Translated by Qwen who notes: The exposition moves systematically from Christ's personal preservation and experimental knowledge of suffering, through the theological symbolism of the "right hand" and the fourfold corruption, to the eschatological fulfillment of joy in the Beatific Vision. St Albert's method integrates literal, moral, and anagogical senses, heavily drawing upon Augustine, Gregory, Cassiodorus, and the Glossa Ordinaria, while maintaining a distinct scholastic precision in distinguishing types of knowledge, forms of corruption, and degrees of heavenly delight.
St. Albert the Great: Commentary on Psalm 15
Title and Introduction
"Inscription of the title, to David himself."
This is the fifteenth Psalm. In it, after the liberation of the Church from its assailants, the Gentiles and the Jews, has been treated of, there is consequently added a discussion of her deliverance from infirmity, that she may be turned to the good, and this through Christ. For grace is infused through Christ, by which infirmities are converted to good, so that they no longer draw us away from God, but rather impel us toward God. And this is sufficiently indicated in the title, which reads thus: "The inscription of the title, to David himself"; that is, the good of which this Psalm treats is to be ascribed not to David the man, but to the true David. For the rule is that wherever the distinguishing pronoun ipse ("himself") is added to David, it is to be understood not as David the historical figure, but David spiritually, namely Christ.
Moreover, in this manner of titling the Psalms, Ezra seems to have mocked the Jews in a prophetic spirit, for they did not believe Christ to be King and Head of the Church, from whom every good flows into her. And he understood, in a prophetic spirit, the act of Pilate, who wrote the title and placed it upon the head of the crucified Christ: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" (John 19:19), and no other. Hence, when they wished him to correct it, or rather to corrupt it, he would not yield, saying, John 19:22: "What I have written, I have written."
And note Jerome’s Gloss, which distinguishes a threefold title. There are three kinds of titles, and this title falls under the third kind, because it pertains to the proclamation of Christ, just as that which was placed on the Cross.
The Psalm is divided into three parts:
First, a prayer of Christ to the Father, inasmuch as He is man, for His own preservation and that of His members;
Second, He shows that He has been heard by recounting the benefits bestowed upon Him by God, and the manner of their bestowal, beginning at "To the saints...";
Third, thanksgiving for the benefits bestowed, beginning at "I will bless the Lord..."
In the first part, two things are treated:
First, the petition;
Second, the proof that He ought to be heard, beginning at "Because I have hoped..."
Ps 16:1: "Preserve me, O Lord..."
He says therefore: "O Lord, preserve me," that is, save me together with my members. Thus He prayed, John 17:11: "Holy Father, keep them in Your name, whom You have given Me." And He was heard. For God the Father preserved both Him and His own. Wisdom 10:5: "He knew the just man, and preserved him blameless before God."
In this He instructs us that we ought not to pray only for ourselves, but also to join others to our prayers. Thus Esther prayed, Esther 14:3 (Vulg. Esth. C 25): "Give me my soul for which I pray, and my people for which I make supplication." Gregory: "He makes his prayers more powerful who offers them for others."
In this, He also shows that one who lives with others, if they are good, is more easily preserved from sin. As if He were saying: "O Lord, preserve me as I exist among others." Matthew 18:20: "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." Hence Solomon argues, Ecclesiastes 4:9-10: "It is better, therefore, that two should be together than one; for they have the advantage of their society. If one fall, he shall be supported by the other. Woe to him that is alone, for when he falls he has none to lift him up."
It is also noted that free will cooperates with God, so that the sense is: "Lord, preserve me, and this together with me," in such a way that I cooperate with You. 1 Corinthians 3:9: "We are God's co-workers."
Ps 16:2: "Because I have hoped in You..."
Here a threefold beginning is touched upon, by which He proves that He ought to be heard:
First, through the hope He has in God;
Second, through the confession of faith, beginning at "I have said to the Lord...";
Third, on account of humility, beginning at "For You have no need..."
He says therefore thus: "Preserve me, O Lord, and You ought to, because 'I have hoped in You,' and You are He who saves those who hope in You." 1 Maccabees 2:61: "All who hope in the Lord are not weakened." And You can do this by a word alone: Wisdom 16:26: "Your word preserves those who believe in You."
And note that He says, "I have hoped in You," that formed hope may be noted. For there is the hope of pardon, which proceeds from faith in miracles, by which we believe that God exists and hope that He will be merciful. And there is the hope of grace, which proceeds from faith in promises, by which we believe God and hope that He will be truthful. And there is the hope of glory, which proceeds from the fulfillment of the commandments together with formed faith, and it makes the soul tend toward God. Of this He speaks here.
Ps 16:2b-3: "I have said to the Lord... For You have no need..."
Here is the second point. As if He were saying: "Thus, not only have I hoped, but I have said, both in heart and mouth, not contradicting in deed: 'You are my God.'" Romans 10:10: "For with the heart we believe unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Yet so that work is added. Titus 1:16: "They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him." Thus it is said, Matthew 7:21: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven." But it is necessary that the third element, deeds, be added.
"For You have no need of my goods." Behold the third point. As if He were saying: "I have said this by truly humbling myself: 'For You have no need of my goods.'" Note that this is said by Christ as man. For if Christ, as God, has no need of our goods, much more does no one else. Acts 17:25: "He is not served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath." 1 Corinthians 4:7: "What do you have that you have not received?" Job 22:3 and 35:7: "If you are just, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?"
And truly He does not need them, just as the sun does not need our eyes to shine brightly, nor a fountain need a drinker to flow; but rather the eye needs the sun to see, and the thirsty man needs the fountain to drink. James 1:5: "Who gives to all abundantly and does not reproach."
Ps 16:3: "To the saints who are on the earth..."
Here is the second part, in which Christ confesses that He has been heard, and two things are said:
First, that the Father has fulfilled His will;
Second, He shows the manner and order in which He fulfilled it, beginning at "Their infirmities are multiplied..."
He says therefore: "I asked the Father, and He wonderfully fulfilled all my wills," not merely some, "in the saints who are on His earth." That is, in the Church militant and triumphant. Both are that earth of which it is said in Psalm 26:13: "I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living." Ecclesiastes 1:4: "But the earth stands forever." In the militant Church, the life of grace is lived; in the triumphant, the life of glory.
Likewise, those who, hearing the word of God, bear fruit are in His earth; indeed, they are His earth. That good earth of which Luke 8:15 says: "But that on the good ground are they who, in a good and perfect heart, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience." The evil earth are those who produce only thorns and thistles: Genesis 3:17-18: "Cursed is the ground in your work; it shall bring forth thorns and thistles to you." Of both it is said together in Hebrews 6:7-8: "For the earth that drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and brings forth herbs useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. But that which brings forth thorns and briers is rejected and is near to a curse."
And note that God the Father wonderfully fulfilled all the wills of Christ:
The will of His divinity, by which He made all things whatsoever He willed, creating all from nothing: Wisdom 11:25: "For You love all things that are..." (contextual; cf. Vulgate tradition on creation).
The will of His reason, because He willed to die: Isaiah 53:7: "He was offered because it was His own will," ordaining and bringing to effect that He should die. For what is more wonderful than the immortal dying and the impassible suffering? Mark 15:44: "But Pilate marveled if He were already dead."
The will of His sensuality, by which He willed not to die: Matthew 26:39: "Let this chalice pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." This He made wonderful by rising again. For it seemed more wonderful that one dead and buried should rise again: Daniel 6:27: "He is the deliverer and savior, doing signs and wonders in heaven and on earth." For this reason Thomas said, John 20:25: "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."
Ps 16:4: "Their infirmities are multiplied..."
Here He shows the manner and order by which He wonderfully fulfilled His will, and four things are said:
First, the stirring of the saints;
Second, the hastening of those stirred, beginning at "Afterwards they have hastened...";
Third, the destruction of the old rite, beginning at "I will not gather...";
Fourth, the bestowal of goods, beginning at "Nor will I be mindful..."
He says therefore thus: "He wonderfully fulfilled all my wills in the saints, and in this order: 'Their infirmities have been multiplied' under the natural and Mosaic law. 'Afterwards they have hastened,' running in desire and affection toward grace." Isaiah 26:16: "Lord, in tribulation they have sought You." Hosea 6:1: "In their affliction they will rise early to Me." Exodus 2:23: "And the children of Israel groaned by reason of the work, and they cried out."
For tribulations are goads, stimulating the lazy sinner weighed down by sins to run to God. Gregory: "The evils that press upon us here compel us to go to God."
In this two kinds of men are reproved:
Murmurers under the lash against God, resembling madmen who gnash against the physician and his medicine: Psalm 34:16: "They have gnashed upon me with their teeth." Such is the lethargic man, who considers the one stimulating and rousing him a nuisance.
The incorrigible, who grow worse under the lash and are not corrected: Jeremiah 2:30: "In vain have I struck your children; they have not received discipline." And in chapter 5:3: "You have struck them, and they have not grieved; You have consumed them, and they have refused to receive correction; they have made their faces harder than a rock, and they will not return."
And note that one must hasten to God for four reasons:
Because we converse here dangerously among enemies, men and demons. Men: Micah 7:6: "A man's enemies are they of his own household." Demons: Psalm 30:14: "They have taken counsel together against me." Of both, Ezekiel 2:6: "And you, son of man, hear not what they say to you... for you dwell among scorpions."
Because we are called to great things: Isaiah 64:4 and 1 Corinthians 2:9: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love Him." Matthew 22:4: "All things are ready; come to the marriage."
Because we are long awaited by God and by His own: By God, Romans 2:4: "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness and patience and longsuffering?" By His own, Psalm 141:8: "The just wait for me until You reward me." And we are awaited for a very long time, since the beginning of the world: Matthew 25:34: "Come, you blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
Lest perhaps we be shut out with the foolish virgins: Matthew 25:10: "And they that were ready went in with him to the marriage; and the door was shut." There Gregory says: "O if the palate of the heart could taste how much admiration there is in 'Behold, the Bridegroom comes!' how much sweetness in 'They went in with Him to the marriage!' how much bitterness in 'The door was shut!'" Luke 13:25: "When the master of the house shall have gone in and shut the door, you shall begin to stand outside and knock, saying, 'Lord, open to us.' And He shall answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, nor whence you are.'" For this reason, the Apostle's counsel is good, Hebrews 4:11: "Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest."
Ps 16:4b: "I will not gather their assemblies of blood..."
Behold the third point. As if He were saying: "They are stimulated by infirmities and will hasten by desires and prayers, and no longer according to the old manner will I gather assemblies boasting of the blood of immolated animals." As if He were saying: "The rite of immolations will be destroyed," as the prophecy of Isaiah 1:11 says: "I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of well-fed beasts, and the blood of calves and lambs and he-goats." And in Psalm 39:7: "Sacrifice and oblation You would not."
But for the blood taken away from the Church, the blood of Christ is substituted: Matthew 26:27-28: "Drink you all of this; for this is My blood of the new testament." But instead of that, the blood of carnal parents returned; for from the blood of Bishops and Prelates the assemblies of the Church are gathered. Micah 3:9-10: "Hear this, you princes of the house of Jacob, and you judges of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment and pervert all that is right; who build up Sion with blood." Woe to such builders: Habakkuk 2:12: "Woe to him that builds a town with blood." And to those assemblies so built, woe: Nahum 3:1: "Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery." Christ founded the Church in His blood, and they destroy it in theirs. Ecclesiasticus 34:28: "He that builds and he that destroys, what profit have they, but labor?" Isaiah 49:17: "Your builders shall come; they that destroyed you shall go out of you."
Ps 16:4c: "Nor will I be mindful of their names by my lips..."
Here is the fourth point, the goods bestowed upon them:
First, what goods they have received in the present;
Second, what in hope, beginning at "The Lord is the portion..."
He says therefore: "Thus legal rites are destroyed, and I will not be mindful of their names, at least by my lips." As if He were saying: "By the names by which Israelites are wont to be named, namely sinful Jews and Gentiles, they shall no longer be named, but rather by a new name, namely Christians." Isaiah 62:2: "And you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name." Hosea 1:10: "And it shall be in the place where it shall be said to them, 'You are not my people,' it shall be said to them, 'You are the sons of the living God.'"
Hence it is that to those baptized and renewed by grace, new names are given, as if the old ones were wiped away. Isaiah 14:22: "I will destroy the name of Babylon, and the remnant, and the offspring, and the posterity." But the lips of God, by which He names, as the Gloss says, are the Scriptures, in which they shall be named as has been said. Just as the Apostles and Doctors, through whom God speaks, are His very lips, by which He will address the impious at judgment, when He will say, Matthew 25:41: "Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire."
Ps 16:5: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance..."
Here He touches upon the goods bestowed in hope, namely eternal goods, and two things are said:
First, that He will give the eternal kingdom to Himself and His own;
Second, He describes what is to be given, beginning at "The lines are fallen unto me..."
In the first part, three things:
First, that God is the reward for Himself and His own;
Second, He shows the merit of this reward, beginning at "And of my chalice...";
Third, through whom He will have it, beginning at "You are He who will restore..."
He says therefore thus: "They have been called to grace, the old error being destroyed, and finally in the future, 'the Lord shall be the portion of my inheritance,' that is, my portion and that of my own, hereditary portion, so that it is an intransitive construction. Numbers 18:20: "I am your part and inheritance." And in Psalm 72:26: "You are the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever." Or it may be a transitive construction, so that the sense is: "The Lord shall be the portion of my inheritance," namely of the Gentiles, who are given to me as an inheritance. In Psalm 2:8 above: "Ask of Me, and I will give You the Gentiles for Your inheritance." And elsewhere, Psalm 32:12: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; the people whom He has chosen for His inheritance." Of this inheritance, God will be the portion. Deuteronomy 10:9: "Therefore Levi has no part nor possession with his brethren; for the Lord Himself is his possession, as the Lord your God promised him."
Augustine: "God will be wholly yours. You will eat Him that you may not hunger; you will drink Him that you may not thirst; you will be enlightened by Him that you may not be blind; you will be upheld by Him that you may not fail. He will possess you whole, entire, and He will be wholly entire." Isaiah 61:7: "They shall praise their portion, for it is good and excellent."
Ps 16:5b: "And of my chalice..."
Here is the second point, in which He touches upon the merit of so great an inheritance, namely the chalice of passion. As if He were saying: "The Lord is the portion of me and of my own, and He is the portion of my chalice," that is, the reward of My death and passion. This is the chalice of which it is said, Matthew 26:39: "Let this chalice pass from Me." This is the chalice which He offered to His kinsmen, James and John, when they asked for the aforesaid inheritance. Matthew 20:22: "Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink?" As if He were saying: "You shall not have a portion of the inheritance except through the merit of passion." 2 Corinthians 1:7: "Knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall you be also of the consolation," otherwise not.
Moreover, passion is called a chalice because, as Isidore says, chalices and baskets are named from the material, from wood, which the Greeks call xylon. Christ, therefore, drank the cup of death on the cross: Philippians 2:8: "He became obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross." Likewise, as Cassiodorus says, a chalice is so called from hot drink, because just as that drink gladdens the heart of man when drunk, according to Psalm 103:15: "And wine may gladden the heart of man," so the passion of Christ, faithfully remembered, gladdens the heart with charity. Hosea 14:8 (Vulg. 14:7): "His memorial shall be as the wine of Lebanon."
Moreover, the passion is called a chalice because medicinal drink is customarily given in a cup, which is properly called a chalice. And the passion of Christ, which He drank as our Head, was medicinal to the whole body. Isaiah 53:5: "By His bruises we are healed."
Ps 16:5c: "You are He who will restore..."
Here is the third point, in which it is shown through whom this inheritance will be had. As if He were saying: "Thus the Lord shall be the portion of my inheritance by the merit of the passion, but O You, Lord, You are He who will restore my inheritance to me in my aforesaid members." For through the sin of the first man, the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom was lost. Isaiah 52:4: "My people went down at first into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without any cause," excluding them from the eternal inheritance. But God restored this inheritance when He willed that humanity be united to the Son. Isaiah 49:6, 8: "I will also give You to be a light of the Gentiles, that You may be My salvation even to the end of the earth... and I have given You for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, and to possess the inheritances that were destroyed."
Concerning this restoration the Apostles asked, Acts 1:6: "Lord, will You at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" Genesis 40:12: "Yet three days, and Pharaoh will remember your service, and restore you to your former estate."
Moreover, the Son of God, inasmuch as Lord, had as it were lost His inheritance when nearly the whole world had turned to infidelity; but the Father restored the inheritance to Him when the Gentiles were converted to the faith. Psalm 32:12: "The people whom He has chosen for His inheritance." Just as even today the Lord finally restores inheritances to those who leave them for His sake, according to what He promises, Matthew 19:29: "And everyone who has left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold..."
Ps 16:6: "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places..."
Here follows a description of the inheritance, and two things are said:
First, that this inheritance is excellent;
Second, that if not to all, yet rightly to the discerning, beginning at "Yea, my inheritance..."
He says therefore: "I shall have an inheritance, the Lord, and truly a great and excellent portion, because 'the lines,' that is, the measuring cords, 'are fallen unto me in excellent places.'" As if He were saying: "A more excellent and better portion of the universe has fallen to me." This is that portion of which Luke 10:42 says: "Mary has chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her." Not such a portion as those who seek worldly things, for Proverbs 20:21 says: "The inheritance that is hastily gotten at the beginning shall in the end not be blessed."
And note that there are evil lines: the blandishments of the world, by which the soul is ensnared. Proverbs 7:16: "I have decked my bed with tapestry." Worse lines are sins, to which one arrives through the first: Proverbs 5:22: "His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is held fast with the cords of his own sins." And through these further to the worst, namely the punishments of hell: Job 40:20 (Vulg. 40:16): "Will you bind his tongue with a cord?"
But good lines are the cords of penance. Jeremiah 38:13: "And they drew Jeremias out with cords, and brought him up out of the cistern." By these we are freed from the cords of present misery, of which Hosea 11:4 says: "I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love." I will draw them, I say, to the cords of glory, of which we speak here.
Ps 16:6b: "Yea, my inheritance is excellent unto me..."
Behold the second point. As if He were saying: "Perhaps it does not seem to all that the lines have fallen unto me in excellent places, yet 'my inheritance is excellent unto me,' who know how to judge the truth of things rightly." Jeremiah 3:19: "And I will give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance among the nations."
Excellent, that is, clear and beautiful above all others. Wisdom 7:9: "For all gold in comparison with her is as a little sand, and clay will be esteemed as mire in respect of her." Truly excellent it is to receive glory with a double line, namely the glory of body and soul. He has also the uncreated line: Ezekiel 47:13: "For Joseph has a double portion."
And He fittingly says "unto me," because the eternal inheritance is excellent only to him who prefers nothing at all to it, just as Naboth chose to die rather than sell his inheritance or exchange it for anything. Not so the reprobate; nay, just as Esau, they exchange eternal things for small temporal things. Esau gave his birthright, which belonged to him by hereditary right, for a dish of red lentils.
Thanksgiving for Benefits Received
Ps 16:7 "I will bless the Lord..."
Here begins the third part of the Psalm, in which thanksgiving is offered for benefits given or to be given by God the Father to Christ in Himself and in His members. It is divided into two parts:
First, concerning benefits given or to be given to Christ in Himself;
Second, concerning those given in His members, beginning at "You have made known to me..."
The first part is divided into two:
First, he gives thanks for the benefit of knowledge given to him by the Father;
Second, for the benefit of His presence, always and everywhere preserved, beginning at "I foresaw the Lord..."
In the first, two things are treated according to a twofold knowledge:
Comprehension, for which he first gives thanks;
Experimental knowledge, for which he gives thanks secondly, beginning at "And even until night..."
He says therefore: "These good things have been bestowed upon me by God, and are yet to be bestowed, and on this account 'I will bless the Lord,' that is to say, because He has granted me the intellect by which I have been able to comprehend the inheritance of which I have spoken, and thus already to possess it. John 17:3: "Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." For Jesus was always a comprehensor, and in His mortal body He possessed eternal life as regards His soul.
In this we are instructed to give thanks, especially for the intellectual part. Proverbs 22:9: "He who is bountiful of eye shall acquire victory and honor, but he who gives gifts destroys the souls of the receivers." But among all creatures, the intellect is most noble, which God gives us in the body as a precious treasure in an earthen vessel: 2 Corinthians 4:7: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels."
But thanks are to be given most of all by Doctors, to whom is given not mere capacity, but an intellect illuminated by wisdom. Ecclesiasticus 51:23: "To Him who gives me wisdom I will give glory." But especially when wisdom not only illuminates the intellect but also inclines the affection. Ecclesiasticus 33:17 (Vulg. 39:35 context): "And over all these things, bless the Lord who made you and fills you with all His good things."
"Moreover, my reins have chastised me..." The Latin renes (reins) designates the kidneys, as does the Hebrew word used in the MT, כִלְיוֹת. Most modern translations read "heart," The reason being that, when used figuratively of the inner person, the word "heart" has the same meaning as "kidneys" among ancient people.
Behold the second point. As if he were saying: "Not only do I bless the Lord for the intellect given to me, but I also bless Him because 'my reins have chastised me,' instructing me by experimental knowledge." Whence another reading: "My reins have taught me," that is, my humanity and mortality. For just as the reins are in the lower part of a man, so that which was lower in Christ, namely His humanity, is understood by the reins.
And this "even until night," that is, until death or the darkness of death. For although Christ's body was never abandoned by the divinity, nevertheless the soul, which is as it were the light of the body, was separated from it for three days. And thus a kind of night was made. And this instruction was made, namely, over and above the first: Hebrews 5:8: "And whereas indeed He was the Son of God, He learned obedience by the things which He suffered," namely, experimentally. For this reason it is said, Hebrews 4:15: "For we have not a high priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities, but one tempted in all things like as we are, without sin."
Moreover, the Jews can also be called the reins of Christ, because from them He took flesh, and by them He was strongly chastised even unto death.
Note that death is called night because in death night occurs. Ecclesiastes 12:2: "Before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars be darkened," namely the sight, which is the lamp of the whole body. Matthew 6:22: "The lamp of your body is your eye." Likewise, in the night we rest. Ambrose, in the Hexaemeron: "Night is given for the rest of the body, not for the performance of any work." So also John 9:4: "The night comes, when no man can work." Likewise, night brings all animals back to their own dwellings. So also death brings bodies to the tomb: Psalm 48:12: "And their sepulchers are their houses forever." And souls to their proper places: Ecclesiastes 12:5: "For man shall go into the house of his eternity."
But especially is Christ's death called night. For He is the Sun of Justice: Malachi 4:2: "And the Sun of Justice shall rise to you that fear My name." His rising therefore made the day: 2 Corinthians 6:2: "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation," namely of Jesus. Therefore His setting ought to have made night. At midday, therefore, when He lay low, there was night: Isaiah 16:3: "Be to us as a shadow at noonday." Matthew 27:45: "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth."
"I foresaw the Lord..." "I have set the Lord always before me..." (NABRE; ESVCE).
Here is the second point, and three things are touched upon:
First, recalling by giving thanks the benefit of the Father's presence;
Second, the benefit of confirmation, beginning at "Because He is at my right hand";
Third, thanksgiving for these, beginning at "For this my heart is glad..."
He says therefore: "I foresaw the Lord," assisting in my sight, not for a time but always. John 16:32: "The Father is with me." And He did not leave me alone. And it is an argument that Christ, even while sleeping, nay, even while suffering, enjoyed [the Father].
But it is the duty of the just to always foresee God for place, namely, and time; as Lord, as the inspector of all: Proverbs 5:21: "For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He considers all his paths." Likewise as Judge: Wisdom 6:4: "He shall examine your works and search out your thoughts." Likewise as Helper: Psalm 93:17: "Unless the Lord had been my helper..." Finally as Rewarder: Revelation 2:7: "To him that overcomes I will give..." He who looks upon Him cannot but be cured of sin. For this reason it is said, Ecclesiasticus 39:6: "The just man will give his heart to resort early to the Lord who made him, and in the sight of the Most High he will make his supplication."
"Because He is at my right hand..."
As if he were saying: "Not only is He present, but He also protects, because He is 'at my right hand,' protecting me, namely, and favoring me, 'lest I be moved,' struck by great tribulations." Psalm 117:13: "Being pushed I was overthrown that I might fall, and the Lord supported me." "He has been at my right hand." For having God at one's right hand, one ought not to fear falling into the sin of impatience. Job 17:3: "Deliver me, O Lord, and set me by You, and let any man's hand fight against me." Proverbs 1:25: "Fear not sudden terror, nor the powers of the wicked rushing upon you, for the Lord will be at your side and will keep your foot from being taken."
For this reason it is said of the just man that he always sees God in his sight: Proverbs 10:30: "The just shall never be moved."
And note that there is the right hand of the world: temporal prosperity. 1 Kings 6:12: "And they went straight on, neither turning to the right hand nor to the left." And the excellence of power: Matthew 20:21: "Say that these my two sons may sit, the one on Your right hand, and the other on the left," as if in more excellent power, and the other on the left as lesser. This is the right hand of which it is said in Psalm 25:10: "Their right hand is full of gifts." For gifts are given to the powerful, not to the poor.
And the right hand of man, besides the material, is twofold: A special friend: Matthew 5:30: "If your right hand scandalizes you, cut it off and cast it from you." The uprightness of speech: Matthew 6:3: "Let not your left hand know what your right hand does," that is, let evil not be mixed with your intention.
And the right hand of God is fourfold:
The Son: In Psalm 117:16: "The right hand of the Lord has wrought strength." Ecclesiasticus 36:7: "Glorify Your hand and Your right arm."
Eternal life: Song of Solomon 2:6: "His right hand shall embrace me."
The Father's greater goods: Mark 16:19: "He was taken up into heaven and sits at the right hand of God," where Stephen saw Him.
The protection of God, as here.
Ps 16:9 "For this my heart is glad..."
Behold the third point. As if he were saying: "You protect and assist me thus. 'For this my heart is glad' with interior joy, 'and my tongue has rejoiced' with exterior joy, bringing forth outwardly what was within, lest it remain hidden." Similar passages: Isaiah 66:10: "Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her." And 12:6: "Rejoice and praise, O you habitation of Zion." Joel 2:23: "And you, children of Zion, rejoice and be joyful in the Lord your God." 1 Kings 2:1: "My heart has rejoiced in the Lord." Esther 14:16-17: "You know, O Lord, that I have never rejoiced except in You." As the human nature in Christ could have said.
And note what Seneca says: "Rejoicing is a garrulous thing, for it accuses the joy hidden within."
"Moreover, also my flesh shall rest in hope..."
Here is the second point, in which he gives thanks for benefits to be given to him in Himself, which are three (speaking of Christ before His Passion):
First, the certain expectation of resurrection;
Second, the recalling of the soul from Limbo, beginning at "For You will not leave...";
Third, the preservation of the body meanwhile from putrefaction, beginning at "Nor will You give..."
He says therefore: "I will bless for what has been given, and 'I will rejoice moreover, and my flesh,' separated from the soul through death, 'shall rest in the tomb,' in the hope of rising again to immortality, truly and speedily. Above, in Psalm 3:6: "I have slept and taken my rest, and I have arisen." For we all ought to hope that we shall be raised to immortality. Wisdom 3:4: "Their hope is full of immortality." 2 Maccabees 7:11: "For the laws of God I now despise these very members, since I hope to receive them again from Him in the resurrection."
But Christ hastened, rising on the third day: 1 Corinthians 15:4: "And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." And note that he says "flesh" and not "body," because, as Isidore says, "flesh" and "body" signify different things: for "flesh" is that which lives, "body" even that which does not live. For although Christ's flesh was separated from the soul, which is the proper life of the flesh, nevertheless the divinity, which is true life, was united to it.
Note also that he says "shall rest" to show that His death was a sleep and quiet. Why it was called "sleep" has been sufficiently explained above. But why "rest," since that most tender flesh lay surrounded on all sides by hard stones? But it must be said that "rest" is said in comparison to the labor He had endured on the cross. For however hard it is to lie in a bed, it is more tolerable than to be fixed to a cross with piercing nails.
Likewise, after a deep and strong intoxication of wine, deep rest is necessary that the wine may be digested; but Christ was most strongly intoxicated on the cross. Lamentations 3:15: "He has filled me with bitterness, He has inebriated me with wormwood." For this reason He called His passion a chalice: Matthew 26:39: "Let this chalice pass from Me." A chalice, I say, that intoxicates. In Psalm 22:5: "And my chalice which inebriates me, how goodly is it!" For this reason it is said of Him rising: Psalm 77:65: "And the Lord was awaked as one out of sleep, and as a mighty man that hath been drunk with wine." For the mighty are frequently drinkers. Why then should He not rest, who had so labored and been so intoxicated?
Ps 16:10 "For You will not leave my soul in hell..."
Behold the second point. As if he were saying: "Truly my flesh shall rest in hope, because 'You will not leave my soul in hell,' namely in Limbo, which is also called the lower hell. For the hell which is above is this dark air, in which demons now dwell; but the lower hell is Limbo; but the lowest is the place of the damned. Psalm 85:13: "For You have delivered my soul from the lower hell."
Nor ought Christ's soul to have been left there, because in it there was no fault, which is the cause of being there: 1 Peter 2:22: "Who did no sin." Likewise, he did not deserve to be left in hell who, while existing in the world, never forsook God; for God forsakes no one unless first forsaken by him. 1 Chronicles 28:9: "If you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever." And 2 Chronicles 15:2: "But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you." Likewise, the devil had absolutely nothing of His by which to hold Him: John 14:30: "The prince of this world comes, and in Me he has nothing." Likewise, He descended there out of charity, and what is done out of charity never harms anyone. Romans 13:10: "Charity works no evil to one's neighbor." 1 John 4:12: "If we love one another, God abides in us, and He will not forsake us." And for this reason He returned from there with His own, whom He drew out thence: Zechariah 9:11: "You also, by the blood of Your testament, have sent forth Your prisoners out of the pit, in which there is no water."
"Nor will You give Your Holy One to see corruption..."
Behold the third point. As if he were saying: "Not only will You not leave my soul in hell, but also 'You will not give Your Holy One,' namely my body sanctified by You, 'to see corruption,' that is, to feel or suffer corruption."
But against this, in another Psalm, 29:10: "What profit is there in my blood, whilst I go down to corruption?" But the response is that there is a manifold corruption:
Of actual fault, concerning which Galatians 6:8: "For he that sows in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption." Wisdom 14:25: "All things are mingled together, blood, murder, theft, and dissimulation..."
The corruption of concupiscence (fomes): 1 Corinthians 15:50: "Flesh and blood cannot possess the kingdom of God, neither shall corruption possess incorruption."
Putrefaction after death: Jonah 2:7: "You have brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God." Ecclesiasticus 8:6: "Remember that we are all in corruption."
None of these were in Christ. But there is the corruption of penalty and death, of which the Psalmist speaks there. Romans 8:21: "Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption, unto the liberty of the glory of the children of God."
Benefits to Be Given in Christ's Members
Ps 16:11 "You have made known to me the ways of life..."
Here is the second part of the third division of the whole Psalm, in which, giving thanks, he recalls benefits received or to be received in His members, beginning at "You shall fill me..."
He says therefore: "I will bless because in my person You have given the aforesaid, and also because 'You have made known to me,' that is, to my members through me, their Head, the ways of life, fulfilling that petition of Psalm 24:4: "Show me Your ways, O Lord." Jeremiah 21:8: "Behold, I give before you the way of life, and the way of death."
And note that there is the way of life which is life itself, namely Christ Himself, who made Himself known to us: John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth, and the life." This is the way upon which light is scattered. And there is the way of life which leads to life, though life is not in it, namely, discipline and penance. Proverbs 10:17: "The way of life to him that keeps instruction." And this He made known: Matthew 4:17: "Do penance." Nay, He described it: Matthew 7:14: "How narrow is the way that leads to life!" Nay, to make us more certain, He walked it: Micah 2:13: "He shall go up that shall open the way before them." For this reason it is said, John 8:12: "He who follows Me does not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
"You shall fill me with joy with Your countenance..."
Behold the benefits to be given in the future:
First, that the intellect is to be illuminated with perfect cognition;
Second, that the affection is to be flooded with perfect delight, beginning at "Delights..."
He says therefore: "Thus You have done, but finally 'You shall fill me with joy' in my members. For not yet have You filled us 'with joy with Your countenance,' that is, with Your vision and certain knowledge." 1 Corinthians 13:12: "We see now through a glass in a dark manner, but then face to face." And this vision is delightful to the intellect: Job 33:26: "He shall see His face with joy." Indeed, John 17:3: "Now this is eternal life..."
"Delights are at Your right hand even to the end..."
Behold the second point. As if he were saying: "You shall fill me with joy, and the delights to be given me 'which are at Your right hand even to the end,' that is, perfect and consummated delights are in Your right hand, namely, prepared to be given." Proverbs 3:16: "Length of days is in her right hand."
And note that there will be a great delight, and as it were inchoate, from the good of one's neighbor in heaven; greater, and as it were medium, from the good of oneself; but greatest, and consummated to the end, from the good of God. This will be what fills all: Psalm 64:5: "We shall be filled with the good things of Your house." This is the fullness of the saints: Ecclesiasticus 24:16: "And in the fullness of the saints."
CONTINUE
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