Title and Introduction
Declaring that this psalm's title is: "Of David," and what this great marvel signifies.
1,2 A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. This title is clear to those who know the history from the Second Book of Kings, Chapter 11, where it is narrated how David committed adultery with the wife of Uriah; and afterwards, namely after Uriah's death, when David took her as his wife, then Nathan came.
David, recognizing the crime he had committed, grieved most vehemently, and from heartfelt penitence wrote this psalm: in which (in his own person, or that of any penitent) he speaks most affectionately. He prays humbly, he pours forth most ardent words. For so great is the virtue and dignity of this psalm that the tongue fails in its praise.
Verse 1: "Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy"
Therefore he says: "Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy." O saving word! O unique counsel! O singular refuge! When a sinner does not know what to do, what to begin, where to turn, this one consolation remains for him, a safe refuge and most prudent counsel: to say "Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy."
When oppressed by the weight of his own crimes, when terrified by the excess of his ingratitude, when he melts away at the multitude and magnitude of his sins, this alone remains: to say "Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy." For it is written: "When we know not what to do, we have only this recourse, that we direct our eyes to thee."
Finally, two things especially must be considered by the penitent, indeed by any pilgrim praying: namely, his own misery and divine mercy. Insofar as from consideration of his misery he hastens to prayer, humbles himself and accuses himself; but from consideration of God's mercy he takes breath, takes hope of pardon, and invokes God with incessant confidence.
For if a sinner, weighing the enormity of his vices, considers only divine justice, he may despair rather than pray: as happened to Cain, who said, "My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon"; and to Judas the betrayer, who when he had said, "I have sinned in betraying innocent blood," went away and hanged himself, and fell headlong.
Nevertheless, the sinner must consider divine justice, that he may know he deserves punishment and fear; also divine power, that he may know he cannot escape or resist; and divine wisdom, that he may know he cannot hide. But since from consideration of these things nothing is instilled in the guilty conscience except horror and grief, it remains that he turn to God's mercy alone, and from contemplating it conceive consolation and confidence.
Therefore the sinner, placing himself in the sight of the Supreme Judge who inspects all things, and shuddering at the enormity of his sins, considering also that he cannot endure the rigor of divine justice, nor can anything hide from the eye of divine wisdom, nor can he resist divine power—fleeing to the mercy alone of his most merciful Creator, let him say: "Have mercy on me, O God": that is, since I am miserable and you are merciful, therefore have mercy on me, by compassion not indignation; by forgiving, not avenging; by helping, not abandoning.
Do not show in me the power of your justice, lest I become a vessel of dishonor or wrath unto destruction; but show the abyss of your clemency, that I may be a vessel of mercy unto salvation. Do not enter into judgment with your servant, nor repay me according to my sins; but since I am very miserable (for sins make the sinner miserable), and you are very merciful, therefore "Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy": which, since it is immense, infinitely exceeds all my misery. Just as the greatness of the sea absorbs a drop of water as if it were nothing, so may the immensity of your mercy, O Lord, consume all my misery and delete it eternally.
Verse 1b: "And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my iniquity"
God is naturally merciful, and it is proper to him to show mercy and spare. Therefore it is written, "Because he alone is kind." The active mercy of God signifies God's mercy itself, according to which he actually shows mercy. And although God's mercy and his compassion are one and simple in God himself, yet God's mercies are said to be many and his compassions very many, on account of the diversity or multitude of their effects.
The meaning is: "According to the multitude of thy tender mercies," that is, according to the many ways and various helps by which you can show mercy: according to this, blot out my iniquity, since you can help in infinite ways and with unfailing aids. Moreover, mortal sin is never deleted unless grace is infused. Therefore by praying that his iniquity be blotted out, he implicitly requests that grace be infused into him.
Verse 2: "Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin"
Furthermore: "Wash me yet more from my iniquity," that is, through the infusion of your grace purify my soul from the stain it incurred by sinning, and grant me interior compunction and a fountain of tears, by which I may be washed from the filth of vices. "And cleanse me from my sin," by forgiving punishment and guilt, and adorning my mind with the brightness of graces and virtues. For sins defile and stain the soul, make it like the devil and unlike the Holy Trinity, and impede all good from your grace.
Verses 3-4: Personal acknowledgment of sin
"For I know my iniquity." I do not hide it, nor excuse myself, nor impute it to the demon or another, but I confess my sin. Since therefore the beginning of good things is the confession of evil things or recognition of sins, forgive me and begin and renew spiritual life in me.
"And my sin is always before me," that is, it always displeases me and I detest it. The meaning is: I always present it to my consideration and inspect it, that I may lament it.
Verse 4: "Against thee only have I sinned"
"Against thee only have I sinned": because every sin is in some way against your law; nor does sin against neighbor or oneself have the nature of sin except insofar as it originally contradicts or is discordant with the order of your wisdom and justice, since you are the measure, cause, and source of all holiness.
"And have done evil before thee," that is, in your presence and with you watching everything, I was not afraid to do evil: and in this my iniquity is aggravated, because I cared so little for your presence.
"That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest overcome when thou art judged." According to the common expositors, something is understood here, namely, "Forgive me" or "Have mercy on me." So the meaning is: I have sinned against you alone and done evil before you, and I ask that you forgive me and have mercy on me, that you may be justified, that is, found just and true, in your words by which through the mouths of the holy Prophets you promised pardon to the penitent. And "overcome," that is, exceed and surpass others in justice, when you are judged, that is, when your judgment becomes known to others, and by this they justify your judgment.
"But I think it better that nothing be understood implicitly; indeed, if we consider well, nothing seems to need to be understood implicitly. For we must follow the exposition of the Apostle. The Apostle introduces and cites to the Romans these words in this way: 'But God is true, and every man a liar, as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged' (Rom. 3:4). It is clear therefore that according to the intention of the Apostle, Saint David introduced the aforesaid words with this meaning: that God is justified by our iniquity, and overcomes when He is judged. And this is clearer from the following words of the Apostle, for he adds: 'But if our iniquity commend the justice of God, what shall we say?' (Rom. 3:5). However, it must be known that God being justified by our sin, and glorified, and overcoming when He is judged, can be understood in two ways. First, causally and directly: and thus it is not true. Second, occasionally and indirectly or consequently: and thus it is true, as the Apostle introduces it. And this is the more literal sense, although the first exposition can stand. Therefore the sense is: 'To thee only have I sinned and have done evil before thee, that thou mightest be justified in thy words' - by which you said through the Prophets that no man is without sin, but every man is a liar in word or deed or some vice: because as it is written in the book of Job, 'No one is clean from filth.' Or, 'in thy words' by which you condemn and punish the sinner, but save and glorify the just. For my evil, well ordered by you, that is justly punished or mercifully pardoned, redounds to your glory: as Augustine acknowledges in the Enchiridion; indeed in all the reprobate your justice and power shines forth and is commended.
Finally, to speak more fully, the aforesaid words can be expounded in four ways. For they have already been expounded in two ways. Thirdly they are expounded thus: 'To thee only have I sinned and done evil before thee, that thou mightest be justified in thy words,' that is, so that consequently or concomitantly you may appear just in the words by which you promised to become incarnate from my seed. For while I have sinned so terribly, and you nonetheless fulfill what you promised, it is clear that not on account of my merits, but on account of your justice by which you fulfill promises, you assume human nature from my lineage, and overcome others in equity, when you are judged by the people not to owe the fulfillment of promises because of the enormity of my sins. Fourth, it is expounded thus: 'To thee only have I sinned and done evil before thee, that thou mightest be justified,' that is, so that you alone may be proven true in your words, and overcome when you are judged to have had to act thus or thus; or, when you are judged to death by Pilate and the Jews, you who exist without deceit and fault, and suffer all things for my transgressions: and thus by way of consequence you are justified by my sin.
Then the Prophet commemorates the fragility and proneness of mortal nature to sin, so that by this he may provoke and incline God to piety and pardon, according to what God himself promised to Noah in Genesis: 'I will no more curse the earth for the sake of man; for the sense and thought of man's heart are prone to evil from his youth' (Gen. 8:21). Therefore David says: 'For behold I was conceived in iniquities': as if to say, It is fitting that you have mercy on me, a frail sinner, because behold I was conceived in vices, 'and in sins did my mother conceive me.' Since therefore the source of sin was innate to me, it is no wonder that I fell into sin.
But how can man be conceived in iniquities, when the subject of sin and virtue is only in the soul or intellectual essence, which is not immediately infused into the human body at conception? Again it is asked, how is he conceived in iniquities, when he is conceived only in original sin, which is but one sin, just as original justice was but one virtue. And it must be answered that original sin is transfused with the seed; yet it is not in the seed as in a subject, but as in a root: and therefore the soul, as soon as it is infused into the seed thus infected, is stained and polluted with original sin. An example of this is the seed of a leper. For a leper begets only a leper, and leprosy is transfused with the seed; yet it is not in the seed as in a subject, but as it were in a root: but when the soul is infused, immediately the offspring contracts leprosy from the infection of the seed. To the second it must be said that original sin is formally one, as being the lack of original justice that ought to be present; but materially it is many, on account of the four wounds of the soul resulting from original sin, which are ignorance, malice, weakness, and concupiscence: as was said above.
Thirdly it can be asked how parents transfuse original sin, when nevertheless in Baptism original sin is remitted through the merit of the Lord's passion. And it must be answered that although it is remitted as to the guilt of punishment or stain, nevertheless the tinder or inclination is not entirely extinguished, although it is weakened. But then it is more strongly investigated how this sin can be transfused in all, when nevertheless marital intercourse itself can be free from all sin, indeed can be virtuous and meritorious, insofar as it is an act of justice which is commanded by the Apostle, saying, 'Let the husband render to his wife her due, and likewise the wife to her husband' (1 Cor. 7:3) (but no sin, or anything inseparably annexed to sin, is commanded); likewise insofar as it is an act of religion; third, insofar as it is an act of a sacrament. And it must be answered that parents do not transfuse original sin according as they are particular and proximate causes of generation, or because in intercourse itself they always or inevitably sin, but insofar as they proceeded from a corrupt root. For by this the offspring incurs original sin, whence it is in some way bound to original justice: but it is not bound to it insofar as it is born from its immediate parents, but according as it is propagated from the first parents, both according to seminal reason and according to corrupt substance.
(7) 'For behold thou hast loved truth.' As if to say: Because you love truth, I confess my own fault without excuse; and because I do what pleases you, it is fitting that you be propitious to me. Whence the Savior says: 'You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free' (John 8:32). But God especially loves truth: for likeness is the cause of love. Since therefore God is naturally true, and essentially uncreated truth, it is established that He naturally loves truth. 'The uncertain,' that is, future contingent things: concerning which prophecy properly deals, and which to foresee is proper to God, according to that verse of Isaiah: 'Declare to us the things that are to come, and we shall know that you are gods' (Isa. 41:23); and 'the hidden things of wisdom'"
that is, the deep and high mysteries concerning the Divinity and the supreme Trinity, and Christ's incarnation, passion, resurrection and ascension, you have manifested to me through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, more clearly, purely and abundantly than to other prophets: because not through symbolic illumination or through sensible forms, but through anagogical irradiation, that is through intelligible and internal illumination without the representation of sensible forms, I received from the Holy Spirit whatever I have written in this book.
8 'Thou shalt sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop.' In Leviticus it is read how the Lord commanded that one being cleansed from leprosy should be sprinkled with hyssop that he might be cleansed. Therefore when he says, 'Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop,' he designates that he has incurred spiritual leprosy, from which he seeks to be purged by the sprinkling of hyssop, that is by the contrition of humble penitence. For hyssop is a short herb, clinging by its roots to rocky places, repelling and healing inflation of the lungs. Therefore by it penitence is designated: which is founded in Christ (who is called the rock), and heals the pride of the heart, and makes man small and modest in his own eyes. 'And I shall be cleansed' from interior stain. 'Thou shalt wash me' with spiritual washing through the infusion of grace, 'and I shall be made whiter than snow,' that is, I shall shine with a greater adornment and brightness of spiritual cleanness than is the whiteness of snow. For spiritual purity altogether exceeds corporeal purity. And this is what the Lord says through Ezekiel: 'I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your defilements' (Ezek. 36:25). Concerning this sprinkling, cleansing and washing the Savior also says: 'But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou appear not to men to fast' (Matt. 6:17-18). And elsewhere: 'Anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see' (Rev. 3:18). Or thus: 'Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop,' that is with faith and the fruit or merit of the blood of Christ: by whose faith and faithful sprinkling indeed all the ancient Saints were saved; 'and I shall be cleansed': because through the merit of the blood of Christ we are purged from all guilt. 'Thou shalt wash me' in the font of Baptism: which refers especially to catechumens; 'and I shall be made whiter than snow': because in Baptism all sins are forgiven, according to that verse, 'Baptism saves us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God' (1 Pet. 3:21).
9 'To my hearing,' external and internal, 'thou shalt give joy' concerning the pardon of sins, 'and gladness' concerning the restoration of graces. Literally God gave holy David this joy and this gladness when He promised him pardon through Nathan the prophet and through internal inspiration, and repaid him grace. We too receive joy and gladness from God when He consoles us through Sacred Scripture, saying: 'If the wicked do penance, I will remember his iniquities no more' (Ezek. 18:21-22). And again: 'Return and live, for I desire not the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live' (Ezek. 18:32). Nor is it discordant with this that the Savior affirms: 'It is not the will before your Father that one of these little ones should perish' (Matt. 18:14). On account of which it is written elsewhere: 'God made not death, neither delighteth he in the destruction of the living' (Wis. 1:13). Finally He produces great gladness in us when He offers Himself so ready, indeed most ready, to infuse grace, according as He Himself testifies: 'Every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened' (Matt. 7:8; Luke 11:10). And again: 'Your heavenly Father will give the good Spirit to them that ask him' (Luke 11:13). Through the hidden instinct of the Holy Spirit also God gives us joy and gladness: because (as the Apostle says) 'the Spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God' (Rom. 8:16). And again: 'He gave the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts' (2 Cor. 1:22). 'And the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.' By the name of the part the whole is designated, so that the sense is: From the infusion of joy and gladness I shall exult, I a sinner and penitent, who have humbled myself even to the humiliation of my bones, or the inclination of my body, genuflection or prostration. Or: 'The bones that have been humbled shall rejoice,' that is, interior gladness from its fullness will overflow into the body, and the bones of the body will show interior joyfulness by certain signs. For as 'a sorrowful spirit drieth up the bones' (Prov. 17:22), so a cheerful spirit makes fat and gladdens the bones. Or: 'Shall rejoice,' that is, shall act cheerfully and strongly, 'the bones that have been humbled,' that is the virtues of the soul, which before penance were oppressed, drowsy and idle, but after penance began to work cheerfully and fervently, 'because where iniquity abounded, grace did more abound' (Rom. 5:20).
10 'Turn away, O Lord, thy face,' that is thy consideration, 'from my sins, and forget them,' that is, behave in the manner of one forgetting in not avenging and in pardoning. And this indeed the most merciful God will gladly do, if you yourself look upon, weigh, bewail, correct and avoid your sins: otherwise He will do to you what He says through Amos the prophet concerning those persevering in sin: 'The Lord hath sworn: If I shall forget to the end all their works' (Amos 8:7). Whence to the negligent person who does not bewail his own evils, the Apostle says: 'Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and patience and longsuffering? Knowest thou not that the patience of God leadeth thee to penance? But according to thy hardness and impenitent heart thou treasurest up to thyself wrath, against the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God' (Rom. 2:4-5). Therefore, O Lord, 'Turn away thy face,' that is the observation of thy justice, 'from my sins,' that neither grace in the present nor glory in the future mayest thou withdraw from me on account of their demerits; 'and blot out all my iniquities,' forgiving punishment and guilt, and receiving me into thy friendship as if I had never sinned.
12 'Create a clean heart in me, O God': that is, make and begin in me a spiritual and meritorious existence through the creation of grace. For 'blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God' (Matt. 5:8). For cleanness of heart ought to be the ultimate end of all our exercises, according as Solomon admonishes: 'With all watchfulness keep thy heart' (Prov. 4:23). And if you desire to attain true purity of heart, repeat this verse and the following ones in mind and mouth, draw them in, cogitate, pray and entreat them, as you draw breath into your nostrils. For great and ineffable is the power of this verse and those following. 'And renew a right spirit' in my bowels, that is in the intimate parts of my soul, giving grace, wisdom, charity, and the other virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
11 'Cast me not away' on account of my sins, 'from thy face,' that is from the sight and preservation of thy mercy; 'and take not thy holy spirit from me,' that is the gracious indwelling and merciful presence of the Holy Spirit, but preserve me in good.
12 'Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation,' that is the joyful contemplation of Christ, in whom consists the salvation of all. For David seems to have lost this for a time through sin, and to have lost the prophetic spirit. Whence he did not perceive the enormity of his own sin. We also lose it by sinning: because 'into a malevolent soul wisdom will not enter' (Wis. 1:4). Therefore for its restoration, increase and preservation we ought to pray unceasingly. 'And strengthen me with a principal spirit,' that is with the Holy Spirit, stabilizing my heart in His grace: because as the Apostle says, 'it is good that the heart be established with grace' (Heb. 13:9). For no one is crowned unless he strives lawfully (2 Tim. 2:5); nor will anyone be saved unless he perseveres to the end (Matt. 24:13): which is possible to no one unless God strengthens him with the Holy Spirit.
Behold in these verses the most blessed David evidently demonstrates the faith and mystery of the most glorious Trinity. For by the name of God he designates the Father; by the name of right, principal and holy spirit, he expresses the Holy Spirit; but by the name of salvation, he explains the Son, of whom Peter says, 'Neither is there salvation in any other' (Acts 4:12). Similarly Isaiah the prophet clearly confesses the Trinity of divine persons when the Lord says through him: 'I am the first and I am the last' (Isa. 48:12). And after a little this first and last adds: 'And now the Lord God hath sent me, and his spirit' (Isa. 48:16). There by first and last is understood Christ, who in the Apocalypse says, 'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end' (Rev. 1:8): and again, 'I am the first and the last, and alive, and was dead, and behold I am living for ever and ever, and have the keys of death and of hell' (Rev. 1:17-18). Therefore when Christ testifies that He was sent by the Lord and His Spirit, the mystery of the Trinity is most clearly demonstrated.
14 'I will teach the unjust thy ways': that is, the grace granted to me by thee I will communicate to others, and I will strive to lead them to salutary penance by my example, and I will exhort them to observe the divine precepts. This pertained to holy David as prince of the people: indeed it seems to pertain to anyone in some way, according to that verse, 'As every man hath received grace, ministering the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God' (1 Pet. 4:10). On account of which Paul says: 'Brethren, and if a man be overtaken in any fault, you who are spiritual instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted' (Gal. 6:1). Whence Dionysius says that the highest of all divine perfections is to exist as a co-worker with God in the reduction of souls to the first principle. 'And the wicked shall be converted to thee' from my doctrine: which is very meritorious, as it is written: 'He who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way shall save his soul from death and shall cover a multitude of sins' (James 5:20). And Daniel says: 'They that are learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity' (Dan. 12:3). But who is worthy to be so divinely illuminated that he himself may be fit for the instruction of others? Let the most illustrious Isaiah answer us, who says: 'Whom shall the Lord teach knowledge, and whom shall he make to understand the hearing? Them that are weaned from the milk, that are drawn away from the breasts' (Isa. 28:9), that is those who shun carnal delights and sensual pleasures, and can take solid food: who living in the flesh, walk not according to the flesh, nor admit the vanities of the world. Hence we see many very prepared to instruct others: but they profit little or nothing, because they speak not from the Holy Spirit but from their own sense, and have cold, dry words, not sharp, penetrating and warm. To each of these the Apostle says: 'Thou art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them that are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, etc. Thou therefore that teachest another, teachest not thyself? Thou that gloriest in the law, by transgression of the law dishonourest God' (Rom. 2:19-23).
15 'Deliver me from blood,' that is from past, present and future sins, 'O God of all, God of my salvation,' in whose power my salvation consists, from whom all my perfection proceeds, and on whom all good of my soul depends; 'and my tongue shall extol,' that is, shall sing and declare with exultation, 'thy justice,' that is thy just judgments, by which thou condemnest the obstinate, hast mercy on the penitent, hearest those who pray, bestowest abundance of grace on those converted with their whole heart, and justifiest the sinner confessing his own sins.
16 'O Lord, thou wilt open my lips,' that is, from interior devotion and grace thou wilt make my lips break forth into the act of good speech, so that I shall proceed to speak from the prompting of the Holy Spirit, not as if induced from myself. 'For he that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory' (John 7:18). 'And my mouth shall declare thy praise': because then I shall truly be a worthy praiser, if my lips be opened by thee, as thou sayest elsewhere: 'Open thy mouth, and I will fill it' (Ps. 81:10).
Then David alleges the reason why it was fitting for God to forgive him.
17 'For if thou hadst desired' legal 'sacrifice, I would have given it' indeed, a sacrifice for satisfaction of my transgression; 'but thou delightest not' in legal and figurative sacrifices. For the sacrifices of the old law neither contained grace, nor were they acceptable in themselves, but only from the devotion of the offerer. Therefore through them no one could placate God unless he had grace before the oblation or at least in it. Whence the scripture of Genesis says: 'The Lord had respect to Abel and to his offerings' (Gen. 4:4). First He had respect to the offerer, then to the victim. Therefore David needed to obtain grace before the oblation of sacrifices or in it. Any faithful person also can say these words of himself: because if legal sacrifices pleased God, even in the New Testament they would remain, and would be immolated by Christians for satisfaction.
18 'A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit': that is, a soul groaning and sad for sins is a sacrifice acceptable to God: because it offers itself to God, subjecting its own will to Him for doing and suffering those things which are pleasing to God. Whence Ecclesiasticus introduces: 'A wholesome sacrifice is to attend to the commandments, and to depart from all iniquity' (Ecclus. 35:2). And Baruch: 'The soul that is sorrowful for the greatness of evil, and goeth bowed down and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul giveth glory and justice to thee, O Lord' (Baruch 2:18). 'A contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise,' as thou hast testified through Isaiah: 'To whom shall I have respect, but to him that is poor and little and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my words?' (Isa. 66:2). And Job says: 'He that shall be humbled shall be in glory, and the innocent shall be saved' (Job 22:29-30). And Ecclesiasticus: 'The prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds' (Ecclus. 35:21).
(19) 'Deal favorably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion, and let the walls of Jerusalem be built.' This verse with the following must be expounded first literally; and the sense is: O Lord, in thy good will by which thou didst promise me that my son Solomon should build a temple for thee, deal favorably with Sion, that is, mercifully fulfill on Mount Sion what thou didst promise, that namely in it a temple should be built to thy name; and 'let the walls of Jerusalem be built,' that is the walls of the temple or the walls of the city, which David saw in spirit would be destroyed many times.
(20) 'Then,' that is when the temple is built, 'thou shalt accept the sacrifice of justice,' which is offered to thee justly, 'oblations,' which were not totally burned, 'and holocausts,' which were entirely consumed; 'then shall they lay' the ministers of the temple 'upon thy altar,' in the temple, 'calves,' because according to the law the calf was an animal fit for offering.
But morally they are thus expounded: 'Deal favorably, O Lord, in thy good will,' by which thou always promisest grace to men, provided they be converted to thee, 'with Sion,' that is with the Church militant, beholding thee through faith, preserving it in the faith and grace of Christ, 'and let the walls of Jerusalem be built,' that is of the aforesaid Church, which are the defenders of others and are walls or firmament. Therefore let them be spiritually built, that is, confirmed in the progress of virtues and grace: as the Apostle says, 'Let us follow after the things that are of edification one towards another' (Rom. 14:19); and, 'Let every one of you please his neighbour unto good, to edification' (Rom. 15:2). Or: 'Let the walls of Jerusalem be built,' that is, let the two peoples of Jews and Greeks concur in one faith of the Church, and become one people in Christ, as the Apostle says: 'There is no distinction of the Jew and the Greek' (Rom. 10:12). 'Then thou shalt accept' in the catholic Church 'the sacrifice of justice,' that is the sacrifice of praise and the Eucharist, 'oblations' of prayers and alms and exterior things, 'and holocausts,' that is the pure and spontaneous abnegation of their own wills, namely of those who offer themselves wholly to divine worship, despise all things, and retain nothing of their own. 'Then shall they lay upon thy altar': which is the humanity of Christ, through which all our services become acceptable; 'calves,' that is themselves, following His footsteps, and by His example daily mortifying themselves, as the Apostle testifies: 'In all confidence Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain' (Phil. 1:20-21). Or: 'They shall lay upon thy altar calves,' that is in the faith of the Church they shall offer thee divine praises; as it is written in Hosea, 'We will render the calves of our lips' (Hos. 14:2).
Moreover anagogically these are thus expounded: 'Deal favorably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion,' that is with the Church triumphant beholding thee in vision, 'and let the walls of Jerusalem be built,' that is, let the ruin of the angels through the fall of evil ones be repaired through the salvation of elect men. 'Then,' when namely 'that which is perfect is come' (1 Cor. 13:10), especially after the day of the general judgment, when the walls of the heavenly Jerusalem shall be entirely rebuilt, 'which is our mother' (Gal. 4:26), of which glorious things are daily told to us (would that they were also worthily desired): then, I say, O Lord, 'thou shalt accept the sacrifice of justice,' that is perpetual, most pure and perfect praises, 'oblations,' by which all the Blessed in the fatherland offer themselves wholly to thee, standing always unalterably converted and fixed in thee; 'and holocausts,' that is perfect acts of charity. For the Saints in the fatherland perfectly fulfill the precept of loving God, which cannot be done in the way: and these acts of charity are called holocausts, because through them intellectual creatures are totally resolved into divine love. 'Then shall they lay upon thy altar,' that is in the empyrean heaven, 'the calves of their lips,' as has been expounded; or, 'Calves,' that is themselves, because they are kindled, melted by the fire of divine love, and entirely transformed into God.
Behold we have heard this most excellent psalm, which instructs us not only by the meaning of its words, but also greatly teaches us by the example of its author. For who can presume of himself, when he sees the author of this psalm, holy David, after such attainment of divine charisms, to have fallen so gravely, not only into adultery but also into homicide? Who when in youthful age had been so perfect and humble that he would not wish to harm his mortal enemy, nor permit him to be harmed, but rendering good for evil, snatched from death him who was laboring with all his might to kill him, who conquered the lion and the bear (1 Sam. 17:34-36), who cast down the giant, who received so many and such sacred revelations, now having reached old age, prostrated himself in such enormous sins. Finally, who could despair, when he hears that a man adulterous and homicidal was reduced to such perfection? Let us therefore strive, dearest ones, with holy David to repent truly, and in all things to embrace unfeigned humility: because (as Pope Leo says) the whole discipline of Christian wisdom consists not in abundance of speech, not in subtlety of disputing, nor in appetite for praise and glory, but in true and voluntary humility: which the Lord Jesus from the womb of His Mother even to the punishment of the cross, both chose and taught for all fortitude. And again he says: All the victory of the Savior, by which He conquered both the devil and the world, was conceived in humility, accomplished in humility. Whence Christ testifies: 'Unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven' (Matt. 18:3-4). To which may the omnipotent Creator, triune and simple, who is over all God sublime and blessed, lead us immediately after this sojourn of exile. Amen.
PRAYER
Merciful God, turn away thy face from our sins, and blot out all our iniquities in thy sight; wash us from our injustice, that being cleansed by the gift of thy grace, we may always remain in holy conversation pleasing to thee."
CONTINUE
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