Title and Occasion of the Psalm
"The Lord rules me, and nothing shall be wanting to me; in a place of pasture He has placed me." (Ps 23:1-2)
Title: "A Psalm of David."
From the title it appears that David composed this psalm. But concerning the motive that moved David to compose this psalm, and concerning its subject matter, the Hebrew masters disagree among themselves.
For some say that David composed this psalm in the person of the people of Israel returning from the Babylonian captivity to the land of Judah, which is more fertile and abundant than Babylon. And therefore he gives thanks because he has come into a fertile and pleasant land.
Others say that David composed this psalm in his own person, giving thanks because [God] had led him back into Judea when he had fled from the face of Saul, as is related in the first book of Kings, chapter 26. Seeing this, he says: "I give thanks to God because the Lord has ruled and directed me, and has placed me in a place of pasture and fertility," that is, in Judea, etc.
Refutation of These Views
But manifestly both of these opinions are false:
First, because Babylon or a portion thereof is more fertile and more watered than the entire land of promise. Therefore, on their return from captivity, the Jews suffered famine and scarcity, as is clear from the first book of Ezra.
Likewise, because in the entire land of promise, especially in the land of Judah, there is not such abundance as is mentioned here, since it is a stony and waterless land, except for the bank of the Jordan in Galilee.
Moreover, this psalm is reckoned among the Sacred Scriptures like the others; therefore it pertains to sacramental exposition for the Church, as has frequently and repeatedly been said.
Bethlehem as Type of the Church
Therefore, for the understanding of this psalm, it must be noted that although the entire land of Judah—from Jerusalem northward to Kadesh, and from Beersheba southward—is for the greater part waterless and sterile, yet among all the cities and villages, Bethlehem is more fertile, because it is more irrigated and abounds in spring waters, especially because it has one great fountain flowing from the mountains of Judea near the house of Zechariah.
This fountain irrigates the greater part of the territory, and for this reason it abounds in pastures, wine, grain, and oil more than the other lands of Judea. And therefore it was formerly called Ephratah, that is, "fertile." But in the time of Ruth it was called Bethlehem, that is, "house of bread," because after a long famine it abounded in bread more than the other cities of Judah—and this on account of the greater abundance of waters.
Bethlehem Prefigures the Church
And therefore Bethlehem especially bears the type and figure of the Church:
First, because in it was to be born Christ, who is the living bread who came down from heaven.
Second, because it signified the abundance of the sacraments of the Church, which are prepared from water, bread, wine, and oil, as will be clear.
David as Figure of Christ
Second, it must be noted that just as Bethlehem bears the type of the Church on account of the aforementioned fertility, because Christ was to be born in it, so David bore the figure of Christ:
First and principally, because he was born in the same Bethlehem where Christ was to be born.
Second, because for the most part he possessed all the properties of Christ: for first he was poor and a shepherd; then he suffered unjust persecutions; and finally he was exalted as king.
And therefore it must be noted that before David was raised up as king, while he was keeping the sheep of his father, he was unknown to most people, a simple man. But after he was anointed by Samuel, immediately the Spirit of the Lord came upon David, and he acquired the spirit of bodily strength, and he acquired the gift of prophecy, as Josephus says. Then he composed some psalms while he was pasturing the sheep.
When the evil spirit troubled and agitated Saul, one of the youths said: "Behold, I have seen David, the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, skilled in playing the lyre, and the Lord is with him." And so he came to the king, and when he played the lyre, the evil spirit departed, as is clear from 1 Kings 16.
From this it is clear that David sang some psalms which he had composed. And the devil did not flee from the sound of the lyre, but from the virtue of the psalm which he sang with the lyre. And so it is to be believed that when he composed some psalms while pasturing the sheep, before he was made king, this was one of them.
David's Prophetic Vision
After David acquired the spirit of prophecy after the first anointing, now his spirit and soul were totally directed and elevated in God. Seeing himself as shepherd of the flock, anointed as king, and born in Bethlehem; contemplating the land of Bethlehem, irrigated and fertile; considering the sheep which he was pasturing and the staff which he carried, by which he sustained and ruled the sheep—then he foresaw in the Spirit:
How Christ, who is the living bread, was to be born in Bethlehem, promised in the Law, and was to be the true shepherd of the sheep of the faithful, and universal King and Lord, who ought to place His sheep in a place of pasture, rule and feed them there, having placed them.
He also foresaw, from the fertility of Bethlehem itself, the entire future fertility of the Church through the sacraments, by which the faithful of Christ are refreshed and fed; through that fountain irrigating the entire land of Bethlehem, he foresaw the fountain of the water of Baptism in the Church.
Likewise, through that fountain irrigating the entire land of Bethlehem, he foresaw in the Spirit how from the side of Christ Himself blood and water were to flow, from which fountain the entire Church was to be irrigated through the seven channels of the ecclesiastical sacraments.
And through the abundance and copiousness of the pastures, he foresaw the other sacraments: for example, through the abundance of bread and wine he foresaw the sacrament of the Eucharist; through the abundance of oil he foresaw the oil of chrism and of catechumens and of the sick, for healing the wounds of sins; and through the staff and pastoral rod he foresaw the evangelical law, which is a rod for directing us through the paths of life, and a staff for sustaining us lest we fall into the shadows of death.
And so, foreseeing all these things in the Spirit, his soul was moved to compose this psalm.
Placement After Psalm 21
But because he foresaw in the Spirit that all the ecclesiastical sacraments were to draw and receive their virtue from the passion and side of Christ, therefore he placed this psalm immediately after the preceding one, in which David predicted the entire mystery of the passion of Christ, from which passion all the sacraments treated in this psalm receive their virtue.
In this psalm, therefore, he does two things:
First, he already rejoices in hope, because Christ, the true Shepherd, has placed His flock of the faithful in the most fertile field of the Church, in which He feeds them with the most abundant pastures of the ecclesiastical sacraments.
Second, he predicts the effect and fruit which the faithful will obtain from the refreshment of these sacraments—which fruit is grace in the present life and eternal life in the future: "And Your mercy shall follow me."
Exposition According to the First Point
Therefore, as to the first point, David says in the person of the mystical body:
"I give thanks and rejoice in hope of the Christ to come, because my Lord Jesus Christ rules and will rule and feed me; He will be my shepherd and ruler, because there in the place of pasture He has placed me, and has led and introduced me into the Church, in which there is an abundance of pasture of spiritual goods, by which the soul is refreshed. For neither the synagogue nor the law of Moses was able to refresh or justify me, since it was sterile. But Christ, sent in the Law, who is the living bread and true ruler and shepherd, has placed me in His Church, which is the place of true pasture, just as I foresaw in the Spirit."
He continues: "I acquired the office of kingdom and pastoral care for myself through the fertility of the land of Bethlehem, where I pasture my sheep; through which I also foresaw in the Spirit the abundance and copiousness of the spiritual goods of the Church of Christ, just as has been said."
Textual Note
The letter of Jerome has: "The Lord will feed me in pastures of herbs," and then the text is plain. But on account of His name, which is Jesus, that is, Savior...
Exposition of the Spiritual Pastures (Ps 23:2-3)
"Beside the water of refreshment He has led me forth; He has converted my soul." (v. 3)
Here he begins to recount the spiritual goods, or pastures, of this Church.
Two Kinds of Ecclesiastical Goods
It must be noted that the pastures or goods of the Church are of two kinds:
Doctrinal goods, such as the precepts and counsels of the Gospel;
Medicinal goods, such as the ecclesiastical sacraments, which refresh and heal.
The Seven Sacraments Enumerated
Of these, first, Baptism heals from sin and gives life from death. Second, Confirmation strengthens the soul already born. Third, Penance raises from death and eternal punishment. Fourth, the Eucharist nourishes and gives spiritual life. Fifth, Extreme Unction heals all the venial wounds which remain after Penance.
And therefore he principally enumerates these goods, saying:
"David says here: I say that my Lord Jesus Christ has placed me in a place of pasture of spiritual goods. But first, He educated and nourished me and gave me life upon the water of baptismal refreshment; for when I was dead by original sin, He regenerated and refreshed me by the water of Baptism. Second, when I had fallen away from God and was mortally wounded in my soul, He converted me by the sacrament of Penance. Third, when I was outside the way of justice, in the region of the shadow of death and of ignorance, He led me upon the paths of justice, giving me the precepts of the Gospel, moral teachings, and counsels. And He did this not for my merits, 'for He came into the world for this.'" (1 Tim. 1:15)
Ps 23:4: Confidence in Tribulation
"For even if I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for You are with me." (v. 4)
"If I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death"—that is, among sinners and diabolical tempters—"I will not fear evils and temptations and persecutions from them, because You are with me," bestowing the help of grace. Which he proves:
Ps 23:4b: Rod and Staff
"For Your rod and Your staff, these have comforted me." (v. 4)
"You have given me the rod of evangelical discipline in this life, that I may walk in the straight way to eternal life; and You have given me the staff of strength by another gift, both of confirmation and of sustaining staff, lest I fall."
These three things—the evangelical rod and the staff of strength, these two gifts, rod and staff—have comforted me, by directing and strengthening.
Ps 23:5: The Prepared Table
"You have prepared a table before me against those who afflict me." (v. 5)
"You have prepared the table of the Eucharist in my sight against all enemies, both visible and invisible, who afflict me. Rather, I am refreshed by eating, and grace is restored in me; I am strengthened in the head, which is the body, and thus I live with Him by spiritual life, and I am made stronger against my enemies."
"And You have prepared in my sight the table of Sacred Scripture against temptations; for by the teachings of Sacred Scripture I am able to ward off temptations, just as Christ, when the words of Scripture were cited, resisted the tempter devil, as is proved in Matthew 4."
Ps 23:5b: Anointing with Oil
"You have anointed my head with oil; and my cup, which inebriates me, is excellent." (v. 5)
"You have anointed my head with oil"—that is, my soul and conscience, which is the head of the whole person—"so that I may be anointed and imbued with sacramental oil."
The Three Sacramental Anointings
First, with the oil of catechumens in Baptism, for healing original sin.
Second, with the chrism of salvation, for strength and protection in Confirmation.
Third, with the oil of the sick in Extreme Unction, for healing the wounds which the five bodily senses have committed.
These three sacramental and visible anointings inwardly anoint, enrich, and fill the soul with the oil of joy and the invisible grace of the Holy Spirit.
The Excellent Cup
"Finally, praying, 'my cup which inebriates me with Your love, which You have given me in the sacrament of the altar, which cup You have left me in memory of Your passion,' he says: 'How excellent and memorable is this cup of Your passion and Eucharist, that no sacrament is comparable to it in dignity!'"
For in this sacred banquet the body is received and the memory of the entire passion is recalled, since Christ is really present with the entire virtue of His passion; therefore He gives us a pledge of future glory. And this cup, inebriating the soul, lifting it from worldly things and totally uniting it to God, and converting it in love to God—for the soul is more where it loves and where it is informed (for love transforms the lover into the beloved)—this effect does this excellent cup and contemplation of it, which inebriates the soul, transforming it into God.
And this cup of passion has this virtue, and all the other ecclesiastical sacraments, as if to say: "This cup of the passion of Christ is so excellent, because from it have flowed and virtually all the ecclesiastical sacraments."
For:
First, He irrigated the Church with the water of baptismal refreshment.
Second, He gave life to it with the other good sacramental and spiritual pastures.
From which it is proved how abundant and fertile in spiritual pastures is this field of the Church, in which Christ has placed us, since in it we may enjoy and be fed with so many, so great, and so excellent spiritual goods and fruits.
Ps 23:6: The Fruit of the Sacraments
"And Your mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." (v. 6)
After he has enumerated above the ecclesiastical sacraments given to us for spiritual refreshment, now he predicts the fruit and effect of all the sacraments, which we obtain from them: which is mercy and grace in the present life, and eternal life in the future.
He says, therefore, that such is the virtue of the refreshment of these sacraments, that from them "Your mercy shall follow me," giving grace in the present life all the days of my life.
Eternal Dwelling
"That I may dwell in the house of the Lord for length of days."
That is, after this life I may dwell in the house of the Lord, in the kingdom of heaven, for length of days—that is, in eternity—I may obtain eternal life. As if to say: "Just as bodily food gives bodily life, so the food of the sacraments gives spiritual life, that is, grace in the present and life in the future, eternal."
Liturgical Application
And note that the Church says this psalm here in the office for the dead, in the person of any deceased person exiting from Purgatory, insofar as, after he has departed from this life with the refreshment of the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist, he desires to exit from punishments and to dwell in the house of the Lord, and to be fed and to enjoy the food of glory eternally.
Comments
Post a Comment