Chapter 103

A free rain... the manna, which rained plentifully from heaven, in favour of God's inheritance, that is, of his people Israel: which was weakened indeed under a variety of afflictions, but was made perfect by God; that is, was still supported by divine providence, and brought on to the promised land. It agrees particularly to the church of Christ his true inheritance, which is plentifully watered with the free rain of heavenly grace; and through many infirmities, that is, crosses and tribulations, is made perfect, and fitted for eternal glory.

67:11. In it shall thy animals dwell; in thy sweetness, O God, thou hast provided for the poor.

In it, etc... That is, in this church, which is thy fold and thy inheritance, shall thy animals, thy sheep, dwell: where thou hast plentifully provided for them.

67:12. The Lord shall give the word to them that preach good tidings with great power.

To them that preach good tidings... Evangelizantibus. That is, to the preachers of the gospel; who receiving the word from the Lord, shall with great power and efficacy preach throughout the world the glad tidings of a Saviour, and of eternal salvation through him.

67:13. The king of powers is of the beloved, of the beloved; and the beauty of the house shall divide spoils.

The king of powers... That is, the mighty King, the Lord of hosts, is of the beloved, of the beloved; that is, is on the side of Christ, his most beloved son: and his beautiful house, viz., the church, in which God dwells forever, shall by her spiritual conquests divide the spoils of many nations. The Hebrew (as it now stands pointed) is thus rendered, The kings of armies have fled, they have fled, and she that dwells at home (or the beauty of the house) shall divide the spoils.

67:14. If you sleep among the midst of lots, you shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and the hinder parts of her back with the paleness of gold.

If you sleep among the midst of lots (intermedios cleros, etc.)... Viz., in such dangers and persecutions, as if your enemies were casting lots for your goods and persons: or in the midst of the lots, (intermedios terminos, as St. Jerome renders it,) that is, upon the very bounds or borders of the dominions of your enemies: you shall be secure nevertheless under the divine protection; and shall be enabled to fly away, like a dove, with glittering wings and feathers shining like the palest and most precious gold; that is, with great increase of virtue, and glowing with the fervour of charity.

67:15. When he that is in heaven appointeth kings over her, they shall be whited with snow in Selmon.

Kings over her... That is, pastors and rulers over his church, viz., the apostles and their successors. Then by their ministry shall men be made whiter than the snow which lies on the top of the high mountain Selmon.

67:16. The mountain of God is a fat mountain. A curdled mountain, a fat mountain.

The mountain of God... The church, which, Isa. 2.2, is called The mountain of the house of the Lord upon the top of mountains. It is here called a fat and a curdled mountain; that is to say, most fruitful, and enriched by the spiritual gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost.

67:17. Why suspect, ye curdled mountains? A mountain in which God is well pleased to dwell: for there the Lord shall dwell unto the end.

Why suspect, ye curdled mountains?... Why do you suppose or imagine there may be any other such curdled mountains? You are mistaken: the mountain thus favoured by God is but one; and this same he has chosen for his dwelling for ever.

67:18. The chariot of God is attended by ten thousands; thousands of them that rejoice: the Lord is among them in Sina, in the holy place.

The chariot of God... Descending to give his law on mount Sina: as also of Jesus Christ his Son, ascending into heaven, to send from thence the Holy Ghost, to publish his new law, is attended with ten thousands, that is, with an innumerable multitude of joyful angels.

67:19. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive; thou hast received gifts in men. Yea for those also that do not believe, the dwelling of the Lord God.

Led captivity captive... Carrying away with thee to heaven those who before had been the captives of Satan; and receiving from God the Father gifts to be distributed to men; even to those who were before unbelievers.

67:20. Blessed be the Lord day by day: the God of our salvation will make our journey prosperous to us.

67:21. Our God is the God of salvation: and of the Lord, of the Lord are the issues from death.

The issues from death... The Lord alone is master of the issues, by which we may escape from death.

67:22. But God shall break the heads of his enemies: the hairy crown of them that walk on in their sins.

67:23. The Lord said: I will turn them from Basan, I will turn them into the depth of the sea:

I will turn them from Basan, etc... I will cast out my enemies from their rich possessions, signified by Basan, a fruitful country; and I will drive them into the depth of the sea: and make such a slaughter of them, that the feet of my servants may be dyed in their blood, etc.

67:24. That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thy enemies; the tongue of thy dogs be red with the same.

67:25. They have seen thy goings, O God, the goings of my God: of my king who is in his sanctuary.

Thy goings... Thy ways, thy proceedings, by which thou didst formerly take possession of the promised land in favour of thy people; and shalt afterwards of the whole world, which thou shalt subdue to thy Son.

67:26. Princes went before joined with singers, in the midst of young damsels playing on timbrels.

Princes... The apostles, the first converters of nations; attended by numbers of perfect souls, singing the divine praises, and virgins consecrated to God.

67:27. In the churches bless ye God the Lord, from the fountains of Israel.

From the fountains of Israel... From whom both Christ and his apostles sprung. By Benjamin, the holy fathers on this place understand St. Paul, who was of that tribe, named here a youth, because he was the last called to the apostleship. By the princes of Juda, Zabulon, and Nephthali, we may understand the other apostles, who were of the tribe of Juda; or of the tribes of Zabulon, and Nephthali, where our Lord began to preach, Matt. 4.13, etc.

67:28. There is Benjamin a youth, in ecstasy of mind. The princes of Juda are their leaders: the princes of Zabulon, the princes of Nephthali.

67:29. Command thy strength, O God confirm, O God, what thou hast wrought in us.

Command thy strength.. Give orders that thy strength may be always with us.

67:30. From thy temple in Jerusalem, kings shall offer presents to thee.

67:31. Rebuke the wild beasts of the reeds, the congregation of bulls with the kine of the people; who seek to exclude them who are tried with silver. Scatter thou the nations that delight in wars:

Rebuke the wild beasts of the reeds... or the wild beasts, which lie hid in the reeds. That is, the devils, who hide themselves in order to surprise their prey. Or by wild beasts, are here understood persecutors, who, for all their attempts against the Church, are but as weak reeds, which cannot prevail against them who are supported by the strength of the Almighty. The same are also called the congregation of bulls (from their rage against the Church) who assemble together all their kine, that is, the people their subjects, to exclude if they can, from Christ and his inheritance, his constant confessors, who are like silver tried by fire.

67:32. Ambassadors shall come out of Egypt: Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God.

Ambassadors shall come, etc... It is a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles, and by name of the Egyptians and Ethiopians.

67:33. Sing to God, ye kingdoms of the earth: sing ye to the Lord: Sing ye to God,

67:34. Who mounteth above the heaven of heavens, to the east. Behold he will give to his voice the voice of power:

To the east... From mount Olivet, which is on the east side of Jerusalem.-Ibid. The voice of power... That is, he will make his voice to be a powerful voice: by calling from death to life, such as were dead in mortal sin: as at the last day he will by the power of his voice call all the dead from their graves.

67:35. Give ye glory to God for Israel, his magnificence, and his power is in the clouds.

67:36. God is wonderful in his saints: the God of Israel is he who will give power and strength to his people. Blessed be God.

Psalms Chapter 68

Salvum me fac, Deus.

Christ in his passion declareth the greatness of his sufferings, and the malice of his persecutors the Jews; and foretelleth their reprobation.

68:1. Unto the end, for them that shall be changed; for David.

For them that shall be changed... A psalm for Christian converts, to remember the passion of Christ.

68:2. Save me, O God: for the waters are come in even unto my soul.

The waters... Of afflictions and sorrows. My soul is sorrowful even unto death. Matt. 26.38.

68:3. I stick fast in the mire of the deep and there is no sure standing. I am come into the depth of the sea, and a tempest hath overwhelmed me.

68:4. I have laboured with crying; my jaws are become hoarse, my eyes have failed, whilst I hope in my God.

68:5. They are multiplied above the hairs of my head, who hate me without cause. My enemies are grown strong who have wrongfully persecuted me: then did I pay that which I took not away.

I pay that which I took not away... Christ in his passion made restitution of what he had not taken away, by suffering the punishment due to our sins, and so repairing the injury we had done to God.

68:6. O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my offences are not hidden from thee:

My foolishness and my offences... which my enemies impute to me: or the follies and sins of men, which I have taken upon myself.

68:7. Let not them be ashamed for me, who look for thee, O Lord, the Lord of hosts. Let them not be confounded on my account, who seek thee, O God of Israel.

68:8. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.

68:9. I am become a stranger to my brethren, and an alien to the sons of my mother.

68:10. For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up: and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

68:11. And I covered my soul in fasting: and it was made a reproach to me.

68:12. And I made haircloth my garment: and I became a byword to them.

68:13. They that sat in the gate spoke against me: and they that drank wine made me their song.

68:14. But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord; for the time of thy good pleasure, O God. In the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

68:15. Draw me out of the mire, that I may not stick fast: deliver me from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

68:16. Let not the tempest of water drown me, nor the deep water swallow me up: and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

68:17. Hear me, O Lord, for thy mercy is kind; look upon me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.

68:18. And turn not away thy face from thy servant: for I am in trouble, hear me speedily.

68:19. Attend to my soul, and deliver it: save me because of my enemies.

68:20. Thou knowest my reproach, and my confusion, and my shame.

68:21. In thy sight are all they that afflict me; my heart hath expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none: and for one that would comfort me, and I found none.

68:22. And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

68:23. Let their table become as a snare before them, and a recompense, and a stumblingblock.

Let their table, etc... What here follows in the style of an imprecation, is a prophecy of the wretched state to which the Jews should be reduced in punishment of their wilful obstinacy.

68:24. Let their eyes be darkened that they see not; and their back bend thou down always.

68:25. Pour out thy indignation upon them: and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.

68:26. Let their habitation be made desolate: and let there be none to dwell in their tabernacles.

68:27. Because they have persecuted him whom thou hast smitten; and they have added to the grief of my wounds.

68:28. Add thou iniquity upon their iniquity: and let them not come into thy justice.

68:29. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; and with the just let them not be written.

68:30. But I am poor and sorrowful: thy salvation, O God, hath set me up.

68:31. I will praise the name of God with a canticle: and I will magnify him with praise.

68:32. And it shall please God better than a young calf, that bringeth forth horns and hoofs.

68:33. Let the poor see and rejoice: seek ye God, and your soul shall live.

68:34. For the Lord hath heard the poor: and hath not despised his prisoners.

68:35. Let the heavens and the earth praise him; the sea, and every thing that creepeth therein.

68:36. For God will save Sion, and the cities of Juda shall be built up. And they shall dwell there, and acquire it by inheritance.

Sion... The catholic church. The cities of Juda, etc., her places of worship, which shall be established throughout the world. And there, viz., in this church of Christ, shall his servants dwell, etc.

68:37. And the seed of his servants shall possess it; and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

Psalms Chapter 69

Deus in adjutorium.

A prayer in persecution.

69:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David, to bring to remembrance that the Lord saved him.

69:2. O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.

69:3. Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul:

69:4. Let them be turned backward, and blush for shame that desire evils to me: Let them be presently turned away blushing for shame that say to me: 'Tis well, 'tis well.

'T is well, 't is well... Euge, euge. St. Jerome renders it, vah, vah! which is the voice of one insulting and deriding. Some understand it as a detestation of deceitful flatterers.

69:5. Let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee; and let such as love thy salvation say always: The Lord be magnified.

69:6. But I am needy and poor; O God, help me. Thou art my helper and my deliverer: O lord, make no delay.

Psalms Chapter 70

In te, Domine.

A prayer for perseverance.

70:1. A psalm for David. Of the sons of Jonadab, and the former captives. In thee, O Lord, I have hoped, let me never be put to confusion:

Of the sons of Jonadab... The Rechabites, of whom see Jer. 35. By this addition of the seventy-two interpreters, we gather that this psalm was usually sung in the synagogue, in the person of the Rechabites, and of those who were first carried away into captivity.

70:2. Deliver me in thy justice, and rescue me. Incline thy ear unto me, and save me.

70:3. Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a place of strength: that thou mayst make me safe. For thou art my firmament and my refuge.

70:4. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the sinner, and out of the hand of the transgressor of the law and of the unjust.

70:5. For thou art my patience, O Lord: my hope, O Lord, from my youth.

70:6. By thee have I been confirmed from the womb: from my mother's womb thou art my protector. Of thee I shall continually sing:

70:7. I am become unto many as a wonder, but thou art a strong helper.

70:8. Let my mouth be filled with praise, that I may sing thy glory; thy greatness all the day long.

70:9. Cast me not off in the time of old age: when my strength shall fail, do not thou forsake me.

70:10. For my enemies have spoken against me; and they that watched my soul have consulted together,

70:11. Saying: God hath forsaken him: pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.

70:12. O God, be not thou far from me: O my God, make haste to my help.

70:13. Let them be confounded and come to nothing that detract my soul; let them be covered with confusion and blame that seek my hurt.

70:14. But I will always hope; and will add to all thy praise.

70:15. My mouth shall shew forth thy justice; thy salvation all the day long. Because I have not known learning,

Learning... As much as to say, I build not upon human learning, but only on the power and justice of God.

70:16. I will enter into the powers of the Lord: O Lord, I will be mindful of thy justice alone.

70:17. Thou hast taught me, O God, from my youth: and till now I will declare thy wonderful works.

70:18. And unto old age and grey hairs: O God, forsake me not, Until I shew forth thy arm to all the generation that is to come: Thy power,

70:19. And thy justice, O God, even to the highest great things thou hast done: O God, who is like to thee?

70:20. How great troubles hast thou shewn me, many and grievous: and turning thou hast brought me to life, and hast brought me back again from the depths of the earth:

70:21. Thou hast multiplied thy magnificence; and turning to me thou hast comforted me.

70:22. For I will also confess to thee thy truth with the instruments of psaltery: O God, I will sing to thee with the harp, thou holy one of Israel.

70:23. My lips shall greatly rejoice, when I shall sing to thee; and my soul which thou hast redeemed.

70:24. Yea and my tongue shall meditate on thy justice all the day; when they shall be confounded and put to shame that seek evils to me.

Psalms Chapter 71

Deus, judicium tuum.

A prophecy of the coming of Christ, and of his kingdom: prefigured by Solomon and his happy reign.

71:1. A psalm on Solomon.

71:2. Give to the king thy judgment, O God, and to the king's son thy justice: To judge thy people with justice, and thy poor with judgment.

71:3. Let the mountains receive peace for the people: and the hills justice.

71:4. He shall judge the poor of the people, and he shall save the children of the poor: and he shall humble the oppressor.

71:5. And he shall continue with the sun and before the moon, throughout all generations.

71:6. He shall come down like rain upon the fleece; and as showers falling gently upon the earth.

71:7. In his days shall justice spring up, and abundance of peace, till the moon be taken away.

71:8. And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

71:9. Before him the Ethiopians shall fall down: and his enemies shall lick the ground.

71:10. The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents: the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts:

71:11. And all kings of the earth shall adore him: all nations shall serve him.

71:12. For he shall deliver the poor from the mighty: and the needy that had no helper.

71:13. He shall spare the poor and needy: and he shall save the souls of the poor.

71:14. He shall redeem their souls from usuries and iniquity: and their names shall be honourable in his sight.

71:15. And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Arabia, for him they shall always adore: they shall bless him all the day.

71:16. And there shall be a firmament on the earth on the tops of mountains, above Libanus shall the fruit thereof be exalted: and they of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth.

A firmament on the earth, etc... This may be understood of the church of Christ, ever firm and visible: and of the flourishing condition of its congregation.

71:17. Let his name be blessed for evermore: his name continueth before the sun. And in him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed: all nations shall magnify him.

71:18. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone doth wonderful things.

71:19. And blessed be the name of his majesty for ever: and the whole earth shall be filled with his majesty. So be it. So be it.

71:20. The praises of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.

Are ended... By this it appears that this psalm, though placed here, was in order of time the last of those which David composed.

Psalms Chapter 72

Quam bonus Israel Deus.

The temptation of the weak, upon seeing the prosperity of the wicked, is overcome by the consideration of the justice of God, who will quickly render to every one according to his works.

72:1. A psalm for Asaph. How good is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart!

72:2. But my feet were almost moved; my steps had well nigh slipped.

72:3. Because I had a zeal on occasion of the wicked, seeing the prosperity of sinners.

72:4. For there is no regard to their death, nor is there strength in their stripes.

72:5. They are not in the labour of men: neither shall they be scourged like other men.

72:6. Therefore pride hath held them fast: they are covered with their iniquity and their wickedness.

72:7. Their iniquity hath come forth, as it were from fatness: they have passed into the affection of the heart.

Fatness... Abundance and temporal prosperity, which hath encouraged them in their iniquity: and made them give themselves up to their irregular affections.

72:8. They have thought and spoken wickedness: they have spoken iniquity on high.

72:9. They have set their mouth against heaven: and their tongue hath passed through the earth.

72:10. Therefore will my people return here and full days shall be found in them.

Return here... or hither. The weak among the servants of God, will be apt often to return to this thought, and will be shocked when they consider the full days, that is, the long and prosperous life of the wicked; and will be tempted to make the reflections against providence which are set down in the following verses.

72:11. And they said: How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?

72:12. Behold these are sinners; and yet, abounding in the world they have obtained riches.

72:13. And I said: Then have I in vain justified my heart, and washed my hands among the innocent.

72:14. And I have been scourged all the day; and my chastisement hath been in the mornings.

72:15. If I said: I will speak thus; behold I should condemn the generation of thy children.

If I said, etc... That is, if I should indulge such thoughts as these.

72:16. I studied that I might know this thing, it is a labour in my sight:

72:17. Until I go into the sanctuary of God, and understand concerning their last ends.

72:18. But indeed for deceits thou hast put it to them: when they were lifted up thou hast cast them down.

Thou hast put it to them... In punishment of their deceits, or for deceiving them, thou hast brought evils upon them in their last end, which, in their prosperity they never apprehended.

72:19. How are they brought to desolation? they have suddenly ceased to be: they have perished by reason of their iniquity.

72:20. As the dream of them that awake, O Lord; so in thy city thou shalt bring their image to nothing.

72:21. For my heart hath been inflamed, and my reins have been changed:

72:22. And I am brought to nothing, and I knew not.

72:23. I am become as a beast before thee: and I am always with thee.

72:24. Thou hast held me by my right hand; and by thy will thou hast conducted me, and with thy glory thou hast received me.

72:25. For what have I in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth?

72:26. For thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away: thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever.

72:27. For behold they that go far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that are disloyal to thee.

72:28. But it is good for me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the Lord God: That I may declare all thy praises, in the gates of the daughter of Sion.

Psalms Chapter 73

Ut quid, Deus.

A prayer of the church under grievous persecutions.

73:1. Understanding for Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast us off unto the end: why is thy wrath enkindled against the sheep of thy pasture?