EXPOSITION ON PSALM 112
Alleluia of the conversion of Haggai and Zechariah
Since the word Alleluia has already been placed by itself many times, let us see what is to be understood by the addition of these names. Haggai and Zechariah were prophets who, after the Babylonian exile, prophesied under King Darius long after the events celebrated in this psalm. For when they returned to Jerusalem, their homeland, and saw the Temple being rebuilt, they poured forth the praises of the Lord with great rejoicing. In a similar way, this psalm is recognized as being woven together by the letters of the complete alphabet, like golden rules, and it is fitting that after the remission of sins a Christian, now made perfect, should sing it with joyful eagerness. The words "of the conversion of Haggai and Zechariah" appear in some Greek translations and the Vulgate.
Remember also that for the instruction of the faithful this is the fourth psalm: for it shows, after the liberation from sins, how great are the goods of the faithful and what recompense awaits the unfaithful.
Division of the Psalm
Throughout the entire psalm the prophet speaks.
In the first section, by way of admonition, he shows what the blessed man does and how great the goods he merits by the grace of the Lord; this section contains six letters.
The second section signifies the coming of the Lord the Savior, through whom men are made eternally blessed, transformed from sinners and impious persons; this division is known to contain thirteen Hebrew letters.
In the third part, he testifies that the opposite fate befalls the impious; this part contains the remaining three letters.
Psalm 112 employs an acrostic structure based on the Hebrew alphabet, with each verse beginning with successive letters of the aleph-bet (aleph and bet are the first two letters of the Hebrew Alphabet). This alphabetic framework creates a complete poetic unit—the acrostic runs from aleph through taw, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which symbolically encompasses the totality of the psalm’s message. (This not was generated by my Verbum Bible Software).
Exposition of the Psalm
Ps 112:1 – ALEPH, BETH
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord; he greatly delights in His commandments (manuscripts A, B, F: he delights exceedingly).
In various ways the blessed man is brought before us, lest his desire be neglected through any dissimulation. For it is fitting that we frequently reflect in our mind on the source from which we are proven worthy to rejoice eternally. But since no blessedness exists under worldly fear—which rather makes men miserable—it is clear that no eternal joys are found except those prepared by the fear of the Lord. For under His urging we desire what can make us blessed.
Thus it follows: he greatly delights in His commandments, which through fear of the Lord it is certain can be attained, when, loving the Lord, we fear lest He make us strangers to His kingdom. Blessed therefore is the one who fears the Lord, and so forth.
This is the twelfth definition, which in Greek is called κατ’ ἔπαινον (“according to praise”), and in Latin per laudem.
Ps 112:2 – GIMEL, DALETH
His offspring shall be mighty upon the earth; the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
Now the rewards of the one previously mentioned are described. But the Lord Himself foretells that the humble are most pleasing to Him; therefore His just ones are called poor. Let us ask in what way they are said to become mighty, when here they are proven to be despised. Clearly, it is in that realm where the saints shall reign with the Lord, where neither human riches nor temporal honors make one powerful, but contemplation of the Lord and unending praise. This alone is true power: one that infirmity does not follow, but that happiness preserves because it has deserved to be.
Offspring signifies works—those things which are sown in this world like seeds, so that the fruit of the future harvest may grow. The generation of the upright is rightly said, not of flesh, but of imitation: it is known to be propagated by likeness of deeds. Hence the devil too is said to have sons, namely sinners, to whom it was said: You are of your father the devil (John 8:44).
Ps 112:3 – HE, VAU
Glory and riches are in his house, and his righteousness remains forever and ever.
The description of the blessed man’s rewards continues. The house of the blessed is the secret of the mind, where whoever fulfills the commandments of the Lord stores holy riches and everlasting treasure. That glory has no end; those riches do not perish through wicked seizure, but come from the commandments, and therefore whatever is acquired is preserved with integrity.
Thus it follows: and his righteousness remains forever and ever. It is called the righteousness of man, but it is bestowed by God. Though righteousness is a general name, it becomes personal when, by divine dispensation, a gift is granted to each individual. And lest anyone think blessedness is merely temporal, he adds: it remains forever and ever.
Up to this point the goods of the blessed man have been described; now it is declared from where blessedness itself arises, lest desire be stirred without also showing its cause.
Ps 112:4 – ZAIN, HETH
Light has arisen in the darkness for the upright in heart: the Lord is merciful, compassionate, and just.
He comes now to the second admonition, in which the first coming of the Lord is signified—the coming that made the blessed and condemned the proud for their iniquity. This coming of the Lord is described wondrously: a light came that surpasses every light. And to make it more striking, he adds in the darkness—not the darkness caused by the absence of the sun, but that which is darkened by the presence of sins.
These darknesses are inward, where the worldly sun cannot reach; they are driven away by that Light which conquered death and crushed sin. But since it is said for the upright in heart, the perverse are shown to be separated from this light.
It follows: merciful and compassionate and just is the Lord. Few words indeed, but embracing the actions of all rational creatures. For those who confess find mercy (manuscripts A, B, F: mercy), while those who despise Him will without doubt endure judgment.
Ps 112:5 – TETH, JOD
Good is the man who shows mercy and lends; he will order his words with judgment.
“Good” is said not so much as pleasing to men as acceptable to God. He shows mercy, that is, he gives to the needy. He lends, however, is one who lends to those in need while hoping for nothing in return in this world, as the Gospel says: Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who wishes to borrow from you do not turn away (Matthew 5:42). For this too is no small reward: to rescue one in danger in the present and faithfully to receive back only the amount of money lent.
This may also be understood in another way: that showing mercy—that is, giving to the poor—appears as lending, when a man gives temporal things in order to receive eternal ones. And although both seem to belong to works done by hand, he does not command mercy only in money or lending only to those who hope to receive, but in every benefit by which the destitute are known to need help. Therefore we must eagerly do everything that can aid another.
It follows: He will order his words with judgment. The ordering of words signifies an untroubled and tranquil order, expressed with sound reasoning. For when the master of the household comes, one will say: Lord, you gave me five talents; behold, I have gained five more (Matthew 25:20). He therefore orders his words in judgment who proves that he has doubled the gifts of the Lord—not like the one who buried his talent through barren caution and harmful stinginess.
This can also apply to one who, having searched the divine Scriptures by the Lord’s gift, either keeps them in unfruitful silence or spreads them with devout will.
Ps 112:6 – CAPH, LAMED
For he will never be shaken; the just man will be remembered forever.
He gives the reason why the just man orders his words in judgment: namely, because he will never be shaken, that is, he will in no way be separated from the glory of the Lord. It follows: the just man will be remembered forever. He will indeed be in eternal memory, because he is called to a reward. To the impious, on the other hand, it is said: I do not know you (Luke 13:25). Therefore, just as those appointed for punishment are said to pass out of memory, so these, destined to receive blessedness, are said to be in the memory of the Lord.
Ps 112:7 – MEM, NUN
He will not fear evil tidings; his heart is prepared to hope in the Lord.
By evil tidings he means that which the impious will hear: Depart into everlasting fire (Matthew 25:41), and the rest. Such a sentence seems evil to those who are punished with just severity, although it is fitting that the Lord’s judgment is always just. And lest you think the blessed merely escape harmful punishments, he adds: his heart is prepared to hope in the Lord. They who trample the allurements of the world with divine help will receive His promises, to whom He Himself will say: Come, you blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (ibid., v. 34).
The heart is placed for the disposition of a right mind, which without hesitation knows how to seek the promised goods.
Ps 112:8 – SAMECH, AIN
His heart is strengthened; he will not be shaken, until he looks upon his enemies.
O holy ordering and sacred governance! Because the heart of the blessed man was prepared to hope in the Lord, it is consequently said: his heart is strengthened. For one who is filled with that delight despises all passing things. The heart of the just man is strengthened when it is softened by no worldly prosperity and, seeing the power of sinners here, waits rather for their downfall.
In this world he must see his enemies powerful, so that there he may behold them humbled. But since here we see our enemies as fleshly beings who contend with us in adversity, spiritual wickednesses are also meant—those we do not fully see here, but which we shall certainly recognize at that judgment. And when it says until he looks upon his enemies, it is to be understood: humbled—whom the Creator then makes appear broken, so that they may be objects of scorn rather than fear.
Ps 112:9 – PHE, SADE, COPH
He has scattered, he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever and ever; his horn shall be exalted in glory.
This sentence pertains to that dominical precept: If you wish to be perfect, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and come, follow me (Matthew 19:21). This is the scattering that happily gathers; this is the giving that purchases the kingdom of heaven. Whoever does this works righteousness, because he fulfills the commandments of the Lord, and in this he always remains, since from that eternal Author he receives everlasting gifts.
It follows: his horn shall be exalted in glory. The horn is often used for power, as has frequently been said, as the prophet Daniel testifies: The four horns are four kingdoms (Daniel 7:17). How necessary it is that those be exalted there who here seemed cast down by devout humility!
Up to this point he has spoken of the goods of the blessed; now he concludes the psalm with the affliction of the impious.
Ps 112:10 – RES, SIN, TAU
The sinner shall see and be angry; he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the desire of sinners shall perish.
After describing the blessed and their rewards, in the third part he marks the envy of sinners. This figure is called a paradigm, whenever we are exhorted by the goods of the blessed and deterred by the examples of the wicked. This structure is found in all psalms that speak of the formation of the blessed, though it also appears elsewhere and is clearly present in the first psalm.
He will be angry, that is, with himself—because he did not wish to restrain himself from wickedness. For they see, and will see, that they once presumed upon fleeting glory and passing power, while others receive blessedness that will never end. Their anger is just indignation, true but unprofitable at the time of vengeance. For they could have avoided anger there, had they here turned their wrath against their own vices.
It follows: he will gnash his teeth and waste away. The sinner and the envious man are described as wavering in their malice, retaining the evil of their anger but no longer able to harm anyone. For here he was unjustly stirred to injure another; there he is justly angered against himself, because he is punished for his own malice. Thus Isaiah also says: There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord (Isaiah 56:21).
His gnashing accomplishes this: that his force wastes away, that his fury fails—he now bites himself with his own teeth. Thus it is clear that the psalms are varied with diverse sweetness: the sinner is chastised by his own pain, exacting from himself the torments which here he compelled the innocent to endure.
He added: the desire of sinners shall perish, namely, because just as the desires of the blessed, planted in the kingdom of the Lord, will flourish, so the desires of sinners, cut down, will wither away.
Conclusion of the Psalm
How beautifully, as the alphabet descends, this blessed man is described, so that both his deeds and his rewards are recounted together. Who would not believe himself to behold what holy truth promises? But may He Himself grant us to receive what He has already allowed us to hear. For this alphabet, by which this song is completed, undoubtedly pertains to the perfection of wisdom—through which both understanding of divine things is attained and the fault of ignorance is avoided, lest human weakness be unable to endure the labor of learning.
CONTINUE
Comments
Post a Comment