frogs, because they were so many that this is fitly said by way of hyperbole.

VERS. 31.-- *He spoke, and there came the dog-fly,* etc. [n: (ID.)] For in his word they were without time, before they came to be in time through that same word: or through angels, or through Moses he in a manner spoke, that it should be done then, when it was to be done.

VERS. 32.-- *He made their rains,* etc. [n: (ID.)] It is like to that: *and their land gave forth frogs.*

[1021B]VERS. 34.-- *The locust and the bruchus.* [n: (ID.)] The locust and the bruchus are one plague, because the one is the parent, the other the offspring.

VERS. 36.-- *And he struck.*[n: (Id. )] Although there are ten plagues, etc., *as far as* who could not despise the wage of their labours, though a temporal one.

VERS. 37.-- *And he brought them out,* etc. The sixth part, according to Cassiodorus and Augustine. Above, the justice of God told what evils it brought upon the enemies of the Israelites: now he subjoins what temporal goods the mercy of God gave them, that being helped here they may seek the law of God. [n: (AUG.)] *And he brought out*: God said to Abraham, etc., *as far as* then there follows the second benefit, *And [sic: *Ft*] there was no one weak, and the rest.*

VERS. 38.-- *Because the fear of them fell upon [1021C] them.* They feared Israel, lest he should consume what was left of them.

[n: (AUG.)] Here was fulfilled what he said above, and he strengthened him over his enemy.

VERS. 39.-- *He spread a cloud for their protection.* And this is the second part, according to Augustine, where he subjoins what temporal goods the mercy of God gave them, the evils having been told above which the justice of God brought upon their enemies.

[n: (AUG.)] Now he begins the benefits which were done for them as they journeyed in the desert.

VERS. 40.-- *They asked,* [n: (AUG.)] the good, for the support of the weak. *The quail: and he filled them with the bread of heaven:* which is also flesh, because here he speaks not of the embittering of the wicked, but of the faith of the elect: they themselves are to be understood [1021D] to have asked, whereby the murmurs of the embittered might be held down.

VERS. 42.-- *For he remembered his holy word.* [n: (ID.)] By all these benefits God commends in Abraham the merit of faith, whence he adds: *for he remembered.*

VERS. 44.-- *And he gave them.* [n: (AUG.)] Not that they should worship him for the sake of these things, but that they should refer them to the eternal good, that is, *that they may keep his justifications. They possessed,* etc., not that these things are to be held for the highest good, but that they may be free for those things whereby the highest and eternal good may be acquired, not that in them they should melt away in luxury or grow torpid.

VERS. 45.-- *The justifications,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] They are where [1022A] there is a plain and absolute precept, as, *Thou shalt love God and thy neighbour,* which are to be kept. The law is of those things which are to be kept not bodily but spiritually: and therefore it is to be sought out, because it is a shadow of things to come. *The law.* As concerning its circumcision and the other matters, which are to be diligently investigated, because they are spoken mystically.



## PSALM CV.

VERS. 1.-- *Alleluia. Alleluia.* Some say that one *alleluia* belongs to the end of the preceding psalm, and the other to the following. For Jerome hands down that this rule is to be held. To whose assertion Cassiodorus also agrees. But the greater number assign it, wherever alleluia stands, to the psalm that follows: and sometimes once, sometimes twice; as the Lord in the Gospel now said *amen,* now *amen amen,* for the greater certainty [1022B] of the matter. With these Augustine agrees, especially since no codices of the Greeks have alleluia at the end of a psalm.

*Give glory to the Lord.* [n: (AUG.)] This psalm is joined to the preceding, etc., *as far as* he admonishes therefore to a twofold confession, of praise and of sins.

[n: (CASS.)] The Hebrew, having left the perfidy of his fathers and being turned to the mercy of God, persuades others to be turned to the same mercy, praying that they may be joined to the well-pleasing people, which was to be gathered at the coming of Christ.

VERS. 2.-- *Who shall declare.* [n: (CASS.)] He that asks for mercy is filled with the consideration of the divine works, and marvelling says: *Who shall declare?*

VERS. 3.-- *Blessed are they that keep.* [n: (AUG.)] Or because [1022C] there follows, etc., *as far as* judgment and justice, because *Blessed are they that,* etc.

VERS. 5.-- *To see,* etc. [n: (AUG.)], that we may see thee in that goodness which thou bestowest upon the elect, that is, by thy grace let us see, lest we remain blind. *That thou mayest be praised:* it is strange that in very many codices, etc., *as far as* because he is not praised save on account of thee.

VERS. 6.-- *We have sinned.* The second part, where he enumerates the sins of the fathers which they committed in Egypt, and yet says that they were delivered by God.

*Iniquity.* [n: (CASS.)] A third time he says the same, that the confession may appear pure; a man is loosed the more quickly, the more keenly he condemns himself.

VERS. 7.-- *They understood not.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, what thou didst will to give them through those things, that is, not a temporal but [1022D] an eternal good; which is awaited through patience, and therefore they, being impatient, murmured, and wished to be happy in temporal things. [n: (CASS.)] There are two things which commend benefits, understanding and memory, and he reproves both of these in them. And first the understanding, when he says: *they understood not the wonders. They provoked, going up.* [n: (AUG.)] Fearing God and despairing, etc., *as far as* whence it deserved to obtain among the others the privilege or the princedom of the kingdom.

VERS. 9.-- *As in the desert.* [n: (ID.)] Because where there were depths, it was made by dryness like a desert where there are no waters.

VERS. 10.-- *He redeemed them from the hand.* [n: (ID.)] At what price? As if he should say, at none; but it was done as a figure of baptism, [1023A] in which we are redeemed from the hand of the devil by the blood of Christ; whence also he said *the Red Sea,* because by its colour blood was figured.

VERS. 12.-- *And they believed in.* [n: (AUG.)] Behold the hard hearts of the Jews, which believe not before but after miracles: it had been better to believe him who promised.

VERS. 13.-- *They quickly did, forgetting.* The third part, where he sets forth the sins which they committed after the going out: nor yet did the mercy of God fail them, he being appeased through Moses. Or rebuke, by the justice of God, taking vengeance upon certain of them through Moses. [n: (CASS.)] *They quickly did.* With the utmost speed they were changed, etc. [sic: *ete.*], *as far as* for God put off giving, that he might prove them.

VERS. 14.-- *They lusted a lust in the desert.* [n: (AUG.)] Such a manner of speech, as *they praised,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] [1023B] The excess of the desire is shown by the doubling of the word.

VERS. 15.-- *Fulness.* This is not that fulness of which it is said. *Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be filled [n: (Matth. V)]*.

*Into their souls.* [n: (AUG.)] The animal nature, which is sustained by food: whence also in the Gospel: *Is not the soul more than the meat?* Or, souls, that the will, which had asked in despair, might be overcome by abundance; after fulness there follows sedition, whence he adds.

VERS. 16.-- *And they provoked.* [n: (CASS.)] Canvassing for honour by envy, Moses in the camp, and Aaron the holy one of the Lord: this provoking was for the priesthood which Aaron had, and his sons.

VERS. 17.-- *The earth was opened.* [n: (ID.)] The quality of the punishment inflicted declares the praise of God, who has avenged his own; they are devoured by the earth [1023C] who savoured of earthly things.

VERS. 18.-- *In the synagogue.* [n: (ID.)] For Core and two hundred and fifty with him, wishing to have the priesthood of Aaron, took censers, to burn incense, and therefore were consumed by divine fire. *Sinners.* [n: (AUG.)] He does not say sinning, which belongs to a good man too: but *sinners,* men exceedingly wicked and laden with heavy burdens of sins.

VERS. 19.-- *And they made.* [n: (CASS.)] Not enduring the absence of Moses, while he himself tarried on the top of mount Sinai to receive the law, they made a calf. *Horeb.* It is interpreted *Calvary,* where the crucifixion took place, etc., *as far as* this the impatience of the fickle did, as all evils are born of it.

VERS. 20.-- *In the likeness.* [n: (AUG.)] He does not say into [1023D] a likeness, but in a likeness. And it is such a manner of speech as above, *and they believed in his words.*

VERS. 21.-- *They forgot.* [n: (CASS.)] Great forgetfulness indeed in the memory, if not the deliverance.

*Terrible things.* Because they afflicted their adversaries, and showed to these men whom they ought to fear.

VERS. 23.-- *Had stood in the breach.* [n: (AUG.)] Saying: *If thou forgive them not, blot me out of thy book.* How much avails the intercession of the saints? Moses, secure concerning the justice of God, by which he could not blot him out, obtained mercy for those who would justly have perished.

*That he might turn away his wrath.* Concerning the water of contradiction and the immolation of the sons, whereat God was the more vehemently angered, and yet afterwards had mercy. *And for nothing.* The fourth [1024A] part, where he likewise enumerates yet other sins, and says that God was appeased through Phinees.

*They believed not his word.* [n: (AUG.)] They despised that which was signified by her, etc., *as far as* they did not await his counsel.

*In his tents.* [n: (CASS.)] They murmured, because this befalls not them that labour but the idle, whence the greater odium of the crime grows.

VERS. 26.-- *And he lifted up his hand over them,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] This justice of God is set first, that the mercy which follows may be the more glorified, which mercy is shown in what follows, where God is said to be appeased by the intervention of Phinees.

VERS. 28.-- *And they were initiated to Beelphegor.* [n: (ID.)] Or, they were consecrated, as though worshipping only for a time: [1024B] a graver excess and a more vehement wrath: they devoted their sons to the demons. [n: (AUG.)] *And they were initiated,* before he should say, etc., *as far as* he delivered him whose destruction was to be the greater.

VERS. 30.-- *And Phinees stood up.* [n: (CASS.)] With a firm mind, etc., *as far as* because he who acts well, prays.

VERS. 31.-- *And it was reputed,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] God, who knew with how great charity for the people that was done, reputed this to his priest unto justice, not only so long as there is a generation, but even unto eternity.

VERS. 32.-- *And they provoked,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] The fifth part, where he treats of the water of contradiction and of the immolation of the sons, whereat God was the more vehemently angered, and yet afterwards had mercy. As if: they so provoked him in their own devices, as was said above; now [1024C] again they have provoked him.

VERS. 33.-- *And he made a distinction with his lips,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] This miracle, etc., *as far as* he did not hold the confidence he ought to have held. [n: (AUG.)] *And he made a distinction.* As if: God could not do this, etc., *as far as* yet he was not estranged from the kingdom of the grace of God.

VERS. 35.-- *The nations.* Those seven peoples which possessed the land of promise.

VERS. 36.-- *And it became to them a stumbling-block.* [n: (CASS.)] The land of promise, given as a reward, was turned to ruin for those who transgressed, because by conformity with the nations they became idolaters.

VERS. 37.-- *And they sacrificed.* [n: (AUG.)] Although that history does not relate these things, yet this prophet cannot lie. [n: (CASS.)] If not in the first, then in the following [1024D] age was done what David relates.

VERS. 38.-- *And slain.* [n: (AUG.)] A figurative manner of speech, the container for the contained, that is, men; for they themselves were slaying their own souls by sacrificing their sons, and they were defiled in their works. [var: Vulg. Ps. 105:38 *Et infecta est terra in sanguinibus*, "and the land was defiled with blood"]

VERS. 39.-- *In their own devices.* [n: (ID.)] Not that they had invented them first, but because they imitated others. Which is plainer in the Greek, both in these places and above; whence others also render it, pursuits, or affections, or pleasures.

VERS. 40.-- *He abhorred.* [n: (CASS.)] That is, he turned away from them: and to be turned away from is the utmost of all evils, whence ruin follows, *and he delivered.*

VERS. 41.-- *And he delivered them,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Behold, they who gloried in idols lie under the reproach of servitude, [1025A] because they serve their enemies, which is a hard thing. *They that hated.* It is grievous to serve one who has been offended, who is appeased by no compliance.

VERS. 43.-- *Often he delivered,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] A twofold mercy; for above he set out first the benefits of God, and yet their iniquity does not cease; he brought in vengeance, and again he has mercy on the afflicted.

*In his own counsel.* [n: (AUG.)] The counsel of man is evil to the man himself, who seeks the things that are his own, not the things that are God's.

VERS. 45.-- *Of the testament.* [n: (CASS.)] The cause that Israel did not perish for its debt is the New Testament, wherein is the coming of the Lord, who was promised to Abraham. *It repented him.* [n: (AUG.)] Because he changed what seemed about to destroy them. [n: (CASS.)] Then he repents, when he sees us repent, and he is such to us as we are to him. [n: (AUG.)] God does nothing as by a sudden [1025B] counsel, but what he foreknew from eternity. But he is said to change that which, according to the causes of things, would seem to follow, when other causes intervene on the contrary part. But both the causes, and what should come to pass, he unchangeably foresaw.

VERS. 46.-- *Unto mercies.* [n: (CASS.)] Because of the diverse gifts: prophets, apostles, martyrs and confessors were of the Jews, whom he gave unto mercies: and this *in the sight of all, they had taken them,* [var: Vulg. Ps. 105:46 *in conspectu omnium qui ceperant eos*, "in the sight of all that had taken them captive"] that is, of the Gentiles, that the Gentiles might marvel at them, who before had despised them. Or, made free before the demons, under whom they had been captives.

VERS. 47.-- *Save us.* [n: (CASS.)] The sixth part. Now filled with the abundance of the praise of God, he prays for that which he saw was to come, that the Church may be gathered out of all nations, [1025C] and may sing eternal praises. [n: (AUG.)] *Save us,* as if: Thou hast given mercies in the sight of all, etc., *as far as* there follows. *And gather us from among the nations.*

VERS. 48.-- *Blessed be the Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] This is the praise which he desires that they, being gathered, should sing; this the Church now sings, glad for so great a good. *From everlasting unto,* etc., that is, from eternity unto eternity, because he shall be praised without end: this is the third consummation of the body of Christ in immortality, which was prayed at the beginning of the psalm: *Remember us,* O Lord, *in the good pleasures of thy people,* to see, to rejoice, that thou mayest be praised with thine inheritance.


## PSALM CVI.

*Alleluia, alleluia.* [n: (AUG.)] This psalm commends [1025D] the mercy of God, etc., *as far as* the things which the Apostle set down, although they signify the same.

VERS. 1.-- *Give praise to the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] This psalm teaches what we are through ourselves, etc., *as far as* he first admonishes the redeemed to give praise. *Give praise.*

[n: (CASS., AUG.)] Of which there are seven divisions, etc., *as far as* in the seventh he treats of heretics, there, *And they were made few.*

VERS. 3.-- *And from the sea.* [n: (CASS.)] For the south he puts the sea, understanding thereby the ocean of that quarter; and this can be taken for any quarter of the world whatever.

VERS. 4.-- *They wandered.* [n: (ID.)] The second part, where is the first temptation, etc., *as far as* fourthly, confession for having been heard, that is, praise.

[1026A]VERS. 5.-- *Hungry.* [n: (AUG.)] He signifies the curious of the world, who sought out the truth by divers opinions, and found it not. *Their soul,* etc. God commends himself, because it is expedient for us; we fail that we may ask, and may love him who comes to our aid.

VERS. 6.-- *And he led.* [n: (AUG.)] As it were, he rescued them from ignorance, showing the way, Christ. Behold, he freed them from error; but in what manner he freed them from the hunger and thirst wherewith they burned, he will say afterwards; but he sets confession first.

VERS. 8.-- *Wonderful things.* [n: (HIER.)] As it were, in a wonderful manner of redemption were the mercies given.

VERS. 9.-- *Him that is hungry.* [n: (CASS.)] Him that desires to know, or him that desires not to know, but fails through too great fasting, as is wont to befall one worn out [1026B] by too great hunger or by infirmity, so that he desires not to eat, but fails through too great fasting.

*Sitting.* [n: (AUG.)] The third part, where the second temptation is set down, etc., *as far as* let us also consider that we can do this.

VERS. 11.-- *Because they exasperated.* [n: (ID.)] This is another thing, attempting yet again, etc., *as far as* whence he was wroth with them.

*The counsel of the Most High.* That they who were proud might be humbled in straits, which was a wholesome counsel, that the disease of the world might be cured by a contrary remedy.

VERS. 12.-- *Nor was there any who.* [n: (ID.)] For when God withdraws his aid, thou canst labour against vices, but not conquer; and when thou art pressed by thine own depraved habit, the heart will be humbled, that thou mayest learn to cry out, whence he subjoins: *And they cried out.*

[1026C]VERS. 13.-- *And they cried out.* [n: (CASS.)] From a like cause the same sentence as above.

VERS. 16.-- *Brazen gates.* [n: (ID.)] The brazen gates are the vicious customs of men, which suffer not those shut in to go out.

*Bars.* Unclean spirits, who bolt the gates. He puts brazen and iron for strength, but the power of God breaks them.

VERS. 18.-- *All meat.* [n: (AUG.)] The fourth part, where the third temptation is set down, which is weariness. They who above were languishing with hunger are in like manner endangered by loathing; lest therefore thou think men secure through satiety, since they die of loathing also. And this is *all meat,* etc.

[n: (AUG.)] After he has come from ignorance to truth, from error to the way, from the hunger of wisdom to the word [1026D] of faith, and after he has overcome the difficulties of evils, so as to live without complaint, there remains weariness, so that sometimes neither to read nor to pray delights him; he has escaped unskilfulness and concupiscence, but he dies of weariness.

VERS. 23.-- *They that go down the sea.* The fifth part, etc., *as far as* if the whole ship is in peril.

VERS. 24, 25.-- *They have seen the works of the Lord.* [n: (AUG.)] Or *they saw,* etc., *as far as* he expounds their storms, *he spoke, and there stood. In the deep. He spoke, and there stood,* subjoining, *the spirit of the storm.* [n: (ID.)] The deep is the heart of men, whence the winds break forth, and there arise tempests of seditions and dissensions.

VERS. 27.-- *As a drunken man.* [n: (ID.)] They stagger, because their prosperity or their adversity is greater than their strength. [1027A] *And all their wisdom was swallowed up.* They appear restlessly wise when they speak, when they read; but when the tempest comes, all human counsels fail; what is to be done is not seen. It remains therefore to cry out, that God may make their heart firm, lest it be tossed about by temptations.

VERS. 32.-- *In the Church.* [n: (AUG.)] Behold whence he has spoken all these things, and where all that is foretold is done.

VERS. 33.-- *He hath turned rivers.* [n: (CASS.)] The sixth part, thus far: how he makes even the evils of enemies to profit. [n: (AUG.)] *He hath turned rivers.* Consequently the Church is commended, etc., *as far as* whence also the benefits of God toward the Church are openly shown.

VERS. 34.-- *In saltness.* [n: (CASS.)] Salt moisture, where it prevails, takes away fruitfulness.

[1027B] *From the malice of them that dwell.* [n: (AUG.)] Because of the malice of those who inhabited that land, that is, the tabernacle of the Lord, with deceitful minds.

VERS. 37.-- *And they sowed.* [n: (CASS.)] They sow fields and plant vineyards who purify their bodies by a heavenly institution, that they may bear the fruits of good [sic: *honorum*] works.

VERS. 38.-- *Exceedingly:* [n: (CASS.)] for "greatly," or because many are called, but few chosen.

VERS. 39.-- *And few.* [n: (AUG.)] The seventh part, where somewhat is said also of heretics, etc., *as far as* they were not of the fewness of the elect. *Afflicted.* [n: (CASS.)] Either those who persevere under heretics, or heretics by the snares of the devil. Sorrow and tribulation to those who forsake the author of salvation.

[1027C]VERS. 40.-- *It was poured out.* [n: (AUG.)] Or, contempt was poured out, etc., *as far as* and what has he done even concerning those that were led astray? Behold.

VERS. 41.-- *He helped the poor man.* God could have suffered them always within, but we should not have profited by them. But when they are separated, and disquiet us with their questions, there is born in us a zeal of inquiry and an example of fear, so that, *He that standeth, let him take heed lest he fall.* And what is done concerning those led astray, in the poor man that is helped? *And he set as sheep.* Thou didst think him one poor man; but this poor man is many households, many churches: yet he is also one Church, one sheep. So great are these mysteries, long hidden, and therefore sweetly found.

VERS. 42.-- *The upright shall see and shall rejoice.* [n: (AUG.)] [1027D] Behold whither the Psalmist tends: to this, namely, that he may show that the good are exalted through the mercy of God, as the wicked are crushed through pride.

VERS. 43.-- *Who is wise, and will keep these things?* [n: (ID.)] The conclusion, as if he should say: since the Lord helps the poor man, therefore: *Who is wise? The mercies.* That he delivers from error, etc., *as far as* and the unjust shall stop his mouth.

## PSALM CVII.

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle of a psalm.* [n: (AUG.)] From the last parts of the two, etc., *as far as* that the words of the prophets might be fulfilled. [n: (CASS.)] Here are many of the same things as above, etc., *as far as* and they are well joined together, which in no wise disagree. [n: (ID.)] In the first there is treated the flight [1028A] of David, etc., *as far as Canticle* belongs to divine things, *Psalm* to actual works.

VERS. 2.-- *Prepared.* [n: (CASS.)] The sixth psalm concerning the two natures in Christ. *My heart is ready.* First Christ gives thanks, because, taking upon him the passion, he rose again into glory. Secondly, what salvation has been wrought for the whole earth, there, *That they may be delivered.*

VERS. 7.-- *That they may be delivered.* [n: (ID.)] The second part: what salvation has been wrought for the whole earth over which is the glory; here also the lowliness of the humanity and the power of the majesty are shown.

*Save.* That they may be delivered in the time to come, here save them, lest they fall. Or, he asks that he himself be saved in the resurrection, that the faithful may be delivered, who by such a sign perceived his Godhead. As it were: that I may sing and give praise, *Save [1028B] me* in the resurrection by thy right hand, that is, by the Word, who is the arm of the Father, that *so thy beloved may be delivered.* The order of the words is inverted. For he says: Save me and hear me, and save me.

VERS. 8.-- *I will rejoice.* [n: (AUG.)] Or, I shall be exalted: above, I shall be glad, but here, I shall be exalted, which agrees well enough, because gladness comes of exaltation. And here Christ speaks in the person of the Church.

VERS. 9.-- *And Ephraim.* [n: (ID.)] Ephraim is mine, that is, mine is the fruit-bearing, which is the taking up of my head. This fruit-bearing is from this, that the head took me up, or I the head. [n: (CASS.)] Or Ephraim, that is, fruit-bearing, is the taking up of my head, because when my head took up the crown of thorns, it bore fruit beyond all others: for Christ gained the whole [1028C] world.

VERS. 11.-- *Who bringeth me into the strong city.* [n: (ID.)] As man, Christ asks, that he may answer; he denies that this can be done by man. The city. Hell, which none could open. The Idumeans are the Gentiles, to whom he became known after the resurrection: these things could be done by the Godhead alone.

VERS. 12.-- *Thou hast cast us off, and thou wilt not go forth.* [n: (ID.)] He says "us" in the plural, because here Christ suffers together with his members; above, speaking in the singular, "he will bring me." Seek the expositions of all these things in the ninth psalm.


## PSALM CVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end, a psalm.* [n: (AUG.)] A prophecy concerning Christ, etc., *as far as* and the things which are expressed concerning Judas, as that: *And his bishopric let another [1028D] take.*

[n: (CASS.)] The fifth of those which treat more at large of the passion.

VERS. 2.-- *O God, praise.* [n: (CASS.)] He admonishes men to turn aside from the malice of Judas, etc., *as far as* Christ therefore, according as he is man, praying to the Father says: *For the mouth of the sinner.* [n: (ID.)] A comely diversity, because the wicked are not silent in their reviling.

VERS. 3.-- *Without cause.* [n: (AUG.)] As equity pleases the godly of itself, so does iniquity the ungodly.

VERS. 4.-- *In return for this, that me.* [n: (ID.)] They do more hurt who detract from Christ in his members, because they slay the souls of them that would believe, than they who slew his flesh, soon about to rise again.

[1029A]VERS. 5.-- *And they set [sic: *posueruent*] against.* [n: (AUG.)] There are six differences, etc., *as far as* which is good for evil, which is, God the judge does. [n: (CASS.)] In three ways is every sin contracted, etc., *as far as* which Christ did when he prayed for the Jews.

VERS. 6.-- *Set thou over.* [n: (AUG.)] The second part, where he begins to prophesy what they shall receive for their impiety. Above, of many, etc., *as far as* whose person Judas bore. *Set thou a sinner over him.* As of Judas, so of them.

VERS. 7.-- *When he is judged, may he go out condemned.* Because, abiding in wickedness, they treasure up wrath to themselves. *Prayer unto sin:* because it is not made through the Mediator.

VERS. 8.-- *Few days.* According to the kingdom, which [1029B] did not stand long after. *The bishopric,* that is, Christ (who was sent to them), the people of the Gentiles received.

VERS. 9.-- *Children fatherless:* the kingdom, as a father, being lost; or God the Father. *The wife,* that is, the people. *Widows,* the kingdom being lost.

VERS. 10.-- *Let it be transferred,* as was done in the captivity. *Let them beg,* of the kings of the Gentiles.

VERS. 11.-- *All his substance,* that is, his life, punishing each single thing of sin; their debts are not forgiven, because in Christ alone are they forgiven. *And strangers,* that is, the devil and his angels. *Let them plunder his labours,* Because they lay up treasure in heaven [cj: *thesaurizant*; read *non thesaurizant*, "lay not up"].

VERS. 12.-- *And let there not be for him,* etc. That is, there is no helper for him to whom Christ is wanting. *Nor let there be any to have mercy.* I say not for the having of temporal things, but of eternal.

[1029C]VERS. 13.-- *Let his children be given over to destruction* everlasting. Therefore, because they remained in *one generation,* that is, because they were not regenerated. *And let the name be blotted out.* That is, of the earthly Jerusalem, which is in bondage with her children, which slew the prophets.

VERS. 15.-- *And let it perish from the land of the living,* that is, the Church. *Their memory,* because, though they were natural branches, so they became.

VERS. 16.-- *Because he remembered not.* By doing penance.

*To shew mercy.* Upon the members of Christ.

VERS. 18.-- *Cursing, and it shall come to him: and he would not have blessing.* [n: (AUG.)] Sins delight for a season, but they are called a cursing, because they prepare torments.

VERS. 19.-- *Wherewith he is covered.* He seems to say here, [1029D] etc., *as far as* let him be always ready, whence here he says *he is girded always.*

VERS. 20.-- *With the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] They detract from Christ especially who say that he is not of the Father, or that he is less than the Father. *Evils against the soul.* Saying that he could not rise again when he would.

VERS. 21.-- *And thou, O Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] The third part, where he prays, etc., *as far as* help me, according to the man. *For thy name's sake.* For by no works, etc., *as far as because thy mercy is sweet.*

VERS. 22.-- *Because needy and poor.* [n: (ID.)] The neediness and poverty of Christ is the infirmity out of which he was crucified.

[1030A]VERS. 23.-- *I am taken away as the shadow when it declineth.* [n: (CASS.)] As night comes of the declining shadow, so death comes of mortal flesh.

VERS. 24.-- *It hath been changed.* [n: (AUG.)] The flesh of Christ therefore has been changed, etc., *as far as because Jesus was not yet glorified. Because of the oil,* that is, spiritual grace, whence Christ is named.

VERS. 25.-- *They moved their heads.* [n: (CASS.)] Madmen threaten by the shaking of the head. [n: (AUG.)] They moved their heads, because they saw him hanging on the cross, but not yet when the flesh was changed.

VERS. 26.-- *Help me, O Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] He asks as man, he grants as God.

VERS. 27.-- *This is thy hand.* [n: (AUG.)] Christ is this hand, and he is the Word with God, and he made it, when the Word was made flesh. For he was without [1030B] time according to the Godhead, and it was made in time according to the flesh.

VERS. 28.-- *They shall curse, and thou wilt bless.* One is the cursing of the wicked; God, when he blesses, does what he says.

VERS. 29.-- *As with a diploide,* etc. Others interpret, for diploide, a double cloak, that is, let them be confounded within and without, that is, before God and before men.

VERS. 30.-- *Exceedingly in my mouth.* *Exceedingly* is wont to be put for more than is due, but also for greatly. *In the midst.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, in common, or in the heart.

VERS. 31.-- *Because he hath stood at the right hand of the poor.* The devil at the right hand of Judas, etc., *as far as* but that he might save the soul [1030C] from them that persecute it.

## PSALM CIX.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of David.* [n: (CASS.)] This psalm is the seventh, etc., *as far as* whatsoever [sic: *quiquid*] is contained in either Testament. [n: (CASS.)] The prophet exhorts men to be made subject to Christ. First the prophet relates the words of the Father concerning the Son, etc., *as far as* this belongs to the humanity.

*The Lord said.* [n: (CASS.)] After our manner, that man may be instructed. *The Lord to the Lord.* Distinguish the persons, and receive one nature and one power. *Sit thou.* After labour, rest, and reign together, according as thou art man. *At my right hand.* Among my better and hidden goods, until thou reign manifest. And this is, *until I make thy enemies,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] *Sit thou,* not only on high, that thou mayest have dominion over the exalted, but also in secret, etc., [1030D] *as far as* if he sees not what he believes. *A footstool for thy feet:* from a similitude, wherein also full subjection is marked. By the feet, eternal stability: this daily in them that are converted.

VERS. 2.-- *The rod of power.* Now the kingdom of Christ begins out of Sion, that is, from the Jews, whence he subjoins, *The rod of power,* etc. *Out of Sion.* The prophet speaks not of that kingdom of Christ, etc., *as far as and remission of sins throughout all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.*

VERS. 3.-- *With thee the beginning.* [n: (CASS.)] Secondly the Father declares the nature of the Godhead, etc., *as far as* when in the resurrection they shall be resplendent, as the angels of God. [n: (AUG.)] [1031A] Already he has dominion, already there is power; but *in the day* of his special power, etc., *as far as* in what manner the Father is with him the beginning. This then, but now. *From the womb,* that is, *as* from my secret and hidden substance, etc., *as far as* one who may offer himself, whence there follows, *He hath sworn,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Or *With thee the beginning:* this the Father says; as it were, this I grant to thee more than to another, because thou art the Son by nature. [n: (AUG.)] Or it can be taken as of the person of the prophet speaking, etc., *as far as* with the Holy Ghost, who makes the saints resplendent.

VERS. 4.-- *The Lord hath sworn.* [n: (CASS.)] Thirdly the prophet treats of the humanity of Christ, etc., *as far as* hence it is plain that the victims pass away according to the order of Aaron. *It shall not repent him: thou art a priest, for ever.* [n: (AUG.)] Upon God no repentance falls: for he knows [1031B] what he does, nor does he change his counsel; but by the word "repentance" is signified the change of things falling out otherwise than one hoped. For in what manner, when it repents thee to have done anything, thou grievest for the deed which thou hast done.

VERS. 5.-- *Kings* [n: (AUG.)] Who wish, or wished, to blot out the name of Christ.

VERS. 6.-- *He shall crush,* that is, he has rendered them weak, etc., *as far as* and now *he shall judge* among the Gentiles, that he may fill *ruins,* not the upright. *He shall judge among nations.* [n: (CASS.)] As it were, he breaks kings for their pride: he judges peoples for their common sins: both, that they may be humbled unto conversion. Or,

VERS. 7.-- *Of the torrent.* [n: (CASS.)] Of the passing and troubled passion. In the way, whereby men go to another dwelling.

[1031C] *He shall lift up the head.* Whence: *For this cause he exalted him, and God gave him a name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of them that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.*


## PSALM CX.

*Alleluia.* [n: (CASS.)] The first psalm through all the letters of the alphabet, etc., *as far as* thirdly he affirms the same men redeemed, and the New Testament abiding, there, *Redemption.*

VERS. 1.-- *I will give praise.* [n: (AUG.)] Here there is no confession of sins, but of praise: the one mourns, this rejoices: the one shows the wound to the physician, this gives thanks for health. *In the council.* Not rashly, but out of reason, namely [1031D] for things eternal, as all the just do. [n: (CASS.)] *In the council of the just.* Here never among all the just, where the wicked are mingled with them, but they are seen already to sing in the fellowship to come, caught up by hope to the things above. *In the council,* which is, when they judge with the Lord. *In the congregation,* when they are gathered together out of the whole.

VERS. 2.-- *Great works.* This is the matter and the cause of the confession. Great are the works of the Lord, in that he makes a godly man out of an ungodly. *Sought out.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] To which nothing is like, while he suffers the devil to rage, etc., *as far as* not: *for his justice remaineth for ever and ever. Unto all the wills.* [n: (AUG.)] Nothing surpasses the will of God, who, even if he wills that thou sin not, yet does not prevent it. If he wills to spare the penitent, he wills also to punish the impenitent; [1032A] so concerning man God always fulfils his own will, because man does nothing out of which God does not work what he wills.

VERS. 3.-- *Confession and magnificence is his work.* [n: (CASS.)] As it were: I will give praise, because great are the works of the Lord. Any works soever are also great, if in them there be seen the intention and the will, which is the *confession* of sins, and the *magnificence* of good works: and *justice,* that is, the reward which is justly given.

VERS. 4.-- *He hath made a remembrance.* [n: (ID.)] Secondly he says that the faithful are filled with a plentiful gift, promising the coming of the Lord, that the inheritance may be eagerly sought. [n: (AUG.)] *He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works.* Humbling this man and exalting that, etc., *as far as* what shall he receive, he is glorified [cj: *glorificatur*; read *glorificatus*, "glorified"], in the things to come?

[1032B]VERS. 5.-- *He hath given food.* [n: (CASS.)] He makes confession and magnificence, etc., *as far as* that all things may be fulfilled. *He will be mindful,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Nor did he give the whole who gave a pledge, etc., *as far as* they enter through the piercing straits of the passion.

VERS. 6.-- *The power of the works.* [n: (CASS.)] The power of the works is that the blind see, etc. Which things he made known to the Christian people. *That he may give them the inheritance,* this was the intent of the miracles, that they might believe.

VERS. 7.-- *That he may give them the inheritance of the Gentiles.* [n: (ID.)] As it were: although he gives them the inheritance, yet they shall suffer many things. *The works of his hands.* [n: (ID.)] That is, of his power. *Truth,* while he restores to the converted what was promised: *Judgment,* which he threatens to the ungodly. [n: (AUG.)] *Truth,* which the holy martyrs hold, and for which they are also judged [1032C] here; *and judgment,* whereby in time to come they shall judge those by whom they are here judged. [n: (ID.)] *The works of his hands are truth and judgment.* Let *truth* be held by those who are judged, etc., *as far as* this is the inheritance of the New Testament.

VERS. 8.-- *All the commandments are faithful.* [n: (CASS.)] Because they keep those who keep them, they are not lies. *Confirmed.* Not sent forth in vain, as human words are: *Made,* not only spoken, *in truth,* because all are fulfilled.

*In equity.* [n: (AUG.)] Because all things are done with the balance of justice.

VERS. 9, 10.-- *He hath sent redemption.* [n: (CASS.)] Thirdly he affirms the redeemed, and the New Testament consecrated by eternal grace; or. *His name: the beginning of wisdom.* [n: (ID.)] That is, the Son, who in his humanity is *holy,* [1032D] in the power of the Godhead *terrible.* Let the advocate therefore be loved, let the judge be feared, lest thou be negligent, lest thou despair.

The fear of the Lord. [n: (ID.)] The dread of judgment is the gate of conversion, if the discernment of love be added to it. *His praise continueth.* The intent of the psalm, whence Alleluia is prefixed, began with praise and ends in praise: the faithful people, delivered from the devil and giving thanks, has expressed what is to be done here also by the devout, and to be accomplished in heaven: here because he delivers, there because he crowns.

## PSALM CXI.

*Alleluia of the return.* [n: (AUG.)] Aggeus and Zacharias were long after David, etc., *as far as* it may be made firm eternally. [n: (CASS.)] The perfection of this building, etc., *as far [1033A] as* as though men delivered [sic: *liberavi*] from captivity and glad because of the good things which they have.

VERS. 1.-- *Blessed is the man.* [n: (CASS.)] Here the Psalmist shows, after the deliverance, etc., *as far as* thirdly he affirms that adverse things befall the ungodly. *That feareth the Lord.* The fear of the world makes men wretched, but the fear of God makes a man desire those things whereby he is blessed. *In the commandments.* This the fear of God does, that he should will. And he says not "he shall do," etc., *as far as* and *the earthly habitation presseth down the mind that museth upon many things.*

VERS. 2.-- *Mighty.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] Behold the rewards of that blessed man. *His seed.* That is, the reward of a good work; *Shall be mighty upon earth,* not upon this earth, where he is a laughing-stock, but upon the heavenly. Or even here in this present time, wherein it is less seen. *Seed,* the works of mercy, whence comes the everlasting harvest. *Mighty,* because with a very small thing, even as with a great one, the kingdom of heaven [1033B] is bought. *The generation.* Not of the flesh, but of imitation. Or the works of the upright. *The upright* are they who resist not the Father when he corrects, and who believe him when he promises, and who believe not that their works have perished when no requital is made them in time. For there are those who do those good things while hoping here for a reward from God, or wishing to please men, which is not the blessed man: and yet,

VERS. 3.-- *Glory and wealth in his house.* That is, in the secret of the heart, where he dwells with the hope of eternal life, where holy riches and eternal glory are laid up. *Justice.* This is his glory, these are his riches, which nevertheless he has from God. *It remaineth for ever.* As it were, he is not blessed for a time.

VERS. 4.-- *There hath risen up.* [n: (CASS.)] Secondly he treats of the coming of the Lord, etc., *as far as* that he may fortify it beforehand with firm allegations [1033C] and assertions in the judgment. Or,

VERS. 5.-- *He sheweth mercy.* [n: (ID.)] He who gives to the needy; *He lendeth,* he who grants a loan, to receive afterwards as much again.

VERS. 7, 8.-- *His heart is ready to hope in the Lord, his heart is strengthened, it remaineth,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] It is plain therefore that this man seeks not his own things, but the things which are Christ's; he bears labours patiently, he awaits the promises with confidence. [n: (CASS.)] Or, if any man threatens evils, he fears not, but is ready.

VERS. 9.-- *He hath distributed.* He hopes not to fear, because he has distributed. *He hath given to the poor.* [n: (AUG.)] Behold, this man was buying what he did not see, but that other was keeping a treasure for him in heaven, who vouchsafes to hunger and to thirst in the poor upon earth. *His justice remaineth for ever and ever.* [n: (CASS.)] [1033D] He gave what was his own, and lived justly and godly; or, he who gives what is his own works justice. *His horn shall be exalted in glory.* Because he is humble here, there he shall have power.

VERS. 10.-- *The sinner shall see.* [n: (ID.)] Thirdly he affirms that contrary things befall the ungodly. By the good things of the blessed he exhorts, by the evils of the enemies he terrifies, and this psalm is an instructor of the faithful.

*He shall be angry, he shall gnash with his teeth and pine away, the desire of the wicked shall perish,* saying: *What hath pride profited us, and the boasting of riches? [n: (Sap. V)]*


## PSALM CXII.

*Alleluia* [n: (CASS.)] Because he is worthily to be praised who by the merit of humility takes up the Gentiles, he expounds the title of the psalm. [1034A] For Alleluia, as we have said, is interpreted "praise ye the Lord," in which manner the psalm also begins.

VERS. 1.-- *Praise ye.* [n: (ID.)] First the Prophet admonishes the devout to praise continually, and everywhere to preach. Secondly he himself does what he admonishes others to do, that is, he praises God there: *Who is as the Lord [n: (I Cor. XIV)]*? Admonishing therefore unto praise, he shows and says who and whom, and how long, and where, and why they should praise. *Children.* Not in sense, but in malice, and chiefly in pride, that is, the humble; whence, *Be not children in sense, but in malice be children, that in mind ye may be perfect.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] Praise the Lord, ye children, the simple and the pure, who ought to praise.

VERS. 2.-- *Let the name be.* [n: (CASS.)] Behold, he has said who and whom they ought to praise; then he subjoins how long we praise [cj: *laudamus*; read *laudandus*, "is to be praised"], namely always. *Let the name of the Lord be:* [1034B] lest ye think that I command praise for an hour, etc., *as far as* by the Gentiles the carnal, by the heavens the spiritual.

VERS. 3.-- *From the rising of the sun.* [n: (AUG.)] Here he says that he ought to be praised everywhere.

VERS. 4.-- *Above the heavens.* [n: (ID.)] The Apostles, through whom he reigns among the Gentiles, and is; therefore I invite to praises, because he is to reign above all.

VERS. 5.-- *Who is as.* [n: (CASS.)] Secondly he himself does what he admonishes others to do, that by the deed also he may teach others. *Who?* None that can of himself. *In the high places,* etc. In the angels and the saints: and although he is high, he despises not the lowly.

VERS. 6.-- *The lowly things.* These are they who by his gift are made high, and in them he sits. *He beholdeth,* the lowly one by one. *In the earth,* the saints, whom he so beholds as, on the contrary, he hates the proud.

[1034C]VERS. 7.-- *Raising up from the earth:* from the labour of the body. *Out of the dunghill,* he is lifted up over whom the vices of the flesh have no dominion.

VERS. 9.-- *Who maketh to dwell.* [n: (CASS., AUG.)] He expounds where he raises up and lifts up, etc., *as far as* out of the mammon of iniquity by works of mercy. *The barren woman.* [n: (AUG.)] Namely Sara, that is, the Gentile Church, which was barren before, whereby she is signified by Sara. Her, I say, he makes to dwell in the house, that is, in the Church of the Jews, among the Jews themselves, that in the corner-stone the two walls may be joined together, and there may be made one fold. *Of children.* [n: (ID.)] In whose person these things are said, etc., *as far as* since I know myself to be without children, and a widow.

## PSALM CXIII.

[1034D] *Alleluia.* [n: (CASS.)] Here again the Alleluia is set down from another occasion, etc., *as far as* as becomes clear in the exposition of the psalm.

VERS. 1.-- *At the going out.* [n: (AUG.)] Here things past are not related, but things to come are foretold, because in those deeds things to come were signified: and therefore not all the things which were done there are spoken of here, but certain of them otherwise, lest he be thought to be recounting things past. [n: (CASS.)] First the Prophet tells what wonders God gave to the Hebrews in figure, and to Christians in spirit. Secondly he asks why these things were done, there, *What ailed thee, O sea?* Thirdly he reproves the empty idols of the Gentiles, and commends the religion of God, there, *the idols of the Gentiles.*

*At the going out.* As it were, when Israel, that is, the house of Jacob, went out of Egypt, that is, from a barbarous people.

[1035A] *Barbarous.* [n: (AUG.)] That tongue is barbarous which praises not God.

VERS. 2.-- *It was made.* [n: (CASS.)] As that people, when it went out of Egypt, etc., *as far as* they are able to resist vices, and this.

VERS. 3.-- *The sea saw,* that is, the sinners of the world. *Jordan,* they who by divers desires snatch men into the great sea, that is, into the embittering malice of this world; but these things cease at the coming of the Lord, being as it were turned backward.

*The sea saw.* [n: (AUG.)] This is here said otherwise than it was done. There it is read to have stood on that side from which the waters were flowing down, nor is anything said there of the mountains skipping; but both the things done there and the things said here are figures.

[1035B]VERS. 4.-- *Rams.* [n: (ID.)] Who with the horns of both, etc., *as far as* every knowledge lifting itself up against Christ. *The hills.* [n: (CASS.)] From tilling, the middling sort: for these things are not according to the letter; whence also by the sea and by Jordan, that is, by the ancient deeds, doubt not that those things are signified which today are done spiritually.

VERS. 5.-- *What ailed thee.* [n: (ID.)] Secondly he asks why these things were, that he may stir up wonder. And he resolves it: *At the face of the Lord.*

VERS. 7.-- *At the face.* [n: (ID.)] One answer for two, because one author both made the ages to be astonished, and made his own, that is, the mountains and the hills, to rejoice: for at the appearing of Christ men were moved from their own superstition to the worship of God.

*At the face of the God of Jacob.* And as though one should ask, who is the Lord? [1035C] The God of Jacob, not a new one; who makes them wrestle.

VERS. 8.-- *Who turned the rock.* [n: (ID.)] The hard hearts of the Jews, unto the water of baptism.

*The crag.* The Gentiles, that they also may pour forth the watering fountains of preaching.

[n: (AUG.)] That is, himself, hard before, while he was not known, etc., *as far as* he might overflow upon all that believe, saying: *If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.*

VERS. 1.-- *Not to us.* [n: (CASS.)] When he had said that God gives good things, etc., *as far as* truth, while he renders the rewards, or punishes the ungodly. Therefore, Give.

VERS. 2.-- *Lest at any time:* this the ungodly often lay to the charge of the good when they are afflicted.

*Mercy.* [n: (AUG.)], that is, by restoration.

*Truth,* that is, by the promise fulfilled.

[1035D] *Where is God.* [n: (ID.)] This the Gentiles are wont to say, who have visible gods: because we worship an invisible God.

VERS. 3.-- *In heaven.* [n: (ID.)], that is, in Christ the man, according to that: *God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.* Or, *in heaven,* [n: (CASS.)] that is, mighty above all creatures.

*He hath done all things whatsoever he would.* Whereby he appears almighty.

VERS. 4.-- *The idols of the Gentiles.* [n: (ID.)] Thirdly he proves the idols empty, and shows how profitable the religion of God is. And here is a perfect demonstration in dispraise and in praise. [n: (AUG.)] The power of the true God having been shown from his works, he passes to the visible gods of the Gentiles. *Silver.* [n: (ID.)] But because God made this, he says, *The works [1036A] of the hands of men:* they venerate that which they made thereof, for God created the matter; but the folly of men added the form.

VERS. 5.-- *They have mouths.* [n: (ID.)] They were formed by hand, etc., *as far as* and they served the creature rather than the Creator.

VERS. 7.-- *They shall not cry.* [n: (ID.)] After speaking (which is proper to man) he adds this which is common, etc., *as far as* and an idol wanting life and sense.

VERS. 8.-- *Like unto them.* [n: (ID.)] See the worship that should shame them, when he says *like,* which indeed they are; or let them understand themselves to be like unto them.

VERS. 9.-- *The house of Israel.* [n: (CASS.)] Here he shows the profit of the Christian religion.

VERS. 10.-- *The house of Aaron.* [n: (AUG.)] But lest that should seem to be already a thing possessed by the greater which to the lesser is [1036B] a hope, he adds, *The house of Aaron.*

VERS. 12.-- *Mindful.* [n: (CASS.)] That he might convert them, and he blessed the converted through the same.

VERS. 14.-- *Upon you.* [n: (AUG.)] Because the number of teachers increased.

*Upon the children.* Because the number of followers also increased. Therefore ye both, fathers and sons, are blessed of the Lord, who made you *heaven* in the greater, *and earth* in the lesser; or who made every creature.

VERS. 15.-- *Blessed be ye of the Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] He who above wished to be blessed, now with confidence says, *Blessed,* which belongs to God, that ye may serve him. Truly *of the Lord,* because even *the heaven of heaven,* that is, Christ, is unto the honour of the Lord; or,

VERS. 16.-- *The heaven of heaven,* that is, the empyrean, he gave [1036C] to the Lord Christ, according as he is man. *But the earth.* This lower earth he gave. *To the children of men.* That in it they may purify themselves; or the people to the preachers; whence: As the Father hath sent me, and I will send you [n: (Joan. VI)].

*The heaven of heaven.* [n: (AUG.)] He speaks of those whose minds, etc., *as far as* whom the weak cannot yet see without a support.

VERS. 17.-- *Nor all they that go down.* [n: (CASS.)] Or, not all they that go down; because the saints also went down, but not into the lower place.


## PSALM CXIV.

*Alleluia.* This title is often repeated, because the praise of God is both the dignity of works and the price of labours, that is, it is both the merit and the reward. [n: (AUG.)] The Prophet, delivered from the pit of sins and set upon the rock, [1036D] first gives thanks because he was heard, and says that he has called upon him against all perils.

This psalm is the consolation of the faithful against the sorrows of the world.

VERS. 1.-- *I have loved.* [n: (ID.)] This the sheep says which had strayed, the son returned, the pilgrim of this world.

[n: (CASS.)] *I have loved.* Not for the temporal goods given to me, as the unbelievers do, but *because,* etc. God is loved even by unbelievers because he gives good things; whence: *I will praise thee when thou shalt do well to him [n: (Psal. XLVIII)]*. [var: Vulg. Ps 48:19 *confitebitur tibi*, "he will praise thee," in the third person, which is what the gloss's argument requires] He is loved perfectly, him [cj: *eum*; read *cum*, "when"] the mind is not moved by adverse things, but is kindled by hope: which manner he afterwards expounds, *I have loved.* Not because he made me a king, or gave me prosperity, but because he hears my prayer in straits.

VERS. 2.-- *And in my days.* [n: (AUG.)] Namely of my misery, which days I made for myself by sinning, which are full of labour and sorrow, that is, of the old rottenness.

*I will call upon.* Which is not without faith; whence the Apostle: *How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? [n: (Rom. X.)]* When therefore he says, *they shall call upon,* note that the lover is not idle. In which, *They have compassed me,* etc. Or, in the days of salvation, that is, in the time of fulness; whence: *Behold, now is the acceptable time,* etc. [n: (II Cor. VI)].

VERS. 3.-- *Sorrows.* [n: (CASS.)] Sins, whence come the sorrow and the death of the soul; or eternal sorrows, and this shall be in hell. *The perils of hell.* [n: (AUG.)] For, steeped in carnal pleasure, I did not perceive the evils that compassed me about.

VERS. 4.-- *Trouble and sorrow.* [n: (ID.)] As it were: those things first compassed me about, but afterwards I found trouble [1037B] and sorrow, that is, outward affliction, to be profitable.

VERS. 5.-- *O Lord, deliver.* [n: (CASS.)] Secondly he cries again, that being delivered he may come to rest. *The Lord is merciful.* [n: (AUG.)] Because he first inclined his ear to me and called me.

*Just.* Because he scourges again. *He hath mercy.* Because he receives unto blessedness. Nor ought that to be so bitter which he scourges, as that is sweet which he receives, because the Lord keeps the little ones, whom, when they are grown, he seeks for heirs.

VERS. 7.-- *Turn thee.* [n: (ID.)] Not by thy merits or by thy strength, but because the Lord hath done well to thee.

VERS. 8.-- *From death, the eyes.* [n: (ID.)] Death is unbelief; whence: *Let the dead bury their dead;* and again: *The dead shall not praise thee, O Lord [n: (Psal. CIII)]*.

[1037C]VERS. 9.-- *I will please.* [n: (ID.)] He said, etc., *as far as* and this in the land of the living, who live eternally.

## PSALM CXV.

*Alleluia.* This psalm is fitly entitled with the voice of praise, because in this psalm are the words of the martyrs, who were strong in confession and obtained the rewards of God.

VERS. 10.-- *I have believed,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] First the benefits of God are recalled; and while they doubt what worthy thing they might render for them, the chalice of the passion presents itself, which is given by God. Secondly they call themselves servants, and sons of the handmaid, that is, of the Church, there: *O Lord, for I,* etc. It is a true and fitting order, first to believe, afterwards to speak: lest one not yet believing should dare to speak, but that confession should follow faith. But lest confession be ascribed to the strength of man, he says [1037D] that this is proper to man, that he is a liar: which he would not easily know, unless he had been carried by an excess of mind to the things above. For it is a great thing if a man marks that he is unwise. And since man has nothing good of his own, what is there to be rendered again? *I have believed.* [n: (AUG.)] He says not: *I have believed and I have spoken,* because he did not only believe the other things which faith requires, but together with them he believed also both what reward he ought to hope for by speaking, and what punishment he ought to fear by keeping silence; whence the love of speaking is put in from the reward, and the necessity is laid on from the punishment. *For which cause.* For he believes not perfectly who speaks not what he believes; that other servant is slothful, or fearful, but this one is faithful: what he received, he lays out and gains withal, and therefore enter thou [cj: *intra*; read *intrat*, "he enters"] into the joy of his Lord, who says: *Well done, [1038A] good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord [n: (Matth. XXV)]*.

VERS. 11.-- *In my excess.* Or, in my ecstasy. [n: (AUG.)] And ecstasy is here spoken of, etc., *as far as* that *every man is a liar.*

VERS. 12.-- *What shall I render to the Lord.* [n: (ID.)]? This man, affrighted, looks back upon his own infirmity, and sees that he must not presume of himself. For of himself man is a liar, as Peter also, when he presumed, was found a liar: but it is the power of God, if he does not believe. Seeing this wrought in himself by the grace of God, he subjoins, *which he hath rendered to me.* He says not, for all the things which he hath bestowed. What goods of man, therefore, went before, that of all the gifts of God it might be called not a bestowing, but a rendering again? What had gone before but sins? God therefore renders to men [1038B] good things for evil, having suffered for them, whereas men render evil things for good.

VERS. 13.-- *The chalice of salvation.* [n: (ID.)] The passion, from a likeness, etc., *as far as* which is said afterwards.

[n: (CASS.)] *The chalice,* because it is drunk under measure. Whence, *God is faithful, who suffereth you not to be tempted above that which ye are able [n: (I Cor. X)]*. *Of salvation,* because it is propitious unto eternal salvation.

VERS. 15.-- *Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.* [n: (AUG.)] He who suffered first grants that his own sufferings be imitated; and therefore: *Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.* He bought it with the blood which he shed for them, that they might not doubt to die for him. Bought therefore at this price, he confesses his own condition: *O Lord, for I,* etc.

[1038C]VERS. 16.-- *O Lord, for,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Secondly they call themselves servants, and sons of the Church, because there is no place of true sacrifice outside the Catholic Church, lest any of the heretics should think his martyrdom to be pleasing to God. *O Lord.* He wonders that he has received such things as the Lord received for the redemption of the world. And to increase the wonder he repeats: *I am thy servant. The son of the handmaid.* [n: (AUG.)] Of the heavenly Jerusalem, free from sins, the handmaid of justice. But they who are outside the Church are not sons of the handmaid, even though they call themselves servants (because they have the name of Christ) and martyrs, as the heretics do. *The son of the handmaid,* Not a schismatic. Or, as a handmaid brings forth not for herself, but for the Lord; so I too in my death shall bring forth some for thee, as also in my life.

VERS. 17.-- *Thou hast broken my bonds.* [n: (CASS.)] By the power [1038D] of martyrdom the bonds of sins are broken, because all things are washed away by the blood. This verse is believed by some to be of such power that a man's sins are forgiven, if at the end of his life it be said with a threefold confession.

[n: (ID.)] Who *precious. O Lord, to thee will I sacrifice;* speaking to God, he affirms what he had said above.

*I will sacrifice.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] And because thou hast broken them, to thee will I sacrifice, as one that is thankful, *The sacrifice of praise.* So that:

VERS. 18, 19.-- *I will pay [sic: *reddum*] my vows.* Not everywhere, but *in the courts,* that is, in the Catholic Church, not in that of the heretics. *Of the house of the Lord.* He shows which it is.

*In the sight of all the people.* [n: (CASS.)] He ought to be praised publicly who was willing to suffer for all, that the more may be edified. *I will pay my vows.* Myself, who am the image [1039A] of God, which must be rendered to God, etc., *as far as* and here he names Jerusalem more openly. [n: (AUG.)] But lest [sic: *ue*] any think that by Jerusalem the Jews alone are signified, who glory in this name, let him hear the following psalm [cj: *Psalmus*; read *Psalmum*, "the following psalm"]: *Praise the Lord, all ye nations.* These are the courts of the Lord, for that is the people.

## PSALM CXVI.

*Alleluia.* [n: (CASS.)] A short psalm, the first of all that is an atom, that is, without division: for by reason of its brevity not to be received [cj: *recipi*; read *recipit*, "it admits"] division, but it surpasses all others by the compendiousness of its utterance, and it is as it were the point of the psalms, out of which the divers kinds are formed. A wondrous variation against weariness, to speak wholesome things, now in few words, now at large.

VERS. 1.-- *Praise the Lord, all ye nations.* [n: (CASS.)] That none out of the whole world be passed over. [n: (AUG.)] And [1039B] these are those courts of the house of the Lord, and that whole people, whereof he treated in the preceding psalm. Not the Jews alone (who attempt to arrogate it to themselves) do I say, praise ye him. And praise ye together. [n: (CASS.)] that the praise of all may be brought into one, which belongs to the Catholic Church.

VERS. 2.-- *Confirmed.* [n: (CASS.)] Because what he promised through the prophets he fulfilled by the coming of Christ; and he made his mercy firm, that it may never be moved, because he who gave it keeps it. *It remaineth for ever.* [n: (AUG.)] Whether in those things which he promised to the godly, or in those which he threatens to the ungodly.



## PSALM CXVII.

*Alleluia.* [n: (CASS.)] The fifth psalm concerning the first coming, adorned with many figures, has verses of one ending, some of one beginning, some intercalary, and ornaments of this kind. The faithful people, loosed from sin [1039C], etc., [sic: *ete.*] *as far as Blessed is he that.*

VERS. 2.-- *Let him now say.* [n: (ID.)] As I admonish you, so do you admonish one another; or, *let him say,* that is, let him confess.

*Because for ever.* Behold four verses of one ending.

VERS. 5.-- *Out of tribulation.* [n: (ID.)] He sets an example from himself, that he may invite others to mercy.

VERS. 6.-- *The Lord is my helper.* [n: (ID.)] The same beginning in two.

VERS. 7.-- *I shall look down.* Elsewhere, *I shall see.* [n: (ID.)] Here, that I may become safer and more wary. *My enemies.* Those to be damned.

VERS. 8.-- *It is good.* [n: (ID.)] Secondly, he says that trust is to be placed in God alone, through whom he escapes the enmities of the Gentiles, and [d: et] comes to the true life.

VERS. 9.-- *In princes.* [n: (AUG.)] In the angels, etc., [1039D] *as far as* he who makes them good according to their measure.

VERS. 10.-- *All nations.* [n: (CASS.)] Behold whence he delivers from hidden or from open tribulation: either by not suffering one to fall, or by revealing from the fall [cj: *revelando*; read *relevando*, "by raising up"].

VERS. 11.-- *They that compassed me about,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] As it were rendering the reason whence he is able to overcome so many things, he tells what he first suffered in the head.

VERS. 12.-- *They surrounded me,* etc. [n: (ID.)] What was done by men who knew not, the Holy Spirit foretells with mystical subtlety. Judah not knowing, they made God, by his passion, the concern of all, and sweeter to us: as bees, while they think to lay up for themselves, make honey for others. *And they were enkindled.* Or this is better understood of the Church. For after the passion of the Lord the Jews also were enkindled against the Church of the Gentiles, like fire in [1040A] the thorns of sins [sic: *pecatorum*]. For these, that is, sins, they burned up in the faithful people by the fire of persecution; and wishing to harm it, they profited it. *Because I was avenged.* While, being converted, malice being extinguished in them, they were joined to the Christian people; or, when, being judged in the end, they shall feel the judgment of truth without mercy.

VERS. 13.-- *Being thrust at,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] As when good men are given over to punishments, that they may fall from the faith, and the Lord upheld. [n: (AUG.)] Because he to whom the Lord is strength and praise falls as little as the Lord falls: but those fall who wish to be strength and praise to themselves.

*I was thrust at and overthrown,* etc. After he has shown that he delivers by not suffering one to fall, he shows also that he delivers by raising up from the fall.

VERS. 14.-- *He is become my salvation.* [n: (ID.)] [1040B] He is not made what he was not to himself; but he is salvation to them converted, which he was not to them turned away.

VERS. 17.-- *I shall not die.* [n: (ID.)] The Church says it, since the persecutor thinks that by a slaughter of funerals he can blot out the Christian name, whereas he rather increases it.

VERS. 18.-- *Chastising.* [n: (CASS.)] But why he bore so many things, he shows: *Chastising,* whatever they do is the chastisement of the Lord. Let them claim nothing to themselves; he is not given over to death whose vices are purged. [n: (AUG.)] Often a father amends his sons by worthless servants, when for those he prepares punishment, for these an inheritance. And what the inheritance is may be known from this: *Open ye the gates.* What within? *Having entered I will confess.*

VERS. 19.-- *Open ye.* [n: (CASS.)] In the third place he desires that the gates of Jerusalem be opened to him, where he speaks also of the corner [1040C] stone. Open, O prophets, who bear the keys of the kingdom of heaven. *The gates.* [n: (CASS., HIER.)] They who have entered through these gates of doctrine praise truly; outside the Catholic Church there is no praise of God. [n: (CASS.)] All these gates lead to one, which is Christ, through whom the just enter into heaven; whence: *I am the door, through which if any man enter in, he shall be safe [n: (Joan. X)]* [var: Vulg. *per me si quis introierit, salvabitur*, "by me, he shall be saved"]. And elsewhere: *No man cometh to the Father, but by me [n: (Joan. XIV)]*. [n: (AUG.)] Behold, he has made mention of both worlds: and because this gate has appeared as Christ, *I will confess to thee,* giving thanks with gladness, *because thou hast heard* at the coming of the Son; for the just of former times were asking for the coming. *The gates of justice.* That is, the gates of death, etc., *as far as* that is, through it unto life.

[1040D]VERS. 22.-- *They that build.* [n: (ID.)] The Jews alone, worshipping God, were building, the rest being destroyed through idolatry; but they did not finish, because they despised Christ.

VERS. 23.-- *This is done by the Lord.* Or, *This is done by the Lord for him,* according to another reading. [n: (ID.)] That is, unto the honour of the Father.

VERS. 24.-- *This is the day.* This is the jubilee year, figuratively observed under the law, which is called *remitting,* or *beginning,* because then bondmen were set free, possessions were restored to their owners: and we on this day have been redeemed from the servitude of sin, to whom an eternal inheritance has been restored. [n: (CASS.)] *This is the day.* Although he made all days, this one singularly, on which the Lord came, on which it is fitting to rejoice, because the devil lost his right and man lived again; and because this is so,

[1041A]VERS. 25.-- *O Lord, save,* etc. Behold the desire of a great petition. *Save,* from the ruin of the world. *Give prosperity,* that these sorrows may be turned into eternal joys.

VERS. 26.-- *Blessed,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Fourthly he urges that the courts of God be frequented, rejoicing in the coming of Christ. [n: (AUG.)] Cursed therefore is he that comes in his own name, etc., *as far as* he who shall be cursed. [n: (CASS.)] *Blessed.* Praise for the coming; and, O ye other Christians, we the elders, as it were priests, *have blessed you,* which profits much, because *we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.*

*Out of the house.* [n: (ID.)] That is, the Catholic Church, etc., *as far as* because glad is the confession that follows benefits.

VERS. 27.-- *Appoint a day.* [n: (AUG.)] The great, who go beyond, who with the mind touch the Word, God with God, etc., *as far as* that is, that he may attain unto eternal joys.

[1041B] *A solemn day.* In the old law [n: (Deut. X.)] the Pasch, Pentecost, the feast of tabernacles, three chief solemnities, in which it was commanded that no man should appear empty in the sight of the Lord. He is empty who has not Christ in himself, who is the foundation, which no man is able to change. Hence it is that on those three solemnities the faithful people offers a coin by an offering of the hand, signifying the inward offering. For on a coin there is the name and image of the king. Let each one therefore offer a coin spiritually, that he may have in himself the *name* of the king, that is, of Christ, being called a Christian from Christ; and may show forth to God the *image,* that is, the soul, marked with the light of his countenance. *The horn of the altar.* [n: (CASS.)] Or by the *altar* is understood the sacrament of the body and blood, etc., *as far as he shall not have life everlasting.*

[1041C]Or, the *altar* is understood to be the mind of man; whence in the law it was commanded [n: (Exod. XXVII)] that an altar be made four-cornered and hollow: four-cornered, because the human mind ought to be fortified with four virtues, prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance; and the same ought to be hollow to receive the word of God and the fire of love. For swelling drives back what is poured in; whence in Leviticus it is commanded [n: (Levit. I)] that the little bladder of the throat and the feathers be cast away, when a turtle-dove or a pigeon is offered. The bladder signifies the puffing up of pride; the feathers, empty searchings into lofty things; cast these away therefore, that thou mayest be a hollow altar.

VERS. 28.-- *Thou art my God.* And that we may speak more openly, this is the sense of these words: Let not this feast day upon earth, on which the lamb was slain, suffice: [1041D] but let it be appointed in frequent celebrations, until with minds exalted we come to his inward Godhead, where we shall sing praises thus: *Thou art my God,* etc. And so, as he began with praise, so he ends with it.

VERS. 29.-- *Give praise to the Lord.* From the beginning which we forsook, unto the end to which we return, there is nothing more wholesome, which may delight, than the praise of God

## PSALM CXVIII.

*The exposition of this psalm, as being exceedingly long, we omit. See the Enarrationes on the psalms of Ambrose, Cassiodorus, Augustine, and from these the Glossa ordinaria on this place has been expressed word for word.*



## PSALM CXIX.

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle of degrees.* [n: (CASS.)] The beatitude [1042A] which the foregoing psalm sang in a united variety, etc., *as far as* by these degrees therefore one ascends and descends with the unstumbling foot of the mind. [n: (AUG.)] *A canticle of degrees.* The name of degrees is ambiguous among us, etc., *as far as* and the height of his own Godhead. The first degree, to go out from the evils of the world, and to renounce all vanity. [n: (CASS.)] The beginning of advancement is to leave carnal vices and to make supplication to the Lord; whence in the old law, when a Gentile bondman was bought, his nails were pared and his hair was shorn [n: (Deut. XII)]. Because vanity must be put off on every side, that a man may be made over to the service of God. Here, from the renunciation of the world, one comes by certain degrees of merits to that perfect and eternal charity which is set at the summit.

*Unto the Lord when I was in trouble.* [n: (CASS.)] First, beginning [1042B] to ascend, because he finds many besetting him, he asks to be delivered from their tongues: secondly, he complains of the mingling of the wicked, *Woe is me.*

VERS. 2.-- *O Lord, deliver,* etc. When a man begins to ascend, that is, when he purposes to advance, the world being despised, cleaving to God alone, he begins to suffer the tongues of adversaries, that is, of detractors, and (what is graver) of those who, as though counselling him, turn him away from salvation: he who does not suffer these does not yet endeavour to advance. Being about to ascend, therefore, he prays first against them: *O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips.*

VERS. 3.-- *What shall be given to thee,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] After the manner of one thinking overmuch he hesitates, and seeks a remedy. *What shall be given to thee, or what shall be added?* He has set down two words, *to be given and to be added;* arrows are given for arms, coals are [1042C] added as it were for consolation.

VERS. 4.-- *Arrows.* [n: (AUG.)] The heart is shot through with the words of God, etc., *as far as* that there may be a clean place for the building of God.

VERS. 5.-- *Woe is me.* [n: (CASS.)] Secondly he complains of his sojourning and of the mingling of the wicked. Having received the arrows and the coals, being made wheat, he is not yet in the barn, but on the threshing-floor where much chaff is trodden; seeing therefore many evils which he had not seen before, he cries: *Woe is me.* To no man do the wicked appear, unless he has been made good; *For when the blade was sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, the cockle appeared. Prolonged.* Though the time be short, to desire it seems exceedingly long. *Cedar.* [n: (ID.)] The son of Ismael, from whom the Saracens are descended, who would more truly be called Agarenes from Agar: but from Sara, the worthier and the free woman, they have claimed a name for themselves, and both of these are read to have dwelt in [1042D] tents. The tents of Ismael are rightly called Cedar: Cedar belongs to Ismael. [n: (AUG.)] Isaac therefore, etc., *as far as* if now the evil cannot be separated from the good, they must be borne with.

## PSALM CXX.

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle of degrees.* [n: (CASS.)] The second degree, to seek the divine defence, against which nothing is shown to be able to prevail. [n: (AUG.)] For he upon whom, as he goes out of the world, dangers press, ought to demand the divine help, etc., *as far as* Such is this man, who lifts his eyes to God. [n: (CASS.)] First he lifts his eyes and prays: secondly, he affirms what he prayed for, showing the power of the help obtained.

*I have lifted up mine eyes.* [n: (ID.)] He who cried out as one bowed down, [1043A] now taking breath, lifts his eyes to the holy intercessors.

VERS. 3.-- *Neither let him slumber.* [n: (AUG.)] If faith sleeps in thee, Christ sleeps in thee.

[n: (CASS.)] This is said after human custom; as when a weary watchman slumbers, he suffers theft.

VERS. 4.--[n: (AUG.)] *Behold he shall not slumber.* Christ slumbers, etc., *as far as* but lest thou still suppose this of some man, he subjoins, *The Lord keepeth.*

*He that keepeth Israel.* [n: (AUG.)] He who cannot see the face, etc., *as far as* and for this man Christ does not sleep.

VERS. 5.-- *The Lord keepeth.* [n: (CASS.)] The second part, where he affirms what he had prayed. And as if one should ask, Who is that keeper? he subjoins, *The Lord keepeth,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] It is not without cause, etc., *as far as* the love of God, namely, and of the neighbour.

[1043B]VERS. 6.-- *By day the sun shall not burn thee, nor the moon by night,* etc. [n: (ID.)] God is the sun, etc., *as far as* or *the moon,* that is, the Church, will not suffer thee to be burned in the night of tribulation. [n: (HIER.)] Or *by day* prosperity is understood, etc., *as far as* so now he keeps us both in prosperity and in adversity.

VERS. 7.-- *May the Lord keep thy coming in.* [n: (CASS.)] He concludes all: to good beginnings may he join good endings. [n: (AUG.)] *May the Lord keep thy coming in.* He keeps those who enter, etc., *as far as* now unto eternity nothing shall hurt.

## PSALM CXXI.

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle of degrees.* [n: (CASS.)] The third degree. A great joy: to be conversant in the Church with a pure mind, and worthily to serve God as a soldier in this pilgrimage: whence we sigh for the heavenly Jerusalem, to [1043C] which we are lifted by the two wings of love.

*I rejoiced at these things,* etc. First he rejoices that he has been admonished to go to Jerusalem, where the saints, secure, shall judge him [cj: *eum*; read *cum*, "with"] with the Lord. Secondly, being about to ascend, he wishes for an abundance of peace: *Pray ye for the things that are for the peace,* etc.

VERS. 4.-- *A testimony to Israel.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, in whom it is known that they are truly Israel. For when the grains are with the chaff, the whole is thought to be chaff; but when they shall be separated, then shall there be a testimony to Israel.

VERS. 5.-- *Seats.* [n: (ID.)] That is, the just, in whom God [cj: *Deum*; read *Deus*, "God sits"] sits, etc., *as far as* let all therefore who are to be questioned beware for themselves.

VERS. 6.-- *Pray ye.* [n: (CASS.)] The second part, where he speaks to the judges, wishing them the abundance of peace which he proclaimed out of love of the brethren. *To them that love.* [1043D] [n: (AUG.)] He who loves in another the good which he himself cannot have, it is reckoned to him as though he had it; whence: If charity has not what to give, let it give a cup of water; and as much is reckoned to him as to Zacchaeus his many gifts [n: (Matth. X)]. The means are unequal, but the charity is not unequal.

VERS. 7.-- *Let peace be made.* [n: (ID.)] Charity is a virtue strong as death, etc., *as far as* he subjoins: *Because of my brethren.*

*In the towers.* [n: (ID.)] That is, in thy high places. The judges are few, but many shall pertain to each one of them, whom they shall receive into everlasting tabernacles, and then shall there be *abundance in the towers;* but God is their whole abundance, both of those who receive and of those who are received.

VERS. 9.-- *Because of the house of the Lord God.* Or thou mayest so read it [1044A] that this verse is the exposition of the preceding. As it were, *I spoke peace of thee, for neighbours, brethren,* namely: *I have sought good things for thee, because of the house of the Lord our God.* The sense of these words is not changed. *For thee.* O thou, heavenly Jerusalem, because thou art the house of God, and so in this [d: hoc], that I love thee, I love God.

## PSALM CXXII.

*A canticle of degrees.* [n: (CASS.)] The fourth degree, that amid whatsoever straits one must steadfastly presume upon the Lord, until he take pity and hear. He who above lifted his eyes to the mountains, now lifts them to God.

VERS. 1.-- *To thee have I lifted up.* [n: (ID.)] First the voice of the troubled looking to God, not to other patronages; secondly, he prays for mercy against those who insult him. [n: (AUG.)] *To thee have I lifted up.* Whither should he lift them, save whither he tended in ascending? [1044B] this man does not regard himself, as the proud man does who pleases himself: for he who is displeasing to himself, such a one pleases God; and he to whom God is pleasing is himself displeasing to himself. *I have lifted up.* The ascent therefore is in the affection, etc., *as far as* but he who is a pilgrim and desires his country.

VERS. 2.-- *Behold as the eyes,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] The servant lifts his eyes to the hands of his master, when he is in want or when he is beaten, because both are in the master's power. *As the eyes of the handmaid.* [n: (AUG.)] *The servant* is the people; *the Lord,* Christ; *the handmaid,* the Church; the mistress, the power of God and the wisdom of God. And though we are now sons and friends by grace, yet we are servants by creation, because every creature serves God. [n: (CASS.)] He gives a similitude [sic: *similttudinem*] from the manservant and the handmaid, the master and the mistress, lest the feminine and weaker sex suppose itself excepted.

[1044C]VERS. 3.-- *Have mercy.* [n: (ID.)] The second part, where he prays for mercy against those who insult him. The servant who is beaten, having lifted his eyes to God, breaks forth into the needful cry: *Have mercy.*

*We are filled.* As when it is said: What dost thou believe, madman; dost thou see what thou believest? Has anyone returned from the dead, and told thee what is done there? Behold, what I love, I see and enjoy.



## PSALM CXXIII.

VERS. 1.-- *If it had not been that.* [n: (CASS.)] First the holy martyrs, mindful of how great things they have escaped, ascribe them to mercy alone; secondly, they give thanks that they have been delivered.

VERS. 3.-- *Perhaps they had swallowed us up alive.* They live who know that an idol is nothing. They are dead who think it to be something. Therefore the dead are swallowed up, who [1044D] think that the evil which they do is a thing to be done; but the living are they who indeed know that what they do is evil, but being overcome by persecution pass over into the fellowship of the ungodly, and prefer the sweetness of this life to God, as certain men did who for fear of death sacrificed to idols. [n: (AUG.)] Mark also that Peter, that is, the Church, swallows up many, but not alive. To whom it is said: *Slay and eat. [n: (Act. X.)]* [var: Vulg. *occide*, "kill"] For he eats none, that is, sets none among his members, save one slain, that is, one renouncing the devil. He therefore is slain as to evil, but quickened as to good, who is eaten by Peter. The contrary befalls him whom the devil swallows down.

VERS. 4.-- *Water.* [n: (AUG.)] The sinful people (and it is from the likeness of the Egyptians): which water flows as a torrent [1045A] with violence, but quickly passes; whence he subjoins: *a torrent. --Perhaps* the Latins set down, as best they can, for the Greek ἄρα in the place of doubting, which is more intelligibly said: *thinkest thou, has our soul passed through?* that is, the greatness of the peril scarcely suffers this to be believed.

VERS. 5.-- *Water insupportable.* [n: (AUG.)] Without substance, as are vices, and sins, and the sweetness of this life, etc., *as far as* and might bring back to the father the prodigal son worn out by long need.

VERS. 6.-- *Blessed be the Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] The second part, where the saints give thanks that they have been delivered and that the snare has been broken.

VERS. 7.-- *Our soul.* [n: (AUG.)] Or, as when someone makes a great noise, etc., *as far as* which is as it were a snare. *Of them that hunt.* [n: (ID.)] The hunters are [1045B] the persecutors; the bait in the trap, the sweetness of this life. *The snare is broken.* [n: (CASS.)] The martyrs being slain, there remains no sweetness of life whereby they might be taken again: but they themselves were not broken along with it, nay rather delivered. *Broken.* [n: (ID.)] As if he should say: because it was of iron; not torn apart, like tow: so great was the fortitude of the passion, so great the power of him that delivered.

## PSALM CXXIV.

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle.* [n: (CASS.)] The sixth degree: the confidence of the most faithful Christian, which he has in the Lord, is compared to the most solid mountains, that he may not be jealous of those who are happy in this world. *They that trust.* [n: (AUG.)] This psalm teaches, etc., *as far as* who are these? what manner of Jerusalem is that? he briefly describes it.

VERS. 2.-- *The mountains round about,* that is, the angels, the prophets, [1045C] the apostles are its wall: whence Isaias: *And there shall be in it a wall and a bulwark [n: (Isa. XXVI)]*; but lest thou remain among the mountains, he adds, and the Lord round about. *Let there not then be hope in the mountains,* but in the top of the mountains: whence Isaias: *In the last days there shall be a mountain on the top [n: (Isa. XXI)]*, etc. *They that trust.* [n: (CASS.)] First he affirms, etc., *as far as* because they are both many and are one. *Mount Sion.* [n: (HIER.)] Christ, on whom the Church is founded: that mountain, according to the letter, shall be shaken at the end of the world.

VERS. 3.-- *The rod of sinners.* [n: (AUG.)] For they bear rule sometimes for the discipline of the good, but this shall not be always, as the prophet here plainly says: and therefore the just do not fail, because they know the time to come, in which Christ, appearing in his brightness, shall gather [1045D] before him all nations, and shall divide them as a shepherd divides the kids from the sheep, and shall set the sheep on the right hand, the kids on the left. *The lot.* [n: (CASS.)] That is, the just chosen by lot, or who are the lot and the inheritance of God.

VERS. 4.-- *Do good, O Lord.* [n: (ID.)] The second part, where, the people being confirmed, he prays for what he knows shall come to pass, that prosperity may come to the good, vengeance to the wicked.

VERS. 5.-- *But such as turn aside.* [n: (ID.)] By a like sentence also do they perish who turn aside from the commands of the prince, and they who strive to will evil works; those failing, together with those who compel them to fail. *Peace upon Israel.* [n: (AUG.)] By one name is called the paternal inheritance, which is Christ. For he is our peace, who has made both one, who shall give us peace above peace.

## PSALM CXXV.

[1046A]

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle of degrees.* [n: (CASS.)] The seventh degree, in a figure of the Old Testament, prophesies through Christ who is to come the return from captivity, as it were from Babylon: whence now consolation, and a sowing that more may be reaped. [n: (AUG.)] Those redeemed by the blood of Christ and turned back from captivity sing these things, while they are pilgrims, groaning by the way. Sion is Jerusalem, eternal in the angels, captive in men. *In the turning.* [n: (CASS.)] First the greatness of the deed is shown, with the greatness of the joy: secondly he prays for the turning from captivity still to come, there, *Turn again, O Lord. In the turning.* [n: (AUG.)] Or, when he shall have turned, etc., *as far as turn again, O Lord, our captivity. As.* [n: (ID.)] It is not always set for a likeness, but [1046B] for a property, as here; whence it is also said: He did as a just man, which he truly is; so these are made *as men comforted,* that is, they rejoiced, as receiving consolation in the resurrection of Christ, who went before that we might follow.

VERS. 2.-- *Our mouth.* [n: (CASS.)] The secret of the heart, where joys first are, which afterwards break forth by the office of the tongue. [n: (AUG.)] *Our mouth.* Of the heart: thence proceeds the evil and the good which cleanses or defiles us; whence not: *That which proceedeth out of the mouth, defileth [n: (Marc. VII)]* [var: Vulg. Mc 7:15 *quae de homine procedunt, illa communicant hominem*; Migne's wording is that of Mt 15:11]. Not of the mouth of the flesh, but of the heart. For thou art not unclean if thou namest thefts and other evils: but while thou thinkest of them, even if thou keep silence. *Among the Gentiles.* [n: (ID.)] Not the Gentiles, because not all believe. *He hath magnified,* because they see them work miracles also; a firm testimony from an adversary. [1046C] [n: (CASS.)] And he has truly magnified, lest thou doubt because of the words of the Gentiles.

VERS. 4.-- *Turn again, O Lord.* [n: (ID.)] The second part. He prays for the turning which is to come, in which there shall be a sowing in hope of joy. [n: (ID.)] The redemption of the coming of the Lord having been foretold, they pray again that their own sins be forgiven. In the general remission they rejoice, and they pray pardon for themselves. *Turn again, O Lord, our captivity.* [n: (ID.)] There was none according to the letter in the days of David, but under the devil the world was captive, etc., *as far as* it is not therefore to be given over, because *he that soweth in tears.* [n: (THEOD.)] He calls Jerusalem the south, etc., *as far as* that they may be constrained, and make their way after the manner of a torrent.

VERS. 5.-- *In tears.* [n: (AUG.)] Spiritual sowing is always in tears, whence: *Blessed are they that mourn.* But they [1046D] who sow in the flesh, sow with gladness: but afterwards weeping: because *mourning taketh hold of the end of joy.* [n: (ID.)] Zacchaeus, *Behold the half,* etc., *as far as: He that shall give a cup of cold water shall not lose his reward [n: (Matth. X)]*.

VERS. 6.-- *Going.* [n: (CASS.)] By the advancement of a better life. *Casting,* sending on before them into that world. *Their own,* not of rapine, but of their own labour; *coming,* to the judgment. This is common to all, but to joy none come but the good. *And they wept.* [n: (AUG.)] Because they were wretched, etc., *as far as* he wishes that many be sick.



## PSALM CXXVI.

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle of degrees of Solomon.* [n: (CASS.)] The eighth degree, etc., *as far as* and in himself, as the corner stone, he built up the Church of two walls, of the Jews and [1047A] of the Gentiles. [n: (AUG.)] Here is added *of Solomon,* because it was he who built the temple, in a figure of Christ the peacemaker, who built the Church of two walls. Lest therefore thou shouldst understand that Solomon, he says, *Unless the Lord build.* In him is hope to be placed, but in no man: because even that Solomon fell who built the temple. [n: (CASS.)] First, he admonishes how they that ascend ought to bear themselves, namely that they learn that the building and the keeping are from none but God. And exaltation in the world to come is only after humiliation. Secondly, he tells what the inheritance is, and how it is gathered, there, *Behold the inheritance. Unless the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] As if he should say [sic: *dieeret*]: now Jesus has come, he has brought back from captivity: now the city Jerusalem is being built; but let them that ascend learn that the building and the keeping are from none but God, and exaltation [1047B] only after humiliation in the world to come; for although they are glad of the grace of the New Testament, yet in so great a gift no man ought to presume. *The house.* [n: (AUG.)] To this every man ascends who advances: from this every man falls who fails; by loving God thou ascendest, by loving the world thou fallest. For these are the songs of lovers, and of men burning with a certain holy desire. *They have laboured.* [n: (ID.)] All labour in this building who preach the word of God in the Church. *The city.* [n: (CASS.)] He passes from the house to the city, that presumption be made neither in individuals nor in a small gathering. And although house and city, according to the metaphor which is drawn from different things, are diverse: yet the Church is one, which both signify.

[1047C]VERS. 2.-- *Before the light.* [n: (AUG.)] If ye rise before the light rises; the light is Christ, after whom we must rise, not before; as he does who sets himself before him: wishing to be lofty here, where he was humble: as also the sons of Zebedee: but the resurrection, that is, the exaltation, follows the sitting, that is, the humiliation, as our light Christ rose lofty after death. *Ye shall have sat.* Sitting sometimes signifies the honour of judging, but here humiliation. *Ye that eat the bread of sorrow.* [n: (AUG.)] He eats the bread of sorrow who groans in this pilgrimage, that is, in the vale of weeping refreshes himself out of his affliction, saying: *My tears have been made my bread day and night [n: (Psal. XLI)]* [var: Vulg. *Fuerunt mihi lacrimae meae panes*, "my tears have been my bread"]. *Sleep.* [n: (CASS.)] Temporal death, in which is a secure rest.

VERS. 3.-- *Behold the inheritance.* [n: (ID.)] Secondly, what the [1047D] inheritance is and how it is gathered. As if he should say, the beloved shall rise after sleep. *The fruit of the womb.* [n: (AUG.)] The womb of the Church, etc., *as far as* because he acquired all men through the obedience of his passion, *whence, ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance [n: (Psal. II)]*.

VERS. 4.-- *As arrows.* [n: (ID.)] But whence so great an inheritance was made: because the Lord is mighty: when he shot forth the arrows, the apostles, mightily from the bow of holy Scripture, those that were shot forth reached unto the ends of the earth; and such are the *children of them that were shot forth,* as were they that were shot forth. *The children of them that were shot forth.* [n: (ID.)] The children of the apostles; to whom it was said, *Shake off the dust from your feet [n: (Matth. XVIII)]*. But they so appear, etc., *as far as* who were sent by the hand of God unto the ends of the earth.

## PSALM CXXVII.

[1048A]

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle of degrees.* [n: (CASS.)] The ninth degree is, that the peacemaker be chastely feared, who alone exalts, keeps, and builds. First he enumerates the good things of him that fears; secondly he wishes the good things of him that fears. *Blessed are all they that fear the Lord.* It is to be known that there are four fears, etc., *as far as* of which the Prophet here says: *Blessed are all they that fear the Lord.*

VERS. 2.-- *The labours of the hands.* [n: (ID.)] And note that he began from the plural, saying: *Blessed:* but because all are one in Christ, in the singular there follows, *The labours of thy hands.* [n: (AUG.)] He says the labours of the fruits, when he ought to say: The fruit of the labours; but because they are taken up with joy even in the labour, for the sake of hope, they themselves also give delight, and are even now food; but more delightful [1048B] shall their fruit be, when the saints, coming [cj: *veniens*; read *venient*, "shall come"], *carrying their sheaves with joyfulness.*

VERS. 3.-- *Thy wife.* [n: (CASS.)] Although this might be taken according to the letter, etc., *as far as* it pertains to the New Testament. [n: (AUG.)] Or by *wife* the Church is understood, and the speech is directed to Christ, when *thy* and *thine* are said; nor yet is the voice or the person changed, because of the unity of the head and the body. For Christ is one man, both head and body, and in the head each one of the faithful has this.

VERS. 4.-- *He shall be blessed.* [n: (CASS.)] Where blessing is, all good things flow together unto the joy of sweetness.

*He shall be blessed.* [n: (ID.)] The second part, where out of piety he asks that they that fear be blessed; here he wishes good things for him that fears, which, namely, are not common to the wicked.

[1048C]VERS. 5.--Or, *The Lord.* [n: (AUG.)] Of the Jews, Out of Sion, etc., *as far as* which they cannot so do.

## PSALM CXXVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle of degrees.* [n: (CASS.)] The tenth degree, that he who fears chastely may bear all things for his sake, which is now expedient for the Church among the wicked.

*Often have they fought against me.* [n: (AUG.)] The wicked, although they hear the word of God, etc., *as far as* that they bear so many wicked men. [n: (CASS.)] Showing first what things he has borne, he comforts the weak. Secondly he treats of the reprobation of the persecutors, there, *The Lord is just. Often have they fought against me.* As it were: O sons, do not marvel at these things, etc., *as far as* because the Church grows in adversities.

VERS. 2.-- *For indeed they could not against me.* [n: (AUG.)] [1048D] Namely, prevail, so as to draw me into consent unto sin.

VERS. 3.-- *Upon the back.* [n: (CASS.)] What the wicked cannot do publicly to all, they attempt to urge secretly upon single persons, so that they who would be seen coming from the front may not be felt from behind. *They have lengthened out iniquity.* Elsewhere, *they have put their injustice far from me.* [n: (AUG.)] Who, although the wicked are with the good in the world, even if they be also in the Church: yet lest any suppose iniquity to stand beside justice, although I bear them, nevertheless their iniquity is far from me; let no one therefore fear the wicked mingled with him, who are far off.

*The Lord is just.* [n: (CASS.)] The second part, where he treats of the reprobation of the persecutors.

VERS. 4.-- *They that hate Sion.* [n: (ID.)] Whom not only open persecutors hate, but also they who enter [1049A] feignedly. For they who will not keep the word of God hate the Church.

*Let them be as grass upon the housetops.* [n: (CASS.)] The wicked are compared to grass upon the housetops, etc., *as far as* but in neither is there fruit for the wicked.

[n: (GREG.)] The bulrush is said to wither before all herbs, etc., *as far as* it loses, as it were, the appearance of greenness, etc.

VERS. 6.-- *Which before it be plucked up.* [n: (AUG.)] They are not yet finished in the judgment of God, and already they have not the sap of greenness.

VERS. 8.-- *And they have not said.* [n: (CASS.)] It was a custom among the Hebrews that a wayfarer should bless those at work: whence it is here said conversely, that to those who work in vain no blessing is given.

[1049B] *And they have not said.* Whom the angels shall not gather, to whom the apostles have not preached. And this is what he says:

[n: (AUG.)] *And they have not said,* etc. Chiefly among the Jews it was the custom to say to any whosoever were at work: *The blessing of the Lord be upon you. We have blessed you in the name,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] They bless the good, not in their own name, but *in the name of the Lord:* from whom are all things, not from them.



## PSALM CXXIX.

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle of degrees.* [n: (ID.)] The eleventh degree, etc., *as far as* a glad conclusion is set down with the certainty of pardon, there, *Let Israel hope in the Lord.*

*Out of the depths.* [n: (AUG.)] He who feels himself in the deep, etc., *as far as* as the Scripture says: *The sinner, when he shall have come [1049C] into the depth of vices, contemneth.* [var: Vulg. Prov. 18:3 *impius, cum in profundum venerit peccatorum, contemnit*, "the ungodly … the depth of sins"]

VERS. 3.-- *Who shall abide it.* [n: (ID.)] Because well nigh all human life is barked at round about by sins, and every conscience is accused by its own thoughts. That heart is not chaste which presumes upon its own justice. Let it therefore presume upon the mercy of God, *For with him there is propitiation,* whence he subjoins:

VERS. 4.-- *For with thee there is propitiation.* As it were: In what hope dost thou cry? Because there is mercy in thee, wherefore he speaks thus: Or join it thus.

[n: (AUG.)] No man can abide it, etc., *as far as* one hope therefore there is: *For with thee there is propitiation,* etc., *For thy law's sake,* [n: (ID.)] I have waited for the *law* of mercy, etc., *as far as* and thou hast given this law in the very necessity.

[1049D]VERS. 6.-- *The morning.* [n: (ID.)] Let him hope in the morning watch who hopes for nothing else from God than immortality. *From the morning watch,* etc., *as far as* thence in the law the head and the tail of the victim were offered to the Lord. *Let Israel hope in the Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] The second part, where is the glad conclusion: Secure concerning himself, he preaches that they should hope always in the Lord. As it were, as his soul has hoped, so let Israel hope.

VERS. 8.-- *And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.* [n: (ID.)] Here he has now said what that one shall do, whom he called merciful and plentiful.

## PSALM CXXX.

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle of degrees.* [n: (CASS.)] The twelfth degree is humility, which he here [1050A] shows that he has within and without. To humility therefore he exhorts.

*Lord, it is not.* [n: (ID.)] First, setting himself forth as humble, he brings in punishment for the man that is not humble; secondly, by his own example he exhorts to hope. Showing therefore that he is humble within and without, he says. *Neither have I walked.* [n: (AUG.)] I was not proud, I would not, as it were, walk in wonderful things, etc., *as far as: The greater thou art, humble thyself in all things.* [var: Vulg. Sir. 3:20 *Quanto magnus es*, "howsoever great thou art"]

VERS. 2.-- *If I was not humbly minded.* [n: (ID.)] Nourished in milk, which is the Word made flesh, that so I might grow up to the bread of angels, to the Word which is with God, but not.

*I have exalted,* as the heretics do. Who, if they have in any way begun something, or have seemed to grasp it, thereupon grow proud; and while they are still tender upon their mother, and are carried in her hands that they may grow, they who were carried in the womb [1050B] that they might be born: they are parted from the milk before the time, whence they are quenched.

*So the reward.* [n: (ID.)] He binds himself with a curse, etc., *as far as* so shall God reveal that wherein he is otherwise minded, *because he resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.*

*As one is weaned.* For as five ages are recounted, etc., *as far as* because God was man; but not changed into man.

VERS. 3.-- *Let Israel hope.* [n: (CASS.)] The second part, where he concludes, admonishing the rest by his own example.




## PSALM CXXXI.

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle of degrees.* [n: (ID.)] In the thirteenth degree, now humble and meek, etc., *as far as* whence in Isaias: *Upon whom shall my Spirit rest, [1050C] but upon the humble and the quiet, and him that trembleth at my words?* [var: Vulg. Is 66:2 *ad quem autem respiciam, nisi ad pauperculum, et contritum spiritu, et trementem sermones meos*, "but to whom shall I have respect, but to him that is poor and little, and of a contrite spirit"]

*Remember, O Lord, David, and all.* [n: (ID.)] First, showing the vow of building a house, he prays that he may fulfil it. Secondly, he shows the house built, there, *Behold, hear.* Thirdly, he tells the promises of God made to Sion when built, there, *The Lord hath sworn.* Willing therefore to build a house for the Lord, he says in the person of the whole Christ, the head: *O Lord,* etc. *David.* [n: (AUG.)] According to the letter, meek, in that he rendered not evil for evil to Saul.

*As he swore and vowed a vow.* That is, that he may fulfil what he promised: let no man presume to render by his own strength what he has vowed. And the Church has vowed in meekness that she may be the house of God, because nothing more pleasing can be offered to God. And it is a house if it seeks not its own, but rejoices in [1050D] what is common: from things of one's own come evils, whence he says: *If I shall enter.* He knew that he was hindered by what was his own, lest a place for God should be made.

VERS. 3.-- *If I shall enter* as far as *till I find out a place for the Lord.* The letter is left hanging, and it is an aposiopesis, as if he said: If I shall do this or that, let me never hereafter be believed. As it were, David swore to the Lord: *If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] Or, in the person of Christ, from that place: *If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house,* namely of the heavenly habitation. The tabernacle is the heavenly habitation. *If I shall go up,* etc., to the right hand of the Father, where is the bed, that is, rest and the end of labours.

VERS. 4.-- *Sleep* [sic: *Sumnum*], the rest of the three days' death. [1051A] Then in other words he repeats the same. *And to my eyelids slumber. And rest to my temples* until the holy Church be founded by preaching. It is an aposiopesis, as it were, let me be believed no more.

*And to my eyelids.* [n: (AUG.)] There is he who sleeps not, but slumbers: now he is drawn back from earthly things, now he is rolled back into them, often he nods his head.

VERS. 5.-- *And rest.* From the rest of the temples sleep comes to the eyes, because for them that are about to sleep the temples begin. When therefore something temporal begins to give delight unto sin, the temples are weighed down; but give not thyself to that delight, and sleep comes not to the eyes, by this thought, if, as though rubbing thy forehead, thou shakest off sleep.

*I shall find:* [n: (ID.)] he says it, because he sought long.

[1051B] *A place for the Lord:* he sought it in himself, who rests upon the humble and the quiet. And a man is a place of God if he forsakes his own things; or at the least, if he loves not himself, but God.

*A tabernacle.* [n: (ID.)] As yet we groan. In the house we shall praise, because groaning belongs to them that are on pilgrimage; praise to them that already abide in the fatherland. *To the God of Jacob.* He says that he has paid, as above he said that he had promised.

VERS. 6.-- *Behold we have heard.* (CAS.) The second part, where the house is shown built, and where he also prays for those who are to be exalted, and that the Jews be not utterly strangers. *It in Ephrata,* [n: (AUG.)] or *it,* etc., *as far as* where were the brambles of idolatry.

[n: (CASS.)] Behold, hear, namely that the Lord was to be born in Ephrata Bethlehem, where the Lord was born: it was heard [1051C] that he should be born in Bethlehem, but for the faith of the Gentiles he was found *in the fields of the wood.*

VERS. 7.-- *We will go in.* [n: (AUG.)] We too, by persevering in our warfare, have nevertheless gone in (or shall go in) into his tabernacle, the tabernacle of the God of Jacob: to this house belongs he who is framed together with others in charity as with living stones. He therefore enters who loves, and he who enters is made the house of God. *In the place.* The house of God is where he ought to be adored: apart from which God hears not unto life eternal. He belongs to the house who is framed together with others in charity. Or the place in which the feet of the house of the Lord stand is Christ, in whom they persevere.

VERS. 8.-- *Arise.* [n: (ID.)] And it is said to him who says, *I have slept troubled:* Arise from death, into thy rest, [1051D] that thou be troubled no more, because *death shall no more have dominion.*

VERS. 9.-- *Priests.* [n: (ID.)] He takes the same men for priests and for saints, namely all the faithful. Or, by *priests* he signifies the prelates of the Church; by *saints,* the faithful that are subject. The ark therefore, which he had prayed might arise, he distinguishes by the parts of the Church.

*Priests,* as in the Old Testament the priests are adorned with divers ornaments, so the priests of the Gospel with divers virtues: these are the ornaments which God requires. For what the pontiffs of the law bore upon their garments, the priests of the Gospel ought to have in their hearts.

VERS. 10.-- *For David the servant's sake.* [n: (CASS.)] *Remember:* [1052A] And well do I say *for David's sake,* because *the Lord hath sworn to David.*

*For the sake of:* then in the person of David himself entreating God the Father.

[n: (AUG.)] For because Christ turned away his face from the Jews unto the Gentiles, the Father is entreated for the remnant, that they may be saved, which was fulfilled in the apostles and in many others. And he says: *for David's sake,* as if he said: Remember me also, that for my sake thou cast not off the Jews utterly.

VERS. 11.-- *He hath sworn.* [n: (CASS.)] The third part, where he tells the promises of God made to Sion when built, that is, to the Church. And David speaks in his own person or in the person of the whole Christ. *And he will not make it void* (otherwise) *he will not repent.* [n: (AUG.)] God is said to repent, etc., *as far as* [1052B] for thou doest it because thou hadst erred: he does it, and delivers. *Of the fruit of thy womb.* He could have said, of the fruit of thy loins, etc., *as far as* because those whom David ruled temporally, Christ rules spiritually.

VERS. 12.-- *If they shall keep.* [n: (ID.)] They seem to earn merit, etc., *as far as* this is not changed. *And their children.* [n: (CASS.)] *If they shall keep the testament. They shall sit upon thy seat,* that is, they shall be partakers of thy blessedness: that as thou art of kingly power, so they also, according to their measure, and this, *Unto the age of the age,* that is, unto eternity.

VERS. 14.-- *This is my rest.* [n: (ID.)] So does God love us, that he says that he himself rests, if we rest in him.

VERS. 15.-- *The widow.* [n: (ID.)] The soul is a widow [1052C] which understands itself forsaken of all help save of God alone. *With bread.* God is the bread, who in the flesh made himself milk.

VERS. 16.-- *Her priests.* Or a distinction is to be made between priests and saints, as above. And it is, *Her priests,* that is, the prelates, *I will clothe with salvation,* that is, with Christ, that is, that they may be honourable for teaching. *And the saints,* that is, those subject. *They shall rejoice with exceeding great joy* over Christ.

*They shall rejoice with exceeding great joy.* [n: (ID.)] Because they are clothed with salvation, etc., *as far as* who dwells in him; therefore he has exalted [sic: *exaltaxit*] securely.

VERS. 17.-- *The horn of David, I have prepared a lamp for Christ.* [n: (ID.)] The spiritual height of the Church, etc., *as far as* before the death and resurrection of Christ.

[1052D]VERS. 18.-- *I will clothe with confusion,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] This the Son will do, to whom all judgment is given. But note that the Father, who here speaks, does what the Son does.

## PSALM CXXXII.

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle of degrees.* [n: (ID.)] The fourteenth degree: charity, which makes brethren to dwell in one, whence blessing and life. *Behold how good.* And this psalm is an atom, etc., *as far as* here therefore the just man, rejoicing over the dwelling together of brethren, says: *Behold how. Behold how.* [n: (AUG.)] That verse, most famous in the whole world, has as the trumpet of the Holy Ghost gathered together them that were divided: it has brought forth very many monasteries. [n: (CASS.)] *Behold.* As though more were set forth by the showing than could be unfolded by the tongue. *To dwell in [1053A] one.* [n: (AUG.)] This concerning all Christians, but it properly befits monasteries, from which nevertheless the blessing comes down to the rest, as also to those brethren of Judaea, of whom it is said: *They had one heart,* and *one soul.*

VERS. 2.-- *As the ointment.* [n: (THEOD.)] The priestly oil, etc., *as far as* it perfects the odour of perfect virtue. *The beard.* [n: (AUG.)] Behold the determination, that is, upon the apostles and the other primitive saints, who first strove in faith, but could not be overcome, because they had already gone before the head that had suffered [cj: *praecesserunt*; read *praecesserat*, "the head had gone before"]. *Aaron.* The priest who offered up himself, etc., *as far as* but they could not be overcome. From them. *To the skirt.* [n: (CASS.)] Or by the *skirt,* which is the edge of the garment, etc., *as far as* the profit of concord reaches even to them that are subject.

VERS. 3.-- *As the dew.* [n: (ID.)] *Dew* is thin water, whence the earth brings forth, and it signifies grace, whereby sinners are converted. *Hermon.* [n: (AUG.)] According to the letter a mountain beyond Jordan, etc., *as far as* the rest are taken up, who are *in one* in heart.




## PSALM CXXXIII.

VERS. 1.-- *A canticle of degrees.* [n: (CASS.)] The fifteenth degree: the charity of the world. And this is the third psalm concerning the charity of God, of which he here treats, as above of the charity of the neighbour. There is not one grace whereby God is loved, and another whereby the neighbour. But because grace has divers acts, and by it divers things are loved. He admonishes therefore unto the loving of God. First, he invites in the plural to bless God; secondly, he wishes them to be blessed, there, *May he bless.*

*Behold,* is the word of one pointing out. And to whom he makes this pointing out he determines: you, *ye servants of the Lord.*

*Ye stand.* It belongs to servants not to sit in the house of their lord. Or, it is understood of the same men: and by the *house* the Church is understood, by the *courts,* the breadth of charity. For in charity, which extends even to enemies, there is breadth; in hatred, narrowness. As though he said: do ye *bless, who stand,* that is, who persevere, *In the house of the Lord,* that is, in the churches; and *who stand, In the courts of the house of our God,* that is, in [sic: *iu*] the breadth of charity, where no man is straitened.

VERS. 2.-- *Lift up your hands.* As Moses lifted up his hands while the people of Israel fought against Amalec, *Lift up,* I say, *unto the holy places:* that with such intention ye may work the eternal good, for otherwise it avails not.

[1053D] *May the Lord bless thee.* The second part, where he wishes the faithful to be blessed. As though he said, *bless ye,* and that ye may be able to do this, *May the Lord bless thee,* with the blessing which is *out of Sion.* Who is able, because he it is who made heaven and earth. [n: (CASS.)] *May he bless.* Above he exhorts many to bless God, but he himself blesses one only, because, though they be many, yet they are in one, and to unity blessing belongs. Whence one was healed in the pool, he who went down first. Be thou therefore in one, and the blessing shall come unto thee.

## PSALM CXXXIV.

VERS. 1.-- *Alleluia.* [n: (CASS.)] After the degrees, which lead unto eternity, the alleluia is set, that the Church may enjoy the praises of God, for whom such a gift is prepared. [1054A] *Praise ye.* First, by a demonstrative address he admonishes, etc., *as far as* he subjoins who ought to praise and why: *Praise ye, servants.*

VERS. 3.-- *Praise ye the Lord,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] If all things are praised because they are good, etc., *as far as* in whom the whole seed of Israel is understood, the whole Church is thought of.

*Sing ye to his name,* that is, praise him for this, that he did what the reality of his name requires, when, being incarnate, he gave himself to men to be tasted.

VERS. 4.-- *Jacob.* [n: (ID.)] He is interpreted "wrestler," and signifies those who wrestle against spiritual wickednesses. *Israel for a possession.* According to the letter. The other nations the Lord set under angels to be guarded: Jacob he chose for himself, that he might till him as a field, sow him, possess him, keep him.

[1054B]VERS. 6.-- *All things whatsoever.* [n: (ID.)] As though he said: He is great in essence, great in works, etc., *as far as* but the spirit of man is unknown, whence, behold, it is said.

VERS. 7.-- *Who bringeth forth winds out of his treasures. Who slew the firstborn.* [n: (ID.)] Faith, whence we begin, by which, when it is living, a man advances unto better things; Egypt, affliction: whosoever therefore afflicts the Church and makes scandals, though he be called a Christian, loses faith.

*From the end.* Either from the lowest part of the earth, or from the compass of the ends of the earth. *Lightnings and rain.* [var: Vulg. Ps 134:7 *fulgura in pluviam fecit*, "he hath made lightnings for the rain"] The lightning works terror, the rain gladness. He therefore who terrified with the lightning refreshes with the rain.

VERS. 8.-- *Who slew.* [n: (ID.)] This he did among men for his own cup's sake. If he has told what things thou shouldst love, [1054C] hear also what things thou shouldst fear. *From man even to beast.* [n: (CASS.)] This he often repeats, etc., *as far as* which he destroys in the prudent and in the simple.

VERS. 10.-- *Mighty kings.* [n: (ID.)] The spirits of the world: who are slain, while they cannot do in us what they will.

VERS. 11.-- *Sehon king of the Amorrhites,* etc. This was done under Moses: of this it is read in the book of Numbers, that when they forbade the children of Israel to pass through their borders, they were smitten by him, and the people of Israel possessed their land.

*Chanaan.* [n: (ID.)] Humiliation, an evil one, namely, when the holy fall away from honour.

VERS. 12.-- *And he gave their land for an inheritance.* [n: (ID.)] That is, the heavenly blessedness, which [1054D] the demons forsook through pride, he gave to the faithful. This is the true land of promise, which is more truly called an inheritance, which is in peace, than that actual land, which the children of Israel often lost. *The inheritance of Israel.* [n: (AUG.)] The inheritance: they are the nations of Israel, that is, of the faithful people, whom they feed with tribulation, teaching patience; or which Israel cultivates by conforming them to himself.

VERS. 13.-- *Unto generation and generation.* [n: (ID.)] One generation there is, whereby we are born again through baptism, another whereby we shall rise again: God has not forgotten to call in the one, to crown in the other.

VERS. 14.-- *For he will judge.* [n: (CASS.)] The cause of praise, because the Lord saw the people for whom he did so much, to whom he sent prophets, [1055A] and afterward the Son also. But because they were hard, *he will judge* them in the time to come, *and in the servants,* that is, in the faithful, *he will comfort,* [var: Vulg. Ps 134:14 *et in servis suis deprecabitur*, "and he will be entreated in favour of his servants"] when he shall render the eternal rewards. Behold, the gradation of praise is brought through unto judgment. [n: (AUG.)] Or, thus. Therefore concerning the present, etc., *as far as they may see, and they who see may become blind.*

VERS. 15.-- *The idols.* [n: (CASS.)] The second part: after he had filled himself with the praises of God, he refutes the worshippers of idols by mocking them, because the perfect praise of truth is to destroy falsehood; above the same things were said, but repeated they increase shame.

VERS. 16.-- *They have a mouth, and they shall not speak.* [n: (AUG.)] Those outward things the craftsman could make; but he could not give a spirit, nor hearing to the ears, nor light to the eyes, nor voice to the mouth.

[1055B]VERS. 18.-- *Let them become like unto them.* [n: (ID.)] Knowing these things they mock the idols, etc., *as far as* neither do they perceive the good odour of Christ.

VERS. 19.-- *House of Israel, bless ye.* [n: (CASS.)] This is the third part, where, after the idols have been mocked, he admonishes all orders to celebrate the praises of God: as it were: Let the worshippers of idols become like unto them. But you, who are *the house of Israel. House of Aaron, bless ye.* [n: (AUG.)] The prelates are the house of Aaron: the ministers, the house of Levi; the peoples, all that fear; all generally are the house of Israel: let us all with one voice say: *Blessed.*

VERS. 21.-- *Blessed be the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] Or according to the interpretation of the names, etc., *as far as* where we shall see him in eternal peace.




## PSALM CXXXV.

VERS. 1.-- *Alleluia.* [n: (AUG.)] This psalm contains the praise of God, where, although many things are said in the praise of God, yet chiefly here the mercy of God is commended. [n: (CASS.)] The divers beginnings of the verses, etc., *as far as* so is the divine presence at hand if it be sung purely. *Give praise to the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] First, he sets forth the magnificence of God and the founding of the whole world [cj: *orbi*; read *orbis*, "of the whole world"]. Secondly he tells what things he did in Egypt and in the nation of the Jews as a figure of us, there, *Who smote.* Thirdly, he treats of Christians, there, *and he gave their land for an inheritance. Give praise to the Lord.* [n: (AUG.)] Let us now praise, etc., *as far as* through mercy is eternal blessedness.

VERS. 2.-- *Give praise to the God of gods.* He calls men gods, to whom the word of God came in another psalm, where he says, *I have said, You are gods and sons of the Most High,* [1055D] etc. And they are not therefore called gods because all are good: for if all were good, he would not say in the same psalm: *but in the midst he judgeth gods,* that is, he distinguishes them; of whom also he subjoins: *Give praise to the Lord of lords.*

VERS. 3.-- *Who doth wonders.* [n: (ID.)] As it is everywhere set at the end, etc., *as far as* therefore *give praise, for his mercy endureth for ever.*

VERS. 4.-- *Great wonders alone.* [n: (ID.)] Because he does certain things through men or angels, and certain great things he himself alone, which also he sets forth first.

VERS. 5.-- *Who made the heavens.* [n: (ID.)] The whole creation therefore he made by himself, etc., *as far as* whence, *Thou hast made all things in wisdom, O God.*

[1056A]Or typically, *The heavens in understanding,* that is, the spiritual saints, to whom he granted not only to believe, but to understand divine things. But the simple, who hold fast only a firm faith, as though beneath the heavens, are called *earth;* who, because in the baptism which they received they stand fast as it were *upon the waters* by a firm faith, as it were *upon the waters* he established the earth.

VERS. 6.-- *The earth above the waters.* [n: (ID.)] But whereby the heavier earth is borne by the lighter waters, etc., *as far as* so the Lord sat above the well, that is, beside it.

VERS. 7.-- *Who made the great lights.* [n: (ID.)] that is, he conferred the gifts of graces upon his faithful.

VERS. 9.-- *The moon and the stars for the power of the night.* [n: (CASS.)] It can also be said otherwise, mystically, etc., *as far [1056B] as* that through these each of the lesser may give light.

VERS. 10.-- *Who smote Egypt.* [n: (ID.)] The second part, where he tells what things he does in Egypt and in the nation of the Jews under a figure of us. Now he begins upon the things which he did through men or through angels. *With their firstborn.* He smote the firstborn of Egypt, etc., *as far as* but God shuts them out from himself.

VERS. 12.-- *With a mighty hand.* [n: (ID.)] The hand of God is his invincible action, which comes from the arm, that is, from his whole singular power.

VERS. 13.-- *He divided the Red Sea into parts.* [n: (ID.)] According to the letter *into parts* twelve, for the number of the tribes, that each tribe might have its own ways to go by; typically, thus by divers ways there is a passing out of the world unto God. By the *Red Sea* the world is understood.

[1056C]VERS. 15.-- *And he shook off Pharao.* [n: (ID.)] He shook off the devil, with his ministers, as dust, which is quickly shaken off. In this quickness both the power of God is shown, and those earthly defilements are pointed out which we are wont to shake off. *Pharao.* [n: (ID.)] Fitly by Pharao the devil is understood: Pharao kills the males, keeps the females alive; so the devil stifles the virtues, nourishes concupiscence.

VERS. 21.-- *And he gave their land for an inheritance.* [n: (CASS.)] The third part, where he comes down to Christians, setting forth the benefits given to them, that thus thou mayest know one author of all things.

VERS. 22.-- *To Israel his servant.* He takes by *Israel the servant* Christ, etc., *as far as* he gave no price [1056D] to the Egyptians.

VERS. 25.-- *He giveth food.* [n: (THEOD.)] From his singular Providence, etc., *as far as* in the Gospels he says: *Behold the birds of the air, which neither sow, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feedeth them. To all flesh.* [var: Vulg. Mt 6:26 *Respicite volatilia caeli, quoniam non serunt, neque metunt, neque congregant in horrea*, "behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns"] [n: (AUG.)] To every kind of men, of Israel and of the Gentiles, not as the manna to the Jew alone.

## PSALM CXXXVI.

*A psalm of David.* [n: (CASS.)] The third psalm concerning the lamentation of Jerusalem, etc, *as far as* but this one concerning the captivity brought about by Nabuchodonosor. [n: (AUG.)] Two cities there are, mingled together in body, etc., *as far as* who in mind, in desire are citizens of Jerusalem.

VERS. 1.-- *Upon the rivers.* [n: (CASS.)] First, that they should be led captive [1057A] long afterward, etc., *as far as* he begins with the desire of the fatherland, saying: *Upon the rivers,* etc. *While we remembered,* [n: (AUG.)] In a hostile land sweet is the remembrance of the fatherland, etc., *as far as* both are of Babylon.

VERS. 2.-- *On the willows.* [n: (ID.)] Which are watered by the rivers of Babylon, etc., *as far as* but by deferring we hang them up. [n: (CASS.)] The force of grief is heightened when the delight wherewith they were wont to console themselves is hung up.

*For there they asked us.* [n: (BASIL.)] And hence they began no small profit [cj: *coeperunt*; read *ceperunt*, "they took"], etc., *as far as* so that they were even willing to hear our songs.

VERS. 3.-- *The words of the songs.* [n: (AUG.)] Or, of the canticles, as, what does Christ profit? or, what is that other life? But here, among those who are full of evils, we ought not [1057B] to strike the instrument, that it should sound, but to hang it up. [n: (ID.)] The devil craftily seeks occasion to mock, etc., *as far as* and he bound himself with an oath, saying: *If I forget thee,* etc.

VERS. 4.-- *How shall we sing.* [n: (ID.)] Care must be taken lest any man, fearing to displease such men, court their friendships, and begin to take delight in Babylon.

VERS. 5.-- *My right hand.* [n: (ID.)] Whatever thou doest for eternal things, the right hand works; if thou aim also at another thing, the left hand has mingled itself in; and delighting in it as in the right hand thou losest eternal things.

VERS. 6.-- *Let it cleave.* [n: (CASS.)] Let me become dumb in the praises of God, which is the consolation of weeping and of miseries. *My tongue.* [n: (AUG.)] The canticle of Jerusalem is our tongue, the canticle of the world a barbarous tongue. He is dumb [1057C] to God who has forgotten Jerusalem.

VERS. 7.-- *Remember.* [n: (CASS.)] The second part, where the turning to God is made against the enemies. *Remember, in the day* of the separation, that they may be punished. *Of the children of Edom.* [n: (AUG.)] The children of Edom, that is, the Idumeans, were a hindrance to them that rebuilt Jerusalem; or, in the destruction they were joined with Babylon, whence he says, *The daughter of Babylon, miserable. Edom morally* is carnality, which seduces us unto unlawful motions. *Edom.* [n: (ID.)] Esau, all the carnal; Jacob, the spiritual; the elder, the carnal man, the younger, the spiritual, because first indeed that which is animal, afterward that which is spiritual. All the carnal are enemies to the spiritual, whence he says: *Remember,* deliver us from them. *Empty it out.* [n: (CASS.)] From the likeness [1057D] of a cistern, out of which, if the water be drawn, the bottom is reached. But what does it profit even to take away the life of such men, for whom, in the foundation (which is Christ), there is life eternal? while the wicked think to hurt, they give crowns.

VERS. 8.-- *The daughter.* [n: (AUG.)] By succession the city of the wicked is made the daughter of Babylon, as the Church, that is, Jerusalem, the city of the good, is by succession the daughter of Sion. [n: (CASS.)] *The daughter of Babylon* morally. It is the flesh, which confusion, etc., *as far as* they dash them against the rock, Christ, that being broken they may perish.

VERS. 9.-- *Blessed is he that shall take.* [n: (AUG.)] What retribution? that as Babylon smothers those born in the world, while they are little, with the errors of their parents and of the world: so they who are now grown up, the knowledge of God being given them, dash the little ones of Babylon [1058A] to pieces, that is, the desires as they are being born, before they receive strength; thus they are more easily overcome, but the greater ones also must be slain against the rock.




## PSALM CXXXVII.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm to David himself.* [n: (CASS.)] The captive, who had wept, as though Jerusalem and the temple were rebuilt, and as a fellow-citizen with that part of Jerusalem which was not captive, that is, with the angels, rejoices and praises first the benefits given him. In the person therefore of the Church, which is in the things above in hope, awaiting to be there in reality, he says, *I will confess.*

*I will confess to thee, O Lord.* First, he commends the benefits given him: secondly, he tells how these are spread abroad unto all, there, *Let them confess to thee, O Lord,* etc. *In the sight.* [1058B] [n: (AUG.)] In praising I set before myself the angels, to whom I look to be made equal in dignity hereafter, as I am now. But these in the praise of God set before themselves nothing else but himself. *In the sight* therefore *of the angels,* in that purity wherein the angels behold thee, that in thee alone they may rest, I *will sing to thee.*

VERS. 2.-- *For thy mercy.* [n: (ID.)] *All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth:* There are no other ways by which he came to us, there are no others by which we may come to him: let us render these to God, mercy in succouring, truth in judging. *Above every holy name of thine.* [n: (CASS.)] Or above thy holy name, when thy worship became known to us.

VERS. 3.-- *In the soul.* And because in the soul a carnal multiplication can take place, he adds, *strength,* as though: I seek nothing [1058C] else in the soul but strength.

VERS. 4.-- *Let them confess.* [n: (ID.)] The second part, where it is said [cj: *dici*; read *dicit*, "he tells"] how these good things are to be spread abroad unto all. As it were, after my example: *Let them confess,* etc. *All the words of thy mouth.* [n: (AUG.)] Which have now been revealed everywhere, and sent unto all nations, etc., *as far as* and thus, the fleece being dried, *they heard all the words,* etc.

VERS. 5.-- *Great is the glory.* [n: (ID.)] If they are humble, they love and sing this; for if they exalt themselves, let them fear what follows. *For the Lord is high. He looketh on the low things.* [n: (CASS.)] Here is not the human condition, where the humble man is despised and the proud man regarded; but the Lord regards the humble.

*The high he knoweth afar off.* [n: (AUG.)] The proud man does not this, etc., *as far as* mourning this sojourning, whence [1058D] it is subjoined.

VERS. 7.-- *If I shall walk in the midst of tribulation.* Otherwise he does not quicken, save *in the midst of tribulation,* whence, *Blessed are they that mourn, woe to them that laugh.*

*Upon the wrath.* [n: (ID.)] This very thing, that they are angry with me, is thy chastisement upon them, that is, thy punishment. For to be angry is to them a punishment, not [sic: *noc*] only a fault. While therefore thou permittest this, thou stretchest forth the hand of vengeance upon them all.

*Thy right hand.* God has not a right hand or a left, but the right hand of God is called eternal happiness, the left, temporal happiness. Sometimes therefore he does not save his saints in the left hand, but he always saves them in the right.

[1059A]VERS. 8.-- *He will repay.* [n: (AUG.)] What I cannot do, etc., *as far as* in whom the princes of the world found no sin, wherefore they should kill him.




## PSALM CXXXVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end, a psalm of David* [sic: *Ddvid*]*.* [n: (CASS.)] A psalm full of the depth of mysteries, etc., *as far as* veiled in the prophets, manifest in the Gospel. [n: (AUG.)] The whole Christ speaks, as one entire man, etc., *as far as* as two in one flesh. *Lord, thou hast proved me.* [n: (CASS.)] First, concerning the knowledge of God, etc., *as far as* fourthly, how the wicked do him no hurt, there, *If thou wilt kill, O God,* etc. *Lord, thou hast proved.* [n: (AUG.)] Now restored in Jerusalem, etc., *as far as* this is the person of the whole of human nature returning.

[1059B]VERS. 3.-- *Thou hast understood.* [n: (CASS.)] The foreknowledge of the Godhead is here shown, etc., *as far as* because the manhood assumed cannot be made equal to the divine substance. *From afar off.* [n: (AUG.)] While I am still on pilgrimage, before I come to the fatherland, as the father ran to meet the younger son returning, because he understood his thoughts from afar off, because he had said within himself, worn out with want [sic: *egestare*]: *I will arise and go to my father.*

*My path,* namely the evil one, by which I went, forsaking my father.

*And the line.* (Otherwise) the boundary, how far I came: far indeed had I gone, but thou wast there. He speaks as a fugitive caught, the vengeance of God following after him.

VERS. 4.-- *And all my ways:* before I went in them; and thou didst permit me to go in labour, that I might return if [1059C] I would not labour: this I confess. *For there is no guile in my tongue:* [var: Vulg. Ps 138:4 *quia non est sermo in lingua mea*, "for there is no speech in my tongue"] now I have justified in thy grace.

VERS. 5.-- My *last things,* when I fed the swine, *The old things,* when I asked for the portion of the substance: this according to the parable. But mystically, *The old things,* when through the ancient sin [sic: *pecatum*] we fell: *The last things,* the penalty, when we came into this mortality, which is the last, if we are willing to return; otherwise the eternal remains. *Thou hast formed me,* unto labours, unto which we are all born. *Thou hast laid.* (Otherwise) Thou hast made heavy the hand, the avenging hand, weighing down the proud man wholesomely, that it may raise up the humble man, in the hand made heavy.

VERS. 6.-- *Wonderful,* and incomprehensible [sic: *incomprehensibllis*] to me. *Thy knowledge is become.* It is not easy for me to contemplate thee, whom in my pride I forsook, as it was before, when I was with thee, when I said, give me the portion of the substance. [1059D] *From me,* that is, from my sin.

*It is strengthened,* (otherwise) it has prevailed. *And I shall not be able* to attain to it of myself. [n: (AUG.)] In Exodus it is read that the Lord, etc., *as far as* I am not hidden from thee, whose boundary thou seest.

VERS. 7.-- *Whither shall I go by thy spirit?* [n: (CASS.)] The second part, where he now determines that he must not flee [sic: *fungiendum*] from him, but to him, from him angered to him appeased, which shall be through him with whom the world is full: *For the Spirit of the Lord filleth all things. Whither shall I flee from thy face?* [var: Vulg. Wisd. 1:7 *Spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum*, "the Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world"] he turns himself this way and that, as though seeking a place of flight.

VERS. 8.-- *If I shall ascend into heaven, thou art there,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] If I shall lift myself up, I find one to repress me; if I shall be proud of my own justice, *Thou art there,* whose justice it truly is. *If I shall descend,* if by sinning I shall come, *Into hell,* [1060A] or into the deep, and unwilling to confess: I shall say, who sees me? *Thou art present,* to avenge. He found a counsel, but thus shall I be able to flee from him angered.

VERS. 9.-- *If I shall take wings,* the two wings of charity, which I had lost.

*Wings.* [n: (CASS.)] Which are of my own power, in [cj: *in*; read *id*, "that is"] is the efficacy of the Godhead, whereby he raised the body out of the sepulchre. These he took *at daybreak,* before the light, that is, at the time of the resurrection: and *he dwelt in the uttermost parts of the sea,* that is, above the widest end of the world. *And if I shall dwell in the uttermost parts.* [n: (AUG.)] In mind, at the end of the world, that I may not love the world, but its end, in which there may be rest for me. But he himself also leads thither, whence he subjoins:

VERS. 10.-- *For even there shall thy hand.* But considering the length of the way, he subjoins:

[1060B]VERS. 11.-- *And he said, perhaps darkness shall tread down,* etc. The iniquity of the world abounds, whereby the wings of charity can grow cold. And because in the night I despaired of crossing the sea, the night was made a light to me: There came a woman, the wisdom of God, who had lost the groat wherein is the image of the king, that is, man: she lighted from herself a lamp, which is of clay, that is, flesh, and the night being lit up she found the groat.

*And he said.* [n: (AUG.)] I deliberated.

*Perhaps thee.* By darkness he means that lower part of the rational creature, pressing upon him as an adversary, namely wicked men or the flesh, whence he fears: And it is, *Darkness,* that is, the lower rational creature holding the left-hand way.

*They have trodden me down.* [n: (ID.)] So I feared, but *the night [1060C] was made a light, in my delights,* [var: Vulg. Ps 138:11 *et nox illuminatio mea in deliciis meis*, "and night shall be my light in my pleasures"] that is, to those who, being before night, shall be enlightened in delights. *Because thee.* Sinners.

VERS. 12.-- *They shall not be darkened,* etc., *and the night,* by the sinners that dwell there. *As the day,* that is, the saints out of the Jews. *As his darkness, so also his light,* because in so far as he acknowledges, in so far he pardons. But whence is this to me? *because thou hast possessed my reins. Because darkness.* [n: (AUG.)] He who confesses not his sins darkens his own darkness; but if he confesses, God enlightens. *As his darkness.* Of our night, that is, the miseries of human life, etc., *as far as* whom the light does not lift up.

VERS. 13.-- *Because thou hast possessed my reins.* [n: (ID.)] Whence is this difference in thee? because the inward possessor [1060D] holds not only the heart, that is, the thoughts, but the reins also, that is, the delights: that the light of night may not delight, but the light of his own wisdom.

VERS. 14.-- *I will confess to thee.* [n: (CASS.)] The third part, where he tells how great is the exultation and the multiplication for him that flies back to God, God enlightening him and possessing his reins. *My soul shall know exceedingly.* [var: Vulg. Ps 138:14 *anima mea cognoscit nimis*, "my soul knoweth right well," in the present tense] [n: (AUG.)] Now my soul knows greatly: before, wonderful was *thy knowledge from me, and I could not attain unto it;* but now I can, because thou hast enlightened the night, hast possessed the reins, hast received me out of the womb, that is, because thy grace came to me and enlightened me.

VERS. 15.-- *My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret.* [n: (ID.)] Os from osse, not from ore, etc., *as far as* whence the Apostle: *As sorrowful, yet always [1061A] rejoicing.* [n: (BASIL.)] Again he speaks of the foreknowledge of God, and either says that all things are his secrets, or that other thing which he says, namely the workmanship and the fashioning. *My substance in the lower parts of the earth.* [n: (AUG.)] In the flesh, and yet the bone yields not to the evils of this lower place, etc., *as far as* let them not therefore despair.

VERS. 16.-- *Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all,* etc. [n: (ID.)] He who has hitherto spoken in the person of the body, here now speaks in the person of the head. *Days shall be formed.* (Otherwise) *They shall wander through the day.* The day here abiding was still Christ, etc., *as far as* because the apostles were made leaders and shepherds of the Church. As it were, deservedly I strengthened them, etc., *as far as* in the promise it was said to Abraham: *I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand of the sea.*

[1061B]VERS. 18.-- *I am still with thee,* etc. As before death, which the Jews thought they had taken away. Or, *still,* that is, in death itself, which is not seen of a dead man. Or, though the resurrection be a sign of the Godhead, yet *I am still* hidden from the many, *with thee,* that is, as thou art.

[n: (AUG.)] *I am still with thee.* Not yet with them by knowledge, because they do not yet acknowledge him, because they did not acknowledge Christ soon after the resurrection. Or, through all this time I am with thee in secret at the right hand of the Father, before he be revealed in that brightness wherein he is to come.

VERS. 19.-- *If thou wilt kill, O God, the sinners,* etc. [n: (CASS.)] The fourth part, how he is not hurt by the wicked. [n: (AUG.)] *If thou wilt kill.* He subjoins what he suffers meanwhile, [1061C] etc., *as far as* in the judgment he will say openly: *Amen I say to you, I know you not, depart from me.* [var: Vulg. Mt 7:23 *numquam novi vos : discedite a me*, "I never knew you: depart from me"; the opening words are those of Mt 25:12 *Amen dico vobis, nescio vos*]

VERS. 21.-- *Have not they that hate thee, O Lord.* As it were, *If thou wilt kill, Have I not hated them that hate thee?* Them will I also slay.

[n: (AUG.)] As it were, heretics not understanding, etc., *as far as* how then am I defiled by being mingled with them?

*Prove me, O Lord.* [n: (ID.)] Hitherto concerning heretics and others following them, separated from the Church; now he treats also of the wicked, or of feigned men joined to himself, whom the Church suffers, and groans over. As it were, heretics separate themselves and others, etc., *as far as* but thou, O God, *Prove me and know.*



## PSALM CXXXIX.

[1061D]VERS. 1.-- *Unto the end. A psalm of David.* [n: (ID.)] A complaint, a groaning, the prayer of the body of Christ set among the wicked, not yet having the good in fact, but in hope, where there is full exultation. He admonishes us to pray to God against the evils of the world.

VERS. 2.-- *Deliver me, O Lord, from the man.* [n: (CASS.)] First he sets forth who the enemies are, what evils they stir up, setting prayers against them. Secondly, he says what help he has against evils, there: *I said to the Lord:* Thirdly, he discloses what the evils of his enemies are, there: *The head.* The Church therefore, labouring among the wicked, cries out. *From the unjust man.* [n: (AUG.)] He is unjust who does harm; whence, when he had said, *From the evil man,* as though expounding it, he added, *From the unjust man.*

[1062A]VERS. 3.-- *Who have devised.* [n: (CASS.)] He pursues in what manner the wicked persecute, for they assail the good in three ways, namely with the tongue, the hand and the heart: and he puts the heart first, saying, *Who have devised,* as if he were to say, Deliver me from the people of the wicked. [n: (AUG.)] Who, although for the most part they put forward good things upon their lips, have nevertheless devised iniquity in the heart.

VERS. 4.-- *They have sharpened.* He shows in what manner they persecute with the tongue.

*Like that of a serpent.* [n: (ID.)] In the serpent there is cunning and the guile of doing harm: therefore also it creeps, having no feet, that it may not be heard when it comes; its motion is smooth, but not straight: so the wicked creep to do harm, having a hidden venom beneath a smooth motion, whence he adds, *The venom of asps is under their lips.*

[1062B]VERS. 5.-- *Keep me, O Lord.* [n: (CASS.)] He adds concerning the persecution which is done by the hand, that is, by deed. Keep me, because he deceives through many things which he cannot guard against beforehand.

[sic: VERS. 9.]-- *The proud.* [n: (AUG.)] By this name he has briefly set forth the whole body of the devil: hence it is that they both call themselves just and are unwilling to confess; every proud man is also envious, as the devil is, who envied man that which he himself had lost. *And they have stretched out cords for a snare,* etc. Whence Isaias: *Woe to them that draw sins as a long garment,* [var: Vulg. Isa. 5:18 *Vae qui trahitis iniquitatem in funiculis vanitatis, et quasi vinculum plaustri peccatum*, "that draw iniquity with cords of vanity"] because they add sins to sins, etc., *as far as* and he be cast into the exterior darkness.

VERS. 7.-- *I said to the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] Diapsalma. The second part, what help there is against evils, as if he should say, In so many ways do the wicked assail, and what is the remedy amid [1062C] so many and so great evils?

*I said to the Lord: My God.* Great confidence: though he is the God of all, yet he is properly the God of those who enjoy him.

*Hear, O Lord, the voice of my supplication.* [n: (ID.)] The voice of men and their soul, etc., *as far as* not as the men of the Lord, who buy with a purse, thou with blood.

VERS. 8.-- *O strength of my salvation, thou hast overshadowed my head.* [n: (ID.)] Thou who givest the strength of my salvation, etc., *as far as* however much the enemy may rage.

VERS. 9.-- *Deliver me not, O Lord, from desire.* [var: Vulg. Ps. 139:9 *Ne tradas*, a prohibitive subjunctive] [n: (ID.)] The devil sets forth gain, etc., *as far as* save out of thy desire.

VERS. 10.-- *The head of the compassing.* [n: (CASS.)] Diapsalma. The third part, where he says what the evils of his enemies are. [1062D] [n: (AUG.)] As if he should say, Thy shadow covers me, etc., *as far as* or they are overcome out of their own assertion. *The labour of their lips shall overwhelm them.* [n: (CASS.)] That is, their false and lying assertion shall overwhelm them, because they are overcome out of their own false assertion.

VERS. 11.-- *They shall fall upon them.* [n: (AUG.)] Or coals of fire upon the earth, etc., *as far as* whence the Apostle: *To some we are the odour of life unto life, to others the odour of death unto death [n: (II Cor. II.)]*

VERS. 12.-- *A man full of tongue.* [n: (ID.)] Whosoever wills to be directed, etc., *as far as* in outward things there is necessity, not will. *The unjust man,* etc., *unto destruction.* Which does not befall the needy man, who, if he is taken by evils, is yet not taken unto destruction; God scourges every son whom he receives. And although [1063A] the good be for the present afflicted, yet *they shall confess* amid grievous things, which is the more praiseworthy: *And they shall dwell,* therefore nothing is feared in the world.

VERS. 14.-- *But yet.* [n: (CASS.)] The conclusion of the psalm, where he says that if the good have been delivered, and avenged of their enemies, they do not nevertheless give it to themselves, but to God, whence, and they shall dwell with him.

*They shall dwell with thy countenance.* Because they shall see God as he is.

## PSALM CXL.

VERS. 2.-- *Let prayer be directed.* [n: (CAS.)] Let *prayer* be *incense,* etc., *as far as* he who repents at the end.

*The lifting up of my hands,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Let all understand this of the Head, etc., *as far as* he adds it from the voice of the body.

[1063B]VERS. 3.-- *Set, O Lord, a watch.* Note that he asks, he sets [cj: *apponit*; read *apponi*, "to be set"] a watch upon the heart as well as upon the mouth: there is need of a twofold defence, that neither may an unjust thought have savour, nor may a depraved will break out into foolish words.

*A door.* [n: (AUG.)] From the likeness of him who stands about the door, that he may not enter or go out to whom it is not lawful.

VERS. 4.-- *Incline not.* [n: (CASS.)] As if: Set a door to this end, that he may not be excused: for this greatest vice has dominion over men, whence they repent the more slowly; whence in the book of Kings: *As the sin of soothsaying is it to rebel, and as the crime of idolatry to be unwilling to acquiesce [n: (I Reg. XV)]*.

*To make excuses for excuses.* [n: (ID.)] It is the custom of the shameless that, when caught, they first excuse themselves by certain falsehoods, and then, convicted of these, they seek others, imputing their vices to the time [1063C] or to necessity, lest at any time they should yield to the truth.

*I will not communicate.* [n: (ID.)] Or, *I shall be coupled.* Men are said to be coupled when two are bound together, so that the one hinders the other, that flight may not be free. I shall not be coupled after the likeness of the flesh. *With the elect.* [n: (AUG.)] The elect are those who justify themselves, despise the rest, as the Pharisee did [n: (Luc. XVIII)]; and defend their sins by whatever means. With such men this man does not wish *to be coupled,* that is, associated, lest he be hindered by them.

VERS. 5.-- *He shall correct me.* [n: (CASS.)] The second part, where this faithful man, now on the contrary corrected by the just man, spurns false praisers, being about to profit the wicked by word and by manners, wherein also he asks to be kept.

*But the oil of the sinner,* etc. [n: (ID.)] A feigned love, [1063D] which softens minds away from the rigour of truth toward hurtful things.

VERS. 6.-- *Judges.* [n: (AUG.)] The powerful, the learned, who judge concerning manners, etc., *as far as* whom all worship.

VERS. 7.-- *They shall hear.* [n: (ID.)] With the ear of obedience, not like Adam, etc., *as far as* those nearest to a curse.

*The fatness of the earth.* [n: (ID.)] There are [sic: *quae dam*] contemptible things from which nevertheless the earth receives its fatness, etc., *as far as* who are the bones and the firmament of the faithful or of the faith.

VERS. 8.-- *Near hell.* [n: (ID.)] He says *near hell,* not, in hell: because although they die by the common lot, they do not nevertheless go down into hell as the wicked do, but eternal life is given them. *For unto thee, O Lord.* [1064A] [n: (CASS.)] The frailty of man having been spoken of, he takes refuge in the divine remedies.

Take not away from thy good things, but let my hope be always in thee: and let my eyes ever be intent upon thee. For this man does not ask against that which the saints will, namely to be snatched from the world and to be with Christ.

VERS. 9.-- *Keep me from the snare.* By snares and scandals he briefly notes the evils of the whole world. Snares are the flattering bonds, the desires of the flesh; but while the devil does not prevail through these, he strives with scandals, which he stirs up by means of the restless.

Or otherwise. And by those setting the snare he means open persecutors: but by those working iniquity he means those consenting to them, who fail through fear of persecution. And the sense is: Take not away my soul, but [1064B] rather, *Keep me from the snare* of persecution, *which they have set for me.* [n: (AUG.)] This the persecutors do, who set the bait of this life as it were in a trap. If the bird loves this bait, it falls into the trap: because through fear of death it succumbs to persecution. *Keep me.*

*From the scandals of them that work iniquity.* That is, from the scandal of those who, by consenting to them, fall, and so work iniquity. As if he should say: Keep me from the persecutors, who terrify, and from those who have fallen.

VERS. 10.-- *They shall fall in the net.* Words fitted to the comparison, since he does not wish to be coupled with these.

They shall fall from vice into vice, but

*I am alone until I pass.* Alone, that is, because he does not walk with the worst. *Alone.* [n: (AUG.)] The same that he says, etc., *as far as* so also other ancients.

[1064C] *I pass.* As a wayfarer of this world, who is taken by no pleasure.



## PSALM CXLI.

VERS. 1.-- *The understanding of David.* [n: (CASS.)] This psalm is the fifth of those which are entitled by the name of a prayer, where no other things are said than those which have been said in other psalms, but the same. [n: (AUG.)] But because by a repetition of this kind provision is made for the common infirmity, they are not repeated to no purpose, that things repeated may the better be committed to memory; whence it is written in the Proverbs: *A desirable treasure rests in the mouth of the wise man [n: (Prov. XII)]*, [var: Vulg. Prov. 21:20 *Thesaurus desiderabilis, et oleum in habitaculo justi*, "a desirable treasure, and oil in the dwelling of the just"] because the wise man ponders what he has heard; he ruminates upon it by going over it again; but the foolish man swallows it down, [1064D] that is, he does not ponder it, he gives it over to forgetfulness; and these are those clean animals in the law which chew the cud; those are the unclean. David, fleeing from Saul, lay hid in a cave, of which nevertheless there is no question here, but of the thing signified. For David signifies Christ. The cave, the flesh, or the world, or the sepulchre. David therefore, that is, Christ, with his members in the world, or Christ in the flesh, or in the sepulchre.

VERS. 2.-- *With my voice I have cried to the Lord.* First the prayer against evils is set down, secondly he treats of the end of evils, there: *I have cried to thee, O Lord.* He admonishes us therefore to pray. And in the person of the whole Christ, as of one crying to God out of a cave, he says: *I have made supplication.* [n: (AUG.)] That which he says, *I have cried, he expounds, I have made supplication.* As if he should say: My cry [1065A] is a supplication, not a murmur, not a blasphemy.

VERS. 3.-- *In his sight.* [n: (AUG.)] The Lord is about to repay, pray in secret; whence in the Gospel: *But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father who sees in secret,* etc. [n: (Matth. VI.)]

VERS. 4.-- *And thou hast known.* [n: (ID.)] This he adds, lest those hearing, *my spirit hath failed,* should suppose him cast down. As if he were to say: If they suppose me cast down, because my spirit has failed, thou seest me standing, whose Spirit gives me life.

*Paths.* Of justice, which they do not see.

*In the way.* Many are the ways, because many are the precepts: one is the way, because all are brought back to one, that is, to charity.

[1065B]AUG.) *In the way,* according to their desire; beside the way, according to the truth. For Christ is the way, who does not suffer them to set a snare *in the way,* so that we should have nowhere to go; yet he suffers them to set it beside the way, lest we turn aside from the way.

VERS. 5.-- *I looked to the right hand.* [n: (AUG.)] Which the wicked did not see; and this is, *and there was none that knew.* [n: (CASS.)] For when thou sufferest all things, who knows what thou art regarding? [n: (AUG.)] He who attends to the right hand, sees; he who attends to the left, is blinded. Or, the apostles were not standing at the right hand, because they were scattered by a carnal fear, but I stood fast.

*Flight hath perished.* As much of the body as of the mind. *And there is none that seeks.* [n: (CAS.)] Because there is no consolation, but he was left alone to the passion. *Flight hath perished.* [1065C] [n: (AUG.)] He says that he is shut in on every side. *Flight hath perished,* because he does not flee in mind, though sometimes in body. He who is shut in does not flee in body, because he cannot. More strongly [cj: *Fortius*; read *Fortis*, "the strong man"] does he not flee in mind, who does not will it. *Flight hath perished* for the man shut in or for the strong man; flight indeed, whence it is said in the Gospel: *He sees the wolf coming and flees [n: (Joan. X)]*. Where the Lord reproves the hireling. But there is another flight, of the body, which the Lord permits, saying: *If they shall have persecuted you in one city, flee into another [n: (Matth. X)]*. [var: Vulg. Mt 10:23 *Cum autem persequentur vos in civitate ista, fugite in aliam*, "when they shall persecute you in this city"]

*And there is none that seeks the soul.* The soul is sought either by persecutors or by those who love it. So flight perishes in two ways, both for the man taken captive and for the strong man.

VERS. 6.-- *I have cried.* [n: (CAS.)] The second part, where he treats of the end of evils. *My hope.* Because I choose thee out of all. *Portion.* Humbly and in common with others he says that a portion [1065D] is his in the land of the living, whereas the whole is his. This appears from the fact that he said to the thief: *This day thou shalt be with me in paradise:* which is the land of the living everlastingly.

VERS. 7.-- *From them that persecute me.* For the devil through his vessels, that is, through the children of unbelief, works persecution of the body, that within there may come about the ruin of the heart.

VERS. 8.-- *Bring forth out of custody,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] Speaking in the person of the Church, he sets forth from what he is to be delivered. Otherwise, *out of the prison.* Because in corruption (which is the punishment of the body) he is straitened: after which straits in the house of God the whole life shall be confession, that is, the praise of God; now the prison hinders him from confessing. This prison or cave may be called the world, where all things are vain: whence he asks [1066A] that the soul be led forth, which suffers many things there, etc., *as far as* but its corruption, and temptation, is the prison.



## PSALM CXLII.

*A psalm of David.* This psalm is the seventh of the penitential psalms, which are therefore seven, that by the same number by which we have sinned we may wash away our sins. [n: (CAS.)] For as we sin in the week of this world, so by this number of psalms the remedy of penance is set against our sins. In which psalms the form is such, that it is begun from tears, and the end is in joy, lest any despair of pardon. [n: (AUG.)] As Absalom did to David, so Judas to Christ, false brethren to his body; or unlawful motions and action.

VERS. 1.-- *O Lord, hear,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] First [1066B] he takes his exordium; secondly he narrates his own evils, and what he has done against them, there, *because he has persecuted;* thirdly the supplication is set down, confirmed by reasons, there, *hear speedily;* fourthly the joyful conclusion is set down, there, *thy spirit.* He admonishes to penance, and to prayer, that we should pray. In the person of the whole Christ he says: *O Lord,* etc. *In thy truth.* [n: (CAS.)] This is not against the humility which was asking to be heard: but it is the truth and justice of God, that he should not dispute with the one asking, that he should not judge him who condemns himself; whence it is added: *and enter not,* he did not ask for the justice of judgment. [n: (AUG., CAS.)] *In thy truth, in thy justice.* Or he calls justice and truth that which spares the penitent, and absolves those who condemn themselves, and he takes *truth and justice* for the same thing. And the sense is, *in thy truth, and thy justice,* that is, according to the justice and [1066C] truth which thou grantest to the penitent and to those who accuse themselves.

VERS. 2.-- *And enter not into judgment.* [n: (AUG.)] They enter into judgment with the Lord who establish their own justice, which this humble man does not do; whence the prophet: *Why will you contend with me in judgment? You have all forsaken me, says the Lord. With thy servant.* It is unworthy to contend with a servant, not to say with a friend: and if thou sayest 'friend', and I 'servant', a fugitive I return, I seek peace, *I am not worthy to be called thy son.*

VERS. 3.-- *Because he has persecuted.* [n: (CAS.)] The second part, where there is the narration of the evils which he suffers, and what he has done against them.

VERS. 6.-- *I have been mindful.* [n: (AUG.)] This the members say, etc., *as far as* but thou hast begun not to be. *I have [1066D] meditated.* Because assuredly all things are good, wherein he perceives that whatsoever of good is in him, is from God. *In the works of the hands.* As if he should say: I have sought the craftsman in the work, and in all created things the creator: thy creature has been made a spectacle for me.

*I have been mindful of the days.* [n: (CAS.)] This man, calling to mind that he made heaven and earth, and that he did good to the ancients, forgets the miseries of the world. And out of those things which God has made he consoles himself.

VERS. 7.-- *Speedily.* [n: (CAS.)] The third part, where the supplication confirmed by reasons is set down. *The spirit hath failed.* [n: (AUG.)] Let thy Spirit fill me, because mine has failed: already I am poor in spirit. For in whom his own spirit lives, he is proud in his own spirit, and is lifted up [1067A] against God. Whence elsewhere: *Thou shalt take away their spirits, and they shall fail [n: (Psal. CIII)]*. *Into the pit.* He goes down into the deep who loses even confession, as one who sets before himself licence to sin without hope of pardon, the reins of iniquity let loose. Such a man does not hear God saying: *Turn to me, and I will turn to you [n: (Zach. I)]*.

VERS. 8.-- *In the morning.* [n: (CAS.)] After the night of sins. [n: (AUG.)] It is morning, when sins are loosed. *Make the way known to me.* This God has done, etc., *as far as* we shall come to the pure light, to the Word in the beginning with God. *The soul.* (CAS.) As a vessel I have brought it to the fountain: fill it therefore.

VERS. 10.-- *Thy good spirit.* [n: (CAS.)] The fourth part, where the joyful conclusion is. *For thy name's sake, [1067B] O Lord, thou wilt quicken me in thy equity.* The grace of God is here commended: because he says that he is quickened not out of merits, but out of the name, which is Jesus; yet along with this the grace of equity shows mercy, because although God does all things freely, it belongs nevertheless to his justice to justify the suppliants whom he sees the demons assail.



## PSALM CXLIII.

VERS. 1.-- *A psalm of David to Goliath.* [var: Vulg. Ps. 143:1 *Psalmus David. Adversus Goliath*] [n: (CAS.)] David, the whole Christ, etc., *as far as* and so his head is cut off with his own sword.--David slew Goliath, Christ the devil, etc., *as far as* whence spiritually the following psalm is entitled *praise.*

*Blessed.* [n: (CAS.)] A triumphal psalm, etc., *as far as* praying to be delivered through him, there, *O God, a canticle.*

[1067C] *Who teaches my hands.* [n: (AUG.)] That is, who through the Holy Spirit, etc., *as far as* that which follows. *My mercy.* [n: (CAS.)] Because it is tedious to explain the causes of many things, he touches them briefly in single words, etc., *as far as* because with contempt and under wonder it is added, *O Lord, what is man, that,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] *My mercy.* Because thou grantest me to be merciful, etc., *as far as* forgive therefore, and I forgive; give, and I give.

VERS. 3.-- *That thou makest account of him?* [n: (AUG.)] Great is that which God esteems, and holds of such worth that for it he gave his Son, for whom he even becomes bread, who is the bread of angels: for God does not so esteem man as man does, who buys a horse more dearly than a man.

VERS. 4.-- *He is become like to vanity: his days [1067D] as a shadow.* [n: (ID.)] When man was created, he was made like [sic: *simlis*] to truth [sic: *veriteti*]; like to vanity by sinning. All transitory things are vain, in comparison with the truth that ever abides. [n: (CAS.)] That is vain which, falling away from its own substance, vanishes: as smoke, as a shadow. So man himself also wastes away, whence he adds, *His days,* that is, his notorious life, that is, his transitory life, so passes away as a shadow.

VERS. 5.-- *O Lord, bow down.* [n: (AUG.)] The humble David, in the person of the Church, full of grace, presuming upon God, fighting here calls upon the help of God. As if: we are in a wrestling, but let us not fail. *O Lord, bow down.* [n: (CAS.)] *O Lord.* He discloses the same thing, etc., *as far as* and the form of God took upon it the form of a servant.

[1068A]VERS. 7.-- *Send forth the hand.* [n: (CAS.)] He turns his words to the Father: *Send forth the hand,* that is, Christ; *from on high* where he is with the Father, that he may put on flesh. [n: (AUG.)] Or he treats of the second coming in the person of the Church. As if he should say: So do now. *Send forth thy hand from on high,* that is, Christ from heaven unto judgment. For the Lord shall come in the voice of an angel, and in the trumpet of God he shall descend from heaven. Then in the person of the Church he adds: *Take me out,* namely, by that hand. *And deliver,* etc., as in the letter.

VERS. 9.-- *O God, I will sing to thee a new canticle.* [n: (CAS.)] The second part, where, as though he whom he was entreating had come as victor and deliverer, he promises to sing to him in the New Testament and in the Old: and he prays to be delivered by him from those who think beatitude to lie in earthly things. [1068B] *A canticle.* [n: (AUG.)] By this other name he signifies the law, which he signified by the five stones.

VERS. 10.-- *With the sword.* [n: (AUG.)] Those which above he called waters, the same he here calls a sword; whence here also he adds what he added there: *And rescue me from the hand of strange children. Malignant.* Of which: *Their tongue is a sharp sword [n: (Psal. LVI)]*. There is also a kindly sword, of which the Lord says: *I came not to send peace, but the sword [n: (Matth. X)]*. This is the sword twice driven [cj: *actus*; read *acutus*, "sharpened"] [n: (Apoc. XIX)], mighty with either edge, namely of the Old and of the New Testament, by which all rottenness is cut away from the members of Christ.

VERS. 12.-- *Whose sons.* Here he sets forth who the strangers are, and what their right hand of iniquity is, and in what manner they have spoken vanity. [n: (AUG.)] He enumerates their felicity: [1068C] this is their right hand, this is the vanity which they speak, while they call these things beatitude. [n: (CASS.)] *Whose sons.* Or, mystically these things can be understood from that place, etc., *as far as* but they have sprouted with new errors.

*Daughters.* [n: (CASS.)] Which have not the strength of constancy.

*Decked out.* Not beautiful by nature, but decked out by men. These daughters are the thoughts or the preachings of those who have not the true Church, but a likeness of it.

VERS. 13.-- *Storehouses.* Hearts made for divers things: whence they breathe out the worst belchings, which stink.

*From this into that.* Unstable, because they have not the root [1068D] of truth.

VERS. 14.-- *Their sheep fruitful.* According to the letter, because he wishes to show that they cleave to perishable things. As if he should say: Their flock is fruitful, while they themselves are barren in faith; whence mystically their disciples, these are the fruitful sheep, because they themselves beget many others in error. *In the goings out.* Not in the goings in, because all the good which they seem to have goes out from them, who are soon to perish. *Oxen.* Not I labour [cj: *laboro*; read *labore*, "with labour"] lean, but fat with idleness, like those who abound in riches, him [cj: *eum*; read *cum*, "whereas"] they themselves are fasting from truth. Or mystically, oxen, the masters, abound in earthly things. *The fence.* Which are of stones alone in gardens but or in vineyards; nor does it itself fall down for them, therefore they are prosperous.

[n: (CAS.)] *Neither passage, nor cry,* turbulent, [1069A] interrupts their quiet, etc., *as far as* which leads to death.

VERS. 15.-- *Blessed.* He does not blame them on this account, because they abound in these things, but because they hold them for a right hand, that is, for beatitude: and this is the vanity which they have spoken. In these Abraham also, and Isaac, and Jacob abounded. Happiness is a left hand, that is, temporal, mortal.



## PSALM CXLIV.

VERS. 1.-- *Praise, for David himself.* [n: (CAS.)] This psalm contains briefly the things which in the divine Scriptures are spread abroad at large, etc., *as far as* lest any should be able to err in his praise:

[n: (AUG.)] God fills the saints with the Holy Spirit, etc., [1069B] *as far as* and therefore let his spirit in his servants praise him, because he makes himself to be praised.

[n: (CAS.)] As there are seven psalms of penance, so also seven spirits, according to that sacrament wherein the Lord commanded Moses to set seven lamps in the tabernacle, shining with perpetual light.

*I will extol thee.* [n: (CAS.)] First the prophet promises endless praise; secondly, he says that all shall accomplish the praise of God in nine ways, there, *Generation and generation;* thirdly, he explains the same at greater length, there, *compassionate.*

*For ever and ever.* [n: (CAS.)] He who does not begin here shall be dumb in the world to come.

VERS. 2.-- *Every day,* etc. [n: (ID.)] He who here every day does so, shall deserve in the eternal day to praise with continual exultation.

[1069C] [n: (AUG.)] He blesses now *every day,* that, when the one day without ends [cj: *fines*; read *fine*, "without end"] shall have come, he may go from praise to praise, as from virtue to virtue. *For ever, and for ever and ever.* [n: (CAS.)] Of which praise elsewhere: *They shall praise for ever and ever [n: (Psal. XXXVIII)]*, because they will always love him whom they will always see, since nothing is more delightful than that vision.

VERS. 3.-- *Exceedingly.* [n: (CAS.)] In one word he has given us to consider that which cannot be fully grasped: and therefore never cease from praises.

VERS. 4.-- *Generation and generation.* [n: (CAS.)] Secondly, he promises that all shall accomplish the praise of God in nine ways. *Thy works.* [n: (AUG.)] If we fail in his greatness, let us at least praise the worker from his works, the founder from the things founded, the creator from his creatures. [n: (CAS.)] [1069D] Nine are the works: power, magnificence, holiness, wonders, strength, the greatness of terrible things, memory, justice, which shall be explained hereafter: from these, as from topics and seeds, all praise is drawn, in the manner in which all arguments are taken from a small number of topics. *And thy power.* [n: (AUG.)] For works do not praise, save that they may announce the strength of the worker. But certain eloquent men praise the creature, forgetful of the Creator. But holy praisers, if they love the works, praise the worker the more: and on account of these they love him. If in things made there is felt any beauty, usefulness, strength, it is the more praised in him who made it. If thou praisest the works, thou praisest thyself also, who art the work of God. And this occurs: *Let not thy own mouth praise thee, lest thou [1070A] seem arrogant [n: (Prov. XXVII)]*. [var: Vulg. Prov. 27:2 *Laudet te alienus, et non os tuum ; extraneus, et non labia tua*, "Let another praise thee, and not thy own mouth"] But it is not arrogance, because thou praisest God in thee, not thyself.

VERS. 6.-- *And the power.* If he did not threaten, there would be no correction [sic: *corectio*]; but if he did not allure, there would be no exhortation. He is therefore both lovable and terrible. They shall declare therefore the power of him that disciplines and punishes, if they preach the eternal kingdom, they do not keep silent concerning the eternal fire.

VERS. 7.-- *They shall belch forth the memory of the abundance of thy sweetness.* [n: (AUG.)] He himself through his abundant sweetness is first mindful of us, by calling us, by preventing us with his grace, and thence we of him.

*They shall belch forth,* he says, not, they shall eat.

[n: (AUG.)] He eats who learns, he belches forth who teaches: yet he belches forth that which he eats. This memory, because it is exceeding sweet, is to be eaten and to be belched forth. So then [1070B] eat, that thou mayest belch forth.

VERS. 8.-- *Compassionate and merciful.* [n: (CAS.)] Thirdly he explains at greater length the things which in the second place he set forth briefly. As if: Deservedly in these things they shall praise, because *compassionate,* etc. The parts of praise are set down here which were set down above, but they cannot be explained one by one: for who could fully explain his works or his power? [n: (AUG.)] *Compassionate and merciful.* To those to whom he has given that pardon. *Patient.* To those to whom he has not yet given it, but waits that he may give it.

VERS. 9.--[n: (CAS.)] *Tender mercies.* He begins from the works, that he may be called compassionate while he restores the fallen. *Merciful,* by nature, even while he creates. *Patient,* this he takes from the second topic of praise, namely from power, which he praises, not because he has hung the lands, restrained the seas, painted the heavens with stars, etc., but because he bears with [1070C] sinners, that they may be converted. *And his tender mercies.* [n: (AUG.)] For if thou takest away thy evil works, and there remain in thee nothing but his works, his mercy will not let thee go: but if thou dost not let go thy own works, his severity will be upon thy works, when he shall say: *Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire [n: (Matth. XXV)]*. [var: Vulg. Mt 25:41 *Discedite a me maledicti in ignem aeternum*, "Depart from me, ye cursed"]

VERS. 10.-- *Let all thy works confess to thee, O Lord.* [n: (AUG.)] Let them praise as do those things which have not the sense of praising, which are the matter of praise: because while thou inquirest, thou findest a great power in them, which is from God.

*And thy saints.* [n: (CAS.)] Everything that is confesses either by itself, or through rational creatures. Or the saints, that is, angels and men. This concerning holiness: for this is the holiness of God, that the saints should owe him confession.

[1070D]VERS. 11.-- *The glory of the kingdom.* [n: (ID.)] It is taken therefore from the wonders. As if: How wonderful is he who made heaven and earth, and filled them with divers good things.

VERS. 12.-- *That known.* [n: (ID.)] This is taken from the power of terrible things, etc., *as far as* to whom, being magnificent, nothing is compared.

VERS. 13.-- *Thy kingdom,* etc. [n: (ID.)] He praises from the perpetuity and the effect of dominion. And this is taken from greatness: if it is great to rule for a time, it is greater to have no term of dominion.

*The Lord is faithful in all.* [n: (ID.)] This is taken from the abundant sweetness; whence above: *The memory of the abundance of thy sweetness. Faithful,* because his coming fulfilled the gifts. To abundance also belongs [1071A] that he lifts up those who fall, raises up the crushed; whence the remembrance of sweetness is had, and is belched forth in his praises.

VERS. 14.-- *Who fall down.* [n: (CAS.)] From their own evils, all of whom God lifts up. Or, from these temporal things, as the saints do, like Job, who lose something in the world and are made abject, and are falling: but all these he confirms, because seven times the just man falls and rises again; but the wicked are weakened in evils [n: (Prov. XXIV)].

*And he lifts up all that are cast down.* [n: (AUG.)] Those belonging to him, because he resists the proud.

VERS. 15.-- *The eyes of all hope in thee, O Lord.* [n: (ID.)] He treats of justice at greater length, that he who hears of the merciful one may fear the just one: and it belongs to justice that he should satisfy those who hope, bodily or spiritually. For food is not always to be given, but in due season: [1071B] for to many who ask it is wholesomely deferred. *And thou givest them their food in due season.* [n: (ID.)] The physician therefore gives the sick man what is fitting, etc., *as far as* blessing God at all times.

VERS. 16.-- *Thou openest the hand.* [n: (ID.)] Although sometimes thou dost not give, yet thou givest opportunely: thou deferrest indeed, thou dost not take away.

VERS. 17.-- *Just.* [n: (CAS.)] By the very name he discloses justice, that it may be manifestly shown that this praise is concerning justice. *Ways* are dispositions and wills, which are all just, even if he scourges.

*In his ways, and holy in all* [sic: *omnibns*] *his works.* It is to be known that *Ways* pertain to disposition, works to effect: these are divided according to us. But with him, to will is the same as to do: because [1071C] from his will things have their being.

VERS. 18.-- *He is near to all that call upon him.* [n: (CAS.)] Propitious, who is everywhere, and this concerning justice.

VERS. 19.-- *He will do the will of them that fear him.* (ID.) He concludes concerning justice: for it is just both to keep those who love him and to destroy sinners.

VERS. 21.-- *Praise.* [n: (CAS.)] All things having been expounded, there follows a brief conclusion, in which he concludes that which cannot be explained.



## PSALM CXLV.

VERS. 1.-- *Alleluia.* [n: (CAS.)] This voice, as it were saving musics [cj: *musicas*; read *musica*, "a saving music"], like a heavenly harmony, which delights not men only but angels also, setting forth the praise of God. And it is fitly prefixed to this psalm, [1071D] where the just man exhorts his soul to the praise of God: because in adversities the soul is sometimes troubled, whether it will or no. Whence above: *Why art thou sad, O my soul, and why dost thou disquiet me?* But that he may take away her disquiet, he suggests joy out of hope, if not out of the thing itself: *Hope in God,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] This soul, lifted up by hope, praises God here. [n: (CAS.)] First, he counsels himself, as it were all men, to praise, lest prayer be made among vain things; and as though acquiescing in the counsel, he affirms that he will praise there where he shall be able to praise fully. Secondly, he admonishes others not to hope in man, there: *Trust not.* Thirdly, he teaches that all hope is to be placed in the Almighty, there: *Blessed,* etc.

VERS. 2.-- *Praise the Lord, O my soul.* But [1072A] it is asked, by whom, and to whom, is this counsel given? If it be said that the flesh counsels the soul, this does not seem to be true, since counsel is wont to be given by the better and the worthier to the inferior: but the flesh is inferior to the soul. For the soul, although it be blamed because it is a sinner, is nevertheless called better by nature than the body that is praised in its own kind, because a spiritual nature excels the body, which it moves, rules, endows with sense, and apprehends: and being itself unbounded, it is near to the substance of God. So gold, blamed because it is foul, surpasses lead in purity, praise [cj: *laudatio*; read *laudato*, "that is praised"]: so too a bad man surpasses the best of horses. Counsel therefore is not given to the soul by the flesh, however greatly it be subdued and made peaceable: which nevertheless is dead because of sin. Nor yet does the mortal flesh counsel the immortal soul, because it is always beneath the soul; but the higher part of the soul, [1072B] that is, the mind, which thinks upon the divine wisdom, cleaving to it and sighing after it, sees certain of its own parts troubled by the motions of the world, and hurried away to outward things by the desire of earthly goods: whence it calls it back to things inward and higher. Exhorting itself therefore according to its sensuality, it says: *Praise the Lord, O my soul.* For what pleases thee in this world? Divided among so many loves of the things of the ages, gather thyself to thy Author: here is peace and security for thee. Then the soul answers the mind, as one weighed down here and not able to leave off, as is meet. *I will praise in life.* Here in death I shall praise but thinly, because the body *is a load upon the soul, and the earthly habitation presseth down the sense that thinketh upon many things [n: (Sap. IX)]*; here hope feeds us, life is in the world to come.

*In my life.* [n: (CAS.)] When I shall have cleaved to him perfectly, from [1072C] whom to be parted, as now befalls, is death: but hope consoles, in which, living after a sort, it praises.

*As long as.* Not that at some time he shall not be, because he shall be for ever, and therefore truly long.

VERS. 3.-- *Trust not,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] The second part. The counsel being given and confirmed, where he shall be able to praise fully, he admonishes them, as though set far off, and in the meantime while evils last (by which the soul is troubled), not to hope in man, but in God. [n: (AUG.)] Or, as one set in mind at the end of the world: he teaches them not to love things soon to end in place of things eternal; as if by my example also, *trust not,* etc. *In the children of men.* [n: (ID.)] In one son of man is salvation, and in him do ye hope. Not because he is a son of man, but because he is the Son of God. Not for that which he took from thee, but for that which he kept in himself.

[1072D]VERS. 4.-- *His spirit shall go forth,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] First he cleanses hearts by forbidding what is hurtful, that afterward he may aim at what is saving by admonishing to wholesome things.

VERS. 5.-- *Blessed is he whose God is the God of Jacob.* [n: (CAS.)] The third part, where he teaches that the whole hope is to be placed in the Almighty, whom he describes from his works, that the Gentile world, so often confuted, may be still. [n: (AUG.)] Hurtful things being removed, he teaches what belongs to salvation, namely, in whom hope is to be placed. *His helper is his hope.* [n: (CAS.)] Of that Jacob himself he was so the helper, etc., *as far as* that is, of this true Jacob, as of that one.

VERS. 6.-- *Who made heaven and earth.* [n: (ID.)] Because the worshippers of demons also have hope in their god, he determines in whom hope ought to be, that is, in Christ, and this [1073A] he shows even to the end of the psalm, describing him through all things. *All things that are in them.* Lest thou think any other to be the creator, or that there exists a creator even of the smallest things.

VERS. 7.-- *Who keepeth truth for ever.* [n: (CAS.)] Christ, who is the truth; every man is a liar. *He executeth judgment.* These two pertain to justice. Christ the judge avenges those who suffer for his name, and gives food to them that love him. *For them that suffer wrong.* [n: (AUG.)] Not every trouble is a wrong. What thou sufferest by right is not a wrong, as is that which the robber and other wicked men suffer. It is one thing therefore to suffer wrong, another to suffer punishment. For a man suffers punishment by right, but wrong is contrary to right.

VERS. 8.-- *The Lord looseth them that are fettered.* [n: (CAS.)] This [1073B] belongs to the abundance of his sweetness.

*The Lord lifteth up them that are cast down.* Whom the devil casts down, the Lord lifts up.

*He loveth the just.* [n: (CAS.)] Whom he sets in eternal blessedness.

VERS. 9.-- *The fatherless and the widow he will receive.* [sic: *suseipiet*] [n: (AUG.)] The whole Church of the Gentiles is come as a stranger to the fathers, a daughter not by flesh but by imitation.

*The fatherless* are all who are in pilgrimage, whose father is absent; and every faithful soul is a *widow* while the bridegroom is absent: whence they desire the more both the father and the bridegroom, and God protects them, not seen but desired.

VERS. 10.-- *The Lord shall reign for ever.* [n: (CAS.)] This is of his magnificence.

[1073C]He shall reign in us when our hearts shall be firm in him, which is not yet.



## PSALM CXLVI.

VERS. 1.-- *Alleluia.* [n: (AUG.)] Here likewise he speaks of the praise of God, where the prophet admonishes men to praise him that gathers Israel.

*Praise ye the Lord.* [n: (CAS.)] First he shows whom he gathers, and in what manner. Secondly, after these things, he rebukes them as still doubting and wavering, showing whence they may be able to praise God, namely if they shall have been humble, there, *Sing praise.--Praise ye the Lord.* [n: (AUG.)] This is said to all the Gentiles. And as though we should ask in what manner we shall praise, he brought forward the cause of praise, *for a psalm is good.* [n: (CAS.)] In the praise of God the act itself is the reward which shall be in time to come; therefore is he to be praised, because [1073D] he builds up, and thus, because *the dispersions* [sic: *disper iones*] *of Israel,* that is, of the faithful, out of the whole world at the end of the age he *shall gather* into his kingdom. And here is praise from his wonderful works. [n: (AUG.)] This is the whole reward of them that praise, etc., *as far as* let us for the present be exercised in this praise of good works.

*Let it be pleasant to our God,* etc. It is not enough to sing psalms unto this end, that praise may please God, but there is need that we please him also by cleanness of life.

VERS. 2.-- *The Lord buildeth up Jerusalem.* [n: (AUG.)] Or, he has taken *Jerusalem* for the Church universal, etc., *as far as* whom the Father sent to redeem our captivity by the price of his blood.

VERS. 3.-- *And he bindeth up.* From the likeness of a physician, etc., *as far as* and the Lord binds up their bruises. [n: (HIER.)] [1074A] Even as that Samaritan who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho [n: (Luc. X)], when he saw the wounded man lying in the way, bound up his wounds. But concerning those who have not bruised their heart it is said by Isaias: *There is no plaster to lay on, nor oil, nor bandages [n: (Isa. I, secundum LXX)]*. The bandages of God are the sacraments of time, by which for the present we have consolation; and these shall then be taken away when health shall be perfect.

VERS. 4.-- *Who numbereth the multitude of the stars, and calleth them all by their names.* [n: (CAS.)] Not strange names, as the astrologers who name Jupiter and Venus. Or, figuratively, of the saints, because to each he gives his proper gift; or, all are in his familiarity, from the likeness of a lord who knows the names of his own household servants.

[1074B]VERS. 5.-- *Of his wisdom,* etc., [n: (AUG.)] The measure itself, and the number and the weight, etc., *as far as* see what follows, *but humbling sinners.*

VERS. 6.-- *But humbling sinners.* [n: (AUG.)] For they who find fault with things intelligible, therefore savour of earthly things, thinking bodily concerning the incorporeal God. These things he does to those who wish to mock the law before they know it. Because therefore it is a great thing to advance to things intelligible and spiritual, let us be meek, let us knock and do that which follows.

VERS. 7.-- *Sing praise.* So shall a man come to understanding, so shall the image be reformed unto God. *Sing praise.* [n: (CAS.)] Secondly, out of the things aforesaid he rebukes and urges them as still wavering, showing whence they may be able to understand, if they be humble and not proud. As if to say: And that ye may be able [1074C] to understand, *sing praise,* etc.

VERS. 8.-- *Who covereth the heaven.* [n: (CAS.)] He calls to mind the works through which his power is shown. For unto this end he willed certain things in the Scriptures to be obscure, that the servants of God might have somewhat which by interpreting they should pour upon the ears and hearts of men, who receive from the clouds of God the fatness of spiritual gladness.

*To the service of men.* To the preachers, who serve men. Whence the Apostle says: *But we ourselves your servants through Jesus Christ [n: (II Cor. IV)]*. [var: Vulg. 2 Cor. 4:5 *nos autem servos vestros per Jesum*, "your servants through Jesus"] These sow spiritual things and receive from *the high ones of the world hay and grass,* that is, temporal things.

VERS. 9.-- *And to the young of the ravens.* [n: (AUG.)] For all things that are given to the Church by the rich are hay.

[1074D] [n: (ID.)] The Jews, who called themselves alone just and all the Gentiles sinners. And truly our fathers were *ravens,* but we do not so remain: yet rightly are we called, and are, the young of ravens. The raven calls not upon God, but we being let go do call. [n: (CAS.)] The young of ravens are said to feed upon dew, and by the benefit of their age they know not their fathers' food, that is, the stench of carcasses: so the innocent children of the pagans, who call upon God.

VERS. 10.-- *In the legs of a man.* In the composed bearing [cj: *In composito*; read *Incomposito*, "in the uncomposed bearing"] of the presumptuous and bold. For by a bold man he denotes a presumptuous one. In the legs is noted an uncomposed gait, *in the legs of a man.* Or, according to another reading, *in the tabernacles of a man,* that is, in the conventicles of heretics, *shall it be well pleasing to him.* Note that he says not [1075A] in the tabernacles of God, but *of a man,* thereby designating the boldness of heretics.

VERS. 11.-- *Upon them that fear him,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] He joined hope to fear, because fear avails not without hope of pardon: for Judas, fearing but despairing, hanged himself with a halter. He therefore that fears God, let him hope also in him. And thou shalt appease him if thou hope in his mercy, and for the rest so beware of sinning that for things past thou entreat that they may be forgiven thee.



## PSALM CXLVII.

VERS. 12.-- *Alleluia.* This psalm works the love of the Jerusalem to come. It is said to be of Aggeus and Zacharias, who in the captivity prophesied the restoring of Jerusalem, which, as Jeremias foretold, was accomplished after seventy years, [1075B] that is, after the rolling round of the whole of time, which is carried on in seven days.

*Praise, O Jerusalem.* [n: (CASS.)] This whole psalm proclaims the power of God. First, it tells the good things of the Jerusalem to come; secondly, it tells what good things are given here to the saints, there: *Who sendeth forth.* [n: (AUG.)] The prophet, being as yet set in captivity, etc., *as far as* we who have heard him thus pouring it forth.

VERS. 13.-- *He hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates.* [n: (AUG.)] Note that the door is shut, the prudent virgins being admitted and the foolish shut out, so that now none may go out or come in. And fitly after the admonition to praise he subjoins concerning the shut gates: for with the gate of Jerusalem shut she praises securely, because none has gone out for whom she should grieve; none comes in whom she should fear, whence scandals should be.

VERS. 14.-- *With the fat of corn.* [n: (ID.)] With the bread that came down from heaven: [1075C] in the world he is shut up in flesh, known by faith alone; then shall he be seen as he is.

VERS. 15.-- *Who sendeth forth his speech.* The second part subjoins what gifts are given here to the elect, through which the truth of that which is to come may be known.

*To the earth.* [n: (AUG.)] That he may be known on earth. For unless to send [cj: *mittere*; read *mitteret*, "he were to send"] his word to the earth, by which we are weighed down and hindered from our returning, we should not be lifted up to the fat of corn that satisfies. For in the earth, where we labour weary, faint, sluggish, cold, that is, in the desert, he forsakes us not, but manna: *who sendeth forth his speech,* etc.

*Swiftly runneth.* [n: (AUG., CASS.)] Or even unto swiftness, that is, from God, so that it is swiftness itself, than which nothing could be said more choicely or more expressly.

He says not that the word is swift, that it be swift with a swiftness [1075D] of which it partakes more or less: but than swiftness itself, whereby all other things are called swift, nothing is swifter. And again, that which is swift, as a horse is swift to a man, is not so everywhere: but swiftness itself is everywhere, it is not in a part. To the Word of God it belongs not to be in a part, but to be everywhere through himself. This is that wisdom *which reacheth from end to end mightily,* yet not by motion of place, but by immobility. And of the spirit of wisdom also it is said, *driven, moveable, sure, undefiled;* this swiftness effects, that it be both always everywhere, and nowhere held shut in. But who is sufficient to think upon these things? Yet there is hope of laying hold of the Word, because he has predestinated us.

VERS. 16.-- *Who giveth snow,* etc. [n: (AUG.)] To the earth. For charity growing cold, etc., *as far as* and while he calls these [1076A] to penance, *he scattereth mist like ashes.*

[n: (ID.)] *He scattereth mist like ashes,* etc. Ashes pertain to penance, etc., *as far as* and who has predestinated and has called to penance. According to the letter: God scatters snow like wool, mist like ashes, he makes crystal like morsels of white bread. For crystal is a certain kind of thing after the manner of glass, but it is white: and it is said to be snow hardened by ice through many years, so that it cannot be dissolved.

*His crystal,* etc. That is, the obstinate, who are not dissolved easily as snow is.

VERS. 17.-- *He sendeth as morsels,* etc. Otherwise, *as crumbs of bread,* that they may feed others, that they may preach the truth which they assail. All together, one bread; singly, [1076B] morsels; whence: *Being many, we are one bread in Christ [n: (I Cor. X)]*. [var: Vulg. 1 Cor. 10:17 *unus panis, unum corpus multi sumus*, "one bread, one body, we being many"] Paul was crystal, hard and shining: hard, because he persecuted the Church; shining, because he was skilled in the law. But God dissolved him, and he was made bread, who taught the truth. But unless he dissolve,

*Before the face of him, of God, who shall stand?* Otherwise, shall subsist. [var: Vulg. Ps. 147:6 *ante faciem frigoris ejus quis sustinebit*, "before the face of his cold who shall stand?"] [n: (AUG.)] It is cold when he forsakes, calls not, pours not in grace: and who else shall dissolve it? None. Whence the Apostle: *Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? [n: (Rom. VII.)]* As if he said: I grow cold, none dissolves me, unless the grace of God *send forth his word.*

VERS. 18.-- *He shall send out his word, and shall melt it.* [n: (CASS.)] For when the word of God comes, neither cold, nor darkness, nor hardness can despair. For they are melted healthfully, and pour out streams of spiritual benefit [1076C] to others whereof they may drink, according to that saying: *All you that thirst, come to the waters [n: (Isa. LV)]*.

[sic: VERS. 16.]-- *Jacob . . . Israel.* [n: (AUG.)] Or the same thing is signified by Israel, etc., *as far as* because he was not sent but *to the sheep that were lost of Israel [n: (Matth. XV)]*. [var: Vulg. Mt 15:24 *domus Israel*, "of the house of Israel"]

*His judgments.* [n: (ID.)] Judgment begins at the house of God, etc., *as far as* subjoining three other psalms of praise, that in this work the graces of the Trinity may shine forth.

## PSALM CXLVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Praise ye the Lord from the heavens.* [n: (CASS.)] By the mention of a few he exhorts the whole creation to praise God. There are certain things which [1076D] have a spirit of praising God in that affection wherewith God pleases them: certain have no understanding, but because they themselves are good in their own order, and are referred to the beauty of the whole, they praise not of themselves, but by them God is praised through those that consider them: and so after a sort they praise, because from them the praise of God is born in us, whereto the prophet here admonishes us.

VERS. 5.-- *For he spoke, and they were made.* [n: (CASS.)] This against those who say that the world is coeternal with God; there follows: *He commanded.* By his word, and they were created. First he said, *made,* afterward *created.* For make we also can, but not create. He therefore alone creates, which is proper to the Godhead. Praise from his works

[1077A]VERS. 6.-- *He hath established.* From his power he is almighty, whose works are not changed.

*Unto the age, and unto the age of the age.* [var: Vulg. Ps. 148:6 *Statuit ea in aeternum, et in saeculum saeculi*, "he hath established them for ever, and for ages of ages"] [n: (CAS.)] And though the heaven be new, yet they are said to be well established by God, which are made new through Christ and remain bettered. And here is praise from his power.

VERS. 7.-- *Praise ye the Lady [cj: *Dominam*; read *Dominum*, "the Lord"].* The second part, where, the heavenly things being enumerated, he descends to earthly things. Turning therefore to them, as exhorting us that by the consideration of them we may praise God, which things considered lay open the praise of God, he says: O ye that are of the earth. *All ye deeps.* [sic: *ubyssi*] [n: (AUG.)] The depth of the waters, etc., *as far as* these therefore, that is, he exhorts us to praise by the consideration of them.

VERS. 8.-- *Which do his word.* This therefore [1077B] because it seemed to certain men that God ruled the higher things, but despised these lower ones, and that they were ruled by chance; but these also God does, and in these least things he is praised, and alleluia is sung.

VERS. 13.-- *Confession.* [n: (CAS.)] Above he spoke first of heaven, afterward of earth; here of all together. And he takes by heaven all higher things, and by earth all lower things. [n: (AUG.)] *His confession above heaven and earth.* All things confess him in themselves or in others; the beauty of all things is the voice of them that confess, in those who consider them, that is, let those who consider praise him, both from earthly and from heavenly things, than which there is nothing better.

VERS. 14.-- *He hath exalted the horn of his people.* [n: (ID.)] Behold what Aggeus and Zacharias prophesied. Now the horn of his people is lowly [1077C] in tribulations, but when the Lord shall come, it shall be exalted.



## PSALM CXLIX.

VERS. 1.-- *Alleluia.* [n: (CAS.)] After all the creatures which in the foregoing psalm he admonished to praise God, for that they were created by him, here more properly and more especially he invites Israel to a new canticle for the newness wrought in it, which is the more wonderful working of God: this is the sanctification of Israel, whereby out of the old it was made new.

*Sing ye to the Lord,* etc. [n: (CAS.)] First in many ways he admonishes them to praise the King who is kind and bountiful [sic: *benficus*] to them. Secondly he treats of the joys of the saints, there, *They shall rejoice.* [n: (AUG.)] He that would sing this canticle, let him love things eternal, [1077D] that he may be made new. For the old man sings an old canticle of earthly things. The new man sings a new one of spiritual things; a canticle, namely, of peace, a canticle [sic: *eanticcum*] of charity and of gladness. For whosoever follows the old animosity, and not the new charity, sings not a new canticle.

*His praise in the Church.* [n: (CAS.)] Here he determines where and by whom this canticle ought [sic: *debat*] to be sung.

VERS. 2.-- *In their king.* [n: (ID.)] That is, in Christ, who is king and priest. [n: (AUG.)] As king he fought for us from the cross, overcoming the devil: as priest, he offered himself for us, finding nothing in men that he might offer for them.

VERS. 3.-- *In choir.* [n: (ID.)] Because there is no dispersion, [1078A] but a most dear unity; then shall the rejoicing be of the timbrel and the psaltery, not the act of the thing itself.

VERS. 4.-- *For the Lord is well pleased.* [n: (ID.)] In the first framing of things we read that all things pleased God, etc., *as far as* or when he shall make them equal to the angels.

VERS. 5.-- *The saints shall rejoice.* [n: (ID.)] The second part, where he treats of the joys of the saints and of their power. *In glory.* It is the frequent praise of good deeds, wherein the just rejoice in their beds, that is, in their conscience, therefore because they have so good a Lord, who gives grace to sinners and eternal life upon their merits. The fool rejoices without, in the tales of men; to the saints this is the manner of joy, that good things be referred to him who gave them.

VERS. 6.-- *Exaltations.* [n: (ID.)] The strength and power of God is preached in the glory of the saints. In their beds, [1078B] in the divers mansions, is the glory of the saints. Whereof the Lord says: *In my Father's house there are many mansions [sic: *mahsiones*]. [n: (Joan. XIV.)]*

*In the throat.* They who in heart and in tongue cease not to praise him from whom they have things eternal.

*Swords.* Receiving the power of the word of God, they shall judge with the Lord, sitting upon twelve seats; and then shall truly be wrought *vengeance and rebuke among the peoples,* then shall the kings of the earth be bound: whence it is free for us to go out [cj: *nos*; read *non*, "not"]. And the nobles shall bear iron fetters, as heavy to carry, and such as cannot be broken: and so shall be wrought the judgment written, that is, approved by the angels. Whereof the Apostle: *Know you not* [sic: *Neseitis*] *that we shall judge angels? [n: (I Cor. VI.)]* And lest thou think that the apostles alone judge, he adds, *this glory,* that is, the power of judgment, is to all [1078C] his saints, that is, to the perfect, who for Christ left all earthly things.

[n: (AUG.)] *The exaltations of God in the throat.* For so do they rejoice in their beds and in their throats, that is, in heart and tongue, that they ascribe not to themselves that they are good, but to God, from whom they received what they are, and hope for that which they are not yet.

VERS. 8.-- *To bind.* With these bonds of the commandments and precepts of God are bound the kings of the Gentiles, the nobles of the world, by the weak and contemptible of this world, whom the Lord chose that he might confound all the strong things; and he filled these same with the Holy Ghost, and gave them two-edged swords, that they might turn the hearts of nobles to the fear of Christ, and that, worldly nobility [1078D] being despised, they might choose poverty and nobility in Christ. For he willed to profit the emperor by a fisherman, not the fisherman by an emperor.

[n: (AUG.)] By these he binds kings and nobles in iron [sic: *ferrcis*] fetters, that they should not go forward to unlawful things.

## PSALM CL.

VERS. 1.-- *Praise ye the Lord.* [n: (CAS.)] Of the praise of God in his saints, who being glorified praise him without end. The city of God is admonished, that is, the unity of all the saints, to sing with mouth and with mind. In this is all psalmody brought to its summit, which is sung with nuptial sweetness.

*Praise ye him in his firmament.* [n: (AUG.)] There is power in [1079A] the firmament, etc., *as far as* who, honouring one another, give praise to God.

[n: (CAS.)] To whom the prophet in the beginning showed the form of their conversation, now, being received into that Jerusalem, he says that in them God is to be praised, who gave all things. *In the firmament,* because by his own death he overcame the devil, and led believers to heaven. In his powers or mighty acts, because all things are subject under his feet.

VERS. 2.-- *According to the multitude of his greatness.* How is this, since of his greatness there is no end? but this is said to the spiritual and to the saints. And since there is no end of his greatness, he is praised according to it. God, since he is praised without end. But in what manner he ought to be praised, he tells by mystical similitudes even to the end of the psalm: let *the trumpet* sound loud to the King, let *the psaltery* sing [1079B] to God: *the harp* with the rest to the Bridegroom. For the trumpet is terrible, and is either taken up in war, or made ready at the coming of kings; the psaltery sounds from above, the harp from below: all these things, being compared to human acts, are there said figuratively to sound forth the praises of God.

VERS. 4.-- *On strings and organ.* [n: (CAS.)] *Strings* he puts for every musical instrument which sounds by the stretching of strings. *The organ* is as it were a tower framed of divers pipes, sounding by the blast of bellows; and that thou mightest take all these [1080A] things of men, he comes to the mouth of man: and expounding what it is to praise *on strings and organ* he subjoins.

*Praise ye him on cymbals,* etc. *Cymbals* well sounding are our lips, which being tuned to the heart sound well in the praises of God, wherein is the likeness of cymbals, and they render a harmony, and therefore are they rightly among musical instruments. [n: (CAS.)] Cymbals well tinkling are very small bowls of mingled metals, which render a shrill sound. But because he would have all things understood spiritually, he concludes with a fitting end:

VERS. 6.-- *Let every spirit,* angelic and human, *praise the Lord.* Not flesh and blood, not the habit of the world: but that which is more sublime in the nature of things, [1080B] which savours of heavenly things, which lays hold of things eternal. A brief and perfect knowledge, that all things should praise God spiritually; in these is the perfection of all music. For there is breath in the trumpet, striking in the harp and in the cymbals, voice in the choir. By which musical instruments is signified the spiritual harmony, which is perceived not by the ears, but by a pure mind.

[n: (AUG.)] There are three kinds, etc., *as far as* it is the voice of life eternal: *Let every spirit praise the Lord.*
