This is the fiftieth Psalm, in which, after in the preceding Psalm the ancient sacrifices of animals had been repudiated and rejected, and it had been shown that God seeks the sacrifice of praise, lest anyone should think that this sacrifice is fulfilled merely in the sound and noise of lips, there is added here what truly perfects that sacrifice, namely hope, contrition, and true repentance. And this David himself sets forth as an example, who after the sins of adultery and homicide satisfied God by this sacrifice. And this is made sufficiently clear in the title of this Psalm, which is such: A Psalm of David, when Nathan the Prophet came to him, when (or because) he had gone in to Bathsheba—that is, this Psalm was composed by David as one literally repenting, and through this it applies to any penitent, when Nathan the Prophet came to him to reprove him concerning the sin of adultery.
These things are plain in 2 Kings (2 Samuel) 12:1 and following. “When” or “because” he went in—Scripture speaks courtly (euphemistically), as in Psalm 51:7, “for behold, thou hast loved truth.” “To Bathsheba,” by committing adultery with her.
Three things are noted in this title. First, that a sin committed secretly is published to the whole world: 2 Kings 12:12, “Thou didst it secretly, but I will do this thing in the sight of all Israel”; Luke 12:2, “Nothing is covered that shall not be revealed, nor hidden that shall not be known.” Second, that the greater part of the sin, namely seditious homicide, is passed over in silence, in which we are taught that when it is necessary to touch upon the sins of others, we should touch them as little as possible: Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 8:6, “Do not despise a man turning away from his sin, nor reproach him.” Third, that even what remains that is touched upon is veiled in expression: “when he went in,” etc. And this is because explicit speech, especially about sins of lust, quickly infects, and therefore he teaches us not to use such language: Ephesians 5:3–4, “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as befits saints, nor filthiness,” etc.
The Psalm is divided into three parts. First, David the penitent, speaking in his own person or in the person of any penitent, sighs for the obtaining of forgiveness. Second, for his present misery: “Deliver me from blood-guiltiness.” Third, for his country: “Deal favorably” (Benigne fac).
In the first part there are two things: first, he desires, sighing, forgiveness in general; second, more specifically, at “According to the multitude.”
He therefore says in effect: Thus you will, O Lord, as I hear—not calves, not goats, but sacrifice. The first part is a contrite heart; and for this reason I say: O God, whose proper work is to have mercy, not man’s: Luke 5:21, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Isaiah 43:25, “I am, I am he who blots out your iniquities for my own sake.” Have mercy. Therefore, you are merciful.
But are you not abundant in riches and exalted in royal dignity, illuminated by wisdom and by knowledge of future things like a prophet, and according to your own saying the common people call blessed the people who have these things? Why then do you groan? What more could I do for you that I have not done?
He answers with Proverbs 14:34: “Sin makes peoples miserable,” and makes the king of peoples a servant. Psalm 51; John 8:34, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” O certainly great and grievous is sin, which made one abounding in so many goods miserable.
Of me. David does not say “of mine,” for mei is a pronoun designating the pure substance whose unquestioned Creator is God. Therefore: Have mercy on me, that is, on your creature. Wisdom 11:27, “You spare all things, for they are yours, O Lord, who love souls.”
According to mercy, not according to the justice of the Law, because Leviticus 20:10: “The adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” Hebrews 10:28: “Anyone who violates the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
Your mercy, O Christ—yours, I say—that is, natural to you on the part of the Father, who is the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation; and on the part of the Mother, who likewise is the Mother of mercy. Job 31:18, “From my infancy compassion grew with me.” And this is great: for if it were not great, how could it have done such great things? For power is known by its operation.
Among all your works, I will touch on one with Cassiodorus. For he says: “This mercy placed the Creator of the world in heaven down low, and him who remains equal to the Father in eternity made equal to us in mortality, and imposed the form of a servant on the Lord of the world, so that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain of life might thirst, and Power might grow weak, and omnipotent Life might die.”
And according to the multitude—here he prays, sighing, for forgiveness more specifically. And three things are said. First, he prays against the stain, that it may be blotted out. Second, against the memory of sin, that it may no longer be held by God: “Turn away your face from my sins.” Third, against the punishment, that it may be remitted: “Do not cast me away.”
In the first there are three things: first, prayer; second, persuasion: “For I know my iniquity”; third, certain confidence of obtaining: “You shall sprinkle me.”
In the first, there are three according to the three things he asks: to be washed from the stain, first by the tears of contrition; second by the tears of confession: “Wash me yet more”; third by the tears of satisfaction: “And cleanse me from my sin.”
He therefore says: Thus I ask for mercy, and more specifically I say: And according to the multitude of your mercies—that is, of the effects of your mercy, which I have seen to be many—and I ask this confidently. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 2:12–13, “Who has called upon him and been despised by him? For God is gracious and merciful.”
Blot out my iniquity. Do not add riches and knowledge; iniquity is written strongly: Jeremiah 17:1, “The sin of Judah is written with an iron pen, with a diamond point.” Diamond is a very hard stone and cannot be broken except by the blood of a goat. Thus sin cannot be blotted out except by the blood of Christ, signified by the goat, of which Ezekiel 43:25 says: “For seven days you shall offer a goat for sin daily.” Daily and at all times God will immolate the flesh of Christ for sins, which he took in the likeness of sinful flesh: Romans 8:3.
Blot out, therefore. He answers Isaiah 44:22: “I have blotted out your iniquities like a cloud,” as to mortal sins, “and like a mist your sins,” as to venial sins.
Wash me yet more. Here is the second. As if to say: Thus blot out by contrition of heart, and wash me yet more by the tears of confession. This seems a great presumption. He had defiled himself with the mud of sin and calls upon God to wash him. And rightly, for he found nothing in himself except uncleanness. Isaiah 64:6, “We have all become as one unclean.” From an unclean thing what can be made clean? None, but rather it will be defiled: Numbers 19:22, “Whatever the unclean touches shall be unclean.” Ezekiel 16:30, “With what shall I cleanse your heart, says the Lord God? In nothing but in yourself.”
It was necessary that you make yourself a washing place; thus he did, whence he willed to be pierced on every side and to let blood flow from himself for washing. Psalm 77:20, namely the rock—Christ: 1 Corinthians 10:4, “Now the rock was Christ.” Waters flowed and torrents overflowed to wash both the greater and the lesser world. Indeed, the Church sings: The earth, the sea, the stars, the world are washed by that river. Behold the washing of the greater world. Revelation 1:5, “He loved us and washed us from our sins.” Behold the washing of the lesser.
Wash me therefore from my iniquity which defiles me. Titus 1:15, “To the defiled and unbelieving nothing is clean, but both their mind and conscience are defiled.” And this “yet more,” because not only from the act, but from the circumstances of the act, because I sinned knowingly, not ignorantly. Augustine: “Wash more, greatly defiled, wash more and more the sins of one who knew, you who washed the sins of one who did not know.” Or: wash me more than I know to ask, who do not know myself. 1 Corinthians 4:4, “I am not conscious of anything, yet I am not thereby justified.” But because some are washed and yet not cleansed: 2 Peter 2:22, “The sow that was washed returns to wallowing in the mire.”
He adds: From my sin, my own, and imputed to me; cleanse me, that what is fulfilled may be Isaiah 1:16, “Wash yourselves, be clean,” etc.
Note therefore that the sinner must always cry out to be washed and cleansed, and this for three reasons. First, on account of the multitude of unknown sins: Isaiah 59:12, “Our iniquities are multiplied before you,” and Psalm 40:13, “Evils have surrounded me beyond number.” Second, on account of the firm adhesion of sins: Baruch 1:20, “Many evils have clung to us,” that is, strongly, like skin to flesh. Jeremiah 13:23, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good, having learned to do evil.” Third, on account of the easy repetition of uncleanness: Job 9:30, “If I wash myself with snow water and make my hands never so clean, yet you will plunge me in filth,” that is, you will permit me to be dipped again.
For I know my iniquity. After the prayer has been set forth, persuasion is added, first from the confession of sin; second from the promise of God’s mercy: “That you may be justified”; third from human frailty: “For behold, I was conceived in iniquities”; fourth on God’s part from goodness: “For behold, you have loved truth.”
In the first there are three things. First, the knowledge of sin is touched. Second, the continual detestation of what is known: “And my sin is ever before me.” Third, shamefaced confession: “Against you only have I sinned.”
He therefore says: I ask mercy to be shown to me, yet I do not wish justice to perish altogether, because I know my iniquity. Or thus: Cleanse me, and you must, because I know my iniquity. Behold, I know my iniquity, because in iniquity I do not attend to pleasure, but I behold deformity and detest it. Cassiodorus: “Only those are approved to acknowledge sins who are seen to condemn them by their own execration.” Nahum 3:7, “All who see you shall recoil from you.”
He persuades God to remit the sin. And my sin, known to me, is always before me, for detestation and confession. As above in Psalm 49:21, “I will set it before your face.” Cassiodorus says: Here, as though already placed in the coming judgment, he fears the most dreadful sight of his crimes. And another reading, which is Augustine’s, has: “Against me it is always.” As if to say: formerly the sin was behind me, when I said, “The man who has done this is worthy of death”; but Nathan placed my sin before me and against me when he said, “You are the man” (2 Kings / 2 Samuel 12:7). Nor afterward did it depart from my sight, as happens in many who quickly hand over their sins to forgetfulness, if at any time they have known them. Others scarcely know them at all, or do not know them fully.
And this is the first root why sins are not known: because sins themselves blind. Wisdom 2:21, “Their malice blinded them.” Psalm 40:13, “My iniquities have overtaken me, and I was not able to see.”
The second cause is because sins hide themselves, sometimes under pleasure: Ecclesiastes 5:19, “He will not much remember the days of his life, because God occupies his heart with delights.” Sometimes under the praise of flatterers: Psalm 10 (according to the Hebrews) 5, “The sinner is praised in the desires of his soul.” The Gloss says: He delights to do those things where not only is there no one to reprove, but even one who praises. Sometimes under the multitude of sinners, for it seems lawful what almost everyone does: Ecclesiastes 1:15, “The perverse are difficult to correct,” and he immediately adds the cause: “The number of fools is infinite.” Sometimes under the authority of superiors: Gregory in a certain homily says that the sins of offenders are fostered, lest they lose temporal advantages.
Third, sins are not known because they pretend to be virtues. Jerome says: Many praise pride in place of freedom, and deceived, they glory in vices as virtues. 3 Kings (1 Kings) 14:6, “Enter, wife of Jeroboam”—that is, iniquity: why do you pretend to be another?
Against you only have I sinned. Here is a shamefaced and holy confession, confessing the boldness of sin, because it is against the Lord who sees all things. And: “And I have done evil before you.” He therefore says: Thus cleanse me, for I know my iniquity, I abhor what is known, and I also openly confess: Against you only have I sinned.
How does he say this? Did he not sin by homicide and sedition? Therefore he sinned not only against the Lord but also against his neighbor. Indeed, if we carefully consider, every sinner sins against every creature of God.
Against the heavenly, because he saddens that noble creature, that Jerusalem above. How could she not be saddened over a son of perdition? And she herself is our mother: Galatians 4:26, “That Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother.” Proverbs 10:1, “A foolish son is the sorrow of his mother.” Baruch 4:3, “You have saddened your nurse, Jerusalem.”
He also sins against bodily and visible things, all these worldly realities, because as far as in him lies, he impedes and delays their glorious renewal, for which they groan: Romans 8:22, “Every creature groans and travails until now,” until that renewal comes of which Revelation 21:5 says, “Behold, I make all things new.”
He sins also against the infernal, because he multiplies their companions, so that they may burn more: Luke 16:27–28, where the rich man wished that his brothers might not descend into hell, lest their torment be increased. Isaiah 14:9, “Hell beneath is moved for you at your coming.”
I respond with the Gloss: this is explained in two ways. Either to express royal dignity alone, or to show the singular dignity of Christ.
In the first way: Against you only have I sinned, that is, it belongs to you alone to punish me, because I am king and have no superior except you. Ecclesiastes 5:7–8, “Over all the land the king has authority.”
Or thus: Against you only have I sinned, that sinful men should not lay hands on me to punish me, but you alone, who are without sin, are properly to punish me, so that the singular dignity of Christ may be shown, who alone is without sin: Isaiah 53:9; 1 Peter 2:22, “He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.” John 8:7, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to cast a stone.” Hebrews 10:30, “Vengeance is mine, and I will repay.”
And I have done evil before you, judging, weighing all things, very shamefully. Psalm 34:17, “The eyes of the Lord are upon those who do evil,” which ought to make them ashamed. And certainly, because he himself will bear witness to the truth: Jeremiah 29:23, “I am judge and witness, says the Lord.”
For this reason Boethius, at the end of his book On the Consolation of Philosophy, says: A great necessity of uprightness is imposed upon us, if we do not wish it otherwise, since we do all things before the eyes of a Judge who sees all things.
That you may be justified. Here he persuades from the promise of God’s justice and mercy. This is read in multiple ways.
First, so that justice of truth is understood here. Thus: I say that I sinned before you, the just one, so that you may be justified in your words—that is, found true—and so that you may overcome when you are judged, that is, when your words are compared with others. Proverbs 8:8, “All the words of my mouth are just; there is nothing perverse in them.”
Or thus: You are just, O Christ, and so just that you may be justified—that is, you alone may be found just in all your words—and so that you may overcome all men in justice, even when you are judged, that is, although you were unjustly judged by Pilate. Augustine: You alone are just in judging and unjustly judged. Psalm 143:2, “No living person shall be justified in your sight.”
Or thus: so that truth may gain victory over demons. Thus you are justified in all your words, so that you may overcome the devil and death. Hosea 13:14, “O death, I will be your death; O hell, I will be your bite.”
It is also read of the justice of one who promises and shows mercy, and this in two ways: either of the one promising the Incarnation, or of the remission of sins.
Thus: You are just, O Father, so that you may be justified in your words—this does not change—and you overcome, that is, you show men to be liars when you are judged by them not to have done what you promised, namely, not to have sent the Son. Numbers 23:19, “God is not as man, that he should lie.” Esther 14:9, “They wish to change your promises.”
Or of the justice of one promising remission, against those who say that remission cannot be obtained for such great sins. As if to say: Cleanse me so that you may be justified in the sight of men, who cannot be more just than you; and you overcome, that is, you show men to be liars when you are judged by them not to remit however great sins. Sirach 12:3, “The Most High hates sinners and has mercy on penitents.” Ezekiel 18:21–22, “If the wicked man does penance for all his iniquities… I will not remember any of his sins.”
Behold, I was conceived in iniquities. Here, thirdly, he persuades from human frailty, and this because he was conceived in original iniquity and frailty, and from the parents’ concupiscence; secondly: And in sins my mother conceived me.
The Gloss continues in two ways. First: All men you overcome, and truly not only those who have committed great sins, but the whole human race, in whose person I say: Behold, I was conceived in iniquities.
Or thus: Truly I sinned against you, for behold, I was conceived in iniquities. As if to say: From my very origin I contracted corruption, by which I fell into fault. And he does not say this to excuse sin, but to show misery.
Note that the plural is put for the singular, that is, iniquities for iniquity. And this is not to be understood of the sins of his parents, as some think, for he was conceived and begotten in holy wedlock. For the marital act can be done without any sin, as is clear in Tobit 6:22, where the angel said to Tobias the younger: “After the third night, you shall take the virgin with fear of the Lord.”
Or iniquities are called certain irregularities which they contracted in some way by intercourse: Leviticus 15:16, “The man from whom the seed of copulation goes out shall wash his whole body with water.”
Or I was conceived in iniquities, that is, among iniquitous people: Ezekiel 2:6, “Son of man, you dwell among scorpions.”
Or in iniquities of preceding fathers, as of Judah in Tamar (Genesis 38), of which Wisdom 4:6 says: “Children born of unlawful unions are witnesses of wickedness against their parents in their interrogation.”
Or in iniquities of neighbors, at least venial: Proverbs 20:9, “Who can say, My heart is clean, I am pure from sin?” Not that they sinned even venially in that act, but because they had venial sins from elsewhere.
And in sins my mother conceived me, that is, in concupiscence, which would be sin unless it were ordered by the good of marriage. But why does he touch more on concupiscence as from the side of the mother rather than the father? He seems to wish to confirm the opinion of some natural philosophers who say that concupiscence is greater in the female than in the male. For matter desires form as woman desires man; and Tiresias, as the fables say, determined this.
Or according to another literal sense: In original sins my mother had me in the womb. This is against those who say that David was sanctified in the womb at conception.
For behold, you have loved truth. Here is the fourth, in which he persuades from the perceived goodness of God. He persuades from his goodness and wisdom, and two things are said. First, he says that God loves the truth of his wisdom and has revealed what he loves to him: Uncertain and hidden things.
He therefore says: I do not cast blame on you, O Lord, but I speak the truth. For behold, you have loved truth. Or thus: First, by confessing my sin, because behold, you have loved truth, in such a way that by it you forgive sins. Proverbs 16:6, “By mercy and truth iniquity is redeemed.” Psalm 85:11, “God loves mercy and truth.”
Uncertain and hidden things. This is read in three ways. Either he touches on revelation made to him of the Incarnation, or on the excellence of divine knowledge, or on remission revealed to him.
Thus he says: You so love truth, and yet uncertain to men and very hidden in themselves, things belonging to your wisdom, you have made known to me, a great sinner—namely, the mystery of the Incarnation. 2 Kings 23:1–2 (cf.), “David the son of Jesse said… the anointed of the God of Jacob, the excellent psalmist of Israel: The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me.” And he calls it hidden things of wisdom, because 1 Corinthians 1:23–24 says, “We preach Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
Second way: Uncertain and hidden things, namely, those which ought to be hidden from others: Jeremiah 2:8, “Those who hold the law did not know me.” Hosea 4:1, “There is no knowledge of God in the land.” This is true wisdom: Wisdom 13:1, “All men are vain in whom there is not the knowledge of God.” Jeremiah 9:24, “Let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me.” You have made it known to me: Psalm 135:5, “I know that the Lord is great.”
Third way: Uncertain and hidden things from every man except me and Bathsheba, namely my sins. You made them known to me through Nathan the prophet (2 Samuel 12). And he calls them uncertain with respect to the committing of the sins, hidden with respect to the remission of sin. For he revealed to him the remission of sin through Nathan the prophet: 2 Samuel 12:13, “I have sinned against the Lord,” said David; and Nathan said to him, “The Lord also has taken away your sin.”
Here it is to be noted that God loves a threefold truth of doctrine. First, the truth of life, which hypocrites lack: Matthew 7:15, “They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.” Therefore they are not loved by God. Job 36:13, “The hypocrites and the crafty provoke the wrath of God.” This is truth against hypocrisy.
Second, truth against heresy, namely the truth of doctrine: 2 Timothy 2:18, “They have erred from the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past.” And those who depart from the truth of faith cannot be loved by God, who is Truth. Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
Third, the truth of pure confession, of which Joshua 7:19 says: “Give glory to the Lord and tell me what you have done; do not hide it.” This truth greatly pleases God, so much so that immediately, as soon as it comes forth—or even when it is proposed to come forth from the heart—this truth is met by the mercy and piety of God. For of this it is written: Psalm 85:11, “Mercy and truth have met each other.”
You shall sprinkle me with hyssop. Here is the third, namely, firm confidence of obtaining forgiveness, and he is confident of two things. First, that cleansing will be given. Second, that when cleansed he will be made joyful: “To my hearing.”
He trusts to be cleansed by two things which preceded from Christ’s side (John 19:34), namely, by the outpouring of Christ’s blood first, and second by the sprinkling of water, that is, by spiritual remission: You shall sprinkle me with hyssop.
He therefore says: Not in vain have you made known to me the uncertain and hidden things of wisdom, for behold, you shall sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, by sprinkling made from hyssop, with which, dipped in blood, lepers were sprinkled (Leviticus 14:6–7), and I shall be cleansed, for the sinner is a leper. For a sign of leprosy is when diverse heat appears in the flesh; and diverse heat is sin. Proverbs 15:7, “The heart of fools is unlike.”
But Christ is the hyssop—namely, a lowly herb, to which Christ is compared: Matthew 11:29, “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” It is also a hot herb, and Christ according to his divinity is exceedingly hot—indeed, fire: Deuteronomy 4:24, “Your God is a consuming fire.”
This hyssop was dipped in blood in his Passion: Isaiah 63:1, “Who is this who comes from Edom, with garments dyed from Bosra?” Therefore, by this hyssop, thus dyed with blood, lepers—that is, sinners—are cleansed. Hebrews 9:14, “The blood of Christ, who through the Holy Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, shall cleanse our conscience from dead works.” 1 Peter 1:2, “Unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.”
You shall wash me. Here is cleansing by water, and the washing is treated. Thus, you shall sprinkle and wash me with the water which flowed together from the side of Christ with blood—indeed, with the blood itself. Revelation 1:5, “He loved us and washed us from our sins in his blood.” And again 7:14, “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
And I shall be made whiter than snow. Against this nothing is whiter than snow. Cassiodorus answers: Nothing can be found among bodies whiter than snow; but therefore he says ‘whiter,’ because the spiritual soul shines far above worldly bodies. Psalm 45:14, “All the glory of the King’s daughter is within.” Song of Songs 4:3, “Your cheeks are like a fragment of a pomegranate,” apart from what is hidden within.
Or thus: You have manifested to me the remission of my sin, because you will sprinkle me with hyssop—which is a humble and warm herb, that is, with humility and charity—and because these virtues not only remove the stain but also confer beauty. You will wash me through them, and I shall be made whiter than snow, so that it may be said (Song of Songs 4:7), “You are all fair, my love, and there is no blemish in you.”
Note also that hyssop is both cleansing and whitening of the soul, that is, penance, for six reasons, of which two pertain to contrition of heart. For hyssop is a warm herb, and the penitent ought to be truly contrite within and to grow warm, according to Psalm 39:3, “My sorrow was renewed; my heart grew hot within me.” Romans 12:11, “Fervent in spirit.” For the Lord detests the lukewarm.
Also, it casts out water, for it is made into a sprinkler. Thus the true penitent pours forth tears. Judith 8:14, “Let us repent and with poured-out tears ask for his forgiveness.” It is said that a lighted torch drips hot drops.
Again, hyssop causes expectoration and thus is useful for purging the chest. So true penance little by little sends forth, as it were, certain expectorations—iniquities—and thus heals. Proverbs 11:6, “The justice of the upright shall deliver them.”
Also, it does not cause vomiting, but little by little it emits or expels corruption in parts. Thus oral confession ought to be made by parts, not all at once. Sirach 4:34, “Do not be hasty with your tongue.” These two pertain to confession of the mouth.
Again, it grows on rocky places. 3 Kings (1 Kings) 4:33, “Solomon spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows out of the wall.” Thus sanctification ought to be rooted in works against the delight which was in sin. Proverbs 30:26, “The rabbit is a weak people,” that is, the penitent, fearful and weak, “who makes his dwelling in the rock.” Psalm 60:5, “You have shown your people hard things.”
Also, it is humble and small. And now the penitent ought to be humble in satisfaction, according to Psalm 107:17, “Because of their iniquities they were humbled,” against the pride which was in sin. Of these two, Psalm 38:9, “I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly.”
You shall give joy to my hearing. Here is confidence of obtaining joy. First, concerning forgiveness of guilt. Second, concerning glory to be conferred—first on the soul, “and joy,” afterward on the body, “and the bones shall rejoice.”
He therefore says: Thus I shall be cleansed, I shall be made white, and thus, being made clean, I shall hear. There is a right order, because Wisdom 1:4, “Wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul,” but it will enter into a clean vessel. Therefore, to my hearing, inclined to hear humbly. Psalm 45:11, “Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear.” Not as those of whom Jeremiah 6:17 says, “Hear the sound of the trumpet,” that is, of the preacher and prelate, “and they said, We will not hear.”
You will give joy of forgiveness of sin, Nathan saying (2 Samuel 12:13), “The Lord has taken away your sin.” And joy of future beatitude as to the robe of the soul. Isaiah 61:3, “To give them a crown for ashes, the oil of gladness for mourning.” And at last the bones that were humbled shall rejoice in the general resurrection, being glorified. Isaiah 58:11, “He shall fill your soul with brightness and shall deliver your bones.” Psalm 90:15, “We have been made glad according to the days in which you humbled us.”
It is also read of the spiritual bones, that is, the spiritual powers of the soul, which lie within and support the body. Proverbs 18:14, “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity.” These bones, first troubled in contrition, afterward are made glad in the interior hearing of remission. Proverbs 12:25, “Sadness in the heart of a man humbles him, but a good word makes him glad.”
Note that there are three things infused into the soul which give certain testimony of the remission of the grace of sin and thus of joy.
The first is infused security in conscience. 2 Corinthians 1:12, “This is our glory, the testimony of our conscience,” concerning remission of guilt. Nor does this witness give small joy, because Proverbs 15:15, “A secure mind is like a continual feast.”
The second is facility of weeping for past sins in abundance. 2 Kings (2 Samuel) 3:13 (as cited), David said: “You shall not see my face unless you bring Michal.” You shall not see—by a sure hope—Michal, which is interpreted water of all. As if to say: If you bring water from all, that is, for all your sins, you are certain that you will see.
The third witness is a fervent will to die for Christ rather than to commit sin. Of the three together, 1 John 5:8, “There are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood.” Matthew 18:16, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand.”
Turn away your face from my sins. Here, second, he prays against the memory of sin. First, that God may not see them. Second, that the memory may not remain: “And blot out all my iniquities.”
He therefore says: I have been humbled, and therefore turn your face—not from me, but from my sins. Cassiodorus: He asks the merciful judge not to look upon sins which even to himself seemed horrible.
Or thus: I know my sins, and because I advert to them, turn your face from my sins. Augustine: If man advert to his sins, God turns away his face. And not only turn away so as not to see with understanding, but so as not to retain them in memory. And this is: And blot out all my iniquities. For this is owed to penitence. Acts 3:19, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.”
Blot out my iniquities, therefore, from every place in which they are written. First, from your own divine mind. Psalm 139:16, “In your book all shall be written.” Isaiah 65:6, “Behold, it is written before me: I will not be silent, but I will repay.”
Second, from the angelic mind. Isaiah 30:8, “Write it on a tablet,” that is, upon the solid angelic mind, and carefully inscribe it in a book, and it shall be for the last day as a testimony.
Third, from one’s own conscience. Daniel 7:10, “The judgment sat and the books were opened,” that is, the books of consciences. Revelation 20:12, “The dead were judged by those things which were written in the books.”
Fourth, from the mind of demons. Proverbs 17:11, “An evil angel shall be sent against him,” with accusatory books. Revelation 12:10, “The accuser of our brethren has been cast down, who accused them before our God.”
Create in me a clean heart. Here, third, he prays against the power and lingering effects of sin. For sin does two things: it defiles—and against this he prays first; and it bends one toward falling again—and against this he prays second, namely: “and renew a right spirit.” These two effects are, as it were, the remnants of guilt even after it has been forgiven and blotted out: for filthy affections arise, and tendencies toward evil arise.
He therefore says: Thus I have asked that you remove evils; now I ask that you confer goods contrary to the evils which sin has left in me. Therefore, Create in me a clean heart, O God, so that I may see you, because Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.”
And he says create, which is to make something from nothing, because the heart of the sinner is reduced to nothing. Jeremiah 5:21, “Hear, O foolish people, who have no heart.” Psalm 73:22, “I was brought to nothing and I knew it not.” And elsewhere, Psalm 15:4, “The malignant is brought to nothing in his sight.”
Or create as to the ultimate purity, for when a man sins, he loses virtues and they are, as it were, annihilated; but when he rises again, then they are created anew in him. 1 Maccabees 1:41, “Their honors were turned into nothing.”
And renew a right spirit within me. Renew that which has grown old through sin, by that renewal of which the Apostle speaks in Ephesians 4:23, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind,” so that you may fulfill Ezekiel 11:19, “I will give them one heart and will put a new spirit within them.”
Renew, I say, the spirit by making it right, that is, conformed to you who are most right. Augustine: The spirit is right when God is good to it in all things. Psalm 73:1, “How good is God to Israel, to those who are upright of heart.” As therefore he asked for a clean heart to see, so he asks for a right spirit to love. Song of Songs 1:3, “The upright love you.”
And not only renew the heart, but also renew the very inward parts of the heart, that is, the affections and the interior depths from which evil delight proceeds. Matthew 15:19, “From the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,” and the like. And this must be renewed in my inward parts.
Note that he asks to be renewed after cleansing. Renewal is made in vessels by application to the furnace. Apply yourself to that most burning furnace of which Isaiah 31:9 speaks: “Whose fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem.” Thus Paul was applied and was wholly cleansed when he was caught up to the third heaven.
If you say, My heart is heavy; the sons of men cannot ascend there, I show you another furnace, namely, sacred doctrine, which is a most burning furnace. Jeremiah 23:29, “Are not my words like fire?” And Jeremiah 20:8–9, “The word of the Lord became in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones.” Psalm 119:140, “Your word is exceedingly refined.” And you will necessarily be melted in this furnace. Song of Songs 5:6, “My soul melted when my beloved spoke.”
If you do not wish to accept even this, I show you a third, namely charity, which is fire and the greatest furnace. Luke 12:49, “I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what do I will but that it be kindled?”
Do not cast me away from your face. Here is the fourth, in which he prays against the punishment due for sins. First, the prayer; then the persuasion: “I will teach the unjust.” In the first, there are three petitions against three punishments of guilt.
First, he asks against the removal of illuminating grace in this verse. Second, against the loss of spiritual joy: “Restore to me.” Third, against the tendency to relapse: “And with a principal spirit.”
In the first, there are two things. First, he asks against the loss of the first grace which illuminates the sight. Second, against the loss of the second grace which strengthens affection: “And take not your Holy Spirit from me.”
He therefore says: Thus I asked that you turn not your face away and that you not cast me away, but my sins from your face—whence comes the light in which I may see the way. Psalm 89:16, “In the light of your countenance they shall walk.”
But what is this? Above he said that God should turn away his face; here he asks that he not be cast away from God’s face. He seems to contradict himself. Augustine: He fears whose face he invokes; he fears to be seen by that face, yet he desires to see it. And this cannot be unless sins are destroyed. Isaiah 59:2, “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” First he said, “Blot out all my iniquities,” and afterward he adds, “Do not cast me away from your face.”
And take not your Holy Spirit from me, the giver of graces. 1 Corinthians 12:11, “One and the same Spirit, distributing to each as he wills.” Therefore see that just as in the preceding verse he asked for the conferring of goods, so in this he asks for their preservation.
Thus, having the Spirit, he asks that the Spirit not be taken away, so that he may have in sorrows a consoler—whence he is called the Paraclete. John 14:26, “The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit.” Paraclete means consoler.
Also, so that he may have him as a pledge against disinheritance. For he was disinherited when he sinned. Ephesians 1:14, “The pledge of our inheritance.”
Also, he is strength against the assault of the demon, for he is the Spirit of fortitude.
Restore to me the joy. Behold the second. As if to say: Thus I asked that you not take away the Spirit; indeed, through him restore to me joy. Cassiodorus says: He says ‘restore’ because he sensed that something of grace had been diminished in him.
Not worldly joy, of which Proverbs 14:13 says, “They rejoice when they have done evil,” but of your salvation. The Hebrew truth has of your Jesus, that is, of your Savior, by whose contemplation of divinity and foresight of humanity before sin I delighted more vehemently.
From this it is to be learned that when the Lord receives a sinner back to penance, he does not immediately receive him back to his former grace of consolation. 2 Kings (2 Samuel) 14:24, “Let Absalom return to his house, and let him not see my face.”
And with a principal spirit confirm me. Behold the third. As if to say: Not only restore joy, but also confirm me with a principal spirit, holding me and preserving me in good, which rules over human spirits. Psalm 76:13, “He takes away the spirit of princes.” And of angels, Psalm 104:4, “Who makes your angels spirits.”
With this spirit, I say, confirm me, lest I fall again into sin, but persevere in good. As if to say: With the same goodness by which you freed me, with that same goodness confirm me. Psalm 68:29, “Confirm, O God, what you have wrought in us.”
Note here the Trinity clearly and evidently expressed: the right Spirit here (the Son), Psalm 92:16, “The Lord our God is upright,” for the Son is truth; the Holy Spirit by name, “and take not your Holy Spirit from me”; and the Father, who is the principal Spirit, because he is the principle of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
And fittingly he is called strong and principal, because one must fight against a threefold spirit. Against the spirit of the flesh: Numbers 16:22, “Most strong God of the spirits of all flesh.” And against the spirit of the world: 1 Corinthians 2:12, “We have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God.” And against the spirit of the demon: 1 Samuel 16:23, “An evil spirit from the Lord troubled Saul.” Of these three spirits—the spirit of the flesh (soft), the spirit of the world (vain), and the spirit of malice (bitter)—he speaks.
I will teach the unjust. Here is the second part, in which, after the prayer is set down, persuasion is added. First, from his own act. Second, from the profit or fruit following from that act: “and the wicked shall be converted to you.”
He therefore says: Thus confirm me with a principal spirit, and I will not be ungrateful; indeed, I will teach the unjust your ways, and the wicked, etc. I will teach, I say, by word, by conduct, and by example. 1 Timothy 4:12, “Be an example of the faithful in word, in conduct.”
And note that he first wished to hear before he taught. Hence above he set down first: “To my hearing,” etc. Now he says, “I will teach.” Sirach 18:19, “Before you speak, learn.”
But it is to be asked how he says that he will teach others and preach, who was an adulterer, a seditious man, and a murderer. And he himself above said in Psalm 49:16, in the person of the Lord: “But to the sinner God says, Why do you declare my statutes?”
I answer: The preaching of a sinner remaining in sin does not please God; such a one is forbidden above. But the preaching of a penitent sinner greatly pleases God, as above in Psalm 19:14, “I shall be cleansed from the greatest sin, and the words of my mouth shall be pleasing,” etc.
Hence the Lord chose as the greatest preacher him whom he had formerly denied, and Paul, who had been a persecutor. And the Lord does this for four reasons…
The first reason is so that no one may ever despair. When one sees that David the adulterer, Peter the unfaithful, and Paul the persecutor were not only reconciled but even made dispensers of the word of God, no one should lose hope. As it is said in Romans 2:4, “Do you not know that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”
The second reason is that there might be greater harmony among the members of the Church. For if only the innocent were made preachers, and sinners were in no way exalted, the innocent would condemn the sinner, and the penitent would in turn have occasion to envy the innocent. But now to one is given innocence, and to another the grace of preaching (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:23ff), “Those members of the body which we think less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor.” And further: “That there may be no schism in the body.”
The third reason is to avoid pride. For if someone had the highest virtue, namely innocence, and also the highest dignity and office, namely the grace of preaching, he would become proud and would scarcely guard himself from exaltation. As Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) says, “Virtues exalt the heart,” and as Paul says, “Knowledge puffs up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). But now the innocent who is unlearned esteems himself lower than the preacher who was once a sinner, and the sinner who preaches esteems himself lower than the innocent (cf. Philippians 2:3–4), “In humility, let each consider others better than himself.”
The fourth reason is for the confusion of the devil. For experienced fighters are more suitable against an adversary than inexperienced ones. As Sirach says (Ecclesiasticus 34:10), “He who has not been tried knows little.” The innocent have not experienced the battles of the devil, but sinners have. As Paul says (2 Corinthians 2:11), “That we may not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs.” And in Esther 6:13 it is said, “If he is of the seed of the Jews, before whom you have begun to fall, you will not prevail against him, but will surely fall before him.”
“And the wicked shall be converted to you.”
Behold such fruit, that there is joy in heaven, as it is written in Luke 15:10: “There will be joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
“Deliver me from blood-guiltiness.”
Here begins the second part of the Psalm, in which the penitent sighs over his present misery. First comes the prayer, then the persuasion, “And my tongue shall exult.”
This is read in two ways. First, of the present: thus he sighs for grace to be given. Second, of the future: thus he sighs for glory.
He says therefore: “Deliver me from blood-guiltiness,” that is, from carnal sins, or from the dominion of the flesh and blood. This is necessary for one who preaches (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:27), “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection.” He says “bloods” in the plural, more properly than in Latin, because sins of the flesh are many (cf. Galatians 5:19), “The works of the flesh are manifest: fornication, impurity,” and so forth.
Or thus: “Deliver me from bloods,” that is, deliver me from the corruption of guilt and punishment that is generated from the mingling of male and female bloods. As if to say: By your most pure seed, deliver me from these bloods. As John 8:36 says, “If the Son sets you free, you will be truly free.”
He repeats “God, God,” because he had said “bloods” in the plural. You are the author of my salvation. Elsewhere in the Psalms: “O Lord, God of my salvation, I have cried by day” (Psalm 88:1).
“And my tongue shall exult.”
Here is the persuasion, and two things are said. First, what he promises in the future; second, what he promises in the present, “O Lord, open my lips.”
He says therefore: Thus deliver me, and then my tongue, freed from blood-guiltiness, shall exult and proclaim your justice, not my own (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:5), “We preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ our Lord.” Cassiodorus has “shall praise.” Briefly, it is shown here that those who wish to proclaim God’s justice must first be freed from bloods, lest they be leeches sucking the blood of others through carnal lust, gluttony, or the lust of the eyes, or even the blood of the poor (cf. Proverbs 30:15), “The leech has two daughters, saying: Give, give.”
“O Lord, open my lips.”
Here he promises veneration in the future. First of the mouth, second of works, “For if you had desired,” and third of the heart, “A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit.”
He says therefore: Thus I have said, “My tongue shall exult,” and I do not hesitate, because, O Lord, you will open my lips, which had previously been closed because of sin (cf. Psalm 107:42), “All iniquity shall stop its mouth.” Cassiodorus says: “In those placed in guilt, mouths are condemned.” Above it was said: “But to the sinner God said…” (Psalm 50:16).
But when I open my eyes to tears, you will open my lips and loosen my tongue (cf. Isaiah 35:6), “The tongue of the mute shall be loosed.” Why? Because waters have broken forth in the desert (cf. Luke 11:14), when the mute man spoke after the demon was cast out—by the blessed water of tears.
Thus my opened mouth will proclaim your praise (cf. Psalm 71:15), “My mouth shall proclaim your justice.”
But why does David, a strong man of the Lord, say this? He says: Thus my mouth will proclaim praise, and my hand will not slaughter beasts, because at that time expiation was made by sacrifice (cf. Hebrews 9:13), “The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer…” He who slew the lion and the bear (cf. 1 Samuel 17:35) could not open his mouth without divine help.
It is even more wonderful: he had spoken many Psalms before, and even this very verse, “O Lord, open my lips,” so it is clear he did not speak with closed lips. Why then does he pray for his lips to be opened?
He says this for three reasons.
First, that we may gather from this a matter for humility: because God gives not only wisdom of heart, but also the opening of the mouth. As it is written (Wisdom 10:21), “Wisdom opened the mouths of the mute.” They lied who said (Psalm 12:4), “Our lips are our own.”
Second, that we may understand an incentive for love: because God cooperates in every work of ours. Fellowship in the same work greatly stirs love, even among brute animals. Isidore says: “Among yoked oxen there is remarkable affection.” But the Lord says (John 15:5), “Without me you can do nothing.”
Third, that we may gather a form of religion: namely, that lips are closed and should not be opened without God’s permission. He holds the key of the doors of the tongue. As Sirach says (Ecclesiasticus 22:27), “Who will set a guard over my mouth and a sure seal over my lips?” This refers to Christ, of whom it is said (Revelation 3:7), “He has the key of David, who opens and no one shuts.”
CONTINUE
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