Father Noel Alexandre's Literal Commentary on 1 Peter 1:3-9

ARGUMENT FOR PSALM 26

Argument and Title Common to All Psalms of David Before He Was Anointed

In this psalm the prophet discusses the security of Christ and other virtues received through divine unction, namely concerning fortitude and constancy against the adversities and various temptations of this world which cannot tear him away from goodness. Meanwhile he promises himself the future glory of heaven. And therefore according to the sacred gloss it is divided into two parts: First indeed he treats of what concerns the unction of grace; after this, truly, concerning what pertains to celestial glory. The author expounds it first according to the literal sense, then allegorically concerning Christ.

Exposition of the Title

Ps 27:1.  The psalm of David before he was anointed

For this psalm has this title prefixed: "At the end, a psalm of David before he was anointed." For the understanding of this, it should be known that it is written in the Book of Kings that David was anointed three times: First in the house of his father as a sign of the future king; Second at Hebron over the tribe of Judah; Third over all the people of Israel. Similarly, a Christian is anointed three times: in baptism, in which he receives the pledge of the Holy Spirit; Second in confirmation; Third in extreme unction. Therefore this psalm is titled concerning David before his second anointing. For the second anointing pertains to the present. Therefore the sense of the title is: the psalmist directing us to the end, that is, to blessed consummation, and it is fitting for Christ and for any faithful person before they are anointed the second time, that is, before they arrive at the homeland of beatitude in which the blessed are anointed by the Holy Spirit. For just as David after his first anointing had the greatest persecutions from Saul and others, after his second anointing from Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and even after the third from his own son Absalom, so the Christian after the anointing of baptism suffers much from the demon, the world, and the flesh until he receives the anointing of confirmation, and even then is still harassed by various satellites of the demons, the sons of pride, until the last of his life; then indeed he will lack tribulations when he arrives at the celestial anointing. In this psalm he demonstrates how the man of God ought to suffer in the present exile, against which at the beginning of the psalm he introduces the strongest arms, namely the elevation of mind into God, confidence in His goodness, and memory of God's benefits. He says therefore:

Literal Exposition

Ps 27:1 cont."The Lord is my illumination" - that is, the illuminator of my soul, illuminating me with natural and gratuitous light, or with the gifts of nature and grace, illuminating my reason lest it err, lest it be deceived, lest it sin. Micah says: "When I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light and my salvation" - that is, the Lord Himself is the object and cause of my salvation, the giver and preserver of all my perfection and grace. Therefore "whom shall I fear?" - no one except the Lord my God alone, because as the Apostle says: "If God is for us, who is against us?" And if He illuminates, who will darken? If He saves me, who will be able to condemn me? Therefore Solomon says: "The just is as confident as a lion, he shall be without fear." "The Lord is the protector of my life" - that is, defender from those things which would harm the spiritual life of my soul, which also through angelic custody protects us from adversities of mind and body, if not from all on account of our demerits, yet from many on account of His clemency. Since therefore it is so, "of whom shall I be afraid?" - as if to say: I will not fear the impugnation of demons, nor of the world, nor of the flesh. These things, however, are to be understood concerning inordinate fear, that is, carnal, human, and purely servile. For whose mind is fixed in God and by the gift of fortitude is made firm in Him, fears nothing, knowing most certainly that God is present to him everywhere and being prepared to endure all things which God commands or permits to happen to him or to be inflicted upon him; indeed, he rejoices in adversities, just as the apostles who went away rejoicing from the council because they were counted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus. Nor is this surprising, since it is a great gift of the Most High to suffer for justice, as the Apostle testifies: "It has been granted to you by Christ not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for Him." Therefore let us not be saddened in adversities and reproaches and injuries.

Ps 27:2. "When the wicked approach against me to eat my flesh" - while the malicious rise up against me 

so treacherously and strongly attacking me as if they ought to devour my flesh. As the Apostle says: "If you bite and devour one another, see that you are not consumed by one another." Therefore neither will I tremble when evildoers approach against me, and this because "those who trouble me," that is, my enemies, namely demons, unjust men, "they themselves have been weakened" by the virtue of Christ's passion and by angelic protection which prohibits them from attacking as much as they wish. Wicked men also, the more they strengthen their hearts against justice, the more they are weakened from grace, being more subject to vices and to demons and weak against every good. "And my enemies have fallen" - the aforementioned enemies have been conquered by me through grace, because I resisted temptations and did not depart from God on account of adversities. This verse can and should be said to the glory of God by one who knows that he has conquered the snares of the adversary of his salvation through the grace of God; thus hoping in the Lord from his former triumph, let him not be afraid henceforth to advance in the way of justice, but trusting that with the Lord's help he will prevail against those who tempt and persecute, let him say what follows:

Ps 27:3. "If camps should stand against me" - that is, demons tempting and persecuting me, "my heart will not fear" to be conquered by them or separated from Christ, because of the firmness of hope and charity which I have in Christ Jesus. This is what the Apostle says: "I am certain that neither angels, nor principalities, nor powers will be able to separate us from the charity of God which is in Christ Jesus." When he introduces angels and other powers, it is certain that he means demons. Therefore in this place by "camps" sacred scripture means demons, while sometimes "camps" means holy angels. As it is written: Jacob met the angels of God, whom when he saw he said: "These are the camps of God." And likewise: "Many are the camps of the Lord, strong and doing His word." Concerning these camps it is said below: "Bless the Lord, His angels, mighty in strength, doing His word."

"If war should rise up against me" - if persecution, "I will hope" in such a case I will not fail but will trust in God. Therefore Job also says to the Lord: "Set me beside You, and let anyone's hand fight against me." And in the Gospel Christ says: "When you hear of wars and seditions, do not be terrified."

Ps 27:4. "One thing I have asked of the Lord." According to the property of the Hebrew idiom, pronouns are made substantive in the feminine gender, just as among the Latins in the neuter. Therefore when he says "one," the sense is one thing or one matter. Therefore: one thing I have asked from the Lord, from whom all good things proceed, and I will not cease to ask until He opens to one who knocks. And what this one thing is that is asked, he shows by adding: "That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life" - that is, that in name and in truth I may be a member of the Church militant and may remain among the faithful, living well and persevering until the end.

"That I may see the delight of the Lord" - that is, that I may understand and observe His precepts. "And may visit His temple" - that is, the mother Church herself, hearing the divine office. Or: may visit His temple in mind in the celestial realms according to hope and desire, as the Apostle says: "Our conversation is in the heavens." Or thus: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, that is, in the kingdom of heaven after the present exile, that I may see the will of the Lord and may know it perfectly and without danger may see what pleases the Lord, so that in these things I may obey His will perfectly, just as the holy angels now do, and may visit His temple, that is, may approach Him incessantly and may see and speak with Him as with a most dear friend and may possess Him without end. God is the temple of Jerusalem, the city above. As John says: "I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God and the Lamb are its temple."

Ps 27:5. These things I confidently pray for: "He has hidden me in His tabernacle in the evil day" - in the time of tribulation and temptation already running, He has hidden me in the faith and unity of the Church from my adversaries, so that they may not find me consenting to their works or belonging to their number, nor may they find me bodily to persecute. Therefore he adds: "He has protected me from the snares of these" - that is, of demons and wicked men - "in the secret place of His tabernacle" - that is, in the congregation of the Church, that is, in the devout prayer of the faithful for one another, as James says: "Pray for one another that you may be saved." The devout congregation of the faithful praying for one another out of internal charity rightly calls the hidden tabernacle of God, which flows from affection known to God alone and must be done in secret, because Christ taught: "You, when you enter your chamber and close the door, pray to the Father in secret."

These prayers of the faithful He defends and helps. Therefore it is to be greatly abhorred to be excommunicated, indeed to be in mortal sin, since charity alone makes the congregation of saints. "On a rock" - that is, in the faith of Christ, concerning which the Apostle says: "The rock was Christ."

Ps 27:6. "And now He has exalted me" - giving me, through the faith and grace of Christ, to despise earthly things and faithfully cling to celestial and divine things. "And now in the present life He has exalted my head" - that is, my reason, which is the principal power of the soul, "above my enemies" - giving me victory over temptations and to conquer invisible and visible enemies. This befits good faithful ones, especially those who for Christ have left all things and fight in the cloister under the rule of the gospel. Thus the Lord says: "Whoever wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." To such Christ says: "Do not fear, little flock, because it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom."

"I have gone around and have immolated in His tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation." One walks around in the circuit of the impious. Now truly in the person of the just man he says: "I have gone around." There is therefore a certain evil circuit and a certain good one. A circuit is a gyration of created things, but the wicked gyrate in created things in such a way that they rest in them with love and delight and establish their end in them. The good, however, circumspectly go around them, referring the knowledge of them to the glory of the Creator, whom alone they finally intend and love. In this manner therefore he now asserts: "I have gone around" - that is, I have examined visible things to know the invisible God from them; indeed, I have considered all created things as far as I was able, so as from them to attain to knowledge of the Creator. "And I have immolated in His tabernacle" - that is, in the chamber of my soul - "a sacrifice of jubilation" - that is, a sacrifice of affectionate or lofty prayer, as it says below: "Immolate to God a sacrifice of praise." And elsewhere: "Say to the Lord: Take away all iniquity, and we will render the calves of our lips" - that is, the praises and thanks of our mouth will we immolate to You.

"I will sing and I will praise and I will say a psalm to the Lord" - that is, in work I will glorify Him and confess Him. For to sing is to praise with voice alone; but to say a psalm is to venerate and proclaim God by good actions. Finally, after the commemoration of God's benefits and his own good, he returns again to imploring divine mercy, because he ought to pray without ceasing, and the more man advances, the more he desires to advance and the more frequently and sweetly he prays; indeed, praying leads incessantly to prayer.

Ps 27:7. "Hear, O Lord, my voice with which I have cried to You" - the prayer which I ardently sent to You. "Have mercy on me" - forgiving my sins, "and hear me" - granting the desired perfection. "My heart has said to You" - that is, my understanding has spoken with You, offering to You the desire of my soul, just as most devout Anna recalls: "Now Anna spoke in her heart, only her lips moved but her voice was not heard at all." Whence Christ says: "True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth."

Ps 27:8. "My face has sought You" - that is, You alone has my mind sought and to find and possess You from other things, so that my faith, which is the face and eye of my soul, since I dispose and refer every created thing known to me and my works to You as to the ultimate end. Therefore is added: "Your face, O Lord" - that is, the clear knowledge of You, indeed to behold You Yourself in person - "will I seek" incessantly to obtain. This face, just as in tribulation and anguish, Moses sought when he said to the Lord: "If I have found grace in Your sight, show me Your face, that I may know You." This most exalted face, in which is the fullness of all delights, we cannot see in the present, just as God responded to Moses: "You cannot," He says, "see My face. For man shall not see Me and live." Therefore we ought to desire and always long for this face and minister to the Lord with a pure mind, so that running this way we may merit to see God as He is, and with Him thus seen, nothing more can be desired.

Ps 27:9 But that I may obtain, O Lord, I pray: "Do not turn away Your face from me" - that is, do not decline the aspect of Your mercy or the protection of Your grace from me. "In anger" - that is, by denying grace, which He calls anger in this place - "do not depart from Your servant. Be my helper, O Lord" - cooperating with me that I may finally acquire beatitude, "do not leave me in tribulation and anguish, and do not despise me, O God my Savior," who saves me.

Behold how burning and fervent are all these words, which nevertheless one includes another; indeed, the fervor of one inflames to the affectionate pronouncing of another.

Ps 27:10. "For my father and my mother" - that is, my carnal progenitors - "have forsaken me" - being indignant with me because I left them and abandoned the world to serve You. Or: "my father and my mother" - that is, my first parents, namely Adam and Eve - "have forsaken me" - leading upon me original sin and the various penalties following from that sin. "But the Lord has taken me up" - by His mercy, hearing me and preserving me in Himself. Or: the Lord has taken me up, putting on my nature, being made man.

Ps 27:11. "Set, O Lord, a law for me in Your way." Why does he ask this? Has not the law already been set for us which we should observe, both natural and divine? What therefore does he ask when he says "set a law for me, O Lord," unless that the divine law, although set for all, may be so set before the eyes of his heart through the grace of God that he may actually weigh and fulfill it? Therefore he says: "Set, O Lord, a law" - set Your law in my memory that I may walk "in Your way and direct me in the right path" - in the observance of Your precepts which are just and right, and do this "because of my enemies" - that is, so I may escape the snares prepared for me by them.

Ps 27:12 "Do not deliver me into the souls of those who trouble me" - into the power and evil will of the devil and of malignant men, that I may conform to them in feeling. And I pray this "because unjust witnesses have risen up against me" - namely, the aforementioned troublers who endeavor to deceive me by lying, who are unjust witnesses because they affirm and counsel false things and strive to seduce me under the appearance of good. And if I do not consent to them, nevertheless they do not cease to accuse me falsely. But truly this deceives them, not me, for it harms them but cooperates for my glory, provided I do not consent to them. This is what he says: "And iniquity has lied to itself" - that is, the depravity of their heart has deceived them.

Ps 27:13 "I believe with faith formed and unshaken to see the good things of the Lord" - which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has the heart of man conceived - "in the land of the living" - that is, in the kingdom of heaven, which is called land because it is a quiet and permanent place, just as the lower earth which does not move but, as sacred scripture testifies, stands forever. Because of this hope and because of this faith, I bear all things equanimously, because the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with that glory.

But lest the difficulty of attaining this beatitude break anyone, he adds consolingly: "Wait for the Lord" - hoping with long-suffering, "act manfully" - doing whatever you know pleases God, because great will be the reward of your work. "And let your heart be strengthened" - through the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit against all the adversities of this world and the temptations of demons, "and endure the Lord" - amid prosperity and adversity, and do not be wearied in your mind.

This most sweet verse ineffably consoles and strengthens every soldier of Christ, truly a laborer who strives to serve God with fear and reverence. Therefore, O servant of Christ, wait for the Lord: "He will appear at the end and will not lie; if He delays, wait for Him, because He will surely come and will not tarry." Whence James admonishes: "Take as an example of long-suffering and patience, brothers, the prophets. Behold, we count them blessed who have endured. You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord."

Ps 27:14. Finally, "act manfully," for the Apostle exhorts: "My beloved brothers, be steadfast and abound in the work of the Lord, always knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." "Let your heart be strengthened," for the Lord says: "Behold, I command you: be strong and very courageous. Do not fear and do not be afraid, because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

Lastly, "endure the Lord," so that you may say with Job: "Even if He should kill me, I will hope in Him."

This verse puts sloth to flight, inflames charity, instructs in long-suffering, induces stability, expels all torpor, diffidence, pusillanimity and desperation from one who serves God with fear and reverence.